Category Archives: Sermons

Sermon: Forgiveness

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

That’s the bedrock conviction of the Christian faith. There are no unforgiveable sins. There are no unforgiveable people. Continue reading →

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Reflection: What does ‘church’ look like?

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for Western Heights 3rd of May, 2020 Acts 2:42-47 Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Today, for the fourth Sunday in a row, we are celebrating Easter and the joy of resurrection. It takes us fifty days to … Continue reading →

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Reflection: Feasting with Jesus

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

 Jesus reveals himself to these disciples, and they journey from despair to recognition, through what Luke’s readers and we ourselves can recognise is a standard church service. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Christ is Risen!

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Today, Easter Sunday, is a day of celebration. It is a story of apparent defeat turning into a great victory; of sorrow becoming joy. It is about the triumph of life over death; love over hate. This year, of all years, in the midst of a pandemic, unable to gather together to celebrate, we need to hear this message. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Palm Sunday Protests

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

There can be no ‘Walk for Justice for Refugees’, which churches and community groups have held on this Sunday for years as our government’s attacks on people seeking asylum have got worse. We are seeing a very different Palm Sunday, a much more subdued one than we would normally experience. But its importance, its message, remains the same. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Life and death and Lazarus

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

It is a story about death and darkness and mourning; about life and light and rejoicing; and so it is an almost uncannily suitable story for us to hear during this pandemic, as the world faces the prospect of thousands upon thousands of deaths from COVID19. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? The doubters; the faithful; the rule-breakers

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Ultimately we can have faith that one day, like the man born blind, Jesus will find us and that, with our blindness cured, we will be able to see him face to face. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Foreigners and women

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Why is the story read this way? Because if this is not the story of a mincing and coy harlot who is trying to distract Jesus from her sins, then what we have here is a story of Jesus seriously engaging with a foreign woman who asks a theological question. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Those who need to be born again

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This week I watched a time lapse video from the BBC of a caterpillar spinning a cocoon, and one of the lines that most struck me was ’the caterpillar’s head is about to split wide open’. And then it did! Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Sinners.

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

We can come to God with all our messiness and sickness and failure, and know that we are welcome. God’s door is open to us, and all we need to do is walk through it. Our sins are forgiven. Continue reading →

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