Tag Archives: resurrection

Sermon: Easter Sunday

Jesus Christ is Lord of all, not only of those like Peter, and the peace he preaches includes peace between those of different faiths and nations. From this moment on, if the church is to truly be the body of Christ, then its doors must be flung open, and everyone must be allowed to stream in. Continue reading

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Sermon: The light wherein our shadows disappear

Is Calvin right? As we see Jesus shining with unborrowed light are our shadows made darker by the contrast? I do not think so. The Transfiguration reveals to us the beauty of God, but it reveals that beauty in the mystery of the Incarnation; the one revealed by the light is the Son of Man, the firstborn within a large family that includes us. Continue reading

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Sermon: Where, O death, is now your sting?

If we ever worry that our sins, our faults and failings, make us unimportant, unacceptable, unlovable, that we deserve punishment rather than acceptance, then we can rejoice. Jesus said that he came to bring mercy, not sacrifice, and God affirmed Jesus’ teachings in the resurrection. Continue reading

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Sermon: Death and Life

The funeral service used to contain the reminder that ‘in the midst of life we are in death,’ which apparently comes from a battle song by tenth-century monk Notker the Stammerer and, while that might strike our twenty-first-century ears as morbid, it is simply a fact. If we accept that, today’s reading can offer us comfort. Continue reading

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Sermon: A quieter Pentecost

There is no wrong way to feel when people we love have died. But my prayer whenever I sit by the side of the dying is that they may go gently and peacefully into the loving hands of God, and I believe with every fibre of my being that as we say good-bye to someone we love we are giving them into the arms of the God who has loved them all the days of their lives and who continues to love them after death. Continue reading

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Sermon: This is our story

In the single greatest act of civil disobedience ever seen this man, executed by the powers of Empire, was raised from the dead. The very least that the world’s oppressive regimes expect when they kill someone is that the person will stay killed. Continue reading

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Sermon: A story without an ending

I suspect that the reason the resurrection was announced first to women was because too often women have not been believed when they speak, women’s testimony has not been taken seriously. The God who created both male and female in God’s own image might be making a point. Continue reading

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Sermon: The powerlessness and ugliness of God in Jesus

If we ignore the crucifixion’s horror we lose that solidarity between God and suffering humanity. If we make Jesus too attractive and powerful, we might think that ugly, suffering human beings are not part of the world that God so loves. Continue reading

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Sermon: Christ is Risen!

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: Life and death and Lazarus

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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