Preaching

The surprise of the resurrection

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Think back to the last time that someone surprised you. What does surprise do to you? Some people love surprises; others like surprises as long as they know exactly what the surprise will be! Our common experience is that surprise is highly disorienting; we don’t know where to turn or what to do next. Even … Continue Reading

No-Palm Sunday in Luke

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I hope you didn’t feel too disappointed on missing out on Palm Sunday this year. The reason is that we are reading from Luke’s gospel, and Luke makes no mention of ‘palms’ during Jesus’ ‘triumphal entry’ in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. Instead, we only get mention (Luke 19.37) of people spreading their cloaks, or … Continue Reading

Sermon series: In the Wilderness

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A good number of churches make use of sermon series, and a lot of thought and preparation goes into these. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to share them?! To start this off, John Allister, vicar of St Jude’s, Mapperley in Nottingham, shares details of a recent sermon series on the people of God travelling … Continue Reading

Preaching the infancy narratives

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In my previous post, I argued that we should be preaching at all our Christmas services, even when there are significant numbers of visitors. But can we find something fresh to say about texts that we know so well? The last piece Dick France wrote before his untimely death was a chapter in the volume … Continue Reading

Preaching Christ the King

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This Sunday, the last of the liturgical year, is Christ the king, and comes immediately before Advent. It is a slightly odd festival, since one of the key themes of Advent is not the anticipation of Christmas, but the anticipation of Jesus’ return as king; the Latin adventus is a translation of the Greek parousia … Continue Reading

Reading Luke’s gospel

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As we approach Advent, we are coming into the new Liturgical Year, and in the lectionary we will be in Year C. This is the year when we focus on continuous reading of Luke’s gospel, though as in other years there are significant contributions from John. I have just been teaching about Luke in Hereford Diocese … Continue Reading

Mark 10 and the contradictions of grace

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I am preaching tomorrow on the lectionary reading, Mark 10.2–16, as many of you will be—and I feel not a little intimidated by the challenge. It feels though there was a time when reading and preaching on this passage was a lot more straightforward than it feels now. (Life as generally a lot less complicated … Continue Reading

Why preach?

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Earlier this week, my friend Richard Moy posted a bit of a rant about his experience of visiting cathedrals. Why is it, he asked, that when there is a marvellous opportunity to explain something of the gospel to people who might not otherwise here it, was nothing done about it? In all the services I … Continue Reading

Resurrection as surprise

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Think back to the last time that someone surprised you. What does surprise do to you? Some people love surprises; others like surprises as long as they know exactly what the surprise will be! Our common experience is that surprise is highly disorienting; we don’t know where to turn or what to do next. Even … Continue Reading

What makes a good sermon?

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When I was teaching homiletics (preaching) in a theological college, I used to start by exploring the issue of what good and bad preaching look like. I did this indirectly—not by asking the question ‘What does a good sermon look like?’ since this could easily have led to theoretical answers. Instead, I asked in turn for … Continue Reading