preaching

The movements of Pentecost

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Coming once again to the New Testament texts about Pentecost, I have been struck by the extraordinary dynamism which seems to be present in every aspect. In the gospels, Jesus is the dynamic focus of action—constantly on the move physically as a way of expressing the dynamic presence and movement of God in his ministry—and … Continue Reading

What did humour in sermons ever do for us?

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As part of its publicity, the Christian Resources Exhibition is running a ‘Sermon of the Year’ award. (The reporter, Ruth Gledhill, must be pleased, since 20 years ago she ran The Times Sermon of the Year competition, which featured yours truly!). To promote this it commissioned research on what people look for in sermons, and … Continue Reading

What is the meaning of the Ascension?

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What would you identify as the climax and completion of Jesus’ life and ministry? Surprisingly, this is not a trivial question. One of the key differences between John and the synoptic gospels is that, where the synoptics portray the crucifixion as a necessary but incomplete act on the way to the resurrection, John portrays it … Continue Reading

Poetic structure in Jesus’ teaching

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In doing some research on Matthew’s portrait of Jesus, I have been struck afresh by the poetic structuring of Jesus’ teaching. Noticing this raises interesting issues both about our engagement with the texts and our understanding of them, but also some questions about how the texts have come to us in their current form. A … Continue Reading

Connecting with listeners in preaching

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A few years ago, there was a wonderful advert featuring the late Rik Mayall. As he strolled around his penthouse apartment, he turned to the camera: Hi, Rik Mayall here. If you’re like me: immensely rich, talented, handsome, isn’t it a bore? I cannot even remember what the ad was for (after research, it turns … Continue Reading

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

God’s gifts to us at Christmas

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It might seem like time to wish everyone ‘A Happy New Year’. But, contrary to our culture’s assumption that Christmas consists of the busyness of consumption and comes to both a climax and a full stop on Christmas Day, for Christians that is when Christmas starts, and we are still in the Christmas season—for another … Continue Reading

There’s something (humble) about Mary

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I know Christmas circular letters are not everyone’s cup of tea, but we enjoy writing ours as a review of the year, and catching up with what has been going on in the lives of others. For those who don’t like them, their distaste is summed up in that archetypal circular where everything is going wonderfully … Continue Reading