Sermons on Faith (Page 21)

Putting a hand to the plow

  Galatians 5:1,13-25 Luke 9:51-62 On Friday I went to a class at the gym. One of the benefits of taking a class is that you get to spend an entire hour looking at yourself in a full-length mirror. Consequently, as I was driving into San Luis afterwards I wondered what exactly it is going to take for me to lose weight again. Clearly, I thought, I am going to have to re-examine what I’m eating because I don’t have…

We Believe

Today we start the first of a series of sermons, one a month, which will be covering that difficult issue, the Nicene Creed. The Creed is difficult for us for a number of reasons; it was written at a specific time and place to solve specific problems, and although it remains the one creed that is accepted by the Orthodox, Catholic and most Protestant churches, it turns many of us off.  I have had people tell me they don’t come…

Practicing Peace

  Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 John 14:23-29 Today our Easter journey with the resurrection Jesus nears its end. This Thursday is the feast of the Ascension which marks the end of Jesus’ appearances to his disciples and in a couple of weeks we’ll be celebrating Pentecost and the beginning of the Church’s ministry. You will remember that Jesus’ ministry started after his time of prayer in the desert and his temptation. In Matthew’s account we read, “the devil took him to…

Redeeming the Planet Through Food

I am a third generation vegetarian. My grandparents were 19th Century food reformers completely vegetarian and a bit cranky; my mother ate meat once in her life and didn’t like it. But my father loved meat and so we were all brought up as omnivores; roast meat on Sunday which reappeared in different forms for as long as my mother could eke it out and fish on Wednesday (because that was the day the fishmonger came to our street. )…

Counting Sheep, April 17, 2016

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… The 23rd Psalm When I was about 10 years old, I had great trouble getting to sleep.  As the sleepless nights went on, I became more and more anxious – especially after I learned that I shouldn’t wake up my mother or father. However, it was always OK to wake up my grandmother.  Granny would take me by the hand and lead me down the stairs to the kitchen, where she…

The Way of Transformation – Good Friday, March 25

The Way of Transformation John 18:1 – 19:42 The Gospel reading for Good Friday tells us the story of a Jewish man who was rejected by Jewish religious leaders and then crucified by Roman soldiers – and in re-telling this story, we have heard the words Jew, Jewish, and the Jews twenty times. This Gospel was written in the late first century by a Jew, for a community of Jews – and when the author wrote ‘the Jews’ he meant…

Contemplative Prayer with John’s Gospel – March 13

Contemplative Prayer with John’s Gospel This contemplative exercise can be done with any Gospel story. You will need a little time, a quiet space for prayer, and your imagination. An introduction to John 12:1-8 If you are reading through the Gospel of John, this chapter comes just after Jesus rescues Lazarus from his grave, and a week before Jesus himself dies on the cross. The story takes place in Bethany – a village whose name probably means ‘House of the Poor’…

Baptism – Saved or Called?

Baptism:  Saved or Called? All four gospels begin their stories of Jesus’ ministry with his baptism. In today’s gospel reading Jesus has come, along with many others, to be baptized by John.  And Luke tells us that When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  Luke 3:21-22  The book of Acts tells of other baptisms – of all the people who were…