Sermons from March 2024

A New Heart, A New Mind

During the fifth century AD, Britain ceased to be part of the Roman Empire and became a group of small warring territories, resulting in aggression against the populace.  Slavery was a common fate for those captured in raids or warfare.  It was into this context that a 16-year-old boy named Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who had attacked his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity.  During that…

God’s World and the Ten Words

We’ve read today in Exodus 20 one of the most world-shaking, world-changing texts ever written.  Exodus 19 and 20 tell us that the skies were thundering and lightening and Mt Sinai was shaking and smoking and the people were trembling in the distance when the LORD God spoke today’s words.  This is the only place in the Hebrew Bible where the text says that God spoke directly to the people of Israel without any intermediary, not through prophets,  priests nor…