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Why read Jonah?
Why read Jonah? The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amitai, many centuries ago. What word of the Lord comes to us today? It’s a colourful, exciting story, but the word of the Lord to us is not in the excitement, in the wind, earthquake or fire. Let me remind you of…
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A sermon for Trinity Sunday
First published 14th June 2022 on the Network Leeds blog. I preached yesterday on the Trinity – a challenge and a joy. The text was the hymn, Thou whose almighty word we sang before and after to help us get into it. The hymn is a mosaic of biblical words and images, shaped by Trinity.…
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Reading Mark 2 with Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians
A sermon preached at Moortown Baptist Church on Sunday 13th March 2022. The sermon can be watched here. I want you to know that in this talk I am aiming to tell the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God, in company with Mark. I also want you to know that in trying…
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The Good Shepherd
Sermon preached on John 10.11-18 at Stainbeck United Reformed Church, 25 April 2021. The sermon can be watched here. John’s Gospel as a whole reflects on the life of Jesus, his words and his actions. John was like a man standing on a high hill, able to see the whole land laid out before him,…
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Jesus refuses Peter’s pastoral care
Sermon preached on Matthew 16 at Moortown Baptist Church, Sunday 26th February 2023. The sermon can be watched here. The question is not: who do people say I am? But who do you say that I am? A question to be heard by individuals, you and me, and by the whole community – who does…
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Ambition and the Gospel
Mark 10.35-45: A sermon preached at Stainbeck United Reformed Church, 2018 We are given this morning an important and challenging reading, that points us to the heart of being Christian and being human. So I am glad to be called to speak about it. I read this text and at the same time, I reflect…
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A talk about climate change, while there is yet time
If you dislike this sermon, blame it on this, that I have recently been reading Jeremiah and the Guardian. So I think I ought to talk about climate change, though it is difficult to do. May I do so? The IPCC recently (2018!) warned that a rise in global temperature of 1.5° above pre-industrial levels…