Holy Trinity Winchester Podcast

Dear Friends. This is the fourth of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possess...

Fr Jamie Franklin gives a Christian perspective on the suffering of the innocent and the injustice that exists in the world. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dear Friends. This is the third of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessi...

Fr Jamie Franklin asks how God can judge us and love us at the same time. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dear Friends. This is the second of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possess...

Fr Jamie Franklin encourages us to imitate the example of Christ in resisting temptation by rejecting the lies of Satan and demonstrating godly virtue. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Dear Friends. This is the first of a six-part series based on Randy Alcorn’s book The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving . We are reading this book at Holy Trinity Winchester during the Lenten season but it is by no means essential to read it in order to benefit from this series. The purpose of the series is to listen carefully to the teachings of Jesus on money and possessi...

With all of your strength…On this past Sunday, I said – to cut a long story short – that loving God with all of our strength requires an effort of the will, a conscious decision to do things that, much of the time, we might not feel like doing. And I also said that Lent gives us a wonderful opportunity to do that. But I also said in that sermon that we have to understand why we should do these thi...

SleepinessI’ve noticed that I used to have more energy when I was younger. As I have approached the end of my thirties, I’ve needed to be much more intentional about keeping my energy levels up. This has, of course, something also to do with the fact that I have four small children who, at various points, have caused sleep to be a challenge in my householdThrough the wisdom of others, I have learn...

God’s Calling in ExistenceOur Gospel text today, it seems to me, is highly appropriate for a day on which we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism. For it speaks to us of God’s faithfulness in his calling and constant presence in our lives. The drama of the story, of course, is the storm that threatens to envelop the disciples’ boat and their panicked cry as they wake their Master to inform him...

Introduction: The BeatitudesThere are all sorts of things that could be said about the Beatitudes by way of introduction, but I would like to note only two of them:Firstly, the Beatitudes speak to us of the countercultural nature of the Kingdom of God and therefore the life of discipleship. The first group of people – the poor, the hungry, those who weep and are persecuted – are the ones who would...

Introduction – The Challenge of JesusOur Gospel story today presents a radical challenge. And I want us to be able to hear it. Peter, who represents us, is confronted by a man with a completely different set of values to him, a man who appears to have found a better way to live. That man is Jesus, and he promises us that, if we follow him, we may have life to the full (John 10:10). As Jesus says e...

The Problems of LifeI’d like to begin with a quotation from one of the greatest fictional characters of recent years. I won’t say who it is except that she is a much older woman giving advice to a much younger female family member. The quotation is this:“My dear, all life is a series of problems which we must try and solve. First one, then the next, and the next, until at last, we die.”As it turns...

Christ For All, Third Sunday After EpiphanyLuke 4:14-22A Confrontation in the SynagogueIn our reading today from Luke’s Gospel we’ve got half a story. These readings are taken from the Church’s lectionary and so we have to preach on what we’re given, but the selection today I have to say is somewhat odd and could be quite misleading. In the translation that you just heard, the English Standard Ver...

Against Austerity"There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth."This quote, from G.K Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy has been on my mind whilst I have been preparing this sermon. I am sure that Chesterton had a very clever and insightful meaning behind it, but I am not certain that I agree with him. My...

The First Sunday of Epiphany/The Baptism of Christ, 2005Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17,21-22“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”Isaiah 43:2About three years ago, a five-year-old Moroccan boy called Rayan Oram fell through through the narrow opening of a 104 feet deep well and became trapped. Rescue efforts continued for four days and the story became global news. Hund...

Speaking on Epiphany Sunday, Fr Phil Collins encourages us to imitate the three wise men in their search for Christ and in their gifts for him, seeing him in the poor and those in need. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com

Repentance: The Message of John the BaptistLast week we spoke about the opportunity that the season of Advent presents to us: we recognise the coming of Christ as Christmastide and we prepare ourselves to receive him in the best way that we can. I focussed upon the theme of devotion and love for Christ. But this week’s readings remind us that there is a fundamental work that must go alongside such...

The First Sunday of Advent, 2024Luke 21:25-38Realign Your Hearts to GodWhat is Advent about? Friends, today we come to the first Sunday of Advent. I have to be honest and say that Advent my favourite of the liturgical seasons. To begin with, it marks the beginning of the liturgical year. In this six-month period, we start by longing for the coming of Christ amongst us and then celebrate his birth...

Where is the presence of God now?13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John a...

Mark 1:14-2014 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will mak...

“Go your way; your faith has made you well.”The story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus ends with Jesus commending the man for his faith. On the surface, this story could be taken to be an exhortation to approach God in prayer in the hope and expectation that he will fulfil the requests of those who call upon him. And yet a closer look at the context of the story reveals a much more challenging pictu...

Find Glory in Suffering“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”“What is good? All that increases the feeling of power, will to power, power itself, in man.” These words were written by the nineteenth century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s view seems to have been that the great majority of human action is motivated by a d...

Think about Wealth Differently“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”Each of us only has a certain amount of time and energy to spend in life. Many people experience a moment of awakening when they realise that they have ended up spending it in something they don’t like very much, that isn’t too fulfilling, like a career that doesn’t pay that well or isn’t...

A sermon from Fr Jamie Franklin on the radical dignity that Jesus bestowed upon women and children, contrary to the expectations of his culture and even of his own disciples. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit holytrinitywinchester.substack.com