St Barnabas, Fendalton

The first thing I’d want to say about today’s gospel reading is that we should all follow the example of the Pharisee. Seriously. That’s where we begin. If we think somehow that we shouldn’t because, say, we think we’re not  at all  like the Pharisee, that we  never  look down on people, that we  never  pray with ourselves as the centre of our prayers, that we  never  compare ourselves with others...

Goodies & baddies - just who does God welcome?

In today’s gospel, we have before us a persistent woman and a Judge At one level this is a story about why persistence, especially persistence in prayer, is something that is worth pursuing. And it’s also about a widow. Widows in the Bible are held out for our special attention, along with orphans and strangers. We also have the story of Jacob from Genesis. Jacob’s struggle appeared to be with Esa...

In the gospel reading today we meet the Samaritan once again in Luke’s gospel: the first time is in Luke 10 with the parable of the “Good Samaritan”, the second time is here. The Samaritan is both an actual figure and a representative one: representative of the outsider, the outcast, even the enemy. In this gospel reading, as in the Good Samaritan story, it is the Samaritan who is held up as the e...

Today’s readings have a multitude of images in them: there’s mustard seeds, mulberry trees being thrown into the sea, slaves at work, and tablets with visions. There’s all sorts of threads that tie them together – the size of our faith, the size of our vision, even the size of our ego, particularly if we feel we’re being compared with mere servants. And one of those thread’s is  humility .

I think the first thing to say about today’s gospel is it’s not about the hereafter. It’s about the here and now. It’s a parable, not a prescription about how to get into heaven. And it’s a parable about wealth and poverty, about a rich man’s table and a poor man covered in sores. It’s about a man who enjoys a feast and a man who lives in famine. And read alongside the reading from Amos, it’s a wi...

It’s the little things that matter. Welcoming the stranger, orphan and widow. Pursuing peace and seeking justice. Caring for the poor and the needy.

We are continuing in the gospel of Luke, where we are right through until Advent, and this week it’s all about how good it is to be lost. Jesus in the parable here does something he so often does; he turns everything upside down: If you’re lost, you will be found.

Luke 15:1-10 This sermon explores Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin as sharp, funny, and even outrageous stories aimed at the religious elite of his day. Jesus imagines God as a reckless shepherd and an extravagant woman, turning social expectations upside down to show how deeply God values the lost. The humour - like a shepherd abandoning ninety-nine or a woman throwing a huge p...

This sermon wrestles with one of Jesus’ most challenging sayings: “Whoever does not hate father, mother, and even life itself cannot be my disciple.” Jesus shocks his hearers into attention. The message is not about despising people or possessions, but about releasing the grip of possessiveness and focusing on the journey to union with God. To follow Christ is to travel light, keeping God as our u...

Following Jesus: The cost and hope of life

Luke 14:1,7-14 Jesus often spoke of God’s reign in the language of meals and parties, where everyone is welcome and honour is redefined. In a culture where honour was thought to be limited and gained at another’s expense, Jesus revealed God’s honour as abundant, freely given especially to the marginalised. The Eucharist continues this vision: a meal where status, reciprocity, and self-promotion ar...

We sometimes talk about Jesus’ “comfortable words”. Well, the gospel today, and the Isaiah reading that accompanies it, could be described as “ uncomfortable  words”! It’s the sort of text where we’d much rather go to the preacher’s 10 greatest hits of Scripture passages that are familiar, reassuring and not quite so pointed. The lectionary doesn’t allow us to pick and choose, and it’s just as wel...

Lifting up those bowed down - sometimes Jesus calls us to do this in prayer for others, like those in Gaza, and sometimes to bow down to actually sit with people on the floor.

Jesus has a story for each one of us and calls us to be faithful to our own story and journey. What he calls others to do is between them and God. When we fail Jesus, he does not cast us aside but seeks and calls us back to life. Our response must be to live out our calling faithfully. We must run the course that God has chosen for us. The Kingdom of God is about faithfulness to our story and jour...

Hebrews 11 gives us cameo shots from the family photo album, warts and all!

One of the reasons we light a candle in our services, or at other times when we share Eucharist or pray with people, is because it’s one way of signifying the Christ is with us, his presence is here. We recognise that in that action of lighting and in that focal point of the candle lit.

We remember Jesus' transfiguration in glory on the same day as the bombing of Hiroshima 80 years ago.

The gospel reading today is about  prayer , and a particular prayer that we recite time and again. It’s also about  persistence . The persistence of the friend who knocks on the door at midnight asking for three loaves of bread. The  persistence  of the one who asks, searches, receives and finds the good gifts God gives God’s children.

When Jesus debriefs the mission trip team, what was the most important thing they learned?

When Jesus called Peter to follow, he didn't expect it to be such a rollercoaster...

Earlier this week in the parish, as part of our Faith and Film evening, some of you might have watched the fictional film  Conclave.  Good timing! Today we mark the feast day of St Peter, by tradition the forerunner of the Pope, and of St Paul.

Jesus welcomes us home, back from the edge, back into the family and community of faith.

This Pentecost Sunday reminds me of those two worlds – “of all that is, seen and unseen”. The work of the Spirit is sometimes evident, experienced and in full view. And it is sometimes beyond our horizon, understanding, and grasp; sometimes it’s subterranean.

Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice. I know my sheep. And they follow me.” How do we listen to God’s voice? In the busyness of family life and social media life and school life and work life and hanging out with the other sheep life, how do we hear the Shepherd speak to us? It might be that you have a really good system in place, really good rhythms of daily office and of prayer and of worshi...