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Palm Sunday and mass public prayer
All four gospels record the public procession of Jesus entering Jerusalem on what came to be called Palm Sunday: “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna…
Who are our enemies?
We pray fervently for the people and the Church in Iran as war rages, and many other nations and people are drawn in. Our hearts are with those members of our own church from Iran who tell us that the hope they feel that the hardline Islamic government might step aside is tempered by the horror at the suffering of Iran’s people. Voices in the US are saying that this is a war between good and…
Is the Church of England racist?
The Black Lives Matter movement burst upon the scene in 2020 following the horrific killing of George Floyd in the US, with some bishops as well as leading sportspeople “taking the knee” in identification with victims of racial injustice. In the following year the Church of England published a report From Lament to Action, which noted that although dozens of reports on racism had been issued…
What is Lent for?
The practice of marking forty days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (not counting the Sundays) is very ancient. Though shorter fasts were common among Christians in the first three centuries after the gospel period, the first mention of the forty day fast was at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Many evangelical Christians since the mid-eighteenth century have however felt nervous about church…
Should the UK be a Christian country?
During the last year a movement called “Christian Nationalism” (CN) has hit the news in this country, having already been influential in the US, not least through the campaigning of the late Charlie Kirk. Although hard to define, it seeks to put the Christian faith at the centre of politics – one commentator said we could summarise its vision as, “Make Britain Christian again”. A number of…
The Joy of gospel singing in Advent
In shops from early November we hear strains of “I Believe In Father Christmas” by Greg Lake (to which our church’s Christmas tract this year refers), or “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea, or “Last Christmas” by Wham! Most music we experience today however we hear privately– on headphones, or alone in our flat. And this is a very recent thing – until the advent of of LPs, CDs, Spotify…
Pray for more pastor-teachers
There is a national shortage of ministers to serve in churches that is affecting all denominations (including my own Church of England), all traditions (including my own evangelical) and all areas of ministry (ordained/presbyteral, youth and children, evangelism). In the Church of England the number of clergy, for instance, has fallen from around 8,000 ten years ago to 7,000 now. That total…
Christ and covenant in the Joseph narrative in Genesis 37-50
Many of us who preach are familar with the idea of the “melodic line”, a repeated idea or phrase which runs through a Bible book giving it purpose and unity. I believe that Dick Lucas, former Rector of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate in London, and instigator of the Proclamation Trust, was the first to share this concept. It has often been suggested that the covenant promises made to the patriarchs are…
Praise in the Psalms
Why praise God? The people of God have always sung, from the shores of the Red Sea – “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. . . . The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Ex. 15:1–2)—to the heavenly throne room of the Lamb—“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!” (Rev.…
Is the modern Church of England reformed and catholic?
There is a legend about Pope Gregory the Great, who, upon seeing Anglo-Saxon boys in a slave market, exclaimed in Latin, “non angli sed angeli“, which translates to “not Angles, but angels.” He expressed his desire to send missionaries to convert the English to Christianity, recognising the inherent dignity of the children, prompting the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize…
Is the Church of England experiencing revival?
Each year the C of E reports a wide range of statistics, which include church attendances for the previous year. Although not fully analysed yet an “early snapshot” of those for 2024 was published this week with the promising headline, “C of E attendance rises for fourth year”. There are indeed promising signs: the table below shows that the total “worshipping community” (all those attending…
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Abraham: model or monster?
This title heads a chapter in a book1 by the evangelical theologian Walter Moberly exploring the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac at the command of God, a story found in Genesis 22. For many the story is a lowpoint in Abraham’s faith: had he made the right moral choice he would have refused God’s test because it is clearly wrong to sacrifice one’s own child. Only God’s…
A Christ-centred sermon on Psalm 51
For Ash Wednesday this year I decided to speak on Psalm 51 as one of the set readings for this day in the Church of England Common Worship calendar. I have read many sermons and commentaries on this Psalm that take a devotional interpretation – along the lines of “David’s repentance teaches us how to repent well”. I am probably not alone in finding this approach devotionally helpful, but less…
Does Leviticus have a melodic line?
Leviticus is inspired Scripture full of good news. It prepares us for Christ and without it our understanding of Christ’s role and work would be much diminished. Its message in one sentence may be summarised as, “Draw near to God by the means He has provided, that you may be holy as He is holy.” Its alien culture is often seen as too hard to understand, its tone too “legalistic”, its rituals…
Notes on Genesis 25-35: Family fortunes
We’re preaching through Genesis 25-35 and I put together some notes for those who plan music, liturgy and sermons in my church. What follows focusses on these chapters with reference to the canonical shape and purpose of Genesis as a whole. This is the story of Jacob as he learns to trust and obey God in the face of conflict with his twin brother Esau. Genesis 25-35 forms the middle of three…
What is pastoral care? A biblical theology of the good shepherd
The aim of this series of four sermons was to give some Biblical teaching, correction and encouragement on the theory and practice of pastoral care. In churches “pastoral care” very often has quite a narrow reference in the minds of those who use the term. We might characterise this as “visiting and supporting those going through circumstances such as grief or sickness.” I think that however…
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The Soul: Its Sickness and Cure
The idea for this short sermon series came from reading a famous sermon by the Puritan Richard Sibbes on Psalm 42:5, entitled “The Soul’s Conflict”. The title and contents reveal how good (and thorough!) the Puritans were at preaching pastorally, through sermons diagnosing the problems of the human heart in relation to faith, and prescribing cures for them. It also made we wonder if modern…
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