Andrew's Sermons

  Sunday, 22 September 2024   The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity As we continue our journey through James’ letter, I’ve was starting to think he may not be my favourite writer in the Bible. While he has many good and useful things to say, he is probably too direct and even harsh for my taste. However, I think James must know his audience, and to his mind, they clearly need to be told what they need to know, in very clear terms. I also know my audience, a little bit at least, and in the end, thought better not to be too tough with you today, and in any case, it wouldn’t look right, because that’s not the kind of person I am. For James though, winning people to follow in the faith means being tough and harsh, after several chapters of warnings and illustrations of the consequences of living contrary to God’s plan, James moves in this passage to describe the good life and give some positive guidance for pursuing it, while still being very direct. We see here some of t...

  Sunday, 8 September 2024 -   St Cyr, Stinchcombe This month in our preaching we’re focusing on the Epistle or letter of James, written to the dispersed church around the year 50 AD, to the growing numbers of followers of Christ outside Israel. James is traditionally understood to be a half-brother of Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph and a respected voice in the new faith. Immediately, it’s clear his style is different to Paul. James is a letter that does not pull any punches, its rhetorical style is direct and is not intended to comfort and assure, but to jolt readers into action. Where some New Testament texts appear to draw a distinction between faith and works, James is rather blunt on the issue: faith without action, is evidence that faith is not actually faith at all. In the first chapter, James was clear that duplicity, [1] literally being “double-souled” or “double-selved” leads to doubt [2] , unsteadiness [3] and of being easily tempted [4] . Those ...