Andrew's Sermons

This sermon was preached at St Margaret's Church, Whaddon and St George's Church, Tuffley on Sunday 25th June 2017 as part of my placement towards Ordination training. 2nd Sunday after Trinity, Proper 7, Year A Romans 6.1b-11, Matthew 10.24-39.   In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.   What, is the cost of being a disciple, a follower of Christ? Today, unless we are in a country where Christians are persecuted, the costs and risks of faith are minimal. It’s possible the only cost of discipleship we may have experienced, is being unable to express our faith in work or some other public place, but this isn’t life threatening… For the apostles, they were being prepared for the worst, Jesus was sending them out to proclaim a Gospel of salvation, which challenged the order of both Jewish hierarchy and Roman occupiers. By doing this they risked being separated from family and loved ones, of being imprisoned or even crucified. Jesus knew that his mes...

Today I led Morning Praise at St Cyr's Church in Stinchcombe, for the first time and with no parachute! - we are in vacancy and none of the other usual Priests or Readers were around. It still felt important though to refer to last weeks fire at Grenfell Tower in London, as well as the recent terror attacks. Ariana Grande even gets a mention... The Gospel reading was Matthew 9:35 - 10:8     In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. The last month has seen some massive challenges for our nation, but there has also been compassion and everywhere, signs of hope. Terrorist attacks in Manchester and London mean that we are facing uncertain times. Then just this week, we’ve seen the awful tower block fire in London. I must be honest and say the tower fire has completely overshadowed the week for me. Such a terrible event brings all sort of emotions to the surface. Anger, despair, sadness, grief. Perhaps old memories re-surface. It re...

May I speak in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Just imagine being there.  Back then, when it happened.  Imagine being a disciple, one of those in the locked room. Being a follower of Christ then certainly wasn’t easy or simple, it had been wonderful, now it was dangerous, frightening. Even today, it can be dangerous in some places for people to be openly Christian.  The Apostles had experienced three years of life changing events. They had heard stories, learnt new ways of understanding God, seen remarkable miracles and watched Jesus change in completely unexpected ways. Only three days ago, they had experienced one of the most traumatic days of their lives. Their friend had been betrayed, he was arrested, he had faced a biased trial, he was found guilty by a mob, and then he was humiliated and beaten. Jesus, the man who had called each one of them by name, was tortured and crucified. He died and was buried. It was ...