Andrew's Sermons

In name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is the last in our series looking at how the Holy Spirit acts in the Old and New Testaments. Over the weeks we have explored how the Holy Spirit is at work in the Creation of the world, how it is an agent for  Prophecy, Justice, Truth and Inspiration, how it is our advocate and comforter, how it aids in pointing us towards Jesus the Messiah and how it can help us as we seek holiness and become closer to God. The final area we’re exploring is the way the Holy Spirit works to help transform, redeem and save us all. The Holy or Divine Spirit is one with God and the Son in the Trinity, all these aspects of the spirit cannot be separated, prophecy, truth and justice are all interconnected, as is the redeeming power of the Spirit with Jesus. The word redeem is worth explaining, because it can have a few meanings, for example when you take a coupon to the shop for 20p off fairy liquid – other washing up liquids are ava...

Holy Spirit Sermon Series. Number 6. The Spirit, the Comforter 1 Kings 19:1-8 John 14:18-27 8 th August 2021 St Cyr, Holy Communion 11.10am and St George, Sacred Space. 6pm. If I were to say that the Holy Spirit can be comforting, would that ring true? Have you felt the presence of, been comforted or reassured by the Holy Spirit, or is that just an odd question to ask? Firstly, what do we mean when we talk about the Holy Spirit? Simply, as we reflect on this today, it is one and the same in the Holy Trinity with God and Jesus. And the Holy Spirit is always around and within us. It always has been and always will be, so that when Jesus says he will send an advocate, that is the Holy Spirit, but when the disciples meet the Spirit after Jesus’ ascension, in tongues of fire, it is almost a rebirth of the Spirit, reactivated in the lives of Christians on that day and for us ever since. But we can also say that simply being aware of the presence of God means the Spirit is acti...

    The Gospel According to John 3:1-17 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”  3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”  5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’  8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is wit...

Let the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, my lord, God, and redeemer. The parable of the talents is one which I’ve always struggled with. We often hear sermons which interpret this to be about good money management and tithing to the church, or about our own individual talents and skills, or perhaps on the abundance of God’s love. And while there is merit in these, it is a story and when Jesus tells it, he offers no interpretation at all. The concern I have is for the fate of third slave, being cast into the darkness. So when we identify the slave owner as God in this parable, are we risking a toxic representation of the Divine? Now this is a strong statement to make but one of commentaries I read, recorded a conversation between the writer and her son. She stated her misgivings to which he said, “It sums up everything Christianity is about.  I love it!”  Baffled, she asked him what he "loved."  “Oh, isn’t it obvious?  I lov...

  Loving God, I pray that through the lives of our dearly departed, all the saints in heaven, the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, these words may be to your praise and glory. Amen. Traditionally, this time of year has always been a time of remembering and praying for the dead. In Celtic times, November the 1 st was New Years Day, it marked the end of harvest and autumn and the start of winter, when life expectancy was much reduced. The church adopted it to be All Saints Day, which they called all All Hallows Day, making October 31 st , All Hallows Eve, which we know as Halloween. While it is now very commercialised, this is a day we set aside to remember our loved ones. So, this is All Souls, and next week we have Remembrance Sunday. Combined with shorter daylight hours, the cold and the wet, and all the uncertainty around covid, these are very difficult times for many of us. And then, losing loved ones has made the year even more difficult, and in...