Colourful Dreamer

the sermon can be listened to here Gate Pa 13 June 2021 – 11 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings: Psalm                                      Psalm 20                      First Reading:                           1 Samuel 15:34-16:13             Second Reading:                     2 Cor 5:6-10,14-17                  Gospel:    ...

The Season of Epiphany is a time devoted to celebrating and considering the ways Christ is revealed - becomes known and visible in and to the world. It begins with the coming of the Gentile magi and includes the story of his baptism. In some calendars Epiphany finishes on February 2nd, or the nearest Sunday to that, when we celebrate Jesus being revealed during his Presentation of in the Temple, also called Candlemas. Most of our readings for this Sunday are for this day, including the reading from Luke. This is the traditional day candles to be used in the church for the next year were blessed. These candles were thought by some to have protective and healing powers and lit the way of the dying beyond this life. By them we are reminded of God’s presence and life giving activity in the darkest of times and are helped to see beyond things as they are. This Sunday is also the 4 th Sunday of the Epiphany. The reading from Mark’s gospel continues the action with Jesus returning from bei...

Last week we heard the story of 10 virgins/bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom. Some were street-wise and had spare oil. They were ready to wait. Some were not ready and missed out on the party. There is more to waiting than sitting around. Then Jesus tells the well-known parable of the talents. We all know that it is about being a good and faithful servant to God by using our natural abilities in the service of the Kingdom. We see the “Lord” as a kind of Jesus figure – not a very nice Jesus figure though. And to be honest most of us are not so keen on the ending with all that outer darkness and the wailing and gnashing of teeth. But we just get on with it. Like most of the stories in the Bible it helps if you put the story back: back into its place in Matthew’s gospel, and back into the world it came out of. When we do that we find some others ways of understanding what Jesus was talking about. Some ask where this story fits with the beatitudes and the sermon on the mount. At...

This sermon can be listened to here Gate Pa – Animal Blessing Sunday 2019 What I want to say: today we celebrate two things first is crazy saint of Assisi – Francis; and how when he embraced lady Poverty allowed him to see the goodness of God in all things and all people and all creation. the amazing work of SPCA -> today give freely to support this work we wonder what this mght say to the climate crisis we face What I want to happen: people to see the goodness of people and creation engage in climate change by making room to support generously the work of SPCA The Sermon       1.      Introduction: Today is a celebration Firstly we celebrate the crazy little saint of Assisi, who turned the church and the  world of his time on its head Francis of Assisi who through ½ million professed followers today in Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and other churches around the world, continue to live ...