Sunday after Christmas December 31 2017 Isaiah 61.10-62.3; Psalm 148.1-14; Galatians 4.4-7; Luke 2.22-40 Rev Angleena Keizer, Methodist Church of Great Britain As we gather here today to worship God, we stand on the threshold of a new year. It is not uncommon to look back and to take stock of what has happened to…
Christmas Day December 25 2017 Isaiah 52.7-10; Hebrews 1.1-5; John 1.1-14 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland The trouble with Christmas Day is it comes immediately after Christmas Eve. I said everything I had to say last night, and John even said some of it yesterday morning. So I propose to do today what preachers…
Christmas Eve December 24 2017 Genesis 18.1-21; Isaiah 9.2-7a;Luke 1.26-38; Luke 2.1-14; Matthew 2.1-12; John 1.1-14 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland As they near the end of a long journey, the young man and young woman are invited by an aged shepherd abiding in the field to stop, just for a moment, and warm…
Fourth Sunday of Advent December 24 2017 2 Samuel 7.1-11, 16; Romans 16.25-27; Luke 1.26-38; Luke 1.46-55 Rev John Howard, Methodist Church of Great Britain The story of Mary begins the story of Christmas, but it is all part of the amazing message of the love of God for God’s creation. At the heart of…
Third Sunday of Advent December 17 2017 Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5.16-24; Luke 1.39-55 Rev Loren McGrail, United Church of Christ We need to wait together to keep each other at home spiritually, so that when the word comes it can become flesh in us. Henri Nouwen The Gospel story from Luke reminds us…
Second Sunday of Advent December 10 2017 Isaiah 40.1-11; Psalm 85.8-13; 2 Peter 3.8-15a; Mark 1.1-8 Rev Kate McDonald, Scottish Episcopal Church Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the…
Advent Sunday December 3 2017 Isaiah 64.1-9; Psalm 80.1-7, 17-19; Mark 13.24-37 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland Today marks the beginning of Advent – Lent’s shabby second cousin. Like Lent, it is a time of preparation. Just as Lent prepares us to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, so Advent encourages…
St Andrew’s Day November 30 2017 John 1.29-42 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland “Barbara Trapido’s first novel, published in 1982, was called Brother of the More Famous Jack, a book that redefined the coming-of-age novel.” This is how I began my sermon for St Andrew’s Day two years ago. I promised you then a…
Christ the King: Last after Pentecost November 26 2017 Ezekiel 34.11-12, 15-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1.15-23; Matthew 25.31-46 Rev Páraic Réamonn, Church of Scotland When I was a teenager, Matthew’s parable of the sheep and the goats was one of my favourite texts. I read it as a job description of what it means to…
24th Sunday after Pentecost November 19 2017 Zephaniah 1.7, 12-18; Psalm 90.1-12; Matthew 25.14-30 Rev Loren McGrail, United Church of Christ The author of Eden lays claim to creation’s purpose, raging against the banker’s deceit, overwhelming the financier’s fraud, sweeping away the march of capital that siphons the poor to the engine of greed. –…