Talks, Sermons and Reflections

Nelson was possibly England’s greatest hero, a military genius, and a brilliant commander of men. That puts him at the top of a plinth in Trafalgar Square, in the centre of London, 51 metres above us all. But Nelson was also quite like us. He was born in this village. His dad was rector here. He would have held these keys. He was a Norfolk man, loved the place (called it ‘dear Burnham’), and we have a letter in which he says that he expects to be buried here. And he was also like us because, despite his brilliance, he was also very flawed. There was his failed marriage, his treatment of Fanny, his – at times – very wrong calls, and his craving for recognition and titles. And that does not make him someone we should ditch, but it makes him someone we can identify with. And today I would like to focus on one of those things that we can both identify with and learn from. It was an idea that was very big for him, an idea expressed in that message that Nelson shared with his fleet before th...

This is a story that I read in Anthony Bloom's 'Beginning to Pray' and which I rewrote for a harvest assembly.  If anyone would like to send me an illustration that I can put with this, that would be wonderful!  This is the story of Joachim. He was an old man, kind but simple. He was a shepherd and he had a flock of goats. Every night, after he had milked his flock, he took the best of his milk, the cream at the top, and he put it into a saucer and placed it on a rock. Rev Moses was visiting and saw him do this and asked him, 'What are you doing?' Joachim answered, 'Every night after I have milked my goats I take the best of my milk, the cream at the top, and I put it into a saucer and place it on a rock. I give it to God. I am saying thank you to Him for all He has given. This beautiful place, my precious flock, this tasty milk and the beautiful people among whom I live. It is an expression of my love for Him. And every night God accepts my offering. He drinks ...

Matthew 21:33-46 Happy Harvest! Our reading today is a story that Jesus tells about tenants who do not give their harvest offering to the landlord. ‘When the harvest time had come he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce’ (v34) ‘He will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time’ (v41) ‘The Kingdom of God will be .. given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom’ (v43) The audio of this talk can be found here The focus when people usually look at this passage is – rightly – on the rejected Son who is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God. But today – our harvest – I’d like to focus elsewhere, at the reasons that the tenants reject the landlord and do not give him the fruit of the kingdom. 1. The tenants have forgotten the goodness of the landlord. The vineyard, in this story, is the people of Israel. Jesus is echoing Isaiah 5. God in love ‘plants a vineyard’. He gives it a hedge and a heart.  And he gi...