Talks, Sermons and Reflections

A talk given at the Bury St Edmunds Come Together event. listen to ‘The gospel is at the heart of Christian unity’ on audioBoom Philippians 1.27-30 Great to be here, together with other brothers and sisters. For the last 1000 years, Christianity has had a privileged position in this country.  It has been the established religion of our nation Our monarchs have been crowned by our church leaders We have bishops in the Houses of Parliament Many of our laws are rooted in biblical truths But that is all changing rapidly I predicted about 25 years ago that in 100 years’ time Christians would be some of those few strange people who – among other things – believed in life long monogamous partnership between one man and one woman. I stick by that prediction, apart from the 100 year bit. And I would make another prediction. In 50 years’ time Christians will be that strange group of people who make babies the old fashioned way! The new normal will be ...

1 Samuel 10.1-8 listen to ‘How do I know I really matter’ on audioBoom There are two deep desires that many of us have 1. We want to know that we are significant We are told that we are unique and special, that we matter and are worth it. But we see through the hype. If everyone is special then how can I be special? There is this deep need for us to know that we are significant, that we are not just a cluster of atoms, which have randomly come together, for a millisecond of eternity, surrounded by other clusters of atoms,   which have randomly come together for their millisecond of eternity.  We want to know that we really are significant. And so we dream of what I would call the Susan Boyle moment – one moment they are laughing at us, treating us as a joke, as if we don't matter and the next we are receiving a standing ovation. Or  it might be the dream of winning £93m in the lottery, being spotted by the scout, buying the...

2 Peter 3.11-18 listen to ‘Be holy, be hopeful, be humble’ on audioBoom What sort of lives should we live? I wonder what you will end up doing? Astronaut, lawyer, vicar, retail manager, musician, footballer, engineer, writer, inventor, nurse. It is fascinating: and I look forward to finding out. But Peter asks a slightly different question: not what will you do, but what sort of person will you be? What will be your character? It is more important. Because we are bigger than what we do. We are how we live. So what sort of people should be like? Holy, Godly, People with a hope, Active, Humble, Grow and mature, people who bring glory to God.  I’m just going to focus on three.  1. Holy people Peter writes: ‘What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness … without spot or blemish’. That sounds so boring. We think of holy people as pious and aloof, sitting cross legged on some mountain somewhere. It is ...

Finding Help in the Psalms of Lament There are times when we are in the pit: it might be clinical depression, but it also might be exhaustion, bereavement, stress, betrayal, abandonment, hatred, humiliation, failure, frustration, sickness, facing old age and having those things that we put our trust in stripped away from us, deep disappointment etc.   How does the pit language of the Psalms help us when we are in the pit? They are also known as the Psalms of lament or the songs of disarray. The key Psalms are 88, 56, 69, 102 Psalms 40 and 103 are about how God rescued us from the pit 1. The pit as death: Pit = Sheol. Place of death, of non-being. It is defined by being the place of the non-praise of God. Psalm 6.5, ‘For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?’ Psalm 30.9, ‘What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?’ [Is 38.18, ...

Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian eunuch is travelling from Jerusalem to the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. He was a wealthy man. He held a senior post. He was the chancellor of the exchequer of the Queen of Ethiopia. We are told that he is a eunuch, but by this time the word Eunuch could simply mean ‘senior official’. He has his own chariot and he is able to read. He was also a religious man. He had travelled to Jerusalem to worship. Possibly he was a Gentile convert to Judaism, although he might have been a Jew. I doubt that he would have made the journey many times and this may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. And he was now on his journey home. But he is on another journey. He is on a journey to God. 1. He begins with a hunger for God We know that this Ethiopian had a hunger for God because was reading Isaiah. It might have been a passage that they had read in Jerusalem and he wanted to have a look at it again. (It is a great encouragement when ...

Luke 18.18-30 I have here a hoop. Could you go through it? But can you go through the hoop if you hold onto the suitcase? You can't let it go.   Possible? No impossible.   You can only get through the hoop if you let go of the suitcase. What is in this suitcase? These are our treasures: Money, glamour, house, learning, food, morality, cars, shoes, iPhone. They are all the sorts of things that we live our life for. They are what we set our heart on. Jesus says that if we hold onto our treasures it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of God. He says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to go into the Kingdom of God These are our riches. If we are going to begin to experience the reality of the Kingdom of God, then we need to let go of these things. Jesus says to the rich man, "Your money is your treasure. It is what you have put your trust in. It is what defines you. It is what you build ...