Who do you say that you are? Saints, sinners and the Ascension

I have been reading through Ed Shaw's thought-provoking book, The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-Sex Attraction. Apart from the central subject matter of the book (Christians and same-sex attraction), one particular section stopped me in my tracks: Sinners or saints? But where's the theological misstep that the evangelical church has made here? Have you…

The Lord Who Saves

Sermon preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on the 2nd Sunday after Christmas, 5 January 2014 Text: Matthew 2:13–23 You can listen to the sermon here. What’s in a name? For us moderns, not a lot. Names are labels chosen from a stock of traditional or (increasingly) non-traditional stock. We name children after relatives or…

The extraordinary ordinary

Homily preached at the Lutheran Women’s League of Great Britain Workshop at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham 9 November 2013 Text: Romans 16:1‒16; Luke 8:1‒3; 10:38‒42 The lists of names in the final greetings of the New Testament Epistles tend to pass us by in our daily reading. When I first started reading the Bible…

The Holy Spirit in Context

A sermon preached on Exaudi, 12 May 2013, at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham Text: John 15:26—16:4 A recording of the sermon is available here. What follows below is unedited, typos and all. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. In the name of ✠ Jesus. But…

Per Fidem Solam: Romans 3:24 in the Würzburg Glosses

It would seem that Luther's decision to add the word 'allein' (alone) to Rom. 3:28, for which Roman Catholic apologists have pilloried him and his followers ever since, wasn't quite such an innovation after all: A N G L A N D I C U S: Per Fidem Solam: Romans 3:24 in the Würzburg Glosses…

Quick to hear, slow to speak

Sermon on Cantate—28 April 2013 Preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Fareham, and Oxford Lutheran Mission Text: James 1:16–21 A recording of the sermon from Our Saviour, Fareham, is available here. * * * In the holy name of ✠ Jesus. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for…

Give her something to eat

Standing over the lifeless body of the daughter—the only-begotten child—of Jairus, Jesus brought her life back by his life-giving words. Wonder of sonders and miracle of miracles. Now what? How do you follow that up? “He told them to give her something to eat.” Death to life to being fed. That's resurrection life in a…

Jesus’ silence

Sermon preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on Reminiscere Sunday Genesis 32:22–32 Matthew 15:21–28 24 February 2012 A recording of the sermon is posted here. In the name of ✠ Jesus. Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? I say to God, my rock: “Why…

Non, je ne regrette

[Health warning: the first part is mildly technical and a little dry, but 'contemporary application' follows further down!] In today's NT reading in the Lutheran Service Book Daily Lectionary (Matt. 27:1–10), the ESV tells us that Judas, seeing that Jesus was condemned to death, "changed his mind" and attempted to return the 30 pieces of…

The Finger of God

Sermon preached at Our Saviour Lutheran Church and Oxford Lutheran Mission 2012 on 26 August 2012, Trinity 12. Text: Mark 7:31–37 A recording from Our Saviour is available here. As is well known, the Gospel according to St. Mark is the shortest of the four gospels by quite a margin. Of all the evangelists, Mark…