Morning Service for Trinity 11 2023
The story of Joseph and his technicolour dream coat is one that still told and still known, largely thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber. Its a story which has everything, avarice, greed, jealousy, sibling rivalry, sex, politics, and power – no wonder it’s so popular – but in the end it’s a story of just what the presence of faith can do in a human life – to transform a curse into a blessing, tragedy into victory, despair into hope , and, finally , death into salvation.
Morning Service for Trinity 10 2023
You all know the story of Joseph so I won’t go into it now – I’ll save that for a later date – suffice it to say that what got Joseph into trouble was as much as anything his dreams – specifically dreams of pre-eminence over his brothers, you remember how he dreamed of the sun and the moon and 11 stars all bowing down to him. Of course, it didn’t help that he was his father’s favourite – but they could cope with that, they proved that by their later tolerance of Benjamin, it was Joseph’s dreams of lordship over them that was just too much. They even say ‘here comes the dreamer.” It was the dreams that caused the problem.
Morning Service for Trinity 9 2023
There is a story of a boy who, hearing of Albert Schweitzer and his work in Lambaréné hospital in Gabon used his pocket money to buy a bottle of aspirin and asked the US Airforce to drop it over his hospital. The story got out and four and half tons of medical supplies were eventually airlifted to Schweitzer’s hospital. He said, “I never thought that one child could do so much.” At the heart of the feeding of the 5,000 is one boy offering to share his lunch. A fact omitted by St Matthew – there’s no boy in his account.
Morning Service for Trinity 8 2023
More parables for us to ponder, parables we have known from our childhood, and heard countless sermons on, I am sure. Most of you will know my thoughts regarding the interpretation of the parables – how I believe their re-telling by the gospel and pseudo-gospel writers to have have been much influenced by the writers’ own situations and the audiences they were writing for. This is not revolutionary stuff – all academic biblical scholars would hold this position.
Morning Service for Trinity 7 2023
Is God real to you? Have you been introduced to him? That’s a daft question I know – you’re sitting in church aren’t you, how could you have avoided God? Well if you were listening to this morning’s reading form Genesis, from the saga of Jacob, it’s not such a daft question.