John 1.43-52
Introduction: Season of Epiphany
Here we are at the beginning of a new year. The whole year lays before us, indeed the whole of the rest of our lives lay before us. There is a saying isn’t there, when contemplating change, about treating each day as the first day of the rest of my life. What do we want that to look like?
Sometimes, the decision is a difficult one. For some, life may have changed for the worse and there is a mourning for what has been lost. I acknowledge that. But for most of us there are aspects of our life we would like to change; things we would like to do, or know more …

19/11/2017   Matthew 25.14 – 30
What is your favourite parable? Perhaps the lost sheep or the good Samaritan or the farmer sowing the seed? Many parables are vivid stories with helpful teaching and happy endings where the “Christ character” is a rescuer, a saviour.
But the later parables are much darker, where the “Christ character” is one who provides a banquet, or a master who goes away.  Robert Farrer Capon an American theologian, calls these “parables of judgement” – that is “judgement” not only or even chiefly in a legal context, but judgement which is about bringing justice and about discernment and leadership; a reminder that the first rulers of the nation of Israel were Judges.
Whenever the Lord …

I am delighted to be with you for this Patronal Festival, and I bring you greetings from Christ Church, your cathedral, the cathedral of this diocese.
For my text, some words of the risen Christ from the Gospel reading that we have just heard:
‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. (John 20.21)
Today is the day traditionally known as Low Sunday, and it might seem rather hard luck to be celebrating your Patronal Festival on such a day. But in fact the name Low Sunday is a bit misleading. It might be low in the sense that it represents a bit of a come-down from the razzmatazz of Easter Day, with …

‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the messiah, can he?’
Those words were those of the woman, Jesus met by Jacob’s well. It was a dramatic meeting. Incidentally, this is the longest recorded conversation anyone ever had with Jesus. It is longer than any recorded conversation with any of his disciples.
We actually know a lot about her even though we are not told her name. We know that she was a lonely and despised person. She was lonely because she came alone to the well and not at the usual time when the other women came and used the opportunity to chat to other women. She was …

This is the text of Tom’s talk on the subject of his spiritual journey, which he gave at the 8am and 9.30am services on Sunday 12th March. 
 
 
 
I’ve been asked to talk about my spiritual journey – my journey to God.
So, let me start at the beginning.
Childhood
I was an only child and my childhood was clouded by the events of World War 2.  As a result we often moved house and I managed to attend eight schools in seven years.
My father had had a difficult life, hardly spoke, so I knew little about him.
My mother was an extrovert and talked a lot, so I knew her quite well.
She went to church on Sundays and each day read …

Matthew 4.1-11
The temptation stories set the scene for the forthcoming ministry of Jesus of establishing his Kingdom on earth. What kind of Kingdom will it be that establishes the rule of God and yet because it is motivated by love for humankind, equally respects and honours the integrity of his creation?
There is much we can learn about our faith from examining these challenges to the chosen way of love.
All the temptations are variations on a theme of power.
The first appeals to the miraculous; the setting aside of the laws of nature and experience, with an open display of God’s omnipotence, the all-powerful.
‘Change these stones into bread’
We would love it wouldn’t we, that when life is not …

 
Deut.30.15-20
I would like to focus this morning on the passage from Deuteronomy. The passage is part of the final address by Moses to the people before they enter the Promised Land. It is part of a manifesto for a nation and not just individuals. It asks of the people a deep and significant question – ‘What kind of society do you want to live in? What is your vision, your purpose, your core values, for without these you are lost; there will be nothing wholesome and good that will hold you together and contribute to the flourishing of a nation.’
I accept you may see differently, but I maintain I see no intention by God to enforce …

Malachi
Hebrews
Luke 2. 22-40
 
Introduction
I can think of events that very few people would have predicted. Even going back 30 years to the great storm of 1987 when Michael Fish famously put at rest the thoughts of a lady who suggested a hurricane was heading towards the UK. She was essentially right all along. Few predicted the victory of the Conservatives in the last election, or the Brexit vote, and especially the election of Donald Trump. Sometimes, the generally accepted view is way off beam.
I can personally remember when in 1966 I suggested that England had a good chance of winning the World Cup. I was laughed at, and an arrogant fellow schoolboy bet me £5 it wouldn’t …

Matthew 5.13-16
Our gospel this morning is about Jesus calling us into discipleship. The two metaphors he uses, salt and light, both describe and prescribe who we are and what we should do for, and in the world. The salt needs to engage with something else before it can do its work. The light is of no use if kept hidden. The message is one very much about engagement with, and in the world.
Last week we heard how Simeon was affirmed, here we hear how we are affirmed. To be called salt and light highlights the value and trust Jesus placed on his disciples and us to extend and participate in the mission of God.
Salt reminds us …

Sermon – Last Sunday After Trinity
Sunday, October 25th 2015 © The Rt Revd Dr Stephen Platten
What have Scotland Yard, Roker Park (where Sunderland used to play) and this lovely church of St. George in common? Well, in case you think I’ve substituted a ‘pub quiz’ for a sermon, let me come clean straightaway and give you the answer. Norman Shaw who was the architect for the Scotland Yard building on the Embankment; Edward Prior who designed St. Andrews, Roker next to Sunderland’s old ground, and F.C. Eden who designed this beautiful church were all members of the Art Workers’ Guild.
The Guild had been established by a group of British architects who had been inspired by William …