In Sermons:

The Lord Is My Shepherd (Psalm 23)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 28, 2007

The Lord is my shepherd. Of course, the problem is that most of us have never even seen a shepherd! ...

Psalm 23 The Lord is my Shepherd The Lord is my trainer I shall not fear the fight. He is constantly with me, working my corner He refreshes me between rounds with cool water And with even cooler advice Yeah, though I walk to centre-ring To stare out an opponent twice ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Genesis 21:8-21 (The God Of Ishmael)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 28, 2007

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob turns out the be the God of Ishmael too!! ...

We continue our sojourn with Abraham today – Abraham, the ‘father of faith’. We’ve been working our way through the story of Abraham for some time now – stories about Abraham & Sarah, Abraham & his family, Abraham & his descendents, Abraham and the promises God made to him - Abraham the ‘father of ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 21:8-21, Genesis 21:13-20

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Genesis 22:1-14 (Abraham Sacrifices His Son)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 28, 2007

A sermon given on the anniversary of the kidnapping of Mordechai Vanunu ...

Some reflections on Abraham – the father of faith: I It was early morning. Abraham rose in good time, had the asses saddled and left his tent, taking Isaac with him, but Sarah watched them from the window as they went down the valley until she could ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Where Is Your King? Series

Contributed by Alan Mccann on Nov 27, 2007

God judges his people but in verse 14 promised redemption and the defeat of death/grave.

Hosea 13.1-16 Where is your king? When the Israelites came to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land two tribes, Gad and Reuben, asked if they could, as their inheritance, the land on the East of the Jordan. In response Moses said they could but that they had to cross the Jordan and fight with ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 13:1-16

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Who Will Rescue Me?

Contributed by Christopher Howitz on Nov 23, 2007

the frustration of failing in regard to law-keeping leads us to cry out to God and discover the power of the Holy Spirit available for all who trust in Jesus

Romans 7:15-25 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:15-25

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Job 28 (Where Is Wisdom To Be Found?)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 21, 2007

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." ...

God answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge." Job 38:1 - the beginning of our reading from today’s lectionary, that marks the beginning of the end of the book of Job. We’ve been plowing our way through the book of Job for quite a few Sundays ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Genesis 3 (Eating The Forbidden Fruit)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 21, 2007

In this voyeuristic age, where everybody thinks they have a right to know everything, here’s a story that suggests that there are some things that we ought not to know...

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15) Some will take this as a sure indication of the fact that this story was written by a man. For it seems that from Day 1 (or, to be exact, from Day 8) the creation story focuses on the jobs that need ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Ezekiel 37 (The Valley Of The Dry Bones)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 21, 2007

Can God bring life to those old dry bones? You betcha He can! ...

"The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry." A few years ago now an American university newspaper ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Father Dave's Sex Talk (A Sermon On The Song Of Songs)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 19, 2007

OK guys. It’s time for Father Dave’s sex talk! It comes once every three years, when the passage from the Song of Songs appears in the lectionary. ...

OK guys. It’s time for Father Dave’s sex talk! It comes once every three years, when the passage from the Song of Songs appears in the lectionary. When you were in school, you used to get this talk every year. If you were in a Christian Youth Group, you probably got this talk every week! Most of ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Genesis 25:19-34 (Jacob & Esau)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 19, 2007

In a world marked by violence, the ancient story of Jacob and Esau reminds us that conflict has always been a part of the way God deals with his people, and it contains with...

We gather together today in the wake of the terrible terrorist attacks in London - violence that I suspect has left none of us unaffected. Tony Blair said, “They will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear” , and it’s hard not to admire his resilience, even though we recognise, I think, ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Deuteronomy 34 (The Death Of Moses )

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 19, 2007

The Death of Moses ...

“There has never arisen another prophet in Israel like Moses - one whom the LORD knew face to face.” (Deuteronomy 34:10) So read the concluding verses of the book of Deuteronomy, bringing to a close the saga of one of the Bible’s greatest heroes. I know that all of us want to be more like Jesus, ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

You Can't Have One Without The Other! (A Sermon On The Book Of Amos)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 19, 2007

People says to me, "Dave, as a Christian I am not interested in politics", and I can say to them in all honesty, "neither am I". ...

I sorta promised someone in the parish that I’d choose a more cheery passage next time I preached. “Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy laden” was suggested - a message of encouragement and hope. This is not that sermon. Inspired by our set lectionary readings, for better or worse, I have ...read more

Scripture: Amos 8:1-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Was That Hosea I Saw At Sexpo?! (A Sermon On The Book Of The Prophet Hosea)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 19, 2007

It’s very graphic - the book of Hosea - and full of passion. For what is at stake, Hosea believes, is not simply a nation that is breaking a few commandments, but rather an ...

"Plead with your mother, plead - for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband - that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 2:2-3

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

I Had A Dream (Acts 11)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 18, 2007

When one man dreams, it is just a dream, but when we all dream together ... ...

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. ... I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Mystery Of Christ (Ephesians 3)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 18, 2007

Paul preaches the Mystery of Christ. To many of us it seems to have remained a mystery! ...

"In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican