Sermons on Lent:

The Women Of Jerusalem Lament Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 23, 2022

What should we lament as we contemplate the tortuous walk of Jesus to the place of the skull?

The Women of Jerusalem lament (Those of us who have had the privilege and honor of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land always make Jerusalem part of the holy time. There, although the Jewish Temple has been replaced by a grand mosque, we can see the very places we read about in the New Testament, the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:27-31, Isaiah 4:4, Luke 13:34

Denomination: Catholic

Twenty-Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time; 28th Sunday B Rich Young Man

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Oct 9, 2021

By the apostles leaving all of that, we can see that Jesus relativized all of the central institutions of his society.

The rich young ruler is not boasting; he is just speaking as a devout Jew. Not all Christians are called to literally give away their possessions, but all disciples are called to give up everything by way of detachment; that everything we have ultimately belongs to God. Spiritual poverty means to ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:17-30

Denomination: Catholic

You Must Be Born Again

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Aug 30, 2013

The need for faith, the need for rebirth.

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. John 3:1-17. Nicodemus was a member of the strictest sect of the Jews: the Pharisees. No doubt he sought to keep all the man-made rules of his religion, as well as the law of God which was given to Moses. Nicodemus was a religious man; an upright man; a leader; a teacher; ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-17

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The King Upon The Cross

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Nov 16, 2013

As with us, so first with Him: no cross, no crown.

THE KING UPON THE CROSS. Luke 23:33-43. 1. Amongst the Jewish people, the prevalent understanding of the coming of Messiah was coloured by their relatively recent historical experience under the Maccabbees. Surely the expected deliverer would come to break the yoke of Rome, just as Judas of old ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-43

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Seek The Lord While He May Be Found

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Nov 27, 2013

Responding to the call of God.

SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND. Isaiah 55. The Bible is full of wonderful gracious invitations. Isaiah 55 begins with a call to the thirsty to come to the waters. This is in order to quench, not a physical thirst, but a spiritual thirst. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-13

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Waiting In Hope

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Mar 16, 2017

An ascent out of the depths.

WAITING IN HOPE. Psalm 130. This Psalm is a song of ascent: “Out of the depths” (Psalm 130:1). The Latin language captures the intensity of the situation: “De profundis” (from which we have the English word ‘profundity’, meaning ‘a great depth or intensity of state, quality or emotion’). We’ve ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 130:1-8

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Fragrance Of Love Series

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Apr 4, 2025

Is our worship "bland blah-de-blah" or "love untamed, worship unashamed"

If you enter St Barnabas Church in Jehricho North Oxford you may be struck by the beautiful cut-glass mural on the left (north) side of the nave. It depicts many important saints, martyrs and angels of the Christian tradition, with the words of the Te Deum Laudamus underneath. It is absolutely ...read more

Scripture: John 12:1-8, Isaiah 43:16-21, Genesis 28:17

Denomination: Anglican

Resurrection: Fact Or Fiction?

Contributed by Scott Maze on Apr 16, 2025

Some of you have played Jenga with your family, right? You seek to pull piece after piece out without the tower collapsing. If Christianity were a Jenga tower, the resurrection is the one block that, when pulled, the tower comes crashing down every single time.

Dead people stay dead.1 “Nobody goes to funerals and says, ‘What’s the over/under if this person comes alive again?’” I have yet to see one dead person come back to life. I doubt you have seen any dead person live again, either. Once people have gone down the road of death, they just don’t return.2 ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Five Principles Of Art And Architecture Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 26, 2011

From the iconoclast controversy we can derive the five principles that should inform our church art

Monday of 3rd Week in Lent 28 March 2011 Spirit of the Liturgy The onset of a dreaded disease is one of the most stressful events of any life. Today, cancer is the most dreaded, but in the time of the prophets, when no one knew about viruses and few people lived to an advanced age, it was a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:24-30

Denomination: Catholic

Send Not To Know For Whom The Bell Tolls

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 7, 2010

Ash Wednesday gives us what may be our last Lenten opportunity to repent and turn back to God.

Ash Wednesday Homily 2010 2 Cor 5:20 - 6:2 The great bell called St Ferdinand at our diocesan cathedral tolls solemnly several times each month. Many years ago I heard the toll as my father’s casket was slowly pushed out toward its ultimate resting place. Each day the low sound of bells ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Adapt The Delivery, Not The Message Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 2, 2013

The stark message of the Gospel must be delivered in ways that will be heard by modern humans.

Monday of 3rd Week in Lent Gaudium et Spes Adapting the Delivery, Not the Message Those commentators who are not very familiar with the documents of Vatican II, but who count themselves experts on the “spirit” of Vatican II frequently see the Council as creating a break with the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:24-30

Denomination: Catholic

A Revolution Of Tenderness Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 21, 2015

An opportunity exists in the world to turn away from solipsism and bring all humanity into communion.

Thursday of 5th Week in Lent 2015 Joy of the Gospel Abraham is, as the Roman Canon says, our “father in faith.” He believed that, old as he and Sarah were, they would have a child, and by the power of the Lord, Sarah conceived and brought forth Isaac. But Isaac was not the real child ...read more

Scripture: John 8:51-59

Denomination: Catholic

Fullness And Limitation, Time And Space Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 18, 2017

we must focus on the efforts we need to make to improve our imaging of Jesus and Mary.

Thursday of Seventh Week in Course Joy of the Gospel We continue in the season which the Extraordinary Form calendar still calls Septuagesima, or the seventy days before Easter. The penitential season of Lent begins on March 1, and we must focus on the efforts we need to make to improve our ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:41-50

Denomination: Catholic

Transfigured Through Obedience And Suffering Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 4, 2012

The transfiguration event offers us an opportunity to learn how we might achieve union with God in the pattern of Jesus on Tabor.

Monday of 18th Week in Course 2012 Transfiguration Verbum Domini “The word of God has bestowed upon us the divine life which transfigures the face of the earth, making all things new (cf. Rev 21:5).” These words of Pope Benedict’s letter, Verbum Domini, should frame our thoughts ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:2-10

Denomination: Catholic

Jesus Is God And The Crowd Doesn't Like That Truth Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 7, 2025

Jesus has just declared that the Father and He are one, one in intention and one in mind and heart. The Jerusalem crowd that Jesus has been preaching to heard His words as blasphemy, and that offense carried the death penalty.

Friday of the Fifth Week in Lent 2025 Today’s Gospel reading from St. John continues the narrative we heard yesterday from an earlier chapter. You may recall that incident. Jesus declared that Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus. Almost certainly that means the birth of Isaac and perhaps even ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18:2-7, John 10:31-42

Denomination: Catholic