This morning, I’d like to talk about hope. I’d like to talk about hope because I am aware of finding it increasingly challenging to be hopeful.
I find it difficult to hold onto hope when I read of world leaders – and social media influencers – who seem intent on attacking those they have cast as their enemies, and in the process cause the suffering of so many.
I find it difficult to hold onto hope when one man attempts to murder another man in Belfast, and then people with powerful voices whip up feelings of fear, resentment, anger, and hatred that lead to nights of rioting on the streets of cities in Northern Ireland.
I find it difficult to hold onto hope when people in Edinburgh are living in poverty, hungry and with no means of making a meal for their children, sleeping on our streets with no secure place to lay down and rest tonight.
I find it difficult to hold onto hope, so I’d like to talk about hope.
Pentecost 2 sermon
Just imagine a world where all have what they need; where all are treated with respect and justice; where all live in peace; where all are helped to live life fully rather than be trapped in patterns and by structures that deaden them … This is what Jesus called Matthew to, and it’s what he calls us to. It could change the world and bring the Kingdom of God amongst us … now isn’t that a call that is worth responding to?
Pentecost sermon
Ten days ago, at Ascension, I talked about the fear, and sense of inadequacy that might have plagued the disciples when Jesus ascended, and of the powerful demonstration of God’s trust in them in the act of leaving. And here, today, we see the fruits of that trust, and of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ followers are emboldened, and empowered. The Spirit of God breathes within them, and they are transformed.In that instant, they became the eyes with which God looks compassion on this world. They became the feet with which God walks to do good. They became the hands, with which God blesses all the world.
Ascension Day sermon
This feast of the Ascension is an astonishing moment that demonstrates that Jesus had absolute confidence in his disciples. He has this same confidence in us who are his church today, if we can only believe it.
Ascension tells us, who believe in Jesus, that God truly believes in us.
Easter 4 26th April 2026
What are the things in your life that leave you feeling lost, or depressed, or unsettled? And what are the things in your life that leave you feeling alive, engaged, connected, at peace?
Easter Day Sermon
In this new Creation we, every one of us, is the beloved child of God, in this confusing, extraordinary, and wonderful new Easter Creation.
Christ is Risen, Alleluia!