The Feast of Candlemas which we are remembering this morning marks the true end of the Christmas Celebrations. Today’s Feast is the culmination of the Christmas season of celebration. It is the reason why our church remains in White or Gold until 2nd February rather than reverting to the Green of Epiphany Sundays, to which it will move next week. 40 days of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the birth of our Saviour have been celebrated. 

The 2nd February is the 40th day after Christmas Day and Christmastide like Eastertide is 40 days long. This is to emphasise the importance of...

Just in case any of you are worried that I might be tempted to follow Ezra’s example and read from Scripture and preach until noon, you can relax!

But I do want to tell you more about Ezra, because he and Nehemiah together are two of the Old Testament Heroes. If at times  what I am about to say will sound more like a history lesson than a sermon, please appreciate that you cannot grasp the riches of the Old Testament without knowing at least something of its history and of God’s care for his chosen people. Jesus will certainly...

Epiphany II 22nd January 2025 

A couple of verses from 'Under the Tree' by John Mole 

Under the tree, without a sound, 

The parcels pass themselves around 

And smile inside, not unaware 

Of all the reasons they are there. 

'Smile not unaware of all the reasons they are there.'

By now your tree will have been long gone. The presents? Well almost forgotten except the unexpected one, that was what you really wanted. Last week we celebrated the Epiphany and admired the gifts the Magi brought or handed over. Gold for kingship, frankincense for priesthood and myrrh for anointing...

Last Sunday we kept the Feast of the Epiphany, the revelation of Christ to the gentiles as represented by the Magi. Today we jump three decades in Jesus’ life to the turning point in his adult existence – his baptism. We know very little about Jesus’ childhood, adolescence or his twenties save that he was recognised by Simeon and Anna in the Temple as a baby and that when a little older stayed behind in Jerusalem in that same Temple, engaging in dialogue with the learned, causing his parents no end of worry.

Then we hear nothing until the day...

I remember as a child in Sunday School, a very long time ago, singing a hymn which begins with the verse

“Wise men seeking Jesus

Traveled from afar

Guided on their journey

By a beauteous star”

It was written in the 19^th century by a Methodist minister, James East, who served for a time in Glasgow. It was some years later that it occurred to me that James East had oversimplified the story. The Wise Men found Jesus but when they set out on their journey, they had no idea that they were seeking for him in particular or...