This is the sermon I preached today (29 November, 2020) for Advent Sunday at Putney Methodist Church. The texts I chose were Matthew 1:18-25 and Romans 8:18-25. Introduction Our Advent worship this year follows a Circuit-wide theme, which in turn is inspired by the national Methodist Church’s Christmas campaign: ‘God is with us’. At a … Continue reading We need a little Christmas now!

This is the sermon I preached today (15th November, 2020) at Putney Methodist Church on the occasion of their 150th anniversary. Introduction Under normal circumstances, today would have been the Sunday on which we celebrated Putney Methodist Church’s 150th anniversary. We were hoping to hold a special Circuit celebration service, with an invited preacher and … Continue reading ‘I am with you always’: 150 years of Putney Methodist Church

This is the short sermon I gave today at Putney Methodist Church (18 October, 2020). It was our first family service since the beginning of the year, and I gave this reflection while the children were making very realistic fake wounds, which we then bound up with bandages! The reading was Luke 10:25-37. Luke 10:25-37 … Continue reading The Good Samaritan: Making difficult choices

This is the sermon I preached today (11th October, 2020) at Putney Methodist Church. The readings were Philippians 2:1-13 and Matthew 21:23-32. Introduction Today, we are going to reflect on an ancient question with very modern implications: ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ (Matt. 21:23). This is … Continue reading By what authority?

This is the sermon I gave today (4th October, 2020) at Putney Methodist Church. It was a special occasion as it was the first time we were celebrating Holy Communion since the beginning the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the first time since 1st March - almost certainly the longest period in Putney's century and a … Continue reading An invisible communion

This is the sermon I preached today (Sunday, 27th September, 2020) at Putney Methodist Church. We were celebrating a somewhat reduced Harvest today, with some decorations but no collections because of the complications caused by COVID. The Church had already made a substantial financial contribution to both local and international charities working with the hungry … Continue reading A Harvest of Gratitude

This is the sermon I preached today (20 September, 2020) at Putney Methodist Church. It is the first one I have preached for several months, hence the lack of posts on this site. As I explain in my sermon, this is because I have taken four months of adoption leave to look after our new … Continue reading Who am I? Weaving our identity in Christ

As part of our attempts to stay connected as congregations and a circuit in these challenging times, I'm re-starting our series daily Bible studies with colleagues today. Each day, we will examine a short text, discuss some context and suggest some points for reflection and discussion. I hope that folks may find them helpful. The … Continue reading Home Bible Study – Resurrection appearances (Matthew 28)

This is the reflection I gave today as part of our churches' recorded Good Friday service. You can see the reflection alone here on Youtube, or watch the entire service here. The text is the Passion narrative from John 18-19. The painting referred to is the Crucifixion from the Isenheim Altarpiece.  Methodism, standing firmly within the … Continue reading Christ on a ventilator

As part of our attempts to stay connected as congregations and a circuit in these challenging times, I’m starting a series of daily Bible studies with colleagues today. Each day, we will examine a short text, discuss some context and suggest some points for reflection and discussion. I hope that folks may find them helpful. … Continue reading Home Bible Study: Ezekiel 1:1-3