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Septuagesima Evensong 2009 – Creation - Preached on 08/02/2009 |
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By Host Account on
07/02/2009 15:58
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Some people, at least, are getting a head of steam up about Charles Darwin, it being the bicentenary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his ground breaking book, the Origin of Species, so to join in the celebrations this is a sermon about the creation narratives in the Book of Genesis.
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Candlemas Mattins 2009 - preached 01/02/2009 |
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By Host Account on
02/02/2009 08:14
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One of the ways in which the feast of Candlemas was used by the medieval church was to bolster the position of Mary in the celestial hierarchy. It became known as the purification of the Blessed virgin Mary, a time when the church could recall how, forty days after childbirth, Mary went to the Temple at Jerusalem to make the traditional offering to purify herself.
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Candlemas 2009 - preached on 01/02/2009 |
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By Host Account on
31/01/2009 14:25
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Here’s a question for you – what is the link between Candlemas and a bumble bee? Answers on a postcard…The answer, of course, is that beeswax was used to make the candles that were lit at Candlemas. Indeed, bees are about as big as it gets in both Christian and pre Christian mythology. Why? Well for a variety of reasons.
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Epiphany 3 Eucharist 2009 The Conversion of Paul - delivered 25/01/2009 |
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By Host Account on
27/01/2009 12:29
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This is the time of year when I begin to think to myself “oh, must book some dates for marriage preparation sessions.” While I find the idea quite daunting – the idea of being able to prepare anyone for marriage, that is – the upside is that I get to hear real stories as to how couples met and ended up deciding on marriage. In recent years there has been a definite growth in those who met via the Internet. One couple met at a speed dating session (if you don’t know what that means then you are officially, like me, an old fogey); a number of others met through an Internet dating website. Cohabitation is very much a fact of life these days, but popping the question is still a big deal as far as the men are concerned.
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Samuel Sebastian Wesley - delivered 18/01/2009 |
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By Host Account on
27/01/2009 12:29
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This morning’s anthem, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace”, is a combination of words from the Bible with music written by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. He was born in London in 1810, and died in Gloucester some 65 years later. He was a natural son of Samuel, who gave him his name and a share of his genius. After serving as a choir boy of the Chapel Royal and then as pluralist organist of three London churches he became successively organist of the cathedrals of Hereford (1832) and Exeter (1835); of Leeds Parish Church (1842) and of the cathedrals of Winchester (1849) and Gloucester (1865), which last post he held until his death. His biographer, Peter Horton, has argued that S.S. Wesley was a composer of striking originality and ability in a sea of mediocrity and insularity.
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Be Happy! Evensong Epiphany 2 2009 - delivered 18/01/2009 |
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By Host Account on
27/01/2009 12:28
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I should like to be happy. After all, I am not out of work. I am not seriously ill. And I don’t support Watford F.C. But yesterday my cat died, and actually I am still very down. Carnage in Gaza. A global recession. War in Afghanistan. I sail smoothly through these choppy waters. And then my cat dies. And I’m done in. How to be happy?
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Mattins Christmas 2008 - delivered 25/12/2008 |
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By Host Account on
27/01/2009 12:27
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Last Sunday I trawled through my press cuttings from the previous year to find some of the more unlikely news items and now, as we head for a New Year, I have had a peek at some of the current crop of world news stories. These include the following. In Spain researchers have discovered that a cup of coffee perks up men rather more than it does women. Within ten minutes of a single expresso many men are raring to go. Try selling that one to your wife…In Moldova a businessman who dressed a pig as a prosecutor and a donkey as a policeman has been arrested and fined, despite a rash of public protests. In Turkey, the firm which made the shoe that was recently thrown at President Bush has seen a surge in sales. And in America the fast food chain Burger King has announced that it is marketing a men’s fragrance that has the scent of meat. That will get the ladies’ interest – nothing like the scent of a double Whopper with cheese to disinhibit the female of the species…
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