Telling stories
One of the best off-the-cuff sermons I have ever heard was from a colleague at Imperial College London who turned up to find he was preaching on Matthew Chapter 1 verses 1-17 . For those of you who have not yet memorised the whole of the Bible and who haven't clicked on the link it is worth knowing that this part of the first book of the New Testament is a long genealogical list leading from the start of the Jewish Faith (ie Abraham) to Jesus. It's not something many of us would relish reading, lacking the humour, narrative and immediate appeal of the Bible passages most of us remember and appreciate, but it is one of the set readings following the Lectionary through the year. To be confronted with this text without having any preparation for preaching on it would throw most of us, but not Bill (for it was he) who proceeded to preach for ten minute in a way that brought these seemingly dry verses to life, who teased out some of the meaning in them and some of the purpos...