Sermon catchup, again!

There are various reasons why I've not been blogging for a couple of weeks, but just to keep you all in suspense, the likelihood is that I won't be doing much for the next few days either, sorry. Something has cropped up that is preoccupying me, but that I can't quite say anything about yet. When the time comes I suspect you won't be able to shut me up, but for now I am afraid that this all consuming thought isn't for general consumption...

So, here's sermons that I should have posted before...

One from last Sunday, now I must confess this to be a rewrite, I was poorly last week, and didn't have time or energy to write a full sermon, so used the shape of a previous one and built on it.

Easter 5 (2009) Year B RCL Principal

Pruning & Growing

As anyone who has talked to me about growing, sowing, weeding and reaping will know, I am not a gardener – and one of the attractions of moving to the Five Alive Mission Community was a generous offer by one of the parishioners in Kilmington to take care of the Vicarage lawn so that I didn’t have to make the time for garden upkeep.

So I will mow the lawn or strim if necessary – and I have started the process of clearing the new bit of Garden that we have been able to adopt at the end of the current Vicarage space. Having said this, the aforementioned garden care parishioner crept into our garden yesterday afternoon and did more with a proper strimmer in half an hour than I had managed in three hours the day before! The only other thing I will do in any garden is prune.

Well, not so much prune as hack, slash, clip, cut and slice. I have a bit of a reputation in my wife’s family – many of whom are keen gardeners – as somewhat over enthusiastic in my approach to pruning. In theological college I had a reputation for being ‘the Clematis killer of Westcott House’ after a very exciting session with some secateurs and the once bushy Clematis outside our flat. To be fair, the clematis grew back rather well, until it was blown down in the Winter gales a few years back – seven years after I left! [more]

One from the Sunday before. I ended up not using this one as my early service is one without a sermon, I didn't need it at the second service and the third service was a family service.... It might be used, with adaptations, when the readings come up again in three years :-)

Easter 4 (2009) Year C RCL Principal
Shepherd and sheep

April has been, for me, a time of reflection and looking back at the last 6 months or so of my life and the life of these Parishes. The first Easter a minister gets to spend in his or her Parishes is a very important one, not only for the obvious reasons regarding what we all believe about Easter, but because the way we celebrate Easter reflects who and what we are as Christians in these fellowships of which we are a part.
So the celebration of Easter left me feeling tired, but very happy. Our celebrations were well attended, they were friendly and they were joyful. With the Annual Parochial Church Meetings that took place at around the same time I have had a time when I have given thanks both to God and to the many people who work so hard, and often without the thanks they deserve. to keep our Parishes not just going, but growing. [more]

So that's it for now, more relatively soon. I am now looking forward to a day off...

Except I might post my thought from the parish mag in a moment....

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