Sermon Notes 2011
Rev. Robin McAlpine has written a series of sermon notes which are linked to worship services and other special occasions.
This page lists the notes from 2011 with notes from other years available via the links on the right. To read any of the notes in full simply click on the dates below:
| Service | Sermon Introduction |
|---|---|
| 24th December | Can anything travel faster than light? The possibility has now been raised through work at the particle collider at CERN in Switzerland. Light is a strange concept. Can you see light, yet without light you cannot see! |
| 18th December | I think we have to be honest, within our Presbyterian tradition, Mary, mother of Jesus, has not always had a good press. Indeed her role has been reduced to a minimal one. Yet according to the biblical narrative she is the one chosen to give birth to Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God ... |
| 4th December | Word association: I say ‘John the Baptist’, what image comes to mind? e.g. camel hair clothing, leather belt, locusts and wild honey ... |
| 27th November | We have entered the season of Advent. The word comes from the Latin adventus meaning ‘coming’. Advent is a time when the church traditionally thinks about some of the people who were involved in the leading up to that first Christmas, the coming of Jesus ... |
| 13th November | However you understand war, its causes or its justifications, when you look at old images of young men going off to war, we rightly think and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and the many who never returned ... |
| 6th November | Are we ready? The expectation of waiting for something to happen can be a very strong emotion, the family waiting at the barracks for a return from Afghanistan, a family member coming back for the first holiday since staring university, the child who waits for Christmas, the wedding couple whose day of marriage once seemed so far away, is now imminent and the holiday is booked, but it is not until next year ... |
| 30th October | Have you ever been in the company of someone who keeps on asking you questions? |
| 23rd October | Another trap ... these Pharisees don't give up. The challenges continue ... |
| 16th October | They were a sneaky lot those Pharisees, and in this particular story they are seeking to trap Jesus ... |
| 9th October | Wedding Guests. I suspect that most of us have been wedding guests. In this strange and not easy to understand parable, we have a wedding where everything goes wrong! |
| 18th September | Harvest Service. For most of us Harvest is not any more a firsthand experience. We do not ‘plough the fields and scatter’, most of us never have. We are town and city dwellers or rural commuters ... |
| 11th September | How often do we have to forgive them? We all know and use the “but” response. That is all very well, but... what if... |
| 4th September | Managing Conflict. The passage read from Matthew’s gospel this morning, on face value, looks really uninteresting, I would almost say boring! It is about disagreement and how it should be handled ... |
| 28th August | Carrying the Cross. The rock becomes the stumbling block! Poor Peter, so well intentioned, but he misunderstands the journey that Jesus is about to make ... |
| 21st August | Declaring faith. In Mark’s gospel the story of Peter’s declaration is literally in the middle of his account. It forms a pivot between Jesus ministry in Galilee and the long route to Jerusalem ... |
| 14th August | God’s love for all. We have all been shocked by the scale of the violence of the riots in England. One of the outcomes is the ongoing debate about the link between poverty, being disadvantaged and criminality ... |
| 7th August | The water walkers. I wonder how you are feeling today? Is this a good day for you? Are you glad to be here or do you wish you were somewhere else? What thoughts, feelings and emotions did you bring with you to worship this morning? What word would you use to sum up how you feel at this very moment? |
| 17th July | Jacob |
| 3rd July | Take my yoke. I wonder how you are feeling today? Is this a good day for you? Are you glad to be here or do you wish you were somewhere else? What thoughts, feelings and emotions did you bring with you to worship this morning? What word would you use to sum up how you feel at this very moment? |
| 26th June | In everyone is the image of Jesus. In these times of spending cuts that are affecting everyone, only two budgets are protected, the NHS and overseas aid. This has been controversial, and in the last few months there has been a debate about the British aid budget, and in particular which countries should get our help ... |
| 12th June | The birthday of the Church |
| 29th May | The Trinity: God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we touch something it feels solid, yet those who study these things tells it is mainly space in between the atoms, so as the atomic level they are not actually solid at all! It is difficult to comprehend ... |
| 22nd May | I am the way, the truth and the life. Have you ever been on a journey where there has been a deadline for your arrival, you are expected, and the clock is ticking. You are behind schedule, you seem to be lost, you think you are going to be late and every slow driver seems to be in front of you, and every light goes red! |
| 15th May | Christian Aid Week. Transformation is not always about changing what people see as the most significant; often it is the significance of the insignificant ... |
| 8th May | The Emmaus road. You are walking along, minding your own business, discussing the important issues of the day... and you notice, out the corner of your eye, someone drawing near ... |
| 1st May | Easter - It’s all gone wrong! What happened? They killed him. The body is gone and now we are in trouble! Will they think we stole the body? If they get hold of us will they think we were part of a plan to overthrow the authorities? We are in big trouble! |
| 24th April | Easter - The Lord has risen, Hallelujah. A black preacher once said, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!” We know the story, don’t we? It is what Easter is all about. A man comes back to life. We call it resurrection ... |
| 17th April | Easter - The triumphal entry to Jerusalem. The sports superstar at the top their game takes the adulation of the crowd, the adoring fans scream as the latest music sensation walks on stage, the crowds line the ropes to see the great movie stars enter the OSCARS and people line the streets to catch a glimpse of a royal couple on the way to their wedding. Jesus enters Jerusalem and the crowds shout, ‘Praise to David’s Son! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God!’ |
| 10th April | I am the resurrection and the life. If you do not believe that Lazarus was raised to life, you cannot believe that Jesus is alive ... |
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