The First Sunday after Christmas DayDecember 28, 2025Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3 Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7 John 1:l-18 Every culture in the world loves a good story. Many of us were brought up with them in the form of children’s books of fairy tales, or through Disney films. We probably remember the first time we could pick…
The Animals of the Nativity: Presence Before Power I. Do Animals Speak? • Every language gives animals a voice • Old Christmas joke:o Rooster: Christus natus est!o Owl: Unde? (Where?)o Donkey: Quando? (When?)o Lamb: Bethlehem! A joke—but a theological one:creation itself announces the Incarnation.So where are the animals in the Church’s Christmas story? II. Are…
Christmas EveDecember 24, 2025 The ancient world’s epics start with a dramatic appeal to a transcendent authority – as if the story to be told is too huge to be told by a human voice alone. Homer’s Iliad begins with the words: ‘Sing, goddess, the rage of Achilles’. Virgil’s Aeneid begins with the words: ‘I…
Advent IVDecember 21, 2025Isaiah 7:10-16Romans 1:1-7Matthew 1:18-25 When I was a child, I developed a somewhat all-consuming passion for stick insects… I had several species in terrariums in my room until the day I learned (thanks to my sister’s screams) that some of them had escaped, causing a domestic commotion! Stick insects have several surprising…
Advent IIDecember 7, 2025Isaiah 11 :1-11 Romans 15 :4-13 Matthew 3 :1-12 Joris mentioned last week that one of the major themes of Advent is watchfulness – a sort of heightened awareness of the circumstances and events that are around us, with the expectation that if we look carefully, we will see signs both of God…