John's Sermon: Luke 3:7-18
I’d like to begin by inviting you to study this portrait of John the Baptist. Here you will see him as traditionally presented in iconography. The first thing that I’ll point out is that John has been given wings. John has the title of the forerunner of the Messiah, and the wings symbolize John’s status as a messenger from God. So, John is portrayed in these icons as an earthly ‘angel’ and is given wings. You can see that he holds in his hand a scroll. The Scroll contai
When God Came to Town: A sermon based on Luke 3:1-6
In 1879, Fyodor Dostoevsky published the great Russian novel, Brother’s Karamazov. In the book, Dostoevsky is trying to help people see the consequences of living in a world where God is not believed to exist. One of the characters, Ivan, is wrestling with the uncomfortable idea that if God does not exist, then everything is permitted. The novel portrays the horror of living in that sort of world. The book shows the psychological trauma and the damage to society that tak
A Christmas Miracle: A sermon based on Luke 21:25-36
Our world is haunted. We are not alone in this world, as many living around us would have us believe. Our world is enchanted. Our world is deeply mysterious, deeply mystical, deeply enveloped in the presence of the Holy Ghost. Our world is haunted by God. This conviction is not shared by most of our neighbours. Many living around us have a deep fear of the Holy Ghost. Many living around us want to make sure that this world is cleansed of anything resembling the superna
