Holy Trinity Headington Quarry

I want to start with a big question. Actually it is ‘the’ big question, and it drives much human endeavour. Why are we here? You can tell it’s a big question because it has many different kinds of answers. At a personal level you might say, ‘I’m here because I got up this morning and got on my bike, so here I am’, or because ‘I just had to hear today’s sermon’ (dream on), or ‘because the church is dear to me, I love it because it refreshes and sustains my soul’, or simply ‘because I was born’. But you might answer ‘why are we here?’ by saying why you were born

click link for full text:  Holistic Mission

So far we have covered:
1. Sustaining the sacred centre
2. Making disciples
3. Making a difference in society
4. Creating vibrant Christian communities
and we now come to the last: Shaping confident, collaborative leadership.
And, just as the first of the five gives the spiritual grounding for all the others, so the last addresses the practicalities of how any of these are actually to get off the ground at all.
There needs to be leadership.
But what kind of leadership??
This, I think is the key question for us to face in our day.

Click link for full text: Shaping confident collaborative leadership

Today’s Gospel is one of those spiky readings that is both difficult to understand fully and at the same time so stark in its message that its difficult the sensitive souls amongst us to cope with. First we hear about Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices – and then the 18 who died when crushed by the Tower of Siloam falling on them. Both the stories are unique to Luke’s Gospel and we don’t really know much about what Jesus was referring to.

Click link for full text: Creating Vibrant Christian Communities

This, then, is the third in the series of sermons based on the bishop’s 5 markers for church health and growth which goes under the general title: “Living Faith”.
The observant among you will notice that this is very similar to the thoughts behind the fifth bullet point of our vision statement:
- seeing ourselves as responsible global citizens: standing in solidarity with all people as our sisters and brothers throughout the world by working for just economic and social structures and for a sustainable environment.

Follow link for full text: Making a Difference in Society

Making Disciples by Alastair Wood

Unfortunately the title does little to encourage us to contemplate the vibrant subject Living Faith moves us into this week. The very phrase itself drips with imagery, flavours and tastes of uncompromising evangelism.

Rather than being ‘Fishers of men’ encouraging people to examine the lifestyle and person of Jesus by presenting him in attractive incomplete and tantalising glimpses, we are reminded more of the huge trawler or factory ship, catching indiscriminate loads and subjecting them to Processing.

click link for full text:: Making Disciples

Many people were being healed in those early days of Jesus’ ministry, so not surprisingly we read that “just then, some men came, carrying a paralyzed man” v18.  Only way many sick people were going to get there at all – see 4:40.     Good to have in chapter 5 this focus on one person who had to be brought by friends or family.

Click link for full text: Healing Service sermon

This sermon kicks off a short sermon series based on the bishop’s 5 strategic pointers to inspire churches in the diocese to grow and develop in effectiveness in bringing God’s Kingdom to our world.

The five pointers are:

1.      Sustaining the sacred centre

2.      Making disciples

3.      Making a difference in society

4.      Creating vibrant Christian communities

5.      Shaping confident, collaborative leadership.

Now the bishop has been at pains to make it clear that he is not trying to tell us what to do – or how to do it but is offering us some material to stimulate our thinking together as a church community.

Click link for full text: Sustaining the Sacred Centre

Last week, I was accosted outside school by a friend whose eyes were popping out with rage. She had heard a radio interview about the earthquake in Haiti - a senior cleric had been asked why God had let it happen.

My friend was upset and infuriated because she felt that the bishop had tried to explain away the disaster in theological terms. ‘Some waffle about how Jesus saves’ were her words. She was not convinced at all.

Click link for full text: Sermon 24th January 2010

Sermon given by Joan Walding (Chair of the Stewardship committee) and Tim Stead on Stewardship Sunday 2009:

When I first began to worship regularly at this church about three years ago I looked around for somebody who could set up a standing order for me so that I could support all the activities of the church.  It took some time to find the right person and I was introduced to many people one of whom was the, then, Treasurer, John Drummond.  I innocently asked him if there was any organised Stewardship in the church and a few weeks later I was the chair of the newly formed Stewardship committee!

Click link for full text: Stewardship sermon

 I hope the first reading today was not too roar or too shocking for you

- I am aware that many of you have come here this evening feeling vulnerable

- and her your grief is very recent or whether this service itself will bring back painful feelings from further in the past

- this service is intended to be part of an on-going healing process for us all

 click here for the full text: All Souls 2009