In Christian understanding, to remember is to participate. We remember to bring into the present, for the sake of our future, the saving events of the past.

The where and how of belonging may be less important than the constant thread that keeps Christ at the centre of all that we are and all that we do.

I hope you can therefore see that Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ baptism as a cultural corporate, collaborative event, and furthermore, rather like our cultural experiences of Christmas and new Year, family and friends play a huge role in it.

Today, more than ever, we need to hold fast to the Word made flesh, we need to be reminded of the loving purposes of God, and we need to behold that true light that came into the world for all humanity. As people of faith, we gather to read and mark the loving purposes of God from the first day until the promised Redemption brought through the holy child.

A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.

We can immerse ourselves in the place that we, humanity, have created... or we can lift our eyes towards the place that God has created.

What is given to us this night, in the birth of this child, in the communion we share, is the life of Christ that can form us, and shape us

The Jesus who comes at Christmas is not so much the answer to our questions, as the question itself that is addressed to us.

... at times we the church appear to be more concerned with our own institutional survival than with speaking out for the voiceless in society.

This is God's story, not yours.

The kingdom of God isn't a destination but it can be a lived reality.

A sermon unapologetically about money, and particularly the money that the Cathedral needs to sustain its life and mission