Candlemas 2025

Rev Sue preached this sermon at St Gabriel’s on Sunday 2 February, on which we celebrated the presentation of Christ at the temple, and blessed the candles to be used in church over the coming year. It’s no coincidence that in the last three months, the darkest of the year, we have been celebrating the … More Candlemas 2025

Give a little

You may have noticed a QR code on our weekly service sheets over the past few weeks. QR codes are clever bits of technology – a bit like bar codes – that link the real world with the online world. Those of us comfortable with using smartphones can simply point the camera at the QR … More Give a little

Up to the Brim

Rev Christine preached this sermon on Sunday 19 January. Here it is for you again: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.” I can imagine the prophet Isaiah dancing and singing … More Up to the Brim

Healing

Rev Christine preached this sermon on Wednesday 15 January 2025. Here it is for you again. The Christmas season can seem a bit like a rollercoaster or yoyo as we move from Jesus being born, as a boy in the temple, being baptised by John in the River Jordan and now to even later after … More Healing

The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli)

This is one of the most challenging pieces of music I sing in the liturgical year (the other being the Lent Prose, for all the same reasons). It’s an ancient plainsong chant, using text from Isaiah, in which the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament express their longings for the coming of the Messiah and cleansing of human sins. It is sung through Advent, building the number of verses Sunday by Sunday … More The Advent Prose (Rorate Coeli)