Luke does his Jesus family history research. It reveals that it's not, after all, Caesar Augustus who is 'Son of God'. But Jesus... and us...

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Malachi 3.1-4, Luke 3.1-6.

A talk for The Second Sunday of Advent, 8 December 2024. 

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

'There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress... ‘Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near,’ he said.

But how can we raise our heads with the weight of the world on our shoulders?

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠Jeremiah 33.14-16, Luke 21.25-36

A talk for Advent Sunday 1 December 2024. 

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Trouble in Bethlehem: Jesus calls it "the birth pangs of the new beginning" - and we are called to be midwives of a new kingdom in which war and its consequences - famines, disease - will be no more.

Referencing ⁠Hebrews 10.11-25, Mark 13.1-8.

A talk for the Second Sunday before Advent, 17 November 2024. 

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Referencing Hebrews 9.24-28, Mark 1.14-20

demands: "When I think about God I think of a person who would never murder or kill anyone. But when you think about it you wonder, because wasn't it God who swept the angel of death over Egypt? It makes you think doesn't it? Is God against it or is he not? I mean what had the boys done to die? It was the Pharaoh wasn't it? Now do you realise how little we know about God?

A talk for Remembrance Sunday, 10 November 2024. 

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

On this All Saints Day we recall all those ghosts, saints, and souls we hold in blessed memory... from Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac to The Wesley Brothers and The Isley Brothers.

A talk for All Saints Sunday, 3 November 2024. 

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Why call Jesus names he never used of himself? Kings, and Messiahs, and Lords, are people distant from us, with whom we have little common ground. But the Son of Man is a Human One who suffers with everyone else who suffers; his divine power works totally unlike and in opposition to the ways of Kings, Messiahs, and Lords, the worldly structures and powers of death.

A talk for The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, 15 September 2024. 

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James 3.1-12, Mark 8.27-38.

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Think Veganism; or Jeremy Clarkson. When it comes to overheated debates about food, Jesus invites us to turn down the temperature. It's the way we treat each other that matters, whatever our differences. It’s a concern we may share as we reflect on how poor are the quality of our public conversations these days.

A talk for The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 1 September 2024. 

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠James 1.17-27, Mark 7.1-8, 14, 15, 17-23.

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

The celebrated hymn-writer The Rt Revd Timothy Dudley-Smith, died this week. A celebration of what he called the 'functional art' of hymn writing.

A talk for The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity, 18 August 2024. 

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ephesians 5.15-20.

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

We are ‘angelic demons’: sensing that we are damaged because we’ve eaten too much of the fruit of the world’s fears and hatreds: we are hungry for the bread of life to feed us.

A talk for The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 11 August 2024. 

Referencing ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ephesians 4.25 - 5.2, Psalm 130, John 6.35, 41-51.

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Learning from Anne Scargill's encounter with a lovely woman who had got her facts all wrong about Arthur.

A talk for The Seventh Sunday after Trinity, 14 July 2024. 

Referencing ⁠Amos 7.7-15, Mark 6.14-29, and a story from Ian Clayton, Anne Scargill, Betty Cook, Anne & Betty: United By The Struggle.

Find the text to this and all my talks at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/johndavies-talks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.