St Johns Mexborough

Asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, Jesus's reply has often been misinterpreted as establishing a separation between religion and politics. In this sermon, we explore what Jesus really meant, discovering that while Caesar's image is stamped on a coin, every human being bears the image and likeness of God. Here we consider the limits of earthly authority, the sovereignty of God, and discover that to render unto God what is God's means to offer our whole selves to the One who created us in his image, and who gave himself for us in Jesus Christ to save us.

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus delivers a devastating warning to the religious leaders of Israel. Those who were first invited to the King's banquet reject his Son, and their privilege is taken away. The King's invitation then goes out to others to fill his wedding hall. This sermon focuses on Israel's rejection of Christ, the calling of the nations into his Church, and the danger of presuming upon religious privilege. In it we explore both the judgement and extraordinary grace of God, and discover how sinners can be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and made fit for the heavenly banquet.

In a society that still cherishes many of the fruits of Christianity — human dignity, compassion, justice, mercy and forgiveness — yet so often rejects the Christ from whom they came, can we really hope to preserve this inheritance?

In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Jesus exposes the extraordinary human tendency to enjoy God's gifts while refusing his authority. But the story is not simply one of rebellion and judgement, for the Son whom the tenants reject becomes the cornerstone of God's saving work.

What exactly is the faith Christians are called to hand on?

This sermon explores Paul’s great summary in Philippians 2: Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, who did not grasp at glory but humbled himself to save us.

Drawing together Philippians, Ezekiel and Jesus’ parable of the two sons, the sermon reflects on repentance, obedience, and why the Christian faith is not simply something to inherit, but something to believe, live, and hand on to our children.

Why should the man who worked for one hour receive the same as the man who worked all day?

Jesus’ parable of the labourers in the vineyard is meant to unsettle us. This sermon explores grace that cannot be earned, mercy that refuses to keep score, and the uncomfortable truth that God may be just as generous to someone else as he has been to us.

What does it mean to owe God a debt we could never repay? This sermon explores Jesus’ command to forgive “seventy times seven” and the parable of the unforgiving servant. In it we are confronted with the scale of our own sin, the mercy of God in Christ, and the challenge that those who have been forgiven much must themselves become people of forgiveness.

What does St Paul mean when he says that love fulfils the law? In this sermon on Romans 13:8–10, we consider the Christian’s continuing “debt of love”, and why biblical love can never simply mean approving whatever we happen to desire. True love is shaped by the truth of God, seeks the genuine good of our neighbour, and flows not from our own moral achievement but from the mercy shown to us in Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ, what did he come to do, and what does that mean for us? Peter confesses Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” — but immediately recoils when Jesus reveals that his path leads to the cross. This sermon explores the danger of wanting Christ on our own terms: a Christ who comforts and affirms us, but never contradicts us. To confess Jesus truly is to receive him as he is — crucified and risen — and to allow him to reshape our lives according to his will.

Beginning with St Paul’s proclamation that the risen Christ is “the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”, Fr Morrison explores how the Assumption of Mary points us towards the final triumph of Christ over death and the glory promised to those who belong to him. In the Virgin Mary, we see already brought to fulfilment what the whole Church awaits: the redemption of our humanity and the resurrection of the body.

What we love and what we fear reveal a great deal about who we are. Elijah hears the still, small voice of God amid the overwhelming forces of the natural world, while St Peter discovers what happens when his attention shifts from Christ to the storm around him. This sermon explores how love and fear shape us, what it means to remain faithful in a secular world, and why our deepest identity can only be found in Jesus Christ.