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What was the worst sermon you ever heard?
In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. I was at a clergy conference some years ago down in England. At the end of the evening meal one evening, someone suddenly said, “what is the most stupid prayer you ever heard”. And I have to say that there then followed a very funny…
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Sermon for Oliver Brewer-Lennon – 27 October 2019
In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Oliver! The time has come! The removal van has departed. You told me this week that you can see the floor in every room in the flat. And you spoke as though that was your greatest ever achievement. After what seemed to take forever: advertising…
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How Awesome is this Place – sermon preached for Dedication Sunday 2019
How awesome is this place! In the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. How awesome is this place – it is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. Now Jacob was on the move. He wasn’t at home when he had that dream about Jacob’s ladder.…
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Tosca Review – Scottish Opera 16 October 2019 – ****
If the fascists came to power, how far would you go to stand up to them? Would you save a prisoner on the run? Would you betray a friend? Would you be prepared to die for love? Scottish Opera’s endlessly revived production of Tosca asks all these questions and more. Thirty nine years ago, almost…
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Sermon – Reading the Signs of the Times
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. One of the nicest things that I’ve been at this week was the annual dinner that the Shia Muslim community put on to celebrate Eid-al-adha. The festival of the sacrifice. Islam has the same story that Christians and…
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Emerging glistening from the water – sermon preached on 7 July 2019
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I emerged from the water, radiant and glistening in the sunlight and made my way up onto the beach. Not like Daniel Craig emerging from the sea in Casino Royale. Not even like Ursula Andress coming up out of…
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Whose Spiritual Mantle Will You Inherit?
Sermon preached on 30 June 2019 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Just the other week I was chatting with someone who asked me where I had studied. I told them that I had read Divinity at the University of St Andrews. Straightaway, the question…
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50 Years of Protest and Change
As day turns to evening on the 28 June 2019, it is difficult not to think of a couple of relatively small-scale riots that took place 50 years ago and murmur a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for the rioters. I have little doubt that there was no way they could foresee the movement which was…
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Honorary Fellowship Citation
This afternoon I was admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. I found myself in the most extraordinary company and still can’t believe that this happened to me. Below is the citation which was read as part of the ceremony by the Registrar of the College, Roddy…
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Sermon for Easter Day
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Shining brightly in the sanctuary, surrounded by flowers is the light of Easter – the Great Paschal candle. The fire that we kindled as day began and brought into church. It shines at the significant moments here in church – when someone is…