Irreverend: Sermon Audio

Ash Wednesday. Joel 2:1-2,12-17.

A sermon for Candlemas, taken from Luke 2:22-40, given by the Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin.

Speaking from Luke 1:26-38, Jamie Franklin encourages us to consider the greatness of Mary and to imitate her virtue in our lives. 

Speaking from John 1, Jamie Franklin exhorts us to follow the example of John the Baptist and recognise that there is only one true Christ and that it is not us.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers.This sermon audio comes from Holy Trinity Winchester. More information about Holy Trinity can be found here.

Speaking from Mark 13, the Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin exhorts us to take seriously the words of Jesus about the Antichrist and the end of the world.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers.This sermon audio comes from Holy Trinity Winchester. More information about Holy Trinity can be found here.

Speaking from Matthew 25:31-46, Rev Jamie Franklin exhorts us make a (Liturgical) New Year's resolution to live in the light of the fact that Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers.

Speaking from Matthew 25:14-30, Rev Jamie Franklin exhorts us to use our gifts for the glory of God.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers.

Speaking from Matthew 14:22-33, Rev Jamie Franklin encourages listeners to shun the empty futility of the demonically busy world and adopt instead the practices of Jesus in silence, solitude and prayer. And this in preparation for the great storms of life that we all face.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Rev Daniel French's sermon given at Holy Trinity Church based on Luke 9. 28-36 reminds us that as Christians there is a mountain to climb and a Christianity without the mountain is no Christianity at all. 

Speaking from Matthew 13:44-46, Jamie Franklin asks how we are to make sense of the unblushing promises of joy and gain made to us by Christ and the Scriptures. Isn't being a Christian all about being a boring hypocrite? And how does taking up our cross fit with this talk of happiness?Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, Jamie Franklin answers the question of how we in a tolerant age can believe in God's judgment of humanity. Isn't God unloving and unmerciful to consign some of us to the fiery furnace of which Christ speaks in this passage? How can we understand and apply these most challenging words of Jesus today?Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Matthew 13:1-23, Rev'd Jamie Franklin challenges us to hear the voice of God with desire, depth and attention and to recognise the joy that bearing fruit in the Christian life will bring to us.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

For Trinity Sunday, Jamie Franklin speaks about the way that the persons of the Holy Trinity reveal the truth of the statement in 1 John 4:16, "God is love".Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

In this sermon for the feast of Pentecost, Rev Jamie Franklin says that those who receive the Holy Spirit can be set free from fear and know true and lasting peace and joy in this life. And not only that but that disciples of Christ can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the Lord's calling in their lives.He also offers some thoughts about how you can go about seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. There are many ways.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Rev. Jamie Franklin speaks from 1 Peter 4:13-16 and John 17:1-11 on what it means (and what it does not mean) to share in the sufferings of Christ for faithfulness to God. Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from John 10:1-10, Rev. Jamie Franklin explains why the claims of Christ for his own self-importance are so shocking and uncompromising, why the voices of false and antichrists must be rejected, and he encourages to listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd and enter the doorway which leads to life.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from the story of the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35, Jamie Franklin encourages listeners that, though the Christian faith acknowledges the great darkness that we all encounter at times, nevertheless the presence of the risen Christ is offered to us if we are able to receive him with the eyes of faith.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Happy Easter friends. In this special sermon for Easter Eve, we ponder the glorious implication of Christ's redemption: the redemption of our souls, bodies and the rest of the universe. Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Today, we are reminded of the greatest saying of Christ: not only that he gives us what we need for life, but that he is life itself, and that he will bring us through death and into life, both now and forever. Speaking from the story of the revival of Lazarus from the tomb, Rev'd Jamie Franklin exhorts us to seek the life-giving power of Christ in this life and to put our trust in him for eternity.The two Scripture readings referenced today are Ezekiel 37:12-14 and John 11:1-45.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

For the Third Sunday of Lent, Jamie Franklin speaks about the literal-mindedness of various characters in the Gospels including the Samaritan Woman, who we encounter today in our reading from John 4:5-42. It is easy to laugh at all of these comical misunderstandings but do they reveal something to us about the poverty of our own spiritual condition and our need to take hold of the penitential season of Lent as a remedy? What can we learn about the difference between literal food and drink and the heavenly food and drink about which Jesus speaks, and how does this apply to our own desires?Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking of the story of Christ's temptation in the Wilderness, Jamie Franklin contends that suffering is a normal part of life and offers us an opportunity for growth towards holiness and change. This should be embraced rather than avoided and that is what the season of Lent is all about.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Leviticus 19:1-2 and Matthew 5:38-48, Rev'd Jamie Franklin demonstrates the connection between ethics and participating in the character of God and offers the encouragement that this change happens gradually as we make day-to-day decisions to be faithful to him.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Matthew 4:12-23, Jamie Franklin answers the central questions about the necessary practice of repentance: What is repentance? Why is it necessary? How do we go about it? How often should we do it? And what are its fruits? He encourages listeners that is only through repentance that we can draw closer to God and heal our broken relationships with other people.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord from Matthew 3:13-17, the Rev'd Dr Jamie Franklin shows us that the Gospel is God's gift to the world and not something that we conjure up by our own efforts. He also reflects upon the significance of baptising his infant child Alexander and the responsibility of parents, godparents and the household of faith towards children.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

During this Christmas season, we must recognise that Jesus Christ was born into the midst of a cosmic battle between good and evil. He would bear the light sacrificially through his life of witnessing to the truth. In him, we are called to continue the struggle. Rev'd Jamie Franklin speaks from Isaiah 9:1-7 and Luke 2:1-14, encouraging us to take our place in this battle wherever and however we are called.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Rev Daniel French preaches on Isaiah 35.1-10 reminding us that God has not created us for perpetual  spiritual exile but in Jesus offers a Holy Way out.  When times are really tough or we are in deepest anxiety the Bible  wants us know that God's will draw us out. 

The wild man in the desert preaches a gospel of repentance to prepare the way for God's Christ. Are we prepared to allow God to interrupt our socially comfortable and respectable existences and to address our souls in the way that he chooses?For this second Sunday of Advent, Rev'd Jamie Franklin speaks from Matthew 3:1-12 and encourages listeners to heed the words of John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

The modern world does everything in its power to numb our spiritual senses and distract our souls from longing for the presence of Christ in our lives. Advent gives us a special opportunity to push back. For this First Sunday of Advent, Rev'd Jamie Franklin encourages listeners to heed the words of Christ in Matthew 24:37-44: "Watch, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Luke 20:27-38, Rev'd Jamie Franklin looks at Christ's teaching that there there will be no marriage in heaven. What can we learn from this passage about the nature of the resurrection, and marriage, family and single life here on earth?Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

In this sermon for All Saints' Day, Rev'd Jamie Franklin argues that the Church is the community in which saints are made. Far from an individualistic and atomised understanding of the Christian faith, All Saints' Day helps us to consider the saints around us and in heaven and how these many images of Christ call us onward in our journey towards holiness. Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from the Luke's Gospel on the story of Zacchaeus the chief tax collector, Rev'd Jamie encourages us, like Zacchaeus, to recognise that our deepest need is met only in Christ and to realise that only his grace can truly lead to our transformation. Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Jesus' parable in Luke 18:9-14, the Rev'd Jamie Franklin asks how we can cultivate humility and repentance in our Christian lives and avoid the peril of self-righteous religious pride.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube.The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Luke 17:11-19 and 2 Timothy 2:8-13, Rev'd Jamie Franklin asks what lessons we can learn from the thankful Samaritan who returned to Christ to give thanks for his healing from leprosy. Rev'd Jamie reminds us that no-one is disqualified from seeking the grace of God and that God is seeking that we remember the giver along with his gifts.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube!The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Luke 17:5-10, the Rev'd Jamie Franklin encourages listeners to have "mustard-seed faith" in daily acts of entrusting ourselves to God. Seeing the world with the eyes of faith is also central to Harvest Festival, which the Church of England celebrates on Sunday 2nd October. In this festival we remember that all we have is a gift of God and that our offering of ourselves is an offering of what he has already given to us.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube!The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

Speaking from Luke 14:1,7-14, Rev'd Jamie Franklin invites us to shun religious pride and follow in the path of Jesus in humbling ourselves before God and men. We can do this by showing patient endurance in affliction, practicing daily repentance and serving those who cannot repay us.Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube!The music on this podcast was composed and recorded by Jamie Franklin and is to be set to the words to "Just as I am without one plea" by Charlotte Elliot.

"Lord, teach us to pray," said the disciples to Jesus. Many people feel that they would like to pray more and better but they feel lost and without direction. In the words and actions of Jesus, we can find guidance and strength to draw closer to God. In this sermon we focus on our desires, our habits and what we might say to God when we pray, taking our cues from the great prayer that our Lord gave to us.Our Scripture is taken from the Gospel of Luke 11:1-13 and was recorded by Revd Jamie Franklin.

Rev Daniel French reflects on part of the apocalyptic discourse of Christ in Matthew 24. 4-14, "wars and rumours of wars."  This short talk is also a summary of the the first Lent talk that Daniel gave last Thursday.  The podcast is going out also on the Catacomb FM podcast.  How can raise Christians resilient to this difficult age?

Reverend Jamie Franklin speaks from 1 Samuel 26 and Luke 6:27-38 on one of the hardest aspects of our Christian life: loving our enemies. What does it mean to do this? Why does God ask us to do such a strange and counterintuitive thing? And are there are practical ways that we can approach this to make it easier?Thank you for supporting the sermon audio podcast. We hope you have enjoyed listening. As always our sister podcast Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs can be found on all major podcast providers and on YouTube!

Rev'd Thomas Pelham's Christmas message for the service traditionally known as Midnight Mass.

Humanity has always had two parallel stories, the official narrative and the  God story.  Rev Daniel explores what this can mean for Advent. 

This audio sermon is a sample of an introductory guide to Christianity that Daniel is working on with ten other writers.  Please free to share and comment. He would welcome any feedback, suggestions for subjects to be explored.  We hope that this will be published sometime next year in the UK and US.  His email is cybervicar@gmail.com

Sermon by Rev Daniel French for harvest.. This sermon is based on Matthew 21. 33-44. The parable of the wicked tenants highlights what trying to construct a way of life without God looks like.   Here we should not worry so much about the fuel running out as the love and compassion.   A world without God at the centre easily becomes a tyranny.  

A short sermon based on St Paul's Ephesians 6 'Armour of God'. Rev Daniel French ponders on the fact that since Covid19 many people are contacting him acknowledging that reality of the New Testament vision's of forces of darkness.  How should churches respond to this? Are we too invested in materialistic world vision that we dismiss this out of hand.  Daniel argues that we must live knowing that the Kingdom of God, the Light, is infinitely more powerful than the darkness.  Finally, we have to present the Church on Earth as the ark of God, and not a pleasure yacht.  

This continues the series on John 6 by looking at verses 41 to 51 and asking whether during times of crisis we can all too easily jettison our core Christian beliefs. 

 Ephesians 1. 3-14 is loaded with complex ideas about us inheriting blessings "in" Christ.  Paul's Letter begins with ariel view of what God has done for us.  The whole epistle wants us to be prepared for hardship, push back and oppression. So it begins by inviting us not to count our blessings (which may be difficult if we feel we have few) but instead to thank God for God, or more precisely to thank God for how Christ's blood has rescued us from the dominion of darkness.  In my sermon I recommend reading the whole of Ephesians which is six very short chapters.  

Are you one of those people who is withdrawing into themselves as a consequence of lockdowns?  Perhaps you also fear speaking out because of political correctness? Maybe you no longer watch the news or even see the movies because you are tired of political subtext. So you withdraw.  God can fill the  'monastery of the mind' with light. Rev Daniel looks at the burning bush story Rev Daniel French for inspiration. 

Based on 2 Corinthians 4.13- 5.1 "We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal."   As a new and timely book Laura Dobsworth's gripping 'A State of Fear' shows how we have become since Covid the plaything of government behavioural scientists.  They have been instrumental in scaring the life out of us. Our counter-op must be to find inner freedom, to pierce the cloudbase and see that there is but light and glory.  The clip I mention from the Matrix Trilogy is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7fPyRT5Ck