Purple magnolia

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At All Saints' Church, Orpington 9.30am Eucharist, Sunday 8 June 2008 , Dedication Festival 1 Kings 8.22-30; 1 Peter 2.1-10; Matthew 21.12-16 Two weeks ago we gave thanks for this church in a grand, glorious way. We gathered together many people who have been associated with this church over the years, and received greetings for many more. There were reunions and celebrations. We gave thanks for the work that has taken place, and dedicated the church afresh. Today – it is a little more homely. We also celebrate a dedication, but one going a little further back – 50 years ago – a golden anniversary. In a strange way, though, this occasion is perhaps even more about the future than that celebration 2 weeks ago. This occasion, today, is a good time to think about what it was that caused the people who were here in the 50s to think it worth the effort of building such a large extension for the purpose of serving God's mission.

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward At the Church of Unity, Ramsden 11am Eucharist, Sunday 22 June 2008 , Year A, Proper 7 Genesis 21.8-21 The background to our Old Testament reading is the promise of God to Abraham. God promises that his descendants will be more numerous than the stars, and then, more specifically, that Sarah would have a child although she was too old for it really, and that child would be such a blessing to Abraham, that child was Isaac. God promised a child, and the child came. Our story today is the dark underside of that story. Before the promise of Isaac was fulfilled, Sarah and Abraham were desperate for a child. It looked like God's promise that Abraham's descendants would be more numerous than the stars wasn't going to work out, since Sarah did not become pregnant, and she was getting old. So Sarah and Abraham took action. Sarah suggested that Abraham father a child by her slave, Hagar. This child would be Abraham's heir. So