Purple magnolia

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, Orpington Sunday 6 September 2009, 13 after Trinity / Proper 18 Readings: Isaiah 35.4-7a; James 2.1-10, 14-17; Mark 7.24-end “Left Behind” is a series of 16 novels have sold in their millions in America. They are based on a theological doctrine of “the rapture”- this is a belief mainly held by some American Christians. It is derived from a completely literal reading of the Bible, including, the book of revelation and phrases in the letters. The belief is that at some time in the future, there will be a ‘rapture’, when everyone in the world who is a true Christian believer is taken away – and all the rest of us are left. The novels are about that period, what happens when a seemingly random selection of people are instantly removed from whatever they happen to be doing – whether flying planes or performing surgery – and the subsequent wars and battles, which go on for 16 novels, when you include the ‘preque

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, and the Church of Unity, Orpington Sunday 21 August 2009 (Bartholomew – Transferred) Readings: Acts 5.12-16; Luke 22.24-30 In our gospel reading this morning Jesus said to the disciples “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Today I’d like to explore a little of what that might mean for us. There is a story of a gathering of a branch of Amnesty International in England. It got to the notices, and the guy giving the notices got up and said – as you know, every branch of Amnesty has a particular political prisoner who they support by sending letters and campaigning. We now have to find a new one, as, unfortunately, our prisoner has been released. Not quite the right turn of phrase – for a group of people who were supporting this prisoner in his trials – to describe his release as unfortunate. A mistake of course, just a mistake of language, but one that could be revealing. Because there are s