Sermons at St. John’s

Church in Three Dimensions | The Church as Gift

“When we stop treating the Church as a gift, we turn it into something else — a possession.”
How does the word church make you feel? In this opening sermon of the Church in Three Dimensions series, we reflect on the Church as something that is better and worse than we imagine — and yet, by grace, a gift from God.
Drawing on Acts 2 and Ephesians 2, this sermon explores the Church not as a project to manage or a possession to defend, but as a gift we receive in Christ and are called to share with others.
Relevant links:
https://publicchristianity.org/video/oppressive-or-liberating/
https://scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780334066125/giving-the-church
https://scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9780334066484/life-together

Church in Three Dimensions | The Church as School

What does it mean to call the Church a school in an age of information overload, algorithms, and constant noise? In this sermon, “The Church as a School,” we reflect on Acts 2:42 and 2 Timothy 3:14–17 to explore the Church as a lifelong place of learning—shaped by Scripture, formed slowly, and centred on Christ. This is not a school of exams, grades, or graduation, but a community where our attention is retrained, our loves reordered, and our lives taught again and again in the way of Jesus.

There's Something About Mary | Andy Hickford

Guest speaker Andy Hickford opens the Gospels of Luke and John to explore Jesus’ encounters with Mary, the sister of Lazarus. He considers what these encounters reveal about faith, hope, and faithful living amid the turbulent times we face today.

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as Family

Rev Steve Pointon grew up at St. John's, but now pastors at Lincoln Fourth Presbyterian Church in the United States. We’re delighted to welcome him back home as he unpacks Church as family.
 

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as a Hospital

What if church was not a place to perform, but a place to rest?
In this sermon, we listen again to Jesus’ gentle invitation:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Reflecting on Matthew 11:28–30 and Colossians 3:12–15, we explore the image of the church as a hospital — not because people are well, but because they are not. Drawing on themes of presence, healing, and shared life, this message invites us to consider Jesus as the Good Doctor, whose peace makes space for patience, forgiveness, and rest.
This sermon may be especially meaningful if you are feeling tired, disillusioned with religion, or simply in need of quiet reassurance.

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as an Albergue

Rev Corrina Heron continues our series looking at the Church in Three Dimensions with this exploration of the church as an albergue—a place of rest, refuge, and welcome for pilgrims on the road. Drawing on Scripture, pilgrimage, and the Songs of Ascent, we reflect on how Christian community can offer companionship, safety, and renewal, while always pointing beyond itself to the God who journeys with us.

Church in Three Dimensions | The Church as a Table

Why do Christians still celebrate communion? Is it just a ritual? A memorial? A tradition we’ve inherited without thinking too much about it?
In this sermon from our Church in Three Dimensions series, we explore why the Lord’s Table lies at the very heart of the Church's worship. Drawing on Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 10, we discover that communion is not an optional extra — it is where Christ meets us, forms us, and makes us one.
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body.

Church in Three Dimensions | The Church as a Neighbour

What does it mean for a church to be a good neighbour?
In this week’s service we reflect on Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself” and Jeremiah’s call to God’s people to “seek the welfare of the city.”
Christian faith isn’t only about what we believe or what happens inside the church building. It’s also about how we live in the places where God has planted us — showing hospitality, practicing kindness, and seeking the flourishing of our community.

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as an Advocate

In this sermon, Rev. Paul Lutton reflects on the biblical call to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”(Proverbs 31:8–9). Exploring Jesus’ declaration of his mission in Luke 4, he considers how the people of God are called not only to care for the vulnerable but also to use their voice to defend the rights of the poor and the oppressed.

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as a Signpost

In a culture where faith has often sounded harsh or hollow, what if the way back begins not with argument—but with beauty?
In this sermon, we explore Isaiah’s vision of “beautiful feet” alongside Jesus’ call to go and make disciples, asking what it means for the Church to become a signpost once again—pointing not to itself, but to Christ.
Drawing on the idea that beauty is “goodness made manifest to the senses,” we consider how our life together—and our everyday lives—might either reveal or obscure the goodness of God. At a time when many are quietly rediscovering faith, could beauty be the doorway through which people encounter the gospel?
We are the messengers—but we are not the message. The beauty we glimpse from a distance is fully revealed in Jesus Christ.
How might we live in such a way that others don’t just meet us—but meet him?

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as an Embassy

In an age of uncertainty, it’s tempting to retreat—to protect what we have and wait for the storm to pass. But is that what the Church is for?
In this sermon, we explore Paul’s striking image of the Church as an embassy: not a bunker to hide in, but a people sent into the world as ambassadors for Christ. Drawing on 2 Corinthians 5 and the Lord’s Prayer, we consider what it means to live as citizens of another kingdom—here and now.
What if the Church’s calling is not to win arguments or withdraw from culture, but to embody a different way of being human? A way shaped by grace, reconciliation, and hope.

Church in Three Dimensions | Church as a Body

The final message in our series Church in Three Dimensions explores a bold claim: the Church is a body—given for the world and made alive by the breath of God. In uncertain times, this is a reminder that we are not in free fall, but held by God and invited to participate with him in the renewal of the world.

Woman of Substance | Hagar

In a world where some voices are amplified and others are overlooked, the story of Hagar invites us to see differently.
In this opening sermon of our new series Women of Substance, we meet a woman pushed to the margins—yet encountered by a God who sees, hears, and calls her by name.
This is not just Hagar’s story. It’s a reminder that our lives are not defined by how others see us—but by the God who does.

Women of Substance | Daughters of Zelophehad

Mahlah. Noah. Hoglah. Milcah. Tirzah.
Five names most of us have never heard—and yet their story reshapes the life of God’s people.
In this sermon from Numbers 27, we explore the daughters of Zelophehad: five women who dared to speak, trusted God’s promise, and in doing so became the means by which God’s law was expanded.
This is a story about faith that lives as if the future has already arrived, a God who listens, and what it means for the Church to grow into the people God is forming today.

Women of Substance | Deborah

David Heasley helps us understand the significance of Deborah in the story of God.

Women of Substance | Ruth

Rev Corrina Heron continues our series on women in the Bible with a sermon on Ruth.

Women of Substance | Huldah & Phoebe

In this sermon from our Women of Substance series, we explore the stories of Huldah and Phoebe — two women entrusted with Scripture, leadership, and theological responsibility at pivotal moments in the life of God’s people.
More teaching than preaching, this message asks why many churches — including the Presbyterian Church in Ireland — have come to affirm women in leadership, and what Scripture itself has to say about it.
Through the story of Huldah, the prophet who authenticated the rediscovered Book of the Law, and Phoebe, the deacon and trusted carrier of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we reflect on authority, interpretation, and the surprising ways God so often chooses overlooked voices to speak his word.

Women of Substance | Mary

What happens when the Spirit of God interrupts ordinary life? In this Pentecost sermon, Sarah McCullough reflects on the coming of the Holy Spirit as the moment fear gives way to courage, barriers begin to fall, and the Church is sent out in hope. Rooted in Scripture and rich with pastoral insight, this message invites us to open ourselves afresh to the renewing, surprising, life-giving work of the Spirit.

The Future Has a Body | Painting the Future with God

As churches across the country wrestle with declining numbers and uncertainty about the future, it can be tempting to look backwards and ask, “How do we get back?”
 
In the opening message of our vision series, The Future Has a Body: Imagining the Church in 2030, Paul explores Isaiah’s promise that God is always doing a new thing among his people. Drawing on the words of C.S. Lewis, Søren Kierkegaard, and Jesus’ mission “to seek and save the lost,” he invites us to consider a different question:
What kind of church do we need to become in order to participate faithfully in the mission of Christ?
This sermon marks the beginning of a season of communal discernment as we seek to notice where God is already at work among us—and to imagine together the future he is calling us into.

The Future Has a Body | Towards an Intercultural Church

Bible texts: Revelation 7:9–10 | Ephesians 3:1–12
As Belfast grapples with a week of fear, division, and unrest, this sermon asks a simple but vital question: What kind of future is God calling us towards?
In Revelation, John sees a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language gathered before the throne of God. It is not simply a vision of heaven—it is God’s vision for humanity.
Drawing on Ephesians 3, Paul explores how the Church is called to become a living sign of that future in the present: a community where strangers become family, diversity is welcomed as a gift, and reconciliation triumphs over fear.

The Future Has a Body | Towards a Creative Church (Or, The Blessing of Boredom)

What does it mean to be made in the image of a creative God?
In this Arts Sunday message, Paul explores the opening chapters of Genesis and reflects on humanity’s calling as makers, creators, and cultivators of God’s world. From Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam to the everyday creativity found in art, music, writing, cooking, and craftsmanship, this sermon considers how creativity is woven into our identity and why it matters for the life of the church.
Part of the series The Future Has a Body, this message invites us to imagine a church where artists, makers, dreamers, and creators are encouraged to flourish for the glory of God and the good of the world.

The Future Has a Body | An Intergenerational Church (Or, How to Pass on Wonder)

How is faith passed from one generation to the next?
In the final sermon of The Future Has a Body, Paul reflects on Jesus’ welcome of children in Mark 10 and the psalmist’s vision of one generation commending God’s works to another. 
As churches wrestle with how to nurture faith in a changing culture, this sermon offers a vision of an intergenerational community where children, young people and older adults all become teachers and learners together—discovering that the hope we have in Jesus is not only true, but wonderfully real.

The Offering: A conversation with Jake Hawkey

What is art for? Why do we create? And what might poetry, painting, and faith have to say to one another?
In this special live recording, Paul Lutton is joined by poet and artist Jake Hawkey for a wide-ranging conversation exploring creativity as a way of paying attention to the world, expressing what it means to be human, and offering something beautiful back to God.
Along the way, Jake shares the story of his journey to faith, reads from his poetry collections But & Though and The Offering, and reflects on themes including art in a fallen world, the challenge of writing honestly, creativity and prayer, and the church as a place that nurtures beauty rather than merely consumes it.
Featuring poetry, laughter, pigeons, and profound reflections on seeing the world with fresh eyes.
www.jakefrancis.blog
www.attentionseekers.org
www.newtownbreda.org
Chapters
1:41 – Who is Jake Hawkey?7:53 – Finding faith: “I could love Jesus too.”10:51 – What happens when we are making?12:40 – Readings from But & Though17:49 – The challenge of writing the self20:40 – Art in a fallen world: “If we can’t make them happy, make them beautiful.”27:50 – A reading from The Offering (featuring Charlie the Pigeon)34:37 – Art as seeing: “Attention as the rarest and purest form of generosity.”37:03 – Christianity as a way of seeing: “Shepherds with the smell of our sheep.”40:58 – Art and the mystery of being human44:07 – Art and prayer48:56 – Art and the church: Cathedrals of creativity53:59 – Art as offering56:14 – Final readings: “He offers what he has.”