At the weekend, after the huge reaction to Bishop Michael’s sermon at the Royal Wedding, a friend and I put together this list of suggestions for anyone who heard his message and thought: ‘I’d go to church if sermons were like that’ or maybe wanted to find out a bit more about this redemptive love of God, that he was talking about…so here they are – in order of ease!
1) Follow some Christians on Twitter/Social media and have a read of what they have to say eg: Bishop Curry / Stormzy / Rev Kate Bottley / Tim Vine Justin Bieber – depending on your preference 😉
2) Ask a friend who you know goes to church, or someone you have seen online to tell you some more – they’d love to chat to you, or maybe even take you to church with them.
3) Try praying – I mean, what harm can it do?! Just a simple: ‘God are you there?’ can be all you need sometimes. If that’s a bit daunting, check out: www.trypraying.co.uk
4) Read the story of a Christian – I’d recommend ‘The Heavenly Man’ / ‘The Cross and the Switchblade’ / The Vicar of Bagdad Canon Andrew White / Brother Andrew – all are inspiring and real stories…
5) Listen to some decent songs with a Christian message & let them speak to you – Stormzy – Blinded by your grace / Resurrection Day by Rend Collective / anything by Hillsong or Matt Redman
6) Check out some decent Christian/ preachers/ Church Podcasts. For example – HTB Church, Hillsong and I love Priscilla Shirer
7) Go the whole hog and read the bible! Start with one of the gospels – maybe start with Mark (second book of the New Testament).
8) Try reading the whole bible – there’s a great app called Bible In One Year which takes you through it with readings (or you can listen) each day & some explanation too.
9) Go to church! I love the Church of England but to be honest just find a good one! You can use: www.achurchnearyou.com to find your local parish church for example. Go along and tell your Vicar you want to know more. And on that – check out the church website first or their social media and it will help you find one that will suit you.
10) Check out http://alpha.org and sign up to an Alpha course near you. Go as you are, ask all the questions you want, no holds barred and find out what you believe.
2 Comments
UKViewer
May 21, 2018 at 3:30 pmI missed the wedding as I was at the Cathedral for the licensing of this years cohort of LLM’s all 13 of them, some of whom I have shared modules with, some of whom have been on placement with us.
But I downloaded and read the sermon and have it saved for future reference, about how to deliver Love in a sermon.
I wonder what would happen is some of our Bishops were preachers with his skills?
Jules
May 21, 2018 at 4:59 pmhopefully some of them are!