Saint John the Baptist Church - Chipping Barnet - Sermons | Podcast in RSS.com

Saint John the Baptist Church - Chipping Barnet - Sermons

Saint John the Baptist Church - Chipping Barnet - Sermons

di Fr Sam Rossiter-Peters

Stagione 1

Sermon on The Second Sunday of Lent - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the Second Sunday of Lent, Fr Sam reflects on one of the most beloved verses in Scripture — “For God so loved the world…”, and invites us to see it not as a slogan, but as a revelation of relationship. Drawing on the intimate imagery of the Son resting “at the Father’s breast,” this episode explores how God’s very nature is love, a love so complete that it overflows into creation and into the giving of the Son. Lent becomes a season not of condemnation, but of restoration. In Christ, the distance we created between ourselves and God is carried and undone. Faith, then, is not about mastering ideas about God, but trusting the One whose love is the deepest truth of reality, and rediscovering that we were made for relationship with Him.

Sermon on The First Sunday of Lent - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the First Sunday of Lent, Fr Sam reframes Lent not as a season of gloom, but as a path to deeper joy. Reflecting on the wilderness temptations of Christ, he explores how Jesus reversed the pattern of Eden, resisting the temptations of appetite, power, and control where humanity had failed. Lent, then, becomes a season of abundance. Through fasting, prayer, and generosity, we are not punishing ourselves but retraining our hearts, turning away from self-reliance and back toward the loving relationship with God for which we were created. True joy, the sermon reminds us, is not fleeting happiness but flourishing in communion with the Trinity, made possible through Christ’s victory in the wilderness.

Sermon on The Last Sunday of Epiphany - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the Last Sunday of Epiphany, Fr Sam reflects on the competing pressures that crowd God out of our lives, busyness, noise, and a culture unsure of truth itself. Drawing on the Transfiguration of Christ and St Peter’s insistence that the apostles were “eyewitnesses of his majesty,” this episode calls listeners back to Jesus as the firm foundation of truth in a confusing world. In a time of overload and uncertainty, the sermon reminds us that faith is sustained not by clever ideas or shifting priorities, but by returning again and again to the revealed glory of Christ, making space for prayer, worship, and truth amid the noise.

Sermon on The Second Sunday of Epiphany - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the Second Sunday of Epiphany, Fr Sam reflects on the difference between seeking explanations about God and receiving revelation from God. Centered on John the Baptist’s declaration, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” this episode explores how God reveals Himself most fully not through ideas, but through the cross. Epiphany, we are reminded, reaches its deepest expression in Christ’s self-giving love — where human brokenness meets divine forgiveness. The sermon invites listeners to approach faith not as something to be fully explained, but as a mystery to be encountered, participated in, and lived through repentance, grace, and sacramental life.

Sermon on The Baptism of Christ - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, Fr Sam reflects on baptism as a gift, not an achievement. Using the image of baptism as a spiritual birthday, this episode explores how our deepest identity is revealed, not earned in God’s love. Just as Jesus is named “Beloved” at the Jordan before he does anything to prove himself, so too we are claimed, welcomed, and loved before all action or effort. Baptism and Eucharist together remind us that our worth rests in grace alone, calling us to live not from comparison or striving, but from the secure knowledge that we are God’s beloved children.

Sermon on The Epiphany - Fr Sam Rossiter

As the new year begins, Fr Sam reflects on Epiphany as a story of insiders and outsiders, and God’s deliberate choice to reveal Himself beyond boundaries. Set against a world marked by fear, conflict, and division, this sermon explores how Jesus was born into political instability, poverty, and displacement, and how the first to worship Him were foreigners and immigrants. Epiphany reveals a kingdom not built by exclusion, but by welcome. It reminds us that most Christians were once “outsiders” themselves welcomed only by grace and calls us to live that same grace today by building bridges, not walls, and making room for those the world is quick to reject.

Sermon on Midnight Mass and Christmas Day - Fr Sam Rossiter

On Midnight Mass and Christmas Day, Fr Sam reflects on the power of names and what they reveal about who we are — and who God is. Drawing from St John’s Gospel, he explores Jesus as the Logos: the meaning at the heart of reality who became flesh and lived among us. This episode traces the names of God through Scripture, the God who sees, the God who sustains, and the God who saves revealing a God who knows us fully and comes close to carry what we cannot. Christmas, then, is not about having life figured out or being “good enough,” but about discovering what it means to be known, forgiven, and loved by the God who calls us by name.

Sermon on Third Sunday of Advent - Fr Sam Rossiter

On the Third Sunday of Advent, Fr Sam reflects on the doubt and confusion of John the Baptist as he waits in prison and questions whether Jesus truly is the Messiah. Through Jesus’ response “Blessed is anyone who takes no offence in me” this episode explores how faith can be tested when God’s work doesn’t match our expectations. Rather than bringing judgement and power, Jesus reveals a kingdom marked by mercy, healing, and grace. The sermon invites listeners to trust God’s purposes even when the path feels unclear, and to remain faithful without stumbling over the unexpected ways Christ brings redemption.

Sermon on Second Sunday of Advent - Fr Sam Rossiter

In this powerful Second Sunday of Advent reflection, Fr Sam asks a deeply searching question: Why does the Church exist? As St John the Baptist Church prepares to welcome hundreds of people through its doors for the Barnet Christmas Fair, this sermon reframes community activity not as tradition or visibility but as mission. Drawing on the fierce preaching of John the Baptist and the theology of St Paul in Romans, Sam challenges the danger of religious complacency. Just as the crowds at the Jordan assumed their birthright as children of Abraham made them secure, we too can fall into the trap of believing that history, culture, or status make us the Church. But John’s warning is clear: belonging to God is not about heritage it is about faith and relationship. Through the story of Abraham, Sam traces the widening circle of God’s covenant: from one man, to a family, to a nation, and ultimately to the whole world. Faith, not background, is the true foundation of righteousness. This means that anyone with even the smallest spark of belief belongs and the Church exists for precisely those people who think they might be on the outside. The Barnet Christmas Fair becomes a living parable of this truth: the Church does not exist for itself, its building, its history, or even its traditions it exists to make Christ known, to make people feel they belong, and to make strangers feel like family. This episode is a stirring reminder that Advent is not only about preparation for Christmas, it is about recommitting to the mission of welcome, grace, and outward-looking love.

Sermon on Advent Sunday - Fr Sam Rossiter

In this Advent Sunday episode, Fr Sam invites us to rediscover the season not as a gentle lead-up to Christmas, but as a wake-up call. While we may picture the nativity as a comforting scene with children’s costumes and soft candlelight, Sam reminds us that the real story was anything but safe or sentimental. God entered the world through poverty, scandal, political oppression, and refugee displacement — and this shocking reality shapes what Advent truly means. Drawing on Matthew 24, Isaiah’s prophecy, and Paul’s exhortation in Romans, Sam explains that Advent begins not in the manger but with urgency: “Be ready.” Jesus’ title “Son of Man” ties His birth to ancient prophecy, reminding us that God’s work in the world is always bigger, more surprising, and more disruptive than our expectations. Through this sermon, we’re confronted with a three-fold Advent calling: Be ready for God’s new, unexpected work — in refugees, the poor, the overlooked, and the places we least expect to find Him. Live differently because Christ entered our world — letting the nativity reshape our actions, words, priorities, and compassion. Rely on grace, not self-reliance — trusting God to clothe us with righteousness rather than trying to earn it. Advent becomes a season of awakening — a summons to look for God among the vulnerable in our own community, to embody hope for the hurting, and to join the Holy Spirit’s work of drawing all people into God’s peace.

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