Sermons by Jacob Theunisz, BSc, BTh, usually preached in St. Anna and St. Mary’s Haarlem.
A few months ago a Dutch policeman named Arno was killed by a truck driver. The truck driver was not unknown to the police. He had caused several similar incidents and everyone who knew him said he hated the police. It was a mystery why this man was still in possession of a driving licence. [...]
On the 13th of April 2021 I was privileged to be interviewed by two spiritual directors in the USA on the subject of clergy and laity. Chris and Maggie are fellow-lay-ministers who regularly produce podcasts. Much recommended. How important it is to have a good understanding of the Greek words related to priesthood, is [...]
Today we think about the shame we sometimes feel when we suffer or when we are associated with people who suffer. Let’s break up the gospel reading in three pieces: suffering, shame and salvation. The first part of our text marks a huge change in Jesus’ ministry. So far his followers had [...]
Video of the sermon, with English subtitles Video of the entire online service (no subtitles) When it comes to the past year, in all honesty I am probably just like you, at a loss for words. Even though we live in a relatively rich and free [...]
Video of the meditation, with English subtitles Video of the entire online service (no subtitles) In the past weeks we have been considering the Psalms and how they can help us to pray and to worship. We have heard how some of them focus on praise [...]
The above audio file contains the sermon and part of the rest of the worship service held in the Scottish International Church in Rotterdam on Sunday 28 September 2020. Due to technical issues with the recording, parts were inaudible or hard to understand. These were removed. The full version can still be found [...]
Today's gospel reading is not a long one, but there is so much in it. So in a reflection like this, we have to make a choice as to what to focus on. And to me the most striking thing here, is most certainly Peter’s confession. Jesus had asked his disciples to [...]
I am sure you are familiar with it, if you have a garden or a balcony. You have some plants or seedlings growing, and before you know it, there is some grass or some weeds growing as well, sometimes even more aggressively than what you planted yourself. And most of the time [...]
It doesn’t happen very often, nowadays, that the media refer to Bible stories. Recently, however, I read at least two references to today’s gospel reading about king Herod. First of all the pope, on a visit to Asia, compared those who build walls and separate children from their parents, or hold them in prison camps, [...]
The gospels contain many stories of miraculous healings, both by Jesus himself and by the apostles. But even in the Bible there are also many cases of people who are not healed, like Paul’s famous thorn in the flesh, and the illnesses of Epaphroditus, Timothy and Trophimus. It is important to realise that in the [...]
