Matthew 15:21-29. A sermon for class on preaching difficult texts. This passage can provoke some challenges to preachers and to discerning Bible readers because we cannot see body language and we cannot hear tone of voice and we cannot smell the freshly baked bread that might be on a table...

John, chapter 20, 'Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark...' Every word carries drama and detail, and is laden with meaning, soaked in the past and the present promises of God, soaked in scripture.

There was a moment when the no-longer Right Honourable Boris Johnson wasn’t sure if he was going to survive. There was a moment when the whole good-hearted Christian community paused and prayed for Boris: he was serving as Prime Minister, and was in the midst of guiding the UK through the first months of the coronavirus outbreak. It was April 2020. Boris himself had Covid and was in intensive care for 3 nights.[1]