Blog

We want you to interact with us. You will find opinions here from our Ministry Team and others. Often the blog will relate to the Messages you can listen to from this site. Sometimes they may be experiences, stories or poetry that people from our community want to share.

Enjoy reading our contributions and make a comment. We would love to hear from you.

A Different Kind of Prayer

When I first invited God into my life, it was all new and strange. I had so many ideas about being a Christian that I had to overcome just so that God could show me the better way. Prayer for instance. I loved talking to God about all sorts of things as a teenager but I never knew that that was prayer. I thought prayer was what Ministers in churches did- prayers that had “Thee” and “Thou�...Read more »

A Telling Response

Last week Graeme was telling us about the way God's solutions are commonly surprising to us. God doesn't follow our logic is relation to power, peace, hope or salvation. The ultimate surprise is told in the Christmas story. God sent his son as a human baby, that he would call shepherds, the poorest of the poor, to the manger side and wise men with expensive gifts to a simple home, and expect tha...Read more »

Incarnation

What is the incarnation But God's embodied presence? A complete divine infilling. A sync of God with us. To Mary came a promise, That the a baby would be born, By the Holy Spirit's power, He would be the son of God. From Mary came acceptance, And the child began to grow, 'Til in a borrowed room one day The son of God was born. A collision occurred in Mary, Between the carnal and...Read more »

Who Aspires to be Humble?

Humility has got a bit of bad press lately. For many people humility goes with words like “self effacing”, “weak”, and “poor self esteem”. For men it is seen as the opposite of ‘being a man and sticking up for yourself’. But humility looks totally different in the Bible. It somehow looks courageous and heroic. Paul looks at Jesus’ example of humility as something worth copying...Read more »

The Story of Christmas

It's Christmas again and we are telling the story of the baby Jesus born in a manger. This is a beautiful story and we tell it each year under the Christmas tree, as we hang up our Christmas stockings, hoping that Santa Claus will come down the chimney and bring us beautiful and expensive presents. At the same time we say that we have to get back to the true story of Christmas. How terrible...Read more »

What If?

What if Jesus came again? And it all happened as we imagine except for one little difference. Everyone was raised from the dead, we had the last judgement and the world was set to rights, and everyone who desires God ‘bends the knee’ to Jesus and everyone who rejects God gets their wish and is sent to an alternative reality where God is fully absent (it sounds like hell to me!). But then j...Read more »

Pr Berlin Guerrero

This is an extract from a sermon presented by Pastor Berlin Guerrero at St John's Uniting Church in Essendon on October 2, 2011. The Philippines, the country where I come from, is known to be the only Christian nation in Asia. Its leaders in government, past and present, are known to be faithful Roman Catholics – from Marcos to Corazon Aquino, Estrada to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and now Benign...Read more »

The Sheep and the Goats

Today we look at the third in this series of parables of the Kingdom. Remember they are parables and we have to look beyond the obvious to get their meaning. Because they are all about the Kingdom of Heaven/God, they will have something to do with the nature of life under God's rule. This parable is about the Judge/King who sits on his throne at the end of time with the nations of the world g...Read more »

Risk, Response, Reward

This week we are looking at the story we call, “The Parable of the Talents” from Matthew 25. Remember this is a parable, an illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven. In both Mark and Luke it is called the Kingdom of God. For us the word “heaven” can set us on the wrong track from the beginning. It is not about “heaven” after we die, but God's Kingdom which is past, present and fut...Read more »

Real or Imitation Jewellery

I’ve walked past those booths at the big shopping centres which say “cash for gold”. It always seemed to me to be out of place- as if a pawn shop had moved in to encourage desperate people to part with their heirlooms for very little cash. But of course the time comes when amongst all the old jewellery you end up with after the passing of your aged relatives you look at the old fob watch ...Read more »

The King James Bible

Celebrating 400 Year since the Bible was translated into an accepted common English language version: the King James Bible We live in a time of many translations of the Bible into English. Many of us have a few different versions at home such as RSV, NIV, Good News Bible, Living Bible, ESV, Philips versions, etc. But where did this drive to translate the Bible into the common language of the pe...Read more »

Death or Handing Over

Today we are reflecting on Deuteronomy 34 coming towards the end our series looking at the foundations of our faith in the Old Testament. The Promised Land is just there over the river and Moses stands on Mt Nebo and looks at it. He has led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, spent forty years leading them in the desert, given them God's law and forged them into a new nation. But Moses canno...Read more »

The Heart of our Faith

Moses had been to heaven and back, and then to hell and back! Why did he do it? What motivated him? In Exodus 33:12-21, Moses meets with God straight after the disastrous Golden Calf incident. God has already indicated that the people’s desertion of God’s ways only weeks after the miraculous exodus from Egypt, and while God is providing them with manna and quail every day is all too much! G...Read more »

Idolatry

I am an atheist about atheists. I don't really believe they exist. I know that some people say they don't believe in God. When I talk with such people my question is, "Tell me about the God you don't believe in?" Almost in every case I find myself answering, "If that is the god you don't believe in, then I don't believe in that god either." They usually tell me about the abuse and wars perpetr...Read more »

Law of the Old Testament

What to do with the Law of the Old Testament? Many people are taught from an early age to both respect and dismiss the Old Testament. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Law of ancient Israel. The Law is not just the Ten Commandments which are in our reading from Exodus 20 but include all those other laws found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy covering moral behaviour, propert...Read more »

Maintain The Rage

My normal working life is fairly sedentary, but when we go on holidays Maureen insists that we walk everywhere - and I complain. “My legs hurt.” “We're not going to walk all the way to Broadbeach again are we?” Like a mother with her reluctant child she negotiates, "We will walk there and if you are tired we can get the bus back." She doesn't just stroll either, she walks! and I someti...Read more »

The Old Testament

Jesus Loved the Old Testament! Do you wonder why? Contemporary readers of the Old Testament find it hard to get past the constant bloodshed and violence that fill many of the stories of God’s people Israel over a period of 1500 years. When I led a group of people through the Disciple course which meant reading the whole Bible over a year and picking up its major themes one woman came every we...Read more »

Miracles?

Since the 18th Century when Western Society established “scientific method” as the only way to know facts about the world there has been a division in the life of the church. It is based around questions like these: Does God intervene in the world? Does God do miracles? Is there a supernatural realm apart from the natural world? Secular scientists and the academic intelligentsia we...Read more »

Sacramental Experiences

Today we are looking at Exodus 12: 1-14. It is the account of the first Passover. It was a meal on the run. Maybe the ancient equivalent of fast food. After this meal they had to be ready to move because on this night they were to be released from captivity as slaves in Egypt. The meal was to be prepared carefully, but cooked and eaten quickly. They had to be ready to leave with their sandals...Read more »

Who’s Doing the Work Here?!

Our reading today sees a very puzzled Moses investigating a bush on a desert mountainside that is burning but doesn’t burn up. He is a refugee from Egypt where he had stood up against the systematic oppression of his own Hebrew people, killed a cruel slave driver, and then fled to Arabia. He had made a new life there as a shepherd and even got married and started a family but ... It is God...Read more »

Most of us are Cowards!

Most of us are cowards and would do anything to avoid conflict. Sometimes we can be terribly clever and mask our innate desire to “not make waves” behind Jesus’ teachings about being ‘peacemakers’, etc. But when all is said and done if there is the smell of conflict in the air we try and make ourselves scarce. However, sometimes something so unjust turns up that we are tempted to m...Read more »

Joseph and God’s Will

I have really connected with story of Joseph over the last few weeks. He has become a bit of role model as I watch how he intuitively trusts God in the face of all his hardships, injustices, and blessings. And he does all this without the things that you and I take for granted like a church community, a Bible, and trusted Christian friends who help us make sense of our lives. Joseph was hat...Read more »

Integrity

Integrity: Don’t leave home without it! Integrity means being the same person no matter where you are or who you are with. Integrity is really hard to maintain in this modern world. This is because we live our lives in unrelated bits. The people we work with don’t live in our neighbourhood. The people in our neighbourhood may not be the people we go to church with. The people we go to churc...Read more »

Psalms and Prayer

The Psalms Teach us to Pray in a New Way Prayer is one of those parts of life that people seem to either love or hate. Usually those who love to pray feel as though they can pour out there heart to God and know that they are heard. But those who steer clear of prayer either do so out of boredom (“same old same old”) or simply because they can’t get a handle on it. The Psalms are a book...Read more »

Wrestling with God Changes You

Today we have the pleasure of sharing in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Natalie will be Baptised by full immersion and Craig's Baptism as a child will be confirmed. They are both adults and they are making their own choices to follow Jesus as the central commitment of their lives. Such a decision comes after much consideration and sometimes even struggle. Becoming a Christian ...Read more »

Landmarks of Life! Bethel

Once when I was new in a Parish, I asked where the bank was. I was in a group of several people after church and they all started to offer advice together. One began, “From here it is the third coffee shop on the left.” Another said, “It’s just before you get to the library.” And a third told me, “It’s beside the bottle shop.” What people didn’t realise was that they were...Read more »

Foundations in OT – Prayer

Again we are looking at the story of Abraham as a means of discovering, what we might call, first principles of our faith. In Genesis 18, we have the story of God visiting Abraham in the shape of a man, with two others who turn out to be angels. God comes for two purposes. First, he is there to reiterate his promise that Sarah will have a child in nine months time. Understandably Sarah fin...Read more »

God’s Way or My Way!

Most of us like to think we are ok people most of the time. We have learned not to hate people and be nice to everyone (almost!). We try and do what we can for God, and we try and “get on with our own lives. “ But hang on! What does that mean - to “get on with our own lives”? For most people it means doing what you want to do. You follow your own interests, spend your time on who or wh...Read more »

Faith

Last week Graeme spoke to us about the covenant which God made with Abram. It was an unequal agreement where God made all the promises and Abraham was only required to say "Yes!" That "Yes" is his statement of faith. Now we are actually moving backwards in the text from Genesis Chapter 17 to Chapter 15. In Chapter 17 the covenant is addressed directly but in 15 it is more indirect. Here the...Read more »

Things you must know…

Things you really must know about God and yourself! Many people have a love/hate relationship with the Old Testament. There are great stories of faith, God’s salvation and deeply moving Psalms mixed in with blood-bath wars, Temple sacrifices and strong punishments from God. How do you get a handle on the Old Testament?! The Old Testament lays the groundwork for God’s plan to save all ...Read more »

The Power of Unity

Spirit Powered - The Power of Unity The Bible begins with God creating all things climaxing with the creation of humans who are given the image of God. In some way they were like God. We are told that this gave them the power and responsibility to oversee the care of all that God had made. In Chapter 2 and 3 we have a different framing of the story. In this story “God likeness” is no...Read more »

Are you blessed?

The short answer is ‘yes’! But do you know it? What sort of blessing is it? And most importantly of all, “What is a blessing anyway?” My Old Testament lecturer said there is no clear dictionary definition available even after hundreds of years of the latest research on the Hebrew language. So you have to pick it up from the context. The two readings today give totally different resul...Read more »

Who is there to help me?

Jesus spent three intensive years with his disciples training them in the ways of God’s Kingdom. But then his death was upon him. Judas had left the last supper. Jesus would die, would rise again, but would not be with them as before. Who would be there for the disciples now? Who would guide them in the nitty gritty of day to day life in sinful yet wonderful Christian community? Who would be...Read more »

Who is there to help me?

Simple as ABC – Christ Centred

Over the last three weeks we have been focussing on the simplicity of the Church and its mission. It is all about: A – Admission to the Kingdom B – Belonging to a small discipleship group C – Commissioned to serve. Now our focus is on who and what hold it all together. The answer to “who”, is Jesus and what, is “love”. This A.B.C. is not just a set of disconnected ideas, b...Read more »

Core Business of Jesus’ Church

Core Business of Jesus’ Church; as simple as ABC The core business of Jesus’ church can be summarised as A,B,C. A. Admit people to the Kingdom of God B. Belong to a small discipleship group C. Commission people to serve This week we focus on what the Bible says about “C”. It seems that every member of Jesus’ church is called, commissioned and empowered to serve God in his missio...Read more »

Christianity – As Simple as A.B.C

B = Belonging to a discipleship group Last week Graeme began this new series reflecting on A, Admission to the Kingdom. He told us how simple it is to enter, by faith in Jesus. What he said reminded me of the importance of the Kingdom of God in the message of Jesus. The Kingdom is all Jesus talked about. It was what all those parables were about and what all those healings were illustrati...Read more »

…as simple as ABC

If you asked 10 people what the core business of a bakery is they would say “To bake bread.” I f you asked them what is the core business of a coal mine they would say “To dig up coal.” But if you asked them what is the core business of the church you would get 10 different answers from 10 different people all of them at least partly right. Was Jesus confused about the core business of ...Read more »

Heading Back To Galilee

Happy Resurrection Sunday. Today we look at Matthew's version of the most remarkable event in human history. You will find it in Matthew 28. There are three things I want you to notice in this story. 1. Jesus Is Alive The women came to the tomb, but he was not there. Instead they met an angel and later Jesus himself and they were frighten and amazed. Even the soldiers who were on guard at...Read more »

Accepting Jesus’ Authority

I love Palm Sunday. In the events of Jesus’ life it gives the appearance that he is finally getting the acclaim he deserves. Jesus is the one really good thing to happen to God’s people in occupied Israel. He heals, he teaches, he restores people’s lives and he is ‘the real deal’ from God. And when he rides into Jersualem on the donkey, everybody knows that he is fulfilling the prophe...Read more »

The Power of Forgiveness

Last week we finished our series of passages from the sermon on the mount with a statement of Jesus authority. Matthew continues in Chapter 8 and 9 with illustrations of this authority in various ways. Chapter 8 begins with three healing stories, two of which are responses to faith requests and a third which is a simple gift. Then is verses 16 and 17 we have a summary of the fact that Jesus did ...Read more »

Black and White

Sometimes Jesus is Black and White about Something We love Jesus’ parables and stories because they leave you some wriggle room and space to add your own interpretation and flavour. But at the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus’ parable gives you only two choices. One is right and the other is wrong. One leads to self destruction at the deepest level and one leads to a full and abundan...Read more »

Ask, Seek, Knock

When Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock, he is inviting us to choose to put our faith in God who will provide what we need. In 1971 The Living Bible was published and we all went out and bought one. I remember reading this passage from Matthew 7:7 and being very disappointed with the paraphrase. It read, "Ask, and you will be given what you ask for." Literally the the verse reads, "Ask an...Read more »

Judging people…

Judging People and Eating Chocolate have a Lot in Common All I’ve got to do is say the names and you feel something - Charlie Sheen, Brendan Fevola, Pauline Hanson. What is that feeling? It is at once so bitter and yet so sweet. I feel tainted by their behaviour and attitudes but it feels so good to join everyone in criticising their painfully obvious shortcomings. I feel annoyed at them bu...Read more »

Don’t Worry! Be Happy!

The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6: 25-34 (part of the Sermon on the Mount), at first glance looks like a fairly benign encouragement to "let go and let God", as a means of dealing with a very anxious humanity. But as we look at the passage a little closer, we discover that what Jesus is calling us to "let go" of, is probably the most difficult teaching in his whole sermon. We accept the spir...Read more »

Jesus and the modern man

The Sermon on the Mount Series: Jesus encounters the modern man; WWJSay to sex, lust and marriage? People often say that the world we live in is totally different to the world Jesus lived in, so we can’t be expected to follow his teachings. Let’s test that out on this week’s issue in our series: Lust, love and marriage. (Mt5:27-30) What if Jesus spoke with a young church going man living ...Read more »

Righteousness

Righteousness is a Matter of Life and Death From our study of the Beatitude over the last couple of weeks, we have seen that the Sermon on the Mount is firmly set in the context of righteousness. Both, the first and the second segment of the beatitude concludes with a statement about righteousness. The people of the first stanza are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and they are fi...Read more »

The Sermon on the Mount series

What sort of community should the church be? Yes, Jesus established an alternative community to live the life of the Kingdom of God. It wasn’t an institution with office bearers, and it wasn’t simply a once a week worship service; it was a community. Sometimes church communities can look like something else. Sometimes we look like a ‘family’ with people being there for each other ...Read more »

Blessed are God’s Children

Graeme and I have to prepare these reflections for Getting Connected and the Website by Thursday of each week, so very often they are early thoughts developing towards a sermon on Sunday. What you hear might be quite different. This week I am studying the first four of the Beatitudes from Matthew 5. I find this fascinating and at the moment my office has many books open and scattered around ...Read more »

The Sermon on the Mount

Jesus famous Sermon on the Mount is a introduction to being a Christian. It is a “Christian Living for Dummies” for the first century. He even specifies that being poor at spiritual stuff is not a problem; it even gains an extra blessing for God (phew! Thank Goodness!) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Jesus tells us how to live in the Kingdom...Read more »

Following Jesus into the Kingdom

Following Jesus into the Kingdom of God In Chapter 4 of his Gospel, Matthew is setting the foundations of Jesus' message and purpose. He begins by placing Jesus life clearly in the context of prophesy. Jesus is the fulfilment of their dreams for the future. As a nation they have been waiting for God to send them a deliverer. They have seen this as a nationalistic dream, and while Jesus ...Read more »

The Logos Becomes a Human

Today we are looking at the Christmas story again, but as it is told, or rather not told, in John's Gospel. It is probable that the writers of John had access to Matthew and Luke, but they chose not to include a birth story. Instead they chose a philosophical way of introducing the incarnation. John tells us his purpose at the end of his gospel, “But these have been written in order that y...Read more »

God Is With Us

In Matthew 2: 13-23 we are shocked to read of the killing of the children by Herod, and we wonder why this has to be included to spoil such a beautiful story of rejoicing and hope. We have been told of the birth of the Messiah and the coming of the Magi with their gifts. We remember the stars and dreams and guidance which plays beautifully into our idyllic children's stories of Christmas. Doesn'...Read more »

But They’re Odd! Aren’t They?

Everyone struggles at some level when they are in the presence of people who are very, very different from themselves. We feel a level of discomfort and uneasiness; a feeling that we are out of our depth and we just want to get back to safe ground. It is a feature that is common to every person on the planet. Often we blame our discomfort on the other person. It is the blaming that leads to ra...Read more »

Nativity Play & Hospitality

The Nativity Play is one of the highlights of the pre-Christmas season. Most people’s hearts are warmed when the children come out to perform and the Bible is read to set the scene. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to b...Read more »

Family Baggage and Blessing

I didn’t have much to do with church when I was growing up but I did see on TV how the worship services were satirized as being really, really boring. Often a scene would be shown of a person reading from the Bible saying, “And Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah, etc, begat etc, etc”. This is from Matthew 1- our passage for today. Is it truly the most boring pa...Read more »

Coming Ready or Not

Our reading this week is from the end of Matthew 24. It is about the return of someone referred to as the Son of Man which is a common title used for Jesus. This picks up a reference in Daniel 7:13 which pictures the coming of the final judge of the world. In Daniel there is a new form of picture language beginning which we see developed in Matthew 24. We call it apocalyptic language. It d...Read more »

Jesus is Life

Jesus is Life: the Rest is just Details This is the faded bumper sticker on the back of my car: Jesus is life: the rest is just details. I’m not really one for bumper stickers but that is one that I am proud of. I think it says in a few words what the Colossians 1:15-23 passage is trying to say.  “Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, firstbo...Read more »

Giving 100%

Over the last few weeks I seem to be nagged by stories which compare power and humility. There was the story of Widow and the Judge, the Pharisee and the Tax Collector and Jesus Blessing the Children. These are all stories about powerful people exercising their power over more humble people. In each case Jesus is commending the behaviour of the humble and warning us against the temptation to us...Read more »

Life Beyond Death

Nobody can speak with any authority about what happens to us beyond the grave except God. People imagine all sorts of things! The old footballer goes to that ‘big oval in the sky’, ‘mum is now organising the angels because that was always her way’ and so on. Some people tell their children that ‘grandpa has become a star up in the sky’ and seriously point to one of them! But when al...Read more »

Learning From the Children

This week in our church we are celebrating our ministry with children. By this we mean, what we do for the children of our church and the community to introduce them to Jesus. That is all very important and necessary, but I wonder if maybe we have it around the wrong way. According to our reading from Luke 18, Jesus makes a particular point of telling his students (the disciples) that they mu...Read more »

Humility and Conceit

Luke 18: 9-14 tells the story of two men. One, a Pharisee, comes into the temple self righteously thanking God that he is a good obedient man, who is much better than other men, especially the tax collector who is also praying there that day. The tax collector prostrates himself before God and pleads for mercy because he knows he is a sinner. Jesus says that it is the tax collector who will go ...Read more »

It’s hard to keep Praying

The parable in Luke 18 looks like Jesus is encouraging us to nag God. In fact he is trying to instil a bit of confidence into our prayer life. He says, ‘if even a corrupt judge can give justice merely to end the nagging, how much more certain is the outcome if the Judge hearing your prayer is on your side and loves justice!’ Jesus is encouraging us to not give up on prayer but to trust God to ...Read more »

The Power of Appreciation

When we are children our parents try to teach us manners. They emphasise "please" and "thank you", and there are a lot of "may I" and "can I" and "excuse me". "Thank you" is an acknowledgement that I have noticed that someone has done something good for me. It is also an expression of appreciation for that good thing. A friend of mine flew planes for Missionary Aviation Fellowship in the N...Read more »

How much faith does it take?

When I was a student at University there were a lot of groups that were pentecostal. These groups believed in speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, prophecies about the end times, and exciting miracles happening in exciting worship services. We were tempted to think that these groups were so much more spiritual than us. Beside them we felt our faith was no bigger than a mustard seed. It did...Read more »

The Big Switch-a-Roo

You know when you are watching a mystery movie and you have worked out who-done-it? It is all logical and your conclusion makes sense. Suddenly you become aware of a dynamic that you missed or that comes into play late; everything has changed and it proves to be someone else. Sometimes you feel a bit cheated because there was a big switch in the story you couldn't predict. Today's parable f...Read more »

Who Is Your Master?

In Luke 16 we have the story of a manager who is about to be fired for "squandering" the boss's property. Sounds a bit like misappropriation of funds or embezzlement to me. Such a man, faced with no job, need friends or contacts who owe him a favour or two. So before he is ousted he quickly changes the accounts of his customers to reduce their bills. There are two legitimate ways to do thi...Read more »

Who’s Looking?

I love the stories that Jesus tells in Luke 15 about God looking so hard for the “lost sheep” and the “lost coin”. After searching and searching and finally finding them it all results in a huge celebration in heaven. This amazing grace of God’s stirs the soul. Usually I hear the story as a spectator cheering God on from the sideline. I find myself quietly proud of Jesus and the w...Read more »

Extraordinary Courage!

Extraordinary Courage to go the whole way! Graeme Somebody once wrote that ‘it wasn’t the bits of the Bible they didn’t understand that troubled Him; it was the bits he did understand.’ Many Christians want to follow Christ because they really believe his teachings bring a life worth living. We want to follow Jesus all the way. But then we come up against that teaching which is just to...Read more »

Luke: The Greatest Invitation

Living the Faith in Luke: The Greatest Invitation of All Time! I read live accounts of evangelism on Melbourne’s streets in the late nineteenth century. I was shocked at how bullying and aggressive it was. No doubt the street evangelists were convinced that in the Christian society of the time where it was assumed that all good citizens were Christian that it was only the most hard hearted of...Read more »

Are We Bent Too?

Today we are looking at the story of a woman who is suffering from a condition which caused her to be bent over. In a surprising kind of way, Jesus sees her and calls out, "Woman, you are free from your illness!" It is only then that he goes across and lays his hand on her, and she suddenly straightens up. There is no request from her for healing and Jesus intervention is a surprise. She must ...Read more »

Christians aren’t called to be ‘nice’!

Christians aren't called to be ‘nice’! In my early years as a Christian I was teased by my friends about my faith. Some parts of it were easily dismissed like, “Christianity is just a crutch for the weak”. I readily acknowledged the weaknesses within as I saw Jesus not as a crutch but as a healer. But one criticism used to get to me. Sometimes people would describe Jesus as “the be...Read more »

What is an All Age Service?

Have you ever noticed how everywhere you look society separates the age groups? We even ‘box different ages with labels like “Generation X”, “Baby Boomers” and “Gen Y”. Everywhere we are told that we all have such different attitudes, opinions, likes and dislikes that we can’t really get on. At best we can just tolerate our differences. But Jesus brought people together- all dif...Read more »

Luke: What are you building?

I am amazed at the number of “get rich quick” schemes there are and the number of people who risk everything they have to follow them. By far the most common one of late is where you buy an investment property. Then you wait till its value is greater than the mortgage you have taken out. You then use this extra value to borrow more money to buy another investment property. Then you repeat t...Read more »

The Lord’s Prayer in Luke

The first thing you will notice about the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11 is that he has left out many of the words. Well, that is if you compare it to the version we generally recite in Church. That version comes from Matthew's Gospel. Even Matthew doesn't have the last couple of lines we recite, someone added those later. Looking at the two Biblical versions, Luke seems to state the prayer in the m...Read more »

Mary’s ‘one essential thing’

Living the Faith in Luke: What is Mary’s ‘one essential thing’? When I finished my training for Ministry in 1986 I thought with wonder, “So that’s it, the end of my formal education!” It felt like I was finally leaving all that behind. I yearned to begin as a minister and as a parent (both started within weeks of each other!). Well the years ticked past in a mad rush of parenting an...Read more »

Luke: Who is my neighbour?

Living the Faith in Luke: Who is my neighbour? “Who is my neighbour?” This is a question I hear Christians agonising over all the time! We don’t say so in so many words but it is the meaning behind the sigh when we hear of yet another group in need or in trouble and we feel the obligation to do something but feel stretched too thin. It is easy to be critical of the Pharisee who tries ...Read more »

Risk brought great Gain!

Living Faith Church celebrates 4 years! Risk brought great gain. Four years since two communities of Christians left behind what they knew and what was safe and entered new territory. What a risk! What gain! What loss! Yes, loss, because there is no such thing as gain without loss. Those two separate communities will never exist again. In their place is a single community that is still f...Read more »

Luke: The Cost of Following

Today we are beginning a new series focussing on the Gospel of Luke. In the Common Lectionary, 2010 is a year when readings from Luke are central. Our series will include Lectionary readings, but not necessarily in the set order. Today we are looking at Luke 9: 51-62. This is the end of a very eventful chapter. Just the last half has Jesus asking the disciples who they think he is, and Pe...Read more »

What is Church? Social Justice

What is Church? Social Justice - is that really in the Bible?! I’ve noticed over the years how people seem to have a love/hate relationship with Social Justice. This happens for several reasons... Firstly, you do not find the term in the Bible; it is a contemporary term. What you do find in the Old Testament is the word “righteousness” which the Roman Catholic Jerusalem Bible consisten...Read more »

Church: Growing & Maturing

What is the Church - Growing and Maturing Over recent years when people around churches talk about growing, what it generally meant is that we want more “bums on seats”. For people who remember the 1950s when church attendances were high and Sunday Schools were in their hundreds, the question of growth means that we want to know how to return to that success. So we have been through waves...Read more »

Church: Encouragement

Applying to the church to become a Minister is a scary thing! In the Uniting Church you have to go through a year’s ‘Period of Discernment’ in which a supervisor helps you reflect on whether being a Minister of the Word is what God is calling you to, or whether it is some other form of service to God. You are given opportunities to study and to try out ‘Minister type things’. If you ...Read more »

Church: The Holy Spirit

What is the Church? Nothing without the Holy Spirit The great Theologian John Macquarrie, using the language of “being” describes God (the Father) as Primordial Being, Jesus as Expressive Being and the Holy Spirit as Unitive Being. On the Day of Pentecost we think of the beginning of the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was a day when the disciples were gathered in one place, w...Read more »

What is Church? Unity

What is Church? Unity. Or “Become what you are!” What would make you embrace a stranger from another country that you had never met before and offer to let them share all your resources. And yet it happens! I was watching the ads on TV for long lost family members being reunited. Several years ago there were twins who had been separated at several months old and given to different adopti...Read more »

Church – Loving Community

The Beatles sang, “All you need is love”, and humans have always known that it is love which builds bridges between people who are similar, but also with people who are different. Jesus said it is a reasonably easy thing to love your friends, but he called us to love our enemies as well. If love is able to do that, then we need to understand love in a particular way. I have shared with yo...Read more »

Church – Led by the Holy Spirit

“Does prayer work?” asked a young mother doing an introductory course to Christian faith called Alpha. (5 years ago) “Yes!” said one Christian enthusiastically. “Ye-e-e-s” said another in a way that meant there were conditions. “No” said another. “It’s just a way of connecting to God and sorting out your priorities. It’s not as if God intervenes in life and does things!”...Read more »

What was the Church?

What was the Church? What does Dorcus Say? We have begun a new series of reflections on the theme, "What is the Church?" This week we are thinking about the Church as community and outreach and we are given the story of Dorcus in Acts 9: 36-43 to help us think about it. It seems to me that Dorcus was a very ordinary member of the Church at Joppa and yet she was extra ordinary. The Church c...Read more »

What is Church? Freedom

What is Church? Freedom and Openness Billy Joel released an extraordinary song in the late 70’s. While most other songs were about love and sex he released a song yearning for a quality that he could not find in day to day relationships: honesty. “Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard, And mostly what I need from you.” Most people j...Read more »

Doubt and Truth

Today we are reflecting on the story of Thomas the doubter. Thomas was not there when Jesus appeared after his resurrection and in a very modern, scientific way he refused to believe it happened without seeing, touching and hearing for himself. So Jesus appeared specifically for him and invited him to do his own observations and believe. The point of the story is that the disciples were being...Read more »

Will You Let God Reassure You?

I’m going to be with Jesus when I die. No ‘ifs or buts’. Guaranteed! Am I arrogant beyond measure, deluded, or suffering from a bout of wishful thinking? No, none of these. I simply take God at his word. He wants me to be assured and relaxed; so I am. The events of Easter are God’s reassurance. We often don’t gain enough reassurance from Jesus’ death and resurrection becaus...Read more »

Enter at your own Risk

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK If Jesus entered our town With pomp and ceremony, Would it be a lonely donkey ride Or would you be walking at his side Shouting praises to his majesty? If Jesus entered our church What difference would he make? What tables would he overturn? What lessons would we have to learn? What cleansing would we have to take? If Jesus entered our hearts To reign in th...Read more »

Death for our sakes

Jesus knew he was going to die. He stated it explicitly three times before his death and gave his disciples a special meal that would interpret his death the day before he was nailed to the cross. Not only that but several parables involve the death of the ‘son’ of the master/king. And to make sure we didn’t miss it he enshrines it in a key teaching about discipleship “If anyone wants t...Read more »

The Lost Son

160 years is a very long time. Today we celebrate the fact that the Christian community of which we are a continuing part, began in Greensborough that long ago. That was a Wesleyan Methodist Church, but that Church has a direct line of decent to what we now call Living Faith Church. Before the beginning of the Uniting Church in Australia, that Methodist Church combined with the Presbyterian Chu...Read more »

Focus

In our reading from Luke 13 this week the Pharisees, of all people, come to warn Jesus about Herod's plot to kill him. They are not Jesus' friends! They are trying to scare him off! Last week we talked about temptations, well here is another one. If you don't stop doing what you are doing you're going to die. Certainly Herod had form. He had killed John the Baptist and it is reasonable...Read more »

Tempted Away from our Purpose

Temptation has been reduced in our society to being all about ice cream, breaking diets and sexual sin. But Jesus’ encounter with temptation is fought for high stakes. Temptation threatens not only his sense of identity but also the whole mission God has given him. The temptations happen at the start of his ministry because he needs to know that he is straight in his own mind about his purpos...Read more »

Chameleon Christians

In our reading from 1 Corinthians 9 this week, Paul says, ”I am a free man, nobody's slave; but I make myself everybody's slave in order to win as many people as possible.” He goes on to tell us how he adapts to be able to communicate with different cultural groups in his time. Like us, he lived in a multicultural society. There were Jews and gentiles but they represented a wid...Read more »

Jesus calls…you

This is a great story - the one about where Jesus tells the fisherman to go fish after they caught nothing all night. We as ‘flies on the wall’ anticipate the moment when the Peter, Andrew, James and John are shown how to fish by the rabbi from Nazareth! What delight when the penny drops for Peter that the fish are actually obeying their maker (who is the only one who can command fish!) and...Read more »

Called by God for a Purpose

This week we are reading the call of Jeremiah to his prophetic ministry. The difference between his time and ours is that God called specific individuals then, but since Jesus time God calls us all. That is what the day of Pentecost is all about. From that time on the Spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh. Not just on the few, but on the many. God's purpose is for the his messa...Read more »

Jesus’ purpose to his ministry

Many people imagine Jesus wandering around aimlessly for 3 years. We all know that he intended to end up in Jerusalem at the cross, but most people think of him using the time before that to just ‘go on tour’ and see who he encountered on the way. Our passage today says differently. In Luke 4 Jesus begins his entire ministry by choosing a passage from Isaiah during a worship service and in ...Read more »

Signs of something?

Signs can be so helpful. When I first came to Living Faith Church I couldn’t find where the church was in Grimshaw Street. The church and the sign were too far back from the road. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before an excellent well lit sign was placed nearer the footpath and I could more easily find my way here. If you don’t know where you are then signs are worth their weight in gold! T...Read more »

The Boy Jesus In The Temple

Last week in my sermon I talked about the foundational beliefs that create the character, the DNA of the church. I based this on the story of Jesus being presented in the Temple as a baby. Today I want to reflect on the next time Jesus goes to the Temple in Luke's Gospel, when he is twelve years old. He is preparing for adulthood and he stays in the Temple talking with the scholars about the...Read more »

Jesus Is Presented

A week after Jesus' birth, he is circumcised and named and later taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented there, to fulfil the requirements of their religious tradition. This fact is less important than what happened in the temple when he arrived. It is enough to know that Jesus' parents were obedient to their faith. Luke's concern is to show us through the telling of Jesus birth, God's pu...Read more »

Why Were The Wise Men Wise?

We know very little about the Wise Men who travelled to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. We know they came from the East, probably gentiles. We know that they interpreted the stars. They believed they were prophetic in some way. They went across their world seeking the newborn King of the Jews. It was Herod and the scholar in Jerusalem who interpreted their request as pointing to the pro...Read more »

Has Mary gone mad?

Mary was a young woman of extraordinary faith. She had to be. She came endorsed from the most reputable of referees: God himself! Even though she was a virgin, and having a baby while engaged would make her appear as upright as Tiger Woods in the eyes of the community, she simply trusted that God would take care of it. What faith! She went off to consult with her aged Aunty Elizabeth who als...Read more »

Prepare the way…

Prepare the way…. For a change of heart! John the Baptist and Jesus share a history and family connection. Right from the start of Luke’s gospel we hear about John’s miraculous birth to his aged mother Elizabeth, and then we hear about Jesus’ birth. There are a number of other parallels between the characters too if you look for them! The writer of Luke is trying to make an important po...Read more »

Prepare for Christ(mas)

God has waited a long time to be with you... The love story that is revealed in the scriptures shows how much preparation has gone into being reunited with you, his child, and billions of our fellow human beings. It begins with the calling of Abraham and his response of trust/faith. God builds a nation that learns through the Law that life is meant to be lived in love for God and neighbour, ...Read more »

Inclusion of All

Inclusion of All in Church Community: Mental Illness and Disability Our Youth and Young Adults were keen to discuss this issue and how it affects us in practical ways. Including people with mental health issues or mental disability is almost a “motherhood statement” in the church. Who could possibly say ‘no’?! But there is a world of difference between what we want to do and whether ...Read more »

Core Values: The Bible

This is the last in our current series on the core values of our church. This one is about the Bible. It says, ”As a Christian community we see the Bible as central to our life.” From the very beginning of Christianity this has been a core value of the faithful. We were often referred to as the people of “The Book.” The word 'bible' simply means 'book'. It is a collection of writ...Read more »

Core Values: Taking Risks

One of the Core Values of our church says this, “We want to step out in faith and take risks in following Jesus.” I am impressed that we said, “We want...”. This is the only Core Value that does that. The others begin with “We welcome...” and “We seek...”. The deliberate intention of the phrase, “We want...”, makes this a real goal of our church life. In other wo...Read more »

Core Values: Relevant Worship

LFC Core Values: Passionate, Relevant Authentic Worship Would it surprise you to know that there are almost no references in the New Testament about how to conduct a worship service? Almost nothing is said about how to run one, what to include in it, whether to sing or chant or be silent, whether to have a sermon or a Bible reading, or whether Communion is central or happens before or after, o...Read more »

Core Values: Sharing Faith

This week I want to reflect on the Core Value of our Church which says, “We seek to share our faith and to encourage relationships with Jesus.” This value is about birth and nurture. Faith often has a long gestation period and when born always require lifelong nurture. Many Christians fear the word evangelism, because they think it requires them being able to “preach” to their frie...Read more »

Core Values: We welcome…

If Jesus could be said to have had an office then it would have to have been the humble kitchen table. It’s where he did a major part of the business of the Kingdom. He was never far from someone’s table. So much so that his detractors said of him “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of sinners and tax collectors.” Mt 11:19 The table and the meal represent in most cultures the...Read more »

Core Values: Love & Compassion

We have now finished our “Deeper Gospel” series. Our new series will be reflections on six of our Core Values. When Living Faith Church began we held a retreat to develop a set of core values which would both describe who we are and set an agenda for who we wanted to be. I want to begin with the core value that says, “We seek to reach out with love and compassion to those who are in...Read more »

Deeper Gospel 6: Kingdom Prayer

Jesus invites us to a very different sort of prayer. It’s been right under our noses all this time, hidden in plain sight. It’s found in the Lord’s prayer and recited by a billion people every week ... “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Mt 6:10 Most of the prayers we pray for others are a reaction to something that has gone wrong that we want made r...Read more »

A Deeper Gospel 5: Power

Largely the purpose of Salvation is to rescue us from ourselves. The Human animal that we are is constantly driven by inner needs and drives, fears and insecurities, into attitudes and behaviour that are effectively self and relationship destroying. Jesus changes the focus of lives from our drives, to what we believe, and then fills that space with positive beliefs, perfect example and a creativ...Read more »

Deeper Gospel 4: Jesus’ mission

Most people aren’t sure what to do with Jesus’ resurrection. For many it is merely the happy ending to a story of a wonderful ministry that climaxed in the self-sacrificing death on the cross. The cross saved us from our sins and opened the way to heaven for countless billions of people. The resurrection on the other hand …? In our series that goes deeper into the Gospel we’ve been disc...Read more »

A Deeper Gospel 3 The Church

If God's purpose is to bring Salvation to the world, then Jesus and the Church are his method. Jesus came to save people from their own messes. Because of our mistakes and irresponsibility, we are broken people, with broken relationships, who live in a broken world, even in a broken environment. I have heard many people say that you don't need to go to church to be a Christian. Maybe that's...Read more »

A Deeper Gospel 1. Saved From Sin?

On September 11 2001 groups of Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked 4 planes in the USA. Three planes were crashed into significant buildings but the fourth was different. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. All the peop...Read more »

WARNING: Sexually Explicit Language

WOW!! Can you believe this language is in the Bible? I have been reading the Song of Songs in the Old Testament for this Sunday's Worship Service and the language is very sexually explicit. Some of the poetic metaphors sound quaint to our modern, western ears, but there is no doubt about what is being said. And I can't find one mention of God. What is this doing in the Bible? This is a question...Read more »

The Vine and The Branches

John’s Gospel is very different from the other three. It would have to be seeing the others were well known for over 20 years by the time John wrote his. So why write another Gospel? It was because John wanted to draw out another aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry that needed greater emphasis; that a personal relationship with Jesus is at the heart of this new abundant life. As my faded bumper...Read more »

A Bit Hard To Swallow

Today I am looking at John 6: 51-60 and clearly both ordinary listeners and even Jesus' disciples find what he is saying a bit hard to swallow. Jesus is continuing his theme, which he has been developing throughout the chapter, that he is the bread of life which comes down from heaven. He is clearly using a common metaphor which is familiar to his listeners and to the early church, who are listeni...Read more »

Healthy Bread

I am not very comfortable shopping at the supermarket. Even when I stand at the bread display there are so many loaves with packaging, making so many claims about how good they are for my health. Which one should I choose? My solution is to pull out my mobile phone and ring Maureen and ask her, and because she has done the research and compared the products, she easily tells me what to buy. In Joh...Read more »

The Problem With Light

I once had an office with a window in the end of the room which looked out on the unit next door. If I pulled up the blind I could see directly into Joy and Bert's laundry. It was decided for the sake of privacy that we should remove that window and put in a skylight above my head. Now I had another problem. Could I cope with such a bright light shining straight down where I work, reflecting off...Read more »

The Risk of Prayer

Recently I heard a Muslim questioning the sincerity of Christians because we seem to pray so little. It doesn't surprise me at all. Praying has become one of the most risky things a Christian can do. To pray means to put one's faith on the line. We ask for things to happen and if they do everything is OK, but if they don't we face a faith crisis. How are we to explain the fact that our pray w...Read more »

Living Simply

It was Friday morning and Joan was in the Church Office so I asked her, "What would you say about Living Simply as a practice of Christian faith. She said in her very concise and perceptive way, "Get your priorities in the right order." That's about right, isn't it? But what are the right priorities? That week an insurance company had released a report on well-being or happiness around Australi...Read more »

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