Episodes
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Fishermen, Fear, Forgiveness and Following Luke 5:1-11
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
Sunday Feb 10, 2019
When Jesus calls his first disciples, they are amazed and fearful at a miraculous catch of fish. Ordinary people who encounter Jesus are transformed by him. We too are called - and equipped! by Jesus to become 'fishers for people' and to see amazing things happen as we follow him.
This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday February 10th, 2019.
Enjoy!
Monday Jun 26, 2017
Matthew 10 The Jesus exchange
Monday Jun 26, 2017
Monday Jun 26, 2017
The Jesus exchange goes like this:
Give up what you cannot keep, in order to gain what you cannot lose.
Jesus says 'Everyone who tries to save their own life will lose it, but everyone who gives up their life for me will find it.'
This is a hard sell in an individualistic, me-focussed culture! Jesus asks nothing less than 100% commitment. But what he gives in exchange for our selfish, fearful, dying life is his own resurrected, joyful, forever life.
This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 25th June 2017.
It can be enhanced by viewing the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.
Enjoy!
Sunday May 28, 2017
Relationships, reconciliation and the ratchet parable
Sunday May 28, 2017
Sunday May 28, 2017
Once upon a time a man bought a cheap air ratchet tool...which didn't work well for long. What did he do next?
When relationships don't quite work...when there is conflict...what is your response?
It's easy to say 'it's not worth it, it's not worth the effort to fix...'
Or to attack the other person
Or to escape and deny the problem
But what about peacemaking responses? Jesus says 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.' This means God himself is a peacemaker.
This sermon proclaims the good news of God's reconciliation for us...the repair of relationships through Jesus. God made us his friends. And he calls and equips us to be peacemakers in our relationships too.
This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 28th May 2017.
It can be enhanced by viewing the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.
Enjoy!
Thursday Jul 14, 2016
A matter of life and death - Jesus and the Lawyer, the Good Samaritan
Thursday Jul 14, 2016
Thursday Jul 14, 2016
The parable of the Good Samaritan is so well known that it's even gone down in the English language. But this is not just a 'nice story' Jesus told with an ethical exhortation at the end. Jesus engages in narrative theology - and the story he tells the expert in Jewish law has multiple layers of depth and meaning. It's actually a matter of life and death!
Sunday Jan 31, 2016
How to have beautiful feet - a sermon on mission
Sunday Jan 31, 2016
Sunday Jan 31, 2016
Do you ever think much about your feet?
Sunday Oct 11, 2015
Camels, needles, rich men, Jesus - and us (Mark 10:17-36)
Sunday Oct 11, 2015
Sunday Oct 11, 2015
A rich young man comes to Jesus asking 'Good teacher, what must I do to be saved?' The conversation takes a very unexpected turn.
Jesus says 'It is harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.'
But what if it was an infant pygmy camel and a giant novelty needle?
There are no loopholes in receiving the Kingdom of God and eternal life - Jesus has closed them all. There is only Jesus. What is impossible for people is possible for God.
This sermon was preached on Sunday 11th October 2015, at Lakeside College in Pakenham, Victoria.
It can be listened to in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.
Monday Sep 01, 2014
Monday Sep 01, 2014
Does God care?
Is God powerful?
Who is God, really?
These deep questions about the character, power and identity of God have been raised throughout the history of God's people, especially in light of vast evil such as genocide.
Tens of thousands of Christians in Iraq have been driven out of their homes, systematically killed and cleansed by the militant Islamic group calling itself 'Islamic State'/ISIS. This story of human suffering and tragedy on a vast scale is possibly the closest contemporary equivalent to the situation faced by the people of Israel at the beginning of the book of Exodus.
When God appears to Moses he addresses questions about God's character, power and identity, and calls Moses to be his agent to set his people free.
This sermon compares God's response at that time and in our time through Jesus to such evils as genocide.
It was used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.
It includes audio from this youtube clip from the speech of a Bishop of the Orthodox Church at a rally in Melbourne in support of Iraqi and Assyrian Christians. The Bishop calls for both forgiveness of the perpetrators of these evil actions, and for divine and human intervention in this horrific circumstance.
Please pray for persecuted Christians and others suffering under such evil.
If you want more information on the persecuted church, please visit opendoors.org.
This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church on August 31st, 2014.
I usually finish my posts with 'Enjoy.' You may not enjoy this sermon. But that does not mean it is not important.
Wednesday Aug 20, 2014
The Freedom of Forgiveness: Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 45-50)
Wednesday Aug 20, 2014
Wednesday Aug 20, 2014
Faced with the chance for revenge, Joseph chose to forgive his brothers.
One of the choices that most shapes our character is the choice to choose forgiveness when we have been hurt.
We are both victims and perpetrators of sin: we are hurt, and we hurt others. But with forgiveness comes freedom from the guilt and fear of wrongs we have committed, and freedom from the pain and bitterness of wrongs committed against us.
This sermon explores forgiveness through the story of Joseph and his brothers found in Genesis 45-50.
It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.
It was preached at Sunday Night at St John's, Southgate, Melbourne on August 17th, 2014.
Enjoy!