Sermons from Pastor Nathan Hedt

At the Young Adult Leadership Day, a group of people from diverse backgrounds honestly answered questions from the open forum - questions regarding the polarities of faith, from doubt and fear to joy and hopefulness. This is the audio of that open forum session. 30mb, around an hour of audio.

On Saturday 25th February, a Young Adult Leadership Day was held at Werribee in Melbourne's west. Rowan Lewis, the plenary speaker, gave an opening talk with gave a clear picture of the 'state of faith'  among young adults and the challenges facing young adult ministry across denominations. This is the audio of that opening talk. Note: this file is 33Mb, over an hour, but well worth listening to for anyone interested in the reality of young adult ministry. Enjoy!

How will we live as people of God in a world that is full of attractive options and choices and competing ideologies? The baptism and temptation of Jesus from Mark 1:9-15 gives us a paradigm of life as God's beloved ones because of Jesus. This sermon was preached on Sunday 26th February at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. Enjoy!

For many days it was bursting out of me...Jesus healed me! He cleansed me!

But now this story deserves a more dignified retelling, a more complete and thoughtful response.

A dramatic monologue/sermon meditation on Mark 1:40-45 from the point of view of the leper who was cleansed by Jesus.

This sermon was preached on Sunday 12th February at St John's Lutheran Church, Southgate.

This is part of a sermon series on 'The good news of the Kingdom of God' - unfortunately due to technical difficulties, not all of these have been recorded for podcast. However, there are a connected series of Bible studies on 'The Good News of the Kingdom' which can be found under this link.

Enjoy!

The Incarnation is the hinge of history - the point about which everything else pivots. It is a gracious royal visit from the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe enfolding himself into time and space, wrapping himself in human DNA, cells, and organs, and becoming fragile and dependent. This sermon contemplates the Incarnation based on the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary that she would become the mother of the Son of God, as described in Luke 1:26-38. It was preached on Sunday December 18th (Advent 4), 2011, at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. Enjoy!

The lament Psalms are a cry from deep within the heart of God's people - a cry for God to keep his promises, to hear the distress of his people, to be gracious. Many of us when we read these Psalms recoil in shock. They are so raw and honest - we piously think, 'You can't say that to God!'  But God does have shoulders big enough to cry on, ears big enough to hear even our sorrow and pain. Psalm 80 expresses a longing for God's restoration - 'Restore us, O Lord God Almighty. Make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.' Its longing and yearning for restoration take us into the suffering of the world, and in the midst of Psalm 80 we meet Jesus himself. This sermon takes us into the depths of Psalm 80. It was preached on Sunday 27th November 2011 (Advent 1) at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. Enjoy!

The first word of Mark's Gospel (in Greek) is the word 'Beginning.' It is the beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We read in Mark 1:1-8 that John the Baptist inaugurates this new beginning through his proclamation to 'prepare the way for the Lord.' John points beyond himself, and beyond ourselves, to the one who is coming, Jesus. We aren't worthy for Jesus to come to us, but he comes graciously to begin something new: the coming of the Kingdom of God. This sermon was preached on Sunday 4th December 2011 (Advent 2) at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. It can be used in conjunction with the downloadable Bible Study found at this link. Enjoy!

Good news about death!??? Mostly in our culture we try to ignore or minimise death. Who wants to talk about it? But good news about death - and resurrection - lies at the heart of the Christian gospel. Jesus' resurrection is like a sneak peek at the final chapter - we know the ending, for those who are in him! 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 opens up the good news about death. This sermon was preached at St John's Southgate on Sunday 6th November.  It can be used in conjunction with the downloadable bible study that can be found at this link. Enjoy!

When Jesus is asked by the Pharisees whether or not they should pay taxes to Caesar, it seems simply like a tricky question and a perfect comeback. But there is a lot more going on here than there first appears to be. Jesus in his reply touches on foundational aspects of human life, including truthfulness, idolatry, and true worship. This sermon was preached at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church on October 16th, 2011. Enjoy!

When Jesus is asked in Matthew 22 about which is the greatest commandment in the law, he gives an answer that seems to be very simple: Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. Yet this simple answer leads us into mysterious and beautiful territory, as we enter a response to God's initiating covenant love for us. Just as in mathematics, simple rules can sometimes lead to great complexity and beauty (think of the Mandelbrot Set), so Jesus' seemingly simple 'Two Greatest Commandments'  lead to a Christian ethical response that is both complex, nuanced, and beautiful. This sermon was preached at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church on Sunday 23rd October. Enjoy!