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Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones
Sermon: Introducing David, episode two of the soap opera
Augustine wrote that, ‘anyone who thinks that he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by his understanding build up the double love of God and neighbour, has not yet succeeded in understanding them’. The Scriptures are complicated and contradictory; let us ensure that our reading of them always builds up love. Amen. Continue reading
Sermon: Some mental exercise for lockdown
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church6th of June 2021 1 Samuel 8:4-11 16-20 Here we are again: our second Sunday in our fourth lockdown. When I prepared this Reflection we had been in lockdown for less than a week, and … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 Samuel 8:4-11 16-20, Bible, King Saul, kingship, Prophet Samuel, reading the Bible
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Sermon: As we go into lockdown again, God is with us.
This week, as we experience the worry and frustration of another lockdown, the doctrine of the Trinity tells us that the God who created the universe is with us, closer than our breath, and among us, holding our community together while we must stay apart. I hope that that is a comfort to you through these next few days. God is with us. Continue reading
Sermon: The radical roots of the Church at Pentecost
The Church was at its origin and is meant to be today a community that celebrates cultural differences, rather than trying to standardise them. It is a community that is meant to show radical equality between men and women, old and young, slave and free. Sadly, like many of Christianity’s radical roots, these lessons from Pentecost are ones that the Church has had to relearn over and over again. Continue reading
Sermon: Don’t stand looking for Jesus in the sky
We could keep gazing up towards heaven in our attempts to see Jesus, or we could look for Jesus where he told us we would find him, in each other and especially in the least of these. Counter-intuitively, the message of the Ascension is that we will find God here on earth. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Acts 1:1-11, Ascension, Luke 24:44-53, The Feast of the Ascension
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Sermon: In which Avril rabbits on about love yet again, because it IS all about love
And if God is love, as our faith tells us God is, then even our smallest loving actions will contribute to filling the universe with love and so with God. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 John 5:1-6, Desert Fathers, First Letter of John, friendship, Gospel according to John, John 15:9-17, Julian of Norwich, love
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Sermon: Christianity means something (liberation and love)
How can we discern that we are on the right path, that the spirit leading us is the Holy Spirit and not simply the spirit of the age? By testing everything against the life and ministry of Jesus, and through love. If it is not loving, loving in truth and action rather than simply word and speech, it is simply not Christianity. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 John 4:7–21, Christian women, John 15:1–8, love, prosperity gospel, slavery, women, women in ministry
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Reflection for ANZAC Day
Today we remember all those affected by war; commemorate all those who were injured or killed in war; mourn with all those who lost people they loved; recognise all those who conscientiously refused to fight. We also pledge ourselves to do everything possible to prevent war, so that future generations will not have to experience its horrors. Continue reading
Posted in Reflection
Tagged ANZAC Day, Corder Catchpool, Holy War, Martin Luther King, Peace, war, World War One
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Sermon: It’s all about love (I know, I know; I keep saying that. But it is!)
‘God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them,’ (1 John 4:16) writes the Elder, summing up in one sentence what I try to say ever single week. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 John 3:1-7, First Letter of John, forgiveness, love, sin, The Elder
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Sermon: A story without an ending
I suspect that the reason the resurrection was announced first to women was because too often women have not been believed when they speak, women’s testimony has not been taken seriously. The God who created both male and female in God’s own image might be making a point. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged covid19, Easter Sunday, Fear, Gospel according to Mark, Mark 16:1-8, resurrection, women
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