Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones
Prayer for Western Heights Uniting Church
Loving God,
we know that ‘we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
and individually we are members one of another’.
Help us to continue to be that ‘one body’ in this difficult time. Continue reading
Covid19 Diary 2
Of course, in a crisis, people now think they can only rely on themselves. Of course people don’t believe they can trust the government. The government has deliberately created the conditions in which hoarding happens; it’s a bit disingenuous for them to condemn it. Continue reading
Sermon: Who is welcome? The doubters; the faithful; the rule-breakers
Ultimately we can have faith that one day, like the man born blind, Jesus will find us and that, with our blindness cured, we will be able to see him face to face. Continue reading
For the newsletter
The supposedly-Chinese (but probably really English) curse is: “May you live in interesting times”. Times have certainly become interesting! We do not know how COVID19 will affect us; we have already had to make changes to the way we live; … Continue reading
Covid19 Diary 1
There are so many other parts of my ministry, and of the life of the church, that would actually be dangerous at the moment. Continue reading
Sermon: Who is welcome? Foreigners and women
Why is the story read this way? Because if this is not the story of a mincing and coy harlot who is trying to distract Jesus from her sins, then what we have here is a story of Jesus seriously engaging with a foreign woman who asks a theological question. Continue reading
Sermon: Who is welcome? Those who need to be born again
This week I watched a time lapse video from the BBC of a caterpillar spinning a cocoon, and one of the lines that most struck me was ’the caterpillar’s head is about to split wide open’. And then it did! Continue reading
Sermon: Who is welcome? Sinners.
We can come to God with all our messiness and sickness and failure, and know that we are welcome. God’s door is open to us, and all we need to do is walk through it. Our sins are forgiven. Continue reading
Sermon: Do not be afraid
Sermon for Western Heights Uniting Church Transfiguration, 23rd of February 2020 Exodus 24:12-18 Matthew 17:1-9 ‘And [Jesus] was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses … Continue reading
Sermon: The unfashionable virtue of obedience
Of course we cannot be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. But every time we try to be better, every time we could call another Christian, ‘You fool’, or objectify someone by looking at them with lust in our hearts, and yet we don’t – we come closer to being the people God created us to be. Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 