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Category Archives: Sermons
Sermon: Kindred in unity
I believe that we will be able to live together in unity as kindred. That is not naïve optimism. It is faith based on what God has managed to do in the past. Continue reading
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Sermon: The importance of good biblical interpretation
Bad Biblical interpretation has been used by Christians to justify the most appalling crimes against humanity: slavery; the Holocaust; apartheid. We must read the Bible carefully, in context, and through the lens of Jesus’ commands that we love God and neighbour because the alternative is terrifying. Continue reading
Sermon: So, you want to have a king …
In the same way that we can be certain that the author of Samuel was wrong to attribute a desire for genocide to God, we can be certain that there are things that we believe about God today that will later be revealed to be wrong – because we are human and, as the Apostle Paul wrote, we currently only ‘see in a mirror, dimly’. Continue reading
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Tagged 1 Samuel 8:4-20, genocide, King David, King Saul, kingship, Prophet Samuel, reading the Bible, Year of Mark
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Sermon: Jesus (mis)reads the scriptures
The Pharisees are shocked at Jesus’ apparently cavalier attitude to the laws governing the Sabbath. Modern Christians are shocked at Jesus’ apparently cavalier attitude to biblical interpretation. Continue reading
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Tagged Bible, biblical interpretation, Mark 2:23-3:6, sabbath, Year of Mark
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Sermon: Is Isaiah a role model for volunteers? (National Volunteer Week)
In the same way, Isaiah keeps prophesying even though he knows he will fail, and we keep offering our best efforts to the church community to which God has called us even if we don’t know what success would look like. It’s counter-intuitive, and it’s why volunteering is the wrong word. Instead we should talk about ministry, or service, or even about acts of love. Continue reading
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Tagged Isaiah 6:1-13, Isaiah 6:1-8, National Volunteer Week, volunteer
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Sermon: What is love? (Baby, don’t hurt me)
It is, as I have said so many times that I’m sure you’re sick of it, the heart of the Christian faith. We. Are. Loved. Continue reading
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Tagged Desmond Tutu, Easter 6, John 15:9-17, love, Madeleine L'Engle, Martin Luther King
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Sermon: Forgiveness, not sacrifice
Sermon for Williamstown Uniting Church ANZAC Service – 22nd of April, 2018 Have any of you seen the recent film Good-Bye Christopher Robin? It flashes forwards and backwards between the two World Wars and the period between them. It begins … Continue reading
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Tagged A. A. Milne, ANZAC Day, Christopher Robin, forgiveness, John Curtin, reconciliation, World War One, World War Two
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