Category Archives: Sermons
Sermon: Being forgiving is good for you!
I have been fascinated by the Global Flourishing Study, launched in 2021, that looks at different aspects of well-being over time in twenty-two countries. In a recent analysis using data from the Global Flourishing Study, psychologists examined whether people who reported being more forgiving reported better well-being a year later than those who said they rarely or never forgave. They found that those who reported that they were forgiving people had somewhat higher well-being when asked a year later about things like their mental health, purpose in life, relationship satisfaction, and hope. This confirms what decades of previous research had found. Continue reading
Sermon: The sinned against and sinning
The church is the Body of Christ. How we treat each other within the church is as important to God as how we as Christians love the world. In fact, how we behave as a community determines how we love the world. Saint Benedict described the church as a ‘school for souls.’ The church is where we learn how to live as God’s people. This means being willing to be honest and open with each other, rather than merely nice. Continue reading
Sermon: Being compassionately cheerful, or cheerfully compassionate
compassion is a gift. To care so deeply for the pain of the world that we suffer with those who suffer is a privilege. It means that we are fully human. It means that our heart and soul are congruent with our mind and body. It means that we have not been conformed to this age or to a world that tells us we should only care about ourselves and those closest to us. It means that we are imitating Jesus, who was also moved with compassion for suffering humanity. Continue reading
Sermon: Jesus the first-century Jewish man
Rather than believing that he had been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the risen Christ knew that he had been sent to all nations. I would argue that today’s encounter with the Canaanite woman was an important stage on the path that led to Christian inclusion and universalism. Continue reading
Sermon: We tried to kill him; he survived; let’s eat!
A phrase often used to describe Jewish festivals is ‘they tried to kill us; we survived; let’s eat!’ and certainly Passover, which celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery after ‘a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph’ (Exodus 1:8), would fit that pattern. But here at the beginning of the Israelites’ time in Egypt, it is the Egyptians and Joseph, who now has an Egyptian name, an Egyptian wife, and who dresses like an Egyptian (Genesis 41:41-45), who save them from dying in a famine, after Israel’s ten sons have acted as villains. If there were to be a festival to celebrate this occasion, its theme would be: ‘we tried to kill Joseph; he survived and is now feeding us; let’s eat!’ That has a slightly different ring. Continue reading
Combined Pentecost Service with Koonung Heights
today’s gospel story tells us that we have been commissioned by Jesus to publicly meddle. This often takes courage. There are always going to be people who, when Christians speak out for love and justice, will sneer and accuse us of being filled with the new wine of wowserism, do-gooding, or wokeness. We have seen how the current President of the United States, for instance, has responded to the Pope speaking up for peace. Continue reading
Sermon: Why persecution does not work on Christians
Sermon: We have no reason to ever feel insecure
why could Christians possibly want to persecute others? I think that the persecution of those who are different from us comes more often from a feeling of insecurity than from a feeling of certainty. We have no reason to ever feel insecure. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people! Let us walk in God’s marvelous light. Continue reading
Sermon: The futility of war and the peace of Christ
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Easter 4, 26 April 2026 1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10 ‘When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but he entrusted himself to the one who … Continue reading
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