-
What I’ve been reading …
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
-
Join 272 other subscribers
Category Archives: Sermons
Reflection: Rejoice!
One hundred and six years earlier Charles Dickens wrote of the reborn Scrooge, who had become ‘as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew,’ that ‘it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge’. Keeping Christmas well does not just mean rejoicing ourselves, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Advent, Advent 3, Gaudete Sunday, Isaiah 61:1-4 8-11, Joy, Psalm 126, Third Isaiah
Leave a comment
Reflection: Called to make peace
Perhaps this year, 2020, is the year when comfortable middle-class Australians like me are most aware that the grass withers and the flowers fade and that we, human beings, are grass. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Advent, Advent 2, Isaiah, Isaiah 40:1-11, Isaiah 85: 1-2 8-13, Mark 1:1-8, Peace
Leave a comment
Reflection: Hope at the End of the World
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting ChurchAdvent One, 29th of November 2020 Isaiah 64:1-9Mark 13:24-37 Happy New Year! And to those of you here, in the nave, welcome back to worshipping in the church building after months of lockdown. In previous … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Advent, Advent 1, apocalypse, Apocalyptic, eschaton, Isaiah 64:1-9, Mark 13:24-37, second coming
Leave a comment
Reflection: This is what it all comes down to
We human beings have a propensity for selfishness and exploitation. We naturally tend to care most about ourselves and those close to us, and least about those out of our sight. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Christ the King, John Wesley, Last Judgement, Matthew 25:31-46, money, The Reign of Christ, wealth
Leave a comment
Reflection: Being extremists
we, like Jesus, can live lives that are daring and risky and open to change and new possibilities, because we, too, know that God is not the harsh master of the third slave’s fearful imagining Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged eschaton, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Matthew 25:14-30, Parable of the Talents, parables, Parousia
4 Comments
Reflection: Being wise, not foolish; wheat, not weeds
As I watch the American election and see Christians acting in ways that I think mark them as weeds, goats, or foolish bridesmaids, Matthew reminds me to leave judgement to God. Continue reading
Reflection: As I have so often said, it’s all about love.
No matter how each gospel writer puts it, the core of Jesus’ message is the same. It is all, always, about love. Continue reading
Reflection: When the things of God and the Emperor conflict
As Christians, we too need to refuse to give our obedience and loyalty to ‘the emperor’ if the emperor is defacing the image of God by mistreating human beings. In such cases it is only by resisting the emperor that we can give to God the things that are God’s. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged civil disobedience, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Calvin, law, Martin Luther, Matthew 22:15-22, Reformation, Year of Matthew
2 Comments
Reflection: What is that ‘wedding robe’ all about?
I hope that I have made it clear that while Matthew and Paul might disagree on the route of the journey, they are in full agreement about the destination. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Apostle Paul, feasting, good works, Joy, kingdom of heaven, Matthew 22:1-14, Philippians 4:1-9, Salvation, Year of Matthew
Leave a comment
Reflection: Matthew versus Paul?
Matthew and Paul might have vehemently disagreed about whether we need to obey the Torah, whether we had freedom from the Law, but when it comes to how we should live they are in complete agreement. We are to love one another. Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 