Category Archives: Sermons

Sermon: In which Avril rabbits on about love yet again, because it IS all about love

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Christianity means something (liberation and love)

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: It’s all about love (I know, I know; I keep saying that. But it is!)

Posted on April 17, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

‘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 →

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Sermon: A different sort of power

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Here we see the true King, the only leader we are called to follow, showing an alternate vision to the Pax Romana, a different way of exercising power, with humility and gentleness. The crowds cheer: the powers that be, both Roman and Temple, worry. Ultimately, the powers that be will conspire to kill him. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Destruction and Newness

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This is a dangerous exercise of prophetic imagination. If the ‘least’ as well as the ‘greatest’ know the Lord on equal terms, what will the world look like? It cannot be a world in which those with particular types of education or holding particular offices will have power and privilege, while everyone else knows their place. Continue reading →

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Sermon: The powerlessness and ugliness of God in Jesus

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

If we ignore the crucifixion’s horror we lose that solidarity between God and suffering humanity. If we make Jesus too attractive and powerful, we might think that ugly, suffering human beings are not part of the world that God so loves. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Righteous Anger

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This week many people, particularly women, have expressed anger. Before condemning this anger, or dismissing those who are demanding change from Australian institutions as a ‘mob’, let us remember today’s gospel story and Jesus’ outrageous, zealous, righteous anger in the Temple. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Nothing will make God give up on us

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Whenever we feel at our most alone, we can have faith that God is with us, because Jesus entered the wilderness ahead of us. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Living in the face of death

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

I am almost sure that this was not what the writer of the books of Kings intended, but for me today’s story is a parable about love in the face of death. When everything tells us to turn back, not to take the hard journey of love, if we have the courage to continue to love we see a revelation of God. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Putting one foot in front of the other

Posted on February 6, 2021 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church 7th of February 2021 Isaiah 40:21-31 Psalm 147 Mark 1:29-39 We woke up on Thursday morning to a new case of community transmission in Victoria. The covid19 journey is truly a wild rollercoaster of … Continue reading →

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