Category Archives: Sermons

Sermon: Who is welcome? The doubters; the faithful; the rule-breakers

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Foreigners and women

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Those who need to be born again

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Sinners.

Posted on February 29, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Do not be afraid

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: The unfashionable virtue of obedience

Posted on February 15, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

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 →

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Sermon: Following in the footsteps of the Apostle Peter and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Sermon for Camberwell Uniting Church 26th of January, 2020 Matthew 4:12-24 Isaiah 9:1-4 These weeks that we have between Christmas and Lent are dedicated to the nature of vocation or call. We’ve seen Jesus’ call to begin his public ministry … Continue reading →

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Sermon Against the Prosperity Gospel

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, neither success nor failure, wealth nor poverty, health nor sickness, happiness nor despair. Continue reading →

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Sermon: God’s Humanity

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

even more important than the details of the incarnation is the simple point of the incarnation. In Jesus, God became one of us. In Jesus, God embraced humanity. Continue reading →

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Sermon: The foolishness of the wise

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

The magi may be ‘wise men from the East’ but apparently they lack all common sense. Continue reading →

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