This is a lovely, gentle romance; almost a ‘Georgette Heyer’ set in Scotland. I can understand why of all Bruce’s “Colmskirk” stories this was the one most reprinted. The bits of Scots might be a little hard for some to understand, but not for anyone who had read Robert Louis Stevenson or Sir Walter Scott (who actually appears in this book with his family). Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown Uniting Church
The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, 2nd of February 2014
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12
Károly Ferenczy, Sermon on the Mountain, 1896
Today, as we continue our Epiphany journey through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we hear one of my favourite descriptions of what it is that we’re on about in the church: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24) That’s a perfect description of today’s gospel reading, because today the lectionary takes us to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and the foolishness and the wisdom of the beatitudes. Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown
26th of January, 2014
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
In last week’s reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul started his epistle on an extremely positive note: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind … so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1: 4-7) Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown
19th of January 2014
John 1:29-42
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
In a couple of previous sermons I’ve mentioned the Revised Common Lectionary, which gives churches four Bible readings for each Sunday and is used by Anglican and Lutheran and Methodist and Presbyterian and Uniting churches all around the world. Sometimes there’s a conflict between lectionary and what might be happening in a congregation, and the preacher will have to choose between, for example, ANZAC Day and the second Sunday of Easter. But at other times everything works together and the lectionary readings fit perfectly with what else is happening in a service. Today, like last Sunday, is one of those days. For the second week in a row the congregation here at Electra Street is celebrating a baptism and, for the second week in a row, the lectionary readings are talking to us about baptism and being called by God. Today, as Jamie and Nancy respond to God’s call to Stephanie by bringing her to be baptised, we hear again about Jesus’ baptism, and we then hear about the calling of Jesus’ first disciples. We hear the beginning of the story into which Stephanie will be baptised; the story of the Church – the community and body of Christ. Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown
Baptism of Jesus, 12th of January, 2014
Matthew 3:13-17
Acts 10:34-43
Christianity says two things about human beings. Actually, it says lots of things about human beings, but there are two particular elements of Christian anthropology that I want to focus on today. The first is that we are all, without exception, beloved children of God. The second is that we are all, without exception, sinners. We are both God’s beloved sons and daughters, in whom God is well-pleased, and we are those who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown Uniting Church
4th Sunday of Advent, 22nd of December, 2013
Matthew 1:18-25
Way back in the eighties and early nineties there was an Australian television program called A Country Practice. I wasn’t allowed to watch the first seasons, but by the mid-eighties I had joined all my school friends in my addiction to it. Every year, around Christmas time, memories of one particular episode come back to me. As I remember it, the episode centred on an older woman who found herself unexpectedly pregnant and was considering ending the pregnancy. Naturally, everyone in the entire town knew this and had an opinion on it, no secrets in Wandin Valley, and one of the doctors went to visit a church to think about it. There she met a priest who asked her about different scenarios in which a termination might be appropriate. One was when the mother was an unmarried teenager for whom giving birth would be particularly risky. Would she perform an abortion in that circumstance? The doctor said, yes, of course. Ah, said the priest, but what if the mother’s name was Mary and the town was Bethlehem? Continue reading
Sermon for the third Sunday of Advent
15th of December 2013
Matthew 1:1-17
Were you surprised by today’s Gospel reading? I have to confess that this morning I cheated. The lectionary reading for this Sunday comes from the 11th chapter of Matthew, and tells us about John the Baptist, imprisoned by Herod, sending disciples to ask Jesus who he is. Jesus answers: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.” It’s a great reading for any time of year, especially Advent, but I’ve decided not to preach on it. Instead, I want to talk about a reading that isn’t in the lectionary and is very seldom talked about – the opening verses of the Gospel according to Matthew.
The Gospel according to Matthew starts with Jesus’ genealogy. No other gospel starts like this; Luke also has a genealogy, but Luke puts it chapter three of his gospel: after all the birth stories have been told; after John has baptised Jesus; and when we are told that Jesus is about thirty years old. Only Matthew begins with a list of Jesus’ ancestors, which tells us that Matthew thinks this list is important. The list is not historical; it’s theological. Matthew is telling us that Jesus was the son of Abraham and the son of David. But Matthew also tells us that Jesus is descended from Abraham and David in unusual ways. In this long list of names, usually considered boring, are some fascinating stories that tell us a lot about who Matthew thinks Jesus is. Continue reading
Sermon for Williamstown
17th of November, 2013
Isaiah 65:17-25
Over this past week I have been reading and watching the news from the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan has affected millions of people; hundreds of thousands are displaced and thousands dead. As always, there’s a lag between the initial disaster and the time that emergency supplies can reach people affected, and so people have been left without food and water, shelter and medical aid, surrounded by the bodies of the dead.
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, everything God made was very good. And yet, despite the goodness of God’s creation, we see a world around us in distress. Where there should be peace, we see violence and catastrophe. Where there should be joy, we see sorrow and rage. Women die in childbirth; children die of preventable illnesses; men and women die of war, famine, disease and, as we’ve been reminded this week, natural disasters. This is not the way the world should be, we know this. We know it because the story of the creation has given us a vision of how God wants the world to be. We know it because throughout the centuries the prophets cried out for justice, telling the people what God wants for us. We know it because in Jesus Christ God came and lived among us and showed us what a Godly life looks like. Today’s reading from Isaiah is just one of the many, many, biblical descriptions of God’s good intentions for God’s beloved creation. Continue reading
In this part Rev. Dr Garry Deverell explains why he believes marriage is a heterosexual institution.
Rev Doc Geek 