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Tag Archives: Apostle Peter
Sermon: Easter Sunday
Jesus Christ is Lord of all, not only of those like Peter, and the peace he preaches includes peace between those of different faiths and nations. From this moment on, if the church is to truly be the body of Christ, then its doors must be flung open, and everyone must be allowed to stream in. Continue reading
Sermon: Proclaiming the good news
The church is meant to be a place in which differences are respected and divisions are healed, because greater than all that divides us is the gospel. The relationship between Christians is meant to be a sign to the world of the reconciliation that Christ brought. To both Jews and Gentiles, weak and strong, Paul promotes a freedom that enables people to identify with their opponents. Continue reading
Sermon: A quieter Pentecost
There is no wrong way to feel when people we love have died. But my prayer whenever I sit by the side of the dying is that they may go gently and peacefully into the loving hands of God, and I believe with every fibre of my being that as we say good-bye to someone we love we are giving them into the arms of the God who has loved them all the days of their lives and who continues to love them after death. Continue reading
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Tagged Apostle Peter, death, Farewell Discourse, funerals, John 14:8-17, Pentecost, resurrection
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Sermon: Joining the church
But as Martin Luther King is quoted as saying: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,’ and so, over the centuries, the church has discovered that apartheid is wrong, that women are the equals of men and (at least in the Uniting Church) that LGBTIQ+ people are to be welcomed and celebrated. Each time the church recognises that no one created by God can be called unclean or profane, the church is closer to living in a way that reveals God’s love to the world. Continue reading
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Tagged Acts 11:1-18, Apostle Peter, baptism, gentiles, John 13:35-35, love, the new commandment
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Sermon: Thank goodness for Peter
There is a lovely line in a poem called A Vision of Piers Plowman, written in about 1400 by a man called William Langland: ‘And all the wickedness in this world that man might work or think/Is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal in the sea.’ That is what this epilogue to the Gospel according to John tells us; no human crime, sin or failing can outweigh the graciousness of God. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged A Vision of Piers Plowman, Acts 9:1-20, Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, Easter 3, forgiveness, John 21:1-19
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Sermon: Exercising our gifts
one ministry that absolutely does not depend on being active and mobile is the ministry of prayer. I do not want to say that ‘anyone can pray,’ because for me one of the signs that my clinical depression is becoming acute is an inability to pray, but it is true that prayer does not require the person praying be filled with youthful vigour. It can be done as well, if not better, by the elderly and frail as by the young and strong. Continue reading
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Tagged Acts 9, Apostle Peter, Dorcas, gifts, Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, ministry, Prophet Isaiah
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Reflection: At sea in a storm
Reflection for Western Heights Uniting Church August 9, 2020 Matthew 14:22-33 The church has from its very beginning been considered metaphorically to be a boat. This is unsurprising when we consider that Jesus’ first followers were fishermen and that the … Continue reading
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Tagged Apostle Peter, boats, covid19, Fear, Matthew 14:22-33, Saint Augustine, sea, ships
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Sermon: Following in the footsteps of the Apostle Peter and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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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Tagged Apostle Peter, baptism, call, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-24, vocation, Year of Matthew
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Sermon Against the Prosperity Gospel
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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Tagged Apostle Peter, Isaiah 49:1-7, John 1:29-42, John the Baptist, prosperity gospel, Servant Songs, suffering
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Sermon: The Glory of God
These three stories of encounters with the absolute holiness of God, which all emphasise the feelings of unworthiness of the humans to whom they happen, end, somewhat paradoxically, with calls to mission and ministry. Continue reading
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Tagged 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, American Evangelicalism, Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, call to ministry, Glory, Isaiah, Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, Year of Luke
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