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Tag Archives: family
Sermon: UnChosen Family
We are not to claim special honour and respect, titles and ceremonial dress, because we are all the children of the one Father; the students of the one Teacher; the disciples of the one Instructor. There is meant to be a radical equality among those who follow Jesus and yet, as Brendan Byrne writes, ‘The instruction to live as brothers and sisters under the one Father in heaven, each striving to emulate the “servant” rank and role modelled by Christ, has fought a losing battle against the tendency to institutionalise and socially elevate leadership figures.’ Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13, Apostle Paul, Brendan Byrne, chosen family, Christian brothers and sisters, Christian siblings, church as family, Elton John, evangelism, family, John Edwards, love, Matthew 23:1-12, Rita Sawayama, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Year of Matthew
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Sermon: Holy Spirit and evil spirits
It is hard to rightly judge enthusiasm manufactured by living men before our own eyes, whether that enthusiasm is the Jesus Movement within first-century Judaism, the excesses of Francis of Assisi, Protestantism, Methodism, the movement for the ordination of women, the struggle for churches to welcome LGBTIQ+ people, Pentecostalism, and so on, and so forth. If we are not going to join the scribes in their eternal sin, we need to be constantly open to the new things the Holy Spirit is doing, and this will demand much discernment. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged anti-Zionism, Beelzebul, families, family, Holy Spirit, Jesus'family, Mark 3:20-35, materialism, Methodism, racism, Rev. Sydney Smith, Satan, scribes, sexism, spirits, white supremacy, Year of Mark
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Sermon: Worshipping false gods
Every time Christians gather together to worship is a ‘family service’ even if the worshipping community is made up entirely of unrelated single people all over the age of ninety. Continue reading
Sermon: Be afraid, be very afraid. Jesus and family values
Sermon for Williamstown Uniting Church Pentecost 2, 7th of June 2015 Mark 3:20-35 Be afraid, be very afraid. After the joy of the Easter season, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday, the church is now in ‘Ordinary Time’ and this year that … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged demonic possession, family, Mark 3:20-35, Pentecost 2, Year of Mark
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Reflection: Saying good-bye to Nanna
“It is the blight man was born for/It is Margaret you mourn for.” Continue reading
Reflection for the funeral of Jemima Pearson Campbell Hannah
Scripture Readings Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – Read by Murray Hannah-Jones Romans 8:37-39 – Read by Samantha Bykersma The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Preaching of the Word We are gathered here today to say good-bye to Jemima Pearson … Continue reading
