Tag Archives: Lent
Sermon: Martha, Lazarus, and Mary
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Lent 5, 6th of April, 2025 John 12:1-8 ‘The chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If … Continue reading
Sermon: No, we are not unworthy
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting ChurchLent 4, 30th of March, 2025 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Today’s reading from Paul’s Second Letter to the church at Corinth, or at least the second letter of his to the Corinthians that we have, is … Continue reading
Sermon: None of us is perfect – and that’s okay
Lent is a time when we are reminded that none of us is perfect. All of us fail and fall short; we always do, say, and do not do, things for which we need to repent. There is something soothing about knowing this: we do not need to pretend to be perfect. God knows that we are not. And despite every way in which we fail to live as the people God created us to be, God remains faithful. Continue reading
Sermon: Jesus IS a wishy-washy liberal
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting ChurchLent 2, 16th of March 2025 Luke 13:31-35Philippians 3:17-4:1 ‘Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.’ If you have … Continue reading
Sermon: Giving into Temptation
We all face times of trial. We are all tested. The forty days of Lent, spent in self-examination and repentance, by prayer and fasting, by self-denial and acts of generosity, and by reading and meditating on the word of God, provide us in practice not giving in to temptation. Lent trains us to resist temptation’s wheedling ways. Continue reading
Sermon: The Ten Words
And if we struggle to believe that in God’s sight we are ‘precious and lovely’, then be assured: the day will come when ‘we shall really understand what [God] means in these sweet words where he says, “All shall be well, and you shall see for yourself that all manner of things shall be well.”’ Continue reading
Sermon: A man born blind
We are just as prone to blaming the victim as the religious authorities in this story. I have preached before about the deeply human tendency, and we have just seen an appalling example of it in the Robodebt Royal Commission. We will need to wait for the Commissioner’s final report to know exactly how things went wrong, but I have been listening in to the live stream as I have worked, and the apparent attitudes of some politicians and senior public servants to people who need to access Centrelink have been dreadful. ‘Robodebts’ were illegal, unethical, and inaccurate, and yet they seem to have been imposed because of a false belief that welfare recipients must be ripping off the system. Continue reading
Sermon: A woman at a well
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Third Sunday of Lent, 12th of March 2023 John 4:5-42 Today’s story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my favourite stories in the entire Bible, with one of … Continue reading
Sermon: An imagined community
The church is another such imagined community, and one that is both local and global. Everyone who participates in the service here each Sunday is part of this congregation, whether they attend in person, listen online, or read a paper version. And all these members of North Balwyn Uniting Church are members of an imagined community we call the one holy catholic and apostolic church. Continue reading
Sermon: Chocolate, Milton, and Lent Event
I have given up chocolate for Lent. I do this at least every few years and I always feel a little ridiculous about it. Jesus is walking towards his death, the most humiliating, painful and lonely death the Roman Empire could impose, and to show my solidarity with his journey I am giving up a completely voluntary sweet treat. Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 