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Tag Archives: Lent
Sermon: Do not be afraid
We do not need to fear the future or look back on the past with nostalgic regret, because we know that the God who does new things will walk with us into whatever lies ahead. It may be death, but we also know that after the crucifixion comes resurrection. We have nothing to fear. Thanks be to God. Amen. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Babylonian Exile, Exodus, Fear, Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8, Lent, Lent 5, Mary of Bethany, Psalm 126, Second Isaiah, Year of Luke
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Sermon: Don’t blame the victim
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting ChurchThird Sunday of Lent, 20th of March, 2020 Isaiah 55:1-9Luke 13:1-9 Humans have a dreadful tendency, in our need to make sense of life, to blame victims. We tend to see it when a woman … Continue reading
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Tagged death, floods, Isaiah 55:1-9, judgement, Justice, Lent, Lent 3, Luke 13:1-9, Mercy, Repentance, victim blaming, Year of Luke
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Sermon: “All shall be well”
As we lament over the pain of the world, and pray for its healing, as well as doing our own small part towards caring for the vulnerable, we can hold on to the reassurance offered to us by a fourteenth-century mystic. Because we know that at the core of the universe is love, we believe that ‘all will be well and all will be well and all manner of thing will be well’. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Abraham, comfort, Genesis 15:1-18, Julian of Norwich, Lent, Lent 2, love, Luke 13:31-35, Year of Luke
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Sermon: Destruction and Newness
This is a dangerous exercise of prophetic imagination. If the ‘least’ as well as the ‘greatest’ know the Lord on equal terms, what will the world look like? It cannot be a world in which those with particular types of education or holding particular offices will have power and privilege, while everyone else knows their place. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged Babylonian Exile, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Lent, Lent 5
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Sermon: The powerlessness and ugliness of God in Jesus
If we ignore the crucifixion’s horror we lose that solidarity between God and suffering humanity. If we make Jesus too attractive and powerful, we might think that ugly, suffering human beings are not part of the world that God so loves. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged crucifixion, death, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John 3:14-21, Jurgen Moltmann, Lent, Lent 4, Numbers 21:4-9, resurrection, The Crucified God, ugliness
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Sermon: Righteous Anger
This week many people, particularly women, have expressed anger. Before condemning this anger, or dismissing those who are demanding change from Australian institutions as a ‘mob’, let us remember today’s gospel story and Jesus’ outrageous, zealous, righteous anger in the Temple. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged anger, John 2:13-22, Lent, Lent 3, Politics, rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault
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Sermon: Nothing will make God give up on us
Whenever we feel at our most alone, we can have faith that God is with us, because Jesus entered the wilderness ahead of us. Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged creation, creation story, Creator, Flood, Genesis 9:8-17, Lent, Lent 1, love, Mark 1:9-15, noah, Temptation
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Sermon: Who is welcome? The doubters; the faithful; the rule-breakers
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
Posted in Sermons
Tagged covid19, doubt, faith, John 9:1-41, Lent, Lent 4, rule-breaking, welcome, who is welcome?
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Sermon: Who is welcome? Foreigners and women
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
Sermon: Who is welcome? Those who need to be born again
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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Tagged being born again, being born from above, butterfly, Butterfly House, caterpillar, cocoon, John 3:1-17, Lent, Lent 2, Nicodemus, Year of Matthew
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