Tag Archives: Palm Sunday

Sermon: Street marches

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Palm Sunday, 24th of March 2023 Psalm 118:1-2 19-29 Mark 11:1-11 After hearing today’s gospel story, of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem the week before his death, I am a little surprised that the Roman powers … Continue reading

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Sermon: Our Only King

We Christians should be inoculated against such awe. We venerate and revere only God. Our ‘powerful leader’ is Jesus, who is gentle and humble in heart, and whose yoke is easy, and burden light. (Matthew 11:28-30) But we are human beings, and so we are just as prone to revering people for the wrong things – wealth, heritage, title, fame – as Trump supporters. Continue reading

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Sermon: Thank God! Palm Sunday and Refugees

I believe that Australia’s mistreatment of the asylum seekers who sought refuge here by boat has in recent years been this country’s greatest sin. It is supported by both the ALP and the LNP, and has broken the hearts of supporters of both. Continue reading

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Sermon: A different sort of power

Here we see the true King, the only leader we are called to follow, showing an alternate vision to the Pax Romana, a different way of exercising power, with humility and gentleness. The crowds cheer: the powers that be, both Roman and Temple, worry. Ultimately, the powers that be will conspire to kill him. Continue reading

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Sermon: Palm Sunday Protests

There can be no ‘Walk for Justice for Refugees’, which churches and community groups have held on this Sunday for years as our government’s attacks on people seeking asylum have got worse. We are seeing a very different Palm Sunday, a much more subdued one than we would normally experience. But its importance, its message, remains the same. Continue reading

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Palm Sunday Sermon for the combined service

we can work for peace, justice and reconciliation with complete confidence, because God has already won the victory Continue reading

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Sermon: Innocent Blood

We see in Jesus on the cross every innocent victim of political expediency and hate. In every innocent person hated for their race or religion or nationality or gender or sexuality we see Jesus. Continue reading

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Sermon: Following Jesus to the streets

Ultimately, the powers that be conspire to kill Jesus. This is what the powerful do when they feel threatened; either symbolically or literally they kill the threat. In Jerusalem two thousand years ago the threat was Jesus, whose entry into Jerusalem told people that there was a different way to be, beyond the choices offered by the contemporary Roman and Jewish leaders. On the day that we remember as Palm Sunday Jesus took that message to the streets. Two thousand years’ later, we are called to follow him in taking the same message of a different way to the streets. Continue reading

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Sermon: Taking to the Streets

Sermon for Williamstown 13th of April 2014 Matthew 21:1-11 So, here we are at Palm Sunday. Jesus enters Jerusalem to choruses of praise and a crowd going wild. Rather than entering as most pilgrims do, on foot, Jesus enters riding … Continue reading

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