Tag Archives: Peace

Sermon: Peace Sunday

I suspect that the people of Israel heard this prophecy as true for the same reason that we are hearing it in church two thousand years after the birth of the one we Christians believe is the Messiah. Prophecies of the peaceable kingdom speak to our deepest longings. They describe what we believe, in the core of our hearts and our guts, God’s good creation should be. Continue reading

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Reflection for ANZAC Day

Today we remember all those affected by war; commemorate all those who were injured or killed in war; mourn with all those who lost people they loved; recognise all those who conscientiously refused to fight. We also pledge ourselves to do everything possible to prevent war, so that future generations will not have to experience its horrors. Continue reading

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Reflection: Called to make peace

Perhaps this year, 2020, is the year when comfortable middle-class Australians like me are most aware that the grass withers and the flowers fade and that we, human beings, are grass. Continue reading

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Reflection for ANZAC Day

Let us use ANZAC Day to commit ourselves to be agents of reconciliation. Continue reading

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Sermon: Christmas Day

Let’s remember those ‘copping the hypocrisy, racism and hate’; those abused by church leaders; LGBTIQ teachers and students at religious schools. Let’s remember that in each one of these people we see Jesus’ face. Continue reading

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Reflection: The centenary of the Armistice

“War is an ancient imposter, but none of his masks and smiles and gallant trumpets can any longer delude us …” Continue reading

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Sermon: Responding to the American Presidential Election

But what I have never done before is talked about a particular politician. That’s the line I’m crossing today. Today I’m going to talk about the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States. Continue reading

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Sermon: Being at peace with God and one another

Sermon for Williamstown 3rd of April 2016 John 20:19-31 The picture on the screen is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, painted in 1602. I’m not sure whether you can see it clearly enough, but in the painting … Continue reading

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Sermon for Advent 2: Peace

We are not important or powerful in the eyes of the world, any more than John the Baptist was. But we are the children of God, and so we are called to help create a world in which everyone can walk in the ways of peace. Continue reading

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Sermon: How can we celebrate Advent in a world without Peace

There are many, many other places around the world where an absence of conflict is misnamed ‘peace’. I’m reminded of a very famous quote from the first-century Roman historian Tacitus’ history of Rome’s conquest of Scotland. Tacitus writes a rousing speech that he puts into the mouth of the British leader, Calgacus, in which he says of the Romans: ‘They make a desert and call it peace.’ Continue reading

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