Tag Archives: Repentance

Sermon: Forgiveness and Repentance

we cannot expect to remain the same when we joyfully climb down that sycamore tree. As we examine our lives, we may find ourselves relinquishing half of what we have, and doing four times as much right as we have previously done wrong Continue reading

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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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Sermon: Rejoicing and repenting, or vice versa

We know that poverty and disaster can cause people to feel ashamed if they need help. Australia was for so long considered to be a ‘working man’s paradise’ that it was even a joke in an Agatha Christie story. A wealthy young man disowned by his uncle asks his uncle’s butler whether he should leave for Australia.

Rogers coughed discreetly.
‘Well, sir, I’ve certainly heard it said that there’s room out there for anyone who really wants to work.’
Mr Rowland gazed at him with interest and admiration.
‘Very neatly put, Rogers. Just what I was thinking myself. I shan’t go to Australia – not today, at any rate.’[2] Continue reading

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Sermon: Clericalism is wrong

The proposed legal change is a sign that the world is changing, and it seems that Australian society will no longer allow churches to be treated differently from other institutions. And that’s good! Continue reading

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Sermon: Can we speak of Joy after the Royal Commission?

Hope and joy come from God’s love of justice. And so we know that God was at work in the Royal Commission, as God is at work in every human endeavour that strives for peace and wholeness. Continue reading

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