Sermon exploring the nature of the life of the God as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And how our lives are shaped by God's very life. … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Kings
"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" – Matthew 21:9 Today is the beginning of Holy Week, Palm Sunday, a day where we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem with adoring crowds waving palm fronds, shouts of Hosanna, a procession fit for a King. We began today with the joy of Palm Sunday, waving our palms singing our coronation songs just as the crowds did in our first Gospel reading today. And why … [Read more...]
Blessed Are…
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Matthew 5:6 Today in our Gospel reading we come to one of the most beloved and well-known passages of Scripture: The Beatitudes. Over the next 4 weeks we will hear Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount – of which the Beatitudes are the beginning – and it represents the first truly public act of Jesus’ ministry, in the Gospel of Matthew. … [Read more...]
Repentance
Last week Andrew spoke to us about discipleship. He spoke to us about how the heart of discipleship is about ‘being with Jesus’, hanging on to Jesus’ every word, on learning what it means to live from Jesus and more challengingly being with the people that Jesus hung out with – the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the prostitutes, the sinners, the tax collectors, the lonely. He even went on to concretely challenge us to live out this calling to be with Jesus and those Jesus chooses to be … [Read more...]
Same Old Song and Dance
“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” – Matthew 2:18 Over the last week there has been a lot of retrospectives in the media – on television, the radio, online – looking back at the year that was in 2016. Many of the retrospectives have been considerably negative – wishing good riddance to a year and hope for a better year to come. … [Read more...]
Tell Me What You See
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” – Matthew 11:3-4 “God is going to restore Israel’s Glory Days”; “God is going to kick out those Roman foreigners who make our lives hell.” “The Messiah is going to come and drain the swamp of political corruption in Jerusalem.” “God is going to Make Israel Great Again!” … [Read more...]
Sweet Forgiveness
Today we conclude our four-week series, as part of the Story series, exploring the Lord's Prayer. Today we look at the clause what it means to pray "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." … [Read more...]
Spiritual Living
The Mountain of Transfiguration Journey as a teaching on Spiritual Living This Gospel story, Mt 17;1-9, has hidden in it a description of the spiritual journey that is the heart of the practice of faith.Leaving "home", Journeying hard, Gaining In-Sight, being given the ability to listen for God's voice. … [Read more...]