Sermons

It’s the shortest Bible verse, and one of the most significant. The home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary was a safe refuge for Jesus, just outside Jerusalem. There was a deep love for him, and always a welcome. When Lazarus took seriously ill, Jesus did not rush back to...

To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.  Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Who is he, sir?’ the man asked. ‘Tell me so that...

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10 I cringe inwardly, and give a wry smile, when I think how I used to understand this text in my self-assured, male,...

“Go to the land I will show you.”  God to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 12:1) “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” Jesus to Nicodemus (John 3: 3). Most of us are in the second half of life, and that requires different...

‘When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.’ Matthew 4:12 There are significant withdrawals in the beginning of Matthew, and all connected to words of prophecy. The wise men withdraw from Bethlehem ‘another way’, so they...

Canadian Christian author Sarah Bessey tells how she and her very loud son found a way to a softer volume setting when he was little, and she didn’t want the new baby woken. He was watching Sesame Street, where Kermit was trying to tell Grover to be softer. Grover...

It was very moving to watch the Bondi gathering on Sunday night, and hear the courage, the distress, and the very careful message to Australians that the concerns and experiences of the Jewish people here have not been listened to since October 2023. There was the...

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24:42 Here we are, alive, and maybe not always so well. It can be very hard, being there for the long haul. How do we keep practising our Christian faith, apart from the obvious...

Luke 14:13-14 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Hospitality is about being welcomed as you are. It’s about...