The two major themes in this week’s reading stand out in clear relief: Firstly, God’s grace is not always a comfortable and gentle thing to experience. Integral to God’s grace is the work of justice which distresses the comfortable and self-assured (the “no”) even as it comforts the distressed (the “yes”). Jeremiah is told that...
MESSAGE: Third Sunday After Epiphany – C – 23 January 2022 THEMES: Epiphany is a time where we hear/see of Jesus being revealed. There is the word of God, revealed in creation and through the book of the law. There is the mission of Christ proclaimed in his reading of the scroll from Isaiah. And...
MESSAGE: Second Sunday After Epiphany – C – 16 January 2022 THEMES: Epiphany is a time where we hear of Jesus being revealed. The Wedding in Cana: a time of celebration. Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. Isaiah’s prayer...
MESSAGE: Baptism of our Lord – C – 9 January 2022 THEMES: Baptism, empowered with the Holy Spirit! The first Sunday after Epiphany always focuses on the baptism of Jesus. This year Luke’s version of this story is the main reading. You might notice that Luke gives a very thin description of the events –...
Pursuit Leads to Growth This week we have been celebrating the incarnation – God becoming human. It’s one thing to proclaim that God has been embodied in human flesh, but it’s a completely different thing to understand what that means for us today. If the incarnation is nothing more than an interesting quirk of history,...
THEMES: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love = Jesus The Christmas story is such a familiar one right? We could tell it off by heart. The Christmas Carols tell the story – the Christmas story of Jesus! God’s gift to the world. Christmas is: God’s fulfillment of His promises. Glory to God in the Highest heaven and...
Rev Tania writes: The last week of Advent returns us to the beginning of John’s story, as Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visits Elizabeth, and John leaps within his mother’s womb. Mary’s song is, of course, one of the highlights of the birth narratives, and carries a powerful justice-proclaiming message. In the waiting of Advent, it...
MESSAGE: 3rd Sunday in ADVENT 12th December 2021 THEMES: Joy/rejoice “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do...
2nd Sunday in ADVENT 5th December 2021 THEMES: Peace The Old Testament looked expectantly for The Advent of God’s forever king, the anointed one who would bring peace to his people. Isaiah 9:6 anticipates and declares, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon...
THEMES: Hope – waiting, expectant And so, we reach the start of a new year in the Church Calendar – Advent Sunday. The word “Advent” means “arrival”, and in the next few weeks, we will be learning to recognise the arrival of Christ among us. This season is both a preparation for Christmas – the...
