Learning to follow Jesus in 21st Century Australia
Many of us might be able to understand what Jesus’ disciples were thinking in the opening verses of this week’s Gospel reading, Luke 21:5-19. They were walking with Jesus through the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, pointing out and marvelling at its ‘majestic stonework … and the memorial decorations on the walls’ (v5 NLT). Instead of... Continue Reading →
Life was looking hopeless to Jeremiah in this week’s Old Testament reading, Jeremiah 32:1-3a,6-15. He was under arrest for speaking God’s word to his people. King Hezekiah didn’t like what Jeremiah was saying and so put him in prison. At the same time, the mighty and all-conquering Babylonian army was camped outside the walls of... Continue Reading →
We can all have things in our lives that we love. Sometimes, our love for those things can be so strong that we can reject, dismiss or even hate other things. For example, we might love chocolate so much that we never eat lollies, or the other way around. We might love our football team... Continue Reading →
Most dog owners would probably agree that their pets are happiest when they are running free. There are times when dogs need to be on a leash, such as when they are going for a walk in a public place. At other times, it might be necessary to tie them up, for example if visitors... Continue Reading →
There are a few different ways to make pancakes. For example, we can buy a bottle of pancake mix from the shops, add water, shake, and pour the batter into a hot pan. Another way to make pancakes is to use a more complicated recipe using self-raising flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla... Continue Reading →
There are lots of things that we can “set”. For example, if we were making jelly, it will take time to set. It also takes time for concrete to set and become hard. We can set our clocks and watches to the correct time. We can also play a set of tennis or we can... Continue Reading →
Most of us probably know what it’s like to have something we need to do, but we haven’t been able to do for some reason. Maybe we need to mow the lawn, weed the garden, fold the washing or clean the windows. For younger people, it might be that we have an assessment piece to... Continue Reading →
Most people who enjoy music will have a favourite song. We might listen to a lot of songs once, twice or maybe a few times, but there are some songs that we can listen to over and over again, sometimes over a period of decades. They might have lyrics we can relate to, or a... Continue Reading →
Over the season of Lent, groups of people from our parish explored what the gospel readings for the coming week can teach us about following Jesus in the way of Christ-like love. We did this by asking what each Bible reading teaches us about God’s love for us in Jesus, trusting God’s love for us,... Continue Reading →
In a few messages this year I have explored the point of view that the heart of the Christian message is Jesus’ new command to his disciples: to love one another the way that he has loved us (John 13:34). St Paul tells us that the only thing that counts in the Christian life is... Continue Reading →
Pastor Eugene Online 