Learning to follow Jesus in 21st Century Australia
Australia was horrified last Sunday evening when news services reported a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Two men opened fire on members of the Jewish community as they observed the start of Hanukkah, a festival which celebrates the victory of light over darkness. The darkness of sin and evil spread over Bondi that... Continue Reading →
A few years ago, shortly after moving into the manse, I planted a frangipani tree in the backyard next to our neighbour’s fence. At first it grew well with some healthy leaves and even its first flower. I was looking forward to seeing more growth and flowers last year, but the frosts that hit the... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
In recent decades we have seen a dramatic increase in online shopping. It doesn’t seem too long ago that most of the goods we purchased were bought in local stores with shop assistants helping us. Especially during the COVID pandemic when people in Australia and across the world were confined to our homes, we began... Continue Reading →
When we meet people for the first time, usually the first thing we might learn about them is their name. After that, to get to know them better, we might ask about what they do, where they are from, or what football team they support. Since living in the Barossa Valley, I’ve learned that people... Continue Reading →
Some people have a gift for learning languages. They seem to have a natural ability to remember vocabulary, understand sentence structures, and talk with an accent which sounds like they have been speaking the language their whole lives. Others, however, can find learning a new language really difficult. It can be even harder when there... 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 →
Pastor Eugene Online 