Over Christmas Eve and Day, we had four services and I preached three different messages. Instead of writing and posting each one, here’s a summary of what I said… Christmas Eve – ‘Revealed Grace’ (Titus 2:11) Sometimes Christmas can seem to be like a Where’s Wally? picture. These are pictures with lots of detail which... Continue Reading →
Church (Ephesians 1:15-23)
What do you think of when someone uses the word ‘church’?The word ‘church’ can carry with it a few different meanings. For example, for a lot of people, a ‘church’ is a building where people gather for worship. For others, it might be the worship service that happens in the building. Still other people might... Continue Reading →
Faith-Filled Investments (Matthew 25:14-30)
What would you do if your employer handed a large amount of money over to you and asked you to look after it for them? There are so many things we could do with that money! For example, we might put it in a long-term savings account and earn a reasonable amount of interest. Or,... Continue Reading →
Identity (John 3:1-3)
When you meet someone for the first time, what do you tell them about yourself? We could probably start with our name because that is the simplest way of sharing who we are with people, but what would you say after that? Some might talk about what we do for a living, our family, our... Continue Reading →
One Mind (Philippians 2:1-13)
A lot of winter sports come to the end of their season with grand finals in September and October. In Lyndoch last weekend, local football and netball competitions played their grand finals. The SANFL played their grand final that Sunday afternoon at the Adelaide Oval. This weekend the AFL played their final game on Saturday... Continue Reading →
Accepting Others (Romans 14:1-12)
In our New Testament readings over the last couple of weeks, we have heard Paul talk about Christ-like love in the life of the Christian faith community. A fortnight ago we heard Paul say that ‘love must be sincere’ as he instructed Christians to ‘be devoted to one another in love’ (Rom 12:9,10 NIV). Last... Continue Reading →
Simple (Romans 13:8-14)
Anyone who has bought furniture in recent times will probably be familiar with a flatpack. If you have never heard of a flatpack, when people purchase an item, such as a bookshelf or an entire kitchen, it will come with a set of instructions for the purchaser to follow so they can assemble the product... Continue Reading →
Following Jesus (Matthew 16:21-28)
Most of us would be familiar with the game ‘follow the leader.’ In this game, children follow someone and imitate the leader’s actions. If the leader jumps, everybody jumps. If the leader skips, everybody skips. If the leader runs or stops, everybody runs or stops. The goal of the game is to copy exactly what... Continue Reading →
God’s Good Intentions (Genesis 50:20)
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice are famous for writing musicals which have been popular around the world such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and others. One of their earliest collaborations was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which began as a 15-minute-long school musical in 1968 and over the next 6 years developed into... Continue Reading →
Hope in Suffering (Romans 8:12-25)
Most people in Australia have been blessed with the opportunity to travel. Some people’s travels might be within the state in which they live, or they might explore other parts of our beautiful country, or, in recent decades, international travel has given people the chance to travel to parts of the world that many of... Continue Reading →