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 Resurrection Mindset (Colossians 3:1-11)
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 →
Knowing God Better (Ephesians 1:15-23)
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 →
Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:4-8)
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 →
The Way of Christ-like Love
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 →
An Extravagant Offering (John 12:1-8)
It's very important for people living in our time and place to smell good. It’s probably more important that we don’t smell bad, some might even say it’s essential, but smelling good is still a pretty high priority for most people. To achieve this, there is a wide range of personal hygiene products, body sprays,... Continue Reading →
Buried Grain (John 12:20-33)
When we go to the supermarket or visit a bakery, there is a huge variety of products we can buy that are made from wheat. We can choose from an enormous range of different breads, cakes, biscuits, breakfast cereals, and other foods. This can be hard for people with a gluten intolerance or allergy who... Continue Reading →
Unwavering Faith (Romans 4:13-25)
For the last few weeks I've seen a jigsaw puzzle in the bargain bin outside of our local newsagent. It's a 1000-piece puzzle with dozens of Marvel superheroes as the picture. What intrigues me most about this puzzle is the claim at the top right-hand side of the box saying that it is an ‘impossible... Continue Reading →
Abundant Life (John 1:1-10)
What would you do if you had a certain amount of money, let’s say $5, to spend on a treat such as chocolate or lollies? Would you prefer to spend the money on a smaller amount of good quality confectionary or a larger quantity that wasn’t as good? In other words, do you prefer better... Continue Reading →