Our Great High Priest – Isaiah 53:4-6, Hebrews 5:1-10 In The Silver Chair, part of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, there is an section I often think about: the confrontation, deep underground, between the Witch and Jill, Eustace, Puddleglum (who could forget the Marsh-wiggle!) and Prince Rilian. Rilian Read more
Blessing of the Animals – Genesis 1-2, Psalm 148 It says in Genesis, chapter 2: “On the seventh day God finished the work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed Read more
Witnessing to Creation – Psalm 19, Romans 1:18-20,25 There are lines of scripture so beautiful they take your breath away, and I would put these first verses from Psalm 19 in that category. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day Read more
“Open our ears to hear and guide our steps to follow” Reading: Mark 9: 30-37 A well-known and I suspect much loved hymn begins with the lines, “O Sabbath rest by Galilee, O calm of hills above”. But it wasn’t like that in Galilee in the time of Jesus, Read more
Taking up the cross – Mark 8:27-38, Isaiah 50:4-8a I am doing something different this morning. As I was preparing for two sermons – today’s and one for the service for Enos tomorrow – I decided to re-work an address I heard many years ago – the induction address of Read more
Crumbs! – Mark 7:24-30, Isaiah 35:4-7 There are some passages of Scripture that you read and think – quite literally, Crumbs! What are we to make of this? Did Jesus just call that woman a dog? How did she find a way to respond to that? And what are the Read more
Strange Soldiers – Ephesians 6:10-20 Saint Patrick’s Breastplate is an old Irish prayer attributed – perhaps as Ephesians is attributed to Paul – to Saint Patrick. It consists of five parts, each beginning, ‘I bind unto myself today…’ followed by a list of sources of strength that the prayer calls Read more
Family – Ephesians 5:21-6:9 Two years before Aron and I moved to Japan in 1995, Crown Prince (at the time) Naruhito and Princess Masako were married. Masako worked for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs before her marriage. She was the daughter of a senior diplomat and spoke six languages: Read more
Call – Ephesians 4:1-16 A few years ago, I told you a story of friend called Vikki who came to the church Aron and I attended in Sydney. She had grown up Catholic and gone to Catholic schools, but when she left school, she left the church behind. But in Read more