Life outside the bubble – Psalm 46 I assume you are all familiar – considering where we are right now– with the concept of the Canberra bubble! Made popular by of our last Prime Minister and the Australian National Dictionary Centre’s 2018 word of the year, the Canberra bubble is Read more
God’s gonna trouble the water. I love the ambiguity of this African American spiritual lyric – so simple, but so evocative, so layered in Scriptural meaning! Wade in the Water refers to both the Israelites escape from Egypt and the end times – promising a future freedom. (Robert Waltz and Read more
God in a manger Luke 2:1-12 There is a lovely little story for children – and for adults – written by Frank McCourt, who wrote Angela’s Ashes (some of you will have read), about his poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland. This, however, is an earlier story about his mother Angela who, Read more
Prelude Choir – Alleluia, hurry the Lord is near Call to Worship Family of Christ, siblings by adoption, let us come together and seek peace! The Prince of Peace is here, making his home in our hearts. When we are at peace, our hearts are not afraid. When we are Read more
The sheep and the goats – Matthew 25:31-46 Well, it is a challenge to be the third speaker – especially to follow… But it is a greater challenge to reflect on the past year for Canberra Baptist Church in the light of this familiar, but always unsettling parable about the Read more
Rejoice in the Lord greatly – Philippians 4:10-20 Eight weeks ago (with a little break for the Blessing of the Animals and the Open Baptists weekend) we began a series on Philippians, and today is the last in this series. But joy, (hallelujah!), goes on! It is firmly and deeply Read more
Rejoice in the Lord – always. – Philippians 4:1-7 Poor Euodia and Syntyche! What a way to be remembered for posterity! I was tempted, when I was planning this series to skip the beginning of chapter 4, but as I did more reading, I was intrigued by the fact that Read more
Luke 2: 1-20 Written by Rebecca Hilton, who considers that Luke would be comfortable with a retelling of the story he wrote, given that the story is for everyone, now matter who they are, and where they live. Congregational responses are bolded (because they are likely to be difficult to Read more
“Finally,” Paul says in Philippians chapter 3, “Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!” It’s a very appropriate verse for today, isn’t it! Today we are rejoicing in the Lord! We are rejoicing in the baptisms of Maddie and James and the reminder, for many of us, of Read more
One of my joys in this series on Philippians – and joy – has been receiving an enthusiastic email from John Morrison telling me he preached a similar series at Wellington Baptist and attaching the annotated (as only John would!) list of jokes he used! Though he added, “I am Read more