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Christ descended … Christ ascended (The Sunday of the Ascension, Year A, 1...
Readings Ephesians 1.15–23 Luke 24.44–53 When we say the Apostles’ Creed, we say these words: I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was … crucified, died, and was buried; he...
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The Holy Spirit *is* the Spirit of Christ (Pentecost, Year A, 8 June 2014)
Readings Numbers 11.24–30 Acts 2.1–21 1 Corinthians 12.3–13 John 7.37–39a Today is Pentecost, which means next week is Trinity Sunday. Preachers often feel the Trinity Sunday is a hard gig, but I...
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Grace, Love, Communion … (Trinity Sunday, Year A, 15 June 2014)
Readings 2 Corinthians 13.11–13 Matthew 28.16–20 Last week, I said that while preachers often feel the Trinity Sunday is a hard gig, I really feel that Pentecost is the hardest day to preach and to...
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My name is Paul, and I’m a sinner (6 July 2014, Year A)
Readings Romans 7.15–25a Matthew 11.16–19, 25–30 My name is Paul, and I’m a sinner. Have you ever been to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous? I have. I went to an AA meeting many years ago—just as...
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Sowing no condemnation (13 July 2014, Year A)
Readings Romans 8.1–11 Matthew 13.1–9, 18–23 Jesus was a storyteller. A great storyteller. His stories are called “parables”; among the best-known are the parables of the Prodigal Son or the Good...
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The weeds within (20 July 2014, Year A)
Reading Matthew 13.24–30, 36–43 Last week we heard a parable about seed, the Parable of the Sower. The sower throws seed all over the place, like it’s going out of fashion. Some of it — only some,...
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Which meal, Jesus’ or Herod’s? (Year A, 3 August 2014)
Readings Isaiah 55.1–5 Matthew 14.13–21 Reading the Bible with the eyes of the poor is a different thing from reading it with the eyes of the [one] with a full belly. If it is read in the light of the...
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Faith, in silence (Ordinary Sunday 14A, 10 August 2014)
Readings 1 Kings 19.9–18 Matthew 14.22–33 What do you see in this picture? It’s a wintry scene. It’s winter here now, but our Brisbane winters aren’t at all like this, with its tree devoid of leaves,...
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Spirit, open our hearts (17 August, 2014: Year A)
Readings Isaiah 56.1–8 Matthew 15.10–28 When we began our service this morning, we sang Gather us in, the lost and forsaken; Gather us in, the blind and the lame… Our lectionary scriptures today...
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“The Rock from which you were hewn” (24 August 2014, Year A)
ReadingsIsaiah 51.1–6Matthew 16.13–20 There are a lot of references to rocks in the Bible. Deuteronomy 32 calls God ‘the Rock that bore you’. And in 2 Samuel 22: The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,...
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