Dear Friends,Reading the start of Mark’s gospel (as we have been doing so far in 2024) it is clear that, for Jesus, proclaiming the good news of God went hand in hand with casting out demons. It seems you cannot proclaim a life-changing message and not see lives changed! All Read more…
I was tempted to take a picture of the Australia Day offerings in my local Coles this week. That whole brouhaha seemed a seriously flawed response to an ongoing discussion in our nation. Australian test captain, Pat Cummins, did a far better job, in my view, of speaking into this Read more…
Dear Friends, It was fascinating to delve into the history of ‘How great thou art’ last week. Several people have commented on that part of Sunday’s sermon. It’s amazing that a hymn that looks so seamless took nearly 70 years to craft into its current form! (Carl Boberg wrote the Read more…
Dear Friends, I was remiss last Sunday! I forgot to pass on a special invitation from a friend of Lyle Hingley’s, at the Baha’i Community, to come together to pray for peace for our world. As I mentioned last Sunday in the sermon, according to data from the Uppsala Conflict Read more…
Today I’ve been re-reading the Sunday-to-Sunday messages for the year. What a year! We have lost loved ones, but we know that love goes on! We have welcomed new friends and welcomed new friends into membership! And we have continued to pour out energy, creativity, faithfulness (and a willingness to Read more…
Dear Friends On Sunday, many of you also heard the sad news that Doreen Henson passed away early on Saturday morning. There will be a Service of Thanksgiving for her life on Tuesday, 19 Dec, at 10am at the church, followed by morning tea. On Sunday I also discovered that Read more…
“It’s my favourite church service of the year!” Miriam announced to our, somewhat surprised, family last night while we were talking about this Sunday’s Lessons and Carols Service. “What!” said her partner, Dan, “Better than the Blessing of the Animals?” “Oh, yes!” said Miriam, firmly, “It my absolute favourite service Read more…
In my family (thanks to my American auntie, Auntie Melea) the rule was that Christmas decorations could not go up until after Thanksgiving! In Christian tradition, however, Christmas does not begin until the 25th of December! The period leading up to Christmas, that begins this Sunday, is Advent – a Read more…
Dear Friends, Our series on joy has come to an end, but, as I mentioned on Sunday, joy goes on! It fills our prayers for one another. It is our strength in difficult times. It sustains us as we model Christ’s humility. It is our confidence that we are ‘in Read more…