Gospels-Acts
Luke 4:21-30
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up
Luke 4:22-30 audio (3MB)
One of the comments you often hear from non-Christians is that they quite like Jesus but they’re not so keen on God. Jesus is all loving, sacrificing, etc, while God seems so judgmental, so angry. People are happy to have a saviour. They’re happy to have someone who always forgives; who’s longsuffering and patient and kind. But they don’t want a God who wants to rule over their lives; to keep them accountable; who demands obedience and commitment.
The people of Jesus day were like that weren’t they? They were quite impressed with Jesus. He spoke so well. Perhaps they didn’t quite get what he was on about when he suggested that the words of Isaiah were being fulfilled in their midst that very day. But they were amazed at how well this son of a carpenter spoke.
Luke 6:39-49
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Navigating a Minefield - audio
Today’s passage springs out of what Howard brought to us last week. Do you remember his three points: Forgiveness, Love and Generosity; foundational characteristics of Jesus’ Disciples. And one of the things we see at the end of that passage leading into today’s is the reciprocity of God’s grace spelt out first in his injunction to refrain from judging lest you in turn be judged and then in his assurance that if you forgive others, forgiveness will be yours. And that leads on to the two parables that we’re looking at today.
Generosity
Luke 7:36-50
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The God of the Second Chance
Have you noticed how everything today has to have a positive spin to it? No matter how bad something is you have to find a positive way to express it. So you no longer get fired you get downsized, or rightsized. You go through delayering, or smartsizing, or redeployment, or workforce optimization, and so the euphemisms go on. No-one does things that are evil any more, they’re simply the victims of a bad upbringing or are psychologically challenged. We no longer tell lies. Instead we ‘misspeak;’ or we ‘exaggerate’ or we ‘exercise poor judgment.’ ‘Mistakes were made,’ we say. Promises only matter if they were “core promises”. And of course I’ve already used the term ‘spin’ which really means ‘deceive or deceit.’ As for sin, it’s such an outdated concept that we never use it except as a joke.
So why is that? Why are we afraid to admit that we’ve done something wrong? Is it because we’re ashamed? Is it because it reminds us that we’re not perfect? Does it damage the self-image we’ve tried to create for ourselves?
In the story we’ve just read, there’s no pretending that the main character is a good person. In fact the whole point of the story is that she’s a terrible person. Yet that doesn’t stop God from loving her and forgiving her. In fact it’s her admission of her sinfulness that makes all the difference to her.
Jesus is invited to eat at the house of a Pharisee, named Simon. Simon, being a Pharisee, is an extremely upright man. Nothing untoward would ever come out of his mouth; no behaviour that could besmirch his reputation; no failure to keep God’s laws would ever be laid at his door. He’s very sure of himself.
Mark 1:1-8
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangolo
The Beginning of the End audio (2MB)
Have you ever played that game where someone says a word and you think of the first word that comes to your mind?
We’re going to play it now, so please find a partner … and when I call out a word I want you to share with the person next to you the first word or image that comes into your head …
Blue …. Apple …. Beach
Word associations tell us something about our experience of the world and our view of the world. The opening of Mark’s gospel, “the beginning of the good news” is absolutely full of word associations with the Old Testament …
So here’s a little bible quiz, I want you to try now with your partners. When I say a word from Mark chapter 1, I want you to see if you can think of what the immediate associations would be from the Old Testament …
Ready? (if you don’t know, just guess)
Mark 1:14-39
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- Written by: AdamCetrangolo
Jesus Brings Good News audio (4MB)
Mark 1:14-39
On the 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast to the nation that Germany had surrendered and that a final cease fire on all war fronts in Europe would come into effect at one minute past midnight that night. The Act of Military Surrender was signed on May 7 in France, and May 8 in Germany. In England the headline in the Daily Mail newspaper declared: "VE-Day—It's All Over." In London more than a million people celebrated in the streets. Winston Churchill appeared with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the balcony of Buckingham Palace before the cheering crowds.
I understand that in Australia we saved the biggest celebrations until 15 August 1945 when Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced the end of hostilities with Japan with the words: "Fellow citizens, the war is over." I know that there are people in this congregation who can remember VE- and VJ-Day. Some of you may even remember hearing those words. What it was like to finally hear those words, "Fellow citizens, the war is over"?
