Sermons

Our experience of being reconciled to God through Christ provides the inspiration and the model for the work of reconciliation across the various divides within our world.

Our perception of things can be distorted by the context in which we see them. Jesus constantly challenges our misperceptions by challenging us to look at things through a different frame. It is only by constant reference to Jesus and to the ways that he looked at things that we learn to see ourselves and our surrounds more realistically.

Our bodies are integral to who we are and are destined for resurrection and glorification, but the fracturing of the integrity of creation affects us too in ways that mean we often find our bodies at war with our spirits. The pathway to sanctification involves a reintegration of body and spirit, and sometimes that means denial and disciplining of physical desires.

People judge one another by their conformity to certain expectations (which vary from group to group), but God is only interested in our willingness to come into the loving intimacy he offers to all.

Cheering for Jesus is easy, but when he goes where we don’t want to go, only a few still follow while the rest shout “Crucify!”

Christian discipleship is an ongoing journey, so any attempt to preserve what is right today can mean we are in the wrong place tomorrow because Jesus has moved on.

When we encounter the reality of God we are overcome with our own unworthiness, and we are confronted with a choice – to push God away and hide from our self-realization, or to accept God’s gracious invitation to mercy, transformation and mission.

Being saved can be painful, but its goal, becoming a purified people who can worship rightly without fear, is the ultimate reward.

The God who stopped at nothing to stand in solidarity with us, looks for those who will give everything to work in solidarity with God.

The need for liberation for the poor and oppressed is obvious, but for the comfortable and successful, the enslavements to consumerism, power and hardness of heart are harder to discern and take the intervention of God to break free from.

The Word of God is constantly calling us to fullness of life, and frequently pierces through our facades to illuminate the ties that hold us back. This is nearly always uncomfortable!

The New Testament teachings on the priority of the spirit of the law over the traditional interpretations of it actually give us a biblical basis on which to reevaluate our understandings of sexual purity.