Sunday Bible

This week's sermon will be uploaded later in the week

The disciples kept Jesus's word. What does that mean?

What does Jesus mean when he says, 'I you love me you will keep my commandments'?

What is the way that Jesus speaks of in John 14?

What does Jesus mean when he says he is the gate?

I didn't preach anywhere this Sunday. Here is a sermon on this week's lectionary text from back in 2019

Experiencing the resurrection

The political theatre of Palm Sunday

The raising of Lazarus

Jesus heals a man blind from birth

Jesus and the woman at the well -- what is living water?

Nicodemus's tin ear

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is a story not just of Jesus but of all of us. the voice Jesus heard is the voice we all hear. 

Jesus's assumption about the nature of the world is on show in this week's text 

The Beatitudes tell us the truth about who we are.

I’m not a disciple, I’m a follower. Following the way of Jesus in confusing times.

The Cosmic-wide Prologue of John’s gospel animates the life of a human being, and all human beings

John baptised with water, Jesus, John said, would baptise with fire...

What does Matthew’s gospel mean by the repeated phrase, ‘This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet”?

2000, years ago, a star appeared, heralding the divine. But it wasn’t talking about Jesus…

What can we learn from the few verses about Joseph?

John the Baptist is now in prison. What has he missed in the coming of Jesus and what does it mean for us?

What does John the Baptist want us to prepare for and how are we to do so?

Advent, the beginning of the Church year. So why do we always get a reading about the end of the world?

In this litany of horrors, why does Jesus say, ‘make up your minds not to prepare your defence in advance’?

What does Jesus say the resurrection is? what does it mean to be children of the resurrection?

The story of Zacchaeus is the story of a deeply divided person who hides and a God who tells us that the games is over and we are all home free.

The parable of the unjust judge and the widow. What if God was the widow?

In the story of the ten lepers, why do we hear about one returning to thank Jesus?

Do we need an increase in our faith? Is it even possible?

Luke 16:1-13 Let’s call this strange story, the Parable of the Liberating Manager.

If God rescues the lost sheep and the lost coin, why the need for repentance?

We are not disciples of Jesus. We are so much more!

When you give a feast, who do you invite?

Why does Jesus heal on the Sabbath? Why does h not wait a few more hours? 

What does Jesus mean when he says that he is not bringing peace to the earth but fire and division?

The surprising reversal of the kingdom of God 

A reading of my Sunday Bible blog entry for the Gospel text for this week. What makes a person a fool?

What does Jesus mean when he says ask and you shall receive? What is prayer?

What if we treated the Martha and Mary story differently? What if we saw them as exemplars of the duality within each person?

This is not the story of the Good Samaritan. It is the story of the Ordinary Samaritan, the Hollow Men, and the Wrong Direction 

Another reading on first-century discipleship that needs translation to the twenty-first century. The base unit of first-century life was the family, the base unit of twenty-first-century life is the individual.

Jesus, in the reading for this week, Luke 9:51-62 is talking about living in fear

Jesus goes to the region of the Gerasenes. there he deals with possession, oppression and occupation.

What can the Day of Pentecost mean today?

The last part of Jesus's prayer in John 17 is about unity and oneness. What does that look like for us?

The New Commandment in Jon's Gospel, why did Jesus call it a commandment and why new?

'My sheep hear my voice.' What does it mean to hear Jesus's voice?

I'll be posting less often on this podcast as I won't be preaching weekly for a little while. I'm continuing to write about the week's lectionary reading at sundaybible.substack.com

What should we make of Mary anointing Jesus with precious perfume?

The story of the prodigal father 

What does Jesus mean when he tells his listeners: "unless you repent, you will all perish as they did"?

A tale of two cities in the second Sunday of Lent

The first week of Lent. How might we read the temptation of Christ for our time?

The Transfiguration is a model for epiphanies 

What was Jesus reaching for when he said, "love your enemies"?

In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, Jesus speaks to a deep truth about humanity

Jesus calls his disciples in Luke's gospel into a whole new world

Jesus is presented at the Temple. Clayton Wesley rededicates its sculpture of the event. And we talk about ritual. 

Jesus uses the words of Isaiah as his first words, his manifesto

The Gospel of John says that Jesus turning the water to wine is a sign. What does that mean?

A way of thinking about the strange story of the wise men at Epiphany 

The twelve-year-old Jesus is at the temple, growing in wisdom. How might we do the same?

Luke’s story of Jesus begins with a shock: it’s for everyone!

What if we saw ourselves in Elizabeth and Mary?

What should we do? This people asked John the Baptist. His answer? Be human.

"The word of God comes to John." This simple statement is the beginning of a revolution

The first Sunday of Advent and we get more about the destruction of the world. What is that about?

Why is Jesus, in Christ the king Sunday, such a reluctant king?

What learning can we take from Mark chapter 13? To know the truth, to beware, and to have hope.

The contrast between the rich and the poor in Mark 12:38-44 is also a contrast between the truth and the lie

The greatest commandment turns out to be the only one we need

There’s more to Bartimaeus seeing than meets the eye

What could Jesus possibly mean by telling his followers that they need to the everyone's slave?

Why is it impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?

Jesus turns the world upside down when calls a child great

Take up your cross if you want to follow Jesus? What on earth do we do that?

Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. What good can come out of this horrible story?

What is wrong with the washing rituals of the Jews? Why is Jesus so hard on them?

The last week of John chapter six and it's all about grace!

Why the shocking image of eating Jesus's flesh and drinking his blood? What is Jesus saying?

We continue on with Jesus's universalising metaphor of bread of life

The story of the feeding of the five thousand continues with Jesus spelling out a radically new and different world.

Why is the story of Jesus walking on the sea in a chapter of John that is all about Jesus as the bread of life?

What does calling Jesus the good shepherd actually mean for us?

The death of John the Baptist. What can we make of it? Why is it in the gospel?

A prophet/truth-teller gets no respect in her own home. What are we missing?

two stories of women. one inside community and one out and how Jesus meets them

Another way to read Jesus calming the storm in Mark's gospel

Why did Jesus say the mustard seed is the smallest in the world when it isn't?

Why was Nicodemus so literal? What was he missing? 

Pentecost is about truth telling in John and in Acts 

Trying to make some sense of Jesus final prayer in John 17

In this section of his farewell discourse in John’s Gospel, Jesus is concerned with abiding.

Jesus is the true vine. It’s all about love and justice in John’s Gospel

What did Jesus's audience hear when they heard him say, 'I am the good shepherd'?

Why do the Gospel seems to insist on a bodily resurrection?

talking again about the resurrection on Easter Day 

What was Jesus about when he rode into Jerusalem on a colt?

what does it mean to love life and lose it and to hate life and keep it?

Looking for deeper meaning in John 3:16

John's retelling of Jesus clearing the temple represents a total shift in understanding the centre of the universe and the experience of God. in the sermon I refer to the painting, Christ Overturning the Money Changers’ Table, 1921, by Stanley Spencer. you can find it online.

How are we to make sense today of Jesus's call to 'deny ourselves and take up our cross'?

What does Jesus' testing in the desert mean for us today, here, at the beginning of the season of Lent?

Mark's gospel gives us a glimpse of the kingdom/world of God; the world as God wants it to be

Some background on Mark’s Gospel and Jesus driving out an unclean spirit

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

Why did John baptise Jesus? Why did he baptise anyone for that matter...?

The Prologue of John's gospel. What does the gospel mean by the use of the word 'Word'?

Simeon and Anna experience something extraordinary in the ordinary. How does that happen?

Christmas and the Wise Men. What can we gain from their strange arrival and disappearance?

How do we make sense of Mary being visited by an angel?

What might it mean that John's Gospel tells us, 'there was a man sent from God, whose name was John'?

The first words of the Gospel of Mark are earth shattering in their audacity and breadth 

The first Sunday of Advent and we have an apocalyptic reading. What can we take from it?

Having another look at the Parable of the Talents. Is there any good news?

Why exactly were the foolish bridesmaids foolish?

The Beatitudes are not a list of things to do but a window into a world view 

How can there be more that one 'greatest commandment'? Jesus is thinking radically different things about the Law

A dispute between two divinities, one real and one false. What does it mean for us today?

A way into the parable of the wedding feast and the man who doesn’t have the correct outfit. A story of resistance and courage.

Jesus breaks the cycle of violence in this week’s reading (sorry for the two week break. I was on holiday)

Getting forgiveness sin wrong and what seeing them differently might mean

What does it mean to take a bother or sister aside and show them their faults as Matthew's gospel advises?

What can we do with Jesus shocking call to ‘take up your cross’? Not much I think…

Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi and that matters when he tells the disciples that he is going to build the church 

The Canaanite woman is a story that turns her world, Jesus’s world and ours upside down

Jesus walks on the sea; Peter walks on water. What’s the difference? And what was Peter doing?

What can we take from Jesus feeding the 5000? In what ways are we fed in this story?

Jesus’s short parables of the kingdom, what do they have in common?

What to do about evil? The parable of the weeds and the wheat 

The Parable of the Sower. What does it mean that the seed is sown everywhere?

In this week's text Jesus, in a counter-cultural move, invites us to rest

What does it mean to welcome God?

Do you hate your parents? Jesus said you should. Or, maybe he was saying something else...

The reading for this week is Matthew 9:35-10:8 Jesus sending out the twelve disciples 

A short reflection (we’ve returned to public worship in a limited and very short service this week) on the trinity for Trinity Sunday.

It is Pentecost. Happy Birthday! Let's have a bit of a look at some of what it means to be Church 

The last Sunday of Easter 2020 and the last words of Jesus in John's Gospel. What does Jesus want for his disciples? He wants them, and us, to know God. 

In the third quarter of the Gospel of John, Jesus continues to invite his followers into his abundant, grace-filled life and world-view. 

Jesus said, 'I will do whatever you ask in my name.' what are we to do with this strange and unsettling statement?

What does Jesus mean when he says, 'I am the way, and the truth and the life'? What does it mean to live in the way?

Where are used to Jesus as the Good Shepherd, in this week's text he calls himself the gate. We explore that a little.

Hope is hard to abandon. That is the experience of the disciple on the road to Emmaus in this week's text

This week we have the story of Thomas’s encounter with Jesus. Sometimes called doubting Thomas, as if doubt were a bad thing!

It is Easter Day 2020 and once more we are invited to look at one of the strangest gospel stories of all; Jesus resurrection. Today’s sermon, in the midst of our strange lives at the moment, invites us to sit with the strangeness of the story and let it reveal its self to us.

It is Palm Sunday and we have the extraordinary story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. This brave move offers a direct challenge to the world view of Rome and a glimpse of the world that Jesus believes God is bringing into existence. 

How should we understand the story of Lazarus? And why does Jesus say those who believe will not die?

The story of the man born blind whom Jesus heals with a mud pack (John chapter 9) is a story about how we can see and not see all at the same time. 

In the story of the woman at the well, what did Jesus mean when he said, God is spirit?

What better reading first Sunday of Lent than one of the origin stories from the book of Genesis. And a look at the question, what was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

How can the gospel story we call the Transfiguration have meaning for us today?

The last part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taels about things that don't seem to have much relevance to us 2000 years later but perhaps we can see behind some of cultural specifics to things that are true for all times

Part two of the Beatitudes and so thoughts on being salt of the earth and light of the world 

The Beatitudes are not a list of things you must get right but an insight into Jesus' radically different view of the world of of people

Australia Day. It's complicated. Except that, according to Matthew 25, its really not

At our place on Sunday we had a service made up entirely of music. Classical, roots, Jazz and more. So, it was only right that the sermon should be music too. This is Water Into Wine by Bruce Cockburn. It is an interpretation in music of Jesus' first miracle in the Gospel of John where he turned water into wine at a wedding. 

Why was Jesus baptised? There are all kinds of ways into this question. Here is one

Luke's Gospel tells the Christmas story with Mary and shepherds, Matthew's Gospel tells it with Joseph and wise visitors. John's Gospel begins the Christmas story with the word logos... 

Matthew is telling us about a whole different kind of power in his ending to the Christmas story 

The three wise men.Were they men? Probably. Were there three? who knows? Were they wise? Let's see.

Joseph is a bit player in the Jesus story except at the very beginning. It is his decision to listen to his dream and rethink how to experience what looked for all the world like disaster that changed everything.

Mary's song and John the Baptist's question from prison are both readings for this week. An Advent of hope and doubt. An Advent of possibility.

John the Baptist calls us to repent. Why? Because the world is changing. How? by letting go and clearing stuff out. A good idea just before Christmas!

This week is the first week of Advent, the beginning of the church year. So why, in what should be a time of expectant waiting, do we have a reading about he end of the world? (sorry there was no sermon up for November 24, I had a Sunday off!)

The reading is parts of Luke's apocalypse. How did the people of Jesus time have hope after the destruction of Jerusalem? How do we have hope in the face of the existential threat of climate change?

Seven brides for seven brothers? Try one bride for seven brothers. Jesus deals with a hypothetical about what happens after death. It's not clear what Jesus thinks happens but there might be a few clues in his response... 

A life of grace and the story of Zacchaeus

I wasn't preaching on the 27th so here's one I prepared earlier. Its from about this time last year and looks at the story of Bartimaeus

Another reading from Luke, the upside down gospel. What does an upside down reading of the parable of the widows and the unjust judge offer us?

I wasn't preaching on Sunday, so here's one I prepared earlier. it's from about this time last year and it's about Jesus and his comments on divorce.

Who would invite a slave to sit and be served? No one? Except we are reading Luke, the gospel that turns the world upside down...

The cracking story of the rich man and Lazarus and what it means to really live!

Looking at the first letter to Timothy and what it means to pray for everyone

The lost sheep and the lost coin, another couple of stories where Luke's gospel upends the way we run the world.

Unless you hate your folks, give away all your possessions and carry a cross, you can't be a disciple of Jesus. Seems pretty straightforward. If we're not planning on doing these things what does that mean for the rest of us?

Luke gives us a story (Luke 14:1, 7-14) about who to invite and who not to invite to dinner. What sense can we make of it today?

What was the significance of Jesus healing a woman on the sabbath?

What did Jesus mean when he said that he didn't come to bring peace to the earth?

What might Jesus have meant when he says in Luke that we should expect the unexpected?

We explore a passage from the ancient book of Deuteronomy and see how it relevant to our situation nearly 3000 years later

What did Jesus mean us to do when he taught us to pray? What does it mean that all who ask will receive?

If one way of reading the Gospel of Luke is as a discipleship manual, what can this little story of Mary and Martha teach us?

A reading of the story of the Samaritan as an exploration of how to respond to existential fear and pain 

Jesus sent disciples out from town to town, house to house. But that was first century Palestine, what does that mean for disciples today? 

We are free but we don't always live like we are. Paul's letter to the Galatians invites us to see freedom as a experience of interconnectedness 

Jesus, Legion, the man, the pigs. What are we to make of it all?

At a time when we are talking about fake news, alternative facts and truthiness, what did Jesus mean when he talked about the Spirit of truth?

It is Pentecost Sunday and the disciples begin to understand their relation to god in newer and deeper ways 

Last week of the Easter season and Jesus is praying that his disciples and all who follow might be one. What did he mean?

We're still in the Easter season, still unpacking the incarnation and the resurrection. This time through the lens of John 14:23-29 BONUS! following the sermon, The Spire Quartet singing an ancient Icelandic hymn.

What does the world 'glory' mean in John's gospel? And what about the meaning of 'love'? how can we experience these terms when we are so used to hearing them over and over? What does it mean to love?

What does Jesus mean when he says that he and the Father are one?

I wasn't preaching on the 5th. Here's a sermon from back in October of 2018 when we baptised a little fella and looked at what greatness is according to Jesus 

Every year, on the Sunday following Easter Sunday, we hear the story of Thomas and his demand to experience the resurrection for himself. What does it mean for us to experience the risen Christ?

It's Easter, we need to talk about the story of the resurrection

It’s Palm Sunday, it’s Passion Sunday. Jesus wasn’t offering an alternative to the power of Rome, he was offering an alternative to power itself.

It's all about Mary and the expensive perfume she pours on Jesus. It's about living in reality not fantasy. It's about living with death and renewal. BONUS! at the end of the sermon, hear The Spire Quartet sing Ave Maria by Barrows.

The Prodigal Son, The Lost Son, The Lost Sons, take your pick!

Does everything happen for a reason? Not according to Jesus 

The reading this week is from near the end of Paul's letter to the Philippians. Paul makes the outrageous and dangerous claim that those he is writing to are citizens not of Rome but of heaven...

I wasn't at worship on Sunday March 10, so here's one I prepared earlier. It works for the beginning of Lent I think. It's from November of 2018 and the reading is from John 18 when Jesus is before Pilate and Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king...

It's Transfiguration Sunday. What are we to make of this experience/vision/event? 

The resurrection and the Big Bang, a way of thinking about them together 

What do we do with the resurrection? Is it something to be believed or somehow lived?

Jesus calling the disciples and the Hero Journey