29 June 2025   Pentecost 3   Galatians 5: 1, 13-29

29 June 2025 Pentecost 3 Galatians 5: 1, 13-29

Thinking of the Apostle Paul, I find I regard him in similar terms as Sir Winston Churchill’s description of Russia:  “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. On the one hand, Paul provides us with such wonderfully insightful statements as his hymn to love in...
22 June 2025   Pentecost 2  Galatians 3:23-29

22 June 2025 Pentecost 2 Galatians 3:23-29

I’m often uncomfortable attending services on the Sunday marking the anniversary of the inauguration of the UCA.  I often find them laden with an unhelpful sense of “God, we thank you that we are not like other churches …” (see Luke 18:11). I believe the lesson from...
1st June 2025    Easter 7    John 17: 20-26

1st June 2025 Easter 7 John 17: 20-26

In Australia and in some other countries of the Southern Hemisphere, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on this Sunday immediately before Pentecost.  Our lesson from John’s gospel speaks of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, for later generations of his...
25 May 2025   Easter 6    John 14: 23-29

25 May 2025 Easter 6 John 14: 23-29

Those who love Jesus will keep his commandments. The words Jesus speaks come from his Father (God) who sent him. After he leaves this earth, God will send the Holy Spirit to remind his disciples of everything Jesus has told them. Jesus grants peace to those who follow...
18 May 2025  Easter 5    John 13:31-35

18 May 2025 Easter 5 John 13:31-35

With Judas’ betrayal, Jesus sees the stark reality of his final journey. He declares that both he and God will be glorified by his death. We have slowly come to understand that this glory reflects God’s true nature of sacrificial love revealed through his Son. Jesus...