Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest and sacrificial. Dietrich Bonhoeffer These words from Bonhoeffer make a hard teaching. It is not a teaching we can brush off lightly, … Read more
Our prayers break on God like waves,And He an endless shore,And when the seas evaporateAnd oceans are no moreAnd cries are carried on the windGod hears and answers every soundAs he has done before. Our troubles eat at God like nails.He feels the gnaw of painOn souls and bodies. He never failsBut reassures He’ll heal again,Again, … Read more
This week in our services we will hear the curious story of Job. (Job 1.1, 2.1-10) It is the section where God and the Satan essentially have a kind of a wager over whether Job, a faithful servant of God, could be turned from God if Job were to experience great suffering. This was never … Read more
Every week in our services we stand and speak in unison the ancient Nicene creed. “I believe in God…” we say, but unfortunately many cultural assumptions about belief rob us of the power of what we are actually doing in this corporate ritual. We think about “belief about” in a modernist sense as assent to … Read more
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs?(James 3: 12a) This excerpt from the letter of James we will hear this week is talking about the power we have to do harm to one another with … Read more
The logo for this year’s Season of Creation is “Abraham’s Tent”. Abraham and Sarah opened their tent as a home for three strangers, who turned out to be God’s angels (Genesis 18). By creating a home for all, their act of radical hospitality became a source of great blessing. Abraham’s tent is a symbol of … Read more
This week begins the Season of Creation – a season where through our liturgy and prayers we bring to the centre of our attention the beauty and diversity of life, the wonder of the universe and our sacred care of the earth, our common home. We are also conscious of our interdependence. Where there is … Read more
Once one of my children said that the biggest problem with the Church was that “we would let anyone in.” It was meant as a joke, but there is some important truth there. Public theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber tells the story about once having a rant to her husband about people’s wrong opinions and him gently … Read more
As we have watched with fear and sorrow as events have unfolded in Afghanistan, many have felt a renewed need to witness, to lament and to pray. Like me, some of you have joined online in the vigil service livestreamed from Townsville cathedral last Wednesday night and a further opportunity to gather and to pray … Read more
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love (hesed) for you will not be shaken”. (Isaiah 54:10) As we heard of Covid cases in Indooroopilly and learned of schools closing, it was natural to feel some anxiety. When we were in lockdown, many of us came to learn … Read more