Sermons

Feast of the Holy Trinity Exodus 34.1-8 Song of 3YM 29-34 2 Corinthians 13.11–14 Matthew 28.16–20 Sunday 4 June 2023                                                     ©Suzanne Grimmett Being invited into someone’s home to share hospitality of heart and table is one of the most basic and yet powerful ways we can nurture relationship.   I have always loved Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity (image above), not so much for the figures and symbols represented but for its empty, invitational space. The gathering around the chalice seem to be anticipating and patiently awaiting my arrival. It is a moving idea that the God of … Read more

Feast of Pentecost Acts 2.1-21 Psalm 104.26-36 1 Corinthians 12.1-13 John 20: 19-23 Reconciliation Week, 28 May 2023    ©Suzanne Grimmett Pentecost is generally narrated as the moment when all the believers in Jesus were gathered in one place and there was a sound like a rushing wind and tongues of fire could be seen landing on the heads of all gathered there. They began to speak in different tongues, inspired by the presence of the Spirit in them, and the Christian church was born. This can become an incomplete retelling of the wonder that is the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. … Read more

The Rev’d Bill Crossman Readings:  Acts 17: 22-31; Psalm 66: 7-19; 1 Peter 3: 8-22; John 14: 15-21 Easter 6 – 14 May 23 Baptism of Maivy Letitia Crossman  –  St. Andrew’s Indooroopilly 9.30am It’s a great delight for me to be among you this morning as we come to baptise Maivy Letitia.  For very nearly 30 years I’ve been here with my Crossman family to give thanks to God in times of joy and sorrow.  The first time I officiated at the funeral service of Maivy’s great-grandmother and my aunt, Letitia – or Letty as we all knew her.  … Read more

Easter 6 – 14 May 23 St. Andrew’s Indooroopilly 7.30am Readings:  Acts 17: 22-31; Psalm 66: 7-19; 1 Peter 3: 8-22; John 14: 15-21. ©The Rev’d Bill Crossman The great 50 days of Easter are drawing to their close – and two of our readings this morning lead us look ahead.  Next Thursday is Ascension Day, so Peter reminds his readers that Jesus Christ “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers made subject to him.”[1]   In two weeks’ time we’ll celebrate  Pentecost, so our Gospel this morning is part of … Read more

Acts 7.55-60 Psalm 31.1–5; 31.17–18 1 Peter 2.11–25 John 14.1–14 Sunday 7 May 2023                                  ©Suzanne Grimmett Howard Thurman has said, “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.” Thurman was a theologian, mystic, civil rights leader and mentor to Martin Luther King. Unlike King, he was not martyred although he took many risks … Read more

Acts 2.42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2.1-10 John 10.1-10                          ©Suzanne Grimmett The Lord is my shepherd…therefore can I lack nothing…I am the good shepherd, says the Lord. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Sheep and shepherds are everywhere this morning. And what a complex and contradictory metaphor it is! Take a moment to consider your associations with sheep and shepherds.  You may think of green fields and hundreds of white woolly sheep obediently following one another to their allotted pen. Or you may think of those superbly trained border collies gathering up the recalcitrant or … Read more

                                       ©Suzanne Grimmett Easter 3 Acts 2.14a, 36-41 Psalm 116.1–4; 116.11–18 1 Peter 1.13-25 Luke 24.13–35 Early this morning I met a childon her way to school.Dragging her feet,huddled againstMarch’s liony wind,she gave me a smile,but I was too busylooking for youto really notice. At noon,as I was walking home for lunch,I met a neighbourtrailing his dog;he noddedand asked how I was,but in my rush to get to the houseto see if you were waiting,I had no time for a chat. Tonightmy wife tiptoedinto the quiet of my den,bringing me a cup of tea andkissing me softly on the cheekbefore … Read more

Easter 2 1 Peter 1.1-12 Psalm 16 Acts 2.14a, 22-32 John 20.19-31                                                                                                              ©Lauren Martin Have you ever heard of the expression ‘doubting Thomas?’ What does this expression bring to mind? Did Thomas fall short, failing to believe the obvious truth his peers were able to embrace, without demanding proof? Poor Thomas, the one who questions, the one who doubted, the one who appeared to lack faith. In short, the one we should endeavour not to be, but at times are too much alike. But was he really all these labels we have given to him? We have journeyed with … Read more

Easter Day Sermon 9:30am Eucharist                               ©Suzanne Grimmett There was a famously talented and innovative ballet dancer who, when asked to explain what her dance meant, answered simply, “If I could have said it, I wouldn’t have had to dance it.” How do we convey a story as big as the one we are celebrating today? Well maybe it would need something as big as forty days of preparation, reading, writing, fasting, prayer, music, and the symbols of water, earth and fire creating rites of release and new beginnings. We do, after all, have a long tradition to draw on! … Read more

                       ©Suzanne Grimmett  Reflection for the Easter Vigil         We stage this moment with great fanfares and the ringing of bells, but the recording of the event that Christians believe utterly changed the world is accompanied even more dramatically in Matthew’s Gospel by earthquakes and lightning in the form of angels. This vigil service is sensitive to the drama of this scene, and yet the most important moment has occurred before the noise and celebration; the moment where the dark is penetrated by a small pure light. The new Paschal candle is sung into the darkened church with the words, “The light … Read more

A reflection for Good Friday ©Marian Free In the name of God, who shares our joys and triumphs, our sorrows and defeats. Amen. Several decades ago, in a Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, Canada, a sculpture of a woman arms outstretched as if crucified, was hung below the cross in the chapel.  (Almuth Lutkenhaus’s sculpture Crucified Woman.)  https://maryloudriedger2.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/crucified-woman-photo-by-ivana-dizdar.png On seeing it, a woman who had experienced sexual abuse as a child wrote the following poem. This poem, by an anonymous author, was included in a magazine published in conjunction with the Ecumenical Decade 1988-1998, Churches in Solidarity with women: Prayers and … Read more

                                       ©Suzanne Grimmett Maundy Thursday Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14 Psalm 116.1-2, 11-18 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13.1-17, 31b-35 Have you ever felt like you have caught a glimpse of God? Perhaps it was when you watched a perfect sunset over the ocean, or saw rays of light bursting through clouds after a storm…or maybe it was when you looked closely at the forest floor and saw an intricate wonder of interconnected, complex life. As a child, if you were blessed with reasonably adequate parents, you will have experienced that sense of divine presence through your parents. It has been said that … Read more