Sermons

9th Sunday After Pentecost 2024 ©The Rev’d Dr John Rolley +In the Name of God, Loving Creator, Compassionate Christ, and the Healing Spirit. Amen. I would like to commence with a poem from Malcolm Guite, an Anglican priest/poet titled, Christ among the refugees. That fearful road of weariness and want, Through unforgiving heat and hate, ends here; We narrow sand-blown eyes to scan this scant And tented city outside Syria. He fled with us when everything was wrecked As Nazarene was blazoned on our door, Walked with the damaged and the derelict To where these tents are ranked and massed, … Read more

2 Samuel 5.1-5, 9-10 Psalm 48 2 Corinthians 12.2-10 Mark 6.1-13Sunday 7th July 2024                   ©Suzanne Grimmett “I am the patron saint of mediocrity” says the character of Antonio Salieri in the 1984 movie, Amadeus, afictionalised biography of Mozart. Salieri as created in the screenplay is a man of some musical talent, but whose real genius lies in perceiving genius, and he is awe-struck by the prodigy that is Mozart. The character of Salieri complains to God that he has only been given ‘the ability to recognise the incarnation’ and not the ability to create that same beauty himself. Woody … Read more

Today we have two stories, that although different, are both equally horrifying. In the story of David and Goliath, we hear how David will cut off Goliath’s head and how they will leave the bodies of the Philistine army for animals to scavenge, ‘so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’[1] The Psalm also contains this theme of sacred violence as proof of God’s favour. This Psalm attributed to David portrays his cause as righteous with his enemies, who conveniently also happen to be God’s enemies. How do we look at these texts?

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost 1 Samuel 15:34- 16:13 Psalm 20 2 Corinthians 5:6-17 Mark 4: 26-34 Sunday 16 June 2024 Reading the book of creation                                                        ©Suzanne Grimmett Have you ever gone looking for God? One of the most significant spiritual experiences in my life was when I was 21 and decided that maybe I should seek out God. For a number of years I had rejected, rebelled against and ignored the God I had met in childhood but now I acknowledged that God was probably there after all and I should see if I could make contact. I remember feeling … Read more

3rd Sunday after Pentecost 1 Samuel 8.4-20; 11.14-15 Psalm 138 2 Corinthians 4.13-5.1 Mark 3:20-35 Sunday 9 June 2024           ©Suzanne Grimmett What is unforgivable? I spent some of my leave attending some training in Restorative Practices entitled, “Setting Relations Right”. These practices are more a principle for living than a program, drawing a practitioner to recognise the essential relationality of truth and our need of one another’s perspectives, gifts and insights if there is to be justice and peace. They do involve bringing together those who have done harm with those who have been harmed, but the circles also extend … Read more

Draft outline of Sermon for 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Year B, 2nd June 2024 at Indooroopilly, delivered by Canon Gary Harch. Note: actual Sermon will vary from these notes. The readings for the Day are: 1 Samuel 3: 1-10, Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 & The Gospel Mark 2.23- 3.6 “One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And Jesus said to them, “Have you never … Read more

26 May 2024 St Andrew’s Indooroopilly Rev Richard Browning (NB: this text here is fuller than the one used on Sunday morning with a few end notes added) Isaiah 6.1-8 Romans 8.12-17 John 3.1-17 Introduction Maybe Nietzsche is right. A key thread of Nietzsche is ‘the will to power’. He laments the pitiable state of humanity. He reports that instead of the will to power there has been a hollowing of the human condition with the corruption of religion. The once proudly noble, if highly masculine race of unabashed dragon slayers and defiant Spartans were players of epic striving and … Read more

Feast of Pentecost Ezekiel 37.1-14 Psalm 104.26-36 Acts 2.1-21 John 15.26-27; 16.4b-15 19 May 2024                                                      ©Suzanne Grimmett “I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theatre in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.                                       After that I liked jazz music.Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.” Donald Miller, Blue like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality Perhaps what … Read more

                                                           ©Lauren Martin In Tales of the Hasidim there is a story: An old rabbi asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun. “Could it be,” asked one student, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it’s a sheep or a dog?” “No,” answered the rabbi. Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?” “No,” answered the rabbi. “Then when is it?” the pupils demanded. “It is … Read more

Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 10: 44-48 Psalm 98 1 John 5:1-12 John 15:9-17   ©Suzanne Grimmett This week I have had the privilege of spending time in conversation with Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian scientist and author and founder of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability. He is also a Christian and was born and grew up near the ‘Shepherds’ Field’ of Bethlehem. He is a man who loves the land and its diverse peoples, and so as he speaks of the current suffering of those in Gaza and on the West … Read more

Luke 24:36b-48 ©Marian Free In the name of God who meets us on the road and enflames our hearts with the Holy Spirit. Amen. There have been a number of attempts to tell the gospel story through drama, film or musical. I think of Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Montreal, and The Passion of the Christ to name a few. Each has contributed to making the story relevant for a new generation.  Where they fall down, I believe, is in their attempt to portray the resurrection. Jesus of Montreal, which tells the story of a modern-day Passion play. When … Read more

St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Indooroopilly 7 April 2024 Preaching on 1 John 1:1-2:2 Rev’d Richard Browning At the school Easter service I led on Holy Tuesday we used a 5.5kg loaf of bread made by a student. It was huge. We used it as an instrument for storytelling. Before it was torn open on the altar, these words were spoken: What if this bread is real? What if this bread can become a part of you? What if the bread gave you the courage to turn towards others with compassion, bringing light and life in all that you do? Would … Read more