When we visited Israel in 2008, I was asked to lead a service for the renewal of our baptismal vows at Yardenit, traditionally the site where Jesus was baptised. Previously I’d imagined the Jordan being like a New Zealand river – shallow, fast flowing over a rocky bed – with Jesus and John standing in […]
READ MORE
That carol, ‘We three kings’, has a lot to answer for. As well as changing them from wise men to kings, they even have exotic names: Melchior, Gaspar, Balthazar! The Christmas story isn’t complete until they arrive, dressed in purple and gold, wearing rich jewelled turbans, carrying exotic gifts; camels and servants following behind… Matthew […]
READ MORE
Back in the seventies we lived in a single storey wooden house on a ¼ acre section. It was just like everyone else’s in our street, and in most parts of New Zealand. It wasn’t until we lived in the UK that I experienced people living in rows of identical terraced houses. If you were […]
READ MORE
Wednesday 21 September 2016 St Peter’s 10am The Feast of St Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist Matthew the Tax Gatherer “Almighty God, may the transforming power of your Gospel be at work in us today – as we hear and respond to your word to us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.” Over the last few years […]
READ MORE
Sunday 16 September 2016 St Peter’s 8 am, St Luke’s 9.30am A Shrewd manager Luke 16:1-13 Henry Ford, the man who got the world behind the wheels of his cars, was visiting his family’s ancestral village in Ireland. Two trustees of the local hospital learned he was there, and managed to get an appointment to […]
READ MORE
Lost and Found Luke 15: 1-7 Have you ever been lost? John and I once cooked for a residential Counsellor Training weekend at a lodge on the lower slopes of Mt Pirongia in the Waikato. On the Saturday afternoon we went for a walk up a nearby track. It’s started out as a road, but it […]
READ MORE
‘Fillingouremptiness’ Luke12:13-21 Garrison Keillor, creator of the US radio show, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ tells this story: “A rich man wanted desperately to take his wealth with him to heaven. He talked to many people to discover a way and finally found a psychic who had the answer. She gave him a battered old suitcase […]
READ MORE
Wednesday July 27 2016 St Peter’s Three Parables Matthew 13: 31-33 & 44 Planting Weeds, hiding Yeast, burying treasure – three of the many parables Jesus told. Jesus told parables to help his audience understand God’s kingdom. However, because they rely on hidden meanings and local contexts, they often don’t translate well across languages or […]
READ MORE
Watching Satan falling I once met a woman who called herself a prophetess. She had long straggling grey hair, wore a loose flowing dress, and carried all her possessions in a small shoulder bag. She told me that, a few years before, she and her husband had given away all their possessions and taken to […]
READ MORE
Authority There are many jokes about St Peter sitting at the gates of heaven, holding his bunch of keys. Here’s one I like: A preacher and a bus driver went to heaven. The bus driver was allocated a beautiful mansion with large rooms. The preacher however, was given only a one-room unit, so she […]
READ MORE
Pentecost 4C 12 June 2016 St Peter’s Upper Riccarton Galatians 2: 15-21; Luke 7: 36 – 8:3 Forgiveness – a novel approach I’ve always enjoyed reading novels. I prefer reading about ordinary people overcoming difficulties and emerging changed for the better. Usually I identify with one character. When I was younger it was the beautiful […]
READ MORE
5th June 2016 St Peter’s Upper Riccarton 1 Kings 17: 17-24; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17 “The Loving Heart” How can we reconcile joy and sorrow, life and death? Sometimes, when we see all the brokenness, all the tragedy around us we look for someone to blame. And that someone is often God. It’s easy to […]
READ MORE