The capacity to understand and follow the way of Jesus is a miraculous gift.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Discipleship
God’s gracious acceptance is so free from favouritism that we find it scandalous and daunting.
God’s love for us is so all-consuming that he accepts us as soon as we accept him and is happy for our behaviours to be sorted out in the transforming experience of love.
Those who faithfully follow Jesus and proclaim his message are flawed human beings who will not often appear successful or impressive.
In an increasingly polarised world, championing the radical love and mercy shown by Jesus is likely to bring hostility from all sides.
The transfiguration reminds us that in and through Jesus, the perfect Son of God and the perfect Son of Man, we each have the potential to experience and to be glimpses of God who is the true agent of change in our lives and in the world.
As we journey with and into God, we all prepare carefully, travel persistently, seek advice, approach the sacred with humility, and discern the way forward.
Discovering who we are called to be is an ever-evolving journey as we follow Jesus in changing circumstances.
Though we are to strive for righteousness and justice now, what we achieve now is a mere shadow of what will be fulfilled in the day of the Lord.
The author of Hebrews is concerned that the first-century believers will become distracted and discouraged, so he wrote the letter of Hebrews to exhort and encourage them. This passage also speaks to us today and tells us an important message so that we can stay on course in our spiritual journey and finish the race of life that God has set for us.
Jesus calls us to follow him in being a contagious force for love and mercy rather than fearfully quarantining ourselves from bad influences.
In the face of the cultural call for an all-tolerating lack of conviction, we are called to be a particular people who follow and champion a distinctive way – the way found in Jesus.
Like the woman at the well, we can encounter Jesus not simply as a historical worker of “signs and wonders” but as a contemporary spirit powering our actions today if only we are willing to take a leap of faith and believe in His Word.
Being born of water and Spirit involves becoming as vulnerable and dependent on God as a newborn baby.
Whether or not you can accept the idea of a personal devil, there are forces of evil in the world that are bigger and more powerful than our own inner flaws, but conscious and united, we are stronger still.
Stunning moments of spiritual clarity can be life-changing, but the real measure of our faithfulness is in how we live for the rest of the time.
Being a disciple of Jesus is not about changing behaviour, it’s about changing life! It’s about being changed at our very core so that our inner motivations and attitudes are transformed.
The Advent break in of God in Christ is underway, bringing disruption of a status quo that our world needs to be free of, and liberation from the imprisonment of sin.
The global social breakdown of which Jesus speaks is caused by the failure of our old oppressive ways of maintaining peace, but God has promised us a better way on the other side.
God invites us into a journey of healing, growth and reconciliation, and values our engagement with that journey far above our individual accomplishments.