Tonight, on the 40th anniversary of his ordination, Gilbert Joyce reflected on his journey in pastoral ministry.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Discipleship (Page 6)
Living in hope-fuelled anticipation of God’s promised future does not mean withdrawing from the life of the world around us.
Jesus offers us vision of the future which sharply differs from that offered by modern economics, and we need to intentionally nourish that vision.
The culture of God is so radical in its loving embrace of everyone that mainstream society will see it as a dangerous rejection of all it holds dear.
If we construct our identity around a pursuit of social esteem, we will degrade our true selves, but if we model ourselves on the generosity of God, we will find true life where few look for it.
True Christianity is not transactional but transformational. It is not a series of prescribed actions intended to please God, but the formation of a culture of grace and other-centred love.
The people who blame Jesus for increasing violence may be right. He has kicked out the foundations of our peace-keeping strategies, and now violent chaos will grow unless we learn the ways of love and mercy.
There are numerous competing claims about what a faithful Christian life looks like, and sometimes the truth about following Jesus may be the least palatable of them all.
The Transfiguration is not about the remoteness of God, but about a promise that through the exodus of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we might with him shine, transfigured, with the blazing glory of God.
The ways of God’s Kingdom are different to the ways of this world. One thing is needed, prioritising God’s ways, and when we get that right, all the other things follow.
Election week sheds new light on how we can participate with Jesus in bringing satanic principalities and powers crashing down.
There is no more waiting; there is no more longing. The wait is over. Jesus is alive, and he lives in all those who hear his voice and follow him.
Doubts and questions, far from being a threat to faith in the risen Christ, are its normal starting point and constant companion.
Jesus is heart-broken when we refuse his call to gather with him in a place of powerlessness, vulnerable to the hostility of a power-hungry world.
Understanding Mary as a god-bearer opens up new possibilities, for we can all be god-bearers, carrying God’s love and longing for justice into every place that we go.
God promises the best for us if we follow the way of Jesus, and faith is actively trusting that that pathway will indeed be the way of life.
En Cristo somos uno con toda la carne y la sangre, y por lo tanto nuestra lucha no es contra ningunas personas, sino contra los espíritus y los principados y los potestades que dividirían a la gente y les harían enemigos.
God is most likely and able to work through those who accept their own weakness and don’t try to forcefully assert their own power and influence.
We shall be ourselves when we are able to surrender ourselves to Christ and say ‘not my will, but yours’.
Jesus calls us to turn away from pathways of judgement and condemnation and to follow him on the harder path of love and new life.