Episode

The grace of God is glue – Luke 8:26-39 and Galatians 3:23-29 Many years ago, I worked at the National Council of Churches in Sydney, and I had a colleague whose husband was an Anglican priest. It was around the time the Sydney Diocese was debating women’s ordination and, courting Read more…

The Family of God – Mark 3:20-35 May has been a wild ride, hasn’t it! That’s how I’m describing it in my pastor’s report for the church meeting today! And our Bible readings for May Mission Month have also described episodes in Mark’s gospel that are, in turn, dramatic and Read more…

4 Feb – Lifting up – 1 Kings 8: 41-43, Mark 1:29-39 There are lots of things mums like for Mother’s Day. Flowers, cups of tea, breakfast in bed, small smudgy handprints on cards, sons willing to do Bible readings! But more than anything we love knowing our children are Read more…

I was really struck by the reading Baptist Mission Australia chose for today because it speaks so powerfully about what we are going through right now. It describes a moment of crisis. Jesus calls Simon and Andrew and “immediately” they leave their nets and follow him. James and John, too, Read more…

A conclave of comedians – Philippians 1:1-11 This week the news has, naturally, been full of stories about the Pope, and on Tuesday I saw a story about Pope Francis hosting a gathering of comedians at the Vatican last year – a conclave of comedians – 107 comics from 15 Read more…

Choose Peacemaking – John 11:17-44 In chapter 15 of Field Notes for the Wilderness, Sarah Bessey poses the question, “Are we peacemakers or peacekeepers?” Peacekeepers try to keep the peace, quieten things down, smooth things over, keep things as they are. “Peacekeeping,” Bessey writes, “is…a status quo maintainer and sometimes Read more…

At the Open Baptists Gathering three weeks ago, our speaker, Steve Frost, the founder and director of Horizons Family Law Centre, told a story about walking through Parramatta Square, the revamped city centre of Paramatta, where there are usually various people handing out leaflets and being attracted to one because, Read more…

Fairly early on in my relationship with Aron I worked out he was a keeper. I don’t mean that he was worth keeping (though that’s definitely true) but that he was someone who kept – who keeps – everything! Everything! He still owns, I think, every pair of socks he Read more…

Every now and then, when I go on a long walk or a hike – probably because I am not the fittest person in the world – it is good to stop, catch my breath and look back at how far I’ve come, and the same is true of this Read more…

Last Wednesday was ‘dirt on the face’ day! That is how Lucy Gledhill’s nephews, who used to attend a Catholic school refer to Ash Wednesday and I like it! Ash Wednesday marks, for many Christians in many church traditions, the beginning of Lent, a season of grief (‘bright sadness’ the Read more…