We live in a world that expects perfection. We are to have the perfect life, the perfect job, the perfect children, and we are to be the perfect parents. Ouch, I think I might have failed there. I wanted the boys ... read more

First let`s hear about the Old Testament context for our Exodus reading for today. Some of you may have seen an SBS documentary not long ago linking the biblical plagues recorded i ... read more

From our first reading today we hear about Paul being in Athens. He notices all the idols the people are worshipping. I wonder what idols Paul would recognise walking through our shopping centres and su ... read more

In Isaiah, God we hear of a God who does not discriminate. All people are welcome in God`s house. God`s house is a place of welcome and prayer for all of God`s children, in ... read more

The way we usually think about God is that he will always say `yes` to us. He will welcome us, we say. He`ll accept us as we are: `Just as I am, without one plea`. He`ll love us, even though we might not love ourse ... read more

As ourIn Touch magazine and the front page of Revive remind us, this coming week marks the 40th year since the Uniting Church was formed out of the Methodist, ... read more

Two verses of scripture caused me some measure of sadness.

One is in John`s Prologue to his Gospel where it says, `He came to His own p ... read more

Introduction to the Reading from Acts

This passage of Scripture was a speech by Paul to the Areopagus. The Areopagus was a Council which operated in Athens from about the 5th century BC. It had ... read more

`Dear Theophilus, Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and ... read more

Last Monday Karen asked me what my theme for today was going to be.

My response was Emmaus - the Luke reading.

This apparently was too ambiguous.

So several days later Karen asked me again `What`s your th ... read more

What is the worst thing you have ever done? Have you done something to hurt someone physically, or to hurt someone emotionally? Have you done something that has affected someone`s l ... read more

And so we engage with the Easter narrative once again - I guess the key question is what meaning and purpose does this nearly two thousand year old ... read more

ABC News Music

(Karen) This is channel JEW coming to you from Jerusalem on the first day of the Passover Festival of year 32, the Festival of Freedom which draws tens of thousands of the Jewish people to Jerusalem to com ... read more

`The Bible is an act of faithful imagination. It is not a package of certitudes. It is an act of imagination that invites our faithful imagination that makes ... read more

I feel quite close to this reading after our trip to Israel in 2013. Nev, Marg, Cathie Lambert and I spent two weeks driving around, visiting both the cities and the country side. As I think I said at the time, Jesus c ... read more

Having listened to the Old Testament lesson set for today, I am tempted to put my preparation aside and preach on the words, `Do not treat the deaf with contempt`. It`s right up there with the other commandments, ... read more

Russ: If you have ever sat in a Court Room, you would have become acutely aware of ... read more

`A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,` So writes Shakespeare. Well possibly - because once something is named it carries all sorts of expectations. In th ... read more

Just before Christmas, one of my friends posted a clip on Facebook of Peter Rollins speaking which I`m going to put on in a moment - Rollins is a 44 year old writer, philos ... read more

Lazy days on holiday for some; others experiencing the frenetic demands of retail sales etc; family gatherings; new beginnings for others.

Not actually the beginning of the year for the church community, that w ... read more

Joseph, we are told, was a good man; a man who always did what was right. He kept his nose clean; he worked hard; he stayed out of trouble; he did the right thing by his neighbours; he did unto ot ... read more

Today`s passage from Luke`s gospel tells the story of the Prodigal Son (15: 11-32). And as I read it again, what leapt out at me was a phrase that took me back through the mists of time to when I was actually young. ... read more

I don`t know about you, but I`m a great believer in making a shopping list and sticking to it. I`m sure that`s the only way to go shopping. Unfortunately I can`t put it into effect ... read more

On weekends as a child I played on our farm in Kent, England. One Sunday I strayed further afield and was playing with a friend on a heap of road gravel between St Peter`s Anglican Church and my grandparents` home. T ... read more

It is a question of the way we are to live.

Some of the most disturbing people who ever lived were the prophets. Their inspiration brought the Bible into being. Their condemnation ... read more

(A video clip parodying election advertising)

For me, that clip first played on ABC News 24 was the highlight of the election. This campaign has not been the most inf ... read more

K: The Old Testament lectionary reading this morning is from Kings

R: and also a reading of recorded events that occurred at Noonkanbah WA in1980.

K: Listen to these two sto ... read more

Last week we held our monthly Amnesty group meeting. As usual it was full of talk and sharing, particularly since we had someone from the WA branch office visiting, and working out the letters we woul ... read more

The threefold theme continues in the readings set for this Trinity Sunday. The first from Proverbs names Wisdom (Sophia in Greek) as a co-creator at the beginning of time. Then w ... read more

Last week in the service at Wembley Downs, Matt asked who we would most like to have dinner with, if we had the opportunity to pick anyone we could, either alive or dead. I picked among others, Desmond T ... read more