All Saints Invercargill Sunday Message Podcast: Recent Episodes
Richard
These podcasts are a collection of our Sunday morning messages shared at our main service. They are based on the texts from the Anglican lectionary for the week.
This Sunday we read from the Gospel of Mark 1:9-15. In this text we see Jesus come to meet John at the Jordan, get baptised, filled with the Holy Spirit, and sent out into the wilderness to face the trials of satan for the next forty days.
Our message this morning challenges us to ask how we face the challenges of satan in our everyday lives, and whether we're able to willingly and joyfully proclaim the Good News of Christ at every stage of our trials - remembering that our wilderness period never really ends in this lifetime.
In today's gospel message found in Mark 1:40-45, Jesus heals a leper and then tells him not to go and share what has just happened. Our talk revolves around what this means for us and how we too can be equally excited by what Jesus does for us each day.
Our text for this week is from the gospel according to Mark, chapter one, verses 29-39. In this reading we hear about Jesus' coming to Simon's home and healing his mother-in-law, before proceeding to work healing miracles on others in the village. After this we find Jesus in a deserted place praying. Our message asks us to consider how we serve God after Jesus has been into our lives and healed our infirmities. Do we keep it to ourselves, or do we take the gospel out into the community, sharing it in every interaction we have with others?
In this morning's message we look at the uncomfortable topic of sin. Not in a hellfire and damnation kind of way, but more as it is set in broken relationship between us and God - and us and others. The readings on which today's message is based are from Ezekiel 33:7-11; Romans 13:8-14; and the gospel of Matthew 18:15-20. God bless your week.
This week we explore the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verses 21-28. In this set of verses Jesus speaks firstly to Peter and then to the disciples as a group. I've unpacked this text as a search for identity - who we are in Christ as we seek to become more Christ-like in our everyday lives.
The text for today's message is taken from Matthew 15:10-28 and in it we explore the ideas around how what we think and feel influences how we behave, and how God is calling us into total submission to him so that our lives can be used to continue his work on earth and for his greater glory.
Exploring Matthew 14:22-33 sees us discussing just what it means for us to step away from what is safe and familiar, and to step into the unknown with only Jesus to guide us.
Today's reading was taken from Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 and in we explore the ways that Jesus worked to teach the disciples. Jesus' method was to be in relationship with the people he taught and to teach them in ways that were familiar using examples they would comprehend. We are encouraged to do the same when we walk alongside others and do our best to share the good news of Christ.
This morning we talked about the insidious nature of sin and how it is designed to cause us separation from right relationship with God and with others. The text we used can be found in Romans 6:12-23.
The gospel for today was taken from Matthew 9:35-10:8 and we explore the issues faced by the disciples as Jesus gathers them together to send them out into the world. What does this mean for us, and how can we find hope for sharing Jesus' message in our own fallen world in the words of the gospel? Well, lets begin with the wise words of Winnie the Pooh.
In the gospel we explored this morning (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26) we encounter both the calling of Matthew as a disciple and the remarkable healings Jesus performed immediately thereafter. Our message seeks to find the point of commonality in all of this and link it to our experience with Jesus' call on our lives today.
The message today is taken from the Gospel of Matthew (28:16-20). As a disciple-making church this is a core text for us and it was great to hear it in the context of how we are called to go outside of our own doors and into a space that is far less comfortable than the familiar. We are called to make disciples of all nations - and as this is such a huge task we are called to work together with every other Christian to achieve this work for God. We talked also today about how this gospel message ties in nicely with the concept of Trinity as we also acknowledged Trinity Sunday on the church's calendar.
This week the gospel was taken from John 17:1-11. Within this text we explore Jesus reflections on his mission here on earth and who has been left to continue this in his physical absence. The short truth of the matter is that it's you and I who are here to do this work. We have been given God's Word, handed down to us in the form of the scriptures, and it's up to us to use this to help shape our lives to better reflect Christ to others so that they too may come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
In this morning's Gospel message from John 14:15-21 we hear how Jesus is preparing the disciples for the future of the mission without his physical presence. He gives both encouragement and hope both for them and for us, as we continue to press into our mission to spread the Good News in the world today.
In this mornings gospel reading from John 14:1-10 we find Jesus explaining to the disciples about how he is the way, the truth and the life. He goes on to further clarify for Thomas the way to the Father. I think, that for us, Thomas continues to give us hope as we look to ask the same questions to clarify our own understanding of what Jesus wants from us and how we are to go about doing it. However, we are also comforted in the knowledge that there is a place in eternity for us, a place especially prepared with our needs in mind.
In today's gospel from John 10:1-10 we read about how Jesus discussed with the Pharisees the metaphor of the sheep pen and the gate. In the message we talk about what this means and how this might be applied to our lives in the current society in which we live and work.
This week we continue with the gospel of John and explore what it meant for Thomas to see the risen Lord with his own eyes. Follow along in John 20:19-31 as we explore faith and belief both back then and for us in our world today.
The Easter message came from the gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 1-18. We explored what it meant for both the disciples and for Mary to encounter the empty tomb and the role that each of them played in sharing the word of the risen Christ with the world. We also examined how Jesus used and continues to use the broken and those from unexpected backgrounds, to share the gospel message with the world.
This morning we look at the gospel of Matthew and his retelling of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. But we explore what it means for us today and how often we get disappointed by our anticipation of material things and human endeavours. We are never disappointed or let down by God, or by His Word upon which we build our hope.
The message this Sunday comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 1 to 45. In this text Jesus waits while Lazarus dies before travelling to be with Lazarus' family in Judea. We explore this passage through a lens of metaphor and relationship to see how we can begin to reach the spiritually dead in the spaces in which we live and work.
The message this morning was based around the story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:5-42). In the message we explore what it means to be in relationship with others, especially those whom we might not normally choose to be in relationship with. We also explore the idea that the seed of faith that we plant may actually be harvested by another at some later point - and how we can be okay with that.
This Sunday we explore one of the most well known of the bible verses, John 3:16. But in order to properly unpack this verse we look carefully at the verses that surround it and go through John 3:1-17 as a whole.
This week we continue in the Gospel of Matthew exploring the concept of loving and praying for our enemies as well as for those who we like or love. Jesus challenges us in all sorts of ways with this message and we explore what some of those challenges are.
The message this morning is taken from the gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21 to 37. These are some challenging verses to preach on as they ask a lot of us as listeners and as humans living the world.
The message this Sunday was taken from Matthew 5:13-20 where Jesus talks about salt losing its saltiness. He also spoke passionately about how we, as his disciples, are not to hide our light under a bushel, but rather to shine brightly from the lamp stand as an encouragement and support for all those around us.
The message for this Sunday explored the way in which we might choose to pursue sharing our passion for the mission of Jesus. It talks about our role as disciples and disciple-makers.
In this week's message we hear of John introducing Jesus to his (John's) disciples and how two of them immediately begin to follow Jesus. The focus for this week is on Andrew who shares his faith with his brother before going on to become a most proficient and effective disciple-maker for Christ. The challenge we all face in our journey is to ask ourselves, not whether we are followers of Christ, but rather are we being disciple-makers as we are called to be when we choose Jesus as our guide.
This week we focused on the Magi or Wise Men and what we can learn from their time journeying to and with Jesus. Our main text for this message came from Matthew 2:1-12.
In our first message for 2023, we explore how Joseph responded to the prompting of the angels as they guided his decision-making during the early years of Jesus' life and how we can use the same promptings as a guide for our own lives some two thousand years later.
This Sunday in Advent we are introduced to Joseph. He is a figure who doesn't get much press in the whole Christmas narrative, but who nonetheless plays a significant role in the whole journey to Bethlehem and beyond. So how do we relate to Joseph and what does this mean as we live out our lives in the twenty-first century?
The gospel for today is Matthew 11:2-11 in which John sends his disciples to ask Jesus whether he is the Messiah, and then Jesus talks to the crowds about John. Some great life lessons in this text for us to reflect on as we continue through the Advent season.
Based around the scripture found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 3, verses 1 through 12, we explore what it means to repent and discover how God wants us to undergo a heart change through repentance and in so doing to go out and bear fruit for Christ through our witness to the world.
Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday in the churches calendar. Today we read in Matthew 24:33-44 about the crucifixion of Jesus between the two criminals and how one of these two is assured of eternal life because of his decision for Christ. We are confronted with the fact that we too have a choice to make, a choice that only we can make. However we are given confidence that it is never too late to make that choice.
In this episode we explore one possible interpretation of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 20:27-38) and how this can be applied in a twenty-first century environment.
This Sunday's message focuses on the parable of the unjust judge from Luke 18:1-8 and explores the various perspectives that we can take on this parable. Is God the judge? Is the world the judge? How are we then to act as Christians in the world? Just some thoughts to get you started as we explore the word for today.
In this Sunday's message we explore faith and what it means to walk as a church in faith following Jesus' Great Commission on our lives. We discuss what it means to put aside the timing and outcomes we want in favour of waiting on what God wants for us and the timing in which He works.
This week we remain in the gospel of Luke and explore what a definition of success might look like in the context of Luke 16:1-13.
Today's message reflects in a more oblique way on the message contained in Luke 15:1-10 and how, as disciples of Jesus, we endeavour to reach the lost and how we might begin to go about doing this.
Today's message from Luke 13:10-17 explores the concept of how we are always encouraged to be in the right place at the right time for the right reasons; and how God can work with us simply because we submit to Him by ensuring that we do our best to be open to the change that He seeks to make within us.
The message this Sunday was based around the text of Luke 12:49-56 and asks the question of us - what would we be willing to commit to in order to follow Jesus? We are called to make a stand and sometimes that stand will cut across things that we have previously felt to be important to us. How will we react?
Todays message explores the different ways we are called into waiting for God. The reading for this Sunday is Luke 12:32-40 (NRSV).
In the parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:1-13, 18-23, we hear Jesus describing the different ways that seed sown in a field can experience life. Here's a series of thoughts on what this means for us as we try to live out our lives as God would have us do.
Today's message talks about how we work to eliminate the busyness of our everyday lives in accordance with Jesus discussion with Mary and Martha found in Luke 10:38-42.
The message is based on Luke 10:25-37 in which a lawyer challenges Jesus to define a neighbour and how we are to treat such a person.