As Rev Margaret will be away for a few weeks, and to take some pressure off the locum, we have included last year's Ascension sermon here. Our situation has changed a little since then but the hope we have in the resurrected and ascended Christ has not diminished.
Rev Pam Hynd's sermon for the Sixth Sunday of Easter 09 May 2021
As followers of Jesus look around we can feel compelled to make a choice: should I be evangelical or liberal, progressive or conservative? What if we didn't have to choose? What if we could be all of the above?
If Jesus is the Good Shepherd then all good leadership is: More about listening than instructing. More about walking with than about giving directions. More about service than status. And if we claim that the Lord is our shepherd then: 1. We are making a political statement of allegiance to God above all other demands for our loyalty. 2. We are committing to obstinate hope that, however harsh and dark life might feel, the ultimate power and the deepest truth is not cruelty or even indifference. It is love. 3. AND we are agreeing to model our own leadership on the vulnerable, self-giving leadership of Jesus.
After the resurrection there is still fear After the resurrection there is still doubt And after the resurrection there is also joy!
This sermon was given a year ago, when services had been suspended and we were all literally huddled behind locked doors, like the disciples. When the rostered preacher for this Sunday became ill and I did not have time to pre-record a sermon, I decided that it might be interesting for us to take a look at where we were and how we were feeling a year ago, and ask ourselves how Jesus has come through the locked doors of our lives over the past year, and given us peace.
This Easter morning, Doubt with Mary Magdalene, Wait with Mary Magdalene, Weep with Mary Magdalene, Hear your name called, like Mary Magdalene, And receive your commission to tell the good news proclaimed by Miriam of Magdala. He is Risen!
Rev Pam Hynd's sermon for the Easter Vigil, Saturday 03 April
Good Friday, 2021 After a brief lockdown Brisbane believers are delighted to be able to meet together for Good Friday! But familiarity can make us forget how crazy it is to find hope in the painful death of an innocent man.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem the crowds hailed him as the king they had been waiting for. But then they decided he was not the king they wanted. What about us? Do we really want the humble, vulnerable leadership he offers?