In Sermons: showing 121-135 of 170

The Death Of John The Baptist (Mark 6:14-29)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 5, 2007

The Death of John the Baptist. No doubt all of those who had thrown in their lot with John figured that their reform movement had just come to a grinding and bloody halt!

No doubt all of you are deeply concerned, as I am, about what could prove to be the beginnings of World War III breaking out this week in the Middle East. The Israeli army moved into Lebanon this week, ostensibly to take on Hezbollah militants operating from within Lebanon who apparently captured ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Jesus, The Bread Of Life (John 6:35, 41-51)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 5, 2007

It is not the wisdom. It is not the miracles. It is not the things about Christ that we need the most. It is Christ - God with us - His flesh, His blood - food and drink.

I don’t know what your week has been like, but I’ve had a week that has been full of typical priest-type things: visiting the sick and organising weddings, baptisms and funerals. Indeed, in the next few weeks we’ve got two baptism scheduled, there’s one wedding next Saturday, and tomorrow I have a ...read more

Scripture: John 6:35-51

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Jesus Needs A Break! (Mark 7:24-37)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 5, 2007

Jesus Needs a Break! Depictions of Christ suffering on the cross are common in Christian literature and iconography. Few though are the depictions of Jesus walking around..

Our Gospel reading this morning is from Mark chapter 7, where we come across a Jesus who is tired - tired, I think, to the point of exhaustion. This is not the sort of depiction of Jesus that is given much attention by the church. I’ve never seen a stained-glass window with an image of Jesus ...read more

Scripture: Mark 7:24-37

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Rugby, Reality & Religious Rivalry (Mark 9:31-34)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 4, 2007

You get the feeling with Jesus and the disciples that they’re never really on the same wavelength. Indeed, you get the feeling that if the group were there together at a fool...

Yesterday was a great day for this community. Yes, I’m talking about the Newtown-St George Rugby game at Telstra Stadium, where our team, trailing by 2 points with only five minutes to go, ran in two tries to win by ten and get themselves a spot in next week’s Premier League Grand Final. Being ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:31-34

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Are All Divorcees Adulterers? (Mark 10:11-12)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 4, 2007

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

It seems like we’ve been covering most of my least favourite Bible passages of late, so perhaps I should have expected this one to come along - "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her”. Another winner! And what a good passage to have on the day of a baptism! ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:11-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Extreme Widows! (Mark 12:41-44)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 4, 2007

My focus here is on three widows - Ruth, her mother-in-law Naomi, and a nameless pensioner who puts all her livelihood into the offertory plate!

A priest by the name of Wes Seeliger was shopping for a motorcycle. The Harley-Davidson salesperson bragged ‘this machine will go from 0 to 150 in 20 seconds. It will hug the road at 150 km/h. It will outrun anything on wheels. What do you do for a living, sir.’ ‘I’m a priest’ Seeliger said. ‘It’s ...read more

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Christ Is King! (John 18:33-37)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 4, 2007

A sermon for the last Sunday of the Church year - the feast of Christ the King ...

Welcome to the last Sunday of the Christian year - traditionally recognised as the feast of ‘Christ the King’. Next week is Advent - the start of a new Christian year, but this week we conclude the old ecclesiastical year with a proclamation of the kingship of Christ, and a call upon all of us to ...read more

Scripture: John 18:33-37, John 18:37

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Jesus Is Coming! (A Sermon For Advent Sunday)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 4, 2007

It’s the season of goodwill, is it not? Well ... not according to the ecclesiastical calendar! In the church year we’ve just celebrated the first Sunday in Advent - a time ...

Happy New Year everybody! Yes, it’s the first day of the ecclesiastical new year - the first Sunday in Advent - and as you’ll see, everything is a bit different today. The colours are different, the hymns are different, and there’s a sense of festivity in the air … well, maybe not a sense of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:18-25, Luke 1:24-48

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Horoscope Of Jesus (Matthew 2:1-12)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2007

What must Mary have thought when she first opened the door and found a group of Iranian astrologers, there to celebrate the birth of her son?.

The Xmas season is over! We’ve wished each other a Merry Xmas AND a Happy New Year, and now the festive season is PAST. The holidays (for most of us) are over. The time for singing carols and wishing peace and goodwill to all is finished. The presents have been handed out. The cards have all been ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Is Jesus An Alien From Another Planet? (Luke 9:28-36)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2007

Transfiguration: we struggle. We are weary. There is much we do not understand. And yet every now and then we catch a glimpse of the strange and glorious nature of Jesus, an...

Yes, it’s the story of the transfiguration - my least favourite Gospel story. When I realised the transfiguration was scheduled for this week, I tried to get out of it. I thought about other people I could ask to preach ... but I couldn’t come up with anybody. Then I remembered that the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:28-36

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Sarcasm Of Jesus (Luke 13:31-35)

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2007

It doesn’t take much to twist genuine faith into something sick and destructive. There is a fine line between an unshakeable faith in a God who will never let His holy city.

I’ve been to Jerusalem. It was nearly three years ago now, and my memory has faded somewhat, but I’ve got some slides I can show you! No, don’t panic! I haven’t got them with me! In fact, I didn’t take any slides while I was there. I took some video, but I don’t have that with me either. At any ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:31-35

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Would You Let Your Kids Go To A Youth Group Run By Jesus?

Contributed by David Smith on Nov 2, 2007

I imagine that, given the types of persons that huddled around Jesus, there would have, at the very least, been a fair bit of flirting going on at those gatherings.

We’re in Luke chapter 15, and Jesus appears to be partying again! Jesus was fond of saying that the Kingdom of God is like a party, and he seemed keen to illustrate that with his lifestyle, wherein he was a frequent guest at dinner parties and a not too infrequent host of spontaneous soirees. And ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

John 12:1-8 (The Erotic & The Domestic)

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 30, 2007

It doesn’t take long at this dinner party before the chaos breaks out, this time through the surprising appearance of Mary, pouring a ludicrously expensive jar of perfume.

We’re turning to John’s Gospel today, which, quite frankly, is a little unnerving for me, as I find John’s Gospel more difficult to deal with than the other three John retells the story of Jesus in such a way that things are rarely as they appear to be. Jesus speaks of being born ’from above’ and ...read more

Scripture: John 12:1-8

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Following Jesus Is An Adventure (An Easter Sermon On Luke 24)

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 30, 2007

Jesus is Risen! Is that Good News? Well ... if you had been promising yourself that you were never going to get yourself into trouble with the Roman occupation forces again...

Following Jesus is an adventure. It’s not always a barrel of laughs, but it’s always an adventure. Ange has been known to muse over where her life might be now, had she not married me, and so ’married into the church’ (so to speak). We’ve reflected numerous times on how she might have had a ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Wounds Endure (A Sermon On John 20:19-29)

Contributed by David Smith on Oct 30, 2007

There is a mystery in the suffering of Jesus - we know that. His wounds are special, because they are Godxs wounds for us! We know that Jesusx wounds are deeply tied to His ...

We’re in John Chapter 20 today - revisiting the story of ’doubting Thomas’. This is a familiar story. We have it read to us in church every year, though I’m not entirely sure why that is. As most of you probably know, we in the Anglican church work on a three year lectionary, which means that we ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-29

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican