Deep in the Anglican tradition is a prayer asking God for the grace to hear, read, learn, mark and inwardly digest the parts of the Bible we read each Sunday. The Bible is a complex and contested book. But if we inwardly digest it, the Living God changes our lives for the better. That's why each week, we ask someone to wrestle with what God is saying to the church through this strange and beautiful book, and to report the results to the rest of us. That's what we call a sermon. Some of the results can be found below …
Rebecca Packer
Law is a recurring theme across the whole bible. How do we understand it, from its place in the Torah's wilderness narratives, right through to Jesus, and Paul's apparent reevaluation of it? These are the questions Rebecca guides us through in this helpful overview of the theme of Law. Readings: Exodus 19.3-6, Ex 20.1-17 Deuteronomy 4.5-14 Galatians 3.23-4.7
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Dr. Philip Fountain
Who is God? One Jewish answer to this question, repeated throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, is: "the God who liberated us from slavery in Egypt". In this sermon, Dr Philip Fountain recounts the way that Jewish people recall the Exodus in ritual and story. He reminds us that this story has empowered liberation struggles throughout the world. And he closes by reaffirming that Jesus carries all those connotations into his Last Supper, the meal he calls us to share every time we remember him. Readings: Psalm 114 Psalm 136 Luke 22.14-23 Music after the sermon: 'Let My People Go' by 1814.
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Tim McKenzie
In Genesis 1-11, God mercifully and constantly starts again when humans betray their creation role. Abraham and Sarah are inheritors of that mercy. But, to be honest, they don't do much more than get a C+ in that. Tim here offers us hope that the key thing in our faith is to keep trusting, even if we feel like failures. Readings: Genesis 12.1-11 Romans 4.1-3, 18-25 Matthew 16.24-28
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Matthew Bartlett
Scripture starts in a garden and ends in a city. So what's the problem with Babel? In this sermon, Matthew prompts us to compare the life-giving pattern of receiving a name from God, against the life-sucking anti-pattern of seeking to establish a name for ourselves. Scriptures Genesis 11.1-9 Revelation 3.12-13, 21.22-22.2
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Tim McKenzie
In this sermon, delivered to the 9am congregation only, Tim explores the story of the Flood as a call to obedience. In reality, we can't know very much about the events underlying the flood narrative. But we can hear God's call to obedience nonetheless
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Dr Matthew Packer
For those who heard the Genesis stories as Sunday School kids, it's easy to overlook how profound they are. In this sermon, Matt Packer explores one aspect of the very profound story of Cain & Abel - the role played by imitative desire. Beginning with a summary of the theory of Mimesis, Matt helps us to see that we are by nature creatures who imitate others, often out of jealousy and envy. That sheds helpful light on the killing of Abel, and challenges us each to ponder, "Who am I imitating?" Texts: Genesis 4 John 21.20-23 Matt also references the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgB9p2BA4fw
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Jonathan Boston
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Tim McKenzie
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Matthew Bartlett
In a world of perceived chaos and crisis, how do we find meaning and hope? This new series looks at the archetypal narratives of the Old Testament to find the repatterning to which St Paul calls us in Romans 12.1-2. In this opening sermon, Matthew Bartlett explores the rich patterning of Genesis 1, and how it points us to the central place that humanity holds in God's creative intention. How can knowing this place, and living out of it, help us to live in a time when most people feel, as WB Yeats said, that "the centre cannot hold"? Readings Genesis 1; Luke 24.13-27 ; John 1.1-8
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Tim McKenzie
If worship is about offering our whole lives to God as we read in Romans 12.1-2, then what's so special about worship services? Can't we just worship Monday to Friday, and get a sleep-in on Sunday? Texts: Revelation 4, Revelation 5, Mark 12.28-34
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Māmari Stephens
Jeremiah 31:27-34 • 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 • Luke 18:1-8 Māmari reflects on Colin McCahon's painting Storm Warning, karakia, and prayer/inoi.
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Rev. Dr. Tim McKenzie
We all have stories we live by, whether explicit or hidden. Christians seek to live by the gospel's story. But why is it a better story than some others on offer? Tim McKenzie summarises 4 common stories on the loose in our contemporary world, and suggests that they are out-narrated by the Christian story, the truest story of them all... Note: this sermon was rerecorded after failing during the Sunday service itself.
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Tim McKenzie
How do I know God? Why all this Trinity stuff? Christians often feel befuddled by the doctrine of the Trinity. Rev. Dr. Tim McKenzie suggests that our challenge is to know the God indicated by the doctrine, rather than focusing on knowing the doctrine for its own sake.
🎥Watch it📖Read itRebecca Packer
Pentecost Sunday gives us the opportunity to explore the rich imagery Scripture uses to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. That's what Rebecca does here, and on the way, asks us, what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
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Rev. Dr. Tim McKenzie
In John 17, Jesus prays that the Christians to come would "be one". Why then, is the church so divided? And is there any hope? Acts 16.16-34 Revelation 22.12-17, 20-21 John 17:20-26
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Ruby Burgess
Who is God? How would the nature of God give us reason to be Christian in 2022? Ruby Burgess guides us in this, the fourth part of our Why Be a Christian series
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Dr Philip Fountain
How do you tell a Christian? Protestants have tended to stress having right doctrine. Is that how Jesus would assess our Christian-ness? Dr Philip Fountain examines how to be a Christian in 2022, with special focus on the Sermon on the Mount. Part 5 in our Why Be a Christian in 2022 series
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Matthew Bartlett
This is the second sermon in our series on Why Be a Christian in 2022: Stories to Live By. It's all very well saying that the Christian story is a good one to commit to. But what if it's just make believe, or nonsense? In this sermon, Matthew canvasses some of the reasons why we can have confidence that the story is true.
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Professor Jonathan Boston
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into Jerusalem in public. He brings a religio-political agenda, and engages with the authorities, in public. This sermon examines what we might learn from him about bringing our faith in him into public life.
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Tim McKenzie
After Easter, the lectionary directs us to Revelation in tandem with Acts and the Gospel of John. Why? Could it be so that we can be sustained, by singing the Lord's song in our suffering and our joy?
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Cassandra Burton-Wood
Text: Luke 1:26–56 Cassandra, lately chaplain at Victoria University of Wellington, delivers a final message about Mary the mother of Jesus, before leaving town for love and theological study.
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Rev Māmari Stephens
Māmari reflects on Facebook community, her iwi's history and our life together right now in light of the divine command to love one another.
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Rev Dr Tim McKenzie
Tim McKenzie explores faith, doubt and the resurrection (with a special appearance by Tim Overton). Please forgive the mediocre audio quality in this recording! Texts: Acts 4.32-35; 1 John 1.1-2.2; John 20.19-31
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Rev Dr Tim McKenzie
What does 'vocation' mean for Christians? Is it about landing your dream job? Or becoming a priest? Or is your dream job to become a priest? The second in a series on faith & work....
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Matthew Bartlett
Comparing Athens and Jerusalem to find a vision of God's justice for today
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Richard Deeble
Texts: 2 Samuel 7:18–29, Ephesians 5:18–21; Luke 11:8–13 Richard begins our series on prayer
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Mel McKenzie
Texts: Psalm 46, Romans 8.26-40 & Mark 1.35-39 Mel spoke on the four S's of contemplative prayer — silence, solitude, stillness and surrender.
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Dr Ben Thirkell-White
The texts for the day were Ezekiel 34.11-16, 20-24; Ephesians 1.15-23 and Matthew 25.31-46. Dr Ben Thirkell-White, until recently Associate Professor of International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington, now at the Reserve Bank, reflects on Christ the King Sunday and its political message for today. Christ the King is a recent feast — instituted by Pope Pius XI in the troubled period between the world wars. Ben draws comparisons with our contemporary situation, looking at the perhaps clashing models of kingship we find in the Bible.
🎥Watch it📖Read itMāmari Stephens
Were Christian missionaries a tool of colonialism? Did Christianity ruin Māoridom? Were Māori passive victims of Christianity? Do we need to go back to pre-contact, pre-Christian Māori to find the truly authentic Māori culture? Māmari Stephens (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Pākehā; Reader in Law at Victoria University of Wellington) explores these questions and more in this final lecture in the St Michael's 2018 Spring Series.
🎥Watch it📖Read itRichard Deeble
The whole Sunday service. From about 22 minutes in, you can catch Richard Deeble continuing our sermon series on the book of 1 Peter, concentrating on 1 Peter 2:1-25.
🎥Watch it📖Read itProf Robert Ayson
Talk #2 in the Stuff That Matters series: Since the Cold War, international relations have been in a state of flux. China's Peaceful Rise, Brexit, Trump, Russia Today and Cambridge Analytica... the list goes on. In this lecture, Professor Robert Ayson, from Victoria University of Wellington's Department of Strategic Studies, analyses the flux, and asks whether there's any place left for values in the confusing new geopolitical world.
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Matthew Bartlett
The texts for the day were Psalm 69; Isaiah 24:4–13; John 3:1–17
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Rev Dr Tim McKenzie
Psalm 13; Lamentations 3; Matthew 4:1–11. Tim introduces the Biblical genre of lament as one pattern for our conversations with God. Image thanks to Dennis Jarvis on Flickr
🎥Watch it📖Read itDr Phil Fountain & Dr Geoff Troughton
In this first talk in the St Michael's Stuff That Matters series, Phil Fountain and Geoff Troughton, from Victoria University of Wellington's Religious Studies department, challenge all of us to upgrade our understanding of New Zealand's religious diversity. They especially challenge Christians to ponder how they engage their faith as a shrinking presence in the expanded marketplace of religious commitments.
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Tim McKenzie
Tim the vicar preached from the lectionary readings for 9 February, Isaiah 58:1-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20
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Zac Clarke
2 Peter 2 is a pretty tricky chapter, full of colourful invective against Peter's opponents. Which raises the question: should we follow suit and throw mud at the Christians we disagree with? Zac Clarke shares from his experience how mudslinging is not Peter's point, and how we're to leave such matters to God.
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Rev Jenny Dawkins
The Rev Jenny Dawkins, from All Saints Peckham, South London, visits and preaches for the first Sunday in Advent. The texts were Isaiah 2:1–5, 2 Peter 1:1-11, 19–21 and Matthew 24:36–44.
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Emily Hockly
The texts were Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18, Acts 4:32–35 and Matthew 25:31–46
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