Beginnings are important. Anyone who’s ever started a new year with a bold resolution (and quietly abandoned it by February) knows that how you begin often sets the tone for what follows.
The start to Jesus’ ministry is anything but predictable: he starts his ministry in unexpected places, in unexpected ways, and with some very unexpected people. He doesn’t head straight for the spotlight but turns up in overlooked places—reminding us that our own streets, workplaces, and neighbourhoods might be exactly where his light is meant to shine.
And when Jesus starts calling people, he doesn’t put out an application form for the “best and brightest.” He walks straight up to ordinary fishermen, calls them by name, and says, “Follow me.” Shockingly, they do—dropping nets, boats, and career plans on the spot. This isn’t about their confidence or capability; it’s about the power of Jesus’ call, which creates the faith it asks for.
As we step into a new year, we’re reminded that we don’t lead the way—Jesus does. He comes to us first, calls us forward, and equips us for what’s ahead. So, the question for this new year is a simple one: what might Jesus be calling you to next?
~ Ryan Kennealy, Lay Reader
Golfers can be quite an amusing lot with some of the names and terms they come up with. For example, they can tee off with a wonderful stroke only to look down and see the ball still on the tee – this is known as an ‘airy’. Or then there’s the helicopter! - Everyone knows what a helicopter is but they actually exist on the golf course too. This usually takes place in the bunker, where after numerous attempts – instead of the ball soaring out to land on the green; it’s the club that is thrown out spinning at similar revolutions to a helicopter’s rotor blades.
This is normally brought about through the sheer frustration of the golfer.
This got me thinking and I came to the conclusion that life can be like a game of golf. We all like to do well, be on par or better as we go through life. Indeed some might be able to drive straight down the fairway of life and even score a hole in one!
But sometimes things in life go wrong and we find ourselves in situations that are beyond our control. After a few years we struggle to get up ‘Cardiac Hill’ (as it’s affectionately known), or we end up in the rough or the bunker of life despondent and feel like we have no strength left and have achieved absolutely nothing. We may even have performed our own version of the helicopter out of sheer frustration!
Without a doubt, there are times, life can be very frustrating.
We may even find ourselves asking – ‘Where’s God in all of this?’
Frustrated – that is the name of this week’s sermon.
36° 47' 49.2" S, 148° 11' 48.3" E
Those are the coordinates for Indi Springs should you ever want to go there. Many people do. Apparently, there’s not much to see, just a bit of swampy ground with a trickle of water seeping from the soil. So, why do people go there? Well, Indi Springs is the source of the Australia’s greatest river, the River Murray, which starts high in the Australian Alps and it’s all downhill from there, all 2,500kms of it, until it reaches the ocean near Goolwa. From that inconspicuous start the Murray brings life to an otherwise barren landscape, sustaining wildlife and agriculture for the length of its course.
Jesus’ journey began with a baptism in the wilderness. Water poured over him. Water: a symbol of life. That day he was just one of many. But, from there he rushed headlong through the country all the way to Jerusalem, bringing healing, renewal and life to those he met. There in Jerusalem he was nailed to a cross. A spear pierced his side and blood and water poured out. It looked like the end, but it was just a beginning. For us too.
~ Pastor John
Surely, I can’t be the only one who watched in dismay the utter devastation visited upon Gaza by the Israel Defence Force?
Surely, I can’t be the only one who shakes my head in despair as the drone strikes and missiles continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities?
Surely, I can’t be the only one whose heart fell when religiously motivated terror brought murder to a beach in Sydney?
Surely, I can’t be the only one who thinks, ‘There must be another way?’
Having being warned in a dream not to return to Herod the magi departed for their own country by another way. I wonder, what was that way?
~ Pastor John
Read and listen now to Pastor John's address for the First Sunday after Christmas.
Listen and read now to Pastor John's address from Christmas Day, 2025.
Fear!
One of the most heartbreaking lines in all of Scripture must be Genesis 3:10, ‘The man (Adam) said (to God) “I heard the sound of you walking in the garden, and I was afraid . . . and I hid myself”’.
Fear restricts us. Fear binds us. Fear narrows us. Fear reduces us. Fear dehumanizes us. Fear diminishes us. Fear cuts us off from God.
One of the profoundest aspects of Christmas is that Jesus comes as Immanuel –God with us– in order to drive out fear, so that all people might have life and have it abundantly. Jesus comes to us at Christmas to give to us –to create in us– the opposite of fear: trust.
~ Pastor John
If you’ve never heard of the term non sequitur, don’t let it bother you. It’s a Latin term used in literary contexts and it means a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. So, for example: My car needs repairs; therefore you should read this book by Friday.
Actually, maybe it is a term you should get to know, because if the Bible is literature then the term fits. And, if the Bible is the Word of God then it might be applied to God. In which case, if a person could be a non sequitur I reckon Jesus would be one.
Confused? Yep, me too.
~Pastor John
Money was tight in the small country congregation but the church really needed painting. The pastor came up with a cunning plan. He bought half the amount of paint needed for the job and thinned it down. He set to work painting. Everything seemed to be going well; he had just about finished when a huge storm rolled through and the rain washed the thinned paint off the church walls. In frustration and desperation the pastor got down on his knees and prayed: “Lord, what do I do now?” A voice came from heaven, ‘Repaint and thin no more”.
~ Pastor John