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Salvation and Death on the Red Sea, Forgiveness, and the Season of Creation - Some thoughts

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Over the last few weeks, we have heard Jesus teach his disciples, Matthew’s community, and us, how to hold good community together. When asked by his disciples “who the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”   Jesus responds by placing a child in their midst. It was not about their status. Instead Jesus reminded them that good community places the most vulnerable—like children, the marginalized, and those named in the Beatitudes —at its very centre. Good community has a common story that holds it together and gives it purpose. It is built on God’s deep love seen in the Exodus story and lived out in Jesus. Good community is not about us, but us living God’s deep love for creation and all who share this home with us. Last week in the gospel reading Jesus taught that true community is about mirroring heaven on earth through common purpose, deep commitment to each other, as Paul’s letter to the Romans, and the honesty required to face conflict. . Matthew 18:18 is often read to mean that wh...
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Some thoughts as we begin the Season of Creation hearing Matthew 18

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Last Tuesday was ‘The Feast of Creation in Christ’, an Eastern Orthodox gift . This has long marked the beginning of their new liturgical year, commemorating the great mystery that everything was created through Christ . In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I offered this day to the wider church as a Day of Prayer for Creation. The World Council of Churches has since extended this celebration to October 4th, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi in what is now known as The Season of Creation. This ecumenical season calls us as followers of Christ worldwide to reflect on our common role as caretakers of God’s creation, to see that our wellbeing is interwoven with its wellbeing, and to unite in prayer and action to care for our common home. The theme for 2026 is "Living Water"  and is inspired by Ezekiel’s vision of a life-giving river flowing from God , urging us to focus on ecological healing, hope, and the deep interdependence of humanity and nature.   Thi...
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Jesus the Liberator - a Reflection for 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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One of the names given to Jesus at time is Jesus our Liberator. This is a sermon/reflection based on the gospel reading ( Matthew 16:21-28 )  for this Sunday - 22nd in Ordinary Time where I put that reading back in the whole gospel.    W hat we are liberated from and what we might be liberated into The Sermon     1.      Matt’s Jesus Story Previously on Matt’s Jesus Story Jesus is born in Bethlehem -         City of David -         Of the line of David o    King and liberator Family forced to flee to Egypt in face Herod the Great’s paranoia -         Where God liberated the people from slavery through Moses When they return at Herod the Great’s death Take no chances and go to small village in Galilee -Nazareth -         Jesus grows up   Much later Baptised by John Baptise...
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