Colourful Dreamer

  Gate Pa – Year B – 26 th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Season of Creation 4 26 h September 2021 Readings: Hebrew Scripture:      Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9: 20-22 Psalm:                          124 Epistle:                         James 5: 13-20 Gospel:                        Mark 9: 38-50 What I want to say: In this Season of Creation to explore the need to imagination our relationship with and place in creation – our common home; and courage to live that out. Esther offers an example of what reimagining your place looks like, the risks and the rewards – a story still celebrated by Jews today at Purim. Esther also offers a chance to honestly reflect on where we are in our current plight. In this last reading from the letter from James we are reminded that the basis for living our faith is prayer – all kinds of prayer, from lament for this world, confession for our role in climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, pandemics and other diseases, war, violence, poverty,

In the resources for this week is a quote from Abundant Africa. “We face multiple crises of poverty, inequality, biodiversity loss and the climate crisis. We have a short window – a kairos moment – in which to turn from well worn, broken paths and choose a better story for ourselves and for the world. But what story will we tell?” How do we understand and talk about what is happening to our world? How does that shape our response? In this fourth week of the Season of Creation we are invited to pray and act for our common home. We are invited to pray and act for God’s Oikos- a home for all, proclaiming that ALL life belongs to God. It is time to work with God protecting and healing God’s gift of our common home. As we contemplate the central image for this year, Abraham and Sarah’s tent, we are invited to consider this world as God’s tent where all are offered welcome, shelter, refuge, and safety. Prayer and action are at the heart of our readings this week. In Esther we read the st

I worte this 6 years ago. I still stand by what I said. We need to stop reading scripture from a conservative standpoint and allow it's radical voice to change us. Last week we heard a passage from Proverbs 31:10-31   that many of us read as extolling very traditional roles for women. And it is not unknown for women in particular to not want to read it.   There is in fact no getting away from fact that those traditional roles are an important part of that reading. But I also suggested that it is more than that. The women described in this reading were not mousey submissive chattels. They were strong women who ran their households with imagination, and flair, and generosity. It is I think an invitation for men to choose their wives carefully, and to not just look for what their society deemed to be important, and for women to be more than they were traditionally described. And so some read it as championing traditional roles, and others as championing woman taking more significant r

  You can listen to this sermon here Gate Pa – Year B – 25 th Sunday of Ordinary Time + Season of Creation 3 19 th September 2021 Readings: Psalm                                            Psalm 1                       First Reading :                       Prov 31:10-31                          Second Reading :                   James 3: 13 – 4:3, 7-8             Gospel :                                 Mark 9:30-37  What I want to say: Remind us about what the Season of Creation is about, and what the theme for this year is. And then explore the theme for this week Oikoumene, ecumenical – is also about all humanity sharing our common home with each other, and all life – even viruses. is about the kind of relationships that sustain our common life. About the whole church and its work living God’s love for and invitation to care for integrity of creation What I want to happen: Be more aware that our actions affect people all around the world To be m

This week is the third week of our celebration of the Season of Creation, using the title of “Oikos- a home for all” where we join Christians from across the world in proclaiming that ALL life belongs to God, and our need to work with God protecting and healing God’s gift of our common home. As we contemplate the central image for this year, Abraham and Sarah’s tent, we are invited to consider this world as God’s tent where all are offered welcome, shelter, refuge, and safety. The Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. and others have called the oikos of God “the Beloved Community”, a community in which all of life are equally members, equally precious to God. Over recent years the world seems to have become smaller, and we talk of globalisation more. Vast multinational corporations who work to maximise profit for their shareholders, seeking countries with the lowest labour costs and environmental protections, have played a significant part in creating climate change, pollution, and biodive

  Gate Pa – Year B   Season of Creation 2;   24 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Readings: Psalm                          Psalm 19                                                          First Reading :               Prov 1:20-33                Second Reading :         James 3:1-12                Gospel :                         Mark 8:27-38            What I want to say: Introduce and explore our ecologies What I want to happen: I want people to explore their own responses to the questions and what that reveals about their relationship with the place they live in The Sermon        1.      Introduction: Last week introduced the Season of Creation International and ecumenical event which we have joined in for last 2 years An opportunity each year to particularly pay attention to our relationship with creation and all who share this world with us, -          to hear anew the invitation to join God’s creative work renewing God’s gift, our common home.