Colourful Dreamer

We are still in Easter, a time to have our minds blown by, and have our imaginations run wild with, the possibilities of what the reign of God might look like. Hold that thought. This morning’s readings from both John’s letter and John’s gospel are all about love. On Tuesday I was asked what is love, or where do we find love defined. How would you answer that? For the gospel writers love is embodied by Jesus. Jesus teaches love, lives love, receives love, dies for love, and rises in love. It’s big! Mind blowingly big. And we are invited to let our imaginations run wild with the possibilities of that love. Mostly we want to define it and limit it and keep it manageable. The Spirit of God in Acts is having none of that, just like last week. Barriers are broken, all that separates is set aside, and new communities based on love are born. John says God is love. Not loving. Love! Jesus abides in this love. He invites us to remain in this love, branches of the love vine. Jesus continue...

You can listen to this sermon here Gate Pa – Easter 5B, 2024 Readings: Psalm                          Psalm 22: 25-31                                                           First Reading               Acts 8:26-40                 Second Reading          1 John 4:7-21   Gospel                      ...

Easter is a time to have our minds blown by and for our imaginations to run wild with the possibilities of what the reign of God might look like. I wonder what that means for us as we commemorate ANZAC Day and offer a place for our city to commemorate the Battle of Pukehinahina Gate Pa.   These dark and sad stories would seem to be the exact opposite of Easter. And yet amid the violence are moments of compassion that arose out of the deep wells of faith within people like Henare Wiremu Taratoa, Heni Te Kiri Karamu and Rawiri Puhirake. Mind blowing Easter shaped possibilities. Strangely in Easter we go back to John’s version of the last supper. In our gospel reading (John 15:1-8) Jesus comforts his shocked disciples with his last “I Am” statement – “I am the vine and you are the branches”. As they and we hear this we are invited to hear all the previous I Am statements like, bread of life, living water, light of the world. Look them up. And then Jesus says “You are”. The only time...

You can listen to this sermon here .   Gate Pa – Easter 3 – Year B, 2024 Readings: Psalm -                  Psalm 4 First Reading:        Acts 3:12-21 Second Reading:   1 John 3:1-7 Gospel:                   Luke 24:36-48 What I want to say: Easter is a time to hear stories of the resurrection and how those first disciples responded. We hear them not to be convinced of the truth of the resurrection, but to be opened to our own experiences of the resurrection, and to take time to reflect on how we respond. This week we hear from Luke, with the disciples offering all kinds of responses. Where are we in this mix? As the parish faces an uncertain time with my going, how do we respond. Offer some thoughts around our response in terms of the time and financial support for the parish. What I want to happen: People to take time ...