Christ Church Mandurah Resources

 MATTHEW 16:13-20 RAAFA MANDURAH This is a wonderful Gospel passage. A passage which makes us think that suddenly something has changed for the disciples. Do they finally get it? It’s also a very significant event for Peter, because for the first time he understands exactly who Jesus is. Jesus is the messiah, son of the living God. And Peter is anointed as the rock on which the church is built. This is the same Peter who tried to walk on the water and failed, Peter who runs away when Jesus is arrested. But for all his failings, Peter has finally realized who Jesus is. Thankfully, just who becomes a disciple of the church does not depend on human considerations, rather on God’s divine intervention. It is God who looks into the heart. I find it a great comfort that Jesus never lost faith in his disciples even when they appeared to have let him down. So, if as I were to ask you who you believe Jesus to be, what would you say? Sometimes we are called to give an account of our faith and...

 MATTHEW 16:13-20 RAAFA MANDURAH This is a wonderful Gospel passage. A passage which makes us think that suddenly something has changed for the disciples. Do they finally get it? It’s also a very significant event for Peter, because for the first time he understands exactly who Jesus is. Jesus is the messiah, son of the living God. And Peter is anointed as the rock on which the church is built. This is the same Peter who tried to walk on the water and failed, Peter who runs away when Jesus is arrested. But for all his failings, Peter has finally realized who Jesus is. Thankfully, just who becomes a disciple of the church does not depend on human considerations, rather on God’s divine intervention. It is God who looks into the heart. I find it a great comfort that Jesus never lost faith in his disciples even when they appeared to have let him down. So, if as I were to ask you who you believe Jesus to be, what would you say? Sometimes we are called to give an account of our faith and...

 Matt 15: 21-28 16 August 2020 There are some stories which are common to each of the Gospels but there are some events which we may only find in one Gospel. To understand why, we need to understand first of all why the Gospels were written and for whom. Matthew’s Gospel was written for a community of Jewish Christians who were struggling with their new faith and identity. They were a small community within a larger Jewish community, so any messages relating to the status of non- Jews was of special importance to them. The Jewish people had been waiting for the promised Messiah, and Matthew’s Gospel shouts that Jesus is the Messiah. That is one of the reasons why Matthew’s Gospel begins with the long and quite frankly tedious lineage of Jesus. Matthew wants everyone to understand that the Messiah is here. I must say that when I saw the Gospel passage for today, I think I groaned. For this is one of those passages which has us wondering exactly what is going on. Could Jesus really h...

Matthew 14: 22-36 When I meet people socially and they ask me what my work is, they are usually quite surprised when I tell them I am a priest. If they have had no connection with the church, they are usually even more surprised. It’s as if they know priests exist somewhere, but they are very surprised to actually meet one. A little bit like UFOs or aliens. And one of the things they then ask is if I have ever had a “proper job”. I don’t know if their perception is that priests are somehow hatched in middle-age, or we have spent our whole lives in cloisters and know nothing of the real world. I used to be a bank manager for one of the big banks, and I was priested alongside a lawyer, a geologist and two businessmen. So yes, I know what the real world is like. So what is it that makes us think that we can be called to serve God? For me, it is knowing that God calls us, understanding our flaws, our doubts and weaknesses, and still loves us anyway. When we read Scripture, we know that we ...

MATT 13:24-43      CCM 19/7/20 Today’s Gospel sees Jesus still in farming mode: last week we had the parable of the sower and today we have gone from the sower to the seeds, or more importantly, the weeds.   This is real life for those who heard it.   They know about sowing seeds and they know all about weeds which can infiltrate the crop.   Jesus seems to be implying that it is sometimes difficult to tell what are weeds and what is wheat, and it is not until they are grown and ripe for harvest that the differences can be seen. Since the foundation of the church, people have been trying to discern who amongst them will produce a good harvest and who will fail, who is wheat and who are the weeds. And there has also been a desire by some parts of the church to purge what they saw as the weeds from their community.   We know that Jesus was criticized for associated with people who might be the weeds of society:    societ...

MATT 13:1-9 The Sower I am certain that today’s readings will be familiar to you, and you will have heard many sermons on what is known as the parable of the sower, as well as the stories of Jacob and Esau.  As a preacher, it really is quite difficult at times to preach on scripture which we all know so well.  But in looking at all the readings and the psalm set for today, it seems to me that there is a common theme: treasure your treasure. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Esau gave away his inheritance, which was given him by his father, for the immediate pleasure of food.  His birthright was a special honour given to the first-born son. He was to receive a double portion of the family inheritance along with the honour of becoming the family’s leader. But he forgot all of that when he satisfied his immediate desires for food, without considering the long-term consequences of his action.  He was more interested in immediate gratification. Our inheritance as people...

LYNFORD  MATT 13:24-43 The Catholic theologian Richard Rohr, who I am sure is familiar to many of you, wrote an essay entitled “To be Biblical.”   He wrote: “To be biblical is not simply to quote the Bible.   We need to tell that to the fundamentalists.   To be Biblical is not to quote Moses: it is to do what Moses did.   To be Biblical is to do what Abraham did; it’s not to quote the Abraham story.   It is not simply to quote Jesus; it is to do what Jesus did.   Christians are in touch with the same God Jesus was in touch with, the same traditions Jesus drew insight from.   We are to be building that same unity and creating the same life that Jesus was creating and building.   That is what it means to be Biblical. “ What can we draw from today’s Gospel which will help us to understand how to live our lives drawing on this wonderful heritage we have.    Jesus is still talking about everyday life in Israel, the land...