It turns out that God has been outside all the time. As a young Christian growing up in Australia, I was led to believe that my task was to take the Lord Jesus Christ out into the world. This task was commissioned by my church leaders for me to be a witness of and servant…
We are complex individuals together in one unique worshipping community. The unique Journey of Brighton Uniting Church has many components and connexions that define who we are. One significant contributor to our identity is our past. All of the influences and decisions we previously have made, the events that have shaped our church, the history…
Our modern world is known for its instant worldwide electronic connections. At the touch of a screen we can see, listen and inform people right across the globe. Family, friends and neighbourhoods are brought closer to our daily activities through modern technology. Yet our modern world is also known for the disconnected loneliness that touches…
For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son… If we only remember one verse from the Bible, this one is often the one most quoted. These words are from the Gospel of John, chapter 3 verse 16 are favourite words that have a personal assurance of salvation. Yet it is a…
For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 2:1 (ESV) Our world today is hectic and we are encouraged to keep up the pace with many activities. There is an underlying assumption that busy is better than inactivity, and that we should strive to be as active as possible…
Ok, what’s important to you? I suppose it depends upon many things. Your age, gender, country of birth, religion, financial resources. There is a myriad of influences that affect what we hold to be important in our lives. Even after we have struggled through to define what it is that is important to us, we…
Many people see Jesus as a spiritual leader who focused all his attention on prayer and doing spiritual things to please God. Even many of his followers have tried to copy Jesus by isolating themselves from the world and living a pious separated existence, yet the Gospel stories reveal a Jesus who had a very…
There is a beautiful hymn in the old Methodist Hymnal called “Faith of our fathers, living still, in spite of dungeon, fire, and sword, O how our hearts beat high with joy whene’er we hear that glorious word. Faith of our fathers! Holy faith! We will be true to thee till death.” Do we ever…
It is good when people gather together to praise and worship God in our church building. We work together to prepare a time of blessing and teaching for those who come. We even organise recordings so that those who are unable to attend can share in this worship experience. We’re doing what God calls us…
Each of us are incredible creatures of body and soul; intricately woven together – flesh and blood, emotion and desire, kindness and generosity. Physically, we are complex organisms that can move, eat and sleep; psychologically, we can consider and evaluate; spiritually, we can seek the infinite and divine. There’s a unity in the diversity of…