A sermon by Rod Benson Twelve days ago, I stepped off a subway train at 15th Street in central Philadelphia, in search of the Clothespin, a large public sculpture created by Claes Oldenburg in 1976. I ascended the subway stairs to street level, and emerged in the sunlight, facing the magnificent City Hall, and looked …
Being Australian, being Christian
A sermon by Rod Benson Matthew 22:15-22 “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!” Brothers and sisters of the Australian soil, I greet you. On Tuesday Australia celebrates its birthday, in recognition of that defining event of national history, the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, on 26 …
Why forgive?
A sermon by Rod Benson Matthew 18:21-35 Forgiveness is a gift we all like to receive, but we don’t all like to give. English writer and apologist C.S. Lewis said that forgiveness is a beautiful word, until you have something to forgive. One of Lewis’s mentors, G.K. Chesterton, said that forgiveness means pardoning the unpardonable, or …
Guess how much God loves you
A Christmas Day sermon by Rod Benson When my three boys were very young, I used to read to them in the evening, and one of my favourites was a 1994 British children’s book, Guess How Much I Love You, masterfully written by Sam MaBratney and beautifully illustrated by Anita Jeran. It tells the story …
Standards for pastors and elders
A sermon by Rod Benson 1 Timothy 3:1-7 Perhaps it’s because of the high value our culture places on individual expression and choice, or because respected authority figures are now and then exposed as hypocrites or abuse their authority. Or perhaps it is the nature of authority to challenges our inner life, explicitly or implicitly, …
iDigress 