Matthias Stom, “The Evangelists St Mark and St Luke,” c.1635. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain. As I said in the first post in this series, none of the churches I attended as a child affirmed creeds or confessions of faith. The Bible alone was said to be our rule of faith. While I remain grateful for the spiritual …
The church’s one foundation
A sermon by Rod Benson What books and movies did you love as a child? I seem to have spent a large part of my childhood in books. Among my favourites were The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, the Tom Swift science fiction series, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, mystery …
What is the church? Part 2: Its purpose
Pastor Rick Warren preaching at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest,California. A sermon by Rod Benson What is the purpose of the church? What is its reason for being? Paul says in Ephesians 3:10-11, “[God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities …
Being single, being Christian
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 …
Ten words at Christmas
Yesterday was Christmas Day and I thought I'd go to a church service close to where I'm holidaying in Brisbane, Australia. Responding to a text message from my 16-year-old son giving me the start time, I turned up to Unnamed Baptist Church on time, alone, in a car emblazoned with bright yellow interstate number plates, …
All Told 