The following statement was adopted by resolution of delegates to the Queensland Baptist Convention Annual Assembly on Thursday 11 September 1997. The statement was moved by the General Superintendent of the Baptist Union of Queensland Rev. Dr Stan Solomon and seconded by Senior Pastor Rod Benson of Flinders Baptist Community Church in Ipswich, Queensland. It …
How to restore a damaged relationship
A sermon by Rod Benson Matthew 5:23-24 You’ve all seen them: by the side of the road, or lying derelict in the bush, or on the scrap heap – old cars, their windows broken, seats disintegrating, engines forever silent, slowly rusting away as the iron alloy is exposed to oxygen and moisture over time, producing …
The good side of personal conflict
A sermon by Rod Benson 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 At U2 concerts in the early 90s, a regular part of the show featured criticism of George H.W. Bush. In fact, front man Bono used to call the White House in the middle of the concert to try to get a chance to speak to the 41st …
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 …
Racism and reconciliation
NOTE: I preached this sermon at the Murri Evangelical Church (a Baptist church) in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, on the first anniversary of the 1996 Australian federal election which swept Pauline Hanson onto the national political stage. Ms Hanson’s seat of Oxley, since renamed Blair following electoral boundary changes in 1998, included most of the city …