A pastoral response to same sex marriage

A sermon preached at Toongabbie Baptist Church, Sydney, 28 September 2014 Genesis 1:27-2:1; Romans 12:18-21  In an episode of The Simpsons, Springfieldโ€™s mayor calls for ideas to promote tourism, and Lisa Simpson suggests allowing same-sex marriages. The idea is approved and Springfield becomes the place to be for same-sex nuptials. When Rev Lovejoy refuses to …

Reflections on ordination

A sermon by Rod BensonSunday 10 October 1999 The great nineteenth-century Christian leader, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, described by many as โ€œthe prince of preachers,โ€ occupied the pulpit of Londonโ€™s New Park Street Baptist Church and its successor, the renowned Metropolitan Tabernacle, from 1854 to 1892. When asked if he were a Doctor of Divinity, he …

A young person’s wisdom

Sunday 28 October 2001 Job 32-37 Toby Nelson worked as a volunteer chaplain at the site of the demolished twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. He writes: In between spontaneous comfort and counseling sessions, one could see the enormity of this disaster. TV images and words fail to capture what I …

How to be like God

Ephesians 4:32-5:2 New Yearโ€™s resolutions: one of those things that always looks better in prospect than in hindsight, like over-indulgent desserts, or mothers-in-law. How many of you made resolutions this New Yearโ€™s Eve?ย  Last year?ย  Did you keep them?ย  I am reminded of a woman concerned about her weight: Five years ago: ย I will get …