Sermon

Australia is in the midst of a profundly important debate. We are considering whether or not we will support The Voice to Parliament. The Uniting Church, through the Creative Ministries Network congregation, have coordinated a collection of sermons reflecting upon this issue. To quote John Bottomley, the editor of the collection: ‘Preaching from the Heart’ is a project of the Creative Ministries Network congregation in response to the invitation from the Statement from the Heart to join Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a movement of the Australian people to a better future. You will hear God’s unequivocal ‘yes’ to the Statement from the Heart in the twenty sermons from Indigenous and settler preachers as they reflect on what this journey means for churches and the nation.” ...

This sermon was preached on the 30th of July 2023, the ninth Sunday after Pentecost. Text: Matthew 13.44-58 Like most kids, I spent a lot of time sitting in the back of my parents’ car, listening to the radio as we rattled around the suburbs on the weekend, shopping and running errands. I remember, when I was very young, the people on the radio going on and on about a woman. She’d behaved scandalously. She’d shaved her head. And she was saying bad things about the Church. ...