I was once asked to sum up the gospel in a sentence. I said this: Jesus is Lord. Why is this so controversial? Did you react a bit when I wrote it? It certainly caused quite a stir amongst the nice, well-meaning Christians in my group. Is this not very stark? Surely the idea of […]
Easter feels a long time ago. The weariness of the lockdown wears on and on and, I don’t know about you, but it’s grinding me down. For instance, one of the highlights of my week last week was to sit in my car in the carpark of a local McDonalds eating a Sausage and Egg […]
What is the Gospel in our age of anxiety?
What does the resurrection of Jesus mean? What is it to “believe” in the resurrection? Ultimately, does it, or anything, really matter?
Imagine that Jesus walked into our service here, today. I it’s likely that I would offer him the pulpit – even though I have worked pretty hard on writing my sermon. I can imagine myself taking a chair, leaning forward interestedly to hear what he has to say. This is more or less precisely the […]
What does the festival of All Saints have to do with understanding the Book of Revelation? Surely in this world come of age the time has come to turn our backs on such highly coloured images from our ancient past?
Or has it?
Jesus asked James and John: “What do you want me to do for you?”
It’s a hard question – As the psychologist Abraham Maslow said: “It isn’t normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological achievement.”
What can the film Independence Day and 911 teach us about Jesus’ mysterious, not to say alarming, apocalyptic language in his prediction of the fall of the Temple? Is there anything more countercultural than hope?
A sermon I preached at Glen Iris Road Uniting Church on 19/11/2017 on the Parable of the talents – Matthew 25:14-30 The video I just showed is a trailer for one of my favourite comedy series – the Detectorists. It’s a gentle, wry comedy about friendship and love and the deep desire for buried treasure. […]
I had a really interesting conversation yesterday, with a friend who comes from a very conservative Christian background, from which she has escaped. I have a lot of friends like this, but she put the issue in a very striking way: What has Christianity got to do with the real world? Out there in the […]
Alister Pate