St Barnabas Swanland, Sunday Sermon Summaries

  Readings.   Psalm 118, Matthew 21: 1-11     The Bible talks a lot about “giving thanks”—but what if some of that meaning is lost on us today?  I suspect that most of us were taught “the magic words” when we were young - “please” and “thank you”.    Words that meant adults would give us stuff.    Words that we use almost without thinking – it is impolite not to and it gets noticed, if not commented upon, if we don’t.  To us, thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude.    We say “thanks” - sometimes before we have really had a chance to think about what we’re thankful for.    It’s the polite thing to do, like saying “bless you” after a sneeze (or “God bless you,” for extra spirituality points). So we skim over the bits about ‘giving thanks’ in the Bible – of course we are thankful, we have said so (probably).    But like so many familiar words, we can say them without meaning, perhaps even wh...

  Readings.   Psalm 42, Matthew 26: 36-46   Last week we looked at ‘Psalms of Praise’ – how they can speak for us.     How they can help us to express praise to God so we can come into his presence in the right way, recognising the God whom we approach.  But what about when we come to God full of grief and sorrow?       When we are suffering?    When we are disappointed by the way life is turning out.     When we have been let down by those around us.    When we even feel let down by God?  Is a Christian allowed to think such things?  And if we are, dare we express them to God?    Or do we put on the mask that we often put on when we meet others and pretend everything is OK, thinking it is somehow sinful to be sad? Ecclesiastes 3: There is a time for everything … a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  So, the Bible doe...

  Readings.   Psalm 8, Matthew 21: 12-17    Praying is sometimes hard.    What words are we supposed to use?   One thing I love about the disciples is that they had many of the same questions we have.    Luke 11: 1, we read: ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’   Jesus responded with what we now know as “The Lord’s Prayer”.    We recite it, but I think it has much to teach us as a pattern of prayer , rather than just a fixed set of words.    His pattern is incorporated into what we know as the Lord’s Prayer.      It begins not with ourselves, but with God.    Recognising who He is – our Father, whose name is to be recognised as holy, respected, revered...    It puts us in the right place to start praying.   But the words can be difficult to find; any words a human can come up with will be inadequate to describe God, but tha...