Our Services
Sundays @ 9.30am Holy Communion — Main Church
Wednesdays @ 10.30am Said (short) Communion — Historic Church
15 August — 3rd Sunday of the Month @ 5pm — OPEN SPACE
Open Space celebrates NAIDOC Week
Sundays @ 9.30am Holy Communion — Main Church
Wednesdays @ 10.30am Said (short) Communion — Historic Church
15 August — 3rd Sunday of the Month @ 5pm — OPEN SPACE
Open Space celebrates NAIDOC Week
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18 July - Pentecost 8 Sermon
Series: Faith in Adversity Daniel #6 - Panoramic Faith on Daniel 7:1-14 by Rev Jennie Savage podcast HERE |
11 July - Pentecost 7 Sermon
Series: Faith in Adversity Daniel #5 - Poetic & Eccentric Faith on Daniel 5:1-7,17,23-28;30-31;6:1-11 by Rev Jennie Savage podcast HERE |
Vicar's Reflection
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
and conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
and conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
The recent sermon series on Daniel 1-7 (ending 18 July; audio of each of the six Sermons available HERE) explored Faith in Adversity, of how faith needs to stretch and shape itself around unexpected circumstances, challenges and suffering.
I was inspired by the book Stretch – lessons in faith from the life of Daniel by Gerard Kelly (Spring Harvest, 2005) which is, sadly, now out of print, nor available digitally. The chapter titles inspired the sermon series exploring:
God be with you,
Jennie
I was inspired by the book Stretch – lessons in faith from the life of Daniel by Gerard Kelly (Spring Harvest, 2005) which is, sadly, now out of print, nor available digitally. The chapter titles inspired the sermon series exploring:
- Intrinsic Faith – Daniel needed to have faith that would travel with him into exile, into a strange land and be able to find expression there.
- Acoustic Faith – In Daniel 2, Daniel had to learn to listen carefully to what was going on around him and then listen to God. Should we be surprised when God sometimes speaks to us from the wider world?
- Elastic Faith – Daniel’s three colleagues’ faith is stretched when their lives are threatened. How far can faith stretch before being broken? The amazing faith of these three proclaim that God is able to save them, but even if he doesn’t, he is still God.
- Kenotic Faith – Kenotic means to self-empty, the key idea from Philippians 2 regarding Jesus’ incarnation. Kenotic faith does not seek power. Daniel’s faith and the God he believes in is a stark contrast to the power hungry kings of Babylon.
- Poetic Faith – Our God is creative and mysterious, and Daniel in tune with God is able to unlock and present God’s creative message to King Belshazzar, and, Eccentric Faith – Daniel goes against the prevailing wisdom of the empire, even though this puts his life at risk (and his enemies exploit this).
- Panoramic Faith – From this chapter on (Daniel 7), Daniel receives visions from God. This type of writing is known as apocalyptic, forecasting the ultimate destiny of the world. As big as the impact of his exile into the Babylonian Empire has been for Daniel, he sees his story and the Empire’s in the context of a much bigger one. And yet his own faith and obedience take on a significance as he is invited to know and understand the visions.
God be with you,
Jennie
