Sermons from Pakenham Lakeside Church

Sometimes, it seems, life sucks. Actually it's not life that sucks, but the pervading power of evil and death that sucks the joy and hope out of life. The Transfiguration was a mountaintop experience for Jesus and the three disciples. But most of the time, we live down in the valley, struggling with the pervading presence of evil.  Like the man who meets Jesus coming down the mountain - the man whose only son is enslaved by an unclean spirit - it seems that God has abandoned us. But Jesus does not stay up the mountain, basking in heavenly glory. He comes down into the valley, to confront and defeat the power of evil, by climbing another mountain - the mountain of Golgotha, the place of the skull, willingly giving himself to be crushed by evil so that we would be free. This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John's on Transfiguration Sunday, February 10th, 2013. It can be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

Psalm 19 is a wonderful meditation on God's revelation - his revelation through the creation of the cosmos, and his self-revelation through his Word. It leads the Psalmist to meditate on his own shortcomings and sin, and pray for God's forgiveness. It leads Christians into meditation on God's final and ultimate self-revelation in the incarnation of Jesus. This sermon was preached at the Sunday Night at St John's service in Melbourne on January 27, 2013. It is designed to be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link and the Bible study found at this link Enjoy!

Imagine, if you will, being a Christian in the Roman empire in the late first century AD. Emperor Domitian is persecuting Christians. People you know have been imprisoned or killed for their refusal to offer incense to the Emperor as a god and to say the words 'Ceasar is Lord.' Into your church community comes a scroll, a letter from John the Elder in Ephesus. You listen with eager expectation to the subversive message of hope, which encourages you to stay faithful to Jesus, and overturns the way the world seems to be...for Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth... This sermon explores Revelation 1:4-9 and its message for the early church and for us. This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on November 25, 2012. It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link - the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

Humans have always been fascinated by the end of the world - witness the spate of recent disaster movies including '2012'. Jesus' disciples were also intrigued about it in Mark 13 - but it's so easy to get it wrong! The good news for us is that Jesus has 'ascended to the right hand of the Father' - and the Saviour is the one who will return to judge. Not as an intrusion into the human realm, but as the consummation of his work as the 'lamb who was slain since the beginning of the world.' This sermon delves into the end of the world, the return of Jesus for judgment, and why that is good news for us - based on Mark 13 and the Apostles' Creed. It was preached at the Sunday Night at St John's service on 18th November, 2012. It's designed to be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy!

In Mark 12, Jesus commands a widow for giving all she has to the Temple treasury...or does he? We have often heard this verse used as an exhortation to 'generous or sacrificial giving' - either willfully or unknowingly ignoring the context in which Jesus is critiquing a corrupt religious system which can leave a widow in such a position! This sermon re-examines the well known story in Mark 12:38-44, looking at Jesus' own self-sacrificial giving and God's generosity, and asks what our communities might look like if they took Jesus' critique of exploitative religion seriously. This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on 11th November 2012. It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link - the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

Shema Yisrael... The great confession of faith in one God found in Deuteronomy 6 is not a philosophical statement about the nature of God, but a call to covenant loyalty - to bring ALL aspects of life to integration under the one true God. This covenant relationship with the one true God is life-shaping, integrating and liberating for the people of God. As Christians, we stand in continuity with this confession, seen through the lens of Jesus as God's self-revelation. Our covenant relationship with the one true God as shown in Jesus is life-shaping, integrating and liberating, uniting all of life under the one confession, 'Jesus is Lord.' This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on Sunday 4th November 2012. It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link (coming soon) - the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

Freedom...it's a wonderful gift. Jesus comes to bring spiritual freedom - freedom from the slavery to sin, of which we are all victims, like it or not. In John 8:31-36, Jesus says 'If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' Our human nature rails against the thought that we might be slaves! But Jesus says 'anyone who sins is a slave to sin.'  He also says 'If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.' What glorious good news his liberation is! This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on Sunday 28th October 2012 (celebration of the Reformation). It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link - the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

He was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed... Isaiah 53, 'The Suffering Servant' passage is one of the clearest and most powerful Messianic prophecies in the whole of the Old Testament. It speaks of God's servant taking on himself ALL aspects of humanity's brokenness, pain and suffering...in order that we might be healed. This sermon proclaims the great good news found in this stunning passage. The sermon includes Walter Wangerin Jr's story The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ...with no breach of copyright intended, as a powerful story which portrays the truth of the Suffering Servant passage. This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on Sunday 21st October 2012. It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link Enjoy

Does God exist? Can God be known? Two of the most important questions of all time, for all people. We can discover that they are answered with a resounding YES! In Jesus, God not only shows his existence, but reveals himself most clearly. And Jesus welcomes us as brothers and sisters into the family of God. What awesome good news. This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John’s, Southgate, on Sunday 7th October 2012, the occasion of an adult baptism and confirmation. It is designed to be used with: - the bible study found at this link - the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy

Shalom means wholeness, balance, well-being, safety, and prosperity. It is everything in its right place -  life exactly as God planned it, life without the effects of sin, evil, and death. (Mark Sayers, the Vertical Self, p138-139) Jesus sends out his followers on his mission of 'peace' - not just 'Serenity' (as in the movie The Castle) but of bringing and proclaiming this kind of shalom to the people and places they visit. In Luke 10:5-6 Jesus says "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you." These verses help us understand the vital missional importance of shalom, oikos (a network of interconnected relationships) and the 'person of peace' in God's mission, and our part in that. This sermon was preached on Sunday September 9th at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church, among the Lutheran Students and Friends community. It is designed to be used with: The bible study found at this link and the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. It's part 4 in a series. You can find most of the other sermons and bible studies on this podcast. Enjoy

The 10:02 conspiracy. Do you know what it is? Do you want to join? Be careful because it puts you right in the line of fire... Prayer is an absolutely vital part of participating in God's mission to the world, as is recognising the reality of the battle we are in. Jesus says in Luke 10:2-3, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves...' With these succinct verses, Jesus lays out the necessity of prayer and the reality of the battle. This sermon dives into these two verses from Luke 10 and unpacks how they relate to us and to God's mission. This sermon was preached on Sunday 26th August at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. It is designed to be used with the related Bible study to be found at this link and the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. (Note for the Prezi: this is an edited and updated version of last week's Prezi. Click through the path till you get to Luke 10:2, to synch with this week's sermon MP3). Enjoy!

'It is not that the church of God has a mission in the world. It is that the God of mission has a church in the world.' This remarkable quote sets the scene for unfolding our calling as God's 'sent ones' - missionaries - who participate in God's self-giving love to the world. What does it look like to be part of God's mission in urban Melbourne (or elsewhere) in the twenty-first century? This sermon begins to unfold God's plan for his people in mission, through drilling deeply into Luke 10:1, where Jesus sends out seventy-two 'ordinary' people. Luke 10 is a paradigm for mission not only in the early church but in the new millenium. In coming weeks the sermon series will dwell in this chapter and consider the graceful call and sending of Jesus as he unfolds it to the seventy-two (and to us!). The sermon is designed to be used together with: The Bible Study found at this link and the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. The sermon was preached at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church among the Lutheran Students and Friends community on Sunday August 19th, 2012. Enjoy!

Matter matters. Matter matters to God. Unfortunately, Christians and humans sometimes act as if matter doesn't matter, as if the soul and spirit are more important than the physical creation, including this planet and our own bodies. All three members of the Holy Trinity are involved in creation and delighted in it. God seeks to redeem not just sinful people, but a sin-scarred cosmos. Since matter really matters, how should we then live? This sermon seeks to present why matter matters and how we as God's people can respond by stewarding and caring for creation. This sermon is designed to be used with the bible study found at this link and the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. This  sermon is number four in a four-part series on stewardship covering: Finances and material possessions Time Talents and Spiritual Gifts Creation - Care of God's earth The sermon was preached on Sunday August 5, 2012, at St John's Lutheran Church Southgate. Enjoy

Every person has gifts and talents that are a reflection of the creativity of God. But those very gifts and talents can disconnect us from God and true humanity. Like single cardiac cells which keep beating when isolated from the heart, we need to be reconnected to the heart of service. Jesus reconnects us through his own life of service. This sermon is Part 3 of a four-part series on Stewardship: 1. Finances 2.Time 3. Gifts and talents 4. Creation(Care of God's earth) The other sermon mp3s and bible studies can be accessed on this podcast. The sermon is designed to be used with the bible study found at this link and the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link It was preached at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church on Sunday July 29, 2012. Enjoy!

Time is one of the most valuable gifts we have. The Book of Ecclesiastes famously assures us that 'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.' But so often we say 'I don't have enough time!' This sermon examines our stewardship of the precious gift of time, and helps us to move from chronos (time that happens to us) to kairos (God's time, holy time, transformative time). The sermon is designed to be used in conjunction with: the Bible study found at this link and the Prezi zooming visual found at this link. It's the second in a four part series on Stewardship, including: 1. Finances 2. Time 3. Gifts and Talents 4. God's earth (creation) The sermon was preached on Sunday 22nd July, 2012 at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church. Enjoy!