LaughingBird

Proper 4 - Year B
2051-06-04 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Melbourne)
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

1 Samuel 3: 1-10, (11-20)

Samuel grew up in the Temple at Shiloh, working as an apprentice to Eli the priest, in the service of the LORD. In those days, the people had completely lost touch with God, and messages or visions from the LORD were rare. The light of God had not gone out, but Eli’s failing eyesight had left him unable to see.
One night, Eli had gone to bed in his room, and Samuel was lying down in the Temple of the LORD near the sacred Ark of God. The LORD called out, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“At your service,” said Samuel, jumping up and running into Eli’s room. “You called me and here I am, at your service.”
But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”
So Samuel went and lay down again, and the LORD called out again, “Samuel!”
Samuel got up and went to Eli, saying “You called me and here I am, at your service.”
But Eli said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back to bed.”
Now it was no surprise that Samuel didn’t understand what was going on, because he did not yet know the LORD, and his mind had not yet been opened to what the LORD had to say. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and again he got up and went to Eli, saying “You called me and here I am, at your service.”
Finally the lights went on for Eli and he realised that it was the LORD who was calling the boy, so he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if you hear the call again, say, ‘Speak to me, LORD. I’m at your service, and I’m all ears.’ ”
So Samuel went and lay down again in the same place. The LORD came and stood alongside him, calling out as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak to me. I’m at your service, and I’m all ears.”
The LORD said to Samuel, “Look, I am about to do something that will make the hair stand up on the back of everyone’s necks when they hear about it. On that day I will follow through on everything I have ever said I would do to Eli and his offspring. I have told him that I am about to bring down a permanent punishment on his family, because his sons have been dragging my name through the mud and even though he knew about their corruption, he didn’t crack down on them. So now I swear to Eli’s family that the charge of corruption will stand against them forever, no matter how many apologies, sacrifices or gifts they offer.”
Samuel had a restless night after that! When he got up in the morning to open the doors of the house of the LORD, he was afraid to say anything about the vision to Eli. But Eli wanted to know, and called him, saying, “Samuel, my son.”
“At your service,” Samuel answered.
“What did the LORD have to say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t keep me in the dark. May God punish you big time, if you don’t tell me every detail of what was said to you.”
So Samuel told him the whole lot, every last detail, and when he had finished, Eli said, “The LORD has spoken. I will have to cop whatever the LORD sees fit to do.”
As Samuel grew to be a man, the LORD kept a guiding hand on his shoulder, and saw to it that when he spoke, not a word was wasted. Before long, the whole land, from one end to the other, knew that Samuel was the real deal – a messenger of the LORD who could be trusted.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

You have taken a good hard look at me, LORD,
and you know exactly what makes me tick.
You know when I’ve got my feet up and when I’m on the job;
you can read my mind like an open book.
You see where I am going and where I stop,
and you know all about what I do and why.
You know exactly what I am going to say, LORD,
even before I open my mouth.
You are in front of me, behind me, beside me;
your hand on my shoulder at every turn.
All this is more than I can get my head around;
I pinch myself, and struggle to take it in.
It was you who put me together, every part of me;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I sing your praises, LORD,
for the the way you have made me fills me with awe.
Your creative works blow my mind;
too wonderful for words.
You could see me clearly before I was born;
you watched me taking shape in the secret depths
and laid out the intricacies of nerve and muscle.
You kept your eye on me
from conception to birth.
My life lay before you like an open book
before I had even lived a day.
Your thoughts are way beyond my grasp, God,
and they add up to more than I can count.
Deeper than the oceans,
outnumbering the grains of sand;
I give up trying
but you are with me just the same.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 4: 5-12

We are not preaching about ourselves. The message we preach is that Jesus the messiah is Lord of all. We ourselves are slaves, at your service, for Jesus’s sake. The very God who kicked off creation by calling for light to shine from darkness has now filled our hearts with the light that comes from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus the messiah and knowing it for what it is.
You might not notice how beautiful that light is if you just look at us though. It is in us, for sure, but like a diamond necklace in a plain paper bag. That way nobody can make the mistake of thinking too highly of us. It is clear that the power is all God’s.
We cop the worst of everything, but it hasn’t finished us off. It drives us nuts at times, but it hasn’t driven us over the edge. We are picked on unfairly, but we know we are not alone. We keep getting knocked down, but we get right back up again. When you look for Jesus in us, what you are most likely to see is his battered corpse, but that now means that it is also possible to see his risen life taking shape in our bodies. Our lives are on the line all the time. We are always being thrown into the jaws of death because of Jesus, but again that just means that the risen life of Jesus can be seen taking shape in our fragile flesh. No doubt death will finish us off soon, but in you, life is getting a good strong hold!
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 2: 23 - 3:6

It was a Sabbath, the day of rest, and Jesus was leading the way through some wheat fields. As they walked, his followers were casually plucking off a few heads of grain. The next thing you know, some members of the devoutly religious Pharisee party popped up and challenged Jesus, saying, “Look at that! What do they think they are doing? Haven’t you taught them that it is against the law to harvest grain on the Sabbath?”
But Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read in your Bibles what our national hero David did when he and his followers were hungry and had nothing to eat? He went into the house of God and took the sacred bread off the altar and ate that, right under the nose of Abiathar the high priest. The law clearly says that only the priests are allowed to eat that, but not only did he eat it himself, he gave it to his followers to eat too. Don’t you lot get that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of the people, not the other way around. The New Human is in charge now, and even the Sabbath falls into line.”
Arriving back at the synagogue, Jesus went on in. There was a man there who had one hand that was wasted away and useless. Some people there were keeping a close eye on Jesus to see if they could catch him doing a work of healing on the Sabbath and then dob him in to the authorities. Jesus saw the man with the crippled hand, and said to him, “Come out here, up the front.”
Then he looked around at the people and asked, “What do you all think the law would want from us on the Sabbath, to do good or to let things go bad, to save a life or to destroy one?”
But they bit their tongues and said nothing. Jesus was outraged; gutted by their lack of compassion. Turning back to the man, he said, “Stretch out your hand.”
The man stretched out his hand, and that was all it took: it was back to full strength. That was too much for the Pharisees. They went straight out and began conspiring with Herod’s mob to destroy Jesus.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Deuteronomy 5: 12-15

Keep up the practice of making Saturday a dedicated rest day, as the LORD your God has told you to do. You are to work on your business, your projects, and your chores on the other six days, and keep the seventh day as a rest day, dedicated to the LORD your God. You are not to do any work that day, and you are not to ask anyone else to work either — not your family, not your employees, not the migrant workers who live down the street, and not even your bullocks, horses, dogs, or any other animal you own. All who work for you need rest, just as you do. Always keep in mind that you were forced to work as slaves in a foreign land, and the LORD your God bared his arm and reached out and rescued you from there. That is why the LORD your God told you to keep the dedicated rest day.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 81: 1-10

We sing our lungs out to you, God,
for you make us strong;
we shout for joy, celebrating you,
the God of our ancestors.
Our songs ring out in your honour,
and on our instruments we make the sweetest music we can.
A trumpet blast opens the festival;
every month we celebrate your new creation.
We are your people, God, and this is our tradition;
a sacred law for every generation to follow.
You gave it to us through Joseph
when our ancestors took refuge in Egypt.
You have spoken to us in an unfamiliar voice,
reminding us that it was you who freed us from slavery
and you who lifted the burden from our backs.
When we cried out in panic, you rescued us;
from the thunder clouds you answered our plea,
and at a desert spring you called us to account.
You begged us to pay attention,
to let you set us straight;
you longed for your people to listen to you.
You warned us to steer clear of alternative gods;
to avoid offering our devotion to every new fad.
You are the LORD our God;
the God who rescued us from the land of slavery.
When we come to you with our hungers,
you fill us with all that we need.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for it was you who knit together the newborn earth
and said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”
Wonderful are all your works.
In ancient times,
you spoke through trustworthy prophets like Samuel,
revealing to us your Word and your thoughts.
How weighty they are, O God!
How vast is the sum of them.
Now you have revealed yourself in your child, Jesus.
He made known your grief at our brokenness
and your desire to feed us
with the bread of compassion and mercy.
When the powerful and hard-hearted conspired against him,
persecuting him and striking him down,
you raised him to new life.
Now, even when we are afflicted in every way,
you shine in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Therefore with .....
©2016 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who made known your desire to feed us
with the bread of compassion and mercy.
Now, even when we are afflicted,
you shine in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
©2016 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for it was you who knit together the newborn earth
and said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”
Wonderful are all your works.
In ancient times,
you spoke through trustworthy prophets like Samuel,
revealing to us your Word and your thoughts.
How weighty they are, O God!
How vast is the sum of them.
Now you have revealed yourself in your child, Jesus.
He made known your grief at our brokenness
and your desire to feed us
with the bread of compassion and mercy.
When the powerful and hard-hearted conspired against him,
persecuting him and striking him down,
you raised him to new life.
Now, even when we are afflicted in every way,
you shine in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2016 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The Lord has searched us and known us
and grieved over our hardness of heart.
But the Lord’s mercies are as uncountable as the sand
and we are forgiven, not through sacrifices or offerings,
but through the love and grace made known in Jesus.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2016 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and listen always for the Word of the Lord.
At all times, do good and not harm,
save life and do not destroy it.
Carry always in your bodies
the life and death of Jesus.
And may God be with you to the end.
May Christ Jesus make his life visible in you.
and may the Holy Spirit give you the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2016 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Religion v’s LifeA sermon on Mark 2:23 – 3:6 by Nathan Nettleton

#Sabbath OutrageA sermon on Mark 2:23 – 3:6 by Nathan Nettleton

Crackpots or Cracked Pots?A sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 3 - Year C
2046-05-27
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Sirach 27: 4-7

When grain is put through a sieve,
you find out how much rubbish was in it.
It’s the same when a person starts talking.
Whatever rubbish they are full of is soon out in the open.
The heat of the kiln tests a potter’s work for hidden faults.
What a person is made of is tested in the heat of conversation.
The quality of the fruit tells you if a tree has been looked after.
The things people have to say
reveal how they have taken care of their minds.
Don’t pump anyone up before you hear how they talk.
That’s the way the truth about people comes out.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Isaiah 55: 10-13

This is what the LORD says:
Everything I say has a powerful purpose;
no empty words ever pass my lips.
My words are like drops of rain in the cycle of nature:
wherever they fall they give life;
they replenish, renew and nourish life,
and then the earth gives them back and they start again.
My words always achieve their purpose;
they flourish where I plant them,
they nourish all who feed on them.
My Word will bring peace
and you will come home with great celebration.
The trees will line the road, clapping and singing;
the mountains will rain down ticker tape as you pass.
Where the saltbush struggled,
a redgum will take root and grow;
where noxious weeds ruled,
native orchids and daisies will bloom again.
The wilderness in all its glory will stand like a monument,
like a permanent sign of the LORD’s rich goodness.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 92: 1-4, 12-15

It is a privilege to be able to publicly thank you, LORD,
to sing your praises and put your name up in lights.
It is great to start the day singing about your rock-solid love,
with a full band ringing out the tune,
and to end it thanking you for being so loyal and trustworthy,
accompanying our praise with guitars.
For you, O LORD, have given us so much to be happy about;
what you have done with your own hands
sets us singing and dancing for joy.
People who always do the right thing by others
will thrive like a tropical rainforest
and grow strong like a river redgum.
They have put down their roots in your soil, LORD,
and they will brighten up your temple like flowers.
Even when they grow old they will still be fruitful,
healthy and vibrant and pulsing with life.
They are a credit to you, LORD,
proving for all to see that you are straight and true.
You are our rock,
and there is nothing rotten or crooked in you.
©2009 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 15: 51-58

Listen up! I will let you in on a mystery! We are not all going to die after all. But we will all be radically changed. When the final siren blows, it will happen in the blink of an eye. Just like that. The siren will sound, and those who were dead and buried will be raised up new, never to decay again, and any of us who hadn’t yet died will be changed just like them. The biggest make-over of all time! Our bodies will be stripped of their old steady decline, and clothed instead in never-ending health. These short-term bodies will lose their use-by dates, and be refitted, completely immortal. When that happens – when our old falling-apart bodies put on never-ending health and immortality – then the old saying from the prophets will have come true:
“Life wins! Death has been eaten alive!”
“You were so sure of yourself, Death,
but you turned out to be toothless.
Your bark was worse than your bite.”
Death depended on sin for its bite, and sin was powered by the law. But they have been blown away by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. When he enters the fray, we win! Thanks be to God!
That being the case, my beloved friends, hang in there, rock solid, come what may. Whatever role the Lord has asked you to play, give it your absolute best, because you can be sure that when you are on his side, your work will never be in vain.
©2015 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 6: 39-49

While teaching the people, Jesus quoted the proverb: “If the blind are leading the blind, both fall into the same hole,” and then he went on to say, “Trainees can’t hold a candle to their teacher, but if they continue their training, they will eventually catch up with the teacher and be able to show others the way.
“Why is it that you are always the first to point out a loose thread or a speck of dust on someone else’s clothing, but you are the last to notice the dirty big vomit stain down your own front. There you are, making a big display of offering to help the other person get their appearance in order, without realising what a disgusting mess you are yourself. You pretentious fraud! Clean up your own act first, and then you might gain enough perspective to be able to help others.
“A healthy tree doesn’t produce sick fruit, and neither does a sick tree produce healthy fruit. The health of each tree is judged by the quality of the fruit it produces. You don’t find mangoes growing on a lemon tree. You can’t pick grapes from a blackberry vine. Good people have hearts and minds full of good things, and it shows in the generous and healthy ways they respond to others. Toxic people spew forth poison from the toxic filth churning inside them. Whatever your heart and mind are full of will colour what comes out when you open your mouth.
“What’s the use of dropping my name all the time and prattling on about what a high view of my authority you hold, when you ignore everything I ask you to do? The people who come to me and listen to what I say and put it into practice are like a builder who puts down solid foundations before building a house. When the flood waters rise and the river breaks its banks, it can’t budge that house because it has been built to last. But those who hear what I say and don’t bother doing anything about it are more like someone who knocks up a house without laying any foundation at all. The first time the river bursts, it is all over in a minute. The whole house comes crashing down and is swept away in little pieces!”
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We do indeed give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your victory has swallowed up the power of death
and given our living an unshakable foundation.
Your Word went forth to create the earth,
and to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
Your Word went forth through the law and prophets
to form a people who hear and act on all you say.
Your Word went forth in your Son, Jesus Christ,
and brought forth the full fruits
that grow from the goodness of your heart.
His words unmasked hypocrisy,
disarmed the powers of death,
and laid the foundation for your Church.
Though he was killed by those
who lead others to destruction,
you raised him to life
and clothed him in immortality.
In his victory, death has lost its sting,
and we can offer you our labour
knowing that all your purposes will be accomplished.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your Word which went forth to create the earth,
and to form us as a people who hear and act on all you say.
In your Son, Jesus Christ, your Word unmasked hypocrisy,
disarmed the sting of death,
and laid an unshakeable foundation for your Church.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you thanks and praise, O God,
for your victory has swallowed up the power of death
and given our living an unshakable foundation.
Your Word went forth to create the earth,
and to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
Your Word went forth through the law and prophets
to form a people who hear and act on all you say.
Your Word went forth in your Son, Jesus Christ,
and brought forth the full fruits
that grow from the goodness of your heart.
His words unmasked hypocrisy,
disarmed the powers of death,
and laid the foundation for your Church.
Though he was killed by those
who lead others to destruction,
you raised him to life
and clothed him in immortality.
In his victory, death has lost its sting,
and we can offer you our labour
knowing that all your purposes will be accomplished.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Thought the words of our mouths betray the sin in our hearts,
the words of God’s mouth will accomplish their purpose,
overcoming the sting of death
and giving us victory over sin
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and act on the words of Christ which you have heard.
Proclaim that the Lord is just.
Be steadfast and unshakeable.
Give your best to the work of the Lord,
for in Christ, your labour is not in vain.
And may God lead you out in joy and back in peace;
May Christ Jesus give you victory over the powers of death;
And may the Holy Spirit cultivate your heart and mind
to produce in you abundant fruits all your life.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Why you probably don’t need to learn more
A sermon on Luke 6:39-49 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 4 - Year C
2043-05-31, 2040-06-03
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

1 Kings 18: 20-21 (22-29) 30-39

At Elijah’s suggestion, King Ahab called all the prophets of the god Baal to an assembly on Mount Carmel, and advertised it throughout Israel. When the crowd had gathered, Elijah stepped forward and addressed them saying, “How long are you going to keep trying to play for both sides? Make up your minds and follow the real God. Is it going to be the LORD or Baal?”
But there was silence. No one moved one way or the other.
So Elijah threw down the gauntlet, saying, “I’m here as the last remaining prophet on the LORD’s side, but there are four hundred and fifty prophets here on Baal’s side. Bring us two bulls for a sacrifice. Baal’s mob can choose the bull they want. They are to butcher it and lay it out on the firewood on their altar, but they are not allowed to light the fire. I will prepare the other bull the same way, laying it out on the wood but not lighting the fire. Then they can call out to their god and I will call out to the LORD, and we’ll see which god can prove himself by sending down fire.”
The gathered crowd thought this was a great idea.
Elijah turned to the prophets of Baal and said, “There are lots of you, so you can go first. Choose your bull, prepare it for the sacrifice, and start praying to your god. But you are not allowed to light the fire yourselves.”
So they took one of the bulls and butchered it for the sacrifice. From morning till midday they prayed to Baal, crying out, “O Baal, god of fire, answer us.” But nothing happened. There was no answer, not so much as a whisper. They prayed harder and harder as they marched around the altar which they had made.
Come midday, Elijah started making fun of them. “Come on,” he said. “Shout louder! What kind of god is he? Maybe he’s dreaming. Perhaps he’s nicked out to the dunny. Could he have wandered off somewhere? Maybe he’s fallen asleep, and needs to be woken up.”
So they prayed louder and louder and more and more desperately. They slashed themselves with swords to offer up their own blood, as was their custom, and soon there was blood all over the place. They continued this well into the afternoon, trying everything they could to get an answer out of their god, but still there was nothing. Not a whisper, not a spark, no answer of any kind.
Then Elijah called the people to gather around him, and they crowded in close. The altar of the LORD that had once stood on the mountain was in ruins, so Elijah rebuilt it in honour of the LORD using twelve large stones. Each stone represented one of the twelve tribes descended from the sons of Jacob to whom the LORD had given the name Israel. When Elijah finished building the altar, he dug a trench around it, deep enough to hold several buckets of water. He arranged the firewood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four buckets of water and pour it all over the offering and the wood. When they had done it, he said, “Do it again”, so another four buckets were poured over it. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” so four more buckets full were poured over it so that everything was completely soaked. The whole altar was dripping wet and the trench was flooded.
At the usual time of the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stood with the people and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, prove to everyone now that you are the real God in Israel, and that I am serving you and acting on your authority. Answer me, LORD. Show these people what you are made of, so that they will know that you are the real God and that you are winning their hearts back to you.”
With a flash, the LORD’s fire fell and incinerated the lot: the meat, the wood, the stones, and even the water in the trench. There was nothing left but scorched dirt. When the people saw it happen, they fell on their faces in awe, saying “The LORD is the true God! The LORD is the true God!”
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 96

We sing like we’ve never sung before, LORD;
singing to you with all the earth.
Every mention of your name sets us singing your praises.
We never tire of telling the story of how you bailed us out;
all over the world, we speak of your incredible accomplishments;
everyone we meet hears us giving the credit to you.
You are the greatest, LORD; we can’t praise you enough!
When it comes to gods, you are in a league of your own;
all other objects of devotion are powerless.
But you, LORD, created the whole cosmos;
you are surrounded by majesty and celebration;
strength and beauty are signs of your presence.
People of every race and creed recognise you, LORD;
they recognise you behind all that is strong and true;
they name you as the one who deserves all the glory.
We offer ourselves to you, LORD;
we fall to our knees in this beautiful place of worship;
with all the earth, we celebrate you alone.
You are our king, LORD; we’ll tell everyone everywhere!
You have set the world on firm foundations,
and with you in charge, everyone will get a fair go.
Let the heavens and the earth celebrate;
let the roar of the sea join in;
let everything that walks, flies or swims join the party!
You are on your way, LORD,
and even the roadside trees cheer as you approach,
for you are coming to set things right on the earth.
You will sort things out and put things right,
and reveal the truth about everything and everyone.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Galatians 1:1-12

I, Paul, am one of God’s special ambassadors. I wasn’t given this job by a popular vote, or by some ordinary human boss. I was entrusted with the job by none other than Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. This letter comes to you, the churches in Galatia, from me, and from the rest of God’s crew who are with me.
I wish you a full helping of generous love and peace from the God who conceived us and from our number one man, Jesus the Messiah. Faced with the record of our corruption, he gave himself completely to breaking us free from the grip of the evil culture that is so entrenched in the present day. God made our freedom a priority, and all the credit should go to God, now and always. And so say all of us!
I can hardly believe what I’m hearing about you. I’m disgusted. The Messiah was extravagantly generous in calling you, but already you are turning your backs on him and getting sucked into some other message that claims to be good news. There is no other message that’s worth a pinch of spit, but I hear that there are some snake oil merchants there who are twisting the Messiah’s message and leading you all astray. This is not about me. If anybody, including me, or for that matter even an angel from heaven, starts pushing a message that goes against what we taught you, they can go to hell! I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: if anybody comes pushing a message that goes against the one you have already received, they can go to hell!
Does it sound like I’m pandering to the crowd and telling people what they want to hear? Does it like like I care what people think of me, or rather what God thinks of me? If I was still trying to impress the crowd, I wouldn’t be serving the Messiah at all.
Let me set you straight on this, brothers and sisters. The message that you heard me announcing is not something that somebody just cooked up one day. I can assure you that I didn’t get it second hand from any human source, and nor did anybody word me up about it. Instead, the message was the result of Jesus the Messiah revealing himself directly.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 7: 1-10

After spending some time teaching the people, Jesus went into the town of Capernaum. There was a Roman military commander there who had a slave who was very special to him, but the slave had fallen ill and was dying. The commander was desperate to save the life of his slave, so when he heard that Jesus was in town, he sent some of the local Jewish officials to ask for his help. The officials spoke to Jesus with great enthusiasm on behalf of the commander. “This man is certainly worthy of your help,” they said. “He is a great friend of our people. He even bankrolled the building of our local synagogue.”
Jesus headed off with them, but before he reached the house, the commander sent another delegation of friends out to him with a message saying, “Lord, don’t put yourself out for me. There is no need for you to come all the way to my house. I’m not worthy to have you under my roof, and I wouldn’t presume to approach you in person. Please, just give the word, and my servant will be healed. I know how it works because I too am a man who obeys orders and who gives orders, knowing that they will be obeyed. I tell one soldier ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another ‘Jump,’ and he says ‘How high?’ I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”
When Jesus heard the commander’s message, he was gob-smacked. Turning to address the crowd that was following him, he exclaimed, “Did you hear that? You might think you could find an Israelite with faith like that, but no, I have never before, anywhere, come across such deep trust.”
And sure enough, when the commander’s messengers got back to the house, they found the slave back on his feet, a picture of health.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

1 Kings 8: 22-23, 41-43

Solomon stood in front of the altar of the LORD and, with his hands raised high, he led the gathered people in prayer. He prayed:
“O LORD, God of Israel, you are one of a kind! No other god in the universe is like you. Your love is rock-solid and you never forget the alliance you have made with those who follow you whole-heartedly.
And don’t stop with just us – foreigners will no doubt hear about you too. Attracted by your reputation and by news of the awesome things you do, they will come from all sorts of far flung places to live among your people and offer their prayers within sight of this Temple. When they do, listen to them from your heavenly home and answer their prayers. That way everyone on earth will hear of you and give you the same respect that your people Israel do. They will know that this Temple which I have built carries your authority.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 96: 1-9

We sing like we’ve never sung before, LORD;
singing to you with all the earth.
Every mention of your name sets us singing your praises.
We never tire of telling the story of how you bailed us out;
all over the world, we speak of your incredible accomplishments;
everyone we meet hears us giving the credit to you.
You are the greatest, LORD; we can’t praise you enough!
When it comes to gods, you are in a league of your own;
all other objects of devotion are powerless.
But you, LORD, created the whole cosmos;
you are surrounded by majesty and celebration;
strength and beauty are signs of your presence.
People of every race and creed recognise you, LORD;
they recognise you behind all that is strong and true;
they name you as the one who deserves all the glory.
We offer ourselves to you, LORD;
we fall to our knees in this beautiful place of worship;
with all the earth, we celebrate you alone.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
and to tell of your salvation from day to day
and declare your glory and your marvelous works to all.
You made the heavens and established the earth,
and revealed yourself through your law and prophets
to be a God of glory and strength
who answers the cries of your people.
Though we were not worthy to receive you,
for we turned our backs on your grace
and limped off after worthless other gods,
you came to us in your child, Jesus,
speaking the word of healing and forgiveness.
When we turned against him,
he gave himself into our hands
as a revelation of your self-sacrificing love,
and when we crucified him,
you raised him from the dead,
and sent down your Spirit in fire
to heal us and set us free from this evil age.
Therefore with .....
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who came to us as a revelation of your self-sacrificing love,
speaking the word of healing and forgiveness
and sending down your Spirit in fire
to heal us and set us free from this evil age.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
and to tell of your salvation from day to day
and declare your glory and your marvelous works to all.
You made the heavens and established the earth,
and revealed yourself through your law and prophets
to be a God of glory and strength
who answers the cries of your people.
Though we were not worthy to receive you,
for we turned our backs on your grace
and limped off after worthless other gods,
you came to us in your child, Jesus,
speaking the word of healing and forgiveness.
When we turned against him,
he gave himself into our hands
as a revelation of your self-sacrificing love,
and when we crucified him,
you raised him from the dead,
and sent down your Spirit in fire
to heal us and set us free from this evil age.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Jesus gave himself freely for our sins
to set us free from the present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father,
and to turn our hearts back to righteousness and truth.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

If the Lord is God, go now, and follow him,
and do not be tempted to share your loyalty with other gods.
Stay true to the gospel that has been revealed to you in Jesus.
Call on the name of the Lord,
tell of God’s salvation from day to day,
and live in righteousness and truth.
And may God bring you grace and peace;
May Christ Jesus heal you and raise you up,
and may the Holy Spirit’s fiery glory strengthen your hearts.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Followers or Fans?
A sermon on Luke 6:39 – 7:10 by Nathan Nettleton
A Different Gospel?
A sermon on Galatians 1:1-12; 1 Kings 18:20-39 & Luke 7:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 5 - Year B
2042-06-08 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15)

A gathering of the most influential people of Israel made arrangements to meet with the prophet Samuel at Ramah and present their demands. They said to him, “You are getting too old to lead the nation, and the way your sons are going, they’ll never be up to it. It is time for a change of system. We want you to appoint a king to deal out justice for us. Every other nation has a king, and we want one too.”
Samuel was horrified by their demand for a king and he went straight to the LORD in prayer about it. But the LORD answered him saying, “Go ahead and give them what they want. It is not only you they are turning their backs on; it’s me. They don’t want me as their ruler. This has been going on ever since I rescued them from their slave-drivers in Egypt. Over and over again they have turned their backs on me and run off after other gods. Now they are doing the same thing to you. So go ahead and give them what they want, but before you do, spell out to them in no uncertain terms what kings are really like once they are in power.”
So Samuel went back to the people who were demanding a king and passed on the LORD’s message. He said, “Let me warn you what sort of ‘justice’ your king will deal out once he takes power. He will conscript your sons into his army, some as foot soldiers, some as drivers, some on horseback. He will appoint officers of various ranks to give them orders and lead them off to war. Of those who do not go off to war, he will press some into service on his farms to produce food for the troops, and others he will put to work manufacturing weapons and equipment. He will take your daughters too and set them to work cooking and baking and powdering the noses of the noblewomen.
“He will seize the best of your land, your best fields, vineyards and olive orchards, and hand them over to his cronies. He will tax you heavily, taking a big cut of everything you produce and giving it to the freeloaders who serve him as officers and officials. He will help himself to the best of everything you have, your workers, your livestock, your equipment, everything. He will be constantly looking to squeeze a bit more out of you. It will be like being slaves all over again. Then you’ll be sorry and you’ll be begging to be rescued from your king, but it was your idea to have a king, so there will be no point expecting the LORD to do anything about it.”
But everything Samuel said fell on deaf ears and the people continued to say, “No! Our mind is made up. We want a king and we will have a king. We want to be just like the other nations with a king to rule over us and rally the troops and lead us into war.”
So Samuel said to the people, “Come on then. Let’s go to Gilgal and set a king on a throne for you.”
So all the people gathered at Gilgal and there at the sacred site they crowned Saul as their first king. They offered up sacrifices to the LORD, asking for success and prosperity. When it was done, King Saul and all the Israelite people celebrated long and hard.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 138

Thank you, LORD, thank you!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
I will stand and sing your praises
in the face of every would-be god!
Wherever I am, I turn towards your holy Temple
and fall to my knees in gratitude,
thanking you for your rock-solid love and loyalty;
With everything you say and everything you do
your reputation continues to go through the roof.
The minute I called, you were there for me,
you put steel in my spine,
gave me the guts to go on.
When the things you have been saying sink in, LORD,
all the earth’s powerful rulers will give credit to you.
They’ll join the party, singing and dancing in your honour,
celebrating the wonderful things you do.
As great as you are,
you never think of ordinary people as beneath you,
but you don’t waste your time
on those who are pretentious and stuck-up.
Although I must often walk into dangerous situations,
you protect me from hatred and hostility;
your invisible hand is always there, keeping me safe.
You, LORD, have made plans for me
and you will see them through to completion.
Your love is as timeless and dependable as the rock;
you have made us what we are
and you never give up on us.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Why do we speak as we do? We have the same kind of faith as the psalm-writer who said, “What I say is what I believe.” We are no different. We say these things because that’s what we believe. We are quite sure that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead is not going to stop there. God is also going to raise us and you and reunite us all, together with Jesus. So, yes, everything that God is doing is ultimately for your benefit. God’s extravagant generosity just keeps reaching out further and further to more and more people, and so the flood-tide of gratitude just keeps swelling and all the glory goes to God. And rightly so.
That’s why we never feel like chucking in the towel. We might look like we are going downhill fast, and it’s true that our bodies are falling apart on us, but on the inside we’ve never been better and God seems to be making us stronger and stronger every day. This run of trouble that we’re copping at the moment is really no big deal in the scheme of things, and it will make the final, infinitely jackpotted prize of glory all the sweeter.
We don’t worry about how things look on the surface because the things that really matter aren’t visible. The things you can see won’t last long anyway, but these things you can’t see are rock solid forever. We know that the bodies we live in now are like flimsy tents and soon enough, they’ll be blown away. But no problem. Then we will get to move into the houses that God is giving us. They haven’t been knocked up by amateurs; they’ve been built by God to last forever in paradise.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 3: 20-35

Jesus was at home with his followers when once again such a big crowd gathered around the house that they couldn’t even get out to buy food. There was a rumour going round that Jesus was losing the plot, and when his family heard what was going on, they set out to take him in hand. The religious experts from Jerusalem had arrived too, and they were ready to give their opinion: “He has gone over to Beelzebul,” they said. “It’s all black magic. His power over the demons comes straight from the supreme commander of the demons.”
But Jesus gathered the people around him and responded with a riddle. “If there is an attempt to expel the satan from our midst, could his own evil finger-pointing be driving the purge? Think about it. When an empire breaks into factions that undermine one another, it collapses. When a team is split and at war with itself, it all comes crashing down. So if the satan’s mob are divided because they have turned on their own, then he has shot himself in the foot and his game is over.
“The fact is, no one can raid the house of a violent thug and carry off his belongings without first dealing with the thug himself. But if you can disarm him and tie him up, then you can help yourself to everything in his house.
“I kid you not, people will be forgiven for all their toxic ways, even the most despicable things they have said or done. But those who spit in the face of the Holy Spirit when they see the good things that God is doing have gone too far. There is no turning around once you go down that slippery slope.” Jesus said this in response to allegations that he had teamed up with the forces of evil.
When his mother and his brothers arrived, they sent a message in to let him know they had come for him. The crowd sitting around him inside passed on the message, saying, “Your mother and your brothers are outside and they want to see you.”
But Jesus replied, saying, “Who are they?” And looking around at those who were with him, he said, “Here are my true family! My brothers and sisters and mothers are those who are doing what God wants.”
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Genesis 3: 8-15

In the cool of the evening breeze, Adam and Eve heard the LORD God walking towards them in the garden. They panicked and hid behind the some trees, trying to avoid coming face to face with the LORD God. But the LORD God was looking for them, and called out to them, saying, “Where are you?”
The man said, “I heard you coming through the garden and I panicked because I was stark naked, so I dived for cover.”
The LORD God asked, “Who pointed out that you were naked? It never bothered you before. Have you eaten fruit from the tree that I clearly told you not to eat from?”
The man said, “It wasn’t my fault. You put this woman here with me. She gave me the fruit and I ate it.”
So the LORD God turned to the woman and said, “What’s the story? What have you done?”
The woman replied, “I was tricked into eating it by the snake.”
So the LORD God passed sentence on each of them, beginning with the snake, saying,
“A curse upon you for what you have done.
You of all the animals, cursed!
You of all the wild creatures, cursed!
Down on your belly you go!
Face down: you can eat dust
for the rest of your life!
You and the woman will be sworn enemies.
There will always be war
between your offspring and hers.
Her offspring will go for your head
and you will go for his heel.
©2014 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 130

From the depths of despair, from rock bottom,
I cry to you, O LORD.
I beg you to listen!
Please tune in and hear what I’m asking!
If you put black marks against our names
for every failing,
Lord, wouldn’t you have to write off everyone?
But forgiveness is much more your style,
and for this we adore you.
I wait in eager anticipation for your presence, LORD.
Everything inside me yearns for you
and your promises fill me with hope.
Deep in my guts there is a hunger for you, LORD,
more pressing than a woman
waiting for the birth of her baby,
more impatient than a child
waiting for a birthday;
crossing off the days, one by one.
O People of Israel, put your trust in the LORD!
The LORD’s love never lets us down,
and is always ready to rescue us from danger.
It is the Lord who will bail us out
when we are caught in the consequences
of our own sin.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever
and your Word is exalted above everything.
The Earth is the work of your hands,
and you redeemed for yourself a people out of slavery.
Though you sent prophets to warn them,
they rejected you and clamoured for a king,
When kings had done their worst
and we were mired in unspeakable blasphemies,
you sent your child, Jesus,
to walk with us in the midst of trouble
and extend your grace to all.
When Jesus was condemned as unclean, and crucified
it seemed that the ruler of demons had won,
but you raised Jesus from the dead,
binding death’s strong man
and plundering his divided house.
So now we do not lose heart
for you are preparing us for glory beyond measure
as the family of our Lord forever.
Therefore with .....
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
for you raised him from the dead,
binding death’s strong man
and plundering his divided house.
So now we do not lose heart
for you are preparing us for glory beyond measure
as the family of our Lord forever.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever
and your Word is exalted above everything.
The Earth is the work of your hands,
and you redeemed for yourself a people out of slavery.
Though you sent prophets to warn them,
they rejected you and clamoured for a king,
When kings had done their worst
and we were mired in unspeakable blasphemies,
you sent your child, Jesus,
to walk with us in the midst of trouble
and extend your grace to all.
When Jesus was condemned as unclean, and crucified
it seemed that the ruler of demons had won,
but you raised Jesus from the dead,
binding death’s strong man
and plundering his divided house.
So now we do not lose heart
for you are preparing us for glory beyond measure
as the family of our Lord forever.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Truly I tell you, your sins will be forgiven
for God’s steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever,
and the work of God’s hands will not be forsaken.
Christ Jesus has bound the ruler of demons
and broken us free from the house of sin.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, praising God’s name with your whole heart.
Rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit,
even when others call it evil and denounce you as mad.
Be the true brothers and sisters of Jesus
by doing the will of God always.
And may God extend grace to you and through you;
May Christ Jesus walk with you in the midst of trouble;
and may the Holy Spirit prepare you for glory beyond all measure.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2012 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Ties that BindA sermon on Mark 3: 20-35 by Nathan Nettleton

How Satan Casts Out SatanA sermon on Mark 3: 20-35 by Nathan Nettleton

To Reign Over Us?A sermon on 1 Samuel 8:4-20; 11:14-15 & Mark 3:20-35 by Nathan Nettleton

Family: Painfully Difficult Good NewsA sermon on Mark 3: 20-35 by Nathan Nettleton

8th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2041-03-03, 2038-02-28
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 49: 8-16a

This is what the LORD is saying:
What a day! I have answered your call.
It’s the day of rescue, and here I am.
I have kept you safe,
and I have given you to the people
as the sign that I will always be with them.
I have given you the job of putting the land in order,
of resettling the people
on the properties that were left abandoned.
Tell the prisoners they can now go free.
Tell those cowering in the darkness
that it is now safe to come out of hiding.
They will find all the food they want along the way.
Even the rocky mountain tops will produce food for them.
They will never go hungry or thirsty;
never again be burnt by the sun or cut by the wind.
I care deeply for them and I will lead them.
I will guide them along the perfect track
from one fresh waterhole to the next.
I will level out the track
so that there are no tough climbs
and no treacherous descents.
Take a look and see!
Here come my people from far away,
from all points of the compass,
from this land and that.
Sing your lungs out, sky above!
Explode with joy, O planet earth!
Burst into song, O mighty mountains!
For the LORD’S people were suffering,
but the LORD has felt their pain and given them comfort.
But Zion said, “The LORD’S back is turned to me.
My Lord has given up on me, written me off.”
Get a grip! Does a woman give up on the child at her breast?
Can she turn her back when her own child is hurting?
And yet a woman forgetting her child
is a lot more likely than me forgetting you.
Look here and see,
I have written your name on the palm of my hand.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 131

LORD, I am not too full of myself.
I don’t set my sights too high.
I don’t try to get involved in things
that are out of my league
or beyond my capabilities.
What I have done, LORD, is look after my soul.
Like a mother tenderly calming a young child,
I have calmed my soul to a quiet peace.
May all your people put their hope in you, LORD,
from now on, and forevermore.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

How should you think of us? Think of us only as servants of the Messiah, and as those whose job it is to handle the mysteries of God’s business. Now the basic expectation of anyone who is given such a job is that they can be trusted with it. For myself, I couldn’t care less whether you or any other mob think I measure up. I don’t even try to judge myself. I am not aware of any black marks against my name, but that doesn’t prove anything. It is only what the Lord thinks of me that matters. Therefore, don’t go jumping the gun and trying to tally the score before time’s up, before the Lord arrives. He will shine a spotlight on things that are now hidden under the cover of darkness, and what really makes us tick will be out in the open for all to see. Then, and only then, will each person receive the thumbs-up from God for the things they’ve done well.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said:
“No one can play on two teams.
You’ll either give your best to one
and under-perform for the other,
or short-change one
and give your heart and soul for the other.
You can’t dedicate yourself to both God and financial success.
“So I’m telling you, don’t go worrying about your life, about where your next meal is coming from or what you will find to drink. Don’t stress about what you look like or whether you’ve got the right clothes to wear. Life is more than food, isn’t it? And the body is not just a clothes rack, is it? Look at the birds flying around. They don’t do any farming. They don’t stock up the pantry with extra supplies. And yet the one who conceived you in heaven feeds them. You are worth more than they are, aren’t you? So what good does worrying do you? It won’t make you live any longer - not even an hour - will it?
“And why do you worry about what to wear? Think about the wild flowers. They grow without ever shopping or sewing a stitch. But you can take it from me that they are clothed more perfectly than even a princess at a royal wedding. If God takes such care over dressing the wildflowers, which bloom today and are mown down and composted tomorrow, how much more care will God take to make sure that you have the clothes you need? Yet you find it hard to trust!
“So don’t get all anxious and go asking, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘Where will we find a drink?’ or ‘What on earth will we wear?’ It is the people who don’t put their trust in God who put all their energy into these things. You can rest assured that the one who conceived you in heaven knows perfectly well that you need these things. So you can make your first priority the new culture of God and doing the right thing, God’s way, and all these other things will be taken care of for you.
“So don’t stress out about tomorrow. Just deal with the troubles of today, and leave tomorrow’s worries until they come.”
©2008 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you show compassion to your suffering ones
and have written our names on the palm of your hands.
You created the earth and all its creatures,
clothing even the grass of the fields in splendour
and bringing forth abundant food,
even for the birds of the air.
You found your people imprisoned in darkness
and through Moses and the prophets,
you called them to freedom
and led them by springs of water.
In your child, Jesus, you have come to us again,
teaching us to entrust our souls to you
and to seek first your kingdom
and its righteousness and justice for all.
When he was killed by those
who serve wealth and power,
you raised him to life again
so that his light might shine in the darkness
and bring all the earth to freedom.
Therefore with .....
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
in whom you have taught us to entrust our souls to you
and to seek first your kingdom
and its righteousness and justice for all.
You raised him to life
so that his light might shine in the darkness
and bring all the earth to freedom.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you show compassion to your suffering ones
and have written our names on the palm of your hands.
You created the earth and all its creatures,
clothing even the grass of the fields in splendour
and bringing forth abundant food,
even for the birds of the air.
You found your people imprisoned in darkness
and through Moses and the prophets,
you called them to freedom
and led them by springs of water.
In your child, Jesus, you have come to us again,
teaching us to entrust our souls to you
and to seek first your kingdom
and its righteousness and justice for all.
When he was killed by those
who serve wealth and power,
you raised him to life again
so that his light might shine in the darkness
and bring all the earth to freedom.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

It is the Lord’s judgement alone that matters,
and God will no more write us off
than will a mother write off her nursing child.
God has sent comfort and a word of compassion,
”Come out of darkness and be free.”
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, as servants of Christ
and stewards of God’s mysteries.
Strive firstly for the kingdom of God
and its righteousness and justice.
Do not be anxious, but calm your soul within you
and do not condemn, even yourselves.
And may God generously provide all you need;
May Christ Jesus guide you in the ways of light;
And may the Holy Spirit fill you with comfort and hope.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2008 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Feasting and Fasting
A sermon on Matthew 6: 24-34 by Alison Sampson
When Buildings Fall: Do Not Worry?
A sermon on Matthew 6: 24-34 by Nathan Nettleton
The Church Facing Judgement
A sermon on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 & Matthew 6: 24-34 by Nathan Nettleton
God and Possessions
A sermon on Matthew 6: 24-34 by Jennifer Smith

7th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2041-02-24 00:00 - 23:59, 2038-02-21 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Leviticus 19: 1-2, 9-18

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Gather the whole congregation of my people and tell them this: You are to be utterly dedicated to doing what is right, because I am the LORD your God, and I am utterly dedicated to doing what is right.
When you harvest the crops on your land, you are not to be too thorough. Whether it is your grain fields, your vineyards, or your orchards, just go over them once and don’t go back for anything you dropped or missed. You are to leave it so that the poor and the refugees can come and gather what they need. Why? Because I am the LORD your God.
You are not to steal; you are not to swindle anybody; and you are not to deceive one another. And you are not to drag my name through the mud by quoting it to convince someone that you are being honest when you are not. Why? Because I am the LORD.
You are not to commit fraud or theft to get your hands on what rightly belongs to someone else. You are not to hold back the wages of your workers beyond their regular pay day. You are not to take advantage of the disabilities of others, or to make them the butt of cruel jokes. Why? Because if you do, you’ll have me to answer to, and I am the LORD.
You are not to pervert the course of justice in the courts. Your decisions must be fair and transparent, not showing bias either to the poor or to the powerful. You are to be absolutely fair in your judgments, without fear or favour. You are not to go spreading malicious stories about anybody; and you are not to seek to profit from the misfortune of another. Why? Because I am the LORD.
You are not to harbour hatred in your heart towards anyone in your community. If someone you know does the wrong thing, speak up and sort it out, or you will end up being held responsible yourself. If anyone among your people has wronged you, you are neither to bear a grudge, nor try to get even. Instead you are to love your neighbour as attentively as you love yourself. Why? Because I am the LORD.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 119: 33-40

LORD, teach me the way of life you have set for us
and I will stick to it for keeps.
Help me to get my head around what you want
and I will throw myself wholeheartedly into doing it.
Guide me down the track you’ve mapped out for us,
for nothing pleases me more than being where you want me.
Keep me focussed on the values you’ve spelt out;
don’t let me get sucked into grabbing everything for myself.
Put the blinkers on me so I see only your life-giving ways
and am not distracted by fashionable froth and bubble.
Reassure me that I am in on what you promised to all
who respect you and work for you.
Protect me with your good teachings
so that I won’t disgrace myself as I fear I could.
See how much I long to do things your way;
please do the right thing by me and give me real life.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 3: 10-11, 16-23

You lot are God’s building, and God equipped me and entrusted me with the task of laying the foundations like an expert master builder. The next job – building on the foundations – was given to someone else. But each builder has to work off the same plan. They can’t just build any old which way. They can’t start again because the foundation is already down and the building must fit the foundation. And in this case, the foundation is none other than Jesus the Messiah.
Don’t you realise what kind of building you lot are? You are God’s sacred temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. Anyone who ruins God’s temple can expect to be ruined by God. For God’s temple is to be kept sacred and undefiled, and you lot are that temple.
So don’t kid yourselves. If you pride yourselves on a reputation for wisdom and knowledge, you would be better off losing it and being written off as fools. That would be the first step to becoming truly wise, because the kind of wisdom that is all the rage these days is dismissed by God as complete rot. As the scriptures say:
“The Lord watches the clever get tangled up
in their own cleverness,”
and in another place:
“The Lord knows what the think tanks are thinking,
and it is all a lot of hot air!”
So don’t waste your time trying to big-note yourselves by dropping the names of your favourite leaders. You have already been given everything you could possibly want or need, whether it be me or Apollos or Simon Peter, or even the world, life, death, the present, or the future. Everything already belongs to you, and you belong to the Messiah, and the Messiah belongs to God.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 5: 38-48

Continuing his teaching on new standards of integrity for his followers, Jesus said, “You know that the law put a limit on retaliation: ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ Well, I am telling you to expect a bit more of yourselves than just that. When others are doing the wrong thing, don’t come down to their level. Don’t take the law into your own hands at all. If someone gives you a smack around the ear to humiliate you, stand tall and stick your chin out, and invite them to have another crack. Absorb the hostility – don’t escalate it. Or if someone takes you to court and demands the shirt off your back, drop your pants and hand over those as well. And if someone pulls rank and orders you to carry his pack for the next mile, show him up by going the second mile as well.
“If people are begging for your help, give it generously, and don’t be stingy with anyone who asks you for a loan.
“You know that the law said ‘Charity begins at home; love your neighbour’, and it has always been accepted that ‘hate our enemies’ follows from that. Well, it doesn’t, so I am telling you to lift your standards. I want you to love our enemies. I want you to pray for the welfare of those who try to make your life a misery. That way you will clearly be the offspring of the God who conceived you in heaven; the God who lets the sun shine on the scum of the earth and the salt of the earth alike, and the rain fall equally on those who always do the right thing and on those who are always crooked and corrupt. Loving the people who love you and treat you well is no big deal, is it? Why would you expect a medal for that? Even the low-life pimps and pushers can do that much. Being friendly to your friends and neighbours does not show that you are any better than anyone else. The most godless foreigner can do that much just as well.
“Keep aiming to do better. Model yourselves on your Father in heaven who loves without limits or boundaries. Aim to love like that and settle for nothing less.”
©2011 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your love and wisdom are perfect,
but the wisdom of this world is foolishness to you.
You laid the foundations of the earth
and built a people to be your holy temple.
Through the law you taught us to walk in your ways,
to love one another and provide for all equally,
just as you graciously make the sun to shine
and rain to fall on good and bad a like.
When we became caught in the futility
of selfishness and vengefulness,
you sent your child, Jesus,
as the new foundation
on which to rebuild a holy temple
of perfect love that goes beyond the demands of the law.
When he was put to death,
you raised hm to new life
and placed all things in his hands
to share with all who belong to him.
Therefore with .....
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who came as the new foundation
on which you are rebuilding a holy temple
of perfect love that goes far beyond
the wisdom of this world which is foolishness to you.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your love and wisdom are perfect,
but the wisdom of this world is foolishness to you.
You laid the foundations of the earth
and built a people to be your holy temple.
Through the law you taught us to walk in your ways,
to love one another and provide for all equally,
just as you graciously make the sun to shine
and rain to fall on good and bad a like.
When we became caught in the futility
of selfishness and vengefulness,
you sent your child, Jesus,
as the new foundation
on which to rebuild a holy temple
of perfect love that goes beyond the demands of the law.
When he was put to death,
you raised hm to new life
and placed all things in his hands
to share with all who belong to him.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The God who makes the sun shine and the rain fall
on the righteous and the unrighteous alike,
does not withold mercy from any who ask.
Complete forgiveness is yours
for you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, knowing that your are God’s holy temple
and that God’s Spirit dwells in you.
Therefore, love your enemies,
pray for those who persecute you
give generously to all who need your help,
and be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,
And may God give you all things in Christ;
May Christ Jesus be the foundation of all you are and do;
And may the Spirit fill you with delight in all God’s ways.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Salvation and RetaliationA sermon on Matthew 5: 38-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Utopian Nonsense (or the way of Jesus)?A sermon on Matthew 5: 38-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Not Letting the Bastards Define YouA sermon on Matthew 5: 38-48 by James Alison

9th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2038-03-07
This occasion only occurs in 2038 for churches that do not observe the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration Sunday.
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21, 26-28

Moses said to the people:
“Take to heart these teachings I have passed on to you from the LORD your God. Do whatever you need to do to keep them fixed in your minds: write them on the back of your hands; wear them as a badge stuck on your forehead. Teach them to your children and talk about them morning, noon and night, at home or wherever you go. Hang them over your front doors, put them up on a billboard at the entrance to your town so that you will be reminded of them as you come and go. That way you will be assured of a long and happy life in the land that the LORD promised to your ancestors. Your children will enjoy the same, and their children too, as long as the earth keeps turning.
“Take note. Today I have taught you how the LORD your God wants you to live, and now it is in your hands. Your life can be blessed or cursed; the choice is yours. Everything will work out well for you if you live the way the LORD your God has told you to live. But everything will fall apart for you if you turn your back on the way that the LORD your God has told you to live and take off after other ways and other objects of devotion.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 31: 1-5, 19-24

I look to you for refuge, LORD;
don’t let me be dragged through the mud.
You promised justice – save me!
Give me your ear – I’m crying for help;
rescue me before it’s too late.
Be a secure refuge for me,
a bomb shelter where I can hide.
Your solid walls protect me from danger;
lead me and guide me so I’ll be a credit to you;
keep me clear of pitfalls and traps.
You are the only refuge I trust, LORD;
I put my life in your hands.
You are a faithful God,
and you have saved me.
Your goodness is rich and free;
available to all who respect you and trust you.
Out in the open, for all to see,
you stockpile blessings for those in your care.
You shelter them yourself, LORD,
keeping them safe from vindictive plots.
You give them a safe hiding place,
sheltered from malicious talk.
You are the greatest, LORD;
and you proved yourself when I needed you.
When I was surrounded by a violent mob,
your love protected me like a solid wall.
At first I panicked;
I thought you had given up on me.
But you were there in a flash
when I cried out for help.
I call on all your people to give you their love, LORD.
You keep the faithful safe
and repay the arrogant as they deserve.
I say to myself, “Be strong, tough it out,”
as I wait with my trust in you, LORD.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31)

Being identified with God’s message does not make me cringe at all. I am honoured to be associated with something that God is working through so powerfully in order to bring everyone who believes home to the safety and wholeness for which they were created. It began among the Jewish people, but now everyone is in on it. It reveals God’s unshakable commitment to doing the right thing by all who put their trust in God’s trustworthiness. The scriptures put it this way: “Anyone who gets things right with God through a relationship of trust, will live.”
This is not applied differently to different groups of people. Everyone is in the same boat because we have all done wrong and fallen well short of the shining integrity God created us for. But God treats everybody with a generosity that is out of all proportion to anything we could deserve and, as a gift, puts us back in the good books. This happens as part of the work done by Jesus the Messiah in putting everything back the way it should be. He was sent by God to clean up the mess we had gotten ourselves into and bring us back into a relationship based on trust, and he made the ultimate sacrifice and paid the price in his own blood to get the job done. This demonstrated God’s unshakable commitment to doing the right thing by everyone, both in the past and in the present. In the past God’s commitment was expressed by putting up with people’s wrongdoing and not dishing out the punishments they deserved. In the present, God is again proving that commitment by putting those who put their trust in Jesus into the good books.
So what is left of our boast that we Jews are the only ones in the good books with God? Clearly it is not backed up by the facts. Why? Did others do something to earn an equal place before God? Not at all, but God put the relationship on a trust basis, and that put everyone on an equal footing. What we are saying is that people get into the good books by trusting God, regardless of whether or not they observe the customs prescribed by the traditional Jewish law. God is not only the God of the Jews, but of everyone else as well. After all, there is only one God! Those who have been brought up to be religious are put in to God’s good books on the basis of a relationship of trust, and everyone else is put in through exactly the same relationship of trust. However, if you think we are saying that this relationship of trust means that there is no value in the traditional law, you have missed the point. What we are saying is quite the opposite. It is only within this relationship of trust that the customs set out in the law can prove their worth.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 7: 21-29

Drawing to the end of his sermon on the mountain, Jesus said, “You can’t bluff your way into the culture of heaven by dropping my name and prattling on about what a high view of my authority you hold. It is those who walk the walk who will get in – those who actually live the way God wants them to live. When the day comes, many people will appeal to me saying, ‘Lord, Lord, look at all the great things we did in your name. We preached. We took on the forces of evil and won. We were real movers and shakers. We did all sorts of impressive things and we gave you the credit for it all. Doesn’t that count for anything?’ But I will tell them straight, ‘I’ll have nothing to do with you. You are a bunch of frauds, rotten to the core. Get out of my sight!’
“The people who take notice of what I teach and put it into practice are like experienced builders who always put down solid foundations before building a house. When violent storms come, or even if cyclones and floods hit, that house stands firm, rock-solid on its foundations. But those who hear my teachings and don’t bother doing anything about them are like brainless do-it-yourselfers who knock up a house with nothing but sand for foundations. The first time it is hit by a decent storm, the wind and rain rip into it and in no time at all there is a spectacular crash and down it comes!”
When Jesus had finished speaking, the crowd was stunned. His teaching was like nothing they had ever heard before. His words carried great weight and it was clear that he stood behind everything he said, which was quite a contrast to the religious teachers they were used to!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for by grace you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength.
In the first of your works you created the universe
and everything that moves on the earth.
When you sent a flood to purge the earth of corruption,
you made a covenant with your servant Noah
and saved every family of living creatures.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us,
to teach us with authority how to live by your words
and be welcomed into your kingdom.
When he was killed by those who were filled with violence,
you raised him with power from the dead
and called everyone to put their faith in him.
To all who hear your invitation and act on it
you give the gift of righteousness in your presence
and redemption in and through Christ Jesus.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your grace
in which you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength,
even though we had becoe corrupt and fallen short of your glory.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for by grace you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength.
In the first of your works you created the universe
and everything that moves on the earth.
When you sent a flood to purge the earth of corruption,
you made a covenant with your servant Noah
and saved every family of living creatures.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us,
to teach us with authority how to live by your words
and be welcomed into your kingdom.
When he was killed by those who were filled with violence,
you raised him with power from the dead
and called everyone to put their faith in him.
To all who hear your invitation and act on it
you give the gift of righteousness in your presence
and redemption in and through Christ Jesus.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,
but through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
we are forgiven and justified
as a gift of his grace.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and build your lives on the solid rock
of Christ’s words, heard and put into action.
Do not be ashamed of the gospel,
but live by faith
and find your refuge and strength in God.
And may God be known to you in the stillness;
May Christ Jesus be the solid foundation of your lives;
And may the Holy Spirit give you courage,
even when the earth is shaken around you.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

The Blessing of Homeland
A sermon on Deuteronomy 11:8-12, 18-21, 27-28 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 5 - Year C
2037-06-07, 2034-06-11
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24)

During the terrible drought, Elijah got word from the LORD saying, “Go and live in the Sidonian town of Zarephath. There is a destitute widow there who I have told to feed you.”
So Elijah hit the road and headed for Zarephath. When he arrived on the outskirts of the town, he saw a destitute widow gathering firewood. He called out to her, saying, “Could you please bring me a cup of water; I need a drink.” As she went to get the water, he called out again, saying, “And grab me a chunk of bread too, please.”
But she stopped and said, “I swear by God, the LORD your God, that I haven’t got any bread to give you. I am down to the last handful of flour in my jar and the last dribble of oil in my jug. With them and the firewood I am collecting here, I will prepare one last meal for myself and my son, and when we’ve eaten that, we will starve to death.
Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry; it will be okay. Go and make the bread as you planned, but make two loaves. Bring one to me, and then share the second one with your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, is promising you: “The flour jar will never be empty and the oil jug will never run dry until the day that the LORD sends down rain on the land.”
She went and made the bread as Elijah had said, and they all had enough to eat for many days. The flour in the jar never ran out and the oil in the jug never ran dry. It was just as Elijah had said: the LORD had given his word.
Some time later, while Elijah was still staying in the woman’s house, the woman’s son fell sick. He got sicker and sicker and eventually he breathed his last. The woman turned on Elijah, saying, “What did I do to deserve this, you man of God? Have you come to drag up my sin from the past and make my son die for it?”
But he said to her, “Here, give me your son.”
He took the child from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying and laid his body on the bed. He cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, my God, what are you doing? Are you even bringing disaster on the widow who is putting a roof over my head by striking down her son?”
Then he pressed himself against the child three times, crying out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, give this child back his life again.”
The LORD listened to Elijah’s prayer: the child came back to life and began breathing again. Elijah took the child back downstairs to the main room of the house and gave him back to his mother, saying, “Look, your son is alive.”
At that, the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you really are a man of God, and that when you say you are speaking the word of the LORD, it is for real.”
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 146

You are the best, LORD!
With all my heart I sing your praises.
I will never stop talking you up;
I won’t stop spruiking your goodness till the day I die.
There is no one but you that we can depend on, LORD;
not experts, not leaders, no one.
No human being can give what we most need;
no matter what their plans and schemes promise,
the minute they’re gone, their promises die with them.
But we hit the jackpot when we look to you for help, LORD;
when we put all our hopes in you – the God of our ancestors.
You are the one who made earth and sky,
who poured out the seas and filled them with life.
You are true to your word no matter what;
when people are ground into the dirt, you bring about justice;
when people are left to starve, you come with food.
You, LORD, set the prisoners free.
You, LORD, open the eyes of those who can’t see.
You, LORD, put the downtrodden back on their feet.
You, LORD, love those who do the right thing.
You, LORD, keep a caring eye on the asylum seekers.
You stick up for those who have no one else to stick up for them,
but you make the schemes of the corrupt backfire on them.
Take charge forever, LORD,
rule from your sacred Mountain for all time.
You’re the best, LORD. We’re with you all the way!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Galatians 1:11-24

Let me set you straight on this, brothers and sisters. The message that you heard me announcing is not something that somebody just cooked up one day. I can assure you that I didn’t get it second hand from any human source, and nor did anybody word me up about it. Instead, the message was the result of Jesus the Messiah revealing himself directly.
No doubt you have heard about my past in militant Judaism. I was out to destroy God’s church, and my attacks were violent and targeted. When it came to proving my passion for the Jewish values and ways passed down by our ancestors, I was way out in front of most people my age. But God had had other plans for me even before I was born. In an act of over-the-top generosity, God called me — like the prophets of old — and made his Son known in me so that I might talk him up among those who aren’t even Jews. And when God called me, that was it. I didn’t get any flesh-and-blood input on it, and I didn’t run off to Jerusalem to be worded up by those who had been God’s ambassadors for longer than me. Instead I disappeared off into Arabia, and later returned to Damascus.
I have since been to Jerusalem and met Peter, but that was three years later and I stayed with him for only fifteen days. I didn’t even meet any of the other church leaders there except for James, the Lord’s brother. I swear to you before God, that what I am writing to you is without a word of a lie! After that I headed way off into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. The churches of Judea — those who are in Christ there — had still never laid eyes on me. All they knew was what people were saying: “The bloke who was victimising us before is now broadcasting the faith he was previously trying to destroy.” And they rightly gave God all the credit for what they heard about me.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 7:11-17

Jesus went to a town called Nain. His closest followers and a large crowd tagged along. When he arrived on the outskirts of the town, he ran into a funeral procession. The only son of a widow had died and was being carried out to the graveyard, followed by his mother and a large crowd of the townsfolk. When the Lord saw the widow, he felt very sorry for her, and said to her, “Dry your eyes.”
Then he stepped forward and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. Jesus said, “Young man, listen to me. Rise up!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Everybody was quaking in their boots and they were quick to give God the credit for what was going on. They were saying things like, “A great prophet has risen up among us!” and “God must be pleased with his people!”
The news about Jesus spread like wildfire throughout the Jewish territory and all the surrounding areas.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

1 Kings 17:17-24

While Elijah was still staying in the widow’s house at Zarephath, the woman’s son fell sick. He got sicker and sicker and eventually he breathed his last. The woman turned on Elijah, saying, “What did I do to deserve this, you man of God? Have you come to drag up my sin from the past and make my son die for it?”
But he said to her, “Here, give me your son.”
He took the child from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying and laid his body on the bed. He cried out to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, my God, what are you doing? Are you even bringing disaster on the widow who is putting a roof over my head by striking down her son?”
Then he pressed himself against the child three times, crying out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, give this child back his life again.”
The LORD listened to Elijah’s prayer: the child came back to life and began breathing again. Elijah took the child back downstairs to the main room of the house and gave him back to his mother, saying, “Look, your son is alive.”
At that, the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you really are a man of God, and that when you say you are speaking the word of the LORD, it is for real.”
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 30

I’ll be singing your praises, every chance I get, LORD,
because you got me out of deep trouble
and spared me the gloating of my enemies.
I pleaded for help, LORD God,
and you stepped in and healed me.
They were nearly ready to pronounce me dead
but your brought me back, LORD;
you put me back on my feet
when I was about to be carried to the morgue.
So I’m singing your praises,
and I’m encouraging everyone to do the same;
to name you with joyful thanks.
We manage to get you angry at times,
but it blows over in a moment
because your mercy keeps on keeping on.
We may have an evening of bitter tears,
but by morning your mercy has us smiling again.
I was guilty of taking your goodness for granted;
I thought I had it made.
You had put me on top of the world
but I got all too full of myself.
You stepped aside – made me stand alone —
and I turned to jelly!
I realised how much I needed you, LORD,
and in my panic I begged you for mercy.
“What good is my blood to you?” I cried.
“How will it help if I’m in the grave?
Can a corpse sing your praises?
Will a gravestone publicise your goodness?
Give me another chance, LORD.
Please, LORD, bail me out one more time.”
And sure enough, you did, LORD.
You turned my tears to laughter;
you set my dragging feet dancing;
you dusted me off and dressed me up for a party.
So now I’m singing your praises
from the bottom of my heart,
and no one can shut me up!
You are my God, LORD,
and I’m eternally grateful.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you watch over the strangers and the needy
and raise us from death to new life.
You made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
You raised up prophets among your people
and through them spoke your word of life and truth.
When we went the way of wickedness and ruin
and our resources came to an end,
you had compassion
and sent your only Son, Jesus, among us.
He opened the eyes of the blind,
lifted up those who were bowed down,
gave food to the hungry,
and set free the prisoners of death.
When the powers of death rose against him
and destroyed him,
you spoke your word of life again,
raising him to new life,
as the revelation of your grace
who will reign forever in justice and truth.
Therefore with .....
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your only Son, Jesus,
who was killed but raised to life by your word
and now reveals you grace to us,
opening the eyes of the blind,
lifting up those who are bowed down,
giving food to the hungry,
and setting free the prisoners of death.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you watch over the strangers and the needy
and raise us from death to new life.
You made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
You raised up prophets among your people
and through them spoke your word of life and truth.
When we went the way of wickedness and ruin
and our resources came to an end,
you had compassion
and sent your only Son, Jesus, among us.
He opened the eyes of the blind,
lifted up those who were bowed down,
gave food to the hungry,
and set free the prisoners of death.
When the powers of death rose against him
and destroyed him,
you spoke your word of life again,
raising him to new life,
as the revelation of your grace
who will reign forever in justice and truth.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Christ Jesus has not come to punish sin with death,
but to call us through God’s grace
and, in compassion, to raise us from death to life
through the word of truth, the gospel.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and do not be afraid.
Put your hope in the Lord your God
who called you before you were born
that you might sing praises to God all your life long
and proclaim the gospel of grace through faith.
And may God watch over you with favour;
May Christ Jesus have compassion for you and give you life;
And may the Holy Spirit put a song of praise in your heart
and sustain your faith forever.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2007 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

The Dark Side of “Zeal for the Lord”
A sermon on Galatians 1:11-24 by Nathan Nettleton
One Who Gives Life
A sermon on 1 Kings 17:8-24; & Luke 7:11-17 by Nathan Nettleton
In the Face of Death
A sermon on 1 Kings 17:8-24; & Luke 7:11-17 by Nathan Nettleton
When God Destroys Our Faith
A sermon on Galatians 1:11-24; 1 Kings 17:8-24; & Luke 7:11-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 6 - Year B
2036-06-15 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13

After King Saul had broken the command of the LORD, he went home to Gibeah, and Samuel the prophet went to Ramah, and they never again set eyes on each other. Samuel was filled with grief over what Saul had become, and the LORD regretted having ever made Saul king over Israel.
One day the LORD said to Samuel, “It is time for you to get over your misery about Saul. I have had a gutful of him and I am going to end his reign. Fill up your flask with olive oil ready to anoint a new king. Go to Bethlehem and find a man named Jesse there, for I have chosen one of his sons to be my king.”
Samuel protested, “How can I do that? If Saul gets wind of it he will kill me.”
But the LORD replied, “Take a calf with you and tell everyone that you have come to a hold a feast offered in honour of me, the LORD. Invite Jesse and his family to join you for the feast, and then I will let you know what to do next. I will pick out one of Jesse’s sons, and you are to pour the oil on his head to mark him out as the next king.”
Samuel followed the LORD’s instructions and went to Bethlehem. The town officials were unnerved by his arrival, and went out to meet him asking, “What brings you to town? Have we done something wrong, or are you just passing through in peace?”
Samuel replied, “Nothing’s wrong. I am here to offer a feast to the LORD. Go and prepare yourselves properly and then come and join me for the occasion.”
Samuel also invited Jesse and his family to the feast and instructed them to prepare themselves properly. When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab, and thought to himself, “He has got to be the one the LORD has chosen.”
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t be fooled by how big and impressive he looks. He is not the man for me, because I, the LORD, am not impressed by the same things that impress you people. People judge others by their outward appearance, but I look beneath that and see what makes them tick.”
Then Jesse introduced Samuel to his next son, Abinadab, but Samuel said, “No, this is not the one the LORD sent me to find.”
Jesse introduced his next son, Shammah, but Samuel said, “This is not the one the LORD sent me to find either.”
Jesse introduced seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel was convinced that none of them was the one the LORD had chosen. So he asked Jesse, “Are all your sons here?”
Jesse replied, “My youngest boy is not here. He is out on the farm taking care of some sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send someone to get him as quickly as possible, for we will not sit down to this meal until he arrives.”
So Jesse sent someone to get his youngest son, David, and bring him to the feast. David was a good-looking, fresh-faced kid, and his eyes were full of life. As soon as he walked in, the LORD said, “Samuel, get up and anoint him, because this is the one I have chosen.”
So Samuel took out his flask of oil and poured it on David’s head in full view of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD took hold of David and was powerfully at work in him from that moment on. With his mission accomplished, Samuel got up and headed back home to Ramah.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 20

Be there for your chosen ones when trouble hits, LORD.
Use the influence of your name to protect them!
Send help from your sacred home,
and give them support from Mount Zion.
Remember all they have given you in the past,
and treasure the gifts they have offered up to you.
Give them their heart’s desire, LORD,
and make all their plans come out right.
Prove yourself a winner and set them cheering;
inspire them to fly your flag and chant your name.
Give them all they ask for, LORD.
We know you will help your chosen ones, LORD;
you will reach out your hand from heaven
and answer their prayers with a great victory.
Some people get arrogant about their military might,
or the resources at their disposal,
but the only thing we put our pride in, O LORD our God,
is belonging to you and bearing your name.
That mob are heading for disaster,
but we will come out on top and stand proud.
Give victory to your chosen ones, LORD;
be there for us when we call.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 5: 6-17

As long as we remain living out our daily lives here in our bodies, we are not able to go and be with the Lord. All the same, we remain full of confidence, because it is what we put our trust in that keeps us on track, not what our eyes tell us. So we are confident all right — you bet we are — and if we could have our way we would rather pull up stumps, leave our bodies behind us, and go home to be with the Lord. But in truth, nothing really hangs on whether we are here or there. The only thing that really matters is that we set our sights on pleasing the Lord. At the end of the day, every one of us will have to front up before Christ when he sits down at the pay desk to judge our work. We will be paid what we deserve for the way we have lived our daily lives here in our bodies, whether we have done right, or done wrong.
Therefore, knowing our place before the Lord, we do our best to get the message through to others. But of course, God already knows us inside out, and I hope that in your heart of hearts you have got the full picture on us too. We are not trying to blow our own trumpet here. Instead we want to give you the chance to boast about us so that you can set the record straight with those who are always gloating about how good they are, when all they are doing is putting on a good face and hiding what is really going on inside. When we seem to be off our heads, we are just letting it all hang out for God. When we seem to have our heads on straight, we are taking care for your sakes. Indeed, it is the love of Christ that drives us on; because we are inspired by his example of one laying down his life for everybody else. When he died, we all died. He died for everybody, so that those who live might be set free from living as slaves to their own selfish desires, and might instead live for him who died for them and was raised to life for them.
Because of all this, nowadays we are careful not to assume that people are nothing more than what our eyes and ears tell us about them. In the past we made that mistake with Christ, but we now know a lot more of him than our eyes or ears alone could detect. Whenever anyone unites themselves to Christ, something new is created. What that person was becomes a thing of the past; they get a whole new start in life!
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 4: 26-34

Jesus used some stories to teach his followers, saying, “Here is a good illustration of the culture of God. A bloke empties a few packets of veggie seeds all over his back yard, and then just goes about his business, night and day, without giving them a second thought. The seeds sprout and grow, but the bloke has got no idea how it happens. Nature does the job, all by itself. First the shoots pop up, then before long the plants take shape, and then one day there is a bumper crop of veggies in the back yard. And once they are ripe, it doesn’t matter that the bloke doesn’t know how it happened. It’s not going to stop him going out into the yard with his knife and picking himself a feast at harvest time.”
Jesus also said, “What else can we compare the culture of God with? How can we picture it? It is a bit like a mustard seed. When it gets planted in the garden, it is so small, you wouldn’t even know it was there. But once planted, it grows into a huge weed. It goes berserk and starts throwing out branches big enough that a flock of galahs could build nests in its shade!”
Jesus used lots of these sort of illustrations to get the message through to the people. Everything he had to say to them was said in stories, but when he was alone with his closest followers, he explained things in more detail.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Ezekiel 17:22-24

This is what the Lord GOD says:
I will personally choose a sprig
from the crown of a towering tree
and cut it loose.
I will get one with tender leaves
from among the new growth at the very top.
I will plant it myself
on top of the highest mountain.
I will plant it
on the great mountain of Israel
so that it may grow to be a mighty tree
with massive branches and loads of fruit.
Birds of every kind will find shelter in it,
building nests in its shady branches.
Everything that flies will be up there!
Then every tree in every field will know for sure
that I am the LORD.
I cut down the big trees
and raise up the little ones.
I wither the lush green trees,
and make the dry ones flourish again.
I the LORD give you my word on this,
and I do what I say.
©2009 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 92: 1-4, 12-15

It is a privilege to be able to publicly thank you, LORD,
to sing your praises and put your name up in lights.
It is great to start the day singing about your rock-solid love,
with a full band ringing out the tune,
and to end it thanking you for being so loyal and trustworthy,
accompanying our praise with guitars.
For you, O LORD, have given us so much to be happy about;
what you have done with your own hands
sets us singing and dancing for joy.
People who always do the right thing by others
will thrive like a tropical rainforest
and grow strong like a river redgum.
They have put down their roots in your soil, LORD,
and they will brighten up your temple like flowers.
Even when they grow old they will still be fruitful,
healthy and vibrant and pulsing with life.
They are a credit to you, LORD,
proving for all to see that you are straight and true.
You are our rock,
and there is nothing rotten or crooked in you.
©2009 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your kingdom grows from the smallest beginnings,
and you have given us all a home in the shelter of your love.
You created the heavens and the earth,
and from the tiniest seeds, you filled the earth with life.
You called your people to walk by faith, not by sight,
and you anointed faithful rulers to lead them in your ways.
Your child, Jesus, came among us
sharing stories of your love and grace
and teaching us the mysteries of your kingdom.
He died at the hands of those who take pride in brute force,
and in his death, all have died.
But you raised him to life for us,
and in him everything has become new.
Now we are confident that you will grant
our heart’s true desire:
to be at home with you forever.
Therefore with .....
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your child, Jesus,
who shared stories of your kingdom
and who died so that we might no longer live for ourselves,
but live as new creations in him
who you raised to life for us
and made all things new.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your kingdom grows from the smallest beginnings,
and you have given us all a home in the shelter of your love.
You created the heavens and the earth,
and from the tiniest seeds, you filled the earth with life.
You called your people to walk by faith, not by sight,
and you anointed faithful rulers to lead them in your ways.
Your child, Jesus, came among us
sharing stories of your love and grace
and teaching us the mysteries of your kingdom.
He died at the hands of those who take pride in brute force,
and in his death, all have died.
But you raised him to life for us,
and in him everything has become new.
Now we are confident that you will grant
our heart’s true desire:
to be at home with you forever.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The Lord does not see as we see, but looks on the heart.
If anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away;
everything has become new.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out, and live no longer for yourselves,
but for him who died and was raised for you.
Walk by faith, not by sight,
and judge others only by the integrity of their hearts.
Make it your aim to please the Lord,
and to persuade others of the love of Christ.
And may God answer you in times of trouble and protect you;
May Christ Jesus grant you your heart’s desire;
and may the Holy Spirit take hold of you mightily from this day forward.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2006 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Feeling like a Weed?A sermon on Mark 4:26-34 & Ezekiel 17: 22-24 by Nathan Nettleton

Faithfully UnderwhelmingA sermon on Mark 4: 26-34, 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13 & 2 Corinthians 5: 6-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Weeds Overgrowing a Crumbling EmpireA sermon on Mark 4:26-34 & Ezekiel 17: 22-24 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 3 - Year A
2035-05-27

Proper 3 - Year B
2035-05-27
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Hosea 2: 14-20

Beloved Israel, I, the LORD, will win you back.
I will take you out to that wilderness place
where our love was first awakened,
and whisper tender words in your ear.
I will give you back your wedding presents,
and transform the Valley of Heartbreak
into the Pathway of Hope.
There you will again respond to me
with the delight you had as a young bride
when you first came to me from the land of Egypt.
From that day on, you will call me, “My loving husband.”
Never again will you call me, “Owner” and “Master.”
I will wash you clean of the memories of those would-be gods.
You will never again have cause to utter their names.
I will make a deal with the wild animals,
with the birds of prey and dangerous creepy-crawlies,
to ensure that they never threaten you again.
I will eliminate war and get rid of all the weapons,
so that you can sleep soundly, with nothing to fear.
Then you will be mine and I will be yours;
partners in marriage forever.
Our marriage will be good and right,
rock-solid in love and rich in mercy.
We will give ourselves to one another
and be faithful to one another.
You will know me, the LORD, intimately and fully.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 103: 1-13, 22

With all our hearts, we praise you, LORD,
from the depths of our being
we name you as our one and only.
With all that we are we sings your praises, LORD;
how could we ever forget all you have done for us?
When we do wrong, you forgive us;
when we are sick, you make us well;
when our lives fall apart, you put us back together.
With love and mercy, you treat us like royalty;
you shower us with good things all our lives;
you makes us feel as young and free as an eagle.
You are there for those who are victimised, LORD;
you clear their names and bring them justice.
Through Moses, you let us know what you are on about;
through Israel, you let us see what you can do.
Your mercy and generosity are extravagant, LORD;
your patience and love are as solid as rock.
When we do things that anger you,
you don’t keep dredging them up forever.
You never deal with us as harshly as we deserve;
despite the wrong we have done, you let us off lightly.
We could no more climb to the moon on a step ladder
than measure the limits of the love and loyalty
you show to those who respect you.
We could no more swim the ocean from pole to pole
than cover the distance you put between us and our sins.
Your care and concern for those who honour you
is as tender as that of parents for their children.
We honour you, LORD,
joining our voices with all you have made
and all you rule over.
With all our hearts, we praise you, LORD.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 3: 1-6

So you think we are starting to blow our own trumpet and write our own references, do you? Of course, some people need official references before anyone will trust them, but not us. We don’t need to present references to you, or to ask you for references to show anyone else. Why not? Because your life is all the recommendation we need. We carry your story in our hearts where anybody can read it and know the truth. It is clear at a glance that you are the real thing, a genuine letter from the Messiah, prepared by us and signed by him. No need for pen and ink or legal parchment! Your life has been written straight onto our beating hearts by the Spirit of the living God.
So we have every reason for our confidence. Because of the Messiah, we can hold our heads high before God. We are not claiming that we had the qualifications or abilities to do anything on our own. Everything we have managed is God’s doing. The only reason we have what it takes to begin putting in place God’s new alliance with humanity is that God has given it to us. Neither the alliance itself, nor our qualifications to introduce it, are written legal documents. They are much more real than that – things of spirit! The letter of the law crushes people to death, but the Spirit fills them with life.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 2: 13-22

Jesus went down to the beach. A huge crowd of people gathered around him, and he taught them there. As he was walking along, he saw a man named Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting in his office where he worked collecting taxes for the Roman occupation forces. Jesus said to him, “Come and join me,” and Levi got up and began following him.
That evening at Levi’s house, Jesus and his followers had dinner with a group that included many disreputable characters whose lifestyles were considered offensive by the more respectable members of society. There were many such people among his followers. Some religious experts from the Pharisee party saw that he was eating in such bad company and confronted his closest followers over it, saying, “What does he think he’s doing, sharing meals with people whose behaviour is beyond the pale?”
When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Who needs the help of a doctor: the fit and healthy, or the sick? I didn’t come to spend my time preaching to the converted, but to call back those who are off the track.”
During a time when John’s followers and the members of the Pharisee party were going without food for religious reasons, some people came and asked Jesus, “How come the followers of John and the followers of the Pharisees give up food at this time, but your followers are still eating?”
Jesus replied, “If you are the guests at a wedding feast, you don’t refuse to eat and drink while the bridal couple are still with you, do you? As long as the reason for the celebration is still in your midst, you celebrate! All good things come to an end, and when the reason to celebrate is taken away, then they will go without.”
“The thing is, sometimes the old ways don’t fit the new situation. If you patch an old coat with a brand new piece of fabric, the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole. If you try to recycle some brittle old bottles for a fresh batch of sparkling wine, you’ll end up with nothing but smashed glass and an expensive puddle. Fresh content gets fresh packaging.”
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have spoken, not in carved letters on cold stone,
but in songs of love, warm with desire,
sung into our hearts.
When time began you created the world
and filled it with a rich abundance of birds and animals.
You gave yourself to your people in a holy covenant of love,
and through Moses and the prophets you led them
in ways of justice and tenderness, of faithfulness and mercy.
You sent your Son to us as the divine bridegroom.
His love was betrayed, and yet remained undiminished,
and when he was killed you raised him to life.
Alive forever, he is among us again,
mercifully seeking out all who have strayed,
and calling us to follow him to the wedding feast,
there to celebrate a new covenant
with the new wine of your passion.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for the divine bridegroom, Jesus,
who comes among us
mercifully seeking out all who have strayed,
and calling us to follow him to the wedding feast,
there to celebrate a new covenant
with the new wine of your passion.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have spoken, not in carved letters on cold stone,
but in songs of love, warm with desire,
sung into our hearts.
When time began you created the world
and filled it with a rich abundance of birds and animals.
You gave yourself to your people in a holy covenant of love,
and through Moses and the prophets you led them
in ways of justice and tenderness, of faithfulness and mercy.
You sent your Son to us as the divine bridegroom.
His love was betrayed, and yet remained undiminished,
and when he was killed you raised him to life.
Alive forever, he is among us again,
mercifully seeking out all who have strayed,
and calling us to follow him to the wedding feast,
there to celebrate a new covenant
with the new wine of your passion.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Blessed be God who is tender and caring,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve,
but forgives us, and as far as east is from west,
so God removes our sins.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and follow the Christ wherever he calls.
Bless the Lord and hold dear all God’s gifts.
Find your competence in God
that you might be ministers of a new covenant.
And may God embrace you in tenderness and lay you down in safety.
May Christ write his words of love on your heart.
And may the Spirit fill your life with richness
and give you the strength of an eagle.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Religion v’s LifeA sermon on Mark 2:1- 3:6 by Nathan Nettleton

6th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year B
2033-02-13 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

2 Kings 5: 1-14

The commander of the Syrian army was a man named Naaman. Naaman was very popular with his king, because under his command, the LORD had given Syria a string of military victories. Although he was a great soldier and a highly decorated commander, Naaman suffered from leprosy. Naaman’s wife had a young Israelite girl among her servants who had come to Syria as a prisoner of war after a military raid. One day the girl said to her mistress, “If only your husband could meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. I’m sure he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Naaman spoke to the king about what the girl had said, and the king gladly gave him leave to go. He also provided him with a letter of referral, addressed to the king of Israel.
Naaman headed off, loaded up with money and expensive gifts of jewellery and fine clothing. Arriving in Israel, he delivered the letter to the king. It read, “The bearer of this letter is my trusted servant, Naaman. I have sent him to you to have his leprosy cured.”
When the king of Israel read the letter, he was beside himself with fear; tearing his hair out over what to do. “What does the king of Syria think he’s doing?” he shouted. “Does he think I’m God or something, that I can cure lepers at his request? It looks like he’s trying to pick a fight with me.”
News of this got to Elisha, the prophet of God in Samaria. He sent a message to the king saying, “Why are you tearing your hair out? Get a grip on yourself and send the man to me so that he can find out for himself that there is a real prophet in Israel.”
So Naaman and his whole entourage pulled up in the street outside Elisha’s house. Elisha sent an errand boy out to Naaman with a message, saying, “Go down to the Jordan River and wash yourself in it seven times. That will cure you and your skin will be as clean and clear as a child’s.”
Naaman felt deeply insulted and drove off in a huff, saying, “You’d think that for a man of my standing he could have come out and talked to me himself. I thought that he would at least stand and call on the LORD his God, and wave his hand over my skin to bring about the cure! What’s so special about their scummy Israelite river? Aren’t the two great rivers of Damascus much bigger and better? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?”
So he stormed off, seething with rage. But his servants spoke up and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something really difficult, you would have done it, wouldn’t you? So surely you have got nothing to lose but your disease if you do what he said and wash yourself in the river.”
So Naaman relented and, wading out into the Jordan River, he immersed himself seven times in the water, just as the prophet of God had instructed him. Sure enough, he was cured instantly, and his skin became as clear and healthy as a child’s.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 30

I’ll be singing your praises, every chance I get, LORD,
because you got me out of deep trouble
and spared me the gloating of my enemies.
I pleaded for help, LORD God,
and you stepped in and healed me.
They were nearly ready to pronounce me dead
but your brought me back, LORD;
you put me back on my feet
when I was about to be carried to the morgue.
So I’m singing your praises,
and I’m encouraging everyone to do the same;
to name you with joyful thanks.
We manage to get you angry at times,
but it blows over in a moment
because your mercy keeps on keeping on.
We may have an evening of bitter tears,
but by morning your mercy has us smiling again.
I was guilty of taking your goodness for granted;
I thought I had it made.
You had put me on top of the world
but I got all too full of myself.
You stepped aside – made me stand alone —
and I turned to jelly!
I realised how much I needed you, LORD,
and in my panic I begged you for mercy.
“What good is my blood to you?” I cried.
“How will it help if I’m in the grave?
Can a corpse sing your praises?
Will a gravestone publicise your goodness?
Give me another chance, LORD.
Please, LORD, bail me out one more time.”
And sure enough, you did, LORD.
You turned my tears to laughter;
you set my dragging feet dancing;
you dusted me off and dressed me up for a party.
So now I’m singing your praises
from the bottom of my heart,
and no one can shut me up!
You are my God, LORD,
and I’m eternally grateful.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27

You do understand, don’t you, that no matter how many runners there are in a race, there will only be one winner at the end. So if you are aiming to become the best, you are going to have to train long and hard. Elite athletes discipline themselves strictly in every area of their lives, and they do so in pursuit of nothing more than a medal hung around their necks or a record that could fall the next week. The prize we are working towards will be in place forever, so such single-minded discipline is even more essential for us. I can’t afford to be like a runner who doesn’t know where the finish line is, or a footballer who doesn’t know where the goals are. Instead I subject my body to a punishing regime of training and work it like a slave, so that I don’t end up, after coaching everyone else in the right way, being disqualified myself.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 1: 40-45

Jesus was approached by a man who was suffering from a hideous skin disease that made him a social outcast. The man got down on his knees and pleaded for help, saying, “You could make me clean if you wanted to.”
Jesus was deeply moved by the man’s sorry state. He reached out his hand and touched the man, saying, “I do want to. Be made clean!”
At that moment, the symptoms vanished and he was made healthy and clean. Then Jesus gave him his marching orders and a tough talking-to, saying, “Keep your mouth shut about this. Go straight to the priest and have yourself examined so that you can be certified fit to return to normal social contact. As a sign that you are well, give the offering that Moses said was to be given in thanks for your cleansing.”
But despite his instructions, the man went straight out and began to tell everyone what Jesus had done for him. The word spread like wildfire, and before long Jesus couldn’t even show his face in the towns without being mobbed. He had to stick to the outback tracks, and people from everywhere came out to find him.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your anger passes quickly,
but your mercy lasts a lifetime.
From the depths of chaos you raised up the newborn earth,
and sent your prophets among your people.
Your servant Elisha spoke your word to Naaman,
and he emerged from the healing waters singing your glory.
To us you have sent your Son, Jesus the Christ,
and in compassion he has reached out and touched us,
cleansing us from all that defiled us.
Though he was killed by gloating enemies,
you changed our anguish into a joyful dance,
raising him up
and crowning him with a glory that will never fade.
Now he washes us in your everlasting mercy
and pulls us from the depths, cleansed and healed,
that we might run the race
and receive the victor’s wreath;
our lives forever singing your praise.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for the compassion of your Son, Jesus,
who reaches out to us
and pulls us from the depths, cleansed and healed,
that we might run the race
and receive the victor’s wreath;
our lives forever singing your praise.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your anger passes quickly,
but your mercy lasts a lifetime.
From the depths of chaos you raised up the newborn earth,
and sent your prophets among your people.
Your servant Elisha spoke your word to Naaman,
and he emerged from the healing waters singing your glory.
To us you have sent your Son, Jesus the Christ,
and in compassion he has reached out and touched us,
cleansing us from all that defiled us.
Though he was killed by gloating enemies,
you changed our anguish into a joyful dance,
raising him up
and crowning him with a glory that will never fade.
Now he washes us in your everlasting mercy
and pulls us from the depths, cleansed and healed,
that we might run the race
and receive the victor’s wreath;
our lives forever singing your praise.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

God, whose anger passes quickly,
but whose mercy lasts a lifetime,
has compassion on all who cry for forgiveness and healing.
Through Jesus Christ, God reaches out to us,
raises us up and says, “Be Clean!”
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and live out our song of praise to God.
Discipline yourself in all things, however small,
so that you may attain the prize of salvation
that is yours in Christ Jesus.
And may God’s powerful blessing uphold you like a mountain.
May Christ Jesus touch you and make you whole.
And may the Holy Spirit dance with you in the joy of life.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Too Simple to BotherA sermon on 2 Kings 5:1-14 by Nathan Nettleton

Keep it simple, StupidA sermon on 2 Kings 5:1-14 by Nathan Nettleton

Touched by the hand of GodA sermon on Mark 1: 40 -45 by Ron Ham

Back from SheolA sermon on Psalm 30 by Nathan Nettleton

Athletic SpiritualityA sermon on 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 by Nathan Nettleton

Healing CultureA sermon on Mark 1:40-45 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 4 - Year A
2032-05-30
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19

This is the story of Noah. Noah was a man who always did the right thing by everybody: the only person of real integrity on the earth in that generation. Noah and his wife had three sons named Shem, Ham and Japheth.
The rest of the human race had become totally corrupt and violent, and God was sick of the sight of it. Seeing how depraved everyone had become, God spoke to Noah and said:
“I have made up my mind to wipe the human race off the face of the earth, because they have made the earth a violent and heartless place. So now I am going to destroy them and wipe the planet clean, ready for a fresh start. Build yourself an enormous lifeboat according to these specifications. Use marine-quality timbers for the construction and apply a waterproof lining of tar, inside and out. Build it with three deck levels and many cabins. The overall dimensions are to be as follows: a length of 150 metres; a width of 25 metres; and a height of 15 metres. Build a roof over the top with a half metre clearance between it and the top of the side walls. Build the lifeboat with a single entrance on the side.
“What I am going to do is completely flood the earth with water to wipe out everything that lives and breathes on it. Every creature on earth will die. But I am going to form a new alliance with life on earth, setting it up with you. You are to move into the lifeboat along with your wife, your sons, and their wives. You are also to take on board a male and a female of every kind of living creature to keep them alive with you. Every kind of bird, every kind of animal, and every kind of creepy-crawly on earth: take with you a breeding pair of each to keep them alive. You are also to store a full range of food on board the life-boat; enough to feed your family and all the animals.”
So Noah went ahead and followed God’s instructions to the letter. Sure enough, the swollen waters flooded the earth for one hundred and fifty days. Even after that, everyone had to stay on board for nearly three months more while the earth dried out. Eventually God said to Noah:
“It is time for you and your whole family to leave the lifeboat. Unload all the living creatures that are with you; all the birds and animals and creepy-crawlies of every kind. Release them so that they can breed like rabbits and restock the earth.”
So Noah disembarked with his wife and their sons and their son’s wives. And out of the lifeboat with them came all the animals, all the creepy-crawlies, and all the birds – breeding pairs of every kind of creature that lives on the earth.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 46

Our refuge, our shelter, our fortress, our security;
you are all these things to us, God.
You are always there for us when we need you.
Because of you, we will not panic
even if our world comes crashing down around our ears;
even if the earth splits open beneath us;
even if chaos pours in like a raging flood;
even if life as we know it goes up in smoke.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
A river flowing with life-giving water runs through your holy city
bringing joy and peace to your sacred home.
You are the most high God, and the city where you live
will rest secure and greet the new day with confidence.
The world may be in chaos, nations tearing apart at the seams,
but when you speak, the earth sinks to its knees.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
What you have done is a sight for sore eyes, LORD;
you have left a trail of destruction across the earth:
weapons of war crushed and burned;
implements of fear smashed to pieces;
conflicts and wars closed down for good.
You call us to a peaceful calm
and invite us to know you as God.
You stand supreme above the nations,
unmatched in all the earth.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31)

Being identified with God’s message does not make me cringe at all. I am honoured to be associated with something that God is working through so powerfully in order to bring everyone who believes home to the safety and wholeness for which they were created. It began among the Jewish people, but now everyone is in on it. It reveals God’s unshakable commitment to doing the right thing by all who put their trust in God’s trustworthiness. The scriptures put it this way: “Anyone who gets things right with God through a relationship of trust, will live.”
This is not applied differently to different groups of people. Everyone is in the same boat because we have all done wrong and fallen well short of the shining integrity God created us for. But God treats everybody with a generosity that is out of all proportion to anything we could deserve and, as a gift, puts us back in the good books. This happens as part of the work done by Jesus the Messiah in putting everything back the way it should be. He was sent by God to clean up the mess we had gotten ourselves into and bring us back into a relationship based on trust, and he made the ultimate sacrifice and paid the price in his own blood to get the job done. This demonstrated God’s unshakable commitment to doing the right thing by everyone, both in the past and in the present. In the past God’s commitment was expressed by putting up with people’s wrongdoing and not dishing out the punishments they deserved. In the present, God is again proving that commitment by putting those who put their trust in Jesus into the good books.
So what is left of our boast that we Jews are the only ones in the good books with God? Clearly it is not backed up by the facts. Why? Did others do something to earn an equal place before God? Not at all, but God put the relationship on a trust basis, and that put everyone on an equal footing. What we are saying is that people get into the good books by trusting God, regardless of whether or not they observe the customs prescribed by the traditional Jewish law. God is not only the God of the Jews, but of everyone else as well. After all, there is only one God! Those who have been brought up to be religious are put in to God’s good books on the basis of a relationship of trust, and everyone else is put in through exactly the same relationship of trust. However, if you think we are saying that this relationship of trust means that there is no value in the traditional law, you have missed the point. What we are saying is quite the opposite. It is only within this relationship of trust that the customs set out in the law can prove their worth.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 7: 21-29

Drawing to the end of his sermon on the mountain, Jesus said, “You can’t bluff your way into the culture of heaven by dropping my name and prattling on about what a high view of my authority you hold. It is those who walk the walk who will get in – those who actually live the way God wants them to live. When the day comes, many people will appeal to me saying, ‘Lord, Lord, look at all the great things we did in your name. We preached. We took on the forces of evil and won. We were real movers and shakers. We did all sorts of impressive things and we gave you the credit for it all. Doesn’t that count for anything?’ But I will tell them straight, ‘I’ll have nothing to do with you. You are a bunch of frauds, rotten to the core. Get out of my sight!’
“The people who take notice of what I teach and put it into practice are like experienced builders who always put down solid foundations before building a house. When violent storms come, or even if cyclones and floods hit, that house stands firm, rock-solid on its foundations. But those who hear my teachings and don’t bother doing anything about them are like brainless do-it-yourselfers who knock up a house with nothing but sand for foundations. The first time it is hit by a decent storm, the wind and rain rip into it and in no time at all there is a spectacular crash and down it comes!”
When Jesus had finished speaking, the crowd was stunned. His teaching was like nothing they had ever heard before. His words carried great weight and it was clear that he stood behind everything he said, which was quite a contrast to the religious teachers they were used to!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21, 26-28

Moses said to the people:
“Take to heart these teachings I have passed on to you from the LORD your God. Do whatever you need to do to keep them fixed in your minds: write them on the back of your hands; wear them as a badge stuck on your forehead. Teach them to your children and talk about them morning, noon and night, at home or wherever you go. Hang them over your front doors, put them up on a billboard at the entrance to your town so that you will be reminded of them as you come and go. That way you will be assured of a long and happy life in the land that the LORD promised to your ancestors. Your children will enjoy the same, and their children too, as long as the earth keeps turning.
“Take note. Today I have taught you how the LORD your God wants you to live, and now it is in your hands. Your life can be blessed or cursed; the choice is yours. Everything will work out well for you if you live the way the LORD your God has told you to live. But everything will fall apart for you if you turn your back on the way that the LORD your God has told you to live and take off after other ways and other objects of devotion.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 31: 1-5, 19-24

I look to you for refuge, LORD;
don’t let me be dragged through the mud.
You promised justice – save me!
Give me your ear – I’m crying for help;
rescue me before it’s too late.
Be a secure refuge for me,
a bomb shelter where I can hide.
Your solid walls protect me from danger;
lead me and guide me so I’ll be a credit to you;
keep me clear of pitfalls and traps.
You are the only refuge I trust, LORD;
I put my life in your hands.
You are a faithful God,
and you have saved me.
Your goodness is rich and free;
available to all who respect you and trust you.
Out in the open, for all to see,
you stockpile blessings for those in your care.
You shelter them yourself, LORD,
keeping them safe from vindictive plots.
You give them a safe hiding place,
sheltered from malicious talk.
You are the greatest, LORD;
and you proved yourself when I needed you.
When I was surrounded by a violent mob,
your love protected me like a solid wall.
At first I panicked;
I thought you had given up on me.
But you were there in a flash
when I cried out for help.
I call on all your people to give you their love, LORD.
You keep the faithful safe
and repay the arrogant as they deserve.
I say to myself, “Be strong, tough it out,”
as I wait with my trust in you, LORD.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for by grace you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength.
In the first of your works you created the universe
and everything that moves on the earth.
When you sent a flood to purge the earth of corruption,
you made a covenant with your servant Noah
and saved every family of living creatures.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us,
to teach us with authority how to live by your words
and be welcomed into your kingdom.
When he was killed by those who were filled with violence,
you raised him with power from the dead
and called everyone to put their faith in him.
To all who hear your invitation and act on it
you give the gift of righteousness in your presence
and redemption in and through Christ Jesus.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your grace
in which you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength,
even though we had becoe corrupt and fallen short of your glory.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for by grace you have justified and redeemed us
and become our refuge and strength.
In the first of your works you created the universe
and everything that moves on the earth.
When you sent a flood to purge the earth of corruption,
you made a covenant with your servant Noah
and saved every family of living creatures.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us,
to teach us with authority how to live by your words
and be welcomed into your kingdom.
When he was killed by those who were filled with violence,
you raised him with power from the dead
and called everyone to put their faith in him.
To all who hear your invitation and act on it
you give the gift of righteousness in your presence
and redemption in and through Christ Jesus.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,
but through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
we are forgiven and justified
as a gift of his grace.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and build your lives on the solid rock
of Christ’s words, heard and put into action.
Do not be ashamed of the gospel,
but live by faith
and find your refuge and strength in God.
And may God be known to you in the stillness;
May Christ Jesus be the solid foundation of your lives;
And may the Holy Spirit give you courage,
even when the earth is shaken around you.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons
Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

God’s change of heart
A sermon on Genesis 6:5 – 9:17 by Nathan Nettleton
The Blessing of Homeland
A sermon on Deuteronomy 11:8-12, 18-21, 27-28 by Nathan Nettleton

5th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2032-02-08 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 58: 1-9a, (9b-12)

God has told me to shout until you people hear;
to hammer home the message until it gets through.
You are God’s people, but God feels betrayed by you.
Listen to what God has to say about your sins:
“Day after day, you look good:
you turn up to worship and pay attention to my teachings.
You act like a people who want to do what is right;
like a people who want to obey to the letter.
You ask me for directions before you do anything,
and you seem enthusiastic about getting closer to me.
“Do you want to know why your religious behaviour turns me off?
Do you want to know why I ignore your fasting and bowing?
I’ll tell you why. You put on a great performance of it all,
but then you go straight back to feathering your own nest
and ripping off your workers in the process.
“When you fast, it just makes you irritable and violent;
and when you behave like that, I’ll just hang up on you.
“Do you really think this is what I like to see:
a day of pious misery?
black clothes, long faces and crocodile tears?
giving up chocolate and ice-cream?
Do you think that’s worship?
Do you think that pleases me?
Give me a break!
“Do you want to know what I’d really like to see?
Dismantle the structures of injustice;
take your feet off the throats of the poor;
stop jailing the victims of unfair laws;
and quit plundering nature’s resources.
“Do you want to know what else I’d like to see?
Open your tables to the hungry;
open your hearts and your homes to the refugees;
open your wardrobes to those without clothes;
and don’t go hiding every time you see someone in need.
“Do that, and I’ll put your name up in lights!
Do that and our relationship will be healed in an instant!
I’ll put you under my personal protection;
anyone who attacks you will have to deal with me, the LORD!
I’ll be on hand to respond whenever you need me;
just say the word, and I’ll be there for you.
“If you abandon all forms of exploitation,
and avoid bad-mouthing others to gain an edge;
if you share what you have with those in need,
and respond to the real needs of suffering communities;
then you’ll find that the world will light up for you
and life will be one beautiful day after another.
“I, the LORD, will always be there to guide you;
even in the grip of drought,
I’ll keep you healthy and well fed.
You’ll be like an irrigated vineyard with its own deep bore,
green and lush and full of life!
“Your ruined houses will be renovated and new;
you’ll be able to restore the homes
that have been in your families for generations.
You’ll get a reputation for making dreams possible,
for enabling everyone to find a good place to live.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 112: 1-9 (10)

We are singing your praises, LORD!
How good life is for those who respect you, LORD,
for those who gladly do what you want them to do.
Their children will follow in their footsteps,
doing what’s right and going from strength to strength.
You fill their homes with good things,
and guarantee their good reputation.
Their generosity, tolerance, and integrity shine forth in a dark world,
lighting up the way for others to follow.
LORD, you see that things go well
for those who conduct their business fairly
and lend generously to those in need.
You guarantee a firm footing for people of integrity;
their reputation will long outlast them.
Bad news will not break them,
for they have an inner strength grounded in you, LORD.
With their trust in you, they are calm in a crisis;
fearless in the fight,
and they always end up on top.
You will honour their strength
and make their integrity a lasting legacy,
for they have been open-handed, especially to the poor.
All this throws corrupt people into a snarling rage.
Bitterness consumes them
as their dreams crumble to nothing.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 2: 1-12, (13-16)

Brothers and sisters in Corinth, back when I first came your way to announce the mind-boggling truth about God, I didn’t dress it up in fancy words or philosophical jargon. I wanted to keep it simple and avoid getting sidetracked, so I emptied my head of everything except the news about Jesus the Messiah and, in particular, about him strung up to die. I didn’t cut a very impressive figure among you did I? A sickly little weed, scared out of my wits and shaking like a leaf. There was nothing in my conversation or my preaching that would have wowed the crowds or had anyone yelling for encores. But that didn’t stop God’s Spirit and power showing themselves. Clearly then, your trust in Jesus was never based on any human theories, however profound, but on your first hand experience of God’s powerful work.
Now don’t get me wrong: we are happy to talk about deeper stuff with those who are far enough down the track to be ready for it. But even when we do, it is not the trendy pop-wisdom that is all the rage these days. Nor is it the opinions of those who call the shots on the world stage. They’re on borrowed time anyway. But when it comes to speaking about God’s wisdom, we are prepared to dig down and explore depths that few ever plumb. There are riches to be discovered there which God laid down for us before the dawn of time. Clearly none of the world’s movers and shakers ever had a clue about this, because if they had, they would have known better than to knock off the Lord of glory on that cross. But, as the prophets noted:
“Way beyond what anyone has ever seen or heard,
or even begun to imagine,
lie the things which are being prepared
for the people who love God.”
And yet, God’s Spirit has given us a preview of these very things. There is nothing that the Spirit hasn’t thoroughly explored; not even the deepest depths of God. It is usually true that “it takes one to know one”: only a human being can know what goes on in the human heart, and only the Spirit of God can truly know what goes on in the heart of God. But that is no longer the whole story for us because instead of just being on the same wavelength as the culture around us, we have been given the Spirit that comes from God and tunes us in to God, and so enables us to pick up on what these gifts God is giving us are all about. The books of philosophy and science don’t even give us a language to talk about these things. We can only say anything meaningful about them if we tune into the Spirit, for the Spirit transmits spiritual truth to those who are spiritually attuned.
Those who are not spiritually attuned don’t receive any of the gifts that God’s Spirit is offering. They dismiss them as foolish and worthless. They don’t recognise their depth or value because these things can only be picked up on a spiritual wavelength. Those who are spiritually attuned pick up everything, and yet no one else can get a clear picture of who they are or what they are on about. The prophets asked the question:
“Does anyone know what God has in mind,
or what God is up to?”
Now the answer is ‘yes’, because the Messiah has shared his mind with us.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 5: 13-20

Jesus taught his followers, saying, “This is how you lot fit into the big picture: you are the salt without which the world would quickly go putrid. But if salt is left sitting around instead of being put to use, it soon dissolves away or gets contaminated. Then what can you do with it? It is completely useless, so it just gets chucked out.
“Or again, you are the light without which the world would be left in the dark. Your light should be as obvious as a city built on a hill. No one turns on a lamp and then hides it under the bed. They put it out in the open, front and centre, so that it can light up the whole room. That is what you should be like. Live your lives openly, reflecting God brightly, so that everyone can bask in the light of your integrity and generous love, and give due credit to God who conceived you in heaven.
“Don’t go thinking that I’ve given you licence to start ignoring what the Bible says. I’m not getting rid of it. I’m unleashing it to do what it was always intended to do. I kid you not, until the world as we know it comes to an end and everything is put right, the Bible will still be necessary, and not one dot of an “i” or cross of a “t” will be struck out of it. If you start thinking that some of the Bible’s instructions are no big deal, and start playing fast and loose with them, and encouraging others to follow suit, you’ll go straight to the bottom of the class in the culture of heaven. But if you take seriously what they are on about, and teach others to do likewise, they’ll have your name up on the honour boards in the culture of heaven. Let me give it to you straight: don’t take your cues from the experts in religious law or the devout Pharisees. Unless your integrity is way out of their league, you’ll never get within cooee of the culture of heaven.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your mercy and justice are a light in our darkness
and your Word outlasts even heaven and earth
which you have created.
Before the ages, your wisdom destined us for glory
and you have revealed your depths to us through the Spirit.
When we failed in righteousness
and turned our worship into a mask
hiding our oppression, contempt and disregard of others,
you rejected our fasts and prayers
and sent prophets to denounce our rebellion
and call us back to your ways.
In your child, Jesus, and him crucified,
we have seen the light of the world,
and found a spring of healing that never fails.
You raised him from the dead,
and through him, gave us your Spirit.
who has begun the rebuilding of our integrity
on the ancient foundations of justice, mercy and compassion.
Therefore with .....
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you that in your Son Jesus, and him crucified,
we have seen the light of the world and received your Spirit.
who has begun the rebuilding of our integrity
on the ancient foundations of justice, mercy and compassion.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your mercy and justice are a light in our darkness
and your Word outlasts even heaven and earth
which you have created.
Before the ages, your wisdom destined us for glory
and you have revealed your depths to us through the Spirit.
When we failed in righteousness
and turned our worship into a mask
hiding our oppression, contempt and disregard of others,
you rejected our fasts and prayers
and sent prophets to denounce our rebellion
and call us back to your ways.
In your child, Jesus, and him crucified,
we have seen the light of the world,
and found a spring of healing that never fails.
You raised him from the dead,
and through him, gave us your Spirit.
who has begun the rebuilding of our integrity
on the ancient foundations of justice, mercy and compassion.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Put an end to oppression, to contempt and to evil talk,
and God’s favour will shine on you like the morning sun.
Your wounds will be quickly healed.
God will be with you to save you,
and the Spirit’s presence will protect you on every side.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.
Let your light shine before others
that seeing your justice, mercy and compassion
they may give glory to God in heaven.
And may God guide you continually;
May Christ Jesus satisfy your needs even in parched places,
And may the Holy Spirit keep you strong and well
and make your life as rich as a garden
whose springs of living water never fail.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Salt in an open woundA sermon on Matthew 5:13-20 by Nathan Nettleton

What are you good for?A sermon on Matthew 5:13-20 & 1 Corinthians 2: 1-16 by Nathan Nettleton

Not One Jot or TittleA sermon on Matthew 5:13-20 & Isaiah 58:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Not Clever EnoughA sermon on 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 & Matthew 5:13-20 by Nathan Nettleton

Covenant Salt of the EarthA sermon on Matthew 5:13-20 by Joris Geldhof

The Salt of the Earth In Our Open WoundsA sermon on Matthew 5:13-20 by Nathan Nettleton

4th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2032-02-01 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Micah 6: 1-8

Open your ears, for this is what the LORD has to say:
If you have got a complaint, stand up and let it be heard.
Let the mountains and hills be your witnesses.
For I am calling on the mountains to hear my dispute.
I am calling on the earth itself
to take my complaint to heart.
For I, the LORD, have a dispute to settle with my people,
and I will have it out with you, my chosen ones.
When have I ever done the wrong thing by you, my people?
What have I done to make you sick of me?
Answer me that!
I was the one who got you out of the land where you were slaves;
broke you free and put you back where you belonged.
I was the one who provided you with good leaders:
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
And don’t forget
how King Balak of Moab conspired to curse you,
and how it backfired on him
when he gave the job to Balaam.
And don’t forget, my people,
how you got from one side of the great river to the other.
Keep in mind all that I, the LORD, have done;
all the actions I have taken to get you to safety.
Having been reminded of all this,
how can we express our thanks to the LORD?
Is there anything we could ever give
that would be worthy of our God?
Should we offer our most treasured possessions
as a sacrifice on God’s altar?
Would the LORD like us to sacrifice a year’s wages,
or even hand over everything we own?
Should we sacrifice our children to pay the price;
our own flesh and blood for the sin deep within us?
Come on people! God has told us what is good.
We know what the LORD wants from us:
To make sure everybody gets a fair go;
To be passionate about caring for others;
And to stay on track with God without getting full of ourselves.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 15

LORD, who is welcome at your table?
Who can stay in the place you call your own?
You have given us the answer, LORD.
It is those who walk with integrity
and do the right thing;
those who speak the honest truth
and do not use their words to wound;
those who do not exploit their friends
or put down their neighbours.
It is those who hate corruption
and look up to those who honour you, LORD;
those who give their word
and stand by it even if it costs them;
those who lend freely, without seeking a profit,
and cannot be bribed into shafting the innocent.
You honour such people, LORD,
and anchor them on unshakable ground.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 1: 18-31

The message about the cross sounds like a lot of mindless cock-and-bull to those who have thrown their lot in with this present world order and are going down with the ship. But to those of us who are being saved from that, it is nothing less than the power of God! God spoke about this in the Scriptures:
“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts
and the wise counsel of your gurus;
I will expose them for what they really are,
a load of codswallop!”
So where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God, whatever their background, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God.
Sisters and brothers, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world, things which are seen as worthless, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track, given a clean bill of health, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason, the scriptures make sense to us when they say:
“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something,
blow it about the Lord!”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 5: 1-12

Jesus found himself increasingly surrounded by crowds of people, so one day he headed off up the mountain. He sat down up there and his committed followers gathered around to hear what he had to say. This is what he taught them:
“Those who depend entirely on God for their welfare
have got it made,
because they are already at home in the culture of heaven.
“Those who are stricken with grief
have got it made,
because they will receive the ultimate comfort.
“Those who allow others to have first claim on everything
have got it made,
because the whole world will be given to them.
“Those who hunger and thirst to see the world put right
have got it made,
because they will be richly satisfied.
“Those who readily treat others better than they deserve
have got it made,
because they will be treated with extravagant mercy.
“Those whose hearts are unpolluted
have got it made,
because they will see God.
“Those who forge peace and reconciliation in places of hostility
have got it made,
because they will be known as God’s own children.
“Those who are attacked and abused for sticking to what is right
have got it made,
because they are already at home in the culture of heaven.
“When people turn on you
and do all they can to make your life a misery;
when they make false allegations about you
and drag your name through the mud,
all because of your association with me,
you have really got it made!
Kick up your heels and party,
because heaven is coming
and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams!
You are in great company,
because they were just as vicious
to God’s faithful messengers in the past.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have always shown us
what is good and what you require of us.
You laid the foundations of the earth,
and the mountains and hills witness to your justice.
You redeemed your people from the house of slavery
and called us to remember your saving acts,
that we might know your ways
and live our lives in justice, kindness and humility.
When our own wisdom and discernment
failed to bring us near to you,
you chose what was foolish, weak and despised in our eyes
to break the grip of human wisdom and strength:
Christ Jesus our Lord,
and him crucified.
Raised to new life,
he has made known to us what the wise never guessed,
that you honour not what the world seeks
but those who walk with you the way of the cross.
Therefore with .....
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give you thanks that through what was foolish, weak and despised
— Christ Jesus our Lord, and him crucified —
you broke the grip of human wisdom and strength,
honouring not what the world seeks
but those who walk with you the way of the cross.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have always shown us
what is good and what you require of us.
You laid the foundations of the earth,
and the mountains and hills witness to your justice.
You redeemed your people from the house of slavery
and called us to remember your saving acts,
that we might know your ways
and live our lives in justice, kindness and humility.
When our own wisdom and discernment
failed to bring us near to you,
you chose what was foolish, weak and despised in our eyes
to break the grip of human wisdom and strength:
Christ Jesus our Lord,
and him crucified.
Raised to new life,
he has made known to us what the wise never guessed,
that you honour not what the world seeks
but those who walk with you the way of the cross.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

God decided, through a message considered foolish,
to save those who believe.
Through our life in Christ Jesus,
we have been put right with God,
and set free to be God’s holy people.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world.
Walk with integrity.
Do only what is right.
Speak the truth with courage.
And may God reward your mercy with divine mercy;
May Christ Jesus allow you to see God;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you into righteousness and peace
and fill you with all the blessings of God’s children.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Trusting a stupid weak failureA sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Godly Living – Why Bother?A sermon on Micah 6: 1-8; Psalm 15; Matthew 5: 1-12 & 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Blessed are those with lots to learnA sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 & 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 by Nathan Nettleton

The Be-Jesus-like AttitudesA sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Bloody SacrificesA sermon on Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 & Matthew 5:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Re-imagining the Kingdom in the time of Global TraumaA sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 by Francesca Nuzzolese

Blessed and BlessingA sermon on Matthew 5:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

3rd Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2032-01-25 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 9: 1-4

The day is coming when those who were in agony will be free of all suffering. The territories of Zebulun and Naphtali have long been regarded with contempt, but in the future everyone will want to be there. The land from the Mediterranean to the other side of the Jordan will be the most sought after real estate. That will even be true of Galilee where the foreigners live.
The people who lived in a dark cloud of gloom
have seen a great light break through;
those in the blackest hell-holes
have seen their whole world light up.
LORD, you have built up the nation,
and given them every reason to celebrate.
The people revel in it all,
like farmers when a drought breaks;
like children opening presents.
Finally they are out from under the thumb
of those who oppressed them.
You have broken their chains
and run the slave drivers out of town,
just as you did in days long ago.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 27: 1, 4-9

Your light leads me to safety, LORD;
I’ve got nothing to fear.
You shelter me like a fortress, LORD;
I’m afraid of no one!
Only one thing I ask of you, LORD,
the one thing that really matters:
let me live out the whole of my life
right here in your presence;
let me lose myself in your beauty,
and abandon myself to prayer.
Let me hide here in safety with you,
when trouble gets too much;
You are as secure as a bomb shelter,
a protected place to rest and recover.
You have lifted me beyond the reach
of those who wanted to tear me down,
so I am here to express my thanks,
to offer you whatever I can give;
to sing your praises till I raise the roof,
to put on a concert in your honour.
Don’t ever stop being generous, LORD;
hear me and answer me when I call for help!
My heart tells me to search for you.
Please don’t stay hidden from me.
My desire is to know you, face to face.
Don’t slam the door on me in anger;
Help me again and I’ll go on serving you.
Don’t give up on me now,
don’t turn your back on me;
You alone can save me, God!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 1: 10-18

Sisters and brothers, let me give this to you straight, on the authority of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Get your act together and start working as a united team instead of breaking up into rival factions. Get your heads together and forge a common life around the shared vision and purpose. I’ve been hearing reports on the grapevine that you are all at each other’s throats! Chloe’s people have filled me in on the details about how you have been dividing up over your allegiance to various Christian leaders. Some of you make a big deal about being on side with me. Others jump up and down about belonging to Apollos. Others claim Peter. And still others try to trump you all by claiming they answer to no one but the Messiah himself. What is this?! Has the Messiah been carved up so that you can belong to just one bit or another? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were you baptised in my name? I didn’t baptise any of you except Crispus and Gaius, and the way you are carrying on, I thank God I didn’t. At least none of you can go claiming to have been baptised in my name! Come to think of it, I did baptise Stephanas and his tribe, didn’t I? But so far as I can remember I didn’t baptise anybody else. You see, the Messiah did not send me to rack up the baptism stats, but to broadcast his message. And he didn’t send me to turn his message into some highfalutin philosophy either. The Messiah’s cross is such a powerful statement; it certainly doesn’t need me or anybody else reducing it to a flaccid flow of fancy words. The message about the cross sounds like a lot of mindless cock-and-bull to those who have thrown their lot in with this present world order and are going down with the ship. But to those of us who are being saved from that, it is nothing less than the power of God!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 4: 12-23

When Jesus heard that John the baptiser had been locked up, he shot through, back to Galilee. Rather than settle back in Nazareth where he had grown up, he made his home in Capernaum, a coastal town at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This shed new light on what the prophet Isaiah had said:
Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the other side of the Jordan,
on the road to the sea;
Galilee where the foreigners live.
The people who lived in a dark cloud of gloom
have seen a great light break through.
Those in the blackest hell-hole
have seen their whole world light up.
From then on Jesus got stuck into preaching. This was the guts of his message:
“Turn your lives around!
The culture of heaven is close at hand.”
One day, as he was walking along the beach at Lake Galilee, he came across two brothers: Simon, who is known as Peter, and Andrew his brother. They were setting nets in the water, because they made their living from fishing. Jesus called to them and said, “Come with me, and I’ll have you bringing in people, not fish.”
Right then and there, they gave the fishing away and followed Jesus.
As he moved on, he came across another pair of brothers: James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were on board their boat with their father, repairing their fishing tackle. Jesus called them, and straight away they left the boat and their old man and set off with Jesus.
Jesus toured all around Galilee, making speeches in the synagogues and spreading the good news about God’s reign. He also healed people of every kind of sickness and chronic disorder.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
and to bring to you a joyful sacrifice,
an offering of prayer in your temple.
At the dawn of creation
you were the light that split open the darkness
and brought all things into being.
You called a people to live in your presence
and walk in the light of your law and prophets.
In Jesus the Christ you have proclaimed to us
the good news of the nearness of heaven
and called us to repent
and to follow him as disciples.
He was killed but you raised him to new life,
and although his cross is derided as foolishness,
to us who are being saved it is your power at work,
breaking the grip of our oppressors,
teaching us your truth,
healing our sicknesses,
increasing our joy
and leading us home to your house of prayer.
Therefore with .....
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you for the cross of your son, Jesus,
for to us who are being saved it is your power at work,
teaching us truth,
healing our sicknesses,
increasing our joy
and leading us home to your house of prayer.
©1999 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
and to bring to you a joyful sacrifice,
an offering of prayer in your temple.
At the dawn of creation
you were the light that split open the darkness
and brought all things into being.
You called a people to live in your presence
and walk in the light of your law and prophets.
In Jesus the Christ you have proclaimed to us
the good news of the nearness of heaven
and called us to repent
and to follow him as disciples.
He was killed but you raised him to new life,
and although his cross is derided as foolishness,
to us who are being saved it is your power at work,
breaking the grip of our oppressors,
teaching us your truth,
healing our sicknesses,
increasing our joy
and leading us home to your house of prayer.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The message of the cross is the power of God
to us who are being saved.
The Lord is our saving light,
there is nothing we need fear.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©1999 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out in response to the voice of God who calls you.
Go out to proclaim the message of repentance,
for the Kingdom of heaven is near.
Go out united in purpose
and do not be afraid when your purpose is called foolishness.
And may God be a sheltering tent above you
and a firm rock below;
May the foolishness of Christ Jesus be your wisdom;
And may the Holy Spirit be the light
that overcomes your darkness and sets you free.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Don’t get too clever about itA sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 by Nathan Nettleton

The Way Less TakenA sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 by Garry Deverell

This Foolishness is our only HopeA sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 & Matthew 4: 12-23 by Nathan Nettleton

Anyone for Fishing?A sermon on Matthew 4:12-23; Isaiah 9:1-4 & 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 by Nathan Nettleton

Repent! Change Everything!A sermon on Matthew 4: 12-23 by Nathan Nettleton

2nd Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year A
2032-01-18 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 49: 1-7

Everyone, from coast to coast, listen up!
All you people, far and near, don’t miss a word.
Before I was born, the LORD had chosen me.
While I was still in my mother’s womb
I was given a name and a job.
I was created to be a surgeon’s knife,
razor sharp in the hand of the LORD;
ready and waiting to slice through any defence
and cut to the core with a word.
The LORD said to me, “Israel, you are my servant,
the one who will put my name up in lights.”
But I said, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?
I’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.
But I gave it my best shot for you LORD,
so you decide whether I’m worth my pay.”
And now the LORD has more to say to me;
this God who chose me as a servant before I was born;
who gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel
for a great reunion with God.
It is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD,
and God has given me the strength to see it through.
But now the LORD says to me,
“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great,
but it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.
Now I’ve got a real challenge for you!
I want you to help the whole world to see the light!
I want you to give my saving love a global reach!”
I, the LORD, the one and only, who puts things right for Israel,
have this to say:
“You have been treated like dirt.
kicked around by the nations,
and forced to work in chains for their rulers;
but let me tell you how it is going to be:
Kings will stand up when you walk in;
Governors will snap to attention at your approach.
You have my word on this and I can be trusted;
I am the LORD, your one and only, and I have chosen you.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 40: 1-11

I hung in there waiting for you, LORD,
and at last you bent down and heard my cry.
I was in deep trouble,
bogged up to my ears and sinking fast,
but you pulled me out.
You put me back on solid ground;
gave me a safe place to stand.
You gave me something to sing about, God;
I’m singing your praises like I’ve never sung before.
Everyone will be amazed at the change;
they’ll say, “Only God could have done that!”
Those who put all their eggs in your basket
have got it made, LORD;
those who do not devote themselves to anything less,
no matter how popular or persuasive it is.
You are in a league of your own, LORD God;
nothing and no one comes within a bull’s roar of you!
I can’t keep track of all the amazing things you’ve done
or all the generous plans you’ve made for us.
I could talk about them till the cows came home
and still have barely scratched the surface.
You are not looking for gifts from us, LORD;
nothing we own is any use to you;
Your generosity and mercy are not for sale;
but you have given us ears and asked us to listen.
So I am giving you my “Yes!”
I’ll make your book my own and live by it.
Doing what pleases you will be my greatest delight,
for you are my God and I’m taking your ways to heart.
When all your people gathered,
I spoke up about how you had bailed me out.
I gave them the full story; I left nothing out;
you know this is true, LORD.
I have made no secret of the help you gave me;
I have put it all out in the open.
I have told everyone how you saved my life
and how we can trust you completely.
I have put it all on the public record
and kept nothing to myself
about your rock-solid love or dependability.
Be my mother forever, LORD;
never running out of tenderness or compassion;
your loyalty fierce and your love unshakable;
protecting me and keeping me safe.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 1: 1-9

I, Paul, was chosen by God and called to be a special ambassador of the Messiah Jesus, and one of my partners here in this work is Sosthenes.
We write to you who gather as God’s church in the city of Corinth — you who are being made whole in union with the Messiah Jesus. You have responded to the call to be God’s own people, together with everyone everywhere who actively identifies themselves with Jesus the Messiah; our Lord; their Lord; your Lord.
We greet you as God’s own children and wish you all the best – God’s love and peace, given through the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.
I am forever thanking my God for you, especially when I think about what God’s extravagant generosity has brought about in you since you entered into the life of Jesus the Messiah. Since you linked up with him your lives have become so much richer in every way; but most notable is the richness of your knowledge and of the things you have to say. Indeed, the truth about the Messiah has become more and more strongly a part of who you are, and of all you have to offer. Now, it seems, you are not short of anything. All the spiritual gifts are in action among you as you live in eager expectation of the grand finale when our Lord Jesus the Messiah takes centre stage. God is with you and will make you tough enough to hold the line until the end, so that you can stand with your heads held high on the great day when our Lord Jesus brings everything to completion. Jesus is the Messiah, our Lord, and God’s Son; and it was into his shared life that you were called by God, who is worthy of all our trust, and who will never let you down.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 1: 29-42

One day, while John was preaching and baptising, he saw Jesus coming towards him. Pointing him out to the people, he cried out:
“Here he is; God’s own sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I was talking about when I said that after me would come one who is way out of my league because he was ‘number one’ before I was even on the scene. I didn’t know him personally; but I did know that the whole point of my job – baptising people in water – was to get the people of Israel ready for his arrival on centre stage.
“With my own eyes I saw the Spirit swoop down from the sky like a kookaburra, settling on him and sticking with him. I would not have known him myself, but the One who sent me out here to baptise with water told me that when I saw the Spirit swoop down and stick with someone, that would be the one who baptises with Holy Spirit. That’s what I heard; that’s what I saw; and so that’s what I’ve told you, under oath: this is the One, the Son of God.”
The next day, John was back on the job with two of his followers. Seeing Jesus walk past, he spoke up again, saying, “Look! There he is; God’s own sacrificial lamb!”
Hearing this, his two followers got up and took off after Jesus. When Jesus realised that he was being followed, he turned around and asked them, “What are you looking for?”
They responded, “Where do you live, Rabbi?” (‘Rabbi’ is the Hebrew word for ‘Teacher’).
Jesus replied, “Come and see for yourselves.”
So they went with him and saw where he was staying. Since it was already about four in the afternoon, they spent the rest of the day with him. One of the two who had followed him after hearing what John said about him, was a man named Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. The first thing he did after spending this time with Jesus was to go and find his brother. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah!” (The Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ means ‘the anointed one’ – the same as the Greek word ‘Christ’).
He took Simon to meet Jesus. Jesus took one look at him and said, “So you are Simon, the Son of John. Well, from now on you will become known as Peter, which means ‘solid rock’.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you alone are the Holy One,
the great redeemer of your people.
From the womb of chaos you pulled a newborn earth.
Even before they were born you called your people by name
to be a light to the nations,
surrounding them with your maternal love
and hiding them from danger.
You have revealed to us your chosen servant
— the one in whom you are glorified —
your child and our Lord, Jesus the Messiah.
When he was killed, you raised him to new life,
and through him you have taken away the sin of the world.
By your grace, all who call on his name
are baptised with your Holy Spirit
and enriched with every spiritual gift
as we await the day when his glory
will be revealed as the light of salvation to all nations.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you for your Son, Jesus the Messiah,
through whom you have taken away the sin of the world.
By your grace, all who call on his name
are baptised with your Holy Spirit
and enriched with every spiritual gift
as we await the day when his glory
will be revealed as the light of salvation to all nations.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you alone are the Holy One,
the great redeemer of your people.
From the womb of chaos you pulled a newborn earth.
Even before they were born you called your people by name
to be a light to the nations,
surrounding them with your maternal love
and hiding them from danger.
You have revealed to us your chosen servant
— the one in whom you are glorified —
your child and our Lord, Jesus the Messiah.
When he was killed, you raised him to new life,
and through him you have taken away the sin of the world.
By your grace, all who call on his name
are baptised with your Holy Spirit
and enriched with every spiritual gift
as we await the day when his glory
will be revealed as the light of salvation to all nations.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2005 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Jesus Christ is the lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
His grace will strengthen us to the end
so that we may be blameless
on the day of his glory.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and celebrate God’s justice.
Take the Lord’s teachings to heart
and commit yourselves to pleasing God.
Boldly declare God’s truth and care
and let others know that you have found the Messiah.
And may God’s maternal love surround you;
May Christ Jesus move you to trust in the Lord;
And may the Holy Spirit enrich you with all spiritual gifts
and strengthen you to the end.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

I will give you as a light to the nationsA sermon on Isaiah 49. 1-7, Psalm 40. 1-11 & John 1. 29-42 by Garry Deverell

The promotionA sermon on Isaiah 49. 1-7 by Jude Waldron

Lamb of GodA sermon on John 1. 29-42 by Nathan Nettleton

“Jesus Christ the Lamb of God”A sermon on John 1. 29-42 by John Fowler

Come and See Where You BelongA sermon on John 1. 29-42 by Nathan Nettleton

Come and See, Listen and LearnA sermon on Isaiah 49. 1-7, Psalm 40. 1-11 & John 1. 29-42 by Nathan Nettleton

The Feast of the Baptism of our Lord - Year A
2032-01-11 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 42:1-9

The Lord says:
Let me introduce to you the one who serves me,
the one I am backing all the way.
I have chosen him,
and I am bursting with pride over him.
I have given him my spirit in full measure,
and he will bring about justice everywhere on earth.
He won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye,
or grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.
He won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people,
or squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.
He will be completely fair dinkum
about making justice a reality.
He will not run out of steam or throw in the towel
until his mission is accomplished;
until justice holds sway everywhere on earth
and the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him.
I am the one who created the universe
and stretched out the skies;
the one who constructed the earth
and produced everything that grows from it;
the one who breathes life into the world’s people
and kindles the spark of life within them;
I am the LORD your God;
so listen to what I have to say:
I, the LORD, have called you to stand for what is right.
I have put my arm around you and kept you safe.
I have made you a shining light for all the earth to see,
to draw all people everywhere
into a permanent alliance with me.
I have given you a privileged role
as the one who enables the blind to see the light;
the one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres
and welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom.
I am the LORD, that is my name;
I don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory
or rip off my image to promote their frauds.
Take note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.
Now I am announcing my new projects;
I’m letting you in on them even before they get started.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 29

LORD God, like your angels in heaven
we speak of you in glowing terms,
for your glory and strength deserve rave reviews.
We give you a huge rap, LORD;
we put up you name in lights
and hold a huge ticker tape parade
but it still falls short of the worship you deserve.
Your voice, LORD, rings out like thunder;
resounding over the waters,
drowning out even the waves of the sea.
Your voice echoes with power;
it would bring anyone to their knees.
Your voice, LORD, shatters the Ironbark tree,
and splinters the Mountain Ash like match sticks.
Your presence makes Mount Bogong jump like a calf;
Uluru like a rock wallaby.
Your voice, LORD, strikes fire from stone.
The sound of your voice convulses the wilderness;
the Simpson Desert shudders in labour.
Your voice, LORD, is like a cyclone,
howling through a rainforest,
stripping the leaves from the trees.
We all gather to worship and cheer with all our might;
for you rule forever, LORD,
and neither surging flood
nor tidal wave can undermine you.
Give strength to your people, LORD!
Bless your people with peace!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Acts 10: 34-43

Peter addressed the gathered people saying:
“Now it is all perfectly clear to me — God does not play favourites! Whoever you are and wherever you are from, if you take God seriously and do the right thing, God will welcome you with open arms! Jesus the Messiah preached God’s message about a peace deal to the people of Israel, but clearly it did not stop with them — he is Lord of all! No doubt you have heard the news about Jesus of Nazareth, because since it sparked off in Galilee, it has spread like wildfire all over Judea. The story began after John started calling everyone to turn their lives around through baptism. God singled Jesus out then and there, charging him with the Holy Spirit’s power. From then on, Jesus travelled around working for good and helping people out from under the devil’s thumb and back onto their feet. God was with him in all this. We saw it all ourselves; everything he did in the Judean backblocks and in the city of Jerusalem. They strung him up on a post and killed him, but three days later God raised him to life and let us see him. Not everybody got to see him, but God had picked us out to be the ones who would know first hand what had happened. We got to spend time sharing meals and a few drinks with him after he was brought back from the dead. He gave us the job of getting his message out to the people and going public with the fact that he is the one who God has appointed to make the final assessment of everybody on earth, past and present. You don’t have to take our word alone on this; all the prophets back us up. Everyone who puts their trust in Jesus receives pardon for their sins on his say so.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 3: 13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. He presented himself to John and asked to be baptised. At first John wouldn’t have a bar of it, saying, “You’ve got it all back to front. It is me that needs to be baptised by you.”
But Jesus insisted, saying, “For now, it is the right thing to do. Baptise me, for it is good for us to do everything that God asks of anyone.
So John gave in and baptised Jesus. As he came up from the water, he saw the sky suddenly opening up and the Spirit of God coming down like a diving kookaburra and taking hold of him. And a voice filled the air, saying, “You are my Son; the love of my life. You fill me with pride.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for in you and through you all righteousness is fulfilled.
When your voice first thundered over the seas
you created the heavens and spread out the earth.
You breathed the Spirit of life into us
and called your people to be a light to the nations.
When the time came to declare new things among us
you gave us your servant, Jesus the Christ,
your chosen one in whom you are well pleased.
You anointed him with Holy Spirit and with power
and sent him to open eyes long blind
and to release those imprisoned in darkness.
When he was put to death,
you raised him on the third day,
making the earth shudder with the birth pains of new life,
and raising with him all those who have died with him
in the waters of baptism.
Therefore with .....
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you for Jesus Christ,
your chosen in whom you are well pleased,
whom you anointed him with Holy Spirit
and raised from the dead,
making the earth shudder with the birth pains of new life,
and raising with him all who have died with him
in the waters of baptism.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for in you and through you all righteousness is fulfilled.
When your voice first thundered over the seas
you created the heavens and spread out the earth.
You breathed the Spirit of life into us
and called your people to be a light to the nations.
When the time came to declare new things among us
you gave us your servant, Jesus the Christ,
your chosen one in whom you are well pleased.
You anointed him with Holy Spirit and with power
and sent him to open eyes long blind
and to release those imprisoned in darkness.
When he was put to death,
you raised him on the third day,
making the earth shudder with the birth pains of new life,
and raising with him all those who have died with him
in the waters of baptism.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

All the prophets testify about Jesus Christ
that everyone who believes in him
receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now as a light to the nations.
Honour the Lord;
preach what you know of the risen Christ,
and fulfil all righteousness.
And may God strengthen you and bless you with peace;
May Christ Jesus bring forth justice for you and among you;
And may the Holy Spirit alight on you
and affirm you as God’s beloved ones.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Why are we Baptised?A sermon on Matthew 3: 13-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Repenting Like JesusA sermon on Acts 10:34-43 & Matthew 3: 13-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Do We Really Want Baptism?A sermon on the Baptism of Jesus by Margie Dahl

Baptised: for better or for worseA sermon on Matthew 3: 13-17 & Isaiah 42: 1-9 by Nathan Nettleton

2nd Sunday of Christmas
2032-01-04 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Jeremiah 31: 7-14

This is what the LORD has to say:
Sing and celebrate with God’s people.
Raise the shout for the number one nation.
Broadcast the news and give due credit,
for I, the LORD, have come to save my people,
the few who have remained faithful.
See, I am going to bring them home from across the border.
I will gather them from the ends of the earth.
I won’t only bring the strong and agile ones,
but the blind and the crippled,
the one’s who are heavily pregnant
and those with small children clinging to their ankles.
I will bring them all back here,
the whole mob of them.
There will be floods of tears as they return,
but I will reassure them and lead them home.
I will make sure there are refreshments available along the route,
and that the road is clear and easy to follow,
for I have made these people my own children,
and I love them as my one and only.
Listen to what I, the LORD, have to say, you nations of the world,
and pass it on across the land and over the seas.
Let everyone know that the one who scattered Israel
is gathering them back together
like a farmer bringing his flocks in to safety.
You see; I, the LORD, have bailed out my people.
I freed them when the odds were stacked against them.
They will come and gather here at the city heights
to sing out loud.
When they see what I have prepared for them,
they won’t be able to wipe the smiles off their faces.
What a feast I will spread before them:
breads and wines and every delicacy,
the finest meats, cooked to perfection.
And it will go on forever!
Like a well watered garden,
their lives will go on and on flourishing.
They will break out into joyous dancing,
men and women, young and old, celebrating together.
I will replace their grief with a thousand reasons to smile.
I will comfort them, and turn their tears to laughter.
All of them, priests and people, will eat their fill
and be more than satisfied with what I provide.
I, the LORD, have given my word on this.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sirach 24: 1-12 (alternative 1st reading)

Wisdom outlines her own credentials,
and tells her people of her glorious deeds.
In front of those assembled by the Most High God, she speaks freely,
telling God’s gathered crowd of her accomplishments.
“I was breathed into existence by God Most High,
and I covered the earth like a rolling mist.
I lived at large in the skies,
and my throne was in the pillar of cloud.
I covered the entire universe in my travels,
from the outer reaches of space to the bowels of the earth.
I held sway over everything on the planet,
from the waves of the sea to the peoples and nations.
Everywhere, I searched for a place where I would be at home.
Whose land should should I settle down in?
“Then the One who created everything gave me an order.
My Creator told me where to roll out my swag.
God said, ‘Go and settle in the land of Israel.
There you will receive what I have prepared for you.’
God created me at the beginning, before time began,
and I will go on forever, from age to age.
I served the Creator in the sacred tent of worship,
and took my place in the Temple on Mount Zion.
God gave me a place to settle in the beloved city.
Yes, Jerusalem became my home town.
I put down roots among an honoured people,
among the chosen ones who belong to the Lord.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 147: 12-20

Your chosen city gives you all the glory, LORD;
the people sing your praises from your sacred mountain!
You a like a wall of safety around the city,
and you see that our children grow up healthy and happy.
You give us peace in our own land,
and good crops to keep us well fed.
You give orders to the earth itself,
and your word is quickly acted upon.
When you say “Blazing Sun”, the shadows shrink to nothing;
when you say “Dry”, the trees wither to brown.
When you say “Heat”, everything begins to melt;
when you say “Fire”, it all goes up in smoke.
When you give the word, everything greens up again;
your breath comes like a cool change;
the rains return and the creeks flow once more.
You broadcast your message to your people,
and spell out the standards of justice you want us to live by.
It is a privilege to know your ways,
for not everyone has been given such inside information.
LORD, we sing your praises!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Wisdom of Solomon 10: 15-21 (alternative canticle)

Lord, your Holy Spirit of Wisdom
rescued your dedicated and innocent people
from the nation who had oppressed them.
She got inside the heart and mind of your servant, Moses,
and enabled him to stand up to a dangerous king
with an awesome display of your power.
She rewarded the labour of your dedicated people.
She guided them along the best route through the wilderness.
She sheltered them from the heat of the sun,
and lit up the night sky above them.
She got them across the Red Sea,
leading them safely through the deep waters.
But she drowned their enemies,
and the sea spewed up their bodies on the shore.
And so, the people who were in the right
carried off the belongings of those in the wrong.
They sang songs in your honour, Lord,
singing your praises as one,
naming you as their defender.
Indeed, Wisdom gave voice to the mute
and the gift of speech to newborn infants,
so that all could join in singing your praises.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Ephesians 1: 3-14

Blessed be God! All praise and honour be to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! God has gathered up all the spiritual blessings of heaven and given them to us in our union with Christ. This followed on from decisions that God had made even before laying the foundations of the world. Way back then, God was anticipating our arrival and laying down plans for us. God was getting ready to immerse us in divine love so that we would emerge ready, willing and able to dedicate our lives totally to God.
God set the wheels in motion for us to be adopted as his own children. This was to be done through Jesus Christ, because God takes great delight in doing such things through him. God wanted his beloved Son to get all the credit for the boundless love that was being lavished on us. Christ paid the ultimate price, shedding his own blood in his endeavour to reclaim us for God’s family. Given how often we’d turned our backs on God, he could easily have given up on us, but he was so extravagant in his love and reckless in his generosity that he just forgave us for everything and put his life on the line to save us.
God, who can see and understand perfectly what we could never comprehend, has let us in on the mystery of the divine plan. God took great delight in opening this up and giving us a preview in Christ. This is how it will unfold when the time is right: God will unify all things into one perfect communion in Christ, reconciling everything, from the depths of the earth to the farthest reaches of heaven.
In Christ we are identified as God’s beneficiaries and our future is secured. God’s plans always find a way, and right from the word go we have been a part of those plans. This was to ensure that we, being the first people to throw in our lot with Christ, would be able to live lives that clearly reflected the wonderful goodness of God. It didn’t stop with us though — you’re in on this too! The message of God’s rescue mission reached you, and once you realized it was fair dinkum and put your trust in Christ, you became part of him, just like us. At that moment your future was signed and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Now you know it will be delivered! Everything planned for God’s people will be yours — a life overflowing with the glory and splendour of God.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 1: (1-9), 10-18

At the very start, there was one who is called the Word.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
From day one, God and the Word were inseparable.
It was through the Word that everything was created.
There is absolutely nothing that doesn’t owe its existence to him.
In the Word was life.
He is the source of the life
that turns on the lights for everyone.
The light of his life breaks open the darkness,
and the darkness could not snuff it out.
Once there was a man on a mission from God;
his name was John.
John gave a first-hand report about the light,
spelling it out so that everyone could believe.
He wasn’t the light, himself,
but he made it his job to draw everyone’s attention to the light.
The real light was on his way into the world;
the light that lights up inside of everyone.
He was in the world
but the world didn’t even notice him
even though it owed its existence to him.
He turned up on his own planet, among those he created,
but his own people turned their backs on him.
Some people accepted him, though,
and put their trust in who he said he was
and what he said he was on about.
He gave to those people all they needed
to become children of God.
Becoming God’s children had nothing to do
with sperm and egg,
or three-stage labour;
they became God’s children
when they were born of God.
The Word, though, was born flesh and blood like everyone else.
He cast in his lot with us
and rolled out his swag in our midst.
We have seen him in all his glory,
like father, like son;
warm and generous to a fault,
solid and true to the core.
John was blowing his trumpet the minute he turned up:
“This is the one I was telling you about,” he said.
“Second to me only by the clock:
he’s way out of my league – always was, always will be.”
We are the beneficiaries of his open-handed love;
from the depths of his being
the gifts tumble forth in wild profusion.
Moses gave us some basic operating instructions,
but it was through Jesus Christ that life broke through
in all its richness, passion and integrity.
No one has ever found out what God looks like,
but that’s no obstacle to getting to know God.
The one who is closest to God’s heart,
the one and only Son,
has put God within reach of us all.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have freely bestowed your glorious grace on us.
In the beginning you brought all things into being
through the Word who was with you,
and destined us for adoption as your children,
making known the mysteries of your will,
through the law and prophets.
In Jesus, your Word became flesh among us,
that the fullness of your grace and truth
might enlighten the world.
Though he came to what was his own,
his own people did not accept him,
but crucified him.
You redeemed him from the strong hands of death,
and turned our grieving into joy.
So now, as those you have marked with your Holy Spirit,
we live for the praise of your glory,
our lives like a well nourished garden
and our hearts radiant over your good gifts of bread and wine.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give thanks for your glorious grace, O God,
for through your beloved Son,
you have given us power to become your children,
and marked us with the seal of your Holy Spirit,
so that we might live for the praise of your glory.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have freely bestowed your glorious grace on us.
In the beginning you brought all things into being
through the Word who was with you,
and destined us for adoption as your children,
making known the mysteries of your will,
through the law and prophets.
In Jesus, your Word became flesh among us,
that the fullness of your grace and truth
might enlighten the world.
Though he came to what was his own,
his own people did not accept him,
but crucified him.
You redeemed him from the strong hands of death,
and turned our grieving into joy.
So now, as those you have marked with your Holy Spirit,
we live for the praise of your glory,
our lives like a well nourished garden
and our hearts radiant over your good gifts.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

From the fullness of Christ
we have received redemption through his blood.
Our sins are forgiven
according to the riches of his grace lavished upon us.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and bear witness to the light so others might believe.
Since you are chosen in Christ,
live before him in love, holy and blameless.
Live with hope in Christ, for the praise of his glory.
And may God fill the earth with peace;
May Christ give you grace upon grace from his fullness;
And may the Holy Spirit, the pledge of your inheritance,
lead you on straight paths where you will not stumble.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Becoming FleshA sermon on Ephesians 1:3-14 & John 1:1-18 by Nathan Nettleton

Where did he come from?A sermon on John 1: 1-18 by Nathan Nettleton

Becoming Flesh, Becoming GodA sermon on John 1:1-18 & Ephesians 1: 3-14 by Nathan Nettleton

A Christmas TsunamiA sermon preached in response to the South Asia Tsunami disaster by Nathan Nettleton

The Baby Who Brings Us HomeA sermon on Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-14 & John 1: 1-18 by Nathan Nettleton

God gives us a futureA sermon on John 1:1-18 and Jeremiah 31:7-14 by Alison Sampson

God’s economy of salvationA sermon on Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-14 & John 1: 1-18 by Jeff Wild

1st Sunday of Christmas - Year A
2031-12-28 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 63: 7-9

I will set out the evidence of the LORD’s extravagant generosity;
the things that the LORD has done, all deserving applause.
The LORD has done so much for us,
smiled upon us and been good to us.
Overflowing with love and loyalty,
our God has treated us far better than we deserve.
Every time we were in trouble,
the LORD felt our pain and rescued us.
The LORD said of us:
“These are my people for sure, my own children,
who would never do me wrong.”
The task of helping us out was not given to someone else;
the LORD was with us in person to rescue us.
Motivated solely by love and compassion,
God put our lives back together.
Gathering us up in loving arms,
our God carried us down through the years.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 148

We sing your praises, LORD!
From every corner of the universe,
from high and low, near and far,
we join the chorus of praise!
With the angels and all who serve you in heaven,
we sing your praises!
With the sun and moon, stars and planets,
we sing your praises!
With far flung galaxies and the milky way,
we sing your praises!
All of them speak of you in glowing terms, LORD,
for they owe their very existence to you.
You ordered their creation
and fixed them in place for all time.
We sing your praises, LORD!
Every creature on earth joins the choir,
singing your praises for all they’re worth:
dolphins and whales
and the ocean itself;
bushfire and hail storm,
snow and ice,
cyclones dancing to your tune;
mountain ranges and rolling hills,
orchards and rainforests,
animals from both bush and farm,
reptiles and birds;
people of every race and class,
people of power and influence;
men and women, old and young,
every voice on earth joins as one!
One and all, we sing your praises, LORD,
yours is the only name on our lips!
You alone outshine the glory of the universe!
You have given strength to your people,
and honour to your faithful ones,
to those you have chosen
and hold close to your heart.
You, LORD, are the greatest!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Hebrews 2: 10-18

Everything exists for God and because of God, and God set out to gather everyone into one family on the road to glory. It was only right that the one who God chose as the trail blazer to lead people out of danger should first earn a perfect 10 in the same arena of suffering as them. You see, the one who sets the pattern for holy living and the ones who are patterned by it are all children of the one God, born through the same labour pains. That explains why Jesus has no hesitation in calling them his sisters and brothers. He says to God:
“I will tell these, my sisters and brothers, all I know of you.
Whenever they gather, I’ll be there, trumpeting your virtues.”
Again he puts himself in the same boat as us when he says:
“I too live by putting my trust in God.”
And yet again:
“I take my stand here with the children God has given me.”
So it makes sense that for Jesus to share so fully in the life experience of the children, he had to be of the same flesh and blood as them. It was only in the same flesh and blood that he could go through the same death; and it was in going through death that he destroyed the devil who wields death as his ultimate weapon. That is how he broke open an escape route for those whose fear of death robbed them of their freedom to live. Now it is quite clear that he wasn’t doing this for the benefit of the angels. Rather it was for us human beings, who follow in the footsteps of Abraham, and so he had to become one of us in every respect. Only by being totally identified with us could he have the necessary compassion and loyalty to be the high priest who offers the costly gift to God to cancel out all we have done wrong. Because he himself has survived the worst that life can dish out without giving up, he is now ideally placed to help out those whose limits are being being put to the test.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 2: 13-23

The visit of the mystics from the east had tipped off King Herod about the birth of a potential rival. Before it was too late, a messenger from the Lord made contact with Joseph in a dream and said, “Get out of bed, pack up the family, and get out of town, because Herod is about to send out a death squad to hunt down the child. Seek asylum in Egypt and stay there until I say otherwise.”
So Joseph hurriedly prepared the child and his mother for the journey. They made their getaway under the cover of night and hit the road for Egypt. They lived there until the death of Herod. It was just as the prophet Hosea had written:
“I, the Lord, have called my son out of Egypt.”
When Herod realised that the visiting mystics had pulled a swifty on him, he went right off his head. Based on what they had said, he calculated that the child could not yet be two years old, so he sent out his death squads with orders to kill every child under the age of two in the district of Bethlehem. It was just as the prophet Jeremiah had said:
“Hear the noise in the land of Ramah;
grief-stricken cries and screams;
Rachel weeping inconsolably,
wailing for her children,
for they have been wiped out.”
Some time later, when Herod died, a messenger of the Lord once again appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “The coast is clear. Those who were out to get the child are dead. You can pack up and take him and his mother home to Israel.”
So Joseph did just that. He packed up the family and set out for Israel. However, he was unnerved when the news reached him that Archelaus was now king of Judea, taking over where his father Herod had left off. His fears were confirmed in a dream, so they pushed on further north to the region of Galilee, where they made their home in a town called Nazareth. This too was consistent with the words of the prophets:
“They will call him the man from Nazareth.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
because of all the good things you have done for us
in your abundant mercy and steadfast love.
All things exist for you and through you,
for you called them forth and fixed them in place.
You taught your people through the law and prophets
and became their saviour in all their distress.
In your love and concern for us,
you became present among us in your child, Jesus.
Though he was hunted at birth
and forced to flee as a refugee,
he was made perfect through his sufferings
so that he might be a merciful high priest,
faithfully reconciling your people to you.
When enemies overtook him,
in death he destroyed the power of death,
and you raised him to new life,
freeing all those whose lives were held in slavery
by the fear of death.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you that in your love and concern for us,
you became present among us in your Son, Jesus.
Though he was hunted at birth
and forced to flee as a refugee,
he was made perfect through his sufferings
so that he might be a merciful high priest,
faithfully reconciling your people to you.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
because of all the good things you have done for us
in your abundant mercy and steadfast love.
All things exist for you and through you,
for you called them forth and fixed them in place.
You taught your people through the law and prophets
and became their saviour in all their distress.
In your love and concern for us,
you became present among us in your child, Jesus.
Though he was hunted at birth
and forced to flee as a refugee,
he was made perfect through his sufferings
so that he might be a merciful high priest,
faithfully reconciling your people to you.
When enemies overtook him,
in death he destroyed the power of death,
and you raised him to new life,
freeing all those whose lives were held in slavery
by the fear of death.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Through his suffering, Christ has become our high priest,
offering sacrifices to God to atone for our sins.
It is his presence that saves us,
for in his love and mercy he redeems us
and lifts us up.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and give praise for all the Lord has done.
Put your trust in Christ;
weep over the world’s grief and suffering,
and with Christ, offer yourselves to God
for the healing of the world.
And may God give you strength and glory;
May Christ Jesus be proud to call you his brothers and sisters;
And may the Holy Spirit lift you up and carry you onward.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

The Refugee LiberatorA sermon on Matthew 2: 13-23 by Nathan Nettleton

Christmas and Murdered ChildrenA sermon on Matthew 2: 13-23, Hebrews 2:10-18 & Isaiah 63:7-9 by Nathan Nettleton

Is Christmas For Children?A sermon on Matthew 2: 13-23& Hebrews 2:10-18 by Nathan Nettleton

A Paschal Nativity StoryA sermon on Matthew 2: 13-23 & Hebrews 2: 10-18 by Nathan Nettleton

Lamentation at ChristmasA sermon on Matthew 2: 16-18 by Nathan Nettleton

4th Sunday of Advent - Year A
2031-12-21 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 7: 10-16

The LORD sent word to King Ahaz of Judah, saying:
I, the LORD your God, will give you a sign so that you can be sure that it is really me who is sending you this promise of safety. What sign do you want? Something dramatic, deep the earth or high in the sky? You name it, and I’ll do it.
But Ahaz refused, saying, “I will ask no such thing. Far be it from me to demand guarantees from the LORD.” So Isaiah the prophet spoke on behalf of the LORD, saying:
Then get this into your head, you who rule from David’s throne. Haven’t you made enough people sick and tired of your weak-as-water religious posturing? Do you have to try it on with God as well?! Well, the Lord is going to go ahead and give you a sign anyway. Check this out: there is a girl who is pregnant. She will give birth to a baby boy and he will be given the name Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ Before he is old enough to choose between right and wrong, he will be eating foods that you can’t even get hold of in the present crisis. Yes, even before he is old enough to take responsibility for his own behaviour, the threat of war will have passed. The two countries whose armies are terrorising you will have disappeared without a trace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19

God, you are the one who watches over your people
like a lifeguard supervising a dangerous beach,
watching from a high seat, like a king enthroned.
Listen to our prayer and clearly flag the boundaries,
so that your tribes will no longer get out of their depth.
Up and at it, God!
Come equipped to rescue us.
Come and smile on us again, God;
save us and revive us with your kiss of life.
LORD God, you rule over everything;
how much longer will you keep us in the sin bin,
turning away in anger when we pray?
You reduced our rations to tears alone;
tears by the plate full, tears by the cup full.
You made us the laughing stock of our enemies
and even our neighbours turn up their noses.
Come and smile on us again, God;
save us and revive us with your kiss of life.
Take our side again, your wayward favourite child,
the one you raised by hand to be your own.
We will never go off the rails again;
save us now and your name will be on our lips forever.
LORD God, you rule over everything;
Come and smile on us again;
save us and revive us with your kiss of life.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 1: 1-7

This letter comes to you from me, Paul, a labourer in the service of Jesus Christ. I was called to be one of his special ambassadors and assigned to the task of broadcasting the wonderful message of God’s love in Christ. This message did not come out of the blue; you only have to read the writings of the prophets in the sacred scriptures to know that God had been promising it for some time. The message centres on God’s Son who was born into a family of King David’s descendants — a weak human like us — and who was declared to be the Son of God by being raised from the dead to new life — a powerful Spirit like the Holy One. I speak of course, of Jesus, the Messiah and our Lord. It is through him that we have come to be on the receiving end of God’s extravagant generosity. It is also through him that we have been made ambassadors with the special assignment of bringing the outsiders into a new relationship with God based on trust and obedience. Jesus the Christ gets all the credit for this, and you, of course, were among those who have responded to the call to hand yourselves over to him in this way.
So this letter comes to you — God’s much loved people in the city of Rome — who have been called to dedicate yourselves wholly and solely to God.
I greet you as God’s own children and wish you all the best — God’s love and peace given through the Lord Jesus the Messiah.
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 1: 18-25

This is the story surrounding the birth of Jesus the Messiah. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph who was a descendant of King David. But before they had lived together, Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. It was the Holy Spirit who had made her pregnant, but Joseph didn’t know that. Joseph was a staunch ‘respectability and law-and-order’ man, but he still didn’t want to see Mary publicly disgraced, so he made plans to break off the engagement on the quiet. But just when he had sorted this out in his head, a messenger from the Lord spoke to him in a dream saying:
“Joseph, hold your nerve and go ahead and get married to Mary, because the child in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a baby boy and you are to treat him as your own. Give him the name Jesus, because he will live up to its meaning by saving his people from their toxic ways.”
As these events took place, they shed new light on the words that the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
“Check this out:
a virgin will fall pregnant and give birth to a son,
and people will speak of him as Emmanuel.”
‘Emmanuel’ is a Hebrew name meaning ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph woke up after his dream, he followed the instructions from the Lord’s messenger to the letter. He went ahead and married Mary, but they remained celibate until after the baby was born. As instructed, Joseph named the boy Jesus.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you rest your hand upon us,
calling us to be your holy saints and giving us life again.
Before time began, your Holy Spirit brooded over the chaos
and brought the earth and its inhabitants to birth.
Through your prophets speaking in the holy scriptures
you promised us a child
born as a sign of your saving presence with us.
Your promise has taken flesh in your child, Jesus the Christ,
who was born of the line of David.
When he was killed by your enemies,
your Spirit brought him forth again
by resurrection from the dead.
Through him the light of your presence has been restored
and we have been called into the obedience of faith
that we might belong to Jesus Christ forever,
living by the hope conceived in us by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give you thanks that through Christ
the light of your presence has been restored
and we have been called into the obedience of faith
that we might live by the hope conceived in us by the Holy Spirit.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you rest your hand upon us,
calling us to be your holy saints and giving us life again.
Before time began, your Holy Spirit brooded over the chaos
and brought the earth and its inhabitants to birth.
Through your prophets speaking in the holy scriptures
you promised us a child
born as a sign of your saving presence with us.
Your promise has taken flesh in your child, Jesus the Christ,
who was born of the line of David.
When he was killed by your enemies,
your Spirit brought him forth again
by resurrection from the dead.
Through him the light of your presence has been restored
and we have been called into the obedience of faith
that we might belong to Jesus Christ forever,
living by the hope conceived in us by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Through Jesus Christ we have received grace:
the light of God’s presence is restored to us
and we are saved.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and live by the hope conceived within you.
Refuse evil and choose good.
Call on the name of the Lord.
Walk with God in faithful obedience,
and do not fear public disgrace.
And may God be with you;
May Christ Jesus save you from your sins;
And may the Holy Spirit restore to you the light of God’s presence.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Speaking of pregnant virgins, did you hear the one…A drama/sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

What are you really made of?A sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

Expect the UnexpectedA sermon on Romans 1:1-7 & Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

Tarnished GoodsA sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

God’s Suspect Sexual HistoryA sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

What if it was God?A sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

Why the Virgin Birth is not the Biggest ShockA sermon on Matthew 1: 18-25 by Nathan Nettleton

Blood on the sand and God with usA sermon on by Nathan Nettleton

3rd Sunday of Advent - Year A
2031-12-14 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 35: 1-10

The parched and dusty land will celebrate;
the thirsty desert will be festive with flowers;
blazing colours – orchid and desert pea –
songs of joy as new life bursts forth.
The desert will be as rich as the Barrier Reef,
as majestic as Kakadu, as lush as the Daintree.
The glory of the LORD will be on display;
the splendour and magnificence of our God.
Are your hands trembling? Be strong!
Are your knees knocking? Stand firm!
Encourage those who are fearing the worst;
tell them not to give in to their fears but to hang in there.
Assure them that God is at hand;
coming to pay back oppressors what they deserve;
coming to rescue you, to set you free!
What a day that will be!
Eyes long blind will open to colour and light!
Ears long deaf will hear music and laughter!
Legs long paralysed will dance like brolgas!
Tongues long tied will sing like lyrebirds!
For reviving rains will fall on dry dusty land,
and rivers will flow in the desert.
Hard-baked salt pans will become inland lakes,
and cool water will gush up between scorching rocks.
Water birds will flock where only dingoes roamed,
and soft fruits will grow where only mulga survived.
There will be a new highway
known as ‘The One and Only True Way”.
The corrupt will not be allowed access,
for only God’s people may travel it;
and on this road, no one – not even a complete moron –
could ever lose their way.
There will be no hidden dangers along the road;
no snakes lying in wait at the side.
Nothing threatening will be found there,
so those God has put right may walk in safety.
Those who the LORD has bailed out will come home;
they will sing as they travel to God’s sacred mountain.
The smiles will never leave their faces again;
laughter and contentment will be theirs to keep,
and misery and despair will be made redundant.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 146: 5-10

We hit the jackpot when we look to you for help, LORD;
when we put all our hopes in you – the God of our ancestors.
You are the one who made earth and sky,
who poured out the seas and filled them with life.
You are true to your word no matter what;
when people are ground into the dirt, you bring about justice;
when people are left to starve, you come with food.
You, LORD, set the prisoners free.
You, LORD, open the eyes of those who can’t see.
You, LORD, put the downtrodden back on their feet.
You, LORD, love those who do the right thing.
You, LORD, keep a caring eye on the asylum seekers.
You stick up for those who have no one else to stick up for them,
but you make the schemes of the corrupt backfire on them.
Take charge forever, LORD,
rule from your sacred Mountain for all time.
You’re the best, LORD. We’re with you all the way!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Luke 1: 47-55

We turn the spotlight on your greatness, God!
We dance with wholehearted joy over you, our saviour!
You smiled upon us, though we were nothing special,
and the memory of your generosity will last forever.
You have done wonderful and powerful things for us.
There is no other name in the same league as yours.
In every generation, Lord, you shower mercy
to those who treat you with respect.
You have rolled up your sleeves in a show of strength,
and sent packing those who were so full of themselves.
You kicked the power mongers out of office,
and lifted the downtrodden back to their feet.
You put on a feast for those who are hungry,
and slam the door on the rich without giving them a bite.
You give a helping hand to your servant Israel,
and always remember them with tender care.
This is exactly what you promised long ago, Lord,
when you made a vow to Abraham and Sarah
for every generation.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

James 5: 7-10

My friends, be patient as you wait for the Lord to return. Be as patient as the farmers. Farmers sow their crops and then have to wait patiently, hoping for good seasonal rains, because the harvest that pays their bills ripens in its own good time. There is nothing they can do to hurry it up. You can’t hurry the Lord up either, so be patient. Stay focussed though, and condition yourselves, because the arrival of the Lord is not far off.
My friends, don’t go whinging and putting each other down. If you do, you’ll find yourselves having to answer for it. The judge could reopen the case against you at any moment.
Take as your role models the prophets who brought us God’s message in the past. They really suffered for their stand, but they hung in there, never giving up, and their patience paid off.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 11: 2-11

John the baptiser was being held in a detention centre when news reached him about what the Messiah was doing. When some of his followers visited him, he sent them to Jesus with a question: “Are you the One everybody has been waiting for, or are we still waiting for someone else?”
Jesus answered:
“Go and tell John what you’ve witnessed. The blind are given their sight. The paralysed are up and walking. People with hideous diseases are cured. The deaf can hear. The dead are raised. And the poor are hearing news worth celebrating. How good it will be for those who realise what I’m up to and don’t get their noses out of joint over it.”
When the messengers were on their way back to John with their report, Jesus started to talk to the crowd about John:
“When you went out to the desert to see John, what were you expecting? A populist swayed by the winds of public opinion? No way! What then? A silvertail dressed up to the nines? No, you’d hang out in the lobby of some exclusive resort if you wanted to see them. So what were you looking for? A prophet? Now we’re talking! And not just any prophet, either. This is the one of whom scripture said:
“Take note: I am sending my messenger ahead of you
to blaze the trail for your arrival.
I kid you not: there has never been a person born who could hold a candle to John the baptiser, and yet the most insignificant nobody in the culture of heaven is greater than John.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your mercy embraces the faithful,
one generation to the next.
You are the creator of heaven, earth and the teeming seas.
You promised mercy to our ancestors
and sent prophets as an example of suffering and patience
to prepare the Holy Way before you.
In Jesus the Christ we saw your promises take flesh
as the blind saw the light,
the deaf heard the music,
and the lame danced with joy.
When he was killed, you raised him to life
and through him your good news still comes to the poor
like springs of water to thirsty ground,
uplifting the downtrodden
and filling the hungry from the richness of your table.
And so with thankful hearts we patiently wait,
knowing that the day is near
when all the earth will see the fullness of your glory.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give you that the promises made to our ancestors
have taken flesh in Jesus Christ
who brings your good news to the poor
like springs of water to thirsty ground,
uplifting the downtrodden
and filling the hungry from the richness of your table.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you thanks and praise, O God,
for your mercy embraces the faithful,
one generation to the next.
You are the creator of heaven, earth and the teeming seas.
You promised mercy to our ancestors
and sent prophets as an example of suffering and patience
to prepare the Holy Way before you.
In Jesus the Christ we saw your promises take flesh
as the blind saw the light,
the deaf heard the music,
and the lame danced with joy.
When he was killed, you raised him to life
and through him your good news still comes to the poor
like springs of water to thirsty ground,
uplifting the downtrodden
and filling the hungry from the richness of your table.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Hear the good news for those who are fearful of heart:
"Be strong, do not fear!
your God is here, coming to save you.”
God’s promise of mercy is for you.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, with good news for the poor
and prepare the way for the Lord.
Wait patiently.
Do not grumble against one another,
but encourage one another.
Be strong and do not fear.
And may God come quickly to save you;
May Christ Jesus give you everlasting joy and gladness;
And may the Holy Spirit strengthen your hearts
and lead you on God’s holy way.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Still Waiting, LordA sermon on Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-10 & Matthew 11: 2-11 by Nathan Nettleton

Faith, Hope and StumblingA sermon on Matthew 11: 2-11 by Nathan Nettleton

Are You the One?A sermon on Matthew 11: 2-11 by Nathan Nettleton

What Are We Waiting For?A sermon on Matthew 11:2-11 & Luke 1:47-55 by Nathan Nettleton

Go Tell JohnA sermon on Isaiah 35:1-10 & Matthew 11: 2-11 by Nathan Nettleton

JoyA sermon on Isaiah 35:1-10 by Jennie Clarke

2nd Sunday of Advent - Year A
2031-12-07 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 11: 1-10

Like a green shoot sprouting from the stump of a tree,
the family of David will again produce a king.
The Spirit of the LORD will be with him,
giving him wisdom and insight,
making him strong and perceptive,
filling him with knowledge and respect for God.
Showing due respect for the LORD
will be the new king’s greatest delight.
He will not judge by appearances,
nor act on the basis of rumour.
He will do the right thing by the poor
and be fair to those who can’t fight for themselves.
His words will strike like lightning,
and wipe out evil and corruption.
His reputation will be built
on honesty, loyalty and a passion for doing right.
In his day, the dingo and the lamb will play together;
the hawk and the pigeon will share a nest;
the crocodile and the wallaby will eat together,
and a little child will lead them around like pets.
Foxes and chooks will forage together;
their cubs and chickens will snuggle up to sleep;
and sharks will go vegetarian.
A gurgling baby will play with a Tiger snake;
toddlers will stick their hands into bee hives unharmed.
There will be no killing or maiming on the LORD’s holy mountain.
Just as water fills the oceans,
so will the earth be full of people
who know and love the LORD.
When that day comes, the revival of David’s line will be like a flag and all the world’s people’s will gather around it. All nations will look to the one king for guidance and he will live and reign in splendour and glory.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19

Send us a wise ruler, O God,
one who takes after you in justice and honesty;
one who does the right thing by everybody,
and is vigilant in ensuring justice for the poor;
one who will stand up for the disadvantaged,
provide a way out of the poverty trap,
and stomp on those who exploit the vulnerable.
Then the whole land will know prosperity and integrity;
the mountains, the valleys, the hills, the plains.
Send us a wise ruler, O God,
who will outlive the sun and moon,
who will rule forever, generation after generation.
May your chosen one give life to the land
like the spring rains in the wheat country.
May the people yield a bumper crop of honesty,
and may peace be as dependable
as the southern cross in the night sky.
More power to you, LORD, God of our land;
only you can do such incredible things.
May the mere mention of your name
inspire praise from everyone, forever.
May the whole earth be full of your glory.
Too right!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 15: 4-13

The writings that we have received from times past were written to teach us what we need to know. The unchanging and inspiring message of the scriptures fills us with courage and hope. I pray that God — rock-solid and inspirational — will unite you and enable you to get along with one another, showing each other the same sort of trust and respect that Christ Jesus shows to everyone. That sort of peaceful shared life will ring out a message, as clear as a bell, giving all the glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So welcome and accept one another as openly as Christ has welcomed and accepted you, and may all the credit go to God!
You can be sure of this: Christ accepted both insiders and outsiders. It is true that he came to serve the people of Israel, who had always had inside access to the truth of God, so as to make good on the promises made to their ancestors. But it is also true that he came so that the outsiders might encounter the mercy of God and get into the swing of giving credit and thanks to God too. The scriptures spoke of it in these words:
“I will speak the truth about you among the outsiders,
I will sing your praises and honour your name.”
In another place it is written:
“You outsiders, come and celebrate with God’s people.”
Similarly, another piece of scripture says:
“All you outsiders, sing the praises of God;
let all peoples everywhere honour the Lord.”
And the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“The root of David’s family will sprout again,
producing the one who will give the outsiders hope;
the one who will rule over all people everywhere.”
I pray that God, the hope-giver, will see to it that your faith produces a flood of joy and peace that fills your lives and spills over into an unshakeable confidence energised by the Holy Spirit.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 3: 1-12

While Jesus was living at home in Galilee, John the baptiser showed up in the Judean desert preaching to the people. This was the guts of his message: “Turn your lives around, for the culture of heaven is close at hand.”
The prophet Isaiah had spoken about John when he said,
“In the desert a voice is shouting:
‘The Lord is coming!
Get the road ready.
Clear the track, straighten it out for him.’”
John was dressed in rough clothes made of camel hair and animal skins. He lived on bush tucker – grasshoppers and wild honey. People came flocking to John from Jerusalem, from all the rural districts of Judea, and from up and down the Jordan valley. They owned up to their toxic ways and were baptised by John in the Jordan River.
But when John saw that members of the religious groups known as the Pharisees and the Sadducees were coming to him for baptism, he bellowed, “You slippery bunch of snakes! What makes you think that running down here for a quick bath will get you off scot free when the judgment comes? You’ve got to walk the walk. Show by your actions that you’ve turned your lives around as you say you have. And don’t presume you’ve got the inside running just because you can trace your family tree back to Abraham. I’m telling you straight, descendants of Abraham are thick on the ground and, at the snap of a finger, God could turn these rocks into a few more. Family trees count for nothing. It is what sort of fruit the tree bears that matters. If the fruit is rubbish, an axe is ready to cut the tree off at the ground and toss it on the fire.”
“I’m only baptising you with water. After me comes the One who is way out of my league – I’d be honoured just to carry his boots. It won’t be just water that he’ll be immersing you in. He’ll baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He’s ready to start with his flame thrower in hand. He’ll release an uncontrollable fire into the dry bushland of your lives, completely incinerating the rubbish and germinating the good seeds that lie in wait for that day.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your reign draws near
with the promise of justice, peace and security for all.
You created the earth and its inhabitants,
and through the voice of the prophets crying in the desert,
you called us to prepare the way for your coming.
Through the scriptures,
you spoke words of steadfastness and encouragement,
filling us with hope in your visions of peace.
You came to us in your child, Jesus
— the new branch growing from the stump of Jesse’s line —
and baptised us with Holy Spirit and fire.
Though he was killed, you raised him to life,
and clothed him in righteousness and faithfulness
so that as his reign dawns,
justice may sprout on the earth,
peace outlast the moon,
and the knowledge of your wonderful grace
wash over the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Therefore with .....
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give you thanks for your words of steadfastness and encouragement,
that fill us with hope for the day
when justice will sprout on the earth,
peace outlast the moon,
and the knowledge of your wonderful grace
wash over the earth as the waters cover the sea.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your reign draws near
with the promise of justice, peace and security for all.
You created the earth and its inhabitants,
and through the voice of the prophets crying in the desert,
you called us to prepare the way for your coming.
Through the scriptures,
you spoke words of steadfastness and encouragement,
filling us with hope in your visions of peace.
You came to us in your child, Jesus
— the new branch growing from the stump of Jesse’s line —
and baptised us with Holy Spirit and fire.
Though he was killed, you raised him to life,
and clothed him in righteousness and faithfulness
so that as his reign dawns,
justice may sprout on the earth,
peace outlast the moon,
and the knowledge of your wonderful grace
wash over the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Christ Jesus has become a servant of all
so that we might glorify God for his mercy.
All who repent, confessing their sins,
are baptised in the love and mercy of God.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and prepare the way of the Lord.
Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you,
and bear fruits worthy of repentance.
And may God grant you harmony with one another;
May Christ Jesus fill you with joy and peace in believing;
And may the Holy Spirit empower you and fill you with hope.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Is it for Real?A sermon on Isaiah 11:1-10 & Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

What wine do you serve with locusts?A sermon on Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

A Handle on HopeA sermon on Romans 15:4-13 by Nathan Nettleton

That you may Abound in HopeA sermon on Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13 & Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

The Axe and the StumpA sermon on Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13 & Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Hope: defiant and celebratoryA sermon on Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13 & Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Getting a Handle on HopeA sermon on Romans 15:4-13 & Matthew 3:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

1st Sunday of Advent - Year A
2031-11-30 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Isaiah 2: 1-5

This is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was given to me, Isaiah:
The days are coming
when the mountain on which the LORD’s temple stands
will be the greatest mountain of all,
It will tower above every other peak and hill,
and all the world’s nations
will come rushing to it like a flood.
People everywhere will say:
“Come, let’s go and climb the LORD’s mountain;
let us worship in the temple of the God of Jacob.
There the LORD will teach us how to live right
so that we can get our lives on track.”
The holy mountain will be the place of enlightenment.
In the holy city, the LORD’s truth will be made known.
The LORD will settle all disputes between nations,
and sort out their competing claims.
They will turn weapons into welcome signs
and bombs into tools and toys.
Never again will nations take up arms against one another;
never again will young people be trained for war.
Come now, all you people of God,
let us stick to the tracks where the LORD’s light shines!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 122

When they invited us to your house, LORD,
our hearts leapt for joy!
And now, here we are,
standing inside the gates of your holy city.
Jerusalem, your sacred home;
the place where city and temple are one.
All your tribes gather here, LORD;
all your people come up here to celebrate.
They name you as the one to whom all thanks is due,
just as your people have always done.
The seats of law and justice are here,
safeguarded by David’s throne.
We pray for peace for Jerusalem;
may all go well for those who love your city.
Fill the city with peace and joy, LORD,
and stand guard to keep it secure.
For the love of sisters and brothers in Jerusalem,
we pray for the welfare of the city.
For the love of your house, LORD God,
we will work for peace in the holy land.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 13: 11-14

You, of course, understand the significance of the times we are living in. It is time to wipe the sleep out of your eyes; to be on your feet, fully alert. Salvation is at hand. It has been approaching ever since we first put our trust in God, and it is now drawing near. The night is almost gone; the new day is about to dawn. So let’s make sure that we get rid of any old ways of living that belong to the darkness of our past. Let us live our lives in such a way that we’ll be able to hold our heads high when the broad light of day shows up everything for what it really is. Avoid the desperate pursuit of pleasure with its common pitfalls of substance abuse, sexual sleaze, hostile belligerence, and crippling jealousy. Instead, take on the persona of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and don’t give any encouragement to the selfish desires that clamour for your attention and seek to hijack your life.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 24: 36-44

Speaking in private with his followers, Jesus said:
“Time has almost reached its goal, but exactly when that day and hour will come, nobody knows. The angels of heaven don’t know and not even the Son knows. The Conceiver of everything is the only one who knows. What I can tell you is this: things will be much the same when the New Human arrives as they were in Noah’s day. Before the flood burst upon them, people were going about their business as though everything was normal, right up until the day that Noah went aboard his boat. They didn’t suspect a thing until the flood hit and swept them all away. It will be just like that when the New Human hits the scene. Two mates will be working shoulder to shoulder; one will be taken and one will be left behind. Two women will be working on the one bench; one will be taken and one will be left behind. So keep your eyes open and your ears pricked, because you have no way of knowing which day will see your Lord arrive. Think about it. No one would ever let their houses get burgled if the house-breakers worked set hours and made appointments. You have got to be on the ready all the time, because you have no way of knowing when the New Human is going to show up.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for the night is nearly gone,
and your light is dawning in the darkness.
You created the earth and its inhabitants,
and when the flood came in the days of Noah,
you saved a people and called them to walk in your light.
Though the day and hour cannot be known,
through your prophets, you have given us
visions of our approaching salvation.
In your child, Jesus the Christ,
you have called all peoples to yourself
and taught us your ways.
When he was killed,
you raised him to new life
and promised a day when he will come
at an unexpected hour
to gather up your faithful ones
and bring them home to your house,
so that the weapons and works of darkness
might be discarded
and all might be securely clothed in Christ Jesus himself.
Therefore with .....
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We thank you that though the day and hour cannot be known,
you have given us visions of our approaching salvation,
when Christ will gather your faithful ones
and bring them home to your holy mountain.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for the night is nearly gone,
and your light is dawning in the darkness.
You created the earth and its inhabitants,
and when the flood came in the days of Noah,
you saved a people and called them to walk in your light.
Though the day and hour cannot be known,
through your prophets, you have given us
visions of our approaching salvation.
In your child, Jesus the Christ,
you have called all peoples to yourself
and taught us your ways.
When he was killed,
you raised him to new life
and promised a day when he will come
at an unexpected hour
to gather up your faithful ones
and bring them home to your house,
so that the weapons and works of darkness
might be discarded
and all might be securely clothed in Christ Jesus himself.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2004 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
The night is far gone, the day is near.
God comes to us in mercy and love.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and walk in the light of the Lord.
Stay alert for the Lord is near.
Put on the armour of light
and live openly and honourably.
Pray for peace for all God’s people.
And may God clothe you in the light of Christ;
May Christ Jesus teach you his ways;
And may the Holy Spirit keep you alert and prepared
for the coming day of the Lord.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Prepare! How?A sermon on Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13:11-14 & Matthew 24:36-44 by Nathan Nettleton

Wake Up To Yourselves!A sermon on Romans 13: 11-14 and Isaiah 2: 1-5 by Nathan Nettleton

Where is it all Heading?A sermon on Matthew 24:36-44 by Nathan Nettleton

Aim To Be Left Behind A sermon on Matthew 24:36-44 & Romans 13:11-14 by Nathan Nettleton

The Future – what should we know? An Advent sermon by Nathan Nettleton

Jesus Comes to Disrupt and to LiberateA sermon on Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14 & Matthew 24:36-44 by Scott Cowdell

The Burglar ComesA sermon on Matthew 24:36-44 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 29 - Christ the King - Year C
2031-11-23 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Jeremiah 23: 1-6

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
The writing is on the wall for you leaders of my people. You are supposed to be like shepherds, keeping an eye on my flock and seeing that they are kept united and safe. But you have butchered them and scattered them. You have driven them off and left them defenceless. But I can assure you that I, the LORD, have been keeping my eye on you! I will see that you get what you deserve for your crimes against my people.
I will bring back what’s left of my people; bring them home from the lands where I sent them when they fled as refugees. Back home where they belong, they will regain their strength and flourish once again. I, the LORD, will raise up new leaders for them who can be trusted to care for them like real shepherds. My people will no longer have any reason to fear or despair, and none of them will be lost.
You can be sure that the time is coming when I, the LORD,
will raise up a true king from the family of David;
one who will rule with wisdom and do the right thing;
who will bring justice to the land and set things right.
As long as he reigns the land will be secure
and my people will enjoy peace.
Whenever his name is mentioned, people will say,
“Ah! The LORD has put everything right!”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Canticle: Luke 1: 68-79

We sing your praises, Lord God of Israel,
because you have smiled upon us and put things right for us.
From the family of your servant David
you have called forth a hero with the power to save us.
You promised this years ago, in the preaching of your prophets.
You said you would break us loose from the grip of our enemies
and from the traps of those who had it in for us.
You have been true to your word
and honoured the agreement you made with our ancestors.
Way way back, you swore to Abraham and Sarah
that you would snatch us clear of enemy hands
and give us the opportunity to serve you openly,
without having to watch our backs;
to dedicate ourselves totally to you
and to doing what is right for the rest of our lives.
And now you have given us this child.
He will be known as a prophet of the great God.
He will go ahead of the coming Lord,
getting everything prepared.
He will let your people know that you offer salvation
and make it clear that their sins are forgiven.
Our God, your tender and patient love
will dawn on us and light up the world for us.
Even in the darkest hours, in the blackest hell-holes of our world,
your love will break through and illuminate the way of peace.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Colossians 1: 11-20

We are praying that your strength will be built up as you draw on God’s awesome resources, and that you will have the mental and emotional toughness to survive anything; not just to survive, in fact, but to keep on celebrating the good things you have received from God. You have much to be thankful for because, like a proud father, God has left a generous inheritance to the children of the light, and you’ve been written in for a share of it. We became children of the light when God broke the grip of the darkness that had overwhelmed us and placed us instead in the loving hands of Christ. All that we have ever done wrong has been forgiven and we have been put back where we belong, in the realm of God’s beloved Son.
Jesus Christ is the spitting image
of the God we cannot see.
Christ is the genuine original;
the blueprint for all creation.
Everything else that exists had its origin in Christ:
physical things and spiritual things;
visible things and invisible things;
things that govern the universe;
things that regulate our lives;
forces, powers and energies.
Absolutely everything that exists
was founded in Christ
and has its purpose in Christ.
Christ preceded everything else,
and Christ is the glue that holds everything else together.
Christ is to the church
as the head is to the body.
Life itself began with Christ
and new life – born from the dead – began with Christ too.
Christ was, is, and will be Number One in everything.
God was fully present in Christ, and gladly so;
reconciling everything in creation with its creator;
bearing the cost personally in the blood shed on the cross,
to restore the peace between heaven and earth.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 23: 33-43

They took Jesus out to the place called Skull Hill where the executions were carried out, and strung him up on a cross by driving nails through his flesh. They executed a couple of convicted criminals in the same way on crosses on each side of him. As he hung there, Jesus prayed out loud, saying, “Father, forgive these people. They’ve got no idea what they are doing.”
The executioners divided up his clothes among themselves, tossing a coin to see who should get what. The people stood around staring, but the community leaders were hurling insults and ridicule at him and making a huge joke of it, saying, “He reckoned he could save everyone else. Let’s see him get himself out of this if he’s really the Messiah, God’s chosen one!”
The soldiers were sticking the boots in too, offering him drinks of wine that had turned to vinegar, and saying, “Come on. If you’re the king of the Jews, pull rank and get yourself out of this trouble!”
They also hung a sign above his head saying, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who was strung up alongside him joined in the insults, shouting, “What sort of Messiah are you?! Get your act together and save yourself, and save us while you’re at it!”
But the other criminal pulled his mate up short, saying, “Put a sock in it! Don’t you care what God could do to us? We are about to meet our maker, the same as he is, but you and I have done the crime and we are copping what we had coming. There was no miscarriage of justice over us. But what has this bloke ever done wrong? Nothing!” And then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come to take charge of everything.”
Jesus replied, “You have my word for it; today you will join me in Paradise.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Below are the alternative 1st Reading and Psalm themed to the Gospel lection

Prior to the revision of the Lectionary in 1992, the 1st reading and the psalm that responded to it were chosen to link thematically with the gospel reading. After hearing the critique of those who said that the Hebrew Scriptures, from which the first reading is usually chosen, should be allowed to speak with their own voice rather than just add support to the gospel reading, the Lectionary was revised so that during Ordinary Time, the 1st reading runs in its own semi-continuous series, working through various books of the Hebrew Bible. The older themed series continues to be available as an alternative.
The weekly prayers offered here at LaughingBird Resources are based on the four readings above, and do not draw on the themed 1st reading and psalm.

Jeremiah 23: 1-6

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
The writing is on the wall for you leaders of my people. You are supposed to be like shepherds, keeping an eye on my flock and seeing that they are kept united and safe. But you have butchered them and scattered them. You have driven them off and left them defenceless. But I can assure you that I, the LORD, have been keeping my eye on you! I will see that you get what you deserve for your crimes against my people.
I will bring back what’s left of my people; bring them home from the lands where I sent them when they fled as refugees. Back home where they belong, they will regain their strength and flourish once again. I, the LORD, will raise up new leaders for them who can be trusted to care for them like real shepherds. My people will no longer have any reason to fear or despair, and none of them will be lost.
You can be sure that the time is coming when I, the LORD,
will raise up a true king from the family of David;
one who will rule with wisdom and do the right thing;
who will bring justice to the land and set things right.
As long as he reigns the land will be secure
and my people will enjoy peace.
Whenever his name is mentioned, people will say,
“Ah! The LORD has put everything right!”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 46

Our refuge, our shelter, our fortress, our security;
you are all these things to us, God.
You are always there for us when we need you.
Because of you, we will not panic
even if our world comes crashing down around our ears;
even if the earth splits open beneath us;
even if chaos pours in like a raging flood;
even if life as we know it goes up in smoke.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
A river flowing with life-giving water runs through your holy city
bringing joy and peace to your sacred home.
You are the most high God, and the city where you live
will rest secure and greet the new day with confidence.
The world may be in chaos, nations tearing apart at the seams,
but when you speak, the earth sinks to its knees.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
What you have done is a sight for sore eyes, LORD;
you have left a trail of destruction across the earth:
weapons of war crushed and burned;
implements of fear smashed to pieces;
conflicts and wars closed down for good.
You call us to a peaceful calm
and invite us to know you as God.
You stand supreme above the nations,
unmatched in all the earth.
You are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —
our safety, our refuge.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you are the King of the Universe
and you reign with justice and righteousness.
You created all things in heaven and on earth,
and through your holy prophets in ages past
you promised to save us from enemy hands
and free us from corrupt and negligent rulers.
Out of your deepest mercy
you have come to us in fullness in Jesus the Christ,
your anointed One who rules wisely,
shepherding your people and setting them free.
Though he is your visible image,
he was crucified as a criminal.
You raised him as the firstborn from the dead,
and through him you are reconciling all things to yourself.
Now you are reaching out to all who honour you
and recognise your chosen one in the agony of death,
and welcoming them into the Paradise of your presence.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)

We give you thanks, King of the Universe,
for you have come to us in fullness in Jesus Christ,
your anointed One who shepherds your people,
setting them free and reigning with justice and righteousness.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you thanks and praise, O God,
for you are the King of the Universe
and you reign with justice and righteousness.
You created all things in heaven and on earth,
and through your holy prophets in ages past
you promised to save us from enemy hands
and free us from corrupt and negligent rulers.
Out of your deepest mercy
you have come to us in fullness in Jesus the Christ,
your anointed One who rules wisely,
shepherding your people and setting them free.
Though he is your visible image,
he was crucified as a criminal.
You raised him as the firstborn from the dead,
and through him you are reconciling all things to yourself.
Now you are reaching out to all who honour you
and recognise your chosen one in the agony of death,
and welcoming them into the Paradise of your presence.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

In deepest mercy,
God has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, joyfully giving thanks to the one true King.
Prepare a pathway for the Lord;
endure everything with patience,
and teach people of salvation
through the forgiveness of sins.
And may God gather you into safety;
May Christ Jesus strengthen you with glorious power;
And may the Holy Spirit guide your feet on the way of peace.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

Can Christ be King if we become a Republic?A sermon on Colossians 1:11-20 & Luke 23:33-43 by Nathan Nettleton

Cultural ImperialismA sermon on Colossians 1:11-20 & Luke 23:33-43 by Nathan Nettleton

Shepherds, Kings, and a Divided ChurchA sermon on Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1:11-20 & Luke 23:33-43 by Nathan Nettleton

Failed KingsA sermon on Colossians 1:11-20 & Luke 23:33-43 by Nathan Nettleton
