LaughingBird

Proper 9 - Year B
2030-07-07 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.

2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10

After David had been king of Judah for some time, the leaders of the tribes of Israel came to meet with him at Hebron. They addressed him, saying:
“Look, we are family – your own flesh and blood. For a long time, even though Saul was officially our king, it has been you that we all looked up to, and you that we took our marching orders from. The LORD promised that it was only a matter of time before you would rule Israel and be the caretaker of all God’s people.”
During this meeting at Hebron, the tribal elders of Israel negotiated a deal with David and signed it in a sacred ceremony, with the LORD as their witness. As part of the deal they crowned David king of Israel, pouring sacred olive oil on his head to show that he was the chosen one.
David was thirty years old when he became king, and his reign lasted forty years. For the first seven and a half years, while based in Hebron, he only ruled over Judah. Then for a further thirty-three years he ruled over both Israel and Judah from his new capital in Jerusalem. The fortified centre of Jerusalem had held out against David, but he eventually captured it and moved in, declaring it to be the city of David. He had the city rebuilt around it starting from the landfill area on the east side.
David’s position was becoming stronger all the time, because the LORD, the ruler of everything, was on his side.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 48

Great is the LORD – worthy of our highest praise —
and great is the city where God lives.
The mountain of God’s presence
is a spectacular sacred site,
a source of joy for all the earth.
On Mount Zion stands the city of the great Ruler.
There in God’s sheltering presence
we have been given a place of safety.
Rulers of nations, despots and tyrants,
united to overthrow God’s dominion,
but one look at God’s sure defence
and their arrogant plans were blown.
In sheer panic, they took off in all directions.
They were as shaken as a woman in labour,
or a storm-tossed ship smashed on the reef.
We had heard of God’s great city,
and now we have seen it with our own eyes
The LORD who rules over everything
will see that this city stands firm forever.
O God, here in your holy Temple,
we meditate on your unfailing love.
Your reputation, O God, spreads throughout the earth,
and wherever you are named,
people shout for joy.
Your rule of justice has the last word everywhere.
Let Mount Zion celebrate,
and every city and town throw a party
because God’s decisions
bring justice and righteousness.
Come, let us walk around the holy mountain.
Let us examine our God from every angle.
Count up the towers of safety.
Inspect the sheltering places
within the presence of God.
Pass all this on to your children
and your children’s children
so that they too will know that this is our God.
This God is our God forever and ever,
the God who will lead us in peace
for all time to come.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 12: 2-10

There was a certain person — a Christian person who I know well — who fourteen years ago was swept up into the heights of heaven. I’m not sure whether this was a physical experience or an ecstatic vision. Only God really knows.
As I say, God only knows whether or not it was a whole-body thing, but this certain person was snatched up into Paradise, and there he heard things that are too wonderful for words, things that he dare not repeat to a living soul. Now if you want to hear about such amazing things, then I’m willing to talk freely about this certain person, but I don’t want to go blowing my own trumpet. Of course if you want me to talk about weaknesses I could talk about myself all night!
Mind you, there is no reason to think I’d end up with egg on my face if I did talk big about my own experiences. It would be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but don’t get me started! I’d rather let my actions do the talking for me. Let me be judged simply by the value of what I teach and what I do. Any spectacular revelations I may have experienced in the past should not inflate your opinion of me.
And believe me, God has seen to it that they haven’t given me an over inflated opinion of myself. To balance them out and keep my feet firmly on the ground, I have been given a special gift — a real thorn in the flesh, a condition that torments me and causes great anguish in my body. Satan used it to try to derail me, but it is probably what has kept me on track. Of course I couldn’t see that at first. Three times I put everything else aside and gave all my time and energy to seeking the Lord for healing and deliverance. But the Lord said to me, “My generous love is enough for you. Your weakness clears the deck and opens you to my strength.”
So then, if it means that Christ’s strength will be all the more active in me, I will gladly wear my weaknesses like a badge of honour. Indeed, given the opportunity to talk about them, you can’t shut me up! So nowadays, what ever comes my way — failure, bad-mouthing, tough times, harassment, tragedy —I take it all in my stride and just allow Christ to come to the fore. You see, it is when I am at my weakest that I find the greatest strength.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 6: 1-13

Jesus returned to his Nazareth, his hometown, and his closest followers went with him. On the Sabbath he gave a public lecture in the local synagogue. Many of those who attended were surprised and impressed by what he had to say. “Who would have guessed that a local lad would have done so well?” they said. “Where did he pick up such wisdom? And look at the miraculous things he does with just a touch of his hands!”
But the next minute they were getting their noses out of joint. “Who does he think he is? Mr Big-shot! He’s just a carpenter – Mary’s boy – no better than any of us. We know his brothers – James, Justin, Jude and Simon. His sisters all live here, and they’re no different from us.” So they ended up resenting him.
Jesus responded to all this, saying, “It’s always the way. Prophets are appreciated everywhere except at home among the friends and relations they grew up with.”
There was very little he could do there. He laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them, but that was about it. He couldn’t get over how stubborn and skeptical they were, so he moved on and did a teaching tour through the neighbouring towns.
Jesus called his chosen twelve together and sent them out in pairs. He commissioned them to deal with any spirit of evil they might encounter. He gave them orders to travel lightly and live simply – no carting luggage around or buying things along the way. He told them, “If anyone invites you to stay in their home, do so until it’s time to move on. No shopping around for a better place! And if you arrive somewhere and they refuse to welcome you in or hear what you have to say, just move on. Turn your backs and walk away. Scratch their names off your map and forget them.”
So they hit the road. Everywhere they went they preached with enthusiasm, calling people to turn their lives around and get back on track. They flushed out numerous demons, and healed a lot of people of various illnesses, anointing them with oil and praying that God would make them whole.
©2000 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 2: 1-5

A voice spoke to me and said, “Ezekiel, young man, stand up on your feet and listen to what I have to say to you.”
When I heard this, a spirit moved inside me and stood me up on my feet, and I heard the voice speaking to me. The voice said to me:
“Young man, I am sending you to my people. They are a nation of scabs who turned against me. Just like their ancestors, they have repeatedly done the wrong thing by me and they are continuing to do so. This latest generation is the most callous and pigheaded yet. I am sending you to them, and it is your job to announce whatever the Lord GOD has to say to them. Maybe they will listen, maybe they won’t, because they are such a defiant mob. Either way, they will be left in no doubt that there has been a prophet among them.”
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 123

It is to you that we look for help, LORD;
to you who rules from the throne of heaven!
When people are injured,
they look to the doctors for help;
when they lie in hospital,
they look to the nurses for compassion;
and in the same way
we look to you, the LORD our God:
we depend on your kindness and care.
Treat us with compassion, LORD, treat us with compassion.
We’ve endured more than our fair share of contempt.
We have had an absolute gutful
of being put down by the arrogant
and treated like dirt by those who’ve got it easy.
©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,
— joy of all the earth —
for your grace is sufficient for us,
and your strength is always there in our weakness.
You created the heavens and the earth and all that live in them
and gave yourself to us to be our guide forever.
You gave your people great leaders, like David,
to shepherd them in peace and righteousness.
Your son, Jesus, came teaching with astounding wisdom
and bringing freedom and healing at the touch of his hands.
Like the prophets he was not honoured in his own town,
and was crucified by his own nation,
but you raised him from the dead,
displaying your perfect power in his weakness.
Now he has entrusted us with his mission
of casting out evil and proclaiming your steadfast love
from the holy mountain to the ends of the earth.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your son, Jesus,
whose trusted your perfect power in his weakness on the cross,
and who has entrusted us with his mission
of casting out evil and proclaiming your steadfast love
from the holy mountain to the ends of the earth.
©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,
— joy of all the earth —
for your grace is sufficient for us,
and your strength is always there in our weakness.
You created the heavens and the earth and all that live in them
and gave yourself to us to be our guide forever.
You gave your people great leaders, like David,
to shepherd them in peace and righteousness.
Your son, Jesus, came teaching with astounding wisdom
and bringing freedom and healing at the touch of his hands.
Like the prophets he was not honoured in his own town,
and was crucified by his own nation,
but you raised him from the dead,
displaying your perfect power in his weakness.
Now he has entrusted us with his mission
of casting out evil and proclaiming your steadfast love
from the holy mountain to the ends of the earth.
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

Jesus Christ sent out his apostles to call us all to repentance.
God has promised that all who turn to Christ for mercy
will receive forgiveness for sin,
for in our weakness, God’s strength is sufficient.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and wherever people will hear you,
proclaim the life-changing love of God.
Do not fear your weakness,
for when you are weakest, Christ’s strength is known.
Travel lightly, live simply,
and honour those who welcome the gospel.
And may God be your protection and safe haven;
May the power of Christ Jesus dwell in you;
and may the Holy Spirit be your guide forever.
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.

Don’t Count on ApplauseA sermon on Mark 6:1-13 by Nathan Nettleton

Shoot the MessengerA sermon on Mark 6:1-13 by Nathan Nettleton

“Trusting God” for People who Have EverythingA sermon on Mark 6: 1-13, 14-15, 21-23 & 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10 by Andrew Woff

Making the Covenant – Making the ChurchA sermon on 2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10 by Nathan Nettleton

The Stumbling Stone SermonA sermon on Mark 6:1-13 by Samara Pitt

Thorns, Warts and AllA sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 & Mark 6:1-13 by Nathan Nettleton

When Churches Picket Each OtherA sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 & 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 8 - Year B
2030-06-30 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.

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

David returned from a successful campaign against the Amalekite army, and during a two day break in Ziklag he received news that King Saul had been killed in battle. David composed a song of lament in memory of Saul and his son Jonathan. He called it “The Song of the Bow” and it was written down in the Book of Jashar. David gave orders to his army musicians to teach the song to everyone in Judah. The words went like this:
Israel, your most decorated soldiers
lie dead on the hills!
Your glorious heroes have been cut down!
Don’t let news of this reach the streets of Gath;
don’t breathe a word of it in Ashkelon,
or the godless Philistine women
will mock us in our misery,
gloating and dancing with joy.
A curse on Mount Gilboa
where our heroes’ blood was spilt:
may the sun never shine there,
and the rain never fall;
may it never see a flower bloom again.
Cursed be the place where Saul bit the dust,
where his polished armour
was smeared with blood.
Our great heroes never flinched under fire:
with bow in hand,
Jonathan’s aim was deadly;
with sword in hand,
Saul cut the enemy to pieces.
Saul and Jonathan, how easy it was to love them!
Like father, like son, in life and in death;
they made eagles look slow,
and lions look weak.
Women of Israel, cry your eyes out for Saul!
It was him you had to thank
for your stunning wardrobes,
your designer gowns
and your elegant jewellery.
Our finest men have fallen,
cut down in the heat of the battle!
Jonathan lies dead on Mount Gilboa.
My heart is broken for you, my brother Jonathan;
I loved you more than words can say.
Your love was my greatest delight,
more precious than the love of women.
The heroes who filled us with pride have fallen.
Their weapons, once feared,
are tossed on the scrap heap!
©2000 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

2 Corinthians 8: 7-15

Everything you people put your hand to turns to gold. You seem to be the best at everything. You have outstanding faith. You’re articulate. You have great knowledge and insight. Your energy and enthusiasm seem boundless. Even in love you seem to outshine everyone else. So then, we are hoping that you will also come out tops in generosity, as you contribute to the relief fund for the church in Judea.
I’m not trying to force you into anything. I’m simply telling you about the generosity of others so that you’ll know where the benchmark is. I will be watching to see how your love measures up. Of course, if you really want a standard to aspire to, think about the extravagant offering of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rich in everything, but he gave it all up for you. He accepted poverty in order to make you rich.
So if you want my advice on this matter, here it is: it is time to put your money where your mouth is. You talked big last year about how willing you were to help when you first heard about the need. Now it’s time to show that you’re not all hot air. It is time to dig deep and show everyone that you are as generous with your actions as you are with your promises. I’m not concerned about how much actually ends up in the hat when you pass it around. It’s more a question of how what you give compares with what you have. No matter how eager you are, no one expects you to give what you don’t have.
Please don’t think that I am trying to make life a bed of roses for others by putting the squeeze on you. You have got plenty at the moment, and they’re doing it tough. Next time it might be the other way around. It’s like swings and roundabouts — it all balances out after a while. As the scriptures say,
“Those with the most let nothing go to waste,
and those with the least will not go without.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 5: 21-43

Jesus arrived by boat back on the Jewish side of Lake Galilee. A huge crowd gathered to meet him on the beach, and a man named Jairus – a respected leader of the synagogue – was among them. Jairus fell on his knees at Jesus’s feet and begged him repeatedly, “My precious little girl is on the verge of death. Come and lay your hands on her and make her well, so that she will live.” Jesus agreed and went with him. Much of the crowd tagged along, all jostling and pushing, trying to be near him.
Hiding in the crowd was a woman suffering from prolonged bleeding. For the previous twelve years her condition had meant that everyone treated her as defiled and contagious. She had spent all her money on doctors and healers who had prescribed everything under the sun. Despite all their remedies and promises, her problem just kept getting worse. She had heard about Jesus and was sure that he was her last chance. Unnoticed, she pushed her way through the crowd and managed to touch the edge of his coat. She was thinking to herself, “Surely even touching this man’s clothes will be enough to make me well.”
Sure enough, the moment she did it, she felt the bleeding stop. She could feel a real change in herself and she knew that she was finally free of the illness. Jesus felt something too, a sudden release of energy from within. He spun around, looking at the crowd, and asked, “Who touched me?”
“Who hasn’t?!” his followers asked incredulously. “If this crowd get any closer they’ll have to hoist you onto their shoulders, so there’s not much point in asking who touched you.”
But Jesus knew that it was something more than that and kept looking around to see who it was. The woman knew he meant her, and she knew that she was going to be found out. Shaking with fear, because she had defiled everyone she had touched, she fell at his feet and spilled out the whole story. But Jesus lifted her by the hand and said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith and it has paid off for you. Welcome back to the world of the healthy! May peace, health and happiness be yours, and may your illness be gone for good.”
As he was saying this, some people arrived from Jairus’ home and said, “It’s too late. Your daughter is dead. It’s no use bothering the teacher now.”
But Jesus heard what they were saying, and said to Jairus, “Don’t give up. Trust me.”
He sent the crowd on their way and wouldn’t let anyone come with them except Peter and the brothers, James and John. When they arrived at the home of the synagogue leader, it was in a state of chaos. Everywhere there were people crying, and you could hardly move for funeral directors, neighbours, and people bearing condolences and casseroles. Jesus didn’t mince his words: “That’s enough. The child is not dead. She’s only asleep.”
But they rubbished him. They knew she was dead. Unperturbed, Jesus took charge of the situation and kicked them all outside. Taking only the child’s parents and his three companions, he went into the room where the child was laid out. He clasped her hand tenderly and said to her, “Talitha koum!” which is Aramaic for “Little girl, get up.” That was all it took – she was up and walking around, as healthy as she had been for the previous twelve years! Of course everyone there was blown away – overcome with joy and amazement. Jesus gave them strict instructions not to breathe a word of this to anybody. Then he said, “The girl’s probably hungry. Find her something to eat.”
©2000 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.

Wisdom of Solomon 1: 13-15; 2: 23-24

God is not the author of death.
God created all things so that they might live.
Death never brings a smile to God’s face.
The natural way of the earth is to generate life.
The forces of nature are not destructive or poisonous.
The kingdom of death does not govern the planet.
A life lived in truth and integrity is immune to death,
because God created us for life without limit;
permanent and incorruptible, just like God.
But the devil got jealous and screwed it all up.
His greed and envy infected the world with death,
and for those who side with him, it will prove fatal.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Lamentations 3: 23-33 (canticle)

Your love and loyalty never die, LORD.
Your generous mercy never runs dry.
They are created new every morning
and you are as trustworthy as the solid rock.
So I keep telling myself that you are all I need
and that I can still trust you to come through for me.
You are good to those who hang in there for you, LORD;
to those whose hearts continue to search for you.
The life for which you save us, LORD,
is worth patiently waiting for.
It is a good thing to shoulder unfair burdens
while we are still young;
to put up with solitary confinement
if that is what the LORD has imposed;
to eat dust
without giving up hope;
to turn the other cheek with courage
and cop the insults that are dished out.
I can’t believe
that the Lord will write us off forever.
The Lord might be dishing out grief to us now
but not willingly.
The Lord’s rock-solid love
will pour forth compassion for us
for the Lord does not take pleasure
in causing trouble or pain.
©2014 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR 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 no matter how deep we sink in sin and despair,
you hear our cry for mercy and lift us to life.
From the depths of chaos you pulled the newborn earth
and filled it with love and beauty.
When we tore apart the glory of your creation
and left innocence slain upon our battlefields,
you continued to reach out to the grieving world
with a love more wonderful than any other.
Your surpassing generosity took flesh in Jesus Christ,
who, though he was rich,
gave up everything
so that we might lack nothing.
When he was killed, you raised him,
and hope dawned over the dark night of grief.
From him radiates the energy that heals us,
and at the touch of his hand
the outcasts are reconciled
and the dead awake to fullness of life.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son, Jesus,
for no matter how deep we sink in sin and despair,
he comes to us and at the touch of his hand
the outcasts are healed and reconciled
and the dead awake to fullness of life.
©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 no matter how deep we sink in sin and despair,
you hear our cry for mercy and lift us to life.
From the depths of chaos you pulled the newborn earth
and filled it with love and beauty.
When we tore apart the glory of your creation
and left innocence slain upon our battlefields,
you continued to reach out to the grieving world
with a love more wonderful than any other.
Your surpassing generosity took flesh in Jesus Christ,
who, though he was rich,
gave up everything
so that we might lack nothing.
When he was killed, you raised him,
and hope dawned over the dark night of grief.
From him radiates the energy that heals us,
and at the touch of his hand
the outcasts are reconciled
and the dead awake to fullness of life.
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

If the Lord recorded our sins, no one could survive,
but God’s capacity for forgiveness is awesome.
The Lord will bring mercy and grant full pardon.
In Jesus Christ we are lifted to life.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out, among the outcast and the grieving,
and speak the word of life and hope.
Do not fear, but trust in God’s word.
Watch for the Lord with eager expectation,
and be generous with all God has given you.
And may God respond to your every cry with mercy;
May Christ Jesus take you by the hand and lift you to life;
and may the Holy Spirit build you up in faith, in speech,
in knowledge, in passion and in love.
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.

The Table of GriefA sermon on 2 Samuel 1:1,17-27 & Psalm 130 by Nathan Nettleton

Are You Worth More Than a Touch?A sermon on Mark 5: 21-43 by Nathan Nettleton

Revulsion and Contagious LoveA sermon on Mark 5: 21-43 by Nathan Nettleton

The God of WinterA Winter Solstice sermon on Mark 5:21-43; 2 Samuel 1:17-27 & Psalm 130 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 7 - Year B
2030-06-23 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.

1 Samuel 17: (1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49

The Philistines were ready for war and their troops took up positions for an attack on the Judean town of Socoh.
The Philistine army had a champion named Goliath who came from Gath. He was a mountain of a man, towering over everyone around him. He was kitted out in the latest military gear with heavy bronze armour on his chest and legs and a gleaming helmet on his head. His chest armour alone was heavier than most men could lift. He carried a bronze sword strapped to his back. His spear was too thick for the average man to get his hand around and it had a head like a sharpened shot put. Another soldier walked in front of him carrying a huge shield.
Goliath strutted out from among the ranks and shouted at the Israelite army:
“Why should we waste time with a full battle? Let’s put up two men to have it out for us – winner takes all. I’m ready to represent the Philistines. Why don’t you lot in Saul’s army choose yourselves a champion to come down and take me on? If your man can kill me, then our army will surrender and our people will be your slaves. But if I win, then you’ll be our slaves. So come on, let’s see what you Israelites are made of. Send down your best man and we’ll see if he has what it takes to match me!”
Goliath’s defiant taunting threw Saul and his army into a panic. Scared witless, they couldn’t do a thing.
While all this was happening in the Elah Valley, David was back home, working on his father’s sheep station. Early one morning, at his father’s request, he left the sheep in someone else’s care and headed off to deliver some extra rations to his brothers in the army. He reached the army camp just as they were taking up their positions and sounding the battle cry. There was a stand off as the Israelite army and the Philistine army faced each other. David left the rations with the supply officer, and then ran up to the ranks to find his brothers and see how they were getting on. While he was talking with them, Goliath stepped forward from among the Philistine army, and began taunting the Israelites again. When David heard Goliath’s scoffing and saw the fear among the Israelite soldiers, he went and addressed King Saul, saying, “Your majesty, why are we letting this Philistine make our army look like a bunch of wimps. I’ll go out and deal with him for you!”
Saul replied, “You’ve got to be kidding. You’d have Buckley’s. You’re only a kid and he’s a top-gun, an elite soldier with more scalps to his name than you’ll ever have.”
But David held his line:
“Your majesty, I work sheep for my father; and whenever a lion or a bear drags off one of those sheep, I go after it and beat the living daylights out of it until it gives up the sheep. And if it makes the mistake of turning on me, I grab it by the throat and kill it. I have killed both lions and bears; and this godless Philistine will be a piece of cake. No one defies the army of the living God and gets away with it! The LORD didn’t let the lions or bears get their claws into me. The same LORD is more than a match for this Philistine.”
“All right,” said Saul, “Go and fight him, and God help you! You’ll need it.”
Saul offered David his own uniform and armour, and even his bronze helmet. But when David put on the armour and strapped on Saul’s sword, he could hardly walk. So he said to Saul, “I can barely stand up in this stuff because I haven’t trained in it,” and he took it all off. Instead he headed out carrying nothing but a hiking stick, a sling shot, and five smooth stones from the creek bed which he popped into his pockets. Out he marched, ready to face Goliath!
Goliath strutted arrogantly towards David, with the soldier carrying the shield still in front of him. When he got close enough to get a good look at David, he laughed out loud because David looked just like any other fresh-faced kid. “What do you think I am? A dog? Do you think I might heel and roll over for you if you wave your little stick around?!”
And he called down curses from his gods on David and threw every insult in the book at him. “Come on then,” he sneered, “Let’s have you. I’ll make dog meat out of you. I’ll hang you out for the crows to pick your bones.”
But David was undaunted and spoke back:
“You are so sure of yourself, trusting as you do in your fancy weapons of war. But I don’t need them, because my trust is in the LORD who commands the armies of heaven. This is the God you have insulted – the God of the armies of Israel. You’ve seen your last sunrise, Mister. With the help of the the LORD, I’ll knock you down for the count. I’ll cut off your head, and the only dog meat here will be you. The crows can feast on the carcasses of your Philistine mates. Then the whole world will know that the real God is Israel’s God. Everyone here will see that the LORD doesn’t need weapons to save his people. This battle is all over, bar the shouting, because the LORD has got your measure.”
At that, Goliath started towards David. David ran forward to meet him and reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a stone for his sling shot and let fly. He only needed one shot. It hit Goliath square on the head and cracked his skull. One small stone, and the giant fell on his face, as dead as a doornail.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

AND Psalm 9: 9-20

You, O LORD, are a safe haven for the oppressed,
a refuge when times are tough.
Your name inspires trust,
for you have never let down
those who turned to you.
We look to Zion, your home, and sing our praises,
announcing to everyone what you have done.
For you, O LORD, track down those
who spill innocent blood
and keep a record of every victim’s cry.
Give me a break, LORD.
You’ve seen how much I’ve been kicked around;
you’ve even stepped in yourself
to pull me out of danger.
I’ll never stop talking about what a hero you are.
I’ll shout it on the streets
and broadcast it on the air
until everyone knows how you saved us.
The nations that backed away from you
have fallen into their own traps:
the steel jaws they so carefully hid
have slammed shut on their own legs.
You hid nothing from them, LORD.
Your requirements were well publicised.
Judgment has come, just as you said;
the schemes of the wicked backfire on them.
This time they are their own victims!
Callous and ruthless nations
have spurned your ways, LORD,
and written their own ticket to hell.
But the deprived will not always be disregarded,
and those who dream of a day of plenty
will live to see it.
Up and at it, LORD! It’s time for action!
Don’t let these people have their way.
Call them to account for what they’ve done;
them and the nations they lead.
Put the fear of God into them, LORD;
strip them of their pretensions
so that everyone can see them
for what they really are.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR 1 Samuel 17:57 - 18:5, 10-16

After killing Goliath the Philistine, David was granted an audience with King Saul. He was still carrying the severed head of the Philistine when he was introduced to the King by Abner, the commander of the army. Saul asked him, “Whose people do you come from, young man?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem.”
After David had finished speaking to Saul, he met Saul’s son Jonathan. The two were soul mates from the word go, and Jonathan loved David as much as his own life. From that day on, Saul gave David a position in the royal household and would not let him return to his family home. Jonathan bound himself to David in a formal alliance, because he loved him so much. He took off his own royal robe and put it on David, and handed over to him his own military uniform and weapons.
Saul sent David out on numerous military campaigns, and wherever he went, he was successful. As a result, Saul gave him command of the whole army. David was becoming so popular with all the people that even Saul’s closest officials approved of his promotion.
However, David’s popularity started to get under Saul’s skin. One day an evil spirit from God seized him and he lost the plot completely, raving like a madman in his house. David was there playing some soothing music for the king on his lyre, as he did each day. Saul had a spear in his hand, and in his madness he twice threw it, trying to pin David to the wall, but David managed to duck clear each time.
Saul was increasingly afraid of David, because it was clear that the LORD had given up on Saul and was now backing David. So Saul kicked him out of the house and put him in command of a thousand soldiers on the front line. David led the unit out, and before long he was back with another great victory under his belt. He had success in everything he took on, because the LORD was backing him. When Saul saw how successful he had become, he was quaking in his boots. But all the people of Israel and Judah worshipped the ground David walked on, because it was him who led them into battle and brought them safe home again.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

AND Psalm 133

What a great thing it is, LORD,
when people can get along with one another,
and live together in unity and mutual respect.
It is even more satisfying than holding the cup aloft
and dancing in the rain of champagne
on Grand Final day.
It is even more desirable than sitting by an open fire
sharing chocolates and fine wine with a loved one.
It is even more beautiful than the monsoon rains
turning the desert into a sea of wildflowers.
For you LORD created us to be one people,
committed to one another, honouring one another,
sharing the land and its blessings forever.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2 Corinthians 6: 1-13

We are working together, shoulder to shoulder with God, and we urge you not to take God’s extravagant generosity for granted.
In the scriptures God says,
“At exactly the right moment,
I heard your call.
The day you needed help,
I was there to bail you out.”
Well, this is it — the exact right moment. This is the day to throw off the shackles and walk free! It won’t be our fault if you don’t take this chance — we’re doing everything in our power not to get in anyone’s way. There’s no point in nit-picking over the details of our work. We have endeavoured to be faithful servants of God and we’re confident that we’ve got the runs on the board. It’s not as though we’ve had it easy either. We have hung in there through hard times, tough times and horrendous disasters. We’ve been bashed, lynched and locked up. We’ve worked ourselves into the ground when things needed to be done, sometimes even going without sleep and food. And through all this we have maintained our integrity — our intentions have been pure and our heads have been clear. We have managed to hold on to our patience, generosity, and holiness of spirit. Our love has been genuine, our speech truthful, and God has continued to work powerfully through us. We have armed ourselves with nothing but an iron commitment to doing what’s right, and we’ve grasped the work of justice with both hands. Sometimes we’ve been honoured and sometimes slandered. We have been true to our word and yet denounced as charlatans. We’ve been treated as nobodies even though everyone knows who we are. We’ve been written of as dead, but here we are, brimming with life. We’ve been flogged to within an inch of our lives but never quite killed. We’ve almost drowned in tears and yet we are still bubbling with joy. They say we are poor, and yet many are enriched by us. They say we have nothing to offer, and yet everything is ours to share.
My dear friends in Corinth, what we say is the honest truth — our hearts are wide open to you. We are not holding back on our affection for you; we are laying ourselves open to you. But you are being so stunted in your response. Your hearts are full, but you live like misers. I’m speaking to you as I would to my own children, with all the love and clarity I can muster. Open up your hearts. Live generously and expansively!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Mark 4: 35-41

One evening, after Jesus had spent the day teaching the crowds on the shore of Lake Galilee, he said to his followers, “Let’s go. Let’s sail across to the other side.”
So they piled into the boat, just as they were, and left the crowds behind. They weren’t completely alone though, because a few other boats came with them. Suddenly a huge storm whipped up, and the waves were smashing against the boat. It was a desperate situation – they were taking on water fast, but Jesus was sound asleep with his head on a cushion at the back of the boat. His terrified followers shook him awake, yelling, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are all about to die here?” Jesus got up and began barking orders at the wind and the waves: “Calm down! Let’s have some peace here!”
Right on cue, the wind dropped to a whisper and the sea was as smooth as glass. Jesus turned to his astonished followers and said, “Why are you so gutless? Where’s your faith?”
Now they were really quaking in their boots! “Who is this man?” they asked one another, “Even the wind and the sea fall into line at his command!”
©2000 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.

Job 38: 1-11

From the midst of a cyclone, the voice of the LORD answered Job, saying:
“Who are you to mouth off against me
when you’ve got no idea what you’re talking about?
Stand up straight like a man
and see if you can give answers when I ask the questions.
“Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?
If you’re so smart, tell me all about it.
Who drew up the plans and decided how big it would be?
Who held the tape measure and marked it out?
Speak up – surely you know!
What do the foundations sit on, and how far down do they go?
Who turned the first sod? Who laid the cornerstone?
Do you remember what the morning stars sang at the celebration?
It brought everyone in heaven to their feet cheering.
“Perhaps you remember who closed the floodgates
to contain the ocean
when it gushed up from the womb of the earth?
I was there. I clothed it in mist
and tucked it up in a thick blanket of fog.
I decided where it should start and finish.
I closed the gates and built the levy banks.
I said to the sea, ‘I’ve drawn a line in the sand that you must not cross.
Your powerful waves can pound to here, but no further.’”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 107: 1-3, 23-32

Thank you, LORD! Thank you for being so good.
Your rock-solid love will never end.
LORD, we freely and openly acknowledge
that it was you who got us out of trouble;
you who put us back on the right track.
You gathered us from the four corners of the globe,
from wherever we had been lost or exiled.
Some of us went to sea;
made our living sailing the ocean
Your awesome power was clear to see, LORD,
in the restless energy of the deep.
One word from you and storms whipped up;
furious waves crashed and tore at us.
Hurled to the sky and slammed back down,
our courage failed and we feared the worst.
Tossed like a cork; staggering like drunks;
nothing to do but cling on and pray.
In sheer despair, we cried out to you, LORD,
and in a flash, you came to our rescue.
You calmed the storm
and the waves fell quiet.
Overwhelming relief left us speechless
as you piloted us safely into a sheltered bay.
So let us tell you how grateful we are, LORD.
Thank you for your rock-solid love
and for the great things you do for everyone.
Let us talk you up whenever your people gather,
and sing your praises when the leaders meet.
©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 a safe haven to those in trouble
and we rejoice in your deliverance.
On the day of creation, you calmed the chaos
and with a word, brought forth the earth and its riches.
You never forget the cries of the victims of oppression
or let the hope of the poor perish forever.
You have delivered those who trust in you,
defeating their powerful enemies,
not with the sword, but with the weapons of righteousness.
You sent to us your Son, Jesus the Christ,
and in him we have encountered a peacemaker
who is undaunted even in the wildest storms.
Though the waves of death crashed over him,
you raised him up and gave him the power
to subdue even the tempest of death,
and to release from its terrors all who trust in him.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son, Jesus the Christ,
for though the waves of death crashed over him,
you raised him up and gave him the power
to subdue even the tempest of death,
and to release from its terrors all who trust in him.
©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 are a safe haven to those in trouble
and we rejoice in your deliverance.
On the day of creation, you calmed the chaos
and with a word, brought forth the earth and its riches.
You never forget the cries of the victims of oppression
or let the hope of the poor perish forever.
You have delivered those who trust in you,
defeating their powerful enemies,
not with the sword, but with the weapons of righteousness.
You sent to us your Son, Jesus the Christ,
and in him we have encountered a peacemaker
who is undaunted even in the wildest storms.
Though the waves of death crashed over him,
you raised him up and gave him the power
to subdue even the tempest of death,
and to release from its terrors all who trust in 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.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Now is God’s chosen time.
Now is the day of salvation.
The Lord meets you in grace and mercy,
lifting you from the gates of death.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out, trusting in God, even in the midst of the storms.
Arm yourselves only with the weapons of righteousness
and stand firm before the enemies of life.
Put no obstacle in anyone’s way,
but in every way commend yourselves as servants of God.
And may God deliver you from all that would destroy you;
May Christ Jesus calm all that would terrorise you;
and may the Holy Spirit sustain you in patience, kindness, truthfulness and genuine love.
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.

Giving yourself away and looking after yourselfA sermon on 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 & Mark 4:35-41 by Nathan Nettleton

Against Overwhelming OddsA sermon on 1 Samuel 17 & Mark 4:35-41 by Nathan Nettleton

When the Ship is Going DownA sermon on 1 Samuel 17 & Mark 4:35-41 by Nathan Nettleton

Beyond the Limits!A sermon on Mark 4:35-41 & 1 Samuel 17 by Nathan Nettleton

Peace, be still.A sermon on 1 Samuel 17: 1a , 4-11, 19-23, 32-49 and Mark 4:35-41 by John Fowler

Trinity Sunday - Year B
2030-06-16 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 6: 1-8

I had a vision of the Lord during the year that King Uzziah died. The Lord was high above, sitting on an imposing throne. The Lord’s presence dwarfed everything else so totally that just the cuffs of his robe filled the temple. Awesome fiery creatures, known as Seraphim, were there, serving the Lord. Each Seraph had three pairs of wings. They used one pair to shield their faces, one to shield their bodies, and the third for flying. They cried out to one another saying:
“Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy is the LORD who rules over everything.
The whole earth is full of God’s glory.”
The sound of their voices shook the place to its foundations, and clouds of smoke billowed through the temple. And I said:
“This is the end of me.
I’ll never get out of here alive.
If I so much as open my mouth
the ugliness inside is exposed for all to see,
and the same could be said of everyone I know;
yet I’ve stumbled into the presence of the Ruler of Heaven.
Here I am, naked before the all-consuming
holiness of the LORD!”
Then one of the seraphim flew right up to me carrying a pair of tongs in which it held a red hot coal – straight from the fire on the altar. The seraph touched my mouth with the glowing coal and said:
“Look! This holy fire has touched your lips.
Your sinfulness is forgiven.
Your slate is wiped clean.”
After this I heard the voice of the Lord saying
“Is there someone I can send?
Is there anyone who will go on our behalf?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me if you will!”
©2000 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

Romans 8: 12-17

The truth is, brothers and sisters, that we owe nothing to the preoccupations of our former life. We need no longer have our lives dictated by the mindless pursuit of fashionable dreams and selfish desires. After all, the attraction was fatal. But thanks to God’s Spirit, we can now be rid of all that — give it a decent burial and get on with our new lives. All those who dance to the Spirit’s tune are God’s beloved children. We were not sold into slavery where we would grovel timidly in the dust, afraid to put a foot wrong. Rather we were adopted into a family full of love and joy. Like eager children crying, “Daddy! Mummy!” we come running to God, and with loving arms, God’s Spirit gathers us up, demonstrating clearly to whom we belong. And since we are children of God, we are actually on the same footing as Christ. With him we will inherit all that has been kept in trust for God’s children. But we have to take the good with the bad, and we know the price he paid. We need to be willing to cop it on the chin with him now if we want to share the glory with him later.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 3: 1-17

There was a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Pharisee party and a leader in the Jewish nation. Late one night he came to speak with Jesus. He said, “Rabbi, we recognise that God has sent you as a teacher and that God is with you. How else could you do these things which are so clearly the work of God?”
Jesus answered him, “Right you are. And let me tell you this: no one will see the full life of God without being born into it from above.”
Nicodemus was taken aback. “How can this be?” he asked, “A person can only be born once. None of us can go back to the womb and be born again.”
Jesus replied saying:
“Listen again, for it is important that you get this. There is only one way into the full life of God, and it is through a birth of water and Spirit. A baby that emerges from a womb got its body from the bodies of its parents. But a growing person is not just a body, and the life-force within them emerges from the womb of the Spirit. So don’t be surprised that I said you have to be born from above. You can’t control or predict these things. They are like the wind. You can hear it coming and see what it does, but what’s driving it or where it is going next is anyone’s guess. God’s Spirit is like the wind, and so are all those who are born of the Spirit.”
But Nicodemus said, “I’m not with you. How can these things be?”
Jesus replied:
“How can you set yourself up as one of the teachers of Israel when you are struggling to get your head around the basics?
“Listen carefully because I’m speaking the truth. We know these things from our own experience, we’ve seen them with our own eyes, and yet you fob us off as though we were reporting a rumour we’d heard in the street. If I told you the sky was blue, you’d blink and take another look, so what chance is there of you believing anything I have to say about the ways of God? How are you going to check out what I say? None of you have ever gone up and stood face to face with God. The only one who has done that is the New Human, the one who came from God in the first place. You know the old story from the desert: the one about Moses lifting up the hand-made snake so that the people could look at something that would help them to focus their trust in God. Well, the New Human is going to be lifted up for much the same reason. Everyone who looks up to him in trust and hope will receive life without limit.
“God’s love for the world is so overwhelming that even giving up his own son was not too great a cost to ensure that no one need succumb to death. All those who put their trust in him can have boundless life instead.
“God didn’t put his son’s life on the line merely to bring down the hammer and pass sentence on us. Rather, God saw the world in desperate trouble and sent the Son on a cosmic rescue mission.”
©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 loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.
Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.
You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son
who you gave in your great love for the world,
so that all who trust him
may be born from above of water and spirit,
and have eternal life,
sharing with him in his sufferings and his glory.
©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 loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.
Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.
You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.
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 did not send the Son into the world to condemn us,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The refining fire of God has touched you.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out and in all of life, worship the Lord.
Entrust yourself to the winds of God’s Spirit;
put to death selfish desires,
and offer yourself for God’s mission in the world.
And may God give strength to you and to all;
May Christ Jesus bless you with peace;
And may the Holy Spirit, whispering within your hearts,
give you assurance that you are God’s children.
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.

Trinity and CommunityA sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Stumbling into the Love Dance of the TrinityA sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Trying to Pin Down the Experience of GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8 & Romans 8:12-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Questioning the Integrity of GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17 & John 3:1-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Contemplating the TrinityA sermon on the Icon of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Does the Trinity add up?A sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Children of the Triune GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17 & John 3:1-17 by Nathan Nettleton

The Bible, the Trinity, and the WarA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

It matters, but you don’t have to explain it!A sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Trinity Sunday - Year B
2030-06-16 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 6: 1-8

I had a vision of the Lord during the year that King Uzziah died. The Lord was high above, sitting on an imposing throne. The Lord’s presence dwarfed everything else so totally that just the cuffs of his robe filled the temple. Awesome fiery creatures, known as Seraphim, were there, serving the Lord. Each Seraph had three pairs of wings. They used one pair to shield their faces, one to shield their bodies, and the third for flying. They cried out to one another saying:
“Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy is the LORD who rules over everything.
The whole earth is full of God’s glory.”
The sound of their voices shook the place to its foundations, and clouds of smoke billowed through the temple. And I said:
“This is the end of me.
I’ll never get out of here alive.
If I so much as open my mouth
the ugliness inside is exposed for all to see,
and the same could be said of everyone I know;
yet I’ve stumbled into the presence of the Ruler of Heaven.
Here I am, naked before the all-consuming
holiness of the LORD!”
Then one of the seraphim flew right up to me carrying a pair of tongs in which it held a red hot coal – straight from the fire on the altar. The seraph touched my mouth with the glowing coal and said:
“Look! This holy fire has touched your lips.
Your sinfulness is forgiven.
Your slate is wiped clean.”
After this I heard the voice of the Lord saying
“Is there someone I can send?
Is there anyone who will go on our behalf?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me if you will!”
©2000 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

Romans 8: 12-17

The truth is, brothers and sisters, that we owe nothing to the preoccupations of our former life. We need no longer have our lives dictated by the mindless pursuit of fashionable dreams and selfish desires. After all, the attraction was fatal. But thanks to God’s Spirit, we can now be rid of all that — give it a decent burial and get on with our new lives. All those who dance to the Spirit’s tune are God’s beloved children. We were not sold into slavery where we would grovel timidly in the dust, afraid to put a foot wrong. Rather we were adopted into a family full of love and joy. Like eager children crying, “Daddy! Mummy!” we come running to God, and with loving arms, God’s Spirit gathers us up, demonstrating clearly to whom we belong. And since we are children of God, we are actually on the same footing as Christ. With him we will inherit all that has been kept in trust for God’s children. But we have to take the good with the bad, and we know the price he paid. We need to be willing to cop it on the chin with him now if we want to share the glory with him later.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 3: 1-17

There was a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Pharisee party and a leader in the Jewish nation. Late one night he came to speak with Jesus. He said, “Rabbi, we recognise that God has sent you as a teacher and that God is with you. How else could you do these things which are so clearly the work of God?”
Jesus answered him, “Right you are. And let me tell you this: no one will see the full life of God without being born into it from above.”
Nicodemus was taken aback. “How can this be?” he asked, “A person can only be born once. None of us can go back to the womb and be born again.”
Jesus replied saying:
“Listen again, for it is important that you get this. There is only one way into the full life of God, and it is through a birth of water and Spirit. A baby that emerges from a womb got its body from the bodies of its parents. But a growing person is not just a body, and the life-force within them emerges from the womb of the Spirit. So don’t be surprised that I said you have to be born from above. You can’t control or predict these things. They are like the wind. You can hear it coming and see what it does, but what’s driving it or where it is going next is anyone’s guess. God’s Spirit is like the wind, and so are all those who are born of the Spirit.”
But Nicodemus said, “I’m not with you. How can these things be?”
Jesus replied:
“How can you set yourself up as one of the teachers of Israel when you are struggling to get your head around the basics?
“Listen carefully because I’m speaking the truth. We know these things from our own experience, we’ve seen them with our own eyes, and yet you fob us off as though we were reporting a rumour we’d heard in the street. If I told you the sky was blue, you’d blink and take another look, so what chance is there of you believing anything I have to say about the ways of God? How are you going to check out what I say? None of you have ever gone up and stood face to face with God. The only one who has done that is the New Human, the one who came from God in the first place. You know the old story from the desert: the one about Moses lifting up the hand-made snake so that the people could look at something that would help them to focus their trust in God. Well, the New Human is going to be lifted up for much the same reason. Everyone who looks up to him in trust and hope will receive life without limit.
“God’s love for the world is so overwhelming that even giving up his own son was not too great a cost to ensure that no one need succumb to death. All those who put their trust in him can have boundless life instead.
“God didn’t put his son’s life on the line merely to bring down the hammer and pass sentence on us. Rather, God saw the world in desperate trouble and sent the Son on a cosmic rescue mission.”
©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 loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.
Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.
You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son
who you gave in your great love for the world,
so that all who trust him
may be born from above of water and spirit,
and have eternal life,
sharing with him in his sufferings and his glory.
©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 loved the world so greatly that you gave your Son,
so that all who trust him may have eternal life.
Your powerful voice, thundering over the waters,
spoke into being the new-born creation.
From your holy throne, surrounded by seraphim,
you called your prophets to carry the message of life
to those who were enslaved to selfish desires.
You sent your Son, Jesus Christ, into the world
and when the enemies of life lifted him up to die,
you raised him from the grave
and made him the source of life
for all who look to him in trust and hope.
And now your Holy Spirit bears witness within us
that we are indeed your children,
born from above of water and spirit,
and destined to share with Christ
in his sufferings and his glory.
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 did not send the Son into the world to condemn us,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The refining fire of God has touched you.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out and in all of life, worship the Lord.
Entrust yourself to the winds of God’s Spirit;
put to death selfish desires,
and offer yourself for God’s mission in the world.
And may God give strength to you and to all;
May Christ Jesus bless you with peace;
And may the Holy Spirit, whispering within your hearts,
give you assurance that you are God’s children.
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.

You don’t have to explain it!A sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Trinity and CommunityA sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Stumbling into the Love Dance of the TrinityA sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Trying to Pin Down the Experience of GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8 & Romans 8:12-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Questioning the Integrity of GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17 & John 3:1-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Contemplating the TrinityA sermon on the Icon of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Does the Trinity add up?A sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Children of the Triune GodA sermon on Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17 & John 3:1-17 by Nathan Nettleton

The Bible, the Trinity, and the WarA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

The Day of Pentecost - Year B
2030-06-09 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.

1st Reading: Acts 2: 1-21

On the Feast Day of Pentecost all the believers were together in one place. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there was a sound like a raging cyclone - and nothing could be heard above it anywhere in the house. And then the Holy Spirit burst in among them like a bushfire, with sparks and fireballs leaping out to engulf every one there. With fire in their guts and the Holy Spirit unleashing their tongues, they began to speak of God in languages they had never learned.
Now in Jerusalem at that time, there were faithful Jewish pilgrims from all over the world. The wild noise among the believers quickly drew a crowd. What they heard bewildered them because everyone, no matter where they were from, heard their native language being spoken by the believers. Almost unable to believe their ears, they asked:
“Don’t all these people come from Galilee? How come we can all hear them speaking our own native languages? Some of us are Parthians, some Medes, others Elamites. There are people visiting here from Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the Cyrenene occupied parts of Libya. There are immigrants from Rome, both ethnic Jews and converts. Some here are even Cretans and Arabs! But these Galileans are speaking all our languages and telling us about the extraordinary things God has done.”
They were all in a spin, unable to make head nor tail of what was happening. They kept asking one another what was going on and what it could all mean. Others though, just sneered and said, “They’ve been on the turps. They’re just a bunch of drunks.”
Peter stood up with the other eleven and addressed the crowd as loudly and clearly as he could:
“Men and women of Jerusalem, locals and visitors, listen up and I’ll let you in on what this is all about. If you think that these people are drunk, you are wrong. Think about it - the pubs aren’t even open this early in the morning. No, what is happening here was explained long ago in the words of the prophet Joel:
“This is what I will do
when time reaches its climax, God declares:
I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.
Your sons and your daughters
shall speak as prophets.
The young among you will see visions,
and the old will dream dreams.
I even have men and women among those
whose rights no one cares about,
and in those days
I will pour out my Spirit upon them too;
and they shall proclaim my justice.
I will perform miraculous signs in the sky above
and awesome wonders on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and clouds of smoke.
The sun will go black and the moon blood-red
before the dawning
of the awesome and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who cries out to the Lord
shall be saved.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Ezekiel 37: 1-14 (alternative 1st reading)

The LORD took hold of me and the LORD’s Spirit carried me away and dropped me off in the middle of Death Valley. I took a look around but there was nothing to be seen but bones – old human bones, baked dry in the sun – thousands and thousands of them. The LORD questioned me saying, “Ezekiel, mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Lord GOD, only you can answer such a question.”
Then the LORD told me to preach boldly to the bones, saying:
“All you dry bones, listen to what the LORD is saying to you. Though you are long dead, I, the Lord, will put breath into you again, and you will live. Muscles, ligaments, organs, veins; all these I will give you, wrapped in healthy new skin. You will have whole new bodies and I will breathe life into you. Then you will know for sure that I am the LORD.”
So I did what the LORD told me and I preached to the bones. Even while I was in full flight, the noise of rattling bones began to echo through the valley. They were coming together, linking up, one bone to another. As I watched, muscles appeared and grew. Bodies filled out with new flesh, and fresh skin was wrapped around them. But they were still lifeless.
Then the LORD told me to call to the winds, saying:
“North Wind, South Wind, East Wind, West Wind, listen to what the LORD is telling you to do. Come from everywhere and blow the breath of life into these corpses, so that they can live again.”
Again I spoke as the LORD had said, and even as I did, gusts of wind swirled among the bodies, resuscitating them before my very eyes. Rising to their feet like a finals’ crowd, they could have easily filled the biggest stadium.
Then the LORD explained to me what it all meant:
“Ezekiel, mortal man, my people are just like old dry bones. They are always whingeing that life has become one long drought and they’ve been left for dead with no reason to hope that the future might be any better. So preach boldly, Ezekiel, and tell them this:
“All you people, listen to what the LORD is promising: I am going to dig up your graves, and open your coffins. I will bring you back as my people to the promised land. When I do this for you, my people, when I restore life to your bodies, then you will know for sure that I am the LORD. My Spirit will be within you like the breath in your lungs, and so you shall live. I will once again plant your feet on your own patch of dirt. Then there will no longer be any doubt that I, the LORD, have spoken and that what I say goes.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

O LORD, what a wildly fabulous world!
Working hand in hand with wisdom
you have made
an earthful of wonderful creatures.
Just look at the deep wide sea,
swarming with life beyond our imagining,
from coral to crayfish, from mussels to marlin.
Ships plough the waves,
while mythical monsters cavort in the depths.
Like seagulls at a picnic,
every creature looks to you for food.
They gather around in eager expectation,
and gorge themselves when you open your hand.
If you turned your back, they’d be panic stricken;
if you withdrew your Spirit
they would have nothing to breathe,
their bodies would quickly crumble.
But when you breathe your spirit into them,
life sprouts up fresh and fragrant again
and the earth itself is revived.
Glorious is all you do, LORD,
may you be honoured forever.
May everything created be a joy to the LORD.
One look from the LORD makes even the earth quiver;
one touch and even the mountains erupt.
With every breath I will sing to the LORD;
as long as there is life in me,
I will give honour to my God in song.
Even my unspoken thoughts I offer to the LORD,
for the LORD is a delight to me.
May wickedness be wiped from the earth,
may enemies of life no longer be found.
O bless the LORD, everything within me.
Praise the LORD!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2nd Reading: Romans 8: 22-27

The time of deliverance is near. After a long pregnancy, the whole creation is now groaning and shuddering in the final stages of labour. And we are not just witnesses to this birth. We ourselves, having been impregnated by the Spirit, are labouring to bring the new life within us to fruition. For then, with our bodies set free, our longing to be God’s children will be fulfilled. This joyous expectancy ensures that our deliverance will come. If there was never to be anything more than our present reality, these longings within us would be in vain. But we are eager to see a promised new reality, and this hope sustains us.
There will be times when our strength fails us and we will feel like just accommodating ourselves to the way things presently are, but the Spirit will always be there for us. Even when our prayer dries up and words fail us, the Spirit is there within us, keeping the communication lines open by turning our deepest achings and yearnings into prayers that pass wordlessly from heart to heart. And God, being of one mind with the Spirit, is able to hear the cries of our hearts because the Spirit offers them, along with the prayers of all God’s people, in a language that connects with the cries of God’s heart.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Acts 2: 1-21 (alternative 2nd reading)

On the Feast Day of Pentecost all the believers were together in one place. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there was a sound like a raging cyclone - and nothing could be heard above it anywhere in the house. And then the Holy Spirit burst in among them like a bushfire, with sparks and fireballs leaping out to engulf every one there. With fire in their guts and the Holy Spirit unleashing their tongues, they began to speak of God in languages they had never learned.
Now in Jerusalem at that time, there were faithful Jewish pilgrims from all over the world. The wild noise among the believers quickly drew a crowd. What they heard bewildered them because everyone, no matter where they were from, heard their native language being spoken by the believers. Almost unable to believe their ears, they asked:
“Don’t all these people come from Galilee? How come we can all hear them speaking our own native languages? Some of us are Parthians, some Medes, others Elamites. There are people visiting here from Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the Cyrenene occupied parts of Libya. There are immigrants from Rome, both ethnic Jews and converts. Some here are even Cretans and Arabs! But these Galileans are speaking all our languages and telling us about the extraordinary things God has done.”
They were all in a spin, unable to make head nor tail of what was happening. They kept asking one another what was going on and what it could all mean. Others though, just sneered and said, “They’ve been on the turps. They’re just a bunch of drunks.”
Peter stood up with the other eleven and addressed the crowd as loudly and clearly as he could:
“Men and women of Jerusalem, locals and visitors, listen up and I’ll let you in on what this is all about. If you think that these people are drunk, you are wrong. Think about it - the pubs aren’t even open this early in the morning. No, what is happening here was explained long ago in the words of the prophet Joel:
“This is what I will do
when time reaches its climax, God declares:
I will pour out my Spirit on everyone.
Your sons and your daughters
shall speak as prophets.
The young among you will see visions,
and the old will dream dreams.
I even have men and women among those
whose rights no one cares about,
and in those days
I will pour out my Spirit upon them too;
and they shall proclaim my justice.
I will perform miraculous signs in the sky above
and awesome wonders on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and clouds of smoke.
The sun will go black and the moon blood-red
before the dawning
of the awesome and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who cries out to the Lord
shall be saved.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 15: 26-27; 16: 4b-15

On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus said to his disciples, “I am going to send the Spirit to you from the Father. The Spirit will be your companion, your advocate and supporter, and will confirm for you the whole truth about me. You too are to speak up for the truth, because you have been with me ever since we started.
“Up until now I have always been with you, so there was no need to explain these things, but now I am going back to the One who sent me. None of you have even asked me where I am going. Instead you are just sitting there getting more and more down in the dumps with each thing I say. All the same, I’ll say it again: the truth is that you will be better off after I’ve gone. You see, the Spirit can’t come to be with you until I leave. Once I’m gone though, I will send the Spirit to you.
“The Spirit will come and show everyone just how wrong the world has been in its opinions about sin and righteousness and judgment. As the Spirit will show, people have the wrong idea about sin because they don’t trust my ways. They have the wrong idea about righteousness because they don’t know that it only comes from the Father. It won’t be any easier to see now that I’m going back to its source. They have the wrong idea about judgment because they think it’s all in the future, when in reality, sentence has already been passed on the one who steered this world into its godless ways.
“There is a whole lot more I would love to say to you, but it would all be too much for you at the moment. The Spirit will come, full of truth, and will lead you by the hand into the pathways of truth. The Spirit does not speak independently, but on my behalf. Through the Spirit, I will let you know what is going to happen and what it all means. I will be honoured by everything the Spirit says, because they are my words delivered to you. All that the Father has is mine. So now you understand why I have been saying that the message the Spirit will deliver to you is actually coming from me.”
©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 pour out your Spirit on all flesh
and amaze us with your deeds of power.
In your infinite wisdom, you created the earth
and made it pregnant with new life.
You raised living creatures from the dust,
by the power of your Word
and breathed into them the breath of your Spirit.
Your Son, Jesus, taught us your truth
and, before being given up to death,
he promised to send us the Holy Spirit
to support us in both strength and weakness
as we labour with you
to bring to birth the promised fulfilment
of our deepest hopes and yearnings.
In these last days you have poured out
the new wine of the Spirit,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
awakening within us your marvellous gifts
and firing our tongues with everlasting songs of joy.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for pouring out the new wine of the Spirit
in these last days,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
awakening within us your marvellous gifts
and firing our tongues with everlasting songs of joy.
©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 pour out your Spirit on all flesh
and amaze us with your deeds of power.
In your infinite wisdom, you created the earth
and made it pregnant with new life.
You raised living creatures from the dust,
by the power of your Word
and breathed into them the breath of your Spirit.
Your Son, Jesus, taught us your truth
and, before being given up to death,
he promised to send us the Holy Spirit
to support us in both strength and weakness
as we labour with you
to bring to birth the promised fulfilment
of our deepest hopes and yearnings.
In these last days you have poured out
the new wine of the Spirit,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
awakening within us your marvellous gifts
and firing our tongues with everlasting songs of joy.
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

The one who has corrupted this world
has already been condemned,
but everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord
will be saved.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world,
and labour to bring forth new life.
Dream dreams, pursue visions
and speak of God’s goodness
in the words of those who would hear.
And may the God who breathed life into creation be your delight.
May Christ Jesus give hope to your dreaming,
and may the Holy Spirit, your advocate and supporter,
set your hearts ablaze with a passion for peace.
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.

Setting the Church AblazeA sermon on Ezekiel 37: 1-14 & Acts 2: 1-21 by Nathan Nettleton

When the New Wine ArrivesA sermon on Acts 2.1-21; Ezekiel 37.1-14 & Psalm 104.24-35b by Garry Deverell

Loosing TonguesA sermon on Acts 2:1-21 & John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 by Nathan Nettleton

Divinely IntoxicatedA sermon on Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27 & John 15:26-27; 16:4-15 by Nathan Nettleton

Pentecost: Gifted and SentA sermon on Acts 2: 1-21 by Gilbert Joyce

Languages of ReconciliationA sermon on Acts 2:1-21 by Nathan Nettleton

Much Needed Miracles of CommunicationA sermon on Acts 2: 1-21 by Nathan Nettleton

7th Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-06-02 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.

Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26

One day, after Jesus had been taken into heaven, there was a gathering of about one hundred twenty of his followers. Peter stood up and addressed them, saying:
“Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled. What the Holy Spirit said through David about Judas has now happened. He was one of us, taking his place alongside us in this ministry, but in the end he was the one who showed the lynch mob where to arrest Jesus.
“So we need a replacement for Judas — someone to stand with us as a primary witness to the resurrection life of Jesus. It should be someone who was in our company for the whole time Jesus was among us, right through from the day he was baptised by John to the day when he was taken into heaven.
There were two nominations: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. The group prayed saying, “Lord, you know us all, through and through. Make it clear to us which of these two you are choosing to take on the task of ministry and leadership that Judas turned his back on.” And then, trusting God, they tossed a coin. On the fall of the coin, Matthias was declared to be the twelfth apostle.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 1

LORD, how good it will be for those
who turn a deaf ear to the advocates of greed;
who steer clear of corrupt short-cuts;
and avoid those who sneer at goodness.
Instead they relish your word, LORD.
Calming their minds,
they savour the scriptures day and night.
You make them strong and healthy,
like a Redgum tree with its roots deep in a river bank,
flowering abundantly every season,
and always laden with healthy leaves.
All that they do is vibrant with life.
But what a different story it is for the wicked;
they are about as secure as dry leaves in a cyclone.
They will have no defence
when they are brought to justice,
and no friends among people of integrity.
LORD, you keep a protective eye
on all who walk a straight path of peace and justice,
but nothing will save those who leave that road.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 5: 9-13

If we are willing to believe what people tell us, surely we will be even more willing to put our trust in what God tells us, and we now have God’s own statement concerning his Son. Those who put their trust in the Son of God have taken to heart what God has said. Those who do not believe what God has said about his Son are in effect calling God a liar. In a nutshell, this is the message that God is asking us to believe: God gives us infinite life, and this life is received and lived in his Son. Those who accept the Son receive life, but anyone who rejects the Son of God is rejecting life itself.
My reason for writing all this to you is simple: I want to ensure that you who trust in God’s Son will know beyond any doubt that you now have life without limit.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 17: 6-19

After the supper, and after giving his final teaching to his followers, Jesus prayed to God, saying:
“Father, you have given me some followers from this world,
and I have given them the full picture of what you are like.
They were yours to begin with,
but you gave them to me,
and they have done what you asked of them.
Now they know for sure that everything I have
was given to me directly by you.
I gave my followers the same message you gave to me.
They took it on board and were convinced that I came from you. They believe that it was you who sent me.
I pray for them.
My prayer is not for this hell-bent world
but for the followers you gave me,
for they are rightfully yours.
Everything that is mine is yours,
and everything that is yours is mine,
and my image lights up in them.
I will no longer be seen in the world,
but they will continue on in the world
while I come back to you.
Holy Father, protect them
by writing your name on them,
giving them the same identity you gave me,
so that they will be one with each other,
just as you and I are one in heart and mind.
While I was with them, I kept them safe
by assigning to them the name you gave me.
I stood guard over them, and didn’t lose a single one,
except the one who was lost from the beginning,
the one whose demise showed the Scriptures to be true.
Now I am on my way to you.
I say these things while the world is still in earshot,
so that those who listen may, like me,
experience a joy that goes right off the scale.
I have given them your message,
and now this godless world can’t stand them,
because they won’t play by the world’s rules,
just as I never played by the world’s rules.
I am not asking you to take them out of the world,
but I do ask that you keep them safe from the evil one.
They don't take their cues from this world,
because my dance has a different tune.
Immerse them in truth to make them a sacred people,
for your word is the truth which makes things holy.
Just as you sent me into the world on your mission,
so now I am sending them into the world.
I have dedicated myself one hundred percent, for their sake,
so that they in turn may commit themselves totally to the truth.”
©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 put your testimony in our hearts
so that we might know that our life is in you.
You created the earth and the heavens
and marked out the way of the upright.
Through the prophets you called us to accept life,
and none are lost to your love and protection
except those who turn to their own ways and reject life.
You sent your Son into the world
and entrusted to him those who accepted your Word.
He made you known to us
and prayed that we might share the identity you gave him
and so be one with each other in your love.
Though he was killed by this hell-bent world,
you raised him from the dead
and through your sanctifying Word of truth
you call us to share eternal life in him.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your beloved Son
to whom entrusted to him those who accepted your Word.
He made you known to us
and prayed that we might share the identity you gave him
and so be one with each other in your love.
©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 put your testimony in our hearts
so that we might know that our life is in you.
You created the earth and the heavens
and marked out the way of the upright.
Through the prophets you called us to accept life,
and none are lost to your love and protection
except those who turn to their own ways and reject life.
You sent your Son into the world
and entrusted to him those who accepted your Word.
He made you known to us
and prayed that we might share the identity you gave him
and so be one with each other in your love.
Though he was killed by this hell-bent world,
you raised him from the dead
and through your sanctifying Word of truth
you call us to share eternal life in 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.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

God, who knows everyone’s heart,
gives us mercy and life in his Son.
Whoever accepts the Son of God receives life
in the name of Jesus Christ.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now. Christ sends you into the world
just as he himself was sent into the world.
Delight in the Lord’s teaching,
testify to his resurrection life,
and share in the ministry of his people.
And may God protect you from the evil one;
May Christ Jesus give you God’s word and make you his own;
And may the Holy Spirit sanctify you in the truth,
and fill you with the joy of God.
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.

Facing the TruthA sermon on 1 John 5: 9-13 & John 17:6-19 by Nathan Nettleton

Church and WorldA sermon on John 17:6-19 & Acts 1:15-17,21-26 by Nathan Nettleton

The Leadership LotteryA sermon on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 by Nathan Nettleton

Living up to an inherited nameA sermon on John 17:6-19 by Nathan Nettleton

The Character and Condition of the RighteousA sermon on Psalm 1 by Deonie Duncan

The Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
2030-05-31 00:00
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of 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 2: 1-10

After the birth of her son, Samuel, Hannah prayed the following prayer:
“Thanks to you, LORD, I am full of joy;
thanks to you, I can stand strong and proud.
I can return the insults that were hurled at me,
and kick up my heels, because you have set me free.
There is no other god like you, LORD,
no one who can hold a candle to you;
not even the ancient rock is as dependable as you.
I can tell the proud to stop their boasting;
tell the arrogant to put a sock in it.
You, LORD, know us inside and out;
you see whether or not we live up to our words.
You, LORD, disarm the powerful,
and redistribute their strength to the helpless.
Those who consumed to excess are now queuing at soup kitchens,
but those who were deprived now feast in splendour.
Infertile couples are having children, one after the other,
while those who flaunted their children
find their families falling apart.
Life is yours to give or to take, LORD;
you can send someone to the land of the dead,
and you can bring them back again.
You, LORD, can make us or break us;
you can put us on a pedestal or knock us off.
You lift up those who have been trodden into the dirt;
you put the poor and outcast back on their feet.
You give them a place among the guests of honour,
a seat with the dignitaries and celebrities.
You can do all this because the earth is yours;
you set it up and you wrote the rules.
To those who are faithful, you guarantee safe passage;
those who are corrupt soon lose sight of any light to steer by,
for no matter how strong people are,
they can’t make it alone.
You are the LORD!
Those who try to obstruct you
find that it is like standing in the path of a train
as you thunder towards your destination.
You, LORD, have the final word on all that is done on earth.
You will give strength and power to your chosen ruler.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 113

You are the greatest, LORD!
We, your servants, can’t stop singing your praises;
the mere mention of your name sets us singing!
From now on and forever,
your name will be held sacred, LORD.
From east to west, from dawn to dusk,
your name will inspire songs of praise.
You are ranked number one, LORD,
way above even the greatest nations,
outshining even the sun and the stars.
Can anyone compare with you, LORD?
Is there anyone else even close to your league?
Not likely! You are seated so high
that you look down even to see the sky!
You lift up those who have been trodden into the dirt;
you put the poor and outcast back on their feet.
You give them a place among the guests of honour,
a seat with the dignitaries and celebrities.
You give the infertile couple a family
filling their lives with the laughter of children.
You are the greatest, LORD!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 12: 9-16b

See to it that your love is for real and without pretence. Avoid corruption like the plague. Dig your heels in and don’t be budged from the side of good. Love one another, and not just in theory but with warmth and friendly affection. If you need something to compete over, see who can score the most points for treating everyone else like royalty. Don’t let your enthusiasm get slack, but keep yourselves on the boil and work hard for the Lord. Celebrate in anticipation of all that is to come. When you are being put through the wringer, tough it out, and pray all the harder. Do what you can to help out other Christians who are in need, and work at making strangers feel welcome and at home among you.
When others persecute you, wish them all the best and pray that God will look after them. Seek the best for them; don’t wish disaster on them. When others are celebrating, celebrate with them. When others are hurting, share the pain with them. Stay in tune with one another, living a shared life based on common commitments. Don’t be full of yourselves, but hang out with those who the world writes off as nobodies.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 1:39-57

When the angel told Mary that both she and her relative Elizabeth were going to have babies, Mary took the first opportunity to make the trip to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived with her husband Zechariah in a Judean town in the hills. Mary sang out as soon as she arrived at their house, and when she heard the greeting, Elizabeth felt the baby jump in her womb. The Holy Spirit welled up in Elizabeth and she cried out with joy, saying:
“You have been blessed like no other woman!
And doubly blessed is the child in your womb!
And what about me? Why am I so blessed,
that my Lord’s own mother should knock at my door?
The moment your greeting reach my ears,
the baby in my womb began bouncing with glee!
Clearly you are God’s favoured one,
because you believed what God said to you;
trusting God to follow through on every promise.
Mary too was bursting with joy. She said:
“Let me turn the spotlight on God’s greatness!
With all that I am I dance with joy over God, my saviour!
God has smiled upon me, though I was no one special.
Now I’ll be remembered forever as the favoured one.
The supreme God has done wonderful things for me.
No other name is in the same league as God’s.
In every generation, those who treat God with respect
are rewarded with showers of mercy.
With sleeves rolled up, God has made a show of strength,
and sent packing those who were so full of themselves.
God has kicked the power mongers out of office,
and lifted the downtrodden back to their feet.
God has put on a feast for those who were hungry,
and slammed the door on the rich without giving them a bite.
The Lord’s servant Israel receives a helping hand.
God always remembers them with tender care.
This is exactly what God promised long ago,
a vow made to Abraham and Sarah for every generation.”
Mary didn’t return home for about three months, but stayed until Elizabeth’s baby was born. Elizabeth gave birth to a boy who was given the name John.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord
2030-05-30 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.

Acts 1: 1-11

Dear Theophilus,
In my first book, The Gospel according to Luke, I wrote an account of all that Jesus did and taught from the time he started until the day he said goodbye and was taken up to heaven. Before he left, he gathered the apostles, who he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and spelled out his final instructions.
For forty days after his suffering and death, he repeatedly showed up and proved in many ways that he really was alive again. Face to face with the apostles, he spoke with them about the culture of God. While he was still meeting and sharing meals with them, he put them on notice that they were not to leave Jerusalem yet. “Instead,” he said, “you must wait here for the gift I told you about - the gift my Father promised. You remember how John baptised with water. Well, you will be baptised with Holy Spirit in just a few days time.”
When they were all together for the last time, the apostles had one burning question: “Lord, is this the time? Will you regain our freedom now and give us our own king to reign over Israel?”
Jesus replied, “Only the Father can decide such things and the timing is none of your business. Just focus on this: the Holy Spirit will flood over you and drench you with power, giving you the passion and courage to be my witnesses. Then you will be able to tell everyone about me, in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
That was it - his last words. Right before their eyes, he was carried up into the air where he soon disappeared into the clouds. They just stood there stunned, staring into the sky. Suddenly two men appeared next to them, dressed in white robes! They said, “You Galileans! What are you standing here for, staring into the sky? Jesus has been taken into heaven, but don’t worry. He’ll be back, just as surely - and just as mysteriously - as he left.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 47

We applaud you, LORD, as everyone should;
we roar your name and sing for joy.
You are an awesome God;
number one in the universe;
the great ruler of all the earth.
You have subdued those who attacked us;
put hostile nations at our mercy.
You picked out the best land for us;
you favoured us with a prized inheritance.
Take your place at the top of the dais, LORD God,
as we sound trumpets and cheer in your honour.
You are our God, and we’ll sing your praises;
you are our ruler, and we’ll sing your praises.
You are the God who rules over all the earth;
we’ll sing your praises in all our songs.
You are the God who rules over the nations;
the throne where you sit is one of a kind.
Leaders gather from every people on earth
and, like Abraham’s descendants,
give their allegiance to you, God.
They lay down their weapons
and honour you as their ultimate superior.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Psalm 93 (alternative psalm)

LORD, you are the great ruler.
Majesty enfolds you like a royal robe
and strength radiates from you.
You have fixed the world firmly in its place.
Your throne is immovable, LORD;
ever was and ever shall be.
Surging floods have risen, O LORD,
surging up with a mighty roar;
engulfing everything in thunderous sound.
You are more impressive than the surging waters,
more powerful than the crashing waves;
you are number one in all the universe, LORD!
Whatever you say is set in stone.
The place you live, O LORD, is clearly sacred;
its holiness will outlast time.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Ephesians 1: 15-23

Having heard of your deep trust in the Lord Jesus and your active love for his people, I could hardly stop thanking God for you. And I’m praying for you too. I ask the glorious God of our Lord Jesus the Messiah to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will fill you with wisdom and insight as you get to know God. That way you’ll get a clear picture of all that God wants you to see:

the promised goal of the mission to which you are called;
the extravagant generosity of God’s provision for us;
and the immense capacity of the dynamic power which is put to work in us when we trust God.

This dynamic power is the same energy that God put to work in the Messiah when he raised him from death and enthroned him in heaven. Now the Messiah sits at God’s right hand, reigning over the entire universe, and there is not a single authority that can overrule him, now or ever. Every religious hierarchy and military regime; every legal jurisdiction and people-power movement; every economic imperative and moral principle; God has put them all under the feet of the Messiah. God has decreed that all things will answer to him. The church, then, is central to what the Messiah is doing, for it is his body, already filled with the presence of the one who is filling each and every part of the entire universe.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 24: 44-53

On the last day that Jesus was on earth after his resurrection, he said to his disciples, “The things I have said while I was with you amount to this: everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms is to be fulfilled.”
As he spoke they began to see how to read the scriptures with open minds so as to understand what God was saying in them. Jesus said to them:
“What was written will now be clear to you: that the Messiah is to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that the people of every nation must be told of the Messiah’s call to turn their lives around and receive forgiveness for their toxic ways. You can get started here in Jerusalem. You have witnessed these things first hand, so you can tell everyone what you have seen and heard. And don’t miss this: I myself am sending you the gift that my Father promised, so wait here in the city until you have been fitted out with God’s power.”
Jesus then led his disciples out as far as Bethany, where he lifted up his hands and spoke a blessing over them. Even as he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried into heaven. Falling to their knees, they worshipped him. They returned to Jerusalem bursting with joy and, after that, they were always in the temple praising God.
©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 called us to a rich hope
and a glorious inheritance among the saints.
You fixed the world in place
and rule over all from your sacred throne.
You formed a people for yourself
and through Moses and the prophets you spoke to them
of the Christ who fills all in all.
As it was written, he suffered and was killed,
but you raised him from the dead
and he walked again with his chosen ones,
speaking to them of your glorious kingdom.
You carried him into heaven on the clouds
and made him head over all things for the church,
seating him at your right hand
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son, Jesus,
who you carried up into heaven
and seated at your right hand
so that he might be everywhere present,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise with shouts of joy, O God,
for you have called us to a rich hope
and a glorious inheritance among the saints.
You fixed the world in place
and rule over all from your sacred throne.
You formed a people for yourself
and through Moses and the prophets you spoke to them
of the Christ who fills all in all.
As it was written, he suffered and was killed,
but you raised him from the dead
and he walked again with his chosen ones,
speaking to them of your glorious kingdom.
You carried him into heaven on the clouds
and made him head over all things for the church,
seating him at your right hand
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
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

As Jesus Christ instructed his followers,
the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name
from the holy city to the ends of the earth.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world.
and in your words and in your lives
bear witness to the Christ who has ascended
to be everywhere present.
And as you come to know him,
may God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
may Christ Jesus lift up his hands and bless you,
and may the Spirit open to you all the riches of Christ’s inheritance.
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 Ascension: Christ’s superabundant presenceA sermon on Acts 1. 6-14 & John 17:1-11 by Garry Deverell

Stretching those WingsA sermon for the Feast of the Ascension by Nathan Nettleton

Not Knowing Where to LookA sermon on Acts 1: 1-11 & Luke 24: 44-53 by Nathan Nettleton

Look around you!A sermon on Acts 1: 1-11 & Luke 24: 44-53 by Alison Sampson

The Ascension of the High PriestA sermon on Acts 1: 1-11 & Luke 24: 44-53 by Nathan Nettleton

6th Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-05-26 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.

Acts 10:44-48

Peter was preaching in the home of Cornelius, an officer from the Italian regiment. The gathered people were taking his words to heart, and even before he had finished his speech, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The other believers who had come with Peter were all good Jews, and they were absolutely gob-smacked when they saw that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on people who weren’t even Jewish. There was no disputing it though, because they could hear these outsiders speaking in unknown languages and singing the praises of God. Then Peter turned to his companions and said, “Can there be any justification for refusing to baptise these people into the community of Christ’s followers, when it is clear that God has treated them exactly the same as us, and given them the Holy Spirit in the same way?”
So, on Peter’s say-so, they were baptised in water into a declared allegiance to Jesus the Messiah. At their invitation, Peter stayed on in Cornelius’s home for the next few days.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 98

We sing like we’ve never sung before, LORD,
because you have done fantastic things.
With your sleeves rolled up you got stuck in
and came out on top.
Your victory has made the headlines, LORD,
now the whole world can see that you were right all along.
You have never defaulted on your rock-solid love,
or your loyalty to your chosen people.
From one end of the earth to the other,
everyone has seen your victory.
With all the world, LORD, we raise a noisy celebration,
singing our lungs out and shouting your praise.
The bands strike up in your honour, LORD,
filling the air with festive music.
With a brass fanfare and a dancing beat
we loudly celebrate your reign over us.
The whole creation joins in the celebration:
the ocean and its creatures roar their approval;
the land and its animals, cheer and stomp;
rivers and lakes give a standing ovation,
mountains and hills erupt in applause.
We put on the whole show in your presence, LORD,
celebrating your arrival as you finally bring justice.
With you in charge we know things will be put right;
now every one on earth will get a fair go.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 5: 1-6

All those who put their trust in Jesus as the Messiah are the offspring of God. Everyone who loves the parent will also love the parent’s offspring. Loving God and loving God’s offspring are bound up together, and when we are living by the instructions God has given us, we can be sure that we are doing both. You see, the essential way to express our love for God is to follow God’s instructions for living right. There is no great difficulty in this; God’s instructions do not weigh us down. Anything that God has given birth to will win, hands down, in the struggle against the corrupt ways of the world. Our faith, expressed in love and obedience, is the sure-fire winner, and there is nothing the world can put up against it to stop its march to certain victory. Who can defeat the powers that would drag us down into the world’s mire? The one who trusts in the human Jesus as the Son of God, that’s who! When Jesus Christ came into the world, he was not just united with us in our struggle through a baptism of water, but through a baptism of blood. The Spirit is the one who has testified to all this, and the Spirit is truth itself.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 15: 9-17

Jesus said:
“I have loved you in the same way that I have been loved by the Father. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you live by the instructions I have given you, you will be living in my love. I do the same, following the instructions and living in the love of my Father. I have let you in on these things so that you can share my joy and be completely fulfilled.
“My number one instruction for you – in fact take it as an order – is this: love one another in the same way that I have loved you. No one can outdo the love that is shown by people who lay down their lives for those they love. You are my loved ones if you do what I have instructed you to do. I am not going to call you my labourers any more, because labourers just do as they’re told without knowing what the boss is on about. I now call you personal friends, because I have let you in on everything my Father has told me. But it was not you that chose to forge this friendship; it was me. I gave you the tap on the shoulder and sent you out to bear fruit, fruit that will last. And when you’re working on my behalf, you can ask for whatever you need and the Father will give it to you. I am giving you these instructions so that you can truly love one another.”
©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 you are the Lord of wonderful deeds
who fills the earth with mercy, justice and love.
You created the world and all that live there;
and the seas, rivers and hills roar their praise.
Through your people you revealed your commandments
and your merciful love to all the world.
You came among us in your beloved Son, Jesus.
who makes us your friends
by planting your word within us
and leading us to abide in your love forever.
He was crucified and buried,
but through your victorious power
he was born again from the deep waters of death,
and his resurrection power will conquer the world.
Now he is pouring out your Holy Spirit on all who believe,
without distinction,
and bringing everyone who loves you and follows your ways
to new birth as your children.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your beloved Son, Jesus,
who pours out your Holy Spirit without distinction
and makes us your friends
by planting your word within us
and leading us to abide in your love forever.
©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 are the Lord of wonderful deeds
who fills the earth with mercy, justice and love.
You created the world and all that live there;
and the seas, rivers and hills roar their praise.
Through your people you revealed your commandments
and your merciful love to all the world.
You came among us in your beloved Son, Jesus.
who makes us your friends
by planting your word within us
and leading us to abide in your love forever.
He was crucified and buried,
but through your victorious power
he was born again from the deep waters of death,
and his resurrection power will conquer the world.
Now he is pouring out your Holy Spirit on all who believe,
without distinction,
and bringing everyone who loves you and follows your ways
to new birth as your children.
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’s justice and merciful love have been revealed
through the Son, who laid down his life for all.
All who trust in Jesus as God’s Son
are given mercy for their sins
and power to overcome the ways of the world.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and bear fruit for God, fruit that will last.
As Christ has loved you, so love one another,
and abide always in God’s love,
that your joy may be complete.
And may God give you all you ask for in Christ’s name;
May Christ Jesus reveal to you God’s ways and call you his friends;
And may the Holy Spirit confirm the truth within you and make your joy complete.
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.

Do they let anyone in here?!!A sermon on Acts 10:44-48 & 1 John 5:1-6 by Nathan Nettleton

Resurrection EthicsA sermon on Acts 10: 44-48; 1 John 5: 1-6 & John 15: 9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Love: make yourself at home in itA sermon on John 15:9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Love that Overcomes the PowersA sermon on 1 John 5: 1-6 and John 15: 9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

I Call You My FriendsA sermon on John 15:9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

It doesn’t get better than this!A sermon on Acts 10: 44-48 and John 15: 9-17 by Alison Sampson

What is to Exclude Them?A sermon on Acts 8:26-40; Acts 10:44-48 & John 15:9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

‘Love as you have been loved’ and toxic masculinityA sermon about domestic violence drawing on John 15:9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

5th Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-05-19 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.

Acts 8: 26-40

The Lord’s messenger said to Philip, “Get moving and head south until you hit the Jerusalem-to-Gaza road.”
So Philip headed off and found the outback track to which he had been sent. A chariot came along the track, carrying a high ranking Ethiopian official who had travelled to Jerusalem to worship and was now on his way back home. He was the treasurer in the court of Queen Candace of Ethiopia, but because he was a eunuch, he was excluded from full participation in worship at the Jerusalem temple. He was reading the writings of the prophet Isaiah as he rode along in his chariot. The Spirit said to Philip, “Catch up with that chariot and walk alongside it.”
So Philip got running, and as he pulled up alongside, he heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand the meaning of what you are reading?”
The official replied, “How am I ever going to understand it without someone to help get me on the right track?”
He then offered Philip a lift and they sat side by side and looked at the passage of scripture together. The passage said:
“Silent as a lamb that trots to its fate,
knowing neither shearer nor slaughterer,
he never whinges or protests.
“His public humiliation made a mockery of justice.
No one will ever speak of his descendants,
for in the prime of life, he is wiped off the earth.”
The eunuch said to Philip, “Now here’s a question for you: who is the prophet saying these things about? Is he talking about himself, or about someone else?”
Then Philip launched into an inspired response, and with this passage of scripture as his starting point, he spelt out the great news about Jesus to the official. As they continued along the road, they came to a water hole, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is some water! Is there anything to stop me being baptised here and now?”
He gave the order to pull over and park the chariot. The two of them went down into the water together, and Philip baptised the eunuch. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord whisked Philip away. The official never saw him again, but continued his journey home, bursting with joy. Philip turned up at Azotus, and set off from there, broadcasting the great news in every town he passed through in the area, all the way to Caesarea.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 22: 25-31

Whenever people gather to worship,
my heart overflows and I sing your praises.
Out in the open for all to see
I’ll do all that I promised.
At your table, God, the needy will feast;
those who hunger for you will be fed till they burst with praise!
They will be able to live it up, now and forever!
In every corner of the earth people will wake up to themselves
and turn back to you, LORD.
Every race, nation, tribe and family
will offer themselves to you in worship,
for you have the last word on everything;
what you say goes.
Even the dead will bow down to you, LORD;
those who are trampled in the dust will look to you in hope,
and I will live for you and you alone.
Our kids and their kids will serve you, LORD;
as we pass the message down from one generation to the next.
People not even born yet will hear the story;
they will be told of what you have done to set us free.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 4: 7-21

Dear friends, let us love one another, because all love originates in God. Everyone who truly loves is able to do so because of their relationship with God: God has given birth to them and they are well acquainted with God. Those who do not love certainly do not know God, because God is love. God’s love was made known to us in the act of sending the one and only Son of God into the world so that, through him, we might find authentic life. The reality of love is not discovered in our love for God, but in the love God showed for us in sending the Son to make the ultimate sacrifice and wipe out the record of our corruption. Dear friends, since God has loved us to such an extraordinary extent, we ought to take our lead from that, and love one another. No one can see or catch hold of God, but if we love one another, God will be living within us and God’s love will grow to maturity in us.
Our confidence that we are living in God and that God is living in us is based on the evidence of God giving us a share of the Spirit. We know, from first hand experience, that the Father sent his Son on a mission to rescue the world. We have said it openly and we will continue to do so. God lives in those who are open about their belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and they live in God. Through living in God in this way, we have come to know and trust in God’s love for us.
God is love. Those who go on living in love go on living in God, and God goes on living in them. In this way, love is being brought to full maturity among us, and it will ensure that on the day of judgment, we can stand with our heads held high. You see, as we and God live in each other, we are becoming what God is, right here in the midst of the world. We will stand with heads held high because those who truly love have nothing to fear. Indeed, perfect love banishes fear. It is the thought of punishment that makes people fearful, and so those who are still fearful have still got some way to go before love is fully grown within them. We can love only because we have first received love from God. If we claim to love God while refusing to love each other, we are liars. How can any of us expect to express love for an invisible God if we won’t even commit ourselves to loving the people we see and interact with? We have clear instructions from Jesus on this: those who love God must love their sisters and brothers too.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 15: 1-8

Jesus said:
“I am the true vine. My Father is the chief gardener who regularly gets out the pruning saw to clean up the vine. Any branches that fail to bear fruit are cut clean off, and the fruitful branches are cut back clean so that they will bear even more fruit. You have already been cleaned up by the message I have been preaching to you. Go on living in me, just as I live in you. No branch can bear fruit if it has been cut off and can no longer draw its life from the vine. Neither can you unless you continue to live your life in me. I am the whole vine, and you are my branches. Those of you who remain united to me and allow me to live my life in you will produce a solid harvest of good fruit. By contrast, if you are cut off from me, you won’t produce a thing. Those who try to go it alone rather than drawing their life from me will be disposed of like broken branches. Such branches are tossed aside to dry out before being bundled up and burned on the fire. If you go on living in me and my words go on receiving a home in you, then you can ask for whatever you hope for and it will be done for you. My Father receives due glory when you begin following in my footsteps, and showing it by bearing plenty of fruit.”
©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 you have sent your Son as the Saviour of the world
and your Spirit to graft us into the vine of life.
You created the universe and everything in it,
and revealed your perfect love
in your commitment to your people
and your care for the poor and afflicted.
Through your prophets you promised a righteous servant
who would suffer humiliation and injustice
and, like a sheep to the slaughter, have his life taken away.
In your Son, Jesus Christ,
we have seen your promises fulfilled,
and through his resurrection,
he has broken the power of death to hold the righteous.
In his perfect love, our fear is cast out,
and now, like branches of a vine,
we live in him and draw our life from him,
that we might bear much fruit to your glory.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son, Jesus Christ,
whose perfect love casts out our fear,
and in whom we live, like branches of a vine,
drawing our life from him
that we might bear much fruit to your glory.
©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 sent your Son as the Saviour of the world
and your Spirit to graft us into the vine of life.
You created the universe and everything in it,
and revealed your perfect love
in your commitment to your people
and your care for the poor and afflicted.
Through your prophets you promised a righteous servant
who would suffer humiliation and injustice
and, like a sheep to the slaughter, have his life taken away.
In your Son, Jesus Christ,
we have seen your promises fulfilled,
and through his resurrection,
he has broken the power of death to hold the righteous.
In his perfect love, our fear is cast out,
and now, like branches of a vine,
we live in him and draw our life from him,
that we might bear much fruit to your glory.
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 loved us and sent his only Son into the world
so that we might live through him.
True love is known, not in our love for God,
but in God’s love for us, sacrificing his son
to overcome the burden of our sins.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and love one another,
because love is from God.
Proclaim God’s salvation to every generation.
Remain in Jesus Christ,
and like branches of a vine, draw your life from him.
And may God the vine grower tend you and make you fruitful;
May Christ Jesus abide in you and give you life;
And may the Holy Spirit cast out all fear and fill you with God’s love.
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.

Abiding in God’s LoveA sermon on Acts 8. 26-40; 1 John 4.7-21 & John 15. 1-8 by Garry Deverell

Christ in the Stranger’s GuiseA sermon on Acts 8:26-40 by Nathan Nettleton

Christ of the CoonawarraA sermon on John 15: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

What is to Exclude Them?A sermon on Acts 8:26-40; Acts 10:44-48 & John 15:9-17 by Nathan Nettleton

Can We Crucify Penal Substitutionary AtonementA sermon on 1 John 4.7-21 by Nathan Nettleton

When the Family Line is Cut OffA sermon on Acts 8:26-40 by Nathan Nettleton

4th Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-05-12 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.

Acts 4: 5-12

Peter and John were arrested after preaching to the crowds who gathered when they healed a crippled man at the Temple gate in Jerusalem. The next day they were brought before an assembly of the temple authorities, the political leaders and the religious lawyers. The assembly included Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and the whole high-priestly family. When the prisoners were on the stand in their midst, the assembled authorities inquired, “By what power, or on whose authority did you do what you have done?”
Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit as he answered them, saying,
“Honourable members of the Assembly, respected dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen: if we are being questioned today over an act of kindness towards a person who had a disability; and if what you are wanting to know is how this man came to be made whole, then I am happy to give the answer to you and to all the people of Israel. Let it be on the public record that this man was healed, and is now standing before you in perfect health, on the authority of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. This Jesus in the one who you had killed on a cross, but who God raised from the dead. It is just as the scriptures said of him:
‘the stone that you builders got rid of
has become the centrepiece
on which everything depends.’
“It is through Jesus that we must all be saved and made whole, because there is no other authority on earth to which anyone can appeal that can save them and make them whole.”
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 23

You, LORD, are my guide in the wilderness;
there is nothing more I could need.
You set up camp in places of beauty and shelter;
you lead the way on secluded tracks
beside creeks of cool clean water.
I feel my spirit breathing freely again;
your reputation puts me at ease;
I leave the navigating to you, and follow.
Even if we hike through a perilous valley,
where crows keep a menacing watch,
fear will still not get the better of me.
As long as I stick with you
I know I’ll make the distance;
with a knife and a bit of rope
you seem able to tackle any challenge.
You cook up a feast for me,
as those who wanted to feed on me watch, frustrated.
You pamper me like an honoured guest
and constantly top up my glass.
My life feels charmed, each and every day.
Love, mercy and all good things
keep falling into my lap.
I’m with you for life, LORD,
where you go, I’ll go;
where you live, I’ll live.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 3: 16-24

It was the example that Jesus set in laying down his life for us that put us in the know about real love. If we would love, then we need to do likewise, and lay our lives on the line for one another. How on earth can people claim that the love of God is at home in their hearts if they turn their backs on their needy brothers and sisters, even though it is quite within their means to help?
My dear friends, let us love; really love. Let us make sure we’re not just talking the talk, but walking the walk: being fair dinkum about our love and expressing it in action. This kind of integrity between what we say and what we do is a sure sign that our lives are genuinely grounded in God’s truth. It enables us to hold our heads high when we approach God, even though self-doubts may be trying to make us feel guilty and fearful. Our record of integrity can reassure us at such times, because God knows everything and can overrule our self-accusations. So when we are doing what God tells us to do, and thus living lives that please God, we can rest assured that when we approach God with our requests, we will get a positive response, whether we feel we deserve it or not.
And what is it that God tells us to do? It is this: to throw in our lot with God’s Son, Jesus the Messiah, and all that he stands for, and to love one another just as Jesus instructed us to do. All who live as God tells us to live are living in God, and God is living in them. And if we want further proof that God is living in us, then we have the evidence of the Spirit that God has given us.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 10: 11-18

Jesus said:
“I am like a first-rate farmer. Have you noticed how easy it is to pick the difference between the real farmers and their hired hands. The real farmers would die for their herd if they had to, but the hired hands, who don’t own the stock themselves, don’t really care what happens to them. If a bushfire threatens the farm, the only thing the hired hands are concerned about is getting themselves to safety. They hit the road straight away, because they don’t give a toss what happens to the herd. The fire roars in, unopposed, and the stock are killed or scattered in all directions. I am the real thing. I know my own herd well, and they know me. It is just like the relationship between me and the Father – we know each other intimately. And I lay down my life for the stock. Not all the stock that belong to me belong to this herd, but they will respond to my voice just the same. It is my job to round them up too and unite them all in the one new herd with me as the farmer over them all. If you want to know why the Father loves me, it is because I lay down my life in order to start life anew. No one can take my life against my will, but I can choose to sacrifice it. I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it up again. This is the assignment the Father has given me.”
©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 with you as our shepherd, we need nothing more.
At the dawn of time you spread creation out like a banquet
and in love brought forth all life on the earth.
Through your prophets you promised a good shepherd,
who though rejected, would become the cornerstone
of salvation for every creature under heaven.
Your promise has been fulfilled in your Son,
Jesus of Nazareth,
who showed us the fullness of love
that lays down even its own life for others.
He was crucified, but you raised him from the dead,
and through his love we have the boldness to approach you.
Because he abides in us,
and in all who listen to his voice,
our cup overflows with goodness and love
and our feet find safe paths leading to your house
where we will live forever.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Son,
Jesus of Nazareth,
who showed us your shepherding love
and laid down his own life for others,
and who now abides in us,
and in all who listen to his voice.
©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 with you as our shepherd, we need nothing more.
At the dawn of time you spread creation out like a banquet
and in love brought forth all life on the earth.
Through your prophets you promised a good shepherd,
who though rejected, would become the cornerstone
of salvation for every creature under heaven.
Your promise has been fulfilled in your Son,
Jesus of Nazareth,
who showed us the fullness of love
that lays down even its own life for others.
He was crucified, but you raised him from the dead,
and through his love we have the boldness to approach you.
Because he abides in us,
and in all who listen to his voice,
our cup overflows with goodness and love
and our feet find safe paths leading to your house
where we will live 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.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Jesus Christ is the good shepherd
who lays down his life for his sheep.
Though we have fallen short of his commandments,
through faith in his name we are saved
and raised to new life.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now with your trust in the good shepherd,
and let us love, not just in words,
but in truth and action.
Believe in the name of Jesus Christ,
and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
And may God be at your side, even in valleys of death.
May Christ Jesus be the cornerstone of your life.
And may the Holy Spirit abide in you
....and tend you with love and mercy all the days of your 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.

The advertiser is my shepherd??A sermon on Psalm 23 by Nathan Nettleton

Blood and Guts ShepherdingA sermon on John 10:11-18, Psalm 23 & 1 John 3:16-24 by Nathan Nettleton

No Other NameA sermon on Acts 4: 5-12, 1 John 3: 16-24 & John 10: 11-18 by Nathan Nettleton

A personal response to Psalm 23A sermon on Psalm 23 by Alison Sampson

Adding to the FlockA sermon on John 10:11-18, Psalm 23 & 1 John 3:16-24 by Nathan Nettleton

Love and Laying Down One’s LifeA sermon on John 10:11-18, Psalm 23 & 1 John 3:16-24 by Nathan Nettleton

Living Out the Love of God!A sermon on 1 John 3: 16-24 & John 10: 11-18 by Chekrovei Cho-o

3rd Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-05-05 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.

Acts 3: 12-19

A crowd flocked around Peter and John after they had healed a crippled man at the Temple Gate. Peter addressed them, saying:
“People of Israel, why does this come as such a surprise to you? And why are you staring at us? Don’t make the mistake of thinking that we have any special magical powers or spiritual secrets that enabled us to make him walk. The God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has done this and given all the glory to Jesus. This Jesus was God’s servant, but you lot turned him in to the Romans and shafted him in Pilate’s court. He was the Holy and Righteous One, and even Pilate could see that he was innocent, but you shafted him and asked for the release of some murdering scumbag instead. You killed the Author of Life, but God has raised him from the dead. We know this first hand. The healing of this man today is all to do with Jesus – the authority of his name, and our trust in his authority. You know this man well, and you can see with your own eyes what has happened to him. It is the faith inspired by Jesus that has given this man a perfectly healthy body right here before your very eyes.
“Friends, I know that you didn’t understand what you were doing, and neither did your leaders. Through your ignorant actions, God’s Messiah copped the full bucket of human suffering, just as God had foreshadowed through the prophets. So wake up to yourselves and turn your lives around. Get yourselves back on track with God, and God will scrub out the black marks against your name.”
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 4

O God who always does what is right,
answer me when I cry for help.
You gave me breathing space last time I was in a tight spot;
be generous to me again, and hear my prayer.
How long will these people get away with it,
dragging my name through the mud?
How long will they go on spinning their propaganda
and manufacturing lies and deceit?
When will they wake up to the fact that you, LORD,
have singled out those who are faithful for your special care.
Your hear, LORD, when we cry out to you.
No matter how much pressure anyone is under,
there is still no excuse for doing the wrong thing by others.
Help us instead to quieten our minds down,
to meditate on the truth
and get a good night’s sleep.
We put our trust in you alone, LORD,
and offer you all we have in gratitude.
Cynics whinge that they never see any goodies from you, LORD,
and that you never seem to smile on them.
But as for me, you have filled my heart with joy,
and I’d take that any day,
over all the goodies their money can buy.
I can go to bed with a clear conscience
and sleep in peace,
for you, and you alone, LORD,
are my security, day and night.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 3: 1-7

Think about the extraordinary gift of love the Father has given us in allowing us to be known as God’s own children. Indeed that is what we now are. Of course, the world around us has never recognised God, and so it doesn’t recognise us as being God’s children either. My dear friends, we are God’s beloved children already. What we are destined to become goes beyond even that, but the details have not yet been made known to us. This much we know already: Christ will return to centre stage in clear view of everyone, and when that happens, we who will recognise him for who he really is will be just like him. Everyone who is living in eager anticipation of this will work at making themselves as pure as Christ.
Everyone who does what is wrong is rightly charged with opposing what God wants. ‘Doing wrong’ and ‘opposing what God wants’ are one and the same thing. You know that Christ was brought onto the scene to wipe out our wrongdoing. There is nothing corrupt in him at all. Those who live their lives in him do not do what is wrong; and anyone who does do what is wrong has obviously not recognised him and does not understand him. You are God’s little children, so do not let anyone pull the wool over your eyes about these things. Everyone who is doing the right thing is on the right track in just the same way as Christ himself is on the right track.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 24: 36b - 48

Suddenly Jesus himself appeared, standing among his gathered followers. “Greetings!” he said, “Peace be with you.”
Taken by surprise, they thought he was a ghost, and were scared spitless. Jesus said to them, “What have you got to be afraid of? Why are you letting your doubts get the better of you? Here, take a look at my hands and feet. See for yourselves that it really is me. Reach out and touch me and you will know that I am made of flesh and bone. No ghost can claim that!”
As he spoke, he showed them his hands and feet. It all seemed too good to be true; so wonderful that they couldn’t believe their eyes. Their heads were bursting with joy and disbelief! Jesus asked them, “Have you got anything here I can eat?”
They gave him a piece of grilled fish and he took it and ate it in front of them. Then he said to them, “The things I have said while I was with you amount to this: everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms is to be fulfilled.”
As he spoke they began to see how to read the scriptures with open minds so as to understand what God was saying in them. Jesus said to them:
“What was written will now be clear to you: that the Messiah is to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that the people of every nation must be told of the Messiah’s call to turn their lives around and receive forgiveness for their toxic ways. You can get started here in Jerusalem. You have witnessed these things first hand, so you can tell everyone what you have seen and heard. And don’t miss this: I myself am sending you the gift that my Father promised, so wait here in the city until you have been fitted out with God’s power.”
©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 in great love you have made us your children
and destined us for life in union with your Son, Jesus Christ.
You are the creator of heaven and earth
and the author of life.
You revealed your purposes
through the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms,
and declared your intention to suffer as a servant among us
so that you might bring forgiveness to the nations.
Your Word came to fulfilment in your servant, Jesus,
the Holy and Righteous One,
who was rejected and handed over to death.
He was killed through our ignorance,
but after three days in the tomb
you raised him from the dead.
Now he embraces us with hands still holed,
and disturbs our fears and doubts
with words of peace
and the promise of life yet to be revealed.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your risen Son, Jesus,
the Holy and Righteous One,
who embraces us with hands still holed,
and disturbs our fears and doubts
with words of peace
and the promise of life yet to be revealed.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give all thanks and praise to you, O God,
for in great love you have made us your children
and destined us for life in union with your Son, Jesus Christ.
You are the creator of heaven and earth
and the author of life.
You revealed your purposes
through the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms,
and declared your intention to suffer as a servant among us
so that you might bring forgiveness to the nations.
Your Word came to fulfilment in your servant, Jesus,
the Holy and Righteous One,
who was rejected and handed over to death.
He was killed through our ignorance,
but after three days in the tomb
you raised him from the dead.
Now he embraces us with hands still holed,
and disturbs our fears and doubts
with words of peace
and the promise of life yet to be revealed.
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

In Jesus Christ there is no sin,
and he has been revealed to the world to take away sin.
All who repent and turn to God
have their sins wiped out
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

We have eaten together with the risen Christ.
Go out then, as witnesses of these things.
Attend to your heart,
worship with integrity,
trust in the Lord.
Proclaim forgiveness and healing in his name to all.
And may God raise you from death to life,
from brokenness to perfect health;
May Christ Jesus cast out your fear and doubt;
And may the Holy Spirit give your heart joy,
even as the bread and wine give your body 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.

Open Minds and Narrow ThinkingA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Minds Opened to the ScripturesA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Resurrected for What?A sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

When the Victim ReturnsA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Touch and SeeA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

To Understand the ScripturesA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

I Am MyselfA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 & 1 John 3.1-7 by Garry Deverell

Enthralled by Death or LifeA sermon on Luke 24:36 – 48, Acts 3:12-19 & 1 John 3:1-7 by Nathan Nettleton

Resurrection ImaginationA sermon on Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7 & Luke 24:36 – 48 by Nathan Nettleton

Honouring Disfigured FleshA sermon on Luke 24.36-48 by Nathan Nettleton

2nd Sunday of Pascha - Year B
2030-04-28 00:00 - 2030-04-29 00:59
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.

Acts 4: 32-35

There was an extraordinary harmony in the group of those who had put their trust in Christ. They shared a common heart and a common spirit. They also shared their possessions, giving up claims of private ownership and holding everything in common. With electrifying effect, the apostles shared the stories of their experience of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The evidence of God’s generous love and mercy was apparent in all they did. No one among them was left battling to make ends meet, because those who owned houses and land sold up and handed over the proceeds to the apostles, with no strings attached, and the money was distributed to each person according to their needs.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 133

What a great thing it is, LORD,
when people can get along with one another,
and live together in unity and mutual respect.
It is even more satisfying than holding the cup aloft
and dancing in the rain of champagne
on Grand Final day.
It is even more desirable than sitting by an open fire
sharing chocolates and fine wine with a loved one.
It is even more beautiful than the monsoon rains
turning the desert into a sea of wildflowers.
For you LORD created us to be one people,
committed to one another, honouring one another,
sharing the land and its blessings forever.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 John 1:1 - 2:2

That which was in place from day one,
which we have heard,
which we have seen with our own eyes,
and which we have examined and touched with our own hands;
that which is all about the word of life,
a life which was brought out into the open
and which we have seen and spoken up about,
and which we are telling you is the unstoppable life
that came from the Father and was unveiled to us;
that – all of that – is what we are announcing to you.
Having seen it and heard it ourselves, we are announcing it to you so that you may join us in friendship and partnership. In fact, the partnership we enjoy and are inviting you in on is with God and with God’s Son, Jesus the Messiah. We are putting all this down in print so that the joy we get from sharing it may be all the more complete.
If we were to sum up the message Jesus taught us and which we are now teaching you, it would be this: God is pure light. There is not even a hint of anything shadowy in God.
If we claim that we are in partnership with God while we are still living our lives in the shadows, then we are lying, and failing to live out the truth. But if, on the other hand, we live our lives openly in the light, just as God does, then we will be in full partnership with one another. In that case, the blood which God’s Son Jesus shed will not have been wasted on us, but will have succeeded in cleaning up the sin which had corrupted our lives. If we claim to be uncorrupted, we are kidding no one but ourselves, and what we are really missing is honesty and integrity. If we own up to our corrupt actions, the One who is unswervingly faithful and just will give us a full pardon and clean up all that is polluted and twisted within us. If we claim that we have not done anything corrupt, then we are calling God a liar, and God’s word has clearly not taken root within us.
I love you like my own children, and I am writing these things to you to help you to steer clear of corrupt ways. But if one of you does do something wrong, it is not the end of the world. There is one who goes in to bat for us with God – Jesus the Messiah, the One who always gets things right. He made the ultimate sacrifice in the process of dealing with our corruption and the corruption of the entire world, so that it would not cut us or anyone else off from God.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 20: 19-31

It was a Sunday – the first day of the week – when the tomb was found empty. That same evening, the disciples met together. They locked all the doors of the house where they were meeting because they were afraid of being tracked down by the religious authorities. Suddenly, Jesus appeared and stood among them saying, “Good evening to you all!”
He proceeded to show them the deep scars in his hands and side. The disciples, of course, were over the moon at seeing the Lord again. Jesus spoke again, saying, “All the best to you. God sent me into the world, and in the same way, I’m sending you.”
Having said that, he breathed a big breathe onto them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit; all of you. If you forgive anyone who has sinned, then their sins are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness for any sins, they remain unforgiven.”
When this happened, Thomas – known as “the Twin” and one of the twelve – was missing. The other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, but they couldn’t convince him. “I’m not falling for that one!” Thomas replied. “I’d have to see the nail holes in his hands before I’d believe it. In fact I’d have to feel the holes myself, and touch the spear wound in his side.”
A week later, the disciples again gathered behind locked doors in the same house, and this time Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors, Jesus came and stood among them again and said, “Good evening to you all!”
Then he turned to Thomas and said, “Here are my hands, Thomas. Put your finger here in the wound.” And pulling up his shirt, he said, “And here is my side. You can put your hand in the hole. Let go of your doubts and trust me.”
Thomas, of course, was blown away, and said, “You are my Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Believing is not that hard when you’ve seen me, is it? Imagine how much God will smile on those who put their trust in me without ever having seen me!”
The disciples saw Jesus do many other things that demonstrated to them the reality of who he was, but they have not all been written down in this book. But what has been written here has been written for you, dear readers, so that you will know enough to see that Jesus is the anointed One – the Son of God – and so that by putting your trust in him you can come to have real life: the life that he lived and shares.
©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 have raised Jesus Christ from the dead
and by your grace we have life in his name.
From the very beginning, the Word of life was with you,
creating everything in earth and heaven.
You rescued your people from death
and called them to follow you, walking in the light.
You sent your Word of Life into the world,
in your Son, Jesus,
shining your light into our darkness,
that the sins of the world might be forgiven.
Though he was killed by those who walk in darkness,
you raised him to resurrection life
and now he lives at your side for ever,
advocating mercy for all who stumble into sin.
Through his great grace
we are able to live in fellowship with you
and in peace with one another,
in one heart and mind.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your risen Son, Jesus,
who shines your light into our darkness,
that the sins of the world might be forgiven,
and we that might live in fellowship with you
and peace with one another,
in one heart and mind.
©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 raised Jesus Christ from the dead
and by your grace we have life in his name.
From the very beginning, the Word of life was with you,
creating everything in earth and heaven.
You rescued your people from death
and called them to follow you, walking in the light.
You sent your Word of Life into the world,
in your Son, Jesus,
shining your light into our darkness,
that the sins of the world might be forgiven.
Though he was killed by those who walk in darkness,
you raised him to resurrection life
and now he lives at your side for ever,
advocating mercy for all who stumble into sin.
Through his great grace
we are able to live in fellowship with you
and in peace with one another,
in one heart and mind.
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

If we confess our sins,
the one who is faithful and just
will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, sent by the one who was sent by God.
Walk in the light;
testify to the resurrection of Christ;
forgive the sins of all,
and live at peace with one another.
And may God bless you with life forever;
May Christ Jesus breathe his Spirit and peace into you;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you into the life and light of God.
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.

Christ is Risen, so what’s next?A sermon on John 20:19-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Beyond Doubt? Perhaps Not.A sermon on John 20:19-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Redeeming ThomasA sermon on John 20:19-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Forgiveness Comes with ScarsA sermon on John 20:19-31 & 1 John 1:1 – 2.2 by Nathan Nettleton

Peace Be With YouA sermon on John 20:19-31 & 1 John 1:1 – 2.2 by Nathan Nettleton

An Economy of AbundanceA sermon on Acts 4:32-35 and 1 John 1:1-2:2 by Alison Sampson

Doubters, Failures, and other Model ChristiansA sermon on John 20:19-31 & 1 John 1:1 – 2.2 by Nathan Nettleton

Merely-Reserving-Judgement ThomasA sermon on John 20:19-31 & 1 John 1:1 – 2.2 by Nathan Nettleton

Shame, Redemption, and the Terror of ResurrectionA sermon on John 20:19-31 & 1 John 1:1 – 2.2 by Nathan Nettleton

Behind Locked DoorsA sermon on John 20:19-31 by Paul Sheppy

What Shall We Do Now?A sermon on Acts 4:32-35 & John 20:19-31 by Guilherme Almeida

Resurrection Sunday Evening
2030-04-21 00:00 - 2030-04-22 00:59
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 25: 6-9

Every people on earth will be invited to the sacred mountain
for the huge party thrown by the LORD who rules over everything.
It will be the feast to end all feasts,
with the very finest of foods and wines:
choice meats, wines aged to perfection,
gourmet delicacies to make every mouth water!
And right here on this sacred mountain
the LORD will tear off the pall of death
and release the nations from the coffin that held them.
The LORD will swallow up death once and for all.
With that, the Lord GOD will wipe the tears from every eye,
and God’s people will no longer be humiliated and despised;
The LORD says so and that settles it.
When that happens people will say,
Wow! This is our God!
We hoped, we waited, we trusted God to save us.
And our waiting has not been in vain.
The LORD has not let us down.
Celebrate! Sing and dance,
for God has come to our rescue and set us free.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 114

When we were led out of the land of slavery
- the people of Israel, coming out from under the foreign thumb -
the land of Judah became a sacred place,
the land of Israel came under sovereign rule.
The wild sea took one look, and turned tail and ran,
the Jordan river backed off and headed the other way.
The mountains skipped like a rock wallaby;
the hills were as jumpy as a kelpie pup.
What was it that made the wild sea turn tail?
What was it that made the Jordan back off?
What made the mountains quiver and jump?
What made the hills shudder and shake?
It was awe of you, LORD, God of our ancestors.
The whole earth trembles in your presence.
For you are the one who melts rocks into pools of water;
the one who brings springs bubbling up from hard baked ground.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8

You do realise, don’t you, that it only takes a little bit of yeast to leaven a whole batch of bread dough? A little bit of corruption can similarly affect a whole congregation, so get rid of it. Just as we have traditionally cleaned out every trace of yeast from our homes in preparation for the Passover festival when we use only unleavened bread, so you should clean the corruption from your midst. You are to be the new batch of unleavened bread. In Christ, our Paschal lamb has been sacrificed. Now is the time for us to celebrate the festival, and just as we can’t celebrate it with yeast-leavened bread, neither can we celebrate it with the old yeast of inhumanity and evil. We celebrate this festival with the unleavened bread of truth and integrity.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 24: 13-49

In the afternoon of the day that the tomb had been found empty, a couple who had been followers of Jesus were heading back home to the small town called Emmaus. As they walked the ten kilometres or so from Jerusalem, they were talking over everything that had happened in the past few days. Along the way, Jesus himself joined them, but to their eyes he was just another stranger on the road. He asked them, “What’s all this you are discussing so intently as you travel?”
They pulled up in their tracks and looked at him with long faces. One of them, a man named Cleopas, said to him, “You must be the only stranger in and around Jerusalem who has not caught up with what’s been going on in the last few days.”
“What has been going on?” Jesus asked.
They replied, “It is all to do with Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet whose words and actions electrified the people in the presence of God. The religious and civil authorities had him arrested and then pushed for the death penalty. They got their way and he was executed. We’d had our hopes pinned on him being the one who would set Israel back in its rightful place. It’s all been over for three days now. A strange twist has rocked us all today, though. Some women from our group apparently went to the tomb first thing this morning and couldn’t find his body. They came back and told the rest of us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. We sent a group down to check out their story, and they found things just the way the women had said, but there was no sign of Jesus anywhere.”
When they had finished filling him in, Jesus said to them, “What a thick-headed pair you are! Why are you so slow to get your heads and your hearts around everything that the prophets spelled out?! Hasn’t it always been the case that the Messiah would have to cop all this suffering before getting in on the glory that was in store for him?”
Jesus spent the rest of their journey explaining the scriptures to them. Passage by passage, he showed them what Moses and the prophets had said about him.
When they reached the turn-off to the town they were heading for, Jesus appeared set to push on up the highway, but they put the hard word on him to stop at their place overnight since the sun was going down and the day was almost over. So he accepted their offer of hospitality and went home with them. When he sat down to the evening meal with them, he picked up a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they realised who he was; and just as suddenly he disappeared from sight. They looked at one another and said, “No wonder there was such a fire burning in our guts when he was explaining the scriptures to us on the road!”
So, without a moment’s delay, they were on their feet and hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell the news to the eleven and the rest of the crew. When they found them, they were all together and abuzz with news: “The Lord really has risen! He has appeared to Simon Peter!”
The couple from Emmaus filled them all in on what had happened on the road, and how it had dawned on them who he was when the bread had been broken.
While they were talking about all this, Jesus himself suddenly appeared, standing among them. “Greetings!” he said, “Peace be with you.”
Taken by surprise, they thought he was a ghost, and were scared spitless. Jesus said to them, “What have you got to be afraid of? Why are you letting your doubts get the better of you? Here, take a look at my hands and feet. See for yourselves that it really is me. Reach out and touch me and you will know that I am made of flesh and bone. No ghost can claim that!”
As he spoke, he showed them his hands and feet. It all seemed too good to be true; so wonderful that they couldn’t believe their eyes. Their heads were bursting with joy and disbelief! Jesus asked them, “Have you got anything here I can eat?”
They gave him a piece of grilled fish and he took it and ate it in front of them. Then he said to them, “The things I have said while I was with you amount to this: everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms is to be fulfilled.”
As he spoke they began to see how to read the scriptures with open minds so as to understand what God was saying in them. Jesus said to them:
“What was written will now be clear to you: that the Messiah is to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that the people of every nation must be told of the Messiah’s call to turn their lives around and receive forgiveness for their toxic ways. You can get started here in Jerusalem. You have witnessed these things first hand, so you can tell everyone what you have seen and heard. And don’t miss this: I myself am sending you the gift that my Father promised, so wait here in the city until you have been fitted out with God’s power.”
©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 raised Jesus Christ to life
and destroyed the shroud of death that covered all people.
You made the earth, and it trembles in your presence;
you rescued your people from slavery,
leading them through the deep waters
from death to life.
You sent your Son, Jesus, to us,
a prophet mighty in word and deed
who taught us to celebrate your salvation
in sincerity and truth.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and wiped the tears from our faces.
Risen indeed, he is with us always,
breathing his peace over our fears
and spreading a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Risen Son, Jesus Christ,
who breathes his peace over our fears
and spreads a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
©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 raised Jesus Christ to life
and destroyed the shroud of death that covered all people.
You made the earth, and it trembles in your presence;
you rescued your people from slavery,
leading them through the deep waters
from death to life.
You sent your Son, Jesus, to us,
a prophet mighty in word and deed
who taught us to celebrate your salvation
in sincerity and truth.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and wiped the tears from our faces.
Risen indeed, he is with us always,
breathing his peace over our fears
and spreading a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
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

As the scriptures said,
the Messiah suffered and rose from the dead on the third day,
so that repentance and forgiveness of sins
might be proclaimed in his name to all nations.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now as witnesses of God’s victory over evil and death.
The risen Christ has made himself known to you
in the breaking of bread,
so clean out the old yeast of malice and evil
and live as the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And may God wipe every tear from your faces;
May Christ Jesus make himself known to you in all things;
And may the Holy Spirit open your eyes
and set your hearts on fire with love.
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.

Can’t see the wood for the treesA sermon on Luke 24: 13-35 by Nathan Nettleton

Open Minds and Narrow ThinkingA sermon on Luke 24:36b-48 by Nathan Nettleton

Easter in OrdinaryA sermon on Luke 24.13-35 by Garry Deverell

The Stranger on the Road of DespairA sermon on Luke 24: 13-35 & 1 Peter 1: 17-23 by Nathan Nettleton

There and Back AgainA sermon on Luke 24:13-35 by Roslyn Wright

Resurrection Sunday Morning - Year B
2030-04-21 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 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.

1st Reading: 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

Alternative 1st Reading: Isaiah 25: 6-9

Every people on earth will be invited to the sacred mountain
for the huge party thrown by the LORD who rules over everything.
It will be the feast to end all feasts,
with the very finest of foods and wines:
choice meats, wines aged to perfection,
gourmet delicacies to make every mouth water!
And right here on this sacred mountain
the LORD will tear off the pall of death
and release the nations from the coffin that held them.
The LORD will swallow up death once and for all.
With that, the Lord GOD will wipe the tears from every eye,
and God’s people will no longer be humiliated and despised;
The LORD says so and that settles it.
When that happens people will say,
Wow! This is our God!
We hoped, we waited, we trusted God to save us.
And our waiting has not been in vain.
The LORD has not let us down.
Celebrate! Sing and dance,
for God has come to our rescue and set us free.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

Thank you, LORD, thank you!
Thank you for your goodness!
Thank you for your love —
rock solid and timeless!
May all your people recognise
that your love and loyalty last forever.
Our energy and strength come from you, LORD;
our peace and safety were won by you.
The sound of singing rings out
from the homes of all who are honest and true.
They sing of what you have done, LORD,
for you raised your hand and saved the day.
Now we know that our lives are safe;
we will live to tell of what you have done.
You gave us the tough medicine we deserved, LORD,
but you didn’t let death get its claws into us.
The minute they open the city gates
— the gates of justice —
we’ll be the first through, LORD;
eager to tell you how thankful we are.
These gates belong to you, LORD,
those you have put right can come on through.
Thank you for answering our prayers, LORD;
for coming to our rescue and putting us right.
From a rejected stone found in a rubbish pile
you cut and polished a priceless jewel.
This is obviously your work, LORD,
and we can hardly believe our eyes!
Today is your day, LORD, a day to honour you;
we will celebrate with joy and laughter.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11

My friends, let me spell out the guts of the message I’ve been preaching one more time. This is the message which you welcomed so eagerly and gladly put your names to. It is the message through which your lives are being saved, assuming of course, that your faith has got sticking power and wasn’t just a flash in the pan. What a waste that would have been!
In my preaching I passed on to you the really crucial stuff, exactly as it had been told to me. Let me recite it again:
The Messiah died to deal with our sins,
backing up what the scriptures say.
After three days in the grave, he was raised to life,
backing up what the scriptures say.
He appeared alive to Peter,
and then to his closest followers.
He also appeared to a gathering
of more than five hundred of his followers.
Of those who saw him, only a few have since died;
most are still alive to tell the story.
He spent some time with James
and the others he had picked out
to be the leaders of his church.
At the end of the line – like the perpetual late-comer I am – I too was privileged to have him appear to me. If anyone deserved to be left out, it was me and I have certainly never deserved my place among the leaders of his church because I spent my early years trying to wipe God’s church out of existence. But God is extremely generous and has made me what I am. I’ve driven myself hard to make sure that God’s investment in me was not wasted. I reckon I’ve been the hardest worker on the team, although I can’t really take the credit when it is actually God who is so generously working through me. It makes no difference which of us God was using at the time. Whether you heard it from me or from them, what matters is that you heard the message we were preaching and that you put your trust in what we had to say.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Alternative 2nd Reading: 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

Gospel Reading: John 20: 1-18

Early on Sunday, the first day of the week, even before it began to get light, Mary Magdalene went to visit the tomb where Jesus had been buried. When she got there, she discovered that the stone had been removed and the tomb was open. She fled as fast as she could, and found Simon Peter and the disciple whom Jesus had been closest to. Mary blurted out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have taken him.”
So Peter and the other disciple set off on the double. They were both running at full tilt, but the other disciple was faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He didn’t go in, but he bent down to peer inside and saw that the linen burial shroud had been unwrapped and left behind. Moments later, Simon Peter arrived, and barged straight into the tomb. He too, saw the unwrapped shroud lying there, and noticed that the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was not with the rest of the shroud, but had been rolled up and left in a different spot. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, followed Peter in. They had not yet got their minds around the scriptures that said that Jesus must rise from the dead, but what he saw was enough to convince him that this was no grave robbery, but something far more extraordinary.
The two men left, and headed off to their homes, but Mary stayed behind and stood weeping outside the tomb. A little later she bent down to look into the tomb, and through her tears she saw two angels dressed in white. They were sitting where the body of Jesus had previously been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “Someone has taken away my Lord, and I have got no idea where they might have put him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing behind her, but she didn’t realise it was him. Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Mary assumed that he was the cemetery gardener, so she said to him, “Mister, if you have removed his body from the tomb, please tell me where you have put him, and I will take him off your hands.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She spun around and said, “Rabbouni!”, which is a Hebrew word meaning ‘Dear Teacher’.
Jesus said to her, “Don’t try to hold on to me, because I have not yet fully risen to the Father. But go now, and tell my whole family of disciples that I am rising up to the one who conceived me and conceived you, to my God and your God.”
So Mary Magdalene went straight to the disciples, and was the first to make the announcement, “I have seen the Lord!”
She went on to fill them in on all that he had said to her.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Alternative Gospel Reading: Mark 16: 1-8

When the Sabbath rest day was over, three of the women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome – went and purchased the spices required to anoint the body of Jesus in the customary way. At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the first day of the week, they went to the tomb. On the way there they had been discussing whether they would be able to find anyone to shift the large boulder that sealed the entrance to the tomb, but when they arrived within sight of it, they could see that the massive stone had already been rolled aside. They went into the tomb and nearly jumped out of their skins when they found a young man, wearing a white robe, sitting on the right hand side. He said to them, “Don’t panic. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was executed. He has been raised up. You won’t find him here. Look, this is the spot where they laid his body. Off you go. Tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that Jesus is going on up to Galilee ahead of you. There, in Galilee, you will see him, just as he told you you would.”
The women bolted out of the tomb and fled as fast as they could, shaking with fear and their heads spinning. They were so frightened that they didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone.
©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 you have raised Jesus Christ from the dead
and swallowed up death forever.
You made the world and all that is in it;
you made this day and we will be glad and rejoice in it!
For this is the day your prophets testified about
when you destroy the shroud of death
and open the gates of salvation to all who believe.
You sent your Son, Jesus, among us,
anointed with your Holy Spirit and power
to preach peace and heal all who were oppressed,
When he was put to death and buried,
you broke open the tomb and raised him on this day.
Now we need never again search for him
in the places of buried dreams,
for he is alive and reaches out to us,
wiping away our tears and calling us by name.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your risen Son, Jesus,
who was dead and buried,
but who you raised on this day
and who is alive forever,
reaching out to us,
wiping away our tears and calling us by name.
©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 raised Jesus Christ from the dead
and swallowed up death forever.
You made the world and all that is in it;
you made this day and we will be glad and rejoice in it!
For this is the day your prophets testified about
when you destroy the shroud of death
and open the gates of salvation to all who believe.
You sent your Son, Jesus, among us,
anointed with your Holy Spirit and power
to preach peace and heal all who were oppressed,
When he was put to death and buried,
you broke open the tomb and raised him on this day.
Now we need never again search for him
in the places of buried dreams,
for he is alive and reaches out to us,
wiping away our tears and calling us by name.
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

Jesus Christ died for our sins
and has been raised by God
as judge of the living and the dead.
Everyone who trusts in him
receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now as God’s chosen witnesses
to testify that Christ has been raised
and that we are raised with him.
Do not look for him among the dead,
but be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
And may God raise you from all that would entomb you;
May Christ Jesus call you by name and go ahead of you;
And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good.
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.

The Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

God Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

A Young Man in WhiteA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton

Do Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff

This Changes EverythingA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

Factoring the UnthinkableA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton

The Great Reversal Moves ForwardA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by David Devine

A Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

Life and love in the face of deathA sermon by Roslyn Wright

The Failure of FailureA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton

How Does It End?A sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

By The Light Of A RumourA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Showing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra

A Question For Your TearsA sermon on John 20:11-18 by Edward L Taylor

Darkness Breaks SlowlyA sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

The Great Paschal (Easter) Vigil
2030-04-20 00:00 - 2030-04-21 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 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.

1st Reading: Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a

At the outset, when God created the universe,
the earth was lifeless and shapeless;
a deep ocean of chaos, shrouded in darkness;
brooded over by the Spirit of God.
Then God called for light,
and light appeared.
God saw that light was a good thing,
and separated it from the darkness.
God named the light Day,
and the darkness Night.
Evening passed and morning came;
the first day was done.
Then God called for a clear space
to keep out the water on either side.
God made the clear space
and the water was split in two, above and below.
That is what happened,
and God named the space Sky.
Evening passed and morning came;
the second day was done.
Then God called for the waters under the sky
to be pooled into one place
and for dry land to appear elsewhere.
That is what happened,
and God named the dry land Earth
and the pooled waters Sea.
God saw that this was a good thing.
Then God called for the earth to produce vegetation:
plants and trees, rich with fertile fruits and seed,
and that is what happened.
The earth burst forth with vegetation of every kind;
grasses and vines, shrubs and trees,
fertile with seeds and fruits of every kind.
God saw that this was a good thing.
Evening passed and morning came;
the third day was done.
Then God called for lights in the space called sky;
lights to shine from above and light up the earth,
to separate day from night,
and to mark out the months, seasons and years.
That is what happened;
God made stars to fill the sky
and two big lights:
a bright one to dominate the day,
and a soft one to take over at night.
God set them all in the sky
to light up the earth and determine day and night;
to separate out the light from the darkness.
God saw that this was a good thing.
Evening passed and morning came;
the fourth day was done.
Then God called for the waters to fill with living creatures,
and for the skies to fill with birds flying over the earth.
God created all the creatures that live and move in the water,
the enormous monsters of the sea and the teeming fish,
and every kind of bird that wings its way through the air.
God saw that this was a good thing
and set them up for life,
encouraging the fish to multiply and fill the seas
and the birds to multiply all over the earth.
Evening passed and morning came;
the fifth day was done.
Then God called for the earth to bring forth all sorts of living creatures:
insects, reptiles, mammals;
animals of every kind, tame and wild.
That is what happened;
God made wild animals of every kind to fill the earth,
every kind of herd and flock,
and every creature that runs or jumps or crawls on land.
God saw that this was a good thing.
Then God said:
“We will make people in our own image,
modelling them on ourselves.
We will entrust to them the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, the flocks and herds,
and all the wild animals and creepy-crawlies.”
So God created people as a reflection of God,
created them to be like God,
created them male and female.
God set them up for life,
and encouraged them to multiply and fill the earth.
God told them to exercise control over the earth
and to manage the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air and every living thing on earth.
God said to the people:
“Look, I have given you the grain crops
that grow and reproduce themselves all over the earth,
and all the trees that grow from seed and bear fruit;
they are all yours for food.
I have also provided vegetation galore
as food for the animals, birds and creepy-crawlies,
for everything that lives and breathes.
So it all happened, just as God said.
Everything God had made was there to be seen
and God was delighted with it all.
Evening passed and morning came;
the sixth day was done.
With that, the universe was complete,
along with everything that fills it.
With the work finished,
God took the seventh day off.
After all the work God had done,
the seventh day was a well earned rest.
So God made the seventh day special,
a sacred day,
because that day was God’s day off
after all the work of creating everything.
So that’s the family lineage of the universe;
the story of how everything came to be.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 136: 1-9, 23-26

Thank you, LORD, thank you. You are truly good.
Your rock solid love is forever.
Thank you, God of all gods, thank you.
Your rock solid love is forever.
Thank you, Lord of all lords, thank you.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You and you alone have done miraculous things.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You dreamed up the skies and put them in place.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You raised the earth on its foundations above the seas.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You set the lights shining in the sky.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You put the sun in charge of the day.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You gave the moon and stars watch over the night.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You didn’t forget us when we were down and out.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You rescued us from those who had it in for us.
Your rock solid love is forever.
You provide food for everything that lives,
Your rock solid love is forever.
Thank you, God of everything, thank you.
Your rock solid love is forever.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

2nd Reading: Genesis 7: 1-5, 11-18 ; 8: 6-18 ; 9: 8-13

The LORD said to Noah:
“I want you and your family to board the giant lifeboat you have built, because you are the only person alive who does the right thing in my eyes. It is time to move the animals on board too. Take seven breeding pairs of every kind of animal that can be offered in worship, one breeding pair of every kind that cannot, and seven pairs of every kind of flying bird. In this way we will ensure the survival of all their species on the earth. You’ve only got seven days before the rain starts, so get cracking. I will make it bucket down, day and night, for forty days, to wipe every living thing from the face of the earth, everything I have created.”
So Noah got stuck into it and followed the LORD’s instructions to the letter. Noah was six hundred years old at the time, and sure enough, on the seventeenth day of the second month that year, great torrents of water came flooding up from beneath the ground and the clouds burst from above. Rain bucketed down, day and night, for forty days. The very day it began, Noah finished loading the lifeboat and moved in with his wife, his three sons — Shem, Ham and Japheth — and their three wives. On board they had loaded every kind of animal, wild and domestic, every kind of creepy-crawly, and every kind of bird and flying animal. There were breeding pairs of every species that lives and breathes on the earth, and they all went on board the lifeboat with Noah. Noah had rounded them all up and herded them into the boat, just as God had instructed him, and when they were all aboard, the LORD closed the door to keep them in.
The flood waters surged over the earth for forty days, and as the waters rose the lifeboat floated up well clear of the ground below. The waters continued to swell, becoming deeper and deeper over the earth, but the lifeboat floated safely on the surface.
When the rain stopped after forty days, Noah opened a window in the lifeboat he had built, and released a crow. It never came back, but kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up. So Noah released a pigeon, in order to find out whether the waters had subsided enough to find dry land. But the pigeon returned to the boat, because the water was still too deep and it couldn’t find anywhere else to land. Noah put out his hand for the bird to land on and brought it back inside. He waited another seven days and then released the pigeon from the boat again. That evening the pigeon came back carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak, so Noah knew that the waters had subsided enough for the land to begin drying out. Seven days later he released the pigeon again, and this time it never came back.
They had been in the lifeboat for nearly a year before the flood was gone completely. It was New Year’s Day when Noah opened up the roof of the boat and took a look around. He could see that the ground was still soggy, but drying fast. Eventually, on the twenty seventh day of the second month that year, the earth was dry enough, and 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. Then God said to Noah and his family:
“I, myself, am forging an alliance with you, and with all your descendants to come, and with every living creature; all the birds, domestic animals, and wild animals of the earth who came out of the lifeboat with you. In the terms of this alliance which I am forging with you, I am giving you my word that never again will all life be wiped out by a flood. There will never be another flood that will totally destroy the earth. I am making this alliance between me and you and all the living creatures that are with you, and I am signing it in the clouds. The rainbow that I have put in the clouds for you all to see is my signature on the alliance between me and the earth.”
©2003 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

3rd Reading: Genesis 22: 1-18

This is the story of how God put Abraham to the test to find out whether he really had what it takes.
God called to him, saying, “Abraham!”
“At your service,” Abraham replied.
God said, “Go and get Isaac, your son, your only son whom you love. Take him to the mountain that I will point out to you in the land of Moriah. There you are to sacrifice him to me on an altar as a burnt offering.”
So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire on the altar. He saddled his donkey and set out for the place that God had told him to go with Isaac and two of his hired hands. After three day’s journey, Abraham could finally see their destination in the distance. He said to the two hired hands, “Wait here with the donkey while the boy and I go on up there to worship. We will then return and meet you back here.”
Abraham got Isaac to carry the wood for the burnt offering, and he himself carried the knife and the coals for starting the fire. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac spoke to Abraham saying, “Father!”
“At your service, son,” Abraham replied.
“Haven’t we forgotten something?” Isaac asked. “We’ve got everything we need to get the fire going, but we haven’t brought a lamb to sacrifice as a burnt offering.”
Abraham said, “God will personally provide the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.”
So the two of them walked on together. When they arrived at the spot that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar and stacked the wood on it ready for the fire. Then he tied up his son Isaac, and laid him on top of the wood on the altar. He took the knife in hand and was about to kill his son, when the messenger of the LORD called to him from heaven, saying, “Abraham, Abraham!”
“At your service,” he replied.
The messenger said, “Put down your knife and don’t hurt the boy in any way, for now I know what I needed to know. Since you have not even drawn the line at giving up your only son for me, I know that you trust God, no matter what.”
As he looked up, Abraham saw a ram with its horns entangled in the scrub. So he went and got it, and offered up the ram on the altar as a burnt offering in place of his son.
From then on, Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide,” and a saying was coined that you still hear today: “On the LORD’s mountain all will be provided.”
The messenger of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven again, saying, “This is what the LORD says to you:
I swear to you, and give you my personal guarantee, that because you have done what I told you to do, and not even drawn the line at giving up your only son for me, I will do the right thing by you and set you up for life. I will see to it that your descendants become as countless as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. They will defeat their enemies and take over their cities and towns. Through your offspring, a better life will be available to everyone on earth, because you obeyed when I spoke to you.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Psalm 16

Protect me, God,
you are my place of refuge.
I’m acknowledging you as the one in charge, LORD;
you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
I delight in the company of those
who dedicate themselves to you;
they are the salt of the earth.
Those who worship other things
will have nothing but grief.
I will not buy into their futile devotions;
I will not utter the names they revere.
You are all I want, LORD, and all I need;
you hold my future in your hands.
You mark out the best of everything for me;
you’ve set me up with a bright future.
I heap accolades on you, LORD,
for you always give me wise advice;
even in the dead of night
you fill my heart with your teachings.
I’ll always stick close behind you, LORD;
with you near by,
I’ll never be pushed off track.
You fill me with delight, LORD;
joy erupts from deep in my bones;
my body relaxes, safe in your care.
You’ll never let the grave drag me down;
your faithful servants are never left for dead.
You set my feet on a life-giving track, LORD.
To be in your presence is absolute bliss.
All I could dream of comes from your hand.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

4th Reading: Exodus 14: 10-31 ; 15: 20-21

When the Israelites stopped near the Red Sea, they looked back over their shoulders and saw the King of Egypt and his whole army in hot pursuit. They began to cry out in panic:
“God help us! What are you doing to us, Moses? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Weren’t there enough graves there, so you had to take us off to be slaughtered in the outback? Didn’t we tell you it would come to this, when we were still safe in Egypt? We said ‘Don’t rock the boat, Moses. Leave us be. We are better off working as slaves in Egypt than ending up dead in the outback.’ Didn’t we tell you?”
But Moses replied in a speech, saying:
“Don’t panic! Hold your nerve, and you will see the LORD take action to rescue you, right here and now. Take a last look at your oppressors while you can, because you will never see them alive again. The LORD will fight this battle for you. That should shut you up!”
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
“Why all this whingeing to me? Tell the Israelites to get travelling. Hold up your walking stick and stretch out your hand towards the sea. Slice it open, so that the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on a dry track. The Egyptian army are so pig-headed that they will go in after the people, and when they do, I will cover myself in glory by defeating the King of Egypt and all his armoured vehicles and soldiers. Then all Egypt will understand that I AM the LORD.”
The angel of God who had been in front of the Israelites now moved around and took up a new position, covering them from the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front of them and settled in a position behind them, making it impossible for the Egyptians and the Israelites to see each other. The cloud shrouded the Egyptian camp in darkness and lit up the night over the Israelite camp, and the night passed without any contact between the two camps.
Then Moses stretched out his hand towards the sea, and, with a violent wind that blew all night, the LORD forced back the sea, carving out a track of dry ground right through the middle of the water. The Israelites trooped into the sea on the dry track with the angry waters towering over them on either side. The Egyptian soldiers gave chase, charging into the middle of the sea aboard their horses and armoured vehicles. Just before dawn, the LORD looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and began to wreak havoc among them, bogging their vehicles and leaving them stuck in the middle. In panic, the soldiers began shouting, “Run for your lives! Get away from these Israelites because the LORD is on their side fighting against us!”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand towards the sea again so that the water will surge back over the Egyptian army and all their soldiers and armoured vehicles.”
So Moses stretched out his hand towards the sea, and as the dawn broke, the sea came crashing back down on top of the fleeing army. The LORD trapped the soldiers in the middle of the sea, and when the waters had closed over and returned to normal, there wasn’t a soldier or a vehicle left. The Israelites had walked through the sea on a dry track with the angry waters towering over them on either side, but the entire army of the King of Egypt had been swallowed up by the sea while pursuing them.
So that day the LORD rescued the people of Israel from their oppressors, and the people saw all the dead soldiers washed up on the shore. When they saw the power of the LORD’s action against their oppressors, the people were in awe of the LORD and put their trust in the LORD and in Moses who was working for the LORD.
Then the prophet Miriam, who was Aaron’s sister, led the women in a dance of celebration, playing tambourines and singing:
“Our song is for you, LORD,
for you have won a glorious victory!
You have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Exodus 15: 1b-13, 17-18

The prophet Miriam, who was Aaron’s sister, led the women in a dance of celebration, playing tambourines and singing:
Our song is for you, LORD,
for you have won a glorious victory!
You have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!
We would be nothing without you, LORD,
but with you, we are strong.
You are our God, and we sing your praises;
the God of our ancestors,
and we applaud you long and loud.
You are the greatest hero, LORD;
LORD by name, LORD by reputation.
You swept the tyrant’s armoured vehicles and soldiers into the sea;
all his top brass disappeared beneath the waves.
The surging waters closed over them,
and they sank like a stone into the murky depths.
With your bare hands, LORD,
you put on an awesome display of power;
you rolled up your sleeves and decimated the enemy.
With the full force of your majestic power,
you defeated your opponents;
they ignited your anger
and were gone like dry grass in a bushfire.
The fearsome blast of your fury cut a swathe through the waters;
the surging depths were heaped up on each side;
the wild ocean set like jelly, all the way down.
The tyrants said, “We’ll give chase, we can catch them.
All that they have will be ours, all we could ever want.
We will turn our weapons on them and wipe them out.”
You sent your wind howling after them and closed the sea over them;
they sank like a stone and were never seen again.
You are in a league of your own, LORD;
Nothing else is worthy of our devotion.
Nothing can compete with you for awesome grandeur;
Nothing else can match your record
for getting the job done against the odds.
When you got involved, LORD,
the planet opened its mouth and swallowed up our oppressors.
With love and loyalty, you led the people you had reclaimed;
with protective strength, you guided them to your sacred home.
You brought them home to your holy mountain, LORD,
and let them put down roots in the place you call your own,
the sacred place that you built with your own hands.
May you rule forever and ever, LORD!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

5th Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-11

This is what the LORD says:
Hey you! Are you thirsty?
Come, then. Drink from these fresh waters!
Are you too penniless even to eat?
Never mind! Come! Help yourselves; eat your fill!
Come and stock up with food, wine and milk.
What will it cost you? Not a red cent!
Why sink all your money into things that leave you hungry?
Why bust a gut working for things that can never satisfy?
Listen carefully to what I have to say
and you will feast at a rich banquet of fine foods.
Stick with me and tune in to what I’m saying,
for without my words, life is bland and tasteless.
I will surround your lives with love and loyalty,
making a permanent alliance, just as I did with David.
I gave him influence and authority over the nations,
and he was my witness among them.
You will be the same – a light to which others flock;
even those who don’t know you will come running;
they’ll be drawn to my glory, seen in you,
the glory of the LORD, the one and only God of Israel.
The LORD says,
Track me down before it is too late,
make contact while I’m in your neck of the woods.
Clean up your act and get your head straight;
give up your corrupt practices and plans.
Get yourself back on my wavelength
and I’ll pour out mercy and generous forgiveness.
I don’t think the way you think, says the LORD,
and I don’t do things the way you do.
Your ways and mine are like cheese and chalk,
your thoughts and mine are lightyears apart.
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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Isaiah 12: 2-6

You alone, LORD, are able to set us free,
so we put our trust in you, and have nothing to fear.
All our strength and power come from you, LORD GOD,
you have become our hero, our saviour!
You will put your saving love on tap,
deep draughts to be enjoyed by everyone.
On that day we will all say to one another,
“Thank the LORD! Let God’s name be on everyone’s lips!”
We will tell the world what you have done,
we will shout your name and declare you to be number one.
We will sing your praises because of all you have accomplished,
and give you the glory all over the earth.
With all the citizens of Zion, we lift our voices to you
with shouts and laughter and songs of celebration,
for you are the ultimate, the greatest, the Holy One,
and you live among us, your people!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

6th Reading (alternative 1): Baruch 3: 9-15, 32 - 4:4

Listen up, Israel, and hear the rules of life.
Tune in and learn good common sense.
What’s going on, O people of Israel?
How come you are still trapped in the land of your enemies?
How come you are growing old so far from home?
People avoid you like something dead.
You are written off like those in the grave.
How come?
It is because you turned your back on the fountain of wisdom.
If you had stuck to the track God had marked out
you would have lived in peace your whole life long.
Wake up to yourselves and learn.
Learn where to find wisdom,
where to gain strength,
where to get a clear picture of what is going on.
Do that and you will find that you have also discovered
the secret to a long and full life,
to a future that looks bright,
and to peace that will last.
But who has succeeded in finding Wisdom’s house?
Who has entered her warehouse and placed their order?
Who? The one who knows everything knows her well,
and with a sharp mind, easily tracked her down.
The one who set up the earth in the first place,
and filled it with everything on four legs;
the one who throws light into the sky,
and who can send it cowering away with a word;
the one at whose call the stars stepped forth,
eagerly signing up for the night watch
and lighting up with joy for the one who made them.
This is our God;
and no other god is in the same league.
God has marked out the track to Wisdom’s home
and shared her secrets with his servant Jacob,
and with Israel, his beloved child.
From that time on, Wisdom appeared on earth
and made her home among the people.
She is the book of instruction given by God;
the law laid down that lasts forever.
All those who hold fast to her will live,
but those who give up on her will die.
Turn around, people of Jacob, and reach out for her.
Turn towards her light and head straight there.
What a glorious gift you have been given!
Don’t squander it and leave it to others to cash in on it.
We’ve got it made, O people of Israel,
because we are in the know about what pleases God.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

6th Reading (alternative 2): Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21 ; 9: 4b-6

Wisdom calls; her voice full of promise.
Can’t you hear her, offering herself to all who pass by?
On the station steps at rush hour, there she is.
On a busy corner where everyone passes;
leaning on the gate as the crowd comes through;
wherever people are, her voice rings out.
This is what she has to say:
“Come one and all, and hear me out;
If you’re in the land of the living, what I have to offer is for you.
To the thick-headed, I offer lessons in good sense;
to you who know nothing, I offer a solid education.
Listen up! What I have to say is worth hearing.
Every word that passes my lips can be trusted.
From my mouth you’ll hear only the truth;
corrupt and deceitful talk makes me sick.
Whenever I speak, it is straight down the line;
I don’t twist the truth or put a shifty spin on it.
Invest in me and you’ll reap the rewards;
rich benefits, more than money could ever buy.
I stick to the track of those who do the right thing;
I steer a straight line on the road of justice.
I heap riches on those who love me;
their lives are chock full of good things.
To the ignorant and confused, Wisdom makes her invitation,
“Come over to my place and we’ll chew the fat.
Share my bread and wine and things will fall into place.
The time has come to turn the corner,
to grow up, to embrace life.
Think before you act
and walk with understanding.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 19

Your glory is written in the sky, God;
your artistry is carved on the face of the earth.
From one day to another, the message passes on,
and each night puts the next one in the know.
Not a word is spoken,
not a sound do they make;
yet their silence reverberates around the earth
and their unspoken message echoes from pole to pole.
You made the sun at home flying across the sky.
It takes to its task with the eagerness of a bridegroom;
as exultant as an athlete breasting the tape.
As your messenger, God, it does its rounds,
from one end of the sky to the other,
warming everything in its path.
Your revealed will is right on the mark, LORD;
it gives our souls their second wind.
What you says goes,
and any fool can wise up by taking note.
Your instructions are spot on, LORD;
anyone who follows them will be glad they did.
What you direct us to do is easy to see,
and once seen, everything become clear.
Respect for you keeps us true, LORD,
nothing can corrupt it, now or ever.
What you decide is always accurate;
a fair ruling, beyond dispute.
Your Word is worth far more
than even diamond encrusted gold!
It is sweeter by far
than any mouth watering delicacy,
even chocolate dipped strawberries with cream!
But that’s not all!
Your Word, O LORD, keeps me out of danger,
and following it pays off richly.
Can anyone put their finger on all their own faults?
LORD, eradicate the bugs I haven’t even identified yet.
Remind me not to entertain sour contemptuous thoughts,
and don’t let them start pulling my strings.
Without them, I can stay on course,
and keep my record clean.
That’s what I want, O LORD.
I want all the things I say,
and all the things I mull over in my heart,
to be things I’d be proud to offer to you,
for you are the bedrock of my life;
the one who puts me back where I belong.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

7th Reading: Ezekiel 36: 24-28

I, the LORD, will bring you home from exile.
I will gather you from your foreign hideouts,
and settle you safely in your own homeland.
I will wash you down with clean water;
scrub the defilement from your lives,
and clean off the filthy residue of your flirtation with idols.
I will renovate your lives from the inside out,
and give you a new heart and new spirit.
I will remove your cold stone hearts,
and replace them with hearts of healthy flesh.
I will put my spirit inside you,
to give you a passion for following my ways
and a commitment to doing what I say.
Then you will live in the homeland I gave to your ancestors.
You will be my people,
and I will be your God.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 42 & 43

Like a wallaby searching for a waterhole,
I crave you, God, with every fibre of my being.
Everything inside me thirsts for you, God,
for you, the Living God.
When will the drought break
so I can be with you, face to face.
I’ve had nothing but tears to sustain me;
day and night it’s been the same;
I can’t shut out the jeers and taunts,
“Where is this God of yours?”
Cherished memories flood my mind,
rubbing salt in the wound;
memories of past celebrations
when I led the worship in your house.
I can still hear the laughter and joyous singing;
the crowds celebrating your goodness.
Why do I feel so defeated?
Why am I so anxious and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up hope,
for you are my God and my help
and I’ll be glad of that again.
I feel so defeated inside;
I try to remind myself of your goodness
as I walk along the beach to the river mouth
and look towards the mountains.
But all I hear is the roar of waves
and churning waters;
I feel like chaos is breaking over me
and sucking me down, deeper and deeper.
Every day I read of your rock-solid love, LORD;
and every night I sing your songs
and pray to you as the God of my life.
But still I find myself asking the question:
“Why has your rock-solid love let me down?
Why are so many out to get me,
making my life such a misery?”
My wounds are deep and painful
but the torture goes on;
over and over I hear the taunts,
“Where is this God of yours?”
Why do I feel so defeated?
Why am I so anxious and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up hope,
for you are my God and my help
and I’ll be glad of that again.
Clear my name, God;
side with me against these godless tormentors.
Rescue me from their lies and abuse.
I trusted you to look after me, God;
why have you pushed me aside?
Why are so many out to get me,
making my life such a misery?
Let your truth blaze like a beacon
so I can see the way to go;
let it light up the path and lead me
to your home on the sacred mountain.
Then I will offer myself to you in worship, God;
offer myself with uninhibited joy.
I will praise you with music and song,
O God, my God!
Why do I feel so defeated?
Why am I so anxious and agitated?
I tell myself not to give up hope,
for you are my God and my help
and I’ll be glad of that again.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

8th Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14

The LORD took hold of me and the LORD’s Spirit carried me away and dropped me off in the middle of Death Valley. I took a look around but there was nothing to be seen but bones – old human bones, baked dry in the sun – thousands and thousands of them. The LORD questioned me saying, “Ezekiel, mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Lord GOD, only you can answer such a question.”
Then the LORD told me to preach boldly to the bones, saying:
“All you dry bones, listen to what the LORD is saying to you. Though you are long dead, I, the Lord, will put breath into you again, and you will live. Muscles, ligaments, organs, veins; all these I will give you, wrapped in healthy new skin. You will have whole new bodies and I will breathe life into you. Then you will know for sure that I am the LORD.”
So I did what the LORD told me and I preached to the bones. Even while I was in full flight, the noise of rattling bones began to echo through the valley. They were coming together, linking up, one bone to another. As I watched, muscles appeared and grew. Bodies filled out with new flesh, and fresh skin was wrapped around them. But they were still lifeless.
Then the LORD told me to call to the winds, saying:
“North Wind, South Wind, East Wind, West Wind, listen to what the LORD is telling you to do. Come from everywhere and blow the breath of life into these corpses, so that they can live again.”
Again I spoke as the LORD had said, and even as I did, gusts of wind swirled among the bodies, resuscitating them before my very eyes. Rising to their feet like a finals’ crowd, they could have easily filled the biggest stadium.
Then the LORD explained to me what it all meant:
“Ezekiel, mortal man, my people are just like old dry bones. They are always whingeing that life has become one long drought and they’ve been left for dead with no reason to hope that the future might be any better. So preach boldly, Ezekiel, and tell them this:
“All you people, listen to what the LORD is promising: I am going to dig up your graves, and open your coffins. I will bring you back as my people to the promised land. When I do this for you, my people, when I restore life to your bodies, then you will know for sure that I am the LORD. My Spirit will be within you like the breath in your lungs, and so you shall live. I will once again plant your feet on your own patch of dirt. Then there will no longer be any doubt that I, the LORD, have spoken and that what I say goes.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 143

Listen to my prayer, LORD.
I know you can be relied on to hear my cry for mercy
and to do the right thing when you answer.
I am at your service, LORD,
but please don’t put me on trial.
You can see that I’ve screwed up like everyone else.
Enemies have been constantly on my tail,
stomping me into the dirt
and leaving me for dead in some dark hellhole.
That’s why I’m so gutted.
My heart can’t take any more; it’s chucking in the towel.
I think back on the good old days
and remember all the great things you did, LORD;
I go over and over your achievements in my mind.
I’m reaching out to you for help now.
Inside I am like a salt pan in the desert sun,
desperately thirsting for you.
Answer me before it’s too late, LORD;
I can’t go on much longer.
Don’t turn your back on me now
or I’ll be headed straight for the grave.
May the morning bring news of your rock-solid love
because I’ve put all my trust in you.
Show me the track you want me to follow
for I’m offering my life to you.
Rescue me from my enemies, LORD.
I’ve fled to you seeking asylum.
You are my God;
teach me what you want me to do.
Send your Spirit to guide me
safely along the right track.
Let me live, LORD; your reputation hangs on it.
Do the right thing, as you always do,
and get me out of this danger.
Be true to your rock-solid love and cut off my enemies.
Destroy those who are trying to destroy me
for I live to serve you.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

9th Reading: Zephaniah 3: 14-20

Lift your voices, all you children of Israel.
Sing and shout for joy!
Let your hair down, Jerusalem.
Celebrate with all your heart!
The LORD has let you out of jail
and forced your enemies to turn tail and run.
The one who rules over Israel – the LORD –
is right alongside you, so you have nothing to fear.
No disaster can touch you now.
The great day is coming, Jerusalem,
when you will hear this message:
“Relax! Don’t be afraid, people of Zion.
Your hands can stop trembling now!
The LORD, your God, is right alongside you;
a champion who always comes out on top.
God will be bursting with joy over you,
celebrating as though it was always your birthday!
God will nourish you with love
until the spring is back in your step.”
The LORD, your God, says to you:
“I will bring your misfortune to an end;
and set you free from its humiliation.
Those who have kicked you around
will have me to deal with!
I will rescue and reunite
the crippled and the refugees.
No longer will they be treated with contempt.
I’ll see that they are honoured all over the world.
When that time comes,
I will gather you together and bring you all home.
With your own eyes
you’ll see me restore all that is rightly yours.
Then you will be honoured everywhere.
Everyone on earth will sing your praises.
I, the LORD, have spoken.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 98

We sing like we’ve never sung before, LORD,
because you have done fantastic things.
With your sleeves rolled up you got stuck in
and came out on top.
Your victory has made the headlines, LORD,
now the whole world can see that you were right all along.
You have never defaulted on your rock-solid love,
or your loyalty to your chosen people.
From one end of the earth to the other,
everyone has seen your victory.
With all the world, LORD, we raise a noisy celebration,
singing our lungs out and shouting your praise.
The bands strike up in your honour, LORD,
filling the air with festive music.
With a brass fanfare and a dancing beat
we loudly celebrate your reign over us.
The whole creation joins in the celebration:
the ocean and its creatures roar their approval;
the land and its animals, cheer and stomp;
rivers and lakes give a standing ovation,
mountains and hills erupt in applause.
We put on the whole show in your presence, LORD,
celebrating your arrival as you finally bring justice.
With you in charge we know things will be put right;
now every one on earth will get a fair go.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

10th Reading: Romans 6: 3-11

Surely you know that all of us who have been baptised into union with Christ were, in that baptism, dying with Christ. You will understand then, that having died in baptism, we have been buried with him; and so now, in the same way that Christ was raised from the dead by the awesome power of God, we too can re-enter life in a whole new way.
You see, if we have been united with him in sharing the same kind of death, you can rest assured we will be united with him further in sharing the same kind of resurrection. We are no longer the people we used to be. Our former selves were put to death with him on the cross in order to eradicate the sin that had taken over our lives, and to thus allow us to live free of it. Everyone knows that death is the only escape from a sin-infested life — once you are dead, you are free of it. For us, though, that’s no dead-end solution. If we have died with Christ, we are convinced that we will live with him too. This much we know for sure: Christ has been raised from the dead and will never have to die again. Death has lost any further power over him. When he died, he took sin out with him, once and for all. The life he now lives, then, is lived in union with God. So you should now think of yourselves in the same way — your former lives, ended; your new lives, begun. Your old relationship with sin, dead; your new relationship with God, alive and flourishing in Christ Jesus.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 114

When we were led out of the land of slavery
- the people of Israel, coming out from under the foreign thumb -
the land of Judah became a sacred place,
the land of Israel came under sovereign rule.
The wild sea took one look, and turned tail and ran,
the Jordan river backed off and headed the other way.
The mountains skipped like a rock wallaby;
the hills were as jumpy as a kelpie pup.
What was it that made the wild sea turn tail?
What was it that made the Jordan back off?
What made the mountains quiver and jump?
What made the hills shudder and shake?
It was awe of you, LORD, God of our ancestors.
The whole earth trembles in your presence.
For you are the one who melts rocks into pools of water;
the one who brings springs bubbling up from hard baked ground.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Gospel Reading (Year A - 2026): Matthew 28: 1-10

The morning after the Sabbath, just as the first day of the new week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to visit the tomb. Suddenly the earth shuddered and shook beneath them and an angel from the Lord appeared from heaven right in front of them, rolled back the boulder that had sealed the mouth of the tomb, and sat on it. The angel was as radiant as lightening, and wore clothes as white as freshly fallen snow. The angel’s appearance had the security guards quaking in their boots and falling like flies, scared stiff. But to the women, the angel said, “Do not be afraid of me! I know you have come here looking for Jesus, the one they executed, but you won’t find him here. He has been raised to life, just as he said he would be. Come and I will show you the place where his body was laid to rest. Then run and tell the rest of his followers that he has been raised from the dead. Tell them that he is heading back to Galilee and you are all to follow. There you will see him for yourselves. This is what I have been sent to tell you.”
So they left the tomb on the double, awestruck and overjoyed, and ran to tell the rest of his followers the news. On the way, they suddenly ran straight into Jesus himself. “Good morning!” he said.
They threw themselves at him and fell down kissing his feet and worshipping him. Jesus said to them. “There is nothing to be afraid of. Go and tell the rest of my brothers and sisters to go on up to Galilee and I will meet them there.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Gospel Reading (Year B - 2027): Mark 16: 1-8

When the Sabbath rest day was over, three of the women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome – went and purchased the spices required to anoint the body of Jesus in the customary way. At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the first day of the week, they went to the tomb. On the way there they had been discussing whether they would be able to find anyone to shift the large boulder that sealed the entrance to the tomb, but when they arrived within sight of it, they could see that the massive stone had already been rolled aside. They went into the tomb and nearly jumped out of their skins when they found a young man, wearing a white robe, sitting on the right hand side. He said to them, “Don’t panic. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was executed. He has been raised up. You won’t find him here. Look, this is the spot where they laid his body. Off you go. Tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that Jesus is going on up to Galilee ahead of you. There, in Galilee, you will see him, just as he told you you would.”
The women bolted out of the tomb and fled as fast as they could, shaking with fear and their heads spinning. They were so frightened that they didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Gospel Reading (Year C - 2025): Luke 24: 1-12

Among the followers of Jesus there were some women who had come from Galilee with him. At the crack of dawn on the Sunday, they came to the tomb where his body had been laid, bringing with them the embalming spices that they had prepared. They found the tomb open with the stone rolled out of the way. They went in, but there was no sign of the body. They were standing there shocked and confused when, out of the blue, two men appeared right beside them. Their clothes were dazzling light and the terrified women had to look away. The two men said, “Why are you looking in a graveyard for one who lives? You won’t find him here. He has risen! Remember what he told you back in Galilee. He said that the New Human would be handed over to godless people and executed, but that on the third day he would rise to life again.”
Suddenly the memory of those words came flooding back to them. They returned from the graveyard and told all these things to the eleven and to all the other followers too. Now the group of women who brought this news included Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; but even so, the men wrote it off as some sort of hysterical delusion and they didn’t believe a word of it. Peter was the only one who ran off to look for himself. He bent down and peered into the tomb. All he could see was the linen grave clothes lying there by themselves. He went home scratching his head, with no idea what to make of it all.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

The Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

God Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

A Young Man in WhiteA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton

Do Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff

This Changes EverythingA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

Factoring the UnthinkableA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton

The Great Reversal Moves ForwardA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by David Devine

A Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

Life and love in the face of deathA sermon by Roslyn Wright

The Failure of FailureA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton

How Does It End?A sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

By The Light Of A RumourA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton

Showing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra

A Question For Your TearsA sermon on John 20:11-18 by Edward L Taylor

Moving On From CrucifyingA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton

Darkness Breaks SlowlyA sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton
