LaughingBird

New Years Day
2026-01-01 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.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

Things happen in their due season; there is a right time for everything that happens on earth:
a time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to sow the seed,
and a time to harvest the crop;
a time to end a life,
and a time to rehabilitate;
a time to demolish,
and a time to create;
a time to cry,
and a time to laugh;
a time to grieve,
and a time to party;
a time to throw caution to the wind,
and a time to play it safe;
a time to make love,
and a time to keep your pants on;
a time to keep searching,
and a time to write off the loss;
a time to hold on to what you’ve got,
and a time to let it go;
a time to share another’s pain,
and a time to urge them to move on;
a time to keep your mouth shut,
and a time to speak your mind;
a time to love,
and a time to hate;
a time to fight;
and a time to make peace.
But in the end, what difference does it make what we do? I have observed everyone working hard at the jobs that God has given them. God sets things up so that there is a proper time and place for everything, but we forget too quickly and fail to learn the lessons of history. We see what has happened and what is happening, but we can’t make sense of the connections or see what God is doing in it all. So I figure that there is no point in losing too much sleep over it. The most important thing is for people to be happy and to enjoy their lives for as long as they live. What’s more, there is nothing wrong with eating and drinking and finding satisfaction in our work. They are God’s gifts to us.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 8

Our LORD and ruler,
all over the world
the mere mention of your name sets hearts pounding!
Your glory fills the universe!
The gurgling of babies makes more sense
than the clever arguments of your enemies.
The innocent chatter of children
silences the venomous talk of your opponents.
When I gaze at your handiwork in the night skies
— the moon, the stars, the milky way —
the whole cosmos under your control;
I can’t help but wonder why you bother with us.
Why do you care so much for mere human beings
when we count for so little in the scheme of things?
And yet, for reasons known to you alone,
you created us almost on a par with yourself
and decorated us with the highest honours and glory.
You have even entrusted us with power over your precious creation;
you placed the future of all life in our hands:
sheep and cattle;
emu and kangaroo
insects, reptiles, birds, and sea creatures;
air, land and water and the planet itself.
Our LORD and ruler,
all over the world
the mere mention of your name sets hearts pounding!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Revelaton 21: 1-6a

I, John, had another extraordinary vision. I saw a completely revamped heaven and a radically reconstructed earth. The first heaven, the first earth and the sea were all but a memory. Then I saw Jerusalem, the city dedicated to God, now made completely new. She was coming down the aisle from heaven itself, from God, and she looked sensational, like a bride on her wedding day. I heard a loud voice coming from heaven’s throne. It said:
“See, God has moved in and set up home among ordinary people.
God will live with them and be their God,
and the people will gladly belong
to the God who lives right in their midst.
God will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be abolished forever;
pain and grief and tears will be things of the past.
All these things have been made obsolete.”
Then the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new – absolutely everything!”
“Write all this down,” he said, “because these words can be depended on. They are the truth.”
This is what he said: “The job is done! I am the whole story, from A to Z. I am the beginning and I am the end.”
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 25: 31-46

While speaking to his followers, Jesus said, “The day is coming when the New Human will turn up in all his glory, accompanied by all his angels, and he will be crowned as king. He will sit down on the judgment seat, and all the nations of the world will be summoned to appear before him. Like a quality controller sorting out the good fruit from the rejects, he will carefully sort the nations into two groups, one on his right side and one on his left. Then the King will say to the group on his right side:
‘Welcome, you who have been given the thumbs up by my Father. Ever since the foundation of the world, there has been a kingdom ready with your name on it. Come now, and inherit it; because
I was hungry and you lot fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I came seeking asylum and you made me welcome,
I didn’t have a stitch to wear
and you lot gave me clothes,
I was diseased and you took care of me,
I was in detention and you visited me.’
Then those compassionate nations will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When were you a refugee and we welcomed you, or in detention and we visited you? When did we find you without clothes or sick and do something about it?’
And the King will reply, ‘The fact is, you did these things for people who were regarded as the dregs of society, but who I love as my nearest and dearest; and each time you helped one of them, you were helping me.’
Then he will say to the nations on the other side:
‘You lot have been written off. Get out of my sight! A time of fire has been ignited by the devil and his agents, and you will be swallowed up in it with them; because
I was hungry and you lot didn’t give me a bite,
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing,
I came seeking asylum and you wouldn’t let me in,
I didn’t have a stitch to wear
and you lot left me to freeze,
I was diseased and in detention
and you turned your backs and wouldn’t come near me.’
They too will ask, ‘Lord, when was it that we failed to take care of you? We don’t recall seeing you hungry or thirsty or seeking asylum or naked or sick or in detention.’
But he will answer, ‘The fact is, you failed to do these things for those who were regarded as the dregs of society, and each time you turned your backs on them, you were turning your backs on me.’
And with that, those nations will be gone, swallowed up in the time of punishment. But the nations who did the right thing by others will enjoy life without limit.”
©2023 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
and with the whole earth we tell of the greatness of your name,
for you are the God who makes all things new.
The moon and the stars are your handiwork,
and the earth and its inhabitants reflect your glory.
You have created us, dressing us in glory undeserved,
and entrusted the charge of the earth to our hands.
You have created a time for everything under heaven:
a time for remembering,
and a time to set plans for the future;
a time for prayer
and a time to act with courage and compassion;
a time for sacrifice
and a time to enjoy the fruits of our toil.
In Jesus Christ, you have made your home among us,
and gathered our times into your time,
so that we might live the life of the kingdom
which you prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
Therefore with .....
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you for gathering all our times into your time,
so that we might live the life of the kingdom
which you prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
and with the whole earth tell of the greatness of your name,
for you are the God who makes all things new.
The moon and the stars are your handiwork,
and the earth and its inhabitants reflect your glory.
You have created us, dressing us in glory undeserved,
and entrusted the charge of the earth to our hands.
You have created a time for everything under heaven:
a time for remembering,
and a time to set plans for the future;
a time for prayer
and a time to act with courage and compassion;
a time for sacrifice
and a time to enjoy the fruits of our toil.
In Jesus Christ, you have made your home among us,
and gathered our times into your time,
so that we might live the life of the kingdom
which you prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

In Jesus Christ, God makes all things new.
The former things have disappeared.
God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, and embrace the new time which God has given us.
Recognize Christ in friend and stranger,
and as Christ has been gracious to you,
so be gracious to those in need.
And may God dwell with you as your God.
May Christ be your food and drink
and give you pleasure in your work.
And may the Spirit be your beginning and end
and hold all your times in her loving embrace.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

When I was hungry, what did you do?A sermon on Matthew 25: 31-46 by Nathan Nettleton

When I joined your church, you burned me out!A sermon on Matthew 25: 31-46 by Nathan Nettleton

Icons on Street CornersA sermon on Matthew 25: 31-46 by Nathan Nettleton

Will the Sheep Plead for the Goats?A sermon on Matthew 25: 31-46 by Nathan Nettleton

Judging NationsA sermon on Matthew 25: 31-46 by Nathan Nettleton

All Saints Day - Year C
2025-11-01 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.

Daniel 7: 1-3, 15-18

I, Daniel, had some alarming dreams and visions as I lay in bed one night. I got up and wrote them down. This was during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign as king of Babylon. In my first vision that night, the four winds blew in from the sky and whipped up a great storm at sea. Up out of the stormy sea came four monstrous beasts, each one different from the others.
This vision was deeply disturbing and left me badly shaken, so I went straight to the nearest aide and asked him to help me to make sense of what it meant. He interpreted the dream for me saying:
“The four monstrous beasts indicate the rise of four powerful nations that will reign on earth. But nevertheless, the ones who will reign over God’s earth forever and ever will be the people who have been dedicated solely to the Most High God.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 149

You are the greatest, LORD!
We sing your praises like we’ve never sung before, LORD,
along with all your faithful people everywhere.
Our greatest joy is knowing
that you made us as your people.
With all the children of your holy city,
we celebrate you as our King!
Every mention of your name sets us singing and dancing;
we strike up the band in your honour.
For you, LORD, delight in your people;
you share the spoils of victory with ordinary folk.
Your faithful ones revel in your glory,
and bask in the sheer joy of praising you.
Put your words in their mouths
and your sword in their hands, God,
so that they can bring the nations to justice
and execute your sentence on every population.
Deliver every despot and dictator into their hands
to be tried and sentenced
and put behind bars where they belong.
May all your faithful ones share in this glory, LORD,
for you are the greatest!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Ephesians 1: 11-23

Now that we are united to Christ, we have been promised a share of all that belongs to Christ. This is our destiny, because God chose us and made plans for us from the start, and when God’s mind is set on something, you can be sure it will happen. It was always God’s intention that those who put their hope in Christ — and we were among the first — would live lives that were a shining testimony to the glory of Christ. You have been in on this too, since the moment you heard the truth about Christ, recognised it to be the message that would save you, and put your trust him. Then and there, the Holy Spirit wrote God’s name on you, marking you out as one of those who have been given a guaranteed place among God’s people when God finally puts everything right. You’ll certainly be a shining testimony to God’s glory then!
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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 6:20-31

Jesus taught his followers, saying:
“You who own next to nothing have got it made,
because you are already at home in the culture of God.
“You who don’t have enough to eat now have got it made,
because you will be filled with good things.
“You who are grief stricken now have got it made,
because you will be all smiles and laughter.
“And if people hate you and shut you out, treat you like dirt and drag your name through the mud because of your association with me, then you really have got it made! You’re in great company because in every generation they’ve done the same thing to all God’s faithful messengers. So sing! Dance! Celebrate! Heaven is coming and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams!
“But the writing is on the wall for you who have got it all now.
That’s it for you. You’ve got nothing more to look forward to.
“And the writing is on the wall for you who consume to excess.
You’ve had your share. You’re going to go hungry.
“The writing is on the wall for you who think it’s all a big joke now.
The smile is going to be wiped right off your face.
“And if everybody is fawning over you and saying how wonderful you are, then the writing is well and truly on the wall. They come from a long line of people who fawned over every religious charlatan that ever tickled their ears.”
“If you are ready to hear the truth then I have this to say: Love! Love even your enemies. Treat even those who hate you with love. If anyone mouths off at you or treats you like dirt, wish them all the best and pray for them. If someone gives you a smack around the ear to humiliate you, stand tall and stick your chin out, and invite them to have another crack. Absorb the hostility – don’t escalate it. If someone nicks your coat, just say, ‘Hey, if you’re needing that, you’ll be needing these,’ and hand over your hat and scarf as well. Give to everyone who asks something of you, and don’t go hassling people to give back what they’ve got from you. Live generously, and don’t go keeping score and looking to balance the ledger.
“If you want to know how to treat someone, just ask yourself what you’d be hoping for if you were in their shoes. Treat others the way you’d like to be treated, not just the way you aretreated.
©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.
We do indeed give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for by your great power you have called us to a rich hope
and pledged us a glorious inheritance among the saints.
In time before dreaming you sent the wind
to stir up the sea of chaos and bring forth the earth.
Through your law and prophets
you promised us that your Kingdom would belong forever
to those who embraced your holiness.
Through your son, Jesus Christ,
you proclaimed a day when the hungry will feast
and the mourners laugh.
When he was killed on the cross
you raised him from the dead
and seated him at your right hand.
In him you give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that we might know that hope to which you have called us
and embody the fullness of Christ who fills all in all.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you for calling us with great power to a rich hope,
for promising that your Kingdom would belong forever
to those who embrace your holiness,
and for pledging us a glorious inheritance among the saints.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you thanks and praise, O God,
for by your great power you have called us to a rich hope
and pledged us a glorious inheritance among the saints.
In time before dreaming you sent the wind
to stir up the sea of chaos and bring forth the earth.
Through your law and prophets
you promised us that your Kingdom would belong forever
to those who embraced your holiness.
Through your son, Jesus Christ,
you proclaimed a day when the hungry will feast
and the mourners laugh.
When he was killed on the cross
you raised him from the dead
and seated him at your right hand.
In him you give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
so that we might know that hope to which you have called us
and embody the fullness of Christ who fills all in all.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The Lord delights in saving those who need help.
Having heard and believed the word of truth
– the gospel of salvation –
we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit
as the pledge of our redemption.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now with your faith in the Lord Jesus
and your love open to all God’s people.
Bless those who curse you,
love those who hate you,
and treat others as you would wish them to treat you.
And may God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation;
May Christ Jesus count you among his saints for eternity;
And may the Holy Spirit mark you out
for fullness of redemption.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Living with the SaintsA sermon on Luke 6:20-31 & Ephesians 1:11-23 by Nathan Nettleton

Only for Saints?A sermon on Luke 6:20-31 & Ephesians 1:11-23 by Nathan Nettleton

Saints of God – Living, Dead, and …?A sermon on Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23 & Luke 6:20-31 by Nathan Nettleton

But the Saints Shall Receive the KingdomA sermon on Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 & Luke 6:20-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Saints of Blessed MemoryA sermon on Ephesians 1:11-23 & Luke 6:20-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 20 - Year C
2025-09-21 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.

Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1

I’m heart-broken, sick with grief.
Smiles are a thing of the past.
Tune in and listen.
From one end of the country to the other
you can hear the cry of my suffering people.
“Has the LORD cleared off and left us?” they groan.
“Has our king fled the country?”
They gave God every reason to be angry,
flaunting their latest trendy objects of devotion.
But still they cry:
“Months pass, seasons come and go,
but still there is no sign of help.”
I am hurting with my people, torn by their pain.
I am grief-stricken, filled with horror.
Surely there is some treatment available.
Surely there is something the doctors can do.
So why are my people still sick and broken?
Why are they not yet back on their feet?
I need a head like a fire hydrant
to do all the crying I am going to do,
gushing tears by the bucket full day and night
over all my people who have been killed!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 79: 1-9

O God, the land you gave us has been invaded;
places erected in your honour have been desecrated;
the city you love has been reduced to rubble.
People who faithfully served you have been slaughtered;
their bodies have been tossed out like garbage,
feral animals tear them to shreds and crows pick their bones.
The city is awash with their blood,
overflowing the gutters;
their bodies lie where they fell,
there is no one left to bury them.
Those outside our borders make a joke of our fate;
they laugh as they stick the boots in.
Why, LORD?
How long will we cop this abuse?
Are you going to be angry forever?
Will your fiery rage never die down?
Take it out on those who really deserve it;
on nations that shut you out and write you off.
They are the ones who chewed up your people
and left nothing but scorched earth where we lived.
Please, God, don’t hold against us the wrongs of our ancestors.
Come quickly with a tender heart and loving arms,
we are at rock-bottom.
You are the only one who can get us out of this mess, God.
Come to our rescue! Bail us out! Forgive and heal us!
Show everyone that your reputation is fully deserved!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Timothy 2: 1-7

The number one thing I would urge you to do is to pray. Pray for everyone, thanking God for them and requesting the best for them. Don’t forget to pray for those who exercise power and influence, for we depend on them to allow us the space to get on with our lives in simplicity, peace, dignity and God-given integrity. There is no doubt that such prayers are exactly what God would wish us to be offering. Indeed, what God really wants is for absolutely everyone to be brought into the life God intends for us, and to know it; to know the full and wonderful truth of it. The bottom line is this:
there is one God, and only one,
and there is one person standing between God and humanity
to bring us together:
Christ Jesus, who was as human as us
and who put his own life on the line
so that everyone else could be set free.
All this was made clear once and for all.
The work to which I have been appointed is the work of broadcasting this news. You can take my word for this; I wouldn’t lie to you. God has made me an ambassador-at-large, so that I might teach those outside the Jewish family to believe and trust in this truth.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 16: 1-13

Speaking to his followers, Jesus said, “Have you heard the story about the rich tycoon and his shifty business manager? One day the tycoon was presented with evidence that his business was seriously under-performing due to reckless management. So he called in his business manager and sacked him on the spot, saying, ‘Go and clear out your office and hand over the books for a full audit.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do now. I’m out of work and my reputation is shot. I’m not fit enough for manual labour, and I couldn’t bear to be seen receiving welfare. I know what I’ll do. I’ve got a sure-fire way to ensure that there will be plenty of people only too happy to help me out.’
“So, before clearing out his office, he went to work and called up all the business’s debtors, one at a time. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my boss?’
“The debtor replied, ‘I owe him for a hundred barrels of oil.’
“The manager said, ‘Sit down and sign here, and you will only owe for fifty.’
“To another he said, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘I owe your boss for a hundred tonnes of wheat,’ the debtor replied.
“The manager said, “‘Sit down and sign here, and it will be written down to eighty.’
“After the transactions had all been signed and sealed, the tycoon discovered what had happened. All he could do was shake his head in admiration over the cunning ingenuity of the shifty business manager.”
Jesus went on to say, “You see, that’s how it is. The people who belong to this present world are far better equipped to dodge and weave their way through their dealings with one another than you lot are, and you belong to the light. So take it from me, if you’ve got a fistful of filthy lucre, use it to help other people out. That way, when it runs out, you’ll have friends for life.
“Those who can be trusted with a little
can be trusted with a lot.
Those who are dishonest over little things
are also dishonest over big things.
If you can’t even be trusted with a fistful of filthy lucre,
who is going to trust you with things of real value?
If you can’t be trusted to look after other people’s things,
who is going give you anything to keep as your own?
“No one can play on two teams.
You’ll either give your best to one
and under-perform for the other,
or short-change one
and give your heart and soul for the other.
You can’t dedicate yourself to both God and financial success.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

Amos 8: 4-7

“Listen to me, you who wipe your feet on those in need;
you who destroy the poor for your own gain.
You resent religious holidays
because they interrupt your wheeling and dealing.
You demand twenty-four hour, seven-day trading,
so that you can rip people off without ceasing.
Your advertising is all deceit and delusion.
You rig the odds and the interest rates.
You lure the poor into crippling debt
until you own them – body and soul –
and then charge them again for owing you money.
“I, the LORD, swear on the Bible you so proudly wave,
that I will not forget a single one of your mongrel actions.”
©2001 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

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 desire everyone to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The earth is your handiwork, but it has brought you tears;
you created the nations, but they have brought you grief.
You sent your law and prophets,
but your people served idols and wealth before you,
and were unfaithful with all you entrusted to them.
When we despaired of ever being restored to health,
you lived up to the name of “Saviour”,
sending us your child, Jesus the Christ
— himself human —
who gave himself as a ransom for all.
Although his blood was shed in Jerusalem,
you raised him to life
and now and forever, he is our mediator in your presence,
welcoming us with love and renewing us through prayer
that we might live faithfully in all godliness and dignity.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you that though we have brought you grief,
your son, Jesus Christ, gave himself as a ransom for all,
and is, now and forever, our mediator in your presence,
that we might live faithfully in all godliness and dignity.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you desire everyone to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The earth is your handiwork, but it has brought you tears;
you created the nations, but they have brought you grief.
You sent your law and prophets,
but your people served idols and wealth before you,
and were unfaithful with all you entrusted to them.
When we despaired of ever being restored to health,
you lived up to the name of “Saviour”,
sending us your child, Jesus the Christ
— himself human —
who gave himself as a ransom for all.
Although his blood was shed in Jerusalem,
you raised him to life
and now and forever, he is our mediator in your presence,
welcoming us with love and renewing us through prayer
that we might live faithfully in all godliness and dignity.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Jesus Christ, has lived up to the name of “Saviour”
for he gave himself as a ransom for all
to rescue us and forgive our sins.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now
and continue to offer prayers and thanksgiving for everyone.
Be shrewd in dealing with the world around you
but do not be seduced into serving wealth.
Weep for those who suffer
and share faith and truth with all.
And may God welcome you with love;
May Christ Jesus give you knowledge of the truth;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you into all godliness and dignity.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Is moral integrity for weaklings?A sermon on Luke 16: 1-13 by Nathan NettletonLearning from Low-life ScumA sermon on Luke 16: 1-13 by Nathan NettletonPray for Them?!!!A sermon on 1 Timothy 2:1-7 by Nathan NettletonDefrauding for JesusA sermon on Luke 16: 1-13 by Nathan NettletonAssessing Claims and Detaining GodA sermon on Luke 16:1-13; Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1; & 1 Timothy 2:1-7 by Nathan NettletonFeeling Depressed and Following JesusA sermon on Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1 by Nathan NettletonA Clever Rogue and Outrageous GraciousnessA sermon on Luke 16: 1-13 by Gilbert Joyce

The Feast of the Holy Cross
2025-09-14 00:00 - 23:59 UTC
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.

Numbers 21: 4b-9

As they travelled, the people began losing the plot and mouthing off against God and Moses. They were whinging, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt if we are just going to die out here in the desert? There is no food. There is no water. And we can’t stand this lousy stuff we’ve got to eat.”
At that, the LORD let loose some dangerous snakes among the people. The snakes had a fiery venom and many people were bitten and died. The people came to Moses and pleaded with him, saying, “We were wrong to mouth off against the LORD and against you. Please ask the LORD to get rid of the poisonous snakes that are plaguing us.”
So Moses prayed for the the people, and the LORD spoke to him, saying, “Make a statue of a poisonous snake, and set it up on a pole where the people can see it. Whenever anyone is bitten, they are to look at the statue of the snake, and they will survive.”
So Moses made a snake out of bronze, and set it up on a pole. Whenever anyone was bitten by one of the snakes with the fiery venom, they would fix their gaze on the bronze snake, and they would live.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 98: 1-5

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.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR Psalm 78: 1-2, 34-38 (Alternative Psalm)

We are keen to learn of you, LORD;
your people are eager to hear what you have to say.
We listen to those who pass on the old stories;
the dark mysteries of ancient wisdom.
When your anger cut down our ancestors, they sought your mercy;
they pleaded with you and promised to mend their ways.
They remembered that you are as solid as rock;
that you are the greatest; the one who puts things right.
But they were all words and no action,
trying to pull the wool over your eyes with sweet talk.
They were fickle and two-faced;
they did not stick to the terms of their alliance with you.
And yet you remained compassionate;
you continued to let them off the hook
and refrained from wiping them out.
Over and over you swallowed your anger
and chose not to let your fury have its day.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 1: 18-24

The message about the cross sounds like a lot of mindless cock-and-bull to those who have thrown their lot in with this present world order and are going down with the ship. But to those of us who are being saved from that, it is nothing less than the power of God! God spoke about this in the Scriptures:
“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts
and the wise counsel of your gurus;
I will expose them for what they really are,
a load of codswallop!”
So where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God, whatever their background, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 3: 13-17

Jesus said:
“No one has 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

Sermons

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

Eating from the Tree of LifeA sermon for the Feast of Holy Cross by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 19 - Year C
2025-09-14 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.

Jeremiah 4: 11-12, 22-28

The LORD gave me a message for Jerusalem, saying:
“When disaster comes, you will know about it, Jerusalem;
this is the warning your people will hear:
“The invading army is bearing down on you
like a tornado from the desert.
It is the hot breath of my judgment;
an angry wind sweeping away all in its path.
“You will pay for your madness, my people,
for you have totally ignored me.
You are a pack of half-wits
with nothing between your ears.
You are experts only at corruption.
You haven’t got a clue about doing good.”
The LORD gave me a vision:
I saw the earth – it was an empty wasteland.
I saw the skies – the lights had gone out.
I saw the mountains – shuddering and shaking.
I saw the hills – trembling like jelly.
I looked and looked, but there was no one to be seen.
Not even the scavenging birds had hung around.
Croplands and orchards alike were scorched earth.
Cities and towns were nothing but rubble.
Everything had fallen before the LORD;
before the blazing anger of the LORD.
The LORD gave me this message:
“The whole land will be destroyed,
and yet not beyond repair.
The earth will be wracked with grief
and the skies will dress in black.
But I have made up my mind and I will not change it.
I have given my word and will not take it back.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 14

Heartless, mindless scum kid themselves
that there is no God.
They are corrupt and callous.
The things they do would make you sick.
There is not an ounce of good among them.
The LORD scans the human race, one at a time,
looking for any who are still wise;
for even one who still has a heart for God.
But it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack!
They’ve all lost the plot.
Everyone is caught up
in their own perverse ways.
Every last one of them.
Don’t they know where all this will get them?
They never look to the LORD for anything;
they chew up God’s people and spit them out.
But it will soon be their turn to cringe in fear,
because God sides with those who play straight.
If you think you can trample
the dreams of the battlers,
Watch out! The LORD will be there for them.
We can hardly wait to hear the songs of freedom
as justice marches down from God’s mountain!
What a day it will be
when the LORD redistributes the wealth
and God’s people are compensated
for their suffering!
Our ancestors will rise up with joy!
The streets will fill with singing and dancing!
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Timothy 1: 12-17

I am so thankful to Jesus Christ our Lord. It is him who gives me the strength to do what I do. He reckoned he could trust me, so he gave me this work to do for him. This was despite the fact that I had a history of violence and all I had ever done was drag his name through the mud and victimise his people. I was shown mercy because I had acted without understanding what I was doing. I hadn’t known who Jesus was. Now though, our Lord has been extravagantly generous and flooded me with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
Here is a line you can write down and stake your life on: Jesus Christ came into the world to rescue sinners. I should know, I was the number one sinner. By putting his mercy to work in me — the number one sinner — Jesus Christ clearly demonstrated just how much he was willing to endure to get through to us. He has made me an example to show others how to put their trust in him and so gain life without limit.
And now I give all the glory
and every honour
to the One who rules forever;
beyond life and death;
out of sight;
the one and only God.
And so say all of us!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 15: 1-10

For much of the time, a crowd of people hung around Jesus, listening to everything he had to say. The crowd was full of disreputable characters whose lifestyles were offensive to the more respectable members of society. The devoutly religious Pharisees and the experts in religious law got their noses out of joint over this, and began denouncing Jesus. “He keeps company with people whose behaviour is beyond the pale,” they said, “and he doesn’t even draw the line at eating with them.”
Jesus responded to their objections by telling a story. He said, “If you had care of a hundred sheep and one of them got lost, what would you do? Like anyone else, you would leave the other ninety-nine grazing in the paddock and go off looking for the lost one until you found it. And when you found it, you would be so relieved that you would hoist it up on your shoulders and dance home with a spring in your step. Not only that, you would then call all your friends and neighbours around for party, saying, ‘The shout’s on me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’”
Jesus said, “Let me assure you that it is just like that in heaven. One screwed-up person getting back on the right track causes far more celebration than ninety-nine respectable people who never left it.”
He continued with another story, saying, “If you had ten coins – all collector’s items – and you lost one of them, what would you do? Like anyone else, you would turn on all the lights and go over the house with a fine-toothed comb until you found it. And when you found it, you would call all your friends and neighbours around for party, saying, ‘The shout’s on me, for I have found the coin that I lost.’”
Jesus said, “Let me assure you that the angels party like that over each wayward person who turns their life back towards God.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

Exodus 32: 7-14

The LORD said to Moses:
“Get back down there on the double! That mob of yours, who you brought out of the land of slavery, have gone completely off the rails. In the blink of an eye, they have turned their backs on the path I set them on. They have cast an idol in the shape of a calf, and they are worshipping it and giving offerings to it as expressions of their devotion. They are saying that it is the god who brought the nation out of the land of slavery. I have had a gutful of this people. They are always kicking against the traces. Now stand aside and let me give full vent to my blazing anger and blast them off the face of the earth. I’ll start again with you and build a great nation from your offspring.”
But Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, saying:
“LORD, why are you letting your anger at your people burn out of control? You proved yourself to be the strongest and the greatest when you brought these people out of the land of slavery. Are you now going to turn around and give our enemies grounds to accuse you of planning genocide from the start? They will allege that you only took the people into the outback to slaughter them. Swallow your anger! Rethink this, and don’t stamp out your people. Follow through on the promises you made to your trusty servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You gave them your word, your personal guarantee. You said, ‘I will multiply your descendants until they outnumber the stars in the sky, and they will inherit the land I promised to give to your family forever.’”
And so the LORD was persuaded to rethink the situation and to abandon the plan to wipe out the people with a disaster.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 51: 1-10

O God, your love never gives up.
Have mercy on me now!
I’m relying on your record of generous mercy:
please wipe my slate clean!
Scrub away the filth I’ve been living in;
Scour away the stain of my sin.
I know only too well what I’ve done;
my sins stare me in the face.
It is you I’ve double-crossed, you I’ve betrayed;
I’ve done things which I knew you despised.
You have all the facts and you know what I deserve;
what ever you decide is fair enough.
I’ve been on the wrong side of you forever.
I turned my back on you before I was born.
You want honesty that comes from deep within,
so teach me your wisdom,
let it take root in my heart.
Get the bleach out and give me the treatment!
Soak me and wash me
until I’m as white as snow.
Open my ears to laughter and music.
Though you ground me into the dirt,
let me now rise to the sounds of joy.
Turn a blind eye to my record;
disregard my prior convictions.
Renovate me from the inside, O God;
rebuild my heart and rewire my brain;
install in me a new fault-free operating system.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you are the immortal invisible King of the ages,
and your grace has overflowed for us in Christ Jesus.
You created the earth from a formless void
and filled it with living things.
In every age you have looked for faithfulness
and found instead depravity, corruption and evil.
The hot winds of anger
have turned fruitful lands to desert
but always your merciful love has continued searching
for those who would be saved.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us to save sinners.
His hospitality and compassion so scandalised the religious
that he was killed,
but you raised him to new life.
In him you are turning us from our pasts,
lifting us joyously onto your shoulders
and appointing us to your service
as an example for all who would trust you for eternal life.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you that though the hot winds of your anger
have turned fruitful lands to desert,
your son, Jesus Christ, came into the world to save sinners
and all heaven rejoices over every lost one who repents.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you are the immortal invisible King of the ages,
and your grace has overflowed for us in Christ Jesus.
You created the earth from a formless void
and filled it with living things.
In every age you have looked for faithfulness
and found instead depravity, corruption and evil.
The hot winds of anger
have turned fruitful lands to desert
but always your merciful love has continued searching
for those who would be saved.
You sent your child, Jesus Christ, among us to save sinners.
His hospitality and compassion so scandalised the religious
that he was killed,
but you raised him to new life.
In him you are turning us from our pasts,
lifting us joyously onto your shoulders
and appointing us to your service
as an example for all who would trust you for eternal 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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
We have received mercy,
for the grace of our Lord has overflowed for us
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, overflowing with faith and love
and seek out those who are lost.
Side with the poor and sit with the just;
mourn for the earth
and rejoice with heaven over any who turn to God.
And may God judge you faithful;
May Christ Jesus strengthen you;
And may the Holy Spirit fill you with wisdom and grace.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Practical AtheismA sermon on Psalm 14 and Luke 15: 1-10 by Nathan NettletonSearch and RescueA sermon on Luke 15: 1-10 by Nathan NettletonStumbling through Waste and VoidA sermon on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17 & Luke 15:1-10 by Nathan NettletonOn losing, seeking and finding . . . sometimesA sermon on Luke 15: 1-10 by Marita MunroThe God who SearchesA sermon on Psalm 14 and Luke 15: 1-10 by Stacey AslangulHomecomingA sermon on Luke 15.1–10 by Jason GoroncyClimate Change and Spiritual TransformationA sermon on Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 & Luke 15:1-10 by Nathan NettletonForgive us, Lord. We know not what we do.A sermon on Psalm 14:4 & 1 Timothy 1: 12-17 by Nathan Nettleton
