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SUMMARY:6th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  2 Kings 5: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The commander of the Syrian army was a man named Naaman. Naaman was very popular with his king\, because under his command\, the LORD had given Syria a string of military victories. Although he was a great soldier and a highly decorated commander\, Naaman suffered from leprosy. Naaman’s wife had a young Israelite girl among her servants who had come to Syria as a prisoner of war after a military raid. One day the girl said to her mistress\, “If only your husband could meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. I’m sure he would cure him of his leprosy.” \nNaaman spoke to the king about what the girl had said\, and the king gladly gave him leave to go. He also provided him with a letter of referral\, addressed to the king of Israel. \nNaaman headed off\, loaded up with money and expensive gifts of jewellery and fine clothing. Arriving in Israel\, he delivered the letter to the king. It read\, “The bearer of this letter is my trusted servant\, Naaman. I have sent him to you to have his leprosy cured.” \nWhen the king of Israel read the letter\, he was beside himself with fear; tearing his hair out over what to do. “What does the king of Syria think he’s doing?” he shouted. “Does he think I’m God or something\, that I can cure lepers at his request? It looks like he’s trying to pick a fight with me.” \nNews of this got to Elisha\, the prophet of God in Samaria. He sent a message to the king saying\, “Why are you tearing your hair out? Get a grip on yourself and send the man to me so that he can find out for himself that there is a real prophet in Israel.” \nSo Naaman and his whole entourage pulled up in the street outside Elisha’s house. Elisha sent an errand boy out to Naaman with a message\, saying\, “Go down to the Jordan River and wash yourself in it seven times. That will cure you and your skin will be as clean and clear as a child’s.” \nNaaman felt deeply insulted and drove off in a huff\, saying\, “You’d think that for a man of my standing he could have come out and talked to me himself. I thought that he would at least stand and call on the LORD his God\, and wave his hand over my skin to bring about the cure! What’s so special about their scummy Israelite river? Aren’t the two great rivers of Damascus much bigger and better? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” \nSo he stormed off\, seething with rage. But his servants spoke up and said\, “Sir\, if the prophet had told you to do something really difficult\, you would have done it\, wouldn’t you? So surely you have got nothing to lose but your disease if you do what he said and wash yourself in the river.” \nSo Naaman relented and\, wading out into the Jordan River\, he immersed himself seven times in the water\, just as the prophet of God had instructed him. Sure enough\, he was cured instantly\, and his skin became as clear and healthy as a child’s. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 30			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I’ll be singing your praises\, every chance I get\, LORD\,\nbecause you got me out of deep trouble\nand spared me the gloating of my enemies. \nI pleaded for help\, LORD God\,\nand you stepped in and healed me. \nThey were nearly ready to pronounce me dead\nbut your brought me back\, LORD;\nyou put me back on my feet\nwhen I was about to be carried to the morgue. \nSo I’m singing your praises\,\nand I’m encouraging everyone to do the same;\nto name you with joyful thanks. \nWe manage to get you angry at times\,\nbut it blows over in a moment\nbecause your mercy keeps on keeping on.\nWe may have an evening of bitter tears\,\nbut by morning your mercy has us smiling again. \nI was guilty of taking your goodness for granted;\nI thought I had it made.\nYou had put me on top of the world\nbut I got all too full of myself.\nYou stepped aside – made me stand alone —\nand I turned to jelly! \nI realised how much I needed you\, LORD\,\nand in my panic I begged you for mercy. \n“What good is my blood to you?” I cried.\n“How will it help if I’m in the grave?\nCan a corpse sing your praises?\nWill a gravestone publicise your goodness?\nGive me another chance\, LORD.\nPlease\, LORD\, bail me out one more time.” \nAnd sure enough\, you did\, LORD.\nYou turned my tears to laughter;\nyou set my dragging feet dancing;\nyou dusted me off and dressed me up for a party.\nSo now I’m singing your praises\nfrom the bottom of my heart\,\nand no one can shut me up! \nYou are my God\, LORD\,\nand I’m eternally grateful. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 9: 24-27			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You do understand\, don’t you\, that no matter how many runners there are in a race\, there will only be one winner at the end. So if you are aiming to become the best\, you are going to have to train long and hard. Elite athletes discipline themselves strictly in every area of their lives\, and they do so in pursuit of nothing more than a medal hung around their necks or a record that could fall the next week. The prize we are working towards will be in place forever\, so such single-minded discipline is even more essential for us. I can’t afford to be like a runner who doesn’t know where the finish line is\, or a footballer who doesn’t know where the goals are. Instead I subject my body to a punishing regime of training and work it like a slave\, so that I don’t end up\, after coaching everyone else in the right way\, being disqualified myself. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 1: 40-45			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus was approached by a man who was suffering from a hideous skin disease that made him a social outcast. The man got down on his knees and pleaded for help\, saying\, “You could make me clean if you wanted to.” \nJesus was deeply moved by the man’s sorry state. He reached out his hand and touched the man\, saying\, “I do want to. Be made clean!” \nAt that moment\, the symptoms vanished and he was made healthy and clean. Then Jesus gave him his marching orders and a tough talking-to\, saying\, “Keep your mouth shut about this. Go straight to the priest and have yourself examined so that you can be certified fit to return to normal social contact. As a sign that you are well\, give the offering that Moses said was to be given in thanks for your cleansing.” \nBut despite his instructions\, the man went straight out and began to tell everyone what Jesus had done for him. The word spread like wildfire\, and before long Jesus couldn’t even show his face in the towns without being mobbed. He had to stick to the outback tracks\, and people from everywhere came out to find him. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor your anger passes quickly\,\nbut your mercy lasts a lifetime. \nFrom the depths of chaos you raised up the newborn earth\,\nand sent your prophets among your people.\nYour servant Elisha spoke your word to Naaman\,\nand he emerged from the healing waters singing your glory. \nTo us you have sent your Son\, Jesus the Christ\,\nand in compassion he has reached out and touched us\,\ncleansing us from all that defiled us.\nThough he was killed by gloating enemies\,\nyou changed our anguish into a joyful dance\,\nraising him up\nand crowning him with a glory that will never fade.\nNow he washes us in your everlasting mercy\nand pulls us from the depths\, cleansed and healed\,\nthat we might run the race\nand receive the victor’s wreath;\nour lives forever singing your praise. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for the compassion of your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho reaches out to us\nand pulls us from the depths\, cleansed and healed\,\nthat we might run the race\nand receive the victor’s wreath;\nour lives forever singing your praise. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor your anger passes quickly\,\nbut your mercy lasts a lifetime. \nFrom the depths of chaos you raised up the newborn earth\,\nand sent your prophets among your people.\nYour servant Elisha spoke your word to Naaman\,\nand he emerged from the healing waters singing your glory. \nTo us you have sent your Son\, Jesus the Christ\,\nand in compassion he has reached out and touched us\,\ncleansing us from all that defiled us.\nThough he was killed by gloating enemies\,\nyou changed our anguish into a joyful dance\,\nraising him up\nand crowning him with a glory that will never fade.\nNow he washes us in your everlasting mercy\nand pulls us from the depths\, cleansed and healed\,\nthat we might run the race\nand receive the victor’s wreath;\nour lives forever singing your praise. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God\, whose anger passes quickly\,\nbut whose mercy lasts a lifetime\,\nhas compassion on all who cry for forgiveness and healing.\nThrough Jesus Christ\, God reaches out to us\,\nraises us up and says\, “Be Clean!” \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and live out our song of praise to God.\nDiscipline yourself in all things\, however small\,\nso that you may attain the prize of salvation\nthat is yours in Christ Jesus. \nAnd may God’s powerful blessing uphold you like a mountain.\nMay Christ Jesus touch you and make you whole.\nAnd may the Holy Spirit dance with you in the joy of life. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nToo Simple to BotherA sermon on 2 Kings 5:1-14 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nKeep it simple\, StupidA sermon on 2 Kings 5:1-14 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nTouched by the hand of GodA sermon on Mark 1: 40 -45 by Ron Ham\n\n\n\nBack from SheolA sermon on Psalm 30 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nAthletic SpiritualityA sermon on 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nHealing CultureA sermon on Mark 1:40-45 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/bp01/2030-02-17/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20300224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20300225
DTSTAMP:20260404T095327
CREATED:20200804T010843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220909T034537Z
UID:10001498-1898121600-1898207999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:7th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 43: 18-25			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is what the LORD has to say: \nDon’t dwell on the things of the past;\ndon’t get bogged down in nostalgia.\nI am about to do something completely new;\ncan’t you see it taking shape before your eyes? \nI will make a safe path through the hostile wilderness.\nI will make the desert rivers flow again.\nUntamed animals will applaud what I do\n– dingoes\, emus\, goannas –\nbecause the desert bursts into life\nas I send rains\, filling the inland lakes. \nNow the people I have chosen can drink their fill;\nI created them to be my people\,\nto enjoy and celebrate the things I do. \nDespite all this\, my people\,\nyou have not spent any time with me in worship\,\nand yet you claim to be sick and tired of me! \nYou have not given me anything of value;\nyou have not honoured me at any cost to yourselves.\nI have not made any demands of you\,\nor hassled you for gifts or fragrant incense. \nYou have not spent a cent on sweet spices for me\,\nnor offered me the prime cuts\nfrom the animals roasted on my own altar.\nAll you have ever brought me is grief;\nyou have made me sick with your offences. \nBut I am the One who wipes your record clean;\nbecause of who I am\,\nI will keep no record of what you’ve done wrong. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 41			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Those who are ready to help the poor have got it made;\nin hard times\, you step in to get them through\, LORD. \nYou stand guard over them\nand keep them in one piece.\nYou don’t let their enemies get their claws into them\, LORD\,\nand they are the happiest people in the country. \nWhen they are sick\, you get them safely through\,\nand when they are injured\, you put them back on their feet. \nIn dire straits\, I’m praying to you\, LORD;\nI know I have done the wrong thing by you\,\nbut please show mercy and heal me. \nMy enemies are gloating over how crook I am;\nkeen to see me dead and forgotten. \nThey visit\, pretending to wish me well\,\nbut are soon out on the streets\,\ncrowing to one another about how near to death I am. \nIn their hatred of me\, they whisper and sneer about me\,\nand wish on me the worst death they can imagine. \nThey reckon some deadly virus has got me by the throat\,\nand that I’ll never make it out of the hospital alive. \nEven my best mate\, who I trusted through thick and thin\,\nwho shared many a meal and many a drink with me\,\nhas turned against me now. \nGive me a break\, LORD\, in your generous mercy.\nPut me back on my feet so I can wipe the smirk off their faces. \nWhen my enemy’s campaign against me falls apart\nI will know that you have sided with me\, LORD. \nRecognising my integrity\, you have gone in to bat for me\nand given me a permanent place at your side. \nMay everything work out right for you\, LORD\, our God\,\nnow and ever\, to the end of time and beyond!\nAnd so say all of us! Too right! \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2 Corinthians 1: 18-22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	What God says\, God follows through on; and by the same token\, we have not been having a bet each way in anything we have said to you. The Son of God — Jesus the Christ — was made known among you by Silas\, Timothy and me. He was certainly not an each way bet on God’s part. On the contrary\, God backed him all the way\, and for good reason. Every promise God had ever made has ridden home a winner on the back of Jesus. That is why\, when we link up with him we are saying “Count us in!” and betting our lives on the glory all belonging to God. But we — that’s you and us — have only got in on what Christ is doing because God has made us partners in him. God signed the transfer papers\, marking us out and setting us apart as those whose fortunes were now bound up in Christ. God’s Spirit was put in our hearts\, given to us as the first instalment of the winnings that we are to share in Christ. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 2: 1-12			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	When Jesus arrived home in Capernaum after a few days away\, the word quickly got around that he was back. A large crowd flocked to the house to hear what he had to say. As he spelt out his message\, so many people crammed in that it was standing room only\, right through the house and out the front door into the street. While he was still speaking\, some people arrived carrying a paralysed man on a stretcher. They wanted to bring him to Jesus\, but they soon saw that there was no way of getting through the crowd. Not willing to give up\, they climbed up on top of the house and ripped open a section of the roof above Jesus’s head. Then they used ropes to lower their friend on his stretcher right down in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how firmly they believed that all this effort would pay off\, he spoke to the paralysed man and said\, “Mate\, all you have done wrong is forgiven. You’re in the clear!” \nNow some of the local religious experts were there in the crowd\, and they immediately began thinking\, “Who does this bloke think he is? This is a gross insult to God\, because no one but God can put people in the clear.” \nBeing tuned in to what was going on around him\, Jesus could tell that these questions were bubbling up among them\, so he turned to them and said\, “Why does this set your heads spinning? Which do you think would be the bigger challenge for me\, to tell him he was forgiven\, or to tell him to get up\, fold up his stretcher and walk out of here? So\, if you want to know whether the New Human has the authority here on earth to put people in the clear\, watch this!” And he turned to the paralysed man and said\, “I’m telling you\, get up on your feet\, fold up your stretcher and get off home.” \nAnd sure enough\, the man got to his feet in front of everybody\, and promptly folded up his stretcher and headed out the door. The people could hardly believe their eyes. They all began giving God the credit for it\, saying\, “This is like nothing we have ever seen before!” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you blot out the memory of our failures\,\nand bring new and life-giving things springing forth. \nYou created the earth and its inhabitants\nand formed a people for yourself to declare your praise.\nWhen they piled up sins instead of offerings\,\nyou sent your prophets to call them to repentance\nand offer forgiveness and restoration. \nTo us you sent your Son\, Jesus the Christ\,\nwith the authority to forgive sins\nand to set free those paralysed by illness or fear.\nWhen he was betrayed by a friend\nand killed by those who would not recognise\nthe new things you were doing\,\nyou raised him to life again\,\nand in him\, you establish us\nand anoint us as your own\,\npouring your Spirit into our hearts\nas a guarantee of all you have in store for us. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for the new and life-giving things\nyou are doing through your Son\, Jesus the Christ\,\nwho forgives our sins\,\nsets us free from the paralysis of illness and fear\,\nand pours your Spirit into our hearts. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you blot out the memory of our failures\,\nand bring new and life-giving things springing forth. \nYou created the earth and its inhabitants\nand formed a people for yourself to declare your praise.\nWhen they piled up sins instead of offerings\,\nyou sent your prophets to call them to repentance\nand offer forgiveness and restoration. \nTo us you sent your Son\, Jesus the Christ\,\nwith the authority to forgive sins\nand to set free those paralysed by illness or fear.\nWhen he was betrayed by a friend\nand killed by those who would not recognise\nthe new things you were doing\,\nyou raised him to life again\,\nand in him\, you establish us\nand anoint us as your own\,\npouring your Spirit into our hearts\nas a guarantee of all you have in store for us. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God’s own glory is confirmed\nin saying “Yes!” to our cry for mercy and healing.\nIn Jesus Christ\, God forgives our sins\nand chooses not to remember our wrong doing. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now in confidence\, as forgiven people.\nStand with the Lord forever\,\nlook for the new things God is doing\nand always be ready to help the poor. \nAnd may God watch and protect you;\nMay Christ Jesus who forgives you\, raise you to wholeness;\nAnd may the Spirit pour rivers into your deserts\nand lead you into all God’s promises. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\nReligion v’s LifeA sermon on Mark 2:1- 3:6 by Nathan NettletonForgiveness & Pulling TeethA sermon on Isaiah 43:18-25\, Psalm 41 & Mark 2:1-12 by Nathan NettletonRiding them Home as OneA sermon on 2 Corinthians 1: 18-22 by Nathan NettletonHaving Faith for One AnotherA sermon on Isaiah 43:18-25\, Psalm 41 & Mark 2:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/bp02/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20300303
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20300304
DTSTAMP:20260404T095327
CREATED:20200804T012729Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220909T034545Z
UID:10001499-1898726400-1898812799@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:8th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION:This occasion only occurs in 2030 for churches that do not observe the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration Sunday. \n\n\n\nBelow 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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Hosea 2: 14-20			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Beloved Israel\, I\, the LORD\, will win you back.\nI will take you out to that wilderness place\nwhere our love was first awakened\,\nand whisper tender words in your ear. \nI will give you back your wedding presents\,\nand transform the Valley of Heartbreak\ninto the Pathway of Hope. \nThere you will again respond to me\nwith the delight you had as a young bride\nwhen you first came to me from the land of Egypt. \nFrom that day on\, you will call me\, “My loving husband.”\nNever again will you call me\, “Owner” and “Master.”\nI will wash you clean of the memories of those would-be gods.\nYou will never again have cause to utter their names. \nI will make a deal with the wild animals\,\nwith the birds of prey and dangerous creepy-crawlies\,\nto ensure that they never threaten you again.\nI will eliminate war and get rid of all the weapons\,\nso that you can sleep soundly\, with nothing to fear. \nThen you will be mine and I will be yours;\npartners in marriage forever.\nOur marriage will be good and right\,\nrock-solid in love and rich in mercy.\nWe will give ourselves to one another\nand be faithful to one another.\nYou will know me\, the LORD\, intimately and fully. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 103: 1-13\, 22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	With all our hearts\, we praise you\, LORD\,\nfrom the depths of our being\nwe name you as our one and only. \nWith all that we are we sings your praises\, LORD;\nhow could we ever forget all you have done for us? \nWhen we do wrong\, you forgive us;\nwhen we are sick\, you make us well;\nwhen our lives fall apart\, you put us back together. \nWith love and mercy\, you treat us like royalty;\nyou shower us with good things all our lives;\nyou makes us feel as young and free as an eagle. \nYou are there for those who are victimised\, LORD;\nyou clear their names and bring them justice.  \nThrough Moses\, you let us know what you are on about;\nthrough Israel\, you let us see what you can do. \nYour mercy and generosity are extravagant\, LORD;\nyour patience and love are as solid as rock. \nWhen we do things that anger you\,\nyou don’t keep dredging them up forever. \nYou never deal with us as harshly as we deserve;\ndespite the wrong we have done\, you let us off lightly. \nWe could no more climb to the moon on a step ladder\nthan measure the limits of the love and loyalty\nyou show to those who respect you.\nWe could no more swim the ocean from pole to pole\nthan cover the distance you put between us and our sins. \nYour care and concern for those who honour you\nis as tender as that of parents for their children. \nWe honour you\, LORD\,\njoining our voices with all you have made\nand all you rule over. \nWith all our hearts\, we praise you\, LORD. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2 Corinthians 3: 1-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	So you think we are starting to blow our own trumpet and write our own references\, do you? Of course\, some people need official references before anyone will trust them\, but not us. We don’t need to present references to you\, or to ask you for references to show anyone else. Why not? Because your life is all the recommendation we need. We carry your story in our hearts where anybody can read it and know the truth. It is clear at a glance that you are the real thing\, a genuine letter from the Messiah\, prepared by us and signed by him. No need for pen and ink or legal parchment! Your life has been written straight onto our beating hearts by the Spirit of the living God. \nSo we have every reason for our confidence. Because of the Messiah\, we can hold our heads high before God. We are not claiming that we had the qualifications or abilities to do anything on our own. Everything we have managed is God’s doing. The only reason we have what it takes to begin putting in place God’s new alliance with humanity is that God has given it to us. Neither the alliance itself\, nor our qualifications to introduce it\, are written legal documents. They are much more real than that – things of spirit! The letter of the law crushes people to death\, but the Spirit fills them with life. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 2: 13-22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus went down to the beach. A huge crowd of people gathered around him\, and he taught them there. As he was walking along\, he saw a man named Levi\, the son of Alphaeus\, sitting in his office where he worked collecting taxes for the Roman occupation forces. Jesus said to him\, “Come and join me\,” and Levi got up and began following him. \nThat evening at Levi’s house\, Jesus and his followers had dinner with a group that included many disreputable characters whose lifestyles were considered offensive by the more respectable members of society. There were many such people among his followers. Some religious experts from the Pharisee party saw that he was eating in such bad company and confronted his closest followers over it\, saying\, “What does he think he’s doing\, sharing meals with people whose behaviour is beyond the pale?” \nWhen Jesus heard this\, he replied\, “Who needs the help of a doctor: the fit and healthy\, or the sick? I didn’t come to spend my time preaching to the converted\, but to call back those who are off the track.” \nDuring a time when John’s followers and the members of the Pharisee party were going without food for religious reasons\, some people came and asked Jesus\, “How come the followers of John and the followers of the Pharisees give up food at this time\, but your followers are still eating?” \nJesus replied\, “If you are the guests at a wedding feast\, you don’t refuse to eat and drink while the bridal couple are still with you\, do you? As long as the reason for the celebration is still in your midst\, you celebrate! All good things come to an end\, and when the reason to celebrate is taken away\, then they will go without.” \n“The thing is\, sometimes the old ways don’t fit the new situation. If you patch an old coat with a brand new piece of fabric\, the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole. If you try to recycle some brittle old bottles for a fresh batch of sparkling wine\, you’ll end up with nothing but smashed glass and an expensive puddle. Fresh content gets fresh packaging.” \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you have spoken\, not in carved letters on cold stone\,\nbut in songs of love\, warm with desire\,\nsung into our hearts. \nWhen time began you created the world\nand filled it with a rich abundance of birds and animals.\nYou gave yourself to your people in a holy covenant of love\,\nand through Moses and the prophets you led them\nin ways of justice and tenderness\, of faithfulness and mercy. \nYou sent your Son to us as the divine bridegroom.\nHis love was betrayed\, and yet remained undiminished\,\nand when he was killed you raised him to life.\nAlive forever\, he is among us again\,\nmercifully seeking out all who have strayed\,\nand calling us to follow him to the wedding feast\,\nthere to celebrate a new covenant\nwith the new wine of your passion. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for the divine bridegroom\, Jesus\,\nwho comes among us\nmercifully seeking out all who have strayed\,\nand calling us to follow him to the wedding feast\,\nthere to celebrate a new covenant\nwith the new wine of your passion. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you have spoken\, not in carved letters on cold stone\,\nbut in songs of love\, warm with desire\,\nsung into our hearts. \nWhen time began you created the world\nand filled it with a rich abundance of birds and animals.\nYou gave yourself to your people in a holy covenant of love\,\nand through Moses and the prophets you led them\nin ways of justice and tenderness\, of faithfulness and mercy. \nYou sent your Son to us as the divine bridegroom.\nHis love was betrayed\, and yet remained undiminished\,\nand when he was killed you raised him to life.\nAlive forever\, he is among us again\,\nmercifully seeking out all who have strayed\,\nand calling us to follow him to the wedding feast\,\nthere to celebrate a new covenant\nwith the new wine of your passion. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Blessed be God who is tender and caring\,\nslow to anger and rich in love.\nThe Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve\,\nbut forgives us\, and as far as east is from west\,\nso God removes our sins. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and follow the Christ wherever he calls.\nBless the Lord and hold dear all God’s gifts.\nFind your competence in God\nthat you might be ministers of a new covenant. \nAnd may God embrace you in tenderness and lay you down in safety.\nMay Christ write his words of love on your heart.\nAnd may the Spirit fill your life with richness\n    and give you the strength of an eagle. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\nReligion v’s LifeA sermon on Mark 2:1- 3:6 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/bp03/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300303T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300303T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095327
CREATED:20200804T022117Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240312T021946Z
UID:10002110-1898726400-1898812799@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Transfiguration Sunday (Last Sunday before Lent) - Year B
DESCRIPTION:Churches that do not observe the last Sunday before Lent as Transfiguration Sunday may prefer to use the resources for the 5th Sunday between Epiphany and Lent. \n\n\n\nBelow you will find the Bible readings set for Transfiguration Sunday in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them\, plus prayers and sermons based on them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				   Kings 2: 1-12			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Shortly before the LORD sent a whirlwind to take Elijah into heaven\, Elijah and Elisha headed off on a journey from Gilgal. Elijah had tried to talk Elisha out of coming\, saying\, “The LORD wants me to go to Bethel\, but there is no need for you to come. You can stay here.” \nBut Elisha said\, “I’m sticking with you\, come hell or high water!” \nSo they travelled together down to Bethel. There was a community of prophets in Bethel\, and they came out and asked Elisha\, “Do you realise that today the LORD is going to take your boss away from you?” \n“I know\,” Elisha replied\, “but shut up! I don’t want to talk about it.” \nElijah said\, “Elisha\, you stay put. The LORD wants me to go on to Jericho\, but there is no need for you to come.” \nBut Elisha said\, “I’m sticking with you\, come hell or high water!” \nSo they were still together when they arrived in Jericho. There was a community of prophets in Jericho\, and they came out and asked Elisha\, “Do you realise that today the LORD is going to take your boss away from you?” \n“I know\,” Elisha replied\, “but shut up! I don’t want to talk about it.”\nElijah said\, “Elisha\, you stay put. The LORD wants me to go across the Jordan River\, but there is no need for you to come.” \nBut Elisha said\, “I’m sticking with you\, come hell or high water!” \nSo the two of them continued on together. A group of fifty prophets followed them\, keeping their distance but not letting them out of their sight. When they arrived at the Jordan River\, Elijah took off his coat\, rolled it up\, and slapped the water with it. The water immediately parted to form a dry path through the middle of the river and the two of them crossed over. When they reached the other side\, Elijah said\, “Elisha\, our time together is almost up. What would you most like me to do for you before I am taken away?” \nElisha replied\, “Please make me your successor by leaving to me the largest share of the spirit that empowers you.” \nElijah responded\, “That’s a tough ask! But if you actually see me being taken away from you\, then you’ll get your wish. If you don’t\, you’ll miss out.” \nThe two of them continued to walk along\, deep in conversation\, when suddenly a chariot of fire drawn by two blazing horses charged between them and Elijah was sucked up in a whirlwind and taken into heaven. Elisha saw the whole thing and kept crying out\, “Father! Father! You are gone with the defenders of Israel\, God’s mounted warriors!” \nWhen Elijah disappeared from sight\, Elisha was torn apart with grief. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 50: 1-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You\, LORD\, are the mighty God.\nWherever the sun shines\, from horizon to horizon\,\nyou call the earth to attention. \nFrom the spectacular beauty of your holy mountain\,\nyou approach us in a blaze of glory. \nYou come with the full fanfare;\nflashes of fire in front of you;\nthunder storming all around you. \nYou call the earth and sky to sit as a jury\,\nand set out the charges against your people. \nYou call the accused:\nthose who swore their faithfulness to you\,\nand signed themselves to a binding alliance. \nThe whole universe honours you as the judge\,\nand affirms the honesty of your court. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2 Corinthians 4: 3-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Are people saying that the message we preach is hidden behind some kind of mask? Well\, I can assure you that the only people who can’t see it clearly are those who will never escape the grip of death. Unable to believe and trust\, they were easy prey for the ruling spirit of this present age who messed with their heads and left them blind to the truth. As a result they can’t see the glorious light of the message of Christ\, and it is when we see Christ in all his glory\, that we see the spitting image of God. We are not preaching about ourselves. The message we preach is that Jesus the Christ is Lord of all. We ourselves are slaves at your service\, for Jesus’ sake. The very God who kicked off creation by calling for light to shine from darkness has now filled our hearts with the light that comes from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Christ and knowing it for what it is. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 9: 2-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus took Peter\, James and John and led them up a high mountain away from everyone else. Before their very eyes\, the way Jesus looked was suddenly changed from the inside out. His clothing became so white that it was dazzling – an effect beyond anything soap powder could ever achieve. Suddenly they saw Moses and Elijah there too\, in deep conversation with Jesus. \nPeter said\, “Boss\, this is fantastic! What a moment! How about we knock up three huts\, so that you\, Moses and Elijah can all stay here longer.” He was just shooting his mouth off without thinking because they were quaking in their boots. \nAn awesome cloud engulfed them\, and from deep within the cloud\, a voice boomed forth: “This is my Son\, the love of my life. Listen to him!” \nPeter\, James and John looked around and suddenly everything looked normal again and they saw no one there but Jesus. \nAs they were coming back down the mountain\, Jesus gave them strict instructions not to breathe a word to anyone about about what they had seen\, until after the New Human had risen from the dead. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor your transfiguring light has overcome us\nand is restoring within us the image of your glory. \nWhen you created the universe you said\,\n“Let light shine out of darkness\,”\nand the heavens lit up in testimony to your justice.\nThrough the law and prophets your light has shone forth\,\nand your Word has never fallen silent. \nOn a high mountain you pulled back the veil of heaven\nand\, as Moses and Elijah passed on their mantles\nto the one in whom your saving Word is fulfilled\,\nyou allowed the incomparable glory of your Son\nto be seen by his terrified disciples.\nHe was killed by those who would not listen to you\,\nbut after you raised him from the dead\,\nyou sent the winds of heaven upon us\nwith an extravagant outpouring of your Holy Spirit. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for the incomparable glory of your Son\nwhich shines upon us as transfiguring light\,\nrestoring within us the image of your glory\nand gathering us up in the wild wind of your Holy Spirit. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor your transfiguring light has overcome us\nand is restoring within us the image of your glory. \nWhen you created the universe you said\,\n“Let light shine out of darkness\,”\nand the heavens lit up in testimony to your justice.\nThrough the law and prophets your light has shone forth\,\nand your Word has never fallen silent. \nOn a high mountain you pulled back the veil of heaven\nand\, as Moses and Elijah passed on their mantles\nto the one in whom your saving Word is fulfilled\,\nyou allowed the incomparable glory of your Son\nto be seen by his terrified disciples.\nHe was killed by those who would not listen to you\,\nbut after you raised him from the dead\,\nyou sent the winds of heaven upon us\nwith an extravagant outpouring of your Holy Spirit. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Though we were blinded by sin\,\nGod’s saving light has been beamed into our hearts\nthat we might see the radiant mercy of God\nin the face of Jesus Christ. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and speak of what you have seen of God’s glory.\nDo not cling to the holy moments\nwhen heaven overshadows you\,\nbut as the Lord lives\, listen to Christ and follow him\nfrom the places of revelation\nto the places of mission. \nAnd may God shine the light of glory into your hearts.\nMay Christ be with you and never leave you.\nAnd may the Spirit renew the image of God within you. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nTransfiguration PeopleA sermon on Mark 9:2-9 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nMore Than Meets the EyeA sermon on Mark 9:2-9 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe View from the MountaintopA sermon on Mark 9:2-9 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThis is my Son\, Listen to himA sermon on Mark 9:2-9 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe Surprising Light Behind the VeilA sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 & Mark 9:2-9 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nUp and Down the MountainA sermon on Mark 9:2-9 by Karen Quah
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b16/2030-03-03/
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300306T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300306T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20250301T130714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260322T012007Z
UID:10002192-1898985600-1899071999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Ash Wednesday
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Joel 2: 1-2\, 12-17			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Ring the alarm bells on the holy mountain.\nSound the sirens for the whole city to hear!\nPut the fear of God into everybody\,\nfor the day when the LORD will step in is near –\na dark and menacing day\,\na day of fierce heat and dark choking clouds! \nLike a raging bushfire sweeping down the mountain\,\na terrifying army comes.\nWave upon wave\,\nit leaves nothing but scorched earth in its path.\nIt is more terrifying than anything ever seen before\,\nor anything ever likely to be seen again. \nBut even now\, at the eleventh hour\,\nthe LORD calls to us saying: \n“It is not too late!\nGet back on track with me.\nShow me you mean it with your whole hearts.\nGo off your food and get on your knees.\nWeep and mourn from the depths of your hearts\,\nand don’t try to con me\nwith crocodile tears and cheap black arm bands. \n“Come back to me\, the LORD your God\,\nfor I am compassionate and generous\,\nas eager to forgive as any mother.\nMy love and loyalty always hold back my anger.\nGiven half a reason I’ll withhold sentence\nand give everybody a second chance. \n“What have you got to lose by trying?\nPerhaps you can convince me to change my mind.\nPerhaps I’ll even send good times instead of disaster\nand you’ll be eating and drinking in my honour. \n“Ring the alarm bells on my holy mountain.\nDeclare a day of national repentance.\nRally the people\, every one of them.\nGet them together to pray and fast.\nMake sure everyone has prepared themselves properly\,\nand make sure no one is missing.\nBring the aged and infirm\,\nthe toddlers and the newborn.\nCall back the newlyweds from honeymoons\nand cancel all leave. \n“In the heart of the place of worship\nlet those who lead you in prayer do so with tears.\nLet them cry out to me\, the LORD your God\,\nand beg me to have mercy on you.\nLet them plead with me not to make you a laughingstock\,\na classic example of a failed nation. \n“For why should the rest of the world scoff\nand conclude that your downfall is my failure?” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 58: 1-12 (alternative 1st reading)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God has told me to shout until you people hear;\nto hammer home the message until it gets through.\nYou are God’s people\, but God feels betrayed by you.\nListen to what God has to say about your sins: \n“Day after day\, you look good:\nyou turn up to worship and pay attention to my teachings.\nYou act like a people who want to do what is right;\nlike a people who want to obey to the letter.\nYou ask me for directions before you do anything\,\nand you seem enthusiastic about getting closer to me. \n“Do you want to know why your religious behaviour turns me off?\nDo you want to know why I ignore your fasting and bowing?\nI’ll tell you why. You put on a great performance of it all\,\nbut then you go straight back to feathering your own nest\nand ripping off your workers in the process. \n“When you fast\, it just makes you irritable and violent;\nand when you behave like that\, I’ll just hang up on you. \n“Do you really think this is what I like to see:\na day of pious misery?\nblack clothes\, long faces and crocodile tears?\ngiving up chocolate and ice-cream?\nDo you think that’s worship?\nDo you think that pleases me?\nGive me a break! \n“Do you want to know what I’d really like to see?\nDismantle the structures of injustice;\ntake your feet off the throats of the poor;\nstop jailing the victims of unfair laws;\nand quit plundering nature’s resources. \n“Do you want to know what else I’d like to see?\nOpen your tables to the hungry;\nopen your hearts and your homes to the refugees;\nopen your wardrobes to those without clothes;\nand don’t go hiding every time you see someone in need. \n“Do that\, and I’ll put your name up in lights!\nDo that and our relationship will be healed in an instant!\nI’ll put you under my personal protection;\nanyone who attacks you will have to deal with me\, the LORD!\nI’ll be on hand to respond whenever you need me;\njust say the word\, and I’ll be there for you. \n“If you abandon all forms of exploitation\,\nand avoid bad-mouthing others to gain an edge;\nif you share what you have with those in need\,\nand respond to the real needs of suffering communities;\nthen you’ll find that the world will light up for you\nand life will be one beautiful day after another. \n“I\, the LORD\, will always be there to guide you;\neven in the grip of drought\,\nI’ll keep you healthy and well fed.\nYou’ll be like an irrigated vineyard with its own deep bore\,\ngreen and lush and full of life! \n“Your ruined houses will be renovated and new;\nyou’ll be able to restore the homes\nthat have been in your families for generations.\nYou’ll get a reputation for making dreams possible\,\nfor enabling everyone to find a good place to live. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net\n \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 51: 1-17			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	O God\, your love never gives up.\nHave mercy on me now!  \nI’m relying on your record of generous mercy:\nplease wipe my slate clean! \nScrub away the filth I’ve been living in;\nScour away the stain of my sin. \nI know only too well what I’ve done;\nmy sins stare me in the face. \nIt is you I’ve double-crossed\, you I’ve betrayed;\nI’ve done things which I knew you despised. \nYou have all the facts and you know what I deserve;\nwhat ever you decide is fair enough.\nI’ve been on the wrong side of you forever.\nI turned my back on you before I was born. \nYou want honesty that comes from deep within\,\nso teach me your wisdom\,\nlet it take root in my heart. \nGet the bleach out and give me the treatment!\nSoak me and wash me\nuntil I’m as white as snow.  \nOpen my ears to laughter and music.\nThough you ground me into the dirt\,\nlet me now rise to the sounds of joy. \nTurn a blind eye to my record;\ndisregard my prior convictions. \nRenovate me from the inside\, O God;\nrebuild my heart and rewire my brain;\ninstall in me a new fault-free operating system. \nDon’t cut me off from you now\,\nor withdraw your Holy Spirit from me. \nRekindle in me the joy of being safe in your care\,\nand fill me with an insatiable desire to follow you. \nThen I’ll show others how to get back on track;\nthey’ll quit their corrupt ways and come back to you. \nGet me out of this mess before I get blood on my hands\, God.\nOnly you can get me out alive\,\nand I’ll tell everyone that you did. \nLord\, as soon as you’ve got me out\nand it’s safe to open my mouth\,\nI’ll be singing your praises with all my might. \nI know I can’t fool you with hollow religion\, God.\nI could perform all the rituals perfectly\, by the book\,\nbut it wouldn’t mean a cracker to you. \nWhat you want to see is a genuine heart-felt apology\nand a commitment to a total life-change.\nYou will never turn away anyone who comes to you heartbroken\nand promising to turn over a new leaf. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2 Corinthians 5:20b - 6:10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	On Christ’s behalf we beg you to accept the generous peace deal that God is offering. The way of reconciliation is on the table before you: you’d be mad to turn your backs on it! Even though Christ had never been sucked into sin like us\, God lumped him in with us\, so as to make it possible to lump us in with him. United with him\, we can become examples of all that God considers to be right and true.\nWe are working together\, shoulder to shoulder with God\, and we urge you not to take God’s extravagant generosity for granted.\nIn the scriptures God says\, \n“At exactly the right moment\,\nI heard your call.\nThe day you needed help\,\nI was there to bail you out.” \nWell\, 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. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Matthew 6: 1-6\, 16-21			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	While Jesus was teaching his followers on the mountain\, he said: \n“It is good to put the disciplines of godly living into practice\, but be on your guard against the temptation to start doing it for show. The God who conceived you knows what’s going on\, and if the good things you do are done only to impress people\, you’ll get no credit for them in heaven. \n“Don’t go blowing your own trumpet every time you do something charitable. If you give money for the relief of poverty\, don’t go asking for public acknowledgement. The world is full of sponsorship schemes and naming rights deals\, but it is all hypocrisy. It’s got more to do with image management than with concern for the poor. Of course it works as a business strategy\, but I can assure you that there will be no rewards beyond that. God brought you to birth and understands everything you do\, even what you do in secret. So if you want credit from God for giving money to charity\, give it anonymously. Go out of your way to keep it quiet – don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. It is that sort of unpretentious generosity that God will reward. \n“The same principle holds true when it comes to the inward disciplines such as prayer and fasting. When you pray\, don’t turn it into a exhibition. In the media and even in worship services you’ll see people leading so-called ‘prayers’ that look and sound more like campaign speeches\, carefully crafted for public consumption. It’s nothing more than hot air; sheer hypocrisy! No doubt they’ll succeed in impressing lots of people\, but I can assure you: that’s the only reward they’ll ever get. Take my advice: do your praying behind closed doors so that you won’t be tempted to start grandstanding. Find a place where you can take off your masks and just open yourselves to God in quietness. By getting yourself out of the spotlight\, you’ll have a chance of becoming aware of God’s presence – a reward in itself! \n“When you are fasting\, don’t go drawing attention to the fact. Some hypocrites make a big display of sitting at the table with long faces while everyone else eats. They might gain a reputation for being very religious and self-controlled\, but they won’t get anything else out of it. It’s a waste of time training yourself to control one appetite while simultaneously indulging your appetite for adulation. Instead\, when you are fasting\, maintain your usual outward appearance and demeanour as best you can\, so that no one will twig. God always has a loving eye on you and will see to it that your secret fasting reaps rich benefits. \n“Don’t go piling up investments here on earth\, where they can be wiped out in an instant by fire or flood\, or a market crash. There is only one investment strategy that can never fail or be eroded. Invest everything you are and everything you have in the ways of heaven. It is a simple fact that whatever you invest yourself in will monopolise your concerns and therefore shape the person you will become.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Great Prayer Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nAll glory and honour are yours\neverywhere and always\, O God\,\nfor in your kindness and mercy\,\nyour patience and faithfulness\,\nyou are always ready to forgive and not punish. \nWe give you thanks and praise for your Son\,\nour saviour and brother\, Jesus Christ\,\nby whose example and strength\nwe resist all evil\,\nand turn our backs on its lures\nof comfort and honour\, of power and success\,\nseeking instead to store up treasure in heaven\,\nknowing that though we may seem to have nothing\,\nin purity\, knowledge\, patience and kindness\,\nwe really possess everything. \nTherefore with ..... \n©1999 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We thank you for the example our saviour and brother\, Jesus Christ\,\nby whose strength we resist all evil\,\nseeking instead to store up treasure in heaven\,\nknowing that though we may seem to have nothing\,\nin purity\, knowledge\, patience and kindness\,\nwe really possess everything. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted)\n\nWe give you thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in your kindness and mercy\,\nyour patience and faithfulness\,\nyou are always ready to forgive and not punish. \nWe thank you for your Son\,\nour saviour and brother\, Jesus Christ\,\nby whose example and strength\nwe resist all evil\,\nand turn our backs on its lures\nof comfort and honour\, of power and success\,\nseeking instead to store up treasure in heaven\,\nknowing that though we may seem to have nothing\,\nin purity\, knowledge\, patience and kindness\,\nwe really possess everything. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord your God is kind and full of mercy\,\nalways ready to forgive and not punish.\nChrist\, by uniting with us and sharing in our sin\,\nhas enabled us to share in the righteousness of God. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nDoing the right thing: a modest entry to the kingdomA sermon on Matthew 6:1-6 by Paul Sheppy\n\n\n\nRiches in Heaven and Light in the BodyA sermon on Matthew 6: 19-23 by Peter Mugabi
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc17/2030-03-06/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300310T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300310T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200805T034657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003409Z
UID:10002941-1899331200-1899417599@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:1st Sunday in Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Genesis 9: 8-17			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God said to Noah and his family: \n“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. Whenever I make the clouds gather and my rainbow signature becomes visible there\, I will remember the alliance that governs my relationship with you and with every living creature on earth. I will remember\, and the waters will never again become a flood that wipes out all life on earth. I will see the rainbow which I have signed in the clouds and remember that I am party to a permanent binding alliance with every living creature of every kind on the earth. I assure you\, Noah\, that with this signature that you see in the clouds\, I have sealed the alliance between me\, God\, and the entire community of living creatures on the earth.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 25: 1-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I gladly offer you everything I am\, LORD . \nI have put my trust in you\, God;\nplease don’t let me down;\ndon’t give my enemies grounds to gloat. \nBe there for those who hang in there for you\, no matter what:\ndon’t leave them with egg on their faces.\nSave that for the two-faced scabs who deserve it.  \nLet me in on your way of doing things\, LORD;\nteach me how to follow your tracks. \nSteer me along your ways of truth\, and teach me all about them.\nOnly you can save me from disaster\, God\,\nso I’ll wait for you before setting out. \nYour love and mercy have been as timeless and dependable as the rock;\nplease don’t change your mind about them now! \nDon’t keep a record of everything I’ve done wrong in the past.\nLet your unshakable love colour your view of me\,\nand keep your reputation for generosity intact! \nYou always do what is good and right\, LORD\,\nand so you patiently retrain those who do wrong. \nYou pilot a safe course for those who are not too full of themselves;\nyou give lessons on your ways to the humble folk. \nEvery path you tread\, LORD\, is marked by solid love and loyalty\nfor the benefit of all who keep our end of the bargain with you. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Peter 3: 18-22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Messiah copped the consequences of human corruption\nand suffered them all in one hit.\nHe who had done only what is right\nsuffered for those who had done wrong\nin order to bring you home to God.\nHe was killed by human hands\nbut made alive by the Spirit. \nIn the spirit\, he went and preached freedom to those who refused God’s way in past generations and whose spirits have remained in prison ever since. In their own day\, God had given them every chance. While Noah was building his boat\, for example\, there was plenty of time for people to realise why and change their ways\, but in the end a mere eight people were saved from the waters by getting into that lifeboat. Their experience was a bit of a preview of the way baptism saves you. It is not just a bath to clean up your appearance. Rather\, you are pulled from the water to a new life so that you can stand before God with a clear conscience. You are raised from death to life with Jesus the Messiah\, who has since taken his place in heaven as God’s right hand man\, and he has the last word on everything and everyone. There is no authority or power\, human or angel\, that can overrule him. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 1: 9-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	During those days\, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. The moment he came up from the water\, he saw the sky open up and the Spirit coming down like a diving kookaburra and taking hold of him. And a voice filled the air\, saying\, “You are my Son; the love of my life. You fill me with pride.” \nStraight after that\, the Spirit drove him out into a remote wilderness area. He had to prove himself for forty days in the bush\, while the devil tried every trick in the book to lure him off-track. Jesus was in tough country\, surrounded by wild animals\, and God’s angels took care of everything he needed. \nAfter John the baptiser was arrested\, Jesus headed up to Galilee and began spreading the good news of God. This was the guts of his message: \n“The time has come!\nThe culture of God is close at hand.\nTurn your lives around and accept the good news.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in tenderness and faithful love\nyou forgive our sins and guide us when we stray. \nWhen the ancient flood destroyed the world you had created\,\nyou saved Noah and his family from the waters\,\nand established a covenant with them\nand with every living creature for all time. \nIn later times your Son\, Jesus\,\ncame forth from the waters of baptism\,\nand after proving himself in the wilderness\nwhere waves of temptation threatened to engulf him\,\nhe began proclaiming the good news of your kingdom\,\ncalling people to repent and believe in the gospel.\nHe was cast down to the land of the dead\nwhere he preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nbut you raised him to new life\nand seated him at your side\nto reign over every authority and power for ever. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho proved himself stronger than the devil’s temptations\,\nand who in death preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nand in resurrection reigns over every authority and power for ever. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in tenderness and faithful love\nyou forgive our sins and guide us when we stray. \nWhen the ancient flood destroyed the world you had created\,\nyou saved Noah and his family from the waters\,\nand established a covenant with them\nand with every living creature for all time. \nIn later times your Son\, Jesus\,\ncame forth from the waters of baptism\,\nand after proving himself in the wilderness\nwhere waves of temptation threatened to engulf him\,\nhe began proclaiming the good news of your kingdom\,\ncalling people to repent and believe in the gospel.\nHe was cast down to the land of the dead\nwhere he preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nbut you raised him to new life\nand seated him at your side\nto reign over every authority and power for ever. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Christ suffered for sins\, once for all\,\nthe righteous for the unrighteous\,\nin order to bring you to God.\nThrough the mercy of Christ\, God remembers you\nbut not your faults or your sins. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and live in the spirit of your baptism\,\neven when you are led into wild and hard places.\nWith repentance and trust\, give yourselves to God\,\nand with fasting and prayer\,\nstrengthen yourselves against the ways of the tempter. \nAnd may God enfold you in tender and lasting love.\nMay Christ be beside you in times of struggle.\nAnd may the Spirit guide you back to the path\nwhenever you stray\, that you may keep the covenant. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nMinistering AngelsA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nWhat God has given up for LentA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17\, 1 Peter 3:1-18 & Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nInto the wildernessA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Alison Sampson\n\n\n\nPut to the TestA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA God of WeaknessA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17\, 1 Peter 3:1-18 & Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nReading the RainbowA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b18/2030-03-10/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/18.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300310T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300310T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200805T034657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T114716Z
UID:10002111-1899331200-1899417599@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:1st Sunday in Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Genesis 9: 8-17			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God said to Noah and his family: \n“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. Whenever I make the clouds gather and my rainbow signature becomes visible there\, I will remember the alliance that governs my relationship with you and with every living creature on earth. I will remember\, and the waters will never again become a flood that wipes out all life on earth. I will see the rainbow which I have signed in the clouds and remember that I am party to a permanent binding alliance with every living creature of every kind on the earth. I assure you\, Noah\, that with this signature that you see in the clouds\, I have sealed the alliance between me\, God\, and the entire community of living creatures on the earth.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 25: 1-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I gladly offer you everything I am\, LORD . \nI have put my trust in you\, God;\nplease don’t let me down;\ndon’t give my enemies grounds to gloat. \nBe there for those who hang in there for you\, no matter what:\ndon’t leave them with egg on their faces.\nSave that for the two-faced scabs who deserve it.  \nLet me in on your way of doing things\, LORD;\nteach me how to follow your tracks. \nSteer me along your ways of truth\, and teach me all about them.\nOnly you can save me from disaster\, God\,\nso I’ll wait for you before setting out. \nYour love and mercy have been as timeless and dependable as the rock;\nplease don’t change your mind about them now! \nDon’t keep a record of everything I’ve done wrong in the past.\nLet your unshakable love colour your view of me\,\nand keep your reputation for generosity intact! \nYou always do what is good and right\, LORD\,\nand so you patiently retrain those who do wrong. \nYou pilot a safe course for those who are not too full of themselves;\nyou give lessons on your ways to the humble folk. \nEvery path you tread\, LORD\, is marked by solid love and loyalty\nfor the benefit of all who keep our end of the bargain with you. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Peter 3: 18-22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Messiah copped the consequences of human corruption\nand suffered them all in one hit.\nHe who had done only what is right\nsuffered for those who had done wrong\nin order to bring you home to God.\nHe was killed by human hands\nbut made alive by the Spirit. \nIn the spirit\, he went and preached freedom to those who refused God’s way in past generations and whose spirits have remained in prison ever since. In their own day\, God had given them every chance. While Noah was building his boat\, for example\, there was plenty of time for people to realise why and change their ways\, but in the end a mere eight people were saved from the waters by getting into that lifeboat. Their experience was a bit of a preview of the way baptism saves you. It is not just a bath to clean up your appearance. Rather\, you are pulled from the water to a new life so that you can stand before God with a clear conscience. You are raised from death to life with Jesus the Messiah\, who has since taken his place in heaven as God’s right hand man\, and he has the last word on everything and everyone. There is no authority or power\, human or angel\, that can overrule him. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 1: 9-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	During those days\, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. The moment he came up from the water\, he saw the sky open up and the Spirit coming down like a diving kookaburra and taking hold of him. And a voice filled the air\, saying\, “You are my Son; the love of my life. You fill me with pride.” \nStraight after that\, the Spirit drove him out into a remote wilderness area. He had to prove himself for forty days in the bush\, while the devil tried every trick in the book to lure him off-track. Jesus was in tough country\, surrounded by wild animals\, and God’s angels took care of everything he needed. \nAfter John the baptiser was arrested\, Jesus headed up to Galilee and began spreading the good news of God. This was the guts of his message: \n“The time has come!\nThe culture of God is close at hand.\nTurn your lives around and accept the good news.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in tenderness and faithful love\nyou forgive our sins and guide us when we stray. \nWhen the ancient flood destroyed the world you had created\,\nyou saved Noah and his family from the waters\,\nand established a covenant with them\nand with every living creature for all time. \nIn later times your Son\, Jesus\,\ncame forth from the waters of baptism\,\nand after proving himself in the wilderness\nwhere waves of temptation threatened to engulf him\,\nhe began proclaiming the good news of your kingdom\,\ncalling people to repent and believe in the gospel.\nHe was cast down to the land of the dead\nwhere he preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nbut you raised him to new life\nand seated him at your side\nto reign over every authority and power for ever. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho proved himself stronger than the devil’s temptations\,\nand who in death preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nand in resurrection reigns over every authority and power for ever. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in tenderness and faithful love\nyou forgive our sins and guide us when we stray. \nWhen the ancient flood destroyed the world you had created\,\nyou saved Noah and his family from the waters\,\nand established a covenant with them\nand with every living creature for all time. \nIn later times your Son\, Jesus\,\ncame forth from the waters of baptism\,\nand after proving himself in the wilderness\nwhere waves of temptation threatened to engulf him\,\nhe began proclaiming the good news of your kingdom\,\ncalling people to repent and believe in the gospel.\nHe was cast down to the land of the dead\nwhere he preached even to those lost in the flood\,\nbut you raised him to new life\nand seated him at your side\nto reign over every authority and power for ever. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Christ suffered for sins\, once for all\,\nthe righteous for the unrighteous\,\nin order to bring you to God.\nThrough the mercy of Christ\, God remembers you\nbut not your faults or your sins. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and live in the spirit of your baptism\,\neven when you are led into wild and hard places.\nWith repentance and trust\, give yourselves to God\,\nand with fasting and prayer\,\nstrengthen yourselves against the ways of the tempter. \nAnd may God enfold you in tender and lasting love.\nMay Christ be beside you in times of struggle.\nAnd may the Spirit guide you back to the path\nwhenever you stray\, that you may keep the covenant. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nMinistering AngelsA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nWhat God has given up for LentA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17\, 1 Peter 3:1-18 & Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nInto the wildernessA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Alison Sampson\n\n\n\nPut to the TestA sermon on Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA God of WeaknessA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17\, 1 Peter 3:1-18 & Mark 1:9-15 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nReading the RainbowA sermon on Genesis 9:8-17 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b18/2030-03-10/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/18.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300317T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300317T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200805T041954Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240324T102953Z
UID:10002112-1899936000-1900022399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:2nd Sunday in Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Genesis 17: 1-7\, 15-16			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	One day\, when Abram was ninety-nine years old\, the LORD turned up and spoke to him\, saying\, “I am God Almighty. You are to live your life openly before me\, with absolute integrity. I will put in place an alliance between me and you\, and under its terms\, I will make sure you have a huge number of descendants.” \nAbram dropped in his tracks with his face to the ground as God continued to speak to him\, saying: \n“I\, myself\, am forging this alliance with you: I am promising that you will be the ancestor of a whole bunch of nations. You are not to be known by the name Abram anymore. From now on\, your name will be Abraham\, because it means ‘the father of many’\, and that is what you will be. I will make everything go well for you\, and your family will multiply rapidly. From among your offspring\, whole nations and kings will emerge. I will put this alliance in place between me and you and all who are to come in your family line through all generations. This alliance will last forever\, committing me to being God to you and to your descendants after you for all time. \nYour wife Sarai is in on this alliance too. However her name is to change too. From now on her name will be Sarah. I will see to it that things go well for her\, and what’s more\, she and you will conceive a child together and she will give birth to a son. I will make things go well for Sarah\, and in time\, nations and great rulers will trace their family line back to her.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 22: 23-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	LORD\, I’ll call on all who honour you to stand up and say so!\nAll who trace their roots to Jacob will give you the glory!\nAll who share the heritage of Israel will stand in awe of you! \nLORD\, you did not rubbish anyone\nor blame the victims for their suffering.\nYou did not turn away or slip off quietly;\nwhen I cried for help\, you responded. \nWhenever people gather to worship\,\nmy heart overflows and I sing your praises.\nOut in the open for all to see\nI’ll do all that I promised. \nAt your table\, God\, the needy will feast;\nthose who hunger for you will be fed till they burst with praise!\nThey will be able to live it up\, now and forever! \nIn every corner of the earth people will wake up to themselves\nand turn back to you\, LORD.\nEvery race\, nation\, tribe and family\nwill offer themselves to you in worship\,\nfor you have the last word on everything;\nwhat you say goes. \nEven the dead will bow down to you\, LORD;\nthose who are trampled in the dust will look to you in hope\,\nand I will live for you and you alone. \nOur kids and their kids will serve you\, LORD;\nas we pass the message down from one generation to the next.\nPeople not even born yet will hear the story;\nthey will be told of what you have done to set us free. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Romans 4: 13-25			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	When God promised Abraham that he and his descendants would inherit the earth\, it was not because Abraham had earned it by following God’s instructions to the letter. Instead it was a gift given when God put things right for Abraham in response to the trust he had shown. If it were possible to earn the rights to the earth by rigid compliance with the law\, then basic values like trust and promise would be irrelevant. It would all become just another legal contract to be negotiated. Tie it all up in fine print and it will only end up serving as evidence against you; but where the relationship is conducted on the basis of trust\, no one goes on the lookout for very possible breach. \nSo instead of being a legal matter\, the fulfilment of the promise is conditional only on people’s willingness to put their trust in God. It is simply an expression of God’s generosity\, and that’s why it is guaranteed to always be available to everyone. Whether you were raised in a culture where observing the religious law was the norm\, or whether you have simply stepped out and put your trust in God like Abraham did\, the promise is open to you. After all\, both groups can rightly trace their line back to Abraham\, and the scriptures say that God promised to make him the father of many nations. \nWhen it looked like Abraham wouldn’t ever become the father of anyone\, he trusted his future into the hands of God\, believing that the God who can bring life out of death could create something out of nothing. He hung onto his hope even when it seemed utterly hopeless. He kept on believing that he would have many descendants because he was sure that God had promised him that. Even the cold hard biological facts didn’t cause him to throw in the towel. He knew that his hundred year old body was past it\, and that Sarah was an old woman who hadn’t even been fertile when she was young. Yet he didn’t allow even such obvious obstacles to break down his trust and make him cynical about God’s promise. Instead his faith actually grew stronger as he went right on crowing about the greatness of God. He remained dead-set certain that God was more than capable of making good on the promise. That is why God counted his trust as the equivalent of a perfect life. Now when the scriptures say “it was counted as the equivalent of a perfect life”\, it is not speaking of a special arrangement for Abraham alone. No\, it refers to all of us. We will all be accepted on that same basis if we too put our trust in the One who raised Jesus our Lord to new life from the dead. Jesus was put to death even though it was us who had done the wrong thing; but he was raised to new life so that we could be put right with God. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 8: 31-38			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Once his followers had identified him as the Messiah\, Jesus began to fill them in on what was going to happen to him. “The New Human is going to be put through the wringer. He’ll be done over by the politicians\, the priests and the religious lawyers. They’ll have him executed\, but after three days he’ll rise to life.” \nHe didn’t beat about the bush on this – he spelt it out as clear as you like. But Peter would have none of it. He pulled Jesus aside and gave him a piece of his mind. Recognising that his followers were losing the plot\, Jesus made an example of Peter\, saying\, “Get out of my face\, you satan! You’ve got no idea what God is on about. You’re just pursuing the same things as everyone else.” \nThen he called everyone to gather round – his followers and the whole crowd – and he said to them\, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to hand over the keys\, sign their own death warrant\, and then do as I do. If you try to hold on to control of your life you’ll end up losing the lot. But if you let go\, even if you pay the ultimate price for your commitment to me and to our message\, you’ll gain real life. What’s the point of getting control of the whole world if getting it kills you. There’s no trade-in on a burned out soul. There are some who find it embarrassing to be associated with me and with what I’m on about\, when they’re hanging around with their deceitful and easily distracted peers. If they don’t sort themselves out\, they’ll find that when the New Human arrives\, full of the glory of God and surrounded by the angels\, he’ll be too embarrassed to associate with them.” \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 9: 2-9 (alternative gospel if the last Sunday before Lent was not observed as Transfiguration)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus took Peter\, James and John and led them up a high mountain away from everyone else. Before their very eyes\, the way Jesus looked was suddenly changed from the inside out. His clothing became so white that it was dazzling – an effect beyond anything soap powder could ever achieve. Suddenly they saw Moses and Elijah there too\, in deep conversation with Jesus. \nPeter said\, “Boss\, this is fantastic! What a moment! How about we knock up three huts\, so that you\, Moses and Elijah can all stay here longer.” He was just shooting his mouth off without thinking because they were quaking in their boots. \nAn awesome cloud engulfed them\, and from deep within the cloud\, a voice boomed forth: “This is my Son\, the love of my life. Listen to him!” \nPeter\, James and John looked around and suddenly everything looked normal again and they saw no one there but Jesus. \nAs they were coming back down the mountain\, Jesus gave them strict instructions not to breathe a word to anyone about about what they had seen\, until after the New Human had risen from the dead. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor\, in an everlasting covenant\, you have promised\nto be our God through all generations. \nYou called into existence things that did not exist:\nthe universe and all that inhabits it.\nFrom Abraham and Sarah you brought forth nations\,\ncalling them to walk before you in the righteousness\nthat comes from faith. \nIn your Son\, Jesus\,\nyou showed your compassion for the afflicted\nand taught us that real life is found by those\nwho lose their life for your sake and for your gospel.\nHe was rejected by the religious leaders\, and killed\,\nbut three days later\,\nyou raised him from the dead as Lord.\nNow you justify all\nwho put their faith in you\, through him\,\ncounting it to us as righteousness\,\nand promising us the full riches of your grace\nwhen Christ comes in glory. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for your everlasting covenant\,\nthrough which you justify us when we put our faith in you\,\ncounting it to us as righteousness\,\nand calling us to take up our cross and follow Christ\nin the way that leads to life. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor\, in an everlasting covenant\, you have promised\nto be our God through all generations. \nYou called into existence things that did not exist:\nthe universe and all that inhabits it.\nFrom Abraham and Sarah you brought forth nations\,\ncalling them to walk before you in the righteousness\nthat comes from faith. \nIn your Son\, Jesus\,\nyou showed your compassion for the afflicted\nand taught us that real life is found by those\nwho lose their life for your sake and for your gospel.\nHe was rejected by the religious leaders\, and killed\,\nbut three days later\,\nyou raised him from the dead as Lord.\nNow you justify all\nwho put their faith in you\, through him\,\ncounting it to us as righteousness\,\nand promising us the full riches of your grace\nwhen Christ comes in glory. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus Christ was handed over to death for us\nand raised to life for our justification.\nTherefore\, in an everlasting covenant\,\nGod has promised that all who put their trust in Christ\nwill\, by grace\, be considered righteous. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and live before God in openness and integrity.\nSet your minds on the ways of God\,\nnot clinging to your own life\,\nbut taking up your cross and following Jesus. \nAnd may God give you a share in the eternal covenant;\nMay Christ Jesus be proud of you when he comes in glory;\nAnd may the Holy Spirit make you grow strong in faith\nand lead you in the ways of righteousness. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nTrusting God\, and other impossibilitiesA sermon on Genesis 17:1-7\, 15-16 & Romans 4:13-25 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nAbraham hung onto his hopeA sermon on Genesis 17:1-7\, 15-16 & Romans 4:13-25 by Sylvia Sandeman\n\n\n\nOffspring of the CovenantA sermon on Genesis 17:7 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe Game-ChangerA sermon on Romans 4:13-25 & Mark 8:31-38 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA Promised Holy Land?A sermon on Genesis 17:1-7\, 15-16 & Romans 4:13-25 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nNot Hiding Your Face From InjusticeA sermon on Psalm 22 & Mark 8:31-38 by Brooke Prentis\n\n\n\nNot Feeling Rejected Enough?A sermon on Mark 8:31-38 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b19/2030-03-17/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/19.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300325T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300325T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200807T012716Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260315T041951Z
UID:10003007-1900627200-1900713599@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:The Feast of the Annunciation
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 7: 10-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD sent word to King Ahaz of Judah\, saying: \nI\, the LORD your God\, will give you a sign so that you can be sure that it is really me who is sending you this promise of safety. What sign do you want? Something dramatic\, deep the earth or high in the sky? You name it\, and I’ll do it. \nBut Ahaz refused\, saying\, “I will ask no such thing. Far be it from me to demand guarantees from the LORD.” So Isaiah the prophet spoke on behalf of the LORD\, saying: \nThen get this into your head\, you who rule from David’s throne. Haven’t you made enough people sick and tired of your weak-as-water religious posturing? Do you have to try it on with God as well?! Well\, the Lord is going to go ahead and give you a sign anyway. Check this out: there is a girl who is pregnant. She will give birth to a baby boy and he will be given the name Emmanuel\, which means ‘God is with us.’ \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 45 (alternative)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	My heart overflows with words of delight;\na song of love bursts forth for the king;\nmy voice as charmed as the poet’s pen. \nYou\, my king\, are a man of unsurpassed beauty.\nEvery word that passes your lips is generous and inspiring.\nGod’s richest blessings are yours forever. \nWarrior\, present yourself armed and in uniform\,\nin all your splendour and majesty.\nRide forth in glory\, the pride of your people\,\nto defend the cause of truth and justice. \nMay your arm be strong and your skills razor sharp;\nmay every blow land with telling effect\,\npiercing the opposition to your righteous reign\,\nbringing to their knees the enemies of life. \nYour throne is God-given\, and will never be shaken.\nYour royal power is wielded for justice.\nYou have a passion for integrity\nand a loathing for corruption.\nTherefore God has chosen you above all others\,\ncrowned you with joy like no other has known. \nRich and exotic fragrances cascade from your royal robes\,\nand your palace is alive with music and dancing.\nThe daughters of kings wait on you\, hand and foot;\nand on your arm is your chosen bride in a gown of liquid gold. \nO chosen daughter\, bride of the king\, listen to my advice:\nleave your father’s home and don’t look back\nfor the king is wild with desire for you.\nWhat more could you want? Abandon yourself to him!\nWedding gifts will arrive from every nation\,\nthe wealthy outdo each other with their presents. \nThe inner beauty of your bride\, O king\,\noutshines even her wedding gown\,\nwoven with gold and sparkling with jewels.\nIn dazzling beauty she is brought to you\nwith her chosen bridesmaids at hand.\nJoy and laughter process in with her\,\nand the whole palace erupts with elation. \nSoon you will have children\, continuing your family line\,\nand the thrones of the earth will be theirs.\nNo one will ever forget you\,\nyour fame will inspire generation after generation\,\nand songs will be sung in praise of you forever and ever. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 40: 5-10 (alternative)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You are in a league of your own\, LORD God;\nnothing and no one comes within a bull’s roar of you!\nI can’t keep track of all the amazing things you’ve done\nor all the generous plans you’ve made for us.\nI could talk about them till the cows came home\nand still have barely scratched the surface. \nYou are not looking for gifts from us\, LORD;\nnothing we own is any use to you;\nYour generosity and mercy are not for sale;\nbut you have given us ears and asked us to listen. \nSo I am giving you my “Yes!”\nI’ll make your book my own and live by it.\nDoing what pleases you will be my greatest delight\,\nfor you are my God and I’m taking your ways to heart. \nWhen all your people gathered\,\nI spoke up about how you had bailed me out.\nI gave them the full story; I left nothing out;\nyou know this is true\, LORD. \nI have made no secret of the help you gave me;\nI have put it all out in the open.\nI have told everyone how you saved my life\nand how we can trust you completely.\nI have put it all on the public record\nand kept nothing to myself\nabout your rock-solid love or dependability. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 10: 4-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The old system of dealing with sin just wasn’t up to the job. There is no way that the blood of sacrificed animals could fix the problem. Because of this\, Christ came into the world saying\, \n“God\, you don’t want more sacrifices and offerings.\nI know you get no pleasure from all that stuff\,\neven when it’s done sincerely and by the book.\nBut you have prepared a body for me\, God\,\nand I come now to do what you really want\,\nfor it is what I do that is really ‘by the book’. \nDo you see what he’s saying there? He’s saying that God gets neither satisfaction nor pleasure from all the different kinds of offerings that the law prescribed for sin and for various other things. And he’s going further than that because he’s saying that he’s here to do what God really wants. This is a total change over. He is abolishing the previous system and putting a new one in place. So now\, according to what God really wanted\, Jesus has dealt with sin once and for all\, at the cost of his own body\, and brought us all up to scratch for God. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Luke 1: 26-38			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God sent the angel Gabriel to a town called Nazareth in the region of Galilee\, to speak to a young woman named Mary. Mary was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph\, whose family line went back to King David. The angel approached Mary and said\, “Hello there! You’ve got it made! The Lord is with you and has chosen you.” \nBut Mary was freaking out over this and didn’t know what to make of the angel’s words\, so he spoke to her again\, saying\, “There is no need to be frightened\, Mary. God is smiling on you. Look what God is about to do: a child will be conceived in your womb. You will give birth to a baby boy\, and you will name him Jesus. He will have a great future\, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will put him on the throne established by his ancestor David. He will lead God’s people forever\, establishing a culture that will never die out.” \nMary replied\, “How can this possibly happen? I am still a virgin.” \nThe angel said to her\, “The Holy Spirit will take hold of you\, and the life-force of the Most High will enfold you. Therefore the child that is born will belong to God\, and will be called God’s Son. Check it out: your wrinkly old relative Elizabeth is also carrying a baby boy in her womb. Even when she was young she was infertile\, but now she is six months pregnant. It just goes to show that when God gets involved\, nothing will ever be impossible.” \nSo Mary said\, “Okay. Count me in. I’m at the service of the Lord. Let these things happen to me just as you have said.” \nAnd with that\, the angel was gone. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nAnnunciationA sermon on Luke 1: 26-55\, 2 Samuel 7: 1-16 & Romans 16:25-27 by Marita Munro\n\n\n\nThe Conception of GodA sermon on Luke 1:26-38 & 2 Samuel 7: 1-11\, 16 by  Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nVirginA sermon on Luke 1:26-35\, 38 by Alison Sampson
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc44/2030-03-25/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300331T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300331T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200806T030204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240407T051400Z
UID:10002113-1901145600-1901231999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:4th Sunday in Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Numbers 21: 4-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The people of Israel wanted to skirt around the land of Edom\, so when they set out from Mount Hor they took the Red Sea track. 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.” \nAt 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.” \nSo 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.” \nSo 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. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 107: 1-3\, 17-22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Thank you\, LORD! Thank you for being so good.\nYour rock-solid love will never end. \nLORD\, we freely and openly acknowledge\nthat it was you who got us out of trouble;\nyou who put us back on the right track.\nYou gathered us from the four corners of the globe\,\nfrom wherever we had been lost or exiled. \nSome of us had wrecked our health in destructive living;\ninvolvement in evil left us sick and injured.\nWe were off our food\, weak and broken;\na painful death was knocking at the door. \nIn sheer despair\, we cried out to you\, LORD\,\nand in a flash\, you came to our rescue.\nYour words healed us; got us back on our feet;\npulled us free of the jaws of death. \nSo let us tell you how grateful we are\, LORD.\nThank you for your rock-solid love\nand for the great things you do for everyone;\nLet us bring gifts to say thank you\,\nand sing and dance to celebrate what you’ve done. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Ephesians 2: 1-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You were as good as dead as a result of the corrupt and loveless ways you were living. You were following the script written for these dark days we live in\, and taking your cues from the spirit who rules over the murky and polluted atmosphere that surrounds us; the one who is busy pulling the strings of those who have refused to do things God’s way. There was a time when all of us were numbered among that lot\, and we were living as slaves to our basic bodily appetites. The desire for selfish pleasures and sensual stimulation dictated everything we did\, and we were like screwed up kids who seem destined for trouble; just as bad as everyone else. But because God is so rich in mercy\, that was not the end of the story. God’s love for us was undiminished even when our twisted behaviour had completely destroyed our lives\, and so God gave us another shot at life\, a new life\, united to Christ. This was motivated by God’s overwhelming love for us\, and it was clearly an act of sheer generosity that saw us rescued into the life of God. Indeed\, God did not merely snatch us from the grave\, but raised us up with Jesus the Messiah and united us to him so fully that\, in him\, we are now seated with God in the heavenly places. This act of kindness\, shown to us in and through Jesus the Messiah\, will stand forever as proof that God’s extravagant love and generosity are far richer than we could ever fathom. In fact it is only because God’s generous mercy is so over-the-top that God responded to your trust and saved you. You did nothing to deserve it or bring it about. It is a gift\, given by God. It is not something you earned by doing the right thing\, so there is absolutely nothing for anyone to go patting themselves on the back for. You see\, we are simply what God has made us. We have been created in union with Jesus the Messiah to work for good — a task that provides the focus for the way of life which God prepared for us from the word ‘go’. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 3: 14-21			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus said: \n“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. \n“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. \n“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. Those who put their trust in him are no longer facing sentence; but those who turn their backs on him are already condemned\, because they have rejected the only Son of God and all he stands for. This is\, in fact\, the way the judgment is happening: the light has come into the world\, and the truth about everyone is being found out by the way they react to it. Many people beat a fast retreat back into the shadows\, because the things they are doing are so corrupt that they need the cover of darkness. People can’t stand the light if they are doing the wrong thing. They avoid it like the plague because they don’t want the things they do exposed. But those who live by the truth and act with integrity have nothing to hide. They are more than happy to step into the light where it will be plain for all to see that they have been acting in close cooperation with God.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in lasting love you gave your only Son\,\nso that all who trust in him may have eternal life. \nIn the beginning you spoke the word of life\nand brought the world into being.\nYou rescued a people from oppression\,\nand even when they rebelled against you\nyou heard their cries and snatched them from danger. \nIn great love and mercy\,\nyou sent your Son\, Jesus\, into the world\,\nand though he was lifted up on the cross to die\,\nyou gave the gift of life to all who turned to him in faith.\nRaising him from the dead\,\nyou have given us life in him\,\nnot because of any works of our own\,\nbut as a gift from the immeasurable riches of your grace\ngiven us in Christ\,\nnow and for the ages to come. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for the immeasurable riches of your grace\nthrough which you sent your Son\, Jesus\, into the world\,\nand allowed him to be lifted up on the cross\,\nso that all who turn to him in faith may have eternal life. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor in lasting love you gave your only Son\,\nso that all who trust in him may have eternal life. \nIn the beginning you spoke the word of life\nand brought the world into being.\nYou rescued a people from oppression\,\nand even when they rebelled against you\nyou heard their cries and snatched them from danger. \nIn great love and mercy\,\nyou sent your Son\, Jesus\, into the world\,\nand though he was lifted up on the cross to die\,\nyou gave the gift of life to all who turned to him in faith.\nRaising him from the dead\,\nyou have given us life in him\,\nnot because of any works of our own\,\nbut as a gift from the immeasurable riches of your grace\ngiven us in Christ\,\nnow and for the ages to come. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world\,\nbut in order that through him the world might be saved.\nThough we were dead through our sins\,\nin great mercy\, God has spoken a word of healing\nand made us alive together with Christ. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, and live as people made by God for good works.\nLive your life in God openly in the light so all may see.\nCelebrate God’s love with a sacrifice of praise\,\nand tell your story of salvation with joy. \nAnd may God show you the immeasurable riches of his grace.\nMay Christ lead you into the life prepared for you.\nAnd may the Spirit gift you with faith for salvation. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nThe Day of Judgment is TodayA sermon on John 3: 14-21 & Ephesians 2: 1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nLooking to the Suffering OneA sermon on John 3: 14-21 & Ephesians 2: 1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nEnemies of God?A sermon on John 3: 14-21 & Ephesians 2: 1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nGod So LovesA sermon on John 3: 14-21 & Ephesians 2: 1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nFor God So Loved The WorldA sermon on John 3: 14-21 by Simon Holt
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b21/2030-03-31/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300407T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300407T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200807T020838Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240414T104558Z
UID:10002114-1901750400-1901836799@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:5th Sunday in Lent - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Jeremiah 31: 31-34			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You can count on this\, says the LORD. The time is coming when I will once again take Israel and Judah as my marriage partner. Our marriage will not be like the marriage I entered with their ancestors. Back then I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of slavery and carried them across the threshold into a home of their own. But even though I was loving and faithful\, says the LORD\, they broke our marriage vows. \nBut listen to the new marriage vows I will soon make with the people of Israel\, says the LORD: \n“I will write my values into your hearts and minds.\nI will be your God\, and you will be my people.” \nNo longer will they need lessons to learn how I want them to live. They won’t need to spur each other on\, saying\, “Get to know the LORD\,” because all of them\, from all walks of life\, will know me well\, says the LORD. I will erase all record of their past wrongs and let them start over with a clean slate. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 51: 1-12 (alternative)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	O God\, your love never gives up.\nHave mercy on me now! \nI’m relying on your record of generous mercy:\nplease wipe my slate clean! \nScrub away the filth I’ve been living in;\nScour away the stain of my sin. \nI know only too well what I’ve done;\nmy sins stare me in the face. \nIt is you I’ve double-crossed\, you I’ve betrayed;\nI’ve done things which I knew you despised. \nYou have all the facts and you know what I deserve;\nwhat ever you decide is fair enough.\nI’ve been on the wrong side of you forever.\nI turned my back on you before I was born. \nYou want honesty that comes from deep within\,\nso teach me your wisdom\,\nlet it take root in my heart. \nGet the bleach out and give me the treatment!\nSoak me and wash me\nuntil I’m as white as snow. \nOpen my ears to laughter and music.\nThough you ground me into the dirt\,\nlet me now rise to the sounds of joy. \nTurn a blind eye to my record;\ndisregard my prior convictions. \nRenovate me from the inside\, O God;\nrebuild my heart and rewire my brain;\ninstall in me a new fault-free operating system. \nDon’t cut me off from you now\,\nor withdraw your Holy Spirit from me. \nRekindle in me the joy of being safe in your care\,\nand fill me with an insatiable desire to follow you. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 119: 9-16 (alternative)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	If anyone wants to avoid polluting their life\, LORD\,\nthey should use your word as protection. \nI am giving my all to getting close to you;\ndon’t let me stumble off the track you have set for us. \nEverything you have said\, I treasure in my heart\,\nto keep myself from doing the wrong thing by you. \nYou are the best\, LORD\,\nteach me all you require of your people. \nMy mouth is ready\, willing and able\nto repeat whatever you have to say. \nThe path you have set for us is my greatest delight;\nit is worth more to me than all the money in the world. \nI will keep my mind fixed on your teachings\,\nand my eyes fixed on the track you have set for us. \nI will cherish the rules you have given us\,\nand never forget the things you have to say. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 5: 5-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Christ did not push himself forward and campaign for the position of high priest. It was God who tapped him on the shoulder and said\, in the words of scripture: \n“You’re it — my Son;\ntoday I have named you.” \nIn the same way\, in another place\, God says: \n“You are a priest forever;\nyour task is the priestly work begun by Melchizedek.” \nWhen Jesus was among us and the threat of death was closing in on him\, it was with agonized cries and tears that he did his priestly work of offering up prayers and appeals to the God who has the power to save us from death. His pleas were heard because of his prayerful acceptance of God’s will. He was given no special privileges as a Son — he got his lessons in obedience in the same school of suffering as the rest of us. Once he had made the grade\, perfecting all that he had to learn\, God marked him out as a high priest — the last of the line that began with Melchizedek. Thus\, Jesus became the one who sets free all who trust and follow him. For them he is the source of life without limit. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-33			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you have taken us by the hand\,\nand offered yourself to us in a sacred covenant. \nYou are the creator of all things;\nyou knew the earth and its inhabitants before their birth.\nYou led a suffering people from slavery to freedom\,\nand offered to be their God\nif they would be your people. \nThough we broke our vows to you and pursued evil\,\nin gracious love you offered us a new covenant\nembodied in your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho was made perfect on the path of obedience\,\neven in the face of suffering.\nLifted up on a cross to die\,\nhe has drawn all people to himself;\nand raised from the dead\,\nhe has become the source of eternal salvation\nfor all who live in obedience\nto the new law you have written on our hearts. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho was made perfect on the path of obedience\nand\, as he was lifted up on a cross to die\,\ndrew all people to himself\nand became the source of eternal salvation\nfor all who follow the new law you have written on our hearts. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you have taken us by the hand\,\nand offered yourself to us in a sacred covenant. \nYou are the creator of all things;\nyou knew the earth and its inhabitants before their birth.\nYou led a suffering people from slavery to freedom\,\nand offered to be their God\nif they would be your people. \nThough we broke our vows to you and pursued evil\,\nin gracious love you offered us a new covenant\nembodied in your Son\, Jesus\,\nwho was made perfect on the path of obedience\,\neven in the face of suffering.\nLifted up on a cross to die\,\nhe has drawn all people to himself;\nand raised from the dead\,\nhe has become the source of eternal salvation\nfor all who live in obedience\nto the new law you have written on our hearts. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God sees us for what we are\,\nbut in mercy does not cast us aside.\nThrough Jesus Christ\, the source of eternal salvation\,\nGod washes away our guilt\nand remembers our sin no more. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now\, to serve Christ and follow him.\nLet your old life fall like a grain of wheat into the earth\nso that you may bear much fruit\nas you allow God to reshape your heart\nand live in obedience to the law written within you. \nAnd may God centre you in truth and steady your spirit.\nMay Christ renew your joy and strengthen your will.\nAnd may the Spirit teach you God’s hidden wisdom\nand fill you with songs of rejoicing. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nGive up and GrowA sermon on John 12:20-33 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe Dark Light of CrucifixionA sermon on John 12:20-33 by Garry Deverell\n\n\n\nJesus our PriestA sermon on Hebrews 5:5-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nDeath\, Life\, and Jimmy StynesA sermon on John 12:20-33 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nFacing the Firing SquadA sermon on John 12:20-33 & Jeremiah 31:31-34 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA Bitter Cup and Other BlessingsA sermon on John 12:20-33; Hebrews 5:5-10; & Jeremiah 31:31-34 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nHopeA sermon on John 12:20-33; Hebrews 5:5-10; Psalm 51 & Jeremiah 31:31-34 by Andrea Klimt\n\n\n\nWhen God tries againA sermon on Jeremiah 31:31-34 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b22/2030-04-07/
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300414T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300414T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T075806Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240422T025429Z
UID:10002115-1902355200-1902441599@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:6th Sunday in Lent (Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday) - Year B
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 11: 1-11 (Gospel for the Liturgy of the Palms)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus and his followers were getting close Jerusalem\, and their last stop was just outside the twin townships of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his followers into the township\, saying\, “As soon as you get into the main street you will see a young donkey tied up to a fence. It is an awkward looking thing and has not yet even been ridden. Collect it and bring it to me\, and if anyone asks you what you are doing\, just tell them the boss needs it and will return it in no time.” \nSo they headed into the township\, and found the donkey tied up outside a gate in the main street. As they untied it\, some of the locals challenged them\, saying\, “What do you think you’re doing untying that donkey?” \nThey told them what Jesus had said and the locals let them go. \nThey brought it to Jesus and made an improvised saddle from items of spare clothing. When Jesus got on and began riding slowly up the road to Jerusalem\, people began giving him the red-carpet treatment. Some were spreading their coats on the road before him while others were cutting down branches of leaves and flowers and spreading them along the road. Both in front of him and behind him\, the cheering crowd began to chant: \nHooray!\nGod’s blessing is on the one\nwho comes in the name of the Lord!\nGod’s blessing is on the coming kingdom\nof our ancestor\, King David!\nHooray for God\, the greatest of all! \nOnce he was inside Jerusalem\, Jesus went on into the temple and had a good look around. However\, it was already late in the day\, so he and the twelve went back out to Bethany and stayed overnight there. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 12-16 (Alternative Gospel for the Liturgy of the Palms)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Jesus set out to complete his journey to Jerusalem on the Sunday before the religious festival known as Passover. Huge crowds had gathered in the city for the festival and\, when they got word that Jesus was due to arrive\, they lined the streets\, waving palm branches\, to give him a hero’s welcome. As he approached\, a loud chant went up: \nHooray!\nGod’s blessing is on the one\nwho comes in the name of the Lord\,\nthe King of Israel! \nJesus found a young donkey\, and rode in on it. It was just as the scriptures had said: \n“Do not be afraid\, people of Jerusalem.\nLook\, here comes your king\nriding a simple little donkey!” \nAt the time\, his followers couldn’t get their heads around the meaning of all this. Only later\, when Jesus was known in all his glory\, did it dawn on them that the things which had been written about him had\, in fact\, happened to him. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 118: 1-2\, 19-29 (Psalm for the Liturgy of the Palms)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Thank you\, LORD\, thank you!\nThank you for your goodness!\nThank you for your love —\nrock solid and timeless!\nMay all your people recognise\nthat your love and loyalty last forever. \nThe minute they open the city gates\n— the gates of justice —\nwe’ll be the first through\, LORD;\neager to tell you how thankful we are. \nThese gates belong to you\, LORD\,\nthose you have put right can come on through. \nThank you for answering our prayers\, LORD;\nfor coming to our rescue and putting us right. \nFrom a rejected stone found in a rubbish pile\nyou cut and polished a priceless jewel.\nThis is obviously your work\, LORD\,\nand we can hardly believe our eyes! \nToday is your day\, LORD\, a day to honour you;\nwe will celebrate with joy and laughter. \nGet us through safely\, LORD!\nIn the tasks ahead\, give us success! \nThe one who comes in your name\, LORD\,\nis the one who is truly blessed.\nGathered here in your house\,\nwe praise you for sending him. \nYou\, LORD\, are our only God\,\nand you light up our lives.\nIn a great procession\,\nwe march to the sacred place\,\nwaving branches and banners;\ntossing flowers in the air. \nYou are our God\nand we give you thanks.\nYou are our God\nand we give you our highest acclaim. \nThank you\, LORD\, thank you!\nThank you for your goodness!\nThank you for your love —\nrock solid and timeless! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 50: 4-9a			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD God has given me the gift of the gab\nso that my words can teach others\nand put a spring in the step of the weary. \nAs I wake up each new day\,\nGod makes me hungry for learning.\nThe LORD cleaned out my ears\nso that I could hear every word.\nI learned eagerly;\nI never rebelled or quit. \nI was opposed by others\,\nbut I gritted my teeth and stood my ground.\nI looked them in the eye\nwhen they insulted me and spat in my face.\nI took it on the chin and did not fight back\,\nwhen they gave me a belting and tore out my hair. \nThe Lord GOD is always there for me\,\nso no disgrace ever gets to me.\nI have steeled my jaw and dug in my heels\,\nand I’m sure I’ll never be ashamed of my stand\nbecause I can trust God to back me up. \nSo\, who thinks they can take me on?\nLet them stand up and face me!\nWho are my opponents?\nLet’s see what they’re made of! \nThe Lord GOD is backing me;\nso who is going to accuse me of doing wrong? \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 31: 9-16			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Be kind to me\, LORD\,\nI’m a mess.\nMy eyes are bloodshot from crying;\nMy heart is breaking\nand my whole body aches. \nGrief gnaws away at my life\,\nsorrows piles up\, year after year.\nMisery is draining my strength\nand destroying my health. \nI get no respect from my opponents;\nnothing but ridicule.\nThose who know me can’t bear to look at me;\neven strangers cross the street to avoid me. \nEveryone wants to purge me from their thoughts;\nthey’ve given me up for dead;\nabandoned me like a burned out car. \nEveryone is out to get me;\nthey’re whispering behind my back.\nThey’ve portrayed me as a monster\nand put a price on my head. \nBut I still put my trust in you\, LORD;\nyou are my God and you’re all I’ve got left.\nMy future is in your hands;\nsnatch me from the grasp\nof those who are hunting me down. \nI’m working for you; look on me with love.\nStand by me and save me. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Philippians 2: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Model your attitude on the attitude of the Messiah\, Jesus. \nAlthough Jesus was the same as God in every way\,\nhe did not think of his God-like privileges\nas something to be milked for all they were worth. \nInstead\, he laid it all aside\nand\, with no more privileges than a slave\,\nwas born as a human being. \nHaving become a human being\,\nhe was the model of humility.\nHe didn’t demand his own way\nbut let God set the agenda;\neven when it included his own death\,\nand a gruesome public death at that. \nBecause of all this\,\nGod has raised him to the status of number one\nand honoured him more highly\nthan anyone else in the universe. \nSo now\, just the mention of the name ‘Jesus’\nshould bring everyone to their knees;\neveryone who has ever lived or ever will. \nEveryone\, everywhere will honour God\nby openly acknowledging\nthat Jesus the Messiah is Lord of all! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 14:1 - 15:47			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	There were only two days to go until the religious festival known as Passover\, and the chief priests and the religious lawyers were getting anxious to find a way to get Jesus arrested and killed on the quiet. They wanted it done without delay\, because they were afraid that if it was done during the festival it might provoke a riot among the people. \nAt this time\, Jesus was a dinner guest in the home of Simon the Leper\, in the town of Bethany\, just outside Jerusalem. During the dinner\, a woman approached him with a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She broke open the bottle and tenderly poured out the oils on his head. But some of the other guests got their noses out of joint over this and began growling\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nThey were giving her a hard time over it\, but Jesus came to her defence\, saying\, “Give it a break. Why are you picking on her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You will always have the poor with you\, so you can go and do something worthwhile for them any time you like\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me. She has done what she could\, using these oils to prepare my body for a decent burial. I can tell you now\, without a word of a lie\, that wherever the great news is broadcast\, anywhere in the world\, she will be remembered for what she has done today.” \nThat was the last straw for Judas Iscariot\, who was one of the twelve – the inner circle of Jesus’s closest followers. He arranged a secret meeting with the chief priests\, and offered to rat on Jesus and give them the information they needed to arrest him. They were over the moon about his offer and promised to pay him for his trouble. So Judas began looking for the right moment to double-cross Jesus. \nOn the first day of the Festival – the day during which the Passover lamb is sacrificed – the disciples asked Jesus where they should go to book a room for their celebration of the Passover Meal. He sent two of them off to take care of it\, saying\, “Go into the city and you will be met by a man carrying a bucket of water. Follow him\, and when you see him arrive at a house\, speak to the owner of the house and say\, ‘The Teacher wants to book your guest room to celebrate the Passover with his followers.’ He will show you a large room upstairs which is already set up for such an occasion. You two go and prepare the meal for us there.” \nSo the two disciples set off for the city. They found everything just as Jesus had described it\, and they made all the necessary preparations for the Passover Meal. \nWhen the evening came\, Jesus arrived with the rest of the twelve to share the meal. When they were all seated and eating\, Jesus said\, “I kid you not; one of you will double-cross me; one of you who is sharing the meal with me.” \nThey were all quite shaken by this\, and began asking him in turn\, “Surely it is not me\, is it?” \nHe answered\, “I will be betrayed by one of the twelve\, one of the very ones who pass me the sauce and top up my glass as we share the meal. And while the fate of the New Human is well known to scripture\, the writing is on the wall for the one who stabs him in the back. That one is going to wish he had never been born.” \nDuring the meal\, Jesus took a loaf of bread in his hands and praised God. He broke the loaf\, and gave it to them\, saying: “Take some. This is my body.” \nThen he picked up a glass of wine\, gave thanks to God\, and gave it to them\, and they all took a drink from it. He said to them\, “This is my blood\, which is spilled for countless people in sealing God’s new alliance. I tell you without a word of a lie\, that not another drop will pass my lips until the day when we drink in celebration of the culture of God.” \nThen\, after singing the hymn that concludes the meal\, they went out to the Mount Of Olives. As they went\, Jesus said to them\, “You lot will all chuck in the towel. It will be just like the old saying in Scripture\, \n‘Knock off the shepherd\,\nand the sheep will run in all directions.’ \nBut when I have been raised\, I will go on up to Galilee ahead of you.” \nPeter protested\, saying\, “Everyone else might lose their nerve and shoot through\, but not me. I will hang in there no matter what.” \nJesus said to him\, “Don’t bet on it. This very day\, this very night\, before the rooster crows a second time\, you will have sworn three times that you don’t even know me.” \n“Over my dead body!” thundered Peter. “I’d die before I would deny you.” \nAnd all the others swore the same. \nSoon they arrived at the Gethsemene Gardens. He asked most of them to wait for him while he went to pray\, and took only Peter\, James and John with him. As they went\, he became increasingly disturbed and distraught. He said to the three\, “I feel totally gutted. It feels like it’s killing me. Wait here and hang in there while I pray.” \nHe went ahead a little and threw himself down on the ground and prayed for the possibility of a way out of what was about to happen to him. He said\, “Abba\, Father\, you can do anything. Get me out of this without having to drink this bitter cup! But still\, the bottom line is whatever you want.” \nWhen he got up\, he found that his followers had fallen asleep. He woke Peter\, saying\, “Simon\, have you nodded off? Couldn’t you hang in there with me for even one hour? Stay on the watch\, and pray that you will not have to face anything that’s too tough for you to handle. Your spirit is raring to go\, but your body can’t hack the pace.” \nThen he moved off again and prayed in the same words as before. When he came back\, he found them all asleep again\, simply unable to keep their eyes open\, and they didn’t know how to explain themselves. When he came back the third time\, he said\, “Are you lot planning to sleep right through? Enough! The time is up. A traitor has dealt the New Human into the hands of the corrupt. On your feet\, and get moving! Look\, here comes the one who has done the dirty on me!” \nImmediately\, even before he finished getting the words out\, Judas\, who was one of the twelve\, arrived on the scene with a heavily armed mob. They had been dispatched by the coalition of chief priests\, religious lawyers\, and political authorities. The traitor had given them their cue: “The one I greet with a kiss is the target. Bust him and drag him off under guard.” \nSo when he arrived\, he walked straight up to Jesus saying\, “Rabbi!” and gave him a kiss. \nImmediately the mob surrounded Jesus\, grabbed him roughly and began to drag him off. In the confusion\, someone pulled a knife and began lashing out\, slashing a personal attendant of the High Priest and cutting off his ear. Jesus said to the mob\, “Do you think I am some kind of dangerous thug\, that you need your weapons drawn and your batons ready when you come out here to take me in? I have been sitting in the temple with you nearly every day\, teaching the people\, and you could have easily busted me if you had wanted to. But you are proving the scriptures right by doing it this way!” \nBy this time\, everyone had run for their lives and abandoned him to his fate. There was one particular young bloke who had been following him\, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. The mob tried to grab him too\, but he broke free\, losing the towel in the process\, and ran off into the night\, stark naked. \nThey dragged Jesus off to the High Priest\, where all the chief priests and the political heavy-weights and the religious lawyers were waiting for him. Peter followed at a safe distance\, and made it all the way into the High Priest’s central courtyard. He sat down there with the security guards and kept himself warm by their fire. \nThe chief priests and the ruling council were doing their best to put together a case against Jesus that would lead to a summary execution\, but they couldn’t get the evidence to stick. A procession of witnesses brought false allegations against him\, but they kept contradicting each other. Eventually though\, some shonky witnesses testified that they had heard Jesus claim to be able to demolish the Temple\, which the people had built in Jerusalem\, and to build a replacement in just three days without any human help. They still couldn’t get their stories to line up properly\, but the High Priest got to his feet\, put Jesus back on the stand\, and said\, “You have heard the allegations that you claimed to have powers which only God could possess. What do you have to say in your own defence?” \nBut Jesus remained silent and offered no reply. So the High Priest put a different question to him\, “Are you the Messiah\, the Son of the Blessed One?” \nJesus replied\, “I am. And you will see the New Human seated as God’s right hand man and riding in with the clouds of heaven.” \nAt that\, the High Priest feigned utter dismay and turned to the council saying\, “Why should we bother with further witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemous claim to be on a par with God. What is your verdict?” \nTheir unanimous verdict was that he deserved to be condemned to death. \nThere was a near riot as they all began to stick the boots in\, spitting in his face and roughing him up. They blindfolded him and bashed him repeatedly\, saying\, “Come on\, prophesy for us!” \nHe was handed over to the security guards and they assaulted him further. \nPeter was still keeping a low profile downstairs in the courtyard\, but a girl from the High Priest’s domestic staff saw him there keeping warm by the fire. She recognised him and said\, “You were with that Nazarene bloke\, Jesus\, weren’t you?” \nBut he denied it\, saying\, “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve got no idea what you are talking about.” \nHe walked out into the entrance courtyard\, but the girl saw him again and began saying to everyone there\, “Look\, this bloke is one of them.” \nBut again Peter denied it. A little while later\, some of the bystanders became more insistent\, saying to Peter\, “You’ve got to be one of them. You are a Galilean – it’s a dead give away.” \nPeter began foul-mouthing them and yelling\, “I’ve never even set eyes on the bloke you are talking about. I swear it on a stack of bibles!” \nBut the moment the denial was out of his mouth\, a rooster began to crow for the second time. The words of Jesus came flooding back – “Before the rooster crows twice\, you will have sworn three times that you don’t even know me” – and Peter fell apart\, bawling his eyes out; a broken man. \nAt the crack of dawn the next morning\, the chief priests\, the politicians\, the religious lawyers\, and the whole ruling council held a meeting to plan their next move. They handcuffed Jesus\, marched him off\, and transferred him into the custody of Pilate\, the Roman governor. \nPilate began his interrogation by asking Jesus\, “Are you the King of the Jews?” \n“They are your words\,” answered Jesus. \nThe chief priests raised a string of allegations against him\, and Pilate turned to him and said\, “Aren’t you going to defend yourself? These are serious crimes they are accusing you of.” \nBut\, much to the governor’s amazement\, Jesus offered no further reply to any of it. \nNow it had been Pilate’s practice to release a political prisoner – any prisoner nominated by the people – during the annual celebration of the Passover festival. At the time\, there was a group of prisoners being held on murder charges after a terrorist attack\, and among them was a man named Barabbas. A crowd had gathered and were beginning to call on Pilate to make his customary release for them. He answered\, “Would you like me to release the king of the Jews for you this year?” \nPilate said this because he realised that Jesus had only been charged to get him out of the way of his religious rivals\, and so he saw the annual custom as an opportunity to solve two problems at once. But the chief priests were busy stirring up the crowd to call for the release of Barabbas instead. Pilate asked the crowd\, “Then what am I supposed to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” \nThe shout came back\, “Execute him!” \n“Why? What evil has he done to deserve death?” Pilate asked them. \nBut the crowd just kept chanting\, “String him up! String him up!” \nSo Pilate\, wishing to keep the crowd happy\, gave orders for the release of Barabbas. After having Jesus flogged for good measure\, he handed him over to the executioners. \nThe governor’s security guards kept Jesus detained for a while in the Roman headquarters while the whole battalion gathered round and entertained themselves at his expense. They clothed him in a purple dress-coat\, and twisted some barbed wire into a crown and jammed it on his head. They began saluting him and saying\, “Heil\, King of the Jews!” and then bashing him over the head with their batons. They spat on him and knelt down in mock worship of him. When they’d finished their brutal sport\, they stripped the purple dress-coat off him\, put him back in his own clothes\, and marched him off to be executed. They pulled a man out of the crowd\, and forced him to carry the large wooden cross on which Jesus was to be strung up. The man was Simon of Cyrene\, the father of Alexander and Rufus\, and he had come down to the city from the bush. \nThe place where the executions were carried out was called Skull Hill\, or in Hebrew\, Golgotha. When they got there\, they offered Jesus a strong drink – wine spiked with a common drug – but he turned it down. At nine o’clock in the morning\, they strung Jesus up on the cross by driving nails through his flesh. Then they divided up his clothes among themselves\, tossing a coin to see who should get what. The sign informing onlookers of the offence for which he was being executed\, read\, “The King of the Jews.” \nA couple of convicted thugs were executed at the same time. The three crosses were erected in a row with Jesus on the middle one. People passing by hurled insults and ridicule at him. They shook their heads and said\, “What happened to the big man who reckoned he could demolish the Temple and rebuild it in three days? Show us what you’re made of! Get yourself off the cross and save yourself now!” \nThe chief priests and the religious lawyers were there too\, making jokes about it to one another with the best of them. “He reckoned he could save everyone else\, but he can’t even save himself!” they said. “Let’s see the Messiah\, the King of Israel\, get himself down off the cross. If we see him do that\, we’ll be ready to believe in him!” \nEven those being executed alongside him hurled abuse at him. \nWhen midday came\, the sky went black for three hours and it was dark everywhere. At about three o’clock Jesus screamed out in agony\, “Eli\, Eli\, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God\, my God\, why have you turned your back on me?” \nWhen the people standing around heard this\, some of them thought he was calling for help from Elijah. Someone soaked a sponge in wine that had turned to vinegar and held it up on a stick for him to drink\, saying\, “Let’s hang around and see whether Elijah will turn up to rescue him.” \nThen Jesus let out a loud cry\, and breathed his last. At that very moment\, the curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple tore open\, all the way from the top to the bottom. The commanding officer was standing at his post facing Jesus\, and when he saw how Jesus died\, he said\, “Fair dinkum\, this bloke must have been the Son of God!” \nThere were a number of women there too\, watching it all from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene\, Salome\, and another Mary who was the mother of Joses and James junior. They had been among Jesus’s followers since the days in Galilee and had provided most of the resources needed by his group. There were also numerous other women who had come to Jerusalem with him. \nIt was the day of Preparation which comes immediately before the sacred Sabbath day\, and so Joseph of Arimethea plucked up the courage to go to Pilate and ask permission to take the body of Jesus for burial. Joseph was a respected member of the ruling council\, and was himself someone who was genuinely looking forward to the culture of God. Pilate was doubtful whether they could already be certain that Jesus was dead\, so he sent for the commanding officer and asked him how long Jesus had been dead. Having heard from the commanding officer that Jesus was well and truly dead\, Pilate gave orders for the body to be released to Joseph. Joseph took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a linen shroud which he had purchased. He buried Jesus in a tomb which had been cut into a rock wall\, and rolled a boulder over the entrance to seal it. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses witnessed the burial. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Mark 15: 1-39\, (40-47) (Alternative shorter gospel reading)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	At the crack of dawn\, the chief priests\, the politicians\, the religious lawyers\, and the whole ruling council held a meeting to plan their next move. They handcuffed Jesus\, marched him off\, and transferred him into the custody of Pilate\, the Roman governor. \nPilate began his interrogation by asking Jesus\, “Are you the King of the Jews?” \n“They are your words\,” answered Jesus. \nThe chief priests raised a string of allegations against him\, and Pilate turned to him and said\, “Aren’t you going to defend yourself? These are serious crimes they are accusing you of.” \nBut\, much to the governor’s amazement\, Jesus offered no further reply to any of it. \nNow it had been Pilate’s practice to release a political prisoner – any prisoner nominated by the people – during the annual celebration of the Passover festival. At the time\, there was a group of prisoners being held on murder charges after a violent uprising\, and among them was a man named Barabbas. A crowd had gathered and were beginning to call on Pilate to make his customary release for them. He answered\, “Would you like me to release the king of the Jews for you this year?” \nPilate said this because he realised that Jesus had only been charged to get him out of the way of his religious rivals\, and so he saw the annual custom as an opportunity to solve two problems at once. But the chief priests were busy stirring up the crowd to call for the release of Barabbas instead. Pilate asked the crowd\, “Then what am I supposed to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” \nThe shout came back\, “Execute him!” \n“Why? What evil has he done to deserve death?” Pilate asked them. \nBut the crowd just kept chanting\, “String him up! String him up!” \nSo Pilate\, wishing to keep the crowd happy\, gave orders for the release of Barabbas. After having Jesus flogged for good measure\, he handed him over to the executioners. \nThe governor’s security guards kept Jesus detained for a while in the Roman headquarters while the whole battalion gathered round and entertained themselves at his expense. They clothed him in a purple dress-coat\, and twisted some barbed wire into a crown and jammed it on his head. They began saluting him and saying\, “Heil\, King of the Jews!” and then bashing him over the head with their batons. They spat on him and knelt down in mock worship of him. When they’d finished their brutal sport\, they stripped the purple dress-coat off him\, put him back in his own clothes\, and marched him off to be executed. They pulled a man out of the crowd\, and forced him to carry the large wooden cross on which Jesus was to be strung up. The man was Simon of Cyrene\, the father of Alexander and Rufus\, and he had come down to the city from the bush. \nThe place where the executions were carried out was called Skull Hill\, or in Hebrew\, Golgotha. When they got there\, they offered Jesus a strong drink – wine spiked with a common drug – but he turned it down. At nine o’clock in the morning\, they strung Jesus up on the cross by driving nails through his flesh. Then they divided up his clothes among themselves\, tossing a coin to see who should get what. The sign informing onlookers of the offence for which he was being executed\, read\, “The King of the Jews.” \nA couple of convicted thugs were executed at the same time. The three crosses were erected in a row with Jesus on the middle one. People passing by hurled insults and ridicule at him. They shook their heads and said\, “What happened to the big man who reckoned he could demolish the Temple and rebuild it in three days? Show us what you’re made of! Get yourself off the cross and save yourself now!” \nThe chief priests and the religious lawyers were there too\, making jokes about it to one another with the best of them. “He reckoned he could save everyone else\, but he can’t even save himself!” they said. “Let’s see the Messiah\, the King of Israel\, get himself down off the cross. If we see him do that\, we’ll be ready to believe in him!” \nEven those being executed alongside him hurled abuse at him. \nWhen midday came\, the sky went black for three hours and it was dark everywhere. At about three o’clock Jesus screamed out in agony\, “Eli\, Eli\, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God\, my God\, why have you turned your back on me?” \nWhen the people standing around heard this\, some of them thought he was calling for help from Elijah. Someone soaked a sponge in wine that had turned to vinegar and held it up on a stick for him to drink\, saying\, “Let’s hang around and see whether Elijah will turn up to rescue him.” \nThen Jesus let out a loud cry\, and breathed his last. At that very moment\, the curtain that closed off the most holy place in the Temple tore open\, all the way from the top to the bottom. The commanding officer was standing at his post facing Jesus\, and when he saw how Jesus died\, he said\, “Fair dinkum\, this bloke must have been the Son of God!” \nThere were a number of women there too\, watching it all from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene\, Salome\, and another Mary who was the mother of Joses and James junior. They had been among Jesus’s followers since the days in Galilee and had provided most of the resources needed by his group. There were also numerous other women who had come to Jerusalem with him. \nIt was the day of Preparation which comes immediately before the sacred Sabbath day\, and so Joseph of Arimethea plucked up the courage to go to Pilate and ask permission to take the body of Jesus for burial. Joseph was a respected member of the ruling council\, and was himself someone who was genuinely looking forward to the culture of God. Pilate was doubtful whether they could already be certain that Jesus was dead\, so he sent for the commanding officer and asked him how long Jesus had been dead. Having heard from the commanding officer that Jesus was well and truly dead\, Pilate gave orders for the body to be released to Joseph. Joseph took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a linen shroud which he had purchased. He buried Jesus in a tomb which had been cut into a rock wall\, and rolled a boulder over the entrance to seal it. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses witnessed the burial. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nIt is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you alone are good and your steadfast love is forever. \nThe creation of the world was your doing\nand is a marvel to our eyes.\nYour prophets told of the coming one\nwho would teach your ways\nand sustain us with your word. \nYour son\, Jesus\, though one with you\ngave up all he had\,\ntaking on human flesh\,\nand walking the path of obedience\nall the way to insult\, betrayal and death\,\ntrusting only in your vindication.\nThough he was rejected by those who had cheered him\,\nyou made him the cornerstone of new life\nand raised him to the highest place of honour.\nHe has opened the gates of justice\nand become our salvation\,\nso with shouts of joy we greet his appearing\,\nand proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord\nto your glory forever. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We give thanks for your son\, Jesus Christ\,\nwho\, giving up all he had\nand walking the path of obedience\nall the way to insult\, betrayal and death\,\nopened the gates of justice\nand become our salvation. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  General Prayer of Thanksgiving			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)\n\nWe give you all thanks and praise\, O God\,\nfor you alone are good and your steadfast love is forever. \nThe creation of the world was your doing\nand is a marvel to our eyes.\nYour prophets told of the coming one\nwho would teach your ways\nand sustain us with your word. \nYour son\, Jesus\, though one with you\ngave up all he had\,\ntaking on human flesh\,\nand walking the path of obedience\nall the way to insult\, betrayal and death\,\ntrusting only in your vindication.\nThough he was rejected by those who had cheered him\,\nyou made him the cornerstone of new life\nand raised him to the highest place of honour.\nHe has opened the gates of justice\nand become our salvation\,\nso with shouts of joy we greet his appearing\,\nand proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord\nto your glory forever. \nTherefore\, with our hearts lifted high\,\nwe offer you thanks and praise at all times\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\,\nwho lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit\,\none God\, for ever and ever.\nAmen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The God who vindicates us is near.\nWe shall not be put to shame.\nWith the Lord God as our help\nno one can declare us guilty. \nSisters and Brothers\,\n  your sins are forgiven;\n    be at peace. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now and follow Christ in obedience.\nHave the same mind as was in Christ Jesus;\nKeep your ears open to God’s teaching;\nBe humble\, even in the face of hostility\nand do not turn back. \nAnd may God help you and keep you from disgrace;\nMay Christ Jesus lead you through the gates of justice;\nAnd may the Holy Spirit keep you in God’s steadfast love\n    and fill your mouths with praise to the glory of God. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.There are not many sermons available because our church no longer includes a sermon in the worship for this occasion. \n\n\n\n\nBenefit of HindsightA sermon on John 12:12-16 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nJesus and the Opinion PollsA sermon for Palm Sunday by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/b23/2030-04-14/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/23.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002928-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002916-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002933-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T054759Z
UID:10002116-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002922-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300415T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122724Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002938-1902441600-1902527999@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Monday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 42:1-9			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Lord says: \nLet me introduce to you the one who serves me\,\nthe one I am backing all the way.\nI have chosen him\,\nand I am bursting with pride over him.\nI have given him my spirit in full measure\,\nand he will bring about justice everywhere on earth. \nHe won’t go thrusting himself into the public eye\,\nor grandstanding in the street with pompous speeches.\nHe won’t exploit the vulnerability of damaged people\,\nor squeeze the last drops out of those who are running on empty.\nHe will be completely fair dinkum\nabout making justice a reality. \nHe will not run out of steam or throw in the towel\nuntil his mission is accomplished;\nuntil justice holds sway everywhere on earth\nand the world’s peoples are eager to learn from him. \nI am the one who created the universe\nand stretched out the skies;\nthe one who constructed the earth\nand produced everything that grows from it;\nthe one who breathes life into the world’s people\nand kindles the spark of life within them;\nI am the LORD your God;\nso listen to what I have to say: \nI\, the LORD\, have called you to stand for what is right.\nI have put my arm around you and kept you safe.\nI have made you a shining light for all the earth to see\,\nto draw all people everywhere\ninto a permanent alliance with me.\nI have given you a privileged role\nas the one who enables the blind to see the light;\nthe one who opens the gates of the stifling detention centres\nand welcomes the prisoners into the fresh air of freedom. \nI am the LORD\, that is my name;\nI don’t allow pretenders to cash in on my glory\nor rip off my image to promote their frauds. \nTake note: everything I warned you about has happened on cue.\nNow I am announcing my new projects;\nI’m letting you in on them even before they get started. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 36: 5-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You unwavering love fills the universe\, LORD;\nyour loyalty is as timeless as the milky way.  \nYour passion for doing right\nis as solid as the mountain ranges;\nyour understanding of us\nis as deep as the oceans. \nYou set out to save the lives of every creature\, LORD\,\nand no one – not man nor woman\,\nnot bird nor beast – is left out of your care. \nYour love\, O God\, is our greatest treasure!\nYou keep a place for everyone\nunder the shelter of your wings. \nYou invite all who come to feast at your table;\nthe wine of your love flows like a river\nand no one’s glass is allowed to run dry. \nLife bursts forth from you like a fountain;\nlight shines from you and lights up our world. \nDon’t ever give up on us\, LORD;\nkeep loving all who trust you\,\nkeep rescuing all whose hearts are in the right place. \nProtect us from those who would trample us underfoot.\nStand in the way of those who would drive us from the land. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 9: 11-15			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The priests of old served in a great tent which people had made as the place to approach God here on earth\, but when Christ came he bypassed the old tent. He came as the new high priest\, bringing a new improved way of approaching God. Once and for all he went in to the real Holy Place of God’s presence\, in the middle of the ultimate tent — heaven itself. He also bypassed the old sacrifices of goat and calf blood. Instead\, he shed his own blood in the process of winning permanent freedom for everyone. \nUnder the old arrangements\, people were not permitted to come and worship God if they had done something that made them officially unclean. They had to be purified first in a ritual that required them to be sprinkled with blood from goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. Now if such a ritual was enough to clear up these problems\, imagine how much more thoroughly our lives can be cleaned up — inside and out — by the blood of Christ! Christ’s self-sacrifice — which because of his spotless record was the greatest possible sacrifice — was made in the power of God’s Spirit to wipe the slate clean for us. No longer are we weighed down by the emotional debris left over from previous futile efforts to sort things out with God. Now we are free to join the joyous dance of life that honours God! \nThis is why we say that Jesus is the mediator. He brought the two sides together — us and God — to establish a new alliance. It took his own death to bring the job to completion\, but he succeeded in having written off the debts we had accumulated by breaking the rules of the old agreement\, and having us written back into the list of those who God has called — those who will inherit for all time all that God has promised to give. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Six days before the celebration of Passover\, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He stayed overnight in the home of Mary\, Martha and Lazarus; the man he had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party in honour of Jesus\, and everyone was there\, including Lazarus. During the evening\, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’ feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating fragrance of the oils filled the whole house. \nJudas Iscariot\, however\, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was one of Jesus’ closest followers\, the seeds of betrayal were taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing\, he growled\, “What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do something for the poor?” \nHe wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the poor\, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone noticing. \nJesus said\, “Get off her case\, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor\, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.” \nThe news that Jesus was back in Bethany spread quickly and the crowds gathered to see him. Many were also keen to see Lazarus\, because they had heard about Jesus raising him from the dead. When news of this reached the senior religious authorities\, they began plotting to have Lazarus killed as well. They wanted to get rid of him because he had inspired so many of their followers to give up on them and switch their allegiance to Jesus. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc24/2030-04-15/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003407Z
UID:10002900-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003407Z
UID:10002888-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002905-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T055641Z
UID:10002117-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003407Z
UID:10002894-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://laughingbird.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300416T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T122852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003408Z
UID:10002910-1902528000-1902614399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Tuesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 49: 1-7			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Everyone\, from coast to coast\, listen up!\nAll you people\, far and near\, don’t miss a word. \nBefore I was born\, the LORD had chosen me.\nWhile I was still in my mother’s womb\nI was given a name and a job. \nI was created to be a surgeon’s knife\,\nrazor sharp in the hand of the LORD;\nready and waiting to slice through any defence\nand cut to the core with a word. \nThe LORD said to me\, “Israel\, you are my servant\,\nthe one who will put my name up in lights.” \nBut I said\, “Then how come every thing I do comes to nothing?\nI’ve worked my guts out but there is nothing to show for it.\nBut I gave it my best shot for you LORD\,\nso you decide whether I’m worth my pay.” \nAnd now the LORD has more to say to me;\nthis God who chose me as a servant before I was born;\nwho gave me the job of bringing home the people of Israel\nfor a great reunion with God.\nIt is a privilege and an honour to do this for the LORD\,\nand God has given me the strength to see it through. \nBut now the LORD says to me\,\n“Getting the people of Israel back on their feet is great\,\nbut it’s a piece of cake for my number one worker.\nNow I’ve got a real challenge for you!\nI want you to help the whole world to see the light!\nI want you to give my saving love a global reach!” \nI\, the LORD\, the one and only\, who puts things right for Israel\,\nhave this to say:\n“You have been treated like dirt.\nkicked around by the nations\,\nand forced to work in chains for their rulers;\nbut let me tell you how it is going to be:\nKings will stand up when you walk in;\nGovernors will snap to attention at your approach.\nYou have my word on this and I can be trusted;\nI am the LORD\, your one and only\, and I have chosen you.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 71: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I run to you for protection\, LORD\,\nplease don’t ever let me down. \nYou always do the right thing\,\nso please be there for me when I need you.\nHear me when I call for help\nand step in quickly to bail me out. \nKeep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.\nYou are like a mountain hideaway to me;\nlike a bunker than nothing can blast open. \nIf I fall into hostile hands\,\nbe my God and rescue me;\nDon’t let the callous and cruel\nget their claws into me. \nYou are my only hope\,\nthe only one I can depend on\, LORD;\nI’ve trusted you since I was a kid. \nI’ve leaned on you for support\nsince the day I was born.\nYou were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb\,\nthe safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.\nI’ll never stop thanking you for that! \nMany people think my name spells trouble\,\nbut you stick up for me when they attack.\nHow can I ever thank you enough?\nI go on all day about how wonderful you are. \nDon’t give up on me when I get too old\, LORD;\ndon’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer. \nI’ll need your help\, because my enemies are out to get me\,\nthey’re plotting against my life even now.\nThey’ve put out a contract on me\nand guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down\nThey say you’ve given up on me\nand that no one will defend me. \nDon’t ever let me out of your sight\, God;\njump to my defence at the first sign of trouble. \nTurn the tables on those who slandered me\,\nleave them with egg all over their faces.\nSee to it that those who set out to destroy me\nget the public humiliation they deserve. \nI will never give up hope\,\nbecause I trust in you.\nEvery time I open my mouth\,\nI will sing your praises more and more. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 1: 18-31			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“I will expose the brilliant insights of your experts\nand the wise counsel of your gurus;\nI will expose them for what they really are\,\na load of codswallop!” \nSo where are the intellectuals now? Where are the religious experts? Where are those who have an answer for everything? What have they got to show for all their cleverness now that God has turned all the conventional wisdom on its head and made it look foolish? Seeing that no amount of human cleverness had ever woken anybody up to God’s ways\, God made the wise decision to use something that seemed utterly foolish to everyone — our preaching! — to rescue those who would trust the message. Most people want something more than this. Those with a religious world view demand to see miraculous signs to prove that it is from God. Those with a modern rational world view insist that it should have to prove its intellectual credibility. But what we are preaching is a Messiah who was strung up and killed. The religious people find this unthinkable\, and the intellectuals regard it as primitive nonsense; but to those who have heard the call of God\, whatever their background\, it is the ultimate good news of God’s chosen one — as miraculous and profound as one could ever wish for! When it’s all said and done\, the sum total of the human race’s intellectual achievements don’t even begin to stack up against the foolishness of God; and the combined force of all the world’s powers is puny in comparison to the weakness of God. \nSisters and brothers\, you don’t have to look any further than your own experience of God’s call to see the truth of this. Not many of you were academic hot-shots. Not many of you were movers and shakers in the corridors of power. Not many of you were feted as celebrities. But God chose you! God chose those who were dismissed as fools to expose the bankruptcy of the world’s accepted wisdom. God chose those who were weak and vulnerable in the world to show up the corruption of those who wield power. God consistently chooses what is despised as the dregs by the world\, things which are seen as worthless\, to expose the worthlessness of things which are seen as being ‘it and a bit’. Because of this\, no one who is accepted into God’s presence has any grounds for blowing their own trumpet. God and God alone is the source of the life you share in union with the Messiah\, Jesus. It is only in Jesus that we have been able to tap into God’s wisdom. And it is only in Jesus that our lives have been put back on track\, given a clean bill of health\, and set on the path to wholeness. For this reason\, the scriptures make sense to us when they say: \n“If you are going to blow your trumpet about something\,\nblow it about the Lord!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 12: 20-36			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Many people were arriving in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Jewish religious festival known as Passover. However\, not all of the people were Jewish\, and one group of foreigners made contact with Philip\, and said\, “Sir\, we would like to meet Jesus.” \nPhilip\, who was from the Galilean town of Bethsaida\, told Andrew\, and together they went and told Jesus about the request from the foreign visitors. On hearing about it\, Jesus said\, “If the foreigners are asking after us\, we’ve reached the point of no return. The time has come for the New Human to be lifted up in all his glory.” \nHe went on to say: \n“I kid you not\, a grain of wheat is nothing unless it hits the dirt and loses its life. But if it gives up its life as a single grain\, then it will begin to produce a bumper crop of life. Anyone who prizes their own life above everything else will end up losing the lot. But those who treat their individual survival in this world as a matter of no consequence will find life opening up before them without limit. If any of these people want to apprentice themselves to me\, they will need to come and stick with me. Those who work for me will be going wherever I go. Whoever works for me will get the thumbs-up from the God who conceived me. But at the moment\, I’m all churned up inside. Should I call on the Father to bail me out of what is about to happen? No\, I can’t do that because what is about to happen is the pinnacle of everything I came to achieve. So then\, I call out to God and say\, ‘Father\, put your name up in lights!’ ” \nAnd a voice answered from heaven\, saying\, “I have already brought glory to my name\, and I will do so again.” \nThe crowd who were gathered there heard the voice. Some of them said it sounded like thunder\, and others said\, “A messenger from God has spoken to him.” \nJesus addressed them\, saying\, “This voice has spoken for your benefit\, not mine. The world is being weighed in the balance right now; and the one who has been calling the shots in this world will now be driven out. As for me\, I will be lifted up off the ground\, and when that happens\, I will draw all people to myself.” \nWith these words\, he gave an indication of the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd questioned him about this\, saying\, “The Bible tells us that the Messiah will be with us forever\, so how can you say that the New Human will be strung up? And who exactly is this New Human?” \nJesus said to them\, “The light will only be with you for a little while longer\, so make your move while it continues to light up the way. If you leave it too late\, the darkness will catch up with you\, and if you try to make your move then\, you’ll have no idea where you are going. Put your trust in the light as long as you have access to it\, so that you may become people of the light.” \nAnd having said this\, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc25/2030-04-16/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300417T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300417T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T123026Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T055725Z
UID:10002118-1902614400-1902700799@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Wednesday of Holy Week
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 50: 4-9a			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD God has given me the gift of the gab\nso that my words can teach others\nand put a spring in the step of the weary. \nAs I wake up each new day\,\nGod makes me hungry for learning.\nThe LORD cleaned out my ears\nso that I could hear every word.\nI learned eagerly;\nI never rebelled or quit. \nI was opposed by others\,\nbut I gritted my teeth and stood my ground.\nI looked them in the eye\nwhen they insulted me and spat in my face.\nI took it on the chin and did not fight back\,\nwhen they gave me a belting and tore out my hair. \nThe Lord GOD is always there for me\,\nso no disgrace ever gets to me.\nI have steeled my jaw and dug in my heels\,\nand I’m sure I’ll never be ashamed of my stand\nbecause I can trust God to back me up. \nSo\, who thinks they can take me on?\nLet them stand up and face me!\nWho are my opponents?\nLet’s see what they’re made of! \nThe Lord GOD is backing me;\nso who is going to accuse me of doing wrong? \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 70			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Please God\, deliver me!\nHelp me\, LORD\, quickly! \nThese people are out to get me\, LORD;\nleave them confused\nwith egg all over their faces.\nThey are trying to do me harm;\nknock them off their perches\nand send them packing. \nWhen they smirk and make a joke of me\,\nrun them out of town in disgrace. \nPut a smile on the face\nof everyone who seeks you\, LORD.\nGive everyone who loves your ways\nreason to celebrate your greatness forever. \nBut right now\, God\, I need your help in a hurry;\nI can’t make ends meet.\nYou are the one who helps me;\nthe one who rescues me from danger.\nQuickly\, LORD\, help me without delay! \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 12: 1-3			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	So\, we are by no means running the race alone! The air around us is thick with encouragement — all these heroes who bore witness to the truth before us\, cheering us on. So let’s strip down for the run that lies ahead\, tossing aside everything that would hold us back\, especially the sin that clings on so tenaciously. And then let’s get on with it — run and run and never quit until we’ve crossed the line. We can do it if we just keep our eyes fixed on Jesus\, because he has led the way and become the first to complete this faith marathon. He was so focussed on the goal that he was able to push on through the pain barriers\, enduring the agony and humiliation of the cross. He knew that the celebrations would make it all worth while\, and sure enough\, he now enjoys the number one seat of honour alongside God’s throne. \nSo\, whenever you feel yourself running low on energy or confidence\, think again about him and how he endured the violent hostility directed at him by faithless people\, and draw new strength from that. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 13: 21-32			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	While Jesus was speaking with his disciples at the supper\, he began to get quite churned up\, and before long they all knew why. “I kid you not\,” he said\, “one of you lot is going to double-cross me.” \nThe disciples began scanning each others faces\, looking for a clue as to who he was talking about. Simon Peter whispered to one of the other disciples – the one with whom Jesus was most intimate and who was sitting next to him at the time – saying\, “Ask him who he’s talking about.” \nSo he did. He leaned over and asked\, “Lord\, who is it?” \nJesus answered quietly\, “I’ll dip this bread in the gravy and hand it to him. He’s the one.” \nSo Jesus dipped a piece of bread in the gravy and handed it to Judas\, the son of Simon Iscariot. When he received the piece of bread\, the satan got into his head and took over. Jesus said to him\, “What you’ve got to do\, you’ve got to do. Go\, and get it over and done with quickly.” \nAt the time\, no one else at the table understood what he meant when he said this to Judas. Judas handled their finances\, so some of them just assumed that Jesus was telling him to go and buy some things they needed for the Passover celebration\, or perhaps to go and give some money to people in need. Anyway\, after receiving the piece of bread\, Judas immediately disappeared off into the night. \nOnce he was gone\, Jesus spoke to the remaining disciples\, saying\, “Now the moment of glory has arrived for the New Human\, and it is God’s glory too. If God’s glory is made known in him\, then God will pour out his own glory on him. It’s all happening right now.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc26/2030-04-17/
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300418T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300418T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T123825Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T055538Z
UID:10002119-1902700800-1902787199@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Thursday of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday)
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Exodus 12: 1-4\, (5-10)\, 11-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	After the King of Egypt had refused to listen to all the warnings\, the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron again\, saying: \n“Rewrite your calendars — from now on\, this month is to be the beginning of the new year. Put the word out among all the Israelite people that on the tenth day of the month\, each household is to obtain a lamb or a young goat to be eaten. Small households can combine with their neighbours to share one\, dividing it up so that there is enough for everyone to have some. The lamb must be a healthy male yearling with no deformities — not a runt. Having obtained the lamb\, the household is to keep it at home for four days. Just after sunset on the fourteenth\, all the Israelites are to slaughter the lambs ready for cooking. Take some of the blood and paint it on the frame of the front door of the house where you are eating the lamb. Cook and eat it that night. Don’t serve it raw or boiled. Don’t even cut it up or gut it. Spit-roast it whole over the fire and serve it with unleavened flat-breads and bitter herbs. Eat it all that night. If there is any left over in the morning you are to burn it. When you eat it\, you are to eat as though you were in a hurry and about to leave on a journey. You should be dressed and packed\, with your walking boots on and your stick at hand. In this way you are to keep the feast of Passover in honour of me\, the LORD. \nThat night\, I will pass through Egypt\, killing the firstborn sons of every family and the firstborn male animals. I am the LORD\, and I will carry out the sentence I have passed on the gods of Egypt this night. The lamb’s blood painted on your door frames will be the sign that your households are to be exempted. I will pass over every house that I see marked with the blood\, and you will not be touched by the plague that will strike down the Egyptians. \nRemember this day and\, in every generation to come\, celebrate it as an annual festival to honour me\, the LORD.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 116: 1-2\, 12-19			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I love you\, LORD!\nHow could I not love you\nwhen you always respond to my cries? \nYou are always ready to listen to me\,\nso I will bring my needs to you as long as I live. \nHow can I ever repay you\, LORD?\nWhat gift could ever express my gratitude? \nI will raise my glass in your honour\,\nI will name you as the one who saved me. \nI will make good on all I promised you\, LORD\,\nand I’ll let everyone know its for you. \nWhenever one of your faithful people dies\nit affects you deeply. \nLORD\, you have released me from my chains.\nI will serve you forever\,\njust as my forebears have done. \nI will bring a gift to say thanks;\nI will pray to you\, and you alone. \nI will be true to the vows I’ve made;\nand I won’t keep it hidden.\nIn full view of all your people\,\nin the public place of worship\,\nI’ll do all I promised you\, LORD. \nAll the praise and all the credit are your\, LORD! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Corinthians 11: 23-26			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The teaching I gave you about the Lord’s Supper is worth repeating. I gave it to you exactly as I received it from the Lord himself. On the very night that he was betrayed\, Jesus was sharing a meal. He took a loaf of bread in his hands\, gave thanks to God and then broke the loaf\, saying: \n“This is my body. It is for you.\nDo this so that I will be remembered.” \nAt the end of the meal he did the same thing with the cup\, saying: \n“This cup is God’s new alliance with you —\nan alliance sealed with my blood.\nDo this\, every time you drink it\,\nso that I will be remembered.” \nThe meaning of this is clear: whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you are announcing the truth about the Lord’s death. This truth will continue to be broadcast in this way until the Lord returns. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 13: 1-17\, 31b-35			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Even before the sacred Passover festival began\, Jesus knew that his time was running out. He knew that he had come from God\, and he knew that it was time to leave this world and return to God. He had consistently loved his followers in this world\, and he continued to demonstrate his love for them right up to the end. A seed sown by the devil had taken root in the mind of Judas\, the son of Simon Iscariot\, and by the time they gathered for supper\, he was planning to double-cross Jesus. \nJesus knew that everything was up to him\, because God had put everything in his hands. During the supper\, he got up from the table\, took off his jacket and tied a towel around his waist. Filling a large bowl with water\, he began to wash the feet of each of the disciples in turn and to dry them with the towel tied around his waist. When it was his turn\, Simon Peter objected saying\, “Surely it’s not your job to wash my feet\, Lord?” \nJesus answered\, “I know you don’t yet understand why I’m doing this\, but in time it will make sense to you.”\nBut Peter said\, “No way! I’ll never let you wash my feet.”\nJesus answered\, “If I don’t wash you\, then it’s all over between us. You’ll have nothing further to do with me.” \n“In that case\,” Simon Peter replied\, “don’t just wash my feet! Wash my hands; wash my head!”\nJesus said to him\, “You had a bath before you came! Once someone’s had a bath\, they don’t need to wash anything on arrival other than their feet and they’ll be completely clean. You lot are clean.” But then\, because he knew who was going to double-cross him\, he added\, “Well\, most of you are clean anyway.” \nWhen he had finished washing their feet\, he put his jacket back on and sat back down at the table. He said to them: \n“Do you understand what I have just done to you? You lot call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’\, and that’s fair enough\, because that’s exactly what I am. So if I’m your Teacher and Lord\, and I’ve just been down on my knees washing your feet\, then you too ought to serve one another in the same way. I’m modelling the way I want you to live. Do as I have done. You can take it from me: servants do not outrank their boss\, and the postie who brings the letter does not rank as importantly as the one who wrote it. When you get these things sorted out for yourselves\, you’ll discover just how good life can really be. \n“Now the moment of glory has arrived for the New Human\, and it is God’s glory too. If God’s glory is made known in him\, then God will pour out his own glory on him. It’s all happening right now.  \n“You are my children\, but you’re about to be on your own because our time together is almost up. You’ll keep looking for me\, but as I said to the people before\, where I am going\, there is no way you can come. \n“I’ve got one new instruction for you – in fact take it as an order – love one another. I want you to love one another in the same way that I have loved you. If you do that – if you really have love for one another – then it will be apparent to everyone that you are following in my footsteps.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Eucharistic Preface			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let us lift up our hearts.\nWe lift them to the Lord.\nLet us give thanks to the Lord our God.\nIt is right to give our thanks and praise. \nWe do indeed bring you a gift of thanks\, O God\,\nas we raise the cup of freedom in your name\,\nfor you have made a covenant with us in the blood of Christ\nand broken us free from the grip of death. \nIn your creative love\, you brought the world to birth\,\nand from the first you loved all who live in it.\nYou heard the cries of your suffering people\nand protected them with the blood of the Passover lamb\nas you struck down those who oppressed them. \nYou sent your Son\, Jesus\, as our Teacher and Lord\nand gave all things into his hands.\nLaying aside his power\,\nhe gave himself to us in humble service\nand taught us to love one another\nas he had loved us.\nWhen the hour for his departure came\,\nhe was betrayed by a friend\nand his body broken on the cross.\nWith his outpoured blood you marked out those\nwho will follow where he has gone\,\ninto the promised land of resurrection life. \nTherefore with ..... \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Short Preface (for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with fixed prefaces)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We raise the cup of freedom in thanks to you\, O God\,\nfor you have made a covenant with us in the blood of Christ\,\nwho gave himself to us in humble service\nand taught us to love one another as he had loved us. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Declaration of Grace / Absolution			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The blood of Christ\, the true lamb\,\nseals God’s new covenant with us\nand marks us out for salvation.\nThe Lord has forgiven your sins\,\nwashed you clean\,\nand freed you from death’s grip. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Commission & Benediction			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Go now and fulfil your vows to the Lord.\nLove one another as Christ has loved you\nand give yourselves to one another in humble service\,\njust as Christ has given himself to you.\nCelebrate these holy days as a perpetual ordinance\,\nfor no gift could ever repay God’s goodness to us. \nAnd may God hear you whenever you call;\nMay Christ Jesus keep you safe through his blood;\nAnd may the Holy Spirit lead you further\ninto the depths of God’s saving mysteries. \nWe go in peace to love and serve the Lord\,\n   In the name of Christ. Amen. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nDiscerning the Body at the TableA sermon on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 by Nathan Nettleton (This sermon was not intended for Maundy Thursday\, but may provide some applicable ideas)
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc27/2030-04-18/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300419T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300419T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200810T124845Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T060734Z
UID:10002120-1902787200-1902873599@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:Good Friday
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD says:\n“This one who serves on my behalf will succeed.\nHe will come out on top\nand be honoured by everyone. \nMany people were shocked by what happened to him;\nhis appearance was enough to make them throw up.\nTorture had disfigured him beyond recognition;\nat first sight he no longer looked human. \nThe next time he’s seen will be an even greater shock;\nnations and their kings will fall to their knees\, speechless.\nAll of a sudden\, what they had never seen or understood\nwill be as plain as day\, and all they can think about.” \nThe people reply to this news\, saying:\n“Who could have believed what we now know to be true?\nWho would have recognised what the LORD was doing? \nThis one who serves on the LORD’s behalf\ngrew up hard like a plant taking root in the stony desert.\nTo look at him\, you wouldn’t think he’d amount to much;\nnothing about his appearance would make you look twice. \nOthers wrote him off\, and treated him as scum;\npain and suffering were his constant companions.\nHe was despised and abused\, but we looked away;\nwe didn’t consider him worth caring about. \nThe sickness and brokenness he endured turned out to be ours;\nif it wasn’t for him\, it would have wiped us out.\nBut back then we thought it was his own fault\nand that God was punishing him for what he had done. \nIn reality\, it was what we had done that was to blame.\nIt was us who deserved to be punished\,\nbut him who copped the flak.\nWhen he was left battered\, broken and bleeding\,\nwe were off the hook;\nfree to enjoy the fruits of health and wholeness. \nWe were all doing our own thing in our own way;\nas far off-track as a penguin in the desert;\nas far off-key as a mob of galahs.\nAnd yet the LORD accepted his offer to take the rap\nfor the actions of each and every one of us. \nHe was ripped off and kicked around\,\nbut he took it on the chin.\nNot once did he ever whinge or protest;\nhe was as silent as a lamb that trots to its fate\,\nknowing neither shearer nor slaughterer. \nHis arrest and trial made a mockery of justice.\nNo one knew or cared what he was up against.\nHe was dragged off in the midst of life;\nput to death for crimes committed by our people. \nAlthough he had never breathed a lie\nor done anything to hurt anyone\,\nthey buried him alongside the callous and corrupt\n– thoughtless profiteers who died rich.” \nThe LORD says\,\n“It was me who decided to allow this tragedy\nto befall the one who serves on my behalf.\nHe made the ultimate sacrifice at your hands\,\nand won forgiveness for you in the process.\nSo now he will be rewarded with life;\nhe will live to see his children and their children.\nThrough his actions\,\nmy plans are able to succeed. \nIn the depths of agony and despair he discovered the truth\,\nand with the truth he found true peace.\nThe one who serves on my behalf was beyond reproach\,\nbut he took the rap for what others did\,\nand left their record as spotless as his own. \nBecause of all that he has done\,\nI\, the LORD\, elevate him to the hall of fame\nand give him the rewards of true greatness.\nHe deserves the best\, for he made the ultimate sacrifice\,\naccepting the death of common criminal\nso that through his suffering and prayers\nothers might be cut free from their sin.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 22			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God\, my God\, why the hell have you turned your back on me?\nHow come in my most desperate hour\,\nyou are nowhere to be found?  \nI called you all day\, God\, over and over;\nI tossed and turned all night\,\nbut I still didn’t hear back from you. \nAren’t you supposed to be our one and only?\nAren’t you the one we’ve always voted for?\nOur ancestors put their trust in you\nand you never let them down.\nThey cried out for help and you stepped in;\nyou saved them from disaster and shame. \nSo what about me?\nShouldn’t I still be treated as a human being\,\neven if I feel like a worm –\nlooked down on\, loathed\, stomped on? \nEveryone who sees me sticks the boots in;\nthey turn up their noses and dismiss me with a sneering joke;\n“Why don’t you see if God’s on your side?\nSurely if you’re a mate of God’s then God will help you out!” \nWhat’s the story God?\nYour hands eased me from my mother’s womb;\nYou kept me from harm as I suckled at her breast.\nAs a baby\, I rested trustingly in your arms;\nYou’ve been my God since the day I was born. \nDon’t quit on me now.\nAll hell is about to break loose\nand there is no one else I can turn to. \nI’m surrounded by enemies\nlike a mob of wild bulls.\nAngry\, snorting\, stampeding beasts;\nthey charge at me\, all horns and pounding hoofs. \nI’m chucked out like a bucket of dirty water\,\nand I’m so smashed up I can barely move a muscle.\nMy heart has gone to jelly\,\na quivering useless blob.\nMy throat is as dry as a salt pan\,\nand my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.\nAnd you? You have left me for dead\ncovered in dust and flies. \nLike a pack of hungry dingoes they sniff around me;\nevil mongrels\, every one of them.\nI’m so wasted my hands and feet feel like they could snap off;\nMy ribs stick out like a picket fence. \nThey hang me up for a public viewing\,\nboasting over how they finished me off.\nThey empty my pockets\nand toss a coin to see who gets my clothes. \nWhat are you doing\, LORD? Don’t quit on me now!\nGet your act together and come to my rescue!\nSave me before I get my throat cut\,\nbefore my body is dog meat!\nPull me out before they get their teeth into me! \nAt last! Just before the bulls ran me down\, you have rescued me.\nI won’t forget this – I’ll let everyone know.\nWhenever people gather\, I’ll be singing your praise. \nI’ll call on all who honour you\, LORD\, to stand up and say so!\nAll who trace their roots to Jacob will give you the glory!\nAll who share the heritage of Israel will stand in awe of you! \nLORD\, you did not rubbish anyone\nor blame the victims for their suffering.\nYou did not turn away or slip off quietly;\nwhen I cried for help\, you responded. \nWhenever people gather to worship\,\nmy heart overflows and I sing your praises.\nOut in the open for all to see\nI’ll do all that I promised. \nAt your table\, God\, the needy will feast;\nthose who hunger for you will be fed till they burst with praise!\nThey will be able to live it up\, now and forever! \nIn every corner of the earth people will wake up to themselves\nand turn back to you\, LORD.\nEvery race\, nation\, tribe and family\nwill offer themselves to you in worship\,\nfor you have the last word on everything;\nwhat you say goes. \nEven the dead will bow down to you\, LORD;\nthose who are trampled in the dust will look to you in hope\,\nand I will live for you and you alone. \nOur kids and their kids will serve you\, LORD;\nas we pass the message down from one generation to the next.\nPeople not even born yet will hear the story;\nthey will be told of what you have done to set us free. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 10: 16-25			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Holy Spirit says to us in the scriptures: \n“The new alliance I will make with the people\nwill be different\, says the Lord:\nNo more writing down the rules for people to read;\nthis time I’ll write them into their hearts and minds.”\n“I’ll wipe the record of their failings and their perverse behaviour;\nnone of it will ever again even enter my mind.”  \nSo if that’s done – if the slate has been wiped clean – then there is no longer any need to come offering sacrifices to try to make up for what we’ve done wrong. \nSo\, my friends\, now it’s a whole new ball game. Now we can confidently walk straight into the sacred place because Jesus won us that right\, spilling his own blood in the process. We walk in via a new route. The old way had a big curtain between us and the sacred place – on the new route the only thing between us and the sacred place is Jesus\, and he invites us to become part of his own body and go in that way. Add all that to the fact that Jesus himself is now our great priest who says what goes in the house of God\, and you’ll understand what is now open to us. So let’s go! Let’s approach God with integrity and with deep trust. Let us stand before God knowing for sure that not only have our bodies been washed clean in pure water\, but so to have our hearts\, our minds\, our conscience.  \nIn light of all this\, let’s hold on tight to the hope that we’ve put our hands up to. None of this on-again off-again stuff! You can’t get more dependable than the one who has made these promises. So let’s put on our thinking caps and come up with some good strategies for stirring one another up to greater and greater love and more and more ways to put it into action. Some people have got out of the habit of gathering together as a congregation – let’s not go down that path. Gather often\, support and encourage one another. It becomes more and more important the closer we get to that final day. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9 (alternative)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Let’s see to it that we stand firm in the faith we’ve already put our hands up to. After all\, the one who will present us to God and speak on our behalf — our great high priest — is Jesus\, and as God’s own Son we can be sure he has God’s ear. We can also be sure that he can relate to the realities we have to live with\, because he has already been through everything we have to go through — weakness\, doubts and torments — and all without selling out to sin. What more could we want in a high priest?! So let’s not be timid. Whenever we’re in need of help\, let’s walk right up to the throne of God and ask\, for our God is extravagantly welcoming and generous — only too happy to wipe our debts and help us out. \nWhen Jesus was among us and the threat of death was closing in on him\, it was with agonized cries and tears that he did his priestly work of offering up prayers and appeals to the God who has the power to save us from death. His pleas were heard because of his prayerful acceptance of God’s will. He was given no special privileges as a Son — he got his lessons in obedience in the same school of suffering as the rest of us. Once he had made the grade\, perfecting all that he had to learn\, he became the one who sets free all who trust and follow him. For them he is the source of life without limit. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 18:1 - 19:42			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	After the supper\, and after Jesus had prayed for his followers\, they went outside and headed across town to the Kidron Valley gardens where they had often met together before. Judas had now betrayed Jesus\, and of course\, he knew they would be heading for the gardens. Judas showed the way to those sent to arrest Jesus – a detachment of Roman soldiers and some Temple security guards sent by the chief priests and the hard-line Pharisee party. It was now late\, and so the heavily armed group carried torches and flood lights. Jesus knew what he had coming to him and so when they arrived he just stepped out in the open and asked\, “Who are you looking for?” \nThey answered\, “We’ve been sent to find Jesus of Nazareth.” \n“Well you’ve found him\,” he replied\, “I’m Jesus.” \nWhen he said that\, they were so taken aback you could have knocked them over with a feather. Judas\, the back-stabber\, was still with them. Because they were looking so uncertain\, Jesus asked them again\, “Who are you looking for?” \nAnd again they replied\, “Jesus of Nazareth.” \nJesus answered\, “Like I said\, I’m Jesus. And since I am the man you’re looking for\, you can let these others go in peace.” \nIn so saying\, he backed up the promise he had made in his earlier prayer when he had said\, “I didn’t lose a single one of those you entrusted to me.” \nSuddenly Simon Peter pulled a knife and began slashing wildly. He struck a man named Malchus – a servant of the high priest – and cut off his ear. Jesus yelled at his\, saying\, “Peter\, put that thing away. Do you think I’m going to back out now and refuse to drink the cup that God has poured for me?” \nAt that point\, the soldiers and the Temple security guards surrounded Jesus and made the arrest. They handcuffed him\, and dragged him off to see Annas\, who had issued the arrest warrant. Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphus\, who was the high priest that year; and Caiaphus was the one who had persuaded the authorities that\, for the sake of the rest of the population\, it would be best if this one person died. \nSimon Peter and one of the other disciples followed as Jesus was dragged off. When the arrived at the high priest’s residence\, Peter was refused entry at the gate\, but the other disciple knew the high priest and got in. Having got in\, he spoke to the woman in charge of the security gate and had Peter let in too. As he came in\, the woman looked at Peter and said\, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples are you?” \nHe replied\, “No\, I’m not.” \nThe soldiers and guards were standing around an open fire in the middle of the courtyard warming themselves\, because it was a cold night. Not knowing what else to do\, Peter joined them. \nInside\, the high priest was interrogating Jesus about his followers and about the things he had been teaching the people. Jesus answered him\, saying\, “Everything I’ve said has been out in the open. I have always done my teaching in the public places where the people gather – in the synagogues and in the temple. I’ve kept nothing behind closed doors\, so what are you asking me for? Why don’t you ask the people who heard what I said. They can tell you what it was all about.” \nWhen he said this\, one of the security guards gave Jesus a whack in the face\, saying\, “You think you can get away with back-chatting the high priest\, do you?” \nBut Jesus stood his ground\, saying\, “If you think there’s something wrong with what I’ve been saying\, then put your evidence on the table. But if what I’m saying is correct\, what are you smacking me around for?” \nWhile this was happening\, Simon Peter was still keeping warm by the fire with the guards. They asked him\, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?” \n“Not me\,” said Peter\, denying everything. \nOne of the Temple guards there was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off when he’d pulled the knife in the garden. He said\, “Come on mate\, you’ve got to be one of them. Didn’t I just see you with him in the garden when we picked him up?” \nBut Peter denied it again\, and the words were barely out of his mouth when he heard the sound of the rooster crowing. \nShortly after that\, in the early hours of the morning\, Jesus was transferred from the residence of Caiaphus to the headquarters of Pilate\, the Roman governor. The Jewish officers themselves did not go inside the headquarters\, because it was nearly time for the sacred Passover festival\, and going into a gentile home would have ruled them out of participating. Pilate agreed to come out and meet their delegation\, and asked them\, “So\, what have you charged this bloke with?” \nThey answered\, “You can take it for granted that he’s a dangerous criminal – otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered you with his case.” \nPilate replied\, “I’m sure you are quite capable of dealing with him yourselves. Get him out of here and deal with him according to your own local laws.”  \nBut the Jewish officers said\, “We don’t have the power to authorise an execution.” \nClearly the things Jesus had previously said about the sort of death he would die were coming true. \nPilate went back into his headquarters and had Jesus brought inside so he could interrogate him. “Do you see yourself as the King of the Jews?” he asked. \nJesus replied\, saying\, “Is that your own question or has someone else been wording you up?” \n“Give me a break\,” Pilate retorted\, “I’m obviously not one of the Jews\, am I? It wasn’t my people who had you dragged in here. It was your mob\, your own race\, your own religious leaders. What in the world have you done?” \nJesus answered\, “My reign is not tied to this world. If my power base depended on this world\, those who have given their allegiance to me would be fighting tooth and nail to keep me out of the hands of that mob. But it’s not like that. My reign is not tied to this world.” \nPilate latched on to that: “So you are claiming to be a king then?” \n“You’re the one who’s putting the ‘king’ label on me\,” Jesus replied. “If you want to know what I’m on about\, what I was born into the world for\, it’s this: I’m the key witness whose job it is to speak the truth\, the whole truth\, and nothing but the truth. Everyone who has given their allegiance to the truth responds to my voice.” \n“Truth\,” Pilate sneered. “What is truth?” \nThen he went back outside to the delegation from the Temple and told them\, “I can’t find any basis for a case against this prisoner. It is customary for me to release a political prisoner for you at Passover time. How about I release this ‘king of the Jews’ for you? He seems harmless enough to me.” \nBut they shouted back\, “No way! Not this man. Release Barabbas!” Barabbas was a convicted terrorist. \nAt that point\, Pilate handed Jesus over to some of his own soldiers and told them to give him a flogging. The soldiers thought it was huge joke. They hung a purple robe on him and wove a crown out of barbed wire and jammed it on his head. They took turns at coming up to him\, saying\, “Heil\, King of the Jews!” as they saluted him\, and then smashed their fists into his face. When they’d finished their brutal sport\, Pilate went back out to the Temple delegation and said\, “Look\, I’m handing him back over to you and telling you that I can’t find any basis for a case against him.” \nJesus was dragged back out\, still wearing the barbed wire crown and the purple robe. Pilate said “Here he is: the man!” \nBut the minute the chief priests and the Temple security guards saw him\, they began screaming\, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” \nPilate replied\, “You take him and crucify him yourselves. I can’t see that he’s done anything wrong.” \nThe delegation replied\, “The case against him is clear in our law. He claimed to be the Son of God and our law makes the death penalty mandatory for that.” \nWhen Pilate heard this\, he began to really worry\, and went back inside his headquarters to interview Jesus again. “Where have you come from?” he asked him\, but Jesus didn’t answer. Pilate said to him\, “It’s no use claiming the right to silence. Don’t you understand that I can say the word to have you released or to have you tortured to death?” \nJesus replied\, “You wouldn’t have any authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from a higher power. It is the one who handed me over to you who is going to have to answer for the greatest wrongdoing.” \nAfter that\, Pilate tried to have Jesus released\, but the Temple crowd would have none of it. They insisted\, “If you release this man you are no friend of the emperor\, and we’ll see that he hears about it. Anyone who claims to be a king is setting himself up in opposition to the emperor.” \nWith that\, Pilate capitulated to their demands. At noon on the day of Preparation for the Passover festival\, Pilate sat down at the judge’s bench at the Stone Pavement Court – known in Hebrew as Gabbatha – and had Jesus stood in the dock. He said to the Temple delegation\, “Here is your king!” \nThey shouted in chorus\, “Get rid of him! Kill him! Crucify him!” \n“Crucify him?” Pilate replied. “You want me to crucify your king?” \n“We have no king but the emperor!” they shouted. \nWith that\, Pilate passed sentence and handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. \nSo they took Jesus out to the place called Skull Hill\, or in Hebrew\, Golgotha. Jesus was made to carry his own cross on the way out there. When they got there\, they hung him on the cross by nails driven through his flesh. They crucified a couple of other convicted men at the same time – the three of them in a row with Jesus in the middle. On Pilate’s orders\, a sign was hung on the cross Jesus was on\, saying\, “Jesus of Nazareth\, the King of the Jews.” Many people read the sign because the crucifixion occurred in a public place on the main road into the city and the sign was written in three languages – Hebrew\, Latin and Greek. The chief priests from the Temple went to Pilate objecting to the sign. They wanted the sign changed from “The King of the Jews” to “This man claimed to be the King of the Jews” but Pilate told them that what was written was written and that was the end of the story. \nWhen the soldiers had hung Jesus up on the nails\, they divided up his clothes between the four of them. His robe was left over\, and when they saw that it was woven from a single piece of fabric\, with no seams\, they decided that rather than tear it\, they’d have a round of two-up\, and award it to the winner. This backed up what the scriptures had said long ago: \n“They divided up my clothes\,\nand tossed for my coat.”  \nWhile the soldiers tossed coins\, a group of women stood near Jesus’ cross. They were his mother\, his mother’s sister\, Mary the wife of Clopas\, and Mary of Magdala. Jesus saw that his mother was standing with the disciple with whom he was most intimate\, and so he said to his mother\, “Woman\, this man is your son.” And then he said to the disciple\, “This woman is your mother.” From that day on\, Mary moved into the home of that disciple. \nAfter that\, Jesus knew it was all over. He did one more thing that the scriptures had spoken about. He said\, “I’m thirsty.”  \nSomeone had half a bottle of wine that had turned to vinegar\, so they poured some into a sponge and held it up to his mouth. He drank it and then said\, “Everything is finished.” \nWith that\, his head dropped and he gave up his spirit. \nBecause it was the day of Preparation for the Passover\, the Temple authorities wanted to make sure the bodies were not left hanging up on the sacred festival day. They went to Pilate and got him to authorise the soldiers to break the legs of the three crucified men\, so that they’d die quicker. The soldiers broke the legs of the other two crucified men\, but when they came to Jesus\, they saw that there was no need – he was already dead. Just to make sure\, one of the soldiers drove a spear into his side\, and blood and water gushed out.  \nThe eyewitness to these things has given a sworn account of it all. His report is true and can be trusted. Scripture was again shown to be true\, because it was written that not one of his bones would be broken. Similarly in another place the scriptures said\, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” \nWhen it was all over\, a man went to Pilate and got permission to take the body of Jesus for burial. His name was Joseph of Arimethea\, and he had been a closet follower of Jesus\, because he was afraid for his reputation with the Temple hierarchy. He and Nicodemus\, who had first spoken to Jesus in the quiet of night\, removed the body. Nicodemus supplied the embalming spices\, and as was the Jewish custom\, they wrapped the body with the spices in linen cloth. There was a memorial garden not far from the place where Jesus was crucified\, and there was a tomb there which had not yet been used. Because it was the day of preparation and there was little time\, they buried Jesus in that tomb. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nPrayers\n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Opening Prayer			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is the day when life is raw\,\nquivering\, terrifying:\nThe day of numbed emotions\,\nthe day of blunt nails\nand splintered wood\,\nof bruised flesh\nand red blood.\nThe day we loathe\,\nwhen hopes are crushed.\nThe day we long for\,\nwhen pretences fall away—\nBecause the worst that we can do\ncannot kill the love of God.\n\nGracious God\,\nyour love is a light in our darkness\,\nvulnerable\, yet unquenchable.\nWe would stand with Christ\,\nin the midst of the horrors of this world\nwhere betrayal and death\nconstantly threaten your love and peace. \n©1996 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Prayer at the Arrest of Christ (responding to the reading of John 18: 1-12)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Again and again\nwe have bound you\nand taken you captive\, O Lord\, \nBecause it's easier\,\neasier than facing the reality\nof what you ask of us. \nAgain and again\nyou have been taken captive\nand your voice silenced. \nAgain and again\nyou have been dragged out\nwhenever it seems\nthat quoting your name will justify\nour attempts to gain what we want\nat the expense of others. \n©1996 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Prayer at the Death of Christ (responding to the reading of John 19:25-30)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	God\, why did you let this happen\,\nwhy do our greatest hopes\nseem to flicker out and die? \nWe search for meaning in life\nand before we find it\, it is gone.\nWe search for meaning in death\nbut its horrible reality drives us back\nand we are afraid to look. \nGod\, we shudder at the way this life ended:\nsurrounded by cold brutality\,\nrejected and betrayed by a friend\,\ndeprived of justice\,\nand loved by only a frightened few\nwho watched in fear. \nInside we are afraid that this is all there is\,\na flickering light snuffed out\, no meaning\,\nno future\, no love.\nEvil triumphs yet again. \nEvil triumphs so often.\nYours was one of thousands of deaths.\nFrom those times to now\nthousands die in loneliness and fear\,\nvictims of the cruelty and oppression of this world. \nRemind us with every death\,\nthat there is still so much to be done\,\nbefore love reigns\nand fear is driven away. \n©1996 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  The Request for the Disposal of the Body (responding to the reading of John 19:31-37)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Once again we don't want to face up\nto what we have done. \nWe quickly seek to clean up the mess\,\nto hide the evidence\,\nto get life normal again. \nWe want it finished\nand the body put out of sight. \nAnd yet that broken body\,\nif we would only face it\nis the evidence of the love we crave\nand the source of\nthe healing we cry for. \nGive us courage\nto see beyond the blood and the horror. \nGive us the hope that in this death\nwe may find our own life. \n©1996 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nJoanna’s StoryA reflection for Good Friday by Margie Dahl\n\n\n\nMoving on from CrucifyingA sermon by Nathan Nettleton (This sermon was written for the Paschal Vigil\, but the first half or more would also be useful in reflecting on Good Friday)
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc28/2030-04-19/
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SUMMARY:Holy Saturday (The Day of Nothingness) for services prior to the Paschal Vigil
DESCRIPTION:Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary\, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  Job 14: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Job addressed God saying: \nWhat happened to dying ‘old and full of days’?\n‘Few of days and full of grief’\nseems to be the lot of everyone born.\nLike flowers\, we’re lucky to survive the heat of a single day;\nlike shadows\, we never survive the fall of night. \nSo why have you set your sights on me?\nWhy are you dragging me into court as though I was your equal?\nHow can anyone like me\, born in the gutter\,\nexpect to come out clean on legal street? Not a chance! \nThe length of our lives is already set.\nYou have decided how long we’ve got\,\nand when our number’s up\, there is nothing we can do about it.\nSo why not back off and give us a break?\nCan’t we do our time without you standing over us? \nA tree can still have hope\neven if it is cut down in its prime.\nThere is every chance\nthat it will sprout again and flourish.\nEven if its stump rots away\nand its roots wither in the ground\,\nit only needs a whiff of water and it buds again\nand comes up strong like a young plant reborn. \nBut we mere mortals die\, and that’s it.\nDead and buried\, no human is ever seen again. \nJust like a lake drying out in a never ending drought\,\nor a river fading to a trickle and then its gone\,\nso too we mortals crumble to dust\nwith no hope of a second time round.\nWe think we’ll wake up in the morning\,\nbut no way! Not till hell freezes over. \nIf only the land of the dead was just a prison\nand you could lock me safely away till your anger cools down.\nYou could fix my sentence\nand remember me when my time was done.\nThen I could serve my time and hang on to hope\,\nas I counted down the days till my release.\nWishful thinking!\nWhen we mere mortals die\, that’s it\, isn’t it? \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Lamentations 3: 1-9\, 19-24 (alternative 1st reading)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I have borne the brunt of your anger\, God.\nI have suffered the punishment you dished out.\nYou drove me away from the light\nand left me facing the darkness alone.\nYou singled me out for a beating;\nand belted me around day and night. \nUnder your hand\, my body wasted away\,\nand my bones were cracked and broken.\nYou were constantly in my face\,\nstanding over me\, keeping me in fear.\nYou locked me up in darkness\nand death seemed close at hand. \nYou have fenced me in with barbed wire\,\nand chained my ankles for good measure.\nI can cry for help all I like\,\nbut you’ve blocked your ears.\nYou built permanent blockades on every road.\nWherever I go\, I am turned back. \nThe reality I’m facing is like a bitter taste in my mouth.\nGrief and deprivation poison my mind. \nI can’t stop thinking about it over and over\,\nbut every thought makes me want to die. \nThe one thing that gives me hope\,\nthe one thing I keep reminding myself of is this: \nYour love and loyalty never die\, LORD.\nYour generous mercy never runs dry.\nThey are created new every morning\nand you are as trustworthy as the solid rock. \nSo I keep telling myself that you are all I need\nand that I can still trust you to come through for me. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 31: 1-4\, 15-16			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I look to you for refuge\, LORD;\ndon’t let me be dragged through the mud.\nYou promised justice – save me! \nGive me your ear – I’m crying for help;\nrescue me before it’s too late.\nBe a secure refuge for me\,\na bomb shelter where I can hide. \nYour solid walls protect me from danger;\nlead me and guide me so I’ll be a credit to you;\nkeep me clear of pitfalls and traps. \nYou are the only refuge I trust\, LORD;\nmy future is in your hands.\nSnatch me from the grasp\nof those who are hunting me down. \nI’m working for you; look on me with love.\nStand by me and save me. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  1 Peter 4: 1-8			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The Messiah put his body on the line and went through serious suffering\, and so now you need to steel yourselves to face it with the same guts and determination. Those who keep putting their bodies on the line at great cost have clearly cut their ties with sin. Even in this age of indulging every bodily appetite\, you will be able to live through it\, freely following the ways of God instead of being driven slavishly by every pathetic desire. You have already done more than enough time being driven along in the ways of the godless by such desires\, caught up in a life of desperate partying\, emotional chaos\, binge drinking\, sexual regrets\, self-degradation\, and out-of-control worship of worthless things. Your old friends can’t believe it when you are no longer first to join them in the same old patterns of compulsive indulgence. “Are you too good for us now?” they sneer\, and they heap offensive insults on all that is good. But they will have to answer to God for their offences\, as everyone will\, living or dead. This is the reason that the great news about God’s love was broadcast even to those who have died. That way\, even though the judgement of the way they lived in their bodies is now in the past — indeed none of us can take back what we have done — they still have the opportunity to live in the spirit as God lives. \nEverything is about to be wrapped up\, so keep your wits about you\, your heads clear\, and your prayers focussed. And make it your number one priority to keep loving one another\, no matter what. Any number of offences will be forgotten if love stays on the job. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Matthew 27: 57-66			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	A few hours after Jesus had died\, a wealthy man from Arimethea went to Pilate and asked permission to take the body of Jesus for burial. The man’s name was Joseph\, and he was a follower of Jesus. Pilate gave orders for the body to be released into his care. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linen cloth. He buried Jesus in a new tomb which he had had cut into the rock for his own eventual use. He rolled a boulder over the entrance to the tomb to seal it\, and then went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb watching all this. \nThe next day was still part of the sacred festival\, and a deputation of the chief priests and members of the Pharisee party held an early meeting with Pilate. They said\, “Sir\, we have remembered that while that con man was still alive\, he claimed that he would rise again three days after his death. So please give orders to have guards secure the tomb for the next three days so that his fan club can’t steal his body and start telling everyone that he has been raised from the dead. A fraud like that would be even more dangerous than the pack of lies he was pushing before.” \nPilate said to them\, “Fair enough. There are security guards at your disposal. Go and do whatever you think is necessary to prevent anyone tampering with the tomb.” \nSo they took the security guards\, taped off the area around the tomb\, sealed the stone\, and kept it under constant surveillance. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  John 19: 38-42 (alternative gospel reading)			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Once Jesus was well and truly dead\, a man went to Pilate and got permission to take the body for burial. His name was Joseph of Arimethea\, and he had been a closet follower of Jesus\, because he was afraid for his reputation with the Temple hierarchy. He and Nicodemus\, who had first spoken to Jesus in the quiet of night\, removed the body. Nicodemus supplied the embalming spices\, and as was the Jewish custom\, they wrapped the body with the spices in linen cloth. There was a memorial garden not far from the place where Jesus was crucified\, and there was a tomb there which had not yet been used. Because it was the day of preparation and there was little time\, they buried Jesus in that tomb. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc29/2030-04-20/
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300420T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300421T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200811T140223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250514T003407Z
UID:10002882-1902873600-1903046399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:The Great Paschal (Easter) Vigil
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  1st Reading: Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	At the outset\, when God created the universe\,\nthe earth was lifeless and shapeless;\na deep ocean of chaos\, shrouded in darkness;\nbrooded over by the Spirit of God. \nThen God called for light\,\nand light appeared.\nGod saw that light was a good thing\,\nand separated it from the darkness.\nGod named the light Day\,\nand the darkness Night.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe first day was done. \nThen God called for a clear space\nto keep out the water on either side.\nGod made the clear space\nand the water was split in two\, above and below.\nThat is what happened\,\nand God named the space Sky.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe second day was done. \nThen God called for the waters under the sky\nto be pooled into one place\nand for dry land to appear elsewhere.\nThat is what happened\,\nand God named the dry land Earth\nand the pooled waters Sea.\nGod saw that this was a good thing. \nThen God called for the earth to produce vegetation:\nplants and trees\, rich with fertile fruits and seed\,\nand that is what happened.\nThe earth burst forth with vegetation of every kind;\ngrasses and vines\, shrubs and trees\,\nfertile with seeds and fruits of every kind.\nGod saw that this was a good thing.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe third day was done. \nThen God called for lights in the space called sky;\nlights to shine from above and light up the earth\,\nto separate day from night\,\nand to mark out the months\, seasons and years.\nThat is what happened;\nGod made stars to fill the sky\nand two big lights:\na bright one to dominate the day\,\nand a soft one to take over at night.\nGod set them all in the sky\nto light up the earth and determine day and night;\nto separate out the light from the darkness.\nGod saw that this was a good thing.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe fourth day was done. \nThen God called for the waters to fill with living creatures\,\nand for the skies to fill with birds flying over the earth.\nGod created all the creatures that live and move in the water\,\nthe enormous monsters of the sea and the teeming fish\,\nand every kind of bird that wings its way through the air.\nGod saw that this was a good thing\nand set them up for life\,\nencouraging the fish to multiply and fill the seas\nand the birds to multiply all over the earth.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe fifth day was done. \nThen God called for the earth to bring forth all sorts of living creatures:\ninsects\, reptiles\, mammals;\nanimals of every kind\, tame and wild.\nThat is what happened;\nGod made wild animals of every kind to fill the earth\,\nevery kind of herd and flock\,\nand every creature that runs or jumps or crawls on land.\nGod saw that this was a good thing. \nThen God said:\n“We will make people in our own image\,\nmodelling them on ourselves.\nWe will entrust to them the fish of the sea\,\nthe birds of the air\, the flocks and herds\,\nand all the wild animals and creepy-crawlies.” \nSo God created people as a reflection of God\,\ncreated them to be like God\,\ncreated them male and female. \nGod set them up for life\,\nand encouraged them to multiply and fill the earth.\nGod told them to exercise control over the earth\nand to manage the fish of the sea\,\nthe birds of the air and every living thing on earth. \nGod said to the people:\n“Look\, I have given you the grain crops\nthat grow and reproduce themselves all over the earth\,\nand all the trees that grow from seed and bear fruit;\nthey are all yours for food.\nI have also provided vegetation galore\nas food for the animals\, birds and creepy-crawlies\,\nfor everything that lives and breathes. \nSo it all happened\, just as God said.\nEverything God had made was there to be seen\nand God was delighted with it all.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe sixth day was done. \nWith that\, the universe was complete\,\nalong with everything that fills it.\nWith the work finished\,\nGod took the seventh day off. \nAfter all the work God had done\,\nthe seventh day was a well earned rest.\nSo God made the seventh day special\,\na sacred day\,\nbecause that day was God’s day off\nafter all the work of creating everything. \nSo that’s the family lineage of the universe;\nthe story of how everything came to be. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 136: 1-9\, 23-26			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Thank you\, LORD\, thank you. You are truly good.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nThank you\, God of all gods\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nThank you\, Lord of all lords\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nYou and you alone have done miraculous things.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou dreamed up the skies and put them in place.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou raised the earth on its foundations above the seas.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou set the lights shining in the sky.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou put the sun in charge of the day.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou gave the moon and stars watch over the night.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nYou didn’t forget us when we were down and out.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou rescued us from those who had it in for us.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou provide food for everything that lives\,\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nThank you\, God of everything\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2nd Reading: Genesis 7: 1-5\, 11-18 ; 8: 6-18 ; 9: 8-13			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD said to Noah: \n“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.” \nSo 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. \nThe 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. \nWhen 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. \nThey 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: \n“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.” \nSo Noah disembarked with his wife and their sons and their son’s wives. Then God said to Noah and his family: \n“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.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 46			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Our refuge\, our shelter\, our fortress\, our security;\nyou are all these things to us\, God.\nYou are always there for us when we need you. \nBecause of you\, we will not panic\neven if our world comes crashing down around our ears;\neven if the earth splits open beneath us;\neven if chaos pours in like a raging flood;\neven if life as we know it goes up in smoke. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \nA river flowing with life-giving water runs through your holy city\nbringing joy and peace to your sacred home.\nYou are the most high God\, and the city where you live\nwill rest secure and greet the new day with confidence. \nThe world may be in chaos\, nations tearing apart at the seams\,\nbut when you speak\, the earth sinks to its knees. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \nWhat you have done is a sight for sore eyes\, LORD;\nyou have left a trail of destruction across the earth:\nweapons of war crushed and burned;\nimplements of fear smashed to pieces;\nconflicts and wars closed down for good. \nYou call us to a peaceful calm\nand invite us to know you as God.\nYou stand supreme above the nations\,\nunmatched in all the earth. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  3rd Reading: Genesis 22: 1-18			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is the story of how God put Abraham to the test to find out whether he really had what it takes. \nGod called to him\, saying\, “Abraham!” \n“At your service\,” Abraham replied. \nGod 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.” \nSo 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.” \nAbraham 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!” \n“At your service\, son\,” Abraham replied. \n“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.” \nAbraham said\, “God will personally provide the lamb for the sacrifice\, my son.” \nSo 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!” \n“At your service\,” he replied. \nThe 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.”\nAs 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. \nFrom 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.” \nThe messenger of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven again\, saying\, “This is what the LORD says to you: \nI 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.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 16			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Protect me\, God\,\nyou are my place of refuge. \nI’m acknowledging you as the one in charge\, LORD;\nyou are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. \nI delight in the company of those\nwho dedicate themselves to you;\nthey are the salt of the earth. \nThose who worship other things\nwill have nothing but grief.\nI will not buy into their futile devotions;\nI will not utter the names they revere. \nYou are all I want\, LORD\, and all I need;\nyou hold my future in your hands. \nYou mark out the best of everything for me;\nyou’ve set me up with a bright future. \nI heap accolades on you\, LORD\,\nfor you always give me wise advice;\neven in the dead of night\nyou fill my heart with your teachings. \nI’ll always stick close behind you\, LORD;\nwith you near by\,\nI’ll never be pushed off track. \nYou fill me with delight\, LORD;\njoy erupts from deep in my bones;\nmy body relaxes\, safe in your care. \nYou’ll never let the grave drag me down;\nyour faithful servants are never left for dead. \nYou set my feet on a life-giving track\, LORD.\nTo be in your presence is absolute bliss.\nAll I could dream of comes from your hand. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  4th Reading: Exodus 14: 10-31 ; 15: 20-21			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“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?” \nBut Moses replied in a speech\, saying: \n“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!” \nThen the LORD spoke to Moses\, saying: \n“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.” \n    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. \nThen 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!” \nThen 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.” \nSo 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. \nSo 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. \nThen the prophet Miriam\, who was Aaron’s sister\, led the women in a dance of celebration\, playing tambourines and singing: \n“Our song is for you\, LORD\,\nfor you have won a glorious victory!\nYou have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Exodus 15: 1b-13\, 17-18			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The prophet Miriam\, who was Aaron’s sister\, led the women in a dance of celebration\, playing tambourines and singing: \nOur song is for you\, LORD\,\nfor you have won a glorious victory!\nYou have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea! \nWe would be nothing without you\, LORD\,\nbut with you\, we are strong.\nYou are our God\, and we sing your praises;\nthe God of our ancestors\,\nand we applaud you long and loud. \nYou are the greatest hero\, LORD;\nLORD by name\, LORD by reputation. \nYou swept the tyrant’s armoured vehicles and soldiers into the sea;\nall his top brass disappeared beneath the waves. \nThe surging waters closed over them\,\nand they sank like a stone into the murky depths. \nWith your bare hands\, LORD\,\nyou put on an awesome display of power;\nyou rolled up your sleeves and decimated the enemy. \nWith the full force of your majestic power\,\nyou defeated your opponents;\nthey ignited your anger\nand were gone like dry grass in a bushfire. \nThe fearsome blast of your fury cut a swathe through the waters;\nthe surging depths were heaped up on each side;\nthe wild ocean set like jelly\, all the way down. \nThe tyrants said\, “We’ll give chase\, we can catch them.\nAll that they have will be ours\, all we could ever want.\nWe will turn our weapons on them and wipe them out.” \nYou sent your wind howling after them and closed the sea over them;\nthey sank like a stone and were never seen again. \nYou are in a league of your own\, LORD;\nNothing else is worthy of our devotion.\nNothing can compete with you for awesome grandeur;\nNothing else can match your record\nfor getting the job done against the odds. \nWhen you got involved\, LORD\,\nthe planet opened its mouth and swallowed up our oppressors. \nWith love and loyalty\, you led the people you had reclaimed;\nwith protective strength\, you guided them to your sacred home. \nYou brought them home to your holy mountain\, LORD\,\nand let them put down roots in the place you call your own\,\nthe sacred place that you built with your own hands. \nMay you rule forever and ever\, LORD! \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  5th Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is what the LORD says: \nHey you! Are you thirsty?\nCome\, then. Drink from these fresh waters!\nAre you too penniless even to eat?\nNever mind! Come! Help yourselves; eat your fill!\nCome and stock up with food\, wine and milk.\nWhat will it cost you? Not a red cent! \nWhy sink all your money into things that leave you hungry?\nWhy bust a gut working for things that can never satisfy?\nListen carefully to what I have to say\nand you will feast at a rich banquet of fine foods. \nStick with me and tune in to what I’m saying\,\nfor without my words\, life is bland and tasteless.\nI will surround your lives with love and loyalty\,\nmaking a permanent alliance\, just as I did with David.\nI gave him influence and authority over the nations\,\nand he was my witness among them. \nYou will be the same – a light to which others flock;\neven those who don’t know you will come running;\nthey’ll be drawn to my glory\, seen in you\,\nthe glory of the LORD\, the one and only God of Israel. \nThe LORD says\,\nTrack me down before it is too late\,\nmake contact while I’m in your neck of the woods.\nClean up your act and get your head straight;\ngive up your corrupt practices and plans.\nGet yourself back on my wavelength\nand I’ll pour out mercy and generous forgiveness. \nI don’t think the way you think\, says the LORD\,\nand I don’t do things the way you do.\nYour ways and mine are like cheese and chalk\,\nyour thoughts and mine are lightyears apart. \nEverything I say has a powerful purpose;\nno empty words ever pass my lips.\nMy words are like drops of rain in the cycle of nature:\nwherever they fall they give life;\nthey replenish\, renew and nourish life\,\nand then the earth gives them back and they start again.\nMy words always achieve their purpose;\nthey flourish where I plant them\,\nthey nourish all who feed on them. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 12: 2-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You alone\, LORD\, are able to set us free\,\nso we put our trust in you\, and have nothing to fear.\nAll our strength and power come from you\, LORD GOD\,\nyou have become our hero\, our saviour! \nYou will put your saving love on tap\,\ndeep draughts to be enjoyed by everyone.\nOn that day we will all say to one another\,\n“Thank the LORD! Let God’s name be on everyone’s lips!” \nWe will tell the world what you have done\,\nwe will shout your name and declare you to be number one.\nWe will sing your praises because of all you have accomplished\,\nand give you the glory all over the earth.\nWith all the citizens of Zion\, we lift our voices to you\nwith shouts and laughter and songs of celebration\,\nfor you are the ultimate\, the greatest\, the Holy One\,\nand you live among us\, your people! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  6th Reading (alternative 1): Baruch 3: 9-15\, 32 - 4:4			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Listen up\, Israel\, and hear the rules of life.\nTune in and learn good common sense.\nWhat’s going on\, O people of Israel?\nHow come you are still trapped in the land of your enemies?\nHow come you are growing old so far from home?\nPeople avoid you like something dead.\nYou are written off like those in the grave.\nHow come? \nIt is because you turned your back on the fountain of wisdom. \nIf you had stuck to the track God had marked out\nyou would have lived in peace your whole life long. \nWake up to yourselves and learn.\nLearn where to find wisdom\,\nwhere to gain strength\,\nwhere to get a clear picture of what is going on.\nDo that and you will find that you have also discovered\nthe secret to a long and full life\,\nto a future that looks bright\,\nand to peace that will last. \nBut who has succeeded in finding Wisdom’s house?\nWho has entered her warehouse and placed their order?\nWho? The one who knows everything knows her well\,\nand with a sharp mind\, easily tracked her down. \nThe one who set up the earth in the first place\,\nand filled it with everything on four legs;\nthe one who throws light into the sky\,\nand who can send it cowering away with a word;\nthe one at whose call the stars stepped forth\,\neagerly signing up for the night watch\nand lighting up with joy for the one who made them. \nThis is our God;\nand no other god is in the same league. \nGod has marked out the track to Wisdom’s home\nand shared her secrets with his servant Jacob\,\nand with Israel\, his beloved child.\nFrom that time on\, Wisdom appeared on earth\nand made her home among the people. \nShe is the book of instruction given by God;\nthe law laid down that lasts forever.\nAll those who hold fast to her will live\,\nbut those who give up on her will die. \nTurn around\, people of Jacob\, and reach out for her.\nTurn towards her light and head straight there.\nWhat a glorious gift you have been given!\nDon’t squander it and leave it to others to cash in on it.\nWe’ve got it made\, O people of Israel\,\nbecause we are in the know about what pleases God. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  6th Reading (alternative 2): Proverbs 8:1-8\, 19-21 ; 9: 4b-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Wisdom calls; her voice full of promise.\nCan’t you hear her\, offering herself to all who pass by? \nOn the station steps at rush hour\, there she is.\nOn a busy corner where everyone passes;\nleaning on the gate as the crowd comes through;\nwherever people are\, her voice rings out. \nThis is what she has to say: \n“Come one and all\, and hear me out;\nIf you’re in the land of the living\, what I have to offer is for you. \nTo the thick-headed\, I offer lessons in good sense;\nto you who know nothing\, I offer a solid education. \nListen up! What I have to say is worth hearing.\nEvery word that passes my lips can be trusted.\nFrom my mouth you’ll hear only the truth;\ncorrupt and deceitful talk makes me sick. \nWhenever I speak\, it is straight down the line;\nI don’t twist the truth or put a shifty spin on it. \nInvest in me and you’ll reap the rewards;\nrich benefits\, more than money could ever buy. \nI stick to the track of those who do the right thing;\nI steer a straight line on the road of justice.\nI heap riches on those who love me;\ntheir lives are chock full of good things. \nTo the ignorant and confused\, Wisdom makes her invitation\,\n“Come over to my place and we’ll chew the fat.\nShare my bread and wine and things will fall into place.\nThe time has come to turn the corner\,\nto grow up\, to embrace life.\nThink before you act\nand walk with understanding.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 19			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Your glory is written in the sky\, God;\nyour artistry is carved on the face of the earth.\nFrom one day to another\, the message passes on\,\nand each night puts the next one in the know. \nNot a word is spoken\,\nnot a sound do they make;\nyet their silence reverberates around the earth\nand their unspoken message echoes from pole to pole. \nYou made the sun at home flying across the sky.\nIt takes to its task with the eagerness of a bridegroom;\nas exultant as an athlete breasting the tape.\nAs your messenger\, God\, it does its rounds\,\nfrom one end of the sky to the other\,\nwarming everything in its path. \nYour revealed will is right on the mark\, LORD;\nit gives our souls their second wind.\nWhat you says goes\,\nand any fool can wise up by taking note. \nYour instructions are spot on\, LORD;\nanyone who follows them will be glad they did.\nWhat you direct us to do is easy to see\,\nand once seen\, everything become clear. \nRespect for you keeps us true\, LORD\,\nnothing can corrupt it\, now or ever.\nWhat you decide is always accurate;\na fair ruling\, beyond dispute. \nYour Word is worth far more\nthan even diamond encrusted gold!\nIt is sweeter by far\nthan any mouth watering delicacy\,\neven chocolate dipped strawberries with cream! \nBut that’s not all!\nYour Word\, O LORD\, keeps me out of danger\,\nand following it pays off richly. \nCan anyone put their finger on all their own faults?\nLORD\, eradicate the bugs I haven’t even identified yet. \nRemind me not to entertain sour contemptuous thoughts\,\nand don’t let them start pulling my strings.\nWithout them\, I can stay on course\,\nand keep my record clean. \nThat’s what I want\, O LORD.\nI want all the things I say\,\nand all the things I mull over in my heart\,\nto be things I’d be proud to offer to you\,\nfor you are the bedrock of my life;\nthe one who puts me back where I belong. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  7th Reading: Ezekiel 36: 24-28			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I\, the LORD\, will bring you home from exile.\nI will gather you from your foreign hideouts\,\nand settle you safely in your own homeland. \nI will wash you down with clean water;\nscrub the defilement from your lives\,\nand clean off the filthy residue of your flirtation with idols. \nI will renovate your lives from the inside out\,\nand give you a new heart and new spirit.\nI will remove your cold stone hearts\,\nand replace them with hearts of healthy flesh. \nI will put my spirit inside you\,\nto give you a passion for following my ways\nand a commitment to doing what I say. \nThen you will live in the homeland I gave to your ancestors.\nYou will be my people\,\nand I will be your God. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 42 & 43			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Like a wallaby searching for a waterhole\,\nI crave you\, God\, with every fibre of my being. \nEverything inside me thirsts for you\, God\,\nfor you\, the Living God.\nWhen will the drought break\nso I can be with you\, face to face. \nI’ve had nothing but tears to sustain me;\nday and night it’s been the same;\nI can’t shut out the jeers and taunts\,\n“Where is this God of yours?” \nCherished memories flood my mind\,\nrubbing salt in the wound;\nmemories of past celebrations\nwhen I led the worship in your house.\nI can still hear the laughter and joyous singing;\nthe crowds celebrating your goodness. \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \nI feel so defeated inside;\nI try to remind myself of your goodness\nas I walk along the beach to the river mouth\nand look towards the mountains. \nBut all I hear is the roar of waves\nand churning waters;\nI feel like chaos is breaking over me\nand sucking me down\, deeper and deeper. \nEvery day I read of your rock-solid love\, LORD;\nand every night I sing your songs\nand pray to you as the God of my life. \nBut still I find myself asking the question:\n“Why has your rock-solid love let me down?\nWhy are so many out to get me\,\nmaking my life such a misery?” \nMy wounds are deep and painful\nbut the torture goes on;\nover and over I hear the taunts\,\n“Where is this God of yours?” \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \nClear my name\, God;\nside with me against these godless tormentors.\nRescue me from their lies and abuse. \nI trusted you to look after me\, God;\nwhy have you pushed me aside?\nWhy are so many out to get me\,\nmaking my life such a misery? \nLet your truth blaze like a beacon\nso I can see the way to go;\nlet it light up the path and lead me\nto your home on the sacred mountain. \nThen I will offer myself to you in worship\, God;\noffer myself with uninhibited joy.\nI will praise you with music and song\,\nO God\, my God! \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  8th Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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?”\nI replied\, “Lord GOD\, only you can answer such a question.” \nThen the LORD told me to preach boldly to the bones\, saying: \n“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.” \n 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. \nThen the LORD told me to call to the winds\, saying: \n“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.” \n 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. \nThen the LORD explained to me what it all meant: \n“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:\n“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.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 143			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Listen to my prayer\, LORD.\nI know you can be relied on to hear my cry for mercy\nand to do the right thing when you answer.\nI am at your service\, LORD\,\nbut please don’t put me on trial.\nYou can see that I’ve screwed up like everyone else. \nEnemies have been constantly on my tail\,\nstomping me into the dirt\nand leaving me for dead in some dark hellhole.\nThat’s why I’m so gutted.\nMy heart can’t take any more; it’s chucking in the towel. \nI think back on the good old days\nand remember all the great things you did\, LORD;\nI go over and over your achievements in my mind.\nI’m reaching out to you for help now.\nInside I am like a salt pan in the desert sun\,\ndesperately thirsting for you. \nAnswer me before it’s too late\, LORD;\nI can’t go on much longer.\nDon’t turn your back on me now\nor I’ll be headed straight for the grave.\nMay the morning bring news of your rock-solid love\nbecause I’ve put all my trust in you.\nShow me the track you want me to follow\nfor I’m offering my life to you.\nRescue me from my enemies\, LORD.\nI’ve fled to you seeking asylum. \nYou are my God;\nteach me what you want me to do.\nSend your Spirit to guide me\nsafely along the right track.\nLet me live\, LORD; your reputation hangs on it.\nDo the right thing\, as you always do\,\nand get me out of this danger.\nBe true to your rock-solid love and cut off my enemies.\nDestroy those who are trying to destroy me\nfor I live to serve you. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  9th Reading: Zephaniah 3: 14-20			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Lift your voices\, all you children of Israel.\nSing and shout for joy!\nLet your hair down\, Jerusalem.\nCelebrate with all your heart! \nThe LORD has let you out of jail\nand forced your enemies to turn tail and run.\nThe one who rules over Israel – the LORD –\nis right alongside you\, so you have nothing to fear.\nNo disaster can touch you now. \nThe great day is coming\, Jerusalem\,\nwhen you will hear this message: \n“Relax! Don’t be afraid\, people of Zion.\nYour hands can stop trembling now!\nThe LORD\, your God\, is right alongside you;\na champion who always comes out on top.\nGod will be bursting with joy over you\,\ncelebrating as though it was always your birthday!\nGod will nourish you with love\nuntil the spring is back in your step.” \nThe LORD\, your God\, says to you: \n“I will bring your misfortune to an end;\nand set you free from its humiliation.\nThose who have kicked you around\nwill have me to deal with!\nI will rescue and reunite\nthe crippled and the refugees.\nNo longer will they be treated with contempt.\nI’ll see that they are honoured all over the world.\nWhen that time comes\,\nI will gather you together and bring you all home.\nWith your own eyes\nyou’ll see me restore all that is rightly yours.\nThen you will be honoured everywhere.\nEveryone on earth will sing your praises.\nI\, the LORD\, have spoken.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 98			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We sing like we’ve never sung before\, LORD\,\nbecause you have done fantastic things.\nWith your sleeves rolled up you got stuck in\nand came out on top. \nYour victory has made the headlines\, LORD\,\nnow the whole world can see that you were right all along. \nYou have never defaulted on your rock-solid love\,\nor your loyalty to your chosen people.\nFrom one end of the earth to the other\,\neveryone has seen your victory. \nWith all the world\, LORD\, we raise a noisy celebration\,\nsinging our lungs out and shouting your praise. \nThe bands strike up in your honour\, LORD\,\nfilling the air with festive music.\nWith a brass fanfare and a dancing beat\nwe loudly celebrate your reign over us. \nThe whole creation joins in the celebration:\nthe ocean and its creatures roar their approval;\nthe land and its animals\, cheer and stomp;\nrivers and lakes give a standing ovation\,\nmountains and hills erupt in applause. \nWe put on the whole show in your presence\, LORD\,\ncelebrating your arrival as you finally bring justice.\nWith you in charge we know things will be put right;\nnow every one on earth will get a fair go. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  10th Reading: Romans 6: 3-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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. \nYou 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. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 114			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	When we were led out of the land of slavery\n- the people of Israel\, coming out from under the foreign thumb -\nthe land of Judah became a sacred place\,\nthe land of Israel came under sovereign rule. \nThe wild sea took one look\, and turned tail and ran\,\nthe Jordan river backed off and headed the other way.\nThe mountains skipped like a rock wallaby;\nthe hills were as jumpy as a kelpie pup. \nWhat was it that made the wild sea turn tail?\nWhat was it that made the Jordan back off?\nWhat made the mountains quiver and jump?\nWhat made the hills shudder and shake? \nIt was awe of you\, LORD\, God of our ancestors.\nThe whole earth trembles in your presence.\nFor you are the one who melts rocks into pools of water;\nthe one who brings springs bubbling up from hard baked ground. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year A - 2026): Matthew 28: 1-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nSo 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. \nThey 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.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year B - 2027): Mark 16: 1-8			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nThe 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. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year C - 2025): Luke 24: 1-12			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nSuddenly 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. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nThe Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nGod Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA Young Man in WhiteA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nDo Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff \n\n\n\nThis Changes EverythingA sermon on Mark 16:1-8  by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nFactoring the UnthinkableA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe Great Reversal Moves ForwardA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by David Devine\n\n\n\nA Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nLife and love in the face of deathA sermon by Roslyn Wright\n\n\n\nThe Failure of FailureA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nHow Does It End?A sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nBy The Light Of A RumourA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nShowing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra\n\n\n\nA Question For Your TearsA sermon on John 20:11-18 by Edward L Taylor\n\n\n\nMoving On From CrucifyingA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nDarkness Breaks SlowlyA sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc30/2030-04-20/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300420T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20300421T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T095328
CREATED:20200811T140223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250511T061202Z
UID:10002122-1902873600-1903046399@laughingbird.net
SUMMARY:The Great Paschal (Easter) Vigil
DESCRIPTION: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. \n\n\n\nBible Readings (paraphrased)\n\n\n\nLections 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. \n\n\n	\n\n		\n			\n				  1st Reading: Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	At the outset\, when God created the universe\,\nthe earth was lifeless and shapeless;\na deep ocean of chaos\, shrouded in darkness;\nbrooded over by the Spirit of God. \nThen God called for light\,\nand light appeared.\nGod saw that light was a good thing\,\nand separated it from the darkness.\nGod named the light Day\,\nand the darkness Night.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe first day was done. \nThen God called for a clear space\nto keep out the water on either side.\nGod made the clear space\nand the water was split in two\, above and below.\nThat is what happened\,\nand God named the space Sky.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe second day was done. \nThen God called for the waters under the sky\nto be pooled into one place\nand for dry land to appear elsewhere.\nThat is what happened\,\nand God named the dry land Earth\nand the pooled waters Sea.\nGod saw that this was a good thing. \nThen God called for the earth to produce vegetation:\nplants and trees\, rich with fertile fruits and seed\,\nand that is what happened.\nThe earth burst forth with vegetation of every kind;\ngrasses and vines\, shrubs and trees\,\nfertile with seeds and fruits of every kind.\nGod saw that this was a good thing.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe third day was done. \nThen God called for lights in the space called sky;\nlights to shine from above and light up the earth\,\nto separate day from night\,\nand to mark out the months\, seasons and years.\nThat is what happened;\nGod made stars to fill the sky\nand two big lights:\na bright one to dominate the day\,\nand a soft one to take over at night.\nGod set them all in the sky\nto light up the earth and determine day and night;\nto separate out the light from the darkness.\nGod saw that this was a good thing.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe fourth day was done. \nThen God called for the waters to fill with living creatures\,\nand for the skies to fill with birds flying over the earth.\nGod created all the creatures that live and move in the water\,\nthe enormous monsters of the sea and the teeming fish\,\nand every kind of bird that wings its way through the air.\nGod saw that this was a good thing\nand set them up for life\,\nencouraging the fish to multiply and fill the seas\nand the birds to multiply all over the earth.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe fifth day was done. \nThen God called for the earth to bring forth all sorts of living creatures:\ninsects\, reptiles\, mammals;\nanimals of every kind\, tame and wild.\nThat is what happened;\nGod made wild animals of every kind to fill the earth\,\nevery kind of herd and flock\,\nand every creature that runs or jumps or crawls on land.\nGod saw that this was a good thing. \nThen God said:\n“We will make people in our own image\,\nmodelling them on ourselves.\nWe will entrust to them the fish of the sea\,\nthe birds of the air\, the flocks and herds\,\nand all the wild animals and creepy-crawlies.” \nSo God created people as a reflection of God\,\ncreated them to be like God\,\ncreated them male and female. \nGod set them up for life\,\nand encouraged them to multiply and fill the earth.\nGod told them to exercise control over the earth\nand to manage the fish of the sea\,\nthe birds of the air and every living thing on earth. \nGod said to the people:\n“Look\, I have given you the grain crops\nthat grow and reproduce themselves all over the earth\,\nand all the trees that grow from seed and bear fruit;\nthey are all yours for food.\nI have also provided vegetation galore\nas food for the animals\, birds and creepy-crawlies\,\nfor everything that lives and breathes. \nSo it all happened\, just as God said.\nEverything God had made was there to be seen\nand God was delighted with it all.\nEvening passed and morning came;\nthe sixth day was done. \nWith that\, the universe was complete\,\nalong with everything that fills it.\nWith the work finished\,\nGod took the seventh day off. \nAfter all the work God had done\,\nthe seventh day was a well earned rest.\nSo God made the seventh day special\,\na sacred day\,\nbecause that day was God’s day off\nafter all the work of creating everything. \nSo that’s the family lineage of the universe;\nthe story of how everything came to be. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 136: 1-9\, 23-26			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Thank you\, LORD\, thank you. You are truly good.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nThank you\, God of all gods\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nThank you\, Lord of all lords\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nYou and you alone have done miraculous things.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou dreamed up the skies and put them in place.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou raised the earth on its foundations above the seas.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou set the lights shining in the sky.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou put the sun in charge of the day.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou gave the moon and stars watch over the night.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nYou didn’t forget us when we were down and out.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou rescued us from those who had it in for us.\nYour rock solid love is forever.\nYou provide food for everything that lives\,\nYour rock solid love is forever. \nThank you\, God of everything\, thank you.\nYour rock solid love is forever. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  2nd Reading: Genesis 7: 1-5\, 11-18 ; 8: 6-18 ; 9: 8-13			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The LORD said to Noah: \n“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.” \nSo 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. \nThe 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. \nWhen 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. \nThey 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: \n“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.” \nSo Noah disembarked with his wife and their sons and their son’s wives. Then God said to Noah and his family: \n“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.” \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 46			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Our refuge\, our shelter\, our fortress\, our security;\nyou are all these things to us\, God.\nYou are always there for us when we need you. \nBecause of you\, we will not panic\neven if our world comes crashing down around our ears;\neven if the earth splits open beneath us;\neven if chaos pours in like a raging flood;\neven if life as we know it goes up in smoke. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \nA river flowing with life-giving water runs through your holy city\nbringing joy and peace to your sacred home.\nYou are the most high God\, and the city where you live\nwill rest secure and greet the new day with confidence. \nThe world may be in chaos\, nations tearing apart at the seams\,\nbut when you speak\, the earth sinks to its knees. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \nWhat you have done is a sight for sore eyes\, LORD;\nyou have left a trail of destruction across the earth:\nweapons of war crushed and burned;\nimplements of fear smashed to pieces;\nconflicts and wars closed down for good. \nYou call us to a peaceful calm\nand invite us to know you as God.\nYou stand supreme above the nations\,\nunmatched in all the earth. \nYou are the LORD of cosmic power — the God of our ancestors —\nour safety\, our refuge. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  3rd Reading: Genesis 22: 1-18			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is the story of how God put Abraham to the test to find out whether he really had what it takes. \nGod called to him\, saying\, “Abraham!” \n“At your service\,” Abraham replied. \nGod 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.” \nSo 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.” \nAbraham 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!” \n“At your service\, son\,” Abraham replied. \n“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.” \nAbraham said\, “God will personally provide the lamb for the sacrifice\, my son.” \nSo 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!” \n“At your service\,” he replied. \nThe 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.”\nAs 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. \nFrom 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.” \nThe messenger of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven again\, saying\, “This is what the LORD says to you: \nI 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.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 16			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Protect me\, God\,\nyou are my place of refuge. \nI’m acknowledging you as the one in charge\, LORD;\nyou are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. \nI delight in the company of those\nwho dedicate themselves to you;\nthey are the salt of the earth. \nThose who worship other things\nwill have nothing but grief.\nI will not buy into their futile devotions;\nI will not utter the names they revere. \nYou are all I want\, LORD\, and all I need;\nyou hold my future in your hands. \nYou mark out the best of everything for me;\nyou’ve set me up with a bright future. \nI heap accolades on you\, LORD\,\nfor you always give me wise advice;\neven in the dead of night\nyou fill my heart with your teachings. \nI’ll always stick close behind you\, LORD;\nwith you near by\,\nI’ll never be pushed off track. \nYou fill me with delight\, LORD;\njoy erupts from deep in my bones;\nmy body relaxes\, safe in your care. \nYou’ll never let the grave drag me down;\nyour faithful servants are never left for dead. \nYou set my feet on a life-giving track\, LORD.\nTo be in your presence is absolute bliss.\nAll I could dream of comes from your hand. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  4th Reading: Exodus 14: 10-31 ; 15: 20-21			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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: \n“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?” \nBut Moses replied in a speech\, saying: \n“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!” \nThen the LORD spoke to Moses\, saying: \n“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.” \n    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. \nThen 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!” \nThen 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.” \nSo 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. \nSo 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. \nThen the prophet Miriam\, who was Aaron’s sister\, led the women in a dance of celebration\, playing tambourines and singing: \n“Our song is for you\, LORD\,\nfor you have won a glorious victory!\nYou have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea!” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Exodus 15: 1b-13\, 17-18			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	The prophet Miriam\, who was Aaron’s sister\, led the women in a dance of celebration\, playing tambourines and singing: \nOur song is for you\, LORD\,\nfor you have won a glorious victory!\nYou have tossed the soldiers and warhorses into the sea! \nWe would be nothing without you\, LORD\,\nbut with you\, we are strong.\nYou are our God\, and we sing your praises;\nthe God of our ancestors\,\nand we applaud you long and loud. \nYou are the greatest hero\, LORD;\nLORD by name\, LORD by reputation. \nYou swept the tyrant’s armoured vehicles and soldiers into the sea;\nall his top brass disappeared beneath the waves. \nThe surging waters closed over them\,\nand they sank like a stone into the murky depths. \nWith your bare hands\, LORD\,\nyou put on an awesome display of power;\nyou rolled up your sleeves and decimated the enemy. \nWith the full force of your majestic power\,\nyou defeated your opponents;\nthey ignited your anger\nand were gone like dry grass in a bushfire. \nThe fearsome blast of your fury cut a swathe through the waters;\nthe surging depths were heaped up on each side;\nthe wild ocean set like jelly\, all the way down. \nThe tyrants said\, “We’ll give chase\, we can catch them.\nAll that they have will be ours\, all we could ever want.\nWe will turn our weapons on them and wipe them out.” \nYou sent your wind howling after them and closed the sea over them;\nthey sank like a stone and were never seen again. \nYou are in a league of your own\, LORD;\nNothing else is worthy of our devotion.\nNothing can compete with you for awesome grandeur;\nNothing else can match your record\nfor getting the job done against the odds. \nWhen you got involved\, LORD\,\nthe planet opened its mouth and swallowed up our oppressors. \nWith love and loyalty\, you led the people you had reclaimed;\nwith protective strength\, you guided them to your sacred home. \nYou brought them home to your holy mountain\, LORD\,\nand let them put down roots in the place you call your own\,\nthe sacred place that you built with your own hands. \nMay you rule forever and ever\, LORD! \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  5th Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	This is what the LORD says: \nHey you! Are you thirsty?\nCome\, then. Drink from these fresh waters!\nAre you too penniless even to eat?\nNever mind! Come! Help yourselves; eat your fill!\nCome and stock up with food\, wine and milk.\nWhat will it cost you? Not a red cent! \nWhy sink all your money into things that leave you hungry?\nWhy bust a gut working for things that can never satisfy?\nListen carefully to what I have to say\nand you will feast at a rich banquet of fine foods. \nStick with me and tune in to what I’m saying\,\nfor without my words\, life is bland and tasteless.\nI will surround your lives with love and loyalty\,\nmaking a permanent alliance\, just as I did with David.\nI gave him influence and authority over the nations\,\nand he was my witness among them. \nYou will be the same – a light to which others flock;\neven those who don’t know you will come running;\nthey’ll be drawn to my glory\, seen in you\,\nthe glory of the LORD\, the one and only God of Israel. \nThe LORD says\,\nTrack me down before it is too late\,\nmake contact while I’m in your neck of the woods.\nClean up your act and get your head straight;\ngive up your corrupt practices and plans.\nGet yourself back on my wavelength\nand I’ll pour out mercy and generous forgiveness. \nI don’t think the way you think\, says the LORD\,\nand I don’t do things the way you do.\nYour ways and mine are like cheese and chalk\,\nyour thoughts and mine are lightyears apart. \nEverything I say has a powerful purpose;\nno empty words ever pass my lips.\nMy words are like drops of rain in the cycle of nature:\nwherever they fall they give life;\nthey replenish\, renew and nourish life\,\nand then the earth gives them back and they start again.\nMy words always achieve their purpose;\nthey flourish where I plant them\,\nthey nourish all who feed on them. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Isaiah 12: 2-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	You alone\, LORD\, are able to set us free\,\nso we put our trust in you\, and have nothing to fear.\nAll our strength and power come from you\, LORD GOD\,\nyou have become our hero\, our saviour! \nYou will put your saving love on tap\,\ndeep draughts to be enjoyed by everyone.\nOn that day we will all say to one another\,\n“Thank the LORD! Let God’s name be on everyone’s lips!” \nWe will tell the world what you have done\,\nwe will shout your name and declare you to be number one.\nWe will sing your praises because of all you have accomplished\,\nand give you the glory all over the earth.\nWith all the citizens of Zion\, we lift our voices to you\nwith shouts and laughter and songs of celebration\,\nfor you are the ultimate\, the greatest\, the Holy One\,\nand you live among us\, your people! \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  6th Reading (alternative 1): Baruch 3: 9-15\, 32 - 4:4			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Listen up\, Israel\, and hear the rules of life.\nTune in and learn good common sense.\nWhat’s going on\, O people of Israel?\nHow come you are still trapped in the land of your enemies?\nHow come you are growing old so far from home?\nPeople avoid you like something dead.\nYou are written off like those in the grave.\nHow come? \nIt is because you turned your back on the fountain of wisdom. \nIf you had stuck to the track God had marked out\nyou would have lived in peace your whole life long. \nWake up to yourselves and learn.\nLearn where to find wisdom\,\nwhere to gain strength\,\nwhere to get a clear picture of what is going on.\nDo that and you will find that you have also discovered\nthe secret to a long and full life\,\nto a future that looks bright\,\nand to peace that will last. \nBut who has succeeded in finding Wisdom’s house?\nWho has entered her warehouse and placed their order?\nWho? The one who knows everything knows her well\,\nand with a sharp mind\, easily tracked her down. \nThe one who set up the earth in the first place\,\nand filled it with everything on four legs;\nthe one who throws light into the sky\,\nand who can send it cowering away with a word;\nthe one at whose call the stars stepped forth\,\neagerly signing up for the night watch\nand lighting up with joy for the one who made them. \nThis is our God;\nand no other god is in the same league. \nGod has marked out the track to Wisdom’s home\nand shared her secrets with his servant Jacob\,\nand with Israel\, his beloved child.\nFrom that time on\, Wisdom appeared on earth\nand made her home among the people. \nShe is the book of instruction given by God;\nthe law laid down that lasts forever.\nAll those who hold fast to her will live\,\nbut those who give up on her will die. \nTurn around\, people of Jacob\, and reach out for her.\nTurn towards her light and head straight there.\nWhat a glorious gift you have been given!\nDon’t squander it and leave it to others to cash in on it.\nWe’ve got it made\, O people of Israel\,\nbecause we are in the know about what pleases God. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  6th Reading (alternative 2): Proverbs 8:1-8\, 19-21 ; 9: 4b-6			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Wisdom calls; her voice full of promise.\nCan’t you hear her\, offering herself to all who pass by? \nOn the station steps at rush hour\, there she is.\nOn a busy corner where everyone passes;\nleaning on the gate as the crowd comes through;\nwherever people are\, her voice rings out. \nThis is what she has to say: \n“Come one and all\, and hear me out;\nIf you’re in the land of the living\, what I have to offer is for you. \nTo the thick-headed\, I offer lessons in good sense;\nto you who know nothing\, I offer a solid education. \nListen up! What I have to say is worth hearing.\nEvery word that passes my lips can be trusted.\nFrom my mouth you’ll hear only the truth;\ncorrupt and deceitful talk makes me sick. \nWhenever I speak\, it is straight down the line;\nI don’t twist the truth or put a shifty spin on it. \nInvest in me and you’ll reap the rewards;\nrich benefits\, more than money could ever buy. \nI stick to the track of those who do the right thing;\nI steer a straight line on the road of justice.\nI heap riches on those who love me;\ntheir lives are chock full of good things. \nTo the ignorant and confused\, Wisdom makes her invitation\,\n“Come over to my place and we’ll chew the fat.\nShare my bread and wine and things will fall into place.\nThe time has come to turn the corner\,\nto grow up\, to embrace life.\nThink before you act\nand walk with understanding.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 19			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Your glory is written in the sky\, God;\nyour artistry is carved on the face of the earth.\nFrom one day to another\, the message passes on\,\nand each night puts the next one in the know. \nNot a word is spoken\,\nnot a sound do they make;\nyet their silence reverberates around the earth\nand their unspoken message echoes from pole to pole. \nYou made the sun at home flying across the sky.\nIt takes to its task with the eagerness of a bridegroom;\nas exultant as an athlete breasting the tape.\nAs your messenger\, God\, it does its rounds\,\nfrom one end of the sky to the other\,\nwarming everything in its path. \nYour revealed will is right on the mark\, LORD;\nit gives our souls their second wind.\nWhat you says goes\,\nand any fool can wise up by taking note. \nYour instructions are spot on\, LORD;\nanyone who follows them will be glad they did.\nWhat you direct us to do is easy to see\,\nand once seen\, everything become clear. \nRespect for you keeps us true\, LORD\,\nnothing can corrupt it\, now or ever.\nWhat you decide is always accurate;\na fair ruling\, beyond dispute. \nYour Word is worth far more\nthan even diamond encrusted gold!\nIt is sweeter by far\nthan any mouth watering delicacy\,\neven chocolate dipped strawberries with cream! \nBut that’s not all!\nYour Word\, O LORD\, keeps me out of danger\,\nand following it pays off richly. \nCan anyone put their finger on all their own faults?\nLORD\, eradicate the bugs I haven’t even identified yet. \nRemind me not to entertain sour contemptuous thoughts\,\nand don’t let them start pulling my strings.\nWithout them\, I can stay on course\,\nand keep my record clean. \nThat’s what I want\, O LORD.\nI want all the things I say\,\nand all the things I mull over in my heart\,\nto be things I’d be proud to offer to you\,\nfor you are the bedrock of my life;\nthe one who puts me back where I belong. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  7th Reading: Ezekiel 36: 24-28			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	I\, the LORD\, will bring you home from exile.\nI will gather you from your foreign hideouts\,\nand settle you safely in your own homeland. \nI will wash you down with clean water;\nscrub the defilement from your lives\,\nand clean off the filthy residue of your flirtation with idols. \nI will renovate your lives from the inside out\,\nand give you a new heart and new spirit.\nI will remove your cold stone hearts\,\nand replace them with hearts of healthy flesh. \nI will put my spirit inside you\,\nto give you a passion for following my ways\nand a commitment to doing what I say. \nThen you will live in the homeland I gave to your ancestors.\nYou will be my people\,\nand I will be your God. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 42 & 43			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Like a wallaby searching for a waterhole\,\nI crave you\, God\, with every fibre of my being. \nEverything inside me thirsts for you\, God\,\nfor you\, the Living God.\nWhen will the drought break\nso I can be with you\, face to face. \nI’ve had nothing but tears to sustain me;\nday and night it’s been the same;\nI can’t shut out the jeers and taunts\,\n“Where is this God of yours?” \nCherished memories flood my mind\,\nrubbing salt in the wound;\nmemories of past celebrations\nwhen I led the worship in your house.\nI can still hear the laughter and joyous singing;\nthe crowds celebrating your goodness. \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \nI feel so defeated inside;\nI try to remind myself of your goodness\nas I walk along the beach to the river mouth\nand look towards the mountains. \nBut all I hear is the roar of waves\nand churning waters;\nI feel like chaos is breaking over me\nand sucking me down\, deeper and deeper. \nEvery day I read of your rock-solid love\, LORD;\nand every night I sing your songs\nand pray to you as the God of my life. \nBut still I find myself asking the question:\n“Why has your rock-solid love let me down?\nWhy are so many out to get me\,\nmaking my life such a misery?” \nMy wounds are deep and painful\nbut the torture goes on;\nover and over I hear the taunts\,\n“Where is this God of yours?” \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \nClear my name\, God;\nside with me against these godless tormentors.\nRescue me from their lies and abuse. \nI trusted you to look after me\, God;\nwhy have you pushed me aside?\nWhy are so many out to get me\,\nmaking my life such a misery? \nLet your truth blaze like a beacon\nso I can see the way to go;\nlet it light up the path and lead me\nto your home on the sacred mountain. \nThen I will offer myself to you in worship\, God;\noffer myself with uninhibited joy.\nI will praise you with music and song\,\nO God\, my God! \nWhy do I feel so defeated?\nWhy am I so anxious and agitated?\nI tell myself not to give up hope\,\nfor you are my God and my help\nand I’ll be glad of that again. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  8th Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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?”\nI replied\, “Lord GOD\, only you can answer such a question.” \nThen the LORD told me to preach boldly to the bones\, saying: \n“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.” \n 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. \nThen the LORD told me to call to the winds\, saying: \n“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.” \n 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. \nThen the LORD explained to me what it all meant: \n“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:\n“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.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 143			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Listen to my prayer\, LORD.\nI know you can be relied on to hear my cry for mercy\nand to do the right thing when you answer.\nI am at your service\, LORD\,\nbut please don’t put me on trial.\nYou can see that I’ve screwed up like everyone else. \nEnemies have been constantly on my tail\,\nstomping me into the dirt\nand leaving me for dead in some dark hellhole.\nThat’s why I’m so gutted.\nMy heart can’t take any more; it’s chucking in the towel. \nI think back on the good old days\nand remember all the great things you did\, LORD;\nI go over and over your achievements in my mind.\nI’m reaching out to you for help now.\nInside I am like a salt pan in the desert sun\,\ndesperately thirsting for you. \nAnswer me before it’s too late\, LORD;\nI can’t go on much longer.\nDon’t turn your back on me now\nor I’ll be headed straight for the grave.\nMay the morning bring news of your rock-solid love\nbecause I’ve put all my trust in you.\nShow me the track you want me to follow\nfor I’m offering my life to you.\nRescue me from my enemies\, LORD.\nI’ve fled to you seeking asylum. \nYou are my God;\nteach me what you want me to do.\nSend your Spirit to guide me\nsafely along the right track.\nLet me live\, LORD; your reputation hangs on it.\nDo the right thing\, as you always do\,\nand get me out of this danger.\nBe true to your rock-solid love and cut off my enemies.\nDestroy those who are trying to destroy me\nfor I live to serve you. \n©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  9th Reading: Zephaniah 3: 14-20			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	Lift your voices\, all you children of Israel.\nSing and shout for joy!\nLet your hair down\, Jerusalem.\nCelebrate with all your heart! \nThe LORD has let you out of jail\nand forced your enemies to turn tail and run.\nThe one who rules over Israel – the LORD –\nis right alongside you\, so you have nothing to fear.\nNo disaster can touch you now. \nThe great day is coming\, Jerusalem\,\nwhen you will hear this message: \n“Relax! Don’t be afraid\, people of Zion.\nYour hands can stop trembling now!\nThe LORD\, your God\, is right alongside you;\na champion who always comes out on top.\nGod will be bursting with joy over you\,\ncelebrating as though it was always your birthday!\nGod will nourish you with love\nuntil the spring is back in your step.” \nThe LORD\, your God\, says to you: \n“I will bring your misfortune to an end;\nand set you free from its humiliation.\nThose who have kicked you around\nwill have me to deal with!\nI will rescue and reunite\nthe crippled and the refugees.\nNo longer will they be treated with contempt.\nI’ll see that they are honoured all over the world.\nWhen that time comes\,\nI will gather you together and bring you all home.\nWith your own eyes\nyou’ll see me restore all that is rightly yours.\nThen you will be honoured everywhere.\nEveryone on earth will sing your praises.\nI\, the LORD\, have spoken.” \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 98			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	We sing like we’ve never sung before\, LORD\,\nbecause you have done fantastic things.\nWith your sleeves rolled up you got stuck in\nand came out on top. \nYour victory has made the headlines\, LORD\,\nnow the whole world can see that you were right all along. \nYou have never defaulted on your rock-solid love\,\nor your loyalty to your chosen people.\nFrom one end of the earth to the other\,\neveryone has seen your victory. \nWith all the world\, LORD\, we raise a noisy celebration\,\nsinging our lungs out and shouting your praise. \nThe bands strike up in your honour\, LORD\,\nfilling the air with festive music.\nWith a brass fanfare and a dancing beat\nwe loudly celebrate your reign over us. \nThe whole creation joins in the celebration:\nthe ocean and its creatures roar their approval;\nthe land and its animals\, cheer and stomp;\nrivers and lakes give a standing ovation\,\nmountains and hills erupt in applause. \nWe put on the whole show in your presence\, LORD\,\ncelebrating your arrival as you finally bring justice.\nWith you in charge we know things will be put right;\nnow every one on earth will get a fair go. \n©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  10th Reading: Romans 6: 3-11			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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. \nYou 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. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Psalm 114			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	When we were led out of the land of slavery\n- the people of Israel\, coming out from under the foreign thumb -\nthe land of Judah became a sacred place\,\nthe land of Israel came under sovereign rule. \nThe wild sea took one look\, and turned tail and ran\,\nthe Jordan river backed off and headed the other way.\nThe mountains skipped like a rock wallaby;\nthe hills were as jumpy as a kelpie pup. \nWhat was it that made the wild sea turn tail?\nWhat was it that made the Jordan back off?\nWhat made the mountains quiver and jump?\nWhat made the hills shudder and shake? \nIt was awe of you\, LORD\, God of our ancestors.\nThe whole earth trembles in your presence.\nFor you are the one who melts rocks into pools of water;\nthe one who brings springs bubbling up from hard baked ground. \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year A - 2026): Matthew 28: 1-10			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nSo 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. \nThey 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.” \n©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year B - 2027): Mark 16: 1-8			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nThe 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. \n©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n		\n\n		\n			\n				  Gospel Reading (Year C - 2025): Luke 24: 1-12			\n		\n\n		\n		 \n \n	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.” \nSuddenly 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. \n©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net \n\n\n			\n	\n	\n\n\n\nSermons\n\n\n\nSermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website. \n\n\n\n\nThe Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nGod Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nA Young Man in WhiteA sermon on Mark 16:1-8 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nDo Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff \n\n\n\nThis Changes EverythingA sermon on Mark 16:1-8  by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nFactoring the UnthinkableA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nThe Great Reversal Moves ForwardA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by David Devine\n\n\n\nA Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nLife and love in the face of deathA sermon by Roslyn Wright\n\n\n\nThe Failure of FailureA sermon on Matthew 28:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nHow Does It End?A sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nBy The Light Of A RumourA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nShowing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra\n\n\n\nA Question For Your TearsA sermon on John 20:11-18 by Edward L Taylor\n\n\n\nMoving On From CrucifyingA sermon on Luke 24:1-12 & Romans 6:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton\n\n\n\nDarkness Breaks SlowlyA sermon on Mark 16: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton
URL:https://laughingbird.net/occasion/abc30/2030-04-20/
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