Tuesday of Holy Week
2029-03-27 00:00 - 23:59 (Australia/Melbourne)
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Isaiah 49: 1-7

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

Psalm 71: 1-14

I run to you for protection, LORD,
please don’t ever let me down.
You always do the right thing,
so please be there for me when I need you.
Hear me when I call for help
and step in quickly to bail me out.
Keep me safe when I need somewhere to hide.
You are like a mountain hideaway to me;
like a bunker than nothing can blast open.
If I fall into hostile hands,
be my God and rescue me;
Don’t let the callous and cruel
get their claws into me.
You are my only hope,
the only one I can depend on, LORD;
I’ve trusted you since I was a kid.
I’ve leaned on you for support
since the day I was born.
You were the midwife who delivered me from my mother’s womb,
the safe hands who pulled me gasping into life.
I’ll never stop thanking you for that!
Many people think my name spells trouble,
but you stick up for me when they attack.
How can I ever thank you enough?
I go on all day about how wonderful you are.
Don’t give up on me when I get too old, LORD;
don’t turn your back when I’ve got nothing left to offer.
I’ll need your help, because my enemies are out to get me,
they’re plotting against my life even now.
They’ve put out a contract on me
and guaranteed immunity to whoever brings me down
They say you’ve given up on me
and that no one will defend me.
Don’t ever let me out of your sight, God;
jump to my defence at the first sign of trouble.
Turn the tables on those who slandered me,
leave them with egg all over their faces.
See to it that those who set out to destroy me
get the public humiliation they deserve.
I will never give up hope,
because I trust in you.
Every time I open my mouth,
I will sing your praises more and more.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 1: 18-31

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

John 12: 20-36

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.”
Philip, 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.”
He went on to say:
“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!’ ”
And a voice answered from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”
The 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.”
Jesus 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.”
With 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?”
Jesus 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.”
And having said this, Jesus cleared off and made himself scarce.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Wednesday of Holy Week
2029-03-28 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Isaiah 50: 4-9a

The LORD God has given me the gift of the gab
so that my words can teach others
and put a spring in the step of the weary.
As I wake up each new day,
God makes me hungry for learning.
The LORD cleaned out my ears
so that I could hear every word.
I learned eagerly;
I never rebelled or quit.
I was opposed by others,
but I gritted my teeth and stood my ground.
I looked them in the eye
when they insulted me and spat in my face.
I took it on the chin and did not fight back,
when they gave me a belting and tore out my hair.
The Lord GOD is always there for me,
so no disgrace ever gets to me.
I have steeled my jaw and dug in my heels,
and I’m sure I’ll never be ashamed of my stand
because I can trust God to back me up.
So, who thinks they can take me on?
Let them stand up and face me!
Who are my opponents?
Let’s see what they’re made of!
The Lord GOD is backing me;
so who is going to accuse me of doing wrong?
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 70

Please God, deliver me!
Help me, LORD, quickly!
These people are out to get me, LORD;
leave them confused
with egg all over their faces.
They are trying to do me harm;
knock them off their perches
and send them packing.
When they smirk and make a joke of me,
run them out of town in disgrace.
Put a smile on the face
of everyone who seeks you, LORD.
Give everyone who loves your ways
reason to celebrate your greatness forever.
But right now, God, I need your help in a hurry;
I can’t make ends meet.
You are the one who helps me;
the one who rescues me from danger.
Quickly, LORD, help me without delay!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Hebrews 12: 1-3

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.
So, 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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 13: 21-32

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.”
The 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.”
So he did. He leaned over and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered quietly, “I’ll dip this bread in the gravy and hand it to him. He’s the one.”
So 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.”
At 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.
Once 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.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Thursday of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday)
2029-03-29 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Exodus 12: 1-4, (5-10), 11-14

After the King of Egypt had refused to listen to all the warnings, the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying:
“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.
That 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.
Remember this day and, in every generation to come, celebrate it as an annual festival to honour me, the LORD.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

I love you, LORD!
How could I not love you
when you always respond to my cries?
You are always ready to listen to me,
so I will bring my needs to you as long as I live.
How can I ever repay you, LORD?
What gift could ever express my gratitude?
I will raise my glass in your honour,
I will name you as the one who saved me.
I will make good on all I promised you, LORD,
and I’ll let everyone know its for you.
Whenever one of your faithful people dies
it affects you deeply.
LORD, you have released me from my chains.
I will serve you forever,
just as my forebears have done.
I will bring a gift to say thanks;
I will pray to you, and you alone.
I will be true to the vows I’ve made;
and I won’t keep it hidden.
In full view of all your people,
in the public place of worship,
I’ll do all I promised you, LORD.
All the praise and all the credit are your, LORD!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

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:
“This is my body. It is for you.
Do this so that I will be remembered.”
At the end of the meal he did the same thing with the cup, saying:
“This cup is God’s new alliance with you —
an alliance sealed with my blood.
Do this, every time you drink it,
so that I will be remembered.”
The 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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

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.
Jesus 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?”
Jesus answered, “I know you don’t yet understand why I’m doing this, but in time it will make sense to you.”
But Peter said, “No way! I’ll never let you wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash you, then it’s all over between us. You’ll have nothing further to do with me.”
“In that case,” Simon Peter replied, “don’t just wash my feet! Wash my hands; wash my head!”
Jesus 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.”
When he had finished washing their feet, he put his jacket back on and sat back down at the table. He said to them:
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We do indeed bring you a gift of thanks, O God,
as we raise the cup of freedom in your name,
for you have made a covenant with us in the blood of Christ
and broken us free from the grip of death.
In your creative love, you brought the world to birth,
and from the first you loved all who live in it.
You heard the cries of your suffering people
and protected them with the blood of the Passover lamb
as you struck down those who oppressed them.
You sent your Son, Jesus, as our Teacher and Lord
and gave all things into his hands.
Laying aside his power,
he gave himself to us in humble service
and taught us to love one another
as he had loved us.
When the hour for his departure came,
he was betrayed by a friend
and his body broken on the cross.
With his outpoured blood you marked out those
who will follow where he has gone,
into the promised land of resurrection life.
Therefore with .....
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We raise the cup of freedom in thanks to you, O God,
for you have made a covenant with us in the blood of Christ,
who gave himself to us in humble service
and taught us to love one another as he had loved us.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

The blood of Christ, the true lamb,
seals God’s new covenant with us
and marks us out for salvation.
The Lord has forgiven your sins,
washed you clean,
and freed you from death’s grip.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now and fulfil your vows to the Lord.
Love one another as Christ has loved you
and give yourselves to one another in humble service,
just as Christ has given himself to you.
Celebrate these holy days as a perpetual ordinance,
for no gift could ever repay God’s goodness to us.
And may God hear you whenever you call;
May Christ Jesus keep you safe through his blood;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you further
into the depths of God’s saving mysteries.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Discerning 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)

Holy Saturday (The Day of Nothingness) for services prior to the Paschal Vigil
2029-03-31 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Job 14: 1-14

Job addressed God saying:
What happened to dying ‘old and full of days’?
‘Few of days and full of grief’
seems to be the lot of everyone born.
Like flowers, we’re lucky to survive the heat of a single day;
like shadows, we never survive the fall of night.
So why have you set your sights on me?
Why are you dragging me into court as though I was your equal?
How can anyone like me, born in the gutter,
expect to come out clean on legal street? Not a chance!
The length of our lives is already set.
You have decided how long we’ve got,
and when our number’s up, there is nothing we can do about it.
So why not back off and give us a break?
Can’t we do our time without you standing over us?
A tree can still have hope
even if it is cut down in its prime.
There is every chance
that it will sprout again and flourish.
Even if its stump rots away
and its roots wither in the ground,
it only needs a whiff of water and it buds again
and comes up strong like a young plant reborn.
But we mere mortals die, and that’s it.
Dead and buried, no human is ever seen again.
Just like a lake drying out in a never ending drought,
or a river fading to a trickle and then its gone,
so too we mortals crumble to dust
with no hope of a second time round.
We think we’ll wake up in the morning,
but no way! Not till hell freezes over.
If only the land of the dead was just a prison
and you could lock me safely away till your anger cools down.
You could fix my sentence
and remember me when my time was done.
Then I could serve my time and hang on to hope,
as I counted down the days till my release.
Wishful thinking!
When we mere mortals die, that’s it, isn’t it?
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Lamentations 3: 1-9, 19-24 (alternative 1st reading)

I have borne the brunt of your anger, God.
I have suffered the punishment you dished out.
You drove me away from the light
and left me facing the darkness alone.
You singled me out for a beating;
and belted me around day and night.
Under your hand, my body wasted away,
and my bones were cracked and broken.
You were constantly in my face,
standing over me, keeping me in fear.
You locked me up in darkness
and death seemed close at hand.
You have fenced me in with barbed wire,
and chained my ankles for good measure.
I can cry for help all I like,
but you’ve blocked your ears.
You built permanent blockades on every road.
Wherever I go, I am turned back.
The reality I’m facing is like a bitter taste in my mouth.
Grief and deprivation poison my mind.
I can’t stop thinking about it over and over,
but every thought makes me want to die.
The one thing that gives me hope,
the one thing I keep reminding myself of is this:
Your love and loyalty never die, LORD.
Your generous mercy never runs dry.
They are created new every morning
and you are as trustworthy as the solid rock.
So I keep telling myself that you are all I need
and that I can still trust you to come through for me.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 31: 1-4, 15-16

I look to you for refuge, LORD;
don’t let me be dragged through the mud.
You promised justice – save me!
Give me your ear – I’m crying for help;
rescue me before it’s too late.
Be a secure refuge for me,
a bomb shelter where I can hide.
Your solid walls protect me from danger;
lead me and guide me so I’ll be a credit to you;
keep me clear of pitfalls and traps.
You are the only refuge I trust, LORD;
my future is in your hands.
Snatch me from the grasp
of those who are hunting me down.
I’m working for you; look on me with love.
Stand by me and save me.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Peter 4: 1-8

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.
Everything 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.
©2013 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 27: 57-66

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.
The 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.”
Pilate 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.”
So they took the security guards, taped off the area around the tomb, sealed the stone, and kept it under constant surveillance.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 19: 38-42 (alternative gospel reading)

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.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

The Great Paschal (Easter) Vigil
2029-03-31 00:00 - 2029-04-01 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

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

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

Psalm 136: 1-9, 23-26

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

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

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

Psalm 46

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

3rd Reading: Genesis 22: 1-18

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

Psalm 16

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

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

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

Exodus 15: 1b-13, 17-18

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

5th Reading: Isaiah 55: 1-11

This is what the LORD says:
Hey you! Are you thirsty?
Come, then. Drink from these fresh waters!
Are you too penniless even to eat?
Never mind! Come! Help yourselves; eat your fill!
Come and stock up with food, wine and milk.
What will it cost you? Not a red cent!
Why sink all your money into things that leave you hungry?
Why bust a gut working for things that can never satisfy?
Listen carefully to what I have to say
and you will feast at a rich banquet of fine foods.
Stick with me and tune in to what I’m saying,
for without my words, life is bland and tasteless.
I will surround your lives with love and loyalty,
making a permanent alliance, just as I did with David.
I gave him influence and authority over the nations,
and he was my witness among them.
You will be the same – a light to which others flock;
even those who don’t know you will come running;
they’ll be drawn to my glory, seen in you,
the glory of the LORD, the one and only God of Israel.
The LORD says,
Track me down before it is too late,
make contact while I’m in your neck of the woods.
Clean up your act and get your head straight;
give up your corrupt practices and plans.
Get yourself back on my wavelength
and I’ll pour out mercy and generous forgiveness.
I don’t think the way you think, says the LORD,
and I don’t do things the way you do.
Your ways and mine are like cheese and chalk,
your thoughts and mine are lightyears apart.
Everything I say has a powerful purpose;
no empty words ever pass my lips.
My words are like drops of rain in the cycle of nature:
wherever they fall they give life;
they replenish, renew and nourish life,
and then the earth gives them back and they start again.
My words always achieve their purpose;
they flourish where I plant them,
they nourish all who feed on them.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Isaiah 12: 2-6

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm 19

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

7th Reading: Ezekiel 36: 24-28

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

Psalm 42 & 43

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

8th Reading: Ezekiel 37: 1-14

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

Psalm 143

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

9th Reading: Zephaniah 3: 14-20

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

Psalm 98

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

10th Reading: Romans 6: 3-11

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

Psalm 114

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sermons

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

The Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

God Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

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

Do Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff

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

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

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

A Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

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

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

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

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

Showing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra

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

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

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

Resurrection Sunday Evening
2029-04-01 00:00 - 2029-04-02 00:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Isaiah 25: 6-9

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

Psalm 114

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

1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8

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

Luke 24: 13-49

In the afternoon of the day that the tomb had been found empty, a couple who had been followers of Jesus were heading back home to the small town called Emmaus. As they walked the ten kilometres or so from Jerusalem, they were talking over everything that had happened in the past few days. Along the way, Jesus himself joined them, but to their eyes he was just another stranger on the road. He asked them, “What’s all this you are discussing so intently as you travel?”
They pulled up in their tracks and looked at him with long faces. One of them, a man named Cleopas, said to him, “You must be the only stranger in and around Jerusalem who has not caught up with what’s been going on in the last few days.”
“What has been going on?” Jesus asked.
They replied, “It is all to do with Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet whose words and actions electrified the people in the presence of God. The religious and civil authorities had him arrested and then pushed for the death penalty. They got their way and he was executed. We’d had our hopes pinned on him being the one who would set Israel back in its rightful place. It’s all been over for three days now. A strange twist has rocked us all today, though. Some women from our group apparently went to the tomb first thing this morning and couldn’t find his body. They came back and told the rest of us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. We sent a group down to check out their story, and they found things just the way the women had said, but there was no sign of Jesus anywhere.”
When they had finished filling him in, Jesus said to them, “What a thick-headed pair you are! Why are you so slow to get your heads and your hearts around everything that the prophets spelled out?! Hasn’t it always been the case that the Messiah would have to cop all this suffering before getting in on the glory that was in store for him?”
Jesus spent the rest of their journey explaining the scriptures to them. Passage by passage, he showed them what Moses and the prophets had said about him.
When they reached the turn-off to the town they were heading for, Jesus appeared set to push on up the highway, but they put the hard word on him to stop at their place overnight since the sun was going down and the day was almost over. So he accepted their offer of hospitality and went home with them. When he sat down to the evening meal with them, he picked up a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they realised who he was; and just as suddenly he disappeared from sight. They looked at one another and said, “No wonder there was such a fire burning in our guts when he was explaining the scriptures to us on the road!”
So, without a moment’s delay, they were on their feet and hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell the news to the eleven and the rest of the crew. When they found them, they were all together and abuzz with news: “The Lord really has risen! He has appeared to Simon Peter!”
The couple from Emmaus filled them all in on what had happened on the road, and how it had dawned on them who he was when the bread had been broken.
While they were talking about all this, Jesus himself suddenly appeared, standing among them. “Greetings!” he said, “Peace be with you.”
Taken by surprise, they thought he was a ghost, and were scared spitless. Jesus said to them, “What have you got to be afraid of? Why are you letting your doubts get the better of you? Here, take a look at my hands and feet. See for yourselves that it really is me. Reach out and touch me and you will know that I am made of flesh and bone. No ghost can claim that!”
As he spoke, he showed them his hands and feet. It all seemed too good to be true; so wonderful that they couldn’t believe their eyes. Their heads were bursting with joy and disbelief! Jesus asked them, “Have you got anything here I can eat?”
They gave him a piece of grilled fish and he took it and ate it in front of them. Then he said to them, “The things I have said while I was with you amount to this: everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms is to be fulfilled.”
As he spoke they began to see how to read the scriptures with open minds so as to understand what God was saying in them. Jesus said to them:
“What was written will now be clear to you: that the Messiah is to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that the people of every nation must be told of the Messiah’s call to turn their lives around and receive forgiveness for their toxic ways. You can get started here in Jerusalem. You have witnessed these things first hand, so you can tell everyone what you have seen and heard. And don’t miss this: I myself am sending you the gift that my Father promised, so wait here in the city until you have been fitted out with God’s power.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have raised Jesus Christ to life
and destroyed the shroud of death that covered all people.
You made the earth, and it trembles in your presence;
you rescued your people from slavery,
leading them through the deep waters
from death to life.
You sent your Son, Jesus, to us,
a prophet mighty in word and deed
who taught us to celebrate your salvation
in sincerity and truth.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and wiped the tears from our faces.
Risen indeed, he is with us always,
breathing his peace over our fears
and spreading a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
Therefore with .....
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give thanks for your Risen Son, Jesus Christ,
who breathes his peace over our fears
and spreads a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have raised Jesus Christ to life
and destroyed the shroud of death that covered all people.
You made the earth, and it trembles in your presence;
you rescued your people from slavery,
leading them through the deep waters
from death to life.
You sent your Son, Jesus, to us,
a prophet mighty in word and deed
who taught us to celebrate your salvation
in sincerity and truth.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and wiped the tears from our faces.
Risen indeed, he is with us always,
breathing his peace over our fears
and spreading a rich banquet before us
so that in the breaking of bread
and your word proclaimed,
our eyes might be opened
and our hearts set on fire with love.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

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

Commission & Benediction

Go now as witnesses of God’s victory over evil and death.
The risen Christ has made himself known to you
in the breaking of bread,
so clean out the old yeast of malice and evil
and live as the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
And may God wipe every tear from your faces;
May Christ Jesus make himself known to you in all things;
And may the Holy Spirit open your eyes
and set your hearts on fire with love.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resurrection Sunday Morning - Year A
2029-04-01 00:00 - 2029-04-02 00:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

1st Reading: Acts 10: 34-43

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

Alternative 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31: 1-6

“When the time comes,” says the LORD, “it will be as clear as day that I am the God of all Israel, of every family without exception. All their people will be my people.”
This is what the LORD has to say:
“You people fled into the desert to escape a massacre,
and there in the desert, you found my generous love.
You were only looking for a safe place to hide,
but I met you out there and took care of you.
I have always loved you, and I always will,
and so I have been faithful to you, no matter what.
I will put you back on your feet again,
O Israel my beautiful bride.
Once again you shall take out your tambourines
and join the singing and dancing in the streets.
Just like in the good old days
you will grow grapes and make wine
on the hillsides of Samaria.
Those who put in the work
will get to enjoy its fruits.
You can bet on this: there is a day coming
when the watchtowers in the Ephraim hills
will report nothing but safety and freedom.
“Up you get, Israel,” they will say,
“it is time we went up to Mount Zion
to meet with the LORD our God!
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

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

2nd Reading: Colossians 3: 1-4

If you are fair dinkum when you say you have been raised to new life with Christ, then commit yourself to the things that belong to such a life. Look to Christ — God’s right hand man — and take your cues from him. Concentrate on the things that matter to Christ, and don’t let yourselves get hooked into the agendas that preoccupy the world around you. Your old life is behind you — dead and buried — and your new life is intimately bound up with Christ, and lived in God. The full reality of this new life is not visible to the general public yet, but it will be. Because your life is now bound to Christ, when Christ makes his triumphant return to the public stage, you will be there with him, in all your glory, for all to see.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Alternative 2nd Reading: Acts 10: 34-43

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

Gospel Reading: John 20: 1-18

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

Alternative Gospel Reading: Matthew 28: 1-10

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

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your love is forever
and you have raised the crucified Christ from the dead.
You created all things and placed Christ as the cornerstone.
You made your grace known to Israel in the wilderness,
and through your prophets you pledged
your everlasting love and constant faithfulness.
You anointed your child, Jesus,
with the Holy Spirit and power,
and he went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
He was put to death, hung on a tree,
but you raised him on the third day,
and allowed him to appear, first to Mary Magdalene
and then to your other chosen witnesses.
So now we praise you within the gates of justice
and raise our glad songs of victory
for you have become our saviour
and hidden our lives in Christ in glory.
Therefore with .....
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you that when your child Jesus was put to death,
you raised him on the third day,
and allowed him to appear, first to Mary Magdalene
and then to your other chosen witnesses.
In him you have become our saviour
and hidden our lives in Christ in glory.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your love is forever
and you have raised the crucified Christ from the dead.
You created all things and placed Christ as the cornerstone.
You made your grace known to Israel in the wilderness,
and through your prophets you pledged
your everlasting love and constant faithfulness.
You anointed your child, Jesus,
with the Holy Spirit and power,
and he went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
He was put to death, hung on a tree,
but you raised him on the third day,
and allowed him to appear, first to Mary Magdalene
and then to your other chosen witnesses.
So now we praise you within the gates of justice
and raise our glad songs of victory
for you have become our saviour
and hidden our lives in Christ in glory.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

All the prophets testify that God’s love is forever
and that everyone who puts their trust in Jesus
receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, glad and rejoicing,
for Christ is risen and has become your saviour.
Set your minds on the things of God
for your lives are hidden in Christ.
Preach and testify that he is the one ordained by God
to judge the living and the dead.
And may God surround you with everlasting love.
May Christ Jesus raise you with him to life in glory.
And may the Holy Spirit anoint you with power to do good.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2011 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

The Easter Homily of St John ChrysostomA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

God Came BackA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

Do Not Be AfraidA sermon by Andrew Woff

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

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

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

Showing UpA sermon by Joel Sierra

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

A Backwards GlanceA sermon by Nathan Nettleton

2nd Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-04-08 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 2: 14a, 22-32

Peter stood up with the other eleven and addressed the crowd as loudly and clearly as he could:
“My fellow Israelites, tune in and I’ll set you straight. You already know about Jesus of Nazareth, and you know how God publicly endorsed him by enabling him to do powerful and amazing things which clearly had God’s fingerprints all over them. This man’s life was put in your hands, just as God had decided it would be – a decision made with eyes open to the consequences. You strung him up and killed him, and the fact that you got some outsiders to do your dirty work doesn’t change that. But that wasn’t the end of the story: God raised him up, breaking him free from the grip of death, and death was powerless to do anything about it. Clearly David was anticipating the experience of Jesus when he wrote:
I can see that you are always with me, Lord;
you stick by me so I’ll never be pushed off track.
No wonder I’m on top of the world
and songs of joy burst from my lips;
there is even hope for my mortal body
because of you.
You will never give me up to the grave,
or leave your dedicated servant to rot.
You set my feet on a life-giving track,
and you will give me the ultimate pleasure
of being in your presence for keeps.
“My fellow Israelites, I’m not giving away any secrets when I say that our ancestor, King David, did himself die, and was buried. Even to this day, any of us can go and visit his grave and know that he’s gone. But he was a prophet who heard from God. He knew that God had promised to raise the ultimate King from his own family line. Seeing what this would mean, David pointed to the resurrection of the Messiah when he said:
He was not given up to the grave;
nor was his body left to rot.
“So the fact is, Jesus is the Messiah and God has raised him up. And we all stand before you as witnesses to this fact.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 16

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

1 Peter 1: 3-9

A standing ovation for God!! Applause! Honours! The richest rewards! All this and more for the God and Conceiver of our Lord Jesus the Messiah! Just look at the astonishing mercy evident in what God has done for us by raising Jesus the Messiah from the dead. Through this resurrection, God has given us all a fresh start, as people newly born into a life full of hope. And this newborn life can only get better, because God has put aside a nest-egg for us in heaven where its value cannot be eroded, degraded or rendered obsolete. It is all there waiting for you, and in the meantime, your faith will get you through, because God’s power is at work in it, protecting you from destruction and seeing you safely across the line into the life for which you are being saved — a life that will only be seen in all its glory when the curtain comes down on time as we’ve known it. All of this gives you every reason to celebrate with great joy, even though in recent times you have been repeatedly put under the heat of hostility and viciousness. You’ll come out the better for it. Solid gold — although here today and gone tomorrow — is only seen in all its beauty after it is refined by fire. Your faith, which is so much more precious than gold, will likewise be proved to be the genuine article when it emerges from the fire, and will thus attract even more credit and glory and honour when Jesus the Messiah takes centre stage. You have never seen him, but that doesn’t stop you loving him. You still don’t see him, and yet you are trusting him. And even now you are filled with a joy which words cannot describe; a joy which radiates the glories of heaven. And why not? Indeed, you are already tasting the life that is the ultimate reward for all who put faith into practice; the life for which you are being saved.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 20: 19-31

It was a Sunday – the first day of the week – when the tomb was found empty. That same evening, the disciples met together. They locked all the doors of the house where they were meeting because they were afraid of being tracked down by the religious authorities. Suddenly, Jesus appeared and stood among them saying, “Good evening to you all!”
He proceeded to show them the deep scars in his hands and side. The disciples, of course, were over the moon at seeing the Lord again. Jesus spoke again, saying, “All the best to you. God sent me into the world, and in the same way, I’m sending you.”
Having said that, he breathed a big breathe onto them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit; all of you. If you forgive anyone who has sinned, then their sins are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness for any sins, they remain unforgiven.”
When this happened, Thomas – known as “the Twin” and one of the twelve – was missing. The other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, but they couldn’t convince him. “I’m not falling for that one!” Thomas replied. “I’d have to see the nail holes in his hands before I’d believe it. In fact I’d have to feel the holes myself, and touch the spear wound in his side.”
A week later, the disciples again gathered behind locked doors in the same house, and this time Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors, Jesus came and stood among them again and said, “Good evening to you all!”
Then he turned to Thomas and said, “Here are my hands, Thomas. Put your finger here in the wound.” And pulling up his shirt, he said, “And here is my side. You can put your hand in the hole. Let go of your doubts and trust me.”
Thomas, of course, was blown away, and said, “You are my Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Believing is not that hard when you’ve seen me, is it? Imagine how much God will smile on those who put their trust in me without ever having seen me!”
The disciples saw Jesus do many other things that demonstrated to them the reality of who he was, but they have not all been written down in this book. But what has been written here has been written for you, dear readers, so that you will know enough to see that Jesus is the anointed One – the Son of God – and so that by putting your trust in him you can come to have real life: the life that he lived and shares.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
In the first of your mighty deeds of power
you created the heavens and earth.
You formed for yourself a people,
and through the law and prophets
you led them on the road to life.
Your child and our brother, Jesus Christ,
came to us speaking words of peace and forgiveness.
He was put to death by the enemies of life,
but you kept your promise
not to abandon your faithful one to death.
You raised him up, and freed him from death’s power.
Greeting us with hands still scarred,
he stands with us in our fears, doubts and trials
and protects us through faith
for salvation into our glorious inheritance -
boundless joy at your side forever.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your Son, Jesus Christ,
who greets us with hands still scarred
and stands with us in our fears, doubts and trials,
protecting us through faith
for salvation into our glorious inheritance -
boundless joy at your side forever.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
In the first of your mighty deeds of power
you created the heavens and earth.
You formed for yourself a people,
and through the law and prophets
you led them on the road to life.
Your child and our brother, Jesus Christ,
came to us speaking words of peace and forgiveness.
He was put to death by the enemies of life,
but you kept your promise
not to abandon your faithful one to death.
You raised him up, and freed him from death’s power.
Greeting us with hands still scarred,
he stands with us in our fears, doubts and trials
and protects us through faith
for salvation into our glorious inheritance -
boundless joy at your side forever.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

In the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has commissioned us
to announce the forgiveness of sins.
You who have put your faith in Jesus the Messiah
will receive the outcome of your faith,
mercy for your sins and resurrection life in Christ.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

As the father sent Christ Jesus,
so now you are sent.
Go then, with your hearts rejoicing,
as those who have touched the marks of truth.
Endure suffering,
forgive sins,
and love the Lord.
And may God’s power be your protection;
May Christ Jesus reach out to you with words of peace;
And may the Holy Spirit fill you with indescribable and glorious joy.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

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

Beyond Doubt?A sermon on John 20:19-31 by Nathan Nettleton

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

Crossing the ThresholdA sermon on 1 Peter 1: 3-9 & John 20: 19-31 by Nathan Nettleton

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

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

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

3rd Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-04-15 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

Peter stood up with the other eleven and addressed the crowd as loudly and clearly as he could, saying, “Let the whole people of Israel know, without a shadow of a doubt, that this Jesus who you killed on a cross, is the one who God has made both Lord and Messiah.”
Peter’s words hit home deep in the guts of his hearers. They turned to him and the other apostles saying, “Brothers and sisters, what can we do about this?”
Peter replied, “Turn around and get your lives back on track with God. Be baptised, each and every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah, so that all your failings can be forgiven. Do that and you will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you, for your children, and for everyone on down the line – everyone who receives the invitation of the Lord our God.”
Peter continued pressing the case, seeking to convince everyone. He urged them to respond, saying, “Break free from the corrupt culture that surrounds you, before it is too late.”
Those who welcomed what he had to say and took it on board were baptised, and on that one day, about three thousand people were added to the ranks of those following the way of Jesus.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 116: 1-4, 12-19

I love you, LORD!
How could I not love you
when you always respond to my cries?
You are always ready to listen to me,
so I will bring my needs to you as long as I live.
Once death was closing in on me;
the grave’s icy fingers had me in their grasp;
Tormented and desperate, I cried out to you,
“Please, LORD. Help me! Save my life!”
How can I ever repay you, LORD?
What gift could ever express my gratitude?
I will raise my glass in your honour,
I will name you as the one who saved me.
I will make good on all I promised you, LORD,
and I’ll let everyone know its for you.
Whenever one of your faithful people dies
it affects you deeply.
LORD, you have released me from my chains.
I will serve you forever,
just as my forebears have done.
I will bring a gift to say thanks;
I will pray to you, and you alone.
I will be true to the vows I’ve made;
and I won’t keep it hidden.
In full view of all your people,
in the public place of worship,
I’ll do all I promised you, LORD.
All the praise and all the credit are your, LORD!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Peter 1: 17-23

You are now strangers to the culture around you, and the way you live is important. The fact that you look to God as your Father does not mean that God is going to show you any favouritism. God is not swayed by mere words, but treats everybody fairly on the basis of what they do. So make sure you treat God with due respect and submission in the way you live your lives. You know that when you were slaves to the futile preoccupations of the culture you grew up in, God had to pay dearly to get you free. The price was not paid in money, which is here today and gone tomorrow, but in blood — the life-blood of the Messiah — like the noble sacrifice of a cherished one who can do no wrong. This had been on the cards for the Messiah before time began, because God always planned to get you free, whatever it cost. It is only now though, as time draws to a close, that it is all out in the open for your benefit. You have come to put your trust in God because of this Messiah, who God then raised from the dead and heaped glories upon. It is because of him that all your hopes and plans for the future are pinned on God.
Now that you have purged the muck from your hearts by doing what the truth required of you, you will find that you have the capacity for love that is authentic and mutual. So use it! Love one another with all your hearts. You have been given a fresh start, a new birth into a new life; not conceived from sperm and egg this time, but from something far more dependable and permanent — the living word of God.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Luke 24: 13-35

In the afternoon of the day that the tomb had been found empty, a couple who had been followers of Jesus were heading back home to the small town called Emmaus. As they walked the ten kilometres or so from Jerusalem, they were talking over everything that had happened in the past few days. Along the way, Jesus himself joined them, but to their eyes he was just another stranger on the road. He asked them, “What’s all this you are discussing so intently as you travel?”
They pulled up in their tracks and looked at him with long faces. One of them, a man named Cleopas, said to him, “You must be the only stranger in and around Jerusalem who has not caught up with what’s been going on in the last few days.”
“What has been going on?” Jesus asked.
They replied, “It is all to do with Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet whose words and actions electrified the people in the presence of God. The religious and civil authorities had him arrested and then pushed for the death penalty. They got their way and he was executed. We’d had our hopes pinned on him being the one who would set Israel back in its rightful place. It’s all been over for three days now. A strange twist has rocked us all today, though. Some women from our group apparently went to the tomb first thing this morning and couldn’t find his body. They came back and told the rest of us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. We sent a group down to check out their story, and they found things just the way the women had said, but there was no sign of Jesus anywhere.”
When they had finished filling him in, Jesus said to them, “What a thick-headed pair you are! Why are you so slow to get your heads and your hearts around everything that the prophets spelled out?! Hasn’t it always been the case that the Messiah would have to cop all this suffering before getting in on the glory that was in store for him?”
Jesus spent the rest of their journey explaining the scriptures to them. Passage by passage, he showed them what Moses and the prophets had said about him.
When they reached the turn-off to the town they were heading for, Jesus appeared set to push on up the highway, but they put the hard word on him to stop at their place overnight since the sun was going down and the day was almost over. So he accepted their offer of hospitality and went home with them. When he sat down to the evening meal with them, he picked up a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened and they realised who he was; and just as suddenly he disappeared from sight. They looked at one another and said, “No wonder there was such a fire burning in our guts when he was explaining the scriptures to us on the road!”
So, without a moment’s delay, they were on their feet and hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell the news to the eleven and the rest of the crew. When they found them, they were all together and abuzz with news: “The Lord really has risen! He has appeared to Simon Peter!”
The couple from Emmaus filled them all in on what had happened on the road, and how it had dawned on them who he was when the bread had been broken.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for through Christ we have come to trust in you,
setting our faith and hope on you
as the one who frees us from death’s grip.
You laid the foundations of the world
and destined your child, Jesus,
to reveal your eternal presence.
Through Moses and the prophets,
you made your ways known
and called your people to follow you.
You sent Jesus to us, a prophet mighty in word and deed,
to free our corrupt generation from its futile ways.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and made him both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and now in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your son, Jesus,
who you have made both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for through Christ we have come to trust in you,
setting our faith and hope on you
as the one who frees us from death’s grip.
You laid the foundations of the world
and destined your child, Jesus,
to reveal your eternal presence.
Through Moses and the prophets,
you made your ways known
and called your people to follow you.
You sent Jesus to us, a prophet mighty in word and deed,
to free our corrupt generation from its futile ways.
Though he was condemned to death
and crucified by the religious,
you raised him from the dead
and made him both Lord and Messiah.
Risen indeed, he is with us always;
and now in the breaking of bread
and your living and enduring word,
our eyes are opened
and are hearts set on fire with love.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

This promise is for you and for all who come after you,
all who are called by the Lord our God:
through repentance and baptism into Christ,
your sins will be forgiven
and the gift of the Holy Spirit will be yours.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now as witnesses of God’s eternal presence.
The risen Christ has made himself known to you
in the breaking of bread,
so set your faith and hope on God,
fulfilling your vows and living in genuine mutual love.
And may God hear and respond whenever you call;
May Christ Jesus make himself known to you in all things;
And may the Holy Spirit open your eyes and set your hearts on fire with love.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

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

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

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

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

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

Repentance and Embracing the StrangerA sermon on Acts 2:36-41 & Luke 24:13-35 by Nathan Nettleton

Through the Eyes of a Dead ManA sermon on Acts 2:36-41 & Luke 24:13-35 by Nathan Nettleton

5th Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-04-15 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 7: 55-60

Stephen was completely under the influence of the Holy Spirit as he spoke to the Council. As he finished his speech, he looked up to the sky and caught sight of Jesus basking in the glory of God as God’s right hand man. “Look at that!” he said. “I can see right into heaven, and Jesus, the New Human, is there as God’s right hand man. He is rising to his feet even now!”
But his words turned the assembly into a frenzied mob. They rushed at him violently, screaming abuse to drown out his words, and dragged him off to the place where the executions were carried out. Stripping to the waist and handing their coats to a young man named Saul for safe-keeping, the leaders of the mob began to stone Stephen to death. As they pelted him with rocks, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit home.”
Falling to his knees, he raised his voice for everyone to hear and prayed, “Lord, don’t hold this crime against them.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when the hail of rocks finished him off and he slumped to the ground, dead.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16

I look to you for refuge, LORD;
don’t let me be dragged through the mud.
You promised justice – save me!
Give me your ear – I’m crying for help;
rescue me before it’s too late.
Be a secure refuge for me,
a bomb shelter where I can hide.
Your solid walls protect me from danger;
lead me and guide me so I’ll be a credit to you;
keep me clear of pitfalls and traps.
You are the only refuge I trust, LORD;
I put my life in your hands.
You are a faithful God,
and you have saved me.
My future is in your hands;
snatch me from the grasp
of those who are hunting me down.
I’m working for you; look on me with love.
Stand by me and save me.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Peter 2: 2-10

If you have already had a taste of God’s goodness, you will be like babies at the breast, hungry for more of the pure, spiritual milk that you need to grow up strong and healthy in the life you have now been born into. Drink deep!
God is building a house and Christ is the living foundation stone. The human race didn’t want him included in the building, but God saw him as the most precious stone of all and chose him to be the one on which everything else depends. So now as you come to him, allow yourselves to be used as further living stones in the construction of this sacred building. Within this house you will serve as the dedicated priests whose job is to work with Jesus the Messiah in offering the spiritual sacrifices that are a welcome gift to God. The scriptures put it this way:
“Look, I am setting a stone in place in Zion;
a precious, hand-picked stone;
foundation and centrepiece;
holding the weight of all.
Those who entrust themselves to him
will never be dragged through the mud.”
He has proven himself invaluable to you who trust him, but to those who refuse to trust him, other sayings spring to mind:
“The stone the builders tossed out as useless
is now seen in all its glory holding everything together.”
and also:
“There is a stone that trips them up;
they stumble over it and fall flat on their faces.”
Such people defy the message, so their fate is a foregone conclusion; they keep on being tripped up by it.
But it is a very different story for you. You are God’s own special people, chosen to be a noble priesthood and a nation wholly dedicated to God. That is why God, who turned on the lights for you when you were lost in the dark, has given you the job of broadcasting the news about all the great things God does.
Once you were nothing but a rabble,
but now you are God’s own people.
Once mercy was nothing but a word to you,
but now you are showered with mercy.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 14: 1-14

Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t go losing your nerve. Stick with God, and stick with me too. My Father’s house has plenty of room for everyone. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have been telling you that I’m off to book you in, would I? And you can be sure that if I go and book you in, then I’ll be back to pick you up so that we can be together. Anyway, you know which track will get you to where I am going.”
Thomas disputed this, saying, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are headed, so how are we supposed to pick the right track to get there?”
Jesus said, “I am the right track, and the whole truth, and the real life. No one gets near the Father without my help. If you really knew me, then you would also know my Father. And now you do! You know my Father and you have even seen him.”
“If only!” said Philip. “Lord, if you’d just show us the Father, we’d more than happy.”
Jesus replied, “All this time I’ve been with you, and you still haven’t worked me out, have you Philip? To see me is to see the Father. So what’s the point of asking me to show you the Father? Haven’t you got it sorted out in your head that I am one with the Father, and the Father is one with me? When I tell you something, I’m not speaking off my own bat. The Father who lives in me is at work in everything I say. Take my word for it that I am one with the Father, and the Father is one with me; or if my saying it is not enough for you, then surely the things you’ve seen me do prove the point. I kid you not when I tell you that anyone who trusts in me will do the very same things. In fact, you’ll do even greater things than I’ve done, because I’m going back to the Father and handing over the reins to you. I’ll back you up and do whatever you ask when you’re doing my work. That’s how the Son will give the glory to the Father. If you’re working on my behalf you can ask me for anything and I’ll do it.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for we have tasted your goodness,
and our lives are secure in your hands.
You laid the cornerstone of creation
and built earth and heaven by hand.
Through your prophets you promised to lay a stone in Zion
as a place of refuge for your faithful ones,
and a stumbling block for those who reject your ways.
In Jesus the Christ, your promise has been fulfilled.
He came among us as the way, the truth and the life,
and in him we have seen you.
He was rejected and crucified,
committing his spirit into your hands,
but you raised him to new life
and seated him at your right hand.
Now he is preparing a place for us
and drawing us to you,
that we might be a holy priesthood
and offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your son, Jesus Christ,
who comes among us as the way, the truth and the life,
and in whom we a holy priesthood
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for we have tasted your goodness,
and our lives are secure in your hands.
You laid the cornerstone of creation
and built earth and heaven by hand.
Through your prophets you promised to lay a stone in Zion
as a place of refuge for your faithful ones,
and a stumbling block for those who reject your ways.
In Jesus the Christ, your promise has been fulfilled.
He came among us as the way, the truth and the life,
and in him we have seen you.
He was rejected and crucified,
committing his spirit into your hands,
but you raised him to new life
and seated him at your right hand.
Now he is preparing a place for us
and drawing us to you,
that we might be a holy priesthood
and offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to you.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God. Trust also in Christ whom God has sent,
for whoever trusts in him will not be put to shame.
Our cry for help has been heard.
Now we are God’s people and have received mercy.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation.
Therefore go out as God’s own people
to proclaim the mighty acts of God in Christ.
And may God be your rock and your refuge;
May Christ Jesus take you to himself and be with you always;
And may the Holy Spirit open heaven wide before you,
........that you might see the glory of God in all the things of earth.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Following Christ at Port ArthurA sermon on John 14: 1-14 by Nathan Nettleton

Craving the Breast of GodA sermon on 1 Peter 2:2-10 by Margaret Welsford

Finding the WayA sermon on 1 Peter 2: 2-10 and John 14: 1-14 by Nathan Nettleton

A Chosen PeopleA sermon on 1 Peter 2: 2-10 by Nathan Nettleton

From rabble to royal priesthoodA sermon on 1 Peter 2: 2-10 by Alison Sampson

True Martyrdom in an Age of TerrorA sermon on Acts 7: 55-60 by Nathan Nettleton

Martyrdom: Seeing as well as SufferingA sermon on Acts 7: 55-60 by Keith Clements

Cultural Cringe and Jesus the WayA sermon on John 14:6 by Nathan Nettleton

4th Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-04-22 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 2: 42-47

The newly baptised believers threw themselves wholeheartedly into studying the teachings of the apostles, and into sharing their lives with one another, breaking bread together, and gathering for prayer.
Everyone was mind-boggled by what was going on, and especially by the miraculous things the apostles were doing – things that clearly bore the signs of God’s involvement.
All those who had put their trust in Christ lived a common life and shared everything with one another. They sold off their personal assets and possessions, and pooled their resources so that there was plenty to provide for everybody’s needs. Their daily pattern of life revolved around praising God, both at gatherings for worship in the Temple and while breaking bread in their homes at meals which were eaten in a generous and festive spirit. Everyone thought they were alright, and every day their numbers grew as the Lord added more and more people whose lives were being put on track.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 23

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

1 Peter 2: 19-25

It is greatly to your credit if you can cop it sweet and keep looking to God when you are being treated cruelly and unfairly by others. Of course, there is no great credit in copping it sweet if you deserve the punishment, is there? But if you are being made to suffer for doing the right thing, then God will applaud you for taking it on the chin and holding your line. After all, it comes with the territory in the life to which you have been called. Christ set the example on this when he suffered for your benefit, and we should all be following in his footsteps.
“He never did anything wrong,
and not a word of a lie ever passed his lips.”
When he was abused,
he never retaliated;
when they inflicted pain on him,
he made no threats of revenge.
He trusted God to get him through,
and to judge the right and wrong of it all.
He copped the consequences of our corruption
in his own body on the cross,
so that we could walk free with a clean slate
and dedicate our lives to doing what is right.
When he was wounded,
we were healed.
Before that we were as far off track
as a penguin in the desert,
but now we are back where we belong,
in the care of the one who protects and guides us.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 10: 1-10

Jesus said:
“What I am telling you is the dead-set truth: anyone who gets into the dairy yard by climbing over the back fence instead of walking in through the front gate is obviously up to no good. Call the cops! The farmer who looks after the herd uses the gate. The security guard will always open the gate and let him through, and the cows will recognise his voice as he approaches. His own cows will come to him when he calls their names. He can lead them out just by calling them and walking ahead, and they will follow him, because his voice is familiar to them. They will not follow a stranger. They will back off and not let him near, because they do not recognise the unfamiliar voice.”
Jesus used this image to illustrate his point, but the people listening still could not make head nor tail of it. So Jesus tried another angle:
“I kid you not when I say, I am the gate for the herd. Those who were here before are a pack of crooks, but the herd didn’t trust them for a minute. I am the gate, and all will be well for whoever enters through this gate. They will be able to come and go as required to graze the wide open paddocks. The crook only comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that everyone can have life – life that exceeds all their expectations.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you spread a banquet of abundant life before us
and invite us to eat and drink in celebration.
In the first of your wonders and signs you created the earth,
tending it with goodness and love.
You created a people for yourself
and gave them your law
that they might know your voice and follow in your ways.
When we wandered away like lost sheep,
stumbling through death’s dark valley,
you sent us your child, Jesus Christ,
who endured unjust abuse and suffering
and returned only mercy and life.
Calling us to attend to his voice and return to you,
he bore our sins in his body on the cross,
and when you raised him he freed us to follow him,
— our shepherd and the guardian of our souls —
along sure paths to life in abundance.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We thank you that in Christ,
you have spread a banquet of abundant life before us
and invited us to eat and drink with him
— our shepherd and the guardian of our souls.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you found us, lost and astray
and guided us along sure paths to life in abundance.
In the first of your wonders and signs you created the earth,
spreading it out like a banquet before us.
You created a people for yourself
and gave them your law
that they might know your voice and follow in your ways.
When we wandered away like lost sheep,
stumbling through death’s dark valley,
you sent us your child, Jesus Christ,
who endured abuse and suffering unjustly
and returned only mercy and life.
Calling us to attend to his voice and return to you,
he bore our sins in his body on the cross,
and when you raised him he freed us to follow him,
our shepherd and the guardian of our souls.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.
so that free from sin and the fear of sin,
we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds we have been healed.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, listening for the voice of Christ,
and follow the example he left us.
Devote yourself to the apostles’ teaching,
to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and to the prayers of God’s people.
And may God lead you to places of rest and renewal;
May Christ Jesus give you life in abundance;
And may the Holy Spirit fill your hearts with gladness and generosity.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

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

The Right MasterA sermon on Psalm 23 by Wai Kwong Sun

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

Fullness of LifeA sermon on John 10:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton

The Price of Abundant LifeA sermon on 1 Peter 2:19-25 & John 10:1-10 by Nathan Nettleton

Generosity, Freedom and AbundanceA sermon on John 10:1-10; Acts 2: 42-47 & Psalm 23 by Nathan Nettleton

I am the Door/GateA sermon on John 10:1-10 by Chris Barnden

Of shepherds, thieves and reiversA sermon on John 10:-1-10 and Psalm 23 by Jim Barr

6th Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-05-06 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 17: 22-31

Paul was invited to present his views to the most respected assembly of civil and religious leaders in the city of Athens. He stood before them and said:
“Good people of Athens, it is clear to me that you are a people who take religion seriously. Everywhere I look in your city, I see places and objects intended for worship. I even came across an altar with a sign that said it was dedicated to ‘an unknown god.’ This God who you already worship but do not know is, in fact, the God I am here to make known to you. This is the God who made the world and everything in it. This is the one who is Lord of heaven and earth. No house built by human hands could ever hold this God. No act of service offered by human beings could ever provide anything which God would otherwise be left in need of. No, it is we mortal creatures who depend on what God provides, for our life, our breathe, and all we need are given by God. This God made the whole human race from scratch – every people and nation on the face of the earth – and set the basic limits on what is possible and impossible for them. All of this inspires us to search for God, which is exactly what God intended. At times we may feel like we are groping blindly in the dark, but God wants to be found by us and is never beyond the reach of anyone. One of your local poets summed it up well:
‘Our lives are lived in God,
everything we do and everything we are;
for we are the fruit of God’s womb.’
So if we have been brought to birth by God, then we should never fall for the idea that we humans can shape God in some image that appeals to us. Even the most exquisite creations of gold, silver and precious stone, crafted with great skill and imagination by the best artists, are nothing but meaningless lumps of rock in comparison to God. Fortunately, God has not taken offence over such unworthy representations when their creators didn’t know any better. But such excuses are a thing of the past. We now know who God is. We are now aware that God wants everyone everywhere to turn their lives around. And we now know that God has appointed the judge and set the date for the world to be put right. You can stake your life on this, because God has given a spectacular guarantee, by raising the appointed judge from the dead.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 66: 8-20

If only everyone would honour you, God,
and fill the world with the sound of your praises.
You are the one who sustains our life
and keeps our feet on the right track.
You, God, have examined us carefully;
tested us to see what we were made of.
You drove us to our limits
and weighed us down with burdens;
you let us be run into the ground;
you took us through the fires of hell
and the depths of despair
but then finally into a wide and generous land.
So now we come to the place of worship
to fulfil our promises and offer our gifts.
All that we vowed to do if you got us out of trouble
we will now make good on with grateful hearts.
We will offer you whatever you ask;
the best of all we have and all we are;
all you have given us, we offer back to you.
We will tell everyone who honours and respects you
what you have done for us, God.
We cried out loud to you
and acknowledged your goodness.
If we had hung onto evil ideas,
you would have turned you back on us,
but you really have listened to us, God,
and taken note of all we have asked.
We honour you and praise you, God,
because you did not turn a deaf ear
or withhold your rock-solid love from us.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Peter 3: 13-22

It is unlikely that anyone will be out to get you because of your enthusiasm for doing what is good. But even if some do set out to make you suffer for doing the right thing, you are still on a winner. Don’t be afraid of them, and don’t let them get you down. Stand your ground, and give your allegiance and obedience to Christ before all others. Be ready to explain yourself to everybody who questions why you live with such confidence. Don’t be pushy or aggressive, but never hesitate to give them a quiet and respectful answer. Keep your nose clean so that if things turn nasty, and somebody starts misrepresenting your commitment to doing what is right as followers of Christ, your record will speak for itself. If you have made sure that the mud won’t stick to you, those who throw it will end up wearing it themselves. There is no shame in suffering if it is a consequence of doing the good that God asks of you, but if you suffer because you are involved in corruption, you have got only yourselves to blame. After all:
The Messiah copped the consequences of human corruption
and suffered them all in one hit.
He who had done only what is right
suffered for those who had done wrong
in order to bring you home to God.
He was killed by human hands
but made alive by the Spirit.
In 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.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 14: 15-21

Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, it will show in the way you live out what I’ve told you to do. I will have a word with the Father and arrange for another defence counsel to be permanently assigned to you. Your new defence counsel will be the Spirit of Truth. The rest of the world will not accept the Spirit because they never accept what they can’t see or comprehend. You already know the Spirit though, because the Spirit is with you and will be at work inside you.
"I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourselves like abandoned children; I’ll be there for you. Soon the rest of the world will think I’m gone — out of sight, out of mind — but you’ll still be seeing me. I am really living, and because of that you’ll be really living too. When that day comes you’ll be left in no doubt that I am one with my Father, and that you are one with me and I am one with you. Those who take seriously what I’ve said and live it out are the ones who truly love me. My Father will love all those who truly love me. I’ll love them too, and bare my soul to them.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
and to bring our gifts into your house
in gratitude for the constant love you have pledged to us.
The world and everything in it was made by you.
Life and breath are your gifts to all mortal things,
and in you we live and move and have our being.
Everywhere and always you have been within our reach
and have inspired us to search for you.
In Jesus the Christ you have shown yourself to us,
the unknowable revealed in the known.
He was rejected and put to death in the flesh,
but you raised him from the dead
and gave him life in the Spirit.
Through his resurrection,
you have raised us from the saving waters,
and now your blessing abides with us
even in suffering
and your Spirit assures us of your coming justice.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your resurrection power
which raised Christ from the dead, giving him life in the Spirit,
and which raises us from the saving waters of baptism
assuring us that even in suffering your blessing abides with us.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
and bring our gifts into your house
in gratitude for the constant love you have pledged to us.
The world and everything in it was made by you.
Life and breath are your gifts to all mortal things,
and in you we live and move and have our being.
Everywhere and always you have been within our reach
and have inspired us to search for you.
In Jesus the Christ you have shown yourself to us,
the unknowable revealed in the known.
He was rejected and put to death in the flesh,
but you raised him from the dead
and gave him life in the Spirit.
Through his resurrection,
you have raised us from the saving waters,
and now your blessing abides with us
even in suffering
and your Spirit assures us of your coming justice.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Christ suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
in order to bring you to God.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now into the world.
Search for the God who is not far from each one of us.
Offer to all who ask an account of the hope that is in you.
Keep your conscience clear
as you live the commandments in love.
And may God greet your prayers with constant love;
May Christ Jesus give you life through his own life;
And may the Spirit of truth abide with you and within you, always.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

The Harrowing of HellA sermon on 1 Peter 3: 13-22 by Nathan Nettleton

Christ, the unknown GodA sermon on 1 Peter 3: 13-22 & Acts 17: 22-31 by Nathan Nettleton

Gentleness, Reverence, and ProselytisingA sermon on 1 Peter 3: 13-22; Acts 17: 22-31 & John 14: 15-21 by Nathan Nettleton

Giving up goodness for JesusA sermon on 1 Peter 3: 13-22 & John 14: 15-21 by Nathan Nettleton

On a threshold, but not aloneA sermon on on John 14:15-21 by Cas Wepener

Offspring not OrphansA sermon on on John 14:15-21 by Cheryl Williams

The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord
2029-05-10 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 1: 1-11

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

Psalm 47

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

OR Psalm 93 (alternative psalm)

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

Ephesians 1: 15-23

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

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

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

Luke 24: 44-53

On the last day that Jesus was on earth after his resurrection, he said to his disciples, “The things I have said while I was with you amount to this: everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms is to be fulfilled.”
As he spoke they began to see how to read the scriptures with open minds so as to understand what God was saying in them. Jesus said to them:
“What was written will now be clear to you: that the Messiah is to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that the people of every nation must be told of the Messiah’s call to turn their lives around and receive forgiveness for their toxic ways. You can get started here in Jerusalem. You have witnessed these things first hand, so you can tell everyone what you have seen and heard. And don’t miss this: I myself am sending you the gift that my Father promised, so wait here in the city until you have been fitted out with God’s power.”
Jesus then led his disciples out as far as Bethany, where he lifted up his hands and spoke a blessing over them. Even as he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried into heaven. Falling to their knees, they worshipped him. They returned to Jerusalem bursting with joy and, after that, they were always in the temple praising God.
©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have called us to a rich hope
and a glorious inheritance among the saints.
You fixed the world in place
and rule over all from your sacred throne.
You formed a people for yourself
and through Moses and the prophets you spoke to them
of the Christ who fills all in all.
As it was written, he suffered and was killed,
but you raised him from the dead
and he walked again with his chosen ones,
speaking to them of your glorious kingdom.
You carried him into heaven on the clouds
and made him head over all things for the church,
seating him at your right hand
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise with shouts of joy, O God,
for you have called us to a rich hope
and a glorious inheritance among the saints.
You fixed the world in place
and rule over all from your sacred throne.
You formed a people for yourself
and through Moses and the prophets you spoke to them
of the Christ who fills all in all.
As it was written, he suffered and was killed,
but you raised him from the dead
and he walked again with his chosen ones,
speaking to them of your glorious kingdom.
You carried him into heaven on the clouds
and made him head over all things for the church,
seating him at your right hand
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

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

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world.
and in your words and in your lives
bear witness to the Christ who has ascended
to be everywhere present.
And as you come to know him,
may God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
may Christ Jesus lift up his hands and bless you,
and may the Spirit open to you all the riches of Christ’s inheritance.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

The Ascension: Christ’s superabundant presenceA sermon on Acts 1. 6-14 & John 17:1-11 by Garry Deverell

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

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

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

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

7th Sunday of Pascha - Year A
2029-05-13 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Acts 1: 6-14

When they were all together for the last time, the apostles had one burning question for Jesus: “Lord, is this the time? Will you regain our freedom now and give us our own king to reign over Israel?”
Jesus replied, “Only the Father can decide such things and the timing is none of your business. Just focus on this: the Holy Spirit will flood over you and drench you with power, giving you the passion and courage to be my witnesses. Then you will be able to tell everyone about me, in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
That was it - his last words. Right before their eyes, he was carried up into the air where he soon disappeared into the clouds. They just stood there stunned, staring into the sky. Suddenly two men appeared next to them, dressed in white robes! They said, “You Galileans! What are you standing here for, staring into the sky? Jesus has been taken into heaven, but don’t worry. He’ll be back, just as surely - and just as mysteriously - as he left.”
This happened at the Mount of Olives, about a half an hour’s walk outside of Jerusalem. When they returned to the city, they gathered again in the upstairs room that had become their regular meeting place. The remaining eleven apostles were all there: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. Along with a wider group, which included many of the women who had followed Jesus, they committed themselves to a shared life of fervent prayer. This group included Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 68: 1-10, 32-35

Up and at it, God;
scatter your enemies,
send those who hate you packing.
Blow them away like smoke in the wind;
melt them like wax under a blowtorch.
Wipe out all corruption, God.
But for those who do the right thing, God,
give them every reason to celebrate.
Set them singing and dancing with joy!
Every mention of your name sets us singing your praises, God.
We lift our song as you ride the clouds.
We name you as LORD
and celebrate in your presence.
To the orphans, you are a loving parent;
to the needy and vulnerable, you are a caring protector;
from your sacred home you provide care to all.
You give a home to those with nowhere to go, God;
you set the prisoners free and turn everything they touch to gold;
but the good times dry up for those who turn against you.
O God, you took the lead and showed the way
when your people set out across the harsh desert.
The earth shuddered at your approach;
one look from you and the clouds let go of their rain.
You were with us, God of the mountain;
you were with us, God of Israel.
You showered us with life-giving rain
restoring fertility to your weary land.
You settled your people in good pasture, God,
and provided generously to all in need.
With every nation on earth, we sing to you, God;
you are our Lord, and we sing your praises.
You have been riding the heavens since ancient times,
and your voice booms out with the sound of thunder.
All power belongs to you, God;
you reign over your people in splendour,
and your power is written in the skies.
Stepping into your presence, we are struck with awe.
You are our God;
our strength and energy are gifts from you.
May you be number one forever, God!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11

My dear friends, I know that you are under the heat at the moment, but there is nothing unusual about it, so don’t let it throw you. It comes with the territory and it gives you the chance to prove yourselves. You can even count it an honour that in such suffering you are following in the footsteps of the Messiah. Once you have got through this, you will enjoy it all the more when his true glory is out in the open for everyone to see. Nothing will ever wipe the smiles off your faces! If people treat you like scum because you are associated with Christ, you are still on a winner, because the Spirit of God will be with you and will cover you with glory.
Keep yourselves down to earth. Hand the reins over to God and don’t think such dependence is beneath you. God will put your name up in lights when the time is right. God loves you and is always ready to take care of anything that is stressing you out, so hand it over and let go of it.
Discipline yourselves, and be ready for anything. The devil has set himself against you, and he is always cruising around like a hungry croc, ready to make a meal of anyone who is not on their guard. Hold him at bay and don’t concede an inch. Stand your ground and trust God to back you up. Remember that your brothers and sisters all around the world are feeling the heat just as much as you. None of you will have to suffer it for too long though. The God who, in extravagant generosity, has called you to be one with Christ and share in his glory forever, will personally put you back on your feet and give you all the support, strength and confidence you could ever need. To God be all power, forever and ever. And so say all of us!
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John 17: 1-11

After the supper, and after giving his final teaching to his followers, Jesus gazed up towards the skies and began to pray:
“Father, the time has come;
cover your Son in glory now
so that he may give all the glory to you.
You have put the destiny of every person on earth
in the hands of your Son,
so that he can give life without limit
to all those you have entrusted to him.
And what this boundless life is all about is this:
intimacy with you, the one and only true God,
and with Jesus the Messiah,
the chosen one who you sent.
I brought great credit to you
by finishing the job you gave me.
So now, Father, let me bask in your glory again,
in the glory I enjoyed when I was with you,
back before the world began.
Father, you have given me some followers from this world,
and I have given them the full picture of what you are like.
They were yours to begin with,
but you gave them to me,
and they have done what you asked of them.
Now they know for sure that everything I have
was given to me directly by you.
I gave my followers the same message you gave to me.
They took it on board and were convinced that I came from you. They believe that it was you who sent me.
I pray for them.
My prayer is not for this hell-bent world
but for the followers you gave me,
for they are rightfully yours.
Everything that is mine is yours,
and everything that is yours is mine,
and my image lights up in them.
I will no longer be seen in the world,
but they will continue on in the world
while I come back to you.
Holy Father, protect them
by writing your name on them,
giving them the same identity you gave me,
so that they will be one with each other,
just as you and I are one in heart and mind.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you give strength to the weak,
freedom to the prisoners,
and an eternal home to the homeless,
With the Son and the Spirit you lived before the world existed,
and all things were created from your love.
You led your people through the desert
from slavery to the promised land
and nourished them through your law and prophets.
Your Son, Jesus Christ,
glorified you on earth by finishing your work,
and making you known to us
as the only true God in whom we find eternal life.
When he was crucified, you raised him to new life,
and when he ascended into heaven
he promised to send the Holy Spirit,
who fills us with your truth and power,
and protects us in the name of Christ,
so that we may be one, as you are one.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your Son, Jesus Christ,
who glorified you on earth by finishing your work,
and making you known to us
as the only true God in whom we find eternal life.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you give strength to the weak,
freedom to the prisoners,
and an eternal home to the homeless,
With the Son and the Spirit you lived before the world existed,
and all things were created from your love.
You led your people through the desert
from slavery to the promised land
and nourished them through your law and prophets.
Your Son, Jesus Christ,
glorified you on earth by finishing your work,
and making you known to us
as the only true God in whom we find eternal life.
When he was crucified, you raised him to new life,
and when he ascended into heaven
he promised to send the Holy Spirit,
who fills us with your truth and power,
and protects us in the name of Christ,
so that we may be one, as you are one.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

You have humbled yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
and cast your anxieties on Christ who cares for you.
Know then that the God of all grace
who has called you to eternal glory in Christ,
will restore, support, strengthen and establish you.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, steadfast in your faith.
Resist the evil one,
devote yourselves to prayer,
and bear witness to Christ as he makes us one.
And may the God of all grace restore and strengthen you;
May Christ Jesus make the divine love known to you;
And may the Holy Spirit rest upon you
and give you power until all is fulfilled.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

While you’re waiting…A sermon on Acts 1:6-14 & John 17:1-11 by Nathan Nettleton

The Ascension: Christ’s superabundant presenceA sermon on Acts 1:6-14 & John 17:1-11 by Garry Deverell

Resurrecting CreationA sermon on John 17:1-5 by Nathan Nettleton

Our witness to the Risen ChristA sermon on Acts 1:6-14 by Alison Sampson

What were you thinking?A sermon on Acts 1: 6-14; 1 Peter 4: 12-14; 5: 6-11 & John 17: 1-11 by Phil Gale

The Liminal Zone of Spiritual UnknowingA sermon on Acts 1:6-14 by Anna Killigrew

The Day of Pentecost - Year A
2029-05-20 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

1st Reading: Acts 2: 1-21

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

OR Numbers 11: 24-30 (alternative 1st reading)

Acting on the LORD’s instructions, Moses sent for seventy of Israel’s most respected and influential tribal elders and had them assemble in a circle around the Sacred Tent while he went inside. The LORD came down, hidden in cloud, and spoke with Moses. As they talked, the LORD touched the seventy elders with the same spirit that was at work in Moses. During the short period of time that the spirit rested on them, they were all shouting words of prophesy.
Two of the seventy elders who Moses had sent for were named Eldad and Medad. They had not made it to the Sacred Tent, but the spirit touched them just like the others and they began shouting words of prophesy right where they were in the camp. A young man ran and reported this to Moses, saying “Eldad and Medad are shouting like prophets in the camp!”
Joshua son of Nun, who served as right hand man to Moses, said, “You can’t let them do that, Boss. Have them stopped.”
But Moses replied, “Why? Are you worried about protecting my position? I only wish that the LORD would give the same spirit to all the people so that the whole lot of them would become prophets!”
After that, Moses and the tribal elders all returned to the camp.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

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

2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13

If you hear people say, “For better or for worse, we’ll do what Jesus wants,” you can take it as read that they couldn’t have said that if the Holy Spirit was not a force in their lives.
When it comes to spiritual abilities, there is a huge variety, but you can trace them all to the same Spirit. There are all sorts of different ways of doing the Lord’s work, but it’s the same Lord who is served in all of them. Some people get enthused and energised about one thing, some about another, but it is the same God who fires the passions in both.
The Spirit is at work in everyone, and that work takes shape in each person in a way that will be of benefit to all. In one person you see it expressed in the ability to give wise advise; that ability has been given through the Spirit. In another person you see the ability to draw on a wealth of knowledge for the benefit of others; that too comes from the Spirit. Another person is able to keep trusting God when everyone else starts doubting, and of course faith like that comes from the Spirit. Someone else has a gift that enables them to heal the sick, and you guessed it, the same Spirit again! Someone else can work miracles, someone else can tell you what God wants you to hear. Another has the uncanny ability to discern what sort of spirit is behind whatever’s going on. Another is gifted with the ability to speak strange languages and still another with the ability to translate them. All these gifts, and more still, are triggered off in people by one and the same Spirit. The Spirit takes account of each person’s unique potential and decides accordingly how best to equip them.
The Church is a single body — the body of Christ. In some ways it is just like your own body; it is made up of many different parts, each with their own jobs to do, but it is still one body. When we were baptised, we became part of Christ’s body. The Holy Spirit integrated us all into this one body and so now we are first and foremost identified with the body, rather than with our individual characteristics. Whatever your nationality, and whatever your occupation or background, you all tap into the one Spirit for your life, just as all the cells in the body are nourished in the same way through their relationship to the whole.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

John 20: 19-23

It was a Sunday – the first day of the week – when the tomb was found empty. That same evening, the disciples met together. They locked all the doors of the house where they were meeting because they were afraid of being tracked down by the religious authorities. Suddenly, Jesus appeared and stood among them saying, “Good evening to you all!”
He proceeded to show them the deep scars in his hands and side. The disciples, of course, were over the moon at seeing the Lord again. Jesus spoke again, saying, “All the best to you. God sent me into the world, and in the same way, I’m sending you.”
Having said that, he breathed a big breathe onto them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit; all of you. If you forgive anyone who has sinned, then their sins are forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness for any sins, they remain unforgiven.”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

OR John 7: 37-39 (alternative gospel reading)

Jesus was speaking to the crowds in the Temple on the big final day of the sacred festival. Rising to his feet, he cried out, “If any of you have a raging thirst that will not go away, come to me. Any of you who will trust me, come and drink deep. The scriptures promised this, saying, ‘Rivers of life-giving water will well up from deep within you.’”
Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit who was soon to be given to those who put their trust in him; but at this time no one had yet received the Spirit, because the moment of glory for Jesus had not yet come.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you have amazed us with your deeds of power.
With your own hands you shaped the creation
and filled the earth with your wonders.
You breathed into us and we rose from the dust;
the face of the earth came alive.
From the cloud you spoke to Moses
and through your prophets you promised
to pour out your Spirit on all flesh.
In these last days you sent your child, Jesus the Christ,
to speak your words of mercy and peace.
Though he was killed, you raised him to new life,
and now he comes to all who are thirsty,
pouring out the new wine of the Spirit,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
awakening within us your marvellous gifts
of wisdom, faith, healing, prophesy and discernment,
and firing our tongues with everlasting songs of joy.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your son, Jesus Christ,
who pours out the new wine of your Spirit,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
and awakening within us your marvellous gifts
of wisdom, faith, healing, prophesy and discernment.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you have amazed us with your deeds of power.
With your own hands you shaped the creation
and filled the earth with your wonders.
You breathed into us and we rose from the dust;
the face of the earth came alive.
From the cloud you spoke to Moses
and through your prophets you promised
to pour out your Spirit on all flesh.
In these last days you sent your child, Jesus the Christ,
to speak your words of mercy and peace.
Though he was killed, you raised him to new life,
and now he comes to all who are thirsty,
pouring out the new wine of the Spirit,
intoxicating us with visions and dreams,
awakening within us your marvellous gifts
of wisdom, faith, healing, prophesy and discernment,
and firing our tongues with everlasting songs of joy.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Hear the words of Christ:
“If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven them.”
Therefore know for sure
that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world,
sent as Christ Jesus was sent,
gifted and empowered for the common good.
Dream dreams, pursue visions
and speak of God’s goodness
in the words of those who would hear.
And may God give hope to your dreaming;
May Christ Jesus set rivers of life flowing within you,
and may the Holy Spirit unite you as one body and set you ablaze with joy.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Breaking through old divisionsA sermon on Acts 2: 1-21, John 14: 8-17,25-27 & Genesis 11: 1-9 by Nathan Nettleton

The Invitation of the Pentecost MiraclesA sermon on Acts 2:1-21 by Andrew Woff

Spirit DrinkersA sermon on John 7: 37-39 by Nathan Nettleton

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

PentecostA sermon on Acts 2: 1-21; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13 & John 20: 19-23 by Gilbert Joyce

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

Understanding the Language of PentecostA Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost by Lina Toth (Andronoviene)

Filled with the SpiritA sermon on Ephesians 5:18 by Joel Sierra

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

Trinity Sunday - Year A
2029-05-27 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Genesis 1:1 - 2:4a

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

Psalm 8

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

2 Corinthians 13: 11-13

Sisters and brothers, I finish my letter by wishing you every joy and offering these last words:
- get everything on track;
- take courage from what I’ve said;
- seek consensus;
- live in peace.
If you do these things, the presence of the God of love and peace will be known right there among you. Show warmth and tenderness when you greet one another as those dedicated to the Lord. All of God’s people send you their greetings.
May the extravagant generosity of the Lord and Messiah Jesus,
and the love of God,
and the tender solidarity of the Holy Spirit
be within and around you all.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 28: 16-20

The eleven who were left of Jesus’s closest followers headed north to Galilee and made their way to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they found him there, they fell to their knees worshipping him, even though some of them were still in two minds about whether they could completely trust this experience of him. Jesus came to them and said, “God has given me the job of bringing everything in heaven and earth into line. Your job then is to go to all people everywhere, recruiting and training them to follow me. Baptise them, identifying them as people of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Train them to live the life I have instructed you in. And hold on to the knowledge that I am with you every moment, from now to the completion of the age.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton Laughingbird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
and to join with the whole world
in declaring the greatness of your name.
In the beginning your Spirit brooded over the chaos
and brought to birth all the beauty and abundance of creation.
You created humankind in the image
of your own faithful love and desire,
dressing us in glorious splendour
and entrusting the care of the earth into our hands.
From our midst you brought forth your own child,
Jesus the Christ
— one with you, and the embodiment of your Spirit —
and through him you invited all people
to be baptised into your triune dance of love.
When he was killed, you raised him to life
and gave him all authority in heaven and on earth,
and in him, through the Holy Spirit,
you are with us always, even to the end of the age.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for revealing to us in Jesus Christ,
the faithful love and desire
which unite you with him and the Holy Spirit,
and into which you invite all people to be baptised.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
and to join with the whole world
in declaring the greatness of your name.
In the beginning your Spirit brooded over the chaos
and brought to birth all the beauty and abundance of creation.
You created humankind in the image
of your own faithful love and desire,
dressing us in glorious splendour
and entrusting the care of the earth into our hands.
From our midst you brought forth your own child,
Jesus the Christ
— one with you, and the embodiment of your Spirit —
and through him you invited all people
to be baptised into your triune dance of love.
When he was killed, you raised him to life
and gave him all authority in heaven and on earth,
and in him, through the Holy Spirit,
you are with us always, even to the end of the age.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to Jesus Christ,
and it is on the authority of Jesus Christ
that the forgiveness of sins is declared to you and to all.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go out into the world and live in peace.
Bear witness to the God of love and peace,
and make disciples of all nations,
teaching them to obey all that Christ has taught us.
And may God look upon you and take delight in you;
May Christ Jesus be with you always, to the end of the age;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you into the dance of love
that is the life of the Trinity.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

The Trinity: A Christian DreamingA sermon on Proverbs 8. 1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8 & John 16. 12-15 by Garry Deverell

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

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

Trinity, Creation and PrayerA sermon on Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5 & John 16:12-15 by Nathan Nettleton

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

Baptism into the Life of GodA sermon on Matthew 28:16-20 by Nathan Nettleton

A Love Triangle that WorksA sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

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

Three makes sense, but one?A sermon on the doctrine of the Trinity by Nathan Nettleton

Decolonising Genesis 1A sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:4a by Samara Pitt

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

The Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
2029-05-31 00:00
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

1 Samuel 2: 1-10

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

Psalm 113

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

Romans 12: 9-16b

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

Luke 1:39-57

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

Proper 4 - Year A
2029-06-03
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.
Bible Readings (paraphrased)
Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

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

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

Psalm 46

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

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

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

Matthew 7: 21-29

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

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

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

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21, 26-28

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

Psalm 31: 1-5, 19-24

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

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

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

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

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

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

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

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

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

Commission & Benediction

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

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

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

Proper 5 - Year A
2029-06-10 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Genesis 12: 1-9

The LORD spoke to Abram, and said:
“Get up and leave your country, your relatives and the family of your parents, and move to the land that I will show you. I will make things go well for you and see that your descendants become a great nation. I will see to it that you are remembered as one of the greats; as one whose life was a blessing to others. I will do good to those who do good to you, and I will pull the rug out from under anyone who pulls the rug out from under you. Life will be better for everyone on earth because of you.”
So, at the age of seventy five, Abram got up and left Haran, just as the LORD had told him to. He took with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all their labourers. They packed up all the possessions they had accumulated over the years in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan.
When they arrived in the land of Canaan, Abram pushed on as far as Shechem, to the sacred site known as the tree of Moreh. The Canaanite people were living in the land at the time, but the LORD turned up and made a promise to Abram, saying, “I will give this land to your descendants.”
Abram built a monument to the LORD there, so that the place where the LORD had appeared to him might be a place for offering worship. After that, he set out again and headed into the hill country to the east of Bethel. He set up camp between Bethel and Ai, and there he built another monument to the LORD and called on the LORD in prayer. From there, Abram pushed south towards the Negeb Desert, making the journey one stage at a time.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 33: 1-12

We celebrate all you are to us, LORD.
We are your people,
and it feels right to sing your praises.
We make music in your honour,
with guitars and fiddles and drums.
We write new songs dedicated to you, LORD,
singing and playing with all our skill and energy.
Every word you speak is honest and true,
and everything you do shows you to be trustworthy.
You have a passion for justice and integrity;
your love and loyalty flood the earth.
The universe was created on your say-so, LORD;
everything in it, you breathed into life.
Filling the oceans was like running a bath for you;
fathomless depths poured out like a bottle.
All the earth is in awe of you, LORD;
all of us fall to our knees in your presence.
When you spoke, LORD, the world appeared;
one word from you and it was fixed in place.
All our big ideas collapse when you speak, LORD;
our national strategies are reduced to rubbish.
But what you have to say, LORD, is rock-solid;
your thoughts and feelings are consistent through the centuries.
What more could a country want than to have you as their God?
To be your cherished people, LORD, is the best thing in life.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 4: 13-25

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.
So 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.
When 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.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 9: 9-13, 18-26

Jesus was heading down the street when he saw a man named Matthew sitting in his office, where he worked collecting taxes for the Roman occupation forces. Jesus said to him, “Come and join me,” and Matthew got up and began following him.
That evening, Jesus and his followers were out to dinner with a group that included many disreputable characters whose lifestyles were considered offensive by the more respectable members of society. Some members of the Pharisee party saw who he was with and confronted his closest followers over it, saying, “What does he think he’s doing, sharing meals with people whose behaviour is beyond the pale?”
When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Who needs the help of a doctor: the fit and healthy, or the sick? Go and work out what the scripture means when it says, ‘What I want is mercy, not a blood-spilling quest for purity.’ I didn’t come to spend my time preaching to the converted, but to call back those who are off the track.”
A respected community leader came in and fell on his knees at Jesus’s feet, saying, “My precious daughter has just died, but come and lay your hands on her and she will live.”
So Jesus and his followers got up and went with him. As he went, a woman came up behind him and touched the edge of his coat. She had been suffering from prolonged bleeding, and for the previous twelve years her condition had meant that everyone treated her as defiled and contagious. She was thinking to herself, “Surely even touching this man’s clothes will be enough to make me well.”
Jesus looked around and saw her and said, “Good on you, daughter. You took a risk of faith and it has paid off for you. Welcome back to the world of the healthy!”
Sure enough, at that moment she became completely healthy.
When Jesus arrived at the home of the community leader and saw all the chaos of mourners and funeral directors and people bearing condolences and casseroles, he said, “Everybody out! The girl is not dead. She’s only asleep.”
But they rubbished him. They knew she was dead. Unperturbed, Jesus took charge of the situation and kicked them all outside. He went in and clasped the girl’s hand tenderly and up she got. The news of this spread through the district like wildfire.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

Hosea 5:15 - 6:6

I, the LORD, am going to pack up and go home.
I will have nothing more to do with my people
until they wake up to themselves and come clean,
until they are ready to turn to me again.
As soon as things fall apart for them,
they will come running to me in tears, saying:
“Please take us back, LORD.
You were right to knock us flat, and tear us apart;
but come now and bind our wounds.
Teach us a lesson by grounding us for a couple of days,
but then give us a fresh start.
On the third day, put us back on our feet
so we can live in your presence.
We want to stick with you and learn your ways, LORD.
We know we can rely on you, as sure as day follows night.
You are like welcome rain to our parched spirits;
soaking in and bringing new life to flower.”
What am I to do with you, my people?
What am I to do with you, my chosen ones?
Your love is as fickle as the morning mist;
as lasting as a puddle in the blazing sun.
That is why I have unleashed my prophets against you
and cut you down to size with my fierce words.
That is why I have turned the spotlight on you
to make it clear what I think of you.
It is not gifts and offering that I want from you,
but a love that lasts.
It is not dutiful religious behaviour that I’m looking for,
but people who know and care what I am on about.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 50: 7-15

We belong to you, LORD, and you call us to listen.
You set out the case against us, your chosen people.
You are God; our God.
It is not our sacrifices you condemn;
the gifts we are constantly offering.
But when they mean nothing to us, they mean nothing to you.
You don’t want any more thoughtless gifts.
You don’t depend on us for supplies.
From farm to forest, every creature is yours.
The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
every beast in every paddock belongs to you.
You have no need of our help if you get hungry;
the best fruits of all the earth are yours for the picking.
Only a fool would think you eat our burnt beef!
Or that you literally drink the blood of sheep!
You welcome our gifts if they are really offered in gratitude;
if we back them up by keeping our promises.
When trouble breaks out, we only have to call you;
You’ll be there to bail us out,
and we’ll put you name up in lights!”
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you give life to the dead
and fill the world with love.
The heavens and earth came into existence when you spoke;
all things appeared at your command.
You called a people to be your own,
making them strong in faith as they gave glory to you,
and blessing the whole earth through them.
You sent your child, Jesus,
to teach us the ways of mercy
and to call sinners to leave their past behind
and follow you.
When he was handed over to death,
you raised him to new life and,
taking us by the hand, raised us with him.
When we put our faith in you,
you were true to your promise of grace
and declared us to be in the right with you,
healing us of all that would drain us of life.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your Son, Jesus,
who calls us to leave our past behind and follow you,
taking us by the hand to raise us up
and heal us of all that would drain us of life.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you give life to the dead
and fill the world with love.
The heavens and earth came into existence when you spoke;
all things appeared at your command.
You called a people to be your own,
making them strong in faith as they gave glory to you,
and blessing the whole earth through them.
You sent your child, Jesus,
to teach us the ways of mercy
and to call sinners to leave their past behind
and follow you.
When he was handed over to death,
you raised him to new life and,
taking us by the hand, raised us with him.
When we put our faith in you,
you were true to your promise of grace
and declared us to be in the right with you,
healing us of all that would drain us of life.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

Jesus came to restore sinners to God.
When he was handed over to death he took our sins
and was raised so that we might be put right with God.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

Go now, at the call of God
and follow wherever the Lord leads you.
Love truth and justice,
and share the healing mercy of God with all.
And may God bless you and make you a blessing to others;
May Christ Jesus take you by the hand and lift you to life;
And may the Holy Spirit nourish you in hope
so that you will grow strong in faith.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

Feeling Useless?A sermon on Genesis 12:1-9 & Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 by Nathan Nettleton

The Blessing of FaithA sermon on Genesis 12:1-9 & Romans 4:13-25 by Garry Deverell

You’re Not That Dead!A sermon on Matthew 9, Romans 4 & Genesis 12 by Nathan Nettleton

Leaving Quarantine with JesusA sermon on Matthew 9:9-13 by Nathan Nettleton

Proper 6 - Year A
2029-06-17 00:00 - 23:59
Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

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

Genesis 18: 1-15, (21: 1-7)

One blazing hot summer afternoon, Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, when the LORD appeared to him. Looking up, Abraham saw three strangers approaching him. He immediately jumped up and hurried to welcome them as honoured guests. He said, “Please allow me the honour of sharing the hospitality of my home with you. Come in. Take a bath. Put your feet up for a bit. Let me serve you up a meal so that you can leave refreshed and strengthened. I would count it a favour to have the opportunity to serve you in this way.”
So they said, “Thank you, we accept.”
Abraham hurried into the tent and said, “Sarah. Quick! Knock up a batch of scones while I organise the barbecue.”
Then he ran out to his grazing herd and butchered a prime calf. He instructed one of his workers to prepare the best cuts for the barbecue. When it was all ready, he served it up for his guests with a yoghurt dip and plenty to drink, and waited on them while they ate.
During the meal, they said to him, “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
Abraham replied, “She’s inside; in the tent.”
Then one of the three said, “Mark my words! I’ll be back this way in about a year’s time, and by then your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was in the tent behind them as they talked, and she overheard this. Knowing well that she and Abraham were both elderly, and that she had long since passed menopause, she laughed to herself, saying, “Fat chance! Am I going to have such pleasure at my age; and with my husband past it too?”
The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and question whether she can have a child at her age? Is there any good thing that the LORD is incapable of doing? I will be back this way in about a year’s time, just as I said, and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was shocked that she had been caught, and blurted out, “I didn’t mean to laugh.”“Yes, but you did laugh,” replied the LORD.
The LORD was good to Sarah and followed through on the promise made to her. Sarah fell pregnant to Abraham and gave birth to a baby son. This happened when they were both old and grey — Abraham was already one hundred years old when the child was born. Sarah gave birth to their son right at the time that God had spoken about. Abraham named his son Isaac, and circumcised him when he was eight days old, because that is what God had told him to do. Sarah said, “Now God has given me something to laugh about! And everyone who hears the news will laugh with me! Once no one would have dared raise the topic of me having a baby with Abraham, but now I have given birth to the old man’s son!”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

I love you, LORD!
How could I not love you
when you always respond to my cries?
You are always ready to listen to me,
so I will bring my needs to you as long as I live.
How can I ever repay you, LORD?
What gift could ever express my gratitude?
I will raise my glass in your honour,
I will name you as the one who saved me.
I will make good on all I promised you, LORD,
and I’ll let everyone know its for you.
Whenever one of your faithful people dies
it affects you deeply.
LORD, you have released me from my chains.
I will serve you forever,
just as my forebears have done.
I will bring a gift to say thanks;
I will pray to you, and you alone.
I will be true to the vows I’ve made;
and I won’t keep it hidden.
In full view of all your people,
in the public place of worship,
I’ll do all I promised you, LORD.
All the praise and all the credit are your, LORD!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Romans 5: 1-8

It was our faith that put us back in the good books with God. We put our trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and we can rest assured that he has cleared up everything with God for us. Christ got us in on the extravagant generosity of God, and that generosity has given us a safe place to plant our feet. We don’t just stand there, though. We hold our heads up high and announce, with pride, that we confidently expect to be sharing the glory that is coming to God. Actually, it’s not just what’s coming in the future that makes us feel so good. Even now, when life seems to be giving us a raw deal, we can stand proud. We know that going through suffering can make us tough enough to survive the worst of times. This ability to tough things through will in turn generate new depths of integrity and maturity within us. And that brings us full-circle because it is this integrity and maturity that gives us our confidence about the future. Our confidence is not in vain either. We are sure about that because of what we have already experienced: a flood of love surging into our hearts from the Holy Spirit who God has given to us.
Christ got us on track at the cost of his own life. He did it right when we most needed it; when we were way off course and too weak to ever get ourselves back. It’s hard to believe, but true. You rarely hear of people putting their lives on the line for others, even for innocent children. Perhaps we might be able to imagine finding the courage to die for someone who we deeply admired and loved. But if you need proof of how much God loves us, just look at what Christ did. While we were still showing no signs of ever offering God anything but contempt, Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Matthew 9:35 - 10:8, (9-23)

Jesus hit the road and began teaching in the meeting halls of every city and town he came to. He broadcast the great news about the new culture, and healed people of every kind of disease and sickness. He was meeting crowds of people everywhere he went, and their predicament always left him feeling gutted. They were under so much stress and were so powerless to do anything about it. They were like children caught in a rip with not a lifesaver in sight. He said to his followers, “The world is an orchard, groaning under a bumper crop, ripe and ready for picking; but there are hardly any workers ready to bring it in. So get in touch with the Lord of the crop, and put in an urgent request for more workers to be sent out to do the picking.”
Jesus called his twelve closest followers together and commissioned them to deal with every toxic spirit they would encounter, and to heal people of every kind of disease and sickness. These are the names of his twelve chosen ambassadors: first there was Simon, who was also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; there were the brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee; there was Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew who had collaborated with the Roman occupation forces; James the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the freedom fighter; and Judas Iscariot, the one who later double-crossed Jesus. Jesus gave these twelve their marching orders as follows:
“I am not giving you the job of going to foreign places or to groups that are hostile to our people. Instead I want you to go to the people of Israel who have gone off the rails. Everywhere you go, broadcast the message that the culture of heaven is close at hand. Restore the sick to heath, raise the dead to life, integrate the outcasts back into society, flush out the demons. You haven’t been asked for payment for what you have been given, so you too are to do all this free of charge for others. Don’t take a wallet full of money just in case, and don’t go carting luggage around. Live simply and depend on others. Those who work hard have earned their keep.
“Whenever you arrive in a new town, accept the hospitality of someone who is trustworthy and on-side. Stay put until it’s time to move on. No shopping around for a better place! When you arrive in someone’s home, honour everyone as a friend. If they are good people they will benefit from your generous spirit; but if they prove unworthy of it, you have lost nothing by offering it. If you arrive somewhere and they refuse to welcome you in or to listen to what you have to say, just turn your backs and walk away. Scratch their name off your map and forget them. I kid you not; on judgment day the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah will get it easy compared to that town.
“Keep your wits about you, because on this job you will be like children swimming among the sharks. You will need to be as street-wise as a feral cat and as harmless as a budgie. Be on your guard against those who make wild allegations against you and turn you over to the authorities or incite mobs to beat you up in public. You will be dragged before the magistrates and political leaders because of your association with me. It will be your chance to speak out for the truth before an international audience. When they arrest you and put you on trial, don’t worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say in the witness box. You will be given the right words to say when the time comes. It won’t really be you doing the talking, but the Spirit of God speaking through you. People will end up betraying even those closest to them, their own brothers and sisters, and having them killed. Parents will dob in their own children, and children will turn on their parents and send them to the gallows. People everywhere will despise you because of your association with me, but those who tough it out to the end will be brought home safe and sound. When people begin to kick you around in one town, clear out and make a fresh start in the next. You can take my word for it; you will not run out of options before the New Human arrives on the scene.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

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

Exodus 19: 2-8a

The Israelites left their camp near the Red Sea and travelled into the Sinai desert, where they camped at the foot of the mountain. Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The LORD spoke to him there and said:
“Give this message to the people of Israel.
‘You have all seen what I did to the people who kept you in slavery. And you have all seen how I swooped down like an eagle to rescue you from them and make you mine. So now this is the deal: if you live the way I tell you to live, and continue to be true to the alliance I have made with you, then you will belong to me and be my most cherished possession. Of course the whole earth belongs to me, but you will be a nation set apart and dedicated to me, serving as my priest in the world.’
Go now, Moses, and tell the Israelites what I have said.”
So Moses went back down the mountain and called together the Israelite tribal elders. He told them everything that the LORD had told him to say. The people of Israel were unanimous in their reply: “We will do everything that the LORD is asking of us.”
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Psalm 100

With all the earth we join in thunderous celebration, LORD;
raising the roof as we come into your presence singing;
coming gladly to offer you our devotion.
LORD, we know that you are God.
You made us, and we belong to you.
We are your people, fed and cared for by you alone.
Your gates are open to us; thank you!
In your presence, we sing your praises!
We name you as deserving all the credit and thanks!
You are the best, LORD!
Your love is rock-solid, and always will be.
Down through the ages, you keep your word and stick by us.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Eucharistic Preface

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for your love has been poured into our hearts
through your Holy Spirit given to us.
Nothing is too wonderful for you,
and with a word you brought all creation to birth.
You revealed yourself to our forebears, Abraham and Sarah,
sharing round the table with them
and promising them the fruit of their withered dreams.
The fulfilment of all your promises came in your child, Jesus,
who revealed your compassion for the people,
proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom
and healing the sick and the broken of all that afflicted them.
In the fullness of love he gave his life for us,
while we were yet lost in our sin,
but you raised him from the dead
and now through our faith in him, you justify us
and welcomed us to the table of grace.
Therefore with .....
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

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

We give you thanks for your Son, Jesus,
who revealed the depths of your love,
giving his life for us while we were yet lost in our sin,
and who now welcomes us to the table of grace
and pours your love into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

General Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your love has been poured into our hearts
through your Holy Spirit given to us.
Nothing is too wonderful for you,
and with a word you brought all creation to birth.
You revealed yourself to our forebears, Abraham and Sarah,
and promised them the fruit of their withered dreams.
The fulfilment of all your promises came in your child, Jesus,
who revealed your compassion for the people,
proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom
and healing the sick and the broken of all that afflicted them.
In the fullness of love he gave his life for us,
while we were yet lost in our sin,
but you raised him from the dead
and now through our faith in him, you justify us
and give us access to grace.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Declaration of Grace / Absolution

God’s love for us is proved in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,
freeing us from death’s grip,
and giving us access to grace
and peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sisters and Brothers,
your sins are forgiven;
be at peace.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Commission & Benediction

The Lord seeks willing labourers for the harvest.
Therefore go out into the world,
proclaim the good news of the nearness of God;
and call all who will hear to wholeness,
to life,
to holiness.
And may God pour love into your hearts;
May Christ Jesus open the way of grace to you;
And may the Holy Spirit work through all things
to build you up in endurance, character and hope.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
©2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

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

God’s HospitalityA sermon on Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-7; Matthew 9:35-10:23 & Romans 5: 1-8 by Nathan Nettleton

Gratitude and VowsA sermon on Psalm 116 by Nathan Nettleton
