B127 – Pentecost 5 (Proper 8)
Our guest this week is Rev. Dr. Garry Worete Deverell, Trawloolway man, Anglican Priest, and Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow in Indigenous Theologies at the University of Divinity. We discuss themes of vulnerability and weakness in 2 Cor 8:7-15 and Mark 5:21-43 which accompany teaching of “genuine love” and moments of healing and faith. We also reflect on…
Read MoreB125 – Pentecost 3 (Proper 6)
This week we focus on 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 and Mark 4:26-34. Themes emerge regarding kingship and kingdoms. David is the surprising choice in 1 Samuel as the youngest and one chosen by the God who “looks on the heart”. The parables in Mark are about the Kingdom or Reign of God, bringing to the fore…
Read MoreB124 – Pentecost 2 (Proper 5)
This week we note the people’s demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8:1-20 is about wanting a visible, tangible site for authority. God’s offer of intimate relationship with the people, trusting their discernment, is not enough; the people don’t trust God or themselves. God, mercifully, but with dire warning, grants their wish. We talk…
Read MoreB 123 – Trinity Sunday (Rom 8:12-17, John 3:1-17)
Rev. Assoc. Prof. Frank Rees, systematic theologian and Baptist minister, joins us to discuss the relational and egalitarian nature of the Trinity. We discuss the various ways the communal, intimate, transcendent, and interdependent nature of God is revealed in Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, and John 3:1-17. Frank concludes that the triune nature of God reveals…
Read MoreB122 – Pentecost (Acts 2:1-12; Ezekiel 37:1-14)
Ian Ferguson joins us for our Pentecost episode, where we talk about the creative, regenerative power of the Holy Spirit as she comes to us in Acts 2:1-21 and Ezekiel 37:1-14. Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones shows the power of God’s Spirit to bring life from death. In the Acts passage the Spirit is…
Read MoreB121 – Easter 7
Psalm 1, Acts 1:15-26, John 17:6-19 are the focus this week. Acts 1 narrates the choosing of a new leader to replace Judas, raising questions about how we choose leaders and what we look for in our leaders. The Psalm invites us to “mediate on God’s Torah (instruction)”. In many ways it frames and introduces…
Read MoreB120- Easter 6 (John 15:9-17, Acts 10:44-48)
The readings this week invite us to reflect on change, the role of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus’ commandment to love. Acts 10:44-48 narrates the “gentile pentecost”, the delightful interruption of the Holy Spirit who falls upon everyone while Peter is speaking. This is the fourth pouring out of the Spirit in Acts, this time…
Read MoreB119 – Easter 5 (Acts 8:26-40; John 15:1-8)
The universal embrace of the gospel is embodied in the Ethiopian Eunuch in the Acts 8 passage. The usual social barriers are no barriers to his baptism and the joy of faith. We talk about the communal context of interpretation of scripture, the importance of teaching, and the proclamatory, spoken nature of the good news.…
Read MoreB118 – Easter 4 (Good Shepherd)
Robyn and Fran unpack the good shepherd imagery used for God in Psalm 23 and Jesus in John 10:11-18. We discuss the complexity of “laying down one’s life” and its afterlife in the way we talk about veterans and self-sacrifice (noting it is Anzac Day in Australia this Sunday). We refer to a discussion of…
Read MoreB117 – Easter 3 (Acts 3:12-19, Luke 24:36-48)
Kylie Crabbe returns to discuss the reaction to Peter healing a man with a mobility impairment in Acts 3. This is a conversation between Jews (Peter and other Israelites) about the nature of God’s power and the continuity between God’s action in the past and in Jesus. Glorifying God and the invitation to repentance are…
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