Go from your country and your kindred and your parents house to the land that I will show you
Go from your church were you have worshipped for 30, 40,50 years and go to a land I will show you
Wait, what, sorry.. what was that?
On Sunday 5 March the Presbytery of Port Phillip East recognised the new congregation of St Kilda South Port Uniting Church at a service at South Melbourne where the combined congregation now meets for worship. The coming of two new ministers to the region, Rev Deacon John Tansey and Rev Alex Sangster, was the catalyst for a journey of coming together that took about 12 months – an rather unheard of time frame. The congregation will continue to use all three church sites for ministry and mission activities.
The service began with a smoking ceremony and included a combined band, special music and a dialogue sermon between the two ministers, whose ministry placements in the new congregation were also given recognition.
The sermon was based on Genesis 12:1-4 and John 3:1-10.
in order for new things to happen sometimes we have to let go of the old
I don’t like letting go
well that’s what Lent is all about-
letting go of shadow letting go of darkness
letting go of guilt
letting go of fear
letting go of apathy
letting go with the things that bind us down
letting go of places and spaces where we worship for 30 40,50 years
anything else?
what do you mean is there anything else?
Is there anything else I have to let go of?
well maybe the kingdom of God
what!
Well the kingdom in the way that we used to think about it
like it was some great big colonising triumph
where we, as Christians had all the answers
and we could tell everybody what to think of what to do
why do I have to let go of that?
well because it’s not true
what do you mean it’s not true
I mean that we’re part of a much bigger story
……
Download the sermon here. March 5 Dialogue Sermon (70kb PDF)
