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Nazareth Then and Now
Ancient Nazareth lacked the critical advantages for its development as a significant settlement: abundant water supply, an elevated site for defensive purposes, and strategic location adjacent to a major highway. The most comprehensive recent study of the archeology of ancient Nazareth and its local region was completed by Ken Dark over several seasons between 2004…
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The oldest hatred
Presentation to a panel discussion sponsored by the Jewish Council of Australia at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane on Monday, 29 September 2025. The topic of the event was: Should anti-Semitism be exceptionalised or should we combat all forms of racism together? Co-hosts for the event included: Doykeit (a local Jewish group in Brisbane), St John’s…
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Good News for all of life
Easter 7 (A) 28 May 2017 St Paul’s Church, Byron Bay St Oswald’s Church, Broken Head This morning we conclude our series of sermons on the attributes of a spiritually confident faith community in contemporary Australia. We began by considering what we mean by “confident”. We saw then that such confidence is not about…
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Oasis of shalom
Easter 6 (A) 21 May 2017 St Paul’s Anglican Church Byron Bay This morning we continue our series of sermons on the attributes of a spiritually confident faith community in contemporary Australia. We began by considering what we mean by “confident”. Such confidence is not about being arrogant, or cocky. It encourages neither bigotry, nor…
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Confident faith in a post-Christian world
Reflections for a diocesan clergy retreat Cathedral of Christ the King, Grafton (17 May 2017) In the context of this clergy retreat we have been reflecting together on the text from 2 Timothy 1:7 passage: For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of…
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Thin places and deep wells
Easter 5A (14 May 2017) St Paul’s Church, Byron Bay This is the third sermon in our mini series looking at the attributes of spiritually confident faith communities. We have already reflected on the dynamic of spiritual confidence, which is not to be confused with arrogance or bigotry. Rather, as we saw, it is about…
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People of the Book
Easter 4A 7 May 2017 St Paul’s Church, Byron Bay St Columba’s Church, Ewingsdale This is the second in a series of sermons that are seeking to explore some of the attributes of spiritually confident faith communities. We began the series by thinking about what “spiritual confidence” might mean. Now we can look at several…
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Spiritual confidence
23 April 2017 Second Sunday of Easter St Paul’s Anglican Church Byron Bay My usual practice is to preach on the texts of the day, and especially the Gospel passage. However, during the extended Easter season—our ‘week of weeks’ celebrating resurrection—I want to preach a series of sermons with almost no link to the readings…
