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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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When God comes to church
Beam of sunlight above the tomb of Christ at the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem. Photograph ©2015 Gregory C. Jenks Pentecost 8BSt Paul’s Church, Ipswich14 July 2024 [ video ] A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the joint feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. In my sermon for that day, I observed that…
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Being on country
Pentecost 7B / NAIDOC SundaySt Paul’s Church, Ipswich7 July 2024 [ video ] In today’s sermon I want to invite you to join me in a reflection that seeks to intertwine a story of Jesus going back home to Nazareth—described simply as his “hometown”—with our sense of belonging to the places we call home, and…
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Of giants and tsunami
Pentecost 5BSt Thomas Church, North Ipswich23 June 2024 In today’s set of lectionary readings, we are served up two of the all-time best-known stories from the Bible: These stories are vivid. They are much loved by people who design Sunday School curricula. More than that, they are primal stories that evoke a response deep within…
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Subversive blessings come in small packages
Pentecost 4BSt Paul’s Church Ipswich16 June 2024 [ video ] Aesop the fabled storyteller of ancient Greece may have lived around 600 years before the time of Jesus. He is thought to have been born around 620 BCE and to have died in the holy city of Delphi around 564. So many legends have developed…
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water fire oil
Pentecost 3BSt Paul’s Church, Ipswich9 June 2024 [ video ] Water, fire and oil Here at St Paul’s Church in Ipswich this Sunday we are going to start a young girl on a journey that will take the rest of her life to complete. She is too young to choose this journey or embrace this…
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When the word of the Lord is rare
Pentecost 2BSt Paul’s Church, Ipswich2 June 2024 [ video ] Sometimes stories operate on multiple levels, and that is surely the case with our first reading (1 Samuel 3) today. It is this third level of the story that I want us to focus on this morning. The reading begins by telling us that “the…
