2021 Services and Sermon Videos
Last Sunday of the Church Year, November 21, 2021
Pentecost 25, November 14, 2021
All Saints, November 7. 2021
Reformation Sunday, October 31, 2021 __________
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Reformation Sunday (October 31)
(Complete service - 55 minutes duration) Jesus was asked by those trying to trap him “what is the most important commandment of all?” (Mark 12:28-34) It was part of a barrage of questions designed to catch him out so that he could be accused of breaking God’s law. While Jesus stunned people with the wisdom and authority of his various answers, more importantly, it was the fact that he fulfilled all God’s commandments that is so significant for us. His perfect achievement is gifted to us in what has been called the ‘Happy Exchange!’ On this Reformation Sunday we celebrate the gracious forgiving gift of Christ, given freely to sinners. |
Pentecost 22, October 24, 2021 __________
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October 24 - Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 54 minutes duration) The people of Israel encountered many of the same struggles that we often face today in living out our faith in God surrounded by a culture that is largely opposed to God. Ultimately, the leaders and their people were so influenced by that culture that it dragged them away from God’s ways and led them into sinful practices and idolatry on a grand scale. The people claimed to belong to the Lord, but yet lived in ways contrary to that. Things came to a head when God called the prophet Elijah to set up a showdown between the true God and those who had assumed roles as leaders of God’s people: King Ahab, Queen Jezebel and the false prophets they endorsed. Whom will they ultimately follow? In a powerful display, God demonstrated that he alone is the one to be worshipped and honoured above all. To whom will we look in faith? |
Pentecost 21, October 17, 2021 __________
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October 17 - Twenty First Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 53 minutes duration) It is very easy to make assumptions or value judgments about another person. Sometimes those perceptions are based on the way they look, the clothes they wear, the way they talk, or even the way they smell or walk. While some discernment is necessary as we try to ascertain other people’s level of trustworthiness or our common interests, it can be easy to put people in a box, and then to leave them there without ever discovering their unique gifts and personality! Our Lord Jesus Christ is able to see beyond the way we present ourselves outwardly to the very heart of our being. That is both simultaneously frightening and comforting. It is frightening because it means there is nothing we can hide from him. It is comforting because he knows our sinfulness, yet has chosen to love us in spite of all our sin and weaknesses. Let us ask God to help us see each other through the eyes of Christ! |
Pentecost 20, October 10, 2021 __________
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October 10 - Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 57 minutes duration) How confident would you be in approaching God’s throne on the day of judgement? Or even now? Would the sin in your heart cause you to approach with fear and trembling? Especially when you know that the two edged sword of God’s Spirit filled word is able to penetrate the deepest recesses of our darkened hearts and knows our every weakness! Well thanks and praise be to God our Father for Jesus Christ—who not only knows our weaknesses, but is able to sympathise with them! Jesus has suffered every temptation, yet was without sin, living the perfect life for us. He now enables us to approach God’s throne with complete confidence, knowing that his mercy has covered all our sins and he now lives to intercede for us. Praise be to God for Jesus Christ! |
Pentecost 19, October 3, 2021 __________
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October 3 - Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 57 minutes duration) When the children who were being brought to Jesus were turned away by the disciples, the reaction of Jesus (anger and indignation) tells us much about the heart of God. It shows his loving care for all the small and weak ones of the world and his desire for all people to know his saving mercy. God's kingdom and salvation is a pure gift of grace from a loving father! May we gladly receive his gift with faith and trust like a child. |
Pentecost 16, September 12, 2021 __________
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September 12 - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 54 minutes duration) As the people of God we are called and sent to proclaim God’s life saving good news to the world. And yet, maybe the hardest group of all to share that message with is the people we know best of all—our family and friends! In today’s gospel reading (Mark 6:1-13), the good news message that Jesus proclaimed was not welcomed by those in his hometown—those whom he knew best of all! If that is what Jesus experienced, then what hope do we have? This gets to the heart of why we even exist as a church. It causes us to examine our motives and what ultimate purpose we are seeking. Lord Jesus Christ, lead us and guide us as we follow in your footsteps. |
Pentecost 15, September 5, 2021 __________
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September 5 - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 59 minutes duration) How far would you go for healing? What might you be prepared to do in the pursuit of health? Our health is extremely precious to us, but in this life we will never be free of the deathly consequences of our sin. Our ultimate healing (of body, mind and spirit) can only come through Jesus Christ and what he has achieved for us. In our sermon text today, we see how Naaman received this gracious gift from God (2 Kings 5:1-15). |
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August 29 - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 62 minutes duration) “You reap what you sow” – or so they say! There is no doubt a lot of truth in that statement. However, when it comes to the word of God, people often respond in very different ways to it. Some eagerly receive what God gives and promises while others reject it outright, and every variation in between. Thankfully God’s word is powerful and able to produce a harvest in the hardest of hearts. Lord, make us receptive to your word! |
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August 22 - Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 56 minutes duration) We may not always be aware of it, but God's word tells us that we are constantly in the middle of a spiritual battle with unseen forces and powers (Ephesians 6:11-20). Their goal is no less than to prize you away from the saving mercy of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Thank the Lord that he comes to our rescue and provides us with his own protective armour! |
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August 15 - Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 58 minutes duration) There are no shortcuts to wisdom. Wisdom is formed and tested in the school of time and experience. Godly wisdom however, is different. God's wisdom is revealed to us and imparted to us, as a gift of the Holy Spirit! Today's sermon encourages us to seek God's wisdom and to seize every opportunity to receive it, for none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. |
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August 8 - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 42 minutes duration) It has been said, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Our sermon text (Ephesians 4:25-5:2) invites us to consider who it is that we tend to imitate. Our loving heavenly Father invites us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ alone so that, as his beloved children, we may become more and more Christ-like in every way, reflecting the loving mercy of God. |
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August 1 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 49 minutes duration) God designed his church to operate as a single unit — a body! And he provides his church with everything it needs to support and sustain our Christian life. Sadly, our human sinfulness often still comes to the fore and we can easily fall back into thinking of ourselves at the expense of others, rather than giving of ourselves for the building up of the body. Yet, our Lord is still at work through his church and in spite of us - always feeding, equipping, forgiving and restoring us again! Our sermon looks at our God-given roles in the body of Christ. |
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July 25 - Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 50 minutes duration) Today’s sermon text touches on something that is a very ‘touchy subject’ for many people—namely our money! Our financial resources can be both a great blessing from God for good, or they can becomes an idol in our lives and destroy us. As we look at God’s good gift of money, we are reminded that God is the giver of everything we have and that he is the ultimate generous giver—giving of himself and all his riches so that we may share in his blessings. Thank the Lord for his sacrificial gift to us through Jesus Christ! |
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July 18 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
(Complete service - 49 minutes duration) Some people may feel that they are beyond the loving, forgiving and gracious touch of Jesus. When we look closely and honestly at the sin in our lives we too may feel that we are beyond redemption and have messed things up too much. Yet, in today’s sermon we see that Jesus reaches out and embraces even those that others reject, drawing them to himself and his kingdom. Lord have mercy on us! |
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June 20 - Augsburg Confession Anniversary
(Complete service - 57 minutes duration) Will we hold fiercely to the precious treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God's word, or will we make compromises in the face of pressures from a changing world? We thank God for the many people that have gone before us faithfully giving witness to God's grace displayed in Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to shout from the rooftops what we have received from you! |
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June 13 - Pentecost 3
(Complete service - 56 minutes duration) When our Lord claims us as his own in baptism, he declares to us that we are a new creation through him! We have been born again with a new heart, mind and spirit - the old has gone and the new has come! And all of it is his doing and gift to us! This week's sermon looks at God's wonderful declaration about us and how that impacts upon the way we now live with others. |
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June 6 - Pentecost 2
(Complete service - 43 minutes duration) This weekend the congregational representatives and pastors of the Queensland District of the Lutheran church in Australia meet for their annual Synod. St Paul’s Lay Reader, Darryl McNeill, leads the service and reads a sermon prepared by Pastor Vince Gerhardy entitled “Be still”. |
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May 30 - Trinity Sunday
(Complete service - 50 minutes duration) During times of change and tragedy in particular, we are often forced to answer one of the life's biggest questions - "who am I?" Sadly, many people look for the answers to that question in the wrong places. Ultimately, only the Triune God can provide an answer for us. On this Trinity Sunday we join the chorus of praise that sings, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:1) |
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May 23 - Pentecost Sunday
(Complete service - 52 minutes duration) Jesus promised to give his church the gift of the Holy Spirit which was visibly received at Pentecost. Yet while the Spirit brings us wonderful and great comfort by pointing us to Christ, the first work of the Spirit that Jesus describes in our text today may surprise us. Lord, pour out your Spirit upon your church. |
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May 16 - Ascension
(Complete service - 56 minutes duration) Jesus Christ physically and visibly ascended in front of his disciples. Yet despite his leaving them, the disciples rejoiced and praised God! What would give them such joy in the face of his departure? It was his promises to still be with them in real and tangible ways. This week’s sermon explores the purpose and implication of the ascension. |
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May 9 - Sixth Sunday of Easter
(Complete service - 49 minutes duration) Good friends are hard to find! ... Or are they? Our Lord Jesus Christ declares us to be friends and bestows on us the greatest privilege of all - a right relationship with God! Jesus demonstrates that his loving friendship is for real by laying down his life for us! May we love others as he has loved us. |
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May 2 - Fifth Sunday of Easter
(Complete service - 49 minutes duration) Jesus declares that he is the vine and we are the branches! We are therefore connected to him in a profound way that is vital for our daily faith life and our eternal future. The relationship we have with him is a gift from God given to us in baptism. Without Christ we have no true hope which is why Jesus encourages us to always remain ‘in him’. |
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April 25 - Fourth Sunday of Easter
(Sermon audio only) God's saving grace poured out on human beings is truly beyond our understanding! Especially when we consider how we have treated God and his laws and mistreated each other! And yet Jesus died and rose again for us! Praise God for the undeserved gift he has freely given to us! (Romans 6:23) |
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April 18 - Third Sunday of Easter
(Complete service - 50 minutes duration) Every pair of hands tells a story, and none more so than the hands of Jesus! In today's text he invites us to see for ourselves and consider the implications: (Jesus said) "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” |
Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021 _____________________________
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April 4 - Easter Sunday
(Complete service - 50 minutes duration) What incredible joy and hope is now ours through the victory that Jesus won! By defeating death itself, and by paying for the sin that caused it, Jesus has restored us to the Father! We now have true hope and a wonderful future through Christ – and that changes everything! |
Good Friday, April 2, 2021 _____________________________
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April 2 - Good Friday
(Complete service - 60 minutes duration) As Jesus goes to the cross and his cruel death, we are reminded that it was our sin that sent him there. It was our indifference, our selfishness, our wilful acts of rebellion against God that nailed him to the cross. And yet, Jesus goes there willingly, sacrificing himself in our place. Everything Jesus did, he did for us. Praise be to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! |
Sunday, March 28, 2021 _____________________________
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March 28 - Palm Sunday
(Complete service - 48 minutes duration) Jesus is unlike all other kings and rulers who have gone before him - he is the servant king! He is humble and gracious and gave his life for us. He is God in the flesh and all his loving mercy is displayed in his humble selfless sacrifice for us sinners. That is why his name is above all names! |
Sunday, March 21, 2021 _____________________________
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March 21 - Fifth Sunday in Lent
(Complete service - 52 minutes duration) In our sermon text today (Mark 2:1-12), Jesus confronts his critics with a challenging question: Is it easier to forgive someone their sins (something that only God can ultimately do) or to heal them? While his opponents were left pondering what to make of his claims, Jesus does both and shows his complete authority as God in the flesh! May the forgiveness of Christ be yours and the assurance that he has taken away your sins completely! |
Sunday, March 14, 2021 _____________________________
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March 14 - Fourth Sunday in Lent
(Complete service - 47 minutes duration) At the very heart of the Reformation was the key question: "How do I find true peace with God?" Martin Luther struggled greatly with this and thankfully found the answer by going back to God's Word. There he rediscovered the good news of the gospel which clearly reveals that our salvation is not something that comes from within us, but a gift from God to us through Jesus Christ. |
Sunday, March 7, 2021 _____________________________
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March 7 - Third Sunday in Lent
(Complete service - 53 minutes duration) God gave the 10 commandments to Moses and the people of Israel on Mt Sinai as part of his covenant relationship with them. However, what is the role of the commandments for Christians today? Are they still in force? Are they still relevant? The sermon this week explores the biblical teaching of "Law and Gospel" and how they must be distinguished from each other so that the forgiveness of Christ comes to us in its full sweetness! |
Sunday, February 28, 2021 _____________________________
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February 28 - Second Sunday in Lent
(Complete service - 37 minutes duration) Do you like surprises? Abraham and Sarah sure had a few! Far greater though are the surprises that God reveals through his word and his promises to those who trust in Jesus. I encourage you to trust in our loving God and let him surprise you! |
Sunday, February 21, 2021 _____________________________
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February 21 - First Sunday in Lent
(Complete service - 38 minutes duration) Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was confronted with many temptations, as the devil sought to divert him from his saving work. Those who are baptised into Christ can also expect similar struggles. However, our strength and comfort when facing temptations is found in Jesus alone. He walks the low road with us. |
Sunday, February 14, 2021 _____________________________
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February 14 - Transfiguration Sunday
(Complete service - 40 minutes duration) The Transfiguration event is just what we need to keep us going though our 'dark valleys'. Jesus reminds both his disciples and us, that his kingdom is a 'hidden' one. His glory is veiled in weakness, suffering and death. Lord, as you prepare us for the journey to the cross, grant us a sure and joyful hope through Christ. |
Sunday, February 7, 2021 _____________________________
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February 7 - Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
(Complete service - 39 minutes duration) Have you ever grown tired and weary in your spiritual life? ... Burnt out, struggling and dry? .... At some point nearly everyone does! The prophet Isaiah (40:21-31) points us to the only one who can truly renew and strengthen us in the midst of our 'life storms'. |
Sunday, January 31, 2021 _____________________________
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January 31 - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
(Complete service - 36 minutes duration) For Christians, there are many aspects of our daily lives where there is no direct command or prohibition from God about what we should do in that particular situation. While Jesus Christ has truly set us free for life with him, our sermon this week (1 Corinthians 8:1-13) looks at how we can lovingly help one another maintain a clear conscience before God. |
Sunday, January 24, 2021 _____________________________
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January 24 - Third Sunday after Epiphany
(Complete service - 38 minutes duration) Who or what do you lean on when the going gets tough? In the end, no person, resource, object or anything in this world can ultimately provide what our God can. He is our 'rock', our 'fortress' and our 'salvation' (as we will hear in Psalm 62). Lord help us to lean and rely on you alone |
Sunday, January 17, 2021 _____________________________
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January 17 - Second Sunday after Epiphany
(Complete service - 40 minutes duration) Are you a good listener? Or does your mind tend to wander? Listening is an 'art', and perhaps a dying one in an increasingly visual culture. May God grant to us the patience and humility needed to truly hear him, as he speaks to us through his word. |
Sunday, January 10, 2021
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January 10 - Baptism of our Lord
(Complete service - 42 minutes duration) 'Where do we come from?' is a perplexing question that has intrigued human beings throughout the ages. Different worldviews have been put forward seeking to explain the mystery and wonder of human existence. And while faith and science have often clashed in recent years over this question, ultimately any explanation requires faith in certain assumptions. The Christian church stands firmly on the belief that "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth'. And that changes forever how we see the world and each other! |