Pastor Richard Schwedes Podcasts

This week we continue the Lenten series, The Jesus Challenge with a focus on Giving. It is interesting that of all the topics Jesus speaks about money is the one he speaks most about. But his discussions around money is not to get more from us, but to help us develop and live with a healthy attitude to money, seeing money as a tool to bless others …

This week we continue the Lenten series, The Jesus Challenge with a focus on Serving. One of the consistent and strong messages from being with Jesus is that He came to serve and encourage us as His disciples and followers to serve people in ways that help them connect with Him. Our readings from Matthew 20:20-28 and Philippians 2:1-11 will help us…

This week we continue the Lenten series, The Jesus Challenge with a focus on Forgiving. The more time we spend with Jesus and His word, the clearer it becomes that God's main focus with us is forgiveness. This week we will also explore how God's forgiveness of us leads us to forgiving others. Our worship and teaching is inspired by John 8:1-11 Supp…

This week we continue the Lenten series, The Jesus Challenge with a focus on Being with Jesus and each other. The early disciples spent much time with Jesus, LISTENING to Him, LOOKING at what He does which prepares them for DOING what He says and does. And each of us are called to do the same, and when we simply be with Jesus, we are filled with wh…

This week Lent begins, the time of preparation for Easter. We are beginning a new worship service.....The Jesus Challenge. Central to the Jesus Challenge is LISTENING to the Words of Jesus, LOOKING at what Jesus says and DOING what Jesus says and does, based on Matthew 7:24-27. So throughout the season of Lent will be challenged to Listen, Look and…

Have you ever had a perception about someone, only to have that change once you meet them and get to know them. In this Sunday's story with Jesus, Jesus brings to light something that is absolutely important in understanding who He truly is, that He will rise from the dead. This will change how people will see Him and His role as the Messiah. In th…

This Sunday we will hear a sermon prepared by Bishop Paul Smith, based on Matthew 14:13-21, focusing us on the fact we gather around Jesus, the miracle maker. This has major implications for us as we live as His church, trusting and relying on Jesus no matter how things look. The sermon was presented by Anthony Fawcett. Support the show…

We are influenced and affected by many people, organisations and situations, often this happens in subtle ways. For instance did you know that Discount Warehouse Chemist spends much money, time and effort on creating an atmosphere that helps us see they are a bargain place? In this week's reading from Matthew 5:13-20 Jesus is encouraging us to refl…

Expectations can be very powerful. They can lead to joy especially when reality exceeds our expectations or disappointment when reality doesn't live up to our expectations. As Jesus prepares His early disciples and us He has some very important words for us that help us develop expectations that are from God and how these expectations may differ fr…

This week we dive into Matthew 4:12-23, where we continue to the story of Jesus calling His disciples, with the message that with Him the kingdom of heaven is close by. Think about how this is important for us. Pastor Tim Zanker is the guest preacher. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week we dive into John 1:29-42, as we look at Jesus and His first disciples. This story has a number of implications for us, as we see that even early on in His ministry Jesus is referred to as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But not only this, we are how discipleship living takes place, our call as disciples is to introd…

This week at St Pauls we welcome Pastor Tim Zanker who will be leading us in worship as we explore the Baptism of Jesus, Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

As we begin the new year this is a great opportunity to reflect on the year that has just passed, thanking God for all the good that happened and seeking God's help to deal with any issues that come from 2022. It is also a great opportunity to commit to placing 2023 into God's hands, asking God to shape the year so that we grow in our relationship …

Christmas is a time where I often have mixed emotions. When I focus on myself I look at the busyness, the jobs still to do, the loved ones who are no longer walk this earth, the demands others place on me, my family and our congregations, fractured relationships and the problems of life....Yet there is a better story that comes from focussing on Go…

Ccristmas Eve - A service of Readings and Carols to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ Child. You can watch the whole service on the Youtube link - https://youtu.be/vxVMOdtR59s Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

You can't help notice that Christmas is nearly here. There is sales, lights and signs. One of the favourite things our family likes to do is wander down to St Mary's Cathedral and view the light display, which this year clearly tells the Christmas story. If you haven't seen it make some time to see it and even take some friends along. The Jesus Chr…

This week in our Adventure to Christmas we explore the joy that Jesus gives us. One of the most famous Christmas Carols Joy to the World, written by Isaac Watts, shares with us the power of God's joy, that no sin or curse has power over the joy God gives. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

As we are Adveturing to Christmas, this week we come across the sign post of peace. In John 14.27 Jesus reminds us that His peace is different to the peace to what the world offers, it is a peace that exists even when there is chaos in our lives and it is a peace that says between us and God there are no problems or barriers. This peace is made pos…

This Advent our theme is Adveturing to Christmas and we will come across sign posts that lead us to Christ...the first sign post we will encounter is HOPE. Many of us have hopes for the future. Hope usually comes from a place that life is not quite right and we are looking for a better future. The well known carol 'O little town of Bethlehem' paint…

Sometimes we get frustrated with leaders, because they don't seem to be acting in our interest, but in their own interest. This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, where we explore how Jesus is truly the people's king, a king acting to bless and serve all people. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

At times listening to the news can give you the impression that the world is crumbling. And in this week's focus Jesus prepares His disciples including us for a crumbling world. Little did they know it that shortly afterwards they would face the challenge of Jesus being arrested and crucified. As we explore Luke 21.5-19, we discover how Jesus gives…

This week we celebrate All Saints Day. Whilst traditionally this has been a day for remembering those who have passed from this earth to be with Jesus, in our services we will also have an opportunity to remember and give thanks to God for all who have brought the light of Christ into our lives. In our services we will be exploring how ordinary peo…

This week we celebrate Reformation Sunday, celebrating that the reformation refocussed our understanding of God, from a God we need to perform for, to a God who comes to us an shows us grace. This year we also celebrate 500 years since Luther and the Reformation team translated the bible into the common German language, that helped many people conn…

This week we are celebrating and thanking God for all the people God brings to Australia, and what it means for us to live in a multicultural community. The service was a Multicultural celebration based on Luke 13:22-30. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week we conclude our Jonah series, where we explore the connection of Jonah and Jesus. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

As we continue our series on Jonah, we look at chapter 4, where we see that despite God giving Jonah a second chance and that the Ninevites all turned to God and stopped evil actions, Jonah is no happy, in fact he is quite angry. We explore why this maybe the case, and the problems this causes. Support the show…

Ever resisted doing something, then eventually you do it? In chapter 3 of Jonah, we see Jonah do exactly what God asked him to do, and when he does it there are some unexpected blessings, not just for Jonah but also for the people he goes to. This week we will explore how when we repent we get to be part of some unexpected blessings just like Jonah…

Ever found yourself in a mess? This week in our worship series we explore chapter 2, how to pray when we find ourselves in a mess, learning from Jonah who finds himself in the belly of the fish, praying to God. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

Over the next 5 weeks we will be diving deep into the book of Jonah. This week we explore Chapter 1, Jonah's calling and Him escaping from God's calling. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week in our worship series - To Belong we explore how God is essential for us so we can belong to God and belong to each other. Sermon based on Luke 15:1-10. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week we continue on our worship series, To belong, with a focus on how belonging helps us grow as Christians in this world, with a focus on God's mission. Sermon is based on John 15:1-8. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week we are exploring how everyone is valuable in God's scheme of life. Now for many this is easy to say, organisations, including churches often promote themselves as everyone is welcome, but then they act and say things which suggest we don't really want everyone to be welcome, or at best they are welcome or be valuable provided you become l…

Everyone needs to feel they belong, somewhere. And this Sunday we begin our new worship series TO BELONG, where we will explore what it means to belong to the church, God's family. Our focus this week is that To belong....God is essential based on John 15:1-17 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Christian freedom, exploring what does freedom mean for us as Christians based on Matthew 25:31-46 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday is Christian Care Sunday, where we will be exploring how God's care for us, influences how we care for others based on Matthew 25:31-46 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Empowered by a Godly focus based on Luke 12:13-21. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Empowered by Prayer based on Luke 11:1–13 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Empowered by listening based on Luke 10:38–42. The sermon was prepared by Pastor Richard Schwedes and read by Virginia Milla. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Empowered to be neighbours to everyone, with our guest preacher Bishop Rob Bartholomaeus based on Luke 10:25–37 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Freed to be God's Missionaries based on Luke 10:1-20. Prepared by Pastor Richard Schwedes and read by Anthony Fawcett. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday our focus is Freed to live under Christ Jesus and we welcome Pastor Tim Zanker as our guest pastor and preacher Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we celebrate the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. This is an important statement of faith for Protestant Christians as it reveals more clearly where we are on the same page as the Catholic Church of the 1500s and where we have major differences and concerns. Behind this document was that those who were leading the Protestant Ref…

This Sunday we celebrate Trinity Sunday - with a focus on the fact that God is interested and involved in every situation we face. Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost Sunday - focussing on the gift of God's Spirit for us based on Acts 2:1-21 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we continue living in the Easter season, with a focus on witnessing, based on Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:44-53 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we continue living in the Easter season, with a focus on healing....based on John 5:1-9 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we continue living in the Easter season, with a focus on loving....loving as Jesus loves us based on John 13:31-35 Support the showBy Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we continue living in the Easter season, with a focus on listening....Do you find it easy to listen? Some research suggests that the busier you are or the more convinced you are right...the more intentional you need to be in listening. And this week we are reminded of the blessings in listening to Jesus, our Good Shepherd. Also this wee…

This Sunday we continue living in the Easter season, with a focus on transformation Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19. Richard Fox from Lutheran Media will also be presenting at both St Pauls and Redeemer to share how Lutheran Media is helping people to connect people in the wider community to the transformation message of Jesus. Support the show…

Last Sunday we stepped into the Easter Season remembering and celebrating what Jesus has made possible for us, through His death and resurrection....and over the next 6 weeks we unpack what it means to be living as Easter people, living because of Jesus' resurrection. This week we look how living as Easter people we live with a belief in Jesus and …