How do you feel when expected to give generously? This week in our Gospel reading, Mark 5:21-43 a woman desperate to be healed reaches out to Jesus without asking first, and He blesses her with healing and peace. How do you react when someone is so in need of help that they might seem rude or demanding? Support the Show.…

How do you react when storms come in your life? In today's Gospel reading, Mark 4:35-41, the disciples are in a situation where they face a storm, Jesus is with them, yet initially Jesus is asleep and then later when he acts the storm stops, and calmness occurs. This week we will explore what it means for us to have calmness amongst the storms. Sup…

In this week's Gospel reading from Mark 4:26-34 Jesus gives us some important images of how the Gospel grows in individuals and the community...we are called to sow the Gospel, but then allow God to grow the Gospel...it is God who will produce Gospel fruits in our lives and the lives of others...this week will explore what this looks like and why t…

This week in conjunction with the launch of Lutheran Simultaneous Art Exhibition our focus is on the Tree of Life based on Revelation 22:1-5. The sermon was presented by Dr. Wendy Mayer. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

In this week's reading from Mark 2:23-3:6 we see Jesus refocussing us on what is important about the Sabbath, moving the focus from the rules about the Sabbath to the blessings of the Sabbath. This week we explore what living the Sabbath means for us today, the blessing the Sabbath brings and why it is important to be blessed and not burdened by th…

This week we celebrate Trinity Sunday with probably the most well known bible verse, John 3:16-17...For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Now the back story…

This Sunday we get to celebrate a great celebration of the church, Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate the gift of God's Spirit for us, that helps us in our Christian journey of knowing Jesus and growing in relationship with Jesus. Not only that the Spirit unites people with differing view points, bakcgrounds and cultures together focussing them on God …

Have you ever felt Jesus has disappeared? Perhaps you are going through a difficult patch and nothing is working out. Perhaps you have a feeling of unsettledness. This week we are celebrating Ascension Day on Sunday (it actually took place on Thursday), in Germany the day is called Himmelfahrt (meaning goes to heaven), the day when Jesus left this …

Some years ago in discussion with a nonChristian friend, they asked the question.....What is the central meaning of Christianity? At the time I hadn't give a lot of thought to it, because I had grown up in the church, but since then I have been asked this question or questions along the same line, and my response is that it is all about God's love,…

What are you connected to? What are you listening to and taking notice of for life? In our Gospel reading for this week from John 15, Jesus encourages us to be connected to Him and allow Him to be affecting us so we can the Godly fruit of love. This week are exploring how Jesus helps us to be fruitful. Support the Show.…

This week is Good Shepherd Sunday, and in our reading from John 10, Jesus shares with us what it means for Him to be our Good Shepherd. The message was prepared and presented by Anthony Fawcett. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

In our Gospel reading this week from Luke 24:36-48, Jesus comes unexpectedly amongst His disciples, and helps them understand what the scriptures are on about....forgiveness and that they will be witness of this forgiveness from God....this week will explore the significance of Jesus' presence in our lives and what it means for us to be witness of …

Easter Sunday changes everything.....the resurrection of Jesus gives us a life where peace and belief can exist beyond amongst the troubles and difficulties of life...because we have a life to look forward to....and this then changes how we live today. Our focus this week comes from the Gospel of John 20:19-31 Support the Show.…

Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Our journey of true love (our Lenten theme), continues with this week, Palm Sunday, as we focus on Praise, Praising God for not only what He has done, but also what He is doing and will do! Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Our journey of true love (our Lenten theme), continues with this week with an emphasis a life of serving, focussing on the service of Jesus and how this then affects us. Support the Show.

Our journey of true love (our Lenten theme), continues with this week with an emphasis of it's all about Jesus, our District's theme for this synodical term. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Our journey of true love (our Lenten theme), continues with this week we are focusing on being cleansed by Jesus, based on John 2:13-22. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

As we continue on our journey of true love (our Lenten theme), we move from discovering the blessings of repentance to discovering commitment, based on Mark 8:31-38. And this week we seek how the commitment that Jesus has for God's mission of saving the world, impacts our lives in at least two ways. If you haven't picked the 2024 Lenten Devotion...…

This week we began the season of Lent, our journey to Easter with Jesus and each other. Our focus is On a Journey of true love, and this week as part of that journey we discover the blessings of repentance, based on our Gospel reading from Mark 1:14-15. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Our Bishop Rev Rob Bartholomaeus presented the message for our Churches of Sydney Ash Wednesday service based on Isaiah 58:1-12. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Have you ever changed the way you look at someone or something because of an event or interaction with someone? Well this week is Transfiguration Sunday, we see that the disciples understanding of God begins to change as a result of seeing only Jesus, and seeing him in a different way. We are exploring how God helps us see him differently when we f…

This week we focus on being thankful in all circumstances, based on the reading from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. We are exploring how thankfulness is important in having a healthy earthly and spiritual life. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Mention the word authority to people, and you get different reactions. Some like to be clear of who has authority, others associate it with power (and some even the misuse of power) and most of the responses people have to the word authority is are rules and law. However this week's focus from Mark 1:21-28 highlights that the authority Jesus has is…

From time to time God has an impact us that alters how they see God and how we relate to others. This week we see one of those impacts as we look at the Conversion of Paul, previous known as Saul, and how God's interaction with him moved him from focussing on God's law as the most important thing to focussing on God grace for all people as what is …

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus calls people to follow Him, and this week we explore one of these calling stories, based on John 1:43-51. Today's sermon was written and presented by Anthony Fawcett. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

The Christmas story continues as we celebrate Epiphany. This is significant as God makes it clear that he came not just for one select group of people, but for all people. And this week we focus on discovering King Jesus, based on Matthew 2:1-12. Today's message was prepared by Pastor Richard Schwedes and presented by Neil Modra. Support the Show.…

Content makes the poor rich; discontent makes rich poor, is a famous quote that rings true in many situations...people who are content enjoy life, see the blessings and not only have joy for themself, but also share it with others/ This week in our service we will explore what it means to be content with God and all that He has given us, based on G…

Gifts are an important aspect of Christmas. And it is important for us to remember that Jesus is the most important (and most expensive) gift of Christmas. As our readings remind us this Christmas, God becomes human to be with us and to do whatever it takes for us to be able to grab hold of His love. (see John 1:1-14) And what is great about Jesus …

Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

This week we explore what it means to have joy from God, even when life is difficult, based on Isaiah 61:1-9. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

Our focus is God is here calling us back...just like in life we need to be redirected back on the right path, God has placed in our lives people like John the Baptist who calls us back to Him and his way of life. And as part of the service this week we will explore how much we benefit from responding to God's call to be back with Him and His way of…

Have you ever hoped for something? Maybe you have hoped that life will get better? Often today when people talk about hope, they sometimes have great wishes but are not overly confident that it will eventuate. As we begin the season leading up to Christmas, Advent, we are reminded that we are called to be hopeful people. People who not just have ho…

Imagine if Jesus physically moved in with you. How would life change? Whenever I have lived with someone, I have got to know them better, and discovered more about them, and they have discovered more about me. This week as we come to the end of the church year we are exploring what means to be living with King Jesus, and how this affects our lives,…

What motivates you to do something or not do something? Is it fear of punishment or fear of missing out on a reward? This week we explore how God gives us a different approach to life....an approach not based on whether we fear missing out on a reward or fear on being punished...but an approach based on faith in God and His love that He gives us, a…

This Sunday at St Pauls we explore seeing God's love grow and how the Old and New Testament encourages to help and love others and hearing stories from Australian Lutheran World Service and their gifts of grace. Support the Show.By Pastor Richard Schwedes

This Sunday we celebrate All Saints Day. All Saints is about giving thanks for and remembering those people who have shared the life giving and loving message of Jesus to us...our focus will be inspired by Revelation 7:9-17. During our worship services you have the opportunity to light a candle for anyone who has been a saint for you, as a sign tha…

his Sunday we celebrate the reformation, remembering that the true focus of Christianity is what God does for us, and How God makes us acceptable. So this week inspired by Romans 3:19-28, we will explore How we are good enough. Good enough for God and good enough for life now and eternally. Support the Show.…

This Sunday we celebrate God's blessing of many cultures coming together as His family, with our worship inspired by Colossians 3:1-14. Our service will include songs, readings and prayers in English, Indonesian, Chinese, Pidgin, Finnish, German, Norwegian and Tamil. Following the service will be gathering for a multicultural dinner. Support the Sh…

Have you ever invited someone to a function and they haven't showed up, or given you excuses why they couldn't attend? In this week's Gospel reading Jesus tells us a story to help us have a deeper insight into God and His generosity, and that He invites all people, good and bad to be part of His church family. Come join us as we unpack Matthew 22:1…

One of the main factors of congregations who have changed from struggling to thriving, from unhealthy to healthy is prayer. Thomas and Samuel Rainer devote their lives in helping congregations who are struggling to be more effective in mission and ministry have identified in their work how important it is for the congregation to have people who are…

Prayer (talking and listening to God) has a rich history in the Christian Faith. Praying Daily is considered an important activity of individual Christians and Christian communities. But why? and why does the New Testament encourage us to pray constantly (from our reading for this week Luke 18:1-8) or to pray with out ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-…

Being able to communicate with someone is an important aspect for life. And as Christians God invites us to communicate with Him daily in Prayer. Over the next 3 Sundays we will explore how important prayer is for us personally and for us as a community of faith, in our series Seasons of Prayer. This week we explore the Lord's Prayer, discovering h…

Everyday we encounter problems, difficulties, sin and disappointments. Our human response is often to focus on what caused this to happen, or who has to pay for these problems. Yet this week, as we dive into Genesis 55:15-21 God invites us to have a different outlook, to look for the God He is doing when bad things occur. So come and join us as we …

The more I dive into God's Word, the more it is reinforced that God has this constant, unrelenting love for us, but not just for us, everyone, even people whom He is in conflict with. And this week we explore how God's focus of always loving....affects us as His disciples in all situations, including when dealing with conflict. Come join us in pers…

You can spend a life time trying to discover what is the meaning of life, and many people keep trying to discover it. In our reading this week from 1 John 5, the answer to the true meaning of life is revealled, it is Jesus. And this week dive deeper into discovering how when we see Jesus as the true meaning of life, our daily lives are affected. Su…

How do we know what is from God and what is not? This is a question that many people ask. In our focus this week from 1 John 4, we explore what it means from distinguishing between Godly lights and other lights....and the answer of course is Jesus. So this week we will explore what it means to live in a world, distinguishing between the lights with…

Why do we do what we do? This is a good question to reflect on. It encourages us to explore what are the reasons for our actions, words and thoughts. And in our focus this week from 1 John 3:11-24, living a life of true love....we explore where the love we have as Christians comes from and why do we love? Support the Show.…