The Uniting Church has as its slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’. Community is a difficult thing to embrace and maintain because of its diversity. We explore some of the apostle Paul’s reflections on community and consider how we are the ‘body of Christ’ together.

Sermon Sunday September 20th, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

Jesus asks the disciples a pointed and difficult question about his identity:

Who do you say that I am?

Peter jumps straight in and gets the answer right – except that his expectations of Jesus as Messiah were very different to Jesus own sense of call. So Peter gets in the way and the challenge Jesus gives him provokes us to think also about what we expect from the Messiah.

We reflect on the difficult path that others have taken in answer to this question but also discover that we are not called to be bleeding martyrs but rather energetic and willing co-creators alongside Jesus towards God’s way.

Sermon – Sunday 13th September, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

This week we find an astounding encounter in Mark’s gospel between Jesus and a foreign woman. There are many nuances in the story but on the surface Jesus calls and treats the woman like a dog. The encounter is not what we expect of Jesus but if we look deep both Jesus and the woman are concerned about issues of justice. While they begin at loggerheads they find the feisty encounter produces a new and unforeseen reality – healing is found, the gospel is shared, good news is no longer the sole domain of Jewish people but God’s abundance is for all.

Sermon – 6th September, 2009 (pdf)

As people of faith we echo what is proclaimed in psalm 84. In that psalm we find a song that sings out the story of God’s place and home and how that travels with the pilgrim through difficult places. The dwelling place of God is not restricted to sacred spaces or magnificent buildings but rather travels with those whose heart is for God.

Sermon, Sunday August 23rd, 2009 (pdf)

When Solomon is granted any wish he wants from God we sense an incredible generosity and love from our creator and the willingness to risk all for the sake of humanity. As we breathe a sigh of relief when Solomon acts with maturity beyond his years we look forward to another incredible act of generosity and love from our creator who is again willing to risk all for the sake of humanity. This second time all who seek are granted the doorway to wisdom, love and life in the name of Christ.

Sermon Sunday August 16th, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

Prompted by Paul’s encouragement to the community at Ephesus to be Christlike, we explore the gifts of community. We wonder how different community may look if we truly believe that ‘the other’ is a beloved child of God.

Sermon Sunday August 9th, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

Once Jesus had given the crowd a taste for an easy feed, they pursued him hoping for more temporary relief from their ills. But with a subtle change of focus, Jesus offered them and us a salve to the gnawing need to satiate our souls. He offers himself as the ‘bread of life’, food that nourishes forever.

Sermon Sunday August 2nd, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

A crowd follows Jesus and the disciples to a remote place and are fed by Jesus as he teaches them. After a time there is a need to satisfy their hunger. A boy with a lunchbox of some loaves and fish becomes a faithful key to the feeding miracle that follows.

We continue to explore our ‘life-givng’ themes and look at how we become involved in miracles of God’s abundance.

Sermon Sunday July 26th, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

As we continue reflecting on life-giving moments where God’s story has touched our own deeply, we discover that King David has a story that reflects our third life-giving theme:

We are a pilgrim people on the way.
We acknowledge that we are members of a community
and are not separate from it.

David was a nomadic pilgrim who finally was able to celebrate the Ark of God finding a home in the city of Jerusalem. But when David wanted to build a magnificent place to house the sacred Ark, God had other ideas. The God who cannot be contained is found with and within the people, and so is not separate from community.

Sermon July 19th, 2009 (pdf)
St. David’s Uniting Church, Oakleigh
Rev. Arnie Wierenga

King David knew clearly the story of God and how it was intertwined in his own life. He had good reason to dance as the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into Jerusalem, the religious centre of the new unified kingdom of Israel.

As we reflect on David’s story we ask about our own story of God and if we know it well enough to dance with joy. Are the places we inhabit the equivalent of God’s Holy City?

Sermon Sunday July 12th, 2009 (pdf)