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Loftus Uniting Church, 3 Nattai Street, Loftus (2026)

04/09/2026

What thoughts come to your mind when you think of your father? Once upon a time people used to think of the head of the house, the breadwinner, the disciplinarian, the one who stood for justice. When I think of my father I am reminded of the sacrifices that he made for his family, in his desire that we might have a better life than him. Indeed because he had a single mother he made every effort he could to provide for his children the type of family life he never had.

It seems as if the view of fathers and indeed the role of males in our society is changing in response to misbehaviour by some bad fathers and increased emphasis on individual rights. What is the role model people are looking towards today? Romans 13: 8-14 tells how we can live lovingly with one another, as God’s family. This love is not the sort that means anything goes as long as you feel good about it. Rather it is as NT Wright suggests “the love that wells up from within the Spirit-filled heart is known precisely by its joyful obedience to the commandments which protect us from wronging and being wronged by one another. “

God, the heavenly father, wants us to be members of his family, facilitated by the actions of his son for us. In doing this he wants us to be full members of his family, his community. This means that we never give up on the relationships with members of his family in the same way that through forgiveness and reconciliation we aim to never give up on relationships in our own families. Read Matthew 18: 15-20. This reminds us how we need to hold ourselves accountable for our relationships in the Christian community, just as we do in our families. This is not easy but if we hold ourselves accountable, if we practise mutual love, it helps the world see who our heavenly father really is. So we must never give up on each other, as our fathers tried not to give up on us. Like our fathers we must pursue each other in love. That is how his kingdom can be done on earth as in heaven.

Paul addresses these issues in Romans 13: 8-14. He outlines that love is the law of God. He quotes from the 10 commandments showing how they are about loving others: do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not covert, do not steal. Today the emphasis seems to be on doing good for me rather than being mindful of others. How do we achieve this? By putting on the armour of light. Are you the sort of person who brings light to social company because of how you treat other people? Light is also a powerful image because that is how we see and understand the new world introduced by the Messiah. It is here so we need to live by its standards.

How do we improve our sight? Some people pray each day to be clothed with the character of Jesus. Others read a story slowly from the gospels, praying that the character of the Jesus they meet there will surround them, will protect them and be the thing others see in them.

Paul suggests we should clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. In knowing us do people meet Jesus Christ because we are clothed with him. We have been transformed into new people. Not just people raised by their family but people raised to live in a new family - the Kingdom of God.

01/09/2026

Just a reminder that our monthly Healing Service will occur tomorrow 2nd September. Everyone is welcome for a time of sharing and fellowship. The service will be followed by afternoon tea.

28/08/2026

Were you saddened to hear of the death of Dolly Parton this week? In the US her death is being mourned by all sections of the society including both left and right. Flags are being flown at half mast this week, ordered by the US President. What motivated her?

Premier Christianity reports she has always been vocal about the importance of personal prayer and daily devotion. In an interview with Marie Claire in 2020, she told RuPaul: “Every single day, before I do anything, I wake up and I thank God for the night and ask him to bless the day…and bring all the right stuff in. And just to guide me, lead me. And I always pray that he’ll let me uplift mankind and glorify him.”

That reminds me in part of Paul’s advice in Romans 12: 9-21. This is the practical daily working out of offering our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is the life of love. This is what it means practically to take up our cross.This is how we achieve a life of liberation and new life. (See Matthew 16: 21-28)
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. “(NIV)

Does this remind you of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus most famous sermon, which Paul would have been aware of. Jesus’ sayings were known to early Christians before the gospels were written! How well are you aware of this practical advice today? Is this what you aim to do each day? Be merciful, be peacemakers, be pure in heart? Isn’t that taking up your cross. Are you aiming to lead a meek lowly life hungering after righteousness, becoming blessed so you can be a blessing to the lives of others. A life of more significance than Dolly Parton? Is your life being transformed step by step, day by day. Is that what you are becoming in his perfection? How does your mind need to be transformed to achieve this?

The German theologian Helmut Thielicke gave a good example of this looking at forgiveness. He cited a scene from the World War 1 German novel All Quiet on the Western Front. During a battle a German soldier seeks shelter in a fox hole in the middle of a battle. Except there is already a seriously wounded allied soldier there. He is so moved that instead of bayoneting him he gives him a drink from his canteen. After they talk a bit he retrieves the man’s photos of his family and shows them to him so he can see them one last time. He had seen that man in a different way. A person, no longer an enemy, but who lives as he does with similar joys and cares. The other person was changed for him, so he reacted to him differently.

This is how Jesus was able to love us,unperturbed by the cruelty of his tormentors and the corruption and cowardice of Pontius Pilate because he saw us as the lost children of his Father. He saw the original divine design. He loved the great pearl buried in the ground. We become lovable as he first loved us. This is how in loving the world as he did, we can transform it. This in a small way is what Dolly Parton did in investing millions of dollars in gifting books to young children around the world to improve literacy rates and improve their lives. When we see how God loves us, we can love others, bringing a small c***k of light into a dark self-contained world.

The Lord’s prayer points us to that transformed inclination as we ask.”Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Is that your daily prayer as you seek to transform the world in the light and love of Christ? As you seek to live as Paul has exhorted us.

21/08/2026

Did you watch the Logies? AI comments “The TV WEEK Logie Awards often face criticism for cringe worthy hosting moments, controversial onstage jokes, awkward award naming conventions, and a heavy reliance on commercial network self-promotion rather than pure artistic merit.” That rings true of the 2026 Logies.

I must admit it reminds me of the Thomas Couture painting depicting the decadence of the Romans (see below). The centrepiece of this picture is a young bored woman obviously unmoved by the revelry around her. Does this resemble our current society? The current headlines have been dominated by risque comments by the Prime Minister and misbehaviour by footballers celebrating a win.

How should we really behave? How can we transform our lives?
Romans 12: 1-8 urges believers to give their whole lives to the living God as a living sacrifice. Instead of copying the ways of the world we should change the ways of our hearts by making our minds new. In this way we learn how to live a godly life, not one reflecting television or social media, but one that unleashes God’s love into the world.

Chapter 12 is the part of Paul’s letter where he turns from theology to daily living. What the incredible grace of God means in our daily living. This fits into Paul’s larger message that salvation is not only about faith but about transformation. It is something that happens day by day in our lives. Paul urges believers to give their whole lives to God. He says we should treat our daily actions as a way of worship. This means using our bodies, minds, and choices to serve God.

In Matthew 16: 13-20 we see the transformation being worked in the life of Peter. He has the revelation that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. His life is changed. Jesus says this transformation is the foundation on which he is building the new kingdom. We have become the new temple where God dwells on earth with mankind, populated by a transformed people. They are the ones who will now do the work of God, empowered by the Spirit. We are each given gifts to work together as the body of believers. Are you part of it?

This is captured In the words of the Keith Getty/Stuart Townend Hymn:
In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
……………..
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

14/08/2026

There is a lot of focus today on people’s rights, particularly those of minority groups and outsiders. In light of that I wonder what your thoughts are on the story told in Matthew 15: 21-28. This story has elicited widely differing interpretations. In this story a Canaanite woman approaches Jesus, proclaiming him as the Messiah, and requesting he heal her daughter. But she was an outsider, not from the group Jesus had come to save - the nation of Israel; the people who God regarded as his own people. She was from Canaan - the previous occupants of the Promised Land who God was concerned would corrupt the relationship he had with the Jews. In today’s world, with our emphasis on individual rights, that would be horrifying, but the woman accepts it even when Jesus likens her position to that of a pet dog under the table, not a child of privilege eating at the table. Some suggest today (not in the early church) that she changed Jesus' mind about the mission to Gentiles even though Jesus had already healed Gentiles earlier in Matthew’s gospel such as the Centurion's servant. Clearly Jesus was testing her faith out of love for her and her daughter, not being tired and grumpy because he had spent all day healing people. He was growing her faith as a member of his new kingdom, an eternal reward.

What I find amazing is the woman’s reaction. She didn’t initiate a protest but accepted what Jesus said. She didn’t castigate Jesus for being non-inclusive. Why? Through her mega-faith (as Jesus describes it) she believed that those crumbs from the table were more than enough to heal her daughter. She didn’t believe she deserved a seat of privilege, or any more, but that God’s grace was more than sufficient for her. Indeed through all this her faith grew.

I wonder if we miss the point of this story? We view it as people who believe we deserve a seat of privilege at the table, that our rights trump all else, when in truth we are dogs who deserve nothing. We view it as members of organisations (even churches) whose boast is to be inclusive. We are outsiders to the grace of God, cut off from the blessings of heaven. Jesus died like a dog (rejected, despised, abandoned), like an outsider so that we might be welcomed as children at the table of the Lord. Jesus gave up everything for us outsiders. This grace only comes however when we realise our position. As Tim Keller has noted this is the essence of the gospel. This is what enables us to change into new people, people from whom the light of God shines. Otherwise we are doomed to keep repeating our same old mistakes. What is your view of yourself? Are you growing in faith?

07/08/2026

Finding it hard these days to live a life according to your principles? It seems almost impossible to take a public position without offending someone. Even more, you may even face public castigation because of something you said in all honesty 20 years ago.

Jesus and his followers must have had similar feelings with opposition from the religious leaders, from political groups, from the Romans: indeed with the very real threat of death.

Matthew 14: 22-33 tells a similar story, as the disciples were battered by a terrifying storm when they see Jesus walking on the water towards them . Do you wish, if only we could do as he did, to try to bring God’s love and healing power into the wild night of the world? Have you doubts about your ability to carry out the tasks he has called you to do - to sink instead beneath the waves like Peter, because you focus on them instead of Jesus? What we are called to do (its so basic and obvious, but so hard to do in practice) is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and our ears open for his encouragement. And our wills and hearts must be ready to do what he says, even if it seems crazy at the time.

The story of Joseph at 17 and his brothers in Genesis 37: 1-28, is very topical. Today there is much debate about favoured nations and races. The world is not an even playing field because some people are more skilled than others, some have inherited more than others, some were born at different times and so on.

Joseph’s brothers hated him because he was Jacob’s favorite out of all his sons from many women. Why? He was a child in his old age to his favourite wife. We also know from his life that he had special qualities, which lead to him being appointed head of Potifar’s household servants, and ultimately second in charge of Egypt (the Prime Minister). Perhaps he had a superior attitude based on the dreams God revealed of his future as a ruler and the;special treatment by his father, reflected in the special expensive coat he was given, which indicated he didn’t work. This triggered murderous thoughts from his brothers! He ended up sold as a slave, leading to false accusations of r**e, imprisonment and finally becoming the Prime Minister! God did indeed work all things together for good, not just for Joseph and his family, but for the whole region!

Do these dreams remind you of what Mary was told about the birth of Jesus? Are the reactions of those in Jerusalem before Jesus' death, including the priests, similar to Joseph’s brothers? Was the stripping of Joseph’s clothes similar to the stripping of Jesus’ clothes and the gambling over them at his death? Are they similar to people’s reactions to Jesus today? Do they influence your faith?

Isn’t that like stepping out in faith from a boat in the middle of a storm? Have you found that what you have learnt from battling the storms of life has equipped you for great things for God and for those you live with? As the story closes in Genesis 50: 20 with Joseph saying “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives". Does that motivate you to step out in faith to help save more lives?

04/08/2026

We will be holding our monthly Healing Service tomorrow at 1pm. Everyone is most welcome to come for a time of sharing and reflection, to be followed by afternoon tea.

31/07/2026

Do you think it important to list your religion in the census? Does it grieve you that less people are wanting to identify as Christians even if this is not reflected in other social measures such as the percentage attending Government schools. Does it disturb you if you have different religious beliefs to others in your family, particularly your children?

This is something Paul addresses in Romans 9:1-12. In Romans 8 Paul has outlined how nothing can separate us from the love of the Creator God. Through Christ’s resurrection we have been liberated, set free to live in the Kingdom of God. We have become the adopted children of God, inheriting his promises made to the patriarchs, rejoicing in the hope of God’s glory. Yet most of his fellow Israelites did not accept Jesus as the Messiah in the same way most people completing the census do not recognise Jesus as the Messiah. They have willingly turned their back on the love of God. Mirroring the love of Christ Paul is happy to trade his own inheritance for that of his people.

Is this Christ’s reaction? In Matthew 14:13-21 Jesus is overcome with sorrow at the unjust death of his cousin John. He takes himself away to mourn in peace but is followed by crowds asking for their needs to be met. What was Jesus' reaction? To find a better place to be alone? Rather he was filled with compassion so he went out to address their needs. Moreover as evening approached and they were stuck in the desert, without food, he didn’t send them away to find food but rather fed them.

What would you have done in that situation? How do you react today to loved ones turning from Jesus?

Jesus provided their daily bread (as we pray in the prayer he taught us) in ways more wonderful than we can imagine. What better way to approach life than to put our total trust in the hands of the one prepared to put aside their deepest needs to satisfy ours.

Why not try each day to pray;
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen
As an adopted child of God are you prepared to experience that kingdom, that power and that glory for ever and ever and seek to bring others with you as Paul did?

24/07/2026

Are you good at praying? Is it important to your life? Does it make a difference to you or those around you? These are profound questions that are raised in Romans 8: 26-39 in what is regarded by many commentators as the peak of the New Testament.

When are you motivated to pray? Isn’t it in moments of weakness and that is when, Paul tells us, the spirit intercedes for us, through what God knows is the pain and the weakness that is troubling us. That is God praying for us, not us taking our prayers to God. That is the act of love which we experience because of God’s ultimate act of love in dying on the cross for us. We can’t put these things in words, the Spirit expresses it for us.
Note this is how all things can work together for good for us. Not because only good things happen for us, but how the love of God is so powerful that it is able to overcome the bad things, no matter how painful and horrific, because the Spirit is in us interceding on our behalf. Thus our vocation should be allowing him to work his love through us, so we might live a transformed life.

Have you experienced this working in your life? Are you able to say like Paul that nothing can separate you from this love , working through you, interceding on your behalf: “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? “
The wonder is how the whole Trinity is interceding for us: God, Jesus and the Spirit.

The meaning of this reminds me of Jesus’ Parable about the great pearl. Matthew 13: “45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

Pearls were highly valued in Roman society. They are of course formed from irritation (as in suffering within the animal in the shell): something beautiful coming from something bad. In the parable when this priceless pearl is found the merchant is prepared to give up all he has for it.

What are the twelve gates of the heavenly city in Revelation made of? A single solid pearl (Revelation 21), which is the way in. This is an image of how the love of God can take irritants in our lives and transform them to a beautiful pearl. Is that what you would like your life to be like?

Do you remember the spiritual Open up dem pearly gates as the slaves looked forward to life in the kingdom. This isn’t just for now, but for eternity. It is a love, a relationship, that goes for forever. As Paul says: “37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What a future to hope for!

17/07/2026

Do parables provoke you to explore spiritual issues in more detail, to explore different angles or views? Take the parable of the wheat and the tares Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43. A man sows good seed on his field, and while he’s asleep an enemy sows weeds/tares among the wheat. As you look at the world is that how you see things happening; just when things seem to be going well something intervenes to bring failure or pain or a disaster. Don’t you just wish you could rip it all out! Do you wonder why God permits the presence of evil in the world?

That is not the response of the man in the parable. He instructs his workers to wait until the harvest, in case you accidentally destroy some of the wheat that is tangled up with the weeds. Does it say something profound about your experience of everyday life? How often have people achieved greatness because of what they have learnt through difficult periods of life? Paul asked three times for God to remove the thorn in his flesh. Mother Theresa suffered from depression which gave her the resilience to work with the poorest of the poor.

The parable outlines the patience of God that graciously gives us the chance to order our lives before the final judgement (or harvest). If we know the glory of what God has in store for us at the end of time, we know we have the motivation to handle whatever life throws at us on a daily basis and to live joyfully.

What is this glory? Look at Romans 8: 12-25 as Paul sets out how as we put aside the flesh of this world we live a new life in the Spirit that leads us to a new creation, gloriously revealed at the harvest. Knowing that any present suffering is insignificant compared to becoming true children of God - what the whole creation is straining to achieve and what we long for.

This is what is said in the full version of the serenity prayer, about how to lead a godly joyful life.
O God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, the sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.

Amen.

Loftus Uniting Church

04/09/2026

01/09/2026

28/08/2026

21/08/2026

14/08/2026

07/08/2026

04/08/2026

31/07/2026

24/07/2026

17/07/2026

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