http://www.oakleighbaptist.org/

Oakleigh Baptist Church, 183/185 Warrigal Road, Melbourne (2026)

02/09/2026

God’s People on Mission
Ezra: Concern for God’s reputation rather than his own

In Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve have fallen into sin, and been foolish enough to try and hide from God, their foolishness goes to a whole new level as they seek to pass the blame for their failure. Adam blames Eve, who in turn says; ‘the serpent deceived me, and I ate.’

Too many memories come to mind, of my own foolishness when I was a whole lot younger than I am now, or maybe not nearly ‘a whole lot younger’ enough, if you know what I mean. And I made the same mistake, or even worse.

We are quick to try and pass the blame when we can, and to distance ourselves from foolishness and error. And that’s why I’m truly challenged by the prayers of some of the Saints in the Bible.

Men like Ezra and Daniel, who when they prayed, rather than distancing themselves from the mistakes of their forefathers, owned those sins and repented of them as if they were their own. Listen to the prayer of Ezra:

O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day. (Ezra 9:6 – 7)

The difference between Ezra, and if I’m honest, me, is that my primary concern so often is for my own reputation. I see the errors in others, and I point them out in such a way that distances me from them. I build a wall aiming to ensure I’ll not be tarnished by their mistakes. If I manage not to speak like that (and I’m not sure that I manage that) I certainly think it way too often.

The difference between me and Ezra is that his primary concern is God’s reputation, for God’s Name, rather than his own. He understands that he isn’t separate from his fellow Israelites. He is one of them. And their mistakes, and their failures are his failures because of that bond that they share.

And that’s a powerful realisation, because if he can own their sin, then he can repent of it too, and with repentance comes forgiveness, and with forgiveness, God begins to restore and to rebuild.

And the application that I’m reaching for in this is that it is easy for us to try and put that wedge in between us and others. To distance ourselves in order to protect our reputation, but when we do, nothing good comes from it. If instead, we recognize that we are all a part of Christ’s body, and therefore we can own the sins of the body and repent accordingly, then God’s power of restoration and healing can go to work, and importantly, His Name can be honoured and praised in the eyes of others.

So let’s repent when we hear false teaching, and God might open blinkered eyes. Let’s repent when we witness idolatry in the Body, and God may begin to expose and break those idols. And let’s repent when we witness sleepiness and laziness in the body, and the Holy Spirit may begin to waken a generation to holiness, and to bold and powerful witness, bringing glory to the name of Christ.

When I drive a wedge between me and my brothers and sisters who walk in error, not only may I open myself up to hypocrisy, I render myself powerless and continue to allow God’s name to be dragged through the mud. But when I own their sin as my sin, and they do likewise, I’m convinced that that’s when the Spirit goes to work, and God’s Name is exalted.

So like Ezra, Daniel, Paul and so many others, let’s not show any concern for our name or our reputation, rather let’s humble ourselves by exalting, treasuring and showing deepest concern for the Name of The Lord. Then I believe we’ll pray and act Biblically, and God will act powerfully in His Church, for His glory.

26/08/2026

God’s People on Mission
Paul: Don’t be intimidated

Last Sunday we had the privilege of hearing from a brother and a sister in Christ who live in a country that is hostile to the Christian faith. They shared with us some of what they had suffered in order to proclaim, and live out the Good News. I’ve heard people share similar stories before, and I’ve certainly read of many such accounts. But to stand alongside someone, to shake the hand of a brother who has been subjected to years of imprisonment in such terrible conditions, not once but four times, is so different to reading about it. But more than that, to see the joy on their face, and their willingness to return home to continue the ministry, despite what they might face, is truly humbling.

I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on their time with us. A message like that is such a treasure, but we can so quickly allow ourselves to fall back into our routine and our comfort. So because I wanted to hold onto what we received over the weekend I was drawn to Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians. There he writes:

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it. (Philippians 1:27 – 30)

For now, any suffering we may face may pail by comparison with Paul’s, or even those our church got to hear from this past week. But their message and encouragement to us is not wasted if we allow it to inspire us to live as Paul encouraged the Philippians. He highlighted two great challenges, which I’ll frame as questions, that I want to remind us to consider:

The first question is to ask: Is our conduct worthy of the Gospel that we profess, hold to and share? On Sunday, we heard how people sought our faithful friends out because of who they are and how they lived. Their character stood out in comparison to others, and so naturally it drew people to them. But it also drew opposition from those who are under the power of the enemy. The question to you and I is; is that true of us? Do we stand out, in our character, integrity, the words we use, how we speak words of truth and love.

We may not face the same opposition when we share the Gospel, at least not in terms of consequences. But we should be aware that the culture we live in is just as evil and dark, if only for different reasons. Therefore our character should draw people to us that are looking for hope, and it should also draw opposition from those who love the darkness of this age.

The second question that comes out of Paul’s charge to the Philippians is: Are we intimidated ‘in any way’ by our enemies, that is, those who are under the power of the enemy and holding onto the temporary joys of this world. We are intimidated if we allow ourselves to ‘keep our heads down’ or fall for the temptation to ‘just blend in.’ And we are intimidated if we allow our fear to keep us at home, rather than trusting in God and boldly living in the world that needs to hear the Gospel, and see it on display in our lives.

As I seek to hang on to the powerful testimony and message from Sunday – two things stand out to me. My character! I’m challenged to live and to speak in such a way that will draw a response from those around me?

And my visibility! I should continue to seek to be humbly bold and ‘out there’ and not hiding away. Because God clearly and repeatedly shared his plan and mission for all of us who have chosen to follow the way of Christ:

15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:15 – 16)

21/08/2026

Good morning church family. Tomorrow morning we have a very special service. We have a guest who comes to us care of Voice of the Martyrs. I can’t tell you his name or where he is from, and because of the sensitivity of his circumstances, we will be unable to record or share any part of the service where he is participating online. For those who are only able to join remotely, I’m sorry that you won’t get to see and hear from him, but I’ll take notes and share what I’m able. I’m sure you understand the need to protect him, his family, and our brothers and sisters where he lives and worships.

19/08/2026

God’s People on Mission
Gideon: Where are all the miracles?

When I was a teenager, I said something to God that I soon regretted. It led me to a very difficult time, though as I look back, that time became pivotal in preparing me for where God wanted me to go in the mission He had for my life.

I wonder whether Gideon ever regretted the question that he asked the Lord. His story in the Bible begins in Judges 6:

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” (Judges 6:11 – 13)

“Where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?” I wonder if you’ve ever asked God a question like this? I know I have, and it can be a dangerous request.

Gideon asked God where the miracles were, and God will answer and bring a very powerful demonstration of His miraculous power, but it will take Gideon into a place of great emptiness and complete trust. Or alternatively, he might refuse to trust God, and put his trust in human power. What will He decide?

In the next chapter we read of the event when God tells him to lead an army against the Midianites who had tormented the Israelites in the Promised Land during a period where they were repeatedly turning away from God to follow after idols and what was right in their own eyes. So God would raise up Judges to lead the people and show Himself strong. Gideon was one of those Judges.

Gideon started with a weak enough army in the first place, he had only thirty-two thousand men to go against an army that are described as being as numerous as locusts. But God says that is too many; you want a Miracle, Gideon, then the number needs to come down. So the number is reduced to ten thousand.

But God tells him that is still too many, ‘you’ll take the glory for yourself.’ And so next Gideon’s army is reduced to only 300. No one would ever consider that to be an army, and Gideon had to be wondering what he’d gotten himself into. But I love that he doesn’t second guess The Lord, nor disobey, he remains faithful and he follows God’s plan, and God’s power is displayed as the Midianite army is routed.

We are not out to defeat an army, at least not a flesh and blood army, though we do want to see some strongholds come down. We’d love to see God open the eyes of loved ones, friends and neighbours that they might know Christ and find salvation.

Like for Gideon and his army, small as it was, there is no room in the task ahead of us, for the glory to be ours, it belongs to The Lord. It is His saving power alone that is able to bring the lost to salvation, but we need to be willing to serve Him, because God is looking to show Himself strong through His servants.

Gideon was busy at his day-job, thrashing wheat at the winepress, when he heard the Lord speak to him from under the terebinth tree. And God led him on a new mission. I’ve no doubt that God is looking to lead others in a similar way.

There is a story in 2nd Chronicles, that is not so positive. King Asa of Judah hadn’t relied on God for his strength, rather reached out to other human powers to overcome his obstacle. The word of Hanani the seer came to King Asa and advised him of his mistake, and I pray that we learn not to make that same mistake ourselves, but rather, that we take the opportunities that God presents to us, just like Gideon did.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

12/08/2026

God’s People on Mission
Caleb: Not interested in retirement

I must be looking old; more people seem to be speaking with me about retirement or at least preparing for retirement these days. If I’m fair, very few are asking me when I’m going to retire, but they seem quite eager for their own permanent holiday, and well along the path of making plans.

Whenever I think of retirement, or the question of retirement ages, I can’t help thinking about Caleb. At a time when men much younger than he was, were keen to go back to comfortable (not) Egyptian Slavery, or just settling down in a poorly defended patch of the Promised Land, Caleb was heading out to lead his house in taking down a tribe of giants, and he is eighty-five years old. Just listen to him:

And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.” (Joshua 14:10-12)

And God was with Him, and in God’s strength, he did! In the following chapter we discover that Caleb was successful in driving out ‘the three sons of Anak’ and their tribe. Caleb’s hope was in the Lord forty-five years earlier when he crossed the Jordan with Joshua and the ten other spies, and his faith, and his strength hadn’t wavered, because his strength was The Lord.

Over the years I’ve met many Saints who share the same conviction, faith and strength that Caleb did. Long after their peers, and even people decades younger than them have become way too comfortable (and maybe a little weak and flabby (I’m speaking spiritually of course)), they are still looking and praying to be used of God in whatever way is open to them. And it is so good to ride a little on their enthusiasm.

My prayer is, that if the Lord tarries (and that has to be a big ‘IF’!), and if He is gracious enough to extend my life to eight-five and beyond, that I’ll also be faithful enough to be looking for the spiritual giants to take on so that God can be shown to be strong in me.

There are two things that this story highlights for me today that I want to share with you. The first is to look around us for the Caleb’s that God has placed in our lives – to pray for them, to listen to them and to value them. They are often quiet achievers, because their hope is in the Lord, not the recognition of others, but their wisdom and testimony is a powerful witness to what God has done in their lives, and why we can trust that He might do the same through us.

The second reminder is not to allow my personal strength to hinder spiritual success. It doesn’t matter whether we are five, twenty-five or eighty-five, our strength should always come from the same source. The Lord. It is what Caleb and Joshua knew when they were in their forties, but the other ten spies had lost sight of. It is what we must know also.

Caleb lived before Isaiah, but he certainly knew this one thing that Isaiah did, and I want to invite you to meditate on this greatly loved passage as I close, and I pray that you will experience this for yourself today:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28 – 31)

05/08/2026

God’s People on Mission
Elijah: Fight the darkness

In these devotions I’ve been focusing on people in the Bible who were ready for God to use them for a purpose or mission of His design. I’ve been doing that because this is our purpose, and I know I sometimes struggle with the simple things that allow me to be ready when God wants to work in and through me.

I’ve studied some success stories in the Bible, but we learn a lot from the failures and struggles also, and the Bible is great in its honesty about the short comings of all people, and especially people we’d consider highly.

I know what it is like to hear the voices of darkness and despair, especially at this time of year when the days are short, dark and cold, and the nights are long and even colder. Elijah knew hopelessness too. He knew God, he had experienced God’s provision and power, and yet still after all of that he still found himself running for his life and ultimately asking God to take him before his enemies could.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4)

Ironic when we know that Elijah never saw death at all, at least not yet, and many people believe that his work on this planet is unfinished. But Elijah had hit rock bottom. How did he find himself in this place? Because maybe if we understand that, we’d be better equipped to keep ourselves in a healthy place and be ready to be used of God.

Elijah was ready to check out. But God came to him and showed him that there was still more that He wanted him to do. There are times for me too when I’m not in a healthy frame of mind, so what can I learn from the experience of Elijah, where he went wrong, and what suggestions might keep us healthy and ready.
He took his eyes off God and focused on the enemy

Despite the mighty victory that God won through Elijah, his mind was now full of fear because the queen was out to take his life. How easy it is for all of us to have our focus in the wrong place. We need to remind ourselves constantly of the victories God has won, and the way He has worked in our lives. It will keep us hungry to serve Him, because we trust He will do more in us.
Elijah began shouldering a burden that wasn’t his to carry.

It was never Elijah’s responsibility to bring about regime change in the government. The people witnessed the miracle and gave glory to God, and that should be enough. It isn’t our task to win people over, or to bring about change, that is God’s, and it is only God who can lift the veil from people’s eyes so that they might see him. People will walk away, and that is on them, it is never on us so long as we’ve delivered the message God has entrusted us to deliver.
Elijah let the noise of the world drown out the voice of God.

This one is subtle. We must priorities and protect time to sit and read and listen to God and His Word, and we must ensure that we take action as soon as we hear His direction.
Meeting with others isn’t important, it is vital.

Elijah had lost contact with the remnant that God had reserved for Himself. If we are not regularly meeting together, we will naturally become isolated and feel alone. Yes, God is sufficient, He is our Rock, our Refuge, our Help and our Strength. But the Bible doesn’t encourage isolation, in fact the opposite is true. The disciples went on mission at least in pairs, they came back to report and celebrate, and we are commanded to not forsake meeting together, for our sake and for the sake of others.

Feeling down (or worse) happens to all of us, we all find ourselves in that place sometimes. The key is to recognize when we are there, or on the way, and quickly take steps to get back, and to seek help from the right people who’ll prayerfully support us all the way.

29/07/2026

God’s People on Mission
Rahab: See the big picture

The story of Rahab is fascinating to me. We don’t know a whole lot about the circumstances of her life other than that she is living among the peoples that inhabited Canaan as the Israelites were preparing to take the land, that she is described as a Harlot, and that her house was situated on the city wall of Jericho.

But how is it that the two spies end up in the home of a harlot when they go into spy out the city? (Only God right!!) And so here they are, right where God wants them, in the home of someone who is ready and looking for God to move, for Him to save. Rahab grasps her moment, a small window of opportunity before her. And God works a miracle in her life. She knows what is going on, her eyes are open wide. All the city is in fear of the God of Israel, and His people who will overtake Jericho and inherit the Promised Land.

So she reaches out and strikes a bargain with the two men that she shelters. We read:

12 Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, 13 and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:12 – 13)

Rahab makes a choice. In that moment she is given the same gift that we are all given: We get to choose the winning side. It will take full trust and surrender on her behalf. Her bargaining tool was mostly a bluff. She may have held the lives of the spies in her hands, or at least the ability to hand them over to the rulers of the city. But she knew that the city was doomed, and that her only chance was to cast her lot with the Israelites, and more importantly, the God of the Israelites. If these men refused, she was lost. Fortunately, they were listening to God, and remembering that He is mighty to save. Even to save Gentiles in Canaan.

Rahab was wise enough to lift her eyes and take in the big picture, and because of this she recognized the gift of salvation when it was presented to her. If only our neighbours, friends and loved ones would do the same thing. How can we help them to do this?

Of course it begins in prayer. To pray that their eyes are opened to see the big picture, and to know where the world is headed, and importantly what the outcome is going to be. I’m talking to more and more people these days who are very aware of the evil around us, but paying no attention to the path to Eternal Life.

Along with praying for them, we need to pray for ourselves, that we be given wisdom to recognize when God is opening the eyes of people around us and alongside us, and that God gives us the words to say, the examples to give, and the evidence that is right before them, though they cannot see for looking.

I’m always encouraged and challenged as I remember the prayers of the Apostles and first Christians when they experienced persecution at the hands of the same people who sent Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. They prayed:

Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29 – 30)

There is a great end to the story of Rahab, and maybe this might encourage those we are talking to and witnessing to. Because the end of the story of Rahab is amazing, way beyond her expectation. God answered her prayer and then gave more. Not only was she saved, her parents, brothers and sisters and all that was theirs, but Rahab was then blessed beyond measure, she became part of the line of David, an ancestor from whom would come the Saviour of the World.

Can we remind people, that if they would open their eyes and see the God who saves, that He is the God who loves to bless also. Maybe not in the way we think we want, like riches and fame and temporary prosperity. But we are welcomed into the family of God, just like Rahab was, and our lives, when fully surrendered to Him, will give Him glory for all eternity, and that is what it means to see the Big Picture.

22/07/2026

God’s People on Mission
Zechariah: Quick to praise God
There are so many ‘sub-stories’ in God’s wonderful plan of Salvation, and the story of Elizabeth, Zechariah and their son John is one of my favourites. Zechariah was a priest in the service of God, and he and his wife had prayed for years to have a son, but now they had given up hope.

It was then that God sent Gabriel to announce, not only would they have a son, but that he would have a very special place in announcing and preparing the way for the coming of Jesus.

Zechariah didn’t believe what the angel was saying, and his position was such that God would use that unbelief to teach us a lesson. Zechariah was struck dumb – unable to speak. He could write in order to share what had happened, and specifically the encounter he’d had with Gabriel, but he was greatly limited in his ability to communicate because he didn’t believe that God would work a miracle for him and Elizabeth.

I love what John Lennox has to say on this. He reminds us that miracles are events that break the laws of nature, and they do that to show us that God is at work, breaking into the natural order of things to show us that He is there, and at work in our world.

He continues – and this is the point he makes about Zechariah, if we don’t believe in miracles, don’t believe that God breaks the natural order of things, then we simply have nothing to say. Being struck dumb was an appropriate lesson for us about Zechariah’s mistake, and potentially ours also.

And so it is, that when their son is born, and against convention and the expectation of the wider family and friends, Zechariah acts in obedience to the instruction of Gabriel and declares their child’s name is John. That simple act of faith and obedience was enough for God to loose his lips. And what he then has to say is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. Zechariah immediately bursts forth in a wonderful song of praise to Almighty God:

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Saviour from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. (Luke 1:68-70)

Too long for our purposes today – but the whole song lifts my spirit from start to finish. It is a great testament to God’s faithfulness and the fulfilment of all His promises, and whenever I hear it or read it, I’m reminded of the great certainty we have of all those things we have yet to see take place – but are just as certain because God has declared it to be so.

Take time to read the passage when you are able. As I do, I can imagine the look on the face of this old Jewish priest – the joy and wonder that resonates from his smile as, even as he holds his newborn child in the presence of those who had anticipated his birth, looks up to heaven and bursts forth in this song of praise. From verses 68 – 75, he declares the faithfulness of God – and praises Him.

Then, I imagine as the passage comes to verse 76, he pauses for a moment, looks down at his son and lowers his voice, taking a serious but no less joyful tone as he declares:

“And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79)

And as I read that, two things happen for me. Firstly, I enter into the joy of a besotted man who had thought he’d never be a Father, and the love he has for his son. But the second is more personal, because I’m reminded of the part we all are invited to play. Sure John had a specific purpose of preparing the way for Messiah Jesus – but our part is in there also – did you see it?

“You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.”

Can I encourage you today, to embrace the joy that comes from that privilege. Not to see it as a burden, or something that is hard or dangerous, as sometimes it is – but remember the joy and wonder of being messengers of the Lord, teaching people how they can know salvation and receive Eternal Life and the Knowledge of God.

Join with Zechariah and me also, as we praise God for His promises and His faithfulness – and Praise Him that we get to share the Good News, the way of Salvation with those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, guiding them to the path of peace.

15/07/2026

God’s People on Mission
A Samaritan: With a loud voice

I have to begin this illustration by setting the record straight. Our girls would never have done this, because when they were little, they were perfect angels. But I have witnessed those poor unfortunate parents, normally mothers, who have had to deal with their pre-school child shouting or screaming at the top of their lungs in the shopping centre while everyone watches on. Who’d have thought that someone so little could make so much noise, right?

The poor mum tries to placate their child, or discipline them, or simply find a hole somewhere to crawl into and hide.

When someone employs their loud voice in public, it is rarely a good thing. A warning of danger, a sad domestic situation, or maybe, as in the earlier example, a small child who is completely focused on themselves and what they want, paying no attention as to how uncomfortable they are making their mother feel.

Maybe that is why I was so captivated as I looked at a story that I have probably read hundreds of times. I realised as I was reading that the person at the centre of the encounter, whose name we don’t know, his identity is only that he was a Samaritan – but he employed his ‘loud voice.’ And I’d never noticed that before. Had you?

12 Then as (Jesus) entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were l***rs, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:12-13)

Here we read that they lifted their voices, that’s not the loud voice yet, stay with me:

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:14-16)

Luke makes it clear that the healed Samaritan didn’t just come up and politely say thanks. Nor did he stand off and shout from a distance like he might have been used to doing when he would cry out ‘Unclean, Unclean’ because he had been a l***r.

With a loud voice he glorified God, and he fell at Jesus feet and gave Him thanks. He was not afraid of making a scene, and no one else who was in the company seemed to be uncomfortable with his praise – certainly not Jesus.

It makes me wonder, when was the last time – or maybe I should say – when ever, have I used my loud voice to glorify God. Maybe it is a cultural thing, and that’s ok if it is – but I guess what I’m challenged with, and would like us to consider today, is: it is right and necessary for us to publicly lift our voices and glorify God without any thought or concern for who might hear us, and what they might think.

And I guess it is the same when it comes to prayer. Now I know I’m pretty used to praying publicly. But I suspect that more often than I’m comfortable to admit, I’m too concerned with who else is listening to my prayer, rather than simply focusing on the One to whom I’m talking.

I know it is right, and good, for us to consider what we say, that we might pray Biblically – I get that. But I’m challenged, especially when it comes to praise, glorifying God, and giving thanks – that we ought to be less concerned with the watching ‘audience’ and just lift our voices to the One who deserves every ounce of praise and glory and thanksgiving that we can muster.

Maybe the best example I can think of is my Grandma – who, even in the middle of a shopping centre, or a different conversation, or just going about her day – would talk about and to our Heavenly Father, almost as if she was totally oblivious of what anyone else thought – and I suspect that possibly she was. I find that both refreshing and challenging.

What about you – do you think we should use our ‘loud voice’ a little more often?

Oakleigh Baptist Church

02/09/2026

26/08/2026

21/08/2026

19/08/2026

12/08/2026

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29/07/2026

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