Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Sutherland

21/06/2026

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

18/06/2026

Jesus does not send his preachers into the world to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy. According to Matthew 10, when the Gospel is truly proclaimed, families are divided, fathers turn against sons, and you will be hated “for my name’s sake.” That is not a mistake or an unfortunate side-effect, it is the sharp edge of God’s Word at work. The old Adam dies hard, and the comfortable lies we cling to die harder. If your preaching leaves everything undisturbed, you may well be preaching something other than Christ.

Yet our Lord does not abandon his servants to this storm. He who receives you receives me, Jesus declares. The pastor in the pulpit is not offering clever opinions or moral advice. He stands in Christ’s place, so that when the Word is spoken — killing and making alive — it is Christ himself speaking to you. This is the tremendous authority of the office: the same Lord who was called Beelzebul now works through frail human lips to forgive sins and bestow the Holy Spirit.

Do not be surprised, then, when opposition comes, even from those closest to you. Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot touch the soul. Fear God alone, who in Christ has already conquered death for you. The hairs on your head are numbered. Your Father knows exactly what you face, and he has not left you alone.

Stand firm, therefore, and receive the Word with joy. For the one who endures to the end will be saved — and in that Word you receive Christ himself, with all his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

“He who receives you receives me.” That is the promise. Hold fast to it.

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11/06/2026

Beloved saints, Jesus looks upon our harassed and helpless crowds, not with disgust, but with deep compassion. Like sheep without a shepherd, we are scattered by sin, burdened by the law, and exhausted by our own failed efforts. The harvest is plentiful, yet the laborers are few. This is no time for polite religion or self-improvement projects. The Lord of the harvest is sending real help.

Jesus is not Moses 2.0, intensifying the law or calling us to stricter separation. He is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. He does not train disciples to master Torah. He gives sinners, tax collectors, zealots, even future betrayers like Judas, His own authority. This is provocative: the Church’s true mission is not moral cleanup, but liberation. The kingdom of heaven has drawn near, not to demand more, but to deliver what we cannot achieve.
Preaching, therefore, is exorcism. Your pastors are not life coaches shining a light on your inner struggles. We are sent to cast out the unclean spirit of accusation that binds you. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse the l***r. Forgive sins. You received this authority without paying; now give it freely. The strong man is bound. The devil is silenced. The law that once condemned you has met its end in Christ.

Dear friends, stop turning inward to find the light or the law written on your heart. Look outward to the One who eats with sinners and calls them apostles. Whether you feel like a lost sheep or a weary laborer, Jesus has chosen you precisely in your weakness. He does not retain authority for Himself, He gives it away so that you might be free.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Go in this promise: you are harvested, healed, and sent.

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06/06/2026

Beautiful and comfortable new chairs. Thank you everyone and thanks to Our Father who provides all things for us.

04/06/2026

A Message for the People of God
Jesus walked up to a tax booth, looked a notorious sinner named Matthew square in the eye, and said, “Follow me.” Then he sat down to eat with a whole crowd of tax collectors and sinners. The “righteous” were outraged. Why would the holy teacher eat with such riffraff? Because, as Jesus declared, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” This is not a polite invitation to improve yourself. It is a deliberate, scandalous rescue of the undeserving.

We constantly twist this story into a moral challenge: “Go and be more inclusive,” or “Try harder to love the unlovable.” But Jesus is not recruiting volunteers for a social justice project. He is not waiting for sinners to clean up their act. He comes to them exactly as they are greedy, compromised, lost and throws a banquet. The Pharisees, with all their religious credentials, are left on the outside looking in.

This is what Hosea meant when God said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Mercy here is not vague kindness or charity. It is Christ taking your sin, death, and failure upon himself in the great happy exchange and giving you his righteousness, innocence, and life in return. The same promise that justified Abraham by faith, not law, is now reclining at table with sinners.

So stop pretending you belong at the table because of your decent behaviour or church attendance. The gospel is far more provocative than that. Jesus specialises in calling the unqualified. If you feel righteous on your own, you are in the wrong queue. But if you know yourself to be a sinner, you are exactly the one he came for.

The Promise: Your sins are forgiven. Come to the table. The Bridegroom is here.

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28/05/2026

Too many preachers tie themselves in knots on Trinity Sunday, reaching for eggs, shamrocks, or clever analogies that only leave people more confused. The Trinity is not a majestic puzzle for the brain to solve. It is the living name of God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, given as a promise to sinners. Forget the abstractions. Preach the text.

Jesus stands on the mountain with his doubting disciples and declares all authority in heaven and on earth is his. Then he commands them to go and make disciples of all nations by baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is discipleship: not moral self-improvement programs or frantic church-growth schemes, but receiving God’s own name in the water of baptism. That name delivers forgiveness, drowns the old Adam, and raises you to new life.

Beware the modern temptation to turn this into a “Great Commission” checklist for building bigger churches. True discipling is not about filling pews through clever strategies, it is about faithfully applying the Triune name to real people who doubt and struggle, just like those first eleven. The preacher’s task is to be a doorkeeper of the kingdom, opening the promise with the Office of the Keys rather than selling spiritual self-help.

And here is the promise for you today: the same Jesus who holds all authority is with you always, to the end of the age. In your baptism you bear the name of the Triune God. He is for you. He forgives you. He will never leave you. Amen.

23/05/2026

Dear saints of God, hear the promise of this Pentecost:

The Holy Spirit has been poured out. The reign of the Law is over. Judgement day has already come and gone at the cross. Your sins – every last one of them – are forgiven.

Peace be with you.

The rivers of living water are flowing from the heart of the risen Christ straight into your thirsty soul. Drink deeply.

You are free. You are filled. You are sent.
Go now and speak this same Word to a world still trapped under the Law. The Spirit who opened the mouths of the apostles is the same Spirit who has opened yours.

Christ is risen. You are forgiven. The promise is yours. Amen.

21/05/2026

This Pentecost, let us be provocatively honest. Too often we have reduced the feast to tongues of fire, spiritual goosebumps, or a celebration of diversity. Yet the Holy Spirit did not descend to renew the old festival of the Law or to entertain us with signs. He came to bring that old Pentecost to an end and to birth something gloriously new.

Pentecost is the birthday of preachers. The Spirit filled the disciples and opened their mouths to proclaim one clear Word: Christ crucified and risen for you. The same Spirit enabled Peter to preach the Law that pierces the heart “You killed the Christ” and then the Gospel that heals: “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

To every weary, guilty or fearful soul among us today, take heart. You do not need to summon the Spirit’s power by your own effort. He is already at work, opening your ears to hear the living voice of Christ and empowering you to speak His Word. The rivers of living water are flowing from the heart of the risen Lord.

And here is His promise: the day of judgement has already arrived at the cross and the empty tomb. You are forgiven. Peace be with you. The Holy Spirit has been poured out so that you might live free, speak boldly, and drink deeply of the abundant life of Jesus Christ.

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13/05/2026

Many of us grow tired of the endless calls for unity in the church. Whether it’s squabbles over the colour of the paint in the hall or deeper denominational divisions, the pressure weighs heavily: we must make everyone one. On this Seventh Sunday of Easter, Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17 is frequently twisted into exactly that a new law demanding that we achieve visible unity.

Yet Jesus is not handing us an impossible task. He is not praying so that you and I must go out and fix the church’s divisions. That would only breed more frustration, guilt, and failure.

Instead, our Lord lifts His eyes to the Father and prays out loud so that His disciples and we can overhear. At the heart of His prayer stands a glorious gift, not a demand: “The words that you gave to me I have given to them.” These words are the promise of forgiveness, first spoken at His own baptism and now declared to you.

In this word of absolution the Church is already one — as one as the Father and the Son. You do not create this unity; you receive it. Here is true oneness with the Triune God and with every sinner who clings to the same gospel.

The promise: I forgive you all your sins. In this word you are one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

11/05/2026

G’day legends,
You ever sit there in the thick of it, bills piling up, the news full of rubbish, your own heart feeling like a right ratbag and reckon Jesus has just buggered off back to heaven and left us to sort out the mess? Fair dinkum, the ascension can feel like abandonment if you let it. But mate, Psalm 68:18 flips that lie on its head and hits you right between the eyes.

“You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.”

Picture it: the conquering King storms home after the biggest victory in history. Sin, death, the devil, He’s smashed the lot. He doesn’t come back empty-handed either. He drags the captives behind Him and then, get this, He starts handing out gifts to the very rebels who fought against Him. That’s you and me on our worst day. Even the stubborn, the stuffed-up, the ones who still wander off, He lavishes grace on us anyway.

Right before that triumphant return, Jesus pours out His soul in John 17. He’s finished the job. He’s glorified the Father on earth. Now He’s heading home to the glory He had before the world began. But He doesn’t forget the mob He’s leaving behind in this mad world. “Holy Father, protect them… that they may be one as we are one.” He’s interceding for us like a big brother who’s already won the fight and is making sure we’re looked after.

Old Dr Martin Luther of the German Reformation loved these passages. He saw Jesus as the ultimate Victor who ascends not to ditch us but to fill everything with His presence. Through Word and Spirit, the ascended Christ is closer now than He ever was in Galilee, pouring gifts into the church, into you, so the Lord God can dwell right here among us.

So here’s the provocative truth that’ll rattle your cage today: if you feel too rebellious, too weak, too far gone to be useful to God, congratulations, you’re exactly the type He ascended for. He doesn’t wait for you to clean up your act. He gives the gifts first, then changes you from the inside.

And here’s the promise, the one that holds you when everything else is shaking: the Lord God has come to dwell with you and in you. You are not alone, not abandoned, not forgotten. His protection, His presence, His Spirit are yours right now, today, in the middle of the mess. The King is on the throne, and He’s got you.

Take heart, mate. He hasn’t left. He’s arrived.