Acts | And they were all together in one place ...

We here at Sanctuary used to gather regularly in one place. So what happened? And what comes next? Read here or listen here.

Acts | Just look around!

A woman dies, her children are young: where is God? A longed-for baby is stillborn: where is God? Tonight we remember the Ascension, when the Risen Christ in the form of Jesus left his disciples once and for all. So where is God? Well, it seems that God has left the planet, and we are left with nothing at all ... 

Read here, or listen here.

1,2 Peter | A people founded on love

You are a chosen race,’ writes Peter, ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.’ Really? In the leadup to the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), at least half a dozen LGBTIQA+ events here in Victoria have been cancelled. In the media and online, some far-right ‘Christians’ are claiming an exclusive truth and ‘breathing threats and murder’ towards gay people, trans people, and others; councils are so worried they are shutting things down ...

Read here or listen here.

Acts | The four devotions

Three key practices, no, four, shape a dynamic resurrection faith. Read here, or listen here.

Luke | The road to newness

Because darkness isn't enough, and despair isn't enough, and the way things are certainly isn't enough. Walking the Emmaus Road - read here or listen here. 

Matthew | Pride parade

I know I’m not the only person here who finds the palm parade a little awkward, a little cringe-worthy. We look ridiculous, waving jackets and branches as we sing our way into the building. But compared to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, it’s very tame indeed. Because in that story, you have a bloke on a wacky ride surrounded by a bunch of shirtless guys waving stuff and singing in public. It’s joyful, vulnerable, disruptive; and the modern equivalent which comes to mind is a pride parade ... Read here, or listen here.

Ezekiel | Dem dry colonial bones

It is tempting to reflect on the bones. The massacre site that is now a fast food restaurant just a couple of blocks from Sanctuary. The bones which still wash up from time to time on the beach near Peterborough. The babies’ bones buried six feet under at the missions. The bones which were scattered throughout the landscape, left to rot in every lake, valley and hollow, left lying in the paddocks to dry out in the sun. It’s tempting to focus on the bones: because our history and geography are studded with other people’s bones ...

A reflection for white settlers living on stolen land. Read here or listen here.