St Paul's Box Hill Podcasts

John the Baptist prepared people for the arrival of the Messiah by calling them to repent. His words, "You brood of vipers, who told you could escape the coming judgement?"' serve also as a warning to us. What is the fruit that God requires from every tree lest it be cut down at the roots? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/QkcG-y75Qxo ) [Organ/Choir - Advent 3]

As we emerge from COVID lockdown with excitement and uncertainty, perhaps joy and perhaps fear, God calls us again this Advent to prepare our hearts — and the hearts of the people we love — for the presence of God among us and for us. How will you prepare this Advent? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/KV5WCVqZcsg ) [Organ/Choir - Advent 2]

“The Gifts and Griefs of Exile.” The theme of 'home and exile' runs through the whole Bible. It's a helpful way for us to understand what God has been doing in and through us during our long lockdowns as we've been unable to gather together for corporate worship. Through the experience of exile come both grief and gifts. This sermon explores some of the griefs and gifts of exile through Psalm 137, Psalm 126, and our own experience through long COVID lockdowns. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/_t9Kx7I0qxM ) [Organ/Choir - Advent 1]

Today is the last Sunday of the Church year. It's a day when we remember that we are living in the last times before Jesus' return. Jesus speaks to us a powerful Word of truth as we live and await his return. What is truth? In Jesus, God speaks a wonderful word of life and hope, now and eternally for all who receive it in faith. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/sj87lNv-_u4 ) [Organ - Last Sunday of the Church Year]

Jesus turns fear of the events of the end times into looking for, and welcoming, the new beginnings of the Kingdom's birth. He will help us celebrate and endure, because the beginning of the end does not prevent good things beginning. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/jBcBwAxujSU ) [Organ - Pentecost 25]

All Saints is a day when we remember. We might especially remember the people in our lives who now live eternally with our Lord in heaven. Jesus calls us to remember the many blessings he has for us today and everyday, so that we may be the blessing of God for others in life. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/ii8GW3YvSg ) [Prerecorded music - All Saints]

Jesus promises that if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Today we unpack this beautiful promise for us and all people. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/y-SR2HEWjso ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 23]

Mark's Gospel seeks to open our eyes wide to God's grace. In today's passage, he does it through the eyes of blind man. Invited to do so by God, we can ask for many things, and by faith, persist in prayer, confident of His care for us. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/9Fh9IjkTI9w ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 22]

James and John come to Jesus and ask him to do what they want. What would you ask of Jesus? Would you ask for power, for glory? Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” So, what will you ask for? (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/RstcR1EQ4lk ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 21]

“God's Heart of Love Makes Everything Possible.” A key question asked today is, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” All too often, we think that living a good-enough life should be enough. But it's not a matter of the things I do, but of God's heart — that's what makes everything possible. So in whom do we trust? (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/21B1JIxyWcs ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 20]

Jesus told his disciples not to turn away the children, as parents brought their children for him to touch and bless them. He explained further, saying, 'for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.' What does Jesus mean when he says we need to receive the kingdom of God like a child, or else we will not enter it? (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/S55vXKQG2_Q ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 19]

In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus calls all who would be his disciples to pick their cross and follow him. Here in Mark 9:39-50, Jesus gives us further detail about what the way of the cross involves. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/-YuRR-nMLn8 ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 18s]

We all have fears in life. Jesus' disciples did too. Jesus' perfect love drives out fear and calls us to put our faith in him. Being a disciple of Jesus today doesn't mean we don't have fears. But Jesus' love for us and all people overcomes all fear. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/9JJ_9vsgqoA ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 17]

Our words have the power to hurt and to kill; but in Christ we are also enabled to speak words of life, the very same words God speaks into our hearts and into the world. James encourages us in the impossible task of controlling the tongue — impossible, that is, until Jesus transforms our hearts. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/iUwg1t34IWs ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 16]

Today we hear of the amazing faith of a woman who comes from the ‘wrong side of the tracks', and who has no power or standing. In the face of adversity and rejection, she has amazing faith in Jesus. “Even your crumbs are enough for me and for my loved one, Jesus. You are all we need.” And by her witness, God continues to feed you and I and the world with love and grace. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/M6HetCv0coc ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 15]

How can I make a difference in caring for others when the world with COVID seems so far out of my control? God says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. Learn how God might be calling you to make a positive difference for others when the word of Christ dwells richly in you. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/XuK1b4wiyJI ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 14]

Many of Jesus' disciples couldn't accept his words and left him. When life gets hard or you have a problem with the church, are you tempted to leave also? What can we do to help ourselves and others from falling away from Jesus' words of eternal life — especially in this season of COVID? (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/7gLM3ffr48Q ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 13]

At times we have big life questions, such as, “How can I know God's will for me?”, or, “How do I follow God where God wants me to be?” When God came to the young Solomon, who is to govern and lead God's people, God offers Solomon whatever he would like. Solomon asks for a heart to hear God, so that he can follow where God leads. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/1S1qYw6aBpU ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 12]

When Jesus says ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven', many respond with doubt, saying, ‘How can this be?' With these words Jesus declares his divinity, and that he has come to fulfil our hunger for righteousness and peace with God. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/boq372AX2hs ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 11]

When Jesus says “I am the bread of life”, what does he mean? Let's explore the amazing gift that Jesus offers for all people, calling us to receive, to share, and to feed on him, the bread of life. Come and feast. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/yxUjYys7ZuI ) [Organ/Piano - Pentecost 10]

Lessons over lunch, and while struggling in the dark. Jesus calls us to serve. Service in his name gives our lives purpose and hope. (YouTube video for the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/crwNP9vyikU ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 9]

In his letter to the Ephesian Christians, Paul compares us, God's community, his church, to a building. The key is the cross of Christ; the foundation is the apostles and prophets, called to speak God's Word concerning Christ and to witness to Christ and his resurrection; and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone, the foundation stone. What's more, in Jesus we are built by God to be his cross-shaped church in the world. What does this mean? (YouTube video of the COVID lockdown service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/mI7UKZkhUl4 ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 8]

The ideas in the letter to the Ephesians about being ‘chosen' and ‘adopted' were extremely potent in the ancient world. In those days, being adopted by a powerful benefactor was the ultimate makeover, better than being given the winning lottery ticket! You got a whole new identity. So imagine, if you can, being adopted by God! (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/JTIXH258-qk ) [Organ - Pentecost 7]

Exhilaration is probably not a word you often associate with the Christian life. Exhilaration is a combination of scary and joyful. In Mark 6, Jesus sends his disciples to preach, heal, and liberate others from the power of evil. It's both scary and joyful for them as they have to depend completely on God and the hospitality of others, and as they discover the trustworthiness of God and the joyful, life-changing power of Jesus. We, too, are sent by Jesus. But how is discipleship modelled to us? Will we enter more fully into the scary joyful life of being sent by Jesus? Into exhilarating discipleship? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/2XqzXmPMf50 ) [Organ - Pentecost 6]

Dwelling in the Bible texts for today, we look deeper, past the obvious power of God to save, to discover greater insights into his character: amazing faithful kindness, mercy, and love for all people, displayed in Jesus and by the power of the Spirit at work in the church. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/4gnPBc9hJCM ) [Organ - Pentecost 5]

‘Give ear, and come to me.' What does God want to do, to accomplish, through the Word in my life? And through the Word in our life together in congregation? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/Cp182r9WRvU ) [Organ - Pentecost 4, Commemoration of Augsburg Confession]

The kingdom starts small and grows. The word of God has its own power to grow and spread in a cycle of sowing, growing and reaping. What are the distinctive features of what God is building? Is it still growing? How is it growing? Can we learn the miracle and promise of little things? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/Tm_DdMK9Q9s ) [Organ - Pentecost 3]

Jesus calls us to work together so that the life-giving good news of Jesus Christ can be preached to all. Often our differences can make this challenging. How will we respond, to work through and despite our differences? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/Jcut07frrrY ) [Prerecorded music - Pentecost 2]

In baptism, God gives us his name, and calls us by name. We are rescued from the darkness of death, and given the light of eternal life. God calls and equips us to radiate this light by the way we live. But what if we lose our spark? What if the flame of new life in Christ loses its warmth and light in us? God calls us to turn anew to himself; to repent and receive again and again the light and life of Christ for us, and through us for the people in our lives. God is faithful. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/WDgn2oyLk6I ) [Organ/Choir - Trinity Sunday]

The Holy Spirit - an advocate of great power - was promised by Jesus to the disciples. The Spirit's arrival came with the sound of rushing wind and miraculous tongues of fire, and the gospel was shared in many languages that day. If we have not experienced such visible gifts, is the Holy Spirit actually in us or in our church? Rest assured that if you have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, then the Holy Spirit is in you, and also at work through you for the benefit of others in your life. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/Yv2wgl0UUdk ) [Organ/Choir - Trinity Sunday]

Maps and GPS units can help us to reach a destination quickly and efficiently. We’d like God’s path for us in life, and for us as church in mission, to be clear and effective and cost-efficient, too. But God’s path is not always likely to be so clear when it comes to his mission direction for us. He calls us to have faith, to dwell in the Word and to discern together his call to us. It’s a call which will always point us to Jesus, and call us to share his love and life for all people. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/gxC3-wZIVjk ) [Organ/Choir - Ascension]

Instructed by Jesus Christ, disciples are deliberately sent out with a reliance on God, not their own resources. They are led by the Holy Spirit to those who will receive them and their greeting of peace. Such people of peace have already been prepared by God, for the Gospel to be established in their homes and lives. Through them, He causes the gospel to spread out like ripples in a pond within their community. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/-KF8-MgqiB4 ) [Organ/Choir - Easter 6]

When we hear the words "the Holy Spirit", different images may come to mind, such as wind or fire. But God's Holy Spirit is not an "it", but a person. The third person of the Trinity sends God’s Church on an exciting journey into the neighbourhood and into the world, like a boat setting sail and catching the prevailing winds. Are you ready to come aboard and set sail to follow where the Spirit blows us in God’s mission? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/v=1W-3jM_Xiek ) [Organ/Choir - Easter 5]

Often we think Christian mission means getting people into church to meet Jesus. However, Jesus is already out on the fringes, present and engaged in the untamed, wider world. We don’t carry Christ out to the world; he takes us out to meet him where he’s already at work, to participate in his active mission field. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/9v-gfcnZTI0 ) [Organ/Choir - Easter 4]

God’s mission call is not a law-based demand or obligation, but rather a joyful invitation to participate in what He is already doing. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/t-_OeH62Mrk ) [Organ - Easter 3]

Today we look at faith and doubt in the places of grace where the risen Jesus continues to meet us with peace, making us ready to witness to the ones who are missing. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/ckigtlxlD6g ) [Organ - Easter 2]

Mary went to the tomb and found nothing. For we who believe the testimony of scripture, the tomb containing nothing meant Jesus was risen. He is Risen! So this “nothing” is the most important something we will ever encounter. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/YnLfG4HLG5E ) [Organ/Choir - Easter Sunday]

“Do This in Remembrance of Me.” With the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gave us a gift that takes us into his presence. His Word with the bread and wine bring us into his saving acts of grace completed that very first Easter, but also gifted anew when we receive this meal. It is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet with Jesus, also promised for us in heaven. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/2KFwoLiuDeM ) [Organ/Choir - Maundy Thursday]

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, people cheered him with various expectations. Jesus came as a king like no other, humble and intent on serving, even those who hated him, with his own life. Those who know him as king celebrate this festival with bitter sweet joy and sorrow. It is important that we don't let the spectre of Good Friday, just days away, rob us of the joy of welcoming him as king with childlike excitement and expectation. We have the great privilege of knowing him as the risen and eternal king who welcomes us into his heavenly kingdom, and who also invites us to walk his path of obedience and humility, serving the world in his name. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/VCta4KI6Ta8) [Organ/Choir - Palm Sunday]

Jesus says in the gospel reading today, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:20​-33). But what does Jesus mean that the Son of Man will be glorified? He calls us to follow him to the cross, and be met there by our gracious God who is there for us and all in need, and who calls and commissions us to go into the world with hope and new life for all. Here is the hour of glory. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/zhHzbb1EUsw ) [Organ/Choir - Lent 5]

Some people think that God must be angry with sin. But his word tells a different story, a story of the most amazing love, a story of rescue rather than condemnation. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/omewOf737Hk ) [Organ/Choir - Lent 4]

“The Power of God Is in Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross.” “More power to you”. Do you know this saying? What is power and do you have it? We often look for meaning in all the wrong places. God says clearly and powerfully, the message of the cross and the person of Jesus in giving his life is God’s power for you. And you have power to share. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/bZvv7Ejga0w ) [Organ/Choir - Lent 3]

When Jesus calls his disciples to take up their cross and follow him, he clearly indicates discipleship is not without suffering, and that to love others as he loves involves self-denial, even losing one's life. Christian discipleship does not bring happiness at no cost to self – this is not how God transforms a broken world. We join Christ in his victory, but also in his humiliation, rejection and sacrifice in obedience to the will of God. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/qga4PiqQOB8 ) [Organ/Choir - Lent 2]

“What time is it?” At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus announces that “the time has been fulfilled”. What does this mean for us? Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection bring those who trust in him, sure and eternal life, free from the power of sin, death, and the evil one. But he also calls us to know the time is now to follow where he leads in bringing the gospel to the world. The time is now to dwell in the gospel, and to go with it to the people around us. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://www.youtu.be/r3BQU4Tp6FQ ) [Organ - Lent 1]

In Psalm 51, David vividly tells us of the reality check he (and we) have because of sin. All humans are guilty of sin, and face God's sentence of death. In Lent, we meet this reality check for ourselves. But this is not the final word. For Lent also gives us the call to focus anew and in new ways on the one who saves: Jesus Christ and his cross - and so Lent is truly a springtime for our souls. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/bQWgfA4wG2Y ) [Prerecorded music - Ash Wednesday]

Jesus shines on the mountain in preparation for entering the valley to do his work. We meet with him in Word and Sacrament, and learn from him in times of dwelling in his Word and in prayer, listening for his voice to comfort, strengthen and direct us. Through simple acts of love done in his name, we can find understanding of how his glory exists even when hidden in the valley where our sight is clouded. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/BvVU20PBvAY ) [Prerecorded music - Transfiguration]

Nelson Mandela’s autobiography is titled 'Long Walk to Freedom'. Mandela did all he could to free his country from the bondage of apartheid. Christ Jesus made the long walk to the cross and from the tomb to set all people free who put their trust in him. New life in Christ brings a wonderful freedom to serve others so that they too may receive the freedom to live and make the life-long walk to freedom with Christ. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/w-0dWyYtaYU ) [Organ - Epiphany 5]

The people are amazed that Jesus teaches with authority. But what is this authority, and what does it mean for them, and for us today? Jesus’ authority is revealed in Mark’s gospel as authority from God to serve, and to give his life in order to bring life to people. Jesus gives his disciples the same authority. How will we use it? (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/mTY8Sldfglw ) [Organ - Epiphany 4]

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear of two calls — one call to repentance, and one to follow Jesus. As we repent and believe, we are equipped to follow — Jesus calls us and provides all we need. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/KVuRDxGY8Rw ) [Organ - Epiphany 3]

The young boy Samuel heard God calling him in the night. We too listen for our God calling, both as individuals and in community as a church, and consider how we might encourage others to listen to God's calling. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/4V9yShmUPIg ) [Organ - Epiphany 2]

“Baptism and Identity.” Baptism is God’s act of love, where he claims us and names us as his own. Similarly, when Jesus was baptised, God announced his identity — and then sent him into the wilderness, beginning his journey to the cross for our salvation, the ultimate act of love. We are the new creation, made righteous by Christ's perfect obedience and 'fulfilment of all righteousness' on our behalf; and now through his obedience, God is well pleased with us. (YouTube video of the service including this sermon: https://youtu.be/4vS3zvZclq4 ) [Organ - Baptism of Jesus]