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Send us Fan Mail  Sunday 11 October 2026 We come across this well-known story of the wedding banquet and the guy who came without the right clothes on and who ended up getting turfed out by the king.  It is a sobering story for anyone who believes they belong to the Christian church. It is possible to misplace the robe of righteousness we all had placed on us at our baptism and end up not really knowing the One with whom we gather and the Son whom he wishes all the world to honour.  It is easy to protect our own honour, get caught up in all the needed affairs of living in the world and suffering from a rather inflated view of own rightness and rights and what we deserve from others and God.  This parable was challenging to those religious people around Jesus and it is challenging to those of us who are involved in this Christian religion. It is a challenge to only be religious for God (we think) and to not willingly enter a relationship with God.  Praying today that you hear the call to humility and repentance and to keep that robe of faith in Jesus on so the experience of his great love for you is yours. He loves like a bridegroom loves his bride. This is a wedding banquet after all!  Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail  Sunday 4 October 2026 We started the year listening to the prophet Isaiah. He pops up again this morning. In his expansive poem of poems there are little gems that have become famous for their imagery and artistry. These have shaped the way these first witnesses of the promised Servant King, Jesus of Nazareth, have passed on the story.  We come across the well-known little ‘Song of the Vineyard’ today.  It is well known for its poetic imagery. It is also well known for its truth telling.  Isaiah had to work hard to get through to God’s people.  As is the case for all the prophets God ever sent, and even for his own Son, most people do not listen to what God speaks. So, Isaiah, like the others, and like Jesus would do, uses imagery and forming of words to try and cut through the noise to speak God’s truth so that people may be set free from all that they willingly allow to bind them, blind them and deafen them to God’s promise and power in their lives.  This little song is an attempt to draw the hearer into God’s beauty and grace so that truthful words about terrible lack of trust and its accompanying terrible behaviour can be halted and grace and freedom in God’s care found.  I am not sure where you are at this particular day: grafted into the vine and knowing his promises and belonging to him and his community or feeling outside or disconnected or unsure of where you belong and who you are.  The song will draw you in. The truth about you, and then the beautiful truth about the patience, grace and hopefulness of the Lord for you will come.  Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 27 September 2026 I believe that my grandchildren are growing up in an age that is significantly different from any other time in history. Never has a previous generation had access to so much “stuff”. They live in a post-modern, post-Christian era, where the institutional church is declining in our country; where so-called experts claim that Christianity is no different to any other religion, and that no religion is the best way to have peace on the earth. They have access to the most evil and perverted material with just a tap on a screen, and reports tell us that they are lonelier and more anxious than any previous generation. And they are turning away from Christianity. The group of “Nones” is growing.  But you and I are in this same culture. And we also are being influenced by what is going on around us. And if we speak out against something that we consider evil or sinful, contrary to God’s plan for all humans, we are told we have a “phobia” – fearful of anything that is different. And now there are laws in our country that can put us in jail for 10 years if we dare to criticise anyone or anything.  So we tend to “pull our heads in” and stay quiet. Every day attacks and challenges are made on the Christian faith, and still we remain quiet. I think we are in danger of becoming like the proverbial “frog in a kettle”. The culture of this age is gradually influencing us and we’re not even aware that we’re being boiled in it.  Now it’s not all bad news. There is a renewed interest in spiritual matters – it’s just that people are not interested in the institutional church. They are asking questions about life and faith, but they don’t want to be branded with a denominational name.  In Matthew 8 the centurion trusted in the love of Jesus. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. We too need to grow in our trust so that we take Jesus at his word. It is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It’s time to speak the gospel more clearly, to take God at his word. Paul wrote: Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  1 Corinthians 15:1 NIV-UK.  Pastor Robert Voigt

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 20 September 2026 We are glad to welcome two special guests this morning at the 10.30 am Service: General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Estonian theologian and pastor Rev Dr Anne Burghardt, and the LWF Regional Secretary for Asia, Rev Dr Rospita Siahaan.  We take time out to celebrate a particular biblical person today – Matthew, the gospel witness.  Why remember Matthew and other saints? For praise and thanks to God for all he did through them, for learning of how they faithfully carried the gospel throughout their lives and for celebration; that we all belong to this timeless one, holy catholic (universal) church.  It would have been quite a surprise to Levi (whom Jesus named Matthew), the other members of the new ‘Jesus’ group and to everyone in town that Jesus would choose a tax collector for his holy work. They were viewed as being so unholy!  They had questionable ethics, unclean associations, ungodly desires, traitorous practice in supporting Rome and were probably defect in some way – almost subhuman.  And yet, here is Levi telling of how he was called to join Jesus in his transforming work. Matthew tells it very briefly, but we can tell it was world-changing for him.  Praying that the Lord of the Church transform you in your holy calling as his gift of God to those whom you are sent.  Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 13 September 2026  In a community within a Western culture it is hard for the church to really stand out since the values of our culture are drawn from the Bible. The high value of a person created in God's own image, the responsibility those in power should have in using their authority to serve the good of all, the sacred gift of marriage for life and the raising of children, the treatment of the vulnerable as needing to be fair and just and compassionate are all there in our community and they do these things pretty well.  What do we do that is different? What is our unique gift to each other, friends, family and community? What allows us to create space to bear witness to the forgiveness and love of God for his world in a world that is not sure it really needs God?  I think Joseph of the Old Testament and Stephen of the New might tell us today. They might raise up the thing Jesus raised up as our unique and needed gift to the world. Forgiveness.  If this is our unique gift, that is hard even for the hardened sceptic to ignore or dismiss when it appears, then are we committed to it, learning it, doing it as we can and must?  We will ponder this gift and our living of it, and how we stand out enough amongst family, friends and community to bear full and faithful witness to the forgiveness and peace and reconciliation we ourselves enjoy from Jesus.  Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 06 September 2026 Being a father is a vocation – a calling – where God calls a man to fatherhood through the gift of a child. The Bible has a lot to say about fathers. Throughout the Bible, we discover that God has given a special focus to fathers. We learn that God wants to be known as our Heavenly Father. Our Lord Jesus not only spoke to his Father but also taught us to pray, ‘Our Father in heaven…’ Even the story of the birth of Jesus is about a father named Joseph. Joseph had tried to figure out how to deal with his fiancée Mary, who was found to be pregnant – but God had other plans and set Joseph the task of providing fatherly care to the child Jesus, who was to be the Saviour of the World. Did you realise that Joseph was the first human to speak the name ‘Jesus’? In the Ten Commandments, we are told how to respond to fathers. The fourth commandment says, ‘Honour your father and your mother.’ How do we do that? For some people, that is a hard thing. But God will provide – this was God’s command after all. One way that everyone can do that is to pray for their father and to ask God to guide and bless their father. And if our father has died, we can commend our fathers to the mercy of God. If your father is still alive and you are able to, you might take the opportunity to express thanksgiving to God for your father and perhaps say ‘thank you’ to him for serving in this God-given vocation in the midst of all his human frailties. Let me guide you in praying: Eternal Father, thank you for the gift of our fathers. You have worked through fathers from the time of creation, and you have commanded us to honour our fathers and mothers. Give to all fathers what they need to serve according to your good and gracious will. Teach us how to honour our fathers. Forgive us where we have failed them – help us to forgive our fathers for their failings. And finally, where children have lost their fathers: give to those children the consolation of your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen. In Christ, Paul Pastor Paul Smith Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (This article by Bishop Paul, but Pastor Adrian lead worship on Sunday)

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 30 August 2026 Humped Zebra Crossing. Cats Eyes Removed. Tanks ahead. You see some pretty strange signs when you get off the motorways of the UK, and instead take the narrow winding countryside ‘roads’. When Jesus challenges / invites / commands us to take the narrow road, what comes to your mind? “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13,14 Sounds tough, doesn’t it? Especially when you look at today’s Bible readings: Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Jeremiah 15:18 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Romans 12:14 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 Meanwhile, Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List, states that 2025 was the deadliest year in modern history for Christians. It identifies 4,849 people killed for their faith and millions more facing violence, abuse, displacement, or discrimination. Yet, this narrow winding road can bring you and I unexpected blessings Blessings I discovered on those narrow winding UK roads. Seeing life we would otherwise miss. Experiencing it deeply. Meeting people we can bless. Working together to achieve what we can’t do alone. Being touched by joy that can light our lives. So, what road are you on? Jonathan Krause

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 23 August 2026 The sermon this week reflects on the remarkable faithfulness of God, who calls, seeks, saves and guides his people even when we cannot see where He is leading us. Isaiah calls us to “look to the rock from which you were hewn” and to lift our eyes towards the Lord, whose salvation and righteousness endure forever. In the Gospel, Peter confesses Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” — a confession that does not begin with human wisdom, but with God revealing Christ to us. For me, this will also be a deeply personal Sunday as I look back over my own journey — from childhood faith, through years of turning away from God, to being called back to Christ and eventually through my time here with you, into the pastoral ministry — I can see more clearly how God’s hand has guided every step. I never knew where he was taking me, but He did! As we all look ahead, the encouragement is simple: keep looking to Christ, keep confessing Christ, and keep giving thanks for his grace. Blessings always, Paul Ridley

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 16 August 2026 As long as my wife and I have been married we have been away from home – i.e. from the places where our parents lived. So we always talked of “going home” for holidays. We always looked forward to this time, even though travelling home sometimes involved vast distances, and the travel, at least in our early days, was sometimes dangerous and not enjoyable. But then we also talked of “going home” when it was time to go back to where we lived. “Home is where the heart is” has become a popular saying. And it’s true. But Jesus added another thought to that: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Matthew 6:21. Today we will have another look at our theme for this year from Isaiah – “See, I am doing a new thing”. Many of the Jews from Jerusalem and Judah had been taken off into exile in Babylon. Isaiah, from Chapter 40 in his book, began to offer these people hope. Their time of exile was coming to an end. They would soon be going home. And this would be such a joy to them that the 1,143km journey (on foot) will seem like a ‘walk in the park’. Even though they had a huge, difficult and dangerous road ahead of them, the fact that they were heading home would give them strength, encouragement and joy to last the journey. Our lives are also described in the Bible as a journey and we are called foreigners (strangers) in this world because we are really “citizens of heaven” (Ephesians 2). And our lives are far from easy. We have struggles of all kinds – physical and spiritual – before we get home. But our journey takes on new meaning and purpose, and provides us with comfort, strength and courage when we know where “home” is. And when we trust in Jesus as our Saviour, we begin to understand that the “new thing” is what God does in us daily. By his grace he calls us to live an authentic, genuine life of discipleship as we keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. Pastor Robert Voigt

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 9 August 2026 Yes, we are back in that famous scene of wind, water, storm, gale and a ghost’ walking across it all. It is the ‘walking on water’ gospel account today. We know it well. We love it a lot. I think it is because the account of Jesus grabbing Peter and pulling him up out of the stormy sea when Peter seems to ‘fail’ the test of faith that dark night, says that when we are drowning in our own stormy time, Jesus is right there ready and able to save us from it all. But did Peter actually fail the test of faith? Is this account a warning to followers of Jesus to not get too carried away with themselves? Is it a tale that is told to direct us to not be impetuous or risky as Peter seemed to be as he hears that familiar voice and asks to head toward it, even over churning waves and gale-force wind resistance? I am not sure this is a main point for the gospel writers who tell this story. I wonder whether this is a story of faith in Jesus for sure, but a call to real faith; real trust; to not play it safe or ever take a risk, but to do so more often with faith in Jesus. We Lutherans might not like that word ‘risk’. We might find ourselves having a dig at Peter’s apparent ‘failure’ from our comfortable church chairs. That seems all well and good until the storm clouds of life gather over us and we know we are in danger. Is it then that Peter may not seem so impetuous or arrogant or silly? I wonder... Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 02 August 2026 We are back in that magnificent poem of poems as spoken by the prophet Isaiah. In one of the many pictures he paints of both God’s judgement of our sin and God’s beautiful resurrection of whole life, Isaiah issues a call to a free banquet that God has paid for in full for everyone. All we have to do is come, get up, receive the fully satisfying gifts of The Suffering Servant, whom we know as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus now simply ‘des Iasiah’. That day by the sea on the grassy slopes with thousands looking for food that satisfies, they get it. It is that famous ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’. Sounds simple and actually is. Just reach out and take the bread and fish. Just receive… It would be very simple if it were not for this heart of ours that simply wants to pay our own way. Isaiah is clear. We are not very smart shoppers in the world of a million delights. We work very hard for things that can’t fully satisfy and we pay a lot of hard-earned cash and a great deal of time we think is ours dreaming of what we want next. Not only do we stay away from receiving God’s gifts but we tend to believe he has no good gifts, or not enough anyway. But Jesus just does Isaiah today. He gives you a meal voucher at the fanciest restaurant in town and there is no bill to pay now or later when he returns to settle accounts. All you need to do is get up, seek, listen and receive. Praying you do that and get more than a trolley of things today. Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 26 July 2026 It is with pleasure that we prepare to receive the Word via Dr Tim Stringer, Principal of Australian Lutheran Collage. May the Word call you, challenge you and comfort you for the journey we share together today. Dr Tim says… Last Sunday, we were deep in the territory of weeds and wheat. This week, we hear and read a series of rapid-fire parables that describe what the kingdom of heaven is like. We might think we can recognise the kingdom, yet it is described in several different, surprising and hidden ways in quick succession across five short parables. These are laid out before the disciples, and when asked if they understand all these things, they reply, “Yes”, but we don’t hear their tone of voice in the scriptures. There is a trend on social media at the moment in which an individual is asked to say a phrase in four or five different tones of voice. In the case of the disciples, would the meaning be altered if they used a surprised, tentative, certain, or assertive tone? Any of those might work in this case. We hope, of course, that they are certain! Do YOU understand all of these parables? How might you answer Jesus’ question if he directed it to you today? Hopefully, as we rummage through the storehouse of treasures hidden in these parables today, we might discover something new or something old that we might feel impelled to bring out and share with others. Blessings, Tim

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 19 July 2026 Sometimes I wish God would deal with all the injustice of the world. Sometimes I wish the Church could be so much better, especially when Christian people do some really silly and bad things. What do we do with the frustration we feel about all the suffering and trouble in the world? What does the Lord do for us when the church gets it wrong and we get it wrong? We are in rapid-fire parable territory this morning. In this little section of Matthew’s gospel there are seven parables in a row. Jesus says every one of them speak of what living with faith in his presence and promises are like for us. The focus today is number 2 of the seven – this picture of a paddock with both wheat and weeds being planted and growing together. The picture comes with a prohibition for us: “Don't try and pull up the weeds!”. In fact, “Let the weeds grow". Why on earth would we do that? We don't do that with real weeds. We get rid of them with hard work or hard chemicals! Apparently, this is not the way in Jesus' way. In pulling up the weeds we may disrupt the wheat. This is not our job. But it is someone's job. All very mysterious. I wonder how you are navigating growing in Jesus among those who aren't? Pastor Adrian

Send us Fan Mail Sunday 12 July 2026 As Christians we believe that the Bible is the sacred writings of God himself, as he inspired his chosen authors to write it down. Therefore we often refer to the Bible as “the Word of God”. But the truth is that only Christians believe this. Non-Christians (or ‘not-yet Christians’) do not see the Bible with faith. They only see a very very big book with a lot of ‘stuff’ in it that is hard for them to understand. And since they have no idea how we got this book, they simply put it in the same category as the Sutras of the Buddhists, the Vedas of the Hindus, the Qu’ran of the Muslims, or the Book of Mormon of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Students of three Year 6 classes in a Lutheran school some years ago reinforced the fact that people with no faith, and very little knowledge, see the Bible as an old book that is unreliable, contradictory, out of date and that it must have changed from the original over time. And they believe this even though they have never read the Bible. So when I have a chance to engage with sceptics about Jesus, I don’t start with the gospel. I talk about the Bible and why Christians are so sure that it is the Word of God. Because if it is what it claims to be, then everyone should take it very seriously. I talk about the origins of the Bible and its reliability as a historical record. I want them to understand that Christians don’t close their eyes to history or science. It is a book that is worth a closer look. For if they don’t come to see it as God’s revelation to all people of all ages, they won’t accept they are sinful, or that Jesus came to be the Saviour of the world. The historical story of how the Bible has come to us today is a powerful witness to the God who inspired it. When people at least acknowledge that the Bible has not been altered over the millennia, and that it is no ordinary book, they may begin to take its content and message of salvation more seriously. As one Year 6 student wrote to me after one presentation, “I will never doubt the Bible again.” My hope is that he now trusts in the clear gospel message of Jesus’ love for him. I pray that the message today will help to encourage and strengthen your faith too. Pastor Robert Voigt

Send us Fan Mail  Sunday 5 July 2026  We come across those well-known words concerning this internal battle we all know and live as God’s people from Paul in Romans 7. We do not do the good we want to do and do the very bad we don’t want to do! There is internal spiritual power at work in our human needs and desires that wage war against our best intentions to live out those good ten commandments and it is frustrating. Paul ends up crying out in frustration. What can save us from this ‘body of death’; these internal desires that the evil one leverages against us to bring out the worst in us? They turn God’s good law into something we want to ignore or hide away from. The very thing God gives to protect us and guide us only ends up accusing and killing us. Will trying harder bring us hope and joy? Will giving up on God and his good will for us do it? Will singing a sad song lamenting our lack of noble character and our endless weakness do it? Will getting on the dancefloor at the wedding and dancing the dark away do it? Paul leads us to the end of ourselves so we can begin with the Lord anew. There is a way to live in the war with hopefulness, meaning and joy. Praying you receive it today. As you prepare for worship you could ponder these thoughts: Lord Jesus, I am weary of... I keep trying to rescue myself by... I hear you inviting me to... Pastor Adrian