Shows / St John's Canberra Talks
St John's Canberra Talks
St John's is the oldest church in Canberra, Australia. These are our Sunday sermons and occasional seminars. Come meet us in person! www.stjohnscanberra.org .
Episodes
- St John's Canberra Talks
What darkness? (Isa 9:1-4; 1 Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-25)
Rev'd Dave looks at all the kinds of darkness Christ came to change.
- St John's Canberra Talks
What do you see when you come and see? (Isa 49:1-7; Ps 40: 1-14; 1 Cor 1:1-9; John 1:29-42)
'Seeing'. You can see just what's in front of you. Or what's coming. Or what was behind. Or, a whole lot more. (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
What if no one had ever heard *this* speech? (Isa 42:1–9; Acts 10:34–43; Matt 3:13–17)
Rev'd Andrew on a speech that changed everything, for Cornelius, and the world.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Through the WHAT??! (Isa. 60:1–6; Eph. 3:1–12; Matt. 2:1–12)
Rev'd Andrew on the surprising continuation of God's Epiphany to the world ...
- St John's Canberra Talks
How long? (Jeremiah 31:15–20; Matthew 2:13–18)
The Massacre of the Innocents, straight after Christ's birth, shows how suffering is 'baked in'. But Rev'd Andrew shows how 'Rachel's weeping' might actually…
- St John's Canberra Talks
* * * L I G H T * * * (Titus 3.4-8; Luke 2:1-20)
How do you end the darkness? (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
After Bondi: I believe in the virgin birth. (Isaiah 7.10-16; Romans 1.1-7; Matthew 1.18-25)
Rev'd Dave on how the Virgin Birth of Christ give us hope and meaning--and exposes the worldview that you're trusting in.
- St John's Canberra Talks
After Bondi ... (Isaiah 35.1-10; James 5.7-10; Matthew 11.2-11)
Rev'd Andrew revisits this week's passages, in the aftermath of the Bondi tragedy. (Includes a statement by the Primate.)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Nine Lessons and Carols (not a great recording, but still fun!)
John the choir, readers, and congregations of St John's as we hear again the epic biblical story of Jesus' coming, with *so much music!*
- St John's Canberra Talks
When trouble makes you weak at the knees (Isaiah 35:1-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11)
What do you do when you need a result, but God's time does not match your time? (Rev'd Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
How to exit your desert (Isaiah 11.1-10; Romans 15.4-13; Matthew 3.1-12)
What makes our lives like a desert? And why was even John the Baptist unsure if Jesus led the way out of it? (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
When you are anxious, claim the power (Isa. 2:1-5; 1 Thess. 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-38)
What are you going to do when world events get you down? Jesus' disciples had the same problem. (Dr Winifred Lamb)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Christ the King (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23.33-43)
What to say yes to, though kinging ain't what it used to be (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Preparing for a future you can't see (Luke 21.5-19; 2 Thess. 3:6-13)
We can't know in advance what shape our trials will take, but we are still supposed to prepare for them. How? (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Single people: showing us the resurrection (Luke 20:27–40; 2 Thess. 2:1–5 & vv13–17)
What's so special about single people? A lot, actually. (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
From Spectator to Participant: The Unlikely Convert (Luke 19:1-10)
What happens when Jesus meets Joe Pesci? (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
What is it about children? (Luke 18:15–30; 2 Tim. 4:6–18; Psalm 65:3)
What makes kids a better fit for God's place, than you and I? (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Out of exile (Jeremiah 31:27-34; Luke 18:1-14)
Hear God's ancient promise: of a return us to our true home (Rev'd Dave).
- St John's Canberra Talks
What's your real story? (2 Timothy 2:8-15)
How narratives shape us; how the wrong narrative had Paul, for a while; and a narrative worth living in. (Mark Warren)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Liberty beyond suffering (Psalm 66)
Mark looks at how the Psalmist frames suffering as a road, under God, to liberty.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Blessing the enemy city (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7)
Jeremiah gives just about *the* most unexpected advice you could get, while living in the enemy's capital. Might also be so for us. (Dr Harold Koch)
- St John's Canberra Talks
The best day of my life (Luke 17:11-19)
Dr Winifred on whether the best day of a life consists in a 'gospel of the gaps', or something much deeper and enduring.
- St John's Canberra Talks
When I am distraught, and my faith is almost nothing (Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26; Luke 17:5-10)
Rev'd Andrew on what faith looks like when you think God is the worst.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Money: a test of our loves (Luke 16:1-14, 19-21; 1 Tim. 6:6-19)
What's really going on, when people love money? (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Dazzling, dangerous money (1 Timothy 6:6-19 and Luke 16:19-31)
Money is the root of all evil.... isn't it? (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
When holiness meets shame (Matthew 9: 9-13)
Rev'd Dave unpacks what happens when God comes near. (Hint: it's not what we expect.)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Occasional Seminar: Surprising News about Suffering
Rev'd Andrew looks at some angles on suffering in Scripture that surprised him, and may intrigue you too.
- St John's Canberra Talks
What makes it so hard to repent? (Jeremiah 4:22; Psalm 14:1-7; Luke 15:1-10; 1 Tim. 1:12-18).
We double-down on who we are, right now. What will it take to shift us? (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Slavery in a new creation? (Paul's letter to Philemon)
Slavery; AI; fossil fuels ... Rev'd Dave takes us into the world of inevitable Christian compromise, and a renewed vision that changes the world.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Suffering - how do we go on?
In commemorating the New Guinea Martyrs, Mark Warren considers how the gospel changes how we suffer. (Romans 8:33-39)
- St John's Canberra Talks
How To Get Like An Apostle (Deut. 18:15–18; Psalm 145.10–18; John 1:45–51; Rev. 21:9–14)
Nathanael/Bartholomew and his mate might not have been the sharpest tools in the shed. But they still know something that maybe we don't. (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Occasional Seminar: Clues on Friendship
Rev'd Andrew on some clues in the Bible, and from Christian history, on how friendship works.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Finding Your Gardener (Psalm 80; Isaiah 5:1-7, 27:2-5)
Are you machine-like, or plant-like? Rev'd Dr Andrew helps us pick one.
- St John's Canberra Talks
The Prophet's Call to Change (Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Luke 12:32-40)
Rev'd Dave tells why he's glad he's not an Old Testament prophet, but how they explain to us all our deepest need.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Finding Stephen, Our First Martyr (2 Chronicles 24:17–22; Acts 6:8–7:60; Matthew 10:17–22)
Stephen, the first Christian martyr, might seem a little other-worldly at first. But what he knows might help us, when we're next confronted by groupthink…
- St John's Canberra Talks
Death and Resurrection in Hosea (Hosea 1.2-10; Luke 11.1-13)
When everything turns into Mad Max, maybe God has left us, because we left him. Or maybe not. (Rev'd Dave.)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Christ In You, the Hope of Glory (Colossians 1.15-29; Luke 10.38-42)
... and the opposite of emptiness. (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
How to Flourish (if you are more plant than machine) (Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37)
What's the human equivalent of sun, soil, fertilizer? (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
It's Ready! What Will You Do? (Matthew 22:1–14)
Dr Amy helps us avoid two really stupid ways to miss out on a gift.
- St John's Canberra Talks
How to Actually See a Neighbour (Psalm 82; Luke 10:25-37)
What if we think we know something, but never do it? What if we so busily categorize others, that we don't even see them? Jesus busts open the mind and heart…
- St John's Canberra Talks
God's Knock-Down-Rebuild (Amos 7:7-17; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37)
What's God going to do, when what people build turns out to be crooked?
- St John's Canberra Talks
How Not To Be A 'Great Man' (2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:7-17; Luke 10:1-24)
Hear the antidote to the wrong kind of 'greatness'. (Rev'd Dr Andrew)
- St John's Canberra Talks
On Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs (Acts 12:1-11; 2 Tim. 4:6-18; John 21:1-23)
Dr Lamb explores the humanity and grace of the apostles; and how they, and we, belong to each other in ways that preserve our dignity.
- St John's Canberra Talks
What Will We Become? (Patronal Festival: Luke 1:57–66, 80; Ps. 139)
Rev'd Andrew looks at what became of the Bible's serious Hard Man, John the Baptist. And what might become of us. (Other Scriptures cited: John 1:6-8 &…
- St John's Canberra Talks
Trinity Sunday: Mystery and relationship (John 16:12-15; Romans 5:1-5)
Is trying to understand the Trinity worth the trouble? (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Pentecost Sunday: Children of God (Romans 8:14-17)
Bishop Vanessa Bennett unfolds the great privilege of being brought by the Spirit into God's family.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Ascension: The Lord who sets us free (Acts 16:16-34)
The gospel is good news for slaves, and bad news for oppressors. Hear about three moments of freedom (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
The Peace He Gives (Revelation 21:10–22:5; John 14:23–29)
A kind of peace not offered by the world we now know. But on offer for all, in a world we can know. (Rev'd Andrew.)
- St John's Canberra Talks
Living in a community of difference
Rev'd Dave on the most conflict prone organisation on God's earth (Acts 11, John 13).
- St John's Canberra Talks
How to Become a Proper Sheep (John 10:22–30; Revelation 7:9–17)
How are sheep like children and dogs? How do you become White? Why do some preachers wear white? And what was Khrushchev's atheist lie? These and other…
- St John's Canberra Talks
Finding Hope: St John's Occasional Seminar for Hope25
Rev'd Dr Andrew on how some dead trees moved him to hope, both for a place in Victoria, and for the universe and us. Slides and resources available at…
- St John's Canberra Talks
Seeing the truth (Revelation 5:6-14; John 21:1-19; Acts 9:1-6)
A new reality is born. But can we see it? (Rev'd Dave McLennan)
- St John's Canberra Talks
The story of these hands (John 20:19-31)
Dr Amy Erickson points us to the hands of God, and asks what remains for our hands to do.
- St John's Canberra Talks
Easter: How to Listen Your Way Out of Darkness (John 20:1-18)
Easter begins in darkness; it ends with a name (Rev'd Dave)
- St John's Canberra Talks
God's 'Wisdom' ... Really?? (1 Cor. 1:18-31; Isa. 52:12 –53:12; Ps. 22; Jn 18:1–19:42; Jas 3:14–17)
On Good Friday, Rev'd Andrew asks: how can Jesus' resurrection even slightly be regarded as 'wisdom'??
- St John's Canberra Talks
Walking with Washed Feet (John 13:1-17, 31-35)
On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Rev'd Murray asks and answers: what is it going to look like, having *our* feet 'washed' by Christ?
- St John's Canberra Talks
Jesus and the Bit Player (Luke 23: 1-49)
His appearance lasts just one verse. But what did Simon see? (Rev'd Dave McLennan)
- St John's Canberra Talks
How To Really Belong (Philippians 3:3-14; John 12:1-8; Isaiah 43:16-21)
We can be desperate to belong in all the wrong ways. But Mary of Bethany, and Paul the Apostle, discovered how to flip that into the best kind of belonging…
- St John's Canberra Talks
The Waiting Father and the Two Lost Sons
Dr Winifred Lamb reflects on God's reconciling love (from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, and Luke 15:11-32).
- St John's Canberra Talks
Judgement on the Church (1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9)
Do Christians escape judgement? Rev'd Dave doubts it.