Merri Creek Anglican

The best present we can receive at Christmas is Jesus. He is the expression of Gods amazing love for us.

To see the glory of God is life altering, and we have seen it in Jesus. Because we believe in him we can persevere in the faith.

What does it mean for Jesus' followers to be born again and to shine like stars in the world? Beck speaks from Paul's letter to the Philippians and talks about taking along look at Jesus to inspire humilty and unity in the church .

As we continue on in our Advent series Beck invites us to lament the darkness of our world, and to look and long for the light breaking in through Jesus.

The first in our 2023 Advent series "Light of the World", Emma speaks about the wonder of the incarnation.

In this final Song of Songs sermon Peter unpacks the most sexually explicit passage in the whole Bible. The desire of one man for one woman in marriage is a beautiful thing and speaks to our collective desire for an even better husband- Christ for the church.

What makes for a good marriage partnership? And what makes a person attractive? Song of Songs has wisdom for us about what healthy intimate relationships look like, and how as a church we can support each other to be discerning in love.

Peter explores song 9 of Song of Songs- where the young woman longs and looks for her lover, bringing him home to her mother's house. How does this story / fantasy speak to our own longings for intimacy with another, and even our longing for the love of God?

The first in our series on Song of Songs, Peter speaks about the goodness of our sexuality and desire, and reminds us of the intense love God has for us.

In the final of this series, we are reminded of how powerful Jesus is by looking at the story of Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.

The final in our Love your Neighbour series, Naomi Chua from Embrace Sanctuary Australia shares her work of connecting churches with newly arrived refugees in Australia. WIth this in mind she encourages us to heed the Shema of Deuteronomy - Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself.

David Chan from City Bible Forum Melbourne joins us at Clifton Hill this week to talk about Love for our neighbours at work. David talks about the meaning and value of our work and encourages us not to to neither look for our fulfillment and purpose in our work, nor regard it as nothing- but rather to see our work as God given and an opportunity to worship God and serve and support others.

The third in our Encounters with Jesus series, Mavis explores the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well as a picture of what it looks like to encounter and trust Jesus - the God who knows and loves us. How will this story draw us nearer to God and receive the living water he offers?

the second in this series Encounters with Jesus, Emma speaks from John's gospel - the Raising of Lazarus and encourages us to understand and live in the light of God's presence with us through Jesus Christ by his Spirit.

The first sermon in our Clifton Hill series "Love you Neighbour" is by Rev Kirsty Brown who is an aged care chaplain. Kirsty encourages us to step out and love the elderly in our community as people precious to God and often in need of companionship and hope.

The first in our Fairfield congregation series "Encounters with Jesus" Peter speaks from Luke ch 8 inviting us to step into relationship with Jesus.

The final in our series Prophets of Power, Peter speaks from 2 Kings 5, the story of Namaan and the faithful slave girl, and the prophet Elisha who is so like Jesus.

2 Kings 4 reveals the compassion of God through his prophet Elisha. Peter encourages us to likewise be God's people of compassion.

What are we here for? What does it mean to be called from death to life & to follow Jesus until death? Tom dives into these big questions with us through the story of Elijah passing on to Elisha the on the call to be Gods prophet.

Peter uses this story from 1 Kings where God ministers to Elisha , to speak into our own experiences of mental illness. We can lean into our faith and the church in seasons of depression and anxiety.