John Hebenton's Podcast

John introduces Advent and baptism as time to be immersed into the values and practices of the way of God - living out God’s will being done on earth as in heaven. We use the video Advent Conspiracy John uses the story of the battle of Gate Pa to explore what baptism is, and what those values and ways might look like, and what we might hope for Charlotte as she is baptised today Notes for this ser...

John uses Advent as preparing for Christ in history, mystery and majesty to read Matthew 24, rather than a “left behind” approach. What does it mean then to live in Christ of mystery while preparing for Christ in majesty, while celebrating Christ in history? Maybe Jewish understanding of Tikkun Olam ( (תיקון עולם) as one way of approaching this using video - “Tikkun Olam” with Rabbi Arthur Green S...

John has a conversation around four questions What is kingship? What images or words of Christ’s kingship come to mind? What is unhelpful about Christ the King? What does Christ the King offer us? Christ the King Sunday reminds us that our primary allegiance is to Christ, not the church; not to our country; not to our tikanga. And yet Christ the king too often has been used as a support to our rea...

John applies the idea that  “The questions we ask, what we look for and how we look determines what we see” to the gospel reading for the day - Luke 21:1-19 . He explores how the questions we ask shape what we read, using the examples of the widow, the end of time, and what Jesus said. He starts and finishes by asking "What stood out, what did you hear and see, and so what?" The notes fo...

John invites a conversation about what “resurrection of the dead” means for us, and how that affects how we live our lives. Some points made in this conversation include Jesus describes God as the “God of the Living”. How does that help or confuse? Emerson Powery [i] talks about embodied resurrection – what is that? How does any of this help us face issues of day -          Parihaka -          End...

Mixing and matching All Saints with the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, John retells the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, trying to put it in context and to highlight some of the different ways it is translated. We then have a conversation around: What does Jesus see? How does Zacchaeus respond? What do we see? How do we respond? To mark All Saints we remember that we gather around Christ’s table with...

A conversation about how we read this story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (publican). In what ways do we trust that we are righteous? What does that even mean? Who do we regard with contempt if any? What does it mean to be humble?  Who is God in all of this?  The sermon finishes with these questions What limits do we seek to place on God?  How do we seek to narrow the wideness of God’s mer...

There are some big questions raised in the story Jesus tells in Luke 18:1-8. Who is God? Does God answer prayers? What is prayer? What is faith? What is justice? John spends some time exploring why we might wrestle with these. He  finishes by inviting people to name the issues of justice around us today, to pray incessantly, and to be open to being called to engage in that work of justice making –...

Last Sunday we celebrated two things - first is crazy saint of Assisi – Francis; and how when he embraced lady Poverty allowed him to see the goodness of God in all things and all people and all creation. He lived a life of penance - making room for God in creation, in the leper, in the Sultan. Each taught him about God - the amazing work of SPCA -> today give freely to support this work.  John...

On Sunday we were privileged to have Sophie Rapson, General Manager at the Merivale Community Centre here in Tauranga. Cliff Simons interviewed her about her work and how we might be able to help, beyond the $50 a month we give from Centrepoint. You can find out more about the Centre and their amazing work in the community at their website

John explores Luke 16:19-31 , the story of poor beggar Lazarus and the very wealthy self consumed  rich man, using some of his encounters with beggars in America, and some of his other experiences lately. He asks •          What are the “gates” that separate us from those in need around us? •          Who is at our gate, and how are we seeing and responding to them?                                ...

John explores why we might use te reo māori in our services, what we don’t enjoy, and what give us joy in using it. Then he used Luke 15:1-10   to suggest that in these stories Jesus is simply seeing each person, valuing who they are for all their faults, and inviting them to repent – to have a bigger mind and to see themselves as made in the image of God. And when they begin to do that there is j...

Using Luke 14:25-33 John explores what might blind us to where God is at work in the world, and what stops us joining in that work. He finishes by asking of himself,  "what stops me taking Climate Change more seriously?"

John's final sermon which both summarises some of what has been talked about during this Season of Creation and uses the reading from Colossians 1:15-20 to explore the idea of the cosmos radiating with the presence of our creating and life giving God. How does all this help us as individuals, as a parish respond to climate change

John explores our experience of  storms both good and bad while some are destructive they are important for cooling and feeding world -          teach us humility in face such force but also explore what it is like being in the start of a climate change storm more than just what happening to climate -          symptomatic of bigger moral storm been engulfed in for decades if not longer moral storm...

John begins by recapping the previous weeks of The Season of Creation, and then builds on that by suggesting that" -          we are enmeshed and sustained by web of life – includes all animals great and small -          scripture invites us to see animals not as resources for our use but as our brothers and sisters -          God creates and gives life through all animals by their very exist...

Our preacher today was The Ven Dr Justine Allain Chapman, Archdeacon of Boston in the diocese of Lincoln, UK.   She will draw this morning on the resilience shown by St Peter.   Justine writes: "Coping with change and the difficulties of life is something we can’t avoid if we are to live well and become more compassionate to ourselves and those we live amongst. Our spiritual resources can be...

John quickly recaps what the season of creation is all about, and then explores the theme for this week - The Oceans. The Oceans are important ·         they inspire our awe and wonder of God ·         the hold life in an intricate self-sustaining web ·         we are damaging if not killing it John wonder,  for our survival, how we might nurture both the oceans and this web of life as:  -       ...

John explores what the Season of Creation is and says it offers us an opportunity to reflect on our place in this world as people made in the image of God. This is God’s world, and we are invited to live richly - joyfully responding to the goodness and generosity of God. He then played Greta Thunberg’s speech to World Economic Forum in Davos on 23 January 2019 . -         How do you respond? -   ...

Bonnie Hebenton talks about the 9 stars of Matariki,(Pleiades) and how their reappearance heralds the Maori new year. As we celebrate all that God has given us in the harvest, what do these myths offer us as we respond both to God's goodness and to the plight of our world as it groans under human made climate change? Bonnie's initial thoughts can be found here

Trinity Sunday is a time gain a bigger mind. John explores how our constructs and doctrines of God too often constrict us from living lives based on God’s justice, compassion and generosity. Instead we are invited to hold them very lightly and allow them to lead us into the mystery of God •          How does your understanding of God, three in one, shape who you are and your understanding of what...

John explores the Gospel of John’s version of the gifting of the Spirit and her role among us. In light of that he invites people to take one of the flowers from we made on Easter Sunday for our resurrection cross as a reminder that the Spirit is at work beside us and within us, reminding, comforting, teaching, encouraging, praying in us and with us. The movie you can hear is the movie on Pentecos...

John asks what a resurrection life might look like, and finishes with story of Carol and butterfly effect from “How to be a Bad Christian: ... And a better human being” by Dave Tomlinson. You can read the notes from this sermon here .

John explores what is Jesus word – to ask how we hear this word, what it says to us and how we keep it. He goes on to say that for him this word is loving unity, where the Holy Spirit works to join us to each other and indwelling God in mutual love. This word invites us into the deep love between God the Father and Jesus out of which Jesus lives and continues to teach through the Holy Spirit. You...

John asks people what questions and ideas they bring to this readying. He goes on to explore two of his questions -          In what way is this new? -          How did Jesus live love? o   removing cloak authority, status, leadership, honour, power o   humbly washing the feet of those who deny, betray and dessert him Loving one another is not easy – as New Testament (Acts, Paul's writing) sh...