St John’s Diamond Creek Talks

Our Look at Jesus series continues with Kirk exploring why John the Baptist would call Jesus the "Lamb of God". What the heck does that mean? Kirk refers to the bible, John 1:29:34.

In her first sermon at St John's, Robyn Delbridge kicks off our new series, Look at Jesus, picking up where our Christmas series left off, in the book of John. We meet John the Baptist, who is telling everyone he can about Jesus, who is about to start his public ministry. When asked by the religious leaders, John makes it clear that he isn't the be all and end all, and that soon, someone even grea...

The bible is set up to reveal God's character to us, so we can get to know him better. The beginning of the bible, Genesis 1, and the creation of the universe, reveals part of God's character which is often overlooked: his creativity. 

At our 11pm Candlelit Christmas Eve service, Kirk shares a reflection of zooming out from the Christmas story, to remember to look at the full life of Jesus, and to remember that the baby in a manger lived, died and was brought back to life, all for us. Kirk refers to the bible passage John 1:1-14.

Tim Johnson shared a brief message at our 5pm Family Service on Christmas Eve; looking at the reactions to news in 2017, and how we might react to the Christmas story.

Sam concludes our Walk in the Light series, a week before Christmas. At the end of the letter of 1 John, John writes encouragements to the Christians who will receive this letter. Sam pulls out some hashtags that John might have used in his letter, if it were written in 2017.  #Love #ChildrenOfGod #Truth #LifeAndDeath

In this episode, Bishop Philip Huggins joins us for a special service of baptism and confirmation. We heard from a number of people publicly declaring their faith in Jesus, and the Bishop reflects on that truth.

Delle Matthews, self-proclaimed grumpy old woman, tears apart the commercialisation of Christmas, and looks deeper into the meaning of Christmas. Our society is trying to reclaim the "true meaning of Christmas" to be to love one another, to be kind, and to give some meaningful presents. A season of love sure sounds great doesn't it? But what is love? Where does it come from? The message of Christm...

The finale of our series, Jesus and the Spirit. Kirk looks at truth, fake news, and how we can be guided by the Spirit into all truth.

Tim continues our Walk in the Light series. Advent is a time of remembering the first coming of Jesus, and looking forward to the second coming, still to come. You can tell a lot from a snapshot of a single point in time, like an old family photograph. Who we are is shaped by whose we are; our identity is closely tied to our parents. John speaks of Christians as being children of God, and so as Ch...

The truth is sometimes hard to hear. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as an advocate, which Kirk spoke about last week, and the Spirit of Truth. What does that mean for us? Sam explores this idea in the second of our Jesus and the Spirit series.

Continuing our Walk in the Light series, Tim looks at the three tests and measures John gives us to gauge how we're going with walking in the light of Jesus. 1: Follow the commands of God, in the context of a relationship with him. We don't follow God's commands to earn his love; rather God loves us regardless, and to honour him, we strive to follow his commands. 2: How do we treat each other? Wit...

As Christians, we believe in one God, with three distinct identities: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The first two of these, are pretty easy to understand, at a basic level. God the Father is the big guy in the sky, God the Son is Jesus, God in human form, but the Holy Spirit? That's tougher to wrap our tiny human brains around. This series looks at what Jesus said about the one who would come afte...

The beginning of a new series in our morning services, Tim Johnson looks at the start of a letter written by John, one of Jesus' 12 disciples. John wrote this letter as someone who was there with Jesus, who had seen him, and heard what he had to say. The letter is not an intellectual exercise, and the truth of God shapes the way we live.  Our challenge is to walk in the light of God, rather than t...

On our 150th birthday, we gathered as a body of believers to celebrate. We were joined by Archbishop Philip Freier, who spoke from John 15.

The final chapter in our series on Ruth, our story concludes with the redemption of Ruth and Naomi through Boaz. The book concludes with a list of names, of the descendants of Ruth, all the way to King David, the greatest king of the Old Testament. The New Testament, and the story of Jesus begins with a similar list, from Abraham to David, and then to Jesus himself.  Ruth was part of God's plan, a...

The third chapter in Ruth's story; we've met the main characters, and now the drama really begins. Ruth and Boaz find themselves in a potentially volatile situation, but Boaz's character is revealed as he holds true to the law, and continues to protect and uphold Ruth.   Caution: This episode is rated PG, and deals with issues around sexuality.

In this episode, we meet Boaz, owner of a field where Ruth has been picking up the scraps dropped during the harvest. He demonstrates faithfulness to God's law found in the Old Testament, and goes above and beyond to ensure that Ruth is cared for; following not just the letter of the law, but the heart of it. Tim asks the questions: what is God doing in this story, and what do we see God's people...

The book of Ruth zooms right in on a single family, in the times when Judges ruled Israel. These were hard times for most people, and in particular, Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. This four-week series looks at Ruth's story, and how she finds hope in hard times.   In this episode, Tim explores Naomi's relationship with God, and the hard truth that God gives, and takes away. How do you treat God...

Continuing our Luke mini-series, we see Jesus tell a story about two men, praying to God. One prays loudly, basically saying "Thanks God, that I'm so great. Also, that other guy is the worst." The second man, a tax collector, someone usually corrupt and generally not liked, prays humbly, and earnestly. Jesus says, be like him. How do we get right with God? Be humble. Kirk explains what that looks...

In this talk, Kat Shields encourages us to persevere in prayer, and pray without ceasing. Jesus tells his followers a story about an unjust judge, who shows justice to a widow for his own benefit. The story is flipped on its head though, when Jesus says that God is nothing like the unjust judge, and will bring justice in all circumstances.

At the conclusion of our Peacemakers series, we gathered together for services of reconciliation and healing, bringing teaching together with opportunities for people to deal with hurts they have been harbouring and people they have failed to forgive. Ros brings us this talk, and explores how to move on from conflict in our lives.

Dealing with conflict is not just a matter for individuals but a group activity that should be a marker of the church community. Jesus prays for unity and love in the church and our community should be counter-cultural in the way that we deal with conflict: not ignoring it but being willing to repent and forgive and to move forward with reconciliation and love. What a powerful witness this would b...

Continuing our Peacemakers series, on how to deal with conflict, when we get to the end result of the self-examination process, and after gently raising the issue with another person we must aim to seek reconciliation. Jesus commands us to prioritise sorting out conflicts even over worship and participation in religious traditions! He also challenges us to go and seek reconciliation if we know som...

Rather than sweeping conflict under the carpet and avoiding it we need to honestly and gently approach with other people when they have hurt or wronged us. Jesus tells us to go directly to the other person and deal with it one-on-one. This is perhaps the most ignored command in Scripture and we are often guilty of gossiping or complaining to other people rather than addressing the person concerned...