St Michael's talks & sermons

A great drive of contemporary Western culture encourages us to be our "authentic", "our true selves". But is that a desirable goal, for Christians or anyone? On the second Sunday of Advent, when John the Baptist excoriates his audience for their hypocrisy, Matt Packer guides us to ponder what true authenticity looks like...

At our parish camp earlier in the year, our speaker suggested that the tyranny of overwork is the biggest barrier to Kingdom growth in our parish. Rebecca takes up the challenge by taking us through the challenging territory of resisting the pressure to let work define our lives. On the first Sunday of Advent, she calls us to make commitment to Jesus the very centre of our lives, not a side-hobby...

On the Feast of Christ the King, Ginni unpacks the good news from Isaiah 40, bringing us the affirmation that our hope is in what God has done and will do, so that we need not give in to the power of despair. Key Readings Isaiah 40

One of the biggest powers that holds Western people captive is intellectualism. The intellect is obviously a great gift from God. But what about when it goes wrong? Jessie declares what's important in this sermon in our series on the Powers . Readings: Jeremiah 9.23-26 1 Corinthians 1.18-31 Mark 13.1-8

Westerners live in an epoch and a culture that celebrates powerful personalities and encourages self-assertion. How does this square with a biblical understanding of humans, made in the image of God, and yet called to community? Readings: Psalm 139.1-18 Romans 12.3-8 Matthew 12.46-50

Continuing the series on the Powers, Tim picks up the suggestion from parish camp that "superficiality" is one of the key powers of our age, distracting us from deep life in Christ. While pleasure is clearly a God-given gift (after all, "the Son of Man came eating and drinking..."), what goes wrong when it becomes all we live for? And then what happens when unchecked pleasure allies with some of t...

In last week's sermon, Steve talked us through the role of "The Powers" in the letter to the Ephesians. This week, Tim recapitulates that theology by looking at Colossians, and then applying that theology to Money. Can money be redeemed through simple and generous living? Readings: Deuteronomy 8.10-18 Colossians 1.15-20 Luke 16.10-15

Steve Shaw picks up where John Crawshaw left us at church camp. John got us thinking about "The Powers" that Paul introduces in Ephesians. Steve reminds us that These Powers are part of the created order, and that they have a proper place in creation, under Christ, the head. And when we see them out of order in the world around us, our first port of call is not fervent prayer, nor frantic action,...

Freshly back from the tangi of Kiingi Tuheitia and the coronation of Kuini Ngā Wai hono i te pō, Māmari Stephens weaves the parallels between the situations of Jews in Exile in Persia under the Emperor Xerxes, and the situation of Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand today. In examining the story of Queen Esther, she ponders how God uses our soft power to work for the good of those who feel the need to h...

Exile was totally disruptive of the life of God's people. The best and brightest were compelled to work for a foreign regime. But, rather than doing so grumpily, exiles like Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego throw themselves into life in Babylon, in line with Jeremiah's instructions in Jeremiah 29. They dig in to life in Babylon, but they also dig into life with God. And then, when they'...

In part 4 of our Civil Servants of Scripture series, Tim looks at some of the officials named in the reign of King David. You can't rule a kingdom without a lot of dedicated officials. But the rot starts at the top. What if power goes to the boss's head, and your boss is the king? Tim talks briefly about Joab, and more extensively, Uriah, to consider the place of officials when power is mi...

This week, our Civil Servants of Scripture Series looks at Deborah. The story is sometimes seen as an indictment on male leadership, or perhaps as an exaltation of the preferability of female leadership. But what if we see it as an exploration in collaboration and co-operation? How might that help us to approach our work in the world with a spirit of service, calling, and co-operation? Rebecca lea...

The story of Joseph is so big, he gets two sermons in this series on Civil Servants of the Bible. This week, Joseph has been installed as effective prime minister of Egypt. Matt outlines for us the qualities of a good servant, including the quality of "anticipation". How does Joseph's faith in God help him to anticipate the nation's needs, and to plan appropriately? And how does...

This week's sermon starts a new series on the Civil Servants and Public Officials of the Bible. We live in a civil servant town. All our lives in Wellington are touched by personal connections to the civil service. Many of us work there. Many of us will work there. And even if we don't, all our lives are affected by the policy decisions and executive actions of civil servants. This series...

In the final sermon of this series, Dr Andrew "Burge" Burgess takes us in awe up the Mountain of the Ascension. What does the Ascension teach us about life in the world, about time, and about mission? Readings: Exodus 40.33b-38 Acts 1.1-11 John 14.15-24

The paradoxical climax of Jesus' ministry is his ascent up Mt Golgotha, to the cross. Why is this paradoxical moment so important? Why is it the way to life? Matthew Bartlett explores these questions in this sermon. Towards the end, he references a painting by Ioannis Moskos, which can be found here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Crucifixion_by_I.Moskos_%281711%29.jpg Rea...

The words of Jesus are good! From the vista of the Sermon on the Mount, we can see Jesus' vision for a good society, built on the wholehearted faith of those who open their lives to God. As the floodwaters of our time rise, we're called to remain faithful and generous and committed to others, trusting that God will make that generosity possible. This sermon was a version preached at the 9a...

In this sermon, Sam follows Jesus up the Mountain of Transfiguration. The beautiful truth revealed in this climb is that, in Jesus, God gives us the gift of Godself. Since Jesus has climbed the mountain, it's not all up to us: we have instead the privilege of following him. Readings: Exodus 32.31-34, 33.12-18 Psalm 8 Matthew 17.1-13

"Zion" is among the most evocative names in Scripture, suggesting the union of heaven and earth in the Jerusalem Temple Mountain. In this sermon, Tim sketches the way "Zion" develops from a nationalistic symbol, via being a symbol of universal hope for the nations, to a place in the heart set aside for the worship of God "in spirit and in truth". Since St Michael'...

Mt Sinai is one of the most famous mountains of scripture, the mountain where the 10 Commandments are given. In this sermon, Matthew ponders those commandments, and explores the difference between obeying them as a matter of external obedience, and obeying them as a joyous offering from the heart. In the process, he calls us to lives of worship, and gives us a helpful side-helping on mimetic desir...

Mt Moriah is the mountain of sacrifice, the mountain where Abraham shows himself willing to give up everything for God. It's a troubling and mysterious story. In this sermon, Tim asks us to exercise our imagination for what would be possible for St Michael's if we let God have our all. On the way, he gets some help from Soren Kierkegaard, and some from Bishop Justin Duckworth, to ask, &quo...

At the Diocesan leadership camp in early 2024, a (sort of) anonymous prophetic message was shared with St Michael's, "Piki Mai!" "come on up [the mountain]". This series responds to that message, by exploring some mountains of scripture, exploring what it might mean for us to come higher up and higher in, in our life together with Jesus. In this opening sermon, Jessie Thorn...

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? In this final part of our post-Easter series on 1 John, Ginni Shaw gives us a beautifully clear statement of what it means to believe in Jesus, and where to go to deepen that belief. the process, she helps revive our faith if it's at risk of going stale. Readings: 1 John 5, especially vv. 1-12 Sermon preached at the 9am service, so the acoustic is a bit d...

Professor Chris Marshall joins us to unpack the rich symbolism of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Tim continues our interrupted series on 1 John with some reflections on Chapter 4. Why is it good news that Jesus has come "in the flesh", as a human? How do we dwell in that truth?