TRAC Chapel

Jesus has been causing a scene everywhere he goes so far in Luke's Gospel. Is he just a troublemaker or can this scene be believed because Jesus’ authority has been seen?

Over the last two weeks we've been working through this tense scene in Jesus' hometown, where Jesus is able to move the locals from indifference, to violence, to silence. What could Jesus possibly say that would make us want to jump out of our chairs and kill him, only to then silently let him go on his way?

Do you believe in the Devil? More importantly, what if he believes in you? What if he believes that he can easily lead you away from taking God at his word? This was the battle of beliefs that took place for Jesus, the Word of God, who took on these temptations for us in the wilderness and at the cross.

Family likeness is an interesting thing, but sometimes we shape our expectations of people based on this likeness. These family ties can pull at us from different directions and perhaps create confusion. Jesus knows this tension all too well, and part of his ministry was to weave us into God's family as we grow in his likeness.

One week in and we might already have begun the merry go round of comparing ourselves to others in the classroom or the playground. There is hope to break out of this negative feedback loop, but not until we've compared ourselves to Jesus, the one with whom God is well-pleased.

Are you fearful about the year ahead? Fear can be an effective kickstarter, but it's terrible at sustaining change. How can we hope to move forward in 2024 and not be paralysed by fear? John the Baptist and Jesus the King team up in today's passage to bring us both fear and hope.

Christmas is all about the memories, often of presents we receive! But how often we forget that Christmas never really measures up to our expectations. We need to remember that the tender mercy of our God makes Christmas something we don't want to forget.

Behind the Scenes Christmas Dad is a mysterious figure who mows lawns, purchases batteries and assembles trampolines long into the night on Christmas Eve. But there is an even more mysterious figure whose glory is in his grunt behind the scenes at that first Christmas. Today, we meet Father God.

Long before Paul McCartney conceived a vision of his mother, Mary, speaking words of wisdom to him, there was another mother to be, named Mary, whose mind could not conceive that the wisdom of God would be conceived in her. Let's consider how her reasoned faith could come to conclude 'Let it be'.

We've all probably got a wacky uncle who overdoes it at Christmas and needs to take a nap by the afternoon. And we've all probably got a patient aunt who will exclaim that our uncle should've known better! Today we meet Jesus' uncle and we'll see that he too should have known better when it comes to the promises of God at Christmas.

As we begin the countdown to Christmas, our world seems as hectic and unpredictable as ever. As we ask 'what now?' of our world, we find that we are not so different from those of Jesus' world, especially his relatives.

On the occasion of Year 12's Graduation–the day that they could not believe was finally here–we considered another day most people believe will never arrive. However, we will see that because of two other certain days that have come and gone, the arrival of Earth 2.0 will certainly unfold.

We look to our new leaders to follow up their words with actions, but as we come to the Devil's end in Revelation the action is outdone by words. The Word comes riding atop a battle horse and his weapon is the word of the Gospel.

How will you make your mark? It's a question we've all asked at times, but do we really get to make our mark or is it given to us? This is the tension at play in Revelation 12-16 – what marks us out in this world and is it even a mark we make for ourselves? And what exactly is the mark of the Beast...

Trumpets decree momentous moments. Much like God's word decreed the creation of all the elements of our universe. However, today's trumpets in Revelation seem to decree de-creation! How can this be and how can any sweet hope be found amidst the bitterness? Thankfully, as we shall see, the bittersweet symphony that is this life is composed by Jesus.

As of this week there are currently 114 uprisings, insurgencies, battles, wars raging across our globe. While we may not hear about all of them, they all have similar traits. It is the relentless nature of war that helps us realise that the figures of Revelation are not mapping out a timeline for the end of history, rather they diagnose the cause of our distress. No 4 figures have caused greater d...

Mascots matter. Choose the wrong one and your team will be forever ridiculed. The forever mascot of the Christian faith is revealed in today's portion of Revelation and it would have certainly espoused ridicule from the empires of Earth. But for Christians looking into the loaded coded language of Revelation, the lionhearted lamb who was slain is the centre of power they were waiting for.

Churches exist in our world. That may not be your preference, but it is the reality. The reality for churches, however, is that their existence is not about their preference in this world. The existence of the local church depends on the reality of Jesus, and the otherworldly descriptions of him that we learned of last week, which dwell amongst the church as it lives amidst the world. We should ho...

Have you ever passed coded messages in class? Maybe you used some Pig Latin to sneak a message past your teacher because they couldn’t make sense of it? This term in Chapel we embark upon the most loaded, coded book of the Bible—Revelation. What might seem at first to be spiritual gobbledygook, is actually the clearest and truest picture of our world today and where it is all heading. The good new...

You might have thought we were done with Jonah. We've had a couple weeks off from Chapel and the story did seem to resolve itself insomuch that God's plan of restoring Nineveh through Jonah's preaching had occurred. But there's an outtake, an extended scene, a denouement that is no denouement and it all centres on a plant, a worm and a jerk...

Justice and mercy. We love them both but can never seem to get the balance right. But what if instead of dilution of the two, we saw them both done to the max? This tension plays out as Jonah finally goes to Nineveh...

Last week Jonah was prepared to die instead of obey God, but now God has rescued him. It's cause for praise of the Lord, but has Jonah learned his lesson? We stopped by the belly of the beast to see how Jonah was travelling.

Ever had a sulk under the doona? We all have probably tried to shut out the world for a moment longer under the covers, but Jonah was trying to shut out the Creator of the world, and it didn't go well...

Does God desire our good? How can we find our good without God? Where can you find a good place away from God? These are the questions that Jonah is confronted by as his quest begins. The meme referred to in the talk can be viewed here .

It's Mermaid Week at TRAC as we prepare for our College Musical, The Little Mermaid, so who better to learn from about life under the sea than Jonah himself. He stopped by to say hello this morning at Chapel.