It’s difficult for us Aussies to imagine a society in which there are no unemployment benefits, and no pensions, and no child and family allowances.  In many countries today that is still the way it is.  In earlier generations few of these benefits were available.  There were times in the history of Western Society when the Christian church was the only charitable institution to take care of the poor and the needy. It is just as difficult for us today in this country to imagine a society without public schools, hospitals and aged care facilities.  In many countries today that is...

Believing is important.  Jesus made that quite clear to his disciple Thomas – the chap who missed Easter.  Thomas had problems accepting that Jesus was really alive.  He had said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and unless I can touch the spear wound in his side I will not believe.”  When Jesus next appeared Thomas was there too and Jesus invited him to put his finger in the nail scars and his hand in the spear wound.  Thomas had then expressed what he now believed with the words, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus responded by telling...

Some words from Psalm 139 have taken on more and more meaning for me over the years: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!”  I’ve occasionally joked that while I know I am fearfully and wonderfully made, at my stage of life the emphasis falls on the ‘fearfully’ rather than on the ‘wonderfully’.  I’m not too alarmed about that.  For one thing, I’m helping to keep my medical professionals employed!  More importantly, this ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ body rests in the hands of my loving heavenly Father. Recently something about the human body piqued my curiosity and made...

I don’t recall the precise details but I once read about a man who became a Christian while considering the concept of gratitude. The story went something like this.  After a significant crisis in the man’s life there was a remarkable turning point which was totally unexpected.  As a result this man was overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude.  That, of course, is not unusual; however, as a convinced agnostic he then began to wonder why he should be feeling thankful.  It struck him that thankfulness really needs an object.  Gratitude makes little sense when there is no one to thank. ...

Back in the days when I worked in IT I had to produce a write-up on a new processing system.  With some satisfaction I handed the finished work to my supervisor.  Next morning the write up was back on my desk with the word KISS in big red letters on the front page.  No!  He was not giving my work an osculation (that’s a big word for a kiss!).  Nor was he promoting the then newly formed rock group with that name.  No!  He was telling me in no uncertain terms to “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” There’s a lovely story about...

A memory from my days as a young adult sometimes pops into my mind.  Morning coffee time in the office where I was a ‘draftsman’ – and the discussion turned to religion – or more particularly, to Christianity.  Someone asked for a definition of a Christian.  The boss’ secretary replied, “I’m a Christian...!”  I don’t recall whether she saw my raised eyebrows but she continued in a rather indignant tone of voice, “Well, I was born in Australia and I’m not Jewish!”  Okay that was back in the 1960s – in pre-multicultural Oz – when such views were still very common. ...

If you’ve been following my Blogs these last eight weeks, you’ll be aware that week after week we’ve considered various people whom Jesus pronounces to be “blessed”.  The problem is that in today’s society we’re likely to have a rather shallow understanding of what it is to be blessed. It may have happened to you – possibly more than once – that you sneezed in public – only to have someone react by saying, “Bless you...!”  Why do people say that?  (And some do it habitually.)  Well, it has a very long history that goes back to the time when The...

  The last of the eight Beatitudes, Jesus spoke in The Sermon on the Mount, seems the strangest.  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”    So, what’s to like about persecution...? Think about it this way:  One Bible translation uses the word ‘happy’ instead of ‘blessed’.  Happy are the peacemakers...!  Happy are those persecuted for righteousness’ sake....!  I’m not convinced that ‘happy’ is a good translation, however, Jesus certainly singles out people in The Beatitudes who are to be envied... who are to be congratulated.  So does it make sense...

No doubt you’re familiar with scenes of devastation from the Ukraine – and the sadness at the horrible loss of life in that conflict.  More recently we’ve witnessed shocking scenes from the Middle East – that horrendous terrorist attack on people in Israel who were quietly going about their everyday business.  Since then there’s been the terrible toll on civilians as Israel tries to eliminate the terrorist organisation, Hamas.  It makes us aware that our world has a great need for peacemakers. But peacemakers are not only needed on the international scene are they?  Our family was sitting down to dinner...

I suspect you won’t need convincing that – with few exceptions – anything that is pure is highly desirable.  The exception being, things like ‘pure evil’.  ‘Pure' means that something is unadulterated.  With regard to food it means nothing has been added to interfere with the quality of the product.  So you can buy pure honey and pure natural pot-set yoghurt – just two of the hundreds of products on supermarket shelves that have the word ‘pure’ on their labels. But ‘pure’ is not limited to groceries.  We stand on a mountain-top’, away from city smog and fumes and we delight...

From time to time one hears of rather callous acts of neglect - situations where the sufferings of fellow human-beings are simply ignored.  An attack of violence occurs in the inner suburbs of a large city.  Screams and shouts punctuate the night and people peer through their blinds and curtains but no one comes to help; no one wants to get involved.  A motor-cyclist, struck by a car, lies unconscious beside his bike on a busy highway.  Several cars speed by before one eventually stops – the others were too busy or perhaps expected foul play. Jesus once told a story...

The word ‘righteousness’ is not used much these days.  It has to do, of course, with what is right and good and true.  Righteousness....!  And Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.” Someone suggested that if we take these words of Jesus and turn them around then we have a pretty fair description of the human race.  Not then a hungering and thirsting for righteousness but rather a strong desire for unrighteousness. A little reflection will make us aware that there’s a lot of truth in that.  Think of the many movies...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 24 No. 25 – March 1978   The Costliest Petition   Sermon by Rev. J. W. Westendorp, B.D. on Lord’s Day 51 Scripture reading: Matthew 18:21-25, Psalm 143 Psalter Hymnal: 45:1, 2, 3, 4, 7; 388; 95; 431:6; 472:5, 7 Theme: The fifth petition asks a lot from God and asks a lot from us too!    Introduction: The meeting was over and the chairman closed in prayer:             “Lord... Forgive us for the wrong we have done              for anything that was sinful in this meeting!” The family was sitting down to their evening meal...

On the 13th of February 1978 a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in George Street, Sydney.  The bombing was the first major terrorist incident in Australia.  The bomb had been planted in a garbage bin just outside the hotel entrance.  It exploded when the bin was emptied into a council garbage truck.  Three people lost their lives and seven more were injured.  In the soul searching that followed someone labelled that generation “the hate generation”. Fast forward to October 7th 2023 and the incursion of Hamas terrorists into Israel.  More than a thousand people were murdered and hundreds more taken...

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”  That’s another of those strange sayings of Jesus that seems like nonsense when we first hear it.  Someone has suggested that to be blessed is to be happy.  But if that’s so then we’re really saying: Happy are those who are grieving!  But what a cruel contradiction to say: Happy are the sad!  Are the sad really to be envied...? Our world is filled with all kinds of grief: bereaved partners who still mourn many years after their spouse was taken from them; the grief of a deserted wife or a...

Some of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the Bible don’t seem to make too much sense when we first read them.  Take for example these words of Jesus in the ‘Sermon On The Mount’: “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Those words make up the first of what we call ‘The Beatitudes’.  There are nine such sayings - although the last two are on the same theme.  In the coming weeks I’d like to take you through those Beatitudes.  Jesus repeatedly singles out certain kinds of people so as to pronounce God’s blessing on them. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 24 No. 52 – September 1978   Seek First His Kingdom   Sermon by Rev. J. W. Westendorp, B.D. on Matthew 6:33 Scripture reading: Psalm 37:1-11, Matthew 6:19-34 Psalter Hymnal: 323; 257; 64; 484; 299:1, 2, 6, 8   Dear Congregation, One of the things that we all value greatly in life is SECURITY. All of us, whether we are young or old, want security. We like to know where our next meal is coming from. We like to have enough clothes on hand for a long way ahead. And it's nice to know that we...

Have you noticed how often these days we are asked to take short surveys.  I’m talking customer feedback surveys.  You speak to your insurance company about a claim and after the matter has been resolved the lady on the other end of the phone tells you the company will email you a brief survey about your experience with the company - and would you kindly fill it in as it only takes about three minutes.  We recently had some electrical work done and when the invoice was later emailed to us it came with a request to provide some feedback for...

It’s Christmas... but... how real is God to you this Christmas?  Do you put God in the same category as elves and fairies?  Or do you accept that there’s such a being as almighty God but see him as distant, impersonal and uninvolved? It may help you this Christmas to think about some ‘mysteries’.  A mystery is something puzzling... something that keeps us guessing and wondering.  The dictionary defines mystery as something difficult or impossible to understand or explain.  Well, Christmas is a mystery.  No, I’m not talking about the jolly gent in the red suit living at the North Pole. ...

Last week in this Blog I mentioned the horrible atrocity perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7th.  I also stated that many of us find it distressing to watch video images of such real violence.  Allow me to make a bold and daring claim: our distress, for example, at Hitler’s murder of 6 million Jews during World War II, is one of the best proofs for the existence of God. That may sound incredible to you.  One of history’s most notorious atrocities - commemorated with a Holocaust Museum and concentration camp museums such as Auschwitz - and here I...