Rev Chris Roth

Psalm 25 When God set in motion a plan to heal the division between Himself and humanity he began with one man.  He made a covenant with Abraham, and God promised that his family would be a blessing to all the families of the world (Gen 12). Abraham’s family grew into a nation called Israel. And God says, through the Prophet Isaiah, that Israel will be a light to the nations (Is 49). God was going to use this family to reform humanity. Unfortunately, Israel was unwilling to live up to their calling. They grumbled against God and desired slavery in Egypt. They entered into a cycle of calling out to God when they were in trouble and He would save them, but then they would reject God when things seemed okay. The cried out for a king, which was a rejection of God as their king. They  worshiped  strange gods. They became inward focused and forgot about their call to be a light to the nations, and a blessing to all the families of the world.  Israel faile...

Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 130; Rev 21:1-7, 22:1-5; Mark9:2-9 One of the benefits of being a priest is that I get to hear a lot of your stories. There are certain stories that you don’t want to tell because you think people will think you’re crazy, but I get to hear those stories. I get to hear the stories about a kiss received from a loved one who recently died. Or, seeing a dead family member wave to you from the side of the road. Some of you have seen dead friends wink at you from a picture. Others have felt their shirt tugged after a partner has just died. These stories wouldn’t necessarily convince a sceptic, which is why you are often reluctant to share them, but I hear these stories over and over.    In our Gospel reading Jesus is seen with two men who have died- Moses and Elijah (Mark 9:2-9).   As Jesus is being crucified he promises the criminal next to him that he would soon be with him in paradise (Luke 23). So there seemed to be the idea that we ar...

Hear the sermon by clicking the link to the right  Exodus 3:1-15; 1 John 5:13-21; Luke11:1-13 We are continuing our sermon series on big questions. This week we are dealing with the topic of prayer. This is the question someone submitted-  “Does the number of people praying for something make a difference to God? If one person prays for a cause or one million pray for it, isn't it quality over quantity?”  It’s an interesting question. If it doesn’t matter to God that many people pray for a matter then why ask our friends and our church to pray? If it is quality over quantity then should we only ask the most saintly people to pray? … The larger question behind this question is how does prayer work? And what is the most effective methods of prayer? And the question behind that is, why is prayer sometimes not answered? First, it might be helpful just to talk about what prayer is.   Prayer is something people do all over the world. Anywhere you go in ...