Shows
Journey of a Thousand StepsWhat to Do When You Feel InadequateDo you ever feel stressed that you don't have enough money, support, confidence or strength to do what you really want to do? When Jesus' disciples asked him, "Teach us how to pray," they weren't just asking for a general lesson on prayer (Luke 11:1-13). They were in the middle of building the mission of their organisation, with a growing team that was now seventy leaders strong. They were asking, 'Compared with other groups, how do we pray?' Jesus' response spoke directly to the times we feel the most pressed and unsure of ourselves as we journey with...2025-07-2727 minJourney of a Thousand StepsJesus Flips the ScriptIs it more important to be a good person or to go to church? Chapter 10 of Luke's Gospel could trick us. After relaying the parable of the Good Samaritan, which sends a clear message that there's no point being religiously observant if you walk past a neighbour in need, Luke immediately hits us with the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Suddenly we are told that spending time with Jesus, receiving His teaching, is more important than good works. What the? Martha's honesty and frustration with Jesus comes from two sources we can all relate to: internal worries...2025-07-2030 minJourney of a Thousand StepsHow to Know Your Life's Purpose (By Embracing Inconvenience)How do we discover or step into our life's purpose? We all wrestle with this question. Perhaps you are someone who, like the lawyer in today's passage (Luke 10:25-37), wonders whether the Christian faith can really help you know this. When challenged to be specific and to properly explain the way to have fulness of life, Jesus responds with the parable of The Good Samaritan. The story tells us that it is in the most inconvenient, unexpected moments of love, that God puts right in front of us, that we discover the big answers. By stopping for the one...2025-07-1323 minJourney of a Thousand StepsHow to Build a Startup Ministry from Nothing: Three Financial StrategiesThis week we encounter Jesus' brilliance as a manager and founder. He knows how to build a startup ministry from nothing, even whilst facing opposition! As we see in Luke 10:1-24, he passes on three financial strategies to his newly appointed team of 72. First, he instructs them to offer their services for free (no exceptions). Secondly, he says to have no hesitancy relying on partners and donors to finance the movement. He calls these people "promoters of peace." Thirdly, the disciples are to avoid any capital that comes with compromise. If you'd like to watch these strategies unfold in...2025-07-0623 minJourney of a Thousand StepsWhen You Love Someone Who Can't Come With YouEveryone who follows Jesus eventually encounters a tension; a very painful tension. What do you do when your faith is growing ahead of the people you love, even the people you love the most? Sometimes, we have to let go of hoping that a friend or family member can stay with us on the journey, and give ourselves permission to move ahead of them. Sometimes we even risk the possibility that if we go where God is taking us, they may walk away altogether. This week we were reminded by Luke 9.51-62 that Jesus himself faced this: people who...2025-06-2923 minJourney of a Thousand StepsA Man Who Is Hard to HelpDoes anyone remember the song 'Blow Up the Pokies' by The Whitlams (1999)? It was a song written about gambling addiction and the chorus was marked by a plea: "I wish, I wish I knew the right words to make you feel better, walk about of this place." Have you ever met someone who was very hard to help, or seen a situation that seemed too hard too fix? This week we encountered the power of Jesus to break the toughest barriers to freedom in the story of the Gerasene man: Luke 8: 26-39. But wait and beware - freedom of...2025-06-2336 minJourney of a Thousand StepsThe Three Loves (Trinity Sunday)Do you ever feel like religious doctrines seem man-made? When we hear phrases like "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in Church prayers and creeds, we might wonder whether the language comes from a patriarchal, institutional construct. We may find it distant, jarring, even 'cold' as a concept? This Trinity Sunday we explored the experience of God who is all the kinds of love we need to be fully human: parental, letting go love; child, growing into adulthood love; and friendship love, which is loyal, faithful and true. As we see the love that Jesus invites us into, in John 16.12...2025-06-1520 minJourney of a Thousand StepsHow Miracles Work TodayHow do you feel about believing in miracles? Today, as we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, we saw that Jesus uses miracles to provide evidence that he is real, that he is loving, that he is God. John 14.8-14 shows us that all those who believe in him will be given the authority to "do the works" that he was doing, and "even greater things that these" so that people will see evidence and believe. This week, Heather named some of the dangers and untruths that often go hand-in-hand with the way churches talk about miracles. She explains what...2025-06-0827 minJourney of a Thousand StepsWhat Does Church Give You That You Can't Get Anywhere Else?Why go to Church on a Sunday when you could sleep in, catch up with an old friend, spend quality time with your family or play golf? There are good reasons why we are time-poor these days, as we chase important career ambitions, build homes, buy homes and, increasingly, spread our time building networks and relationships formed across the globe. Is going to Church on Sunday a habit of the past? This Sunday, Heather continued to teach about the Holy Spirit and why there is a kind of love that we cannot experience outside of participation in the true...2025-06-0726 minJourney of a Thousand StepsHow the Holy Spirit Guides Our Lives with Adam CetrangoloThis week Heather and Adam were back from annual leave and took the opportunity to share the story behind how they decided to serve in two congregations (something they always thought they would be against). When has God guided you to understand His will and His character differently to your previous ideas or beliefs? How does the Holy Spirit teach us and guide us and how to we know for sure? This week, Adam shared from John 14.23-29 about how the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, Guide, Truth-Teller and Defender.
Podcast by Heather and Adam Cetrangolo, 25 May 2025.
2025-06-0724 minJourney of a Thousand StepsIs it Important to Go to Church Every Week?Have you always told yourself that regular Church attendance isn't important? Or, have you been a regular attender, tithing and serving on rosters, yet found the experience did not enrich your faith? John 20.19-31 tells us two stories in a row about Jesus appearing at an early church gathering: the first without Thomas present and the second with. When Thomas is away he misses the experience of Jesus appearing and filling the disciples with the Holy Spirit. His faith suffers as a result. This week's Gospel reading reminds us that faith is 80% lived and experienced publicly, and only partly...2025-04-2726 minJourney of a Thousand StepsThe Resurrection is More Natural Than We Think (Easter Sunday)The first witness of the Resurrection was Jesus' friend and Apostle, Mary. The account of her experience, as well as that of John and Peter in John 20.1-18, tells us straight away what the Resurrection was like and why Jesus did it. First, we see that it was a very natural experience as Mary reconnected with her friend in a garden. It was hugs and words and no bells or whistles or dancing angels or glitter. Secondly, Jesus' reason for appearing in a resurrected body and then returning to Heaven was strategic and purposeful. This Easter Sunday we considered...2025-04-2111 minJourney of a Thousand StepsO Happy Fault (Good Friday)If someone were to ask you to explain in thirty seconds why Jesus had to die on a cross, what would you say? The cross has a power that is unmistakable and undeniable. Even the symbol of a cross standing in a church carries an emotional impact for people as they enter. The story of Jesus bring betrayed, sentenced and crucified, as we read aloud every Good Friday, never ceases to be deeply moving. This week, after reading the Passion narrative in John 18.1-19.42, we considered how to make its meaning plain. The cross means that there is no...2025-04-2123 minJourney of a Thousand StepsSomething Bigger (Palm Sunday)How do you feel about being affiliated with the institutional Church? Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem in John 12.12-16 reminds us that He never saw Himself as merely starting a spiritual movement for local communities or individuals. Accepting the title of a Messianic king, Jesus saw Himself as launching a campaign for world change. He had a very big plan in mind, even though the method through which He planned to change the world was not what anyone was expecting. Jesus made a way for a new order and the world has never been the same since. It was...2025-04-1428 minJourney of a Thousand StepsA Woman Who Spends Her Time, Her Sexuality, and Her Money... and a Man Who is Offended"Leave her alone," Jesus said when His friend, Mary, was criticised for her act of love towards Him. In John 12.1-8 we encounter a story of Jesus sharing a final meal with His friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary, days before His journey to the cross. Mary prophetically anoints His body with a highly expensive perfume (and a lot of it), and takes down her hair to dry His feet. As the fragrance fills the house and sinks into her hair, and His, we see her marking a moment of anguish and deep sorrow with extravagant love. Jesus' ultimate sacrifice...2025-04-0626 minJourney of a Thousand StepsWhy The Best Party You Have Ever Been to Should Be at ChurchThe parable of the prodigal son is one of the most well-known of Jesus' teachings, but perhaps least understood. Rather than a simple story about a son who wasted his money and his time until he 'came to his senses', it is primarily an answer to the question, "Why does Jesus party with 'sinners' and tax collectors?" To answer this question, Jesus tells a story about why an older son who has been faithful can't celebrate with his younger brother who has lived large and lost big. In Luke 15.11-32, Jesus draws out the danger of a scarcity mindset...2025-03-3025 minJourney of a Thousand StepsWhy Sin and Judgement Aren't Outdated or Imperialist CategoriesEvery relationship of depth and meaning reaches a moment of decision: "Are you in or are you out?" When decisions are forced by dictatorial rule, religious manipulation, or worse, violent extremism, doctrine about judgement and 'sin' can be dangerous. However, in Luke 13.1-9, Jesus explains what he does and does not mean by these concepts and why love eventually has to ask, "Are we doing this, or are we not?" This week's message features a song by Paul Cole from 1996, which you might remember from Dawson's Creek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_dVEtLPdDE
Podcast by...2025-03-2323 minJourney of a Thousand StepsJesus' Temptation in the Wilderness Meets Gestalt PsychotherapyOur lives inevitably face three kind of pressure that will test our true character: experiences of lack, waste and abandonment. This week, Heather engaged a Gestalt technique to illustrate what it's like when voices other than God are tempting us to believe that we can't cope with lack, that we aren't good enough or haven't achieved enough, and that nobody wants us or truly loves us. The season of Lent begins with the account of Jesus' interfacing with the devil in the wilderness and His responses reveal to us how He defeats the devil's lies and will ultimately overthrow...2025-03-1027 minJourney of a Thousand StepsThe Decision to Come Down From the Mountain (Otherwise Known as The Transfiguration)What do the great Christian leaders who have changed the world, fought slavery and won, championed the equality and dignity of women and children, and who are making strides for racial justice in our world today have in common? Like Jesus, they know three things about themselves that Jesus reveales in Luke 9.28-36 (the story of the Transfiguration). First, they know who their inner circle are (Peter, James and John). Second, they know how to connect and stay connected to Heaven. Third, they make the choice to come down from the mountain and follow their calling. Do you know...2025-03-1030 minJourney of a Thousand StepsForgiveness is Not a FeelingThis week's sermon explored one of the more controversial and powerful commands of Jesus: to love and forigve all people, including our enemies. Whilst the teaching in Luke 6.27-38 has often been misused and misappropriated in the life of the Church, forgiveness itself is not the same as reconciliation, is not separate from accountability for behaviours or healthy boundaries in relationships. Nor is forgiveness a feeling. This week we explored the decision to forgive and the neuroscience of how this is achieved. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 23 February 2025.
2025-03-1019 minJourney of a Thousand StepsGo FishHave you ever found yourself stuck in relationship patterns that seem to repeat, over and over again? Are you starting to think there are no good fish left in the sea? Luke 5.1-11 shows us that miracles happen when we are prepared to cast our nets into the deep and try again. In this story, Peter shows us what faith looks like, as he takes a risk even though he is tired, the timing feels off and the evidence is that he is wasting his time. Once he takes the plunge, God's love shocks and overwhelms him. Podcast by...2025-02-0928 minJourney of a Thousand StepsSigns of False ReligionThis week we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Luke 2.22-40 speaks of Jesus being a "sign that will be opposed." We meet people of deep faith: Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna, and notice the difference between their faith and the fears of those who only want religious control. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 2 February 2025
2025-02-0920 minJourney of a Thousand StepsShowing Up For One or Two PeopleWhy did Jesus go back to Nazareth when he knew he was not going to be received there? In Luke 4:14-21 we see Jesus face rejection by his own family and friends. Why? He doesn't skip the harder towns, and neither should we. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 26 January 2025
2025-02-0920 min