Central Church Port Kembla

The term scapegoat comes from the Ancient Israelite practice on the Day of Atonement. The priest confessed the wrong doings of the people over the head of the goat and the goat carried that guilt far away from the people. Rene Girard observed that all cultures have participated in scapegoating. Jesus was a scapegoat and his death and resurrection revealed the mechanism.

We start off with some cantering prayer and then using Gary Thomas’ content we dive into the nine different ways we can connect with God. We consider the ways we naturally experience God’s presence and acknowledge what feels foreign to us. Ambient background music is by https://karlverkade.bandcamp.com/

Becca shares about the “weirdness” of Christian community as well as the gifts of shared grief and hope.

Caro talks about hospitality as welcoming the stranger.

In many ways our spirituality is personal and private, and in other ways we cannot walk this road of faith alone. This month we engaged in lectio divina and an examen to explore the gift of community and remind ourselves of the gift other people have been in our own journey of faith. Ambient background music is by https://karlverkade.bandcamp.com/

Caro shares some of our journey as a church, highlights some of our values and shares some changes for us in 2025. Those changes relate to leadership structure and to our rhythm of gatherings.

In today's digital age, we have access to an abundance of online resources—podcasts, videos, books, and journals—featuring insights from some of the world's brightest minds. With such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, what is the value of attending church? In this message, Oran will explore this question, encapsulated in the Greek phrase Egó mésa ekklisía - Ekklisía mésa mou, which translates to "Me within the church, the church within me."

We look at the story of Jacob’s Ladder from Genesis 28, reading it as if we were hearing it as a story told around a campfire and seeing what truth we might discover about humans and God.

Luke’s gospel begins with God disturbing many lives. Reflecting on the way God disrupts Mary’s life helps us to look for ways God might be disrupting our lives too.

Using Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel inviting her to participate with God’s good plans for the world, Caro invites us to see this story as an archetype of our own ‘yeses’ to God at different points in our life. This sermon used 6 different artworks… If you’d like to see them as you listen to this episode you can find them post on our Facebook page (and it the community group) posted on 9/12/2024.

In this message, Oran looks at some of the theological principles around forgiveness and how it does, and doesn’t, relate to God.

Caro unpacks Jesus’ teaching around turn the other cheek, give your robe as well and go the extra mile and looks at how Jesus is encouraging people to maintain their own dignity within a system of oppression. We are called to forgive people and resist systems of oppression and injustice.

Becca shares about the challenges that come with forgiveness, spiritual bypassing, and how we can “lower the bar” and offer ourselves and other deep compassion on the journey.

Together we reflect on forgiveness, what it might be and what it might not be, and then we do an examen considering what we might need to send away, let be or move away from in our lives. Ambient background music is by karlverkade.bandcamp.com/

This contemplative service leads us in reflecting on some quotes and poetry that invite us into wholesome confession, honesty, truth-telling and vulnerability. Ambient background music is by https://karlverkade.bandcamp.com/

Luke and Caro share together to kick off our series on forgiveness and we begin by looking at being people of humility who are able to confess our mistakes as well as what a healthy apology looks like.

Research highlights the many health benefits of immersing ourselves in nature. This connection extends beyond the physiological and psychological to touch on a deeper spiritual level. We aren't merely coexisting with nature; we are an integral part of it. Returning to nature, akin to returning to a Garden, is crucial for our well-being. In this message, Oran examines the link between nature and humanity from both scientific and spiritual viewpoints, while also exploring how the lack of nature in our lives relates to the concept of sin.

Caro looks at the way the Bible speaks of creation as an active participant in God’s world, and how mysticism opens us up to seeing all creation held together in Christ… along with humanity. We consider how this challenges the idea of human superiority and how it may inform the choices we make and lives we live.

Bryony explores different passages of Scripture that highlight the ways that Creation teaches us about God. We then reflect on what it’s like being a student of creation and what we’re learning.

Parables are like riddles, they can be difficult to understand and may have multiple and unclear meanings. They often leave us feeling challenged and uncomfortable. In this podcast, Oran looks at the parable of the wheat and the weeds and considers the lenses in we approach this parable through, and if there is more to Jesus' story than the separation of the saints and sinners at the end of days.