Central Church Port Kembla

Shane Clifton shares with us how his reading of this passage has changed over time including both before and after an accident left him with quadriplegia. Please be advised that explicit language had been used in this episode.

We use the story in John 8 to bounce into a discussion on shame. 3 people in our church (Lynda, Michael and Fyona) bravely and vulnerably share their own experiences and insights into shame in their lives. Please be advised that explicit language had been used in this episode.

Caro, Oran and Becca have a conversation about Jesus' final words to the woman in our text this month 'go and sin no more'...we throw around some ideas about these words, how they can be read problematically and then also how they might be read as instruction and permission and promise.

Caro looks at this passage of the attempted stoning of the woman through the lens of mercy. Showing us how Jesus reveals the character and nature of God as mercy, and what it might look like for us to recognise the divine pauses for mercy in our lives.

Luke looks at the story of the attempted stoning of the woman in John 8. He looks at the passage through the lens of Rene Girard's Scapegoat mechanism.

Jesus told the story of the prodigal son during His ministry years. However, about 200 years later, a very similar parable appeared in the Lotus Sutra as part of the teachings in the Mahayana line of Buddhism. In this podcast Oran looks at the similarities and differences between both tales, and considers how the both bring glory to God.

Guest speaker, and Aborignial Christian leader Adam Gowan, reflects on Jesus' parable of the prodigal son. Adam discusses how Aboriginal people view these stories much more through the relationships and connections between things, rather than the simple "events" of the story.

In this episode of the podcast special guest speaker, Linda Pesavento, draws from her counselling experience to take an IFS look at the story of the prodigal son.

In the gospels, Jesus pointed to the "sign of Jonah" when the Pharisees asked him to perform a miracle to prove his authority. This simple phrase is weighted with so much Jewish context, and has links to ancient near eastern cosmology and mysticism. In this episode, Oran will unpack some of this information to better understand the significance of signs, and just what Jesus meant by "sign of Jonah".

Tonight Bruce Skinner, from YWAM Wollongong, looks at the story of Jonah from a missional perspective, making an insightful comparison between the book, and the story of Abraham who debated with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Bruce raises some deep and thought provoking questions around our attitudes towards mission and the part we play in God's plan.

There are a lot of reasons as to why we might think the book of Jonah is a parable. Tonight, Oran explains this parable and considers the message Jonah might offer. Oran also looks at how parables can take us far deeper than historic accounts, and become intrinsic and valuable lessons to us all.

Oran looks at the story of the woman at the well as a microcosm of revelation, and considers how Christ reveals Himself in our own lives, as well to all of mankind over the course of human history.

Becca questions whether the Samaritan woman really had a sordid past or if there's another way of understanding her encounter with Jesus and how that might challenge the way we see others.

Caro brings some insights to this passage inspired by reflections from several Early Church Fathers on John 4.

Caro shows how the writer of the Gospel of John relates the place of God's glory and exultation to the cross. We also look at what the metaphor of the cross as the throne of God might have to offer us in our spiritual lives.

Caro looks at the image of the cross as a divine magnet working in two ways: drawing all people to God, and acting as a magnetic force for the powers to be drawn to and defeated.

Caro suggests some ways we can approach this passage, and focuses on how each of the temptations Jesus faced are temptations for Jesus to be 'more than human' which he resists. Trigger Warning: towards the end of this message Caro shared how she struggles with the interplay of the promises of God to protect us alongside the reality that people do experience sexual violence/rape.

In the 15th Century Erasmus translated the word 'logos' in John 1 as 'conversation'. Bouncing out of the creativity of this, Caro talks about how the Divine Conversation is always happening in and around us. This week she unpacks all the ways we can speak as a way of joining this conversation.

This week Oran looks at the Temptations of Christ through the lens of how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.

In the 15th Century Erasmus translated the word 'logos' in John 1 as 'conversation'. Bouncing out of the creativity of this, Caro talks about how the Divine Conversation is always happening in and around us. This week she unpacks what it is to listen in to that conversation.