Practical and Pastoral – Ted Curnow
Bag of All Sorts # 14. Your useful Easter resources.
Connecting with the wider community starts with relationships. Family, friends, food and music. This is where we can start and continue to love our neighbour. Click here for more tips/suggestions to get you and your church started.
Rev. Ted Curnow provides some resources and material for Easter and the year.
STAND FIRM, HOLD FAST.
In the introduction John Stott provides to the sermons he preached on the Epistles to the Galatians, he wrote of how amazed he was that a short letter written in the first century could still be of vital importance. He was left more deeply convinced than ever of the divine inspiration and relevance of the Scriptures. Here we allow other Pastoral Epistles to speak into our world the 21st century.
A sermon from Rev Ted Curnow (January 2020)
A New Year Prayer
Lord our God we come humbly
into your presence
at the beginning of a new year.
Our years come and go
but you remain and are always the same,
your dominion and your faithfulness,
your righteousness and mercy
have no beginning and no end.
You have always been there
going before us to prepare the way,
standing behind us, urging us
towards new hopes and a new creation.
Help us to walk quietly and thankfully
away from the old year.
Help us to see this New Year as you see it.
We confess our independence and pride.
We are sorry for our mistakes
and our failure to love as you love.
Lord grant us your forgiving grace.
Let us know your healing power.
We dare to believe that this is a new day
not a repeat of the year that’s gone.
In Christ we already have a new beginning.
Your presence is the promise of new life,
Your grace gives us courage,
so we come to worship and serve you today
and all the days of our lives.
AMEN
Rev E.A. (Ted) Curnow.
www.tedcurnow.wordpress.com
A Bushfire Prayer
When one member of the body is suffering, the whole body suffers with it, as we care for one another. We keep in our prayers the communities across Australia facing the heartbreak of unprecedented fires in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania Western Australia and Queensland.
Bushfire Trauma
Loving God our prayers in this moment
are for those who have suffered trauma
through natural disaster or accident.
We pray especially for the victims of bushfires
in our district, State and across Australia.
We pray in particular for the safety
of those working on fire fronts
and for those who have lost loved ones.
Be with them in their grief and sorrow.
Comfort their torn hearts, heal their memories
and allow hope to visit then again.
We pray for those who have lost their homes or property.
As they grieve the loss of treasured personal possessions,
farm equipment, fences, live-stock, hay and feed,
help them know they are not alone.
Bring comfort and at this time restore their hope.
We pray for those who are helping others
to bring the pieces of life together again,
Councillors and helping agencies.
Give us grace to stand with one another
and to listen in a way that respects human dignity.
We pray for ourselves as we realize how vulnerable we all are.
Through the ashes and tears renew our awareness
of our need to look to you for wisdom, strength and guidance.
These prayers we pray through Jesus our Lord
who inspires our compassion, and through the Holy Spirit
who even now heals the broken hearted.
AMEN.
Rev E.A. (Ted) Curnow.
www.tedcurnow.wordpress.com
The Secret Place
"Pray to your Father secretly, and your Father who knows your secrets will reward you.” Matthew 6:6
Rev. Ted Curnow provides a devotional guide and reflection for praying. (9 pages PDF)
Bag of All sorts: # 13 - Christmas 2019
Rev Ted Curnow provides a range of comments and reflections on Christmas from a helpful stable of Christian sources.
Today’s Apostasy & Renewal
Some time ago it was an Anglican minister in Sydney Rev. Martin Robinson, who pointed out that vast changes are happening in the history of the world on a scale that only happen every 300 to 400 years. He suggested that something similar to the collapse of the Medieval era and rise of the Modern world was occurring in our time. He pointed out that as the West drifts from its Christian heritage we are left with no basis for a shared common understanding of social boundaries. Psychiatrist Carl Yung has said the neurosis of the Western World in our time is ‘emptiness.’ The Prophet Isaiah watched the decline of Israel and brought a message of doom to Jerusalem but amid judgement God spoke into the chaos and said, “Behold I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth.”
Download PDF version (5 pages)
Progressive or Regressive Christianity?
Rev Ted Curnow provides a personal reflection and account of the development and influence of 'progressive Christianity' in the context of the Uniting Church.
Available as a PDF(5 pages)
or link
Is Your Church Biblically Inclusive?
Rev. Ted Curnow presents a reflection on the new situation in the UCA -
A clear change of direction is occurring among those in the Uniting Church who oppose the Assembly decision to create a new doctrine of Christian marriage. While some have moved on to other churches others are growing and consolidating their understanding in what it means to be faithful, compassionate and missional.
Confession: Task Master or Comforter?
Rev. Ted Curnow addresses a practical question is,--- Are our prayers of confession a necessary regular up-date to guarantee our acceptance by God?