Charlestown Uniting Church
11th October 2020, Pentecost 19 - message by Rev Garry Derkenne in Matthew 22:1-14
questions to ask on hearing this address:

  1. As you experienced the message what was familiar and what was strange?

  2. Describe times when you felt comfortable in your faith; and other times when you felt challenged because your life is relatively comfortable compared to others?

  3. How does your congregation both comfort you and challenge you in your journey?

  4. Do you find your wider community insular, or open to the challenges knowledge of the suffering in the world, brings?

18th October 2020, Pentecost 20 - message by Rev Niall McKay in Matthew 22:15-22
questions to ask on hearing this address:

  1. How often have you talked about personal finances at church or with other Christians? Has this been a comfortable conversation?

  2. The Church is often a place where rules have been highly valued. Can you think of times when breaking the rules has been the loving thing to do?

  3. The key insight in today’s reading is: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and give God the things that are God’s.” What are some of the things we have been giving the emperor that we should have been giving to God?

  4. Can a different fresh understanding of rules and justice open up conversations with people or groups in your community that the church has traditionally found too difficult to connect with?

25th October 2020,  Pentecost 21 - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 & Matthew 22:34-46 "We recognise what our ministry and our life is all about."
15 November 2020,  Pentecost 24 - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 14-25 & Matthew 25:14-30 "Our Christian faith is not something received in a passive way …. but a call to action!"
22 November 2020,  Christ the King Sunday - Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 & Matthew 25:31-46 "call on the Spirit of God to invigorate in you a commitment to love – particularly to love those who are hard to love – because they are those most needful."