John Hebenton's Podcast

Clark Houltram talked on Sunday about the importance of shipping to our city and country, and the work of the United Mission to Seafarers.The Mission to Seafarers is an international mission of the Anglican Church that cares for the practical and spiritual welfare of seafarers of all nationalities and faiths. There are 230 Mission sites around the world. Tauranga is one of those site. 

A sermon looking at the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), approaching it as being about what takes us away from what is important, rather than listening to Jesus being more important that offering hospitality.What might be the real things for us, and what distracts us?You can read the notes for this sermon here

We live in a fractured and divided world with so many issues dividing us.  This is in stark contrast with what Jesus gathered around him, and the kinds of communities Paul created. I wonder in the sermon what Luke 10:1-11, 16-20    and Paul's letter to the Galatians might offer us as an alternative to the way we seem to be spiraling down into bitter conflict,What do we as followers of the prince of peace, and as members of Christ's community of peace offer all this? You can read the notes for this sermon here

Rev. Debbie Garrett says"In the reading from 2 Kings Elijah is preparing Elisha for his death.  Elisha reiterates several times that he will never leave Elijah when Elijah is suddenly carried by a whirlwind into heaven.  In the reading from Luke 9 Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death and ascension as he resolutely sets out for Jerusalem.  On the journey three of his companions agree to follow him wherever he goes. The first one is put off when Jesus says, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”  The other two lay down conditions that prevent them following him at that time.  They must return home to bury a father or say goodbye to their family.  In Biblical times family was all important in people’s lives for that was all they had.  Jesus, whose face was set on fulfilling God’s will by going to Jerusalem to die, wants disciples whose faces are set on obedience to God’s call.  Luke in this reading is making it clear following Jesu

Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday. One Sunday a year to think about the Trinity, and then put it back on the shelf for another year. One important aspect of the Trinity is the relationship between the three persons – a relationship of mutuality, care, generosity, of ubuntu. This is where we meet God, and are invited to live this out in our relationships. How then does this help us celebrate harvest festival?What ways are we being invited to live in ways that allow creation and all involved in the harvest to thrive?The notes for this sermon can be found here 

At its origins and at its best the doctrine of the Trinity is an invitation to join those early Christians reflecting both on our experience of God the Father in the Risen Son, made known in the Holy Spirit, and the story of Jesus and the whole of scripture and how that makes visible the ongoing presence of God in our midst and in our world. We are invited to respond with awe and humility to the invitation to be immersed in the relationship of love that is at the heart of God.So I wonder how might we talk about the Trinity and its importance to our lives of faith?You read the notes for this sermon here

John explores how Pentecost invites us, not so much to remember and celebrate a past event, but to reflect on what the recurring gifting of the Spirit sets in motion today.How do we experience the work of the Spirit in our life?What is it setting in motion?You can read the notes for this sermon here.

John uses his experience of camel riding on the hill where the ascension took place as a way into – John 17 and Jesus' prayer, Easter and resurrection, the Ascension. All these stories are camel lurch moments and should make us rethink everything.In light of thathow does resurrection/ascension change our present, how does it shape how we live?how does it affect what we see as of utmost importance?The notes can be found here

Debbie Garret looks at the story of Lydia in Acts, and then Jesus teaching around love in John's Gospel. How does that help us when faced with the kinds of things happening in our world like in Ukraine. How are we to love each other, our neighbours, and our enemies.Debbie writes, "Today’s reading from Acts 16: 9-15 features Lydia, a “God fearing” woman who was lived in Thyatira which was one of the Macedonian colonies.   She was a wealthy businesswoman who dyed and sold high quality purple cloth.  It’s not certain that she was of Jewish descent, but she worshipped according to the Jewish faith and each day she would go to the riverside where she met with other women for prayer and other Jewish dyers.  It was there she met Paul and his companions.  Although Lydia was not a Christian, she had a hunger for a deeper spiritual experience so listened intently to Paul’s teaching.  The Lord opened her heart, and she and her household were baptised.  Lydia was Paul’s first European convert.  She continued wi

John explores the story of John 13 to see how crunchy “love each other” is. Jesus loved Judas, Peter and all those male disciples who were about to betray him, deny being his follower, run away and hide. He washed their feet and shared his food. Love each other can be hard.And he uses the stories of Henare Wiremu Taratoa and Heni Te Kiri Karamu as examples of the risk of loving as Christ loves.Who do we struggle to love? who do we struggle to receive love from? How might we "love each other."The notes for this sermon can be found here

John talks about the good shepherd tradition, and how the gospel writers in general and John in particular apply that to Jesus. This gives rise to 2 questions-          how do we pay attention to Jesus the good shepherd that we might follow his voice?-         how do we live out this tradition today?He then uses the story of Tabitha/Dorcas as an example of what it looks like to be a good shepherd now.You can read the notes for this sermon here

A reflection retelling the story of the meal on the lakeside that honours the back story and maybe offers a way for people into the story to hear Jesus words to them. The notes for this can be found here

We watched the movie on resurrection https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRCFgDTqYbY)What does it mean to be coloured in?Easter is about salvation. But what does that mean? John explores how the ancient church saw salvation as cleaving to God as those loved by God, as a child “cleaves” to her mother.How do we respond to that? with where are we in this story?We then reaffirmed our baptismal vows as a statement that our self identity and self worth is found in the God who is love, who loves us as something of great worth and dignity by an act of such self giving, and who through this gives us the grace to love God in like fashion.The notes for this sermon can be found here

John explores the power of our senses to hold memories alive, some of which can be such a gift of life. He uses that as a way into the gospel reading for the 5th Sunday in Lent, John 12:1-8. This is the story of someone found by love, who offers love. In contrast we have Judas. Sadly Jesus’ response  to Judas has been used down the centuries to justify continuing Judas’s cynical approach to the poor, cf Jesus or Deuteronomy.What gifts have sustained us. -         What memories of life help us? -         What are the moments that remind us that we have been held by love?And how we offer these kinds of moments to others?I wonder in this lent how we might pay attention to those memories and opportunities, and all they offer us?The notes for this sermon can be found here.

Rev Debbie Garret explores the parable commonly entitled the Parable of the Prodigal Son, or the parable of the Loving Father.Debbie writes"In Monday morning’s prayer in the NZPB the Gospel reflection says: “Would any of you who are parents give your child a weta when asked for a fish?  Bad as you are, you know what to give your children.”  We want the best for our children, even when it is costly to us.  The Gospel is filled with images of lost treasures being found and the story of the prodigal son is one of them.  There are three main characters: the grieving father, the wayward son, and the resentful son.  Is there one that you most closely identify with?  Or maybe all three of them tug at your heart strings? Joyce Rupp, in her book “Fresh Bread” reminds us that Lent is a time to look at Jesus, and to see what he held dear, and to recognize anew how he refound all of us through his death and resurrection. "

John wonders what repentance means this Lent, having described Lent as a time to reflect on what has been life giving for you and us, and to use this time to learn to live in more thankful and life-giving ways, and last week wondering how we have experienced God’s faithfulness over these last couple of years. What I want to happen:For people to bear fruit of living gratefully in ways life giving ways that allow us all to experience God’s faithfulness in even the darkest of times.The notes for this sermon can be found here

John explores the theme of God's faithfulness in the readings for this Sunday, particularly Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18   and Luke 13:31-35, and what that might mean for us. He wondershow we have experienced God’s faithfulness over these last couple of years?how does that help us be thankful and live in more life giving ways?We finish with a video from the diocese of Wellington that is part of our Lenten studies. It offers a way for us to pay attention to how we experience God’s faithfulness and the ways we are offered life.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dODTPgVGNAg The notes for this sermon can be found here.

John explores Luke’s version of the testing story – not as temptations but a test of how Jesus will live out being the “Beloved Son” . And we do that by looking at how that flows into the sermon on the plain.  They work together to show how Jesus will not live being the "beloved Son", and how we will live that out.In all this Jesus in Luke is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophesy/dream of the restoration of life-giving community for all, for all life. In light of all that John wonders what gives us life this Easter, and how can we open ourselves to that more.The notes for this sermon can be found here.

As we listen to more of Jesus’s sermon on the plain, John wonders who are my enemies, and what does it mean to love them? The Parihaka story helps us see this teaching as how we are to live God’s non-violent resistance to all that seeks to destroy life giving community. AS MLK says, we are to be extremists for love: blessing, giving, praying for and living for those beyond our borders.In light of that:·         who are our enemies? ·         what does it mean to love, do good, bless, and pray for them

John explores Luke’s version of this block of teaching, noting that the world Luke and all biblical writers were writing for was based on family and community, not the individual. Jesus in Luke is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophesy/dream of the restoration of life-giving community for all, for all life. The sermon on the plain is a warning about the priorities that destroy community, and offers some different values. This is what we pray for when we pray the Lord's prayer.So what is it we are praying for when we pray "your kingdom come, your will be done"?What do those mean for us at this point of the pandemic.You can find the notes to this sermon here