Journey of a Thousand Steps

When You Love Someone Who Can't Come With You

Everyone who follows Jesus eventually encounters a tension; a very painful tension. What do you do when your faith is growing ahead of the people you love, even the people you love the most? Sometimes, we have to let go of hoping that a friend or family member can stay with us on the journey, and give ourselves permission to move ahead of them. Sometimes we even risk the possibility that if we go where God is taking us, they may walk away altogether. This week we were reminded by Luke 9.51-62 that Jesus himself faced this: people who promised to follow him anywhere, but weren't really prepared for what that would mean. Some friends rejected him outright, even leaving him with nowhere to stay. There were times when he invited people, "follow me" and they said, "Yes, but ...". This message is an assurance of two experiences in the life of a disciple: sometimes it will hurt, but it will always, always, be worth relinquishing control, in the long run. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 29 June 2025

A Man Who Is Hard to Help

Does anyone remember the song 'Blow Up the Pokies' by The Whitlams (1999)? It was a song written about gambling addiction and the chorus was marked by a plea: "I wish, I wish I knew the right words to make you feel better, walk about of this place." Have you ever met someone who was very hard to help, or seen a situation that seemed too hard too fix? This week we encountered the power of Jesus to break the toughest barriers to freedom in the story of the Gerasene man: Luke 8: 26-39. But wait and beware - freedom of this kind only comes with a willingness to have our systems disrupted.  
You will want to finish this episode off by listening to the song: https://open.spotify.com/track/1iNkpCJOAOokeapM774xGE
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 22 June 2025

The Three Loves (Trinity Sunday)

Do you ever feel like religious doctrines seem man-made? When we hear phrases like "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" in Church prayers and creeds, we might wonder whether the language comes from a patriarchal, institutional construct. We may find it distant, jarring, even 'cold' as a concept? This Trinity Sunday we explored the experience of God who is all the kinds of love we need to be fully human: parental, letting go love; child, growing into adulthood love; and friendship love, which is loyal, faithful and true. As we see the love that Jesus invites us into, in John 16.12-15, any notion of a cold, heartless, cruel Father God melts away. We come face-to-face with a love that is utterly unmatched, total and "finished." 
Today's sermon ended with a time for reflection on a song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir called My Help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPqOdLKwcsM&list=RDaPqOdLKwcsM&start_radio=1
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 15 June 2025. 

How Miracles Work Today

How do you feel about believing in miracles? Today, as we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, we saw that Jesus uses miracles to provide evidence that he is real, that he is loving, that he is God. John 14.8-14 shows us that all those who believe in him will be given the authority to "do the works" that he was doing, and "even greater things that these" so that people will see evidence and believe. This week, Heather named some of the dangers and untruths that often go hand-in-hand with the way churches talk about miracles. She explains what miracles are, what they are not, and provides practical steps for taking up our authority as inheritors of the Kingdom of God.  
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 8 June 2025. 

What Does Church Give You That You Can't Get Anywhere Else?

Why go to Church on a Sunday when you could sleep in, catch up with an old friend, spend quality time with your family or play golf? There are good reasons why we are time-poor these days, as we chase important career ambitions, build homes, buy homes and, increasingly, spread our time building networks and relationships formed across the globe. Is going to Church on Sunday a habit of the past? This Sunday, Heather continued to teach about the Holy Spirit and why there is a kind of love that we cannot experience outside of participation in the true Church. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 1 June 2025

How the Holy Spirit Guides Our Lives with Adam Cetrangolo

This week Heather and Adam were back from annual leave and took the opportunity to share the story behind how they decided to serve in two congregations (something they always thought they would be against). When has God guided you to understand His will and His character differently to your previous ideas or beliefs? How does the Holy Spirit teach us and guide us and how to we know for sure? This week, Adam shared from John 14.23-29 about how the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, Guide, Truth-Teller and Defender.   
Podcast by Heather and Adam Cetrangolo, 25 May 2025. 

Is it Important to Go to Church Every Week?

Have you always told yourself that regular Church attendance isn't important? Or, have you been a regular attender, tithing and serving on rosters, yet found the experience did not enrich your faith? John 20.19-31 tells us two stories in a row about Jesus appearing at an early church gathering: the first without Thomas present and the second with. When Thomas is away he misses the experience of Jesus appearing and filling the disciples with the Holy Spirit. His faith suffers as a result. This week's Gospel reading reminds us that faith is 80% lived and experienced publicly, and only partly in private. Limiting our faith to a private expression is like limiting a relationship to sex. Very. Limited.  
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 27 April 2025. 

The Resurrection is More Natural Than We Think (Easter Sunday)

The first witness of the Resurrection was Jesus' friend and Apostle, Mary. The account of her experience, as well as that of John and Peter in John 20.1-18, tells us straight away what the Resurrection was like and why Jesus did it. First, we see that it was a very natural experience as Mary reconnected with her friend in a garden. It was hugs and words and no bells or whistles or dancing angels or glitter. Secondly, Jesus' reason for appearing in a resurrected body and then returning to Heaven was strategic and purposeful. This Easter Sunday we considered these things and heard a testimony from Jude Becela, who was baptised into new life this day. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 20 April 2025. 

O Happy Fault (Good Friday)

If someone were to ask you to explain in thirty seconds why Jesus had to die on a cross, what would you say? The cross has a power that is unmistakable and undeniable. Even the symbol of a cross standing in a church carries an emotional impact for people as they enter. The story of Jesus bring betrayed, sentenced and crucified, as we read aloud every Good Friday, never ceases to be deeply moving. This week, after reading the Passion narrative in John 18.1-19.42, we considered how to make its meaning plain. The cross means that there is no suffering God hasn't experienced and cannot meet us in. It also means there is no compromise, dehumanisation or harm that God cannot make us totally free from.   
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 18 April 2025. 

Something Bigger (Palm Sunday)

How do you feel about being affiliated with the institutional Church? Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem in John 12.12-16 reminds us that He never saw Himself as merely starting a spiritual movement for local communities or individuals. Accepting the title of a Messianic king, Jesus saw Himself as launching a campaign for world change. He had a very big plan in mind, even though the method through which He planned to change the world was not what anyone was expecting. Jesus made a way for a new order and the world has never been the same since. It was bigger than expected. It was political. It did have social, economic and institutional structures attached. So how do we stay proud to be a part of this movement in light of the many reasons to distrust and dislike institutional religion?  
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 13 April 2025.