Journey of a Thousand Steps

How do you feel about the way Christianity is represented in the media today? One of the earliest marks of Christian faith, from its infancy, when it was still considered a small, Jewish sect that was likely to phase out, was its multi-ethnic, multicultural framework. No longer did followers of this faith need to share the same national, political or cultural identity. Gentiles were welcome, and they weren't expected to convert to the Jewish way of life to join. This wasn't a development that anyone was expecting, least of which the Apostle Paul, who pioneered the mission of the early Church to non-Jewish nations. The early Church wrestled with the change that the death and resurrection of Jesus was bringing to history. The movement was now meant to honour the Jewish nation, reject antisemitism, but also allow a multi-national identity to emerge. Ephesians 3.1-13 reminds us that, today, if we are going to share the Good News of Jesus, it cannot be exclusively tied to political allegiance, cultural preferences or language. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 28 September 2025
 

Do you ever feel as though you are fighting a battle that you never chose? Perhaps it is with your teenager or colleagues, or your line manager at work? Perhaps there is an internal battle you observe, with unhelpful thoughts or temptations? This week we welcomed guest preacher Campbell Brice, who spoke to us about the armour we are encouraged to "put on" in Ephesians 6.10-18. Campbell started by describing some of the daily battles we face with evil; that the battles are real and, therefore, we do need armour. But so often, we create our own "do it yourself" armour, that works for a time, but ultimately lets us down. The armour of Christ is better, stronger, and made to fit. 
Podcast by Campbell Brice, 21 September 2025

"Once we were dead," says Paul to the early church across Asia Minor. Once we were dead, but now we are alive together with Christ. We can sow into the things that lead to life, or that which leads to death. These are our choices, says Paul in Ephesians 2.1-10. 
This final Vision Sunday for 2025, we considered where the signs of life have been in our past and present at Holy Trinity, and where there have been symptoms of death. The signs of life are always warmth, growth and activity. Signs of death are coldness, hardness, inactivity. As we looked at the things we naturally excel at, the ways God has used Holy Trinity to lead people to life, against that which has held us back, we thought about what it would be like to scale our capacity, making our church open and accessible every day of the week: a 24/7 House of Prayer for all. 
Watch this space. Our new vision and Mission Action Plan is beginning to take shape!
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 14 September 2025

Do you ever wish you had a portal, so you could travel back and forth from different parts of the world in seconds? Imagine if you could literally move back and forth from Heaven in seconds, as easily as walking through a wardrobe. C. S. Lewis depicted this concept so beautifully in the Narnia Chronicles. The real life version is, however, even better.
Today, we began our six weeks series exploring Paul's letter to the Ephesians (or the early church in Asia Minor). The letter gives us a profound and beautiful exposition of the ways in which we have something even better than a portal: adoption into the family of Christ. Ephesians 1.1-14 reminds us that we belong to Heaven, with a promised inheritance that we begin to experience, now, on earth. Because of this, we can't travel back and forth from earth to Heaven, but we can live in the overlap. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we can be confident in our ability to be hear God's counsel and walk in His presence right now. 
 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 7 September 2025 

Have you ever been in a church that had big plans and exciting projects, but these collapsed as soon as the leadership changed? Or have you ever been in a church that built stability on keeping everything the same as it's always been? This Sunday, we considered Jesus' teaching about humility from Luke 14.1, 7-14, which highlights two temptations that church leaders, in particular, must avoid:
The temptation to exhalt themselves, by using a congregation to advance their own following, style and branding.
The temptation to prioritise the preferences and opinions of people who give time and money to the church, against those who have little or nothing to give.
Please pray for us at Holy Trinity, as we discern our vision moving forward, that we will submit our own ideas, preference and desires to Jesus, and our lives to one another.
 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 31 August 2025 

Have you ever felt anger or regret about the way your money has been handled? Have you ever been cheated out of fair pay, a fair property settlement, child support payments or your rightful inheritence? Do you carry shame or regret about financial losses in your life, or have high hopes of building your financial portfolio? This week we took the opportunity to strengthen our financial literacy based on what Jesus teaches (which is a lot). As we considered the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21, we learned that wise financial management and investment can start at any age or stage of life, on any income. Jesus cares about our needs, dreams and that we see good returns for wise investment. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 3 August 2025
 

Do you ever feel stressed that you don't have enough money, support, confidence or strength to do what you really want to do? When Jesus' disciples asked him, "Teach us how to pray," they weren't just asking for a general lesson on prayer (Luke 11:1-13). They were in the middle of building the mission of their organisation, with a growing team that was now seventy leaders strong. They were asking, 'Compared with other groups, how do we pray?' Jesus' response spoke directly to the times we feel the most pressed and unsure of ourselves as we journey with Him as disciples. The famous words of The Lord's Prayer, teach us exactly how to pray when we feel underesourced, inadequate, unhealed and lacking in desire, or motivation for the things of God.
 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 27 July 2025

Is it more important to be a good person or to go to church? Chapter 10 of Luke's Gospel could trick us. After relaying the parable of the Good Samaritan, which sends a clear message that there's no point being religiously observant if you walk past a neighbour in need, Luke immediately hits us with the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). Suddenly we are told that spending time with Jesus, receiving His teaching, is more important than good works. What the? Martha's honesty and frustration with Jesus comes from two sources we can all relate to: internal worries and external pressures. This week we did a deep dive into the internal worries and external pressures that stop us prioritising the most important activity of all: time with Jesus. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 20 July 2025

How do we discover or step into our life's purpose? We all wrestle with this question. Perhaps you are someone who, like the lawyer in today's passage (Luke 10:25-37), wonders whether the Christian faith can really help you know this. When challenged to be specific and to properly explain the way to have fulness of life, Jesus responds with the parable of The Good Samaritan. The story tells us that it is in the most inconvenient, unexpected moments of love, that God puts right in front of us, that we discover the big answers. By stopping for the one, even when we don't want to, we find ourselves falling into the life we were uniquely born for. 
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 13 July 2025 

This week we encounter Jesus' brilliance as a manager and founder. He knows how to build a startup ministry from nothing, even whilst facing opposition! As we see in Luke 10:1-24, he passes on three financial strategies to his newly appointed team of 72. First, he instructs them to offer their services for free (no exceptions). Secondly, he says to have no hesitancy relying on partners and donors to finance the movement. He calls these people "promoters of peace." Thirdly, the disciples are to avoid any capital that comes with compromise. If you'd like to watch these strategies unfold in real time, hang out with us at Holy Trinity, Port Melbourne!
Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 6 July 2025