Mercy is the road we walk...

'The gospel no longer benefits the poor essentially. In fact, Christianity has now even become a downright injustice to those who suffer (although we are not always conscious of this, and certainly unwilling to admit to it). Today the gospel is preached to the rich, the powerful, who have discovered it to be advantageous. We are right back again to the very state original christianity wanted to oppose! The rich and powerful not only get to keep everything, but their success becomes the mark of their piety, the sign of their relationship to God. And this promts the old atrocity again - namely, the idea that the unfortunate, the poor are to blame for their condition; that it is because they are not pious enough, are not true christians, that they are poor, whereas the rich have not only pleasure but piety as well. This is supposed to be Christianity. compare it with the New Testament, and you will see that it is as far from that as possible.'(Kierkegaard)

Jesus, to thee be glory given
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Oh, that we would come and adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Jesus Christ...Lord...and Carpenter

A moment of Holy Communion
Clarence Street Corner
Down behind Limelight

Bread and wine, body and blood

He was counted among the rebels

Tues 18th December, 7.30, standing bare within prostitution, standing bare before Jesus.

Emma and I invite you

Vows and Values...cannot be contained within words

Joanne Vance

I need to speak...

Mark 16
9 After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. 11 But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

I picked Emma up.
We drove into town.
We parked the car.
We got out of the car, full of conversation.
I had missed her.

As we looked across the road we saw our family.

We were pulled across the road.
Pulled by the sheer force of attraction to the possibility of resurrected life facing us.
Our everyday conversation wiped away with the fresh movement of cooled air.
Purity.

Marty pulled up.
He called us over.
He said that he and a 'mate' had been talking about me the day before.
He told me that the week previous he had tried to get my attention.
He told me I had ignored him.
Apparently this 'mate' also tried to get my attention.
Apparently I had ignored him too.
So they talked, discussed, rationalised my existence that Thursday afternoon.
Today I wonder what I was doing as they grappled with my identity.
They concluded I was a 'wanna be prostitute'.
His words defiled me.
His words tore my soul in two.

But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

'There's a loneliness inside her, and she'd do anything to fill it in. And though it's red blood bleeding from her now, it feels like cold blue ice in her heart....when all the colours mix together to grey.'(Dave Matthews Band)

As we continue to journey we have 3 options:
i, to be alive and thirsty
ii, to be dead
iii, to be addicted
There are no other choices.
Most of the world lives in addiction; most of the church has chosen to be dead. Followers of the carpenter are called to a life of longing....

So
If you ever want something
You call, you call
And we will come running to fight
And we will be at your door

And there's nothing worth running for
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to change it
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to stop it
You see you're just like everyone
When you share your falls
All you want to do is run away
And hide all by yourself
When there's fall, there's fall
There's nothing else
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to change it
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point even talkin'
When your mind is made up
When your mind is made up
There's no point trying to fight it
When your mind, your mind
There's no point trying to change it

So
If you ever want something
Then you call, call
Then we will come running

I'm as dead as you

Do you even know what's going on in a heart anymore
Constellations turned into little polaroids in a cardboard box
And I wanted so desperately to prove
You were still breathing but wouldn't move
Okay, okay what a thing to choose this one's gonna bruise
You'll learn one day won't you
What you want is bad for the souls in the rain
Afraid of the dark still in pain still in pain
Did you ever notice how the wind didn't change that much
And I wanted so desperately to say
That you could trust me but can you actually trust me?
okay, okay what a thing to lose
Left out in the rain, misuse
You'll learn one day won't you
You'll learn some day won't you
And I feel bad for you I feel bad for you
But I don't know why I don't know why
Cos I'm as dead as you