I am continuing a sermon series on Christology. I am asking who is Jesus and what did he do? The Uniting Church stands in the Protestant tradition which placed the death of Christ at the centre of its ‘protest’ against the Roman Catholic Church. So it is important, I think, to look at the various ways in which the atonement, meaning of his death, has been interpreted in the church. It is not surprising that there are various theories since the New Testament does not speak with ‘one voice’.

Since the beginning of humanity: How many people have lived and died? I asked Dr Google who estimated 117 billion. How many lives have been really significant? Just a few, maybe Ghandi and Nelson Mandela in recent years? How many deaths have had significance? Even less. There have been martyrs for a cause, but only one death has changed western civilization.

I am continuing a sermon series on Christology. I am asking who is Jesus and what did he do? The Uniting Church stands in the Protestant tradition which placed the death of Christ at the centre of its ‘protest’ against the Roman Catholic Church. So it is important, I think, to look at the various ways in which the atonement, meaning of his death, has been interpreted in the church. It is not surprising that there are various theories since the New Testament does not speak with ‘one voice’.

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JJ Hamilton

In the lectionary, today is called Christ the King Sunday. It’s the last Sunday before advent. Which mostly means that you have one more week before you have to be worried that you’re Not Ready For Christmas.

And because the liturgical year starts with advent, that makes this (in some ways) the last week of the year.

So if you’re willing, let’s put our reflecting hats on. Last week was the church’s AGM. We reflected on our community, its struggles and successes over the last year. The Annual Report came out, and in its preparation I am sure many of you thought deeply about the year past.

We also elected and affirmed our church council for the new year.We considered our hopes for the year to come.Circles are like that of course – the ending is the beginning, so in all our reflection we also look forward.

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Is Jesus God?

What is theology? It is simply thinking about what matters to Christians. And it is too important to be left to clergy or only taught in theological colleges. There is no more important theological question, for Christians, than who is Jesus Christ? We follow him. We identify with him. And today we gather to worship God in his name.

It has been said that in Hollywood, over-estimating the intelligence of the audience is a sure way for a picture to lose money! Do I follow this principle? Do I ‘dumb-down’ the four-sermon series on I plan to give on Christology? Sometimes I get feedback that I expect you, my patient listeners, to have a PhD in theology or psychology. Perhaps I risk that again, but I will do what I can to give a sophisticated argument on central themes relating to our faith. You will have a copy of the sermon on GUC website, I am happy for there to be questions and even controversy. I will address who Jesus is in terms of central doctrines of:

• Was Jesus God?
• What does it mean that “Christ died for us?”
• Did Jesus rise from the dead? Bodily or spiritually?
• Did God come to us in Christ (including the question of the Virgin Birth)

This first sermon is on whether Jesus was God.

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Unconscious Spiritual Learning

Verse: “In Christ every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes’.” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

To be alive is to learn. This begins from birth (or arguably in the womb). Initially we learn without language. And this continues but is rarely noticed. For example can you ride a bike? Can you describe exactly how you ride a bike? Arthur Reber called this “implicit learning”, or learning without words, a term that is familiar in academic psychology.

I wrote a book called Before Belief: Discovering first spiritual awareness (Lexington, 2020), which argues that such learning helps to form our spiritual and religious attitudes. Unfortunately almost no one has read it – it was published Feb 2020 when COVID hit the world. In my frustration I bought 50 copies and sent them free to major libraries. So it is out-there but probably still unread. But you, my ‘captive’ congregation will hear something about why this largely unnoticed dimension of experience is important.

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Unconscious influences 2

Readings: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16.

We hear the psalmist desperately seeking the Lord, “In thee, O Lord do I seek refuge, let me never be put to shame… Incline thy ear to me, rescue me speedily, be thou a rock of refuge to me, a strong fortress to save me!” (Psalm 31:1-2). But how do we know when God is there. Or if God has heard our prayer?

The obvious answer is through the same means as we know anything, through our five senses. Arguably while God remains unseen, the Holy One is tangible in the exactly the same way as anything else in our life. I know this is a provocative statement, but let me continue.

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