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Satisfaction

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3 May, 2026Pastor John Strelan

Sermon - Satisfied - Pastor John Strelan.pdf
Easter 5A

When I'm watchin' my TV

And a man comes on to tell me

How white my shirts should be

But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke

The same cigarettes as me

 

I can’t get no satisfaction.

 

When Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones belted out those words way back in 1965 he intended them partly as a critique of commercialism. I’m sure he doesn’t mind now the irony that The Rolling Stones became one of the most commercially successful bands in history!

 

Seeking satisfaction. Jagger was expressing more than baby boomer angst, he was speaking of the human condition. And, if the choice of 30 different types of margarine and 15 different types of milk in the supermarket is any indication, we’re still seeking satisfaction, but not finding it in ‘stuff’.

 

A few generations earlier Philip of The Twelve Apostles seemed to think he had the answer to finding satisfaction. “Show us the Father”, he said to Jesus. I reckon he was on the right track, but I wonder what he expected to see.


~ Pastor John


Click here for a link to our new spotify podcast containing the latest sermon recordings.

If you are unable to access spotify, 2026 sermon recordings can be found here

John 14:1-14

1 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.’

5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’

6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’ 8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’

9 Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  

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