Fishermen are generally considered masters of the tall story. The ‘one that got away’ is always the biggest fish they might have caught. Perhaps Jesus’ rubbing shoulders with too many fishermen meant their tale tales rubbed off on him as he told the story of a king who wished to settle his accounts. One of the king’s slaves owed him 10,000 talents. Now, just one talent was worth more than 15 years’ wages of a labourer! My maths was never any good, but by my calculations that slave would have to work for 150,000 years to pay off the debt! Now what kind of God king would be kind crazy enough to allow someone to get into that kind of debt in the first place? And, what kind of God king would be kind crazy enough to cancel that sort of debt?

Ha! Good one, Jesus.

Please note there is currently no audio recording of this week's sermon available. However, click here for a link to listen to all our previous sermons from this year over on our spotify podcast "Sermons @ St J's". If you are unable to access spotify, 2026 sermon recordings can be found here

Is love invigorating or exhausting? Maybe it just depends on where you are at that time and moment.

Love to those around us takes all kinds of forms. Our experience and expectations depend on our circumstances: a fancy date is very different to caring for a sick child. How does making room to let someone into busy traffic compare to sharing a timely cup of tea and conversation. Donating time or money to support a good cause is a different experience of love again. These all ask something different of us and in turn, affect us in various ways.

How should we view acts of love considering the teaching and life of Jesus and Paul? How is our experience of love more than merely "fulfilling requirements" and how does being in Christ make that possible?

~ Tim Foulkes

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

As a child growing up in Papua New Guinea my parents would make me take anti-malarial tablets every week so I didn’t get malaria. The active ingredient that prevented malaria was quinine. It was important – even life-saving – that I was given regular quinine. But quinine is very bitter, and so, in order to make it palatable for children, it was possible to buy sugar coated tablets. I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. In fact, it worked brilliantly. So brilliantly that one day, as a toddler, I snuck into the medicine cabinet and downed the whole bottle of ‘lollies’! That nearly killed me.

Sometimes sugar-coating, as well intentioned as it is, is not the best option. Especially when it comes to our relationship with God.

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