Northern Community's Podcast

Sometimes reflections are so perfect it’s hard to tell in a photo which is the real thing, and which is the reflection.
The way we live our lives reflect our values, priorities and attitudes. It reflects our beliefs and biases. As followers of Jesus, our lives are called to stand out, to be set apart to reflect God’s values priorities and attitudes. But often, it’s hard to tell the difference between someone who has strong ethi...

TRIGGER WARNING: Please be aware the message briefly alludes to self-harm and suicide.

In April, 58 years ago, 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered, with HAL9000, a computer programme with a human-like personality, willing to kill to achieve mission objectives.

Today, we delve into whether we should fear or favour emerging technologies and AI. Is it just a tool that can be used for good or evil, or is it a wolf in shee...

I wonder what brought you to live where you live? 

For some, it can be for work. A new job requires a change of location. A new relationship has you move to be with the one you love. For others, it is upsizing or downsizing.

Often, there are times in our lives when we long for a fresh start. A relationship has gone sour, so to clear the air and create some space, we move to a new location. Perhaps we don’t like who we have become, an...

Is responding to climate change necessary or is it a luxury that perhaps we just cannot afford at the moment? What should our response be to the environment, and at what cost?

Today, our guest speaker Julia explores how the sacred wisdom contained within the Bible can help us think through and respond to Climate Change in a manner consistent with being followers of Jesus and how it can enrich our own faith journeys.

The cost of living affects us all with the food prices affected by the drought or floods, increases in the petrol prices caused by the war in the Middle East, rises in the interest rates and so on. However, the impact of these rising costs varies at different stages of life. For example, young families with children experience financial pressures differently from retirees, as their needs and lifestyles are not the same.
So, wha...

Andre, our guest speaker with expertise in community development and theology, examines how our environments, cultural myths, and unconscious biases shape our attitudes toward immigrants and refugees. 
His sermon challenges everyone to move beyond viewing immigration as merely a numbers or policy issue, and instead to recognise the common humanity in all people created in God's image. 

A message by Andre Van Eymer...

In 1992 400m Sprinter Derek Redmond from Great Britain was in Barcelona ready to make his Olympic dream come true. Unable to compete four years earlier due to injury, he was determined to capitalise on a run of good health and good form. He ran a personal best time in the quarter-final to easily win his heat, and if he could produce a similar run in the semis, he would be on his way to an Olympic final.

However, about 250m into the ...

We understand that as people and as followers of Jesus, our decisions matter – they are important and we want to live life well and part of that means we need to learn to choose well. We make decisions and then, as we choose - our decisions make us. The challenge is many of us, we're not great decision-makers. Pre-deciding is focussing on intentionally selecting our values and attitudes and growing them so that they influence ...

God is generous, and the Bible is full of examples of people, motivated by goodness, to emulate this - King David poured out gifts from the national 
treasury and then from his personal reserves.  A poor widow gave everything she had.  A woman prepared a room for a traveling prophet.  A group of impoverished Macedonians gave more than they dreamed they could. 

This morning, we will examine Ruth’s loyalty and her own ge...

To say Australia is a land of extremes sometimes seems like an understatement. With extreme heat in the Southeast and Eastern Australia, on Tuesday, Mildura is predicted to nudge up to 50 degrees and Melbourne in the low 40s. Up north WA, they are wrestling with a cyclone.

It is part of the reason why Government and emergency response agencies encourage people in areas prone to natural disasters to be prepared. To hav...

"I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."
These are the words the apostle Paul writes to the church in Rome. He is describing what management theorists and life coaches call the Knowing-Doing gap. 

The Knowing-Doing gap can apply to individuals, to organisations or systems and it refers to the disconnection we can e...

Devotion sets direction. What we are devoted to quietly shapes the path we take—not usually in one dramatic moment, but little by little over time. The things we give our attention to, the things we return to, and the things that fill our thoughts and our time shape our priorities, our values, and the way we live. That’s why devotion matters so much to God.
Today, I will talk about how devotion guides our decisions and directs ...

In the words of the philosopher, Dr Seuss, " Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!"
"You have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes, You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."
"You won't lag behind because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang, and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you f...

Love is a many splendored thing. 
Love lifts us up where we belong. 
All you need is love. Or in the words of Anna from Frozen – "Love is an open door."
There are countless songs that centre on Love – love for children or siblings, love for friends, romantic love. And probably just as many that speak about heartbreak. 
But what is Love, really? And how do we receive it and pass it on as a Gift of this seas...

If you were to survey a group of parents, chances are that the highest response to the question, " I just want my child to be ..."  would be "I just want my child to be -happy".

So today, if you find yourself chewing on life's gristle, then, according to the Life of Brian, "give a whistle" and "always look on the bright side of life".

Or perhaps if we reflect on the ten...