Worship Reflections on Matthew
Pentecost 24 MUC@10 8 November
Matthew | Into the dark 8 November 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 25:1-13 Come on, girls, you’ve been working since dawn and it’s only midnight—how dare you sleep? Wake up! Be alert, bright as a button; anticipate your master’s every need. You have more oil? Don’t you dare share, you know it’s a limited good. And stop fretting about your foolish sisters turned away from the banquet. Nobody likes a moaning Myrtle: so put a smile on your dial! And…
Pentecost 23 All Saints 1 November MUC@10
Matthew, Revelation | #blessed MUC@10, 1 November 2026 (All Saints) Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 5:1-12 and Revelation 7:9-17 ‘So I was at the beach at sunrise this morning. And I was in the middle of, like, downward-facing dog when between my legs I saw dolphins. OMG my life is incredible!!! So I grabbed my iPhone 18 Pro Max and took a selfie. Then I sat on the sand watching the waves roll in, and drank my goji berry protein shake…
Pentecost 22 25 October Family@10
SLOW READING: NEIGHBOUR-LOVE We all know that Jesus says to love our neighbour, but perhaps you’re not aware that he is quoting a much-maligned book of the Bible, Leviticus. Leviticus sets out how to live as God’s distinctively holy people. As such, it touches on every area of life. We live in a very different place, time and culture, and many of Leviticus’s provisions now seem harsh, weird or unnecessary to us. But the instructions concerning neighbour-love continue to speak…
Pentecost 22 25 October Fellowship@10
REFLECTION Love is all we need Jesus was a great storyteller. You only have to read the accounts in the Gospels describing the crowds who followed Jesus. The people walked out of the towns and villages, sometimes quite long distances, just to hear him speak. Witness the thousands who became part of the “Jesus feeds the 5000” story. But Jesus was not only a charismatic storyteller, he was also well versed in Jewish law. Part of the friction between Jesus and the Pharisees was because…
Pentecost 21 18 October
Matthew | Death & taxes Fellowship@10, 18 October 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 22:15-22 and other texts Nothing in this world is certain except, they say, death and taxes. And, of the two, some of us seem to hate taxes more. This was certainly as true for first century occupied Palestine as it is for us now. To everyone’s horror, Jesus calls a taxman to discipleship (Matthew 4); and he’s later condemned for eating with tax collectors (Matthew 7). Then…
Pentecost 16 13 September
Matthew | Saint Dolly & the art of forgiveness Fellowship@10, 13 September 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 18:21-25 Just a couple of weeks ago, Dolly Parton died, and the world is in mourning. One little story helps illustrate why. Her singing career kicked off in 1967, when she was invited onto The Porter Wagoner Show. Porter was the star, Dolly was the sidekick, and when she sang solos she was booed. So Porter asked her to sing duets with him,…
Pentecost 15 6 September
Exodus | God of freedom Fellowship@10, 6 September 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Exodus 3:1-15 First, a quick refresher on conflict in the church: When conflict happens, deal with it. Talk to the person who has offended you. If that’s unhelpful, try again with a witness. If that, too, gets you nowhere, then go through a formal church process. If the church process finds a problem, then remove that person from any position of authority or leadership, but treat them with…
Pentecost 14 Frontier Services Sunday 30 August
Keith Hendry a friend and Bush Chaplain What is a Bush Chaplain? I have asked myself these past weeks. I have some difficulty trying to imagine what this role might involve. I can always create a story. But then, I can share my story of my friend Keith Hendry. A wheat and sheep farmer from Western Australia. I first met Keith when Joan and I arrived at Elcho Island in 1969. A tall man around 6’3. well built in his mid-40’s. His curly hair thinning, a…
Pentecost 13 23 August
Matthew | The keys to the kingdom Fellowship@10, 23 August 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 16:13-20 Welcome, welcome to our wonderful city! This beautiful shrine is to the shepherd god, Pan. The guardian of the flocks, as you know, he’s always one for the ladies. Fellas, lock up your daughters! Pan doesn’t always do consent; we wouldn’t want a ‘situation’ now, would we? On your left, you’ll see a marble temple. This exquisite building was erected by King Herod in…
Pentecost 12 16 August
Matthew | Rethinking Joshua Fellowship@10, 16 August 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Matthew 15:10-28 ‘I’m from one of the oldest families,’ he said. ‘We’ve been here since the beginning.’ And with that he effectively erased 60,000 years of continuous living culture, just as his Irish ancestors had tried to erase the people from the land. He’s a lovely guy, straightforward and well-meaning, and totally oblivious to what he had just done. This is what happens when you’re raised in a colony.…
Pentecost 11 9 August
Genesis | Joseph’s amazing technicolor …. Fellowship@10, 9 August 2026 Alison Sampson ~ Gen 37:1-4, 12-2, with allusions to Matt 14:22-33 Most of us went to Sunday School; we know how it goes. Lucky Joseph gets an Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, travels to Egypt, and saves the world with the blessing of Elvis. It’s a musical, a Veggie Tale, a children’s story, and thus it is very effectively de-fanged. If, however, we choose to read as adults, we might notice a…
Pentecost 8 19 July
Genesis | Deep in the weeds with Jacob Fellowship@10, 19 July 2026 + Alison Sampson Reflecting on Genesis 28:10-22 & Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 What wonderful promises! God will give Jacob land to plant roots and descendants to spread across the earth like dandelions. God will ensure the earth will be blessed by him and his countless offspring. And God will bless him, protect him and stay with him until these promises are fulfilled. I should be all starry-eyed, but quite…
31 May Ascension
Matthew | But they doubted … Fellowship@10, 31 May 2026 Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 28:16-20 It might shock you to hear this, but there are days when I find it hard to identify as Christian. There are days when I struggle to hold onto faith. And there are days when I wonder what on earth I am doing with my life, preaching these few and futile words. For I look around and see nothing but chaos and a world…
29 March Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday | The two parades MUC@10, 29 March 2026 Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 21:1-11 In many churches around the world, today’s story will be called ‘The Triumphal Entry’, and it will be told with great pomp and dignity. Perhaps you’ve been at one of these services. The choir slowly processes down the aisle, solemnly singing, then priests wearing exquisite garments follow behind as acolytes waft incense everywhere. The church is aflutter with beautiful banners; and a pipe organ…
22 February
Baptism: The lodestar of love MUC@10, 22 February 2026 Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 3:16-4:11 Today we are baptising a child. I will use his name in the service. However, because this text goes on the website, in the following I’ll call him ‘Ben’, Hebrew for ‘son.’ Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.’ Many flocked to him, bringing sick kids,…
15 February Fellowship@10 Transfiguration
REFLECTION Seeing in a new light Chris Mitchell The story of the Transfiguration is found in the three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. As usual the story is slightly different in each version, tailored to each gospel writers’ audience. Details differ but the essential story is the same. We all know the story – Jesus takes Peter, James and John and leads them up a high mountain. There, in front of their eyes, Jesus is transformed. his clothes become dazzling white the…
15 February Family@10 Transfiguration
Trans/figuration MUC Family@10, 15 February 2026Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 17:1-9 What a weird story. Jesus goes up a mountain with a couple of his mates. Then he cracks his neck like a glow stick and lights up, and his friends see him talking to a couple of dead dudes. This story raises about a zillion questions, like, How did Jesus’ face and body light up? What about his clothes? How did the disciples know the other blokes were Moses…
21 December 2025 – Advent 4
Love in the shadows MUC Fellowship@10, 21 December 2025Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 1:18-25 You can hear the following as a simple reflection on personal faith, and that’s great. But for those who have ears to hear, it also has much to say about current events, whether the shootings in Bondi, the ongoing deaths in Gaza, and so much more. For, in Matthew’s story, God demands that notions of righteousness, purity and holiness are set aside in favour of love.…
14 December – Advent 3
Joy in the rain MUC Fellowship@10, 14 December 2025Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 11:2-11 The saddest funeral I ever did was for a young woman who died by suicide. She attended a local church which was very high energy. However, it did not do funerals and certainly not for suicide. Trying to find a pastor who would hold a service for their daughter, her distraught parents were eventually given my name. Why wouldn’t the other church do funerals? I’m given…
7 December Advent 2
Peace in the pressure-cooker MUC Fellowship@10, 6 December 2025 Alison Sampson, reflecting on Matthew 3:1-12 It was my first Sunday here at MUC. After the service, a person came up to me looking rather anxious. ‘I understand you’re a Baptist,’ they said. I confirmed that this is indeed the case. ‘Well,’ they said, ‘it may interest you to know that some people here believe in science.’ I suddenly realised why they looked so worried. If you pay any attention to…
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