Sermons by Rev Swee Ann Koh
19 March 2023
Text: John 9:1-41 Title: Who is Really Blind? Introduction Who sinned? Who is responsible? What can account for this tragedy! It is a common enough concern when things go wrong. There must be somebody to blame! Or do you think that is a primitive way of thinking? Is it a kind of superstition? If it is, it is a very persistent superstition. It is not easy to get away from, even in the modern world. Whether superstition or not, when…
5 March 2023
Text: John 3:1-17 Title: Are You Born Again? Introduction There are a few catchphrases that I dislike: “God is good.” Or “God has a plan for you.” Or “Are you born again?” Do you have any Christian catchphrase that you dislike? Truth be told, ‘Are you born again?” is probably is the one that irritates me the most. Let us pray… John 3:1-17 is one of the favourite passages of the Bible, but also one regularly misunderstood. “For God so…
26 February 2023
Lent 1 Text: Matthew 4:1-11 Title: In the Wilderness Jesus Said No Introduction You all know that English is my second language, right? I speak Mandarin, Fujian, Teochew, Cantonese, and Japanese. Sushi, Toyota, Tempura, sashimi, Honda, Tokyo. Anyway, I think my English vocab is reasonable. Do you think you have a good vocab? Anyone who can spell this word gets this prize. Any volunteer? pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis A difficult word, isn’t it? However, I think there is another word that most people…
19 February 2023
Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday before Lent begins. And Transfiguration is one of those… weird festivals in the church calendar. It’s not as well-known as Christmas and Easter. It’s not as easy to define as Pentecost or Good Friday. LET US PRAY… When you look at this image, what do you see? There are two faces as well. I just didn’t see it at first. Then he showed me – here is the nose, the chin, the eyes,…
5 February 2023
Text: Matthew 5:13-20 Title: Salt, Light & Law Introduction The Gospel reading for the 5th Sunday after the Epiphany utilises two beautifully simple yet effectual symbols to encourage Jesus’ followers to engage in the world they live in with purpose. Matthew Chapter 5 verses 13 – 20 consists of three images or metaphors: Salt, Light and Law Starting with salt – 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be…
Summer Series on Micah 6:8 (Day of Mourning) 22 January 2023
Introduction The last three Sundays we have focused on Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” We reflected on what it means to: “To act justly, to love-kindness and to walk humbly with God.” When I conceived the Summer Series focusing on Micah 6:8 I saw the series as a kind of preparation for this Service…
Summer Series: Mich 6:8 – 15 January 2023
Theme: ‘To Love Tenderly’ Introduction “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8 The first Sunday of January we reflected together on what it means to walk humbly with God and last Sunday we reflected on what it means to act justly. This morning we are reflecting on what it means to love tenderly. Let us…
Summer Series: Mich 6:8 – 8 January 2023
Introduction “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8 Last Sunday we reflected together on, what it means to walk humbly with God. Let’s recap. Micah paints the scene of a courtroom in which God is the prosecutor and the people are the accused. In delivering his prophecy, Micah alternates among the roles of narrator,…
Summer Series: Mich 6:8 – 1 January 2023
Theme: Walk Humbly with God Introduction “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:1-8 When asked by friends to name my favourite verse in the Bible, I always say Micah 6:8. It’s not exactly my favourite, because the word favourite implies something much simpler than what I really feel. Truth is Micah 6:8 found me, and it…
25 December 202
Introduction Let me begin my Christmas reflection by bursting some myths.Christmas is not about presents. It’s not about lights and decorations.It’s not about Christmas trees. It’s not about family gathering.It’s not about food. It’s not about trying to be nice to all.It’s not about singing Christmas carols. All these things are fine and good, but you and I know that’s not what Christmas is all about. For centuries the narrative of the birth of Jesushas been commercialised , has been…
11 December 2022
Introduction First, on this Third Sunday of Advent I want you to invite you to accompany me on a journey. A journey of imagination. Is that alright? At certain points of my reflection, I want us to imagine together how might John feel or what John might be thinking? Are you ready? A straightforward, common-sense reading of Matthew 11 would tell us that John the Baptist, unhappily rotting away in prison, has been getting reports about the work of Jesus?…
6 November
Introduction The gospel reading for this morning, Luke 20:27-38 quite frankly, most likely will sound odd, archaic, and even irrelevant to most of us. Stay with me and don’t switch off, together we will try to make sense of this passage. A bit of historical context. The primary historical element that will demand some attention is the role of the Sadducees, who though in some ways the rivals to the Pharisees, were united with them in their opposition to Jesus.…
16 October 2022
Texts: Luke 18:1-9Date: 13 October 2022 Introduction The parable in Luke 18:1-8, often known as the “Parable of the Unjust Judge”, is a familiar parable to many of us. The parable is about a “Persistent Woman.” Now there are only two characters in the parable itself: The unjust judge and the persistent widow. Which character do you identify with? Are you the judge or the widow? I might be wrong but I think most of us would identify with the…