All Saints United Church

As part of our Prayer sermon series, Revd Derik Myburgh reminds us that prayer is not a science or a formula to master. It is about coming before God honestly, laying our lives and concerns before Him, and trusting Him with what is on our hearts.

Whether we are praying for protection, seeking help, or interceding for others, prayer invites us into a deeper relationship with God. We are encouraged to bring our own needs to Him while also praying earnestly for those around us and the wider world.

As part of our Prayer sermon series, Revd Allan Booth explores 1 John 5:10–15 and what it means to pray with faith and confidence.

Rather than approaching prayer simply as a list of requests we bring to God, Allan reminds us that prayer begins with God. Through the Holy Spirit, we are invited to listen, align our hearts and minds with God's will, and discern what we are truly being called to pray for. And prayer doesn't end with speaking — it calls us to participate in God's work and become part of the answer.

How might our prayer lives change if we learned to listen before we speak, trust that God hears us, and respond to where the Spirit leads? Listen, speak, do.

“If we look at what makes a healthy friendship, we’ll see that some of the same traits make for a good relationship with God.” — Revd James Martin

In this sermon, David explores what it means to have an authentic and real friendship with God, particularly through prayer.

Just as healthy friendships are built on honesty, trust, openness, listening, and spending time together, so our relationship with God grows as we make space to speak, listen, and simply be with Him.

What might it look like to move beyond prayer as simply asking God for things, and instead discover prayer as a genuine conversation within a living relationship with God?

Prayer Practices That Have Stood the Test of Time Workshop led by Revd Dr Susan van Niekerk

In this workshop, Revd Dr Susan van Niekerk takes us on a journey through the senses as she introduces two ancient prayer practices that have stood the test of time: Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer.

With a blend of thoughtful teaching, theory and interactive elements, Susan guides us into the heart of these practices, helping us to discover new ways of slowing down, listening, becoming present to God, and making space for God’s presence in our everyday lives.

Whether these practices are familiar to you or completely new, this workshop offers an opportunity to pause, explore and experience prayer in a deeper and more intentional way.

Please note: Silences have been intentionally kept in the recording so that you can follow along and participate in the prayer practices alongside the workshop participants.

What does it really mean to confess that Jesus is Lord?

In Matthew 16, Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God, but reveals that he has misunderstood what kind of Messiah Jesus is. Peter expects a Messiah who conquers with power and the sword. Jesus reveals a different way: the way of the cross, self-giving love, forgiveness and service.

In this sermon, David explores the contrast between the sword and the towel. The sword represents the world's pursuit of power, status, control, recognition and domination, while the towel points to the way of Jesus — the King who bends down to serve.

Drawing on the work of theologians Jürgen Moltmann, Dallas Willard and Henri Nouwen, the sermon asks whether Christians are merely people who confess the right things about Jesus, or whether we are becoming disciples who actually learn and embody his way of life.

The invitation is simple but challenging: Take up the towel, not the sword.

Where are we seeking control when Jesus is inviting us into service? Where are we choosing judgement over grace? And where might Jesus be inviting us to become a little more like him?

The hope is that the Christ we proclaim at All Saints would become the Christ we embody in the world. Not through power and domination, but through the self-giving love and service of Jesus.

As part of our Kingdom Living series, Revd Allan Booth preaches a thoughtful message titled Wrong End of the Stick, reflecting on Genesis 2:18–25 for Women’s Day 2026.

Exploring the creation of woman and the relationship between men and women, Allan invites us to look again at a passage that has sometimes been misunderstood or used to reinforce ideas of inequality. Instead, he points us towards God’s intention for companionship, dignity, partnership and mutuality.

A timely reflection for Women’s Day, this sermon encourages us to consider how we understand one another and how we can better reflect God’s vision for relationships marked by love, respect and equality.

As part of our Kingdom Living series, Revd David Kleinhans preaches a challenging message titled A Tale of Two Banquets, reflecting on Matthew 14:1–23.

Through the contrasting tables of Herod and Jesus, David explores how the kingdom that shapes our hearts determines the kind of table we build. Herod’s banquet is marked by power, status, control and self-preservation, while Jesus’ table is characterised by compassion, generosity, restoration and self-giving love.

As we consider which table feels more familiar to us, we are reminded that the kingdom of God does not flow upward toward power, but outward toward need. What kingdom is shaping the way we live, and what kind of table are we building?

As part of our Kingdom Living series, Revd David Kleinhans preaches a thoughtful message titled Practicing Resurrection, reflecting on John 20:1–23.

Through Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you,” and his breathing of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, we are reminded that the resurrection begins a new creation and calls us to participate in God’s work of restoration.

Drawing on voices such as N.T. Wright and Wendell Berry, David explores what it looks like to “practice resurrection” in the ordinary moments of life — through forgiveness, generosity, hospitality, peacemaking and love. Because resurrection people believe that nothing done in love is ever wasted.

What would it look like for us to live differently because Jesus is risen? Enjoy.

We begin sharing messages from our Kingdom Living series with a sermon titled "Unoffendable Hearts." Together we explore the wisdom of Proverbs 18:18–19 and the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:10–14, reflecting on the danger of offence, the call to forgiveness, and the invitation to remain steadfast in love and faithfulness. Enjoy.

Sacred Struggle with Sorrow Matthew 26:34–46

As we begin our Lenten journey, we step into the garden of Gethsemane and sit with Jesus in his sorrow. In Gospel of Matthew 26, we encounter a Christ who is “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

In a culture that has discipled us into comfort, convenience, and constant distraction, Lent invites us to slow down and resist the instinct to avoid what hurts. Yet in the garden, Jesus shows us another way: to feel our grief honestly, to bring trusted companions close, and to wrestle with God without masks or clichés.

Alongside Jesus’ anguish, we reflect on Psalm 88, the dark psalm that refuses to tidy up its pain with easy hope. Together, these texts give us permission to lament, to pray when God feels distant, and to admit that sometimes we are not okay.

This sermon explores the spiritual cost of numbing our sorrow and the healing that can begin when we confront it. We consider what faithful presence looks like in community, why fewer words and longer hugs often matter most, and how prayer becomes not a way to fix our pain but a space to be honest within it.

Your garden moments will come. The question is not whether we will face sorrow, but how. In Christ, we discover that the garden is not the place where God abandons us — it is often where he meets us most tenderly.

May this Lent become your sacred struggle: a courageous wrestling with self, with grief, and with God, and, in that honesty, a deeper communion with the One who is not ashamed to sit with us in our sorrow.