📖 Romans 1:1–2, 16–17

🔹 The gospel begins in shame — and undoes it
🔹 Jesus is Lord means Caesar is not
🔹 Phoebe preached it first
🔹 God’s justice is not abstract — it’s healing, embodied, and disruptive

💬
 Romans has long been read through the lens of empire, patriarchy, and personal escape. But what if it was never meant to justify power, but expose it?
This week, we opened the book not through Augustine or Luther, but through Phoebe — the first to carry and interpret this dangerous letter.
A gospel first spoken by a crucified slave, carried by a woman, read to a community of outcasts and former slaves.
This is no mere theology textbook.
It’s a call to shame-defiant solidarity.
It’s a letter of healing justice.
It’s a whisper to every outsider — you belong.

Homework this week:
📖 Read Romans 16 — slowly, with Phoebe in mind.
💭 Ask: Where have I turned the gospel into abstraction? Where might Jesus be found in what I’ve been taught to feel ashamed of?

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
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If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

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CAN THESE PEOPLE EAT TOGETHER?
📖 Romans 14

Every table tells a story.
This week, we pulled up a chair to ask:
Can we actually eat together?

The early church in Rome was divided by food, culture, status, trauma.
🍽 Slaves with no control over their bodies.
📜 Jewish believers clinging to Torah as survival, not superiority.
🗽 Gentiles flaunting their freedom as pride, not love.
🏛 Wealthy hosts, poor guests, complex histories, clashing worlds.

Paul doesn’t say “just get along.”
He says: Disarm.
Lay down the shields of fear.
Lay down the swords of judgment.
Let your story become a witness—not a weapon.

💥 Romans 14:17 – The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This gospel doesn’t erase who you are.
It transforms what you carry.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
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If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

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BRIDGING NOW TO NEXT

📖 Luke 6:37–42

Reconciliation is not a destination — it's a bridge we walk with Jesus.

As we obvserve National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week, we’re reminded:

🧹 Clear the bridge — Let go of judgement and condemnation.

🕊 Fuel the bridge — Forgive boldly, give generously.

🌊 Shape the culture — Overflow with grace, not scarcity.

🔍 Look inward — Remove the log in our own eye before pointing to others.

Reconciliation isn’t symbolic. It’s relational, economic, structural — and spiritual.

This is our training: not to police morality but to build bridges of grace.

💭 The question is not: “Do you love your enemies?”

It’s: “Is your love liberating?”

This is the way of Jesus.

This is resurrection.

This is the now becoming next.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
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If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

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Love Is Liberating (Or It's a Lie)
📖 Luke 6:24–36

In this week’s message, we heard the radical call of Jesus not just to love our enemies, but to stand where he stands—with the poor, the afflicted, the scapegoated.

And we were reminded:

🔹 Love without liberation is distortion
If our love excuses oppression, silences the vulnerable, or ignores injustice—it’s not the love of Jesus.

🔹 The Devil can quote Scripture too
If Scripture is used to harm instead of heal, to protect power instead of liberate—it's been weaponised.

🔹 Woes aren’t curses—they’re a cry
Jesus isn’t condemning the rich, full, and praised—he’s grieving what their comfort costs others.

🔹 The Sermon on the Plain is about leveling
It’s not about flipping hierarchies—it’s about dismantling them.
Not about rescuing “the least of these”—but recognising they are us.

💬 “Be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:36)

Love like Jesus:
 ⚔️ Confrontational to injustice
💞 Compassionate to the undeserving
🌱 Creative in its nonviolence

🧠 The question isn’t “do you love your enemies?”
The question is: “is your love liberating?”
If not, it’s a lie.

📖 This week, re-read Luke 6:24–36
 👀 Ask: Where have I dismissed or distorted Jesus’ call?
🔥 Pray: God, help me love like you—boldly, justly, and without limits.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
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If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

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Week Three: Love Your Enemies – Luke 6:27–31

📖 “But to you who are listening…”
 Jesus doesn’t just tell us to love in theory — he names what love looks like in action:

🔹 Love your enemies
🔹 Do good to those who hate you
🔹 Bless those who curse you
🔹 Pray for those who mistreat you

This isn’t passive acceptance of abuse — it’s creative resistance, an act of radical nonviolence that exposes injustice and confronts it with mercy, not retaliation.

💥 Turn the other cheek?
 Not weakness — it’s reclaiming your dignity.
 🧥 Give your shirt too?
 Not surrender — it’s spotlighting the greed of those who take.

💬 “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Not just reciprocity — it’s transformation.
Because God doesn’t wait for us to be deserving.
God gives, heals, and restores anyway.

📌 To love like this is not to be naive — it’s to be Christlike.
 To love like this is not to avoid conflict — it’s to confront with mercy.
 To love like this is to look like God.

This week’s invitation:
 🌎 Love in public — even when it’s hard.
 🛑 Resist with peace — especially when it’s costly.
 ❤️ Choose mercy — because Jesus shows us, this is what God is like.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

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Blessings & Woes – The Great Levelling Continues
📖 Luke 6:20–26

In the kingdom of God, the cosmic lottery runs in reverse.
 Jesus doesn’t just comfort the poor — he centers them.
 He doesn’t just warn the rich — he loves them enough to tell the truth.

This week, we explored:

🔹 Blessed Are You
— Not because suffering is holy, but because God is already with you in the hunger, the grief, the exclusion.
— Because dependence can become the doorway to divine presence.

🔹 Woe to You
— Not condemnation, but compassion: “Oh no, look what you’ve done to yourself.”
— A grief that calls us to reframe what we call success.

🪜 The invitation?
 Check what your life is propped up on.
 Ladders only hold one. Tables hold many.

📊 From Maslow to Gallup, we looked at the needs of human flourishing:
 Purpose. Safety. Growth. Community.
 And how Jesus reshuffles the order — not to shame the wealthy, but to draw us into interdependence.

💬 The blessing isn’t in being needy.
 The blessing is in discovering that, in your need, you can still be met.
 And in your strength, you still have something to give.

The kingdom of God isn’t solo.
 It’s kin-dom.

📖 Homework this week:
 💭 Ask: Where am I resistant to receiving help?
 👐 Who in my life might be transformed by my willingness to need them?
🌱 What would it look like to live more interdependently — not as charity, but as kinship?

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

Instagram
The Facebook
Youtube

Series Launch: Luke 6 - Sermon on the Plain

📖 Luke 6:17–19
 The resurrection isn't just a moment — it's a movement.
In Eastertide, we learn to walk in the life that is stronger than death.

This week’s launch reminded us:
 🔹 Compassionate Solidarity
— Baptismal identification with the poor, afflicted, and scapegoated.

🔹 Confrontational Love
— Resisting evil, injustice, and domination in the Spirit’s healing power.

🔹 Creative Nonviolence
— Rejecting violent power to embrace Christ’s vulnerable, transforming way.

💬 The hidden music of Luke’s sermon:
Where Matthew gives a mountain, Luke gives a plain — a level ground.
A place where no one is higher, no one is lower.
A place where power comes not over us, but with us, and within us.

The center of it all:
 ➡️ “Love your enemies, and you will be children of the Most High, because God is compassionate to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35)

This love leaves no one out.
It levels mountains, fills valleys, and teaches us to look one another in the eyes — not up, not down — as equals.

🌎 To live resurrection is to live the great leveling.
 To long to hear.
 To long to be healed.
 To long for the love that flows out from Jesus to touch and transform the world.

Homework this week:
📖 Read Luke 6:17–49 — slowly, openly.
💭 Ask: Where is Jesus levelling ground in my life?
🌱 Where do I need to be healed by the power that flows from him?

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

Instagram
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LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH
Easter Sunday at Steeple

📖 Hebrews 2:14-15
 📖 Moana (yes, really)
 📖 Colossians, Corinthians, and the end of the book…

This Easter, we didn’t just remember a story.
We stepped into the story.

Jesus didn’t rise to prove a point.
 He rose to open a path.
 Not just out of death,
 but into a life more alive than we’ve ever known.

🌀 Just like Moana, Jesus goes all the way down.
 He enters our storm, faces our monsters, and restores what was lost.
 But unlike Maui’s magic hook—
 the true power is not in dominance.
It’s in love.

✝️ The early church called it myth become fact.
Love descended into death…
And came back with all of us in hand.

💀 Hell took a body and found God.
 🌊 The tomb is empty—because all tombs will be.
 🌱 This is no escape act. It’s a jailbreak for all creation.

So what now?

💥 Go live the story.
 💥 Love is stronger than death.
 💥 Join the winning side.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

Instagram
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WHICH JESUS?

📖 “Do you want me to release Jesus Barabbas… or Jesus the Christ?” —Matthew 27:17

This week we asked: which Jesus do we follow?

🕊️ One rides in on a donkey to bring peace.
 ⚔️ The other fights Rome with violence.
 ✝️ Both are called “Son of the Father.” But only one shows us what Abba is really like.

On Palm Sunday: 🌿 Jesus enters not with swords, but with solidarity.
 🌍 He doesn’t conquer by force—but by self-giving love.
 🙏 He calls us to follow—not with fists raised, but with hearts open.

Because: 🚫 There is no victory in the Gospels apart from Calvary.
 💔 Jesus doesn’t destroy his enemies—he dies for them.
 ❤️ God is revealed in the nonviolent Messiah, not the warrior king.

So we ask again: WHICH JESUS DO WE FOLLOW?

Let’s lay down the swords.
 Let’s beat them into plowshares.
 Let’s follow the one who rides in on a donkey.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

Instagram
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Youtube

HE WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD…
AND THAT’S GOOD NEWS!

📖 “He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints.”

Let’s be clear:
 Judgment isn’t about fear.
It’s about Jesus.
And Jesus looks like love.

⚖️ Judgment isn’t God switching personalities.
 It’s Jesus getting the final word — and that word is mercy, justice, healing, and truth.

So what does this part of the Creed remind us?

✝️ Jesus is the judge — and he’s the same Jesus who fed the poor, healed the sick, and forgave his enemies.
🔥 God’s judgment is love that reveals, restores, and makes all things new.

And we believe in…

🕊️ The Holy Spirit — not a bonus for the “spiritual,” but the presence of God moving now, shaping us into love.

🌍 The holy catholic Church — “catholic” means universal. One body, many voices, all joined in Christ.

⛪ The communion of saints — across time and space, we’re never singing alone.

Because Jesus will come again:
 🔹 We live with hope.
 🔹 We step into the light.
 🔹 We trust that love wins.

🙌 So let’s be people of resurrection —
 welcome the light, follow the Spirit, and live the kingdom now.

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The Steeple Church Podcast is recorded on Wurundjeri land in the east suburbs of Naarm - that you will find on a map as Balwyn in Melbourne, Australia.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of these lands, the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and we pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

You can view the full Steeple Church Acknowledgement of Country here.
.
.
If you would like to know more about Steeple Church or connect with us you can do so by checking out our website on-the-line at steeplechurch.com.au or by following us on all the socials...

Instagram
The Facebook
Youtube