The Reverend Rob Sutherland CSC and Reverend Angela McNeill and the congregation at St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church at Moggill invite everyone to join us in worship on the Fifth Sunday in Easter 18 May 2025
The Sentence
The lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Revelation 7:17
Reflection from The Venerable Rob Sutherland CSC - 18 May 2025
Dear Friends,
Thank you to everyone who was nice enough to ask if I would be running in the Moggill Marathon this Sunday morning. When I had my hip replaced a few years ago my surgeon ‘banned’ me from running and while I miss it, I was never quite up to marathon distance – I’m of course using the excuse that ‘I have to be in church.’ In our Sundays after Easter and before Jesus’s ascension into heaven, we have the opportunity to reflect on the meaning and impact of Jesus’s death on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter morning. Over the past few weeks, we have thought about Jesus’s interactions with the people who saw him after the resurrection. Some, like Thomas, refused to believe that Jesus was alive until they actually saw and touched him. Others believed but didn’t know what it meant. The other helpful perspective is to look back at what Jesus and the Old Testament prophets said about God and about the Messiah and the way to eternal life with God. We no longer have to guess the outcome of Jesus’s life so now we can look back for the meaning of his life and what God offers and requires of us. This Sunday is often called ‘Shepherd Sunday.’ Most of our readings and the Psalm are about Jesus as God’s ‘Good Shepherd’. In our ‘wide brown land’ we are more used to sheep being mustered with the help of sheepdogs, horses or motor bikes. Having, as a child, worked with sheep and sheepdogs this imagery is not helpful and not what God is offering. In Australia we force sheep, often through fear, into a direction, into a pen or paddock or truck. In Ancient Israel the shepherd, on foot, led the sheep; led them to pasture and to water and protected them from danger. The sheep followed the shepherd for their own good and this is the image Jesus is using; God offers to lead us to heaven; not force us into his kingdom. Only people who choose to follow Jesus will end up in heaven. May God’s love and hope and peace and joy be yours,
For comprehensive information about our parish activities keep a record of our official Website www.mmcanglican.org.au
HOW TO FIND US:
(St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church is located adjacent to Moggill State School at 3407 Moggill Road Moggill QLD 4070. Catch the444 Bus to the Moggill terminus. The church is a short walk just past the 'new' Moggill State School. Originally our heritage church building was the original Moggill State School which opened in 1866.)