Rev Dr Peter Barnes – Revesby Presbyterian Church

Christ Divides

Rev Dr Peter Barnes — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 03:12:24 +0000

It is a startling and counter-intuitive thought that Christ Jesus came into the world to usher in hostility and trouble and controversy. Surely we have enough of that already. Yet He tells us clearly that we are not to think that He came to bring peace on earth, but, no, …

Christmas: Who is Jesus?

Rev Dr Peter Barnes — Sun, 11 Dec 2022 08:43:44 +0000

As a pastor, I always found preaching at Christmas more difficult than I perhaps should have. Most of the preachable material comes from just four chapters: Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. Even then, Matthew begins with 17 verses of a genealogy, and Luke has a fair amount on Zechariah and …

Nearly the Last Word

Rev Dr Peter Barnes — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 08:14:09 +0000

As the Vandals threatened Hippo in 430, Augustine – who was close to the end of his own life – confessed to his congregation: ‘I am a long-winded old man’. Throughout his life, he had lamented often enough that ‘My own speech almost always displeases me.’ Looking back over nearly …

Feasting Or Starving

Rev Dr Peter Barnes — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 00:21:45 +0000

Often we find that works on history manage to incorporate the word ‘crisis’ into their titles. One does not have to read many such books before it seems that all of human history has been a series of crises – only the names have changed, and some details, but that …

Honouring Elders (1 Timothy 5:17-18)

Rev Dr Peter Barnes — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 07:00:00 +0000

This section is on the tasks of elders and their remuneration.

Elders are to teach and rule.
- 5:17. Calvin sees ruling and teaching elders. But all elders are to rule and to teach – 3:2, 4-5. The distinction is between those who labour at these tasks and those who

…