Welcome to the Parish of Modbury and Golden Grove

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Jesus Walks on Water

When you speak with a non-church friend about your faith in Christ, you’ll sometimes get the question, asked with some disbelief: “Surely you don’t believe in miracles, do you?” The implication is usually clear: no rational person could seriously hold such a belief.

In much of the scientific community—though not all of it—and in popular thought, the world isassumed to be governed by fixed physical laws. These laws are often treated as setting the boundaries for what can happen and, therefore, for what can reasonably be believed.

On that view, miracles are dismissed as impossible because they are seen as violations of those laws. This way of thinking influenced some Christian theology from the late nineteenth century into the twentieth century. As a result, some well-intentioned theologians argued that the miracles recorded in Scripture should not be understood as literally true. Instead, they

suggested that these accounts should be read as natural events, interpreted and retold by believers in ways that strengthened faith. Applied to Matthew 14:22–33, this approach might draw out a genuine pastoral lesson, for example, that when difficult times come upon us, Jesus is mindful of our need and will come to us and remain with us.

I think that insight is true, and it is not wrong to draw it from the passage. But is it the passage’s key meaning?

Contrary to popular thought, the laws of nature are not prescriptive. They do not determine how things must be; they describe how the natural world normally works.

If God is the author of creation—and of its laws—then it is entirely possible for God to interrupt the normal patterns of the created order to accomplish a particular purpose. So, what was God’s purpose in having Jesus walk on water to join his disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee? The final verse of Matthew’s account may give us the clue: “Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’”

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Usual weekly services and activities:

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Sunday:        Holy Communion 8.00 am

                       Holy Communion 10am

Monday:       Bible Study 10.00 am 

Tuesday:       Holy Communion 8.30 am

                        Community Garden 9.30 am

                        Christian meditation 9;30-10am alternate Tuesday from

                        21 Jan 2025

Wednesday: Bible Study 10.00 am

                        Fortnightly Foodbank   10.00 am

Thursday:      Holy Communion 10.00 am

Friday:            Community Garden 9.30 am

                        

 

1st Tuesday of the month Community Garden BBQ 11.30 am

1st and 3rd Sunday of the month Bari Service 11.30 am

2nd Thursday of the month Men's Group 7.30 pm

1st Friday of the month "Come as You Are" - Women's Fellowship 10-12 ​

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