We want to be a church that helps people find financial freedom and lean into the adventures God is calling them into. Jesus came that we could have fullness of life (John 10.10). This means not having an empty bank account, or, a full account that comes with a spiritually bankrupt life. This Sunday we spent time considering how to revise and prayerfully plan a personal budget for 2026, that invests in long-term fruitfulness, saves for a rainy day and avoids the trap of short-sighted living. James' letter to the early Church (James 5.1-12) gives us a powerful reminder that the investments we make in this life will be seen and celebrated in the next, if not immediately. Equally, if we sell out to entirely self-indulgent living, we will be participating in death and destruction in ways that won't be hidden from our eyes forever.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 11 January 2026 

How do you feel about the word 'purity'? The Church often has a reputation for nurturing unhealthy attitudes towards sexuality or natural human desires, or perhaps trying to 'cleanse us' of things that aren't dirty. Whilst we don't want to and were never meant to burden people with shame, today we were reminded by Paul's advice to a young church leader, Timothy, that the Church is called to be clean of the things that hurt people in the world. This week we considered his advice in 1 Timothy 5.1-8, which describes four ways we want to be noticably more transparent, and more pure, than the world. First, we are to be effortful in caring for the elderly. Second, we listen to and invest in young people. Third, we are respectful towards members of the opposite sex, and, lastly, we are generous towards those who are homeless.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 4 January 2026 

How do you stocktake the year that's been and set goals for the year ahead? Would you like to try a biblical framework for your planning? As we prepare to enter the new year, this final Sunday of 2025, we considered Paul's teaching to the Corinthian church about the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15.18-25). If we believe that we have been spiritually reborn in Christ and will be physically resurrected after we die, our end-goal starts in Heaven. We don't simply look to what we can achieve in the time we have on earth. We look back from who we are in Heaven, and seek obedience to the mission God has entrusted to us. This week's message comes with a practical, guided reflection to consider your priorities for the year ahead.    Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 28 December 2025 

By the end of this message we hope you will see how believable the Christmas story is - not a fariytale! So many of the details in the accounts of Jesus' birth are too random, inconvenient and imperfect to have been made up. In the middle of an economically depressed and unsafe political context; as well as a socially lonely and difficult situation, signs and wonders emerged. This is exactly how faith leads to social change. First, a small team of people are faithful to a calling, long before there is evidence that it is real. Secondly, life keeps throwing difficulties at the situation to make it even harder than it already was. As people persist in faith, early adopters arrive (shepherds). Then come the wise donors who believe, even though they come from outside of the community. Are you ready for this life?  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo on Christmas Eve, 24 December 2025

Do you ever wonder whether the story of Jesus' birth is simply a ridiculous fairytale? As we take a close look at Joseph's story in Matthew 1.18-25, we see his anxiety and uncertainty as he faced a very hard decision. We also notice three dynamics that combined to make sense of something crazy. First, he had knowledge of the scripture and recalled the prophecy of a birth that would come only from God. Second, he had a deeply personal encounter with God through a dream, which calmed his anxiety and gave him a reason to believe in a miracle. Third, he loved Mary. Their love and faithfulness was also a confirming sign that God was at work, even in a very unexpected way. To discern what is from God, versus what is fanciful or crazy, we also need three things: knowledge of the scriptures, confidence in hearing the Holy Spirit and close friendships within the Body of Christ.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 21 December 2025 

Even the greatest of leaders experience doubt. At the end of his journey, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus - 'What on earth is going on and why are you moving so slowly?' The words in scripture read, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ( See Matthew 12.2-12) John was under immense physical and psychological pressure as he faced imprisonment, but he was also confused by the way Jesus was starting his ministry. It seemed slow and very different to the way John had led a massive campaign for people to choose repentance. We are no different. When we are under pressures, battling pain or grief, and confused by the pace at which God is moving, we may also cry out, “Are you the one? What are you doing? Why are you moving so slowly?” Jesus answers - he will heal before he scales his work, and he won’t allow us to skip this part of the process. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 14 December 2025  

What makes a movement last? John the Baptist built a following that scaled quickly (we know this from Christian and non-Christian historic sources)!! This week, as we continued our teaching series, 'The Sifting Years', we considered John's strategies as a leader of systemic change. His cry was to convert people to an entirely new economy - one led by God as the CEO of our lives and Prime Minister of our home country. The biblical language is that "the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." In Matthew 3.1-12 we see a leader who exemplifies this change in his own life, provides a new process for people to step into, builds a movement that is replicable and scalable, and sets a high bar. Those who don't meet the standards are called out. To truly turn away from the economy of the world and live under Heaven's Rule means three things for us today. 1. We share with those who have less than us from every pay cheque. 2. We forgive and don't leave people trapped in debt. 3. We are content with our wages and live within our means.  Imagine a nation that did all of these three things in every budget. There is one. It's the true Church and you can step into it right now. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 7 December 2025 

Have you been watching the news? This month we are praying and donating to support communities across South East Asia affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as we continue to hold in prayer so many nations impacted by war and many individuals recovering from religious persection and abuse in religious institutions. Where is God is allowing so much hurt to go on? This week we took a deep dive into Jesus' plan, as recorded in Matthew 24. He told us to expect four things to continue and increase before it will, finally, end: wars, natural disasters, persection of Christians and the worst of human suffering, in the middle east. Heather explains how our God is both just and merciful. He promises a final call; an end to suffering. A day will come when justice will be served. Still, He is the God of grace, second chances and forgiveness, and so the human race has been gifted time. This means we are to expect division over the Gospel, but never be divisive ourselves. We let God do the heavy lifting. Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 31 November 2025

We aren't meant to be church mice! This was the take home message this Sunday. Heather shared some of the reasons why church communities can become timid and happy to be small, keeping the bar low on their Mission Action Plans. As Heather shared the three-year plan ahead of Holy Trinity, she encouraged the congregation to move towards making a noise in the local community - not an offensive, rude noise, but a BEAUTIFUL and skilled sound. This Sunday, we concluded our teaching series about Christian Worship, considering Psalm 150, which describes a people who sing and dance in a loud and bold way.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 23 November 2025

How can God be both good and all-powerful? Surely God can be good, but powerless to stop all suffering, or all-powerful and, therefore, unkind? This week we explored the meaning and practice of worship as described in Psalm 145, in which the singer makes a promise to praise God every day, in all circumstances. We encountered the commitment that people of faith have to exhalt, bless, praise and confess God, even through trial, hardship and persecution. Heather shared a personal example of praising God from a place of despair, and how the Bible answers the question, 'Why pray to a God who lets bad things happen?' God is good. God is all-powerful. God respects the rules of war, and worship is our weapon.    Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 16 November 2025  

Are you someone who loves singing and dancing in church, or are you more likely to arrive fifteen minutes late so you can miss the opening worship? Music in church is often one of the greatest sources of conflict in church communities. This is no surprise, since it matters, and is so much more than the icing on the cake of Christian life. Today we considered the lyrics in Psalm 96, which tell us about why worshipping God in song is important. We learned that though there are many reasons why music aids our faith journey, its primary purpose is to make the weightiness of God's power and love (His kavod) felt, tangible and declared.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 2 November 2025

What if it were possible that we will see a revivial of faith across the nations in our lifetime? This week we welcomed Cameron Healey, the Senior Pastor of Albert Park Baptist Church, to share with us from Isaiah 9.1-7. Cameron spoke about God's promise that light will shine in the darkness, as he shared from his experience of praying in the area of Port Melbourne and setting up a 24/7 Prayer Room. He said, "God is working, doing a new thing in this area." Podcast by Cameron Healey, 26 October 2025 

This Sunday we launched a new, five week teaching series called 'Christian Worship', exploring the meaning of prayer and worship in our lives. We hosted a guest preacher, David Jones, who shared with us from Psalm 95, about his own experience of inviting God to soften his heart.  Podcast by David Jones, 19 October 2025

What credibility rating woud you give Christianity as a source of wisdom about sexuality or finance? Do you feel the Bible holds wisdom the world needs, or are you inclined to think of biblical teachings about money and sex as outdated? It is a common and understandable response to the moral failings of Church leaders, to throw out the credibility of the whole tradition. However, Paul, in his letter to the early Church across Asia Minor, provides very specific counsel about how we are to respond to sexual and financial immorality by Christians, especially leaders. In Ephesians 5.1-20 he outlines why God does not want or expect us to partner with people who are unsafe to be with romatically or financially. He then provides a vision for cutting unhealthy relationship ties and continuing to walk with Jesus, step by step.  Podcast be Heather Cetrangolo, 12 October 2025 

Some churches seem to care more about truth, standards and biblical orthodoxy than compassion and kindness. Other churches can kindess and inclusion above truth. But in truth, love rejoices in facing hard things, having hard conversations. For this reason Paul urges the Church to "grow up", to "mature", and to find the balance between speaking the truth and showing love. Today at Holy Trinity, we considered Paul's words to the early Church in Ephesians 4:1-16, where he provides a pathway to spiritual maturity. He describes a need to nurture all of the gifts that God gives to the Body. To guide us into truth, God raises up teachers, prophets and evangelists. To mature us in our ability to love, He raises up pastors and apostles. Join us on our journey to strengthening all gifts and learning to speak the truth in love.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 5 October 2025

How do you feel about the way Christianity is represented in the media today? One of the earliest marks of Christian faith, from its infancy, when it was still considered a small, Jewish sect that was likely to phase out, was its multi-ethnic, multicultural framework. No longer did followers of this faith need to share the same national, political or cultural identity. Gentiles were welcome, and they weren't expected to convert to the Jewish way of life to join. This wasn't a development that anyone was expecting, least of which the Apostle Paul, who pioneered the mission of the early Church to non-Jewish nations. The early church wrestled with the change that the death and resurrection of Jesus was bringing to history. The movement was now meant to honour the Jewish nation, reject antisemitism, but also allow a multi-national identity to emerge. Ephesians 3.1-13 reminds us that, today, if we are going to represent the good news of Jesus, it cannot be exclusively tied to political allegiance, cultural preferences or language.  Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 28 September 2025  

Do you ever feel as though you are fighting a battle that you never chose? Perhaps it is with your teenager or colleagues, or your line manager at work? Perhaps there is an internal battle you observe, with unhelpful thoughts or temptations? This week we welcomed guest preacher Campbell Brice, who spoke to us about the armour we are encouraged to "put on" in Ephesians 6.10-18. Campbell started by describing some of the daily battles we face with evil; that the battles are real and, therefore, we do need armour. But so often, we create our own "do it yourself" armour, that works for a time, but ultimately lets us down. The armour of Christ is better, stronger, and made to fit.  Podcast by Campbell Brice, 21 September 2025

"Once we were dead," says Paul to the early church across Asia Minor. Once we were dead, but now we are alive together with Christ. We can sow into the things that lead to life, or that which leads to death. These are our choices, says Paul in Ephesians 2.1-10.  This final Vision Sunday for 2025, we considered where the signs of life have been in our past and present at Holy Trinity, and where there have been symptoms of death. The signs of life are always warmth, growth and activity. Signs of death are coldness, hardness, inactivity. As we looked at the things we naturally excel at, the ways God has used Holy Trinity to lead people to life, against that which has held us back, we thought about what it would be like to scale our capacity, making our church open and accessible every day of the week: a 24/7 House of Prayer for all.  Watch this space. Our new vision and Mission Action Plan is beginning to take shape! Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 14 September 2025

Do you ever wish you had a portal, so you could travel back and forth from different parts of the world in seconds? Imagine if you could literally move back and forth from Heaven in seconds, as easily as walking through a wardrobe. C. S. Lewis depicted this concept so beautifully in the Narnia Chronicles. The real life version is, however, even better. Today, we began our six weeks series exploring Paul's letter to the Ephesians (or the early church in Asia Minor). The letter gives us a profound and beautiful exposition of the ways in which we have something even better than a portal: adoption into the family of Christ. Ephesians 1.1-14 reminds us that we belong to Heaven, with a promised inheritance that we begin to experience, now, on earth. Because of this, we can't travel back and forth from earth to Heaven, but we can live in the overlap. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we can be confident in our ability to be hear God's counsel and walk in His presence right now.    Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 7 September 2025 

Have you ever been in a church that had big plans and exciting projects, but these collapsed as soon as the leadership changed? Or have you ever been in a church that built stability on keeping everything the same as it's always been? This Sunday, we considered Jesus' teaching about humility from Luke 14.1, 7-14, which highlights two temptations that church leaders, in particular, must avoid: The temptation to exhalt themselves, by using a congregation to advance their own following, style and branding. The temptation to prioritise the preferences and opinions of people who give time and money to the church, against those who have little or nothing to give. Please pray for us at Holy Trinity, as we discern our vision moving forward, that we will submit our own ideas, preference and desires to Jesus, and our lives to one another.   Podcast by Heather Cetrangolo, 31 August 2025