Spirited Word

By God's Word proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works faith in God's grace in Jesus, when and where he pleases. Sermons by Pastor Adrian Kitson, Lutheran Church of Australia. St Petri Lutheran Church, Nuriootpa, Barossa Valley, South Australia. www.stpetri.org.au

Spirited Word is a religion podcast hosted by Adrian Kitson, with 212 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Adrian Kitson hosts Spirited Word, a religion show with 212 episodes published.

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  Spirited Word

  Long Faith

  Aug 18, 202624 min

  Send us Fan Mail Sunday 9 August 2026 Yes, we are back in that famous scene of wind, water, storm, gale and a ghost’ walking across it all. It is the ‘walking on water’ gospel account today. We know it well. We love it a lot. I think it is because the account of Jesus grabbing Peter and pulling him up out of the stormy sea when Peter seems to ‘fail’ the test of faith that dark night, says that when we are drowning in our own stormy time, Jesus is right there ready and able to save us from it all. But did Peter actually fail the test of faith? Is this account a warning to followers of Jesus to not get too carried away with themselves? Is it a tale that is told to direct us to not be impetuous or risky as Peter seemed to be as he hears that familiar voice and asks to head toward it, even over churning waves and gale-force wind resistance? I am not sure this is a main point for the gospel writers who tell this story. I wonder whether this is a story of faith in Jesus for sure, but a call to real faith; real trust; to not play it safe or ever take a risk, but to do so more often with faith in Jesus. We Lutherans might not like that word ‘risk’. We might find ourselves having a dig at Peter’s apparent ‘failure’ from our comfortable church chairs. That seems all well and good until the storm clouds of life gather over us and we know we are in danger. Is it then that Peter may not seem so impetuous or arrogant or silly? I wonder... Pastor Adrian

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  Spirited Word

  Fine-Dining Gift Voucher

  Aug 5, 202621 min

  Send us Fan Mail Sunday 02 August 2026 We are back in that magnificent poem of poems as spoken by the prophet Isaiah. In one of the many pictures he paints of both God’s judgement of our sin and God’s beautiful resurrection of whole life, Isaiah issues a call to a free banquet that God has paid for in full for everyone. All we have to do is come, get up, receive the fully satisfying gifts of The Suffering Servant, whom we know as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus now simply ‘des Iasiah’. That day by the sea on the grassy slopes with thousands looking for food that satisfies, they get it. It is that famous ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’. Sounds simple and actually is. Just reach out and take the bread and fish. Just receive… It would be very simple if it were not for this heart of ours that simply wants to pay our own way. Isaiah is clear. We are not very smart shoppers in the world of a million delights. We work very hard for things that can’t fully satisfy and we pay a lot of hard-earned cash and a great deal of time we think is ours dreaming of what we want next. Not only do we stay away from receiving God’s gifts but we tend to believe he has no good gifts, or not enough anyway. But Jesus just does Isaiah today. He gives you a meal voucher at the fanciest restaurant in town and there is no bill to pay now or later when he returns to settle accounts. All you need to do is get up, seek, listen and receive. Praying you do that and get more than a trolley of things today. Pastor Adrian

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  Spirited Word

  Yes, We Understand?

  Aug 1, 202627 min

  Send us Fan Mail Sunday 26 July 2026 It is with pleasure that we prepare to receive the Word via Dr Tim Stringer, Principal of Australian Lutheran Collage. May the Word call you, challenge you and comfort you for the journey we share together today. Dr Tim says… Last Sunday, we were deep in the territory of weeds and wheat. This week, we hear and read a series of rapid-fire parables that describe what the kingdom of heaven is like. We might think we can recognise the kingdom, yet it is described in several different, surprising and hidden ways in quick succession across five short parables. These are laid out before the disciples, and when asked if they understand all these things, they reply, “Yes”, but we don’t hear their tone of voice in the scriptures. There is a trend on social media at the moment in which an individual is asked to say a phrase in four or five different tones of voice. In the case of the disciples, would the meaning be altered if they used a surprised, tentative, certain, or assertive tone? Any of those might work in this case. We hope, of course, that they are certain! Do YOU understand all of these parables? How might you answer Jesus’ question if he directed it to you today? Hopefully, as we rummage through the storehouse of treasures hidden in these parables today, we might discover something new or something old that we might feel impelled to bring out and share with others. Blessings, Tim

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  Spirited Word

  The Weeds

  Jul 20, 202628 min

  Send us Fan Mail Sunday 19 July 2026 Sometimes I wish God would deal with all the injustice of the world. Sometimes I wish the Church could be so much better, especially when Christian people do some really silly and bad things. What do we do with the frustration we feel about all the suffering and trouble in the world? What does the Lord do for us when the church gets it wrong and we get it wrong? We are in rapid-fire parable territory this morning. In this little section of Matthew’s gospel there are seven parables in a row. Jesus says every one of them speak of what living with faith in his presence and promises are like for us. The focus today is number 2 of the seven – this picture of a paddock with both wheat and weeds being planted and growing together. The picture comes with a prohibition for us: “Don't try and pull up the weeds!”. In fact, “Let the weeds grow". Why on earth would we do that? We don't do that with real weeds. We get rid of them with hard work or hard chemicals! Apparently, this is not the way in Jesus' way. In pulling up the weeds we may disrupt the wheat. This is not our job. But it is someone's job. All very mysterious. I wonder how you are navigating growing in Jesus among those who aren't? Pastor Adrian

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  Spirited Word

  Who Do You Trust?

  Jul 17, 202628 min

  Send us Fan Mail Sunday 12 July 2026 As Christians we believe that the Bible is the sacred writings of God himself, as he inspired his chosen authors to write it down. Therefore we often refer to the Bible as “the Word of God”. But the truth is that only Christians believe this. Non-Christians (or ‘not-yet Christians’) do not see the Bible with faith. They only see a very very big book with a lot of ‘stuff’ in it that is hard for them to understand. And since they have no idea how we got this book, they simply put it in the same category as the Sutras of the Buddhists, the Vedas of the Hindus, the Qu’ran of the Muslims, or the Book of Mormon of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Students of three Year 6 classes in a Lutheran school some years ago reinforced the fact that people with no faith, and very little knowledge, see the Bible as an old book that is unreliable, contradictory, out of date and that it must have changed from the original over time. And they believe this even though they have never read the Bible. So when I have a chance to engage with sceptics about Jesus, I don’t start with the gospel. I talk about the Bible and why Christians are so sure that it is the Word of God. Because if it is what it claims to be, then everyone should take it very seriously. I talk about the origins of the Bible and its reliability as a historical record. I want them to understand that Christians don’t close their eyes to history or science. It is a book that is worth a closer look. For if they don’t come to see it as God’s revelation to all people of all ages, they won’t accept they are sinful, or that Jesus came to be the Saviour of the world. The historical story of how the Bible has come to us today is a powerful witness to the God who inspired it. When people at least acknowledge that the Bible has not been altered over the millennia, and that it is no ordinary book, they may begin to take its content and message of salvation more seriously. As one Year 6 student wrote to me after one presentation, “I will never doubt the Bible again.” My hope is that he now trusts in the clear gospel message of Jesus’ love for him. I pray that the message today will help to encourage and strengthen your faith too. Pastor Robert Voigt

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