Michael Toy
Michael Toy is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington studying digital religion in New Zealand. He also serves as public theologian for the Student Christian Movement Aotearoa.
Sermons and Bible Studies
Strange and Wonderful, Last Sunday in Epiphany (B) – 2021
[RCL] 2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9 What a beautifully strange and wonderful story we find in Mark today. Our gospel reading tells of Jesus’ transfiguration, an event recounted by all three of the synoptic gospels. There’s a lot to unpack here. There’s the presence of Elijah and Moses. There’s the […]
Pointing to Christ, Advent 2 (B) – 2020
[RCL] Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 The perennial challenge during Advent and Christmastime is to hear anew the familiar story we all know. We all know the story. We’ve all seen the Christmas pageants. We’ve set up the Nativity crèche with the holy family, cow, donkey, and shepherds. It’s become […]
Bible Study: Advent 2 (B) – 2020
RCL: Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8 Pointing to Christ The perennial challenge during Advent and Christmastime is to hear anew the familiar story we all know. We all know the story. We’ve all seen the Christmas pageants. We’ve set up the Nativity crèche with the holy family, cow, donkey, and […]
Lent: A Season for Dominance, Lent 1 (A) – 2020
[RCL]: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11; Psalm 32 “If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” What image does your mind […]
Zombie Ants, Baptism, and the Beloved, Epiphany 1 (A) – January 12, 2020
[RCL]: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 In the 1950s, a young Harvard professor, Dr. Ed Wilson, discovered something fascinating about ants. When an ant dies, after a couple of days, the other ants take it to the colony’s refuse pile where other dead ants and junk gets discarded. Ed Wilson discovered – […]
Bible Study: Easter 5 (B) – 2015
Acts 8:26-40 This story from Luke/Acts stars Philip, one of the seven deacons chosen earlier, in Acts 6:5. Philip has just come from Samaria, where he preached the gospel with joyous reception. Now we find Philip on a road in the wilderness where he teaches the Ethiopian eunuch about Jesus. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells […]
Bible Study: Lent 4 (B) – 2015
Numbers 21:4-9 This passage finds the people of Israel after they have left Egypt and journeyed through the wilderness. Bullied by the Edomites, the Israelites become impatient on the circuitous route and repeat their malcontented refrain: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?” God responds by sending poisonous […]
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