Morrison speaks of "Satan's plan" in Margaret Court's church

If Scott Morrison wasn't a politician, he would be a pastor.

Scott Morrison attends a church service during the 2019 election campaign.

If Scott Morrison wasn't a politician, he would be a pastor.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has delivered a sermon where he warned people about "Satan's plan".

He is worried Australia has been gripped by worry because of the Covid pandemic and said he "still believes in miracles" despite the wipe out loss of his government at the Federal election.

Morrison spoke for more than an hour in Perth at the weekend on the invitation of tennis star Margaret Court, the founder of the church who is celebrating her 80 birthday, where he also helped officially open her new Victory Life Church headquarters.

On Sunday Morrison urged parishioners to trust in God above all else.

"We trust in Him. We don't trust in governments. We don't trust in the United Nations, thank goodness," Morrison said.

Morrison's rhetoric while addressing Church congregations would not be surprising or shocking to fellow attendees. This language and teaching is the standard for majority of people watching, listening or streaming.

Scott Morrison speaking at a guest at Margaret Court's Church. Picture: 9 News

He also spoke at length about the rising rates of mental illness in Australia.

Morrison highlighted there were “biological issues” or “brain chemistry” that resulted in clinical disorders and sought to link the everyday anxieties to a spiritual deficit.

Morrison added that if people "gave into" their worries, they were resigning themselves to "Satan’s plan"

“God knows that anxiety is part of the human condition,” he said.

He drew parallels between God’s “engagements” and how counsellors address mental health before declaring if you had faith in God’s plan you didn’t need to worry.

“No matter how [secular people] might seek to deny it, or even dismiss it, the truth of God stands up and shines,” Morrison said.

It was the first time Morrison had visited WA since his election defeat. A loss that came from the overwhelming rejection of the government as the results saw a massive swing from voters away from the Liberal party.

He confirmed his acceptance to appear alongside Court - a divisive public figure due to her anti-gay views - was done so in a "private capacity". However, Morrison is still an MP and when parliament starts next week he will be an opposition backbencher earning a publicly funded pay cheque of more than $180,000.

If we wasn't a politician, he'd be a pastor

On the eve of the election back in May Morrison sat down with The Oz and told us exclusively that if he wasn't in politics, he would be a preacher.

"I probably would have been a church pastor," Morrison, a proud Pentecostal Christian, said while adding that you didn't need to be loved to be a good PM, but had to be "respected and be strong and listen".

@theoz.com.au

#scottmorrison says he felt misunderstood on the issue of women, which has been identified as central to his election defeat. This interview has been abbreviated. Read more from the interview on theoz.com.au

♬ original sound - The Oz

His address in front of churchgoers in Perth is not entirely surprising. 

Morrison made his final ever public comments as Prime Minister in the confines of his regular Church in Sydney's Sutherland Shire the day after the election loss.

“Jenny and I and the girls are very grateful to our church family here,” Morrison said back in May.

“You’ve given us a great foundation from which we could walk what has been a very difficult walk, I’ve got to tell you, over the last four years.

“Whether you’re a prime minister, a pastor, running a business, teaching in schools, working in the police force, it doesn’t matter. We’re each called to trust and obey. And that’s the life of faith He calls us to. That’s how we live our faith each and every day, regardless of what your job is, and to express it in how you do that.”

He also quoted from the Bible and was seen to wipe away tears.

Margaret Court has a church?

After her world-recording breaking tennis career Court leaned in hard to her faith (something she also never shied away from during her playing days).

Australia’s greatest ever tennis player established the Victory Life Church in 1995.

“Following a call from God to establish a word of faith (and) Pentecostal ministry in the Perth area. Our Vision is to train an army of people who know Christ from within, to take this city and nation for Jesus,” the Church’s website states.

The Pentecostal church’s new five-story prayer tower, which was approved for construction back in 2018, opened at the weekend.

 

Court has been a vocal supporter of the former PM.

Former Australian tennis player Margaret Court now runs a Church in Perth where ScoMo held court at the weekend.

 

Her husband Barry is a former Liberal party president. 

 

Back in February she publicly prayed Morrison would be re-elected and she previously defended him during his family holiday to Hawaii as bush fires ravaged NSW.

 

In the 12-months to June 2021, Court's Church received $365,000 in taxpayer dollars - which was the last full financial year of Morrison’s Prime Ministership - and is exempt from tax as all churches are.

 

It also received $283,000 worth of Government funding and grants over the 2019-20 financial year.

Victory Life Treasurer James Chan revealed in August last year the Church also collected $500,000 through the Morrison government's JobKeeper scheme to support its 12 full-time and 13 casual employees.