By Lisa Visentin
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has urged churchgoers not to trust in governments, warning it would be a mistake to do so based on his experience in the upper echelons of power.
In a sermon to Perth’s Victory Life Centre, the Pentecostal church run by controversial former tennis champion Margaret Court, Morrison encouraged the congregation to put their faith in God rather than the government.
Scott Morrison delivered a sermon to Victory Life Centre on Sunday, urging churchgoers to trust in God, not government.Credit:
“We trust in Him. We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in United Nations, thank goodness,” Morrison said in the Sunday sermon.
“We don’t trust in all of these things, fine as they might be and as important as the role that they play. Believe me, I’ve worked in it, and they are important.
“But as someone who’s been in it, if you are putting your faith in those things, like I put my faith in the Lord, you are making a mistake. They are earthly, they are fallible. I’m so glad we have a bigger hope.”
Morrison attended the service at the invitation of Court to mark the church’s 27th birthday. Also in attendance were former federal Liberal MP Vincent Connelly and former WA premier Richard Court, whose older brother is married to Margaret Court.
In the 50-minute address to the congregation, the member for Cook touched on the Coalition’s election defeat, telling the crowd he believed God had a plan for him.
“Do you believe that if you lose an election that God still loves you and has a plan for you? I do. Because I still believe in miracles,” he said to applause from churchgoers.
For the majority of the sermon, he talked about anxiety, which he defined as everyday worries that the “oil of God” could assuage.
“All of this anxiousness, all of this anxiety ... all of this feeling about the bills that are pouring in, all of this feeling about the anxiety, and then the oil of God, the ointment of God, comes on this situation and releases you, if you will have it, and receive His gift,” he said.
Morrison spoke to the congregation for 50 minutes.Credit:
Succumbing to anxiety was “Satan’s plan”, he said.
“We cannot allow these anxieties to deny us that. That’s not His plan. That’s Satan’s plan.”
He drew a distinction between anxiety and mental illness, saying the latter had “very real causal factors”, such as biological issues, which required professional clinical treatment.
In a joking reference to the 10 Plagues of Egypt in the Old Testament, Morrison told an anecdote about attending a meeting with former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, after the nation had grappled with fires, floods, a mice plague and the ongoing pandemic.
“One day, it was the National Security Committee meeting of cabinet [with] Josh Frydenberg, [my] great friend. I turned to him, and I said: ‘Josh, I think it’s time we let your people go’,” Morrison said.
In the book of Exodus, the God of Israel inflicts plagues on Egypt to convince the pharaoh to set the Hebrews free from slavery.
At the end of Morrison’s address, Court took to the stage, telling the congregation: “The Lord certainly has a life for you after politics.”
Half a dozen Liberal MPs, including acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, declined to comment.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.