Mankind longs for salvation. Some think that they can find it in gaining power, either power by strength or by influence. Others think it can be found by looking inward to ourselves, either by embracing all our impulses or discarding all our desires. We think that power or inward peace will bring about eternal peace and security to our restless souls. Thank God that true salvation is not found within us and what we can do. According to the Scriptures, true salvation is found external to ourselve...
Mar 24, 2024•38 min
Two weeks ago, we read in Ezekiel 37:1-14 that God brings about our spiritual resurrection by his Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. God's people is a creature of God's word - creature in the sense that we were created and made alive by God's word. One author puts it this way, "She [the Church] has been made alive by the Word. God spoke her into existence through the declaration of the Gospel - his righteousness on our behalf." The church has been made alive by God's word. It is also God...
Mar 17, 2024•43 min
Most people want something to believe in even if it’s just belief in themselves, something to hope for even if it’s a bit wishful, and some experience of love even if it's only fleeting. Our hearts are hard-wired for faith, hope and love. And this great triad is also at the heart of the gospel that is perfectly designed to meet, substantially and lastingly, our deepest desires. These three virtues take us to the essence of Christianity and the greatest needs of our souls.
Mar 10, 2024•30 min
The fundamental problem with our world is the spiritual death of mankind. There is nothing we can do to change that. What can dead people do to save themselves? Ezekiel speaks God's word to the very dry bones and they came to life. Only God can raise us from spiritual death to life. He accomplishes that through the proclamation of God's word by the power of His Spirit. This means that the first and most important activity of our Christian life is to sit under the faithful preaching of God's word...
Mar 03, 2024•37 min
We’ve heard it a lot… ‘Step out in faith’. Yet do we really know what that entails? As individual Christians and as a church are we prepared to adventurously launch out with lots of unknowns and TRUST God that He will provide? Then also, when things appear to go ‘pear shaped’, do we have PATIENCE to ride out the storm with God in the boat knowing He can still the storm? In today’s sermon, looking at the life of Joseph, we will see what it means to trust God and have patience; really believing no...
Feb 25, 2024•38 min
It is no easy task to be an elder in the church of Jesus. The church is not another club or organisation, it alone in all the world is the body of Christ, His bride for whom He is very jealous. He loves us dearly, warts and all. In the life of Moses we see how great the love of God is for His people, a love to be reflected in the love, compassion, grace and patience of those He appoints as leaders. Such Christ-like service seems impossible... not everyone in the church is easy to get along with,...
Feb 19, 2024•27 min
Prayer is a central part of the Christian life. So why is it so hard? We know the Lord’s Prayer. We sometimes pray around the dinner table or when we need him. But is this enough? This Sunday, we will look at the end of Ephesians - following on from the previous verses on the Armour of God. Here, Paul gives us his explanation of why we should pray; what we should pray; how and when we should pray; and who we can pray for.
Feb 18, 2024•24 min
It seems that we’ve had a good number of sermons this year on personal afflictions & suffering. Last Sunday we had John’s encouraging sermon from Hannah & the “pouring out of her heart” regarding her childlessness - a major affliction in her days & still today. It’s such a regular part of all our lives - grief, pain, anxiety in all forms. Do you still often struggle with the “why?” of your agonising? James thought so also as he devotes the first section of his epistle to the subject ...
Feb 05, 2024•33 min
Life can be great and most of us would know fun times, wonderful experiences and fantastic holidays. But it’s not always like that. At times there are tears in our eyes and we are left wondering, “why is this happening?” or “how long can this go on?”. It begs the question: Who of us gets through life without tears? What do you do then? Tough it out, hoping for better days ahead? Check out Psychology Today on your Newsfeed for helpful advice? Phone a friend? Each of these has some merit. The Chri...
Jan 28, 2024•39 min
As it is still early in the new year, wisdom says that it is good to revisit regular aspects of our Christian life to know that we are not slipping in our devotion to our great Saviour. One vital & regular aspect is TEMPTATION - Ah! Yes! The dreaded word. Dreaded largely because we fail miserably in dealing with the temptations of our sinful hearts. The good news is - in God’s providence - this is the next topic of James’ letter to the scattered church of the 1st Century - so may the Lord by...
Jan 21, 2024•32 min
The armour of God is a very well known passage in Scripture. But what is it all about? What does it mean for us to put on God’s armour? And why do we need to do this? This Sunday, we will explore what Paul has to say about the spiritual war that rages in our world today and how we can best stand as soldiers for Jesus.
Jan 15, 2024•39 min
Rebuilding is no easy task. It's hard enough to start a project and see it through to completion the first time around, so to have to do it all over again can feel like a waste of time. In the Bible, we see on numerous occasions that this isn't just true of physical buildings either. In fact, buildings seem to represent our own lives, and our relationship with our own master builder, who is also our foundation: God himself. While we are being built into a 'spiritual temple' for him, the book of ...
Jan 07, 2024•35 min
It’s that time of the year again. The world seems to get obsessed with their new resolutions for the New Year. Maybe they want to lose weight; drink less; make new friends; or learn a new skill. Whatever it is, most of the time, they’ve given up by the time February rolls by! In today’s service, we will take a look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In it, Paul provides a ’resolution’ for us that is actually of greater worth and significance. It is my hope and prayer that we can all be encoura...
Dec 31, 2023•26 min
There's something about darkness that just seems wrong. Whether literal or metaphorical, darkness hides and conceals all kinds of threats to our lives - physical, mental, and, above all, spiritual. The problem, though, is that the more we look at the world around us, and the more we look at our own lives, the more darkness we seem to find; things we're ignorant of, and things we would rather others not know about. This morning, though, we're going to discover that there is a light shining in thi...
Dec 29, 2023•32 min
It's hard to escape all the lights around us at this time of year - it's Christmas, after all - but there is one light who stands above all others, who we'll be considering over a short Christmas series for the next couple of weeks. This week, we'll be thinking about what the apostle John means when he calls Jesus 'the light of life for all mankind' in the introductory passage to his gospel. Just who is Jesus, that John would give him such a title? Is he really that important to the lives of you...
Dec 18, 2023•33 min
We know the world needs to hear the gospel, but how do we get involved? Romans 10 gives us a logical process of how people are able to call on the name of the Lord and be saved, and it begins with people being sent to preach the good news. Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15 tell us that beautiful feet bring good news. Let us think about our own feet, what message are we bringing and where are we going with it? We are the sent ones and we are the ones called to preach good news. Many of us may be reluc...
Dec 11, 2023•33 min
What do we think of the kings we read in 1 & 2 Kings? In my experience, we use the same summaries we were taught at Kids@Church: this king was good; that one was bad. This one was wise; that one was fat…and so forth. In 1 Kings 12, we learn about the kings that split Israel into two. On first reading, we might say they are just ‘bad kings’, but perhaps there is something to be said about us through their examples. This Sunday, we will take a closer look at Rehoboam and Jeroboam to see how th...
Dec 10, 2023•32 min
The world is a REALLY SCARY place at the moment. The war in Ukraine with Putin’s threats of nuclear war was unsettling enough. Now Israel is in a all out war with Hamas in the Gaza strip and at any time this could engulf the entire Middle East… then who knows what China might do with Taiwan? For some, these foreboding events and threats are enough to put plans on hold… ‘wait and see what is going to unfold’. In the context of a baptism in our worship service, I am reminded of many reports over t...
Nov 27, 2023•34 min
Picture this: As Mum's birthday approaches, anticipation fills the air, and the kids, determined to make this year truly special, forgo the usual gimmicks. A spirited debate ensues among them, each vying to contribute the perfect idea. Sensing the escalating tension, they converge on Mum's bed one morning, collectively seeking her birthday wish. Without hesitation, Mum's simple desire emerges: "I just want my kids to love each other and get along." In Philippians, the Apostle Paul, expressing de...
Nov 19, 2023•34 min
Sermon Description: Can we be assured that when all is said and done, God will welcome us into his Kingdom for eternity? It’s a critical question – not just for Christians but for all people. As we look at the Apostle Paul’s comment about his own future and the confidence with which he speaks about it in 2 Timothy 4, we see that biblical assurance isn’t wishful thinking or a waste of time, but something that can bring the believer not only benefit in eternity but also real, tangible benefits in ...
Nov 12, 2023•26 min
In Proverbs 8, we have Lady Wisdom calling out to all mankind to listen to her and follow her instructions. She calls us to choose her over gold and silver. Riches and wealth do not guarantee that we will flourish in God’s world. It is only through wisdom that we can flourish because wisdom teaches us how to do that in this world that God has made. As God created our world, he wove his wisdom into the fabric of his world and that is why true wisdom can only be found in a relationship with God. A...
Nov 05, 2023•35 min
When reading through the Biblical minor prophets, there are a number of themes and phrases that keep appearing, such as sin and judgement, repentance and mercy, restoration and hope, all of which are connected with 'the day of the Lord'. As it so happens, that phrase and these themes all feature prominently in Zephaniah, which makes it a great book to sink our teeth into for the sake of better understanding what God has to say to us across these books of the minor prophets, as we consider what i...
Oct 29, 2023•36 min
The late Reverend Tim Keller wrote that most visitors to his church [in New York] would say that “they know there are many great stories and sayings in the Bible, but today you can’t take it literally. What they mean is that the Bible is not entirely trustworthy because some parts – maybe many or most parts – are scientifically impossible, historically unreliable, and culturally regressive”. That’s strong language and leaves the Bible with lots of holes in it, but it’s not hard to find similar s...
Oct 22, 2023•41 min
Psalms 42 and 43 could be described as Psalms of the Struggler. They describe the experience of someone who longs for God on the one hand, but who is honest enough to admit that they don’t feel God's presence. Someone who isn’t experiencing God’s love, although they long to. And, someone who doesn’t want things to stay this way. They desire things to change. But how? They’re not quite sure. And maybe that’s you as well. Or it will be you, at some point in the future. God gave us these Psalms to ...
Oct 15, 2023•32 min
We all make promises in our lives - promises to do certain things, to behave a certain way, or to be certain places. And Psalm 132 is full of promises - promises keep, promises broken and promises ignored. But above all, Psalm 132 is about the best promise of all - God’s promise to us of a Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Oct 09, 2023•41 min
The epistle of James is concerned with living faith. A Faith that has come as the result of our new birth through the word of Truth (1:18). This word, that has given us new birth, is to govern the whole Christian life - James says we are to “humbly accept the word planted in you” and to “do what it says”. James spends much of his letter unpacking what this looks like both in word and deed. James 3:1 - 12 focuses on words. His big idea is that your words should draw from, and reflect, the word of...
Oct 09, 2023•40 min
Have you ever noticed how the Christian life is the antithesis of what Society says? This morning we are confronted with God’s view of “happiness” contrasted with the world’s view. Indeed everyone wants to be “happy!” The media is always advising us of the steps to be at peace with ourselves; winning lotto, holidays - whether cruises, tours or just caravanning around Australia - the push for “good health” by the medical fraternity. A quick look in the library or around a book store you see how p...
Sep 24, 2023•38 min
We all want to live a good life; a life of peace and security, of comfort and prosperity, of life's pleasures, of relationship and community. Even if we don't expect to have all these things, we still desire them, because we recognise that they are good. But where do we turn to receive them? Where does the good life come from? In this passage from Jeremiah 2, we see that God himself is the provider of all the things we enjoy, but that Israel - his chosen people - had turned away from him and sou...
Sep 17, 2023•34 min
Australia is a wealthy nation & Australians are rich people by the world’s standards. James is writing to poor refugee Christians - the contrast could hardly be stronger! So is this passage of God’s Word unnecessary for us to give attention? Definitely not! There is great danger for rich Christians in this world which sets its goal of earthly happiness in wealth - not in the riches of grace that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ! Wealth is God’s gift to be used generously for the needy - insi...
Sep 11, 2023•31 min
In Psalm 33 we’re challenged to consider our picture of God and to ask whether it’s really big enough! In the Psalm we’re called to praise God for his power and his majesty, to remember that he is an all-powerful, all-seeing God who rules over all things. But we’re reminded that even though God is so big and so powerful he is still a God who watches over and cares for his people. In the light of that truth, then we are called to avoid putting our trust in the things of this world, or in our own ...
Sep 05, 2023•30 min
