Archive for category Sermons

The Reality of Easter

Cross

2 Timothy 1:10 “Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And to those who look for Him He shall appear the second time without sin to salvation.

The Message of easter is simply this, that in the face of the seemingly unbeatable enemy of death, God has acted decisively to free mankind from it once for all and has demonstrated this thru the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Easter speaks to us of the REALITY of death, the RESPONSE of God and the REACTION of His followers.

THE REALITY OF DEATH

The Bible calls death “an enemy” (1Cor 15). It’s a shadow that hangs over us all. Man has developed technology that could wipe out millions with the touch of a button and though history shows us that man has developed a thousand ways to kill … he STILL does not know how to die. When we face the prospect of our owndeath, we don’t know what to say or what to do. We clam up, we dont want to think about it.

Ben Franklin once said “In this life nothing is certain but death and taxes”.

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The Wise and Foolish Virgins

InviteMarriage, through the Bible is typically about Gods relationship with man. In the Old Testament it was always Gods will that Israel saw him as husband and such was the relationship. In Genesis 24 we read about a servant who is sent by the father in search of a bride for his master’s son . The father (God) sends his servant (Holy Spirit) to look for a bride (the Church) for his son (Jesus), a clear type of the Spirit finding the church… and Jesus is using this type to describe what he will find when he comes for his church.

Matthew 25
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

 

To understand what Jesus was speaking about in Matthew 25:1-13 we must understand each stage in terms of a 1st century marriage ceremony.

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Wise Men Still Seek Him

At this time we look back and remember the revelation of our Lord and Saviour coming to the Earth as part of Gods plan for us.

Christmas for some has just become a commercial festival, which, once it has run it’s course and the January sales have finished is all over for another year.

In the Church however it has become a time of celebration looking back to the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  But why do we just look back? Jesus came to the Earth the first time over 2000 years ago but the Bible tells us that He is coming to this Earth a second time…

The Second Coming is predicted in each of the four Gospels, in the book of Acts and in the epistles of Paul, James, Peter and John. Jesus’ return is the focal point of the entire book of Revelation. If you believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then you must believe in the Second Coming of Christ.

There are some 300 scriptures which talk about the first coming of Jesus and that came to pass as the bible said, but there are some 600 which talk about the return of Jesus…the second coming of Jesus. Here is a comparison of Jesus first coming and his second coming

 

1. First coming – Lamb

John 1:29 – The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Second coming – Lion
Revelation 5:5 – … Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

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Our Relationship With God

Prayer is about coming to God, the disciples saw something different about Jesus and how he prayed and wanted to better understand what it was about.

Luke 11
1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.2 So He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.3 Give us day by day our daily bread.4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.

5 And He said to them, Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him; 7 and he will answer from within and say, Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

The prayer of Jesus for followers was that they might KNOW God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Jesus taught his disciples to speak to God in the most intimate and loving relationhsip they could understand – as their Father. I want today to look at this most fundemental truth of scripture – that of relationship with God.

Luke 11:2 “So He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”

The fatherhood of God was alluded to in in Psalm 103 and other places in Old Testament, but generally God was seen as a taskmaster and unapproachable, but Jesus said the first and most vital aspect of prayer is relationship. When you pray say “Father”

I want to look at THREE things that are highlighted in these verses about establishing, exercising and enjoying your relationship with the Father Read the rest of this entry »

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The Blessing of God

2Samuel 6:11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.12 Now it was told King David, saying, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.

The subject of blessing is controversial. It’s very convenient for people with carnal motives. We see flakes on TV getting testimonies of cheques turning up for thousands and all the hoo-ha surrounding it after all we all want mysterious cheques coming through our letterboxes!This morning a well known American millionaire preacher was preaching about abundance referring to Eden and it seems every sermon he preaches is about money.

BUT we look at our own accounts bleeding red and think we are spiritual and decide this all must be nonsense. And we spiritualize blessing as a feeling or perhaps inner peace (which is part of it) and settle for that.

WHERE should we stand on this subject of Gods blessing on men?
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Serious Christianity – The Right Foundation

Serious Christianity starts with choosing the right foundation

Matthew 7:21-29

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus speaks here about the wise man who firstly hears his words then does the word and equates this to finding the bedrock and then building on the bedrock. If we are to build something meaningful in Gods sight it MUST start by hearing his words

I remember when I was young watching flats being built, starting off with the huge pile drivers that drove piles into the ground until finally they could go no deeper for they had hit a sure foundation of bedrock. The builders were serious about what they were doing for they knew that if they didn’t do the foundation work correctly then sooner or later people would suffer and the blame would lie with them.

Laying foundations to make a magnificent temple (life) that glorifies God always starts like that, by digging down and preparing the ground. Foundational work is what every christian fails in, and we see it manifest by a collapse at the first battle because the most important part of any construction project  and every building project starts at the foundation level. The foundation of the truth of Gods word is where every human temple building project must  begin.  Man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God  (Deut 8:3, Matt 4:4, Luke 4:4) Knowing his word is knowing Him who is The Word. It’s the most vital foundational fact that if we are to have life we must know God and Jesus Christ whom he sent (John 17:3) Our foundation must be the truth of Gods word. Read the rest of this entry »

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