Category: Sermons

Revelation 3:14-3:22 “The Lukewarm Church”

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The final church that Christ addresses in Revelation is the church in Laodicea. They were materially wealthy, but in spiritual poverty.

Questions for discussion and Reflection
1. Why do you think material wealth can enable self deception?
2. Do you think that you are wealthy? In what sense?
3. What do you think faithful Christian giving towards church and others would look like for you?
3. What do you think Jesus means in Mark 4:19 when he refers to the deceitfulness of riches? How do riches lie to us?
4. What is the difference between shame and guilt?
5. Why is the truth such an important part of repentance?
6. If being wealthy is not sinful in itself, when might it be sinful?
7. In what is Jesus superior to physical wealth?

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Revelation 2:8-11, 3:7-13 “Holding fast”

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This week we are looking at 2 of the messages to the 7 churches from Revelation 2 and 3: Smyrna and Philadelphia. Both of these churches faced persecution for their faith, and are encouraged by Jesus to hold fast. With millions of Christians today living under threat of persecution, these messages are vitally important. As those not currently facing violent persecution for our faith, it is good for us to consider what Jesus calls the persecuted church to.

Questions for discussion and Reflection
1. Why is it important for churches who are not facing persecution to hear this message?
2. Often we are more committed to safety and comfort than to Jesus. How would our lives look different if our Commitment to Jesus was absolute?
3. Is it easy for you to believe that there are worse things than suffering and death?
4.Given that the promise of eternal fellowship with God is so wonderful, why do you think that Christians can be so tempted to give up their faith?
5. How does the gospel make a difference for those who face persecution?

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Revelation 2:1-7 “Our First Love”

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This week we start looking at the first of the messages to the 7 churches in Revelation. The Ephesians were strong on truth, but weak on love. Though they have done much that is good, if they don’t repent then there will be consequences. It can be so easy to become a church that knows the truth, but doesn’t love Jesus.

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Acts 8: 26 – 40 “Stepping into their Story”

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This week Chris Ayers from Pioneers New Zealand joins us and challenges us on the great commission and this invitation from God. Sometimes we struggle to take up the invitation to be a part of this global mission story, due to a perception over our ability. However, when we look at the passage from Acts 8 there are three key elements that lie at the heart of stepping into this call from God: Availability; Humility; and Flexibility. Chris explains.

For more information about what Pioneers New Zealand’s mission is, their website is: https://www.pioneers.org.nz/

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Acts 8: 26 – 40 (ESV)

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[b] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 32 “Blessed Forgiveness”

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This week we welcome back John and are looking in Psalm 32. Unconfessed sin hurts us and damages our health. God is our hiding place, and steadfast love surrounds those who trust the Lord. The blessed are the forgiven.

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Psalm 32 (ESV)

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil[a] of David.

32 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
    which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
    or it will not stay near you.

10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
    but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
    and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Job 19 “Faith in tough times”

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What are we going to think and say about God when the tough times do come? This week Roger is looking in Job Chapter 19 which will help us examine our response to challenges in our lives.

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Job 19 (ESV)

19 Then Job answered and said:

2 “How long will you torment me
    and break me in pieces with words?
3 These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
    are you not ashamed to wrong me?
4 And even if it be true that I have erred,
    my error remains with myself.
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
    and make my disgrace an argument against me,
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong
    and closed his net about me.
7 Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
    I call for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
    and he has set darkness upon my paths.
9 He has stripped from me my glory
    and taken the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
    and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
11 He has kindled his wrath against me
    and counts me as his adversary.
12 His troops come on together;
    they have cast up their siege ramp[a] against me
    and encamp around my tent.

13 “He has put my brothers far from me,
    and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
14 My relatives have failed me,
    my close friends have forgotten me.
15 The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
    I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
    I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
17 My breath is strange to my wife,
    and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
18 Even young children despise me;
    when I rise they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
    and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
    and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
    for the hand of God has touched me!
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me?
    Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

23 “Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[b]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in[c] my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself,
    and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me!
28 If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’
    and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’[d]
29 be afraid of the sword,
    for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
    that you may know there is a judgment.”

Job 3 “And Job opened his mouth…”

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Have we ever got into trouble for opening our mouths? This week we are looking again in the book of Job, Job’s personal suffering and how he is questioning God’s wisdom. Roger explains from this passage how we should not rebel against God’s sovereign rule but rather humble ourselves before him in times of trouble.

Apologies for the intermittent audio issues.

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Job 3 (ESV)

Job Laments His Birth

3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:

3 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
    and the night that said,
    ‘A man is conceived.’
4 Let that day be darkness!
    May God above not seek it,
    nor light shine upon it.
5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
    Let clouds dwell upon it;
    let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 That night—let thick darkness seize it!
    Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
    let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Behold, let that night be barren;
    let no joyful cry enter it.
8 Let those curse it who curse the day,
    who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
    let it hope for light, but have none,
    nor see the eyelids of the morning,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
    nor hide trouble from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not die at birth,
    come out from the womb and expire?
12 Why did the knees receive me?
    Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
13 For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
    I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth
    who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
    as infants who never see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
    and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
    they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and the great are there,
    and the slave is free from his master.

20 “Why is light given to him who is in misery,
    and life to the bitter in soul,
21 who long for death, but it comes not,
    and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly
    and are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
    whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes instead of[a] my bread,
    and my groanings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
    and what I dread befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
    I have no rest, but trouble comes.”