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Parable of the Sower
17/02/2013 | Tim Baldwin
Tim Baldwin unpacks the parable of the sower. Parables are not given so that everyone understands, but rather (v9) to speak like Isaiah, as a form of judgement. Truth is concealed from the casual listener, who ultimately are judged for ignoring Gods truth. God is a speaking God and His word (the seed) is delivered and heard in many ways. 1. Path - the devil takes away the word of God. 2. Rocky ground - receive the word with joy, then fall away when testing comes 3. Thorns - hear the word, but allows life's worries, riches and pleasures to take priority 4. Good soil - hear & retain the word and through perseverance produce an abundant harvest of godliness with a passion for mission. Pray that you listen to God's word and have your life shaped by it to become more like Christ.
Reincarnation
13/01/2013 | Andrew Heard
Andrew Heard unpacks reincarnation Religious viewpoint 1. Pessimistic view that life is oneness 2. Human is a dislocated part of that oneness 3. Separation from oneness, due to Karma. 4. Escape the wheel of life to be merged back to the oneness of life. Western optimistic view 1. Externality of life. Materialism has bred an arid landscape, if we are just machines. 2. Giving vent to justness and fairness. Past lives explain circumstances, and provides motivation for doing good. 3. Desire to be free from constraint. Allows accountability just for self, without an overarching deity that demands obedience. God came to seek and save the lost, breaking a cycle that we could never do, providing freedom from Karma and the ability to live as we were designed for.
Romans 6:1-14
21/07/2013 | Andrew Heard
Romans 6 answers the question, if we are saved by grace, do we really need to change at all? Christianity is all about change. The early chapters of Romans highlight the big issues of life, such as God's judgement of sin. Romans describes Two Realms * Adam - Sin, Death, Law, Condemnation, Old * Jesus/God - Life, Freedom, Righteousness, New Moving from Adam's realm to God's realm isn't possible by works, but by faith (Rom 5:1) Baptism is being incorporated into something, or identified with. Faith unites us with Christ and baptises us as a Christian. Died to Adam's realm in order that we can live a new life in God's realm. Free from being a slave to sin, and given power to live in God's realm. Grow and develop a discontent with the old self, whilst grow in contentment of the new life Discipline yourself to not let sin reign
Family for the Glory of God - Part 3
9/06/2013 | Craig Dobbie
Craig unpacks Mark 12:28-34 for the final of our 3 week series on Family for the Glory of God Jesus sums up the 10 commandments - they are all about love - Jesus distinguishes 'Love of God first, then Love of your neighbour' second Family is a good thing, but teaching kids that they are the ultimate thing in life has negative outcomes - they become spoilt. If they succeed they get arrogant, and if they fail it comes with tremendous guilt. Practice living by grace. God forgives fully and completely because of the cross. Failure is normal & frequent and you don't have to run away from it. Grace itself is the motive for loving God. But Model alone is ambiguous. At every point when you deal with relationships you are training your heart. When you put something before God, you actually break the love of God. Jesus calls us to God first because it actually helps us love our neighbour.
Romans 6:15-23
28/07/2013 | Tim Baldwin
Christ died to sin, so His death is ours. If we are joined with Jesus then His resurrection is ours. Rom 6:15 Paul asks "If Gods grace is so powerful to forgive any sin, then why does it matter whether we change?" You are a slave to whatever you obey. God has laid claim to us, so it's natural to want to obey & desire God with thanksgiving - rejoicing to be a 'slave of God' Just because we have experience of sitting under flawed authority, it shouldn't cause us to assume that getting out from under authority is freedom. We were designed to sit under authority and true freedom comes from sitting under good authority. Being united with Christ, lets us see becoming slaves of God being good and living in true freedom. We have become free to serve God in whatever circumstances we are faced with, free to share the gospel, caring for people's spiritual needs, free to be content in Christ.
Easter Mark 15:42-16:8
16/04/2017 | Grahame Fuller
Jesus is risen! The undeniable evidence brings an undeniable hope, in the undeniable Lord.
Luke 7:18-28
10/02/2013 | Andrew Heard
Andrew Heard preaching on Luke 7:18-28. Even John the Baptist, who Jesus claim was the greatest man that ever lived had doubt. Expecting "the coming one" to bring fire, and hearing the reports of what Jesus was doing gave him doubt. Jesus did come to bring judgement at the cross, but before then focused on seeking out the remnant and to seek and save the lost. Doubts that are founded in the wrong teaching, lead to a rebellious doubt, but John's doubt wasnt a rebellious doubt, but rather one which was inquisitive / weak. He answers John disciples, saying I'm the one mentioned in Isaiah (Isa 35:3, Isa 61) Luke 7 was written to bring us face to face with who Jesus is. He healed the sick, brought people back from the dead and offered forgiveness, engaging with a gentile, window, & a sinful woman.
Easter Sunday 2019 (morning) - Life Changing
21/04/2019 | Jez Reynolds
Jesus died. Jesus rose. This is the most life-changing event in history! There have been many life-changing moments in history, but they are all dwarfed by the resurrection. Jez Reynolds unfolds the life-changing significance of the event of that first Easter Sunday.
Don Carson - Matthew 2:1-12
16/12/2012 | Don Carson
Don Carson reflects on the wise men's visit to Bethlehem and the insights for the gospel of Matthew. 1. Jesus is King 2. Gentiles are included in the gospel.The pagan wise men were Gentiles, as was Ruth (see genealogy in Matthew 1), right through to Matthew 28. 3. Evil forces will try to kill Jesus.Not only Herod, Satan etc. 4. The world Jesus comes to is evil. (Slaughter of infant boys 2 and under in second part of Matt 2) 5. God sometimes uses strange means. (Use of pagan wise men, plus numerous other examples throughout Matthew) 6. The coming if Jesus fulfills scripture. 7. God in His so sovereignty preserves (escape to Egypt, Matt 8:23) 8. At select points in history God intervenes more immediately. (The birth of Jesus includes 5 miracles - God is saying LOOK AT THIS! ) 9. Jesus is worthy of all worship. (The wise men and on the day of judgement 'All knees will bow' ) Pray that you will recognise the Lordship of Jesus, worship Him as our saviour.
Romans 7:14-25
11/08/2013 | Tim Baldwin
Tim Baldwin preaching on Romans 7:14-25 Change is hard! Paul acknowledges this in this passage. Christians are no longer slaves to sin, but live with the presence of sin. Is Paul reflecting on his present state or at his state before conversion? Evidence for Present State - tense of the sentences - v8 desire to obey the law - v22 delight in Gods law - v25 thanks to God for delivering Jesus This can lead to complacency in dealing with sin. Evidence for Paul referring to his state before conversion - Consistency with Roms 6:6 - v17 sin living in me alive and kicking - v18 good itself doesn't dwell in me - v21 law still at work in him - v23 a prisoner to the law of sin - v25 slave to the law of sin - Roms 8:2 we are set free from the law of sin - Context of Rom 7 is Paul talking primarily to Jews who knew the law - v7 reflecting back to the time before the law (which must be pre-Moses) Gal 5:17 Paul acknowledges Christians struggle with sin. Key message of the passage is that life under the law is frustrating. Law refers here to the 10 commandments and the expanded version of laws in the first 5 books of the Bible. Rom 2:12-15 says that even Gentiles have moral law in their conscious. Law brings out sin in us, and helps us see sin. Sin is the problem, so what is the solution? More laws? No, the solution for sin is to let the Law humble us, so that we see our need for a saviour! v 25 - the answer is Jesus, his righteousness can be credited to us, making us right with God.