Sermons

Theme: Love is Sacrifice Points: 1. Christ Loves us with a Father’s Love 2. Love brings joy 3. Loving as Christ loves

“Why?” It’s the most repeated question in a child’s vocabulary … but it is also at the very heart of philosophy and faith. Why are we here? Why does anything exist? What is true? In an age of impressions, illusions, and opinions, how can we know what is true?

As we spend time looking at the Woman at the Well in John 4, Jesus sets us an example in evangelism as he introduces himself (The Living Water) to this woman. Amazingly then, this woman becomes the first evangelist, going on to invite her community to come and meet Jesus. We’ll see that our joy in Christ is made complete when we share the joy we have with those around us.

This morning we wrap up our series on the Signs of Power in John. Each sign is written in John so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name! (John 20:31). The raising of Lazarus is the final … and really the ultimate sign in the Gospel of John, pointing forward to the very reason Jesus came – to bring life to the world!

Today we take a look at TWO of the works of power recorded in John, Jesus healing the lame and the blind. Come join us as together we learn what these miracles teach us about Jesus, His power and our faith in Him.

Jesus walking on the water is the 4th work of power we take a look at in this series. The disciples, seeing Jesus walking on the water are initially terrified of his appearance but nevertheless invite him into the boat.

We continue our series on the Works of Power from John, looking at Jesus feeding the 5,000. As we’ve seen already, each sign points forward to something far greater, and today, we’ll see the bread Jesus provides for the crowd points us forward to something far far greater – and that is the Bread of Life!

We turn to the second miracle recorded in the Gospel of John, Jesus healing the official’s son (John 4:46-54). We learn more about who Jesus is and about faith.

This morning we begin a series on the signs of Jesus in John’s Gospel. The first of these signs is turning water into wine, which reveals the amazing power of Jesus and produces faith in His disciples.

We are up to the I in TULIP! The I stands for ‘Irresistible Grace’. ”The doctrine of irresistible grace says that the Holy Spirit never fails to call, regenerate, and save those whom the Father has elected and Christ has redeemed.” – Joel Beeke

We take a look at the “L” in TULIP. L stands for “Limited Atonement,” or another way of saying that is: “Definite Atonement.” It answers the question: Did Christ die for all people?

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” – John 15:16. We continue our TULIP series with the “U” which stands for Unconditional Election. Of all doctrines, the grace of God is seen most clearly in election and it is this doctrine perhaps more than all other doctrines that should motivate us to mission, liberate us to evangelise and bring us to our knees in joy-producing, soul-humbling worship of our sovereign King.

The second part of our ‘The Road to Calvary’ series. We take a look at the account of Jesus’ washing his disciples feet and are exhorted to be “people of the towel.” What does true love and service look like?

Profession of Faith of DR. It’s normal to have doubts, in his sermon today Colin encourages us to doubt our doubts and believe our beliefs!

Young Adults Evening Service. In this sermon Steve looks at the different reasons for why we believe in Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He looks at the philosophical, experiential, rational, phenomenological, historical and spiritual reasons for faith.

Good Friday 2023 Service. What do Jesus’ final words on the Cross “it is finished” mean? Colin looks at this in four points: 1) Jesus fulfills His promise and prophecy 2) Jesus finishes all sacrifice for sin 3) Jesus accomplishes all obedience for acceptance 4) Jesus satisfies all justice for salvation

The old Peter resurfaces in this text and his mouth moves before his brain is engaged. Peter says this, “What about him?” I think we all relate to Peter’s comments. The human condition is such that we spend endless time comparing ourselves with others. We so often feel good or bad in comparison to others. It is our sinful human condition. The answer that Jesus gave is so instructive. 22 “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

Not everything is as meets the eye in John 18. What seems out of control and senseless are in fact all part of God’s sovereign plan in salvation. What seemed like a victory for the Jewish leaders and defeat for Jesus and his mission was in fact God’s way of salvation.

Have you seen his glory? Have you given him glory? As we approach Easter through John’s Gospel, we have to see it. Easter is about remembering his greatness and getting everything back into perspective. It is to have an elevated opinion about Jesus. It is to see his holiness. It is to appreciate God’s love.

In this well-known passage, Jesus teaches us that as His disciples, we are to bear fruit. It is not optional, or merely a good suggestion. It matters. By our fruit, others will know we are Jesus’ disciples and God himself is glorified. So disciples bear fruit and it is only possible as we are connected to the vine. We need to remain in Christ. As we do, we receive teh Joy of Christ as he lives in and through us.

As we look at this text we see how important it is to trust that Jesus is in control and that he loves us. Without that knowledge and without faith we will simply be tossed to and fro in all the circumstances of life.

In this remarkable passage, we find Jesus, the creator of the world, the Son of God, hours away from his arrest and death, kneeling down and washing the feet of his disciples. It was the job of a servant, yet Jesus does this to show that his imminent death would by faith mean that all his children are washed of their sins. Jesus also shows us, as his disciples, how it is that we are to love and serve others.

Waiting is something that we find really difficult to do! Waiting can be a real struggle and yet, as Christians we believe that God/Jesus will be glorified in all circumstances. In this passage, Jesus waited for Lazarus to die before making his appearance. Yet, his waiting not only telegraphed his own death and resurrection but brought glory to God, as Jesus called out to Lazarus, “Come out.”

Today we remember that Jesus is born! The saviour of the world, which is good news of great joy for all the people! But what impact does this good have for you? Is it just generally good news that he came to be your saviour, or when you break it down, does a baby born in a manger make a difference and impact your life every day? Today as we celebrate Jesus’ birth, we consider 3 reasons why he came and how that is good news for us today!

Andrew is one of those disciples of Jesus who isn’t prominent. Yet, he is well loved and a patron saint of a number of countries. He must have been largely disaffected by the spiritual state of Israel as he had left his home and was a follower of John the Baptist. Somehow the means of being right with God, through the temple worship, was not giving him the satisfaction that his soul desired. When John the Baptist pointed Jesus out with the words, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” he left John and became a follower of Jesus and often introduced people to Jesus. I picked this text because my grandson also called “Andrew” was being baptised.

Some people look at Jesus’ words this way. “Believe without evidence.” Some people simply say, “You need to have faith.” Just believe it! I have heard a lot of people, even in this church say that! I think we need to be very careful of saying those words! I certainly don’t want to be calling people to put their faith in something just because I say they should. I want them to examine the facts of the matter. I want them to investigate. Faith, is not described in the bible as just something personal, a subjective, religious choice based on no evidence. The word faith and belief, in the Bible, are not ever used that way! We shouldn’t be saying to people, “You just have to believe.” Faith in the bible is based on evidence. In history, objective verifiable facts; that being the actual resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

In this sermon, we concentrate on Jesus’ sixth word from the cross, “It is finished.” In it we learn that Jesus’s suffering, work and atonement are all completed and that prophecy is fulfilled.

Jesus, as the light of the world, heals a man born blind as a sign to us us that he can give us light to live by.

Even though it was a terrible question that the disciples asked Jesus when they asked the question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” we can be grateful for Jesus’ answer. This answer helps us to understand the relationship between suffering and sin.

As the Jews in the passage essentially say to Jesus, ‘who do you think you are?’ we take a look then at just who Jesus is. We consider whether he is a Samaritan with a demon? Is he greater than Abraham? Is he in fact the son of God? God himself come to earth? How you answer this question of who Jesus is really matters! It is upon this answer that God will judge every person and our eternity will be determined.