Sermons

We all sin. That much is true. But after you sin, what should you do? But that question is important, and Psalm 51 answers it by giving you a process to follow after God convicts you of sin. Psalm 51 is like an instruction manual for dealing with your sin. Anyone who is serious about pleasing God will use it.

In this section of Habakkuk’s oracle, God narrates the prophesied destruction of Babylon, the evil empire that would crush rebellious Judah. Through this description of Babylon’s self-destructive actions and God’s just judgment, we receive timeless lessons on how we ought to live today. As we get ready for a new year, this text vividly showcases the folly of pursuing, placing our hope in, and worshipping idols, and the goodness of trusting in God, our Creator, instead.

This section of Paul’s description of the Christian life highlights an all too common experience - we fail to do the godly things we truly wish to do. And this conundrum baffles Christians time and again. It exists because we live in a spiritual war and the only way to effectually win any battles is by the Holy Spirit. By His grace and power, we can live victoriously over sin.

Perfectionism in the Christian life will drive you to despair. Licence in the Christian life suggests your faith is fake. What are we to make of all the commands to obedience? Is it okay to sin? What is “the flesh?” Is it related to our physical flesh, our bodies? Are we doomed to failure until glory? Is there any point to trying to not sin?

The interpretation of Romans 7 is disputed among Bible scholars. In particular, is Paul talking about a Christian or a person before they become a Christian? And what difference does one’s understanding of that make on what the text means? A key to understanding this chapter is remaining aware of what came just before it and what follows after. In the end, either view will lead us to love Jesus more for all He had done for sinners!

Why does God allow evil to persist? In Habakkuk 1:1-2:5, we find a dialogue between God and his prophet which helps answer that very difficult question. In this ancient conversation, we will be offered clarity and hope for today’s troubled world. While the righteous can make a valid complaint, they have great cause to live by faith in the God who is faithful.

If you’re not a fan of surprises here’s some encouraging news: you can be absolutely certain about what you’re future holds. Psalm 60 instructs us to pray and to wait on God to do what he promised us he would do. Even in our deepest trials, we can be confident God will accomplish his word.

Jesus often taught using stories. Romans 6 can sound a bit complicated at points, but a short story might help you to understand it better. While nowhere near as wise and powerful as Jesus’ stories, perhaps this tale of a Damian living in Thanatos under the tyrannical rule of General Diabolos will remind you of your life before God saved you? And perhaps hearing of Damian’s labours in Beulah for King Soterios will remind you of what the Lord has done for you? Even if it doesn’t, hopefully it will make you love the Lord even more for all He has done for us in Christ.

Having established what it means to be justified by grace through faith, Paul pivots to talk about how we must live as saved sinners. Instead of speaking of us as being living “weapons” of righteousness, now he describes us as slaves to righteousness. In both imageries, he is making clear that once God saves a person, the last thing they will want to do is sin. Instead, the whole object of their life becomes seeking to glorify God by their attitudes and actions. Does this describe you?

Satan is a liar. And one of the lies he never stops muttering is that the Christian has to sin. That there is no way to stop sinning… at least some sins. Hoogly. The real Christian is dead to sin. And he has become a weapon in the hand of King Jesus for righteousness in this fallen world. Now is the time for every believer to stand before God and say, “Here I am, Lord! Use me!”

Having spent an entire chapter unpacking some of the greatest blessings of being justified by God through faith, Paul turns to consider how we now saved sinners (or, Christians) should live the rest of our lives. In particular, what place should we expect sinning to have in our lives?

You cannot know every detail about your future, but your future isn’t completely unknowable. God makes promises in his word and his faithful character backs each of his promises up. If God has promised something, it will happen. So in a sense, your future isn’t completely unknowable - and thinking on God’s promises and character can be a huge encouragement to Christians in their suffering. Thinking on such things can also be a huge warning to the unbeliever.

The gospel calls for a response: Will you repent of your sin and trust in Christ, or will you reject His call and remain in your sin? Many who choose the latter cite a perceived lack of evidence or demand a clearer sign. In Luke 11:29–32, Jesus confronts this challenge and declares that His own life is the ultimate sign and the decisive evidence of the truthfulness of His claims. In the words of Christ and the facts of His life, we have all we need to accept, submit to, and boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

The fact that the Bible has so many different words for sin is a good indication that God takes it quite seriously. Not only that, such a comprehensive list of words helps us understand the breadth and depth of our offences. Rarely does a person appreciate the cure until they realize the extent of the disease. A deep dive into the sinfulness of sin should make our hearts sing with hope in the Saviour of sinners!

Every person in the world has a representative before God. It is either Adam (the first man), or Jesus Christ (God’s Son). Your eternal destiny hangs upon which of these two men represents you. You were born with Adam as your representative. You must be born again to procure Jesus Christ as your new representative. Only one of them will lead you to eternal life.

Tragedies are an unfortunate part of life. For the majority of people, the natural reaction to calamities is to grieve and comfort those who have been negatively affected by the situation. These responses are right and appropriate, but is there anything more that should come into our minds when we hear of disasters? According to Jesus, there is, and He will teach us what this is in Luke 13:1-5.

There are parts of your Bible that are not impossible to understand, but are easy to misunderstand or just breeze over. Romans 5:12-14 is one of those little paragraphs, but it sets up a vital foundation for what follows in the rest of this chapter. Most of us love the idea of Jesus becoming our representative before God. Where we struggle is in believing that we were born with Adam representing us, without any input from us whatsoever. Why all this representation and why must you have both or none?

Every good pilot follows a pre-flight checklist where he or she makes final preparations of their airplane and the way in which it will be flown. Even though these things are simple and routine, a failure to do them might result in catastrophic outcomes. So the Christian’s walk through this world of delighting in God must be maintained by certain choices and disciplines. None of them are all that startling, but the absence of any will greatly reduce our delight.

Delighting in God is the essence of the Christian life, but cannot be assumed. If we are not careful, we will replace delight with duty, rejoicing with works, and exultation with exhaustion. This series has aimed to refocus our lives on finding our greatest delight in the Person of God. It is something which every Christian needs regular reminders of and every unbeliever regular invitation to.

One of the keys to delighting in God is simply loving Him for who He is. This may sound obvious, but think about how much you love God. Do you often tell Him you love Him? And what do your day to day actions say about your love? God commands us to love Him, but also tells us a failure to love others means we have not loved Him. True love for God will always result in love for others, even our enemies.

There is a thread of truth running through your entire Bible that is easily missed. God desires that we delight in Him. From the first days in Genesis to the last days described in the Revelation, God is inviting the people He made to enjoy Him forever. As the greatest good in the Universe, this makes sense. True joy has its source in God alone. David knew this and writes in this Psalm of how to find that happiness in God even in the worst of circumstances.

With so much going on in our churches, it's easy to forget the importance of praying together. This morning, let’s look at five reasons from Scripture that answer the question: Why should we commit to corporate prayer?

God had promised the Apostle Paul that he would deliver him safely to Rome so he could testify about Jesus before Caesar. Along the way, Paul and his companions encountered a terrible storm that threatened to take their lives. Yet Paul continued to trust in God’s promises and to live like they were true. He continued to trust in God through the fiercest of storms.

It is not easy to trust God, especially in the midst of our trials and sufferings. So praise God someone perfectly trusted God for every single Christian. Because of him, the Christian’s suffering will one day end, and it will end forever. To him be all the glory both now and forever.

We have slowed down in Romans 5:1-11 to make sure we are grasping the amazing benefits that belong to every single Christian. Maybe your credit card comes with free travel insurance. That will do you no good unless you know about it. Too many Christians live like these blessings are not theirs. It is quite possible Paul has put them into a kind of escalating order, saving the best for last.

The relationship between strength and weakness so often goes terribly wrong with the strong taking advantage of the weak to harm or oppress them. In this passage we see how one man addresses and corrects this relationship so we can learn from him and imitate him.

Faith is trusting what God says is true. And we show our trust by how we act. So, when God says that He has rescued His children from hell by the death of His Son, these new friends of God not only need to believe that future, but live in the present like it were true. God loves His people so much that He has done everything they need to enjoy an eternity of fellowship with Him.

Love can be risky. At least between humans. Not only are we experts at violating love, we often have all the wrong ideas about it to start with. We think it has everything to do with how others make us feel, as opposed to how we serve them. We should delight in the fact that God is love. He never gets it wrong. And the proof of that love (as if we needed that!) is the death of His Son for His people.

Trials and difficulties are a key component of the Christian life. As much as they may be uncomfortable and unfortunate in the moment, they cannot be avoided, and there's a good reason why this is so: God purposes hardships for the spiritual good of Christians. Like a bitter, but effective medicine, sufferings, though painful, are good for the Believer's soul.

God is who he says he is. He does what he says he’ll do. In this Psalm we see a contrast between two people. One trusts in God and one does not; and their futures couldn’t be more different. One is glorious. One is not. Do you trust in God? And, if so, will you continue to trust in him no matter what?

There are times we get things backwards in the Christian life. Sometimes we think the worst thing that could happen to us is another trouble or trial. In reality, that difficulty or resistance may be a gift from God to grow our faith and experience more of His love. Wise Christians learn to stop resisting His providence and start increasing their hope.

Having finished making his case that the only people who will spend eternity with God are those who have been justified by His grace, Paul now turns to revealing more of the blessings or benefits that come to every single person who has faith in Jesus. It is one thing to know about these benefits, and an altogether greater thing to live like they are true. If we lack spiritual confidence in this world, it is likely because we have forgotten or ignored all that Christ purchased for us on His cross.

"Love" is a concept that is often misunderstood. We can get our definition of love from many places, but the only final and definitive definition of love comes from God Himself. By learning about God's love for His people, we will better understand what it means to love, and how we should go about loving one another.