Sermons

The Good News concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything in a person's life once they respond to it and put their faith in Christ. Prayers, priorities, and the way that we relate to people all pivot to a new and more selfless way of living. If we are not living this way, we are pushing against the grain of God’s design for the normal Christian life. Wise Christians will learn from Paul's example and do all they can to get their lives aligned to the Gospel.

As Paul gets rolling on this letter about the Gospel, you quickly realize the love he has for his God, the Romans, and the truth of what he is about to write. This is a love letter! And that is at the heart of the Gospel, isn’t it? Love. And like the good Apostle he is, Paul is going to tip 15 cards over hinting at where he is about to go for the next 16 chapters.

Paul wrote a letter to all the Christians in all the churches in the big city of Rome in order to clarify the Gospel to them. He was eager that they would have a clear and robust knowledge of all that Jesus had done for sinners. As such, this letter has been used by the churches through the ages to train their members in the same thing. That has led to more love for Jesus, an increased evangelistic zeal and greater church unity. Grasping how this letter fits together or moves logically along is extremely helpful in coming to understand each part. Today we will attempt to preach the message of the entire letter to prepare us to dig in to each section.

This is the final sermon in our three-part series thinking though some significant issues of life and death. Having laid a robust Biblical and theological foundation in the first two sermons, now we try to answer some of the more difficult ethical questions Christians face.

Those who love the doctrine of Romans are called to live the life of Romans. And that is a life of love—of love for God that is expressed in loving others.

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is rapidly increasing in Canada. Death with the help of a doctor might soon be offered to those struggling with mental illness, not just physical suffering. Christians must understand what life is and how gives it in order to know how to respond to this evil.

It can be hard to believe that you were a wandering sheep with no intention whatsoever of listening to the Shepherd. We often like to think we had a certain kind of spiritual potential or something that caused us to baa, baa, baa all the way to Jesus. But, we were spiritual wanderers who were pursued by a good Shepherd who picked us up and carried us home to the joy of all in heaven.

The only way to withstand a hurricane of error is to be in a building with a solid foundation. To stand true for the sanctity and value of all life, Christians must have a solid foundation of what it means to be human. In particular, what it means to have been made a human by God.

It can be hard to live by faith. Especially when it seems like everything in the world is conspiring against you. Unless, of course, you know how the story ends. Our future reality is the bedrock of our current faithfulness. Or so it should be!

The living God came to earth and offered up His life in our stead. Even though he died, he yet lives. And as our living Redeemer he shall return to judge the living and the dead and outfit his people with new, resurrected bodies designed to endure forever in praise of Him. This is so much better than a manmade, weird tradition of a rabbit with chocolate eggs.

There are two ways to explore the mountains. We have been combing the hills and valleys for several weeks examining the details of what Christ accomplished for us in our salvation. Now it is time to hop in the plane and fly high overhead to look at the person of Christ from three distinct angles. Who He was before He came. Who He was while He was on earth. And who He is today.

Every member of the Trinity is involved in our salvation. As the Word of the Gospel of Jesus goes forth, the Father saves those chosen in eternity past by the power of the Holy Spirit. No wonder Paul takes the time to rejoice in the powerful safeguarding work of the Spirit to keep us to the end.

God calls every Christian to minister—to love and serve others. Within the local church, each member is responsible to carry out the work of ministry which is building up the body of Christ.

We are good at remembering we have an inheritance waiting for us in glory. We are perhaps less faithful at remembering we are God’s inheritance. Why would He speak of us in those terms? Isn’t that making too much out of us, especially when you think about all the ways we mess up and fail Him?

The Bible is not a crystal ball. It is better than that. For, in His Word, God chooses to reveal some events in the future that will occur. Usually He tells us about these future things in order to refine how we are living in the present. The Apostle knew that — apart from the help of the gracious Holy Spirit — we would never fully grasp how critical the Person of Jesus Christ is to the entire creation.

Your suffering is real. So is God. Take them both seriously and you can have tears in your eyes but also praise on your lips.

Belief determines behaviour. Which means we will act incorrectly if we believe falsehood or we are simply ignorant of what is true. Paul understood this and began his letter to the Christians in Ephesus with a hymn that makes profound truth claims. These are not slogans or terms to be thrown around by people who like crossword puzzles. These are real things, that when properly understood, will change everything about you.

Naaman was a great and powerful Syrian military commander. He had everything he ever wanted, but he also had one thing he only ever dreaded. Yet God chose to reach out to him, to heal him, and to draw him to himself.

The idea that God might have decreed our future can seem a little oppressive to modern ears. But, what if that decree included the good of His people? Would it be better if everything was left to chance? Why did the Apostle Paul find such joy in pondering God’s certain adoption of His children?

The Lord Jesus has done so much for us. And as we are positionally identified with Him, all the spiritual blessings are secured for us. All of them! What a blessing.

King David wrote this song praising God for delivering him and the citizens of his kingdom Israel from the hands of all their enemies. The Greater King David was also delivered from his enemies — the death of King Jesus was the decisive victory over his enemies and ours: sin, death, hell and the Devil. Just as Israel benefited from their king’s victory, we who are kingdom citizens benefit from our King’s victory!

As we leave the old year behind and set out into a new year, how can we have confidence that we are living in a way that is pleasing to God? What does it mean to live a meaningful and purposeful life? And what does delighting in God have to do with it? The Bible provides answers in an unexpected place.

This a sermon for children, but wise adults will listen to see if it is true. In it, the preacher is going to tell you about his elder brother, which is interesting because, the last time we checked, he only had older sisters! But, perhaps whoever he is talking about might become your elder brother, too? The preacher also put all the Bible verses here in the bulletin to make it easier for you to follow along.

One of the first great hurdles the church had to overcome after the death and resurrection of Jesus concerned his humanity. Was he really a man? Was he half a man? An “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” kind of demi-god? An illusion or apparition? Or, was he a real man? Your answer to this question might end up determining your eternal future.

Isaiah 7:14 appears on a lot of Christmasware, but do we understand what it meant to the man who first heard it? Do we need to in order to understand what it means? Is there a connection between Isaiah’s prophecy and the virgin birth in Bethlehem?

As we complete the Book of Judges and begin a series on Jesus Christ, it is good to notice the connection between the two. Judges leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouth. But the sweetness of the coming Messiah takes care of that! By seeing the two together we better understand that the entire Bible is all about one thing. One Person. Merry Christmas!

The Book of Judges ends with a whimper. The last two events of this book perfectly capture the single greatest problem in Israel in these days and the single greatest problem in our days. It can be summarized in the words, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” We may not kidnap dancing girls, but our solutions to life’s problems are usually just as awful, if not so remarkable.

When times are darkest, and He feels absent, He is sovereignly moving His kingdom and deliverance forward. Take heart: The sovereign silence (not absence) of God The sovereign power of God. Take heart in the sovereign silence (not absence) of God and the sovereign power of God

There is perhaps no darker chapter in all the Bible than Judges 19. The author records a terrible story in order to show us what happens when everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Sometimes we avoid reading texts like this, but seeing these chapters where they fit in the whole Book of Judges makes it clear. We are to take careful note… do we want to follow our own eyes or look to our Maker? May the Lord give us grace to learn and follow Him.

Jesus is going to look people in the eye on the Day of Judgement and tell them that He never knew them. Those people will spend eternity in hell. What is so distressing about this is that those same people thought they were good with God! They were not atheists or agnostics… they were people who claimed to be in a relationship with the real God. The last chapters of Judges paint us a vivid picture of how easy it is to be spiritually self-deceived. Don’t fall prey to this horrible mistake!

We have learned so much from the life of this enigmatic saviour, Samson. Now we hit the one story for which he seems most famous. Why is that? Why are we so intrigued by the love and manipulation of this mighty man? And is this just a bit of a forbidden titillation that snuck into our Bibles, or does it have something to teach us about Jesus Christ? After all, didn’t Jesus Himself say that all the Scriptures were pointing to Him (Luke 24:27)?

Sometimes things are not as they seem. In fact, this is often the case when God is at work. What can appear as a dismal failure might actually be a roaring success. This is nowhere more evident than at the crucifixion of Jesus. An event captured well by the interesting words of Joseph, centuries earlier: “What some meant for evil, God meant for good.” Perhaps Samson’s exploits were not as sad as we tend to think. Or perhaps they were, but were pointing to Another?

Samson is the only Judge whose birth is described. Remarkably it takes up an entire chapter of his story. What is most unique to his nativity is the plan of God to make him a Nazirite (not, Nazarene) from the womb. In an age of spiritual darkness and Philistine oppression, everyone is confused by the remarkable birth and ministry of this new saviour.

The six minor Judges scattered throughout the Book of Judges have a major role to play. While we do not know as much about them as we do the others, their stories help us to understand the dire straits of idolatry and the desperate need for a full-scale and eternal rescue. From Shamgar to Abdon, the same problem remains… we need a Saviour.

The story of Jephthah can basically be understood in one of two very different ways. One option is to see him as a rash and arrogant warlord. The other is to view him as a God-fearing saviour. Either way, the Lord felt it was important for us to both read and ponder this event in Israel’s history. Doing so should help us to understand even more clearly why it is we so desperately need a Saviour. Plus, the current preacher thinks Jephthah was one of the good guys.

Tenacity can be a great character quality, unless you are tenacious in your sins and constantly rejecting the warnings of God. For some reason, we can hold on to our silly belief that our idols will save us even though all the presenting evidence suggests the opposite. Judges 10 is something like a calendar with five pages on it covering many, many years. And it is not until we flip to the last page that we get any hope. Here is picture of what we are like at our worst. Let the reader beware.

As Jesus Christ lived in this world, He suffered and was tempted. Because He endured such difficulties, He is able to sympathize with us when we suffer and are tempted. In our sorrows we can have confidence that Jesus knows about our weaknesses, He cares about our weaknesses, and He reaches out to help us in our weaknesses.

As we hit the last section of Gideon’s life, we enter some of the most confusing portions of the account. There are some random events, strange questions, unclear motives and a disappointing end. But, if we move slowly, and hold our conclusions with an open hand, there are three big encouragements we can harvest from this text.

Nothing ruins a good revival like a little sinful fear and jealousy. Just as God is bringing about a great deliverance using weak Gideon and his tiny force of 300, new enemies come on the scene. Fellow Israelites. Few things sting as much as friendly fire and Gideon is busy getting buzzed by these two bees as he tries to finish off God’s enemies.

Much of life is about finishing things well. Your Christian walk is no different. The Galatians were in danger of shipwrecking their faith because they were turning away from the gospel of grace and turning toward a false gospel of works and self reliance. So, in Galatians 3:1-9, the apostles call all Christians to finish their race well by relying on the Holy Spirit and by trusting the Word of God.

Have you ever been invited to a big celebration that you were unable to attend? Luke 14:16-24 tells of a banquet that you do not want to miss out on! It is a feast to be relished, and once you have relished it you ought to tell others about it.

Because the Galatians were in danger of deserting the gospel by turning to works, Paul calls them back to the real, true gospel: justification by faith. He reminds them that Christians are declared righteous not by anything that have done, but by what has been done for them through Christ.