Romans 14:23: ‘For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin’
Introduction: When I say the words ‘living by faith’ what comes to mind? What immediately comes to my mind is George Muller. He was a Calvinistic Baptist who lived in the 1800s who is most famous for supporting orphanages through nothing but prayer. At the time he began his orphanage work only 3600 orphans were accommodated in all England, in his life time he supported just over 10000 orphans. He never asked anyone directly for money to support the orphans. On top of that he was convinced that he should not be supported by the church he was pastoring...
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Romans 14:1-3: Gospel Based Community
Introduction: Welcoming people of differing convictions is a hot topic today. Inclusivism is the politically correct thing to. Divisions among Christians are a perennial problem and the new sub-section we are beginning in Romans speaks to these matters. Paul has been talking to us about being living sacrifices as our response to God’s mercy to us in Christ. He has covered several areas of ethics. He has spoken about our minds, our attitudes, our body life and use of gifts, the love we ought to have to various parts of society, and our responsibility to the government. Out of...
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2 Samuel 21:15-22: Nephilim, Rephaim, Anakites and the Seed of the Woman
INTRODUCTION: As soon as you do any investigation on the internet about the bible and giants, you immediately run into the cliqued garbage about overcoming your giants. In the text we have before us in 2 Samuel 21:15-22 we have a record of four giants being defeated, and in the case of the first giant of David growing weary and needing Abishai to help him. If giants are the big problems we face in life then the lesson is that sometimes our giants come back to haunt us, and we should not allow ourselves to grow weary. That sort...
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Reformation 500 Conference: Faith Alone
Outline Justified By faith alone Introduction Justification by faith alone is said to be the belief by which the church stands or falls. Luther is credited by his students as saying, ‘if that article stands, the church stands; if it fails, the church fails.’ John Calvin spoke of it as the ‘main hinge upon which religion turns’ and ‘the sum of all piety.’ Sadly, if you ask many Christians today what justification means, they don’t really know. It has been said that where the formal cause of the Reformation was an argument about authority; the material cause was over...
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2 Samuel 10: David defeats the Ammonites
Outline Hanun’s rejection Ammon’s defeat Joab’s faith Introduction 2 Samuel 10 reads like just another chapter out of the wars of the Ancient Near East. However, this chapter plays an important role in the life of David as well as the life of the believer. These two chapters of 9 and 10 where David is honouring promises and human life are a backdrop for the coming catastrophe with Bathsheba and Uriah where David dishonours the covenant of marriage and human life. The Ammonite wars are the historical situation for these events. But for the believer who is in a...
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2 Samuel 2:1-3:5: Establishing God’s Kingdom
Outline David seeks the kingdom Abner seeks the kingdom Introduction Saul is dead and you would expect that David who had been anointed King years earlier would suddenly ascend to the throne and rule Israel. This is not the case. Chapters 2-4 cover a 7 ½ year period, only at the end of which David will be the uncontested king. These chapters will be dominated by two men seeking to make themselves king in Israel, David and Abner. David seeks God’s will and God’s kingdom, Abner seeks his own. The overarching theme in the opening 5 chapters of 2...
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1 Samuel 17: David and Goliath
Outline The fear of Israel The faith of David The fear of Saul The faith of David Introduction David and Goliath is one of the best known stories in the bible, but what is it really all about? Some think that it is merely a rags to riches story about David the Shepherd who becomes king, and so we should all reach for our dreams. Others have applied it facing the giants in the your life, or standing up to bullies. The five stones of David that he took into battle are one of the most abused portions of...
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1 Samuel 14: The Faith of Saul and Jonathan
Outline Genuine faith Religious faith Introduction These last few chapters have been summarising the reign of Saul. If we merely read the last verses of this chapter v47-52, you could imagine an historian speaking of the golden era of Saul’s reign, how he fought enemies on every side, how he fought valiantly and hard. But the purpose of the biblical narrative is not merely to report on political successes but to interpret the various actions in light of covenant faithfulness. The last event we looked at was chapter 13 where Jonathan again overcame a Philistine garrison but the great...
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Revelation 21:5-8: Promises
Outline Promises of life Promises of death Introduction When you want something in writing you are asking for assurances that something will come to pass. God puts in writing His promise to make all things new. We are in Revelation 21 which has already shown us a future vision of the new creation where the deepest desires of our hearts, God Himself will be fulfilled. A time when all the things that make our life hard now will be removed. 21:1-10 can be structured around the two pronouncements of v3 and v5. We have looked at the first announcement...
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Colossians 1:28: Healthy Churches Have Gospel-Grounded Identity: Part Two
Outline Faith Sanctification Church Glorification Introduction Healthy Churches have a Gospel-grounded identity. What we are hoping to show today is that in order for a church to be healthy, it must be grounded in the gospel, and in particular to see its identity grounded in the gospel. To try and get at this topic I would like us to read Colossians 1:28-29 together, ‘Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.’
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Colossians 1:28: Healthy Churches Have Gospel-Grounded Identity: Part One
Outline Introduction Election Justification Adoption Introduction Healthy Churches have a Gospel-grounded identity. What we are hoping to show today is that in order for a church to be healthy, it must be grounded in the gospel, and in particular to see its identity grounded in the gospel. To try and get at this topic I would like us to read Colossians 1:28-29 together, ‘Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.’
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Ephesians 6:17: The Helmet of Salvation
Outline The certainty of hope The fight for hope The effect of hope Introduction The typical picture of hopelessness is one taken from WWII. In the concentration camps the soldiers would give the prisoners menial tasks. In one camp the prisoners were told to move a huge pile of dirt from one side of the prison camp to the other. Once this was completed they were then commanded to move it back again. This endless cycle of meaninglessness with no light at the end of the tunnel caused many to deliberately throw themselves upon the electric fences to end...
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Ephesians 6:16: The Shield of Faith
Outline Living by faith Quenching darts Introduction In the book of Hebrews Jewish Christians are being persecuted, imprisoned and facing possible death for being believers. There is immense temptation to throw away Christianity to escape the heat and return to Judaism. The author of that great letter shows how Christ is better than the law, Moses, the angels, the sacrifices and the OT administrations, but he also tells them that they need to live by faith. Hebrews 10:39, ‘But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their...
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Judges 6:33-7:25: God’s strength through weakness
Outline God uses reticent doubters God uses tiny armies Introduction Paul was troubled by a thorn in the flesh, a deliberate, providential, God permitted thorn which forced Paul to depend upon God more closely and kept him from pride (2 Cor. 12:1-8). Paul prayed three times that the thorn might be removed, but instead of the modern expectation that God works for our comfort and happiness, God said this, 2 Cor. 12:9. ‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly...
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Mary’s Faith: Luke 1:34-38
Outline Mary’s question Mary’s self-image Mary’s attitude Introduction Mariolatry is the heretical teaching of promoting Mary as a co-redemptrix and mediator, Mariology is the biblical teaching about Mary. This is our fourth message looking at the biblical teaching of Mary as a way to better view and appreciate the incarnation. Today we want to consider her faith. Mary is an exemplary example of submissive faith and we find great blessing seeing God’s grace poured out on this obedient believer. However, we want to keep her faith in perspective as many have made way too much of the section we...
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The Spirit Filled Marriage 8: The Power of Words
Outline Words of Christ Words of the heart Words of power Introduction Words have power! With words Martin Luther King could persuade many to turn from racism. With words Winston Churchill gave courage to a nation being ravaged by war. With words a child’s self-image can be shaped for life. With words husbands and wives can build one another up. With words we can make people feel worthless and drive them towards suicide. With words we can undermine and trivialise a person’s life work. Words start wars, order executions, define perceptions, convey love, can be weapons of hate, and...
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