Luke 11:2: The Lord’s Prayer: Getting the Heart Right
We apologise that there is no audio recording for this sermon. There is a repeating pattern in the Bible which trains our hearts and minds to think and want correctly, it is the pattern of God first and man second. Think of the greatest commandments. Matthew 22:36-40, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You...
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Luke 2:14: The First Christmas Carol
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” What does the birth of Christ mean to the world today? Those who do not believe the Christmas story as teaching that the saviour of the world is born; many still celebrate the story because they believe that it teaches and affirms that the birth of every child is precious. As true as it is that every human life is precious, the remembrance of Jesus in the stable is not a celebration of human life, no matter where it is born. No,...
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Luke 9:28-36: The Transfiguration
The transfiguration is one of the most important Christological events in the Bible.1 It establishes the identity of Christ as the Messiah and the divine Son, and the nature of the mission that He had come to accomplish. It is a repeat and an expansion on what the baptism of Christ has already revealed. The transfiguration brings to a climactic crescendo a number of OT themes pointing to Christ. The transfiguration reveals Jesus to be the new Moses who ascends the mountain entering the glory-cloud, but instead of receiving the word of the law Jesus is the final word...
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Ephesians 3:14-19: Praying for power
Praying when we are in need is easy, we always pray from the heart, but praying for others often deteriorates into shallow requests without heart. We often pray generic prayers for health, provision, and spiritual well-being. Paul in the portion before us prays under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prayers of pastoral care, and prayers that flow out of the realities of the gospel. Paul as a minister of the gospel is not only called to preach the message of Christ to the Gentiles, but to pray for the church as well. Eph. 3:14-21 consists of 2 main...
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Habakkuk 3: A Song of Faith
Imagine yourself as the prophet, you know that one of the worst tragedies in human history is coming, a holocaust against your nation in which many will die and suffer terrible atrocities. What do you do? Most of us would pack our bags and run away. Instead Habakkuk writes a song to equip Israel for the coming trial. As a shepherd and teacher of the people, Habakkuk shows the righteous what their own response to God should be in the coming times. The relevance of a song is immense. Many truths that have impacted our lives have been those...
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Romans 15:6-9: The Purpose of Unity
Introduction: The Supreme reason why everything exists is the glory of God. The greatest motive to which all others must submit is not human happiness or sustaining this creation, but the glory of God. All endeavours are judged for their rightness or wrongness by whether they work towards the glory of God. Is. 48:9-11, ‘”For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For...
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