Luke 8:4-15: The Parable of the Sower
The parable of the Sower is one of the most important parables because it stands at the head of Christ’s parables in Mark and Matthew, and addresses the issue of how we listen to God’s word. The parable of the Sower has been renamed the parable of the soils, because the focal point of the parable is not the sower of the seed, but it is the four types of soils representing the four types of hearts that receive the word of God. This parable usually stands at the head of Christ’s teaching by parables demanding an answer to...
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God and Covid-19
We are interrupting our series on Luke to do a Christian analysis on Covid-19. Here in NZ we are very blessed to be at alert level 1, but this is still a living reality for many in the rest of the world. My concern in doing this is a pastoral one. More than ever before we have been inundated with the voices of the media in analysing what has recently happened. We have all been tuned into the media and been saturated with their perceptions, judgements, and problem solving principles. We have all learnt new words and concepts and...
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Luke 6:37-42: Thou Shalt Not Judge!
The eleventh commandment is ‘Thou shalt not judge!’ At least in our modern pluralistic context where all religion is now equally irrelevant this is deemed to be a cardinal rule. At times it seems as if the only thing people know about Jesus teaching is that He taught that we should not judge. It is to this section that we turn now in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:37-42. Key to understanding this section is the context. Jesus has divided the people of Israel into two groups, the godly and the ungodly, but here is how the...
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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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Luke 3:15-22: The Baptism of Jesus
Many people have claimed to be or have been thought to the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. For example, ‘Krishna Venta (1911–1958), born Francis Herman Pencovic in San Francisco, founded the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Fountain of the World cult in Simi Valley, California in the late 1940s. In 1948 he stated that he was Christ, the new messiah and claimed to have led a convoy of rocket ships to Earth from the extinct planet Neophrates. He died on 10 December 1958 after being suicide bombed by two disgruntled former followers who accused Venta of...
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1 Kings 2: Solomon the Lion of Judah
Thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week. Please accept our apologies for the missing audio. Introduction: As we discovered in 1 Kings Chapter 1, the book of Kings is theology cleverly disguised as exciting history. And as we read on in chapter 2 we will find that it does not disappoint, the thrilling tale of intrigue, mystery, and murder, only gets more absorbing. I am preaching through this book, as it is written, as a thrilling piece of redemptive history. So before we begin we need to remind ourselves just where in redemptive history this chapter fits. The...
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Isaiah 3: God’s Judgement on Nations
A big thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week when Nick was away. We appreciate it! Isaiah 3:1-5 1 For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; 2 the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. 4 And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them....
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The Problem of OT Genocide
Introduction: Richard Dawkins once described God as: “…the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” The ethics of the OT and in particular the commands to eradicate the Canaanites from the promised land, the so called commands to commit genocide or ethnic cleansing are a strong reason for disbelief in the God of the Bible today. Today we want to spend some time thinking about the commands of God to enter...
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Genesis 6 & 7: Judgement Warnings
A big thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week when Nick was away sick. We appreciate it!
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A Christian Response to New Zealand’s Darkest Day
Introduction: Friday March 15th 2019 will go down in history as one of New Zealand’s darkest days, or as some are calling it, the day NZ lost her innocence. More people died in the Christchurch earthquakes but the hatred filled attack which killed 50 Muslim men, women and children is more personal. The trauma of the event is amplified by the fact that New Zealand has a well-earned reputation as being a safe haven; it has always been well insulated from the troubles of the rest of the world. There are a number of issues that are all bound...
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Psalm 90: The Brevity of Life
Introduction: As a pastor I am always torn about how a funeral should be done. Funerals have changed in tone from a time of mourning to a time of celebrating a life. They are no longer times of introspection and reflection but times of therapy. Here is the trouble, there is no instruction in the Bible which tells us exactly how we are to conduct a funeral, or a wedding for that matter. The regulative principle of worship tells us how we must worship when we come together as the people of God, we are to sit under apostolic...
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1 Kings 10:1-13: The Queen of Sheba
Introduction: How do we understand the visit of the queen of Sheba to King Solomon? Jesus Christ gives us the lens to see the relevance of this OT character, Luke 11:29-32, ‘When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with the men...
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Romans 14:10-12: The Judgement Seat of God
Sorry no audio available for this sermon. Introduction: In the human heart lies a contradiction, we all want justice but we don’t want God as a judge. In every culture and human experience there is a cry for justice, an outrage and a desire for a reckoning where the truth will come to light and those who have been oppressors and done evil will receive their due. We can all think of someone who we think deserves to be judged, but how many of us would volunteer ourselves for judgement? The Bible reveals that it is right that we have...
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1 Kings 3:16-28: Wise Justice
Introduction: We all love a good riddle, for example the famous one about a choice between two doors. There are two door guardians by the two doors, one always lies and one always tells the truth: what single question could you ask to find out which is the right door? The answer is, ask any one of them what the other door guardian will tell you is the right one, and then choose the opposite. The one telling the truth will know that the one who lies will point to the wrong one; and the one who lies will...
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Romans 14:4 – Forgetting Grace
Introduction: At the heart of all false religion is a false view of grace. On the one hand we have legalistic type religions that put the emphasis on their own efforts and making ourselves worthy and righteousness enough that we earn our way into rightstanding with God. On the other hand we have antinomian type religions who have divorced grace from the person of God and His holiness, and a hypergrace results where God is not holy and just and does not expect a payment in order for sins to be forgiven. Forgetting grace is a common problem among Christians, and...
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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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