Habakkuk 1:1-4: The Doubting Prophet
People go through their lives not thinking about God, but as soon as something goes wrong then suddenly the questions fly and someone has to be blamed and God whose existence was being ignored is suddenly questioned. This instinct to doubt God when things go wrong is what the book of Habakkuk is all about. The main difference being that Habakkuk is not an unbeliever but a believer questioning God, and his questions and accusations are more informed, more like our own. This is a book that deals with some of our biggest and most important questions, where is...
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1 Timothy 2:1-4: Prayer
Thanks to Willem Rawlins for preaching this afternoon as part of our series in the Disciplines of Grace. Pray for All People – 1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
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Luke 1:5-25: The Conception of John the Baptist
Introduction: 400 years without a prophet, 400 years without an angelic visit or a miracle. Sure there had been some providential victories in the Maccabean wars, but like the 400 years of captivity in Egypt Israel were in a place of oppression under Roman rule and spiritually poor and in need of light and deliverance. God’s people needed a new Exodus, a new Moses, a new crushing of Pharaoh, a new redemption and ransom from slavery, a new Passover Lamb. And now that time has come in the preparation of the way for the coming of the Messiah with...
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Romans 15:30-33: How God answers prayer
Introduction: How many of you have ever kept a prayer journal? Many have testified to the encouragement of looking back on their early prayers and seeing either God answering the prayers, or changing the prayers into better ones. Every prayer is always answered with a yes or a no or a not yet or in a way better than you expected. Today as we come to Romans we are in a closing section where Paul ends his personal travel plans with a request for prayer, Romans 15:30-33, ‘I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by...
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Romans 15:17-19a: The Nature of Paul’s Ministry
Introduction: What is the nature of the ministry of the church? For what purpose does the church primarily exist? Paul will help us answer these questions as he reflects on the nature of his own ministry in Romans 15:17-19. V17-19a, ‘In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed,19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God….’ What is the mission of...
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1 Kings 8:54-66: Solomon’s Benediction
Introduction: Most good Christian events happen around food. And the dedication of the temple is another example of this. We are approaching the end of Solomon’s prayer where he gives a final benediction of praise, some final requests and an exhortation to Israel. And then there is a huge nationwide feast. Solomon’s prayer has been very rich theologically as it has spoken to us about the God we are approaching and how to pray about our sins. The last part of this prayer is no less rich. Three things dominate this closing prayer. Firstly, in v56 Solomon blesses God...
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1 Kings 8:22-30: Approaching God in prayer
Introduction: The prayer of Solomon is one of the longest prayers in the Bible, being 30 verses long. Nehemiah 9 is the longest with 33 verses, and the longest prayer of Christ is 26 in John 17. The Puritans were known to pray for 45 minutes in their pulpit prayers. Most long prayers are burdensome for very few are able to sustain the necessary focus and spirituality to keep the congregation interested for so long. But in this long prayer there is nothing wasted. Solomon’s prayer like many others in the bible is a model prayer. We will break it up...
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Good Friday Sermon: Matthew 26:36-46: The Prayers Of Gethsemane
INTRODUCTION: Today in our Good Friday meditation we will be considering Jesus under the shadow of the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane. The name Gethsemane means ‘oil press’ and seems a very appropriate name for the place where Jesus would pray the hardest prayer any human has ever prayed. As we proceed to the Garden to look not only into another’s grief, but the grief of the Holy One who is submitting Himself to His Fathers punishment for our sins, we must beg the aid of the Spirit, we are not only treading on mysteries but holy ground. ...
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Romans 12:12: Suffering Survival Kit
Outline Rejoice in hope Patient in tribulation Constant in prayer Introduction ‘But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward,’ these are the famous words of Job 5:7. Suffering is the inevitable portion of every child of Adam. This suffering is a result of the fall, all of God’s creation was put under the curse but a promise was given of a Saviour who would make all things new. In the OT when God wanted to point forward to that New Creation He would suspend some of the effects of the fall. He did this for the...
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Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4: The Lord’s Prayer
Outline Prayer: a Means of Grace What does Jesus teach about Prayer? ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication We are weak and He is not Introduction Lately it has weighed on my heart that as a church would could do better in what we commonly call corporate prayer. When things are going well we can tend to fall into the trap of ploughing on ahead in our own steam, rather than relying on God. I would therefore like to take some time this afternoon looking at the example of prayer that our Lord left us in what we refer to as...
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1 Samuel 7:5-17: ‘Ebenezer’
Outline Penitent prayer Deliverance prayer Answered prayer Introduction Living by faith and living by the flesh, these are the two themes of chapters 7 and 8. In chapter 7 we see Israel with a faithful judge and God blessing the nation with obedience as they follow the godly leadership of the judge; in the next chapter we have a dramatic contrast, Israel wants a king so that they can be ‘like all the nations,’ 8:5. Our attention is brought to God’s goodness to Israel as they live by faith by the repeated mention of prayer. A life of faith...
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1 Samuel 1:1-27: Hannah
Outline Hannah’s barrenness Hannah’s prayer Introduction The present candidates for the American presidency highlight the universal problem of a lack of godly leadership. Americans are forced to choose between a slightly more conservative incompetent in Trump, and the slightly more competent secular humanist, Clinton. There are no good choices. This search for godly leadership is the crisis that 1 and 2 Samuel solves. Or at least they point forward to the final solution. These books are to be situated in the time of the judges. The inconsequential way the book begins, ‘there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim,’ points...
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Ephesians 6:18-20: Intercessory prayer
Outline Praying for saints Praying for missions Praying for preachers Introduction We come to the last message on spiritual warfare. We have covered some of the loopy ideas that spiritual warfare is not; the nature of the battle as being against spiritual powers stronger than us individually; we have spoken about the strength that God gives us by His Spirit; and we have looked at the pieces of the armour as the equipment every Christian is equipped with for the fight. But we have spent the last four messages looking at one of the most important aspects of our...
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Ephesians 6:18: Persevering Prayer
Outline Who God is Why God delays Introduction We are lingering over the issue of prayer because it is so needed in our lives. We have reminded ourselves of the nature of prayer, the different types of prayer, and today we continue by considering perseverance in prayer. Paul writes, ‘praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance….’ There are two aspects of perseverance to consider. Firstly, Paul is calling upon us to be alert and persevere in attempting to pray at all times, in the Spirit, with...
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Ephesians 6:18: The discipline of prayer
Outline Praying at all times Praying in the Spirit Praying with all prayer Introduction Prayer is the easiest thing and the hardest thing for the believer. It is easy for Christ has opened up the way, we have the Spirit to help us, the Word to inform us and the Father warmly welcomes us; but we are sinners and prayer is unnatural to fallen man as doubting and self-sufficient. Prayer is the most pleasant and most painful experience for the believer. It is pleasurable because of the rich spiritual experiences of peace, assurance, love, faith and joy; but it...
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