Luke 23:50-56: The Burial of Christ
OUTLINE The fact of Jesus death and burial The significance of Jesus death and burial INTRODUCTION ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.’ These words are from the Apostle’s Creed, one...
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Luke 21:29-38: Looking Forward to the Final Day
OUTLINE The certainty of that day Preparing for that day INTRODUCTION We come to the final part of Jesus teaching in the temple. You will notice in v37-38 that there is a summarizing statement describing Jesus teaching in the temple and the people coming to listen. The last words of Jesus public ministry as recorded by Luke have to do with the last events in history before His return. Christ in this sermon to end all sermons has discussed some of the heaviest and hardest topics. He has discussed the end of the OT, a period which closes with...
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Ephesians 4:11-16: Growing the Church with the Word: Part 1
I have gone through three paradigm shifts with regards to the gifts of the spirit in my Christian walk. Due to being attracted to the activism and life of the Charismatic church in my earlier years I joined the Charismatic Church at the height of the Toronto blessing. The church I joined was a melting pot of various Pentecostal and Charismatic views, there was no monolithic view held by all. In this first stage, this was the naïve stage of a flat approach where I simply expected everything I saw in the book of Acts to be active today...
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Luke 7:24-35: Jesus Vindicates John the Baptist
Have you ever been slandered and gossiped about and totally misunderstood? John the Baptist was a faithful servant of God but who had been slandered, in v33 he was even accused of having had a demon. We have been looking at a section where John the Baptist has sent some of his disciples to ask whether Jesus is the Messiah, we see Jesus give a yes answer substantiated by evidence that the promises of God are coming to pass. After John’s disciples leave we are left with Christ talking about John the Baptist before the crowds. Jesus defends John’...
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Isaiah 9:1-7: Jesus, the prophesied Messiah
You noticed perhaps a similar theme between the two portions of Scripture this morning, and that is one of celebration and rejoicing. So let me ask you this question, what do you celebrate at Christmas time? Perhaps you are happy about the time off work? Perhaps you enjoy spending the break with family and friends? Perhaps you are like the neighbour down my street, and use it as an occasion to put lights on every available surface outside your home? Maybe you like the giving of gifts, or if you are a child, you like the receiving gifts? If...
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Luke 2:22-38: Jesus presented at the Temple
Jesus being presented at the temple is usually not seen as a very important part of the birth narratives in the gospels, but it is important for several reasons. Jesus presentation of the temple gives the final birth hymn, the Nunc Dimittis, that goes along with the Benedictus; the Magnificat; and the Gloria in Excelsius. It is the first visit of Christ to the temple. It is significant that He who is the temple, and the Word tabernacling among us comes to the temple and certain Spirit led things confirm His identity and purpose. This visit is important because...
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Jonah 1:7-16: Jonah and the Sailors
‘Drawing straight lines with crooked sticks’, this is a one liner that I could write over this portion as we see God using an unwilling Jonah to do much more than he ever intended. Bringing good out of evil is another way we could summarise this portion. Jonah is running from God and being disobedient in not calling Nineveh to repentance. Jonah has brought ruin and judgement upon himself and the ships full of unbelieving sailors. Jonah has ruined his witness, but God! Despite Jonah God will use this attempt to damn gentiles to save gentiles. God will use...
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Luke 2:8-21: The Good News of Christ’s Birth
One of the great public events, at least for those who still have a monarchy, is the first appearance of the crown prince, or royal baby. The picture of the couple and the baby makes the front cover of every news outlet, social commentators wax lyrical about whether the duchess wore a dress in the same style as Diana, and on and on it goes. The arrival of a new royal is a big deal and the world sits up and pays attention. Some even have a little shrine to the royal family in their homes, a central place...
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Luke 2:1-7: The Birth of Christ
When I say ‘Christmas’ what comes to mind? Santa Claus, stockings, reindeer, Christmas trees, gifts, food…. Most of our associations have to do with lights, and music and festivities, and large family gatherings with lots of gifts and food and a large expenditure of money, but not so at the first Christmas. Luke 2:1-7 gives us the humble and simple account of one of the greatest miracles of all time, God becoming man. How did we get to the modern practices of celebrating Christmas the way we do? In the earliest times of the time, the birth of Christ...
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Luke 1:57-80: The Benedictus
There are two ways in which God faithfully parents us with suffering. Think of these as two different types of parental discipline. There is the use of suffering in our lives in general which acts to refine our faith, we can think of 1 Pet. 1:6-7: ‘In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus...
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Luke 1:26-38: The Annunciation
When I mention Mary the Mother of Jesus was immediately springs to mind? Those with Roman Catholic roots might think of the Ave Maria, the prayer to Mary. Many may think of various statues or art works. As Protestants we see Mary as surrounded with controversy because the honour that has been paid her, which is technically defined as being less than that given to Christ, seems to amount to idolatry. Today we are going to explore our Mariology. Mariolatry is the worship of Mary, that is not what we want to establish, but rather, Mariology, a biblical doctrine...
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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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Psalm 22: The Triumph of the Cross
Special thanks to Russell Cannons from Shore Baptist in Auckland, for sharing God’s Word with us this Easter.
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Psalm 22: The Trial of the Cross
Special thanks to Russell Cannons from Shore Baptist in Auckland, for sharing God’s Word with us this Easter.
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The Bible: Part 4: Messianic Prophecy
Introduction: How do we know the Bible is the word of God? So far we have shown that it is because it says it is, and this is demonstrated in various ways. We have looked at the unique nature and impact of the Bible, and we have looked at the single united story that reveals a single author. Today we continue to demonstrate the divine authorship of Scripture by examining prophecy and in particular Messianic prophecy. The Bible is unique in its prophecies. Every religion has had so called prophets, very few have written down predictions to take place...
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Romans 12:6: The Gift of Prophecy
Outline What prophecy is What prophecy isn’t Introduction The Charismatic church tells us that the gift of prophecy is an ongoing gift and function in the church today. They tell us that prophecy continues, but that it is something that is faulty. ‘When Mike Bickle interviewed Bob Jones about his prophetic ministry, Bickle asked, “So there has been errors; there’s been a number of errors?” Jones responded with this: “Oh, hundreds of them.” And at the National School of the Prophets (on May 13, 2000), Chuck Pierce and Cindy Jacobs similarly acknowledged: “We’ve made a lot of mistakes. There’s no...
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