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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Colossians 1:24-29: Suffering, the Gospel, and Holiness – How to Identify a Faithful Christian Minister
Many of you all will have heard this verse and felt very warm and smug and contented inside. James 3:1 says: ‘Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, as you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness’ You may be breathing a big sigh of relief in your hearts as I often have, comforted by the thought that the church elders, those who preach here up the front, will be judged with a higher standard, and you may have thought that perhaps God will let those of us sitting in the pews off...
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The Gospel as an Argument for Christianity
Distinct to every other worldview and religion is the gospel. It stands outside of the values and ideas of every man made system of belief. It is the power of God to enter, confront, subvert and reform our basic understanding of everything. It is the dynamite that explodes the rock of every man-made self-sourced system of thought, and at the end of the day, every religion, philosophy, system of ideas, etc. is a worldview.
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Being and Doing Church
Introduction: When Hitler was trying to enthuse the German nation to get behind his expansionist programs he told them that the German race was the Ubermensch, the Beyond-man/Hyper-man. He understood the psychology of action, we do as we believe. If we think we are better than others we will happily walk over their heads. We have also given the name slave mentality to a state or mind that acts out of the way it sees itself. This is a life of subservience and submission that thinks of itself as less. Activity follows identity. We see this everyday in life,...
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Romans: Final Overview
Introduction: You have heard the saying, ‘I can’t see the forest for the trees.’ Some of you may feel this way as we come to the end of the book of Romans, it is the longest of all Paul’s letters, and the most theological. If I had to ask you to give me a quick rundown of Romans could you do it? Are you familiar with its content and the development of its argument or is it a maze? Romans is a long development of the theological twists and turns of the gospel of God. So it is my...
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Romans 16:21-27: Doxology
Introduction: What distracts you in worship? Is it the heat? Maybe it is the sounds of people cutting their grass. Maybe you are distracted by the sounds the kids make, misspelt words on the slides, or maybe it is something at work or at home that enters your thoughts and derails you. As we come to the end of Romans we come to the doxology. But Paul is like us he gets distracted. He begins in the traditional way, ‘Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel….’ And then Paul loses it, the gospel...
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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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Genesis 4:26: First Glimmers of Worship and the Essence of Gospel Witness
We’d like to thank Michael Beck for being our guest preacher today. Mike is the pastor at Gracenet Community Church in Wellington, a sister church from the FRBCNZ.
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Romans 10:14-15 on the Gospel
Thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching today from Romans 10:14-15, regarding the Gospel.
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1 Corinthians 1:18-31 – Preaching the Foolishness of the Cross
Introduction: Do you feel embarrassed about the Christian message? Are you embarrassed about the exclusive claims that Christ is the only way to heaven? Do you cringe when you have to sound ‘cruel’ by affirming that everyone is a totally depraved sinner? Do you drop your voice when you say that homosexual lust is a sin and homosexual marriage is an impossibility? Do you leave out quoting the Bible in your conversations because of how people today think of God’s word? Have you ever felt tempted to rethink some traditional Christian beliefs on things like hell, the inspiration of Scripture,...
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Ephesians 3: The Mystery of the Gospel
Thanks to John Leevers for preaching this morning; he is from Papakura Baptist Church. Read Ephesians 3 Online
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Christmas Message: John 1:14-18: Have You Seen the Glory?
Introduction: Are you bored of Christmas? Does it seem repetitive to sing the same carols for a month every year? Have you felt your heart grow hardened to the incarnation of Christ? In September this year, I went on a road trip with an English family from church to the outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee to see an eclipse. One of the members of our company had become entirely obsessed with it, so, he went on Nasa’s website and found us GPS coordinates for a carpark where we could view the eclipse with 100% totality. The whole process of the...
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Ephesians 4:26-27: Anger management
Introduction: How does the devil destroy churches? If we were hit with an earthquake and all of our buildings were destroyed that would not undermine our standing and integrity as a church. It often happens that persecution is the thing that God uses to strengthen and purify churches, so this is often a tactic that backfires on the devil. The most effective ways to undermine the church are by diluting the truth it believes and the Gospel it preaches, dropping all reference to sin, wrath and sacrifice. We are told that a little leaven affects the whole lump and...
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Spiritual Gifts: The Gift of Evangelism
Outline The office The responsibility Introduction John Harper was born in Scotland in 1872. He was converted at 14 and from an early age began to tell others about Jesus. He ended up planting a church in London with 25 members which grew to over 500 when he left 13 years later. He had married and was widowed but had a daughter. The Moody church in America sought out this fervent evangelist to run evangelistic meetings at his church. So he set off with his daughter to America on a ship. A few days into the journey, he woke...
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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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Romans 10:16-21: Culpable Religious Unbelief
Introduction: Unbelief is a cockroach! Cockroaches can survive without food for prolonged periods of time; they are 8-15 times more resistant to radiation than vertebrates; some can go without air for 45 minutes; some have revived after being submerged underwater for 30 minutes; they can survive sub-zero temperatures and continue to have bodily functions even after they have been decapitated. Cockroaches are hard to kill and so is unbelief. The atomic bomb of Christ’s death and resurrection has hit the nation of Israel but unbelief like the cockroach continues to thrive. Paul in chapters 9-11 of Romans is dealing...
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