Ephesians 5:15-17: Walking Wisely
The word walk is used several times in the letter to the Ephesians. The word is used metaphorically to indicate a lifestyle, a life direction, a pattern of behaviour. It is used to describe our lives before Christ, 2:2, ‘And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.’ 4:17, ‘Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the...
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1 Kings 4: Solomon’s Infinite Wisdom
Thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week. Please accept our apologies for the missing audio. Introduction: The book of kings is often an action packed and thrilling piece of redemptive history, but not so much in chapter 4. In chapter 4 we have the story of how Solomon administered his kingdom. But once again before we look at Solomon’s administration, lets remind ourselves just where in redemptive history this chapter fits. The redemptive story so far tells us that Adam and Eve have been deceived by the serpent, they have sinned and been banished from the Garden. God...
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1 Kings 3: Solomon the Righteous Judge
Thanks to Guy McKenzie for preaching this week. Please accept our apologies for the missing audio. Introduction: As you may remember, I am preaching through the book of kings, as it is written, as a thrilling piece of redemptive history. So lets remind ourselves just where in redemptive history this book and this chapter fits. The redemptive story so far tells us that Adam and Eve have been deceived by the serpent, sinned and been cast out of the Garden of Eden. God has promised the first humans that one day a saviour will rescue them and their descendant’s...
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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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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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1 Kings 3:1-15: Solomon, The Sinful Saint
Introduction: Sinful saints, who are a mix of belief and worship and trust and obedience; yet who are also inconsistent, disobedient, unwise and compromising are a valuable encouragement in scripture. Not only because we see how God’s grace is bigger than our failures, but also because we get to see how sin works in the fallen heart. Solomon is one of the bigger saints with big sins and his life is incredibly instructive. We are early on in the reign of Solomon, and the benefit of studying the early years is because the trajectory for a person’s life is set...
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I Timothy 6:6-10; 17-19: Financial Stewardship
Introduction: I have made serious financial mistakes. You almost certainly have as well. What is the one item that comes to your mind that you wish you hadn’t sunk so much money in to? When I was a teenager, I spent all the money I had saved working on the farm for the last five years on a computer. I wanted a computer primarily so I could use it to play computer games. I had begged my dad to let me buy one for two years in a row and he finally decided to just let me do it....
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Proverbs 9:7; 15:15; 27:7: Eating right in 2018
Introduction: There are many New Year’s resolutions relating to food. Eating less, eating right, eating clever, we change our eating habits to improve our lives whether it is for our weight, our blood pressure, our performance, etc. Today I want to share some eating tips in relation to spiritual health. In the book of proverbs there are many texts that talk about food and eating, I would like to point you to just three. We will be considering ‘eating’ texts as they relate to sin, suffering and satisfaction. These are three areas we all need instruction in for 2018.
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