Praise Is Powerful

The secret to living life well is learning to Praise God in all circumstances.  It's easy to praise in the good times, but praising Him through the difficult times takes trust and conviction that God knows best.

The Jesus Prayer

If you can breathe, you can pray.  The Jesus Prayer is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Are You Ready For What God Has For You?

Our first priority in life, before all else, is to know for ourselves who God is.
Our sermon today is based on selected Exodus readings where Moses goes before Pharaoh.
God wants to set us free to worship Him in the desert.
Exodus 7:16; 8:1; 8:20; 9:1; 9:13; 10:3.

Seeing God As He Truly Is Changes Us

There are many facets to the character of God.  He is among many things, Holy, Majestic, Merciful, Healer, Son of God, Creator, Sovereign, Eternal.  We say Jesus is our Saviour and Lord. But is He Lord of every facet of us? As we allow God to be Lord of every part of us, our lives will change. Active, bold demanding faith in Jesus our Saviour and Lord, gets results. 

Know Who We Are- When The Church Has Lost It's Way

The Church stands at a crossroads between Christendom, (the last 1600 years) and the new era of secular humanism.  So what does the Church look like in this modern era? Does God even recognize her? We need to come back to the Jesus of the Gospels, repent, and find a new way that more accurately reflects our call to be His disciples.
2 Timothy 1:1-14 NIV
14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Breaking Rules

Jim Hayward teaches us the difference between doing the right thing and knowing the right thing to do.  The difference is grace and mercy.

Jesus healing on the Sabbath, was that the right thing?

How To Live A Positive Christian Life

Hebrews 13:1-8;15-16 instructs us on how to live a positive Christian Life in today's environment.
We will explore how to keep loving one another in a Christian environment, to be encouraged to welcome strangers into our homes, remember those in prison, especially those who are there because of their confession of Christ. To uphold Christian marriage. Be aware of seeking after wealth  instead of relying on God for our every provision. Remember those who spoke into our lives, the wisdom of God. Understand that God never changes.  Offer Him our sacrifice of praise, which is our true worship that pleases the Father.
And happy Father's day to all dads. Model your parenting on the One who is Truly our Heavenly Father.

The Birth, Death and Resurrection of God's Plans For Us

Irrespective of age or gender, God has a plan for each of us. Finding that plan requires faith and a listening ear. Sometimes that plan comes as a dream or a vision. It is birthed in us but we get in the way of it and it dies. In the dying, God is then able to rebirth it in glorious resurrection power. The plan is fulfilled.

Verse of the Week

John 14:12-14 (NIV) 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

God's Plans and Strategies give us our Hope for our future

 Giving God control of our lives ensures we have the future He planned for us.

Verse of the Week

Jeremiah 29:11(NIV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The Cost of Forgiveness

This sermon examines possible blockages to receiving in full, God's forgiveness. The cost to us of unforgiveness.  The cost of our forgiveness to God.

1 John 1:5-10 (NIV)

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Focus

It's easy to get distracted and make excuses. When Jesus calls us to do something, we need to focus on that and not lose sight of the big picture.

Luke 9:57-62

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” ⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Conformed to His Image

We had a walking theme this week, so Barry Chant began his sermon with many verses of Scripture references on that theme. For those who asked for a copy, this is the 3 minute version of that session. We then looked at Romans 8:28-30 and what it means for us to be Conformed to the Image of Jesus.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Religion v Relationship

There is a big difference between living in religion and a relationship with Christ. By the standards of the law we are deserving of death. Religion says we don’t measure up and its true, because we have sinned and gone against God’s commandments. Throughout the book of Galatians though, Paul tells us, in Christ we are justified by faith and not by works. As Christians we have been washed by the blood of Jesus and can now live in right relationship with a holy God. So, what is your response? If we have been clothed with Christ, we don’t always know what the future holds but only who holds it, we can step out in faith and walk into the promises He has for us. Unlike the Israelites who knew God, they still choose to stay in their ‘religion’, not trusting God and looking to their circumstances instead of what God had called them to. There is no freedom is religion but complete freedom in a relationship with Jesus. What is God calling you to today?  - Ben Peters

Verse For The Week

Galatians 2:16 (NIV)

16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.