Wahroonga Anglican Podcast: Recent Episodes
Wahroonga Anglican Church
About how Jesus changes things in the great news of the gospel contained in a few simple verses from Galatians
About how Jesus changes things in the great news of the gospel contained in a few simple verses from Galatians
Chris opens up the second half of 2 Corinthians 5 and looks at reconciliation as the main purpose for us.
Chris Edwards opens up the first part of Chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians looking towards our eternal home and new body.
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!’ - Galatians 5.1Freedom! Everyone wants it, but what is it?What does it mean to be truly free? Would you recognise a free person if you saw them? What would they be doing? What matters to them? How would they express that?
The joyful privilege and awesome responsibility that is ours because we are the children of God!
Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.
'I have been crucified with Christand I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.’Galatians 2.20What a relief this is! All my mistakes, all my sin, he carries! Hallelujah!What a challenge this is! All my pride, all my sense of my own significance is dead and buried.
We follow up with week 2 in Galatians considering the true message of Jesus and that humans trying to modify the gospel is not the true gospel.
…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus… Hebrews 12:1-2
we come to the end of Deuteronomy! And the end of Moses! The great leader, the great prophet, the great preacher that we’ve met over the last chapters won’t make it into the Promised Land. It seems like a somewhat depressing finale. So where does that leave us? Looking forward to talking about it! Next Sunday, we’re doing a special one-off week based on Hebrews 12, that will bridge us from Deuteronomy to launching the following week into our next project - Galatians! Having studied ‘the second law’ (Deuteronomy), it’ll be excellent to study Paul’s teaching on how the law affects Christians today.
It’s sometimes easy to get lost in all the laws about war, cities of refuge, tithing, disputes, skin diseases and so on in Deuteronomy chapters 12-26. But here’s a verse from the end of this section to put things in perspective:And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.(Deut 26:18)God gives his people these commands because of who they are - loved, even treasured by him.
Oh! And we are looking at just the most wonderful set of commands from our God about generosity, in Deuteronomy 14.22 - 15.18. It is a call to shape the contours of our life as God’s people around the contours of our God’s heart - abounding generosity!
Deuteronomy 8 is going to help us see the simple power of remembering the LORD and the significant problem of forgetting.We’ll see the dangerous patterns of a heart that forgets. We’ll see the fruitful patterns of a heart that remembers.We’ll see what we need to remember and how to help each other remember.
want to share with you something that has been on my heart and in my prayers for some time for our church. As we continue to explore Deuteronomy together, I want us to pause to consider together the 4th commandment - the sabbath. I think it is a command filled with both opportunity and challenge for us. And I am convinced it is a word in season for us right now.
True life is about knowing God deeply! It’s such a simple truth, but one I found so helpful to be reminded of again as I think about what I value and prioritise in life.Looking forward to getting into life more deeply as we know God more deeply in Deuteronomy.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.Deuteronomy 6:4-5These verses, called ‘the shema’ (Hebrew for ‘hear’, or ‘listen’) are at the heart of Deuteronomy. It’s a book that sounds the call again and again to listen carefully and to love God deeply and truly. This week, we’ll be looking at chapter 4 together.
We begin our new series in the Book of Deuteronomy where we look at the theme of "Choose Life"
Seeing how the news about him continues to spread, despite, and even because of, opposition to it.
We’ll jump into Acts 2, and see the gift God has given us in sending us his Spirit - to speak to us about King Jesus! We’ll see how the spirit speaks to us and why.
We meet Jesus through Peter’s eyes, as someone who knows us in our weakness, and offers a second chance.
We take our next look at what it would mean to be a church that increasingly lets the light shine! We’ll be thinking about our goal to grow in humble-hearted service of others. We’ll consider what it would mean to prioritise serving each other and what it would look like to be a church to heed the call of the king to carry each other’s burdens (Gal 6.2).
‘We are being remade…that’s what his gospel is doing in our lives…transforming us into creatures he made us to be…everything is being changed…and we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never imagined: a real person, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched with joy…’ C. S. Lewiswe are listening to Jesus (in Matthew’s gospel) as he tells us who we are and what our purpose is, as his church. We have heard that we are the light of the world. We have heard that our purpose is to let the light shine. This Sunday we will hear Jesus’ challenge to shine the light by growing in wholehearted love for God, above all else. It’s a call to joy. It’s a call to claim what’s yours. It’s a call to give it all away.
You are the light of the world!Let the light shine!Matt 5.14, 16That’s the WHO and the WHY of our church family, and throughout February we’re spending our Sunday gatherings thinking about what it would look like to live out that purpose together in our community.
You are the light of the world…so, let the light shine! (Matthew 5.14, 16)This Sunday we begin a sermon series to set the course for our church for 2024 and beyond. Over the coming weeks we’ll dive into Matthew 5 together, to see the joy and the purpose of living life with Jesus as King. I am excited to explore Jesus’ words with you.
This Sunday we wrap up our summer series, Asking for a friend…. We’ll have evangelist John Lavender with us at all services - preaching from Mark’s gospel, answering the question, Does God care?It’s a vital question and many experiences in this world lead people to ask it. The answer the gospel provides is wonderful!
Do you know anyone who thinks that religion is silly, that God is imaginary? Perhaps you’ve even had a conversation with someone like that over this Christmas/New Year period. I doubt they would have put things as bluntly as Richard Dawkins, when he said: “God is a delusion – a ‘psychotic delinquent’ invented by mad deluded people.” How would you respond to that? That (or a less extreme version) is the view of many people around us, and may even be something that you’ve wondered about yourself at times.
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things…He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel;all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.Psalm 98:1a, 3The Lord has done many marvellous things, including in the last year amongst us here in Wahroonga. Take a look at some of the things our church family was thankful for in 2023, and spend a moment thanking God for the past year yourself.
Preparing the Perfect Christmas. This Sunday we see the promise given and then delivered to send a king who can actually carry the weight of the world! Have a read of Isaiah 9.1-7 and Matthew 4.12-17 to get ready.
‘I wish I had your faith…’A phrase sometimes said to people of faith. Sometimes it’s a compliment - admiring a person’s capacity to trust God, despite difficult circumstances. Sometimes it’s a challenge - questioning whether faith despite difficult circumstances is perhaps a bit naive.Either way, the problem is actually being clear on what it means to have faith. What does it mean to be a person whose faith is in Jesus?Luke 7.1-1 shows us a man of faith. Ironically, he is not one of God’s people (Israel) and yet, Jesus will say of this man, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’Luke 7 will show us why great faith matters and what great faith actually is.
Jesus reveals his heart to be the Physician of the Soul. He is the new way, not the old. He is the King in the Kingdom of God, and he is the centerpiece of the New Covenant. He compassionately heals out of love. He has authority not only over creation and demons but even over the Law.
Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’Luke’s gospel is written to dismantle the false view we have of ourselves and our God, and in its place to build into our hearts the glorious truth of the favour of God, for anyone who is seeing clearly enough to recognise their desperate need of Jesus.Today it will be a paralytic who shatters the delusion of our self-sufficiency, and in it’s place lead us to the God who neither slumbers not sleeps in his help of us.We will hear again the gospel of Jesus. The one who comes as the doctor we all need. A doctor who has not come for those who keep pretending they're healthy, but for those who know they're sick. A doctor who has not come to manage symptoms, but to make us whole again and forever.
‘Cancel culture is mercy’s antithesis’. Nick Cave‘Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make a people holy through his own blood’ Hebrews 13.12This Sunday we’ll meet an outcast who shows us our true status before God, who asks the question we must ask (if we’re seeing things clearly). This Sunday we’ll see Jesus - who has come for the outsiders, the cancelled, the broken, the unclean, the stuff ups, the sinners, the sick. He brings them good news, of favour, of a way back where none seemed possible. And only if we are willing to number ourselves among those who need such favour is Jesus’ ministry good news for us.
What a difference a day makes!Especially when that day involves the Lord Jesus walking into your workplace and turning your life upside down. Especially when that ends up meaning your life is finally turned the right way up!That’s the experience of Simon in Luke 5.1-11. This Sunday’s passage has much to teach us about what deep water discipleship could look like in our own lives. And it also might teach us a bit about fishing!
The King has come and he is coming again. He came to demonstrate the goodness and mercy of God. First through his miracles and his mercy to thousands.Then ultimately to go to the cross for us for our sins and to rise from the dead to give us the promise of forgiveness of our sins and of everlasting life.And he promised he is coming again to put an end to all evil and to let goodness reign with completeness over the earth.This is the good news…the very good news of the kingdom of God.
This Sunday we will hear the announcement of God’s favour, his grace, being open to all who would see their need and claim their share, through the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing this promise of grace is all the more precious in light of the deep needs of our world, the tensions besetting nations at present. How broken and divided our world is. How good it is to know that in our need we can come to our God and seek his favour once more.
we’ll see that the fruit a human heart and mind produces, when that heart and mind are set on Jesus, is the fruit of repentance and faith. If that fruit is absent, it is a sign our hearts and minds are set elsewhere. But, the more we set our hearts and minds on Jesus as our King, the more buds of growth will show themselves in our lives. Wonderfully, we don’t need to wait until spring each year to see such growth. The fruit of repentance and faith can be produced daily.
My prayer for us is that as we read Luke 2-7 together that these will be life changing days for our church family.
Hear about God’s compassion and joy when we who were lost to him are found. It’s a message of welcome for us… as well as for our family, neighbours and friends.
The Christian faith is not simply what Jesus Christ has done or what we do... but WHO Jesus Christ is. 1 Samuel 15 makes us consider the failure of Israel's first king, we leave not lamenting in Saul but rejoicing in Jesus Christ. Because as Saul's kingdom ends we are reminded that God's kingdom endures.
We see how Saul is essentially a functional atheist - though he believes in God, he lives and makes decisions like he doesn’t exist. It’s something that we’re all too liable to do, too.
1 Samuel 14 shows us another moment ofrescue. We learn the Lord keeps his promise and fights his own battles. He doesn’tneed a king, He doesn’t need the ark of the Covenant. He does use the King’sson Jonathon. God saved then through the King’s Son, Jonathon. God saves now, throughGod’s Son, Jesus. We are saved not just from Philistines but death itself.Sometimes we need to be reminded of this great act of grace from God towardshis distracted people.
But this is how the Bible defines foolishness: ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ (Psalm 14:1)
And that’s not just an intellectual thing - you can believe God exists in your mind… but at the same time say in your heart there is no God - in your consciousness, in your desires and anxieties and ups and downs. Regardless of what seems like common sense, foolishness is living without reference to God. And that’s what we’re going to think about this week in 1 Samuel 13. Have a read to get a feel for the story!
we are shown just how trustworthy our God is with the things of this earth. We will see his thunderous response to those who turn away from him and place their security in other things. But, we will also see his gracious invitation to those who want to start again, and renew their trust.
‘Jesus is able to save completely, those who come to God through him’ Hebrews 7.25
This is our king, and yet when fears grow or trouble comes our way, Jesus is often the last one we turn to! We try all sorts of strategies - self-sufficiency, attempting to control the situation, some sort of coping mechanism, some distraction, some escape. But, how slow we are to go to the king who can save us!
1 Samuel 11 is a picture of God’s people questioning whether their king can save them. It is a picture of a people trying everything but going to the king. There is much challenge for us here. But also the much encouragement as we see our king’s relentless plan to save us despite ourselves!
The desire of God’s people to not have God as their king, but a king like the nations - to reign over them and to fight their battles. We’ll see again God’s sovereign and gracious response to this sinful rejection of him. We’ll see him use this bad plan, to bring about his good plan, to give us not the king we desire, but the king we actually need. And of this king, his Son, Jesus, we have no need to shout ‘long live the king’, because God’s king has conquered death and he will reign forever! (Rev 11.15).
The desire of God’s people to not have God as their king, but a king like the nations - to reign over them and to fight their battles. We’ll see again God’s sovereign and gracious response to this sinful rejection of him. We’ll see him use this bad plan, to bring about his good plan, to give us not the king we desire, but the king we actually need. And of this king, his Son, Jesus, we have no need to shout ‘long live the king’, because God’s king has conquered death and he will reign forever! (Rev 11.15).
Our God is graciously sovereign over both the minute and mundane parts of life, as he is sovereign over the weighty and eternal realities of life. What an encouragement to know that he is still on his throne and we can trust him with yesterday, today and tomorrow!
1 Samuel is an ancient book that will help us deal with a contemporary problem - the problem of leadership!
Who leads the way in your life? In your family’s life? In the life of our nation? In our church family? In a world where our own leadership and the leadership of others falters and fails we will see in 1 Samuel God’s gloriously good plan to provide the leadership we need. We will see his plan to install our forever king!
The folly of humanity is to believe that we are self made women and men, and then to worship our ‘creator’. Wisdom is learning that we are creatures fearfully and wonderfully made by our God, and worshipping him as our King. This wisdom comes from God alone, as he speaks his word to us. This wisdom leads to life! This wisdom can change our lives!
Our last look at Colossians (4.2-18) is going to show us a wonderfully personal picture of how the good news of Jesus progresses in a life, a church, a city, and all over the world…
This week we see in V.3:18-4:1 what that looks like in everyday life, at home and at work. Christians are called to clothe themselves with Christ in their marriages, earthly families, even while at work. Seeking the things above where Christ is seated a challenge for every part of life. This week husbands, and wives, children and parents, employees and bosses, even students will be called to live out the new life in Christ in our earthly relationships. This is a word for us all, so together we can help each other live this out.
We’ve seen in Colossians over the last weeks how trusting in Jesus means we die and rise with him, and are new people! And this Sunday we’ll add some more texture to what our ‘new self’ looks like… to help us be more sure of it, and more able to live out of it.
In Colossians 3 and we again see the power of the gospel of Christ Jesus to bring revolution, but not just all over the world (Colossians 1.6) but in your world, your life.
In Colossians 3 and we again see the power of the gospel of Christ Jesus to bring revolution, but not just all over the world (Colossians 1.6) but in your world, your life.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him… (Col 2.6)This Sunday Colossians 2 will speak a word in season to us, from our God. It is a word for those who feel their walk with Jesus is going strong. It is a word for those who fear their walk with him is unstable. It is a word that shines a light on the false paths we might walk down as Christians and a word that leads us back to Christ!
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him… (Col 2.6)This Sunday Colossians 2 will speak a word in season to us, from our God. It is a word for those who feel their walk with Jesus is going strong. It is a word for those who fear their walk with him is unstable. It is a word that shines a light on the false paths we might walk down as Christians and a word that leads us back to Christ!
Colossians is all about the fact that in Jesus, we have everything that we need - there’s nothing else! And so, Christian life is about walking in him. How’s your walk been going this week? Have the decisions you’ve made been consistent with him as the root and foundation of all you do? That’s the challenge of the passage
Colossians is all about the fact that in Jesus, we have everything that we need - there’s nothing else! And so, Christian life is about walking in him. How’s your walk been going this week? Have the decisions you’ve made been consistent with him as the root and foundation of all you do? That’s the challenge of the passage
Colossians 1.15-23 is a word to us all and our tendency to self-rule. It is a word that ends the fanciful notion that the crown fits our head. It is a call to surrender before the only one who is fit to wear the crown, as king, of our lives, of this world, of all things!Colossians 1.15-23 is the coronation of the true king, Jesus.
Colossians 1.15-23 is a word to us all and our tendency to self-rule. It is a word that ends the fanciful notion that the crown fits our head. It is a call to surrender before the only one who is fit to wear the crown, as king, of our lives, of this world, of all things!Colossians 1.15-23 is the coronation of the true king, Jesus.
Colossians is written to assure your heart and mind that in Christ Jesus we have all we will ever need. To have Christ Jesus is to be wholly full! Colossians is written to help us see just how glorious Jesus is and to see the riches that are ours by faith in him. It is purpose to give us full assurance so that we can live fully for him!
If you asked someone on the street what they thought about Wahroonga Anglican Church, what do you think they’d say? Depending on the street, there’s a chance they wouldn’t have heard of us at all, but what if they had? In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul, Timothy and Silas express how thankful they are that the message of the gospel has so effectively impacted the lives of the Thessalonians that the Lord’s message ‘rings out’ from them, like ripples, into the surrounding regions.
Looking forward to looking at Colossians 4.2-6 together and hearing this call to pray for opportunities and to make the most of them when they come!
Though I am free and belong to no one, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some…
‘WHO WE ARE’ - exploring together the characteristics that make us God’s church. In John 14.1-11 we will see how this longing can drive all we do as a church, and can anchor us from whatever may come against us.
In the upper room of John 13 we will see the full extent of the love in God’s heart - a love that bends the knee to serve his friends, but also a love that pursues those who want to be rid of him. We will see the heart of a betrayer (and it will look uncomfortably familiar) and we will see the heart of the betrayed (and it is like nothing in the world).
This Sunday we continue our series WHO WE ARE, exploring who we are as a church. This Sunday we will see the mindset that Jesus has established his church on. In John 13, we will see up close our God and King, whose coat of arms we bear as his church - a lowly servant, bent before us, utterly committed to our good. We’ll see him serving us; not in spite of who he is, but because of who he is. And we will consider what it will look like to follow after him, with this same mindset.
Listening to God’s word describe WHO we are as a church family.1 Peter 1.18 - 2.3 & James 1.19-25
I challenge you to find a more heart-stirring passage than the one we’ll read together this Sunday - Ephesians 3.14-21 - It’s a prayer that brings us to our knees and directs our hearts to powerful love of our heavenly Father.
In the Prayer for a New Year we’re looking at this week - Ephesians 1:15-23 - Paul’s #1 prayer point is that we - i.e. Christian people - would know God more deeply. That’s what we’re going to be thinking about on Sunday!
we are challenged by a small prayer of Paul in Philippians 1:1-11. We see the motivation of love for the Philippians behind the prayer and we see the content of what he prays.
We make all kinds of resolutions at this time of year... but often they're driven by our desire to please the various people in our lives. Instead, let's let Paul's prayer in 2 Thessalonians 1 shape our approach to 2023. This sermon was originally in two parts at one of our all-age services.
As we begin a new year, we reflect on the wonderful truth that whether this year feels 'new' or not, our God is a God of fresh starts. He teaches us to pray 'forgive us our sins,' and he answers that prayer.
Our world really likes the idea of Christmas... and what it represents - things like joy and peace and togetherness. However, these are all abstract concepts that are never fully realised. The true story of the first Christmas is not about a concept, but about a person - Jesus Christ - who is grace, kindness and love.
We tend to be drawn into worshipping lots of different things… from career, to family, to ourselves. The Magi from the East in Matthew chapter 2 travelled from afar to worship an infant - which seems crazy, except for who that infant was! How can we worship Jesus joyfully in every aspect of our lives - at Christmas, but also in our workplaces, our neighbourhoods and our family time?
Matthew 1 - the genealogy of Jesus - seems a strange way to start the greatest story. It's a long list of names and probably not the way we would think to begin! But this list threads through thousands of years of history, creating momentum and finding its satisfying conclusion in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. His story satisfies us more than decorations, food, gifts and holidays, and his story ultimately satisfies us for eternity.
It's sometimes easy to think that we have everything that we need without God, or to trust God with part of our heart while at the same time trusting in something else. Gus Cameron from St Barnabas' Fairfield - one of our Mission Partners - explains how this was a problem for the Israelites, and how God graciously provided the leader they needed to guide them back to him.
‘My dog is bigger than your dog.’ ‘My God is bigger the your God.’ The Philistines begin chapter 5 of 1 Samuel thinking ‘my gods are bigger than your gods’ because they won a battle and captured the ark of the covenant, a Symbol of the Lord’s presence.
We are reminded in 1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6, nations in the Ancient World were both deeply religious and deeply superstitious, most nations had their own fickle set of gods, that echoed aspects of the created order. We see the clash of world views between the Philistines and the Israelite ‘gods.’ The Philistines were a seafaring people who settled in the South East coastal region, we call the Gaza strip. They had their own fickle gods, Dagon the fish God being the most prominent, they opposed the Lord the One God of Israel.
In 1 Samuel 5 &6 the Lord establishes his authority over the false gods of the Philistines. We see the decision to oppose the Lord has consequences. We live in days where the nations worship different gods or no god at all. Our community treats the Lord with contempt and opposes him in different ways. What lures your heart away to make gods of things that aren’t gods? The unfolding story of the Bible invites us to turn to Jesus and find atonement in him, the true sacrifice. Turn to Jesus and live.
We’ve already seen how vital honouring God is - and the trouble that the nation of Israel is in due to people honouring themselves more than God and his ways, particularly their leaders - Eli and his sons. We are jolted by the reality of where all of that ends up… when God himself exits the building, or, at least, the symbol of his presence does - the ark of the covenant. So, we’re confronted with a warning, but, we’ll find, also with hope.
If there is a constant in our experience of human leadership it is that such leadership inevitably fails us. It is hard not to be cynical about such leadership. Of course, that cynicism should extend to ourselves. How often we fail to self-lead, let along lead others?
1 Samuel speaks into this leadership malaise. 1 Samuel 2.11-36 is part of that unfolding story. We will see just how dark human leadership can be, but we will also see just how relentless God’s good plan to overcome such failed leadership is.
1 Samuel 2.1-10 reveals that belief in God has the capacity to change everything - both how we see life now and what we know life will be like at the end of history. We will also see that these realities are meant to change the way our how responds to life in this world.
We work pretty hard not to be dependent on others. We like to think we can provide for ourselves. But the Bible speaks of the reality behind our presumption. Life and breath and everything else comes from the hand of God our Father. It is he who provides what we need, he who knows what we need long before we even ask, and he who knows our deepest needs, that only he can provide.
It is a prayer of surrender before God and it is the key to living freely and fruitfully in this world.
At the heart of our mission as a church is bringing people to Jesus. We know our own desperate need for Jesus - for forgiveness, for hope, for peace, for purpose.
We come to the end of the line with Mark. Mark started out his gospel with this: ‘The beginning of the gospel about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” So, what’s the news, and why is it so good? If you’ve got a chance before Sunday, have a skim back through Mark… and remind yourself… what have we learnt about who Jesus is as Messiah, the Son of God)? And how have we seen that that’s such a good thing?
The pursuit of truth can be a twisting turning journey. In the trial of Jesus there are two parts: The trial before the Jewish authorities who wanted him killed on the charge of Blasphemy; The trial before the Roman authority Pontius Pilate. Pilate was the only legal authority who could sign off on the capital punishment of treason, and death by crucifixion. In this three-way power struggle Jesus displays his glory. The trial(s) of Jesus invites us to remember the Son of Man came not be served but serve and give his life as ransom for many. Here is a truth that some find hard to handle.
A successful church, pastor, people - we are weak, proudly not listening to God, proudly trusting ourselves. We need Jesus strength to humble carry us.
In Mark 14.10-26 we are given an opportunity to join Jesus and his disciples at one last meal before his death. We will see God’s sovereign and gracious purposes for the entire world and all history coming to fulfilment in Jesus of Nazareth. We will see the immense love God has for us and the joy He has in suffering to bring His purposes about. We will see why it is he alone we are called to follow.
“These people honour [God] with their lips, but their hearts are far from [him]!” So says Jesus, quoting Isaiah, of the religious leaders who gather around him in Mark 7. It’s a stinging rebuke, levelled against the guys who, from the outside, probably looked like they had it all together, like they really knew God and cared about honouring him. We probably look around and can think of certain people that we think have it all together when it comes to God - we might even think of ourselves that way! But this week, we’re looking at Jesus’ challenge to look beyond the externals, to look at our hearts, and we’re looking at the great news that, despite what we find there, he has come to make us clean.
When Jesus looked to the crowds following him, he saw that as harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. The Shepherd/Sheep word picture has long been used to describe the relation between God and his people, and the people and their leaders. There is comfort knowing God is our shepherd, as we walk therough the valley of the shadow of death in this present life.. Psalm 23 and Psalm 100 among many others reference this. By Ezekiel the leaders of God’s people have failed, he uses an extended Shepherd/sheep picture to rebuke the dodgy leaders, and affirm the good shepherd coming in the line of David.
Mark 4:35-41 "Who is this?" Is a good question to ask when discussing the identity of Jesus. How would you answer it? If we took a straw poll of the happy shoppers of the Wahroonga Village, we would get a variety of answers. This week's Mark passage shows us Jesus is the Lord of creation, with a word he calms a storm; Jesus is a liberator of broken souls; Jesus is the raiser of the dead. We see his authority in three scenes, we are invited to give our hearts to him. We also see a range of responses to Jesus from fear and scorn to praise and thanksgiving. This weekend, how will you respond to Jesus, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords?
This Sunday, as part of our vision weekend we will be exploring Acts 2.42-27 and considering three things a gospel-shaped church loves.
Mark 4:1-20 I wonder if you’ve ever tried explaining who Jesus is and why he’s great to someone… and have been met with indifference, or worse? It’s news that you think is really great but it just doesn’t seem to register as good or significant at all! You could find yourself wondering whether you’ve got the message right, or whether it’s YOU who is missing something…
Jesus’ early disciples may have felt a similar way. In the first chapters of Mark, Jesus has burst on the scene saying that the thing the people have been waiting for - kingdom of God - is near. He’s started healing people, driving out demons, saying he’s forgiving sins, teaching in a new and compelling way… exciting signs… if not quite what people had expected. Some have been intrigued, others have started following him, and still others are already plotting how to kill him!
This Sunday, Jesus starts to teach about what’s going on… and explain what this kingdom is actually like.
Mark 2:18-3:35 I love weddings, the celebration and excitement, the joy and the feasting. The Bible uses the image of the wedding in deeper ways to describe the relationship between God and his people. It’s striking then when Jesus uses that image of himself and describes himself as the “Bridegroom” in Mark 2:19-20.
As readers of Mark we are brought into the picture to see He is willing to cleanse, forgive, and welcome us!
This is how the musician Nick Cave describes Mark’s Gospel: It is Mark’s Gospel that has truly held me. It is written with such breathless insistence, such compulsive narrative intensity, that one is reminded of a child recounting some amazing tale, piling fact upon fact, as if the whole world depended on it - which, of course, to Mark it did.
Mark 1:12-39 The Kings authoritative word has the power to silence evil, calm sickness, call people. What has the word made you do?
How often when accusations of wrongdoing against a public figure come to light, do we hear that they are ‘vigorously denying the allegations’? Whether the accusations are factual or not in a particular case, the reaction speaks to our impulse to hide at the suggestion that we’re in the wrong, public figures or not. But as wise as that self-preservation may appear, it’s not wisdom according to the Bible.
Are we full of gratitude for what we have received from God or do we just take it all for granted?
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
How do we stay true to God's way during the year or continue throughout the year sticking to God's word? By studying and reading it faithfully.
How the grace and mercy of our king turns all our expectations of what we deserve upside-down.
In times of need, and we will together hear God’s offer of help again. We will meet God as he is - our good shepherd, with whom we lack nothing (Psalm 23.1).
we continue to consider how our God helps us in our times of need. We have a Saviour who knows what it’s like to experience the very things we struggle with, and who shows us a way through… and this week, we’ll see how he helps us when we contemplate the reality of death, or are confronted by one of its many messengers in our world. We’ll rejoice that the one who is the ‘resurrection and the life’ (John 11:25) frees us who have been ‘held in slavery by [our] fear of death’ (Heb 2:15)!
Josh Lewis is starting our new sermon series - In Times of Need - exploring how God’s mercy and grace meets us in our times of need - be that illness, pain, grief, anxiety, powerlessness.
As Christians we hear that challenge and we want to reply, ‘Yes! Of course I’ll follow’. But, the drift from wholehearted faith to dull, grey, nominal faith is a journey of a 1000 steps, 1000 little decisions along the way. This Sunday 1 Kings 18 will show us that reversing that drift begins by hearing afresh the Lord’s call to follow, and remembering anew that his grace is sufficient to guide our steps along the way.
We continue to listen to God’s word in 1 Kings 17-19 we will see up close how easy it is to have a divided heart and we will see what wholehearted trust of God looks like and why he is worth that devotion.
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD Almighty, in the city of our God: God makes her secure forever. Psalm 48.8
Explore Exodus 3.1-14 with us and encourage us to see that the engine room of a commitment to personal prayer is having a clear view of just how glorious and holy God is.
Dependent personal prayer. And we’ll be reading Psalm 42 together to guide our thinking.
We’ll look together at 2 Timothy 3.14 - 4.8 and see the incredible power of God’s word, the direct usefulness of his commands and the urgent need we have to hear his voice
Why does loving God’s word make sense and what happens to me when my love for the bible grows?
This chapter is really valuable for us as we make sense of disappointments, and it’s with great joy that we can end our study of Nehemiah on a happier note than the book, knowing that the anticlimax only points to the climax of everything in Jesus.
God’s restoration project is well and truly underway - the people have banded together and built the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem. And yet, having read God’s word together in chapter 8, the city is filled with mourning. What did they read? Why are they mourning? What hope is there?
It gets to the heart of who we are as God’s church. It answers the ‘why’ of our gatherings (physical or online!). And it reminds us of how blessed we are to be swept up in God’s purpose for his world.
We’ll see up close a wholehearted partnership of builders at the work, for the welfare of the city. We’ll see a wholehearted partnership of builders having to defend the work against attacks from all around. And we will hear the call - don’t be afraid, remember the LORD, and fight!
Here as we live in a world that creaks and groans from the brokenness and disorder that our sin has caused; here as we ourselves creak and groan - here, we still rejoice! We rest in the hope, because the essential work our God is undertaking in our world and indeed in us, is a work of restoration. He is in the business of making all things new!
What does it look like to be involved in something really significant, really worthwhile? How do you go about it? In chapter 2, Nehemiah launches himself into the most meaningful project in the world, and we see how we can be part of it too.
A Call to Persevere in Faith ... Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Melchizedek may have been the high priest of the Old Testament - Jesus replaces him and we need no other or sacrifice as it was complete in Jesus death and resurrection.
As we journey home to ’the better country’ (Heb 11.16), the rest that God has promised we will enjoy with him - how wonderful it is to know that the one who helps us along that journey is the loved, tested and proved faithful, triumphant Son of God! We have all the help we need to deal with our hard and wandering hearts.
Consider God’s wonderful response to our weakness - a great high priest who knows our weakness and can help!
‘let us make every effort to enter that rest’
That’s the call of Hebrews 4.11, which will hear together this Sunday. God tells us the goal of our life is to reach our heavenly home with him. He warns us that on the journey home our hearts will often grow hard and stubborn and we will drift. But, wonderfully, Hebrews 3-4 speak of the means God has given us to help each other on our journey home.
Hebrews 2 is all about how Jesus is fully and completely human (as well as being God) and has thus been able to rescue us from slavery to the fear of death!
1 Timothy 6 asks us, what do you want? And what happens if you get it… We’ll get to hear what is in God’s heart…we’ll have our own hearts examined and his word will do heart surgery on us.
1 Timothy 5. It is a passage filled with encouragement and challenge for us, about what it looks like to care for each other as a family.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In the lead up to Easter, we've got a special series of interviews recorded at Night Church about brokenness in our world and what God has done about it. Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
Timothy was to be a good example for all of the believers in conduct, in speech, in faith, in purity, and in love.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In the lead up to Easter, we've got a special series of interviews recorded at Night Church about brokenness in our world and what God has done about it. Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. - 1 Timothy 3.16
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In the lead up to Easter, we've got a special series of interviews recorded at Night Church about brokenness in our world and what God has done about it. Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
We will think together about how to apply the principles we read in 1 Timothy 2.11-15 here at St Andrew’s. How do we, as men and women at St Andrew’s, best honour God’s purposes for us as a church? This is a vital question and I look forward to thinking about together tomorrow.
'Nothing in my hand I bring simply to your cross I cling' That is the christian's story... That is the story of our church...
We continue our mission series, with the third statement of our mission as a church - declaring his praises - This is what we're made for! Whether it's around each other, or around those who aren't yet Christians, demonstrating God's goodness in both how we talk and how we act is at the very core of what it means to part of his family.
God's family grows by Grace - grace is what we have received to enable us to be part of God's family and Grace is what we are told to show as we live our lives.
We consider what it means to know that we are God's family because of the welcome we have received from his Son, our Saviour, Jesus.
Daniel 12 ...a passage all about the end, and the comfort of knowing the hope that comes from the one who is king of the end of history.
Our God is in charge of this whole world - of all we see, and all we can't see as well. We'll hear the wonderful news that Jesus came into our world and defeated Satan and powers of evil by his death and resurrection.
Daniel prays for the restoration of Jerusalem. He's an old man now, but he realises Babylon is not his home, and yearns for something better. We also can yearn for something better!
Daniel chapter 8. It contains a vision that appalled Daniel himself... a terrifying picture of the future for God's people! And today across the world, and even here in Sydney, God's people face opposition. But it is a passage gives us God's perspective on all these goings on, and drives us towards confidence and hope.
There is great comfort and strength in knowing how the last hour of this world will play out. No, it is not in us to know this, but by his grace God’s word unveils the last hour (7.28) ‘the end of the matter’!
Daniel 6 - the famous chapter of Daniel in the Lion’s den. And ice again we will see testimony that our God is king! And in the most spectacular way. The Persian king makes an unbreakable law leading to the death of God’s man (Daniel). But God is able to overturn what is unbreakable (death!)
“This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin “Here is what these words mean: God has numbered the days of your rule, and brought them to an end God has weighed you on the scales and found you fall short Your Kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. These are the words God graffitied onto the wall of the palace of the last King of Babylon. Once a mighty empire that set itself up against God, now in one night all falls down! Daniel 5 teaches us the vital lesson of human history - those who walk in pride, God will humble... Daniel 5 teaches us what it means to live humbly under the God, who holds in his hands our life and all our ways.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk to Steph whose son's questions about God made her look for answers. That same son is almost a faster swimmer than her. But not yet.
Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
This week in Daniel chapter 4 we see the leader of one of the greatest empires in the world being brought low before the living God. We’ll explore the human tendency to forget that there is a God who is our King and to think we are in charge. And we will see how God responds. Daniel 4 is humbling, challenging and encouraging.
The pressure to conform to our surroundings can be difficult - but what is the scoreboard we should judge ourselves by?
Knowing God through His word - we look at what it is like to have faith in a faithless world.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus.A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode Jonathan and Josh reflect on how who we are should influence what we do, and also introduce a new segment!
Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
Some things are really good but not that desirable - like vegetable juice. Other things are desirable, but not that good - like trashy TV. Psalm 19 tells us that God's word is both.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk to Louis who loves an audio Bible, uses a Mac, and whose real name remains a mystery.
Grumbling is the result of a flawed view of life, where we think too highly of the past, too little of the present and nothing of the future. To stop grumbling you have to reset this vision…
Thinking together about the impact grumbling has on us and the resources God gives us to overcome it.
The reality is this: you NEED spiritual equipment to live life well: that is, live the Christian life.
Whatever our role in our workplace, here are 113 words that tell you what your job is and who you work for. Take these words with you as you struggle to obey your earthly master, or as you’re tempted to think much of yourself as a boss, and make the words of Psalm 84 your prayer: "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than king anywhere else..."
God the Father speaks to parents and to children and to us all as his dearly loved children. We'll see that the heart of life and the heart of knowing what it means to be a parent or a child is knowing that God is our first, our perfect and our forever Father; and knowing that there is a place for us with him.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk to Beau, who prayed that God would reveal himself, and found it comfortable in one sense, and uncomfortable in another.
We have a call to walk worthy of living under Christ Jesus. It is a walk we learn by learning Jesus, by being taught the truth about him, by God’s Spirit spoken word to us - the Bible. The more we learn of him and submit our lives to him, the more thinking is renewed and life is changed. In the truest sense of the word, we become 'spiritual' people.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh discuss the ‘this-worldly’ crisis we’re in and how prayer makes a difference.
Ephesians 5 - looking at how Christians are supposed to be light in the surrounding darkness. It'll be a challenge to think about what people see when they look at US!
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk to Vanessa about questions she needed answering.
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh are joined by Andrew Rees to talk about resurrection in the same, transformed bod.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk to Mal who hopes his parents are listening.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode, Jonno and Josh talk about Psalm 46 and truths to hold in our minds in times of crisis.
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode Jonno and Josh interview Kat, who likes Whale Beach at least as much as the whales.
Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
A podcast to help us walk closely with Jesus. In this episode Jonno and Josh discuss worldviews and the first chapters of Ephesians.
Art is by N.W. Jang Music is by Neo Rose: https://www.facebook.com/realneorose
Andrew brings us Psalm 94 where we can take comfort that the Lord has become our fortress and my God in whom I take refuge.
Being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.
For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19a
Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back.
- By what authority are you doing these things? (11:28)
- Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (12:14)
- At the resurrection, whose wife will she be? (12:23)
Day 1: The Temple visited Day 2: The Temple judged Day 3: The withered fig tree and faith in God.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.