Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church: Recent Episodes
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Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Wesley MarshallFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen Loubser.For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen Loubser For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning Dafel For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen LoubserFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Lord's Day 15 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on theHeidelberg Catechism.Teacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https:// covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za.We'd love to hear from you!
Lord's Day 14 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on theHeidelberg Catechism.Teacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https:// covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za.We'd love to hear from you!
Lord's Day 12 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism.Teacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https://. covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning Dafel•For more information about Covenant Waterfall PresbyterianChurch, please check out our website: https:// covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za.•We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Rev. Henning DafelFor more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https:// covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us:info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Ds. Andries Burger
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
What does it mean that God dwells in among His Church? How did He teach the Israelites in the Old Testament about His Presence? How are we called to respond to God dwelling among us? Listen, and find out.
Preacher: Mr. Cullen Loubser.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za/, or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 12 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 9.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za/, or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
An important message from our pastor, Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen Loubser.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 11 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 9.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
This Christmas, many of us are going to gather with family, meet together over a hearty meal and warm fellowship and celebrate the incarnation of our Saviour. It’s a time where our families can catch up, where we can enjoy each other’s company, relax, unwind and dwell in each other’s presence.
In this passage, God gives Moses instructions on how to build the Ark of the Covenant. This wooden box, overlaid with gold, with two figures of angels upon it, containing the two tablets of the law, will be the place where God meets with his people – where he will dwell with them as their covenant God, drawing near to them. Yet because God is holy, and his people are lawbreakers – this meeting is not like a casual Christmas party. God’s people deserve his wrath, not his favour, because he is holy and they are sinners. Built into the architecture of the Ark of the Covenant is the solution to this problem. We’ll see that because Jesus’ blood has been shed on the mercy seat, sinners are reconciled to God so that God can dwell among his people.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 10 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 8.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
The prosperity gospel is a scourge in our city and throughout much of the African continent. It peddles the lie that God only wants you to enjoy health, wealth and happiness in this life. And in order to enjoy this prosperity, you need to do your part, sow your seed, give lots of money to the church, and then you will unlock these temporal blessings in your life.
Most of us recoil when we hear this sort of thing, and rightly so, it’s a false gospel. Yet the potential problem that we have is an overreaction against this. Because of the excesses of the prosperity gospel, there is a temptation to see all giving and tithing as wrong and unnecessary. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Giving of our finances to God is an important sign of our commitment to Christ. In fact, our willingness to give to God is an important marker of our spiritual health. A life marked by generosity, of our finances, time, hospitality – is a sign of real Christianity. A Christian who isn’t giving probably isn’t growing.
In this text, God instructs Moses to take up an offering from the people of Israel in order to build the tabernacle. Israel is instructed to give to God as their hearts move them, and give of their best to him out of gratitude for what he’s done for them. What we’ll see from this text is that because God has generously poured out his undeserved grace in Christ to us, we are to give of our best to him.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 9 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 7.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
When man and wife get married, they come together before God and witnesses, they hear what marriage entails, they make a series of promises to each other, they exchange rings as signs of their commitment to each other, and then sign the registry, putting into writing their life-long commitment. In many ways, the marriage ceremony is a covenant-making ceremony – two parties covenanting to be loyal and faithful to each other, to serve one another, to love one another, come rain or shine.
We’ve reached the point in Exodus where God, having saved his people from slavery in Egypt, has brought them to Mount Sinai in order to establish them as his covenant people. From Exodus 19 to 23, he has laid down before his people the terms of the covenant – the law – how they are to now live, as God’s own covenant people. Now this covenant is going to be ratified and confirmed through a covenant-making ceremony, a worship service. God’s people are going to hear once again the terms of the covenant, they will promise to obey these terms and then the covenant will be sealed by the shedding of blood. What we’re going to see in this sermon is that this blood of the covenant points us to Jesus and the new covenant that he will initiate through the shedding of his own blood. We’ll see that because Jesus’s blood has been shed, our sins are forgiven and we are united to him through his eternal covenant with us.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 6 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 4.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Today marks the 507th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Five hundred and seven years ago to the day, on the 31 October 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther, in protest against the Roman Catholic Church, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This set off a series of events that forever changed the church.
How was the church changed? Thanks to the Reformation, the true apostolic gospel has been recovered and we can hear it preached today in God-honouring churches. We also have the Scriptures readily available almost every language of the world. We can worship God in congregational singing in our mother tongue, approach God directly through Jesus Christ and know with certainty that if we repent and call upon the name of Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we will be raised up with him on the last day.
Yet on the other hand, this apostolic gospel that Luther and the other reformers like Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Bucer, Bullinger and Melanchthon recovered is being obscured in some parts of the church. In our own South African context we are seeing a rise of frankly unbiblical practices which are contrary to the gospel. This should not surprise us. The gospel needs to be defended and recovered in every generation because it is so contrary to human nature. Our human nature says that we need to earn our way up to God through our good works or spiritual practices. The gospel says God has come down to us in Christ and done everything necessary to restore us to him, all as a gift of grace. I would suggest to you that the need for another Reformation in our church here in South Africa is even greater than it was in Luther’s time.
- 8:31 -correction: "sacramental system" not "sacrificial system."
Rev. Antonio Coppola, Pastor of Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Last month, popular Baptist minister, Dr Steven Lawson, aged 73, was removed from ministry because he was caught in an adulterous relationship. This relationship had been going on for the past five years, with a young woman old enough to be his granddaughter. Prior to this, Dr Lawson had faithfully pastored churches, preached the gospel week in and week out, written theological books, taught at The Master’s Seminary (John MacArthur’s seminary), been a speaker at Ligonier conferences (Reformed conference, hosted by R.C. Sproul), and been married to his wife for most of his life. Once his adultery was discovered, a lifetime of ministry was discredited and his legacy destroyed. How absolutely tragic! Pray that the Lord would bring him to deep repentance as he goes through church discipline process.
In this text, God is preparing to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. He promises to grant them victory over their enemies by sending his angel before them. He also commands them not to compromise when they enter the land, by making peace with the Canaanites. Rather, the Israelites are to annihilate them, tear down their idols, so that they don’t fall into their detestable practices and instead remain faithful to God and serve him alone. What we’ll see here is that because God has won the victory and crushed the enemy, we can serve him faithfully.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 5 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 3.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
It’s nearly December, and for South Africans that means that the whole country pretty much shuts down goes into party mode for the entire month! Lots of time to spend with friends and family, eats lots of good food and unwind from the stressful year that we have had. Relax, rest and recuperate ahead of a whole new year that lies ahead.
Last week we reached the end of the book of the covenant, containing the civil laws of Israel, the practical application of the Ten Commandments. In this sermon, we look at some of the ceremonial laws that God gave to Israel. These were the laws that governed how Israel was to worship him. In particular, we look at three feasts that the Lord instituted for Israel to celebrate. While these feasts were times of relaxation, feasting, eating and drinking, they were not meant as celebrations for celebrations sake. Rather they were meant to remind God’s people of his goodness to them, of how he saved and delivered them graciously from slavery and provided them generously with a land of their own and that he continued to sustain them. What we’ll see in this sermon is that because God has graciously saved us in Christ, we are to live lives for his glory, of gratitude and celebration.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 4 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
In February 2020, a burglary occurred at a game lodge called Phala-Phala, belonging to our president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Amongst the contents stolen was $580 000 cash – undeclared foreign currency -that was hidden in a couch. Now when someone hides something in a couch, you know something is fishy! When a president of a country (or anyone for that matter) conceals so much foreign currency, not declaring it to SARS, that is not only fishy, but it is illegal. The matter was reported to the police, referred to the NPA and this past week, the NPA declared that they will not proceed with prosecution against the president, despite the clear evidence that exists.
Here is one of many examples of politically powerful and connected people in our country evading justice. By virtue of their position, power and wealth, they are able to worm their way out of facing their day in court.
In this text we come to the end of the book of the covenant – this section in Exodus which applies that Ten Commandments to everyday life. This final section deals with the fair application of justice to all people. No one is above the law. Because of this, we are not to be partial in our treatment of others. What we’ll see here is that because God is righteous and just, we are to treat our neighbour justly.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 3 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 1, Part 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Cullen Loubser.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 2 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Heidelberg Catechism - Lord's Day 1, Part 1.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Some of the greatest atrocities in history has been committed against other humans have happened because those who committed the atrocities dehumanised their victims. The Nazis saw the Jews as sub-human. Slave traders of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade saw their slaves more as packhorses than people. The Soviet Union regarded those who opposed its communist and socialist policies as enemies of the state, expendables with whom they could do as they please, sending them to the Gulags. Whenever humans are dehumanised, whenever they are not seen for who they are – image bearers of God with innate dignity and purpose – then it is very likely that all sorts of injustices unfold.
In this text, we continue looking at some of Israel’s civil laws in the Book of the Covenant. In particular, we focus on how justice was to be administered in the face of various crimes. What we’ll see here is that God’s law is aimed at achieving justice for all – not just a select few in society. The reason for this is that because we are all created in God’s image, all human life is precious in God’s sight and therefore everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and equality under the law.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 22 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - The New Covenant Part 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
Afrikaanse weergawe ook beskikbaar deur Lig in Duisternis:
https://www.liginduisternis.co.za/product/troue-god-n-inleiding-tot-verbondsteologie/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
We’re all familiar with those horrific and barbaric images of slavery from the not so distant past. Of men, women and children captured against their will and herded onto ships in shackles, like animals, where many will die and those who survive will be forced into a life of hard labour, while suffering under inhumane conditions, with no prospect for freedom. Tragically, slavery still persists today in many parts of the world. Young children and women are being kidnapped and sold into slavery – they’re human trafficked. They’re ripped away from their homes and families to be abused for the rest of their lives. Pure evil.
This text is all about slavery. Critics of Christianity often point to texts just like the one we’re going to look at today, as evidence of how the Bible justifies the barbaric practice of slavery. Some even blame the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on Christianity itself. Is this really a fair critique? What we’re going to see as we look at this text, is that the slavery that the Bible describes is vastly different from the slavery that we typically think of. Further, we’ll also see that while the Bible assumes the existence of slavery as a part of society, it never defends the practice. In reality God’s law goes out of its way to protect the poorest and vulnerable of societies. But ultimately, what we’ll see from this text is that it points us to Christ and his gospel. Because Christ redeemed us from slavery to sin, we can serve him with joy and gladness.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 21 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - The New Covenant Part 1.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
Afrikaanse weergawe ook beskikbaar deur Lig in Duisternis:
https://www.liginduisternis.co.za/product/troue-god-n-inleiding-tot-verbondsteologie/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
If you’ve ever got into a serious dispute of any kind, whether it be with a work colleague, boss, business partner, or perhaps even your spouse, and things get to a point where the relationship completely breaks down; you will know that in order to try and restore the relationship, a mediator is appointed. What does this mediator do? A mediator represents the views of each party to each other, they restore communication. Ultimately they try to bring the two parties together, reconciling the relationship, so that they can come back into each other’s presence.
The nation of Israel has been camping below Mount Sinai and has just heard the voice of God himself speak the Ten Commandments. They are terrified, they feel inadequate under the demands of God’s law, and they fear his judgement, as they see before them his presence in form of thunder and lightning and smoke upon the mountain. They’re shaking in their boots, they want God to stop speaking and they don’t want to draw near to him at all. Because of this, they cry out for a mediator – Moses – as a go between them and God, in this covenant that God established with Israel.
What we’re going to see in this sermon is that this covenant that God makes with Israel at Mount Sinai (which the NT calls the "old covenant"), is really just pointing to something much greater and infinitely superior: a New Covenant. In this covenant, Christ, not Moses is its mediator, and because Jesus is the better mediator of this new covenant, this means that we can come freely and with confidence before the presence of God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 19 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - The Davidic Covenant Part 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
Afrikaanse weergawe ook beskikbaar deur Lig in Duisternis:
https://www.liginduisternis.co.za/product/troue-god-n-inleiding-tot-verbondsteologie/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
"What is truth?” These words were spoken by Pontius Pilate in John 18:38, as he questioned Jesus, before his crucifixion on Good Friday. In many ways, not much has changed over the past 2000 years. Truth is still seen as relative, just as it was in the pagan Greco-Roman world of the NT. But today what we would consider self-evident truths, such as being able to tell the difference between a man and a woman, between good and evil, right and wrong, can no longer be presumed. In fact, we are facing increasing pressure from our culture to go along with their charade, their lies, that we must call evil good, wrong right and affirm the delusion of mentally ill men who think they are women. And if you think that that craziness is just limited to the USA and Cape Town, just ask any school teacher in our area.
In the face of a truth-averse world, God, who is truth, who alone gets to determine what truth is, reveals to us in this Ninth Commandment that we, his people, are likewise to be people of the truth. The problem with falsehood and lies is that they destroy. They destroy ourselves, other people, and even societies. What we are going to see in this sermon is that because God is truth, we are to love our neighbour by speaking only the truth.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 17 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - The Mosaic Covenant Part 4.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
Afrikaanse weergawe ook beskikbaar deur Lig in Duisternis:
https://www.liginduisternis.co.za/product/troue-god-n-inleiding-tot-verbondsteologie/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
'n Spesiale bookskap vir al ons Afrikaanse luisteraars van ons pastoor, Antonio Coppola. Die boek wat ons besig om te gebruik in ons reeks op verbondsteologie, Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology, is nou in Afrikaans beskikbaar as Troue God: 'n Inleiding tot Verbondsteologie.
Kyk gerus na die boekbekendstelling op YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYnIUs4WhHw&t=496s
Bestel die boek deur Lig in Duisternis Uitgewers:
https://www.liginduisternis.co.za/product/troue-god-n-inleiding-tot-verbondsteologie/
When we feel that life hasn’t worked out the way that we had hoped, there’s a temptation for us to start grumbling against God. We can feel embittered towards him, thinking that he has in some way held out on us, not provided for our needs, or not come through for us in ways that we expected. God is meant to be good, yet perhaps we have no experience of his goodness in our lives right now.
In this passage, we see that yet again, the Israelites are grumbling against God. They’re still wandering in the wilderness in Sinai, and they’re without water. In their anger, they proceed to put God on trial. Incredibly God submits to be judged, and he ultimately provides them with water. What we’ll see in this text is that because God endured judgement in our place, he grants us true living waters, life everlasting.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 4 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - Covenant of Redemption Part 3.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
We South Africans tend to love to complain, especially around a braai! We complain about the government, loadshedding, terrible drivers on the roads, lament at how our country has degenerated, and we hark back to better times. I’m guilty of this, I think most of us are. It's one thing to voice the reality around us, another to get utterly consumed by it, bitter and twisted about it as this makes us even more frustrated and really solves nothing.
In this passage we see that after three days of wandering in the parched wilderness, God leads the Israelites to a spring with bitter waters. There, instead of trusting in God’s faithfulness and goodness, the Israelites moan and complain. What we will see here is that God leads us to bitter waters in order to sanctify us.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 1 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on Covenant Theology - Introduction.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This catechism class series is based upon Faithful God: An Introduction to Covenant Theology by Antonio Coppola. The book is available internationally through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0639967566
It is available in South Africa through Christian Book Discounters: https://www.christianbooks.co.za/shop/faithful-god/
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
If you’ve ever been to a stadium to watch a sports event, you’ll know that when the final whistle goes, shouts and songs of celebration erupt from the winning side throughout the stadium. The natural response to a victory is celebration in song.
How much more appropriate is it then to sing and celebrate when it is God who has won the victory? This is precisely what we see in this text. Last week we saw how God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt by his mighty hand and outstretched arm by miraculously opening up the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through in safety to the other side, while destroying Pharaoh and the host of Egypt. Now, safely on the shores, the Israelites celebrate their deliverance. They celebrate God who has crushed their enemy and saved them. How do they celebrate this victory? Through a song of praise, a song that sings of the mighty salvation of our God.
What we’re going to see in this text is that because the Lord has saved us with his mighty hand and outstretched arm, we are to sing praises to his name.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 31 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Providence of God, Part 3 (Miracles).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
We’ve come to what is one of the highpoints in the book of Exodus and indeed one of the most significant events in the whole of Scripture – the parting of the Red Sea, the moment of deliverance for Israel. This momentous event has often been used as a metaphor for many oppressed peoples throughout history. African American slaves, the Boers under British rule, black South Africans during apartheid, the poor in Latin America who were experiencing social injustice at the hands of the rich - all have seen this event as evidence that God was on their side against their oppressors. This event has been used to support what is known as liberation theology – that God is on the side of the poor and the oppressed and is against the rich and the oppressor.
While all sorts of oppression and injustice are certainly sinful, to see that the parting of the Red Sea just teaches us that God is on the side of the oppressed is to really miss the point. Instead, what we’re going to see in this sermon is that this event is less about human longings for freedom, and more about our God who sovereignly and miraculously saves his people by his mighty hand and outstretched arm. In short, it’s all about the gospel. It’s about God who conquers his enemies and graciously delivers his people so that he alone will be glorified and he alone will be feared and worshipped as the true God and King over all.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 30 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Providence of God, Part 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 29 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Providence of God, Part 1.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 28 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Decree of God, Part 5 (History).
Teacher: Mr. Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
In the early 1800s, a revival known as the Second Great Awakening swept through large parts of North America. Lots of open air, hell-fire preaching across the country. One of the revivalist preachers most associated with this awakening was Charles Finney. His approach to revival was not so much about trusting in the power of God’s Word and Spirit, but rather about following a formula in order to get desired results. Finney believed that if the preacher was able to manufacture the right atmosphere, right background music, apply various techniques with your voice, you could manipulate people into a certain emotional state that through that, in his eyes, achieve a revival. Here’s quote from him, “A revival is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle, in any sense. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means.” The modern-day church growth movement owes much of its ideas to him. In fact, the concept of the “altar call” was invented by Finney.
In this text, God calls Moses to preach his Word to Pharaoh and then tells him that Pharaoh is not going to listen in any case. Moses will do everything right – be a faithful prophet, a faithful preacher of God’s Word, yet it will fall upon deaf ears. Even a miracle is not going to change Pharaoh’s mind, as God has hardened his heart. What we’re going to see this morning is that because God is sovereign, his Word hardens some, and softens others.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 27 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Decree of God, Part 4 (Implications).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Most of us can agree that times are tough here in South Africa. Corruption, loadshedding, economic decline – I don’t need to depress you anymore. But elections are around the corner. It’s absolutely possible that this election will bring a positive change. But there is also the real possibility that things may just get a whole lot worse. That we’ll jump from the pan into the fire…
In this text, we see that Moses and Aaron come before Pharaoh and ask him to let the people of Israel go. He stubbornly refuses and on top of that, he significantly increases the level of brutality and cruelty inflicted upon Israel. They are pushed from the pan into the fire. They thought things couldn’t get worse and now they just have. And it all seems like a sick joke. God has just promised them through Moses that he would deliver them out of slavery. That promise is now really hard to believe in the midst of their new found circumstances.
What we’re going to see here is that even though things may get very bad and may even seem that God is nowhere to be found, he remains faithful, even when we are faithless.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 26 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Decree of God, Part 3 (Reprobation).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Perhaps you have been in a conversation about your faith in Christ with unbelieving friends or family. They respond to you along the lines of, “Well I’d love to believe all that, but I need a sign, as there’s no proof that God exists. Once I see a sign from God, then I’ll believe!” Or maybe even you have cried out to God for some kind of a sign that shows that he cares, that he’s near, that he indeed loves you.
In this text, God provides signs through Moses for the elders of Israel so that they will believe that he has indeed sent Moses and that he does intend to save them from bondage in Egypt. Yet these same signs will also be performed before Pharaoh. The same signs lead to faith for the Israelites, yet hardness and unbelief in Pharaoh. What we’ll see here is that because God has defeated the powers of darkness by his mighty hand and outstretched arm – through signs – the only appropriate response is to trust and worship him.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 25 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Decree of God, Part 2 (Election).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
There’s a reason why parents carefully take time to name their children. Names are hugely significant, they form part of your identity, as you hear your name numerous times every day. Any parent desires that the name they give to their child is not only going to sound good, but hold some special meaning. In a way, our names shape us, tell others something about ourselves, our character and perhaps even reveal something about our destiny.
Throughout the Bible we see just how significant names are and how they are tied to one’s character and purpose. Consider Noah (“rest”), Abraham (“the father of a multitude”), Moses (“the one who draws out”), Joshua (“God saves”), Elijah (“God is the Lord”) just to name a few.
If names hold such significance for us and these Bible characters in revealing something about their character and purpose, how much more important is it regarding God’s own name? In this text, for the very first time in the biblical narrative, does God reveal his own name to man. In doing so, he reveals something of his character, as the holy and eternal God – the Great I Am. What we will see here is because he is the holy, Great I Am, he alone is worthy of worship.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 24 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Decree of God, Part 1.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 23 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 5.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
On the 6 June 1944, or what was known as “D-Day”, a mass of Allied forced landed on the beaches of Normandy, France in order to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny. Tens of thousands of troops from all over the world (South Africa included), with military hardware landed in the early hours of that morning to face intense resistance from the Germans. This operation had been months in the making. It was the result of meticulous planning, co-ordination and even deception. Everything had to be perfectly set in place for that event to succeed. If there was but one cog missing, everything would fall apart. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister at the time, said in the light of the event, “Everything proceeded according to plan. And what a plan!” At the end of that day, the Allies had successfully established a beachhead on the shores of France and in a matter of months, Hitler was dead and the Nazis were defeated.
In this text, we see a much more significant plan beginning to unfold. We see the early stages of God’s plan to redeem his own people from slavery in Egypt. We are introduced to the main character in this plan, a new-born baby named Moses. He is destined to become the saviour of his people. What we will see is that God is involved in every little detail of his life, preparing him for the task God has called him to undertake. Nothing happens by chance – everything is proceeding exactly according to God’s sovereign plan. We shall see that God uses all things according to his purpose to save a people for himself.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 22 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 4.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 21 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 3 (2).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 21 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 3 (1).
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Deep down every human being longs for a deliverer. In various ways, we all sense some sort of bondage in this world, whether we're worried about the prospect of a Third World War and global instability, or the abuses of our own government – over-reach, corruption, tanking economy – effecting our lives. We long for someone to come and rescue us, make things right, lead us in a just way, to deliver us from evil and bring us into a Promised Land where everything will be made right!
Generations have felt this – African American slaves yearning for freedom from their shackles. Boers in the Cape longing to escape what they saw as British tyranny. It’s for this reason that the story of the Exodus is so powerful and compelling. We're starting a new series this morning in Exodus. It's the story of God who raises up a deliverer, Moses, who led the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt into freedom in the Promised Land. A story of God himself destroying his enemies and saving a people for himself.
Over the next few months, we will see is that this Exodus story is a gospel story. It’s foreshadowing of the ultimate Exodus led by a new Moses, Jesus Christ, who saves us from bondage to sin and leads us into the true Promised Land, our eternal inheritance, the new creation.
We open up in here in chapter one – and here we see that the people of Israel are slaves in Egypt, ruled over by an evil Egyptian king, Pharaoh, who is trying his best to oppress and destroy them. In spite of his best efforts, they continue to multiply and flourish. What we will see in this text is that because God is faithful to his covenant promises, his purposes will prevail no matter what.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Christmas Eve 2023.
Preacher: Mr. Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Mr. Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Many of us have been in churches where money is spoken about in almost every sermon. You're typically guilt tripped into giving more money, with the promise that the more you give, the more God will bless you with more money or will heal your sickness. This sort of teaching is unfortunate evidence of the widespread influence of the prosperity gospel in our church context.
It is easy in response to having been exposed to this manipulative prosperity gospel teaching to react in another extreme direction, whereby we don’t speak of money at all, and in fact view it as something unspiritual, bad in itself and unconnected and irrelevant to our Christian faith.
Yet biblical teaching on money is neither of these extremes. The Bible definitely does not teach that we are to give money so that God can give us more money. Nor does the Bible teach that money is in itself unspiritual, in fact it teaches quite the opposite, that how we use money has a direct connection with our heart toward the Lord.
We’ve reached the final verses of this letter to the Philippians. In these few concluding verses, Paul talks about money. He thanks the Philippian church for supporting him financially, even though they were a very poor church. As we look at these verses this morning, we’ll observe some important biblical truths regarding how we are to steward money as believers in Christ. We’ll see that because God is abundant in riches, he will provide for us richly through his grace, so that we can bless others for the sake of the gospel – we’ll see that we’re blessed in order to be a blessing.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 20 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 2.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
As South Africans, there are many reasons for us to be anxious – whether it’s crime, the way our country is governed, the economy, or insecurity about the future. It's not only here in South Africa, but the world over. There is a real fracturing especially in Western culture. Lots of us struggle with anxiety.
In a similar way, the Philippian church was also experiencing anxiety at the time Paul wrote this letter. They were anxious about disunity and quarrels within the church. We saw this last week with the dispute between Euodia and Syntyche. The church was also worried about destructive false teachers (Judaizers and prosperity gospel). Their founder, their pastor, Paul, who had discipled them and grown them in their faith was locked up in a prison in Rome hundreds of miles away from them. This young church plant faced some significant threats and so they were understandably anxious. Paul speaks directly into this situation in this text. What we will see that because God grants us his peace in Christ, there is no need to be anxious. Instead we can rejoice in the Lord.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 19 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Holy Trinity Part 1.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
I don’t think is one of us who has not been hurt by someone else. Perhaps we’ve been had false accusations levelled against us, hurtful and damaging words exchanged, betrayal, promises not kept, possibly leading to a complete breakdown of a relationship. Unfortunately this is life, and this is reality of this sin-cursed world – brokenness in relationships because we’re all sinners. Yet what happens when a relationship breakdown happens in the church, between brothers and sisters in Christ? How do we deal with this?
We need to remember that this is nothing new, even in the church, Paul and Barnabas had a fall out because of John Mark in Acts 13. And in this passage, two ladies in the Philippian church, Euodia and Syntyche also had a falling out. How then are we to deal with relational breakdowns amongst believers? What we will see from this text is that because we’ve been reconciled to Christ and our names have been written in the book of life, we have no option but to be reconciled.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 18 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Sovereignty of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 17 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Wrath of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
If you believe that heaven can be attained in this life, then there are significant implications to how you will live. Your attitude will be that you need to bank everything on this life – live literally like there’s no tomorrow. You will find suffering, sickness and pain something abnormal and to be avoided at all costs, as those things are absent from heaven. You will have the temptation to accumulate as much wealth as you can in order to create your heavenly home here on earth. You will want to live how you please, gratify every desire you have and follow your heart in order to make this life like your heaven.
This is essentially the message of the prosperity gospel which is all too common in our context – the promise of health, wealth and happiness – live a life of heaven on earth. Yet this message is actually nothing new. The early church faced their own prosperity gospel preachers. In fact Paul has in mind a form of prosperity gospel in our text this morning. These false teachers are so focused on living their best life on earth, that they have actually lost sight of heaven itself. What we will see in this text is that because our citizenship is in heaven, we are to live here on earth holding to a future heavenly hope.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 16 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Righteousness of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola. For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Siva Moodley was a popular mega church pastor in Johannesburg. He was a self-styled “apostle” who taught the typical prosperity gospel message: if we’re a new creation in Christ, then our lives should be lives of victory, no sickness, attaining sinless perfection, full of miracles. Health, wealth and happiness. Heaven on earth. He even believed that if you had enough faith, you would not die. In 2021, he got seriously sick. Realising he was dying, he “prophesied” that he would be raised from the dead. On 14 August 2021 he died. Because of this prophecy, his family decided not to bury him, but kept his body in the morgue, anticipating his immanent resurrection. Eventually, after two years in the fridge, realising nothing was going to happen, he was buried.
As crazy and bizarre as all this sounds, this sort of belief is more common in our context than you may realise. And these views are actually nothing new. Paul faced similar heresies in the early church – specifically in Philippi. The same heresies have resurfaced throughout church history. Essentially, the belief that Christians can attain the fullness of their salvation now. That it is possible to attain perfection this side of eternity. It sounds nice, but is actually incredibly destructive.
Paul counters this heresy in our text, showing that believers will never be perfect this side of eternity. We still struggle with sin and the darkness in the midst of this cursed world. Yet we are not hopeless – we live lives in pursuit of our goal, Christ himself. What we will see is that because Christ has made us his own, we can press on toward the goal of our salvation.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 15 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Love and Holiness of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola. For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
I grew up here in South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s. I remember my school days just up the road at Forest View Primary School. We sang Christian hymns, prayed every assembly. The principal would teach Bible stories to us. We were taught about the Bible and Christianity as a part of the curriculum, this was called Christian National Education. At that time, it was considered normal. It was assumed that everyone was Christianity. Most people went to church, or even if they went occasionally or not at all, they still identified as Christian. There was a strong cultural Christianity, it was in the air we breathed, it affected our values, morality and outlook on life.
In many ways we are still breathing this cultural Christianity air today here in South Africa. To be sure, there are many benefits to this, but a deep flaw underlies it all. The problem is that it lulls people into a false sense of security. People believe they are Christians by virtue of the culture into which they are born. They believe they are good with God because they live a moral life and are relatively good people.
Not much has changed over the years. In fact, the church of Philippi was facing a similar problem. False teachers called the Judaizers were influencing the church and teaching that there was some benefit before God to being ethnically Jewish, that God required Gentile converts to Christianity to in essence become culturally Jewish - to start observing the Jewish ceremonial laws like circumcision, dietary prohibitions, observe the festivals etc. They taught that while they were saved by God’s grace, they had to stay in through continual obedience to the law.
Paul confronts this heresy head on in this passage. He exposes this false teaching for what it is – an aberration of the true gospel. It is nothing about our heritage, culture, our own sense of morality or righteousness that contributes to our standing before God. Instead what we will see is that one thing and one thing alone matters – being found in Christ and clothed in his righteousness that depends on faith.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 14 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Goodness and Love of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Many of us are familiar with John Calvin, the great sixteenth century reformer of Geneva. But few know about one of his closest friends and allies, fellow reformer, Pierre Viret. Through Viret’s preaching, the Swiss town of Lausanne was won over to the gospel during the Reformation. Viret didn’t have an easy life though. He faced opposition from many of his countrymen. He was attacked by a Roman Catholic monk wielding a sword and left on the side of the road to die. Yet he survived. Then he was given a bowl of poisoned spinach soup, which also nearly killed him. He survived, but lived in constant pain for the rest of his life. He devoted his life to preaching the gospel to French-speaking Switzerland and southern France. Despite enduring incredible suffering and opposition, he was known as the “angel of the Reformation” or the smiling reformer, because of his graciousness, winsomeness and humility.
These days even the thought of making such sacrifices and enduring suffering for the sake of the gospel is not something that we tend towards. We’re much more inclined to pursue a comfortable life, ensure that we are financially secure and try our best to avoid suffering. This is epitomised through the prosperity gospel teaching that plagues much of our context. Yet if we look back at church history and indeed the Bible itself, we see that those people who have really made a difference for the Lord have denied themselves and lived incredibly sacrificial lives.
This morning we are back in Philippians and our text focuses on two men, Timothy and Epaphroditus. If you remember some weeks ago, in Philippians 1, we heard about Paul’s opponents – fellow brothers in Christ who had wrong motives. They were selfish, focussed on advancing their own self-interest, personal ambitions and sought to thwart Paul’s ministry. In great contrast to these guys, Paul draws our attention to two men whom he has discipled, true servants of Christ, whom he is going to send to minister to the Philippian church. What we’ll see in looking at both these men is that they are gospel role models. Both have sacrificed and suffered much for Christ. Ultimately, we’ll see that both these men point us to Christ himself, our true Suffering Servant.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 13 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Power of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Guest Preacher: Dr. Brian DeVries, Principal of Mukhanyo Theological College.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 12 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Wisdom of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Brendan Stamper.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 11 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Knowledge and Truth of God.
Teacher: Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 10 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Spirituality of God.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Preacher: Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
Part 9 of Covenant Waterfall's catechism class on the Doctrine of God: The Impassibility of God.
Teacher: Alex Hewitson.
For more information about Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, please check out our website: http://covenantwaterfall.co.za or email us: info@covenantwaterfall.co.za. We'd love to hear from you!
A presentation given by Rev. Antonio Coppola at the 2021 annual conference for the Theological Education Association of Southern Africa (www.teasa.co.za) in Pretoria, South Africa.
A presentation given by Rev. Antonio Coppola at the 2023 annual conference for the Theological Education Association of Southern Africa in Pretoria, South Africa.
Part 5 of our catechism class series on "What Happens when we Worship."
Key points covered:
- The State of Preaching Today.
- The Preached Word of God is the Word of God.
- The Effectual and life-giving Nature of God's Word.
- The Gospel at the heart of every sermon.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We have finally reached the end of 1 Peter. In this sermon we will be looking at the conclusion of the letter. We know that the context of this letter is that it was written to Christians in the first century in Asia Minor facing immense pressure and persecution for their faith. They were facing great temptations to compromise – blend in with the culture around them, as that would have surely led to an easier life. Here, Peter brings the whole letter to its conclusion, encouraging them to resist this temptation and instead exhorting them to stand firm in the truth of the gospel! We will see that because God has given us this gift of grace in Christ, we are to stand firm in it.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Perhaps you’ve experienced tragedy or loss, enduring suffering right now. How do you react? This is precisely what our passage deals with. Peter is addressing Christians who are suffering immensely for their faith. How are they to respond? Do they get angry and bitter with God? No – what we will see in this text is that because God will deliver us from suffering and bring us to eternal glory in Christ, we are to humble ourselves under his mighty hand.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In this passage, Peter gives instructions to the elders in the churches in Asia Minor – to responsibly shepherd the flock and look after God’s people. What we will see in this passage is that because Christ is our Good Shepherd, the shepherds of the church must shepherd the flock following in his example.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
An entire generation has grown up believing that there are no different roles for husbands and wives in marriage. The notion that wives should submit to husbands, and husbands are to lead their wives is anathema - oppressive, outdated and patriarchal. The result is that many churches no longer uphold a biblical view of marriage and refuse to preach on passages like the one we’re looking at today.
The fruit of this rejection of biblical marriage and confusion over gender is a high rate of divorce. There is a direct correlation between rise of feminism and rise of divorce in our culture. If you don't get your way in the marriage, you just throw in the towel. If you feel you are being unfairly treated, just leave.
In this passage, Peter is continuing to instruct Christians how to live in the light of the gospel. Now he specifically addresses marriage. He exhorts wives and husbands to persevere in their marriages despite hardships and unjust treatment from their spouses. We will see that wives are to submit to their husbands and husbands are to honour their wives – even when it is not deserved – because that is the example we have in Christ.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Many of us are accustomed to teaching that tells us that it is not God’s will for us to suffer. It is said that any hardships, pain, tragedy, terminal illness and sickness cannot be God’s will for us. Instead, because God is good, he has a wonderful plan for your life. If you do suffer in this life, it’s not because of God; it’s because you are living outside of his will, you don't have enough faith or you are being attacked by Satan.
The problem is that we do invariably endure suffering, and if we have believed this prosperity teaching that is so common, we will either blame ourselves: our own lack of faith, some hidden sin, or get increasingly embittered towards God himself. We've been following Jesus, who has promised our best life now. We’ve done our bit, why hasn’t God delivered on his bit?
In our passage Peter's audience is facing a similar dilemma. They’ve been trying their best to live a godly, obedient life. And now they are suffering for their faith. Enduring all sorts of persecution, hardships and rejection that they really don’t deserve. Some are starting to lose hope. Where is God in all this? Has he abandoned them? Is this Christianity really worth it?
What we will see in this text is that because Jesus suffered unjustly, so are we to endure suffering as a gracious thing.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
How should Christians react the increasingly hostile culture? Are we to retreat into our little Christian ghettos, regard our culture and government as inherently evil, and so have nothing to do with it? Or are we to blend in with the culture, fly under the radar, and adopt its values so they will like us more?
What we see this our text is that we are not to retreat into ghettos, nor to blend in with the culture, but rather to live as “sojourners and exiles." Because you belong to Christ, live as sojourners and exiles, honourably in this world so that God will be glorified.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
[Note: Daniel was not cast in the furnace, as stated in the sermon!].
In this text we see that Peter explains that because of our union with Christ, the Living Stone, we as living stones share not only in his sufferings, but share too in his many benefits. Because Christ is our Living Stone, we as his church, are his living stones.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
What we will see in this text is that in the midst of cultural pressure to conform, Peter encourages the church to stay the course. Because of our living hope in Christ, we are to leave the futile, sinful ways of our culture and instead be holy as God is holy.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
This passage was written to Christians in the first century who were facing extreme hardships: state-sponsored persecutions, they were ostracized from their community, pressured to abandon their faith and church was illegal. How were they to respond to these trials? Peter encourages them to endure. We will see that because our inheritance in Christ is imperishable and we have a living hope, we can rejoice in the midst of suffering.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
We are starting a new series on 1 Peter. It is a glorious letter, packed with gospel truths, much encouragement and hope for those of us who are weary and facing hardships. It gets to the heart of the gospel. In this sermon we look at the two opening verses. Even in these opening verses, they are full of gospel truths. We will see that because God has chosen us in Christ, we are to live in obedience to him.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We're in Genesis 24 where we see that Abraham arranges to find a wife for his son Isaac. Every detail of this story does not happen by chance, but unfolds according to God’s perfect plan in order that his purposes may be fulfilled. Because God is faithful, we can entrust our lives to his providential care.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
The Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In our Easter Sunday sermon from Luke 24:36-49, we see that the resurrection was a historical reality and that it was the fulfillment of an ancient promise of God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In this text we see that Abraham is prepared to sacrifice his own son in order to be obedient to God. And this points ultimately to God himself. He does not spare his own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, but gives him up as a sacrifice for our sake. What we’ll see therefore is that because God provides an offering to sacrifice, we, his people will live.
We look at Genesis 20-21 this morning. After many years of waiting, God finally fulfills his promise to Abraham and Sarah to give them the son that he has promised them. Isaac is born miraculously, and through him all the other covenant promises that God has made to Abraham will be fulfilled. What we will see from this text is that because God is faithful to his promises, we can trust in him and rejoice in his goodness. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This week’s sermon focuses on God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. In particular, two sins: lack of hospitality and homosexuality. We also see God’s salvation of Lot and his family. We will see from this text that because God is holy and just, he is not neutral in the face of wickedness and injustice. Instead, he promises to judges the wicked and save the righteous. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In this first sermon on Ephesians, we’re going to focus on the first 14 verses of the first chapter. What we see here is a magnificent declaration of the truth of the gospel - that God has done everything necessary for our salvation. Every aspect of it – God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - he has done it all.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
In this passage, Paul is pointing the Ephesians, and us, to the exalted Christ – to Jesus who reigns on high, who gives us hope and assurance of our faith as we get a grander vision of who he is!
We’re going to see tonight that: because Jesus reigns, our hope is secure in him.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
While it may not be the norm for God to raise corpses to life today, he is most certainly still in the business of raising the dead. In our text in Ephesians we see that this is true. If we believe in Jesus, the Bible says that we have been raised from death to life. This is what Paul is talking about here in Ephesians 2. Our salvation is not some casual decision that we once made, no, it is a miracle. We were once dead in our sins and God has miraculously raised us up to life in him! And because only God can raise the dead, our life in Christ is a gift of grace.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What Paul is showing us here in Ephesians 2 is that because of the cross of Christ, Jew and Gentile are reconciled as one new man in the church.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What was this mystery? It is what this passage in Ephesians 3 calls the “Mystery of Christ” (v.4). It’s because of this mystery that any of us sitting here tonight know Jesus Christ and are counted among God’s chosen people. The nature of this mystery is that believing Gentiles are now included among God’s people, which is no longer exclusively Jewish. May seem obvious to us now, but as we saw last week, it was a revolutionary change in the early church.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
In our text this evening, we see the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, praying an incredible prayer. Essence of the prayer is that we’d somehow grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us in Christ. It’s Paul’s perspective of God’s greatness and power that really initiates his magnificent prayer. He gets this truth that our vision of God directly impacts how and what we pray for. Specifically for Paul in his prayer, he realises that because of God’s greatness, we are able to be strengthened in the magnitude of the love of Christ.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What God is saying to us in our text tonight, through the Apostle Paul, is that despite all the messiness and divisions and conflicts in the church, the church is still united in Christ. What we will see this evening is that living a worthy life and therefore having unity in the church, flows from having been called by God. Our unity in the church is rooted in God himself.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
This is what the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, explains to us in our passage tonight. He shows us that because Christ has ascended to heaven, he has given gifts to build up his church.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
It’s this point that Paul is hitting home to us in our passage this evening. Yes, we’ve received the gospel, this gift of grace. Gospel doesn’t leave us in our old way of living in sins, instead it empowers us to stop a lifestyle of sin and live for the glory of God.
Because you are in Christ, have received the gospel, turn from your sin and pursue righteousness.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
This is what we see in this Ephesians passage – law in the NT (law = what you must do, grace = what God has done). Paul in the previous section has explained to us that now in Christ we are new creations, created after the likeness of God (4:24). This means that we must now put off the old man of sin. In this passage he’s showing us practically what that looks like – how to live as a new creation in Christ, in the church.
He’s saying to us that – because you are a new creation in Christ, you must walk in love. This passage is showing us what walking in love actually looks like, specifically in the life of the church.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
At the heart of what God is saying to us tonight in his Word is that because we are saints, believers in Christ, we are not to share in the sinful practices of the world. We are to live in the world, but not be of it.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What Paul is encouraging us to do in the midst of living in this dark world with all its temptations, is to instead walk wisely – walk in the Spirit. Don’t fall for the ways of the world which are foolishness, but walk according to the wisdom of God, be filled with the Holy Spirit!
So the main idea here tonight is that, because the days are evil, walk wisely, in the Spirit.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Paul address here how Christian husbands and their wives are to treat each other. He gives us a model for marriage relations here. For Christians, husbands and wives are not to treat one another randomly, as they see fit, or as the culture dictates. No, how husband and wife relate to each other is directly rooted in how Christ relates to his church. Direct link throughout. First see how wives are relate to their husbands. Secondly, how husbands to relate to their wives.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Because Christ is our Lord, we must obey those whom the Lord has set over us, and be fair to those whom the Lord has set under us.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
The whole point of this final section in Ephesians is to hit home this reality: that because we’re in a spiritual battle, we are to stand firm in the armour of God.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What we see in Psalm 146 is an exhortation not to trust in “princes” in those who rule over us. They will always disappoint us. Instead, this psalm points us to hope only in our God, who never fails us – he keeps faith forever! Because only God really cares for us, we are to worship him, and him alone.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
God is indeed good, and we see this here in Psalm 135. Yet we will see his goodness in ways that perhaps we don’t expect. We will see his goodness on his terms, as it’s he alone who gets to define in own goodness. What we’ll see from this psalm, is that because God is good, he is also great and strong. And it is this good, great and strong God who we know in Jesus Christ.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
We are looking at Psalm 95. It is a magnificent psalm, a psalm of praise to the Lord. What we are going to see as we go through this psalm is that our worship of God is the way in which our eyes and hearts remain fixed on the Lord even through the storms of life. Focus today on worship. Because the Lord is our great God, our Rock of Salvation, we must worship him and be faithful to him.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Psalm 51 is David’s realisation of the gravity of his sins, and is a prayer to God in which he pours out his heart to him in deep repentance. He cries out to the Lord that his sin be removed from him, and his heart be renewed. Real, raw, gritty stuff!
What we are going to see from this Psalm is that it is only because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, that our sins can be cleansed, and our hearts be renewed by his Spirit.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Psalm 46 speaks directly into situations like the one we are facing. Chaos and turmoil have overtaken the world, things are in crisis. Yet as we shall see in this Psalm, in the midst of all this, God remains our refuge and strength.
How then do we explain this psalm? We can explain it as a prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This defining moment in history was prophesied in detail about one thousand years before it happened. King David vividly prophesied about the event in this psalm. The Apostle Peter in Acts 2:30-31 –
“Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ…”
So we can see here that not only was David a king, but he was a prophet too, and he wrote this psalm as a prophet, forthtelling the coming of his promised son, the Messiah, the true King of Israel.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
This psalm is a great encouragement for us as believers in Christ who want to get deeper into God’s Word and make it the sure foundation that it is in our lives and in our church. In this Psalm, we get a glimpse of God’s glory in creation and then see his glory in the riches and beauty of Word. And finally, we see how his glorious Word transforms us deeply.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What we see in this psalm is a celebration of God’s work of creation, and mankind as the crown of his creation, having been given dominion over the creation to rule and reign for God’s glory. How do we reconcile this lofty vision of mankind with the sin-cursed reality we experience every day? Well the truth is that there is hope in the midst of our mess. How so? We will see this as we unpack this psalm – that because Jesus has put all things under his feet, he restores us to what we were called to be – his people, under his rule, crowned with glory and honour.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Does God hate? Surely if he’s a God of love, as we’ve been led to believe, and can see in Scripture (1 John 4:8, “God is love”), then it must be impossible for God to hate anything? Aren’t these two attributes mutually exclusive? How can someone who is in his essence love, then hate as well?
Our culture’s understanding of God, probably best summarised in Oprah-ism, the spirit of this age – God is this nebulous divine being which loves everything and everyone, accepts us all as we are, never challenges or confronts our ideas or behaviour – basically an idealised version of ourselves. In contrast to this, a God who hates is truly an anathema! This must be an evil god, to be avoided at all costs.
Yet even as Christians, if we’re honest with ourselves, we find it hard to really stomach this truth. That God hates, that he is wrathful, seems so alien to the warm, fuzzy feeling we usually get when we pray to and worship our loving Father in heaven.
But the truth is that God does indeed hate. Not only in a general sense, but God actually hates people. Romans 9:13 says that, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” In actual fact it was King David who understood this truth about God’s anger and expressed it in a prayer which we have recorded for us in Psalm 5. David found himself in grave danger, his own life threatened, and he called for help from the God who hates.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
What we’re going to see as we look at Psalm 4, is that because God is faithful to his covenant promises, he will not abandon his people. It was this truth that David grasped, and we will see it unfold as we get into this Psalm.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Psalm 3 is a prayer to the Lord made in really challenging times. What we’re going to see as we go through this psalm is a reminder that salvation does indeed belong to the Lord. Because God does save his people, in Christ we can have hope in him.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Who is your Jesus? A spiritual guru? A new age hippie, tolerant of everyone and everything? Non-judgemental, loving everyone unconditionally? A son of God, like all of us are sons of God? A social justice warrior? A prophet, teacher and great man, but just a man?
Culture has many ideas of who Jesus is. These ideas naturally influence us. Yet surely our picture of Jesus needs to be informed by Scripture itself? Even as Christians it’s easy for us to just focus on portions of the Jesus of the Bible that we like – that he didn’t condemn the woman in adultery, that he healed the sick, he comforted the mourning, that he came to serve and not to be served. All great and true things about Jesus. Yet we must never lose the broader Scriptural teaching about Jesus – great king over all, God’s anointed king. Some of these things about him may even make us squirm or feel uncomfortable. NB – picture of Jesus we worship must be informed by the whole counsel of God.
Psalm 2 is one of the most quoted psalms in the NT. This is because it speaks very clearly about Jesus. It confirms that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah of God, God’s anointed king.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Does God give us advice on how to live a successful life? Actually he does. Psalm 1 is a great example of a place in the Bible where he does.
Psalm 1 in particular is significant – first psalm, acts as a gateway to the rest of the Psalms. Purpose of the book of Psalms is that it provides a manual for meditating on the instruction of the Lord, so that we can experience a blessed life in him.
So the question that tonight’s psalm answers is: how do you live a life that is pleasing to God? What we’re going to see is that: because the righteous delight in God’s law, they flourish.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola
This Christmas morning we are going to look at this passage from Luke 1, Zechariah’s prophecy. What we’ll see here is that Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s covenant promise to visit and save us from our sins.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We look at each of these five points of the Canons of Dort (the doctrines of grace) – all key to our understanding of the gospel of grace. At heart - that salvation is entirely a gift of grace from God, that “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” (Jonah 2:9).
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Everything hinges on the historical reality of what happened on that first Easter morning, some 2000 years ago. What we’re going to see this morning, from our text, is that because the gospel is indeed historical truth, it is absolutely central. And because it is central, it is infinitely personal too.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We look at the Five Solas of the Reformation – five key points which the Reformers believed were central to the Reformation and to the gospel. We’ll see what they are, how they are rooted in Scripture, show how much we are in need of holding to them in our church context and how much our hearts still need to be transformed by their truths.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
The account of the resurrection we are going to look at this morning is from the Gospel of John. As we shall soon see, he was an eyewitness to the resurrection. He didn’t hear about it from other disciples, he witnessed it for himself. So in his account, we have a powerful testimony to the truth of these events. Throughout John’s Gospel, he writes in order to persuade us that about the truth of the gospel – that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and by believing in him, we would have gospel life (Jn 20:31). So when he describes the resurrection of Jesus to us in these verses that we are going to look at, his purpose is no different. He wants to convince us of the truth of these events in order that we may believe in Jesus and in doing so, have true life in him.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Perhaps you think that even God has broken his promises to you. Death of a loved one, some kind of tragedy, sickness, challenging work, financial circumstances – whatever it is, you feel that God has let you down.
If you feel like this, well you’re in good company. This is something of how the whole nation of Israel felt just before the birth of Jesus. They had experienced this for nearly one thousand years! Why hadn’t God kept his covenant promises to Israel – that he would be their God and they his people? In their eyes, he was failing them as they had endured exile in Babylon some 500 years before, and now they were suffering under brutal Roman rule. Where was their promised king, the Messiah from God, and where was their eternal kingdom that he would rule over? Where was God?
What we’re going to see in this passage is the true hope of the Christmas story: that the covenant promises of God have not failed. God does not break his promises!
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
We are faced with a showdown between two kings – the one a tyrant and the other a baby. The tyrant Herod embodies the epitome of sinful man, self-centred, bent on self-destruction and hopelessness; while the baby Jesus is the incarnate God himself, come to rescue man out of his mess and offer us an incredible hope.
The main idea of this sermon is therefore that: Because God is our sovereign King, in Christ there is always hope.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
The heart of what Paul is getting to here is our sanctification. What is sanctification? The process through which God makes us holy. It’s living out our faith in Christ, and pursuing a life that honours God.
That can seem daunting, yet the good news for us is that we’re not alone in this. It’s not as if we’re just saved by grace, but then have to carry on in our relationship with God in our own strength. “In by grace and stay in by works.” The truth is that God’s saving work in our lives is all encompassing. Our salvation is from Lord, and our sanctification too is from the Lord. It is only because God is sanctifying us by his Spirit, that we can truly live for his glory.
Preacher: Antonio Coppola.
Here in Ruth 3 we see the difference between someone who runs ahead of God, on the one hand; and someone who trusts and obeys God, who walks in step with his Spirit – on the other hand.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Can we, as a redeemed people – like David, as forgiven sinners, who have received God’s grace through Christ, continue in our sin because we know that we’ll be forgiven anyway? It is this very question that Paul addresses in our passage in Romans 6.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
As some of you may know, I really enjoy history. One of the ways in which to really get a unique insight into a particular part of history is to focus on an important personality in that era who had a great impact on the world at that time – someone like Julius Caesar, or John Calvin, or Napoleon, or Jan Smuts, or Winston Churchill. Get a feel for their lives, how they grew up, understand what made them tick, try to understand who they were, what their mission in life was. Where do we go to get more knowledge on these things? Biographies – stories about these people’s lives.
As Christians, we know that the most important person who has ever walked the face of the earth is Jesus Christ. It was by him that the universe was created. He is the centre of our faith. He’s the One we worship. He’s the One we pray to every morning. He’s the One who will raise us up from the grave on the Last Day to glory everlasting.
So he is the One that our lives should be devoted to knowing, understanding and pursuing. How do we know our Saviour more? By reading his Word – all of it, OT and NT is all about him. But what if we want to zoom in and, like important figures in history, find out more about his identity and his life’s mission? Where in his Word do we look? Like important figures in history, we must look at his biography first and foremost. Now obviously, as we know, all Scripture reveals Christ. Yet it’s only in the four Gospel accounts (we’ve got four biographies of Jesus!) do we find historical narrative accounts of Jesus life – his birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. It’s in the Gospels that we get a clear picture of Jesus’ identity and his life’s mission. This is why I want us to spend the coming months going through Mark’s Gospel.
Why Mark in particular? Ultimately in the life of our church I hope to be able to preach through all four at one stage or another. But let’s start with Mark first, as it’s very fast moving. It gets to the point. It’s the shortest of the four Gospels.
It’s also one of the earliest Gospels to be written. Most scholars estimate around 64 AD. That’s just 30 years after Jesus ascended to heaven! Traditionally, it’s been seen as the second Gospel account to be written, after the Gospel of Matthew.
So who was Mark, the author of this Gospel? Well his full name was John Mark. He was Jewish, a native of Jerusalem. We read about him in Acts 12:25 where he joins Paul and Barnabas on a mission. For some reason he and Paul had a fall out, but it seems that they were eventually restored, as we find in Paul’s letters (2 Tim 4:11).
While Mark wasn’t one of the Twelve, he was closely linked to the apostles. He was very close to the Apostle Peter, who calls him his “son” in the faith in 1 Peter 5:13. It is believed that Mark’s account of Jesus’ life in his Gospel is the account that Peter himself gave him.
What we’re going to see in these introductory verses of Mark’s Gospel is some vital biographical information about Jesus. We’re going to understand more of his identity, and we’re going to see his life’s mission – what was the reason he came to earth. Ultimately we’re going to see that because Jesus was God’s promised Messiah, he came to die for our sins. Truth of this has to continually transform our lives. Unlike any other figure from history – Jesus changes us today.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
One thing I really enjoy is browsing in bookshops. I’m quite annoyed right now that books are not deemed “essential items” – that’s a contradiction in terms for me! Anyway, what I often notice in bookshops when I’m looking at the Christian books, is that much of what you find on the shelves concerning Christianity and Jesus is pretty grim. The Jesus that many of the contemporary popular Christian books are selling is a Jesus who is your life coach, a Jesus who will improve your marriage and help you better manage your finances, a Jesus who will grow your influence, get rid of your problems, and give you power. He’ll help you live your best life now. In essence, he’s just another accessory in your busy life, another add on, like your gym contract, or your time share in the berg, or the sports club you belong to – helpful, perhaps enjoyable – but just one of many options in your hectic upper highway life.
The problem is that this is not the Jesus we find in Scripture. The Jesus we read about in the Bible is not an accessory to life, but is true life himself. He does not offer to improve your life, but to save it from hell. He does not ask us to consider him, but instead to repent and believe in him.
In this morning’s passage from Mark’s Gospel, we will get to see more of this Jesus. We will see that because his kingdom is at hand, we need to repent and believe in his gospel.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
For much of the church in Africa, there is a great fascination with miracles. You’ve all seen the adverts for various modern-day apostles and prophets hosting miracle crusades, to churches in our area hosting healing services, promising healing to everyone who comes. The assumption behind these events is that miracles are meant to be a normal part of everyday Christianity. This is rooted in the belief that the preaching of the true gospel will always be accompanies by signs and wonders. If there is preaching, but no signs and wonders, well then you are not preaching the true gospel. You’re preaching a sub-standard, powerless gospel. And if you don’t experience miracles in your walk with God, well you’re seen as a sub-standard Christian, you haven’t really understood the gospel.
This places huge pressure on Christians to be doing all sorts of miracles in their daily lives. And it creates a pressure on pastors to whip things up every church service in order to get people to be constantly expecting signs and wonders every worship service.
There are many problems with all this is – we will look more closely at some of them during this sermon. But very basically some of the main ones are that it fosters a very self-centred Christianity. Come to Jesus for what he can give you, not for who he is. It also results in many Christians living under condemnation and guilt because they don’t experience these miracles that they’re supposed to be experiencing and performing. They feel like failures and feel they can never match up to the kind of faith and spirituality of their pastors and leaders who are creating such expectations. How do I know this? I was one of those pastors who used to teach these things. And I saw first-hand the pastoral damage and hurt this kind of teaching causes.
Let me say upfront that I absolutely believe that can God perform miracles today. God is sovereign and all-powerful, and he does what he pleases. He is still at work today on earth by the power of his Spirit. As Christians, we should pray for the sick, we should ask God to intervene in all our circumstances.
Yet the truth is that miracles – like the ones we see in the Bible – blind eyes being opened, lame walking and mute people talking, are more the exception to the rule than the rule today. If they were the normal way in which God operates, we would have no need to consult the doctor when we are ill, as we would know that God would heal us without a doubt. Out of interest, why has there been a near silence from the many faith healers across the globe during this Corona virus crisis? Surely this would be their time to shine?
Our text in Mark’s Gospel this morning deals almost exclusively with signs and wonders that Jesus was doing. As we get into this portion of Scripture, we’re going to see something about the nature of the miracles that Jesus did. We’re going to see that because Jesus’ miracles reveal who he is, they are not an end in themselves.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
On the 8 July 1741, a Presbyterian minister and arguably one of America’s greatest thinkers, Jonathan Edwards, delivered a sermon in his church entitled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The heart of the sermon was that sinners deserve God’s just punishment in hell. Therefore, people needed to repent and receive Christ who would save them. The sermon had an enormous impact, not only in his own church, but across America, where its ideas spread and helped fuel the First Great Awakening – one of the most significant revivals in America, resulting many thousands of people receiving Christ.
Lots of things have changed since the 1700s. One of the biggest changes in our culture and even in churches, is that the term “sinner” has really lost its meaning. We just don’t think in those terms anymore. If you had to ask most of your family or friends what a sinner was, I’m sure they’d say something like “Hitler” or “Stalin” or those murderers and rapists out there. It’s seen as a label for extremely bad behaviour. Many people would say that most folks today are not sinners. On the contrary, we are decent people who are mostly good. We are upright citizens who seek the good for others and ourselves. Sure, we make some mistakes here and there, but we don’t murder and rob people – we’re not sinners.
The nature of sin is that it distorts our view of ourselves. Sin blinds us to our sinfulness. This is why the Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:8 that, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” The reality is that our whole being has been deeply affected by sin – our thoughts, our hearts, our motivations, our words and our actions. Failing to realise this just reinforces how much sin is deeply imbedded in us. Romans 3 accurately diagnoses our sinful condition, in verses 11 and 12: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Our sinfulness is so bad that our natural instinct is not even to seek after God.
It’s been this way for all of us since our ancestors, Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. Their sin has affected the whole human race after them – separates us from God and each other – causing misery, death and a cursed existence. And it was precisely because of this curse of sin that Jesus came to earth, as God’s promised Messiah to break the power of sin over us, forgive us and restore us to God.
Our passage in Mark 2 this morning shows us that Jesus came to earth to deal with our sin. More specifically, that because Jesus came for sinners, we need to repent of our sin and receive the gospel.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
One of the things that has really struck me during this lockdown is how compliant many people have been to some of the really irrational and quite frankly petty laws and regulations that have been introduced. For example, wearing masks while you are driving alone in your own car, or in the great outdoors, not close to anyone else. How exactly can that stop spread the virus? If you are enlightened in this regard, I’d love to know! I could carry on, but the point here is that there is something in our sinful nature that defaults to an obedience for obedience’s sake.
We think that our obedience makes us better people. It makes us seem more righteous than those other people out there who are not obeying the law and being as upstanding us we are. Perhaps we even think that our obedience is the way to earn our way to God. That we will be made right with God by our actions. Or we think that the heart of Christianity is following a moral code. Don’t get me wrong – obedience to God’s laws is a good and necessary thing. God’s law is good, but it’s not our obedience to it that saves us. Thinking that obedience to law saves us really the root of legalism. Doing things in order to justify yourself before God.
This can manifest in a variety of ways: adding to God’s law in order to seem more spiritual and pious. Common way we see this is when people say things like drinking alcohol, or dancing or playing cards or listening to secular music or having tattoos is sinful. Forbidding things that God himself has not even forbidden. Or being more obsessed with the letter of the law than the spirit of the law – obeying the externals, having an outward form of righteousness, yet your heart has no desire to please and worship God.
In Jesus’ day, the legalists were the Pharisees. Throughout all the Gospels they are Jesus’ nemesis. As we saw last week, the Pharisees were a sect of Jews who placed a strong emphasis on obedience to the law, especially their own oral law traditions. They believed that their obedience to these laws earned them righteousness, right standing with God.
In this morning’s passage, we are going to see two examples of how Jesus challenges the legalism of the Pharisees, and shows how radically different the gospel is from legalism. We’ll see that Jesus himself is the antidote to legalism, because he is God’s promised Messiah, who has already obeyed the law.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Every time our president has addressed the nation during this lockdown, we all gather around the TV, in eager anticipation of what he’s going to say. Why is this? Well, being put in lockdown by the government, we know that our only way out of lockdown will be by our president, who is the head of the government, declaring to us by that it’s over. When he pronounces something to us, we can expect things to change. When he speaks, things happen. When he says we will go down to level 3 by the end of the month, we can (hopefully) expect this to happen. His words carry authority.
If any of us declared that the lockdown was over, or that we were moving to the next level, would anything change? Of course not! Why? We have no authority over the government of South Africa, unlike our president who does.
In a similar way, when it comes to God, who is the ruler and creator of the entire universe, when he speaks, things happen. Things happen - obviously in an infinitely greater and more significant way than when our president speaks. Because God is sovereign, because he is in control, all-powerful and rules and governs over all, when he speaks his Word, it always accomplishes its purpose. God spoke a word and all of creation came into being (Gen 1:3ff). He will destroy Satan with “breath of his mouth” (2 Thess 2:8).
This is why God declares in Isaiah 55:11: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
The nature of God’s Word is that it carries authority. It always accomplishes God’s purposes, it never fails in its intent.
In this morning’s passage, we see something of the power of God’s Word at work in Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus speaks, things happen. He says a word and people are healed, demons flee and people follow him. Why is this? We are going to see that it’s because Jesus is really God, that when he speaks his Word, he always achieves his purposes.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Since the time of Christ, people across the world have wrestled with who Jesus really was. No serious historian would ever deny that he lived on earth some 2000 years ago. Everyone agrees that that is beyond doubt. The real issue is a matter of his identity. The twentieth-century Christian thinker, C.S. Lewis put it aptly in his classic, Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Lewis’ point here is that if we are look at Jesus’ life honestly, we cannot simply write him off as just a good man, and a great teacher. Either he is mad, or worse, he is evil; or he is who he claims to be – the Lord and God of this universe. And if this is so, then you can only fall at his feet and worship him.
Nothing has changed much over two-thousand years. Even when Jesus was here on earth, people had similar responses to him. Our passage this morning shows exactly this. On the one hand, Jesus’ own family believe that he is mad. Then the religious leaders of his day accused him of being possessed by Satan himself. It was only his followers who saw him for who he truly is – Lord and God. What we’re going to see this morning is that because Jesus comes to bind Satan, he is neither mad, nor evil, but indeed Lord himself. We’re also going to see that accusing Jesus of being empowered by Satan is the one sin that is unforgivable.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Some years ago, at the church I used to work for, we invited a famous Sharks rugby player to the launch of an evangelistic course, which would run over some weeks. The idea was to attract lots of people from the community, through having this famous guy, and that they would carry on coming for the course and hear the gospel. Well, stacks of people arrived on the evening to see this guy. Yet the following week, when the course actually started, there were just the usual suspects from the church there. Not one of the hundreds of people who came to see their rugby hero stuck around!
Point of this story? Beware of using worldly fame and power to try and grow the church. This points to a sinful tendency among us that finds worldly power, glory and success very attractive. There is this pressure to build these fancy, glitzy, slick churches, the more people the better – and using whatever gimmicks to get people there is justified. Whether its rugby players, actors, famous artists or even politicians – do whatever it takes to make ourselves attractive to the culture. Look successful and glorious in the world’s eyes, and then they’ll join us!
The problem with all this is that when we look at Jesus’ life, we see precisely the opposite of this. As we’ve already seen in going through these first few chapters of Mark’s Gospel – he was by worldly standards, insignificant – peasant stock, while he attracted plenty of attention, he actually had a very small following. He was detested by many, ridiculed even by his own family, and as we’ll see in the weeks to come, he died a criminal’s death on the cross.
In these three parables which we are going to look at, we are going to see that though Jesus, the gospel he preached and his church appears foolish and insignificant in worldly terms, there will come a day when his kingdom is revealed in glory for what it really is, and then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Point? Don’t despise the day of small beginnings.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Thinking back to January, who could have possibly dreamed how this year would unfold? Corona virus, lockdown, economic damage, loss of income, government overreach in our lives, restrictions in how and where we can socialise, uncertainty about the future, many livelihoods severely compromised or even destroyed, that churches would have even be forced to close and even have these current restrictions? All of us have been affected in some way or another. And we’ll most probably be feeling these effects for some time to come.
The reality is that we are in the midst of a storm, to one degree or another. There are a lot of things out of our control, and we’re very much at the mercy of the elements right now.
But as those of who believe in Jesus Christ, we know that we are not alone in the storm. This week’s passage from Mark’s Gospel, is one with which many of us are familiar. Jesus and his disciples find themselves in the middle of a massive storm on the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus calms the storm with a word. What we are going to see here is that because Jesus is the sovereign Lord of creation, we don’t need to be afraid in the storms.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Over 1600 years ago, two prominent men in the church had a theological disagreement. This wasn’t some minor, irrelevant theological disagreement. It was very significant and was to echo throughout history, even affecting us today. Who were these two men, and what were they arguing about? They were Augustine and Pelagius. And they were arguing about human nature. Pelagius, a British monk, argued that we are born basically good, and have the free will to choose God and even live a sinless life. Our sins are just bad habits that we learn over time. His adversary was a man named Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in North Africa. He argued that the Bible clearly taught that we are born into sin, sin inherited from Adam, and our own sin, which makes us slaves to darkness, unable to do any good, and cannot help but continue to sin.
Pretty stark positions! Take a guess which view is more popular today? Without a doubt, Pelagius. In our culture, and even much of the church – humans are seen as basically good. We mess up here and there, but on the whole, we are free to choose the good and choose God.
Sounds good on the surface, but there is a major flaw here. If you think you are basically good, then you don’t need a Saviour. What do you need saving from? Your view of God will be something like that of an accessory – nice to have, but not essential. A spiritual buddy, not Lord and Saviour.
It’s only if you realise just how sinful you are – that your sin runs deep in you, colours everything you do, think and say – that you will know your deep need for a Saviour who can set you free from this bondage and allow you to live for God and his glory as he intended.
Our passage in Mark 5 is an account of Jesus setting free a man bound by a host of demons. What we’re going to see here is that we all need Someone to set us free from the oppression of the forces of darkness. We can’t do it on our own. There is only One who can – Jesus, the Sovereign Lord over all. Only he can overcome the powers of darkness.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We’ve all experienced some sort of challenges over these past few months. Financial, stress, frustration with the government and its funny regulations, worry about the future. Yet in the greater scheme of things, aren’t these challenges really inconveniences? I mean all of us here still have a roof over our heads, food every day, a job and in reasonably good health? Thank God for his faithfulness and his provision and protection over us!
The temptation that we face when things are going well and we are enjoying a comfortable life, is that it’s possible for us to quickly lose sight of our real need for God. It’s easy for us to begin to trust more in our abilities, our wealth, in our material possessions and find our sense of security in what we have – instead of having to bank everything on God. As a result, our view of God can become smaller, and our view of ourselves and our own abilities can become greater. Instead of trusting increasingly in God and his great promises, we find our trust in the things we think we can control.
We all know how facing real challenges and hardships in our lives are ways in which God teaches us to be much more reliant on him, than on ourselves.
Our passage this evening from Mark 5 looks at two encounters that Jesus has. Jarius’ daughter and the woman with the issue of bleeding. What we are going to see is that in both cases, they came to Jesus in great need – they had faith in him – they realised that they could do nothing without him. They received Christ and his benefits by faith. Jesus was not some accessory to them, but indeed God himself – the One who restores the unclean and the One who raises the dead to life. They had faith in the Lord of Life.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
“Receive Christ and all your problems will disappear!” If we’ve been walking with the Lord for some time, we all know that this is not true! Granted, there are many blessings we experience in Christ. Yet struggles and rejection are a part of the deal too. If you’re one of the few Christians in a family, you will experience this all the time – ridicule, jokes will be made at your expense, they just don’t understand why you believe the things you do. Sharing the gospel with them just seems a fruitless exercise, remain hard-hearted, think they’ll never come around. What’s the point?
Face a similar situation in a new church plant like ours. It’s challenging! People don’t just flock to church! Especially now in this pandemic. Face rejection from friends you invite, hard-heartedness and resistance from others. Some remain apathetic and battle with unbelief and fear. Like in our experience with our families, it’s easy to start to think, what’s the point? Should we give up?
Our passage from Mark 6 this afternoon, shows that that we should persevere! Why? Because even Jesus and his disciples experienced rejection and resistance to the gospel. It’s to be expected, it’s a part of the deal. Because Jesus experienced rejection and resistance, we should expect it too. But, as we will see here, we don’t need to lose heart – because God is sovereign, Jesus will nevertheless build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Looking at many of our leaders today, it’s easy to become disillusioned. So many are tarnished with corruption, stealing our tax money, stealing money that should be going to help the poorest of the poor, getting their families and friends to benefit from the looting going on. Though it’s been going on for ages, brought to the fore now as funds meant to bring relief to the pandemic are being looted too. Then on top of that, government appoints a very partial committee of their own cronies to investigate all these allegations. Seems like a never-ending spiral of sin and depravity!
The hard reality is that this is how sin works. Not only in the lives of those in government, but also in our own lives. When we allow sin to fester unchecked in our lives, we slowly start a down-ward spiral further into sin’s bondage, and in the process begin to lose all perspective, we become hardened to it, and can end up utterly consumed and trapped in it.
In this passage in Mark’s Gospel, we read about the tragic death of John the Baptist, and how King Herod brought it all about. We see here the sad end to one of God’s boldest prophets. But we also see how quickly sin enslaves. The deeper you go, the harder it is to get out of it. And left unchecked, it can destroy a man – in this case, King Herod.
What we’re going to see in this sermon is that because sin will destroy you, cut it out; and instead find satisfaction in Jesus Christ.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Who do you think of when you think of a great leader? Winston Churchill? Jan Smuts? Nelson Mandela? No one comes close to any of these people today. There seems to be a dearth of real leadership these days. Where are the leaders in the world who lead with integrity, fairness and humility? Who inspire hope, who genuinely serve their people and are not in it fleece as much money as they can from their people? Who resist the temptation to lord it over their people as tyrants and oppressors, and instead lead people in liberty and freedom and peace?
Today all our leaders seem to be able to do is disappoint us (not only here is South Africa, but around the world). Corruption, abuse of power, oppression of people. It’s easy to lose hope. There is something in us that yearns to put our trust in those who lead us, that they would be our heroes and inspire us to be better people.
In our passage in Mark’s Gospel this evening, we see Jesus ministering to the leaderless people of Israel – culminating in him miraculously feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. For so long they had endured bad leadership by shepherds whom God had entrusted to lead them. Now at last, God’s true, good shepherd arrived to shepherd his people. This is a really important event in Jesus’ ministry – it is told in all four Gospels.
What we’re going to see this evening is that because Jesus is the Good Shepherd of his sheep, in him we can find true rest and satisfaction.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Fear results from uncertainty in our lives, our futures. The result can be debilitating, crushing, it can paralyse us. Even as believers in Christ, can be racked with fear. See this in our passage – Jesus' disciples battling the wind and waves on their boat in the Sea of Galilee.
Last week we saw how Jesus revealed himself as the promised Good Shepherd who feeds, cares for and satisfies his people. He demonstrated this by miraculously feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish.
In our passage this week, we see that not only is Jesus the Good Shepherd of his sheep, but he is also the eternal God of Israel, the Great I Am. And because he is the sovereign Great I Am, there is no need to be afraid – no matter how much the seas range and the winds blow.
Preacher - Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Often in Christian circles, our own Christian culture, we adopt things that are not necessarily biblical. They may seem moral and good, but sometimes go beyond what’s in Scripture. Examples? Forbid people to get tattoos, listen to certain types of music, forbid alcohol and smoking, frown upon wearing certain types of clothes, think that God cannot bless you unless you tithe.
It can be very easy for those of us who know Christ and his grace to us, to fall into the trap of legalism. Legalism? Default setting of the human heart – doing things in order to make us right with God, salvation through our own efforts.
In our passage from Mark 7, we see Jesus take aim at the legalists of his day, the Pharisees. We’ve met them before earlier in Mark’s Gospel – they were the Jewish religious leaders at the time of Christ. Strong emphasis on external obedience, and obedience to the oral law – extra laws, interpretations of the Law of Moses, added onto the Bible. Essentially – man-made laws. Obsessed with this external obedience to these laws, thinking it would make them right with God. Not performing all these things = defilement, cut off from God.
Jesus exposes the darkness of their hearts in all of this – showing that defilement doesn’t happen by doing various external actions – eating certain foods, or not washing etc. but actually all our hearts are defiled deeply by sin. So because sin defiles our hearts, we need a Saviour who gives us a new heart.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Another week in South Africa, and unfortunately our racial divisions are exposed yet again. The moment we think things may be getting better, something happens, and the media gets holds of it, and we see that these issues are still with us. Seems never ending.
Why? Racism – part of our sinful nature. Base human instinct to stick to your tribe and think your tribe is better than the other tribe. Story of human history for thousands of years.
Even a problem during Jesus’ time. The Jews, as God’s chosen people, had for a long time felt superior to the Gentile nations around them. Because they knew God had elected them, they become arrogant in their election, instead of being humbled by it, and looked down upon the Gentiles as inferior to them. By the time of Christ, there were all sorts of extra-biblical oral laws that the Jewish religious leaders put in place to keep themselves from being defiled by the dirty Gentiles. Couldn’t enter their houses, couldn’t eat with them, or socialise with them. Seen as dirty dogs.
It’s important to remember that right from the beginning, though God had chosen Israel as his people, his ultimate plan was to create a people of his own from every nation, tribe and tongue. God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 was that it would be through him that all the nations of the world would be blessed. Many of the OT prophecies of the Messiah also showed that God would one day include the Gentiles in his plan of redemption. E.g. Isaiah 42:1, “He will bring justice to the nations” – basically God’s salvation would not just be restricted to Israel, but through the coming of the Messiah, salvation would extend to the nations too.
Jesus arrives – he is this promised Messiah, starts fulfilling all those OT expectations of him. As we’ve been seeing on our journey through Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has been ministering the gospel mainly to Israel – his chief calling. But if you remember from two weeks’ ago, when we looked at the passage immediately before this one, chapter 7:1-23, we see there in verse 19, that Jesus does something pretty radical – declares all foods clean. Jews had been forbidden to eat certain foods – OT Law – keep them distinct from the Gentiles.
Now, there is a shift in redemptive history with the coming of Christ. Gospel is now also going to the Gentiles, not only the Jews. So what we see Jesus do in this passage of Scripture is start to fulfil those OT expectations that the Messiah would bring salvation to all the nations of the world.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
How easy it is for us to get overwhelmed with worry in our lives? Whether it’s to do with money, issues in our family, our children, or the state of the country. All real issues that we face. It can be easy for us to despair in these things and lose heart. We can begin to doubt God’s faithfulness and goodness in the midst of all these things. We can easily lose perspective and get caught up in our worldly worries.
We see something similar happen in our text in Mark 8 with Jesus’ disciples. They had been with him, witnessed his many miracles which all pointed to his identity as God’s promised Messiah, and indeed God himself. Yet despite all this, they still don’t seem to get it. They allow their worldly worries to consume them and fail to grasp that God himself is in the midst of them. Instead of being filled with wonder and awe before Jesus, they are still plagued with doubts and hardness of heart.
In this passage we see Jesus warn and rebuke his disciples against hardening their hearts towards him – against the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, as he puts it. It is therefore a warning to us as believers in Christ too – don’t allow our hearts to grow hard toward the Lord. In Christ, we’ve been given a new heart by the power of his Spirit – therefore guard your heart against the sin of unbelief!
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
What does much of contemporary Christianity offer? Come to Jesus and … live your best life now, reach your full potential, enjoy fulfilment, inner peace and prosperity and have a comfortable life. Maybe even achieve cultural and political influence. Effort to make Christianity seem more appealing to the culture – whole church movements started by this philosophy – seeker sensitive churches – trying to make the gospel more palatable to unbelievers. Overall, the focus today seems to be on quite a self-centred version of Christianity, what’s in it for me?
Not much has actually changed in 2000 years. In our text this evening, we’ll see that Jesus’ disciples had a similar attitude. They had visions of glory in their life with Jesus – that they would ride with him to a this-worldly Messianic victory, to crush the Roman colonisers. They thought success, power and fame were coming their way.
Yet Jesus puts them right very quickly. No, he has not come for a this-worldly glory – instead he has come to earth to suffer and be executed on the cross. And if you follow him, you too must deny yourself and take up your cross.
What we’ll see in this sermon is that because Jesus is the Messiah, he suffered and died for our sins and calls us to die to a self-centred life.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
One of the things that I enjoy about going to watch a movie, are the trailers, or previews of upcoming movies. In about two minutes they give you a glimpse, a little taste of a two-hour long movie. Get to see something of what the movie is about, what’s going to happen, a sense of the action to come. Gets you excited to see the movie, look forward to seeing the whole thing – not just a glimpse, but how the story unfolds fully.
Here in Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples get a preview of what is coming in the future. Jesus is transfigured before them. They behold him in his divine glory for just a moment. Though Jesus has already warned them that he is going to have to suffer and die on the cross and that they too will have to endure much suffering for his sake, here at this moment, they get a glimpse of what’s coming. The momentary suffering pales in comparison with what is to come: the future kingdom reign of Jesus Christ in all his power, majesty and glory. This is our ultimate hope – not in the things of this age, but in the age to come – future eternal kingdom rule of Christ.
Because Jesus is the Lord of heaven who will return to rule his kingdom in power and in glory, this means that we too, like the disciples, can have hope, despite the many challenges of this life.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In our passage this evening in Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples are unable to cast a demon out of a boy. They are overwhelmed by the present darkness, by the effects of the curse, and because of this, they lose sight of Christ and what he’s come to do. Their hope and faith in him gives way to doubt and unbelief.
The truth that we’re going to see in this passage tonight, is that there is actually no reason to lose hope, even in the midst of the darkness. Why? We will see that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah, the seed of the woman, which God promised to send right from the beginning, in Genesis 3:15, who has come to crush the head of the serpent, and reverse the curse. Death, sickness and sin will not have the last say. In the end, Jesus will triumph. And in this passage, we get a little glimpse precisely of that triumph that is to come in Christ.
Because Jesus has come to crush Satan and his works, we can have true hope, so trust in him!
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
I’m sure you will agree that we live in a culture that feeds our self-centredness. Social media – all about you projecting your best image of yourself. Consumerism – pressure to buy more stuff that is supposedly meant to make us happier. It’s as if our happiness and self-fulfilment is the most important thing, which must be attained at any cost. We’ve been increasingly conditioned to think that if anything gets in the way of achieving our happiness, that must be eliminated, no matter what it is.
This is the reason why we so easily justify all sorts of sins – if living with my girlfriend makes me happy, then I must be justified to do so. If my marriage makes me unhappy, then surely I must be justified to abandon it. My feelings and sense of happiness come first, before what God’s Word says, and any kind of pain or sacrifice must be avoided at all costs, as it surely can’t be good for me. This all feeds into a self-centred, narcissistic and prideful existence.
It’s really nothing new though. It’s a deeply rooted part of our fallen sinful nature. Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this. We’ll see in this evening’s passage that all they seem concerned with is their self-fulfilment – who is the greatest, their sense of elitism and self-importance as one of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus exposes their sinful hearts here and shows them that whoever wants to be first, must be a servant of all. This gets to the heart of Jesus’ identity and what he’s come to earth to do. He’s come as the Suffering Servant, who laid down his life for us on the cross.
What we will see in this text is that because Jesus is our Suffering Servant, we are called to crucify our self-centredness and serve others.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
There is so much confusion today in the area of sexual ethic. We live in an age of moral relativism, where each of us is encouraged to follow our hearts and live our own truth – do what works for you. In this context, the clear teachings of the Bible in this area are seen as hopelessly outdated and downright oppressive!
The guiding principle today when it comes to relationships is if it feels right, it must be right. If you have feelings for someone, if they make you feel happy, not hurting anyone else, then surely it’s fine? Marriage is just a cultural institution, so there’s no problem with living together outside of marriage, if you really love one another? And what can be so bad with two men or two women who really love each other? Surely love is the guiding principle and those who truly love each other, consenting adults, should be free to pursue their love? And when people decide to end the relationship – feel incompatible, don’t feel in love any more, then surely we can walk away from a marriage? Guiding truth through all this are our feelings.
Result? Lots of confusion and relational brokenness today. Divorce happens frequently. Surely there is a better way for us to live, something more sure than our feelings and emotions?
What we see in this evening’s passage is Jesus showing us a very different way. We see something that’s beyond our own feelings as a basis for relationships. Instead what Jesus points us to is relationships that are rooted in how God has designed and created us to be. What we’ll see is that marriage is God’s idea and is designed as a life-long union between husband and wife. And that this is his will, which results in blessing and flourishing.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In 2015, Donald Trump, who at that time was campaigning for the Republican Party presidential candidate, made the following statement during an interview:
“I’ve never asked God for forgiveness. I like to be good, I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness. I am good and I don’t do a lot of things that are bad, I try and do nothing that’s bad. I have a very great relationship with God. I try to lead a very good life and I have.”
Whether you love or loath Trump, easy to be quick to judge him on this statement – but the reality is that he expresses something that actually comes very naturally to all of us. Sinful desire to get right with God on our own terms. Bent to justify ourselves, do the right steps, be good in order to be right with God.
Today’s passage deals with the question that all of us at some point in our lives wrestle with. How can I get right with God? What we’re going to see in this passage is the only two ways one can approach this question – either salvation by your own efforts (default setting) or trusting in salvation by God’s efforts. What we’re going to see ultimately is that because God accomplishes every bit of our salvation, that means there is no way we can earn it. We can just receive it by faith as a gift of grace from God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
There’s a yearning in most of us to be led by great leaders – whether in the workplace, or in our country – people of integrity, honour; people who have a sense of compassion and fairness, who desire to put the people first, instead of themselves.
Tragedy is that leaders who embody these virtues are few and far between – in history and still today. Yet we still yearn for a great leader. Especially so as South Africans. Experience the rule of one president – get our expectations high, think this guy is going to fix things up, lead well, help the people – and then expectations are dashed – ends up being corrupt, lording it over, feeding his own stomach instead of helping the people, and uses his leadership role to pursue his own selfish ambition. He goes, another one comes, think that this guy is going to be different, yet he ends up being even worse.
Why is this typically the case? Why is the bent of leadership in the world towards selfish ambition – usually in turn leads to tyranny, domination and oppression? Deep-seated sinfulness that has entered mankind from the fall. Reality – these tendencies have infected not only those leaders above us, “those other people” – but us too! Left to ourselves, our natural bent is to look after number one above all, and advance our own interests over others.
In our passage this morning, Jesus confronts his disciples with this very issue. He exposes the sinfulness of their selfish ambitions for power, status, greatness and self-importance and instead demonstrates true greatness – through service. What we’ll see is that because Jesus gave up his life to serve us, our only response can be to serve others as his disciples.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
The problem is that much of our church culture here teaches that miracles are the norm today. To be a Christian is to do the miracles of Jesus – seen as a mark of our faith. If not, you are living some kind of a sub-standard Christianity, supposedly devoid of the Holy Spirit. And many pastors (I used to years ago) will use texts like this one from Mark 10, to justify this kind of teaching.
So the question is, does this morning’s text teach us that, like Jesus, we too can open blind eyes? What we will see as we delve into this portion of Scripture is that instead of this teaching something about our own spiritual potential and self-actualisation, and a blueprint to live a miraculous life, what the text is really telling us about is Jesus. He is our unique, promised Messiah, the Son of David, the Lord himself, who brings us the blessings of his messianic kingdom - opening blind eyes, and healing and saving his people – doing things that only God can do. And we can receive these messianic blessings, not by mustering up a level of faith for the sake of faith, but by humbly trusting in Christ alone.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
For centuries the Jews were oppressed under foreign rule. A once independent and proud nation, had been subjugated by a string of foreign powers. After they had returned from 70 years in exile in Babylon in 586 BC, they were later to be conquered by the armies of Alexander the Great, then came under the rule of the Ptolemy’s, then the Seleucids, the Hasmoneans, and by the time of Christ, the Romans were ruling over them. For all this time, the Jews longed to be free in the own land once again. They held onto the messianic promises of the OT prophets that the glorious kingdom of David would be restored. In their minds, this meant of course that God would send them a mighty political deliverer, another King, like David, who would save them from political oppression, and “make Israel great again.” Then all would be well!
When Jesus arrives on the scene, many people start to make the connections – that this indeed is Israel’s promised Messiah – like Bar-Timaeus, who we looked at last week. Finally, a powerful king who will overthrow the Romans and save us! That’s how many Jews understood the coming of the Messiah. Yet, what we’re going to see in this passage, is that they missed the point. Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah, but the salvation he brings is not in form of overthrowing an unjust political system. Instead, Jesus has come to save us from a far more fundamental problem that lies at the root of everything that’s wrong around us, and more importantly, everything that’s wrong within us. What we’ll see is that, as the Messiah who has come humble and on a donkey, Jesus has come not to dominate us in his power, but to save us from our sin.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
In May last year, the world-renowned apologist, Ravi Zacharias died of cancer. He was well-known for over 40 years of what appeared to be a faithful apologetics ministry: defending the truth of the gospel of Christ. He was a powerful preacher, winsomely argued for the truth of the gospel in the face of unbelievers, wrote many books convincing people of the truth of Christ.
Since his death, it has now come to light that for much of his ministry he sexually abused and raped over 200 women. How is this kind of duplicity possible? On the surface – faithful minister of the gospel – everything looked right on the outside, yet the reality was far from that – fruitless tree.
In this evening’s passage we see Jesus enter the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple symbolised the heart of Israel’s worship and its devotion to the Lord. On the surface – a place where God’s name was glorified – all the outward trappings of faith. Yet what Jesus exposes here is that it had become far from that – now a den of robbers, a fruitless tree – dead inside. And so he pronounced judgement and destruction upon it. What we will see is that Jesus is himself the new Temple, coming to supersede and fulfil the old, fruitless order.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
I don’t think there are many of us who have not experienced some form of tragedy in our lives. Real, heart-wrenching tragedy – death of a loved one, death of your own child, death of a parent, someone you know suffering from a terminal illness, involved in a freak accident. Whatever it may be, whenever tragedies befall us, we are bound to ask the question, how and why did God let this happen? If he’s all powerful, surely he could have prevented it? How could there possibly be a purpose in this? How can this possibly lead to anything good? Honest questions!
In our text this evening, Jesus tells a parable that speaks about his own rejection and death, that is to come on the cross. He speaks about it in such a way that we see that we see that it was no accident, nor was it out of God’s control, but that it was actually “the Lord’s doing” all along. What we will see here is that because God is sovereign, he really does work all things – even the evil things – for his good.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Depending on who you speak to in South Africa, you are bound to get a range of opinions when it comes to our politics and government. Some detest the current government, say that they’ve destroyed this country by years of looting and corruption and because of this, argue that we should rebel against them and withhold our taxes as a form of protest.
Yet others will say that the government is really trying their best in challenging circumstances, has the best interests of the people at heart, that it can do no wrong and hold a blind loyalty towards them.
As Christians, how then are we to relate to the government? Reject it’s authority over us as it’s evil and corrupt? Or accept it without question?
Jesus was posed with a similar question by the Pharisees and the Herodians in our passage this evening. Should they pay taxes to their oppressive Roman colonisers, or not? Jesus’ answer provides us with a basis for how as Christians, we are to relate to the government. What we will see is that while we are called to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, ultimately, because we’ve been created in the image of God, our lives belong to him.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Every single one of us is destined to die one day. Cannot escape that truth. The question is, what happens when we die? Will it be like an end of a movie – just enter into nothingness – cease to exist? Or – go to sleep, see a light in a tunnel and go up to the clouds and become angels. Or – re-incarnated – return to the earth as a different person or even an animal! Or – continue life in some form in another realm. Lots of different ideas out there. Overall, this subject is shrouded in vagueness and for many it brings about lots of uncertainty and even fear, so lots of people would rather not talk about it.
In our text this week, we see the Sadducees – a sect of Jews – engage with Jesus on this very question. They did not believe in life after death, but try to justify their own view by catching Jesus out through a trick question. They disbelieved God’s promises in his Word and his power to raise the dead.
What we’re going to see is that in Christ, there is indeed life after death. Why? Because God is God of the living, not the dead.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey, with the crowds hailing him as the Son of David and shouting, “Hosanna!” Because it’s Palm Sunday today, that means Easter (or Resurrection Sunday) is next Sunday. I’m sure most of us after church next Sunday morning, will be going to a family lunch. It’s often at these events, especially on a day like Easter, where you may have an opportunity to talk about God. If your family is like mine, then you will know that there are usually two kinds of people. The first are openly hostile to the gospel, say they don’t believe in God, think the Bible is a load of rubbish, Christianity is just mythology.
The second are not openly hostile. May have grown up in a Christian home, but now don’t go to church. Yet they have an admiration for Jesus and appreciate his teachings, have some basic Bible knowledge. While that’s great, the problem with these guys, is that they think they are okay – they’ve “done” enough to be right with God. They usually see themselves as good and moral people who believe in God, but just don’t see the need to be a part of the church.
In our passage this evening, Jesus has a conversation with a scribe, who we could say was in a similar position to the people I’ve just described. He admired Jesus, liked his teaching, knew his Bible. He would have probably considered himself someone who was obedient to law, who loved God and loved his neighbour. Yet Jesus says to him at the end of this passage, that he is “not far from the kingdom of God.” Not far? Near, but not in.
What we’re going to see from this text this evening is that because only Jesus has perfectly kept all God’s commandments, it’s by trusting in his obedience that we can enter the kingdom of God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
The richest pastor in South Africa (and in Africa) is a man called Alph Lukau. If his name is familiar, it’s because he’s the guy who supposedly raised a dead man to life in a coffin – which was exposed as a fake. This guy is the epitome of a prosperity gospel pastor. He is a multi-millionaire. Mansion in Sandton. He owns a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Range Rover. And if that wasn’t enough, he owns a few private jets too. He also has his own police motor cade to escort him to church every Sunday. He claims to speak new prophetic words from God, miracle worker, prosperity teacher – God’s will for you to be rich and successful.
The tragedy is that what this guy teaches is really common in our country. For many South Africans, this is their only experience of Christianity. The prosperity gospel is really everywhere. And many pastors, like Alph Lukau, are shamelessly enriching themselves at the expense of their congregations, most of whom are living in poverty. They are teaching heresy, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Prosperity teaching even in our own area – milder versions, suited to the suburbs – God just wants to bless you, make you happy and enjoy a successful and fulfilled life.
In our text this evening, Jesus confronts a group of Jewish religious leaders called the scribes. In some ways they were similar to the false prosperity teachers of today. They too were abusing their flocks, devouring their money and proudly setting themselves over them.
What we’ll see in this text, is that because Jesus is the divine Son of God, he has not come to lord it over us, and extort money out of us like the scribes, but he has come to lay down his life for us.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
It’s easy to lose hope in times like these. Covid seems as if it’s never ending – always some new, more infectious strain emerging. Governments becoming increasingly heavy-handed in dealing with their populations across the world. Our own government is busy bungling, amongst many other things, the vaccine role out here. When will this all end? When will we hear some good news?!
It’s especially in times like these, that we need some perspective. For those of us who are in Christ, our ultimate hope is not to be found in anything in this world. 1 John 2:17 tells us that, “the world is passing away, along with its desires…” Our current existence, though important, is not the end point. Why not? Because ultimately this creation will be brought to an end, and the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth and raise us to eternal life with him in a perfect new creation – no suffering, pain, sickness, sin and death.
Our text this evening reminds us of this truth. This world will indeed come to an end. Christ will return. Yet many of us are wary of spending too much time looking at what the Bible teaches concerning all this. Theological language – eschatology (study of the last things). Why is there is wariness? Tended to be hijacked by the theological kooks. Fertile ground for weird and wacky speculations, which do nothing but sow confusion. E.g. Left Behind series – rapture, building of a third temple in Jerusalem, the nature of the millennium, various timelines detailing what must happen before Jesus returns, host of political theories – state of Israel, Russia and America. Much of it sounds like science fiction, so we tend to switch off. Rightly so. Quacky stuff!
But just because the quacks have zoned in on this, it doesn’t mean that we should zone out. The end of the world and especially Christ’s return should be of central importance to us! What we’re going to see in Mark 13 is that all this is not nearly as complicated as it’s been made out. We’ll see that because Christ can come any time, we must be awake and ready for his return.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Why is it that living on the extreme is celebrated these days? Extreme sports are very popular. Its seen as virtuous to show off your extreme wealth or fancy home or on social media. Or buy a luxury car costing millions of rands, to impress others. The more sexual partners you have, the more you are respected by the world.
Extremes are celebrated in everything except one’s faith in Christ. If you’re too much into the God-stuff, rather keep it to yourself, or tone it down. Not seen as a good thing. Don’t want to be some religious fanatic or anything like that! This is why much of the Christianity around us tends to be of the socially acceptable variety, watered-down “cultural Christianity”: Live a good, moral life, be a nice person. Not be too extreme or rock the boat with your beliefs – just be moderate. Admire Jesus to a point – he’s my spiritual friend, loves me unconditionally, but ignore those “offensive” things he said and those pesky demands he places upon my life. Appreciate the Bible to an extent – like the inspirational verses like “his plans to prosper and not harm me”, but ignore the tough stuff in there that doesn’t sit well with the culture.
This shying away from extremes when it comes to our faith is nothing new. In fact, we see precisely this in our text this evening. We read of the woman who displays her love for Jesus in a lavish and extravagant way – pouring very expensive perfume over him. Jesus loves what she does. Such an important event for Jesus, that it’s told in all four Gospels. But it causes great offence with many who witnessed it, leading his own disciple, Judas to betray him.
What we’re going to see is that because Jesus is the Son of God – a watered down response to him is inappropriate. The only appropriate response to him is to love him with your everything.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Have you ever been let down by a close friend or even a family member? Been abandoned by someone who you thought would come through for you? Small ways – lies, bigger ways – deception, adultery, unfaithfulness. We’ve all experienced this to one degree or another. We know what it is to be betrayed. It can be gut-wrenching, a complete break of trust and it is often very hard to get over and forgive the offender.
In our passage this evening, Jesus anticipates the betrayal that’s about to happen to him. His focus is Judas, who as we saw two weeks’ ago has already made an agreement with the Jewish religious leaders to betray Jesus to them.
Judas’ betrayal is unique and unforgivable. But surely Jesus is also anticipating that actually all of his disciples will let him down in the coming hours and abandon him, saving their own skin. Incredibly, as we’ll see, though all his disciples will soon leave him, Jesus will lay down his life for them. His body will be broken for them and his blood will be poured out for them. Though they are unfaithful at that point, he remains faithful.
What we’re going to see from this passage is that because Jesus’ body was broken for us and his blood poured out for us – because he died in our place – he is our faithful God who keeps us as his covenant people.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
One of the many sad effects of the lockdown is that many people have used it as an excuse not to come back to church. I know of many friends who’ve been going to church all their lives, and now with this lockdown and the restrictions put on the churches, they have chosen not to come back to church. Many think they can carry on living a Christian life without going to church. The reality is though that they’ve fallen out of fellowship. Absolutely tragic. Most of them will probably go nowhere in their faith. Have you ever met a flourishing Christian who doesn’t go to church? No, neither have I. When you abandon church, you abandon Christ himself.
In our text this evening, Jesus’ disciples all abandon him at his time of need. Though they all promise to die with him, they all desert him. Right as Jesus is about to face the cross, during his agony and betrayal at Gethsemane, they abandon him. The truth that we will see here is that because Jesus was abandoned, God won’t abandon us.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
For years, our former president, Jacob Zuma, has been trying to avoid his day in court. He faces 18 charges of corruption and over 700 counts of fraud and money laundering. He has consistently maintained his innocence throughout. He has been using technicalities as delay tactics for his day in court. Finally, this past week he had his day in court. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
But what is obvious to most South Africans is that Zuma is guilty. There is a mountain of incriminating evidence against him. There are also many witnesses who are prepared to testify against him too. But because our legal system presumes you are innocent until proven guilty, he will be entitled to a fair trial during which the judge will weigh all the evidence and then arrive at a hopefully partial judgement.
In this text, we focus on a trial as well – Jesus’ trial. The difference though between Jesus’ trial and Jacob Zuma’s trial, is that Jesus was already assumed to be guilty by those who were trying him, before the trial even began. Unlike Zuma, Jesus was completely blameless too. He did not deserve a guilty verdict.
What we’re going to see from this text is that because Jesus is blameless, those of us who are guilty are forgiven and restored.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
From 1933 to 1945, Germany was ruled by the National Socialist German Workers Party, also known as the Nazis. They were democratically elected into government, with their leader, Adolf Hitler becoming chancellor of Germany. Very soon after they came into power, they began to pass a range of discriminatory laws against their Jewish population (which numbered less than 1% of the total population), which had lived in the country for generations. Some 400 laws were passed in total. Started off slowly – imposed quotas on Jewish employment, banned Jews from being employed in the civil service, restricted admission of Jews into tertiary education, Jewish businesses had to become “Aryanised” – have majority German ownership. Then quickly escalated to crasser discrimination – Jews had to wear a yellow star in public to identify themselves, they were barred from participating in all public life, all their property and assets were expropriated without compensation, herded into ghettos in all the main cities, living in squalor. Eventually they were put on trains to the concentration camps, where we know over 6 million Jews from all over Europe were executed by the Nazis in what became known as the holocaust.
How was all this evil able to take place? How did the majority of German citizens just go along with all of these injustices? Remember, this was only 76 years ago! Living memory for some. Can’t argue they didn’t know what was happening – out in the open for years, and there was very little opposition to it. In fact, there was a lot of support for it!
In our text this evening, we see something similar. In the second part of Jesus’ trial – his trial before Pontius Pilate, the Jewish religious leaders, along with the crowd, are able to persuade Pilate to let a guilty criminal free and instead execute Jesus – an innocent man. How was this great injustice able to take place? Like with the holocaust, the reality is that our bent as humanity is to go along with evil, not good.
We will see from this text – because Jesus, the righteous one, died for the unrighteous, he brings us to God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
After our long journey through Mark’s Gospel, we’ve finally arrived at its culmination – the crucifixion of Jesus. What we’re going to see here, is that Jesus is the fulfilment of that promise that God made in Eden, to break the curse, deal with sin and redeem his people to God. How does he do this? On the cross, he endures the punishment, the curse for sins, that all of us deserve. He dies as an atoning sacrifice on our behalf, so that we are forgiven and restored to God.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Don’t you just hate it when you’re watching a movie or reading a book, and the main character, the hero, dies right at the end? Think of movies like Saving Private Ryan, or Gladiator and Titanic. Leaves you disappointed, like it’s not meant to end this way. Perhaps it’s a deep desire within all of us for good to triumph over evil, not the other way around!
Well, we’ve finally reached the end of Mark’s Gospel. Last week, we looked at Jesus’ tragic and brutal crucifixion, death and burial. Throughout Mark’s Gospel, we’ve seen Jesus revealed to us as the Son of God, the promised Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of God’s people. And now, where we stopped at the end of chapter 15 last Sunday, Jesus, the hero of Mark’s Gospel, is dead?! Surely that cannot be? Yet, as we’ve also seen throughout this Gospel, God’s sovereign hand has been guiding everything just according to plan.
The Apostle Paul writing some years after all these events in the Gospel, crystallised the gospel message for us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. The first two gospel truths he declares are: “Jesus Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried…” (vv.3-4). If we stop reading at that point, we are surely left dismayed and hopeless. Thankfully, verse 4 continues to declare this third gospel truth, “that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” The first two gospel truths don’t make sense without this third and final gospel truth – that Jesus was raised on the third day.
The resurrection of Christ is therefore the key to the gospel. It is fundamental to our faith. Without the resurrection of Jesus, we’ve got nothing: no living Saviour, no forgiveness of sins, no faith and no hope in eternal life. Might as well pack up and go home now if Jesus wasn’t raised.
Our text this morning, the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel, is an eyewitness, historical account that testifies to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. What we will see from the text is that because Jesus indeed is risen from the dead, we do have a living Saviour who reigns on high, who has forgiven our sins and who promises to raise us too from the dead and bring us into life eternal.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
You may have wondered why we ended our journey through Mark’s Gospel at chapter 16:8, and not at the last verse in your Bibles, verse 20. You may have also noticed in your Bibles that those verses (vv.9-20) are bracketed with a note to the effect of “the earliest manuscripts do not contain these verses.”
What is going on here? Is there a mistake in our Bibles? If so, can we even trust what’s in our Bibles? I will try and address all this now. We are dealing with what theologians call “textual criticism” or the science of reading the manuscripts of Scripture.
Teacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Many us were rattled by the violence and unrest in our community last month. It’s left us with lots of questions. Will this happen again? Are we going to be safe? Is there a future for us in South Africa? How could so much wickedness and lawlessness just happen? Why haven’t those who planned this been arrested?
On top of this – serious concerns with our government – their part in this, looting and corruption that has been going on for years with no consequences. Just seems that the wicked in our land prosper, to the detriment of everyone else.
The question is, where was God in all this? How could he have allowed all this? Isn’t he a good God who just wants to bless us with a happy, health and wealthy life, who wants us to be living our “best life now”? How can it be that there is such wickedness and violence around us, and that these wicked people seem only to prosper through this all?
This morning we are beginning a new, four-part sermon series on the OT book of Habakkuk. How come? As we will see, Habakkuk wrestles with these very same issues that we are faced with. He cries out to God about all the violence, corruption and wickedness in his land, and asks him why the wicked seem to prosper. Where is God in all this? God answers Habakkuk, but not in the way he expects. Provides for us a theology of suffering – speaks powerfully into our own context. What we’re going to see from the text this morning, is that God achieves his good purposes even in the midst of great wickedness and evil.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
If there is one thing we are guaranteed in life, it is that we will face unexpected trials, challenges, suffering and calamity. As a community, we got a taste of it last month with the domestic terrorism that engulfed us. Also increased uncertainty of where this country is headed. Like we asked last week – where is God in all this? Aren’t we his covenant people? Hasn’t he promised to be our God – to protect us, bless us and preserve us? How then can God allow and purpose these bad things in the lives of his people? How can a holy and good God use evil and injustice to achieve his purposes?
We are not the first people to wrestle with questions like these. Thousands of years ago, the prophet Habakkuk wrestled with these same questions. In last week’s sermon, we saw that God revealed to Habakkuk that he was going to raise the up Babylonians to punish his people, Judah, by invading them and taking them into captivity; because they had sinned and broken the covenant he made with them. In this morning’s text, Habakkuk responds to God’s plans by questioning God: If God is really holy and faithful, how can he use a wicked nation like the Babylonians to crush his chosen people and feed them to the wolves? Is he not faithful to his people? Will the wicked Babylonians not be punished?
What we will see this morning that God will indeed preserve his people. Because God is faithful, the righteous will live by faith.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Every great empire in history has assumed that they would endure forever. Think of the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks and Romans – all built massive, powerful empires, magnificent monuments honouring themselves, thinking their empire would never end. More recently, the British Empire, which was at its height during the 18th through 20th centuries – across the world upon which the sun never sets. Nazi Germany, only a generation ago – claimed it would be a 1000 year Reich. And now the United States of America – global superpower of the West. Even here in South Africa, our former president Jacob Zuma used to say that the ANC will rule until Jesus comes!
This is the problem with powerful empires and political rulers – they delude themselves into thinking that they will last forever. They become intoxicated with power and because of this, assume to be gods, thinking they are all powerful and everlasting. And this leads them to abuse their power – oppressing people, behaving in immoral, arrogant and corrupt ways, accountable to no one, thinking they will get away with anything.
Many of us feel fatigued by this kind of attitude in our own government – corruption is never ending, injustices occur continually, state abusing their power, over taxing us – encroaching more into our lives, where they shouldn’t be.
Our third sermon in Habakkuk, we find ourselves in a similar context. Judah is about to be invaded by the Babylonians and taken into exile – be oppressed. The Babylonians – like all other great empires – thought that they too were invincible, and acted that way – oppressed others with impunity. In this section of Habakkuk, God pronounces a series of woes, or judgements upon Babylon. Though they think that they will last forever and think they can do as they please – God reminds them that only he is sovereign and everlasting. He’s the one who sets up kings, and brings them down. Only his glory will endure forever. So what we have here in these woes, is actually great hope for Judah, and all who are oppressed by tyranny. God promises to preserve his people, despite the wickedness of the Babylonians. There is hope because we know that God will ultimately triumph over evil. What we will see is that because God is sovereign, injustice won’t prevail.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
It’s easy to trust God when things go well, when you’ve got a roof over your head, food on the table, a job and pay cheque, a stable government and peace in the land. For many of us, we just take these things for granted as normal. We thank God for these many blessings, if we have them, see them as tangible evidence of his goodness and faithfulness. And indeed they are.
But what happens when things completely fall apart? When there is no roof over your head, no food on the table, no job, no peace and security? We got a small taste of that some weeks ago. Some of us who are fearful there is more to come. Is God then not good, nor faithful when calamity strikes? Has he abandoned his people in times like these? Is it impossible then for us to trust him, if we don’t see tangible evidence of his goodness and faithfulness?
This is our last sermon in Habakkuk. And it is precisely these issues that Habakkuk has been wrestling with in his prophecy. God has revealed to Habakkuk that calamity is about to befall upon the nation of Judah. There lands and livelihoods are about to be destroyed by the Babylonian invaders, and they will be deported to a foreign land as captors. And what’s more, God himself has ordained all this to happen. How then does Habakkuk respond? We saw that at first, he has horrified – how could God use these wicked Babylonians to destroy his own chosen people? But what we will see now, is that Habakkuk has come to terms with God’s plans. He realises that because God is our Saviour and strength, despite these chaotic circumstances, we can still trust him.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
Here we see that God created man and woman, and placed them in a paradise – the Garden of Eden. He provided them with everything they needed – he was their God and they were his people. They had food, beautiful surroundings, God’s law to guide them and each other as man and wife. Picture of perfection. No worries in the world!
Life today for us – certainly glimpses of this, but much more characterised by strife, worry, tragedy and stress. Deep down we know how things were – that’s why we all long for this paradise. What we’re going to see is that all is not lost. This paradise that God created for us, is promised for us through Jesus Christ.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
From a perfect existence, created in God’s own image, our first ancestors fell into sin. This fall was so catastrophic that it’s affected our entire existence: brokenness in our relationships with each other, with the creation around us, and most seriously of all, we’ve been estranged from God. This fall into sin is the reason why we find ourselves in a sin-cursed reality – why we’re affected by tragedies, sicknesses, pain, loss and death. On our own it seems like a hopeless mess. But, what we’ll see this morning is that because our fall into sin is so catastrophic, God has sent a mighty Saviour to rescue us.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We’re looking this morning at Genesis 4 – Adam and Eve’s descendants. What we see here is the devastating outworking of sin in the human race. As a result of the Fall, humanity is now divided between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman – those who follow Satan, and those who follow God. There is now a strong expectation that God’s promise that he made in Genesis 3:15, that a descendant of Eve will crush the serpent and deal with sin, will come. Will it be one of Adam and Eve’s sons?
We also see mankind descend deeper into sin, into a pit of despair and darkness. What hope is there for mankind? How will God accomplish his purposes to destroy sin and the curse, save a people for himself, and build his church? What we will see here is that because God is sovereign, his purposes never fail. In Christ, he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We’re looking at Genesis 5-6. See here is mankind’s descent deeper into sin and depravity. The situation is beginning to look even more hopeless than before. Yet despite the increasing darkness, God’s people haven’t forgotten God’s promise from Genesis 3:15 that one day a descendant of Eve will crush the head of the serpent, break the curse and deal with sin – giving us relief and rest, rescuing us. Glimmer of hope in the darkness – a descendant of Eve called Noah. Is this God’s promised One?
What we will see is that in the mess of sin, God will send relief, he will be faithful to his promises, but he will send One who is greater than Noah.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
Genesis 6-9 – Noah and the flood. God destroys the earth with a flood, saves Noah and his family. Afterwards, makes a covenant with Noah and all of creation – never again destroy the earth, but promises to sustain creation and life. It is this important covenant that we are going to focus on this morning. We will see that because of God’s covenant with Noah, we can have peace that God will preserve us through all sorts of darkness. We have the comfort that whatever happens, things won’t get as bad as they could, because God is sovereign and has his hand over us. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
In this passage, in Genesis 9, after the flood, sin is wiped away, Noah and his family are to restart the human race afresh. However, we quickly see that sin has not magically disappeared. Noah sins and then his son Ham, commits a sin that greatly dishonours his father. The consequences of his sin are far-reaching, a whole branch of his descendants are cursed as a result.
Isn’t this all disappointing? Opportunity for a fresh start, and it’s messed up already with more curses? What we’re going to see from this text is that in Christ, all is not lost. Because Christ has taken the curse for our sins upon himself, we receive God’s blessing and a new life free from the power of sin. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
We're in Genesis 11, looking at the Tower of Babel. Here we see that all mankind came together to build a city and a tower that would reach to heaven – for the glory of man, monument to ourselves. Represents the heart of a godless society. God judged them by scattering them across the world by confusing them with different languages.
What we will see here is that the reason that God scatters the nations is so that he will build his church. Despite all sorts of evil, idolatry and earthly opposition to God, Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
In this passage in Genesis 12, we are carrying on with Abram. Last week he was introduced to us as a champion of the faith. He believed in God’s promises to him, against all odds. We saw him as a man of great faith, whom the NT holds up as a hero. But in our passage this morning, we see a different side to Abram. Not a man of faith, but a man who acts faithlessly, dishonourably and sins – despite having received incredible promises from God, just moments before. What we’re going to see from this text is that God is faithful to his promises even when we are unfaithful. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
We are looking at Genesis 14:17-24. We're going to focus on Abram’s meeting with the mysterious priest-king, Melchizedek who blessed Abram and broke bread and wine with him. What we’re going to see here is that because Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he saves to the uttermost, and because of this, we can have great assurance in our salvation through him. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola
We look at Genesis 15, and we’re going to look at the covenant that God made with Abram, and how Abram was made right before God. What we’ll see is that this was not because of his own behaviour, but purely because of his faith alone that God counted him as righteous – that God justified him through Jesus Christ. Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
This is the beginning of a new series through the book of Genesis. What we’re going to see as we work through this book that it is not some old myths and tales. Instead, it’s true – as is all of God’s Word, divinely inspired by his Spirit.
Genesis provides us with foundational truths from God on which we can base our lives upon. What we’ll see is that there is indeed an eternal, personal God who created everything. He created us, in his image, as the pinnacle of his creation, giving us meaning and purpose. What’s that purpose? To worship him – to glorify and enjoy him forever. Because God is our Creator, we are to worship him alone.
Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.
In this sermon on Genesis 11:27-12:9, we look at God’s calling and God’s blessing of Abram (Abraham). In the midst of a messed up, sin-cursed world, after the Fall, God sovereignly called out Abram and blessed him, promised him and his descendants a land of their own and that through him, all the nations of the world would be blessed. What we are going to see from this passage is that trusting in Jesus Christ, we too share in these same blessings of Abram.