Flooding Creek (FCCC): Recent Episodes
Flooding Creek (FCCC)
Weekly Bible teaching from Flooding Creek Community Church. We long to Present Christ to everyone, and Everyone mature in Christ!
Intro The Judgement v1-7 The oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. Who was Tyre? Tyre was a port city on the coast of the Mediterranean - Jut down from modern day Beirut. Technically should have…
Intro In Isaiah Book of prophecy The First 39 Chapters have lots of Judgement. Recent chapters have said a lot about other nations, but now we have an Oracle About Jerusalem. The other nations have been been proud, they have been haughty, they have not humbled themselves before God, Surely is will be…
Intro “Let love be Genuine” Let me tell you a story of a young couple. They grew up in church. They became Christians in christian families who went to church come hell or high-water. Yet when they got married they stopped going to church. For no good reason they pulled away from the churches that they…
Intro A watchman, what does he do? Watches over the city. Always watching for threats. Raises the alarm Reports what they see. We appreciate our watchman, that's why we have news & journalists, that’s why “experts” are always being interviewed: “Will the market go up or down? Will interest rates remain…
Intro In Isaiah Book of prophecy about 700BC The First 39 Chapters have lots of Judgement. A lot of the Bible is like this, it’s good for us to sit in it, to understand it, to feel the weight of it. The darkness, the wrath and the judgment make the Salvation of Jesus all the sweeter! Oracles Against…
Intro Promised Joy helps us endure the hard times: A hard season is endured in expectation of a holiday Labour is endured is expectation of a baby Hours in the garden tilling and digging and pruning and watering, all endured in hope of a harvest. Prison is endured in hope of release. Even war, sad as…
Intro Everyone can’t be wrong, right? In the last passage: Judah teams up with Syria to attack Judah. Judah was scared God sends Isaiah with a message: Don’t be afraid! King Ahaz looks to Assyria for help. Assyria does defeat Israel & Syria Is 8 Is related to those events, and prophesies more details.…
Intro So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. How often have you heard this verse? It’s a popular one, tying up the end of the “Love Chapter” in 1 Corinthians. It’s a powerful verse, driving home the importance of that underlying attribute that God displays…
Intro Shame is a God-given response for when things are not right. It’s a like pain: no-one want to feel pain, but when your hand is on the stove, pain drives you to take it off again. Pain is a good thing to prevent further pain and suffering. No-one want to feel shame, but when you are in a bad situation,…
Intro Refresh Around 700 BC, during the reign of 4 kings of Judah Isaiah is mostly about Judah, the southern kingdom, but also cover other nations. It’s all about Jesus. The whole Bible finds it’s fulfillment in Christ. As we talk about this word, there are multiple layers of application, and so I will…
Intro How are you going in your faithfulness to the LORD? Perhaps you are early days as a Christian, and growing like crazy all the time, that’s great! But the reality for many of us is that we have been Christian for years and the early holiness gains we had seem like a distant memory. You may find…
Intro Do you think of yourself as wealthy? Often i reckon we think of our wealth in comparison to someone wealthier. “We’re comfortable, but we’re not loaded.” “I’m pretty well off but my boss makes way more than me, he’s really wealthy” We in our western mindset are often oriented to our next big purchase.…
Intro Nearing the end of letter This is Paul’s great charge to Timothy What does a man of God look like? Our passage will show us! While the text is obviously about a man, and a church leader at that, there is still broad principles of faithfulness that applies to both the man and woman of God. A godly…
Intro Across the days of your life you may face several key moments where you are faced with a call that could change your life forever. Perhaps it is the moment when you received an offer from your employer. Perhaps it was when someone proposed marriage to you. Perhaps it was when you received your…
Intro In our journey through Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we’re coming towards the end. Only a few weeks left. In today's passage, Paul once again loops back to one of the main themes of the letter, the importance of good doctrine, (that is, good teaching) and the danger of false teachers. We know…
Intro As we move toward the end of the letter we get a series of charges about how to keep the church healthy & holy. You may be tempted to think that because these are “rapid fire” topics that they are less important, but don’t be caught out. This is very much in-keeping with the theme of the whole…
Intro Paul’s First Letter to Timothy Paul is an apostle, responsible for taking the Gospel to the gentiles, including to a place called Ephesus (now on the western coast of Turkye) Timothy is something of a protege to Paul, a younger church leader who has been sent to Ephesus to get things in good order…
Intro As you look around the world you can see things are in a bad way. Your life might be pretty comfortable, but there is plenty of bad stuff going on all around us all the time. There are men who use and abuse women, and women who humiliate and manipulate men. There are children who are mistreated…
Intro De-holifying the word “Ministry”. Let us dispose of the idea that one enters “ministry” when one gets paid. Personal charges to Timothy, relevant to all Church leaders, and good for all of us to follow in our own context. Good Servants Speak Truth v6 Paul is going to make a string of commands to…
Intro Kids? What If I came into your bedroom and just started moving furniture around? Moving your stuff from here to there and making rude remarks about what it looks like? Everybody, what would you do if I came into your house and started saying “Ooh, that picture shouldn’t go there. If only we could…
Intro As an experiment, I went to see what churches are looking for in a Pastor. So I found some job listings for evangelical churches, and i had a look at their character qualifications. Listen to what this church is looking for in their next pastor: I want you to take note of what this says, and we’ll…
Intro As you learn to ride a motorcycle, one of the things you have to learn to do is fight your feelings. Sometime your natural instincts will get you killed. God made our reactions to work best at a running pace, but when you start going 60kph, or 100kph with a hunk of metal with over 100hp between…
Intro I was planning this morning to speak to you from 1 Timothy 2 , but yesterday I learned of the awful attack that took place in Bondi Junction yesterday afternoon. 1 man with a knife 6 people murdered. 11 others injured. In Australia. In a regular shopping center. With anger and sadness I started…
Intro Kids Recap Paul’s letter to Timothy, a church leader. Mid first century. Instructions on how to Run Church So far we’ve covered the foundational message that the church is based on - Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the worst of sinners. Paul has also warned Timothy that it is his…
Intro Today is our VE-day celebration! On the 8th of May 1945 The German forces surrendered, acknowledging their defeat and effectively ending WWII in Europe. That day is celebrated in may countries around Europe every year. They remember that their great enemy was defeated, and the continent was set…
Intro Today we celebrate the Passover. Not literally, but today we celebrate the true Passover, what the Passover pointed toward. What do you know about Passover? Let me take you back to the first Passover. The First Passover Israel was in captivity - a Nation within a nation. God demanded that Pharaoh…
Intro A Letter from Paul the Apostle to Timothy - the young pastor deployed to Ephesus This letter gives instruction to Timothy about how he is to lead the church and organise the church. This ancient wisdom is for us today, it tells us how God wants his church to function. Last week we saw Defending…
Intro In the last few weeks I have spoken to three different churches who are looking for pastors. As we well know, finding men with the right character, abilities and experience for Eldership is a hard job. If I only had the men, I would deploy three of them to these forward bases tomorrow. Or to one…
We are on Christ’s mission to seek and save the lost. Intro Kids: What is a mission? It’s when you’re given a job to do. A special assignment, like being a secret agent who needs to break into the vault, or a soldier who needs to take out the enemy base, or an explorer who needs to find a new route over…
We express our dependence on God. Intro Kids who do you go to when you need something? What do you do? Why? ( Because you know that they will hear you, and they are likely to give you what you need) Prayer is much like that, but between us and God. Jesus even describes prayer like going to a father for…
“Our lives and our ministry are grounded on the Scriptures.” Intro The Law is the standard for the rules of our society. If there is any dispute, there is somewhere to go to check! Made a mistake RE Vision/Values, all are important. Last week: Christ Focused! What does “ Word Based ” mean? In some sense…
“Christ is at the center of everything that we do and are.” We are beginning a 5 week series on our Church vision. If you’re anything like me you hear that statement and instantly start to switch your brain off and the eyes glaze over. So why? Why Samuel are you going to put us through something you…
Intro Don’t take the easy way out. Naomi was an Israelite living in Moab, and she had a Moabite daughter-in-law named Ruth. Their husbands had died, they had no other children and so they were two widows out on their own trying to survive. They we vulnerable to starvation, to attack. Naomi hear’s the…
Intro Redeeming something. Not a word we use regularly in daily life, but an important biblical word. We need to know what it means. What do you think it means? Redemption is the idea of freeing or releasing someone or something through payment/claim. If I want an apple, i can go to the shop with money…
Intro Kids: You need a few things to survive, food, water, shelter (like a house) and clothing. If you have Jesus and those things you can live a good life. It’s the basics. Food, water, shelter and clothing. How are you needs met? Where does your food, water, clothing & shelter come from? Looking for…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro What would it take for you to turn back on everything you know? What would it take for you to switch loyalties? low value of loyalty in our age Loyalty - it’s importance In Bible loyalty is the difference between life and death, blessing or curse. In OT Loyalty…
Introduction Kids? A heads up: Today is going to be hard for some of us. God’s power in our weakness, is topic that is infinitely comforting and encouraging to the one who yields to God’s work in our lives. But, if we have a discontent spirit and a prideful heart, if we try to throw off the reigns and…
Intro Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. A man waiting…
“The Death of a Nation” Exegetical Point: There was no king in Israel, and great division and wickedness abounded. Homiletic Point: We have a King, and he is the only antidote to all of our ills. Intro Kids, How do your parents check your health? They look for symptoms of being sick right? They will…
As we celebrated our church's 10 year anniversary we especially took time to Thank the LORD for all of his benefits!
Exegetical Point: This story shows the desperate situation of worship and conquest in Israel without a Godly King. Homiletic Point: Sin Compounds to death unless a Godly King steps in to rescue us. Intro Do you know about compounding interest? You put your money in the bank and get a little in return.…
Hook? Previously on the feats of Samson Miraculous birth Nazirite - Set apart to Serve God God was using Samson to defeat the Philistines who had been oppressing Israel 40 years. God did this by filling him with his spirit, and giving him super-human strength. The first Superman! Instead of being set…
We consecrate different objects for special jobs Tooth brush - consecrated for cleaning my mouth! Toilet bruch, set apart fot cleaning the toilet. Both are brushes, but they are exclusively reserved for one job, and you can’t mix them up! If i use my toothbrush on something other than my mouth, i would…
Text: Judges 11 By: Samuel Lindsay Intro Greeting Judges Historical Context Judges is set against the backdrop of the continuing settlement and establishment of Israel in the Promised land. God had delivered them from Egypt and led them through the wilderness around the back of Moab and into the Promised…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Tola & Jair Deborah & Barak raised our eye-brows, Gideon made us shake our heads, Abimilek made us feel sick, so what’s next? What awful chapter will follow? Thankfully we have A little reprieve - an opportunity to catch our breath. Two Judges that seem insignificant…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Abimilech leaves us hungering for a good King, who has a rightful claim to the throne, who uses might to protect people, who’s “shameful” death is actually a self-sacrificial deliverance of God’s people. David, then David’s descendant Jesus answer that longing. Intro…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro What did we cover last week? Gideon was called to cast down altars for false worship and raise up true worship. God’s people are always called to reject and overturn false religion, so that we can pursue the pure and true religion of Christ. God uses flawed deliverers…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro The year is 724 AD. We’re in Germany. This isn’t the Germany we know today - it is a forested land full of superstitious tribes. The Germanic people are enslaved to a pagan religion that included venerating certain great trees and groves . One such tree was called…
Introduction Why do you take medicine? You get sick, go to the doctor and when they figure out the problem they give you a prescription for a medicine that will address the problem. Sometimes the’re some negative side-effects of taking medicine, but we take medicine for the overwhelming positive benefits.…
Intro Celebrating victory - What do you do to celebrate a win? In the Bible, after big victories sometimes they wrote a song about it, like Moses & Miriam after Israel went through the Red sea. Today we’re looking at the Song of Deborah & Barak which celebrates the victory that God won. Poetry adds a…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Withholding obedience... kids, do you sometimes withhold you obedience? Are you slow to do what your parents ask of you? And then try to negotiate your obedience? The LORD Gives Over Judges follows a pattern of cycles, Disobedience - Oppression - Calling Out -…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Where do you turn in times of trouble? Your first port of call is probably your highest allegiance. Do you turn to yourself? “I can only trust myself, I have to knuckle down and fix this” Do you turn to another human, like your spouse or friend, or even an adult…
Exegetical Point: The Success of the Joshua years quickly gave way to disobedience, then apostasy. Homiletic Point: Partial Faithfulness Leads to Partial Blessing Intro True Justice - Conquest. True faithfulness - conquest. Evil people - no innocents. God had taken away their “right” to the land. God…
Intro Brothers and Sisters, there are two things you need to hear this morning - that our God is angry, and that our apathy in the face of such anger is appalling. We love to talk about Salvation. It is the message we proclaim! In fact each week we gather here to celebrate and remember the salvation…
Intro We will follow our usual pattern of working our way through the passage. There are two main pictures here, the scene on the boat, and the scene between Jesus & Peter. Then there’s the closing verse to finish the book off! Jesus Brings Fruitfulness A Picture of Ministry As per usual in the book…
Exegetical & Homiletic Point: Jesus sends out his Disciples with the Spirit to bring life through Faith. Intro We live in a world full of resurrection. People are constantly trying to resurrect nostalgia and recapture past glories. Our video games often have a “life” system where if you die, you’ll be…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Kids, why was the book of John written? The author John had to go through a similar process to his readers. He had to see and hear and grow in understanding so the he would believe in Jesus as the Messiah. He wrote to help us believe, but today in our passage,…
Exegetical Point: Jesus was crucified, died and was buried in accordance with the scriptures. Intro Jesus didn’t come out of no-where! Fulfilled prophecy, fulfilled imagery, fulfilled typology, Been a long time getting here One of the nice summaries that we use to profess our faith is called the Apostles…
Intro June has been dubbed “International Pride month.” This month long celebration of all things LGBTQIA+ It is yet another way that we are seeing the continued push of soul-crushing, life destroying ideology. It is paraded on our screens, celebrated in schools, encoded in company policies. Christians…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is innocent, yet the Jews call for his death, and the Roman governor grants their desire after trying to set Jesus free. Homiletic Point: Jesus is our rejected, afflicted and innocent King, who endured this all for the Father to win us salvation. Intro All of us have found ourselves,…
Homiletic Point: Jesus is King! Intro We’re dropping in part way through the story, so let me catch you up real quick The Gospel of John is a record about the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, The first half of the book covers several miracles (signs) that Jesus performed as he traveled around Israel…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro If you give me the option of watching a wordy drama, or an action flick, 9 times out of 10 I’m going to take the action flick! I enjoy good drama, the wordplay, the intense monologues, but action is what draws my first attention. For you action lovers, we’re moving…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Jesus will Glorify the Father by making his name known. Intro Jesus has been teaching his disciples, but this intensive is about to come to an end. This discipleship intensive started back in Chapter 13, right after Judas the Betrayer left. It’s all taken place over…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is going to the Father. It will initially bring sorrow, however, joy will follow in Jesus overcoming the world. Homiletic Point: Intro What sorrow or difficulty are you facing today? What trial, or frustration, or suffering is on your mind? Is it all consuming? Is it robbing you…
Exegetical Point: Saul failed lead God’s people in spiritual warfare as a faithful messianic king. Homiletic Point: We have a better faithful king who leads our spiritual warfare; Jesus the Christ. Introduction Put yourselves in their shoes! You’re a farmer with nothing but a pick or a shovel for a weapon,…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro There is so much confusion in the church about the Holy Spirit. Some churches you could attend for 3 month before you hear them mention the HS, and even then it was so brief that you weren’t quite sure if you heard it. They live and act as if the HS is irrelevant…
Intro Victimhood is the modern currency. How do you gain favor in the eyes of the world? Have the saddest story. Belong to the most marginalized groups. This is seeping into the church even now under the guise of “self care”. Simple wisdom about looking after your own health has turned into self obsession…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro There are 7 “I am” Statements in John, what are they? Jesus has said: I am the Bread of Life I am the Light of the World I am the Door of the Sheep I am the Good Shepherd I am the Resurrection and the Life I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life Now... I am the…
Introduction Have you ever watched the sunrise? I know many of us have had that experience, getting up in the blackness of night. Standing shivering in anticipation of what you hope will come soon! But, it seems to get colder. The night gets blacker. Have you ever had that thought “will tonight be the…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Do you sometimes open the Bible and feel unequipped to understand what you’re reading? Or perhaps that you would not be able to explain to someone else what it means? Well, don’t worry, because I feel that way too sometimes. That’s how I felt as i was approaching…
Intro Middle of Jesus discipleship intensive - preparing them for his absence. How can they continue as disciples when their master disappears? Don’t let these simple truths fall on deaf ears! This is powerful truth that you have grown familiar with. Or, if you are not a church regular, if you are not…
Intro Hook? Dear brothers and sisters of Christ at Flooding Creek, I have a heartfelt and pointed message for you today. All preaching should be ideally heartfelt and directed personally at you as listeners, but today has a heightened focus because it concerns our future as a local church. God brings…
Intro Kids, What’s the nicest thing that you could do for someone else? How can you show someone that you love them? In our passage today, Jesus is going to tell us how we are to love one another, and it is harder than you think! Love is not just something you say, it is something you do! See if you…
Exegetical Point: Jesus leads by example, showing his followers how to humbly serve one another. Homiletic Point: Be Humble like Jesus was humble. Intro Kids: What’s the worst job you could think of? What’s the chore you hate most around the home? Why don’t you like it? When Jesus walked the earth 2000…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro What do you believe in? And I don’t mean in the sense of coffee being better than tea, or Holden being better than Ford, or dogs over cats. We’re not talking about preferences, I’m asking what are your operating assumptions about the world? What beliefs drive…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Getting back into John. Picking up where we left off. Reminder: Why Did John write the Gospel of John? Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus…
Intro Have you ever been exiled? Maybe you were exiled from a classroom for misbehaving? (I have) Maybe you were at odds with your spouse and you were exiled to the couch? Perhaps you were exiled by people at work, they excluded you from a group of colleagues? Perhaps you were exiled from society and…
Intro Who’s going to lead God’s people? You may think of kings or leaders as a “necessary evil” like police. If there was no sin or evil in the world, we wouldn’t need police. However, remember that there was authority structures before the fall, and they were good. Even if there was no sin, we would…
Intro Today we’re talking about conquest. It is one of those themes running throughout the pages of the Bible. It’s part of our continuing look at the Big Picture of the Bible. We’ve seen the flow of Creation to recreation. We saw the Unfolding covenants that end with our everlasting unity with Christ.…
Intro Temple is a house for a god Our God cannot be housed - yet the Bible is full of temple. Temple is one of those themes that can help you see the big picture of the Bible We’ve seen the story of Creation, last week we saw Covenant. Temple is the next integrating theme. Now we will see the unfolding…
Intro The whole world runs on relationships. Everywhere you look you’ll see an interconnected web of relationships. Every part of our communal life is based around relationships between people. Some are familial, some are business, some are civil, some are military, some are religious. One thing it doesn’t…
Intro The Bible is a big book. In fact to call the Bible a “book” is a little misleading, because it is actually a collection of books; an omnibus of spiritual writings collected over thousands of years. It is a library of works. With different authors, different genres, written at different times. Because…
Intro So it’s a New Year! Is it a New You? It’s a cliche now, the idea of reinventing yourself for a new chapter of life. Taking on resolutions for the next year. Or perhaps just hoping that this year will be better than the last. This time of year brings those reflections about the year that is past,…
We have a new king! You probably heard. :P With the death of Elizabeth II, His Majesty Charles III is now King of Australia. But you know what, for most of us it is probably and insignificant matter. Eventually our currency will change, and various official documentation of government will be updated…
Intro From Gilgamesh to Agamemnon, From Aragorn to Paul Muad’dib, From Richard the Lionheart to Vladimir Putin, The warrior king has a deep and abiding appeal to humanity. The warrior king motif touches on our deepest desires. Whether we would announce it or not, we feel the great need for protection…
Introduction & Recap The Need for Good Leaders You know it. I know it. We need good leaders. We need good leaders. You want your kids school to have a good principal. You want your manager at work to be a great leader. You want our mayor, premier and prime minister to be really good at their job and…
Intro Does it feel like sometimes God isn’t active? We look around and see so much injustice, and we wonder, “Where is God? Why hasn’t He put and end to this?” Does God even see us and our plight? Does God care about those in power who don’t use their authority and influence to uphold justice? How long…
Storytime Imagine going into church on Sunday... You would pay homage to icons of the saints, bowing and kissing their paintings or statues. Carl & I would be your presiding priests, seen as your conduit to God. If you wanted God’s blessing and salvation you had to come through us. We might not even…
Kids, what do you like about holidays? Did you know that Today and next week we’re doing something a little different, we’re taking a short break from our Psalms series to touch on two matters of Church History. This week we’re talking about remembering the dead, and next week we’re going to talk about…
Intro Continuing in the Psalms, our Songs of Faith. These are not just historical curiosities, these are precious songs and prayers for God’s people to use. But, we use them through Jesus. Jesus is our worship leader. He is our Great High Priest and our anointed King. All the Psalms find their fulfillment…
Main Point: The Lord does not neglect the righteous sufferer. Aim of the text: For the singer, though they feel abandoned, to take heart in a faithful God who will not turn his face away. His rescue and praises must be declared to the ends of earth and time! Introduction · · Remember Psalms are…
Introduction When you want to be happy, you don’t pursue happiness. Happiness is a by-product of other pursuits. You can’t isolate happiness from the circumstances that create it. It’s not an end in itself. So if you want happiness, you need to find what creates true and lasting happiness. Am I right…
Intro What hope is there in middle of our deepest trouble? Where do you look when times are tough, you fear for your life and you can’t sleep? Psalms - set songs and prayers for God’s people (set prayers are great!) These are not just ancient poetry, these are Our Songs of Faith. They are divinely inspired…
Intro King who appoints workers to oversee different parts of his kingdom. What should he do when they get together and try to oppose the king? Recap Psalms - set songs and prayers for God’s faithful (set prayers are great!) The first few Psalms set the scenes for the whole book. These are like two guide…
Intro Imagine for a moment that you are on a journey to a wonderful place. It’s a lovely place, it’s the best place that you could ever imagine. Now, you are on that journey, but how are you going to get there? You have two paths that lie before you one that is wide open and relatively flat, and there…
Exegetical Point: In response to Jesus’ signs, the Sanhedrin resolve to kill Jesus to save the nation. Homiletic Point: Jesus will die to gather God’s Children. Intro Recap Our last week in John for a while Lazarus was raised from death - Jesus showed himself to be The Resurrection and the Life Climactic…
Intro Kids: Anastasia is a great name. Have you heard it before? Do you know anybody called Anastasia? Our baby is almost due, do you think we should call it Anastasia if it’s a girl? Do you know what Anastasia means? It’s almost a direct rip-off a Greek word: ἀνάστασις (anastasis), it’s a word found…
Exegetical & Homiletic Point: Jesus is the Christ,who is one with the Father and securely rescues his Sheep. Intro Recap: We’re well into Jesus ministry at this point in the book of John. There’s been a few trips back and forth between Jerusalem and Jesus home region of Galilee. Jesus has performed several…
Exegetical & Homiletic Point: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the Sheep Intro Kids: What makes a great cow or sheep farmer? Recap John showing us why we should believe in Jesus Healed a man bron blind on the Sabbath The Pharisees did not like that! (Pharisees a sect of strict religious…
Exegetical & Homiletic Point: Jesus is the Son of Man who opens blind eyes! Intro What would it be like to be blind? What if I needed to get home but I had no eyes? Could I drive a car? Could I walk home? We use our eyes to see soooooo much! We take our eyes for granted! It’s a lot harder to live without…
Exegetical Point: Jesus claims are valid because he is the eternally existent God. Homiletic Point: Jesus is God, obey His Word. Intro Recap Continued conversation after the feast of tabernacles, but we will come to the conclusion of that conversation today. Jesus is speaking to a crowd, some of whom…
Exegetical & Homiletic Point: If you hold to Jesus teaching, you are really his disciples and you’ll be free. Intro How can we tell who your parents are? If we got all the kids into a big group, and mixed you all up, then we asked a random person off the street to come in and sort out which children…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is the light of the world, he is from the Father and speaks on his authority. Homiletic Point: Jesus the light of the world. Whoever follows him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Intro Kids - Can you see in the dark? How can you get around at night?…
Intro Kids: How did you get the Bible in your hands today? Copying by hand originally multiple manuscripts/scrolls ( we have some only one generation away from the originals!) translation Then came books & printing When we compare old copies, we find spelling mistakes etc, but in some places we find…
Exegetical Point: People at the feast begin to suspect Jesus is the Messiah, but the religious leaders oppose him and try to stop Jesus. Homiletic Point: Intro Imagine if a man speeding, and his neighbor dobbed him in. Then, the police come to his door. What should they do? Should they write him a ticket?…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is working for the Father, on His timeline, for His Glory. The World hates Jesus and tries to Kill him. Intro Kids engagement: Draw, or write as you try to listen. Last time we finished the episode of John 6 , surrounding the miracle of feeding the 5000, and ending with many of…
Exegetical Point: Many of the disciples reject Jesus because of His hard teaching, but the chosen will recognize Jesus as the Holy One of God. Homiletic Point: Jesus is the true Holy One of God, but many will reject Him because they do not have the Spirit. Intro After a short diversion last week, we’re…
Intro & Recap Exegetical Point: Jesus’ saved body is equipped with varying gifts for varying service. Application point: Find your gifts and use them! Kids, What do you think is your most important body part? Eyes? Ears? Legs? Let me tell you a story... Liv. 2.32 - Paraphrase Menenius Agrippa from about…
Exegetical Point: Homiletic Point: Intro Recap: The book is unfolding the manifold facets of who Jesus is. Written so that you may beleive and have life in Jesus name! recently, Jesus fed the 5000 with 5 loaves & 2 fish on the other side of Lake Galilee The people recognized this as a reflection of Moses…
Exegetical Point: Jesus has power over creation, and can rescue his people. Homiletic Point: Go with Jesus, Receive Jesus and Seek Jesus on His Terms. Intro Have you ever tried walking on water? It’s good fun to have a go. Maybe next time you’re swimming at Blue Pools you can give it a try! What happens…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is the new Moses who feeds with miraculous bread, but he is not slave to the people. Homiletic Point: Jesus, the New Prophet, provides all our greatest needs Intro Christmas day. It’s one of my favorite days of the year! Unfortunately it’s not for very spiritual reasons... You…
Exegetical Point: Jesus is endorsed by the Father & JtB, but the religious leaders can’t receive him because they do not know God. Homiletic Point: Jesus is endorsed by the Father through JtB, his works, and the Scriptures, yet many will not see it. Intro Kids, ---------, but lets say you told your friend…
Exegetical Point: Jesus has authority to do what he is doing because he is working for God the Father. The Son is the agent of the Father and thus the Judge & life giver. Homiletic Point: Intro Who was at church last week and can tell me about what Jesus did? healed the disabled man The Jewish authorities…
Exegetical Point: Jesus reveals himself as the messiah to a semi-jewish/pagan woman. Homiletic Point: Jesus teaches us about himself so we can put our faith and trust in him. Intro Run around in the Sun? Thirsty What happens if we don’t drink water? Jesus offers us something like water, but better! He…
Exegetical Point: John the Baptist must give way to Jesus the Christ. Receive Jesus for Life, reject him for wrath. Homiletic Point: As above. Intro This passage is probably not somewhere that we tend to camp. We love to dwell on the truths of the first half of chapter 3, and the compelling story of…
Exegetical Point: To have eternal life, one must be born again by the Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ. Homiletic Point: To have eternal life you must be Born again by the Spirit, Behold Jesus, and Believe on Jesus the Only Son of God. If not, you are condemned. Intro Kids memory verse? How many of…
Exegetical Point: Fulfilling prophecy John shows that Jesus is the Christ is the zealous worshiper, the greater Temple and the knower of hearts. Homiletic Point: Jesus enables us to come to God in worship, via his temple despite our hearts Intro Recap John is laying out a bunch of evidence that Jesus…
Exegetical Point: John shows that Jesus is the Christ via his first Sign that draws together images of fullness, abundance, renewal and power. This revelation of Glory prompted the disciple’s faith. Homeletic Point: Jesus is the New Wine, fulfilling the Old lack. Intro Hey kids, have any of you been…
Exegetical Point: JB’s witness gives way to the witness of the first disciples. They profess Jesus as Christ and Jesus himself reveals himself as Christ. Homiletic Point: Come and See Jesus, profess him as Lord and follow Him. He brings heaven to earth. Intro Hey Kids! How do I get onto the stage? I…
Exegetical Point: John the Baptising was not the Christ, but testified that Jesus was. Homiletic Point: Hear that Jesus is the Christ, and testify it to the world! Intro How do we prove something happened? In court proceedings, innocence or guilt comes down to whether you can prove beyond a reasonable…
In this special outdoor church service, we are serenaded by cockatoo calls while we look at the Prologue of John. We ask the question, why did John write this book?
Intro Our Church is like a car - imigine this with me for a minute. Our church is a car. All the occupants are in here and we’re all heading to the same destination. We are driven by the power of God. He is our power-plant, the life force that moves us. And The Lord’s power is transmitted to us via the…
Intro My Wife Laura and I got married almost 10 years ago! Although separate, once joined in the covenant of marriage we came together as one and have lived in peace, harmony and joy ever since! Now we all know that marriage isn’t all smooth sailing, Laura and I have plenty of past and present problems,…
Exegetical point: God is the builder and protector - and he does both through families. Homiletic point: Unless you build you life and family on Christ - you’re wasting everything. Intro We recently renovated a house. It took heaps of effort and time! It’s something that we have sunk a bunch of money…
Introduction What brings you joy at this time of year? What brings a smile to your face at Christmas? Is Joy that first taste of Christmas cake? or Cherries? Is Joy when the relatives all roll in from out of town? Is Joy that anticipation of what gifts you will receive tomorrow? I for one love…
Intro What do you need to do to get ready for Christmas? Mountains of shopping? Get the Christmas lights up? Wrapping? Make sure the car is serviced for the road trip? As I experienced the other day trying to drive through town, there is a flurry of activity as people rush this way and that to prepare.…
Intro Frankly, I don’t know where to start with this passage today. It has been the hardest passage to deal with for preaching, not because the content is so obscure or confusing, but because it seems so irrelevant and unimportant to us here today in 2021. Why do we care about all these details of ancient…
Intro Ready to have you mind blown? I know for some of you what you will hear this morning will be new and weird and wonderful. It will open up you eyes to read the scripture in a way that you’ve never appreciated before. Some of you will think it’s crazy, and I can live with that. Some of our English…
Intro Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord , know it completely. God knows before you utter a word, what you’re about to say! God knows you, he know what you need. He knows how many hairs are on your head! We also know that God has a plan for history. God is sovereign over this world. He knows what…
Intro Apocalypse - what does it mean? In means “Revelation” Apocalyptic writing is confusing and weird, but ultimately it is there to reveal a message, not hide it. So we’re looking at apocalyptic writing today. It may be confusing and strange, but it is here to reveal God to us. To reveal his plan of…
Intro Whats the epic battle you can think of? Maybe it was when William Wallace routed the English army at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297? Maybe the Battle of Normandy, D-day in the Second World War which began to turn the war in the allies favour. One of the most epic battles is probably when…
Intro Recap: God is the Hero of Daniel - Demonstrating God’s faithfulness to his faithful few while they are exiles away from home. Series of stories on a theme - it’s not a history book, it is a book of encouragement with highlights from Daniel’s career. This chapter compliments chapter 3 - just like…
Intro Emerging Patterns We took a break from Daniel last week, but now we’re back into it. Do you remember where we’ve been in Daniel so far? Quick refresher... God’s people of Israel had been defeated and several waves of God is faithful to provide for his people in exile. A series of stories make up…
Introduction 2931 “You Called Me Brother” Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, was passing along a street one day when a beggar stopped him and pleaded for alms. The great Russian searched through his pockets for a coin, but finding none he regretfully said, “Please don’t be angry with me, my brother,…
Intro Can you see the stars? If you look out the window can you see the stars? What if I told you there was a way that you could, right now, in the middle of the day, see the stars? You might think that you would need to climb up really high and stick your head out of the atmosphere so you could see....…
Intro “In the year of Christ 286, a most remarkable affair occurred; a legion of [Roman] soldiers, consisting of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men, contained none but Christians. This legion was called the Theban Legion, because the men had been raised in Thebias: they were quartered in the…
Introduction Kingdom collapse. Recap The events of Daniel take place between 605-530ish BC God had sent Israel into exile because of their failure to remain faithful to God. Yet the book of Daniel shows us that God remains faithful to his own, even when they are in “enemy territory” Daniel was intricately…
Starting our series in Daniel, we look at chapter 1 and how God is there in the midst of their exile. Apologies for the poor audio! We'll work toward fixing this in the coming weeks.
Exegetical Point: Peter’s closing remarks exhort the church to diligently pursue holy life & spiritual growth. Introduction I’m guessing many of you have experienced 4x4ing? If not I’m sure you can put yourself in the picture! Out in the bush, winding your way to a secluded destination through the trees,…
Exegetical Point: Homiletical Point: Introduction Remember back in the day, early last year when things were starting to unfold with COVID? When we went into a first lock down? We thought, “oh, it’ll be over in a few months.” Do the hard yards now so we can be better off in the long run. “They’ll figure…
Exegetical Point: Look out for false teachers, they will be judged. Homiletical Point: Look out for false teachers who deny Christ with their actions and teaching, they will be judged. Introduction “Today the only heresy is saying that there’s heresy” That’s what a rapper & pastor from the Sates says.…
Three reasons we can have concrete faith in Jesus and his Good News. 1. Continual Reminder (v12-15) 2. Eyewitness Testimony (v16-18) 3. Prophetic Fulfillment (v19-21)
You don’t need bolt-ons to your faith to live a God glorifying life! You’ve been given everything in Jesus! Make every effort to take the gifts, and put them to use!
This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution. Exegetical Point: Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus Homiletical Point: Prepare to Suffer well for Jesus Introduction When you’re young, doing your schoolwork, sometimes it can feel like a waste of time. How many times have you said to your parents:…
This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution. Introduction What do you think of when you hear the word “Loyalty”? One of the most common images of loyalty are dogs. They look to their master for food, for approval, for direction and for companionship. Their identity is intrinsically tied…
Exegetical Point: Suffer well and be blessed! Homiletical Point: Introduction Let’s name the elephant in the room. We can’t go on without mentioning the fact that, yes, today we will be looking at “those” verses: 3:19 & 21. It’s verses that have troubled many people, and a great many commentators throughout…
Introduction Look at my two props today. What are they kids? The’re similar to each other, but do you notice they’re different? How are they similar? How are they different? These two balls are designed to do different jobs. Despite the fact that both are balls, and both are used to play team sports,…
This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution. Introduction Once, when I was a young teenager, one of my mates from down the street was visiting on a Saturday. We were outside with others of my brothers and my dad was there too, along with the family dog. I can’t remember exactly what we…
Exegetical Point: Everybody should submit themselves to God by submitting to human authorities, and in that submission you will live out the calling of Christ. Homiletical Point: Sussing out Submission “Submission” is a dirty word! When was the last time someone spoke to you about the beauty of submission?…
Exegetical Point: You’re the chosen people of God like Israel, set apart to holy worshipful service. Introduction Yesterday we Short Recap: Peter’s writing to suffering Christians who may be loosing hope in the coming of Jesus. Peter has been laying our a multitude of pictures of what is means to belong…
Exegetical Point: Homiletical Point: Introduction What is holiness? Gonna talk about it a fair bit today. My Pocket knife is a picture of holiness Purchased for me, for my use. My initials are engraved on the side. In some sense it is “holy to me” If it is not maintained to be clean and operational,…