Sermons By Date: 2018
30 Dec 2018 - Who are you going to be as you enter the New Year?
Who are you?
What are you?
What do you want to leave behind?
What do you want to embrace as you enter the New Year?
Will you live by faith?
Will you walk in the Light?
What about zeal?
25 Dec 2018 - The meaning of Christmas
How would you reply, if someone asked you to explain the meaning of Christmas?
23 Dec 2018 - The danger of "Me too!"
What things do we do - because everyone else is doing it?
There is a danger in doing anything - just because everyone else is doing it.
There is also a danger in pretending.
The Magi arrive in Jerusalem, because they want to worship the new-born king.
Someone else says "Me too!" But he is only pretending.
We end by looking at a woman who was so, not pretending!
16 Dec 2018 - A saviour? Or my saviour?
The angels announced to the shepherds that a saviour had been born.
Why did he say a saviour?
Why did he not say your saviour?
09 Dec 2018 - God himself will provide the lamb
Abraham was called to sacrifice his only beloved son?
In what ways is this similar to the sacrifice that Jesus made?
How does it differ?
We see how the event with Abraham in the Old Testament, is a foreshadowing of what Jesus would become in the New Testament.
God himself will provide the lamb.
This is what advent is all about.
This is what Christmas is really about.
02 Dec 2018 - How dark was the darkness? How bright was the light?
The prophet Isaiah wrote: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
How dark was the darkness in the time of Jesus?
How bright was the light when he came to earth?
How dark is the darkness in our world today?
And what about us?
What does it mean, when we say that we are called to walk in the light?
18 Nov 2018 - Do we still matter?
Does Christianity still matter?
How should we live in order to matter?
What is the importance of our witness?
Can we always please everybody?
Why is love, for all people, important?
How are people saved?
Why should we avoid needless controversies?
Wars start in the heart, and wreak havoc in the world.
100 years after the end of the "war to end all wars", we ask 3 questions:
Why do we still have wars?
When did they start?
When will they end?
04 Nov 2018 - Revolution or re-creation?
When you look around our world today:
Do we need any more revolutions?
Or do we need re-creation?
We look at Barabbas, Guy Fawkes and the Romanian revolution.
Revolutions don't bring true and lasting change.
Real change does not happen "out there".
Real change happens when we allow God to change us on the inside.
God wants to renew our minds.
God wants to create a clean heart within each one of us.
28 Oct 2018 - Only a bit of fun … or is it?
Witches hats
Books of spells
Cauldrons
Ghost costumes
Tarot cards
Ouija boards
Horror movies
Fortune telling
Clairvoyance
Halloween
Mediums
Spiritists
Following Satan has never been a bit of fun. It is very dangerous, and it is forbidden in scripture.
14 Oct 2018 - The teacher and the taught
Why is sound doctrine important?
What should be taught to different groups of believers?
What example should mature Christians set?
How should we behave as employees?
Why is the standard so high for Christians?
07 Oct 2018 - Bringing the message home
Who is Titus?
Why does it matter who he is?
What are the fundamentals of the Christian faith?
What are the responsibilities of Elders?
How do we deal with spiritual error in the church?
What is our response to God?
23 Sep 2018 - The beautiful old coat - and rulers
Should we care about our planet?
Should we be careful in our use of resources?
The Bible likens our world to an old garment that is wearing out.
God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth.
We should take good care of the world around us.
But let's not despair when we see bad things happening in our world today.
God is going to make everything new - in the future.
And right now, he is changing and transforming people on the inside - making them brand new.
Don't miss out on what God is doing today!
23 Sep 2018 - Does God love animals?
This is not really a sermon - it's a drama. Some of our children ask Mark about God's attitude towards animals. There are some interesting questions and some surprising answers.
16 Sep 2018 - Picking up the cloak
The ups and down continue for the people of God.
In this message, we see Elijah handing over to Elisha:
But it does not get any easier.
The battle continues:
The battle for hearts and minds.
09 Sep 2018 - Famous for all the wrong reasons
Would you like to be famous?
Would you like to be well known?
Would you like to have a reputation?
What would you like to be known for?
Today we meet King Ahab.
The Bible states that there was never anyone like Ahab.
What was he famous for?
02 Sep 2018 - Exhaustion strikes - Elijah needs support
Elijah had experienced the power of God.
He had defeated the prophets of Baal.
But now he is exhausted.
And he needs support.
Many of us have leadership roles in the Church today.
Exhaustion can strike any of us: children's leaders, small group leaders, pastors, elders, deacons, catering team etc.
We need the bread, water and rest that Jesus offers us.
And we need to support each other too.
26 Aug 2018 - If the Lord is God ... Follow him
We continue looking at the life and days of Elijah.
In today's message there is a huge confrontation.
But it is not between the people of God and some foreign oppressor.
It is a battle within the people of God:
A battle for hearts and minds.
(You may like to read 1 Kings 18 before you listen to this, to get an overview of the whole event.)
19 Aug 2018 - In Conclusion … Love
Who is born of God?
What does this mean?
How do we know that we love the children of God?
Why are God's commands not burdensome?
How can we overcome the world?
What is the significance of water and blood?
Why evangelise?
What makes prayer effective?
What do we know about our faith?
12 Aug 2018 - Faith during famine
What kind of people are we?
Do we live by faith, or are we ruled by fear?
We look today at faith during famine, in the days of Elijah.
Children don't get to choose when or where they are born.
And we, the people of God, do not get to choose the era or generation into which we are called to serve.
But we do have a choice:
We can choose to obey God's call and reach out to our own generation.
We can choose to live by faith, rather than being ruled by fear.
(You may like to read 1 Kings 16:29 - 17:24 before you listen to this, to get an overview of the whole event.)
29-Jul 2018 - The perfect holiday or the perfect storm?
Pool, picnic and boat ride: the perfect holiday or the perfect storm?
We look at three miracles in John's gospel, read by Bethany, John and Cyril, and see that, in spite of the miracles, opposition is growing and Jesus delivers some difficult teaching.
What needs to happen, for people to come to Jesus?
22 Jul 2018 - What have you been doing, these last 23 years?
This short message is part of our all age celebration, and follows on from a presentation by One 2 Free on the life of Joseph.
What was Joseph's secret?
What was it that transformed his situation?
What about forgiveness?
What about allowing God to work?
15 Jul 2018 - Authenticity in an unreliable world
How do we test if a spirit is from God?
Who is the real enemy?
Why is doctrine important?
Why is Christian love so vital?
What is the fear of the Lord?
08 Jul 2018 - Remember your Creator - before the days of trouble come
How can we prepare for old age?
How can we help others prepare?
When should we start preparing?
01 Jul 2018 - Are we ready to face temptation?
Are we ready to face temptation?
How did Jesus deal with temptation?
What can we learn from him?
24 Jun 2018 - Helping others cross over
How can we help others to cross over?
Is it enough to point the way?
Or do we need to travel with them?
17 Jun 2018 - Real Love in the Real World
Being the children of God
Being strangers
Being transformed
Being repentant
Being real
10 Jun 2018 - Rejoicing and Mourning
Empathising with people, trusting God and acknowledging Jesus as King.
03 Jun 2018 - Real Love for the Real Deal
Can we resist sin?
Who is our advocate before God?
Is salvation personal?
How can we retain unity?
Can we love the world?
Can we spot and Anti-Christ?
27 May 2018 - Rejoice! You’ve got an ‘ology!
A look at Paul’s Doxology in Romans 11 and what it means for us today. Can we have a “Glory saying” like Paul?
Should God's people swear?
Why do people spice up their conversation?
What does the Bible say?
Could we make life better: by simply saying "Yes" and "No"?
06 May 2018 - Dilemmas for Nicodemus, Thomas and me
Do you ever imagine that it was easier to follow Jesus in the olden days?
Do you think that things were more straight forward back then?
We look at some dilemmas that Nicodemus and Thomas faced, and find that things have not really changed that much.
What can we learn from them?
29 Apr 2018 - Do meetings change anything?
Does news change anything?
Do meetings change anything?
In Luke 24 we find plenty of news and plenty of meetings.
But what is it that really brings about breakthrough?
What brings about change?
How can we best pray for the people we love: to know Jesus?
Christ is the Word of Life.
John is a trustworthy witness to the word.
What are the implications to being followers of Christ?
15 Apr 2018 - Believe it or not
How was it possible?
Can you believe that it really happened?
What happened to the security?
What happened to the surveillance?
Maybe it is just a cleverly invented story.
In this message we talk about faith: believing and embracing.
And we talk about the Hatton garden robbery, the resurrection of Jesus, and chilli peppers.
08 Apr 2018 - Seven insights from the cross
What would you say, if you only had hours left to live?
According to the gospels, Jesus spoke seven times from the cross.
What did he say?
What insights can we gain from his words?
We had an All Age Celebration on Easter Sunday.
We love getting our children and young people involved.
We started with a drama by our young people, which led in to our message.
God offers us New Life.
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
You can hear the drama and the message here.
25 Mar 2018 - Longing. Weeping. Overturning.
Can you think of one word descriptions, of Jesus on earth?
The list is long, and today we look at three specifically:
Longing, weeping and overturning.
Trevor has recently become an elder in our church, and starts with a word of thanks to the church.
We then start to look at the journey that Jesus took to the cross.
Would you give up one of your children?
God gave up his only son.
Let's approach Easter with an attitude of thanksgiving and prayer.
11 Mar 2018 - Why do we need Elders?
Imagine a church where everyone does as they see fit:
What would it be like?
Why do we need Elders?
What must they do?
What must they be like?
25 Feb 2018 - How old is too young ?
Have you ever felt you are too young (or too old) to make a difference ?
This message looks at five things you're never too young (or too old) to do.
18 Feb 2018 - Who is my neighbour?
Would you like to live like a royal?
If we want to live royals, we need to know about the royal law.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbours.
Who is my neighbour?
How do we become a neighbour?
11 Feb 2018 - Be humble: be sober
Peter starts his letter, offering us grace and peace in abundance.
He ends his letter encouraging us to be humble and to be sober.
What is the connection?
What are the risks associated with pride?
What is the promise associated with being humble?
04 Feb 2018 - Where is my community?
We start with some of our children, reading Jesus' parables from Luke 15
Then we ask some questions:
What do we mean by community?
What did community look like in the Bible?
What difference did Jesus make to community?
How far should we go, to share the love of Jesus with the people who need him?
21 Jan 2018 - Do not be surprised
Are we surprised when we suffer because of our faith?
Should suffering be expected?
What does Peter say about this?
What can we learn from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?
Where does Joy fit in?
14 Jan 2018 - Ready, Steady, Go - Part 2
Following on from last week:
Joshua told the people to choose.
The Apostle Paul told his friend Timothy to watch his life and doctrine closely.
How does this apply to us?
How can we watch ourselves and each other?
How can we be ready to reach our community with the love of Jesus?
07 Jan 2018 - Ready, Steady, Go - Part 1
Have you heard that Jesus is coming back again?
Are you looking forward to his return?
Are you ready and steady, to go into our community with his love?
Are you ready and steady, to go into our community with his message of salvation?