Looking for something fun for the kids to do in the September/ October school holidays? We are excited to open our doors to the Kedron community.
Our Kids Holiday Club program will encourage kids to explore through games, craft, music, food and bible stories. There is also a huge, free, family fun night.
A Healthy View of Prosperity
Jacob fled from Esau with nothing. In tonight’s passage we see Jacob, twenty years later, described as exceedingly prosperous (30:43). It’s very obvious that God is the giver of all of Jacob’s prosperity. But how does this passage relate to us?
Listen as we consider the connections between Jacob’s prosperity and the God who gives that prosperity. Let us be reminded of how we as Christians, ought to understand our own prosperity in light of what Christ has done.
The Final Perfect Sacrifice
To understand the Christian faith we need to understand its core teaching. Today’s message takes to that place. At the very centre we find the one, final, perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the only way sin and guilt can be removed, so we can “draw near” to God. Any other way to God is a fallacy, or at best, only a shadow of this reality. By willingly sacrificing His life for us, Jesus has perfectly fulfilled all God’s demands and promises, removed the curse of all our sins, and opened the way us to have a whole new life under the control of the Holy Spirit. It’s an offer too good to refuse! Is your hope in Jesus Christ? Why not commit your life to Him today?
A Love Tale With A Twist
Complicated and messed-up marriages and families are almost “normal” today. And Christians are definitely not immune. But where does God fit into the complexities of our relationships? The story of Jacob is a fascinating case study showing that things haven’t changed much over the past 3000 years. In unpacking this passage Pastor Murray shows that despite all the deception and sinful choices made by Jacob and his wives, God continued to remain faithful and show grace to them, and fulfil His bigger purposes for Jacob’s life. The same God is wanting to deal with us like that today, especially through the saving work of Jesus, the promised descendant of Jacob himself.
Grace for the broken
In our story tonight we find Jacob, desperate, fearful and alone, suffering the consequences of his deceptive ways. He is, in a word, broken. But it is down to this broken man that God, in his grace, reaches. He reveals himself to Jacob and makes some extraordinary promises to him. This is a story all about God’s grace, not only to Jacob, but to us as well. Listen as we are reminded that we belong to a God who has found us in our brokenness, revealed himself to us, and promised to remain with us.
The perfect sacrifice of blood
Jews were very familiar with animal sacrifices. Sin required a sacrifice, and mostly this meant the death of an animal, which involved the draining of blood from that animal. The blood was a perpetual reminder of the seriousness of sin and also the cost in dealing with that sin …. the death of an animal substitute. Though animal sacrifices under the Old Covenant have now been replaced in the New Covenant, the cost was even greater …. the death of Jesus Christ as our substitute. In today’s message Pastor Murray points out five important implications that flow to us because of the perfect sacrifice Jesus offered on our behalf.
God’s Cure For A Guilty Conscience
Most of us, including most Christians, have a limited understanding of the Old Testament sacrificial system. While a detailed understanding of these things may not be essential to the Christian faith, it certainly adds great richness if we do. The fundamentals of God’s great salvation plan were established in that OT system, but they were only ever meant to be temporary. Animal sacrifices and flawed human priests would never be adequate. In today’s message Pastor Murray explains how the old system worked, what it shows us about how we should approach God, why it was insufficient, and how Jesus replaces it by His own death on our behalf.
Brotherly conflict
Deception, moral failure and conflict. That pretty much sums up the the story of Jacob and Esau! None of the characters in this story cover themselves in glory. And yet, one again, we see that God continues to work out his purposes despite the sinfulness of his people. Along the way we learn a couple of lessons for ourselves. Our God is a good God. There is nothing more valuable than what he has in store for us.
God’s free offer of a new heart
Sometimes we like holding on to old things. But there are also times when we have to be ruthless and replace old, worn out things that are no longer doing the job. The old priesthood, sacrifices and covenant that God had established with the Israelites at Mt Sinai 1400 years earlier had failed. A whole new way of coming to God was required. The prophet Jeremiah announced around 600BC that a day would come when God would introduce a new covenant, based on grace, in which God would forgive people’s sins, change their hearts, and relate to them personally. Jesus has made this possible. We all need this inward change of heart, and Jesus it offering it to each of us today. Have you experienced this miracle?
Faith Through Trial
Tune in as Pastor Dave explores this passage on faith.
What Melchizedek teaches us about Jesus
Many of us find Hebrews 7 a hard chapter of the Bible to understand. In the terms of Hebrews 5:14, it’s “solid food”! But a little effort is richly rewarded. In this message Pastor Murray works through the passage explaining who Melchizedek is and how God uses him as a model for a whole new way of “drawing near” to Him. No longer do we come to God through a complex system of priests and sacrifices. We come through the one perfect high priest who has offered Himself as the “once for all” sacrifice for sins – Jesus Christ. In every way Jesus is better! He guarantees to “save completely” those who trust in Him. Are you looking for a Saviour? Why not look to Jesus today?