"Sunday Morning" Tagged Sermons (Page 27)
Sunday Morning
Longing for home
The book of 1 Peter is making a comeback today. It’s original readers felt like ‘exiles’ or ‘foreigners’ in the world of the early church. And that’s the way more and more Christians are starting to feel these days. Somehow we don’t really fit as the world around us becomes more secular. But the reality is that we are different and we don’t fit. This world is not our true home and we aren’t meant to belong here. So how do we cope with this tension, especially when trials come and our faith is tested? In this message, Pastor Murray urges us to see how God wants to use these times to prepare us for the glorious ‘inheritance’ that awaits all who truly belong to Christ. (1 Peter 1:1-9)
Pleasure and Greed – The Ultimate Lifestyle
The society we live in loves money and exalts greed. We seem to be getting richer and richer and yet are not satisfied. We each seem to love money differently – some for the pleasure we can get from spending it, some for the freedom it offers, some for the security it brings and some for the power and success it grants us. It seems that many Christians are not too different to the society we live in. Greed tells us many lies. Come to the Bible to find out what God really says about things like thankfulness, contentment, generosity and serving God when it comes to our money.
The Sexual Revolution – relationships without boundaries?
For the past 50 years a sexual revolution has been taking place. We can blame the “pill” or many other factors, but the result has been the virtually complete disconnection of sex from marriage in modern western society. Today anything is OK. What started with some cheeky pushing of moral boundaries in movies and magazines has been turbocharged with the arrival of internet porn over the past 20 years. This “normalising” of sexual freedom presents a huge challenge to Christians,…
Cracks in the foundation: Does the family have a future?
Family is wonderful, but even at its best, family life is challenging. The family is spoken of as the foundation of our society, but now it seems to be under threat from our western culture. There seem to be cracks in the foundation. Come to the Bible to find the nature, purpose and value of family. We discover that the family does have a future as we delight in doing family well, for the glory of God.
Religious intolerance – are Christians still relevant?
With secular humanism steadily gaining ascendancy in Australia today, Christians are being told to keep their faith private. And if they don’t, they are accused of “imposing” their outdated views on modern society. How did this happen? What does this mean for the place of Christians and the church in an increasingly pagan society? And how should we respond in the face of this opposition? In this message Pastor Murray reminds us firstly, that we should not be surprised by…
Euthanasia – the next big ethical battle?
With the same-sex marriage debate settled, ideological and political forces in Australia are now being focused on the issue of euthanasia. Euthanasia has been legalised in countries like Holland and Belgium for many years, and is legal in a number of states in the USA. But it moved much closer to home in November 2017 when it became legal in Victoria. Obviously there is great emotion around this issue, but what are the key factors in the discussion and how…
Strong words from a loving pastor
No parent likes having to confront a misbehaving child. It tests and puts at risk the whole relationship, and especially so when the child is an adult. But real love is “tough love”! And that’s what Paul has been showing towards the Corinthian believers throughout this letter. In today’s passage Paul brings it all to a close as he issues a stern warning and a passionate appeal for them to check their hearts and prepare themselves for his upcoming visit. He desperately wanted to avoid a showdown, but he was ready for one if the situation required it. The troubles in the Corinthian church could be similar in your church or mine. But thank God for courageous, godly leaders like Paul. The nominal church urgently needs them today.
Everything for your Strengthening
Too many Christians today start their journey of faith well – full of passion, enthusiasm and energy, but then somewhere along the journey they slowly drift away from faith. This is also a fairly accurate description of many within the Corinthian church at the time Paul is writing the letter of 2 Corinthians. In this passage he writes to them of the priority of continually strengthening their faith. This has been the primary purpose of Paul’s ministry to them. The…
A life worth boasting about!
Humility does not come naturally to most people, especially in today’s culture. But Christians who boast are a contradiction. Or are they? In today’s message we see Paul struggling with this tricky question as he defends himself against his opponents. But God “helped” him from becoming proud by giving him a thorn in the flesh – a messenger of Satan – a constant, painful reminder of his tendency to pride. But even then, God’s grace is always sufficient, and God’s power is always greater than his weakness. As Christians we have only one reason to boast, and that is in Jesus Christ and His cross (Galatians 6:14).
Why does the resurrection matter?
The physical resurrection of Jesus raises all sorts of questions. First of all: Did it happen? And there have been many books written by experts in support of the biblical claims. Today’s message assumes the resurrection as a fact. But the second big question logically follows: Why does it matter? Pastor Murray helpfully spells out five key reasons why, all of which go to the heart of the Christian faith. As the apostle Paul puts it: If Christ has not been raised our faith is futile… we are still in our sins… we are without hope… and we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-19). It really does matter enormously what we believe about the resurrection!
Paul’s heartache
Who’d be an apostle? In today’s passage Paul passionately appeals to the Corinthians not to fall for the deception of his opponents in the Corinthian church. They were teaching a false gospel using methods to discredit Paul that were clearly malicious. He ends by exposing them as “deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ”, calls them servants of Satan, and pronounces their final judgement by God. This is some of the strongest language used in any of Paul’s writings. He doesn’t do this to protect his own reputation. He is motivated entirely out of love for them, that they won’t be led astray from Christ. O that church leaders today would be as concerned for their people!
Apostolic authority
Paul responds to those who seek to undermine his apostleship by arguing that his authority comes from Jesus, that the weapons of his authority have divine power and that he is prepared to powerfully wield his authority in order to build up the church.