Sermons from September 2014

Sermons from September 2014

The Lord of History

Tonight we continue our Daniel series with the first of the visions in chapters 7-12. We live in troubled times. Violence, the struggle for power and suffering seem to characterise our world. It’s sad and scary. In these troubled times, we might ask this question; “who’s in charge?” Listen as we discover how Daniel 7 answers that question. Let us think about how this answer ought to affect our lives today.

A Fresh Start with God

Who doesn’t know the feeling of wishing they could undo some aspect of the past and start all over again! We all know the shame (and perhaps embarrassment) of these passages of life. In today’s message we see how the Israelites made a fresh start with God. For more than 20 years they had treated God with disrespect. They had given in to the temptations and worshipped the idols of the Canaanites, but this way of life only led to misery …. and they knew why. Under their godly leader Samuel, the people repented and turned back to the Lord, and what a difference that made! Is it time for you to do the same?

God Supreme!

How do you view God? It is virtually impossible to describe Him in a short, simple sentence. And most definitions are hopelessly inadequate. However, in 1 Samuel 5-6 we see the way God dealt with the Philistine and israelite people through their involvement with the ark of the covenant, and through these interactions we see things about God that are very sobering …… His absolute authority, His terrifying power, and His awe-some holiness. Yes, God does want us to have a deeply personal relationship with Him, but we must never become casual or overly familiar with Him. He is GOD in the fullest sense and always deserves our worship, awe and fear.

A Picture of Sin

Our world doesn’t talk a lot about sin. But when it does, there are so many different voices we could listen to. Everyone seems to have a different understanding of or attitude towards sin! As Christians, we can find ourselves a little confused about sin. What is sin? What does it mean to be a sinner? What things are sin, what things aren’t? When it comes to the topic of sin, there is one voice that we should listen to above all others; the voice of God. In Daniel 5, we meet Belshazzar, a picture of sin. Listen as we see what God has to say about the nature and reality of sin, and of course, it’s consequences. Let us consider again the reality of sin in our own lives, that we might truly appreciate what Jesus has done for us.

Two Big Mistakes We Make About God

It’s common to find people who view God as a kind of last resort ….. “when all else fails, try God”. Since the beginning of time people have tried to manipulate God and harness His power, especially in those times when He’s our only hope. The Israelites were in big trouble in their battle against the Philistines and they tried to “use” God in this way but it failed miserably. I wonder how many of us have been guilty of doing the same thing?

Will The Real Fathers Please Stand Up?

n a world of feminism and sensitive-new-age-guys there is a lot of confusion about the role of fathers today. There is a general feeling that domineering fathers are bad, but what constitutes a good father? And where can we get information to help a generation of Dads who want to do better? Contrary to much modern thinking, God sees fathers as having the major responsibility for raising their children (with their wives giving solid support, of course!). Today Pastor Murray takes us to God’s parenting manual, aka the Bible, and encourages Dads with some truths that will clarify their role in the family and spur them on.