Sermons from 2015 (Page 2)
A King for the Broken-hearted
Jeremiah critiqued many things in the nation of Judah in which he lived. Among them was the kind of society that this idolatrous nation was building. The poor, the widow, the orphan, and the refugee were being overlooked and left vulnerable. Tonight we see Jeremiah bring this theme to the fore and in doing so he reveals something shocking about the heart that was behind these social abuses.
Flirting With The Enemy
Tucked away in the stories of most people’s lives there are usually some details which we wish weren’t there. The heroes of the Bible are no exception …. Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses etc. In today’s message we read one of these chapters in David’s life. After years of faithfully holding on to God while on the run from Saul, he started to lose confidence in God and this led him to lie and compromise his integrity. He deserved God’s judgement. Instead, what God gave him was “amazing grace”. There is more than a bit of David in all of us, and we deserve to have our sins exposed and punished. But God’s grace is for us, too. Because of Jesus we don’t have to live with our guilt. That’s why God sent His only Son into the world …. to free us from our sin and give us a second chance. As you look at the story of your life, do you need to flee to the God of grace today?
The Divine Detour
Some people love to make detailed plans for the future …. marriage, children, career moves, houses, overseas holidays, retirement etc. But how do we cope when the unexpected happens? In today’s message we explore the unexpected circumstances which took Jacob and his family from Canaan down to Egypt, and how God used this detour in a positive way to actually bless this family and their descendants. Ultimately this plan included us through Jacob’s son, Judah. God uses the “detours” of life for our good when we trust Him. Where does God fit into your plans? Much more important than our plans is God’s plan, which is to use all the circumstances of our lives to point us to Jesus Christ, the royal descendant of Judah. Jesus still reigns as King over those who place their hope and trust in Him. Are your plans leading you more and more to Him?
The Medium and the warnings…
Where we turn to in a crisis can tell us a lot about the default state of our hearts. In 1 Samuel 28 we see the sad state of Saul’s heart towards God. His heart had become hard towards the things of God. Listen as Pastor Dave shares some warnings we must heed from Saul’s encounter with the medium in Endor so that our hearts do not become hard towards the things of God.
The God who saves
Listen as we meet Asher, one of Joseph’s brothers. We’ll hear him explain what happened to him and his brothers in Egypt, and how he felt when he realised that God had been at work in everything to save His people.
A leader worth following
Leadership is rather topical these days. Prime Ministers, corporate bosses, football coaches …. they seem to come and go with monotonous regularity! But what should we be looking for in a good leader? Our passage today probes this question as we put David’s leadership under the microscope. Certainly he had many admirable qualities and these shine through. But he wasn’t a perfect leader (as we will find out in a few chapters)! Only Jesus, the humble servant-leader, is truly worth following. So don’t be disillusioned when another human leader let’s you down. Just make sure you’re following Jesus.
King my heart
David was God’s chosen king in waiting. Everyone knew this. You’d expect that everyone would have treated him with honour and respect. Well today we meet two people who treat David in very different ways. One of them is Nabal, a fool who treats David with contempt, and pays the price. The other is Nabal’s wise wife, Abigail, who honours David as a king. The question for us is this: when it comes to responding to God’s chosen King, who will I be like, Nabal or Abigail?
God’s Man – Trained & Promoted
Life is never as straight forward as we would like it to be. For some people it can be really tough. This was certainly the case for Joseph as a young man – sold as a slave by his brothers, falsely accused by his master’s wife, then thrown into prison. For 13 long years life was a battle and seemed so unfair. But “the Lord was with him” throughout this phase of his life, and though he didn’t realize it at the time, God was training Joseph for what lay ahead. One day, literally, his life was totally turned around as God used him to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. At 30 years of age he became the second most important man in all of Egypt, the man who not only saved the nation from starvation, but many other nations, including his very own family in Israel. Joseph trusted God, and His ways, and His timing, and God was able to use him in a wonderful way. Will we trust God and stand for Him in our day?
A truth for the journey
Life is journey full of ups and downs. Our circumstances are always changing. Joseph knew this all too well. As we read Genesis 39, we can’t help but note that in all the circumstances he faced, one thing never changed. God was always with him, both in his times of success and in his times of difficulty. How important it it that we understand this truth for our own lives!
Living Under Gods Authority
The story of David’s life is full of drama – real, believable and sometimes jaw-dropping! What we sometimes don’t realise is that behind the events of his life God is actually shaping a man, preparing him for the day when he would lead his nation politically, militarily and also spiritually. David was not just a good man. He was God’s man! And in today’s message Pastor Murray looks at some specific ways in which David submitted to God’s authority, and how God enabled David to grow personally through these experiences. Issues like knowing what to do in tricky situations, relying on God for protection, waiting patiently for God’s timing, and being prepared to accept God’s justice are common to us all. Jesus perfectly lived under the authority of His Father. Now he invites us to submit to His authority. Let’s be straight: Is Jesus really LORD of your life?
Joseph
Tune in as Pastor Dave shares from the extraordinary story of Joseph and God’s Master Plan for him.
Growing Through Adversity
1 Samuel is a story about three men – Samuel, Saul and David – and how God used them in shaping a nation that had lost its way politically, socially and spiritually. It desperately needed godly leadership. In many respects we see parallels in Australia today. In this message the young future king, David, is on the run from an irrational, jealous King Saul. This is the beginning of years of life as a fugitive for David. Life was hard. He made mistakes. He also learned many important lessons along the way. But through it all God was shaping him and preparing him for his future role as the godly king his nation needed. Like David, we also learn to trust God as we face opposition, difficulties and even enemies. And God intentionally uses these times as part of His greater plan for our lives. He also provides the perfect leader for us to follow in David’s descendant, Jesus Christ, who offers to save us from our greatest enemies, sin and death!