Scripture: Mark 1:9-15 and 1 Peter 3:18-22 (N.B. Genesis 9:8-17; and Psalm 25: 1-10 – Lent 1 Year B) Introduction and Summary John the Baptist, baptises Jesus; God and the Holy Spirit appear; Jesus then goes out into the wilderness to be tempted. John is imprisoned, Jesus begins his ministry and we hear his message: …
Tag Archives: Letters
Who Do I Think I Am? Who Do We Think We Are?
Scripture: Luke 2:42-52 and Colossians 3:12-17 (N.B. 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; and Psalm 148- also on the First Sunday After Christmas Year C) Aim. To ask: “Who do I think I am? Who do we think we are?” It’s the Christmas holidays, a ‘family time’ we are told. 1. Things in the news recently: Statistics show …
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Selling The Faith
Scripture: Luke 12:49-56 and Hebrews 11:29-12:2 (N.B. Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Jeremiah 23:23-29; and Psalm 82- also on Year C Proper 15) Aim: To ‘sell’ faith in Christ we need to tell the whole truth about the God of love and judgement. 1. Recently we’ve been hearing about the stock market jitters – why? “In the …
Freedom, Power and Truth
Scripture: Luke 19:28-40 and Philippians 2:5-11 (N.B Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; and Luke 22:14-23:56- also on Year C Liturgy of Psalms/Liturgy of Passion) Aim: Contrast Jesus’ attitude to freedom, power and truth with ours (c.f. Abolition 200). 1. In Luke 19:28-40 Jesus commits himself to taking the blame and guilt of others and …
Balancing the Demands of Our Faith and the World
Scripture: Luke 13:31-35 and Philippians 3:17-4:1 (N.B. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; and Psalm 27 – also on Second Sunday of Lent Year C). Aim: To look at the demands of our faith and the world – is there a balance? (VARK!) Introduction. We could look at the Bible readings for today simply as ‘us versus the …
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Christian Leadership
Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12 and 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 (N.B. Joshua 3:7-17; Pslam 107:1-7, 33-37; Micah 3:5-12; and Pslam 43 – also on this day) Jesus words on Leadership Jesus acknowledges that the Pharisees have authority but says not to follow their example. He lambasts them for 4 crimes. First, they failed to practice what they preached. …
Maturity in Christ: Commitment not Consumption
Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16 and John 6:24-35 (N.B. 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-12; Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; and Psalm 78:23-29 – also on this day Year B Ordinary 18) Introduction We live in a western consumer society. Our society consumes 80% of the world’s resources, even though we are only 20% of its population. We usually define ourselves by …
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God Put the Spiritual and Physical Together in Jesus- Let’s not separate them!
Scripture: 1 John 5:1-6 (N.B. Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; John 15:9-17- also on this day Year B Easter 6) Introduction On the surface this passage it seems like a statement of the blinking obvious, doesn’t it? Exegesis: Explanation of 1 John 5:1-5: Unpack these verses and look at them on the slide. The source of …
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‘Let Us Love One Another’
Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21 (N.B. Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; and John 15:1-8 also on this day- Easter 5 Year B) Introduction. John urges his church to love one another, probably in response to false teaching, bad behaviour and divisions among early Christians. The Scripture. Looking at John Wesley’s commentary for inspiration. 4:8 God is love …
A Christian’s Duty
A sermon on a Christian’s duty, based on Romans 13:7-14 (Proper 18A). Scripture: Romans 13:7-14 ‘Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves …
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