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Preachers and their preaching – Charles Simeon

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Charles Simeon (1759 – 1836) was converted to faith in Christ while he was a student at Cambridge University.  He became the minister of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, where he overcame resentment and prejudice to exercise an influential evangelical ministry.

Simeon’s approach to preaching has been discussed by J.I. Packer in an essay entitled ‘Expository Preaching: Charles Simeon and Ourselves’.  This was first published in Churchman in 1960, is reprinted in Packer’s Collected Shorter Works (Vol 3), and is available online here.…

Mk 5:21-43 – Healing faith – sermon notes

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The early chapters of the Gospel of Mark present a number of aspects of Jesus as healer.  They teach of his healing power, his healing touch, and his healing word.  In this passage, it is healing faith that comes to the foreground.  I would like to assume that you have been impressed by his great power, attracted by his compassionate touch, convinced by his authoritative word.  I would like to encourage you to have faith in Jesus the healer. …

Preachers and their preaching – C.H. Spurgeon

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) is widely regarded as the ‘Prince of Preachers’. Converted at the age of 15, he began preaching soon afterwards. In 1854, at the age of just 19, he was called to the pastorate at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, London. Throughout his life – and well beyond – a weekly sermon was published. These were bound up in annual volumes – The New Park Street Pulpit, and then (following a move to purpose-built premises) the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit.…

What about inerrancy?

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Ever since I came to a living faith in Christ at the age of 19, I have been persuaded of the truthfulness and trustworthiness of the Bible.

I also acquired at that time a real desire to study the Christian faith in general, and the Bible in particular.  This led me to my local library where a book that caught my eye was the Bible Handbook by G.W. Foote and W.P. Ball (don’t you just love that pair of names?). …

Mt 6:11 – ‘Give us today our daily bread’ – sermon notes

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The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful prayer: wonderful in its simplicity, and wonderful in its comprehensiveness.  Its several petitions have been likened to the colours of the rainbow.  And, like the colours of the rainbow, there is a definite order here: we are taught to pray first about God’s things (his honour, kingdom, and will), and only then about our things (daily provision, pardon, protection).

Just six words, but full of meaning:-

1.  ‘Bread’ stands here for the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing.…

Ex 17:8-16 – Spiritual warfare – sermon notes

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Text: Exodus 17:8-16

We stand, as it were, at a mid-point between two vast continents.  Behind us lies the immense unalterable past, with its pleasures and regrets.  In front of us looms the equally vast future, with all its hopes and fears.  The question for the people of God as they move forward into this unexplored and largely unknown new territory is this: Can God be trusted?  All we have is his promise, and sometimes that promise seems to hang by the slenderest of threads.…

Thoughts on the Trinity

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‘Off with our shoes, please, for the Holy Trinity is holy ground. Away with figured syllogisms and ordinary arithmetic: here, logic and mathematics do not suffice. The need is rather for a listening ear, an obedient heart (Jn 7:17), rapt adoration, a careful engagement with the Holy Scriptures.’ (Prof Kenneth Grider, Christianity Today).

The doctrine of the Trinity has exercised the greatest Christian minds. Augustine was once walking along the seashore, deep in meditation on the Trinity, when he came across a small boy digging a trench in the sand.…

Questions on the Holy Spirit

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I’ve been blogging, over the past day or so, in response to various questions about the Holy Spirit that I’ve been asked to discuss with a small group from my church.

Here I want to put it all together in some kind of order.

Introduction

We should feel a little nervous about discussing the person and work of the Holy Spirit. We should, no doubt, focus less on analysis and more on obedience:-

Gal 5:25 Let us keep in step with the Spirit.…

What is ‘The New Perspective on Paul’?

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Well, let it be said first of all that ‘The New Perspective on Paul’ is no longer very new.  It has been around for perhaps 30 years, and was first labelled as such by Prof J.D.G. Dunn in the early 1980s.  Nor is it a single perspective, but several, although it has to be said that they have a certain amount in common.

The leading concepts are:-

1.  Covenantal Nomism.  This is the idea that 2nd Temple Judaism (i.e.…

Prophecy and authority

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According to the Network Participant’s Guide, the traits of a prophet are that s/he is discerning, compelling, uncompromising, outspoken, authoritative, convicting, and confronting. Phew! no wonder the gift of prophecy can sometimes seem too hot to handle! Such a set of traits raises important questions about the authority of the prophet, and how this relates to other kinds of authority within the church.  I’m going to argue that that the authority (and therefore the accountability) of the prophet is similar to the authority (and accountability) of the teacher.…