Category Archives: Christian Life

Mk 14:27-31 – Three words of warning – sermon notes

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Text: Mark 14:27-31.

Everyday life is full of warnings:- health, flood, gale.  Fire hazard, trip hazard, bio hazard, radiation hazard.  May contain nuts, may cause offence.  We will prosecute if you exceed the speed limit, park illegally, drink in a public place.  No photography, no mobile phones, no noise after 11 pm…

We come to church to get away from all that!  To be inspired, uplifted, encouraged, – not warned.

But ‘these things were written down as warnings for us…So, if you think you’re standing firm, be careful you don’t fall!’…

Let us lament

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“They are grieving as if they have no God!”

These were the words of a pastor, describing the reaction of Christians soon after a hotel fire had killed over seventy people – mostly pastors and lay workers – in Manila.

A wife, standing at the graveside of her recently-deceased husband, is commended for ‘being strong’, because she is not weeping.

A Christian asked for prayer for success in an examination which would qualify her for a certain job.  …

Rom 13:1-7 – Hurrah for politicians and taxes! – sermon notes

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Romans 13:1-7

I wonder how many of us muttered, ‘Thanks be to God’ through gritted teeth after this passage was read?  Thanks be to God for politicians and taxes?  You must be joking!

  • Perhaps Paul didn’t know that modern opinion polls would show that of all professionals, politicians are the least trusted.
  • Maybe he never anticipated the scandal exposed by the Panama Papers, which seem to suggest that the rich and powerful are engaging in tax evasion on an industrial scale.
…

Discussion Starters, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

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1. Which is more important: physical healing, or the forgiveness of sins?  Why?  And why do you think the two are linked together on this occasion?

2. Surely, healing and forgiveness are good things?  So why do you think the Jewish authorities we so resentful of what Jesus did?

3. In what ways can we follow in Jesus’ footsteps by bringing God’s healing and forgiveness to others?…

Implications of the Lord’s Prayer

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See Matthew 6:5-15

  • I cannot say OUR if I live in a watertight spiritual compartment; if I think a special place in heaven is reserved for my denomination.
  • I cannot say FATHER if I am not one of his family, through faith in his Son.
  • I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am so occupied with the earth that I am laying up no treasures there.
  • I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I, as a Christian called by his name am not holy.
…

No ‘I’ in the Lord’s Prayer

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See Matthew 6:5-15

You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer and even once say “I.”
You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer and even once say “My.”
Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer and not pray for one another.
And when you ask for daily bread, you must include your brother.
For others are included … in each and every plea,
From the beginning to the end of it, it doesn’t once say “Me.”‘

(Anon)…

How the Lord’s Prayer defines us

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Matthew 6:5-15

  • “Father” – we are sons.
  • “Hallowed be your name” – we are worshipers.
  • “Your kingdom come” – we are subjects.
  • “Your will be done” – we are servants.
  • “Give us each day our daily bread” – we are recipients.
  • “Forgive us our sins” – we are sinners.
  • “Lead us not into temptation” – we are wayward.
  • “Deliver us from the evil one” – we are conquerors.
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Mark 10:46-52 – An unlikely candidate (sermon notes)

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Text: Mark 10:46-52

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  There he would suffer many things.   He must be killed and after three days rise again.  But what of the people travelling with him, and those he meets on the way?

In 10:13-16 the disciples rebuked those who brought little children to Jesus, but he said, “Let them come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

In 10:17-31 a wealthy young man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” …

Psa 32 – Forgiven! – sermon notes

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Text: Psalm 32

Happiness is ‘…an unexpected piece of chocolate’, ‘…Friday’; ‘…being married to your best friend’.

Here is the biblical answer.

1. Problem confronted, 3-5

‘Don’t be negative’.  ‘I know I’m not perfect’.  ‘Don’t go to church to be told I’m a sinner, I go to to be comforted, to be uplifted’.

Synonyms: rebellion, wandering away, twistedness.

How ridiculous to think that we can hide our sin from the all-seeing eye of God.  Yet ever since the days of Adam and Eve people have been trying to do precisely that.…

Assurance to be desired

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Although one can have faith without assurance, belief without confidence, nevertheless assurance of salvation is much to be desired.  It provides comfort and strength in challenging times.  So writes J.C. Ryle:-

1. Assurance will help a man to bear poverty and loss. It will teach him to say, “I know that I have in heaven a better and more enduring substance. Silver and gold have I none, but grace and glory are mine, and these can never make themselves wings and flee away.

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