Category Archives: Sermon Notes

Luke 1:5-25 – Zechariah – sermon notes

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Each of the four Gospels has a different starting-point. John: the pre-existent Christ. Mark: beginning of public ministry. Matthew: birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Luke: more details about the conception and birth of Jesus. But each also tells of a man named John, who was the herald, the forerunner of Jesus. It is Luke who informs us that the lives of John and Jesus, so intertwined in their adult ministries, were also linked by the circumstances of their births.…

Ruth 4 – At the gate – sermon notes

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The story of Ruth has been told as a drama in four Acts.  In Act 1 we meet some of the principle characters on the Highway, the road that leads from the country of Moab on the east of the Dead Sea to the town of Bethlehem in Judea.  Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons had fled Bethlehem during a famine, and had settled in Moab.  There the two sons married Moabite women.  But before long Elimelech and the two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law Orpah and Ruth. …

Jn 16:5-15 – ‘It is for your good that I am going’ – sermon notes

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It is a horrible thought to try to imagine life without someone you dearly love.

The disciples were having to get used to the prospect of life without Jesus.

There they are, sitting around the table sharing one last meal with Jesus. They listen with increasing alarm as he tells them that he must leave them. On top of that, he warns them that they can expect to be treated with terrible hostility after his departure.…

Hab 1:1-2:1 – How long, O Lord? – sermon notes

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‘Daily life…is the painful reality of starvation, AIDS, and violence. There is no food on the shelves, there are no medicines in hospitals, and no one can afford to buy from the drugstores.

We have become a nation of beggars who spend more time looking for food than working. Most employees’ monthly wages would not be enough to meet their transportation budget to get to and from work.

State schools have lost almost all qualified teachers.…

Isaiah 52:1-12 – Beautiful feet! – sermon notes

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Bringing good news of the redeeming Saviour, v9, the returning Lord, v8, the reigning King, v7.

The battle has been won, the long years of captivity are ended, the holy city and its temple will rise from the ruins, peace and joy and plenty will enjoyed across the land.

This was fulfilled following the decree of Cyrus in 539 BC.  But how complete was that fulfilment?

Neh 9:36 tells us that the return of the exiles was not all they hoped it would be: “We are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers.”…

Eph 6:10-18 – ‘Be strong in the Lord’ – sermon notes

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On 6th June 1944 – ‘D Day’ – the Allied forces landed hundreds of thousands of troops in Normandy in France. More Allied troops had crossed from North Africa to southern Italy and were making their way northwards. At the same time the Russians were closing in on the eastern borders of Germany. The war in Europe was effectively decided. Hitler had lost too many men. He had run out of resources. There was no way he could win.…

Gen 12:1-9 – The call of Abram – sermon notes

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It was the adventure of a life-time. Sure, by modern standards, Abraham’s journey from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran and on to the land of Canaan was a fairly modest undertaking. Many of us will have travelled further distances in taking our summer holidays this year. But then we have all the benefits of mechanised travel, of reliable maps, and of bridges and made-up roads. For Abraham this was a journey into the unknown, and was to turn out to be one of the most important journeys ever undertaken by anyone.…

Eph 2:1-10 – Before and after – sermon notes

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Transition: chapter division.

Ch 1: 19f ‘His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.’

Transformations. DIY SOS, Changing Rooms, What Not to Wear, Extreme Makeover, Life Laundry, How Clean Is Your House?, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Restoration, Trinny & Susannah Undress, Brat Camp, Ladette to Lady, Supernanny, Extreme Celebrity Detox

Home, body, diet, wardrobe, child, pet

1. 

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Isa 41 – God can be trusted – sermon notes

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1. Who is asking the questions?

Not the nations! – It’s God who is quizzing them, v1f.

God does allow his friends to question him (Abraham, v8, cf Gen 18; ‘Why?’, ‘How long’).

But he will not co-operate with questioning that is motivated by scepticism or idle curiosity. ‘Be silent’, v1. Cf Rom 3:19.

Apply this to apologetics (1 Pet 2:15), much of which is evidential:-

The gospel is not just a proposition to be debated

it is a summons to be believed

a command to be obeyed

The questions God asks of us are more important than the questions we might ask of God.…

Mt 2:13-23 – Out of Egypt – sermon notes

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V13 – ‘When they had gone’ – that same night?

Whatever happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh?

Three places – three prophecies. Not always 1:1 prediction/fulfilment (cf. Mt 2:5/Mic 5:2); they are more like ‘patterns’.

1. Egypt – a place of rescue

Border about 75 miles away. Many Jews living there.

V15 – ‘And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”’ (Hos 11:1)

Hos 11:1 not a prediction, but a glance back to the Exodus.…