Category Archives: Sermon Notes

Isa 37:9-20 – Let us pray (sermon notes)

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Text: Isaiah 37:9-20

Someone once said: ‘If I wanted to embarrass a fellow-Christian, I would ask them about their prayer life.’

Well, I’m not looking to embarrass my hearers this morning!  (After all, preachers who live in glass houses should not throw stones!)

In any case, there will be some here whose sails are unfurled and are being driven forward by the wind of the Holy Spirit in this matter of prayer.  But there will be others whose prayer life is need of at least a mid-course correction. …

Lk 2:22-24, 36-38 – Anna’s story (sermon notes)

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(This is a slightly revised version of a short talk that was first drafted many years ago)

Text: Luke 2:22-24, 36-38

Some 80 years before a certain baby boy was cradled in a manger in Bethlehem, a little girl was born just a few miles away.  No doubt she was her parent’s pride and joy.  And no doubt she was strong, active and healthy.  Anyway, in due course, she grew up and fell in love with the man of her dreams. …

Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3 – Five marks of a missional church (sermon notes)

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Text: Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3

1. Suffering, 11:19

The gospel reached Antioch as a result of the persecution that arose in connection with the stoning of Stephen.

We might suppose that premature death of Stephen was a waste.  So also with other notable Christians who died at an early age: David Brainerd, Robert Murray McCheyne, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Nabeel Qureshi.

Remember: for the Christian, no suffering is ever pointless or wasted.

2. Telling, v19-21

Well-known words attributed to St.…

Jn 5:24-27; Lk 23:32-33; 39-43; Rev 21:1-5 – ‘I believe in…the life everlasting’ (sermon notes)

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“I believe in…the life everlasting.”

‘Who wants to live forever?’ (song by Queen).

How would you like to live to be 1,000?  According to Dr Aubrey de Gray, co-founder of the SENS Research Foundation, scientists are well on the way to ending bodily aging.  The first person to live to be 1,000, he claims, has already been born.

Or how about having your body deep frozen after you die, in the hope that one day science will be able to resuscitate it? …

Psalm 24 – Are you a confident Christian? – sermon notes

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A sermon preached at Holy Trinity, Norwich, on Sunday 8th August, 2021.

 

Are you a confident Christian?

I know of no better recipe for confident Christianity than this ancient psalm.

It teaches us that we can be

1. Confident in our mission, v1-2

 A Trinitarian truth, Gen 1:1f.

In the New Testament, it is especially the role of the Son that is brought forward for our attention and admiration:

Jn 1:3 – ‘Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.’…

1 Cor 6:1-11 – New life, new lifestyle (sermon notes)

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Text: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

You should be ashamed of yourselves!

  • Down the Lechaion Way – neighbours locked in a boundary dispute
  • Alexandra’s jewelry business – unpaid invoice
  • In the family of Fabius – a feud over inheritance

And these are all Christians suing one another!  What are the godly doing, asking the ungodly to resolve their differences?

‘Why not rather be wronged?’ (v7)!

Root problem: Christians are using worldly means to settle their petty disputes.

Norwich in 2021 is not the same as Corinth in AD50. …

Psa 16 – The secret of happiness (sermon notes)

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Text: Psalm 16

Today (11th April, 2021) is a time of thankfulness (for the life of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh), and of hopefulness (as Covid restrictions are further eased tomorrow).

But what about happiness?  Has anyone ever discovered, or will anyone ever discover, the secret of real and lasting happiness?

I want to introduce you to someone who has discovered the secret of happiness.

Happy, though in danger, v1

v1 – ‘Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.’…

1 Sam 28:3-25 – The one where Saul drives his car off the road (sermon notes)

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Video and notes of a sermon preached at Holy Trinity, Norwich, on 21 March, 2021.

Text: 1 Samuel 28:3-25

‘Strange but true’

The Bible contains a number of ‘strange but true’ stories:

  • A talking donkey (who talks more sense than its master, Num 22).
  • A message in the stars (that leads a bunch of pagan astrologers to Israel’s new-born King, Mt 2).
  • A mountain-top meeting between Jesus and Moses and Elijah, both of whom had departed this life hundreds of years earlier (the Transfiguration, Mt 17; Mk 9; Lk 9).
…

1 Sam 16:1-22 – A man after God’s own heart (sermon notes)

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A sermon preached at Holy Trinity, Norwich, on Sunday 14th February 2021.

Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-22

There is a habit, in the Old Testament, of individuals ascribing a name to God that describes something that he has done, or something he has revealed about himself.

I think it the first instance of this is Hagar, who in Gen 16:13 names him as ‘The God who sees me’.

Elsewhere, God is name as the Lord

  • who provides
  • our peace
  • my banner
  • who heals
  • my shepherd

Let’s take a similar approach with our Bible passage this morning. …

Mt 2:13-23 – Out of Egypt (v2) (sermon notes)

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Matthew 2:13-23

“I’ve finally worked out why Christmas is so popular,” announced the sceptic to the preacher, at the end of a carol service.

“It’s because Christmas is all about a baby.  And a baby threatens no one.”

Try telling that to King Herod!

A man wracked with insecurity.  On hearing from the Magi that a new king had been born, he made up his mind to eliminate the threat.

Joseph, however, was warned by an angel. …