2 Thess 2:1-12 – Don’t be deceived – sermon notes

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‘In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.’  The chief concern of Christopher Columbus, however, was not the discovery of new continents.  He was convinced that the end of the world was near.  His main aim in life, apparently, was to free Jerusalem from the Moslems and to evangelise the world in order to pave the way for the millenium.  He happened to discover America almost by accident and without realising what he had done.

John Napier, the inventor of logarithms, used his new mathematical techniques to calculate the date of Christ’s return – somewhere, he estimated, between 1688 and 1700. …

John 20:24-31 – Doubting Thomas, believing Thomas – sermon notes

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Text: Jn 20:24-31

On the evening of the first Easter Sunday, the disciples of Jesus huddled together in a locked room.  They were in utter despair: they had left everything to follow Jesus, but now he was dead.  They were frightened: the same people who had killed their Master would surely come looking for them.  They were confused: where would they go now?  what would they do?  Into that despairing, frightened, confused company steps Jesus.  The grave could not hold him back; neither can a locked door. …

1 Kings 19 – A still small voice – sermon notes

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Text: 1 Kings 19

Recently, I caught a snippet of a phone-in on local radio, and I’m sure I heard the caller say that he was willing to swap what was left of his Norwich City season ticket for a can of baked beans.  He seemed to be at the end of his tether with his local football team, and people can say and do some unexpected things when they reach the end of their tether. …

1 Kings 21-22 – The power to judge – sermon notes

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[Notes of a sermon preached at Holy Trinity Norwich some years ago.  It differs from my usual expository approach by attempting to follow the narrative form of the passage itself, while reflecting (I think) careful exegesis and including applicatory points along the way.  If I were asked to preach from this passage again today, I would be tempted to take a similar approach, while aiming to strengthen the practical implications and applications.]

Act 1, Scene 1 – In Which Ahab Wants Naboth’s Vineyard, 1 King 21:1-7

Ahab gazes out of his palace window. …

Lk 20:9-19 – The Parable of the Tenants – sermon notes

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Famous last words: “I’m looking for a loop-hole,” (W.C. Fields, when asked why he was reading the Bible). “I think I’m going to make it,” (Murderer Richard Loeb after he had been stabbed 56 times by a fellow convict). “The best of all is, God is with us,” (John Wesley).

We have before us some of the last words of Jesus. Spoken on the Tuesday of Holy Week. The die had been cast, the net was tightening, the wood, the hammer and the nails awaited their victim.…

Lk 8:22-25 – Stilling the storm – sermon notes

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The Gospel of Luke is obsessed with one question.  It is a simple, sublime, life-changing question.  “Who is this man?”

The question is asked by sceptics, such as the Pharisees, who asked (5:21), “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy?”

It is also asked by the curious (7:49), who enquired, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

It is asked by a king: Herod, (9:9) who demanded to know, “Who is this I hear such things about?”…

Mt 5:1-12 – The Beatitudes – sermon notes (v1)

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When Jesus of Nazareth first burst into the public limelight his message, in a nutshell, was, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’.  What was he expecting people to do?

There is no better place to turn for answers to questions like these than the Sermon on the Mount.  Here, the Master himself describes in more detail than anywhere else the attitudes, behaviour and character of the Christian disciple.

And it all begins, not with the issuing of instructions, but with the pronouncement of blessing. …

Quotes on Temptation

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God delights in our temptations and yet hates them. He delights in them when they drive us to prayer; he hates them when they drive us to despair.  (Martin Luther)

My temptations have been my masters in divinity.  (Martin Luther)

Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole; yielding is opening the door and inviting him in.  (Billy Sunday)…

‘Many Britons think that religion is harmful’

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Last autumn, The Times reported on the results of a poll that found that 42% of Britons think that religion has a harmful effect.  Read the article here.  Broadcaster and writer John Humphys, who commissioned the poll, suggests that ‘one reason might be the publicity attracted by a handful of mad mullahs and their hate-filled rhetoric.’  Two caveats are therefore in order.

First, the fact that many people think that religion is harmful does not mean that is necessarily is.…