Sermons on The Kingdom
Hearing God’s voice
Hearing God’s voice – are we listening?
The Fallen Kingdom
Today’s Passage: 2 Chronicles 36:11ffYou might also want to read: 2 Peter 3, 2 Kings 24-25 This week, we’re continuing our journey through the Old Testament story of God and His people. Two weeks ago, we looked at 1 Samuel 8, where Israel went to the prophet Samuel demanding to have a king like all of the other nations around them. At first glance, it might have seemed sensible for them to want to have a king. But the problem…
Easter Sunday – The Risen King
This Easter Sunday, we remember the true King of the world. He died, but he was raised from the dead – and reigns right now!
The Kingdom Established
Today’s passage: 1 Samuel 8 This week, we’re returning to our lighting journey through the story of the Old Testament. We spent a few weeks in the introduction to the Biblical story: Genesis 1-11. There we saw that the way the world now is is a result of human rebellion against God. We have a sin problem. We also saw that we have a knowledge problem: we don’t know who God is or what He is like. As a result,…
Give us today our daily bread
Today’s Passage: Matthew 6:11 Prayer: it’s both the easiest thing in the world, and something so many Christians struggle with. Prayer is simple talking with God – both speaking to Him and listening to His voice. Just as all relationships require communication, so too does our relationship with our God. Why then do so many Christians fail to have a thriving prayer life? Perhaps it’s because we have yet to fully appreciate that God really does love us, and really…
Your Kingdom Come
Today’s Passage: Matthew 6:10 Last week, we started looking at the model prayer given to us by Jesus as He taught the crowds around Him in Matthew 5-7. As in everything, there was something different about Jesus when it came to praying. He spent a lot of time praying. But I don’t think that prayer was ever a duty for Jesus, the way we sometimes think of it. When Jesus prayed, He was talking with His Father. He was speaking…
Jesus, Righteousness, and the Law and the prophets
Today’s passage: Matthew 5:17-20 God is King, and life in his kingdom is the best life there possibly can be. It’s a life that is perfectly in accordance with God’s will; in God’s kingdom, everything is exactly as God wants it to be. As creator of all that is, God is sovereign over all that is – he alone has the right (and the capacity!) to rule everything. The bad news of the Bible is that we humans reject God…
Salt and Light
Today’s passage: Matthew 5:13-16 God is king, and in his kingdom, things are the way that God wants them to be. Which, since God is God, makes God’s kingdom the best place for us to be. God is love, and his kingdom is a place of love. God is perfect, and his kingdom is a place sans any sinfulness or brokenness or imperfection. It’s a place where there are no tears, where there is no danger, and where there is…
Made Fortunate by God
Sermon passage: Matthew 4:23-5:12 I love attending men’s breakfasts. True, when I’m waking up at some unearthly hour my first thought is not one of joy. Yet that tends not to last too long: it’s great hanging out with my brothers in Christ, discussing life together, praying together, and thinking through our devotion together. Oh, and the breakfast… that’s quite nice too! But a while back I did something rather silly: I rocked up at a men’s breakfast sans my…
The Light in the Darkness
Sermon passage: Matthew 4:12-25 Matthew 4:12-25 One of the things Taryn and I did on our recent holiday to New Zealand was to visit a weta cave in Zealandia. The cave was actually an old mine tunnel, cut into a mountain. Taryn, her brother Nathan and I slowly made our way into the tunnel, using the torches on our phones to try and avoid the wetness in the middle of the tunnel floor. Coming from the brightness outside, the tunnel…
The Culmination of God’s Plan
Today’s passage: Matthew 1 God is the King of all that is, was and ever will be. The good news that Jesus came preaching was that God’s kingdom was near. He called us to repent and to believe that good news. He called us to become his disciples, to come to him: the way, the truth and the life; the only way to the Father. The Bible teaches that God is the creator of all things, and that we were…
The Reformer King
God is the king of all that was, is and ever will be. Our God – the only God – spoke all that is into existence. He created our world, and he created us to be his representatives on earth. Humanity was tasked to enact God’s will on his creation. Our kingdoms, the places where our wills are done, were meant to be lived in submission to the high King of Kings. But that isn’t the way the world is.…
Even the best fail
In Psalm 47:5-7 we read that God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. The good news of Jesus is that God’s kingdom is near to us. Through Jesus, we can have the gift of new life – of citizenship in God’s kingdom; of being…
Whose kingdom is this anyway?
Have you ever forgotten – or even refused – to pay an electricity bill? What’s interesting is that if you do, Synergy won’t immediately disconnect you from the grid. They’ll send letter after letter, encouraging you to make things right with them. There are schemes of grace available should you be in financial difficulties. But should you steadfastly refuse their authority, you will rediscover the joys of living without electricity. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been considering the good…
Kingdom Training
The good news of Jesus is much more than just “here’s how you get to heaven one day when you die.” Jesus came preaching that the kingdom of the heavens was near. In fact, as God’s king, Jesus came to make it possible for all those who trusted in him to be welcomed back into God’s kingdom right here and right now. We’ve been invited to repent of our rebellion against this universe’s true King, and to instead follow him…
Seeking first the Kingdom
When asked by his disciples how to pray, Jesus taught them a model prayer: Our Father in the heavens. Hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven… But what does it actually mean for us to pray for God’s kingdom to come? Last week, we discovered that the good news Jesus preached was bigger than simply “how to get into heaven when you die.” His news was that God’s kingdom…
What is the gospel Jesus taught?
One of the things I love about C. S. Lewis’ Narnia books is the fact that, in the words of one of the Dwarves, “Narnia was never right except when a Son of Adam was King… It’s not Men’s country, but it’s a country for a man to be King of.” Lewis was on to something. Our world, like Narnia, is also not “Men’s country” – it is a part of God’s kingdom– yet it is a country created for…