Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 24/2/2011 How can a believer live the Christian life? This question has been asked since the Christian church began and it was asked in Colosse. Indeed it is this question that lies behind our passage. In these verses Paul responds to what false teachers in Colosse were suggesting on this important issue. (There may have only been one false teacher because Paul uses a singular pronoun [anyone] to describe the source of the wrong teaching. If this is the case, then Paul gives a good example of one way of preventing the spread of wrong ideas – don’t mention the name(s) of the propagators.) It is likely that the wrong teaching was a combination of Jewish and Gentile ideas and it is probably impossible for us today to be certain of all its features. Paul gives his response in three points and we have to deduce from each of his points the aspects of the false teaching that he has in mind. So while remembering that the wrong teaching was probably one message, Pa

This sermon was preached on 20/2/2011 Peter, having given his greeting in verses 1 and 2, then gives a statement of praise which runs from verse 3 to verse 9. You may have observed that in these verses Peter uses the well-trilogy of faith, hope and love. He also stresses the experience of great joy that marked his readers. For now, we will consider verses 3-5 which detail what God has done for his people. Verses 6-7 focus on the reasons for the persecution through which Peter’s readers were passing and we will look at these verses next time. And after that, we will think about verses 8 and 9 which describe the emotional life of Christian refugees as they suffer away from their homeland. How much can be said in a sentence? Peter says a great deal in verses 3b-5 about the benefits of Christian refugees. He mentions God’s mercy, new birth, living hope, guaranteed inheritance, and perfect protection. Peter may have been thinking about the great things God has done for his people. It loo

This sermon was preached on 20/2/2011 This chapter of Jeremiah seems to be the content of a dream (v. 26) about the restoration of God’s people. The background is the devastating exile in Babylon when the nation of Judah followed her sister-nation Israel into captivity. Their situation was a very dark one, with no prospect of deliverance from the bondage imposed by the most powerful nation on the earth. Yet the Lord would bring great spiritual revival out of the time of trouble. As with Old Testament prophecy, the predictions in this chapter are described in language that the people of the time would understand. Yet we make a mistake if we interpret them literally. The book of Hebrews, in chapter 8, makes clear that the fulfilment of this prophecy takes place in the church when the author refers to the implementation of the new covenant, and the Lord Jesus connected the blessings of this new covenant to his disciples when he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Therefore we should read

This sermon was preached on 20/2/2011 Sometimes we imagine that Jesus would not have had insincere followers when he was here on earth. Yet as we read the Gospels we discover that there were many such. One initial attraction that many saw in Jesus was his miracles, another was the way he was able to debate with the religious and political leaders. In this incident, recorded at the end of John 6, the interest that the crowd had in Jesus arose out of his miracle of feeding thousands of people from a few loaves and fish. Therefore they made great efforts to find him. Although their motives were wrong, Jesus responded to them by giving them further instruction. He told them that it was important that they feed their souls on his saving work rather than feed their bodies through his miraculous power. In a sense, Jesus gave to them a spiritual diet on which they should feed. This spiritual food was himself and they were to feed on his divine person, his heavenly origin, his sacrifice for s

This sermon was preached on 17/2/2011 There are several examples of the sin of coveting and its consequences in the Bible. One of them is Achan and his sin is described in the seventh chapter of the Book of Joshua. He coveted some items in Jericho as the Israelite army conquered the city and kept them for himself. The problem was that God had already stated that everything in Jericho was to be devoted to him or destroyed. Perhaps Achan did not think God’s requirements included small items. The outcome was disastrous for the Israelites as a whole (God did not help them in their next battle and they were defeated) and for Achan’s family (they shared his punishment – one may question why they were included, but all we need to note is that none of them seem to have objected to hiding the forbidden goods beneath their tent). In that example, the sin of covetousness brought great trouble. Another example is David who broke this commandment when he coveted Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah

This sermon was preached on 13/2/2011 A common features of modern life is the presence of refugees, those who are exiles from their home country. Often, those exiles are not found in one country but instead they are located in several countries. Living in exile is not just a modern phenomenon, it has been found throughout history. Such exile may be caused by politics (a decision by a government) or by poverty (the homeland cannot support them) or by curiosity (discover what life is like elsewhere). Sometimes the exiles may only have a sentimental connection to the homeland; with others the strongest desire of their heart is to return home. One of the races that knew exile was the Jews. They, along with many other peoples, had been forced into exile by the Babylonian Empire, and we can read about their feelings in Psalm 137. When the Persian Empire defeated the Babylonians, one of the policies of the new rulers was to let exiled people return to their homelands. Some Jews chose to go

This sermon was preached on 13/2/2011 This incident follows Jesus’ miraculous feeding of a large crowd of several thousand persons. That great multitude had been the recipients of the compassion of Christ when he took care of their temporal needs. Yet they responded wrongly to him and wanted to make him their king, so he determined to send them away. This is a reminder that we cannot turn Jesus into a person that suits ourselves. Everything has to be on his terms. Of course, the disciples would be puzzled by the response of Jesus to the increase of his popularity. About a year has passed since Jesus called Peter to follow him in a full-time manner. During that time many events have taken place that involved the disciples, although only two are recorded as having particular significance for Peter. The first was the healing of his mother-in-law and the second was his ordination to the office of apostle. From the healing Peter would have learned that Jesus cared for Peter’s family membe