Looking, Listening And Learning

Let’s think together about looking, listening and learning - looking to the Lord, listening to Him and learning from Him.. When we look to the Lord, what do we see? - We see love. We see Jesus, crucified for us. We know that God loves us. When we listen to the Lord, what do we …

Lord, You are the faithful God.

Lord, You are the faithful God. You give us Your promises. You keep Your promises. You never go back on Your Word. You always stand by the Word that You have spoken. Your promises come to us from the past. They lead us on into Your future. What a wonderful future You are planning for …

Listening to the Word of the Lord – and speaking His Word

"The Lord called to Moses out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my …

The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:1-2:10  -  ‘The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God... The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel’(1:1-2). The Lord opens our eyes to ‘see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Lord speaks to us and we must listen to Him: ‘Speak, Lord, for …

Serving You, Lord, begins with Your call.

Jeremiah 1:1-19 Serving You, Lord, doesn’t begin with our choice. It begins with Your call. The initiative is Yours – not ours. Thank You, Lord, that You love us so much. Thank You for saving us – and calling us to be Your servants.

God’s Eternal Love – Be still and know that there is love, eternal love, the love of God.

‘Be still, and know that I am God... Shout to God with loud songs of joy’ (Psalm 46:10; 47:2). In our worship, there is to be both quiet trust and loud praise. We read the great words: ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). God’s Word brings peace …

The Lord loves us – and He calls us to love Him and love one another.

Exodus 34:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Exodus 34:6 invites us to focus our attention on the Lord our God - The Lord is the compassionate and gracious God. - The Lord is the God who is slow to anger. - The Lord is the God who is abounding in love and faithfulness. Here, in this verse, …

‘Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you’ (Proverbs 4:25).

Living the Christian life is like 'walking a tightrope' - We must 'not swerve to the right or to the left' (Proverbs 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:14; Joshua 1:7; 23:6).  Looking straight ahead, 'let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...'(Hebrews 12:2).  In the face of life's many difficulties, you may …

God Blesses Us Because He Loves Us – Not Because We Are Worthy Of His Blessing.

Through His strongly worded warnings, God calls us back from the way of disobedience (Deuteronomy 27:15-26; Deuteronomy 28:15-24). Through His promises of blessing, He calls us to the way of obedience, the only way to true happiness (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). God’s blessing cannot be taken for granted. Where there is disobedience, there is no blessing. Our …

With God we shall gain the victory.

‘With God we shall gain the victory. He will trample down our enemies’(Psalm 108:13). In ourselves, Lord, there is only defeat. We are no match for ‘our enemies’- the world, the flesh and the devil. We are surrounded by the world - ‘The world is ever near. I see the sights that dazzle. The tempting …

How can I be saved?

How can I be saved? Is there a more important question than this? In Your Word, Lord, You speak to us about our need of salvation and Your provision of salvation. You call us to receive Your salvation. We cannot save ourselves – “No man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of …

Believe in the Lord Jesus.

Leviticus 25:25-55 Moral conduct is to be grounded in divine redemption. Throughout the detailed ethical instructions, there is the recurrent emphasis on God's salvation: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt (Salvation) to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God (Sanctification)...For to …

Saved By Grace, Saved Through Faith (Ephesians 2:8)

There is nothing that we can do to earn God's salvation - We are saved by grace. There is something that we must do to receive God's salvation. We are saved through faith.

The Power Of The Lord Jesus

The power of the Lord Jesus is seen in His miracles. It is the power of His love. His power is seen in His resurrection. This power is the power of life. Life triumphs over death. When we seek power for ourselves, we do not glorify the Lord. There is power in humility. We recognize …

God and the gods

“The Lord is the only God. He is the living God and eternal King” (Jeremiah 10:10). The contrast between God and the gods is simple. God made us. We made the gods. In the Lord our God, there is majesty and mystery - the majesty of the “eternal King”, the mystery that He is always …

It is your Father’s pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Luke 12:1-34 ‘Do not fear...’(4): ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’(Romans 8:31). Acknowledge Christ or deny Him (8-9): Let your choice be clear - ‘Christ means everything to me’(Philippians 1:21). Do you want to confess Christ? - Here’s a great promise for you: ‘the Holy Spirit will teach you in that …

Sermon Ideas

The Day of the Spirit’s Power In Acts 2, we read about the Day of Pentecost. It was a great day. The Spirit was poured out on God’s people. Christ was proclaimed to the crowds. Many were brought to faith in Christ. What is to be our response to the God who worked so mightily …

As the waters cover the sea

“As the waters cover the sea”: These words come from the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah and Habakkuk. Isaiah says this: “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (11:9). Habakkuk adds something else. He speaks about being “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the …

Faith laughs at impossibilities.

"Sarah laughed" (Genesis 18:12). It wasn't only Sarah who laughed. Abraham, also, laughed (Genesis 17:17). The laughter of Sarah and Abraham was the laughter of unbelief. There is, however, another laughter, a better laughter. It's the laughter of faith; "Faith laughs at impossibilities, and cries, 'It shall be done.'" (Charles Wesley). https://youtu.be/Tkzu_sz3EGQ

We must listen to what God says and do what He tells us to do.

God speaks to His people about their sin - "The people of Jerusalem turned away from Me without ever returning..." (Jeremiah 8:5). He is not pleased with them. He is calling them to return to Him - "Change the way you live ..." (Jeremiah 7:3). The life of Israel is “like the desert” (Jeremiah 9:12). …

Deliver us, Lord, from knowing so much – yet knowing so little about what really matters!

Jeremiah 8:4-22 ‘Wise people are put to shame, confused, trapped. They have rejected the Word of the Lord. They don’t really have any wisdom’ (Jeremiah 8:9). Deliver us, Lord, from thinking that we’re smart. Keep us from becoming wise in their own eyes. Deliver us from the ‘know it all’ attitude. May we not have an answer for everything – …

God Has Spoken. Are We Listening?

“Listen and pay attention! Don’t be arrogant. The Lord has spoken” (Jeremiah 13:5). “Do something, Lord, for the sake of Your Name, even though our sins testify against us” (Jeremiah 14:7). We listen to God, and we call upon Him - “If you return, I will take you back... I am with you, and I …

Beyond The Famine To The Blessing

"The days are going to come, declares the Almighty Lord, when I will send a famine throughout the land. It won't be an ordinary famine of hearing the words of the Lord. People will wander from sea to sea, and roam from the north to the east, searching for the Word of the Lord, but …

God is holy. God is love. Let’s worship Him with joy.

God is holy. God is love. Let’s worship Him with joy. ‘Exalt the Lord our God... Make a joyful noise to the Lord’ (Psalm 99:5, 9; Psalm 98:4, 6; Psalm 100:1). We are to worship the Lord with joy. We are to glorify God. We are to enjoy Him. In our worship, we must never …

When our faith is being sorely tested

When our faith is being sorely tested, help us, Lord, to turn to You. Help us to know that, through it all, You are there with us – suffering with us, leading us into Your joy. Teach us, in our suffering, to wait for the day when You will “restore our fortunes”, when You will …

Jesus – friend of sinners

"Friend of sinners" (Matthew 11:19) - what a great description of Jesus, our Saviour! He comes to us in love. He says to us,'I want to be your friend.' There are times when we feel alone. Jesus says to us, "You've got a friend.' He says to us, 'I am you friend.' The friendship of …

Don’t let anyone or anything come before God. He must come first – every time.

The Gospel turns the world’s values upside down - the ‘poor in the world’ are ‘rich in faith’ (James 2:5). We are to live according to the Gospel. We are not to be controlled by the world’s way of thinking. If we ‘show favouritism’, we place ourselves in a dangerous position - ‘judgment without mercy’. …

Love God and love your neighbour.

Genesis 33:1-20 From Jacob’s meeting with God, we come to his meeting with Esau. Before we start thinking of this as a big ‘come down’, we should note Jacob’s word to Esau: ‘truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God’(10). Jacob is describing his meeting with Esau in terms of his …

God’s Word Brings Blessing.

"… the seed shall sprout and grow, he himself does not know how …" (Mark 4:27). God has given us a great promise – “my word that goes out from my mouth… will not return to me empty” (Isaiah 55:11). When we feel that God’s Word is returning to us empty, we have this Word …

Stay Awake.

We already know about Judas: what He was planning to do. Of the other eleven disciples, Peter wasn't the only one who failed the Lord: "All the other disciples said the same thing as Peter" (Mark 14:31), and, like Peter, they let the Lord down. They kept well out of the way, making sure that …

God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

"The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”" (Luke 5:30-32). The …

Jesus Christ – Crucified For Us

John 12:20-33 “Not yet” becomes “The hour has come” (John 12:23). The time for Jesus's crucifixion is drawing near. -- For Christ, The Glory Road must be seen in relation to His suffering and death (John 12:24). * The Road of the Broken Will * The Road of the Loving Heart * The Road of …

Jesus Christ – The Servant

John 13:1-38 As we listen to God’s written Word, we hear the voice of Jesus Christ, God’s living Word. Christ speaks to us through the Scriptures.He speaks to us concerning Himself. Jesus is the Son, the Saviour and the Servant. He is God’s Son. He is our Saviour. Here, we focus on Jesus, the Servant. …

Thank You, Lord, For Jesus, Our Saviour.

We thank You, Lord, that You have given to us words of prophecy, wonderful words that point us to Jesus Christ, crucified for us - ‘the Lord has laid all our sins on Him’ - and risen from the dead - ‘After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life’ (Isaiah …

Give all the glory to God.

1 Samuel 19:1-24 Saul was planning to kill David (1). Jonathan warns David and tries to talk some sense into Saul (2,4-5). Saul took Jonathan's advice - but not for long (6,10)! Thank God that the 'like father, like son' rule didn't apply here! How much more difficult life would have been for David if …

Learning From The Past

Numbers 22:1-41 Learn from the past. In 2 Peter 2:15-16, Jude 11 and Revelation 2:14, we are encouraged to learn from the events of this chapter. Each passage contains a warning. (a) 2 Peter 2:15-16 - Don’t leave ‘the straight way’ and follow the crooked way! (b) Jude 11 - Don’t let making a profit …

A Light To The Nations

Isaiah 49:1-13  God is calling us to listen to Him, and to pay attention to what He says to us (Isaiah 49:1). He's calling us to be His torches. We're to shine for Him - "I will also make you a light to the nations" (Isaiah 49:6). What kind of light are we to be? …

Eternal Love

The love of God is eternal love. It's the love of the eternal God. His love comes to us from before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). It takes us on to beyond the end. Sometimes, when our heads go down, we think, "This the end. I can go on no longer." When, in love, …

Light and salvation

Psalm 27:1-14 The Lord brings light and salvation to us. He is our light and our salvation (Psalm 27:1). When the Lord saves us, He gives us a great desire to worship Him (Psalm 27:4). We are on a journey - a lifelong journey, an eternal journey (Psalm 27:13-14) - “all the days of  my …

Sometimes, Lord, it seems like You have left us.

Sometimes, Lord, it seems like You have left us. We feel like we're looking for you, but we're not finding You. we ask, "Where have You gone?" - then we start thinking, Have you really left us? or Are we the ones who have wandered away from You?" Call us back to Yourself, Lord. Show …

The old, old story of Jesus and his love

Such a long time ago, we don't need this anymore - that's what the world tells us about the Bible story. What are we to say to this? We agree - and we disagree. We agree - the Bible comes to us from a very long time ago. We disagree - the Bible story is …

Jesus – our Saviour and our Lord

We thank You, Lord, that Jesus is our Saviour – ‘Lord, You establish peace for us’; ‘We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. We cannot save ourselves. We can only look away from ourselves to Jesus – and be saved by Him: ‘all that we have accomplished You have done for us’; …

Jesus Is Our Saviour. He Is, Also, Our Lord.

Luke 19:1-48 Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem (9:51; 13:22; 17:11), the place where He would be crucified for the world’s salvation. ‘Passing through’ Jericho, He brought ‘salvation’ to Zacchaeus (1, 9). ‘Near to Jerusalem’, He spoke about service (11-27). Jesus is our Saviour - He came ‘to save us’(10). He is also our …

Let Us Honour Jesus In Our Worship And Obedience.

We thank You, Lord, that Jesus is “the most excellent of men” (Psalm 45:2). He is much more than that. We look at Jesus Christ, the risen Lord (Acts 2:24, 36), and we say, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever” (Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:8). Help us to approach our Lord Jesus …

Good News for this generation

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son... " (Hebrews 1:1-2). This is more than the prophets speaking about God. This is God, speaking through the prophets.The prophets looked forward to Jesus, God's beloved Son. God speaks to …

Life in the Spirit …

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified" (John 7:38-39). Rivers of living water, the Holy Spirit flowing …

Where does the song of praise come from? It comes from You, Lord.

“Songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (Nehemiah 12:46) – Where does the song of praise come from? It comes from You: “God had given them great joy” (Nehemiah 12:43). You look  at the way we are living – and what do You see? “Why is the House of God forsaken?” (Nehemiah 13:11). Does it …

Jesus is the Word of God. He is our Saviour. He is our Lord

Isaiah 46:1-47:15 ‘I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me... I am bringing My righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed’ (Isaiah 46:9,13). We thank You, Lord, that You don't keep Your distance from us. You come near to …

What is happening, Lord, when we are gathered together for worship?

What is happening, Lord, when we are gathered together for worship? Is this merely a human thing, something that we do? – No! there is something more than this. Before we even thought of coming to Your House, You were there waiting for us. You welcome us. You speak Your Word to us: “Let your …

An outburst of triumphant and glorious praise

Hallelujah! Each of the final five Psalms begins and ends with the word, “Hallelujah!” Again and again, in these Psalms, we hear the call to praise God: “Praise the Lord, my soul!” (Psalm 146:1), “Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion!” (Psalm 147:12). “Praise the Lord from the heavens, Praise Him in the heights …

Jesus Christ is the Word of God.

John 1:1-34 Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He is the Beginning. He is also the End (1-3; Revelation 21:6). He is 'the Word...made flesh'. 'We have seen His glory' (14). This is only the beginning. When He returns, we shall see His glory - 'we shall see Him as He is' (1 John …

Psalm 100

"all the earth" (Psalm 100:1), "through all generations" (Psalm 100:5) - It wasn't just for there and then. It's for here and now. "Every person in every nation in each succeeding generation has the right to hear the news that Christ can save." The Good News of Christ is a message of triumph (Psalm 100:1). …

God is calling us to serve Him. He will give us the strength that we need.

EZRA 1:1-2:35  -  To ‘all’ of us, God gives His call. We are to ‘rebuild the House of the Lord’. To ‘all’ of us, He gives His strength: ‘Then... all those whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the House of the Lord’ (1:3,5). If the work of God is to …

Going God’s Way Is Better Than Getting Our Own Way.

Genesis 29:1-30 The tables are turned on Jacob. The trickster is tricked! The ‘trick’ was according to the ‘custom’ that the elder daughter should be given in marriage before the younger one (23,25-26). Seven years became fourteen years (18-20,27,30). Jacob did receive his heart’s desire, but there was a lesson to be learned: Going God’s …

The Gospel Of God’s Amazing Grace

Genesis 6 As we read the story of Noah, we learn of the place of Noah within the divine revelation of the Gospel of grace. "Noah found grace" might be turned around to read "Grace found Noah." "Amazing grace ... I once was lost but now am found." The significance of Noah, highlighted in 5:29 …

Lord, help us to love You.

Lord, help us to love You – and help us to love one another. How can we say that we love You if we are not learning to love one another? How can we learn to love one another if we are not opening our hearts to the greatest love of all – Your love …

Obstacles, Victory And Praise

The people of God faced many obstacles, but the Lord gave them His victory and they praised Him - “All day long we praise our God. We give thanks to You forever” (Psalm 44:8). The words of Psalm 45 point forward to Jesus Christ, who is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). …

God’s Revelation And Our Response

“The divine revelation that the prophet Habakkuk saw” (Habakkuk 1:1) – This is a Word from the Lord. It is given to Habakkuk. It is given to God’s people, Israel. It is given to His Church in every nation and every generation. God’s Word is to be received by God’s people. God’s Word is to …

Holiness – In Every Part Of Our Life

Leviticus 27:1-34 The underlying theme of this final chapter is giving ourselves to the Lord to belong to Him, to be dedicated to Him, to be set apart for Him, to be holy. Such dedication to the Lord is to affect the whole of our life. We learn this from the variety of details in …

We rise up and stand firm.

Exodus 9:1-10:29; Matthew 26:69-27:10; Psalm 20:1-9 The tragedies of Pharaoh and Judas continue – “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart … Moses replied … I will never appear before you again” (Exodus 10:27-28). Judas “went away and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). This is the tragedy of those whose hearts are hardened against the Lord. The opportunity …