Richard Owen's Sermons

We are encouraged to focus on Jesus, not just in his incarnation but as the eternal word. He didn’t come to fill a “God-shaped hole” in our lives, but to make us children of God.

Jacob believes God and his promise, he relies on the faithfulness of God, and trusts in God’s sovereign choice. We are called to walk in his footsteps believing God for tomorrow as well as for the rest of our lives.

Jacob is paralysed with fear, which prevents him from walking in faith and leads to him blaming others. If we don’t recognise Jesus then we too will be trapped in fear - it is Jesus who drives out fear.

God speaks through dreams. Joseph had two dreams at the age of 17 and waited over 11 years for them to be fulfilled. In his difficulties he trusted God, who was working things out according to his own timing.

We must deal with our anger, pain and jealousy, repenting if necessary. We must bring our guilt and regret to Jesus. And we must trust in God’s sovereign plan to work out everything for good.

As Jesus entered the Jerusalem, the crowds were looking for a king and the Pharisees were looking for a way to get rid of him, but Jesus entered on a donkey, a king who had to die.

Jesus is the cornerstone and we are the living stones that make up the building, and members of his body. We should therefore be a holy family, a people of light, a people who look like Jesus.

Worship is based on a foundation of grace, and is fuelled by the Word and the Spirit. It includes praising God with our lips but is much more than this.

Christians are people of the Word. We are to value the Word, meditate on it and live it out.

Click here to hear the linked Vision Night session on this subject.

God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous, because he is with him. We need to hear God’s exhortation to be strong and courageous because God is with us in all circumstances.

The writer finishes the letter by requesting that his readers pray for him and bear with his word of exhortation. He also prays to the God of peace and of power, that God will equip his readers through his Word, his Church and his Spirit, to the glory of God.

We are called to live a certain way because we have come to the holy one who makes us holy. The exhortations in this passage are not just a list of rules but are part of our DNA.

We stand not at Mount Sinai, which was a place of fear, but at Mount Zion, a place of joy, because of Jesus who is a mediator of a new covenant.

We are meant to run the race together as a body, encouraging, challenging and sharpening one another. All are encouraged to run the race.

The life Jesus calls us to is a life where we can expect hardship. There’s nothing wrong with lamenting or wrestling with God in difficulties, but we must also remember that God is treating us as sons.

We can react badly when hardship and trials come, but we should not look to our circumstances for ultimate truth. We mustn’t forget that God is treating us as sons.

Discipline from God is seen in the context of family relationships. It is fundamental in the relationship between father and child. It is painful but fruitful. Parental discipline is just a poor imitation of God’s discipline.

Jesus is the pioneer of our faith. He didn’t just lead the way but he made the way. He is also the perfecter of our faith who finished the work of redemption on the cross.

We need to get rid of sin, but also of anything else that hinders us running the race. We are not to focus on the cloud of witness, or their faith, but on the object of their faith.

Living by faith takes us out of our comfort zones, but the people of God in the Old Testament had their weaknesses turned to strength. We can trust God in all circumstances.