Sermons

Jesus doesn’t call us to follow him to safe places but to follow him wherever he leads. He calls us to reach people, and we can do that by showing them love. [Audio to follow]

When taking the gospel to people from different cultures, we need to understand whether they come from an “innocence/guilt” culture, an “honour/shame” culture or a “fear/power” culture. We need to be careful of reading “honour/shame” passages in the Bible as “innocence/guilt” passages.

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.

How do we live by faith in dark times? We should keep on praying. Like Habakkuk, we should recount what God had done in the past, not become detached from the troubles around us, and commit ourselves to rejoicing whatever happens.

We never get beyond the need to trust in God. We will be fruitless if we trust in man.

Habakkuk doesn’t just rush to God with a complaint; he determines to wait on God and listen to this answer.

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.

Habakkuk confronts God when it looks as if God has forsaken the covenant. Like him, our faith should enable us to wrestle with God when we are perplexed. This involves taking the problem to God, being honest with God about our questions, not prescribing the answers, and learning to wait when God does not respond straight away.

We must guard the treasure we have received by remembering its value and putting it to work.

NB - The sound quality improves after a minute or so

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.

Paul’s plea is for contentment, not to think too much of money or whether we have to much or too little, but instead to worship God, who is our treasure.

Like Timothy, we are men and women of God, holy people and children of God, and so we are encouraged to live accordingly.

Jesus has inaugurated a new exodus. God’s calling us to to enlarge the borders of our tent, and our children will go to the nations.

The gospel leads to godliness, being content with the essentials. If we drift from the the gospel we will be led in a totally different direction, where we are greedy for money.

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.

Paul wants both slaves and masters to be transformed by the Holy Spirit. and to recognise that they are united together in Christ.

God commands us to rest, and Jesus frees us from four burdens - the pressure to prove ourselves, the pressure to meet other people’s expectations, the pressure to try and stay in control and the pressure to live life to the max.

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

It is right that we should honour the Church elders, whilst avoiding a misplaced loyalty.

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.