Sermons

God has called us to be a church for the nations: to be sent out to bless the nations; and to reach the nations and tribes at the end of our street, and the end of our comfort zone.

Joseph forgave his brothers with weeping and embraces, but years later they weren’t totally sure he’d truly forgiven them. We can find it hard to accept God’s forgiveness but he has truly forgiven us.

Joseph tests his brothers to see whether they have changed or whether they will allow Benjamin to become a slave. Judah shows that he has changed, and is willing to bear Benjamin’s punishment himself - just as Jesus bore our punishment.

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.

The foxes represent small things that might be overlooked, but in fact are destructive, distracting or discouraging. We should catch them by staying close to the King (Jesus) and his bride (the Church).

Joseph’s brothers have been living with the guilt and shame of what they did to him, and God uses him to bring them to repentance. Jacob thinks everything is against him because he is walking by sight not by faith.

God is sovereign and works in the things that grieve him and the things that please him. He is merciful, kind and our judge. Our response to to believe him and point others to him.

Joseph didn’t do anything to get to the palace except serve God. God had been working on his character, overseeing people and events throughout Joseph’s life. Like Joseph, we were slaves, but have been rescued by Jesus.

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.

When we are struggling and our dreams are dying, God is still blessing us and he is still with us. So when we are tempted to self-pity we should recall all the blessing we’ve had and every answered prayer.

Judah was self-righteous, and tried to blame everybody else. But God dealt with his self-righteousness and he had to acknowledge that Tamar was more righteous than he himself was.

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.

This is a true story about the family of God, a big story about the sovereignty of God and a love story about the Son of God.

Jesus calls us to be friends and family, and people of faith. We are called for fruitfulness by the filling of the Spirit, and to proclaim freedom.

The resurrection of Jesus was the greatest demonstration of power ever. This power is still at work in us. God’s makes his power known in us when we reach the point where we don’t know what to do.

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.

God works through the frustrations of Paul and his companions to bring them to Philippi, and he then works in different situations to touch the lives of Lydia, the slave girl and the jailer.

The truth of the gospel is that Christ died for everyone. He created a diverse world and wants a diverse church, and we need God’s grace to welcome everybody, even those who are different from us.

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.

God calls us to be a united family. Unity is achieved by God, who is united in the Trinity. We are to make every effort to maintain unity, by being gentle and humble, patient, and in love