"The sum of Thy word is truth..."

"The sum of Thy word is truth, and every one of Thy righteous rules endureth forever." (Psalm119:160) Thoughts from the sermons of 2012:

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Two kinds of Sorrow

1st July 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7

When did you last speak the truth in love to a fellow believer? Are we willing to speak the truth? We are looking today at how Paul's letter impacted them in v8-13, on worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. His concern was what kind of sorrow his letter would stir in the Corinthians. Paul had to remind them they were representatives of God - they could no longer stand aside and ignored clear and obvious sin in the life of Gods people. He is concerned for Gods honor and the testimony of the Corinthians Christians

Worldly sorrow is insincere and superficial. It is vital to know that not all sorrow for sin is godly sorrow. Not all tears that people shed lead them to repentance and salvation. Worldly sorrow produces death (v10). For example Judas, when he committed the sin of betraying Jesus, after that act he was filled with remorse and went out and he hung himself. He didn't flee to Jesus in reference and faith - Judas was filled with self despair. It was a sorrow, but not a godly sorrow that led him to repentance.

Godly Sorrowis always appropriate to circumstances (v7-10). Packer says "true repentance only begins when one passes out of what the bible sees as self deception and modern counsellors call denial, into what the bible calls conviction of sin." Godly sorrow is always appropriate to the circumstances. It brings people to say I have sinned, this is wrong, and God is grieved. It is always expressed in practical actions (v10-11). Godly sorrow, correction and discipline has the upmost goodness at heart. Parents discipline their children not to do them harm but to do them good. That's how we should deal with one another. When we are convicted of sin, don't give the devil a foothold and let him torture your conscience. Get up and take that to God and set matters right where you can. It's not merely an emotional response but also a practical one. Godly repentance is more than remorse or a mental decision - it is always practical in its expression. Confession by itself is not repentance. Confession moves the lips, repentance moves the heart... It is not enough unless it expresses a true change of heart... 

What we need to replace in our minds and hearts when we sin is to stop focusing on ourselves but the cross of Christ in our hearts and minds. Here is the ultimate remedy to our own guilt and our own shame and sin! There is something bigger than us, bigger than our sin! It is the cross of Christ. This is the centre. The cross on which the prince of glory died. Not the part, but the whole, has been nailed to His cross, and I bare it no more. 

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Living as the Gospel Demands

 24th June 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:3-7:2

 Paul’s Example (6:3-13)

•               A life characterized by faithful endurance (v4-5) - Paul is in difficult circumstances, but he is resting in Gods sovereignty. He knows whatever is going on around him, however much persecution he is receiving, he knows God is sovereign. God controls the temperature of the furnace. He knows where Paul is in prison, in beatings, in hardships.We want out comfort and our ease, and we become spiritually soft and flabby with little endurance or resilience with little desire to put ourselves out for the gospel. Speaking about his children, Don Carson said, “I wish for them enough opposition to make them strong, enough insult to make them choose, and enough hard decisions to make them see that following Jesus brings with it a cost, but a cost well worth it.”

•               A life characterized by godly contentment (v8-10) - In Christ, Paul is reminding us we have the strength and grace to live as the gospel calls is to live. Christian contentment is something the world can neither imitate, when they see it, or deny. “I never realised Christ was all I need, until Christ was all I had.”

Paul’s Exhortation (6:14-7:2)

•               Stop flirting with the world (v14-18)Why? We are different in everywhere. Our values, ambitions, goals and treasure is different. “I believe that one reason why the Church of God in this present time has little influence over the world is because the world has such an influence over the church.” (Spurgeon) 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “Christ died for sins that we might no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us, and rose again.” You can’t have Christ and worldliness, the two don’t mix

•               Remember who you are (5:17,20; 6:14-18). Are you living like a new creation? Are you living examples of that contrast between light and darkness? Don’t mix righteousness with wickedness, light with darkness. Are we living like ambassadors for Christ? Are we relating to non Christians? Do you spend time with the, and live Christ to them?Are you living as the temple of the living God? Am I becoming like the LORD Jesus?

•               Make room in your hearts (7:1-2). Don’t have your heart so crowded with other things that there’s no room for the gospel. Don’t give God the left over space. He has your whole heart. Living as the gospel commands is living a life totally committed to Jesus, and the willingness to be totally different from the world. A life that doesn’t endorse the culture around us, but challenges it!

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Motivation for Mission

10th June 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:10-6:2

Paul's reason to get up in the morning is founded upon something that so radically transformed his lifestyle and values; it is expressed in vv14-15 - Christ's love. On the outside he was religious and pious, but on the inside he was unclean and dead in his transgressions and sins. The gospel renewed him from the inside out.

Paul's Motivation (5:10-17)

The Judgment seat of Christ (v10-13) - He is motivated by the fear of coming judgment on all men and women. He has good reason for his plain and blunt speaking - if you're not right with Christ, there is a fearful judgment day approaching. There will be no more secrecy, cover up, running away, escaping, shame, hypocrisy, or play acting - all the skeletons come out of the closet. Paul here is clearly saying there is a judgment that is inevitable, universal, and individual.It is a fearful thing not to have our sins covered by the righteous life and death of the LORD Jesus Christ. YET, In the gospel, God doesn't leave us in sin, but sends His Son to forgive and cleanse us. Hearing the truth of God is an urgent rescue mission!

The Love of Christ (v14-15) - The love of Christ controls us (ESV) - The word control or constrained literally means to be hemmed in. He is on a pathway from which he cannot retreat. He is pushed forward by the transforming power of Jesus and the love of Jesus compels me. How deep the fathers love for us! How fast beyond all measure! What motivates Paul is that Jesus loves him, died for him, and rose to make him right with Himself. He isn't working for his own glory, driven by pride or greed, clamoring for recognition; the greater, deeper motivation is that the old self is dead and now the love of Christ rules and reigns.

The New life in Christ (v16-17) - A radical, all pervasive spiritual recreation of the inner being; the heart, the real you. This new creation is an allusion to what is coming, the new kingdom of God. “Anyone who is in Christ” - if you've come to see your sin, and come to realise you cannot cleanse yourself or pardon yourself, and put your trust in Christ, then you are a new creature! No condemnation now I dread!! The power of sin has been overcome!!You are saved for something greater than yourself.

Paul's Message (5:18-6:2)

Reconciliation (v18-19) - God made a way to punish your sin and mine yet spared us judgment and hell - by placing our sin on the sinless Son of God. The cross was Gods way of loving and forgiving sinners and yet satisfying His justice.

Proclamation (v19-21) - We are ambassadors for Christ in every aspect of our lives - are we truly representing Christ in the way we live? Our time, energy? Is our focus on the affairs of the kingdom of God, or on the kingdom of self? V21- we come to Christ with all our filthy rags of self righteousness, and strips them off, throws them away, then takes His own righteousness and clothes us in it. This is the great exchange

Exhortation (6:1-2)- We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain - those who sit under grace and reject it, or are living separate to that grace. The bible says NOW. Tomorrow could be too late. The best message from Satan is not that there isn't a God, or a judgment, but that there isn't a hurry

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The Parable of the Talents

3rd June 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Mark Topping, Missionary with CMS

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

-        What the Master gives to the servants is very valuable – one talent is twenty years worth of wage. What do the talents represent? What's the precious property the disciples were entrusted with? The precious property given to the disciples, and therefore us, is the Word of God, the hope of salvation, or simply put; the Gospel. The talents represent the message of the kingdom, completely precious, worth an infinite amount of money, and of eternal value.

-        The Parable of the Talents is about the Kingdom of Heaven, and the end-times. It is clear that the story is about the return of Jesus. He's our master, and will hold is to account for the talents we present. We see in the previous chapter that the “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Jesus, in His own words, declares the gospel is to be proclaimed to the world. The ensuing chapters unfold the events of the crucifixion, then the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus tells us to share His precious gospel, to invest it and expand it, to the praise of His name. One day we will be held accountable for what we've done with the gospel

-        There is a word of warning embodied in the third wicked and lazy servant - do not waste your life. Don't bury the talent that God has entrusted to you. Make your life count for the gospels sake and for the glory of Jesus. Jesus may return today, or tomorrow. Are we ready? Have we been busy in the business of the gospel? On that great day, when we stand before His throne, what will we say? Will we stand there in humble submission and say, "LORD, you trusted me with this precious message and I shared it to the best of my abilities”…? Oh that we would hear the words, "well done good and faithful servant! Come and share in your Master’s happiness!" (Matthew 25:21)

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The Wedding at Cana

27th May 2012

SALT Church Wollongong, 5pm

Scripture: John 2:1-11 and Isaiah 25:6-9

Unhealthy skepticism is arrogant. In Luke 16, the rich man is thrust into hell, and pleads that his family would know so they don’t have to go there too. He begs they be sent a sign, but they have the scriptures, and if they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets they’ll never be convinced, even if someone comes back from the dead. And Christ DID come back from death – don’t be the sceptic who never believes even when faced with evidence. Don’t base your trust on God just because of miracles – what happens when the miracles stop? In John 4, a man asks Jesus to heal his son, and Jesus replies, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe in Me.” We think of miracles as proof – but John wants us to see not signs but Jesus. The way he writes demonstrates this. He doesn’t call it a miracle, but throughout his gospel he calls them signs, pointers, hints about who Jesus is. It’s not a power display but a sign

Emphasis of the story is on the good, abundant wine. John is being deliberate in choosing this particular event to record. Isaiah 25 – the Day of the Salvation of God’s people. A poetic way of describing what salvation is like is not just wine, but aged wine, good wine. Throughout all the OT prophets, this Day is marked with the free-flowing of wine, drunk in celebration, joy, richness and gladness.

Hebrews 10:1-2, 11 – constant sin, offering, forgiveness, sin, offering, forgiveness.. Hebrews 10:12, 14, 17 – in Jesus, there is ONE offering – in Him there is a new salvation that has been done once for all. The beauty and glory of Christ’s salvation is that it rests in someone else. Your salvation isn’t what you do, but what He’d done. Jesus is your cleaness, the wine of grace. We can’t sin ourselves our of justification. #WhatJoy! What is at the heart of Christianity is JOY!

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Not Losing Heart

May 27th 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray, Senior Pastor

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:9

Darkness and Light (4:1-6)

-       Paul sees the sinfulness of man, the transgression of the heart, and the waywardness from God in his own heart, but he also sees the marvelous grace of God. The light of the gospel had shone into his heart, into the midst of the darkness. Having this ministry, the treasure (v7) and wonder of God’s gospel, we do not lose heart. This ministry brings men life, salvation, forgiveness and transformation!

-       Paul can look at the rebellion of man and see that it is the god of this age that has veiled or blinded the hearts of men and women (v3). He was aware that as he spoke to people the gospel, they had spiritual cataracts on their eyes – they couldn’t see. Adam and Eve listened to the lie of the devil, and set themselves up with a self-authority and self-sufficiency, and they dethroned God and took His place. That’s what sin is; rebellion and transgression against the throne of God. This is the deep problem of the human heart. As beings created in the image of God, we know the LORD made man; He put him in that garden in perfection. But we listened to the lie of the wicked one, and we thought that we could make a better job of being on the throne then God. But God never made us to be sufficient in ourselves, but to be dependant on Him.

-       Paul sees the darkness and deadness of our sin, but he also sees the wonderful, illuminating power of the Gospel. Verse 5, “we don’t preach ourselves:” We’ve got nothing that can change the heart of man! “But Jesus Christ as LORD, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake:” we are not celebrities, but servants of Christ! “For God who said, ‘let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light to shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Strength and Weakness (4:7-12)

-       The strength and power of the gospel unleashed in the hearts of men and women; that treasure is carried around in broken pots like you and me! Paul had come to see there is good news of a Redeemer that will help him live as God intended him to live, because he couldn’t do it on his own - Jesus alone was God’s answer to a lost world. It is Jesus alone that all of history points forward to.

-       The Gospel frees you and I from the bondage of our sin and ourselves. He forgives us, and enables us by putting His spirit in us to live in such a way that He is LORD! Paul saw all this in the treasure of the good news of the gospel. The gospel is the only message big enough to overcome your rebellion and sin. The only message able enough to break our foolish dependence on ourselves is the gospel.

-       The treasure is Jesus Himself; His perfect life, His atoning death, His forgiveness, His resurrection, His promise of a fresh start! #WhatATreasure to give to a lost world! He lives in us! We must get our eyes off ourselves and fix them on Jesus so we do not lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3).

-       Judges 7 – Gideon has to whittle his army down. The odds are already 400 to 1, and God says ‘your army isn’t small enough yet.’ It’s whittled down from thousands to 300. They are told to get their clay pots and light their candles, and they rush into the camp of the Midianites crying “For the army of the LORD and for Gideon!” And they smash the clay pots and the light is spread, and there’s confusion in the camp, and a great deliverance! God used 300 feeble men, with a few clay jars and candles. They have to be smashed for the light to shine more brightly.

-       It is not togetherness that God always uses; it is often brokenness and weakness; God has made us to depend on Him. Don’t fix your eyes on yourself; God is saying ‘Look unto Me; It is good to be weak, it’s good to be inadequate, because that’s how I made you to be so you would depend on Me, not on yourself.’ #HardLesson.

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Jesus and Evangelism

20th May 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Keith Henderson, Cross View Missions Australia

“Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Jesus’ form of relating to people and His methods of evangelism seem to be off-putting to potential followers. After He made confrontational statements like this, His disciples would often walk away (John 6:66-71). Yet what we must know is that He wasn’t concerned with His appeal factor to the masses – He was more interested in the few that stuck with Him because of His radical comments – through their obedience, the history of the world was set on its course.

When we evangelise, we cannot water-down the truth. Following Jesus could lead to homelessness (Luke 9:58), to have someone else bury your mother or father (Luke 9:60), or to miss out on saying farewell to your family (Luke 9:62). The call is still as blunt as it was in the first century: “Follow Me.”  We must be imitators of Christ, even in His radical approach to evangelism. He didn’t shy away from the radical reality of what being a follower of Christ demands: “Whoever does not bear his own cross cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27), and “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).

In Mark 10, a young healthy and wealthy man approaches Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. In contemporary Christian culture, we could get him to say a prayer, fill out a card, and begin giving to the church. But Jesus told this man to sell all he owned, give it to the poor, to return and then “Follow Me.” These are the words of Jesus! He knows what He demands and expects from us – complete obedience. Jesus hasn’t changed (Hebrews 13:8) – what He demanded of that young man twenty-one centuries ago still holds today – are we prepared to sell everything we own and give it to the poor, if God so requires of us? We think scripture has no bearing on our lives today – we prefer the comfortable middle-class Jesus who wants to bless us with more and more stuff we don’t need. We want a Jesus who doesn’t ask much of us or expect much from us. 

Is Jesus your Redeemer and Saviour? Is He worth abandoning everything for? Are you convinced in Jesus you'll be fully satisfied without anything else but Him? Will you follow Jesus when His spirit prompts you? Do you believe Jesus to go wherever He wants you to go? Over 1 billion people have yet to hear any part of this saving gospel. Today, 26,000 children will die of preventable diseases around the world. Today, the church is shrinking and avoiding reaching the world with the radical truth of the gospel for want of comfort. Today He is calling you out of your comfort zone; to commit to what you've heard, to lead you in turning His world to Him and His glorious gospel message.

 “Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way…but you can never say again that you did not know.” (Wilberforce) 

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Confidence in the Gospel

May 13th 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3, Exodus 34

Time: 36 minutes

What I learnt: Paul has confidence and competency in the gospel, and both come from God. Paul’s confidence in what he believes, and his competency to communicate what he believes, is in God alone.

Be confident in what the gospel is (v1-11)

 The gospel is glorious:

-       The word glory or glorious is used some ten times in that chapter. Glory is a public display of the presence and character of God. That is what was happening at Mount Sinai when the Decalogue was given – attributes of God were being revealed as He wrote His character in the stone. Glory is the outward shining of what Gods character is like.

The gospel is a message about life instead of death:

-       Paul is pointing out the Moasic revelation showed us we needed to be saved and rescued. Whilst the Old Covenant law reveals sin, and thus death, the glory of the new covenant is that Jesus fulfilled everything, and lived out perfectly the Ten Commandments! He became subject to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8), to bring us life, and life to the full (John 10:10). This life is a new life, because this gospel isn’t written on tablets of stone, but on the heart, when the Spirit changes us to be a new creation in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The gospel is a message about righteousness instead of condemnation:

-       We could not stand before a holy God on our own with the righteousness He demands. None of us can fulfil the Ten Commandments except Jesus God’s perfect Son. He died, becoming our substitute and representative. In my place condemned HE stood, and He brought me righteousness only He can give. He's taken us to the wardrobe of His grace, and He's clothed us in His righteousness. What the law could not do, Christ has done. No condemnation now I dread! Rule keeps produces guilt and leaves us dead on the road, but when Christ enters we find new life in the spirit! 

The gospel is the message about permanent glory instead of fading glory:

-       The glory of the old covenant was not meant to last - it was fading away. This gospel, this new covenant, is written on the human heart, and it gives life and righteousness. The law wasn't God's permanent answer to man’s need, but the answer was and is Christ. The law was inadequate to save anyone. We don't have enough money in the world to pay our debts. The treadmill of performance kills - we cannot be right with God by trying to keep the law; it is futile. This doesn't mean we throw the law out - it has godly purpose, showing us we need Someone whose fulfilled the law perfectly, whilst also revealing the character of God and what we ought to be aiming for. We need an internal law written on our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. This new law brings Gods righteousness into our hearts; this isn't a temporary solution, but an ultimate solution. This is why the message of hope is the Christian message! 

Be confident in what the gospel does (v12-18)

The gospel enables us to speak the word more boldly:

-       Boldness is God-given by His Spirit.When you see what Christ has accomplished you are never the same again!The gospel brings boldness that renews confidence: ‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence’ (Hebrews 4:16). 

The gospel transforms us into the image and likeness of Jesus:

-       “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18) The gospel not only forgives our sins, it literally transfigures us! Just like at the Mount of Transfiguration, the glory of Jesus shines into our lives and changes us from the inside out. It reproduces this very image of the glorious God in our character, the kind of glory that will not pass away but will pass into eternity. In the Old Testament, only one man had his face shining with the glory of God (Moses). But now, we ALL, with unveiled faces, reflect the glory of God with increasing glory! We must not come to God with a spirit of timidity and fear, but with boldness we approach God and cry "Abba father!" The spirit makes sense of our prayers and groans for us!

Remind yourself again and again what the gospel is: it brings life not death, righteousness not condemnation, a permanent not passing glory. That's what Paul is confident in, something outside of himself. He knows in Jesus we have something that lasts forever. We are forgiven forever. We are justified forever. We are accepted forever. We have been redeemed forever. We have been delivered forever. We have been reconciled forever. We have been born again by His spirit forever. A glory that keeps on increasing. #FOREVER.

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Amos 5

6th May 2012

All Saints North Epping 6:30pm

Preacher: Scott Warner

Scripture: Amos 5:1-17, Matthew 23:23-28

What I learnt: 

-       Amos is a critique of the corruption of man. It is a lament, a funeral song, and Amos is mourning “Virgin Israel,” a life taken before it had the chance to flourish. This parallels verse 16 which expresses there will be wailing, anguish, weeping, wailing – a great sadness, for judgement is coming. Whilst in the Exodus God passed over His people in His mercy, God is about to pass through their midst in His judgement. -       Israel have a corrupted legal system (v10), oppress the poor (v11), and are greedy (11b). Their religious expression is a sham – they’re not really devoted to God, and He hates it (v21-24). God hates when we substitute religion for relationship. He still wants people to seek Him and seek good. Hypocrisy is inconsistency. Your life should reflect faith in Jesus. Israel and we must seek God, and the good that flows from following Him. He is Creator (v8), Sustainer (v8), and Judge (v9), for He has authority to judge and condemn sinners. Yet notice the mercy? He is warning them of the approaching judgement. -       “Seek me and live”(v4) - God wants relationship. This ‘seeking’ is mirrored in verse 14, when we are instructed to seek justice, mercy, and good.Israelare firstly to seek God, but then the good that glows out of Him.We are to be with God, and like God, taking on His characteristics. Just like Romans 12 exhorts us to live lives of worship, we should hate what is evil, and our faith should produce good deeds (James 1:14) and loving service.

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Learn From Your Mistakes

Saturday 5th May 2012

St Paul’s Anglican Menai, Saturday Night Celebration (SNC), 6PM

Preacher: Steve Wakeford, Pastor & Chairman of KYCK

Scripture: Deuteronomy 1:26-2:7

What I learnt:

 Do we learn from our past mistakes? In Deuteronomy 1, Moses begins his speech by wondering if Israel will learn from their past mistakes, imploring them to remember. God’s people have seen His great deliverance and provision, from the liberation from slavery in Egypt, to the provision of manna and quail in the wilderness. Yet God’s people have forgotten. They begin to second-guess God. By sending spies ahead to the Promised Land, discovering huge Amorites, and having their hearts ‘melt in fear’ (v28), they are paying more attention to the size of their enemies than the size of their God. They underestimate God, and so do we. When life get’s tough, we come to the same narcissistic conclusion: “The LORD [must] hate us” (v27).

Relationships are about trust, and trust takes time to develop. Yet the Israelites have SEEN God’s provision and trustworthiness over MANY years. We must remember God in our own lives, for He has shown His faithfulness time and time again. One such example was seeing with our own eyes God save 300 young people at KYCK over the last month. We must also remember God working in history. For example, William Wilberforce relentlessly petitioned for the abolition of slavery, year after year, for he knew the gospel declares all to be equal. The gospel sets captives free. God showed His mercy and moved, making slavery illegal. Remember these things, for God is faithful to His word.

“In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God” (v32). Not remembering rightly is deadly. God made a covenant promise with His people to give them this land, yet they STILL doubt Him in spite of this. Only Joshua and Caleb will see the Promised Land – they were the only two who took God at His word. All the other men did not stand up and be courageous for their wives and children. If a man is married, God has given them the responsibility to spiritually lead their families, through opening the word and prayer. Sons need a godly dad, as they will grow up to be like their dad. Daughters need a godly dad, as they will grow up to marry someone like their dad. Leadership is for the MAN. The men of Israel failed, and their families wandered in the desert for forty years as a result.

“You saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place” (v31). This is a beautiful picture of an orphan nation being adopted by a loving heavenly Father. If you’re a Christian, you have been adopted into God’s family too, but we have something those in the Old Testament didn’t have – the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 tells us that because of the Spirit, we can call the God of the universe, “Dad.” God carries us, and in any and every circumstance, He is always teaching us. We must always ask ourselves, “What am I learning?” Grace teaches us to be humble enough to admit that we are sinners and need Jesus. We will always end up at the foot of the gross where grace overflows.

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Acts 28

April 29th 2012

Engadine Congregational church 6PM

Preacher: Scott, guest speaker

Scripture: Acts 28:11-31

What I learnt:

In this passage, we see two paradoxes:

The gospel is hated, yet growing: Christians are described as a sect, and people are speaking against it. Yet the gospel is growing, despite people being against it! Why is that? Paul is bound in chains for the ‘hope of Israel.’ In his other letters, he describes the gospel as one that is ‘by grace through faith,’ and ‘not through words so that no man can boast.’ (Ephesians 2) This gospel was hard to take, and still is. It is there in the hope of Israel we find offence. Today, this same message divides people. Philippians 1:27-29, we should expect people to be put off by the message of the gospel. Yet we should also expect that despite this hostility the gospel spreads

Paul’s is working hard, yet it is under God’s hand – Paul’s regular, consistent ministry pattern is to work hard and explain the gospel clearly. Yet it is the sovereign hand of God that is bringing His gospel witnesses to the places they need to go. It has been a three year journey for Paul to get here, a season of trial and hardship, yet we’ve seen God fulfilling what He has promised – the gospel is spreading to the ends of the earth!

As the gospel goes out, it will bear fruit and spread. Despite our feeble language and our timidness, Paul sets a great example for encouraging us to live lives worthy of the gospel

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2 Corinthians 1:3-14 - The God of Comfort

April 29th 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-14

What I Learnt:

This section starts with Paul praising God, despite his present suffering, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." There is never a moment when God is unworthy of our worship - in spite of our present troubles and circumstance, He is always worthy to be praised.

God is the Father of all comfort and compassion - Even human fathers know what it is to have compassion for their children. If we then, being evil, know what it is to show compassion, HOW MUCH MORE is this great God of all compassion able to love us? The bible speaks again and again of the multitude of Gods mercies - they are new morning by morning.

God never causes us purposeless pain. He's renewing us, sanctifying us, making us more like Himself. Like labour pains, there is joy at the end. Pain is always with purpose.

"[God], who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." Just because we aren't trained counselors, doesn't mean we cannot comfort. You only need to know the God who has comforted you! You don't even need to experience what they have, because you HAVE experienced the God who comforts!

Throughout his life, God was teaching Paul to rely on Him. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness... On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."

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The Mission III

22nd April 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 6PM

Preacher: Steve Bates, Elder

Scripture: Acts 18:11-41

What I learnt: 

In Acts 19:11-22, Jesus is magnified! He is magnified through extraordinary miracles, through the magicians own lips, by an evil spirit, by the fear of God, by public confession, by the cooking of the books, and by Jesus Christ triumphant. In this way the word of the LORD spread widely and grew in power (v20)  

Idolatry: Man can only make what is lesser than him - the most sophisticated creations man has made is still less than him. From the temple to an iPhone, they're all less than the men and women who have designed them. Can then man make a god greater than him to worship?

[sermonsof2012]

2 Corinthians 1:1-2

April 22nd 2012

Engadine Congregational Church 10AM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: Acts 18:1-11, 2 Corinthians 1:1-2

What I learnt:

“Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.” Paul is Gods messenger by the will of God, transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Risen Christ appeared to Paul, not to put him to shame for all his sin, but in order to save and rescue him, to reveal to him that with all his religious zeal and righteousness, he was still blind and dead and deaf to the Messiahs gospel. This shows us that it's not about how clever you are, or how much you can memorize and recite about Jesus. Paul could do all this, yet he was blind and had to be revealed the truth. The gospel is a revealed truth – this revealing is a work of Gods spirit, and the change occurs by the gospel in the LORD Himself. What changes a man, what brings him from death to life, is the gospel. 

“By the will of God.”Paul is reminding the church at Corinth, and us, that the authority in which he speaks is not of himself, but from the will of God. Because he is an apostle, 2 Corinthians is part of the inherent word of God, written under the inspiration of the holy spirit, and it has been handed down to us so we might know what to believe and how to live. The word is timeless, unchanged truth in a changing world.

“To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia.”  For all the wickedness and immorality in Corinth, there's a church of Jesus Christ. They are a community of men and women whose lives were changed by the teaching and preaching of the gospel. In Acts 20:28, Luke records that God purchased His church with the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. In Corinth, there were men and women in the darkest of places that were purchased by Jesus. We must remember that church belongs to God, and He bought every member of it with the blood of His Son. In Christ there is no private ownership. If you're a Christian you own nothing. You are a steward of Gods good gifts. Why be so busy building our own kingdom when it doesn't belong to us?

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ.”God has come as the Lamb of God to atone for our sin that we might know His grace and His peace. We deserve eternal death - we were enemies of the gospel and God, but the grace of God comes into the darkness of Corinth and our hearts, and speaks with an inerrant power that can transform lives. Paul reminds us that grace and peace can make the hardest of people turn to God. If there are not people yet to be converted, what are we doing here? If we don't believe that God is somehow, someday going to gather even the most unlikely people, we will not work in faith and sow the seeds!

[sermonsof2012]

Burning Hearts

Easter Sunday, April 8th 2012

Engadine Congregational Church, 6PM

Preacher: Matthew Murray

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

What I Learnt:

These two men had built their lives around the person and work of Christ. There's no doubt about their affections, about their reason for living - they were following Jesus the Messiah, structuring their lives around Him, His truth, and His teaching. They believed He was the messiah, seeing Him perform miracles and teach truth with such authority. The reason they were downcast and lost hope is that they had failed to believe, just like the women, the very word of God that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus ministers, pastors, and counsels to them. He doesn't come alongside them and suddenly open their eyes, but rather their eyes were kept from instantly recognizing Jesus. Jesus was determined to restore their joy and confidence not with a click of His fingers but by showing them, leading them, and teaching them the word of God, taking them all the way back and showing them the truths about Himself in the scriptures so their attention is given to it and their faith is restored and their confidence is put in what God says. Here is a wonderful example of Jesus coming alongside His people and encouraging them in the word of God 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to say at the end of our daily bible reading or church service, "wasn't my heart burning within me?"

[sermonsof2012]

The Resurrection

Easter Sunday, 8th April 2012

Preacher: Matthew Murray, Senior Pastor

Scripture: Luke 24:1:12

What I Learnt:

If this were a made up story, all of the original disciples and all of these women initially in contact with the events of the resurrection, what would they all do? They would all immediately believe, and have no doubts whatsoever. There would be no questions; rather, instantaneous worship. This is a reminder that this is historical fact - the gospel is an honest account.

The angels explain to the women that they will not be able to understand these events apart from the words of Jesus. That's true for us - we can't truly understand life apart from the words of God. The world doesn't have the answers; the bible does. God loves us enough to tell us what were like - utterly sinful, and in need of forgiveness. We are to read our lives through the light of the word of God. The resurrection has practical implications for here and now. We cannot understand ourselves, or our world, apart from the truth of God. Those words are life giving, life transforming, faith producing words. What the angel is saying to these women is that if you are to respond to the resurrection in the right way, remember Jesus' words. Once the remembered, they couldn't get back quick enough to tell the others

  It is the words of scripture that sustain us as Christians day by day. Jesus wants us to take seriously His words, and be transformed by them now. The women who loved Jesus were going back to the grave to properly anoint Jesus - they'd forgotten that Jesus said He would rise. In Mark 16:3, we see that the women discussed the fact that they may not be able to roll the stone away, indicating that though they had a love and affection for Jesus, whatever else motivated those women to go to the tomb was based in their unbelief, because they were fully expecting to find Jesus in the tomb in spite of all He'd said. The angels exort, ‘remember how He told you…” The women had forgotten words of Jesus: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise." The Angel’s question, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He is risen.’ The exhortation is simply this: remember Jesus words. Our Iives are best interpreted through the word of God. We must believe the word of God - this is the way we grow in our Christian lives

The resurrection is the root of our hope because it is the ground for our assurance for the forgiveness of sin. God is publicly declaring that He is accepting the one and only sacrifice for my sin, and by raising Him again from the dead He is saying, now you have been forgiven and are accepted to me because of Him

The Resurrection also reminds us we love, serve, and worship a living Saviour. He has risen; we too shall rise. Romans 8:13 says that the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee of our resurrection. It all comes back to trusting what Jesus said. "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13)

[sermonsof2012]

The Dispute

April 1st 2012

Engadine Congregational Church, 6PM

Preacher: Matthew Murray, Senior Pastor

Scripture: Acts 15:1-35

What I learnt:

-       The gospel is a gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The Jewish leaders were adding to the gospel, saying ‘unless you are circumcised and follow the Law of Moses, you cannot be saved,’essentially saying salvation is Christ plus (circumcision).

-       Yet in Christ there is neither Jew nor gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, because we're all one in Christ Jesus. Because we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, we are in the same identical relationship with Christ, whether we are a Jew or a gentile – “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”