Sermons

This sermon is a response to a request to summarise the Christian worldview and to indicate how this shapes our approach to life and its issues.

A Christian Worldview in a Nutshell: Creation to New Creation

Can Christianity only be environmentally responsible by jettisoning a significant part of Scripture?

Christians and the Environment

There is no greater way to wisdom and understanding the Christian worldview than through the door that swings open at the foot of the cross.

Opening the Door to a Christian Worldview

There is contrast, yet also significant continuity between the conquering Creator-King and the conquering creature-king.

Genesis 1. Putting People in their Place 

What did it mean for man to be put in the Garden “to work and guard” it? What is the significance of the man-woman relationship?

Genesis 2. The Gardener, the Guardian and the Girl

This sermon considers the FALLacy adopted by the man and the woman in the Garden, the nature of the consequent FALL and the continuing FALL-out.

Genesis 3. The Bigger they Come the Harder they Fall

This passage illustrates the dangers of wrongly-based human unity and cooperation.

Genesis 10-11:9. Faulty Tower

God’s foundational promises to Abraham involve an immediate contrast with the Tower of Babel incident and find their ultimate fulfilment in Christ.

Genesis 12:1-4. Great Expectations

The story of Abram and Lot is told in a manner which anticipates the later experience of Israel. The hankering of Lot after Egypt, his foolish associations with wicked people and his rescue by Abram all point ahead to the similarly cravings, folly and experience of grace with respect to later Israel.

Genesis 13-14. A Short Goodbye

In this chapter we see Abram “out for the count” in two different ways - (1) out to count the stars and (2) fast asleep. In both cases the underlying issue concerns Abram’s need to fully trust God as the one alone who controls the future.

Genesis 15. Out for the Count

Abraham lived in a world of threat and he had developed his own security system for dealing with this - passing off his stunning wife as his sister. But, ultimately, we, like Abraham, cannot place our trust in our security measures, no matter how clever or appropriate they may be.

Genesis 20-21. Sister Act 2

How are we to understand God’s demand that Abraham sacrifice his son?

Genesis 22. Killing the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg

Isaac needs a wife if the Abrahamic promise is to be fulfilled through Isaac. But he must not compromise. Humanly speaking, this seems to make it harder for God’s promise to be fulfilled. But God wonderfully provides and abundantly demonstrates his ability to fulfil his promises.

Genesis 24. Match Making

An analysis of the fourth command and the first observance of Sabbath by God’s people in Exodus 16 uncovers a foundational concern that God’s people know God as he has revealed himself to be, namely as Yahweh, the great I AM. The Sabbath celebrates God’s rest and dignifies and exalts God’s people, inviting them to enter his rest. It is in fact the nature of this self-revelation which predetermines the way in which Sabbath-rest is to be experienced. The supreme self-revelation of the great I AM in the LORD of the Sabbath, the Lord Jesus, radically updates this self-revelation and thereby also radically transforms the way in which Sabbath-rest is experienced.

Exodus 20:8-10. Time to Put Your Feet Up? Sabbath Rest for Today

The Shema, in its context, establishes that it is Love for God that leads to the Heart-Obedience which in turn leads to Ultimate Fulfilment.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9. Love that Takes the Lot

God’s people are about to enter the promised land with a propensity for idolatry, hence the warnings they must heed and the drastic measures they must take.

Deuteronomy 12. Don’t be a Copycat!

Hannah, distressed by her infertility, was a desperate woman. Yet her infertility serves to underscore the colossal significance of the birth of Samuel who stands in contrast to Samson and Eli.

1 Samuel 1. Desperate Housewife

God humbles the proud and exalts the humble, that’s the gist of Hannah’s influential prayer. Humility, as modeled by Hannah, DELIGHTS in God, DEPENDS on God and DRAWS ATTENTION to God.

1 Samuel 2:1-11. The Great Reversal

God’s people are rebuked and issued with dire warnings when they ask for a king. Yet there was nothing wrong with asking for a king as such. Rather it was the motivation behind their request which made it so abhorrent. When it comes to our own trust in the Lord’s ability to care for us we face similar dangers.

1 Samuel 8. Safety First

This passage is concerned with the inception of kingship for God’s people and makes it clear where ultimate authority lies.

1 Samuel 9:1-10:16. Who is the Big Shot?

David needed to learn the hard way that God’s Presence is not to be taken for granted.

2 Samuel 6 - Don’t Take God for Granted (PDF)

Psalm 1 is a major passage in Scripture because of the key role it plays in introducing the entire book of Psalms. In a fundamental manner it cuts to the heart of the essential difference between those God regards as the righteous and those he regards as the wicked.

Psalm 1 - A one track mind

This psalm combines with Psalm 1 to introduce the entire Psalter. It particularly introduces the theme of kingship. It involves a conspiracy, a crackdown and a choice.

Psalm 2 - People are Revolting! (PDF)

This psalm indicates that though we are seemingly insignificant entities in this vast universe, our great Creator has chosen to exercise his rule over the created order through puny people like us.

Psalm 8 - Big Babies (PDF)

In considering the revelation of God’s glory as Creator in the day and night skies or heavens, David focuses on the glory of the sun and then presents a total eclipse.

Psalm 19: Total Eclipse

This psalm considers the threat to God’s people, underscores that their security is guaranteed, that God himself is committed to securing their ultimate safety, that the intelligence service he uses to effect our security is second to none, that opposing peoples suffer from national insecurity and that the foundation of the security of God’s people consists in God’s unfailing love.

Psalm 33 - A Matter of National Security (PDF)

This psalm reveals how

1. Disaster Dazes Dirty David:
2. Desperation Drives Dirty David;
3. Disgust Demoralises Dirty David;
4. Dedication Delights Dirty David.

Psalm 51 - Dirty David Comes Clean (PDF)

Jesus is the right leader for his people and for the entire world and the consummated reign of Jesus is the key to world blessing. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Psalm 72 - The Leading Man (PDF)

This psalm explains why there is nothing we should yearn for more than to be in the presence of God.

Psalm 84 - Travel Plans (PDF)

The fruit God seeks in the community of his people is that of right relationships.

Isaiah 5 - Sour Grapes? (PDF)

This magnificent chapter moves from one polar extreme to the other. It begins with Isaiah seeing, hearing, understanding and being healed. The chapter ends with people unseeing, unhearing, incapable of understanding and unhealed.

Isaiah 6 - Sense and Insensibility (PDF)

The hope of the world is the justice brought by the great Servant of God. This is a justice grounded in Torah. But there is a contrast between this faithful Servant-King and the blind and deaf Servant People of God. There is a challenge here to pay careful attention to God.

Isaiah 42 - Law, Light and Liberty (PDF)

Contrary to popular Christian thought, in the Bible idolatry is not primarily concerned with misplaced devotion but with a false experience of and approach to “revelation”.

Hosea 4:10-14. Culpable Ignorance

This great passage presents Jesus as the Champion of Justice, with contextual indications as to what this justice involves.

Matthew 12:15-21 - The Name of Hope (PDF)

Jesus is presented as the Prophet of Grace and, therefore, he comes not to pander to people out of a sense of obligation but to minister to desperate people who long to experience God’s grace and mercy.

Luke 4:14-30. Charity Begins at Home?

A brief reflection on the significance of Jesus’ words as stated in verse 15: “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”

Luke 22:7-23 - A Meal to Remember (PDF)

God is the perfect, uncomplaining host. Jesus uses this parable in an amusing manner to show that God gives to his children not out of obligation, but as our loving and generous heavenly Father. In particular his gift of the Spirit constitutes a substantial answer to each of the requests we voice in the so-called Lord’s Prayer.

Luke 11:1-13. The Parable of the Complaining Host

Luke’s presentation of what happened at Pentecost encourages us to associate baptism with the Spirit with power, beginnings, language ministries and harvest time.

Acts 2:1-13. Baptism with the Spirit

The magnetic force of the early Christian commitment is explained by four areas of devotion: to the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer.

Acts 2:42-47. The Whirlpool Effect

The early Christian community was characterised by a compulsion to talk, courage to talk and a sense of being called to talk about Jesus.

Acts 4:23-37. Commitment to a Switched-On Community

In this passage Paul, drawing profoundly on Ezekiel 33-36, urges church leaders to be faithful sentinels. He presents himself as a model sentinel, emphasising the value system which makes him willing to lay down his own life for God’s sheep.

Acts 20:17-35 - On Guard (PDF)

In 1 Corinthians Paul uses the doctrine of resurrection to define essential Christian faith, to treat the human body with dignity and in a manner that honours God and to combat false views of spirituality.

Body Parts? The Relevance of Resurrection (1 Corinthians)

This passage teaches Christians how to get rich and have even more to invest. It reassures them that they are investing in a bullish share market and that they will receive rich dividends.

2 Corinthians 9. How to Become a Rich Christian

Galatians 2 presents two contrasting situations: what happened when Paul took a Gentile, Titus, to Jerusalem and what happened when the Jewish leader, Peter, went to Antioch.

Galatians 2. When in Rome Do What the Romans Do?

Paul publicly rebukes Peter for adopting an improper approach to cross-cultural and cross-ethnic relations.

Galatians 2:11-21. A Blast from the Past

Paul commends the members of this young church for their vibrant faith, hope and love as expressed in their turning from idols, their expectation of Jesus’ return and their commitment to serving the living and true God. In particular, the vitality and resilience of these Christians is due to their imitation of faithfulness in the midst of suffering.

 1 Thessalonians 1. Copy That!

“Work” is a strong motif in 1 Thessalonians. The “work of faith”, “labour of love” and “endurance of hope” find abundant expression in the hard work of Paul to communicate the gospel, notwithstanding the hard work of others to stop him from doing so. Further, God’s Word itself does a profound work in the lives of those who accept it as such.

 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16. The Work Force

Right living is all about living to please God and be good witnesses for him, to live as those who belong to God. Of first importance here is the need to avoid sexual immorality, remembering that to step over the line in this area of our lives is to invite God’s judgment.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12. Sex in the City 

This passage profoundly compares and contrasts Jesus’ return with the Lord’s descent on Mount Sinai.

 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Time to Wake Up!

A sequence of foundational historical events has transformed the lives of God’s people. We are now preparing ourselves to see the very One who played the central role in those monumental past events.

1 Peter 1: Life-Changing Events