Luke 8:7

Never in the history of mankind have we ever been able to achieve more in in a single 24 hour day than we do in the age in which we live.  What previous generations would have taken a week to accomplish, we can accomplish in mere hours.  Yet, though man has much time free, he has no time free, for the time he would have free he fills with the pursuit of obtaining more.  With the more come much anxiety!!

Anxiety is a foe of any man but in particular it is a foe of the Christian which if embraced will render one’s life unfruitful and barren!  This sermon looks at the parable of the sower and in particular the application of the parable as it relates the peril of anxiety.  A strong exhortation is given via a very practical message that we as Christians might break through in the area of faith and prayer to lay hold on the peace of God in the midst of the temptation to worry.

Hebrews 12:1-13

Is there any among you that is without the pain and sorrow that accompany trials and afflictions?  What is your response when such trials and afflictions come to press you out of measure?  For many, their immediate response is why me?  If God loves me, why would He allow such affliction to come into my life?  Oh!  Dear Brethren, don’t tarry long in conversation with that old serpent; well our Lord did say of him “he is a liar, and the father of it” (Jn. 8:44).  Nay, in such moments of doubt, we must bring underneath that sinking sand, the sure foundation of God’s Word which cries aloud; it’s because God loves me why he allows trials and afflictions to come into my life!!

In this sermon, three key aspects of God’s chastening are brought out.  Firstly, God chastens His children in retributive disciple in order that they might turn back to Him.  Secondly, God chastens His children in corrective discipline that they might resemble more His image and character.  Thirdly, God chastens His children in preventative discipline lest we should turn aside out of the way.  The overriding message coming through in each case is the same…whom God loves He chastens!!

1 Kings 17:1-16

We are living in incredibly difficult times and difficult times call for times of encouragement!! Biblical encouragement is not airy fairy sentimentalism but rather is rooted and grounded on the steadfast faithfulness of a God who is able to sustain and provide for His people in times of great need!! You don’t need me to tell you that we are living in times of great famine. The preaching and teaching of truth is seldom to be heard in our land. Yet…the same God who was able to keep His people in the wilderness for 40 years, providing them fresh manna morning by morning is able to also feed His people! The same God who commanded the ravens to feed His faithful servant Elijah is the same God who will also feed us in the time of famine!!

This sermon is an exhortation to God’s Saints and a testimonial to the faithful mercies of a covenant keeping God who though He leads us into the wilderness, is able to sustain His beloved children.

1 Corinthians 11:24-26

The great and fundamental weakness of our make-up is that we are human – prone to discouragement, fears and doubts; afflicted with short-sightedness, so often powerless to change tomorrow!  Yet, there is One who has never known defeat nor tasted of failure, One who is never worried by tomorrow for He is Lord of the past, present and future!  To you who have tasted of the kindness of His mercies and have known and experienced His covenant keeping faithfulness in times of trouble, why so often in times of difficulty do you so soon forget His past deliverances?

Thus this sermon is a word of encouragement to all who have a testimony, to raise up memorials unto the Lord!!  Dear Brethren, a memorial serves a purpose – it is something by which the memory of a person or an event is kept alive!  God’s past mercies serve as a ground of hope and confidence for the present and future and the memorial brings those past deliverances to remembrance!!

2 Corinthians 11:2

Before ever there was the bond of parent and child, of brother and sister, there was the bond of husband and wife.  There exists no closer and more sacred a bond than that of holy matrimony.  In like manner, there is then no greater act of treachery and betrayal than when a spouse takes themselves and joins themselves to another lover. 

This sermon sheds Biblical light on spiritual adultery.  Drawing from the example of Israel, one sees the broken heart of a loving husband who is jealous for His bride.  He it was that betrothed her to Himself when no none else desired her; He it was that caused her to flourish in beauty, yet with that beauty she took herself and committed whoredom on every high hill and under every green tree, committing spiritual adultery with gods of stone and wood, alliancing herself with the kings of other nations.  Yet, this is not only the picture of an Old Testament Israel; sadly it is the picture of many who profess Jesus Christ whose hearts are in this world!  Paul said to the Corinthian Church, “...I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:  for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2).  When will His bride return?

1 John 3:18-24

Many who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour struggle with finding assurance of their salvation.  Though they sit week in and week out in Churches up and down the length and breadth of the country, there remains a question that will not go away; am I truly saved?  In answering this question, this sermon seeks not to crop the branches but to lay the axe at the root by exploring the question, what is true biblical faith?  Many have the fanciful idea that faith is static, a mental ascent to a series of facts that they know nothing of in reality in their own lives.  My brethren, faith walks!! 

The apostle John his first epistle, furnishes us with weighty words which address the struggle that so many have in finding assurance of their salvation.  “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” (1 Jn 3:18-19).  In other words, assurance and obedience are inextricably linked!!  We shall know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before God on account of fruit being evidenced and outworked in our lives by the indwelling Holy Spirit as we walk in obedience!!  Could it be, the reason why so many Christians struggle with assurance of their salvation is because so many Christians walk in unbelief which manifests itself in disobedient lives?  May the Lord see fit to bring light to the matter at hand!! 

Luke 12:47-48

For the Christian, their testimony is simple; light has shone into darkness!  Yet for many, though they name the name of Christ, they choose wilfully to remain in darkness and plead ignorance is bliss!  Whilst happy to rest in religion, they will not come to the light lest their evil deeds should be exposed.  For those sitting under the sound of true preaching, no such excuse can be made; the light of God Word has shone into darkness and one must now choose what to do with that light, to embrace it or to suppress it!!

This sermon is an earnest plea for all who have received light, to walk in the knowledge of that light, for to whom much is given, much is required and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.  Dear soul, with the light that has already been given to you, to what degree are you walking in that light?

2 Corinthians 9

For many Christians, there is much confusion and scepticism surrounding the issue of money; as soon as one hears the word, the backs of God’s people go up and rightly so!!  There are it seems more crooks and charlatans inside the professing Church than there are in any institute on planet earth – the majority of which have disguised themselves as pastors whose vocation it is to milk and fleece the sheep for whom Christ died!!  This combined with the false prosperity gospel of greed and the Old Testament law of tithing, the topic of money has left an indelible blight on the Church of Jesus Christ!!  Yet in the midst of this great confusion speaks a man by the name of Apostle Paul; a breath of fresh air amidst a cloud of pollution!!  Paul coveted no man’s silver, freely he had received and freely he gave his life to serve and minster to the Brethren, working with his with own hands night and  day to provide for his own needs that he might not be chargeable to the Brethren.

What does the New Testament have to say about tithing?  How are we to give as New Testament believers?  Is it right for ministers who labour in the gospel to receive support from the Church?  All of these questions and more are answered from the Word of God in this teaching sermon.  In short, despite the much abuse of money, there is a New Testament giving worthy of God’s blessing, a fruit and grace to which all believers ought to strive!! 

Matthew 6:5-13

Well the words of a hymn serve to capture the essence of the burden of this sermon; “Sweet hour of prayer!  Sweet hour of prayer!  That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known.  In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempters snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!”  It seems that the Saints of old knew something that so many of us now know so little of as it relates to a life of prayer!  Never have we been so prosperous and well off as we are in this century, yet for all our prosperity it seems that more Christians than ever are suffering from anxiety, depression and burn-out.

This sermon is a passionate plea for God’s people to return to a quiet time with the Lord, a time set aside for uninterrupted fellowship with God.  A place where we our Saviour meet in the wonder and awe of an open Bible and prayer!!    

Matthew 12:18-21

There along the lush green banks of the river Jordan, hugging its meandering paths lie scores of reeds; their long slender stems and firm brush-like heads project above the water’s surface, swaying to and fro in the wind.  These delicate plants, so prone to bruising, oftentimes lay bent over, its heavy head drooping, the shattered stems no longer able to support the weight.  There are many such bruised reeds both inside and outside the Church.  In the natural, a bruised reed was good for nothing and spelt its end!   

In this sermon hope is brought to the listener in the person of the Servant of Isaiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  He it is the prophet foretold, would come for the brokenhearted, to give them beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for the mourning.  He it is, the good Shepherd of the sheep, binding up the broken, strengthening the sick and carrying the lame on His shoulders!!  Be encouraged dear Saint...A bruised reed shall He not break!!