"Luke" Tagged Sermons
The Rejected God
The story of the crowded inn and the stable has always sat squarely in the middle of the Christmas narrative. We have this picture of Joseph scouring the streets of Bethlehem for a hotel only to find “No Vacancy” signs everywhere. But the reality is that it wouldn’t have been like this at all. Our cliched picture of Christmas has hidden from us another scandal… a scandal that changes everything.
Stumbling Stone
Most of us know what it is like to have our minds blown by a revelation about someone that completely changes our perception of them. Well this happened for the leaders of Israel when Jesus told a simple yet shocking story to them. They went from sceptics who were happy to tolerate Him to planning His murder. This morning Pastor Joe looks at what Jesus said that was so shocking that it brought about this anger and we examine whether…
God of the Outsiders
In each social circle in which we move we can very quickly determine who are the in-crowd and who are the not-so-in-crowd. The reality is that some people find themselves on the outside fringes of society never really fitting in with the cultural elites of their day. Maybe you feel like this? Well if you do then there is some wonderful news for you in the message of Christmas. At Christmas we can’t hide from the fact that God sent…
Christmas sets us Free
Back at the start of chapter 1 of Luke and that start of our journey to understand the impact of the Christmas story on the lives of people at the time we met an old forgotten priest named Zechariah. He was depressed and isolated but God grabbed a hold of his life and promised him that his prayers (and the prayers of the nation) would be answered. The last words Zechariah spoke before being struck silent were words of unbelief……
God of the Impossible
Some people will say that God is pretty irrelevant to their lives. He might mean something to the guys with white collars and robes sitting in stained-glass churches… but what does God have to do with an average punter like me? Well as we continue to follow the story of Christmas, trying to look below the surface to discover something new, we see that God starts His Christmas stories not with the high and mighty but with the lowly and…
Darren Dakers: Fishers of Men
Sometimes the task of reaching our unsaved family and friends with the gospel can seem impossible and it is easy for us to slip into hopeless inaction when it comes to our attempts at sharing Jesus. This morning guest speaker Darren Dakers from Ashgrove Baptist reminds that Jesus is the God of the impossible and His desire is to use us for this very purpose. Following Him will mean being put in a place where there is an abundance of…
Jesus: Captivator of Hearts
As we finish our series on the life of Jesus we come across an amazing encounter between Jesus and two of His disciples. They walk on a road with heavy hearts from the fact their hopes were shattered by Jesus’ death, but as Jesus walks with them and gently teaches them something amazing happens. At the end of this encounter the heavy-hearted disciples end up with a renewed passion that challenges where our own hearts are at.
Jesus: Defeater of Death
We saw on Friday that Jesus suffered the greatest act of injustice ever perpetrated against an individual resulting in His death in our place. Well His body was taken and placed in a tomb for burial. Sometimes we feel as though our lives are a bit like Jesus’ friends… trapped in a small room and burning with gut-wrenching hopelessness about where we are at. Well as the sun rose that Sunday morning everything changed… for the disciples and us!
Jesus: Sufferer of Injustice (Good Friday)
In our society our sense of injustice is incredibly finely tuned. When we are wronged, even in the smallest of ways, we are quick to respond with shock, anger and emotion. We have seen just how radical Jesus’ life has been. He has sought out the lost, welcomed in the sinners, healed the sick and overcome evil; Jesus was the most amazing man who ever lived. And yet the religious leaders of His day hated Him and conspired to kill…
Jesus: Lover of the Lost
We have seen how Jesus demolished the religiosity of the Pharisees and how He is the One with true authority and victory over evil. This week we hear about Jesus’ heart for the lost. In one of His most famous parables, Jesus tells the story of two sons… one rebellious and destructive the other obedient and hard working. As we look at how each son responds to the father we learn so much about how people in this world respond to God.
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