CV Community Church

As we make our way through the patriarchs, looking forward to this promised son from Genesis 3, we come to the life and time of Abraham. In the story of Abraham, we get an even clearer picture of how it is that God has been saving people from the beginning. Sadly, at this time many, if not the whole world, had turned their back again on God, building the tower of Babel, as an affront against God’s command to go and multiply and subdue the earth, but also to make a name for themselves. In the chaos, God calls Abraham to follow after Him, to go to a land that is not his homeland and to establish himself there as God being his God in that place. From here we will see that Abraham was not a perfect man but he was a man who was growing in faith, and at a pivotal time in his life when he believed that God would give him a son, even though he and his wife were well over childbearing age. God credited his faith as righteousness. And by those few short words, God is showing that Abraham was completely forgiven, as was Abel, Seth and his line, even Noah, all those who placed their faith in God, trusting Him, they are forgiven. What a wonder! What a glory! How clear God has been in how He was treating people who come to Him in faith.

At the time of Noah, there was violence all over the Earth. The intention of the human heart was evil continually, and God was grieved, even regretted that He had made mankind because of the great evil that was all over the world. So, God, as divine judge, decides that He would put a stop to it. He picks one family of all the families of the world to save and bring to the other end of that judgment, and that is Noah and his family. He chose Noah because he was a faithful and upright man of integrity who walked faithfully with God, the only one it seems. So, God commissions him to build an ark, and as the story goes, he makes it through the flood, the rest was swept away. As he and his family hop off the ark, Noah soon finds himself in trouble, getting shamefully drunk and being naked before his sons. And we see that sin has followed Noah and his family off the ark and still continues to this day. By this, we understand that even the righteous Noah needed a saviour, and that saviour is Jesus. In today’s sermon, we look at how having intimate relational faith with God is something that is necessary for us to be saved and to properly hold on to Jesus while all the time knowing that it is by God’s love and His forgiveness that we too will pass through the final judgment and into heaven to be with Him in love forever.

Today, we will take an exciting look at Cain and Abel and even ask why there is a genealogy of Seth, the third born from Eve. As we go through Genesis 4 and 5, we quickly come to realize that God has been saving people in the same way from the very beginning of Creation. Abel was saved not because of the quality of his sacrifice but the heart of faith that was behind it. Also, Cain did not offer his offering in faith and so God did not accept it. When Cain became angry and his face downcast, God actually asked him to follow the Law by ruling over sin in his own heart. Even here at the beginning of the Bible, we see two separate ways to come to God. One is through faith, which was Abel, the other is by ruling over sin. We also learn that Cain failed in that approach that no one can come to God on our own obedience. And so, he given over by sin, kills his brother, the righteous Abel. A sad story but one that preaches God’s mercy, love and forgiveness to all who come to Him by placing their faith in Him, not just lip service but genuine heartfelt relationship, that is what God wants and that is what God blesses.

We look around this world and humanity cannot help to think that there is something off, and in the account of Genesis, we see that we are not wrong. From the beginning, God made a very good creation – it was peaceful, there was no sickness, no death, no depression, but sadly, there was a fault in the system, that was the inclination to fall when humanity was exposed to deception and evil. And so Creation, through the serpent, has fallen into utter devastation, because men could not uphold one simple task – do not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We would think that after this failure, this rebellion against God, that God would just give up on us, but the opposite is true. The moment that Adam fell from God’s loving grace, God made a promise to Adam that He, through Eve, would save us. And by trusting in Him and waiting patiently, God has done that in the sending of His own son, Jesus, who will soon restore Creation back to its order and bring us into loving relationship with God again, cleansing of our sins, giving us eternal life that the serpent stole.

In our last sermon in Romans, Paul is going to give us living illustrations of those who are doing the very sacrificing for their God that he had described earlier. These heroes of the faith that through great love are giving all that they can to see the gospel go out to all corners of the earth, but also to upbuild, encourage and support one another in the church. We hope to draw form the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus by looking to those who have gone before us, using them as models of the faith, not to feel discouraged, but to work all the more and give all the more of whatever gift and capacity God has given us, in order that we too can take our stand for the Lord Jesus, for our God and the love that we have for one another in the church.

As we were told in last week’s sermon if we are followers of Christ we are ‘On Duty’ for him. We have a job to do. We are to go and make disciples in the World. Telling others about this hope that we have in Jesus so that they may be saved too. What does that look like in practice? How do we move from recognising that we are on duty and have a job to do to actually getting started?God has had a plan from the very beginning to the very end. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Our God has great plans.In Romans 15:22-33 Paul tells us he has done all he can where he is and he shares his plans and even his hopes for the future. He is looking at what is next to do in his work for the Lord. If our God has such great plans for the future and Godly men like Paul did well to plan ahead, we should consider the value of planning ahead in our work for God too. It will be different for all of us. As we read back in Romans 12:6-8 we are all given different gifts and we form one body, the body of Christ. Planning shows a readiness, and it shows submission to his will for your life. It is saying – I am ready to get to work God, this is the plan. The plans we have for the Lord must always be subject to his authority and alteration. We must always trust that God has the wisdom and knowledge to lead you through this voyage. There could be dangers ahead that we cannot foresee but we must trust God wholeheartedly. “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” – Proverbs 16:9 You are the Captain of your ship, go set a course with Christ as your Admiral and if you need to, set sail out of the safety of that harbour!

In Romans 15, the apostle Paul is beginning to close his letter to the church in Rome. To do this, he puts the church on duty, confessing to them that they are full of goodness, that they are able to teach one another these things that he has spoken of. He also admits that he wrote this letter to be a reminder of the things that they have already known that he would have taught when he was there face to face. This is a great encouragement to know that as a church, we too, can have confidence of our goodness and striving to be in relationship with God and one another. And in that striving, we are to encourage, uplift and upbuild one another. Paul also goes on to speak about his specific ministry, that is to go and preach Jesus all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and that does cause us to think what is our role and our duty – our service to our Lord Jesus in His church. There is a humble place there for us to consider where we can take our stand for the Lord in His church. May this be a blessing.

After our devotional series on Holiness at church camp this week, we take a look at Proverbs 30:1-5, where the writer Agur speaks of his struggles. Feeling so tired, barely feeling human. Feeling like he cannot measure up to God’s call for us to be holy in his own strength, he wisely turns his focus to God. He asks 4 questions which point us straight to our Holy creator and then there is a 5th question… What is the name of God’s Son…. Although this was written about 900 years before Jesus was born, the writer points us straight to God’s permanent solution to sin and the only way for us to be made holy in his sight. This is through faith in Christ Jesus.Agur then goes on to encourage us with this truth: Verse 5 Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. This scripture points us to Psalm 18:30-45 where we see King David, a godly man reflecting God’s holiness in his life. David was a man who took refuge in the Lord and was shielded from his enemies, and God rewarded this by crushing his enemies and making him the head of nations. (Vs 37-46). Are you happy to succumb to the disappointments in life, or the tiredness, or even settle for mediocrity? There is an exciting life to be had in Christ! Let us pursue Gods command to be holy and reflect Him in our lives. Let us choose salvation through Jesus then as David did with his life… Trust in the flawless word of the Lord and seek refuge in Him.

In the Old Testament, the people of God were known externally by following God’s laws. This is how they were set apart from the other nations and showed that they belong to the God of Israel. Today, Christians do not have a set of laws or regulations that define us but, as Paul would say, we are a people who are defined by our love, especially our love for one another. This is the guiding light, the salt of the earth, a city on the hill, and how we show that we belong to the God of Israel.In this sermon, we will be challenged to look to the example of Christ Jesus – how He has come and humbled Himself, becoming like one of us, to live a sin free live and die a death as though He were a sinner, in order to pay for our sins and so we in turn live a life of sacrificial love for one another. We use Jesus as our great example as He is the greatest example of God. May this sermon be a blessing to you.

Previously the apostle Paul shared with us that love is the key to Christian discipleship and as Christians we are to live under the law of love. After this, he urged us to awake and go now to live for Jesus. This week, Paul is going to share with us one of the first stumbling blocks to love, and that is when people from many different tribes, tongues and nations come together in the church under Christ, we can bring all of our differences, but we are not to allow those differences to separate us. Instead, we are to continue to love one another as we would love ourselves. Thus, as far as it concerns us, we must do everything we can to live in peace and genuinely care for one another’s needs. Paul would even go as far as to say that if there is something that he knows is lawful and good for him to do but it may hurt another Christian to do it in front of them, such as eating meat sacrificed to idols, he would not eat it, because for him it is more important to care about his brother or sister than it is for him to eat a bit of food. This certainly goes both ways. The warning that Paul gives us is that we are careful not to turn these secondary differences into things that would divide us or put one Christian lower than another, but that it is Jesus who is our final authority and judge, we are not each other’s judges. And so, we must honour them and love them. Yet, Paul is not saying that we should be people-pleasers – do not let anyone speak evil of what you know to be good. This also means that as much as we would do everything we can to accommodate someone else, we cannot allow them to dictate over us things that are secondary. This is how, as one big community with all its difference, we can continue to walk in love because love is the key. Do not let anything stop us as we awake and go and live a life for Jesus together as a church community.

Last week we learned that love is the key, this is the way by which the Christians live their lives. This week, Paul would challenge us to “awake and go”, to leave off the deeds of darkness and to clothe ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ, to put on the armour of light. We have come to understand that we are now children of God, we are to live for God, we are to love Him and love others around us. Paul would urge us on this week to really think about letting go of the things in this world that are unprofitable, that are sinful even. And so we take heed of the Spirit’s warning, we get up and we go as the sermon title suggests – awake and go, live for Jesus, love for Jesus. In addition, be prepared to carry your cross and deny yourself, letting go of the things in this world that are not of God, for Jesus is coming soon, let us all be ready for that day!

If someone is new to the faith and asks for your advice on what should be their central focus, what would you say? Alternatively, if there is another who has followed Jesus for some time and lost their way, what advice could you give to help them get back on track? In this sermon, we will see that the key is love. For through love, we, as God’s children, fulfill the law and the prophets. It is such a simplistic way in which we can follow the Lord Jesus and live in obedience to God. For in love, we will do our best to show everyone around us, even our enemies, forgiveness, mercies, love, dignity and respect. In this sermon, Paul would urge us on in this most central focus of a Christian. Instead of God giving us a list of rules to follow for the rule’s sake, we are called to love our neighbours as ourselves.And instead of doing such things as reading our bible, spending time in prayer and living our lives in obedience to God but grudgingly, or as an act of legalism, we do them to further understand the love of God and reflect His heart all the more. What a wonderful taste of what it would be like in heaven as we live up to the love that God has called us to!

This week, pastor Carl will preach Romans 13:1-7. In this section, Paul will instruct us how we should live with those who rule over us, be it a government, an emperor or a king. Paul reminds us that we must show respect to whom we should show respect and honour to whom we should honour, that it is God who has placed every position of power in this world as far as governments are concerned. Because they are placed there by God, we as Christians, must honour that placement. We are people of eternal kingdom, soul journers on a journey heavenward, so, we must live carefully and peacefully in this world as we await our true home which is in heaven. Therefore, we respect and honour those in positions of authority over us. We will also see an example of how the prophet Daniel did this very thing, and God honoured his obedience, and the Lord’s name was glorified throughout the world.

Paul presses on in Romans 12 to ask us to go even deeper in our love, even love for our enemies, the poor and the outcast. This, for many, is so difficult, especially those who struggle with unforgiveness or feelings of status, and that being around those of low stature would bring shame to them. We must learn to reflect the heart of our God, becoming children of our Father, and so Paul would call us into this great love, and the way in which we could do it is not by a constant pass and fail understanding of living up to God’s standards, but through renewing our minds, filling our hearts with good and godly things, and seeing that over the long term, we are becoming more and more like the heart of God. Once we understand this, there is so much pressure that is off, and so much freedom to make the right decisions to foster our hearts that is pleasing to the Lord.

Paul has asked us, in view of God’s mercy, to be a living sacrifice. And now, Paul, from Romans 12:6, begins to explain how that looks. He starts by encouraging everyone to use whatever gifts the Holy Spirit has given them to bless the church, to serve God through serving His people in the local church. Then, he moves on to individuals, talking to us and telling us that we must have sincere love for one another, that we must resist evil and live a life that is holy – this is what a disciplined disciple does. Either we pick up our cross and do what Jesus wants us to do in our lives for Him or we go on to autopilot and do our own thing, but Paul’s encouragement to us is this – because of God’s great love for us, we will live a life for Him through Jesus, serving God’s people and being a blessing to communities around us.

It being Easter Sunday, we will ask ourselves why am I a Christian. In this sermon, we will go step by step a few reasons why we have chosen to be followers of Jesus and the hope and confidence that we have in Him. May this be a blessing and an encouragement to you along your journey as you too follow Jesus.

Paul has finished his explanation for why his people Israel are not coming to Jesus. He turns his attention now to the church in Rome, a letter that even to this day is to be used for us to uplift and edify the church. He starts by urging the people of God to look at the mercies of God that we are saved, that we have been drawn and called into a relationship as children of God through Jesus Christ. And in view of those mercies, the urgency is that we would be a living sacrifice, well pleasing to the Lord, a holy people. He calls us to resist the patterns of this evil age and to live for God, doing it in such a way where we do not think pridefully or highly of ourselves, nor do we shun ourselves, but receive the gifts of God in accordance with the measure of faith he has given us, gifts that are to be used in the local church to support one another, to love one another and care for each other. Yes! Our whole life is to be run that honours our God who loves us so much. Paul also encourages us to find our place in the church and help as God directs, being happy with whatever He calls us to, not looking to be more or less than what it is He requires of us. The beautiful miracle that Paul describes in this section, is that once we cleanse ourselves from the evils of this world, we will be freely able to understand and seek out the will of God in our lives. Let us do this together! Let us serve Jesus with the whole heart as God’s children!

We finally come to the end of Romans 11. Here we see that a partial hardening has come over Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes in. That said, we, as God’s people, must show kindness and patience toward the Israelites as we await God to graft them back in as God’s people. And while we wait, we also must keep guard against the same problems that Israel faced at the time of Christ, that is, presuming that we are God’s people by nationality, birth right and presumption, because none of these things save except faith in Christ. And finally, Paul finishes Romans 11 by answering the most difficult question that he faced during his time as an apostle and that is – why has Israel not come to Jesus? He answered in quite an astounding way when he talks about the unsearchable ways of God, that God owes no man anything and that God does as God pleases. In this we can see that we must love and trust God even in the most difficult circumstances, even when it comes to those who are being saved.

Paul, with great love as always for his people asks, did they stumble as to fall beyond recovery? Of course not! But because the Israelites rejected Jesus the rest of the world, who were not even looking have been offered salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.Just like in the parable of the banquet, the original invitees have said no, and you are invited to the banquet of salvation. Have you accepted this invitation through faith in Jesus? Have you accepted it but struggle to let go of the many distractions we have in the world and fully submit your life to Jesus? God loves and has a plan for everyone. Let us not miss out on that plan by prioritising our own desires.God’s plans cannot be changed. He used Israel’s biggest mistake - rejecting their messiah - to bring huge riches to the world. That is, to bring the gentiles – us, into his Kingdom! If we were grafted into this cultivated olive tree as (Paul puts it) successfully, how much more will the Israelites who were broken off be grafted back in again when they recognise Jesus as their messiah.

In this sermon, we will be encouraged that we are loved, chosen and called by God. We will also go on to ask and answer some of the most difficult questions the Bible has to offer as we overview Romans 8-11.

After 70 years of exile, Israel returns home. Their exile was because they had sinned greatly against God. They had rejected Him and His ways and walked out on their covenant that they had with Him. In God’s great love, He has brought them back home. Instead of Israel giving praise and honour to God, they first sort to establish themselves before giving consideration to God. This is a sad harkening back to their original ways that got them into their problems in the first place. So, through Haggai, God speaks and calls the people to build a temple – a place where people can meet each Sabbath to praise Him. It is a place of prayer, a place of unity, a place of love and a connection between the people and God. The people obey and God brings blessing. He also promises that in a future time, the temple will be more glorious than the one that they had built – a temple that would bring peace to the world. And we understand that that temple and that peace is the sending of the Lord Jesus who stood on the steps of the same temple built over 500 years earlier at the command of God through Haggai. Moreover, we as Christians take our place as God’s temple, doing and acting in all the right ways that a temple would – we pray, we love one another, we care for the world, we show respect and give dignity even to those who may not deserve it. We are God’s temple and reflect His goodness and gather together to praise His name. I hope that this sermon is an encouragement and a blessing for you, to live the fullest life that you can, understanding that your identity is in Christ Jesus, that you are a part of God’s family, and you are a holy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

Are you looking for treasure, for truth in your life? You will find it, if you believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved. You can let go of all the other ways you have tried to save yourself in the past and put all your trust in Jesus to save you. Jesus was the only one to fully live up to the law, to fulfill its demands and secure for himself the seat at the right hand of God for himself and for those who believe in Him, salvation, everlasting life with him. Jesus has done the hard work for us, so for us to try and do anything on our own strength for salvation is actually ridiculous and a denial of the weight of what Jesus has done for us. If you found priceless treasure and it had become yours to keep, you would be itching to tell people, right? If you have salvation in Jesus, you have the priceless answer the world needs right now. Jesus is the answer people need. Let us pass on the good news of Jesus to those in our lives who are looking for priceless treasure!

In this section, Paul continues to build on the point that God has mercy on whom He has mercy and even hardens whom He hardens. For so many, this is such a hard thing to read. And honestly you would not expect him to write this way if it was a letter given to the church explaining why Israel has not come to know Jesus. Paul being an apostle and understanding that this is from God, we must draw from it what it is there in the plain reading of the text. Paul’s conclusion, as he goes on through to chapters 10 and 11, is that Israel is experiencing a hardening that is from God, and that ultimately, they will be saved, they will come to Jesus in a mighty way at God’s appointed time. But until then, they have been broken away so that the rest of the world can be placed in Christ. And those numbers reflect today as also. I pray that this sermon will be a blessing for you, not so much to question God’s character as Paul would expect some will, but to trust God that He knows what He is doing, and that we can trust His heart to save more than our own hearts which lead us astray in so many areas of our lives, let alone whether we have made the right choice to follow Jesus or some other religion or nothing at all. I believe God has all things in hand and we can rest in that. Furthermore, Paul gives us a final solution for the dilemmas of “Is God fair?” and “Who can resist His will?”. And the solution is – who are we to try to comprehend the mind of God? That is the answer – God is sovereign. He is in control. He knows all things and His wisdom far surpasses anything we could hope and imagine here. Hence, we rest in the answer that we have been given, trust the Lord Jesus and get on with the job of sharing Him with the world that we know God can change.

Now we land on Romans 9 – Did we choose Jesus? Did God choose us in Jesus? Or is it a mix? Those questions have been the basis of much discussion and even in fighting amongst Christians for two thousand years. Today CVCC is going to try to understand what Paul is saying to the people of God in Rome. We first must acknowledge that Paul is saying this from a place of deep pain. It is not because he is trying to make some theological treaters, but he is saddened that there are people, even his own family, his own race, that have rejected Jesus and therefore will not be going to heaven unless they turn to Him. So, Paul is going to give an account of why this is the case - how Israel has missed such an obvious opportunity to come to their Messiah. In this, we will discuss the nations involved and how Paul is using peoples and nations to illustrate how God has always worked in predestination and election, first in the physical but pointing to a spiritual reality that we, the Christians, are a chosen race and holy nation as according to 2 Peter. This is very difficult for some but a discussion worth having. At the end of the day, we all must walk in love regardless of our differences that are secondary and not a gospel issue.

You may have heard the saying that God would not give you more than you can handle. I disagree with this statement. As we come to the end of Romans 8, we actually see it is the other way around – God will not give us more than He can handle. Paul says that there is now no one and no thing in heaven or on Earth that can condemn us because the blood of Jesus and His glorious resurrection has set us free. Jesus also stands by the right hand of His father at this moment, interceding on behalf of His people, so wherever we do not measure up, when we let God down, Jesus still, to this day and this very moment, is by the Father’s side as a witness and a testimony that we belong to God, and that we are forgiven day after day, no matter the circumstance. In addition to that, no matter what happens in our lives and how bad things get, Jesus’ love never changes for us. The Father also loves us, and Pauls says that this love is inseparable. So, we give glory to God and know that we are truly His children in a divine relationship that is unbreakable. Paul also shares with us that when we do suffer, this is a part of what makes us more like Jesus. Moreover, it is for the sake of other Christians that when we suffer, and we continually keep our eyes upon Christ’s love and His father’s power to bring us through, those Christians who witness us will also be encouraged and urged on their faith. Thus, for us, whether we have much or we have little, whether we are rich or living in poverty, it does not matter – it is win-win because we are more than conquerors through Christ, through God the Father and by the power of the Holy Spirit who loves us.

We live in a world full of suffering. Whether it’s as a result of following Jesus or suffering in general. It might be sickness, loss of loved ones, financial pressure or relationship troubles or many other troubles. Life is hard living in this cursed world. In Romans 8:18-30 Paul compares our present suffering and our future glory. Weighing up the two. He is saying he reckons, or more so he is absolutely convinced that our present sufferings are not even comparable to the future glory we have to look forward to on Christ’s return! And as we wait for His return when all things will be restored the Holy spirit helps us in our weakness, he knows our heart and what we need day to day throughout this life. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

Paul will give us a fourth reason why we should never cheapen grace and that coming into relationship with Jesus means true heart reform. In this sermon, Paul will use the example of the flesh which is the part of ourselves that is set on the things of this world, living for ourselves and caring about our own way, and doing our own thing, whereas for those who have been renewed by Jesus through the Spirit, they live in a different way – they have a life that is lived for God, they are filled with the love of God and desire to serve and honour Him day to day. This is a very compelling case against those who think that Jesus and His forgiveness is just a license to sin and do as they please. Instead, for the true Christian, we are people who long to love, who care about those around us and also care about what God thinks of us and we show it by our actions. We pray that this will be a blessing to you.

These are some of the clearest verses of how God saves His people through His son, Jesus Christ. We could arguably say that for the last seven chapters of Romans, Paul has been leading up to these next four verses in Romans 8:1-4 where we see there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus. And Paul goes on to explain why this is the case that we have been saved and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, even from in chapter seven where the Spirit had changed Paul’s relationship to the Law and made him run to Christ. Now Paul lives by the Spirit and through his faith in Jesus Christ there is now no judgment, no separation from sin between he and God. And as he goes on, he shares with us that this happens because God had punished and placed the consequences of sin on His own son, condemning sin in the flesh by the broken body and blood of Jesus, in order that we can be set free and released from those things that we have done in our body which are not of God. Jesus being punished in our place as we see very clearly with Barabbas at the sentencing of Jesus by Pilate. We give God glory and praise for what He has done – this great love and maintaining His justice that sin was not just forgotten or swept under the rug, but it was wholly and completely dealt with in Jesus. Now we live in the reality of no condemnation, no separation, no consequence for sin because Jesus paid it all. And we receive this by faith and live a life empowered by the Spirit.

We have gone through three examples that Paul gives of why we should not live lives of sin any longer now that we are in Christ Jesus. A challenging question for Christians is: What is their relationship to God's Law and commands? How are we supposed to live in light of them? We understand, as Paul has said, that the righteous will live by faith. And that was said at the time of Abraham before any religious ritual, any particular good deeds he has done or the Mosaic Law had been given. We also explore in this session if the Law is sinful or wrong, in some way bad for us, because it does produce quite a lot of guilt for so many people, even some who are in Christ and do not understand the use of the Law.Paul is right that it is faith from first to last that saves. After all, the righteous will live by faith. And the Law is not something to be brushed under the carpet and never needed. It is instead used by God powerfully to identify our need for Jesus. The Law is like a checklist for those who are going to heaven. And sadly in our case, none of us have lived up to the standard of the Law. This should cause anyone outside of Christ a great amount of turmoil, even fear, not for fear’s sake, nor that the Law or the commands are bad, but that it would be used by God that they would run to Jesus instead of remaining in sin and ready to face the consequences of God’s justice. It is wonderful once we understand this, and to know that the Law is not there to condemn or judge a Christian, as we are free from all accusations, but instead, the Law is used to bring people to Jesus. In addition, it is a daily reminder for Christians of the love of God and the great cost to Jesus in order to save us. As Paul said, we should not live a life of sin but live according to the Spirit, no longer by the flesh. Our relationship to the Law is one by which we are not bound to it. We are free from it but we should use it in a way to draw people to their need for Christ as much as it holds us to Christ, knowing that without Him, we would be under the penalty and judgment that the Law brings because of our sin. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Paul uses an illustration of a married woman and her husband to show our release from the law through our faith in Jesus. Are we trying to gain salvation through following the law, just relying on our own strength for salvation? Or are we faithfully following Jesus and producing fruit for him through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Let's be active on the field for God not sitting idle on the sidelines!

Paul will again explore the question of whether we are able to go on sinning or live an obedient and righteous life for Christ. This is a good question because many will take the forgiveness of Jesus and abuse it, thinking that it is a license to sin, and ensuring that they have Jesus only as a means to do whatever they want to do, rather than an actual relationship with God that faith in Jesus should bring. Paul uses examples that were very common to the people of his day - an indentured servant was someone who gave themselves over to a family or a business, so that they could earn money and have a life in the house that they gave their service to. Paul picks up on this and uses it as an analogy in order to say that now we belong to God, we belong to Him as though a servant and so we should act accordingly. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves of righteousness because of our faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. May you be blessed as you listen to this sermon today.

Last week we saw the abundant grace of God that Paul has described - the righteousness that comes from above, that righteousness comes from Jesus is free and available to us through faith. This leads us to Paul's next point: grace is free but should not be abused. Many charge Christians as saying that we are forgiven for all of our sins that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. And this is true but then they may accuse us and say, “So you think you can sin and do whatever you want because God’s love is irrevocable as His forgiveness.” In one sense this is true, but in another, we are not people who desire to live the old way, the old life. And so, Paul, being concerned that people would take it that way, speaks to us about us being dead to sin, dead to the things of this world and our old life. And now a life in Christ. He uses baptism as a wonderful example to teach us that the old has gone and the new has come. After all, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. This is only understood by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we could be completely forgiven yet not abuse that forgiveness. Hence, we give thanks to God that the victory is in Jesus, and that we are saved by faith, not by works, so that no one can boast. But in the very same breath, we will not use nor abuse the love that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.

From Romans 5 following on from verse 12, the apostle Paul talks about the concept known as original sin. In it, he describes all people being affected by the sin of Adam that is when he broke God's law, it had an impact on all of humanity. We have not been born in holiness, righteousness and uprightness but instead have the same fault as Adam which is being born in sin and iniquity. In this session, Paul is now showing that there is no excuse and no other way to come to God outside of Jesus. But he also shows us that it is not on us to save ourselves but the righteousness that God gives through His son's perfect life. When we put our faith in Jesus, we are given all the benefits afforded to Christ which is His holiness, righteousness and uprightness, because on that cross, Jesus paid for all of our disconnection and sin that had separated us from our loving relationship with God. Not only that, Christ after paying for our sin, gives us eternal life in Him, which is an overwhelming grace, one that covers every barrier that has ever existed between us and God. I pray that this sermon will be a blessing and an encouragement to you as you regard the great love the Father has for us in sending His Son.

Having thoroughly addressed justification through faith in Jesus and giving us a good grasp on the place and purpose of the law, Paul now points out some fruit that we will bear once we have put our hope in Jesus. This access to God that Jesus has paved, is through no doing of our own. We can now enjoy freedom and confidence in him, as we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Paul tells us we rejoice in our sufferings. Why does he say this? How is rejoicing in suffering even possible? God has poured out his love on us so freely and generously, not because of anything we did or deserved, and furthermore he did it while we were still sinners. We will enjoy peace with God when we put our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's open invitation to everyone wherever you are, whatever you have done, He invites you to come.

In Romans 4, Paul makes it very clear that it is by faith from first to last that saves us. There is no other way to receive grace and justification outside of faith. And Paul’s fear was that people would try to add their own effort or keeping of the law and religious ritual to make them right before God. We even see in the Galatian church where they did believe in Jesus, but they also thought that they had to add circumcision as a part of their faith in order to be saved. And to this Paul says that if you do it, Christ is of no value to you at all. And so, what do we make of those who believe in Jesus from first to last yet lives faithful lives, good lives, holy lives for God. Well, we will see today that it is because of the Holy Spirit, God’s love poured into our hearts, we are changed – a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so, God saves us but then gives us the affections to faithfully follow Him. It is not about proving our faith because everybody’s walk would look different but walking humbly with our God and King, Lord Jesus.

Both for the Jew and the non-Jew, whether under the law or not under the law, there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. It is such a natural thing that we try and base our relationship on God by keeping rules and regulations or doing enough good deeds to merit and earn heaven and forgiveness. But this is not the way in which God has said that he would save people, instead, we merely only look at the wrong we have done and cry out for forgiveness and ask that Jesus Christ forgive us of our sins - that is the very reason that He came from heaven to earth, to die on a cross and give us what we could not attain for ourselves, which is a righteousness that comes from God. Where we have failed, God takes up and pays our debts of sin. We praise God and give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ through the Spirit for what God has done in this tremendous victory over death because we receive eternal life and a victory over sin because He cleanses and washes us as white as snow.

"Let the enemy keep us comfortable, he has done his job" - in this sermon we will see how to bring our God into each season of life. It is too often that we can become busy, or just so distracted that we forget that we are to have an undivided heart toward our God. And unlike cultures such as Myanmar and Pakistan where they suffer persecution, we are a people who suffer from abundance and distraction. We use an example in this sermon of King David who was more like those churches that are under pressure, and that for David it produced a heart that was one very similar to God's, whereas his son, King Solomon, with all the riches, wealth and wisdom that he had, used it to satisfy his own desires, rather than to be more like his father, a man after God's own heart. I pray that this sermon will be a blessing to you, and that if you feel distracted or too busy, that you again can reignite the flame of the Holy Spirit and walk humbly with your God.

Paul is talking about a different group of people, not those revelling in sins, spoken of in chapter one, but a religious self-righteous group. They have the law, but do they know how to use it? They think they are saved, even above everyone else. What does Paul have to say about their behaviour? What can we learn from their mistakes? Have we made the same judgmental remarks to others? We all fall short of the glory of God. God would judge all fairly and there is only one way to live up to God's standard of perfection. When Jesus died for us on the cross, He ended any hope of salvation through the Old Covenant as Romans 1:16 says, the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Like any good doctor, the apostle Paul has given the solution to man's greatest problem. We covered last week in Romans 1, that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive us of our sins, and that the righteous will live by faith and that is from first to last, by faith that we are saved. Paul now moves on to show why humanity needs Jesus and he starts by looking toward the Gentile nations and the things that they do which have accumulated for them the judgment of God. He says that the nations didn't see fit to retain the knowledge of God. They even go as far as to suppress it, that is, His invisible attributes, eternal power and divine nature. That from their hearts come forth many things that are so wrong and that the further they go from God, the further God allows them to go, even God giving them over to their depravity. Many Christians can look at this and then judge and condemn those who are outside of Christ. Or even the religious world, upright and religious countries do condemn and judge those outside of their faith. But this is not true for those who understand grace and follow Christ obediently. We Christians are no different to those who are outside of Christ except that we have Christ and have received forgiveness. As Paul lists off the many sins that has caused God to be upset and His wrath hang upon people - we see ourselves. We all have committed some of these things that have violated God's law of love. And so, as Christians, we need to come to the Gentile nations and speak the truth in love, declare the solution that Paul has already spoken of, and that is by faith in Jesus we receive the righteousness of God. May this be a blessing to us and encourage us to boldly share our faith.

We begin our series in the book of Romans. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome and he begins by discussing his authority as an apostle of the Good News, a message from God. Paul shows us that this message was prophesied before Jesus came. God sent a Saviour, Jesus, who is a descendant of David. God brought His Son from death to life as a way of showing the whole world that Jesus is the Son of God. These two are prophecies fulfilled. Paul’s heart desire is to show his love for these people through his constant prayers for them and desire to be there with them. He centralises them on the Gospel on which we stand – that Jesus died for our sins, He has risen and we have eternal life in His name. Jesus’ prophesised resurrection was viewed by more than 500 witnesses, including Paul. Paul describes the Gospel as the power of God which saves. After hearing the preaching of Stephen, Paul was still full of hatred, desiring to persecute Christians, but by the powerful preaching of the Gospel, Paul encountered Jesus on that road to Damascus. Even before Ananias knew what was to come, God spoke to him and told him that he must pray for Paul to receive his sight and be appointed as an apostle to the Gentiles. God has a plan and His Gospel is indeed powerful. It may not be at a time or in a season that we would dictate, but, nevertheless, in God’s time, hearts will be transformed, lives would be totally and radically changed by a love that would be reborn for Christ and a trust in the message of the Good News. Christ has washed away our sins and risen for our justification.Paul speaks about the righteousness that we have through this message, that is, the righteousness of God, given to us as a gift through what Jesus did for us. May this be a blessing to you, and if you have not already, may you place your faith in the risen Lord Jesus.

God couldn't have been any clearer as He speaks to Job in the midst of the storm. That was the case for Job, his life was so battered around, he was so hurt and brought low. We learn in this final section of Job that God does speak to His people, teaches us, refines us and yields us in the midst of our storms and our struggles. God shows us that He is in control to the finest detail of everything that goes on in His children's life. We are not treated as enemies or misfits, but that God still loves us even when we go through those rough patches in life. We also know that even for God's children, when we are disciplined, it is discipline that a father would give to a son, not as punishment, as though we were wicked and cast aside. That is not the relationship we are in, nor was it the relationship that Job was in. That is why God becomes so angry at Job's three friends who had condemned him and kicked him to the curb while all the while God was refining and shaping Job's faith, things inside of him that were deeply being worked out in the midst of his suffering. And so, it is true. God speaks in the midst of the storms of our lives. Do we trust that He has everything in His hand and under control? Can we yield when things around us go so out of control? Job shows us that we can.

We come to the fourth friend in the book of Job, young Elihu. Though being the youngest, he is filled with the spirit of God and a heart of wisdom, who knows the character of God. Instead of condemning Job, allows Job to question maybe all that has happened to him isn't because of Job's great sin but that God has a plan in all things, even hardship, that would be used for the good of His people in the long run. Elihu also challenges the advice of the three friends and shares with them that they have misrepresented God by condemning Job. While not letting Job off the hook completely, Elihu allows Job to further consider that maybe some of his words were not wise because Job was justifying himself rather than justifying God, and he was seeing himself as righteous in his own eyes. In this sermon, we will come to understand what a true and godly mentor is, and that age isn't necessarily the one thing needed for wisdom, but that God can speak even through those who are younger than us.

In this sermon, we have a look at Bildad and Zophar. These two so called "friends" originally came to comfort Job but instead, they have condemned him. Job is very upset with God. He even challenges God and says unkind things about God which infuriates all three friends. Instead of getting beside Job and loving him, they want to defend God and prove Job is a sinful man, even going as far as to say Job's children died because of their sin also. This is a very, very sad case, but one that we see all throughout the world and even in Christian communities; where instead of love and patience, there is irritation and impatience. This would be a great time for us to analyze how we should be towards those who are suffering, but also with a mind to ask what type of people should we allow to speak into our lives when it comes to matters on God, or in times of our own desperation. And finally, how can we be a mentor and true friend for others in their time of need, showing compassion, love and comfort as they go through their various trials.

This topical sermon explores the nature of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, explaining why it is essential for our salvation.

In our journey of faith, sometimes it can feel like we've been side-lined or sin-binned from God; very spiritually cold or very distant from His presence. This was the case for David in Psalm 51. David had become spiritually lazy and he sinned greatly against the Lord. He knew that there was an issue but until the prophet Nathan came and confronted him, he wasn't prepared to deal with it, but, at that moment when he came to his senses, he realized what he had done. In Psalm 51, he writes a song of repentance to the Lord, asking God to forgive him but also to renew him, to put back inside him a clean heart, washing him whiter than snow, and also a steadfast spirit that he may have the power to follow God as he did once before, before he did the evil that he did. We can learn from this and also be encouraged that if we feel similar as though we have been grounded or side-lined by God, it's not out of a place of hatred towards us but God does this because He loves us. He doesn't want us to go on that way any longer. And so He uses spiritual distance to give us a moment to pause and come back to Him in humility with a contrite heart. I pray that this will be a blessing to you and that you too, if you are struggling or know of other Christians that are struggling, can tell them that God has not abandoned them, but it's they who have in a sense, abandoned Him and that they only need to call upon His name, ask for forgiveness, and walk again in righteousness and holiness before their God.

Job is a very difficult book for many Christians to understand. In this sermon, we will give an answer for this, as we introduce Eliphaz, a man who says many true things about God. He actually quotes things that are so true of God that they are found all throughout the Scriptures - the knowledge he gives Job in his time of suffering regarding God, but in the end God rebukes Eliphaz and Job's two other friends because he has not spoken truthfully of Him. And the reason that Eliphaz falls into this dilemma and gets in trouble with God is because he has knowledge of God without wisdom. It is not enough to say many true things about God when they are out of context in regard to a situation. When we do this, it actually makes God out to be confusing and unintelligible when we quote a whole lot of random things of God, and then expect people to make sense of it. Today, we will make sense of it in the hope of actually being able to help others who may be in times of testing and struggle in their own lives; that we can present God as consistent and coherent in our attempt to love others who are in a difficult situation like Job. We pray that this sermon would be a blessing for you.

In 1 Corinthians 10:1 - 11:1, Paul is using the Israelite's turbulent past as a warning to the Corinthian church, whom he fears are in danger of having their faith polluted by the worldly influence around them. Have you felt the world around you impact your faith? Even after God provided their miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt, many Israelites died in the desert as a consequence of their sin. May we, the church, learn from Israel's mistake and choose to follow the ultimate example of Jesus in how we live our lives. We have so many examples we could follow every day. Whose example will you choose to follow? As Paul says, we cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

Do we love God for the things He gives us or do we love God for who He is? This will be the question that we answer as we begin a series in the book of Job. In the very start of this book, we see that Job is a healthy, wealthy and wise man. But God asks Satan to consider Job and how upright and holy he is. At this, Satan goes on a tirade against Job, against his property, against his family and against his health. In this book we are challenged whether we can trust God even through difficult times, be it through the evil of others or even of Satan himself. Can we trust God, His character and who He is at the core? Well, in the beginning, we see two responses to the suffering of Job. The first is Job's humble submission to God and his worship of His great name, even through great difficulty. And the second is Job's wife, who would sooner curse God and die than continue on a life that doesn't have the blessings of God that she has become accustomed to. In this series, we will answer how we ought to respond to difficult times, and also come to understand the sovereignty and control of God that even through difficulty He will overcome on our behalf.

In this final section of John's appeal for us to believe upon the Lord Jesus that He is the Messiah, the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, John describes a final interaction that Jesus has with some of His disciples. Jesus in previous chapters told them that just as the Father sent Him, so He is sending them. But, on the shores of the sea, Jesus finds that they have gone back to fishing - four of the disciples' trade that they had before becoming a disciple. So Jesus does another miracle, telling them to put the nets on the right side of the boat and they catch 153 large fish. When this occurs, Peter jumps into the water and swims toward Jesus, but Jesus tells him to go back and finish the job that he started. And this job would have earned them quite a lot of money in their day, having all of these fish. But instead of preparing the fish once they brought them to shore for the market, Jesus tells them to come over and have breakfast with Him. In this section we see Jesus gently rebukes but then also restores these disciples, refocusing them on the job that He has given them - leave the fish, come and have fellowship with me, is what Jesus is doing here. Also, He asks Peter three times do you love me, restoring him back to the job that he must do, which is lead the disciples, the mission and victory of Jesus's death for sin, His resurrection, and so in this we have eternal life. We thank the Lord Jesus for His work, His love and His encouragement, that even in our lives we are growing day by day in our walk with Him, and He gently but assuredly pushes us on to maturity all the more while the day draws closer for His return.