Toongabbie Anglican Church Audio Podcast

This weeks sermon is about living to please God in our relationships, work, and facing the future.

This week’s sermon is based on 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 and is about being a church that we can be thankful for, by standing together, growing together and rejoicing together.

In today’s Bible passage (1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:5), we see Paul’s loving concern for the believers he was forced to leave behind, as well as his deep desire that they be strengthened in their faith in Jesus through all the difficulties they were facing.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:1–16, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that his ministry among them was marked by sincerity, courage, and a desire to please God rather than people, even in the face of suffering and opposition. He urges them to recognise the gospel as God’s word at work in them, and to persevere faithfully despite the hostility that often accompanies it.

This week we start our series in Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica. Kwabena will open chapter 1 with us and show us how the Thessalonians' journey to faith can encourage us as followers of Jesus and as witnesses to Him.

On Easter Sunday we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of one of the earliest witnesses, Mary. Her good news applies to us as well and so we will consider how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything today and in the future.

In the trial of Jesus, John's gospel invites us into the drama. We are almost sitting as the jury to determine if Jesus is the promised king of the Jews, if he is free from guilt, if he is the saviour we need. John wants us to make a decision on where we stand: with the crowds baying for blood, or with the man broken for our sake.

On Maundy Thursday we are looking at the arrest of Jesus in John 18:1-14. We will reflect upon the goodness of God and how Jesus willingly laid down His life for His friends. The passage reveals how God can be completely just and completely loving at the same time.

Jesus closes by preparing his disciples for coming sorrow and scattering, yet assures them of the Father’s love and lasting joy, so that in a troubled world they may have peace in him who has overcome it.

As Jesus finishes preparing his disciples for his departure, he teaches them about the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in their lives.

Jesus prepares his disciples to expect the world’s hatred—not because they have done wrong, but because their allegiance to him exposes the world’s rejection of both the Son and the Father.

In John 15 Jesus uses the powerful image of the vine to speak of how He works in us, as we are grafted into him and called to remain in Him.

In Today’s message, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to anchor us in a world of turmoil, through the relational presence, word and peace of Jesus.

Jesus assures the troubled disciples that his departure (1) secures their belonging with the Father, (2) establishes himself as the only way to the Father, and (3) opens a means to ask the Father anything in his name.

Jesus gives a new commandment to love like he loves... and he does so in the midst of betrayal and denial as he reveals God's glory all the way to the cross (God's greatest act of love).

John 13 is the beginning of a section of Johns Gospel that takes place in the upper room (or guest room) of a house on the night before Jesus is crucified.  Jesus starts by washing his disciples’ feet, which is a picture/sign of the cleansing of sin that he is about to do for all believers when he dies on the cross.

With our vision focus on transformation we will be looking at the glory of Christ and how he transforms us by His Spirit.

As we finish our series in 2 Samuel we look at David's last testimony that lifts our eyes to the ideal king. King David's life echoes this vision yet never perfectly as we look to a greater king: Jesus.

After David's return to the throne, he seeks after the Lord who delivers him through various challenges and David praises God.

This week we look at David’s eldest sons and see their dealings with one another and their father. Their sin will reveal that the promises of 2 Samuel 7 will not be easily fulfilled.

In David we see both the devastating depth of human sin and the astonishing grace of God, who restores the broken through repentance.

David wants to build a house for God, but God will build a house for David! This week reminds us of one of the big promises of God in the story of the Bible: one of David’s descendants shall forever reign on the throne over God’s people. Over the next few weeks we will see that this was by no means a straight forward process, as we see the mess of David’s family. However, God is faithful! This week we are reminded of the grace of our heavenly Father, who pours out goodness over the mess of our human experience, and glorifies his name by sending the promised eternal king, Jesus.

In the climax of Mary’s song, she draws us deeper into the character of God and his mighty acts, finding in them the confidence and freedom to worship.

As we look at the opening verses of Mary’s song, we will see her humble and joyful worship in response to God’s promises.

In this week's passage we witness the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth—two women called “blessed” not because of their circumstances, but because they trust God’s word. Their defining characteristics in the story are their faith and joy: joy grounded and derived from God himself, and faith as a posture of confidence in God’s saving work, even before they see it fully. As we wait for Christ's return, we’re invited into that same blessed life of faith, hope, and quiet anticipation.

As we begin advent we look at Mary who models for us the wonder of receiving and participating in God’s unexpected sovereign plans.

Today we conclude listening to Jesus prayer in John 17; and we find something very precious. That even as he faces betrayal, false accusations, a brutal death and the wrath of God poured out on him because of our sin, Jesus prays for us.

As we move from the Lord's prayer into the Lord praying, we see a deeper expression of what we learned over the last four weeks - that as Jesus prays for the Father's glory to be displayed, and his people to be provided for, he is praying for a deep, trusting relationship for the people the Father has given him. This week we develop our understanding that prayer is an essential part of how we lean into this relationship.

In our final week of vision month and the lord's prayer, we look at what it means for Jesus to have the victory and to protect us and deliver us.

Having prayed for things of God, the Lord's prayer pivots to praying for provision for us and in particular this week, for daily sustenance and eternal forgiveness.

This week's focus in the Lord's prayer is the 3 petitions we bring to God for his glory: the honouring of his name; the coming of his kingdom and will being done. 

It’s Vision Month, and we’re focusing on the Lord’s Prayer — the most hope-filled words we can pray. Prayer isn’t wishful thinking; it’s the bold approach of children who know their Father listens. This week, the opening line draws us near to Him.

Where do we turn when life becomes unfair? When oppressors prosper, how do we respond? When injustice reigns, how do we react?   Today, we are looking at James 5 which reminds us that wealth cannot save us, but Jesus can. It calls us to wait and persevere with patience, and it invites us to pray, knowing that through Christ our prayers are heard, our sins are forgiven, and our lives are held in God’s saving hands.

James 4 focusses on the evil of boasting (in its many forms) and urges us to return to God in humility and repentance to find grace.

Our words matter, our words are broken, but wisdom from above changes everything.

The wisdom of the Christian life is that, having been saved by Christ, our faith is not meant to remain in words alone but to be lived out in obedience to God’s commands, above all in loving our neighbour as ourselves.

In this new series called "Wise Faith" James shows us how trials prompt us to seek wisdom from God's word to put into action.

Paul finishes Romans 8 with the victory of Christ and the fact that nothing can separates us from his love.

In this week's passage Paul focuses on our present suffering and future glory and encourages us by explaining the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our passage today (Romans 8:1–17) commences with two of the most precious words from God our judge that we will ever hear... "No condemnation," and is all about the assurance that we have through the plan of the Father, brought about by the word of the Son, and applied to us by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 7 explores how the law exposes sin and opens up a bunch of questions for us on the place of sin in our lives.

Paul asks the question again: shall we keep on sinning? The answer takes a slightly different angle to last week to explore the freedom we have in Christ and how that is paradoxically found in being obedient and devoted to God.

This week we dive back into Romans and spend the next 7 weeks looking at the power of the gospel in the Christian life in Romans 6-8. This week we particularly look at what it means to be united with Christ.

The focus of today's message will be Romans chapter 5 v 8 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In this we see God's love, our sin, and Christ's sacrifice. Today, will also be an opportunity for us to briefly review Romans chapter 1-5 in as we prepare for starting up our Romans series from chapter 6 next week.

This week’s sermon in our “Memory Verses for Life” series focuses on Proverbs 3:5–6, challenging us to trust God fully and surrender every part of our lives to Him. We’ll explore what it means to rely on His wisdom rather than our own understanding, and consider the promise that when we walk in faith, God will guide us. We’ll reflect on how God’s promise to “make our paths straight” calls not to guaranteed ease, but to confidence in His goodness - whether in blessing or in challenge. Ultimately, we’ll be encouraged to lean on the Father daily, trusting His ways in every circumstance.

There’s a reason John 3:16 is the most famous of all the Bible verses. It speaks clearly and powerfully of God’s incredible love, which is for the whole world, and is for anyone who trusts in Jesus. We are directed to see that God’s love is as unique as his Son is one-of-a-kind: a Love which comes at an incredible cost to himself. And so, as we are presented with the stark alternatives of God’s judgement of our sin on one hand, or his saving work through Jesus on the other, the way becomes clear to those who hear and believe.

Clive will begin our new series "Memory Verses to live by" preaching on the great commission of Jesus to make disciples of all nations.

As we finish our series on belonging Mike will sum up our journey under the banner of being new creations in Christ looking at the world afresh as we minister to world in need of reconciliation

Our belonging series has given us a vision of belonging in God’s family and some gospel resources to pursue it. And yet belonging can hurt for all kinds of reasons; the gap between vision and reality, when people let us down, when we don’t have capacity and more. As we near the end Nat and Mike will explore how we handle the hurt and seek restoration as much as possible in Christ and for His glory.

This week Mike and Nat are working through marriage, families and God’s big family.