‘Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!’ – Psalm 32:11
Sermon ‘Rejoice In The Lord And Be Glad’ (Psalm 32) by Ken Noakes is available in audio and video: http://bit.ly/2gQJCy7
Full Text and Workings for this Talk – Psalm 32
Read the Bible text: http://bit.ly/2hHaSnL
English Support Document PDF: http://bit.ly/2hLLnl7
Sermon ‘How To Stay Christian’ (Deuteronomy 8) by Geoff Lin is now available in audio and video: http://bit.ly/2g5vIgu
Read the Bible text: http://bit.ly/2fBf2d6
Download the English Support Document: http://bit.ly/2fW2kJD
Sermon on James 2:14-26 ‘James vs Paul’ by Ken Noakes – available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/2cy1cZz.
Read the Bible text: http://bit.ly/2chYc32
Full Text of this Talk and Workings – James 2:14-26
In this talk, the question of whether James and Paul are at odds theologically over what it means to be justified by faith alone or by works is raised. The discussion is large and so the sermon deals with it briefly, but suggests this paper (‘Is James at odds with Paul?’) for further reading if so inclined.
Please note: This is an academic paper, so it is long, at times detailed, and uses technical language (including greek). Further, the paper was written several years ago and since then I have changed my position on the late dating of the letter of James (as you would hear in the sermon, I know think it is dated early). Regardless, it I think is still helpful for an inquiring mind.
English Support Handout – James 2:14-26
We are less than a month out from Easter – that wonderful weekend of the year when we remember and celebrate the clearest demonstration of God’s love for his people – sending his son to the cross for those, like me, who don’t deserve this incredible act of grace.
The Easter weekend is also the weekend when the greatest number unbelieving folk walk into our gathering. Get that – they walk into Trinity City and 5pm Church under their own steam.
So how can you plan to make the most of this opportunity – not only for those that you meet that weekend at church, but also for those friends, family and colleagues who you might find will easily accept your invitation.
Here are some suggestions:
Peer Discipleship is when two or more Christians encourage one another toward Christlikeness with Bible in hand.
That is another way of saying – be intentional as a godly friend!
But let us retrace some steps and see how it is that we get to this definition!
The question ‘Why leave a ‘church?’ may be a dangerous question to ask, especially on a church blog!
The reality is that all churches have people leave them – for both wise and unwise reasons. It is worth spending some time thinking about why one would take the step of leaving a ‘church’ and then further considering how to do that well. That said, I am hoping that no one reading this will in fact leave 5pm Church as a result!
In the previous two articles we have considered ‘What is ‘Church’?’ and then ‘What to expect of ‘Church’?‘ which as background should help establish that leaving a church should be thought about carefully – that is not a decision that should be made hastily or prayerlessly. If ‘church’ is about God’s people gathering as a family in Christ around his Word, it should give some pause for thought to a person when deciding to stay or to go. Leaving means leaving a family and a place where God’s word should be key to their fellowship.
Changing churches or leaving church altogether is no small thing.
The beginning of the year is often the time when people check out church (‘It is a new year, thought I would give it a go’), join church (‘I have moved and want to make this my church’) or leave church (‘I am making a life change’).
As such, it is reasonable that one consider ‘What should I expect of ‘Church’?’.
In the last update we considered ‘What is Church?’ and suggested that church was a place for believers (whilst still open to not-yet believers) and a place where God’s people gathered as a family in Christ. Expectations of church then are important because they help a person decide whether this church is doing what it should be or not.
There are a couple of ways to arrive at an answer.
Christians do Church. Some more regularly than others!
Why on earth do we commit ourselves to regularly going to Church? To answer that, let’s first think theologically about ‘church’.
What is ‘Church’?
Presumable if we are to be members of church, we need to understand what Church is!
Very simply, Church is an assembly of God’s people.
I had become a Christian around the age of twenty, it was six months on. One of my new friends, a Christian guy whom I had met at church asked me: ‘How are you enjoying the Christian Life’!
How would you answer that?
I had no idea what to say. ‘Um…it’s good I guess!…I am enjoying finding out more about Jesus…Um…is that what you were asking?’
Seeing my discomfort, he asked ‘Are you enjoying your Personal Devotions?’
Well now I was totally lost! What on earth did he mean by ‘personal devotions’ – is he asking if I have stuffed up like I used too? (the answer was yes, but I didn’t really want to tell him that). Was there something that I was supposed to be doing that I had not read in the manual of How to be a good Christian?!
‘Um, I’m not sure what you mean’ I ventured. ‘Your Quiet Times?’ he said. Nope, still no help. Maybe being a Christian meant that sometime in the day I was supposed to be silent and quiet, and although I didn’t think I was particularly loud, I know that I had not given any thought to the idea of being quiet! Oh help.
churchcentralonline.com 