Sermon – JesusWORKS: What is the Bible?

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JesusWORKS aims to introduce you to the Jesus of history by looking at his life, teaching and work. Primarily, it is for the person who wants to check out the claims of Jesus or the claims about Jesus – so that they can make up their own minds about him.

Yet, it is also for any Christian who wants to be prepared to give a reasoned answer for the hope that they have in the gospel of Jesus (1 Pet 3:15).

Jesus calls people to himself, yet he gives everyone the opportunity to examine him and his message before making that decision.What is the Bible

In this talk, we  seek to answer the question: What is the Bible? – is it an old irrelevant book or is it a reliable source for understanding Jesus?

Read the Bible texts – 2 Peter 1:12-21

Talk 1 – What is the Bible (Outline)

Watch the Talk – here

Listen to the Talk

– Ken Noakes

For more information and resources that go with the JesusWORKS course – go here

Godly in Giving (Part 3 of 4)

Christians are called to be godly in giving. That could be giving in attitude, time, energy or money – all are important. Here we will focus specifically on the area of money and the way we generously and responsibly use the resources that God has put in our care.

Let me make four points from 1 Timothy 6 which may help our thinking.

First, Godly giving is not a means to financial gain.

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Sermon – Good Sex (Song of Songs#2)

In this, second of five sermons, Des Smith shows how Song of Songs vividly endorses God’s positive view of sex within the context of faithful heterosexual marriage. He also explains how God is “pro-creation” – that everything God created is good if it is received with thankfulness.

Watch the Sermon

Listen to the Sermon

Read the Bible text: Song of Songs 4:1 – 5:12 , 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Sermon Script

English Support Handout

Side by Side – Part 3 (of 3)

The first two posts in this series have offered two observations coming out of 1 Timothy 5:1-16 which may help a church family to further consider what it means to honour and care for those who are most vulnerable.

In the first post, we observed that the widow of 1 Tim 5 was akin to the ‘vulnerable’ today.

In the second post, we observed that when caring for a person in need – everyone is different and everyone can play a part. Five pointers were offered in how to do that.

In this last post, I would like to recommend a good book that works hard to offer principled and practical suggestions for getting alongside a person whom we are trying to love.

Side by Side – Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love by Edward T. Welch (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015).

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Side by Side by Edward Welch is a quick and helpful read, written by a Christian counselor who has practiced and written in the fields of depression, fear and addiction for decades.

The aim of the book is to identify skills that Christians can learn and then use in caring for others. His basic idea is that those who help best are the ones who both need help and give help.

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