Read the text – John 3:1-16
In the final sermon of ‘Hope 25’, we look at the meeting of Nicodemus and Jesus. John Lavender speaks on this example of a hardened, misguided heart, and how we all need Jesus to heal our own hardened hearts.
Category Archives: 26 Ezekiel
Sermon – Hope 25: Hope for the lost (Ezekiel 34:1-16)
Read the text – Ezekiel 34:1-16
As we continue in the year 2025, it becomes more apparent that we need hope. In this mini-sermon series ‘Hope 25’, John Lavender look’s at the book of Ezekiel to find where we should put our hope, and why we desperately need it.
Sermon – Apostles’ Creed: ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit’
Read the texts – Ezekiel 36:22-30; Romans 8:1-17
In this talk we look at the third ‘I believe’ statement in the Apostles’ Creed. Glen Connor, looking at Romans 8:1-17 shows us five aspects of how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a believer: to free us from sin and death, change our mindset towards God, to guarantee our resurrection, to bring holiness in the life of the believer, and makes us God’s children.
Sermon – Apostles’ Creed: Risen Hope
Read the texts – Daniel 12:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:1-34
We continue in our Apostles’ Creed Bible Talk series and in this talk consider the line which says ‘On the third Day, he rose from the dead’. This gives us opportunity to spend some time looking at the importance of the resurrection of Jesus for us.
In this talk, Ken Noakes looks at some of the evidence for the resurrection, then at what might be lost if the resurrection didn’t happen, before considering why the resurrection is so significant for the believer.
Sermon – Jesus Said…What!?: I AM The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1-44)
As a society, we have become somewhat immune to hearing outrageous claims. They are issued, capture some newsworthy attention, and then are fairly quickly ignored or pushed aside. Jesus issued some outrageous claims, in fact, claims that were far beyond what we hear today. In this Bible Talk series, we look at the “I AM…” statements from the gospel of John. Newsworthy – yes. Ignored – yes. Pushed aside – yes. Yet, to look into them we will see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. It would be to our loss to be immune.
This talk investigates Jesus claim to be “the resurrection and the life,” bringing new life as the solution for death.
Read the text – John 11:1-44 Ezekiel 37:1-14
Sermon – Jesus Said…What!?: I AM The Good Shepherd (John 10:11-21)
As a society, we have become somewhat immune to hearing outrageous claims. They are issued, capture some newsworthy attention, and then are fairly quickly ignored or pushed aside. Jesus issued some outrageous claims, in fact, claims that were far beyond what we hear today. In this Bible Talk series, we look at the “I AM…” statements from the gospel of John. Newsworthy – yes. Ignored – yes. Pushed aside – yes. Yet, to look into them we will see the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. It would be to our loss to be immune.
This talk investigates Jesus claim to be “the good shepherd”, and how Jesus – unlike the previous shepherds of God’s people – is willing to lay down his life for his sheep.
Read the text – John 10:11-21 Ezekiel 34:1-31
The Shepherd and the Sheep
Friends I want to try and put into words a tension I feel and that I know many Pastors experience as they ‘shepherd’ those in their care.
And in doing so I hope to correct what I think is a faulty expectation about the role of the Shepherd in caring for the flock.
Then I would like to ask for your prayers – both for me and our church family.
An ‘Application Outline’ of Ezekiel
The word of Lord through the prophet Ezekiel!
Here is an ‘application summary’ for the book of Ezekiel.
God’s Shepherd and his Sheep
I was at the Adelaide Show and somehow found myself in a sheep pen!
Well, not quite in the pen, but in the hall where they were auctioning off the sheep – merino bulls to be exact.
Reading Ezekiel 34 – God’s Shepherd and his Sheep got me thinking. Is it derogatory to be compared to a sheep? After all, in Ezekiel 34 it is clear that there was the one true Shepherd and that would be Jesus – and he cared for his flock – his sheep. Now if we each are following that shepherd, then we are the sheep! Is it a bad thing to be labelled a sheep?
Then they will know that I am LORD
‘Then they will know that I am their Lord’ (Ezekiel 28:26)
One of the clearest ways that we know that God is Lord is when we feel the consequence of his judgement. We are in common company here. Time and time again throughout the Old Testament, both Israel (God’s people) and the foreign nations felt the wrath of God as a consequence of his judgment – and in it realized that the God of Israel was in indeed Lord.
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