Tag Archives: Faith

Sermon – Firm Faith: Centred in Christ (Colossians 2:6-23)

Read the text – Colossians 2:6-23

Any teaching that wants to suggest that Christians need Jesus PLUS … (anything else) to be a Christian or to live as a Christian is guilty of contradicting the supremacy of Christ. Being told we need more than him (either for salvation or to live as a Christian) means that we are being taught that what he has done is not enough. We need to stand firm in our faith in Jesus as all we need for this life and the next.

In this sermon, Nick Lindeback helps us see how important it is to have Christ at the centre of our lives, so we can stand firm in the face of false teaching.

Bible Talk Outline

Sermon – Firm Faith: Contending for Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)

Read the text – Colossians 1:24-2:5

Any teaching that wants to suggest that Christians need Jesus PLUS … (anything else) to be a Christian or to live as a Christian is guilty of contradicting the supremacy of Christ. Being told we need more than him (either for salvation or to live as a Christian) means that we are being taught that what he has done is not enough. We need to stand firm in our faith in Jesus as all we need for this life and the next.

In this sermon, Gary Haddon helps us understand that growing in Christ doesn’t happen without effort on our part. It must be pursued, and there will be struggle, but we can encourage each other as we contend for Christ together.

Sermon – Firm Faith: The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)

Read the text – Colossians 1:15-23

Any teaching that wants to suggest that Christians need Jesus PLUS … (anything else) to be a Christian or to live as a Christian is guilty of contradicting the supremacy of Christ. Being told we need more than him (either for salvation or to live as a Christian) means that we are being taught that what he has done is not enough. We need to stand firm in our faith in Jesus as all we need for this life and the next.

In this sermon, Gary Haddon invites us to see who Jesus really is, to see just how far above everything he is, and to find out what that means for our salvation.

Bible Talk Outline

Sermon – Firm Faith: A Life Worthy of Christ (Colossians 1:1-14)

Read the text – Colossians 1:1-14

Any teaching that wants to suggest that Christians need Jesus PLUS … (anything else) is guilty of contradicting the supremacy of Christ. Being told that believers need more than him (either for salvation or to live as a Christian) means that they are being taught that what Jesus has done is not enough. So how does a Christian person stand firm in faith in this life?

In this talk Ken Noakes introduces us to the letter written to the church of Colossae. He wants to encourage them and in doing so tells them what he is praying for them. And we are given a wonderful model in how to encourage and pray for those engaged in living out their faith in Christ.

Bible Talk OutlineDownload

Sermon – Wisdom through Suffering (Job 3-27) – That’s what friends are for?

Read the text – Job 19:1-29

We have met the upright and blameless Job, and seen the tragedy and suffering which fell upon him. In the chapters that follow (Job 3-27), Job responds to the “comfort” (?) of his friends with words full of agony and pain. Job looks to his only hope: a sovereign and perfect God who cannot allow injustice. In spite of his circumstances and feelings, the small glimmer of hope from 9:33-34 which became a faint trickle of hope in 14:14-15 and 16:19-21, has become much more certain, to the point where declares “I know that my redeemer lives!”(19:25). This yet again reveals that the deepest desire of his heart is to be in the presence of the God he loves (19:27). In spite of what his friends have said, Job doesn’t fear death because he is sure that he will see the Lord face to face, and that there is the hope of a resurrection (19:26).

Bible Talk OutlineDownload
Overview of the Structure of JobDownload

Sermon – Kingdom Coming: Moving Mountains (Matthew 17:14-27)

For the fifth and last time in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus speaks of what ‘little faith’ might look like – and he offers yet another description of what will happen to him as he heads into Jerusalem where he will be delivered into the hands of opposing men, killed, and then on the third day rise.

In these Bible talks both John Lavender and Ken Noakes look at what faith in the life of a believer might look like – it is not about the quantity of faith (as if that could be measured), but about the genuineness of faith in Jesus.

Preacher: John Lavender

Read the text – Matthew 17:14-27

Preacher: Ken D Noakes
Outline for this TalkDownload

Sermon – Kingdom Coming: Sign Language (Matthew 15:29-16:12)

Read the text – Matthew 15:29-16:12

How do we read the signs today? Are we willing to see, hear and respond – especially when it is for our own good? In this Bible Talk, Gary Haddon, looks at how Jesus shows who he is in a most extraordinary way (the feeding of the four thousand). Yet those who saw, still questioned. The Pharisees and Sadducees asked for a sign! The disciples wondered! So Jesus helped them to see.

Sermon – Kingdom Coming: Clean & Unclean (Matthew 15:1-28)

Read the text – Matthew 15:1-28

In Matthew 15 we see Jesus interacting with a few different groups of people – the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the crowds, the disciples and a Canaanite woman – quite a demographic spectrum! The role of traditions verse the role of the Word of God comes into focus as Jesus shows them what it means to truly be a person of faith in Jesus.

In this Bible Talk, Dave Swan helps us check our heart – for what comes out of a person either shows a hypocrisy or a faith that honours Jesus.

Sermon – Adoption and Fellowship (1 John 2:28-3:10)

Read the text – 1 John 2:28-3:10

Central to fellowship with God the Father is acknowledging his son and in turn living as a child of God. This talk is about confidence in the Christian faith – confidence that comes from being adopted as a child of God and experienced in the new birth that the Christian person enjoys.

In this talk Ken Noakes describes the process of moving towards a confident faith. And also, the process that person may go through in moving away from a confident faith.

Talk OutlineDownload

Sermon – The Foolishness of Living for Now (1 Corinthians 15:12-34)

Read the text – 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

The Corinthians live for the ‘now’ as they deny the resurrection, so they have always focused on looking good now, but the Apostle Paul shows how foolish this is. Paul shows instead that our glory comes through weakness, just as life comes through death, so his ministry is marked by weakness and death. As Paul commands in 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, Christians we must be careful of being led astray by those who would have us focus on living for now.

In this talk Dave Swan, wants to help the listener fix their eyes on eternity. To have a life shaped by the resurrection, so that you don’t live for the now, but for eternity, and so that you can take steps to encourage others to live for eternity as well.