Sermon Series – Distress and Hope

Purpose of the Series is to encourage our church family: We can have deep and abiding hope in the Lord Jesus even in the midst of the distress, uncertainty and unjust circumstances which are often associated with Mental Health.

Distress and Hope – Bible Studies – Participants
Distress and Hope – Bible Studies – Leaders Notes

Sermon 1: Image Bearers
Read the text: Psalm 8, Hebrews 2:5-18

In this first sermon, Ken Noakes looks at the central theme of who we are: We are creatures of dust, made in the image of God, for relationship. We are integrated, whole and beloved children of God, no matter how dark the valley is we are passing through.

Sermon 1 Notes

Sermon 2: Presence
Read the text: Psalm 139, Hebrews 4:14-5:10

In the second sermon of this series, Ken Noakes and Julie Haddon explore the reality of God’s presence in every circumstance in our lives. They explain that God know each of us deeply, and empathises with us, thanks to what Jesus did in becoming human and experiencing life here on earth, including suffering. Where the circumstances of our lives and emotions can shift, God is constant.

Sermon 2 Notes

Sermon 3: Lament
Read the text: Psalm 42, Matthew 26:36-46

In the third sermon of this series, Ken Noakes and Olivia Bush look at what the Bible says about lament. Is it OK to be in a mess when we come to God? How can we express our deepest distress to God? We have, in Jesus, both a mediator and a model of how we can approach God when everything in our lives is falling apart.

Sermon 3 Notes

Sermon – Salvation for the World: The Message for the World (Isaiah 55:1-13)

Read the text – Isaiah 55:1-13, Isaiah 56:1-8

This sermon is a part of the ‘Will God help his people?’ sermon series. God calls us to draw near, promises an everlasting covenant, and calls us to live in response. Ken Noakes gives this sermon on living as a Christian at Lower Mountain Anglican Church, Glenbrook evening service.

Sermon – Salvation for the World: Comfort for the World (Is 50:4-51:16, 52:7-10)

Read the text – Isaiah 50:4-51:16, Isaiah 52:7-10

For the sermon series, ‘Will God help is People?’, we have been discussing what Isaiah says on Christian Hardship. Ken Noakes reminds us that Jesus knows our pain. His arms are a picture of suffering, yet with those arms he will gather in the nations, break the chains of the oppressor, and gently comfort all who come to him.

Sermon – Salvation for the World: Saviour for the World (Is 49:1-26)

Read the text – Isaiah 49:1-26

For the sermon series, ‘Will God help is People?’, we have been discussing what Isaiah says on Christian Hardship, but did Jesus himself find hardship? Ken Noakes tells us that God’s global salvation comes through the suffering servant—Jesus, the true Israel—who speaks with divine authority, endures rejection, and brings light not just to God’s people, but to the ends of the earth. We need to see the goodness and power of Jesus as the one who speaks God’s word like a sharpened sword (Rev 1), who is a covenant between God and people, and who suffers as he brings salvation to the world.

Sermon – Listening and Speaking to God: Prayer – Believe (John 17:20-26)

Read the text – John 17:20-26

Who am I? We can have many answers to this, most of which we make ourselves or garner from those around us. In this sermon on ‘Speaking to God’, David Swan argues that the answer is who we are in Christ, and is shown in Jesus’ prayer in John 17. Listen to how we’re supposed to relate to God, each other and ourselves in Belief in the One that was sent.

Sermon – Persevere: Contending for the Faith (Jude 1-4, 17-25)

Read the text – Jude 1-4, 17-25

Jude is a short little letter which packs a punch. It is written to those who know what faith in Jesus is about – and urges them to ‘contend for the faith’ in the face of what are known challenges. This letter is as valuable today as it would have been for those who originally received it and will help equip believers to persevere as we walk in Jesus.

In this sermon, Ken Noakes encourages us to “be in it to win it”, because there is an urgent, pressing need that we fight for our faith. But we aren’t left to our own devices: we have the firm foundation of God’s word, and we have the power of the Holy Trinity behind us, so we can be built up by God’s word, pray in the Holy Spirit, keep in God’s love and wait on the Lord Jesus.

Bible talk outline

Sermon – Stand Firm: Stand Firm! (2 Thess. 2:13-3:5)

Ken Noakes preaches this Father’s Day message.

Aware of false teachings, the Apostle Paul encourages the church to resist these teachings and continue preaching the gospel messages as originally taught.

There is great encouragement here for all Christians to remain rooted in the Gospel as first delivered by the apostles, not following the lies and “clickbait” of our world.

Read the text – 2 Thess 2:13-3:5