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.
Read the text – Mark 10:32-52
We have many avenues to find the most genuine version of yourself, but in this sermon, Ken Noakes argues that there is only one way to be truly authentic through chapter 10 of Mark.
Read the text – Mark 8:22-9:1
How do we identify ourselves? Is it our looks, hobbies, gender, social standing? In this sermon, Ken Noakes talks on what we use to identify ourselves (and in our individualistic society, there are many different ways we can identify ourselves), and whether it would be better to lose yourself in order to find yourself.
Read the text – Matthew 16:13-28
Famously Jesus challenges his disciples: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Matt 16:24). What does it mean today to be a disciple of Jesus? In an age when we express our individualism in many and numerous ways, this message is a challenge for it asks us to put Jesus before ourselves. Yet, Jesus gives very good reasons to follow him.
In this talk, Ken Noakes helps us look first at the identity of Jesus – and as a result to consider what that should mean for anyone who wants to follow him.
Read the text – 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
What should hold a church together – Our relationships? Our feeling of belonging? Our gospel convictions? Jesus? The Apostle Paul wrote this extraordinary letter to a church he knew well, yet a church which had got itself into a bit of a muddle. It turns out that the Christian Family does matter – and it is important to ensure that Jesus sits at the heart and soul of this church and in fact any church. We look at 1 Corinthians 1-7 because it holds a mirror up to us and it would be wise for us to consider carefully what it might say to us today.
In this Bible Talk, Dave Swan speaks about the touchy subject of sexual purity and the important place it holds in the Christian family. Since “your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God” (1 Cor 6:19) – how should the Christian person handle their sex drive in a highly sexualised world and yet still honour God?
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 explores God’s declaration “I AM WHO I AM” to Moses, the doubts Moses had, and our identity in Christ.
Read the text – John 5:16-30 Exodus 3:1-17
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