Sermons

Many of you will know that I try to talk to people who don’t come to church. I love to try and find out: What do they think? What do they believe? What questions are they asking?

One issue I encounter fairly regularly, as a barrier to the Christian faith, is the Old Testament. It seems a number of people find the Old Testament difficult. Perhaps the Old Testament half of the Bible is one of the things that puzzles you. If we’re honest, most of us who are Christians find it hard from time to time as well.

Do you ever wonder what it would take to make the world a better place. Less rotten? Less foolish? Less stupid? Less tasteless? Less dark? Less base?

I do. People at large would come up with a range of suggestions. Some people put their confidence in the political system. The government is there to improve things, and once a decade we change who is in power because we’re not convinced the current lot are fixing things well enough, so we try somebody else.

Well, congratulations!

What am I congratulating you for, you are wondering? Well that’s how I start most sermons that I preach at a wedding. It’s what someone will say to you when you’ve passed your driving test. It’s what you say to someone who has just got a new job. It’s what you say to someone when they’ve just had a new grandchild.

We say: Congratulations! You’ve just achieved something that was well-worth doing. You’ve done something to be proud of. Well done!

There is no full script available for the sermon on Philippians 1:12-18a, but instead you can listen to an audio recording of the sermon by clicking the button below.

• Philippians_01_12-18.mp3 (Time: 24:02; File Size: 11.0MB)

There is no full script available for the sermon on Luke 15:1-10, but instead you can listen to an audio recording of the sermon by clicking the button below.

• Luke_15_01-10.mp3 (Time: 17:59; File Size: 8.23MB)

There is no full script available for the sermon on Exodus 25-31, but instead you can listen to an audio recording of the sermon by clicking the button below.

• Exodus 25-31.mp3 (Time: 22:19; File Size: 10.2MB)

There is no full script available for the sermon on Exodus 19-24, but instead you can listen to an audio recording of the sermon by clicking the button below.

• Exodus 19-24.mp3 (Time: 20:49; File Size: 9.52MB)

About a month ago, we looked together at the account of the plagues on Egypt. If you were here then, you’ll remember that we said God is in charge of the whole world, even those bits of it where he is not acknowledged. But how he uses that depends a lot on whether you are one of God’s people. God is a God who makes a distinction between his people and other people; when it comes to his people, he makes all things work for good.

Introduction

I’m sure there is not a child anywhere in the English-speaking world who has not had a phase of asking “why” to everything. Children are naturally curious. They want to know how the world fits together. So as they observe things happening, they ask why? They want to understand.

Much that we do here in church makes people ask “why” as well? Why do we eat a meal each week comprising a small amount of bread and wine? Why do we have readings from the Bible in church? Why do we have a sermon? And so on.

Priorities are hard things aren’t they.

Like choosing a pudding. Do you like cheesecake? Yes. Do you like sticky toffee pudding? Yes. Do you like rhubarb crumble? Yes. Do you like chocolate mousse? Yes. You can’t eat 4 puddings. You wouldn’t manage to eat them all without being sick. You would get high cholesterol if you ate four puddings every day. You have to choose. Which one do you want? Cheesecake. Sticky Toffee. Rhubarb Crumble. Chocolate Mousse. You may have only one. Ah. Much harder.