John 9:1-46
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
A Man Born Blind audio (5MB)
Blindness is a terrible thing isn’t it? We rely on our eyes so much for experiencing the world, for enjoying life, for perceiving reality. If your eyes are failing or you know someone with poor eyesight you’ll know what a loss it is, how many restrictions it puts on your life.
But you know, there are different forms of blindness. There’s physical blindness, and there’s spiritual blindness. In the story we’re looking at today, we see Jesus healing a man’s physical blindness, and in the process we discover the spiritual blindness of some of those looking on.
Jesus Walks on Water ... So What? (Mark 6.45-56)
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- Written by: Adam Cetrangelo
audio (6MB)
For the past few months we have taken a closer look at Jesus, the miracle worker. Like the first disciples who traveled with Jesus, we’ve revisited all these miracle stories in a succession almost as if we were there. We’ve seen blind people receiving their sight, lame people walking, demons being cast out of people, lepers cleansed, a multitude of people fed, even a raising from the dead. We get it … right? Jesus is pretty amazing, he can do all sorts of things and now this? Jesus walking on water … I mean … what’s the point of that? So what? It’s a little bit showy isn’t it? I mean healing someone who is suffering or feeding a hungry crowd is one thing but what benefit does walking on the water actually have? The Sea of Galilee was pretty small, surely Jesus could have seen the boat in trouble and just calmed the sea from the land … why this flashy display? … Had he run out of cool tricks?
I wonder … perhaps … if today’s miracle story kind of brings us to the heart of what this whole series is about – why did Jesus perform miracles? Jesus was not the only character in the bible who performed miracles. There were miracles in the OT. There are recorded miracles that the apostles performed in the Acts of the Apostles in the NT. Other Jewish and Greek literature of the first century was also rich with miracle-stories. Yet by far the highest concentration of miracle stories in the Bible is found in the Gospels! So clearly this is a significant aspect of WHAT JESUS DID throughout his earthly ministry.
So I put this question to you: Why?
Luke 17:11-19
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Ten Lepers audio (5MB)
Today I want to talk about faith. It’s one of those words that we use a lot as Christians but I’m not sure we’re always completely clear on what we mean by it. In particular I want to think abut the connection between faith and the work of God.
How much faith do you need to see God answer your prayers? And can you expect God to answer your prayers if you don’t acknowledge him when he does?
These are the sorts of questions thrown up by this story today. Here we see 10 people who are healed by Jesus, yet only one who appears to show any response to him.
I Talk Back to the Devil: Concealing the Smiling Face of God
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- Written by: Garrett Edwards
audio (6MB)
Song: David Crowder Band – How He Loves
I really want to do 2 things in my sermon today, while looking at our need to continue growing in our maturity with Christ.
The first is more of a reminder. I’d like to remind us to hold to what is true: To hold to the truth of our salvation and have confidence in it when we confess that Jesus is Lord, and encourage us in the fact that God loves us and he loves us forever!
I think all of us can relate to feeling distant from God, or like we may not have that relationship anymore and I want to confront this, I want to deny this. Not belittle or flippantly cast these feelings aside, just refute it and encourage us on.
The second thing is a challenge as well as a reminder: That we need to continually surrender to His will. Continually give our lives up to him if we are to mature in our faith.
Tozer asks in his book that inspires this series, ‘Why do we not capture the divine illumination of Jesus Christ in our souls?’ And he answers himself,
‘Because there is a cloud of concealment between us and the smiling face of God!’
Read more: I Talk Back to the Devil: Concealing the Smiling Face of God
Series: Theme: Miracles of Jesus
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Miracles of Jesus
|
The Centurion’s Servant |
Matt 8:5-13 |
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A Paralysed Man |
Mark 2:1-12 |
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Demons & Pigs |
Mark 5:1-20 |
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A Canaanite Woman |
Matt 15:21-28 |
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Ten Lepers |
Luke 17:11-19 |
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Jesus walks on Water |
Mark 6:45-56 |
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The Man Born Blind |
John 9:1-16 |
Matt 15:21-28
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
A Canaanite Woman audio (4MB)
We Christians often get criticised for our belief in the uniqueness of Christ. People accuse us of being exclusive because we believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no-one comes to the Father except through him. We believe that there’s no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved and so we’re seen as judgmental or prejudiced. There may be some of you who have the same concerns. This becomes even more common when you start to discuss heaven and hell. It sounds so terrible to think that God might exclude people from heaven just because they don’t believe in Jesus. We think to ourselves, “That’s not how Jesus would have behaved, surely?”
But then we come to a passage like this and what do we find? Jesus is in the region of Tyre and Sidon. That’s Gentile territory, no longer in Israel, and one of the local women comes up to him and starts shouting for help. “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
Mark 6:30-44
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Feeding the 5000 - A Lesson in Ministry
audio (2MB)
The Romance of Ministry
It wasn’t fair. If it were you or me we’d be feeling so frustrated. The disciples were on a high. They’d just got back from a mission trip. They’d been preaching the gospel, casting out demons and healing people, just like Jesus. But now there were people everywhere and they hadn’t had a chance to talk to Jesus about it. What they needed was some time to themselves to process what they’d just experienced. So Jesus suggests they get away by themselves; go on retreat. They’re fishermen so it seems easy. They can just hop in boat and get away from the madding crowd.
But it’s not to be. Their plans are foiled. It’s like a film star trying to avoid the paparazzi. People see them going and hurry after them.
The Reality of Ministry
And so the disciples discover the reality of ministry. If you’re in ministry (and every one of us is, in case you didn’t realise it!) you don’t always have the luxury of being able to do just what you want. Sometimes, perhaps even often, you have to give up your own desires in order to serve God in some way. Sometimes you have to modify those plans you’ve made so carefully, because God throws another possibility into the mix; something you’ve never thought of; something totally unexpected even.
