(SERMON) Luke 24:36-53 The Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

 At the end of Luke's Gospel Jesus opens the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures.  Unless we too grasp this 5-point key to unlocking the Bible we won't understand it either.  To understand the Bible we need to recognise that all of the Bible is about:

1.) The Messiah

2.) Who dies and rises

3.) That we might be forgiven through repentance

4.) That this message is universal in scope

5.) That we are to spread this message to the nations in the power of the Spirit.

When we see these truths on every page of Scripture we will worship the Lord with great, great, joy.

Revd Adam Young · Luke 24:36-53 The Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

(SERMON) Luke 22:66-23:25 Spoken Word Good Friday Devotion

A short five minute spoken word Good Friday meditation around the trials of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate.

Revd Adam Young · Spoken Word Good Friday Meditation: Luke 22:66 -23:25

(SERMON) Isaiah 41:1-20 Overcoming the Enemy

 In Isaiah 41.1-20 we learn how to face our enemies, whatever they may be.  It starts with silence and then seeing that God is in control of all things.  Then we must reject the ways of the world in seeking to survive by our own strength and instead trust in the strength of the Lord who calls us His own.  When we place our trust in Him we become the very thing which crushes the enemy and new life awaits.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the life of Jesus--and if it was true for Him facing the greatest enemies of all (our sin and sentence of death) then it is true for us His people.

Revd Adam Young · Isaiah 41:1-20 Overcoming the Enemy

(SERMON) John 12:37-50 Isaiah saw Jesus -- we should too!

 The revelation that Isaiah saw Jesus upon the throne in the Temple should transform how we read the Bible.  Seeing Jesus on every page sets our hearts ablaze with joy and love.  What Jesus goes on to explain though is just as amazing--the whole reason why He appeared in the Old Testament and became human in the New was to save us; to allow us to see the Father, to be in the presence of the Father, and have eternal life.

Revd Adam Young · John 12.37-50 Isaiah saw Jesus, we should too!

(SERMON) John 12:12-35 Seeking and Serving Jesus

 In this passage the crowds DECLARE Jesus as Saviour, Lord, and King but they don't understand what they are declaring. Instead it is the Greeks who actually SEEK to see the real Jesus and know Him as He is.  Through this seeking Jesus tells them the hard TRUTH: He is all the crowd said and so much more but that means dying on a Roman cross and rising to new life.  Even harder--we too much die to sin, self, and the world and rise to new life if we are to know peace and joy eternal.  This truth leads to a simple CHOICE: will you believe in the Light or be lost in darkness?

Revd Adam Young · John 12.12-36 Seeking and Serving Jesus

(SERMON) Matthew 2.1-12 The Magi and Mission: Being Stars to Lead All Nations to Christ

 Matthew's Gospel starts with the Nations coming to worship Jesus as the New King and ends with the Great Commission calling us to bring Jesus to the Nations. As Christians we must understand that God's vision is to see all nations gathered in worship and joy around Jesus. This happens when the church keeps its focus on the local area, its own nation, and the world.

Lord willing I will be going to Japan with OMF later in 2022 to take part in missionary work, church planting, and training ministers. This sermon outlines the great need for the gospel in Japan and invites us all to participate in what God is doing in Japan through prayer, support, and even going ourselves.

The sermon ends with some words of challenge and encouragement from Geoff Bland who was a missionary in Thailand for many years.

Revd Adam Young · Matthew 2.1-12 The Magi and Mission: Being Stars to Lead All Nations to Christ

(SERMON) Matthew 15.29 - 16.12 The ingredients of a saint

New Sermon upload from this Sunday where I was covering at a church for a friend in isolation.

In Matthew 15.29-16.12 we encounter a simple recipe for making a Christian believer--a saint.

It starts with real compassion, a movement of the heart towards the poor and needy.

Then there is the knowledge of Jesus and the truth--but not just an empty head knowledge.

Finally there is the most important ingredient, the one which brings it all together and that which the pharisees got wrong: faith. We need faith in Jesus as Lord, God, and Saviour because salvation only comes from faith.

Revd Adam Young · Matthew 15.29 - 16.12 The ingredients of a saint

(SERMON) God is Sovereign: Hope, Peace, and Mourning in God's world

The book of Job is fantastic in so many ways. One of the main themes that it addresses is the utter and complete sovereignty of God over our lives.  In a time when the world and our lives are being turned upside down by a "natural disaster" it is important to take a step back and ask where is God in all of this?  How can I respond faithfully to this tragedy?

In Scripture we see that God is utterly sovereign in many ways.  He is
- Sovereign in creating
- Sovereign in sustaining
- Sovereign in ordaining
- Sovereign in allowing

Through all of this we can discern many reasons why God does what He does, but it would foolish to point to one and proclaim it alone to be the cause behind the movement of God's hand.

As Christians we are uniquely equipped to respond to the tragedy around us, whatever it may be, with hope and peace -- but this hope and peace does not diminish nor relativise the real weeping and mourning we express and feel when calamity comes.

(SERMON) Matthew 22.1-14 You're invited: the Invitation to the Feast

In this parable we learn that the call of God, the invitation to an eternal life of joy, feasting, peace, and health goes out to all people.  However, many simply don't care, some are openly hostile, some appear to accept but then don't truly follow through, and a chosen few enter into eternal joy.

This teaching should lead to our lives being marked by two priorities:

1.) The dailing repenting of sin and clothing ourselves in the robe of Righteousness Divine -- the robe that Jesus alone can give us.
2.) Doing our part to spread the call and invitation to the Feast to anyone and everyone across the globe.

(SERMON) 1 Corinthians 15.50-58 "We believe in the resurrection of the dead"

In this last sermon on the Nicene Creed we look at the wonderful hope given in the truth of the promised resurrection of the dead; the fulfilment of the work and life of Jesus.

The unbreakable promise of the resurrection should change how we live our lives today:

1.) We should live during this life sacrificially knowing what is to come.
2.) We should live steadfast and immovable in our faith, our doctrine, and war against sin.
3.) We should be always seeking to excel in all that we do. Christians above all others should strive for excellence in all of our life.

(SERMON) Matthew 11.25-30 Giving rest and finding rest

Life is exhausting. Between the stresses of the world and life, the pressures we place on ourselves and others force upon us, the weight of shame and guilt from sin and darkness, we all desperately need a holiday.

Jesus says to everyone and anyone "Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I WILL give you rest."  He can make this promise because He is Lord of all and He can give us this rest because He died for our sins in our place and rose again.

Once we receive this peace we offer our whole selves to Him and place our lives in His hands.  There we find peace for our souls -- the kind of peace which makes Christians do and survive extraordinary things.

(SERMON) Mark 4.26-29 Both Outward and Inward God gives the growth

In this simple parable Jesus teaches us two great truths which should lead to changes in how we live our lives.

Firstly, He teaches us to not be afraid or daunted by the task of evangelism and mission whether in our local neighbourhood or on the other side of the globe.  What little we sow He can use and in the end it is always Him who gives the growth, Him who changes the hearts of people to accept Him through faith.

Secondly, He teaches us that inward spiritual growth is something we all must go through and in which, though we should seek to give every opportunity for growth, all growth ultimately rests at the feet of Jesus our King.  This means that we should neither become disheartened looking at those who are more mature than ourselves in the faith nor look down and despise those who know less than we ourselves or have travelled as far along the way.

(SERMON) John 14 -- Our common purpose and mission, a Mother's Union service of New Beginnings

Life is full of new beginnings, great and small, temporary and long term.

We should use such new beginnings to re-dedicate ourselves to our purpose and mission.

As individuals, and as the Mother's Union, our purpose and mission is

1.) to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth - we were saved by Jesus and must tell others about this.

2.)to be united with other Christians in prayer, in worship, and in service.

If these are not the things for which we are known in our communities then perhaps the need to rededicate ourselves to them is all the more urgent.

(SERMON) Matthew 25.14-30 The Mission of the Church

The parable of the talents not only contains the words we should most long to hear but also tells us about three grand truths

1.) The nature of true faith
2.) The relationship between Creator and Creation
3.) The mission of the Church and our role in it

(SERMON) Matthew 18.21-35 "Revenge might make a good film, but forgiveness makes the greatest story"

"Revenge might make a good film, but forgiveness makes the greatest story"

Revenge and Forgiveness are key themes in Scripture.  Here Jesus shows us that Christians are to turn the natural way of things upside down and in the place of unlimited vengeance offer unlimited forgiveness.

This isn't easy -- it can even seem impossible.

What we need to have is new hearts; hearts which recognise how much of a debt of sin we owed to God, how great His mercy was in Christ, and  that because we have been so miraculously and undeservedly forgiven we too are moved to forgive.

(SERMON) Luke 16.1-13 Christian Giving: Generosity, Faithfulness, and Service

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager is one of the most difficult passages in the Bible: but often the simplest reading is the right one.  Jesus' teaching on worldly wealth is never easy because He pulls no punches.  Here Jesus tells us that we should be ashamed of how the world uses its wealth to seek after temporary happiness with greater skill and zeal than we do our eternal joy.  The answer given is to serve God first, above all else, through generosity and faithfulness.

(SERMON) Luke 2:8-12 "Mega Joy" comes from Jesus

People look for what "sparks joy" is all kinds of places. But the only place to find great joy⁠—MEGA JOY⁠—which can overcome all darkness, fear, and sin is in the baby born in a manger 2000 years ago: in the Saviour who is both the promised Messiah who saves us from sin and the Lord God Almighty who rules and reigns over all things.

(SERMON) Incarnation, Apollonaris, and Nestorius: John 6.35-51

The doctrine of the incarnation—God in the flesh—is utterly foundational to Christianity.  The belief that Jesus is 100% God and 100% human, that he is the God-man, is the truth upon which our hopes and salvaiton rest.

But what does all of this actually mean?

The Early Church was divided between the teachings of Alexandria and Antioch, between the errors of Apollonarianism and Nestorianism. It had to find the biblical middle ground and did so at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD—what was taught there, and is taught in the Bible, should impact our daily lives and even our theology of the Lord's Supper.

(SERMON) Matthew 11.16-30 (09/07/2017)

People always find excuses to reject God, God reveals Himself to those like little children but hides from the arrogant, rejecting Him leads to damnation, accepting Him leads to perfect peace and a serene rest such as words cannot describe.

(This is an older sermon from my uploading backlog)

(SERMON) The Heresy of Arianism: 1 John 1.1-18

In the streets of Alexandria in 318AD a mob was chanting "There was a time that Christ was not!"  This heresy - Arianism - is alive and well around the world and church today.  Athanasius would spend most of his 46 years as a bishop in exile for fighting it.  Why was he so determined to fight the good fight and why should we be today?

We must stand firm because Scripture teaches that Jesus is truly God, begotten not made.

We must stand firm because if the person of Jesus is a created thing, no matter how exalted, all our worship is idolatry.

We must stand firm because unless Jesus is truly, fully, God - and not just close to God or like God - then our sins have not been forgiven.

We must stand firm because in this  truth is great comfort and blessing: knowing that God is a loving Father and not a distant and cold loner.