‘The Exchanged Life’ (Galatians 2:15-3:9)

Guest speaker, Rev. Len Pearce spoke from Galatians 2-3 about how the Christian’s life is not just changed but exchanged. Not one of us is perfect yet there is no other way to stand before God: the Christian is justified by Christ; we exchange our sin for his perfect righteousness. We receive these benefits by God’s Spirit through faith. This is the heart of the gospel. Yet we don’t know the length of our days – be sure that you know Jesus as we get closer to eternity.

Politics, Persecution and Superpowers (Daniel 8:1-26)

Guest speaker, Jordan Brown, a student at PTC, preached from Daniel 8. We can take heart because God reigns over politics and superpowers, both in empires then and in the world now. Daniel was shaken by the vision he saw of the future and we might be shaken by persecution we face, but we live in a privileged time. Not only can we look back and see the prophecy of Daniel fulfilled but we can see the faithfulness of God even clearly in Jesus. One day every knee will bow before him.

‘Holiness 102: There’s a war going on!’

While the world knows the reality of the horror of war, the believer also knows the reality of the battle for holiness. Best laid plans and intentions can so easily be left aside. The Christian life is a paradox. We have been delivered from the penalty of sin, but not yet from the presence of sin. The desires of our own sinful natures and the Holy Spirit are often in conflict. How do we fight this battle? Every believer needs to know that indwelling sin is the problem, that it lives within our hearts, that it deceives our reasoning and ought not be allowed to have control. The key to victory is not found in ourselves but in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit who can and will assist us in this ongoing battle for holiness.

‘Holiness 101: So how do you measure up?’

Holiness. It’s often been misunderstood, even by God’s pople. What are we to make of it? For a start, holiness begins with God. He is ‘holy, holy, holy’. Holiness is his chief characteristic and everything about him (his love, his wisdom, his mercy etc.) is holy. Holiness is also defined by Jesus. As he was and is God, we should expect that everything he did was holy, and this was true. Though he hung around with ‘sinners’, his life was holy in every way. Then also, holiness is necessary for believers. It is needed to prove that we know salavtion. It is needed so that we can have fellowship with God. It is needed if we want to be useful to God. Holiness is a path to take, a battle to fight and a desire to be pursued. It begins with God but ought to be seen in his people who are called to be like him in this way.