Ryan Smith spoke from Romans 5:12-21 about Jesus, Adam and us. Adam’s ‘one small step’ in the garden had giant consequences for all mankind falling into sin. Jesus is a man like Adam, but where Adam fell, Jesus is righteous and his death pays for all mankind. So while all are sinners by Adam (and by choice), we are righteous by faith in Christ.
Author: Andrew
‘The New Man – The New Life’ (Romans 6:1-14)
Rory Weightman spoke on Romans 6:1-14. After chapter 5 tells us that God’s grace is greater than our sin, chapter 6 starts with the question, “are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” The answer is no: we died to sin through Jesus’ death; we are freed from sin; we are alive in Christ and so we should not continue in sin! Rather than be mastered by sin, we trust in Jesus as our master.
‘Whom would you die for?’ (Romans 5:1-11)
Brendan Rayson spoke from Romans 5:1-11 about how Christ died for us. His death means we have peace with God and access to him through the Son because we have been justified by faith. It means we can rejoice, even in our suffering. We didn’t deserve this but it shows God’s love and grace.
‘United we stand (and are) in Christ’ (John 17:20-26)
John 17:20-26 highlights the fact that after praying for the security and the sanctification of His disciples, Jesus also prayed for their unity. In a passage variously interpreted by many to promote the ecumenical movement, Jesus’ words are best understood to refer to the unity (as distinct from uniformity) of all His disciples. This unity is a natural unity not a forced one, that has its basis in the fact that all true believers come to the one Father through the one Saviour.
‘The Lord’s Prayer for his disciples’ (John 17:13-19)
What we pray for indicates our priorities. John 17:13-19 continues Jesus’ prayer. After praying for God’s glory, he prays for his disciples and gives insight into his priorities. He wants his followers to have joy, even in the face of trials – not just happiness in good circumstances. He wants his followers to be kept safe, from the evil one and their own hearts. He wants them to be set apart from the world, yet sent into the world to continue his work. Do we share the same priorities as Jesus?
‘Learning from the real Lord’s Prayer’ (John 17:1-12)
John 17:1-12 records the moment Jesus prayed for all of his disciples. With a beautiful blend of intimacy and reverence, John records how Jesus prayed to His Father. By doing so, John gives us insight into the unique relationship between God the Father and Jesus the Son. The prayer also gives us a model of all true prayer because it reminds us that prayer comes from the heart, is an expression of a relationship with God and is always motivated by the glory of God.
‘Haters gonna hate, but Christians love like Jesus’ (John 15:18-16:3)
In John 15:18-16:3, Jesus warns his followers that the world will hate them because it hated him. It the coming chapters we see that it hated him to death on the cross. Jesus choses his followers out of the world to be different to it. Christians ought to respond with love and be witnesses to Jesus’ love. His love was shown when he died in our place and rose for our hope.
‘Meeting the highest of standards’ (John 15:12-17)
In John 15:12-17 Jesus called his disciples to be identified by the badge of love. In doing so, He elevated his disciples from the status of servants to friends, gave them explicit instructions as to their responsibility to love each other and then set the highest standard possible by speaking of love as sacrifice. We often remember his words in John 15:13 when we remember our war dead, but these words were not given just to write on a tombstone. Instead they are to be lived out in the world.
‘Promised gifts’ (John 14:15-31)
Steve Blyth spoke from John 14 about Jesus’ love of others – even hours before his own death. With the crucifixion in view, Jesus promised to send his Spirit to prepare them to live well in the world. A selfless bucket-list, but if he could give them anything, why not world peace or an end to poverty? All these things require a change of heart that only the Spirit of truth can bring. As we receive the truth, it brings assurance of peace, a joy in all circumstances and faith in a God who is in control.
‘In the face of death’ (John 11:1-44)
In John 11, when his friend Lazarus falls ill, it seems strange that Jesus does not go to heal him immediately. Jesus is confident in his father and knows the glory will go to him. For us, we see that in the face of death, though God might feel distant (1-16), Jesus draws near to us (17-37) and conquers death (38-44). So even as we face death now, we can grieve with hope in Christ.