In their desire to live holy lives in response to God’s grace toward them, in 1 Peter 1:17-19, Peter tells his readers that they are to live in fear of the Lord, knowing well his impartial judgement that will come to all men. But to balance this, believers should also live knowing the redeeming love of God their Father who purchased them to be His own, not with money, but with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus.
Author: Philip
‘From the head down to the fingers and the toes’ (1 Peter 1:13-16)
After telling his readers of the wonderful inheritance that God’s people will receive because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, in 1 Peter 1:13-16, Peter then seeks to apply these truths to life. A very important word in his letter is the word ‘therefore’. Because of what Christ has done and what is coming, God’s people are to set their hopes on what is in heaven, not on what is on earth and live lives of holiness. The going will be tough and discipline will be required, but the rewards will be eternal.
‘A Vocal World Tour’ February 13th
We are please to provide the venue for this upcoming concert in support of the ministry of Compassion Australia. All details are below on the image. Feel free to come along and join us!
‘A psalm for the whole world’ (Psalm 67:1-7)
In an age where ‘selfies’ are trending more and more popular, Psalm 67 rightly points us back to God (instead of man) as the source of all grace and blessing. The need of the hour is that we know more and more of this grace and blessing – not so that we become comfortable, but so that we may be a blessing to others, even the whole world. Given too that God is the Lord of all the nations, the Psalm points out that His praise ought to be sung by peoples from every land. In this day when less than half of the world has even heard about the Lord Jesus Christ, we must pray that God would fulfill the Psalm’s vision and send His word to the ends of the earth. (No audio this week, sorry).
‘A Psalm for the lonely’ (Psalm 139)
As one of the Psalms of King David, Psalm 139 relates how David knew that God knew so much about him! This intimate knowledge of God is so vast that He even saw knew David in his mother’s womb. Because of this David knew that he could never leave God’s presence. In this message, Rory Weightman reminds us that in the midst of such wonderful truths, David also knew that that God is holy and must punish the wicked. The Psalm ends as we might not expect, yet gives the assurance that believers are safe with God and will never be abandoned by Him.
‘A Psalm for the sinner and the saint’ (Psalm 51:1-19)
As one of the Psalms of King David, Psalm 51 relates how David confessed his sins to God and found that God is gracious. Rev Russ Grinter reminds us in this message that this grace transforms a sinner into a saint (a believer in Jesus Christ) through repentance and faith. This grace also enables those who are saints to continue to repent and believe – which is just what God wants from us in the New Year, a life of repentance and faith.
‘A Psalm for the New Year’ (Psalm 90:1-17)
It’s good practise to begin the New Year with sober thoughts and Psalm 90 does just that. As one of the oldest portions of Scripture, the Psalm brings us face to face with the eternal nature of God, His judgments and His mercies and yet at the same time, the transient nature of man. Life is short, therefore Moses encourages us to ‘number our days’. The truly wise person lives in the light of the shortness of life here on earth and the length of eternity.
January @ St John’s
Our morning worship services continue each Sunday @ 10:30am where we’ll be looking at some of the Psalms.
Jan 4 – Psalm 90 (A psalm for the New Year) Rev. Philip Burns
Jan 11 – Psalm 51 (A psalm for the sinner and the saint) Rev. Russ Grinter
Jan 18 – Psalm 139 (A psalm for the lonely) Rory Weightman
Jan 25 – Psalm 67 (A psalm for the whole world) Rev. Philip Burns
Come join us!
‘Keeping the miraculous alive in the Christmas story’ (Luke 2:15)
In this message, Rev John Sutherland explores the often overlooked aspect of the miraculous parts of the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel with the hope that believers may have a greater sense of wonder and awe at the great events that make up the birth of Jesus. We have no need to apologise that the very basics of our faith are founded on miraculous events, no matter how many of our own generation may scoff at these things. In our minds we can readily join with the shepherds who had seen the vision of angels and who received the glad tidings of the Saviour’s birth. “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass.”
‘He walked on earth…in our shoes’ (Hebrews 4:14-5:10)
When white man John Griffin made himself up and lived as a black man, he found out the hard way what many experienced in 1959 racist America. When Jesus came to earth as a human, he too experienced the nature of life as we know it. Hebrews 4:14-5:10 tells us of his experiences – how he endured human frailty, suffering and even death. Though He was fully God, yet he entered into the realm of our pain and through that pain and eventual death secured an eternal salvation for his people. At Christmas time we remember the wonderful truth that God became man and as man he still lives to be our great High Priest in heaven – fully able to understand what we must endure.