Sermons

‘Jacob meets cousin Rachel and uncle Laban’ (Genesi 29:1-20)

AudioPhilip

In Genesis 29:1-20, so many of the promises of God that Jacob heard at Bethel began to be confirmed. No wonder he wept. He was aware of the goodness of God toward him, not only leading him to the place he set out for, but also providing for him a potential wife in Rachel. It remains to be seen how things will work out with his future father-in-law, Laban, but at this moment in his life, all was very good.

Message

Outline

• The sixth in this series
• Where we are in the story
• God’s providence for Jacob and his plans for him!
• See how Moses tells us of the providence of God in …

  1. His arrival at Haran (v.1-8)
  2. His meeting with Rachel (v.9-12)
  3. His employment with Laban (v.13-20)

God will guide you…
God will grow you…

‘Jacob dreams at Bethel’ (Genesis 28:10-22)

AudioPhilip

The next event in Jacob’s life as recorded in Genesis 28:10-22 is highly significant. Jacob was now an exile from home, and so it was while he was on his journey to his uncle’s that the Lord God appeared to him and gave him many assurances. The result was not only that Jacob had hist first encounter with God, but also called the Lord ‘my God’, proceeding from Bethel with the promise of blessing and protection by God – all undeserved and all of grace.

Message

Outline

• The fifth in this series
• Where we are in the story
• Jacob setting out on that journey!
• See how Moses tells us of …

  1. His temporary respite (v.10-12)
  2. His terrifying revelation (v.13-16)
  3. His grateful response (v.17-22)

What Jesus said about this event…
The promises of God – for you!

‘Thriving as a Christian’ (Psalm 1:1-6)

AudioPhilip

As the first of the book of Psalms, the one we know as Psalm 1:1-6 is very helpful. for many reasons. It not only sets the tone for many of the Psalms that follow, but it encourages God’s people to ‘walk in the ways of the Lord’ and to find blessing as we do, so that we might be a blessing to others.

Message

Outline

• Arriving at today’s message
• Revising “Blessed”
• Christians are blessed people.
• In Psalm 1, we are challenged with

  1. Practices To Avoid
  2. A Habit To Develop
  3. An Outcome To Strive For

Christians are blessed people
How we live should reveal this to others!

‘Remembering Him’ (Luke 22:1-23)

AudioAndrew

In Luke 22, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, saying, “Do this in remembrance of me”. As we gather again today to celebrate this meal in obedience to him – full of symbolism and scriptural allusions – what and who are we remembering?

Message

Outline

  • Life forever on earth?
  • Some comments on ‘being remembered’
  • How could Jesus ever be forgotten?
  • Is there more to remembering Him than remembering?
  1. The Old Covenant – remembered in repetition
  2. The New Covenant – remembered in symbol

The object of our faith
The test of our faith
The test of our remembering

‘Joy in Relationship’ (Philippians 1:1-11)

AudioAndrew

Where do you find joy? Paul, writing in Philippians 1:1-11, finds it in people, in relationships but specifically in partnership for the gospel. Despite his imprisonment, he is thankful that God is at work in the Philippian church and prays for their growth, to the glory and praise of God. If we are partakers of his grace, God promises to work in us, that we might grow in love, with knowledge and discernment, filled with righteousness and the joy Paul describes. Because ultimately Paul finds his joy in Jesus.

Message

Outline

Where do you find joy?
Paul is in Prison writing to the Philippians

  1. Partnership (v3-8)
  2. Prayer (v9-11)
  3. Praise (v11)

Joy in relationship with Jesus

‘Jacob steals the blessing’ (part 2) (Genesis 27:31-28:9)

AudioPhilip

There were repercussions for Rebekah and Jacob after they conspired to steal the blessing of the first-born from Esau. In Genesis 27:31-28:9 we find that not only was Esau very angry about this and wanted to enact revenge upon Jacob, but also that Jacob had to flee the family home to escape his brother’s designs. This was at great cost to Rebekah who would never see her son alive again on earth. Sin always brings repercussions and among them are the ugly fruit of seeds sewn.

Message

Outline

• This ‘daytime TV soap opera’!
• What we’ve seen so far
• Part 2 of the stolen blessing…
• See how Moses tells us of …

  1. The twin’s desperate response (27:30-41)
  2. The parents’ united advice (27:42-28:1)
  3. The son’s urgent escape (28:2-9)

The reality of the consequences of sin…
The usefulness of trials in growing faith!

‘Jacob steals the blessing’ (Genesis 27:1-29)

AudioPhilip

After stealing the birthright from Esau, Genesis 27:1-29 tells us how Jacob, led by his mother Rebekah, conspired to also steal the blessing that would normally be given by the father to the first-born, in this case his elder twin, Esau. By deceiving his father, and blasheming against God and following his mother’s instructions, Jacob succeeded. But all was not well within the family. And all is not well when we seek to manipulate others into doing (what we might think was) God’s will.

Message

Outline

• A well-known story
• Like a daytime TV soap opera!
• That recipe for disaster…
• See how Moses tells us of …

  1. Isaac, the spiritually blind father (v.1-4)
  2. Rebekah, the scheming mother (v.5-13)
  3. Jacob, the complicit son (v.14-29)

Aiming for the right goal but doing it the wrong way…
The blessing of the Lord – so needed!

‘Jacob steals the birthright’ (Genesis 25:27-34)

AudioPhilip

After the introduction of the twins, Jacob and Esau, into the family of Isaac and Rebekah, the two boys could not have been any more different. In Genesis 25:27-34, we find that Esau was a hunter and Jacob a man of ‘tents’. One was more inclined to be the outdoors type, while the other, indoors. The traits these brothers showed were probably inculcated upon them by their parents, who played ‘favourites’ among them. Isaac’s favourite was Esau. Rebekah’s favourite was Jacob. This style of parenting reared some ugly fruits – the first seen in Jacob’s stealing of Esau’s birthright and Esau’s own despising of that birthright.

Message

Outline

• Where we are in the story
• Twins and identical twins
• Dysfunctional parents…
• See how Moses tells us of …

  1. The traits that defined them (v.27)
  2. The parents who mistreated them (v.28)
  3. The meal that divided them (v.29-34)

Understanding God’s eternal decrees…
Avoid placing the temporal over the eternal…

‘Jacob arrives on centre stage’ (Genesis 25:19-28)

AudioPhilip

The character of Jacob in the Old Testament is no small, ‘bit part’ player. As one of the patriarchs, with Isaac as his father and Abraham as his grandfather, Jacob plays a vital role in the unfolding of God’s promises to Abraham ‘to bless all the nations’ through him. However, in recording the arrival of Jacob onto the scene, Moses tells it, ‘as it is’, Not all is rosy in the family, and there are hints given that not all will be easy in the lives of Jacob and his twin brother, Esau.

Message

Outline

• Why preach a series on Jacob?
• The importance of Jacob in the Scriptures
• A man saved by grace…
• See how Moses tells us of …

  1. Who Jacob was born to (v.19-23)
  2. Who Jacob was born with (v.24-26)
  3. What Jacob was born into (v.27-28)

A vital character introduced into the plot line…
No longer defined by a physical birth!

‘The King’s response to two men who were among the last’ (Matthew 20:29-34)

AudioPhilip

When Matthew records the plight of the two blind men by the side of the road in Matthew 20:29-34, he completes the theme of ‘the first and the last’ that Jesus has been speaking of in this chapter of this gospel. If James and John were seeking to be ‘first’ in the previous section, then these men were surely among those he referred to as the ‘last’. Yet, though these men were blind, they saw more than other people could by putting their faith in the ‘son of David’ who was passing by.

Message

Outline

• Where we are in the text
• That ‘inverse order’ principle…last & first!
• Fanny Crosby’s comment about blindness…
• See how Matthew tells us that these blind men ‘saw’ …

  1. An opportunity through the One passing by them (v.29-30)
  2. The power of the One who heard them (v.31-33)
  3. The face of the One of who healed them (v.34)

What have we seen in these chapters?
Another illustration of the way His kingdom operates!