In a day when the Jewish religious found themselves a ‘loophole’ in the Old Testament law about divorce, in Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus made it very clear that the issue goes much deeper than what was popular at the time. Jesus taught that the only ‘biblical ‘grounds for divorce are sexual immorality, and that those who divorce for other reasons end up breaking the seventh commandment if and when they remarry. This is a difficult topic for many, especially when the divorce rate is so high, however God’s standards are there to be followed and we must not forget that His grace is freely given to all who seek it – even to those who have failed to keep their marriage vows.
Sermons
Reformation Sunday Celebration with Rev Dr Douglas Milne (Hebrews 13:7)
At our Reformation Sunday Celebration, Rev Dr Douglas Milne preached from Hebrews 13:7, reminding us of the great legacy left behind by the Christian leaders of the Reformation and of those who have walked with God in days gone by, encouraging us all to imitate their faith by trusting in the Lord Jesus to the end.
‘Ouch! Did Jesus really say that about adultery?’ (Matthew 5:27-30)
When dealing with false and slack interpretations of the seventh commandment ‘You shall not commit adultery’, Jesus, in Matthew 5:27-30, made it pretty clear that obedience to the commandment goes much deeper than just refaining from the physical act. Jesus pointed out that the root of adultery begins in the yes and spreads to the heart. Lust is the problem! To show how dangerous this is, Jesus the proceeded to tell men to ‘pluck out their eye’ if their eye offends in this way. He was not meaning this literally, but making a point to show that we should take extreme action to avoid this sin, so that we do not end up suffering more awful consequences.
Oops…human error (mine!) means that the first few minutes are missing from this audio…so what follows here is what was said and you’re welcome to follow the audio from the end of the written part 🙂 Continue reading
‘The Bible’s whale tale…Jonah, Jesus and you’ (Jonah 1:1-17)
While many regard the story of Jonah as told in Jonah 1:1-17, as just a ‘whale tale’, the Bible presents it as fact. While the details of the story are summed up, by the following headings; God said ‘go’, Jonah said ‘no’, the wind went ‘blow’, the sailors went ‘throw’ and the fish went ‘swallow’, Jesus also added ‘so’… He made it clear in Matthew 12 that not only was the tale of Jonah true, but it also pointed to his own death and resurrection as the means of salvation. Those who heard Jesus did not believe him and those who hear the gospel today also face the same hurdle of unbelief.
‘Ouch! Did Jesus really say that about murder?’ (Matthew 5:21-26)
In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus addressed the question of the right understanding of the sixth commandment, ‘You shall not kill’. While the Pharisees were content to understand that they had obeyed this commandment by refraining from the physical act of murder, Jesus took it a whole lot deeper. He pointed out that the real problem is with the root cause of anger in our hearts, which can lead to murdering people by our tongue and also having difficult and real conflict within our relationships. Thankfully Jesus died for murderers and for those who sin with their tongues too and there is grace for all who fall short!
‘How Jesus understood the Law and the Word’ (Matthew 5:17-20)
In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus addressed the question of where he stood in relation to the Old Testament, particularly the Law of Moses. This is a question that troubled many in his time and continues to trouble people today. Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Law, not be in opposition to it. More than that, Jesus upheld the Old Testament as being the Word of God and taught that the standard of righteousness we need in order to enter God’s Kingdom has to be greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees – that is, it needs to be a true (not hypocritical) righteousness that comes to us by God’s grace and so is not merely outward but inward.
‘Living as light in a darkened world’ (Matthew 5:14-16)
In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus used the image of ‘light’ to illustrate what He expects His followers to be. God calls us in the Bible to come to the light, to receive the light and to live in His light. We can ever only be what He wants us to be as the light of the world, but reflecting the One who is the true light of the world – Jesus. While there are many reasons why we may want to hide our witness to Jesus (such as fear) this does not negate our responsibility. The gospel has brought us light and now we are called to share that light to a world in darkness.
‘Standing strong in dangerous times’ (Daniel 1:1-21)
In this message, Rev Peter Hastie, the Principal of the Presbyterian Theological College explores the times and situation of God’s people in Daniel chapter 1. The world and the devil has always stood against God’s truth. We are seeing it in these days, and it was no different in Daniel’s day. King Nebuchadnezzar carried off the religious articles from God’s Temple and put them in the one dedicated to his god, but he also took young men from Israel and sought to re-fashion them according to his plans and desires. Daniel resisted all this and remained true to the Lord, challenging us in these evil days to be and do likewise.
‘Open tomb, Open scriptures, Open heaven’ (Luke 24:1-53)
Luke 24 speaks about the great news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, has a strong theme of ‘open things’. For one thing, the tomb was open and Jesus was no longer dead inside it! This is the strong hope that believers share and sets Christianity apart from other religions. Our founder is still alive and death could not hold Him! Then it speaks of ‘open minds’ as it tells us how Jesus opened the understanding of the disciples with regard to the purpose and message of the Scriptures. Then also it speaks of an ‘open heaven’ into which Jesus returned, but before doing so, challenged his disciples to go out into the world proclaiming the wonderful message of forgiveness of sins in His name.
‘Living as salt in a tasteless world’ (Matthew 5:13)
After speaking about the blessing that belongs to those who belong to His ‘upside-down’ Kingdom in the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5:13, Jesus then spoke of the influence that He expected His people would have on the world, by being ‘salt’ in an often tasteless world. Why did Jesus describe believers as being like salt? Because of the way in which salt was highly valued in Jesus’ day, because of the way in which salt was also used as a preservative, the way in which salt creates thirst, and also the way in which salt could so easily lose its flavour and become useless. For all these reasons believers are to be in the world and so have a preserving, thirst-creating and godly influence on others and therefore on the world.