Luke 9:25 — “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Every generation has notable examples of what Jesus was talking about in this verse – people who seemed to have gained the whole world but lost themselves. Their massive success brought them only superficial,…
Luke 9:23-24 — “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” The twelve disciples were very keen on following Jesus in what they believed to be His imminent Messianic triumph, but their expectations were narrow and naive. Before exaltation and glory there was to be…
I Timothy 1 — In this final introductory study we look more closely at the problems Timothy was dealing with at the church in Ephesus. Some were teaching “other doctrine” – so what was it, and how was it impacting the fellowship? As we consider these questions, we discover that the problem was fundamentally one…
Judges 11:12-28 — Jephthah was brought back from exile to lead God’s people into battle against the Children of Ammon. Before entering the fray, Jephthah had a fascinating dialogue with the King of Ammon and it’s this dialogue that we study in this sermon. Jephthah demonstrated a deep knowledge of Israel’s history in countering the…
Various Texts — In this study we continue our introduction to the Book of I Timothy. We follow Timothy’s progress with the Apostle Paul on his missionary journeys. We see some of the assignments that Timothy was given and we ask whether he really was “timid” as he is often said to have been. We…
I Corinthians 13:4 — What does it mean when the Bible says that “love is kind?” How would we know if we were truly being kind to those we claim to love? These are important questions that this sermon endeavours to answer by considering the kindness of God. We might think we are a great…
Acts 16:1-3 — It was during Paul’s second missionary journey that we are first introduced to a young man who would become a key part of his ministry team. His name was Timothy and in these verses we learn about his parents, his upbringing, his faith and his graciousness. For the sake of the Gospel,…
Judges 11:1-11 — In this sermon we begin studying the exploits of the judge Jephthah. The trajectory of his life was, to a large degree, set by the actions of others. His father had an affair with a pagan harlot and Jephthah was born. Because of his parentage, his brothers rejected him and kicked him…
Ephesians 6:4 & Colossians 3:21 — This is sermon focuses on the positive commands that Paul gives to fathers in these verses. We think about what it means to “bring up” children in the “nurture” and “admonition” of the Lord. These are terms rich with meaning and they help us understand what makes for a…
Ephesians 6:4 & Colossians 3:21 — In these two verses the Apostle Paul addresses fathers directly and he tells them not to “provoke” their children and not to “discourage” them. What was Paul talking about? In what ways can a father do this to his kids? In this sermon we consider eight ways that fathers…