SORRY THERE IS NO RECORDING OF THIS WEEK'S SERMON DUE TO TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION
BIBLE READINGS:
1 Corinthians 12:4-27; Matthew 25:14-30
THEME
A champion team will always beat a team of champions! If you’ve strapped on the boots, stepped onto the pitch, walked onto the court or slipped on a guernsey…it’s likely the coach, the captain or your parents…said something just like that. It’s true, a team can be led by, inspired by, or challenged by a champion player, but no champion player ever won a game much less a championship without their team. What’s true in every team sporting code is exponentially true in the church. God has assembled us as one and equipped up with gifts to be used for his glory, to strengthen and build up the body and to widen the reach of His Kingdom so that he can lead us to fullness & maturity in Christ. If the church seems stagnant or is just limping along, maybe a good question to ask is, “Am I using my gifts like never before?” Just imagine the impact the body of Christ can have if we used our gifts like never before. We'll explore that today.
THEME VERSE
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
God has given you your spiritual gifts for a reason – to use them…like never before.
When you play the special role God has called you to play, the effect is beautiful, stunning, & eye-opening to those who experience it, leaving people everywhere to declare, ‘How awesome is God.’
FAITH TALK
1 If the Church was like your favourite sporting team/band, what role would you play in the team (being a spectator/fan is not an option!)
2. What holds you back from using that gift like never before?
3. How might the body of Christ be strengthened by you using your gifts?
#1 in series: What if...
BIBLE READINGS
Acts 12:1-17; Matthew 7:7-11
THEME
Confidence is a trait that can make all the difference. You see it with a players across all sports. Middle the first shot, sink the first putt, nail the first goal and the confidence grows. Research has shown that success affects the level of confidence and confidence can affect success. Is that the reason that many people struggle with prayer? A lack of confidence that comes from a lack of success? That every tragedy, every hurt, every disappointment is a great marketing tool for unanswered prayer and causes us to question the limit of God's goodness? But what if confidence in prayer was not about results but about relationship? A coming home to the open heart of God where in his gracious presence we are invited and enabled to pray like never before with the utmost confidence. That's what we will explore and experience today.
THEME VERSE
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
Through Jesus Christ, God has provided a way into his heart. We are saved by grace. We live by grace. We pray by grace. Prayer is entering into an enduring, continuing, growing love relationship with a gracious heavenly Father, whereby we are changed and new trust, new joy, and new hope emerges in our lives.
FAITH TALK
What things do you routinely pray for?
If someone heard you praying, what would they conclude about God from your prayers?
#6 and final in series: Contrast
BIBLE READING:
Matthew 13:47-52
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
THEME
It’s an ongoing discussion in the email marketing world: Do you choose to grow your list via opt-in or opt-out methods? It's an issue that the government has received a lot of backlash over with their decision to implement an Opt-out only system for your 'My Health Record'. Opt-in or Opt-out. Many people see Christianity in the same vein - as something that you can opt into or out of.
But today in the final week of our parable series "Contrast", Jesus uses the illustration of the dragnet to show the indiscriminate, non-selective catch of the Gospel as it moves silently through the sea of life drawing all people, almost without them knowing it, into the shores of eternity. But here’s the catch. There is no opt-in, only an opt out option. But therein lies our comfort, our challenge and the mission of the Kingdom of heaven. We will experience and explore that today.
THEME VERSE
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. Matthew 13:46
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
We are caught up in the net of God's grace and mercy. Through Christ's death and resurrection God has chosen us in Christ to be part of his eternal joy and a life that never ends. Christ proclaims us beautiful and loved by the Father. So until the net is finally hauled ashore, our task is to live in that grace and let that grace in us love indiscriminately for grace alone can transform hearts and lives.
FAITH TALK
Of all the parables that we have looked at over the last six weeks, which one caused you to think the most or responated with you the most?
If the net drawing all people to the shores of eternity is drawing closed, who do you need to talk to in your sphere of influence to tell them about the God who will be with them for ever?
#5 in series: Contrast
BIBLE READING
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
THEME
“I’d give my right arm for one of those.” Well...maybe not your arm, but every now and then we want something and we want it so badly that we are willing to go to great lengths to get it…emotionally, mentally, physically. Whatever the cost. Whatever the challenge. The length to which you are prepared to go is directly proportionate to the value you assign to it and how high it rates on your scale of what matters in life. Today Jesus tells us that the greatest treasure, what has most value is found right before our eyes, in him and his love and grace. And when you discover that priceless gift…you’ll also find that there is nothing that has a greater value or is worth giving everything in your life to other than that.
THEME VERSE
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
God gave up what he valued most in this world, his own Son, to get what he treasured most in this world. You!
You are precious and valuable in his sight! Always and forever. Never forget that.
FAITH TALK
1 What do you value most about your dad?
2 What is your most prized possession?
3 What in your life has the greatest value?
READING:
Matthew 13:33-35
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.
THEME
Influence - the art of motivating and changing behaviour - has reached new heights. There is now an App for that! Whether its Apps like 'Good on You' that rate brands according to their ethical performance to motivate your buying habits or 'Track your Impact' that shows which project your Thankyou Water Bottle is funding, or the big supermarkets that send you emails with specials based on your buying habits, everyone wants to exert influence on others. Today in the Parable of the Yeast, Jesus makes use of a well established symbol, widely regarded as a contaminant, an agent of change, disruption and even corruption to show how God's order-upsetting kingdom will infiltrate, infect, disrupt, transform and influence every part of life! Prepare to have your world thrown out of balance!
THEME VERSE
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Matthew 13:33
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
A little grace goes a long way. A little grace changes everything. A little grace will transform this world. Wherever you are remember who you are, for...
Your
Example
Always
Shines
Through
The Spirit at work in you will have a huge influence and impact.
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Gracious Father, let the yeast of your eternal wisdom work its way into every corner of our lives that we may be a growing influence for good, transforming lives and communities around us with your grace. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen
FAITH TALK
1 Who has been the biggest influence on your life?
2 What factors motivate, trigger your buying habits?
3 How can the little things you do in Christ’s name exert an influence on others?
THEME
BIBLE READING
Matthew 13:31-32
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
THEME
“From little things big things grow. From little things big things grow.” We hope that’s true about our super. We want it to be true about that business venture we’ve backed. It’d be great if it were the case with that song we uploaded to YouTube. Human aspiration normally points up and to the right; growing profit, advancing prestige, increasing power. From little things…. Jesus says his kingdom looks like one of those little things…a mustard seed. It’s easily missed and overlooked, often disregarded or despised. But when you recognise the Kingdom of heaven for what it is and let it invade, take over and transform your life, you will see and experience God do something so great that it will leave you in awe and lead you to worship.
THEME VERSE
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.” Matthew 13:31
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
God takes little things…insignificant things…seemingly worthless things…to accomplish great things. He takes your stammering lips, your faltering prayers, your acts of grace and generosity and your fragile service and by it the kingdom grows. Improbable? Yes!. But mightily. That's his promise.
FAITH TALK
1. What is something little that has grown in your life in surprising ways?
2. In the last week, where did you catch a glimpse of God’s presence in the world?
3. How has the Church been a place of rest, refuge or nurture for you?
#2 in series Contrast:
BIBLE READING:
Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
THEME
Ambiguous: having more than one possible interpretation or meaning; difficult to understand or classify; obscure. So much of life is ambiguous - filled with situations where there are no clear or easy answers. Where taking action in one part of life may cause unintended consequences in another. Where what seems right and good may be harmful and foolish. Jesus' parables are so often ambiguous: multi-layered stories that get under our skin; make us think, challenge our beliefs and make us squirm a bit as they create ambiguity in our lives. But maybe that's the point. For the Kingdom of God is so radically different from the world we live in. So today we ponder the ’Parable of the Weeds’ as Jesus gives us a kingdom perspective on how to live and act in the face of the evil and resistance that will surround us in this life.
THEME VERSE
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. Matthew 13:24
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
Leave the weed pulling to the expert. God alone knows the thoughts and actions of every single heart, for he made them all. Your calling is to simply be; be who he has created you to be in all situations; pointing others to the Son of God who gives life in all its fullness.
#1 in series: CONTRAST
BIBLE READING
Matthew 13:1-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
THEME
It just doesn't make any sense. A farmer turning on the seeder as soon as he gets out of the shed? It's wasteful, haphazard, indiscriminate, ineffective and a surefire way of going out of business quickly. It's a story that leaves you shaking your head. But maybe that's the point. The purpose of contrast is to amplify; it moves the thing you want to show into focus and here the spotlight is well and truly on God and the aim and scope of his kingdom work. For what seems wasteful, inefficient and unprofitable from a worldly perspective reveals a God whose love is indiscriminate, whose grace is extravagant, whose methods ensure no life, no person, no soil is left unsown and whose work produces a harvest that is out of this world. Join us as we discover this God today in the Parable of the Sower.
THEME VERSE
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. Matthew 13:16
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
In God’s world wastefulness gives way to hope, inefficiency gives way to love, and profitability gives way to generosity. For his heart is expansive, his love is inclusive, his Word is effective and his grace is generative. For the scope and aim of his mission is clear: to sow his life in yours and the lives of all people.
FAITH TALK
When it comes to gardening are you a green thumb (everything grows) or a brown thumb (everything dies)? Why do you think this is?
What do you think the Parable of the Sower is all about?
In what ways are you nurturing or nourishing the spiritual seed scattered in your life?
#9 and final in series: Courageous Faith
BIBLE READING - Joshua 23:14-16; 24:14-15
14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
THEME
Remember those multiple choice quizzes at school when you had to choose the right answer from the options given? You couldn’t sit on the fence; to not choose was to make a choice. So when in doubt, choose B right and hope for the best. But life doesn’t work that way – have a guess and hope for the best. Choosing the wrong option can have eternal consequences.
So as Joshua nears the end of his life and looks back over the years and the options on offer, he stakes his life on the God who has kept every promise he has made. Now Joshua says, it’s your time. You can’t sit on the fence. What you choose and cultivate now will make an eternal difference. So who will you serve? Who will you worship? Who will you stake your life on? To whom will you be fully devoted? It’s time to choose….today.
THEME VERSE:
You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed. Joshua 23:15
REMEMBER THIS WEEK
When in doubt or facing a decision, choose C – choose Christ. For Christ is the only sure thing in this world. Only Christ will deliver on all he promises. Only Christ can give you the courage to live fully and boldly in every situation.
FAITH TALK QUESTIONS:
1. When it comes to choosing or making a decision in your life, do you tend to be decisive or indecisive? Why?
2. What’s a really hard choice that you’ve had to make? What happened and what strategies did you use in making that decision?
3. What is one decision you are trying to make now that you are praying will glorify God?