Born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:1-23)

Sunday 16/08/2020

Worship wars are deadly. Worship wars happen in churches. One side wants ‘contemporary music’, others want ‘traditional’. And then the fur starts flying.

Behind the worship wars are our preferences and our priorities. But the music we want at church is only the most obvious battle in the worship wars. The conflict is deeper, and deadlier.

James writes, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1).

The real worship wars are inside us. And we fight them every day. See, “worship” doesn’t mean “music”. “Worship” means “to honour and value as most important”. Every day, you and I are on one side or the other in the worship wars in our hearts: What do we value most? What do we treasure? Our happiness? Our satisfaction? Our success?

That’s what determines where we put our energy, efforts, and resources. What we work for and fight for is what we worship.

The worship wars should force us to ask: “Who is in charge in my heart?” If the answer is anyone other than Jesus, then our hearts need a new king!

So, we need to ask, “Why should Jesus be the first in my heart? Why should I worship Jesus?”

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Matthew with Douglas Sean O’Donnell on Help Me Teach the Bible with Nancy Guthrie

Stay on Track During the Covid Confusion by Kamal Weerakoon at GracePoint Presbyterian Church

God With Us (Matthew 1:18-25)

Sunday 09/08/2020

So, here we go again. Are you ready for another lockdown? Do you have everything you need?

I mean, is that everything you “need” need?

Our freezer is officially full. Are you stocked up on all the essentials? Been to Bunnings? Stocked up on wool or fabric? Plenty of chocolate to get you through? We need it, don’t we?

Really, we want lots of stuff, but do we really need it?

Does this happen to you: You order something, and by the time it arrives, you’ve forgotten why you needed it? Or you do all you research for the very best thing to do what you need to do, then use it once or twice, and then leave it in the shed or the back of a cupboard? I’ve got stuff like that (just over there): used for a few hours, and now collecting dust.

We can spend our lives like that: getting things we don’t need.

You know, I meet lots of families when they’re grieving loved ones. And never have they said to me: ‘I just wish he/she had worked more, or bought us more stuff.’

They cry about the relationships they didn’t work to maintain or repair.

So, what should we want? And what do we really need?

That’s why we’ve come to Matthew 1:18-25, even though it’s not Christmas. Why?

Because God wants to tell you and me today what we really need, and what we should want more than anything:

What we really need is forgiveness, because without it we cannot enjoy any of God’s other gifts. And what we should want more than anything is to be friends with God, because that’s what we were made to be.

God shows us how important forgiveness and friendship with Him is, because they are the reasons Jesus became one of us.

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Matthew with Douglas Sean O’Donnell on Help Me Teach the Bible with Nancy Guthrie

Stay on Track During the Covid Confusion by Kamal Weerakoon at GracePoint Presbyterian Church

The Right King (Matthew 1:1-17)

Sunday 02/08/2020

When everything is out of control, where do you look for leadership? Who can you trust?

We see bad things happening all around us. And we wonder if God is in control.

Or we say, ‘If God is in control, He mustn’t really care about us!’

Maybe you’re worried about the big problems facing the world: the pandemic, economic problems, tensions between countries. Or maybe the suffering is closer to home.

‘Does God really care about me?’ Maybe you’re not religious. Maybe you’re not from a Christian family, or even from a Christian country. Maybe you don’t think God would ever want someone who has thought or done what you have.

So, where do you look for leadership? When bad things are happening, who can you trust?

The problem is that every leader will let us down eventually. Even if there isn’t a career-ending scandal, eventually they die and we’re left to carry on without them.

But even when our world has been turned upside down, even if God seems distant, His message to you is this: ‘I have come to you and I won’t let you down!’

Well, how can we know that for sure? We need to meet God’s king. That’s the message right from the start of Matthew’s Gospel. It’s much more than a biography of Jesus. It’s meant to persuade us that “Jesus has all authority so that all nations might obey all He has commanded” (as Douglas O’Donnell writes).

Where should we look for leadership? Who can we trust? Meet Jesus.

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Where Are We Going? (Matthew 25:31-46)

Sunday 26/07/2020

Where are we going? Where we think we’re going determines how we prepare for getting there! You don’t pack swimmers for when you’re going to work, or wear a hiking gear to a wedding.

It’s the same with our world and ourselves. If we think that our world is always going to go well, we won’t prepare for trouble. And if we think we’ll go until we stop and that’s all there is, we won’t prepare for the life to come.

Maybe you don’t expect the world to end. It’ll just keep going, surely? That means you can live like this universe is all there is.

Or perhaps you think the world will end, but it’ll fizzle out like a sparkler. There won’t be any great crisis. It’ll just grind to a halt.

Or maybe you do expect the world to explode, with a war or an environmental catastrophe making the planet uninhabitable.

But what comes next? Not just with the planet, but with us?

If you believe that there’s nothing next, then ultimately you and I and everyone who has ever lived is not accountable for what we do here. Even the people who destroy the planet or the people on it will get away with it in the end.

We like to live like we’ll never have to answer to anybody. But Jesus says that we will answer to Him.

This is God’s message to you and me: One day the world will end and you will be held to account. Either you will receive eternal life or eternal punishment. Which will it be?

What are we going to do about that? We’ve got to realize how serious the situation is!

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What Can Fix the World? (1 Corinthians 1:17-31)

Sunday 19/07/2020

What can fix the world? Is there a force powerful enough, or an idea convincing enough to bring real change?

Movements and religions tell us what to do to change the world. But Christianity is different: where religion says “Do”, Jesus says, “Done” (John 19:30).

Philosophies and life coaches tell us what to think to change our world. But Christianity is different. Where philosophy says, “Discover the truth”, Jesus says, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).

But do we really believe that? Do we live like what Jesus reveals about God is true? Do we live like what Jesus did is enough to change the world?

Maybe you think that the Christian message is too foolish to believe. It just doesn’t add up. Maybe you’ve read some of the Bible, but it didn’t make sense. So, you look for a more reasonable solution for ourselves and our world (v22).

Sometimes Christians do this. We think that the idea of God coming to earth to die for sinners is too unbelievable. So, we look for something more convincing to get people interested in Jesus.

Or maybe you think that the Christian message is too weak to believe. It doesn’t wow you. Maybe going to church wasn’t the most interesting experience you’ve had. So, you look for something more compelling (v22).

Sometimes Christians do this too. We think that the idea of Jesus dying for sinners will put people off. So, we look for something powerful that will really get their attention (v22)!

The problem is: God made the cross the pivotal event of our universe! We can’t overlook or sweep aside the death of Jesus Christ. That only shows that we haven’t understood it.

God’s message for me and you today is this: Don’t underestimate Jesus’ death on the cross; trust it to save you and others (v23).

So, what will convince us that the cross makes sense, and that it can do what God says?

Here in 1 Corinthians 1:17-31, God tells us two truths we need to believe about the death of Jesus on the cross:

Trust that the Cross is wise and powerful (v17-25), and
Trust Christ to save you and others (v26-31)

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