Wei-Han Kuan: Sermon Series

Life can be a puzzle at times and being a Christian, rather than simplifying things, sometimes makes it even more complex. It is important therefore to be sure about who Jesus is and what he teaches.

We will get a renewed sense of this as we read and ponder on chapters 9 & 10 of Mark's Gospel. If you are looking for an easy-to-read commentary on Mark we recommend "The Servant King: Reading Mark Today" by Paul Barnett (available from leading Christian book shops).

Daniel: God and Government The setting of Daniel is the sixth century B.C. when the Jews are in exile in Babylon. You might wonder what such distant events might have to say to us today. First of all the book of Daniel will help us reflect on God’s rule in our world. It raises issues such as persecution, evil, suffering, power politics and forces us to think about how we are to live as Christians in a hostile world. Sec-ondly Daniel and his friends are models of faithful, wise and courageous men who offer us insights on how we might respond to the temptations and trials that we face. Thirdly, Daniel provides some of the background thinking to what Jesus has to say about the kingdom of God, his identity as “the Son of Man” and the end of the world. So there are many good reasons for reading Daniel. We will do chapters 1-6 in the coming weeks and look at chapters 7-12 over summer.

Join us each Sunday as we read through the New Testament letter to the Hebrews. Jesus: greater than any human person or angelic being that has ever been or will ever be! The letter to the Hebrews asserts and explains this so that Christians in every age will be encouraged to hold fast to Christ, and stand up as Christ's own in the world. The letter stands as a stellar example of creative and faithful theological reflection on the meaning of the Old Testament as applied to the experience of New Testament believers. It is a written-down sermon full of passion for Jesus and encouragement for his followers.

The New Testament Book of James

Our Term One and Two series in 2012 is on John's Gospel.  It was is written so "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

This Sunday we begin a series called “Promoting the Gospel.” The gospel about Jesus that we wish to promote is “good news” for everyone and for our country but the spiritual climate of Australia is mixed to say the least. Our reaction may be to withdraw from the public sphere and limit mission to personal interactions. I have no problem with personal evangelism – each person matters. But we must also have an eye on the wider issues that are affecting the spiritual dynamics of our country and state. Please do use whatever avenues you have to ensure a Christian perspective is communicated intelligently and graciously.

Peter

Often the divisions within the Christian church distract us from what I consider is our main fight. Our main fight is not with each other but with a largely unbelieving world. Although the census data might suggest that the majority of Australians have a belief in God and that many would have a vaguely Christian belief, committed Christians are still a small minority in our country.

Over the month of August we have planned a number of activities that you can invite not-as-yet Christians to and engage in discussion. I encourage you to “pray and invite”.

Romans 9-11 has been a battleground over the years for a number of reasons.
1) How does it fit in to the structure of Romans? Some think of it as an “excursus” or detour (ie not important to the main argument) while others see it as the very centre of Romans.
2) It raises complex theological issues like predestination and election over which whole schools of thought have differed (eg Calvinists v Arminians).
3) It forces us to think about the place of Israel in God’s plan of salvation and what Paul means when he looks to the future and sees that “the full number of Gentiles has come in” and “all Israel will be saved” (11:25-26).

Romans 9-11 are challenging chapters of Scripture. Nevertheless what does come through clearly is that God is a God of mercy and compassion. In his compassion he has not only created and used Israel to make himself known but he has now sent the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, to make salvation possible for all people. This is the gospel that Paul has been preaching and which we continue to preach to this very day. The series will involve four expository sermons (Oct 23 & 30, Nov 13 & 20) punctuated by a stand-alone topical sermon on “The Thorny Question of Predestination” (Nov 6).