In Sermons: showing 16-30 of 37

Is It Worth Following God? Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jun 9, 2007

Asaph asks the question - is it worth following God? When you look at life from an eternal perspective, the answer is clear.

Have you ever found yourself thinking – I wish I had what my non-Christian friends have? I wish I had the freedom they have. I wish I was able to do the things that they do without conscience getting in the way. I wish I could get up to what they get up to without feeling guilty. After all, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 73:1-28

Denomination: Anglican

Relying On God Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jun 9, 2007

In a culture which prizes self-sufficiency, we need to rely on God.

Australian males prize self-sufficiency. It’s not masculine to ask anyone else for help. It’s not macho to admit that you can’t handle something on your own. I’m probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to having this sort of attitude. I hate anyone having to show me how to do anything, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 59:1-17, Psalm 59:12

Denomination: Anglican

Forgiveness And The Grace Of God Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jun 9, 2007

As with David, our response to sin should involve confession, grace and transformation.

When one of my students does something bad and gets caught, there’s a number of different reactions that you can see. It depends on the student, on the teacher, and on what they’ve done. But some reactions are a lot more common than others. • There’s the “I’m really sorry sir and I won’t do it ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 51:1-19

Denomination: Anglican

The Foolishness Of Ignoring God Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jun 9, 2007

The fool says in his heart, "there is no God."

The word “fool” doesn’t get as much use now as it once did. If one of my mates does something profoundly stupid I don’t usually cry out “you fool”. I might say “you are such an idiot” or “what a goose”. I’m sure many people you know would use much more colourful language than that. Fool is one of ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 14:1-7

Denomination: Anglican

How Majestic Is His Name Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jun 9, 2007

Our worth as human beings lies not in ourselves but in our majestic creator God.

I’m writing school reports at the moment. It’s something I hate doing. We have a system where you’re expected to write 50-100 words per student so that in the end over all your reports you’ve written tens of thousands of words most of which begin or end with “Johhny needs to be more focused in ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 8:1-9

Denomination: Anglican

Where There's Christ There's Hope Series

Contributed by James Jack on Sep 24, 2006

In God we have a living hope - Christ who is risen from the dead.

You might have heard the old saying “where there’s life, there’s hope”. That saying tells us how important hope is to people, because if we reverse it, it says “where there’s hope, there’s life” – which means that where there’s no hope, there’s death. As humans, we live on hope. It feeds us, it ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12

Denomination: Anglican

Nothing Else Matters Series

Contributed by James Jack on Sep 24, 2006

Philippians 3 challenges us with the truth that everything else in our lives is rubbish compared to what we have in Christ.

In the end, nothing else matters except God. In the end, nothing else matters except God. What do you think when you hear that? In my year seven classes at school we’ve started the Christian Studies programme by looking at the theme, "What’s important in my life", and ultimately seeing where God ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-11, Philippians 3:1

Denomination: Anglican

Choice And Consequence Series

Contributed by James Jack on Aug 20, 2006

God is a consuming fire - just yet merciful. We fall away from him at our peril.

Almost every single passage in Hebrews that we have looked at over the past few months has given us, at its heart, a very simple message. There’s often been a complicated rationale behind it, complex yet profound explanations of the old and new covenants, we’ve really got into the solid theological ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-29

Denomination: Anglican

Stained With Blood

Contributed by James Jack on Mar 18, 2006

An introduction to Isaiah, revealing the judgement and mercy of God.

In a lot of senses, the passage that we just heard read is a microcosm of the whole book of Isaiah. It starts out by proclaiming a judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem but it ends with a promise from the LORD to redeem his faithful people, cleanse them from sin and establish Zion as the mountain ...read more

Denomination: Anglican

Punishment For God's People

Contributed by James Jack on Dec 14, 2005

God expects faithfullness from his people, so live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

When I was a kid I remember having a friend over and playing cricket in the back yard. We repeatedly hit the ball over the fence into the neighbour’s hard and trampled all over their flower beds retrieving it. We were caught mutilating the backyard flora and my mother proceeded to berate me ...read more

Scripture: Amos 3:1-15

Denomination: Anglican

God's Grace To Nineveh

Contributed by James Jack on Dec 14, 2005

We don’t like our enemies receiving mercy, but God is gracious to all who repent.

Jonah 3 When we read of the prophet Jonah many of us go away thinking, “what a fool!” What a selfish fool!” But what many of us don’t realise is that our reaction to the prospect of our enemies getting away with it is exactly the same as Jonah’s. There was one kid in my class at primary school ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-11

Denomination: Anglican

The Hope Of Life

Contributed by James Jack on Dec 14, 2005

The hope we have in Christ is a living hope that will never perish, spoil or fade.

1 Peter 1:3-12 You might have heard the old saying “where there’s life, there’s hope”. That saying tells us how important hope is to people, because if we reverse it, it says “where there’s hope, there’s life” – which means that where there’s no hope, there’s death. As humans, we live on hope. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12

Denomination: Anglican

Kingship In Judges And 1 Samuel Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jul 6, 2005

Israel demands a king, but this only demonstrates the rejection of their real king - the LORD.

Kingship in Judges and 1 Samuel 1 Samuel 8 It’s amazing how quickly a classroom can turn when a teacher walks out for a moment. Paper, hats, pens, shoes, glass bottles get thrown at fans. Bags get thrown out of windows. Furniture is mysteriously re-arranged so that all students are now ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 8:1-21

Denomination: Anglican

The Birth Of Samuel Series

Contributed by James Jack on Jul 6, 2005

Samuel is chosen by God to lead his people

Great births of the Bible – Samuel Compare Luke 2:52 and 1 Samuel 2:26 Main point: the sovereignty of God in working out his plans of creation Covering the life of Samuel in 25 minutes is a major challenge: effectively one chapter per minute. I don’t think I could read that fast, so instead ...read more

Denomination: Anglican

The Resurrection

Contributed by James Jack on Jul 6, 2005

The testimony of realiable witnesses points us to the truth of the resurrection.

John 20 – The Resurrection Plan: Intro – anti-supernaturalism The Testimony – women - Scripture - Fear and joy - distractions - Seeing is believing (Thomas) God and the Supernatural I’ve just started looking at the life of Jesus with my year seven classes at school. We’re ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-30

Denomination: Anglican