The sermon focuses on the joy of Advent and the importance of repentance, acknowledging guilt, and confessing sins. David Pearson discusses how repentance leads to freedom in Christ, the significance of baptism, and the difficulty of accepting God's word. The sermon ends with an invitation for those who want to choose God's path and a call to acknowledge sin, repent, and accept Jesus to experience the joy of Advent.
Hugh Ashman discusses biblical stories and verses that remind us of God's provision, protection, and presence in our lives. It warns against losing the true meaning of Christmas and emphasizes the importance of maintaining faith in God during good and bad times. The speaker encourages listeners to turn to God and call upon him to open their eyes to his presence during trials and tribulations. The message is that by seeing our lives through God's perspective and becoming more like him, we can triumph over affliction and fear.
This document is a transcript of a sermon given at MHC, discussing the story of Jesus instructing the fishermen to catch fish on the other side of the boat. The sermon emphasizes the importance of obedience, recognizing one's shortcomings, and adapting to changing circumstances in order to follow Jesus and become "Fishers of Men." The speaker also encourages listeners to apply these principles to their own lives, regardless of their profession or age group.
David Pearson talks about responding to God's love. In contrast to God's vengeance against his people's oppressors he presents God's love for his people. He presents the love of God as: 1) A love that longs for his people, 2) A love that calls to his people and 3) A love that prepares a way for his people. He concludes with the question, what will you do with God’s love today?
David Pearson presents on the Advent (anticipating the coming of Jesus) by focusing on the nature of the Gospel (the good news that comes from God). Referencing Mark 1: 1 he emphasises a message of hope. He parallels a time when there was a general lack of hope among the Jews and the positive response to “precious” and “peculiar” news while they were under an oppressive Roman rule. He goes on to talk about the peculiar message about (1)the Son of God (2)the Messiah and (3)Jesus. He concludes that we need the Messiah as we cannot deliver ourselves, it is through yielding to Jesus that we experience fullness of life.
Robert Jackson looks at choices related to eternity by contrasting the story of two rich men, the Rich Young Ruler and Zaccheus, He identifies a few principles: (1) Jesus is God, not just a good man or prophet, (2) Eternal life is not gained through what you do, (3) We cannot love anything else above God.
Barry Hall presented on the theme of unity, expounding on Ephesians 4:1-6. He presents the key ideas: (1) humility, gentleness and patience as essentials for unity, (2) being diligent to maintain unity. He identifies a misunderstanding of love as one of the obstacles to unity. He presents the definition of love as “a determined effort to act with benevolence towards each other”. He summarises the the reasons for maintaining unity: one hope, one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. He concluded by sharing the story of a split within Brethren church during the time of Holocaust and how the division was addressed after the war. He concludes by encouraging forgiveness as a key ingredient to unity.
Roderick Simon looks at how we make use of the things that we have. Looking at two parables from the book of Luke, one of a rich fool that had a bumper crop and the other, the nobleman who entrusted money to his servants. He warns that If we do not have a proper understanding of wealth and its purpose we will miss the mark. Going through the resources we have as an assembly, he encourages us to engage the youth, use wealth to serve and satisfy needs and ask that you will know your gift so that you can serve.
David Pearson wrapped up his series in Ephesians by reviewing the entire series and concluding with a look at Ephesians 6:18-24. He unpacks 6 points from the passage about prayer and fellowship.
David Pearson expounds on Ephesians 6:10 -20 to talk about the fight for the heart of the society, carrying Jesus to the world. We face a formidable foe that aims to have us pull away from what God wants us to do. He points out that Paul was writing from house arrest as he presents the equipment that believers have for the fight. He addresses those who have lost already because we are so fearful they don't even want to fight. Pearson is careful to clarify that this is not exactly the common understanding of spiritual warfare.