Individual Message
Individual Message
No more barriers
Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian could say, “what can stand in the way of my being baptised?” because he had come to understand that nothing stood between him and God. As we celebrate baptisms, let us rejoice in the fact that in Jesus, God has removed all the barriers that exist between us and him.
Faith in the Fire (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego)
Daniel 3:1-30 How real is your faith? How will it stand up when tested? Three Jewish men in Babylon faced the ultimate test when ordered to bow down to a pagan image at the risk of death in a super-heated furnace. Trusting God they refused to bow down, went into the fire, and were delivered by God in the most remarkable way. The ultimate fire we all face is hell, and Christ is able to deliver forever those who trust…
Prayer
Listen as we think about why prayer can be easy for the Christian and what the Bible has to say about some of the reasons we sometimes find prayer hard.
God’s great invitation!
Luke 14:15-24 It’s always good to receive an invitation to a special event … a wedding, a party and graduation etc. In today’s message Jesus tells a story about an even greater invitation to a lavish banquet. In fact, it’s the best invitation anyone could ever hope to receive. The tragedy is that many people refuse to accept it because they’re too busy or too distracted doing other things. God is the host of this banquet, and it is sinners…
Worth the Wait
The writer of Psalm 130 puts their hope for mercy, in the word of God; His character, His promises, and His commands. Knowing God will keep His word, enables God’s people to wait with joy for God’s salvation to be revealed. We are urged to do the same. Having seen God’s salvation through Jesus, we too must put our hope in His word, waiting for His return. God is worth the wait. Psalm 130
Why Worry About Worry?
Anxiety is arguably the no.1 cause of ill-health in Australia today. Worry about finances, employment, illness, relationships, family, fashion, peer pressure etc. sap the joy of so many of us. So how should we handle our worries? Jesus uses two simple illustrations from everyday life, birds and flowers, to point us to the answer. Who cares for them? Of course, God does. And he cares even more for us! The question is, are we prepared to trust Him with our…
Going The Distance In The Life Of Faith
As we begin a new year with all its hopes and uncertainties, God calls us to keep on faithfully living for Him. One man who exemplified this was the apostle Paul. And in Philippians 3 he gives us a snapshot of his life – his early life, his conversion to Christianity, and how he pressed on as a Christian over many years. Clearly his personal encounter with Christ was life-changing. Whatever our age or stage of life, let us be…
Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good!
Today is the day of our Annual Church Members meeting, and what better day of the year to pause and thank God for His love and faithfulness to us! We thank Him for His grace in saving us from our sin and the joy of being in His family. We thank Him for spiritual growth in our lives and in many of the church’s ministries. We thank Him for gospel seeds planted, watered and growing in people’s lives. And we…
Affluent, Comfortable and Destitute – the church at Laodicea
Churches come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are growing, some are not. Some are alive, some are dead. Some are healthy, some are not. But whatever we may think about our churches, there is one opinion that does matter, and that’s what Jesus thinks. The church at Laodicea gave every appearance of being a successful church but what Jesus said was devastating. In this message Pastor Murray looks more closely at Jesus’ diagnosis and the warnings it contains…
Small, weak and faithful – the church at Philadelphia
With so much attention these days on mega-churches, it’s easy to forget that the vast majority of churches around the world are actually quite small, and many of them are actually struggling for existence from week to week (like the church at Philadelphia). In today’s passage we see what Christ has to say to these dear people, and His words are filled with love and encouragement. It is a clear reminder that ‘church’ is not all about size, numbers, budgets…