Sermons by Michael Howell (Page 22)
Michael Howell
City North Values – Love, Bible, Gospel, Relationships
Earlier this year, the young adults of City North gave some feedback on what it is that they think defines us as a church and as a young adults group. We talked about our values, our strengths and our weaknesses. Tonight, we’ll have a look at some of this feedback, consider what the Bible has to say about what we should value and then think about some of the practical ways we can express our shared values as a church.
Hearts Warmed Up
At the end of Luke 23, things look pretty bad for Jesus’ followers. They have seen him, the one who was meant to redeem Israel, tortured and crucified. They are grief stricken (23:48). And yet, by the end of Luke 24, we read this; “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (24:53). What has happened? How do these cold, sad hearts become warm, joyful hearts? The answer, of course, is that the Crucified King has become the Risen King! Listen as we explore Luke 24 and consider what Jesus’ followers saw that made their cold hearts warm.
His Cross, Our…
The cross of Christ is the centre of Luke’s Gospel, the centre of our Christian faith and the centre of history. But what does it mean to you? Listen as we explore the meaning of the cross for us.
Loved by the King
Jesus died for us guilty sinners. Like Judas the betrayer, Peter the denier and even the soldiers who mocked him, we are guilty of sin, yet because of his love our guilt can be taken away. How will you respond to the love of Jesus?
Be Ready
Jesus, will one day come on the clouds in power and glory to judge the world and redeem his people. Tonight’s passage challenges us to ask ourselves whether we are ready for this day. If he could come tomorrow, how should we be living now?
The new King Arrives
A new kind of King is here. Jesus, the King of kings has arrived and everyone must decide how they’ll respond to this King. Listen as we begin a new series in the last section of Luke’s Gospel. Let us consider own own response to the new King.
Making Things Right
The Bible is clear that our relationship with God has been broken by sin. The first verses of Leviticus give us an insight into what is required for this relationship to be fixed, Ultimately they point us to Jesus, the only one who can fix this relationship once and for all.
God Our Refuge
Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Psalms, we often see God spoken of as our place of refuge. Psalm 16 is no exception. As we explore Psalm 16 today, let us consider what it looks like to live with God as our place of refuge.
An Invitation To Worship
Psalm 95 is an invitation for the people of God to join together and worship. But what does this mean? What, in particular, are we invited to do as we join together in worship?
Listen as we hear the invitation of Psalm 95. Let us consider what a wonderful privilege it is to meet each week as God’s people.
A Beautiful Gift
The grace of God is a beautiful gift. It is a gift that ought to be on display so that the world can know how precious it is to us. However, a divided church that is always fighting about silly issues makes the precious gift of grace look a whole lot less precious than it really is.
In tonight’s passage, Paul concludes his instructions to Titus with some advice on how to approach divisive issues and divisive people in the church. We see that grace demands unity and that our unity shows off grace.
David and Goliath
Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be there to see God deliver his people from that great enemy Goliath and the threat of death that he posed? Well, today we have a special guest to tell us all about what it was actually like to see that first hand (sort of….) Listen as we hear what he learned on that incredible day.
Leaders to look for
One of Titus’ most important jobs was to appoint the right people to lead the Cretan church. But what kind of leaders was he to look for? We find Paul’s answer to this question in our passage today. We see a picture of the kind of leaders that are worth following as well as an example of leaders that we ought to avoid. Listen as we consider Paul’s instructions to Titus and how we should apply them as we appoint leaders in the church today.