New Life in Jesus: Freedom not Slavery (Romans 6)
July 27, 2008 by Penny
Romans 6:1-23 Sermon 27July 08
Matthew 13: 31-33 44-52
Freedom in Jesus
Last week Simon spoke of the sense of astonishment we sometimes feel that a plane can actually fly, even though we may know the physics. In aviation there’s a difference between knowing the theory and actually flying. In Christianity there’s a difference between knowing the theology and trusting God.
Jesus taught in stories. St Paul’s letters present us with reasoned arguments. Some people relate more easily to one form of presentation and some to the other. Both encourage us to deepen our faith. This morning I’ll try to offer some stories, which may help us to think about what Paul is saying.
New Life in Jesus: Forgiveness not Guilt (Romans 5:12-21)
July 20, 2008 by Simon
As I sat on my balcony overlooking the Mediterranean last week sipping a glass of chilled rose, in the distance I could see Nice airport and every few minutes a plane landing or taking off. And it gave me an idea upon which to hang this sermon this morning and what Paul is writing in these next few verses in our journey through Romans. I want to tell you how Christian faith is like flying. Let’s start with an experience many of us will have shared if we’ve taken a plane, whether we’re good flyers or not. We’ve all probably stood there at least once in our history of flying looking out at this massive piece of metal that is about to carry us 35,000 feet into the atmosphere and it’s probably crossed our mind that really that thing shouldn’t get off the ground. How on earth could such a massive weight fly? Even if we know the science of it all, which I had explained to me in a wonderful exhibition at the National Aeronautical and Space Museum in Washington last year, even if we know that there’s a part of us that still can’t quite believe it. That is until we’re hurtling down the runway at over 100mph and ever so gently the wheels leave the ground and the forces of lift and thrust do their thing. To explain to you why the Christian faith is like flying, I’m going to explain just a bit about the passage we’ve had read today so that you can understand what Paul is saying. And then, as it were, we’ll hurtle down the runway.
New Life in Jesus: Peace not War (Romans 5:1-11)
July 13, 2008 by Colin
Today we come to the 7th in our sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome, it’s a letter from a man who has become a Christian, and he’s also a missionary who has the interest of the church very much at heart. It would be interesting to hear what Paul might have had to say to the church today – I wasn’t surprised to hear that Simon had a difficult few days at Synod recently. Paul’s letter takes us back to the gospel as it was believed in the pews of the New Testament churches. It’s the gospel which the ordinary believer loved, and lived by. It’s the gospel which was believed by the men and women, boys and girls who were saved by God’s grace there in Rome. If the church ever needs reminding of what the gospel is really all about – Paul’s letter to Romans would be a good place to go. At the centre of Paul’s gospel is the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, and he tells us not just who he is but also what he has done.
An Example of Faith from the Old Testament (Romans 4)
July 6, 2008 by admin
Unfortunately, this sermon is not available.