"And no better way to find out how Christianity has been set up by God than to go back to the beginning of the first apostles, Jesus and the apostles. And to go back to the beginning of the first apostles, Jesus and the apostles. And the things that he told them to do. And so as a part of tonight we will be looking at the Great Commission."
"But in actual fact, all it's talking about is the moment when Samuel was dealing with Israelites and he set up the rock to have a significance and the significance is what it's important about. The significance is that God, God stepped in and helped them. And hitherto has the Lord helped us. I think it reads in one of the older versions. In our version that you've got on the screen, now, till now, the Lord has helped us. And basically what it is, is an encouragement, an encouragement to, about the fact that if God has been with you thus far, you can trust him to keep you along the way as well."
"He said, 'not just because there are signs should you necessarily believe they're from God'. And he had a list of Bible verses which were actually telling of how some signs are not from God. And I thought gee that's something that we all should learn more about. And so that's where I've gotten this idea of a message tonight and we'll start a very obvious place in the book of Exodus."
"Which covenants are mentioned and taught in the Bible? So they're biblical in the sense that it's the scriptures that have presented that idea to us. And basically there are not as many as you might think. There is the covenant that God made with Noah. And so you could say the Noahic covenant, that he wouldn't judge the world by water ever again. And there's other covenants of that nature. But basically to do with salvation, the only real covenants there are are the old covenant, that God made through Moses, and the new covenant that God made through Jesus. And those are indeed taught as the covenantal framework in which our salvation is set."
"If ever there were a topic, there was a topic, where there's so many details, and so many aspects, and so many different opinions, that's got you a bit confused, I guess it's mostly likely to be about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that the Scriptures teach that Christ is going to return is called the Second Advent. The First Advent, of course, is when He came at Christmastime and He came to be born, and the Second Advent is when He's coming to rule and to culminate the history up to that point of the entire world. And this is taught in the Scriptures in many different places, including the Old Testament, but certainly in the New Testament, so it's beyond doubt that Jesus Christ is going to come back again."
"One of the things I like in watching a movie is where, whether it be the hero or the heroine or whoever, is put in a position to have to make a difficult decision, put on the spot, and it's always of interest to me about why human beings make the decisions that they do... And that's actually something in movies I like to see where someone comes to a circumstance they didn't expect and have to make either a rash decision or a very brave decision or one that gets them killed. And that's the part of movies that really grip me. And I think that's been a part of me even before I watched many movies at all. And I have a great interest in the human decision mechanism. Some of that also comes about because my involvement in Christian ministry has been, in my younger days, very much about calling people to come to Christ and wanting them to make a decision."
"The atonement is Jesus' death on the cross and how that has worked for our salvation, how he bore our sins. And as commonly understood, it's really the question as to whose sins did Jesus take on him on the cross. And that isn't the only way to look at it, but it is about the fact of, well, who did Jesus die for?"
"Probably no bigger topic is there within Christendom than wherein lies the authority that we have to believe the things that we so do. What is the basis of our faith? Is it just presumption? Is it just our feelings? Is it just formed by sociological factors in our childhood and in our society? And of course, the scriptures speak about God being the ultimate authority, and so if we were to isolate something to be the course or the method, the way His authority gets to us, then that will answer the question, how does God tell His story?"
"The reason for choosing the passage in Acts chapter 9 has to do with the description in the final verse where in verse 37, if we just put that passage, Acts 9, 26, the following, it's because in that verse it describes the early church and some of the difficulties that they had gone through, it really sent them for six. Some of the persecution had caused people to leave Jerusalem, they caused others to be afraid, they were suspicious of each other. There were other difficulties between people with varying backgrounds who weren't getting on in the church and had a bit of a squabble about everybody getting looked after and some groups being favoured more than others."
"The title of my sermon is taken from John 20.31, which is the stated purpose of the book. That is, that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And that by believing, you may have life in his name... The three key points in this verse. First, John's Gospel is selective and very purposeful. Thank you. It's much better. So first, John's Gospel is selective and purposeful. Secondly, the aim of writing is that the readers, like us, will believe in Jesus. And the third thing is, the end result of the belief is that we will have eternal life in him. Tonight, we are just focusing on the encounter of Nicodemus with Jesus."