Sermons

The doctrine of the Trinity - One God in three Persons - is not merely an abstract theological concept but also shapes how we experience the Christian life. While we often begin our faith journey speaking generally about "God," we come to know Him more fully through the distinct yet unified work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father receives our prayers, the Son makes these prayers possible through His sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit applies God's power and presence in our daily walk. Though challenging to fully grasp, this three-in-one nature of God is central to authentic Christian faith and practice.

The Kingdom of God operates as a Divine monarchy with Jesus Christ as King. This spiritual Kingdom, foreshadowed in earthly constitutional monarchies, requires our willing submission as subjects. Matthew's Gospel traces Jesus' royal lineage through Abraham and King David, establishing His legitimate claim to the throne. Just as earthly monarchies provide stability through proper authority, true spiritual stability comes only through accepting Christ's Lordship and receiving His forgiveness for our rebellion against His rightful rule.

Christmas requires more than planning meals and wrapping gifts - it demands spiritual preparation to truly receive Christ. Just as John the Baptist called people to repentance before Jesus's ministry, we need to ready our hearts to meet the grown-up Jesus, not just celebrate the baby in the manger. This preparation involves reading Scripture, developing consistent prayer habits, and actively sharing the Gospel with others. The joy of Christmas becomes complete when we prepare room in our hearts for the King.

The Christian life produces three enduring qualities: faith, love, and hope. Faith serves as our gateway to salvation through God's grace, not through our own works. God's Love, demonstrated supremely in Christ's sacrifice, transforms us, and enables us to love others. Hope extends beyond mere wishful thinking—it represents the certainty of Christ's return and the completion of our salvation. These three qualities work together as the foundation of authentic Christian living, with the Holy Spirit both the empowerment as well as serving as our guarantee of the outcome to come.

The strengthening of disciples does not come through new teachings or different teachings, but through a deeper understanding of the same Gospel that first brought them to faith. When Paul returned to strengthen the souls of new believers, he reinforced the original message of God's grace and loving-kindness. This pattern continues today - the way to help Christians grow stronger and more obedient is not by moving beyond the Gospel, but by helping them understand it more deeply. The book of Romans serves as a prime example of how teaching the Gospel at depth produces spiritual stability and growth in the lives of believers.

The Church, particularly in the West, seems to have lost the key to how discipleship is achieved. The true meaning of discipleship has been misunderstood many times in church history, particularly in understanding the Great Commission. While some believe discipleship and evangelism are separate activities, the original Greek text reveals that making disciples happens through preaching the Gospel taught with depth and substance. The power of transformation comes not because of programmes and human genius, but through the power of the Gospel itself - this is the real 'missing key' that Jesus gave His church. Just as a missing key contributed to the Titanic's fate, having the wrong interpretation of discipleship can lead the Church astray from its primary mission.

The perfect, all-knowing God makes an extraordinary choice - He chooses not to remember the forgiven sins of His people. This seeming paradox reveals the heart of the Gospel message. When we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us, treating us as though our transgressions never occurred. He removes them "as far as the east is from the west," establishing a new relationship with His people through Christ's sacrificial work on the cross. This divine forgetfulness applies not only to our past sins before conversion but also to our ongoing stumbles as Christians, allowing us to walk in true freedom and joy with our Heavenly Father. The key, nonetheless, is that His forgiveness first requires our repentance and confession. The opposite truth also applies: "He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy." Proverbs 28:13.

The path to genuine Christianity is through a narrow gate that few find, not because it is physically restrictive, but because it demands costly commitment. Many religious activities and outward displays of faith—even miraculous gifts and prophecies—cannot substitute for true knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit's work of conviction and call for genuine repentance marks the difference between authentic faith and mere religious observance. Without this deeper work, one's spiritual house, though impressive on the surface, may collapse when tested by life's storms or the final judgment.

Making disciples is not separate from preaching the Gospel - they are one and the same process. The evidence from Matthew and Mark's Great Commission accounts reveals that genuine discipleship occurs through deep, sustained exposure to Gospel truth rather than through a shallow initial conversion followed by different teaching. When churches focus on teaching the Gospel thoroughly and repeatedly, rather than seeing it merely as an entry point, their converts are far more likely to remain strong in their faith. This understanding shaped the early Church's approach and remains the Biblical pattern for creating lasting disciples.

The Christian life was never meant to be an easy path needing only minimal commitment. Jesus taught that the gate to true discipleship is narrow, and few find it. While salvation is freely given through Christ's work on the cross, and not based on one's own good works, it leads nonetheless to rigorous training and transformation resulting in upright living. Many churches today have widened the entrance to attract the crowds, but this compromises the deep discipleship that Jesus and the Apostles established which is aimed to produce righteous living. The Lord's design involves both grace for salvation and training for godly living—a narrow but life-giving path that produces lasting spiritual fruit.