A Sermon Junky

One of my (probably) good habits is listening to sermons, online, often just before I go to bed. Whilst I think that one of the great blessings of the internet is the availability of a lot of good sermons by some really sound, godly teachers, often I find in my life, this habit can distract me from other disciplines, like prayer, and my own personal time in God's word. 


Listening to great teaching, day in, day out is a great blessing, but nothing can replace prayer & quiet times in our pursuit of holiness, and a deeper knowledge of God. Prayer will deepen our personal relationship with God when we speak to him, and reading the bible gives us deeper knowledge of him, two things which not even the best speakers can do for us. 


If you are in this habit, it's a good one to be in, but just watch yourself that you don't slip in another spiritual discipline!

Why Should We Trust God?

Talk about an obvious question! But reading psalm 104 gives us great help in answering it. Let's look at it in sections:

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

       O LORD my God, you are very great; 

       you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

 2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment; 

       he stretches out the heavens like a tent

 3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. 

       He makes the clouds his chariot 

       and rides on the wings of the wind.

 4 He makes winds his messengers, [a] 

       flames of fire his servants.

 5 He set the earth on its foundations; 

       it can never be moved.

 6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; 

       the waters stood above the mountains.

 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, 

       at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

 8 they flowed over the mountains, 

       they went down into the valleys, 

       to the place you assigned for them.

 9 You set a boundary they cannot cross; 

       never again will they cover the earth.

So, this opening section tells us that he is completely in control. He created the earth, he uses is for his purposes, it obeys his voice, or word, and obeys his command. When we have a god who is this in control of the universe, we can't help but to (sheepishly) give control over our lives to him. In a nutshell, God is Totally Sovereign.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; 

       it flows between the mountains.

 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; 

       the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

 12 The birds of the air nest by the waters; 

       they sing among the branches.

 13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; 

       the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, 

       and plants for man to cultivate— 

      bringing forth food from the earth:

 15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, 

       oil to make his face shine, 

       and bread that sustains his heart.

 16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, 

       the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

 17 There the birds make their nests; 

       the stork has its home in the pine trees.

 18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; 

       the crags are a refuge for the coneys. [b]

 19 The moon marks off the seasons, 

       and the sun knows when to go down.

 20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, 

       and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

 21 The lions roar for their prey 

       and seek their food from God.

 22 The sun rises, and they steal away; 

       they return and lie down in their dens.

 23 Then man goes out to his work, 

       to his labor until evening.

 24 How many are your works, O LORD! 

       In wisdom you made them all; 

      the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, 

       teeming with creatures beyond number— 

       living things both large and small.

 26 There the ships go to and fro, 

       and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

 27 These all look to you 

       to give them their food at the proper time.

 28 When you give it to them, 

       they gather it up; 

      when you open your hand, 

     they are satisfied with good things.

 29 When you hide your face, 

       they are terrified; 

       when you take away their breath, 

       they die and return to the dust.

 30 When you send your Spirit, 

       they are created, 

       and you renew the face of the earth.

Next up, he is a provider! Notice how he provides water for the earth, food, shelter and life to all the animals. We must apply this to ourselves too, as Jesus did in Matthew 6:25-34. God provides for them, he will provide for us, what we need! Not always what we want, but what we need. So, we have a totally sovereign God, who provides for us. Feel like putting your trust in him yet? I thought so..

31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; 

       may the LORD rejoice in his works-

 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, 

       who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; 

       I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, 

       as I rejoice in the LORD.

 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth 

       and the wicked be no more. 

       Praise the LORD, O my soul. 

       Praise the LORD.

And in summary, because God is totally sovereign, and provides for us, we praise him, and we fear him (in a good, biblical way, not in a terror way). So let's live this out (I'm preaching to myself here), to trust a God like this. As someone called D.A Carson says, "That's the only kind of God there is, so get used to it!". But thankfully he is like this!

The Cedar Room

This is one of my top three songs. Ever. Period. It's just so good it gives me goosebumps and I lose myself everytime I hear it. Enjoy!

Our Father...

I was talking to a friend, having just heard an evangelistic gospel presentation, one evening this week. He said something which really struck me, as we were talking about his questions. He said (paraphrase)


"I know exactly what the speaker was talking about in relation to God loving us, because I have a daughter. I love her so much, she is the only reason I come to work each day, to provide and care for her. And if she were ever to turn to me and say 'I don't need you anymore' and walk away, it would hurt me so much, I don't know what I'd do"


All I could say in reply was "mate you've got it. That's exactly how God feels towards us, except more so, if you can imagine". My friend is exactly right! Jesus tells us to call God our "Father" (Mt 6:9). So we have a father in heaven, who loves us, and "he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). We have a loving father, who knows us intimately, who we call, in effect 'Daddy', just like my friends daughter would call her father. Allow this truth to sink in for a while. You have a father from whose love you cannot be separated (Rom 8:35), who knows you intimately, and who has set you apart for future Glory with him. Amazing! Knowing this truth in a deeper way in your soul will surely help you to fix your eyes on Jesus, the cross, and on the great assurance you can have in being known by a loving, sovereign father!

Where is your worth?

Galatians 1:10 says: 

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Which leads me to think - where is my approval? Where is my sense of worth? Where is my value? Ask yourself this, but don't just jump the (correct) biblical answer of "Well obviously my worth is in Christ". That's true, but what do you really believe, whose approval do you live by on a daily basis? Where is your functional approval? In the value christ has on you, shown by himself dying for your unrighteousness, to bring you to God, or, is it in any of the following things:

1. Other people's approval of you
2. Your achievements
3. Your possessions

If it's in any of those things, you are not abnormal, most of us place our sense of value in them, in that we think that if any of those are taken away, we wouldn't have any worth. 

However if your worth is placed in any of those, it's misplaced! None of those things lasts. People grow apart, so their approval of you matters less - some people you only meet once, so what's the point in seeking their approval!? You, and your achievements will grow old, and dated, and they eventually become meaningless. You may lose all your possessions in a fire tomorrow. Then where will your value and approval be!

So start preaching to yourself, that you should aim to please Christ, and not men, aim to place all your value in Him who loves you so much he was wrenched from his loving father to face His wrath for you. It's a liberating thing to do, we become more free to love and serve Christ, and not men, in this way

More music

This is my favourite song right now - Farewell to the Fairground, by White Lies. Which is quite late of me seeing as it was released a year ago. Anyway, to do it justice (as with any song really), don't play this through your sissy little laptop speakers! Put it throught the loudest cabinet you can get your hands on :). The middle break reminds me of "All These Things I've Done" by the killers, but I like this better. Anyway, enjoy!!

For Heaven's Sake!

We've just been on a church weekend away, where we heard four talks from Revelation 20-22 (Thanks to James Fletcher, curate of St Nick's tooting for speaking so clearly and faithfully!)


At the end of it, he challenged us to come away with just one thing from the weekend. I thought about this on my return, and realised that I don't think about heaven enough! If I did meditate on my eternal home more, I think it would have the following effects:


1. I will love the world (and my idols) less
Once I realise the physicality, beauty, protection and perfection of heaven, I'll get more of an eternal perspective on my future. I'll realise that whilst all gifts here are good and to be enjoyed, they'll be nothing compared to an eternity of intimate fellowship with God. 


2. I will share the gospel more
Once I realise that through Christ, I have gained heaven, and shunned hell, I'll surely want the same for my friends, family and colleagues, and point them towards Christ more regularly, and more earnestly


3. I will grow in my humility
Revelation 20-22 talks about the "Lamb who was slain" being seated there. We need to remember (if we trust in Christ) that Jesus was slain for us, in order to bring us to God. We can't marvel at our own deeds, as they are just like dirty rags compared to this. Also, we'll be made perfect and new in heaven, and this means being without sin. Looking at my sin riddled life at the moment is a pretty sorry sight compared to what we'll be like in heaven.

Trust in...Yourself?

I was really convicted in the sermon at church on sunday. We were being taken through Luke 3:1-17, where John the baptist says to the pharisees in verse 8:

"Produce fruit in keeping with your repentance. And do not

begin to say to yourselves ' We have Abraham as our father'. 

For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up 

children for Abraham"

John is telling the crowds that they shouldn't trust in their status as God's chosen people for their salvation. They couldn't say "oh we are people of the covenant", continue sinning and rebelling against God, and expect salvation at the end. 

Now many of us aren't Jewish, but we have been grafted into God's kingdom by the death and resurrection of Christ. Nevertheless, John's warning applies to us too. We can't rely on our own self righteousness, and deeds of piety and devotion for God's favour. We may say with our lips: "Oh, I trust fully on Jesus for my salvation, he is my righteousness". Yes this is true, and we may believe this with our heads, but do we live it and breath repentance all day long? How many of us could be caught guilty of secretly saying to ourselves "Yes! I had a really good quiet time this morning, God must love me a little more!", or "I did well evangelizing to those people at the bar or in the street, God must have given me some credit". 

This is true, god is pleased when we serve and obey him, and we should be striving to do his will more earnestly every day, but don't let your works be your functional salvation! It's by Christ's blood that we are saved, not by our deeds! So although we do deeds, the are "in keeping with your repentance", not "for your salvation". This is difficult to live by, because we naturally want to earn things for ourselves, but it is much more liberating, assuring and comforting to know that I am freely saved, and free to serve