Willetton Christian Church

Luke 15:1-10. Dan Kroon. It's possible to lose touch with the excitement and joy of what it means to be saved. Whether it's our own salvation or that of others, we can forget how amazing it is to be snatched from death and given eternal life. To be spiritually dead at one time, but then raised with Jesus for good. And when we lose touch with that amazement, it shrinks our willingness to reach out to the lost and our passion for the celebration when one is saved. The parables of the lost sheep and lost coin remind us of the reality of what Jesus has done, but also the excitement of the celebration.

Job 1:1-2:10; 42:1-17; James 5:7-12. Chris Eikelboom (written by Steve Voorwinde). Job may have lived 4000 years ago but he is still with us today. Many people can still identify with the sufferings of this OT saint. There are Jobs all around us. Maybe you are one of them. None of us is immune from hardship, suffering and distress. So what can we learn from the story of Job? What is the take-home message from this remarkable book? What are the basic lessons it teaches?

Luke 10:25-37. Tim Thorburn. The main focus this morning will be the way a desire to justify ourselves distorts God’s commands to love God and neighbour. Jesus is the One who has loved his neighbour, and justified us; this liberates us to love our neighbour extravagantly.

John 20:24-31. Jordan Musulin. Jesus claimed some extraordinary things, but most astoundingly he claimed to be God. He showed this by His amazing power to heal and His authority to cast out demons and forgive sins. If Jesus were not God then that would make Him a liar. If Jesus were a liar then he would also be a sinner. If Jesus were a sinner then there could be no resurrection, because death is a result of sin. Only if he was without sin could death have no claim on him. Jesus did rise from the dead and at first even his disciples did not believe the claims, but at the sight of the resurrected Jesus the apostle Thomas connects the dots with His great confession, “My Lord and My God!”

Luke 24:1-12.  Tony van Drimmelen.  How does the resurrection resonate with our humanity in such a way that really wants to make us live!?  Another way of asking the same question is: What lies in us, unfulfilled, unexplained and underutilized that robs us of being the person God has made us to be?  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a life changer.  “Why would you look for the living [One] among the dead?” (v.5) is a profound question one that each one of us needs to ask.  It is what we do naturally – looking for a quality of life among the things that are temporary and eventually lead us to death.  But what we have in an empty tomb is worth investigating.  Long live King Jesus and all his subjects.  Only he gives life that lasts for ever and ever.

Luke 23:32-43. Dan Kroon. What is Jesus doing while he hangs on the cross? What is he doing while he suffers that cruel torture? What is he doing in his state of forsakenness and utter abandonment? He is offering salvation; forgiveness of sins; eternal life in his presence. Not just by what he says, but by the very fact that he is there. And as he speaks some of his last words to the repentant criminal hanging beside him, we’re reminded of Jesus’ offer and challenged to accept it.

Luke 19:1-10.  Tony van Drimmelen.  Is God seeking you?  If so, you will know it by an uneasiness within you that may have you climbing a tree to “see” Jesus.  God uses this event in the life of Zacchaeus to save him and identify him as a true son of Abraham (v.9).  Jesus tells him that he must stay at his house today (v.5) and Zacchaeus welcomes Jesus gladly (v6).  God found this man and as he does so, this person overcomes all obstacles, spiritually, relationally and financially to be at home with Jesus and stay with him forever.  “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (v.10).

Luke 23:26-38. Dan Kroon. Even as Jesus trudges towards his death and is hung upon the cross, he continues to impact and interact with the people around him. And right up until his death we see contrasts appear, which teach us more about who he is and people's response to him. We see it with Simon, the random passer-by, who is forced to carry Jesus' cross. We see it with the mourning women of Jerusalem, whose sorrow Jesus redirects back on themselves. And we see it with the watchers and mockers, whom Jesus does not rebuke, but prays for instead. In these contrasts we discover Jesus' friendship, compassion and forgiveness. And we are urged to accept it, take up our own cross, and follow him.

Revelation 19:1-10.  Tony van Drimmelen.  What Jesus has in mind for his bride at the wedding of the Lamb (v.7) blows us away.  We come as his bride!  Since he has opened the way for us to come, we need only accept and respond in worship (v.10).  This is the ultimate feast of the Kingdom of God, the feast that Jesus has been celebrating on His way to the cross and one to which everyone is invited.  Why?  How can he afford to be so generous?  When sinners are identified as prostitutes and all sin is referred to as adultery (v.2) it makes our union with Jesus an absolute miracle of his love and grace.

Luke 23:13-25. Dan Kroon. It’s easy to read through the passion narrative and keep ourselves at a distance. After all, it’s a story from nearly 2,000 years ago, set in a foreign time and a foreign place. But Luke doesn’t want us to remain at a distance. He wants us to be drawn in. He wants us to identify with what’s going on. And there are a number of ways we can do that; such as recognising ourselves in the different people or groups of people we come across. Like Pilate; giving up justice because of his fear of men. Or the crowd; demanding their will be done and God’s ignored. Or Barabbas; the guilty man set free because of the innocent man’s condemnation. And seeing our reflection in these people calls us to respond: Do we stop at being sinful co-contributors to Jesus’ death? Or do we go on to become the beneficiaries of it?

John 2:1-11.  Tony van Drimmelen.  Are you a person that no one wants to party with?  Where is the cheerfulness that makes you a winsome person?  It may come as a surprise to you to know that literally, Jesus was eating and drinking his way to the cross.  He wasn’t in denial about His mission (v.4) but He was in control.  Jesus loves life and took many opportunities to share the joy of living in fellowship with others over a meal.  Against the back drop of a party about to go wrong, Jesus chooses to launch His public ministry.  It is a living parable of what the gospel accomplishes in each one who believes.

Luke 22:66–23:16. Dan Kroon. This week’s passage is all about the question of Jesus’ kingship. “Are you the Messiah?” “Are you the Son of God?” “Are you the king of the Jews?” Over and over he’s asked, and each time his answer is simple, subtle or just plain silence. Not only is he resigned to his own death, he is also resigned to the fact that their understanding of ‘Messiah’ differs completely from his own. And while these rulers either abuse their authority or shy away from it, Jesus humbly embraces what is required of a true king. Here he suffers judgment under weak men, but those very judgments see him on the path to his seat at God’s right hand as the ultimate Judge and King.

Matthew 6:9. Dan Kroon. For our Prayer & Fellowship Services this year, we're going to work our way through the Lord's Prayer. It is, afterall, the way Jesus tells us to pray. So, as we consider each part of it, we'll have opportunity to put it into practice together during the service, approaching community prayer in a variety of different ways. We start this week with the simple address: "Our Father in heaven," thinking about what it means to have a Father above who listens to his children speak.

2 Corinthians 11:16–12:10.  Brendan Meyerink.  In this passage Paul boasts, but not about how impressive he is, instead he boasts about his weaknesses.  Paul has learnt that when he is weak then he is strong.  This sermon will explore what weaknesses Paul is talking about, what purpose God has in our weakness, and finally 2 points on how we can can embrace weakness, (1) contentment (2) confidence in God’s purposes.  The question is not are you impressive enough to be representative of Christ but are you weak enough!

Genesis 3:1-7. Dan Kroon. For two weeks we're considering the lies of the Devil in Genesis 3. Last week we dwelt on his denial of God's truthfulness; how he lies about judgment and tries to convince us that God's word is subject to our opinion. This week, we dwell on his denial of God's goodness; how he lies about God's nature towards his people. He insinuates that sin is good and pleasing, whereas God's gifts are boring and bad. He portrays God as a mean guy who withholds true pleasure and joy from us. He seeks to convince us that what is 'good' is also subjective and it's certainly not what God has in store for us. But again, as with truth, God defines goodness and gives us ONLY what is good.

Luke 22:47-65.  Tony van Drimmelen.  Under the cover of darkness we see the darkness of men’s hearts reign (v.53).  Jesus is betrayed by a Judas, rejected by Peter, and the soldiers mock Him.  From the perspective of the perpetrators the darkness has blinded them to the One who is the only source of true light!  Without “the Light” of the gospel we would be left in our darkness too.  We would never see that Jesus consumed all our darkness when He died on the cross.  We have the legacy of Judas who succumbed to his darkness with terrible results and we have Peter who repented, wept bitterly and found grace.

Genesis 3:1-7. Dan Kroon. Jesus calls Satan the 'father of lies', saying that lies and deceit are his native language (Jn 8). And when we look back at the serpent's introduction in Genesis 3, we see very quickly the truth of the devil's lying nature. The lies that he still tells today, to both Christians and non-Christians alike. The lies about who God is and who we are. The lies that lead to sin and death. This Sunday night we're going to consider the lie of the devil that denies the truthfulness of God. The lie that says, "I'm not the liar here; God is. But don't take my word for it – see for yourself. Taste for yourself. Judge for yourself." If you ever suffer times of doubt or you play 'devil's advocate' with yourself, you might need to remember the attacks of the devils's lies and the truth of God's word.

Luke 22:39-46.  Tony van Drimmelen.  The Last Supper closed as a huge disappointment for Jesus (v.38).  What happens next under the cover of darkness is the onset of his physical as well as spiritual suffering.  At one level, we see Jesus betrayal, and his rejection by men.  But at another level, Jesus experiences incredible agony learning obedience (Hebrews 5:8) to His Father will.  No one has ever suffered like this before nor will anyone suffer like this again.  Up until now, Jesus has been absolutely fearless in his journey to the cross, however, in this ‘darkness’ there is a change.  What He begins to experience at the hand of His own Father will lead to the ultimate darkness on the cross!  In a wonderful way that is the absolute confidence we have in knowing our own darkness is temporary at best.  Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Luke 22:7-38.  Tony van Drimmelen.  The cross has been the symbol of Christianity for over 2000 years.  It has served to shape the lives of all those who believe what it represents.  In this sermon series we follow Luke’s account of Jesus’ “Passion,” beginning with a conversation over a meal he had with his disciples and ending in his death on a cross.  At the very beginning he reaches out in love to his disciples to prepare them for what is to come.  What Luke records is confusing, irritating and for the most part a mystery to His disciples but for us it adds clarity and perspective on the cross.  We are going to identify 3 perspectives on the cross and relate them to our lives.  We will see that it stands at the centre of history, community and missions.

Mark 4:26-32. Dan Kroon. The weight of Christian responsibility can often feel to heavy. On top of praying, reading, serving, giving, witnessing (and all the rest) we feel like we have to force the fruit and get the results. Which makes us impatient and frustrated, because we know we are ultimately powerless. The parable of the growing seed shows us that we have to leave to God what we simply cannot do; trusting him and letting go. Not only that, the parable of the mustard seed shows us that God can do amazing things with measly beginnings and small investments. Ultimately we see this in the gospel of grace – but it is also reflected in our response. We can sow, but we cannot produce. Thankfully God can – with results to blow us away!