Before you pray: Whom do you know? 1
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Before you pray: Whom do you know? 1
At the heart and foundation of prayer - as of the whole Christian life- lies the knowledge of God. Unless we know God we will not pray. Unless we know God we will not know how to pray.
Knowing God means knowing that he is (Heb 11.6). It means knowing that he is the LORD (Ex 6.6-8). But it is more than knowing "that".
Knowing God means we are known by God. This is the kind of knowledge we need. Knowing God is always a personal relationship. Whether it was the relationship of Israel as his chosen people, or the relationship of disciples to the Father of Jesus, the knowledge was found in the relationship.
Solomon understood its importance when he wrote,
13. Stand Strong Ephesians 6.10-17
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Ephesians
{podcast id=121}
Stand Strong Ephesians 6.10-17
Series: Final parts of a series on Ephesians at Broome Anglican Church
Sermon preached at Broome Anglican Church on 18 October 2015
How the power of God is at work through God's armour and what are the devil's evil schemes
Bible Readings: Isaiah 59.14-21; Ephesians 6.10-17
What about evil spirits?
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Weekly Reflections
What about evil spirits?
Do evil spirits exist or is just people's superstition or imagination? Whether you believe that they exist might depend as much on your understanding of the Bible as on the environments in which you have lived.
Both Paul and Jesus came in contact with what the New Testament describe as “unclean spirits”, “evil spirits” or “demons”. Nowhere does the New Testament use the word “possessed” even though some translations use that word. The usual phrases are that a person “had an unclean/evil spirit” or that they were “demonized”. The reason is that except for cases like the Gadarene demoniac, the other examples relate to the affect a demon has on an aspect of a person's life, eg that they are dumb or deaf, not the control of their whole life.
It is worth observing Paul's approach to evil spirits.
11. Getting Right with Others Ephesians 5.21 - 6.9
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Ephesians
{podcast id=77}
Getting Right with Others Ephesians 5.21 - 6.9
Series: Final parts of a series on Ephesians at Broome Anglican Church
Sermon preached at Broome Anglican Church on 18 October 2015
Bible Readings: Genesis 2.18-25; Ephesians 5.21 - 6.9
What about the dead? (and Halloween)
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Weekly Reflections
What about the dead?
and Halloween
In the early years of the church from the times of the great persecutions, Christians began to remember those who had died. The commemorations of the “saints” who had died, especially the martyrs eventually developed as an annual festival at the beginning of November. As time went on all Christians who had died were included.
The invention and development of the doctrine of Purgatory led to a distinction between those who were officially regarded as Saints, and the souls in purgatory, the latter being remembered on the following day; All Souls Day.
At the Reformation the English reformers abandoned All Souls Day. All Saints Day (the day before) is meant to include all the faithful departed.
Archbishop Cranmer (the main architect of the English Prayer Book) not only left the commemoration of that day behind but also got rid of the unbiblical ideas to do with what happens after death.
The strange medieval fear of the souls in purgatory being able to roam the earth on the eve of All Saints (All Hallows) and frighten the living is not the most significant left over from this period. We rightly think the present Halloween nonsense is just that. But modern western culture has a much more serious problem with death itself.
You can see the problem at most funerals.
10. The Speaking Spirit Ephesians 5.15-20
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Ephesians
{podcast id=52}
The Speaking Spirit Ephesians 5.15-20
Series: Final parts of a series on Ephesians at Broome Anglican Church
Sermon preached at Broome Anglican Church on 11 October 2015
Bible Readings: Psalm 34.1-10; Ephesians 5.15-20
16D. Division and Trouble Acts 14
- Details
- Written by: Administrator
- Category: Acts
{podcast id=50}
7. Division and Trouble Acts 14
Series: A Mission without Leaders or Plans Acts 8-14
Sermon preached at Dongara Anglican on 20 September 2015
Bible Readings: Isaiah 35.1-10; Acts 14
Page 52 of 110