In this passage the crowds DECLARE Jesus as Saviour, Lord, and King but they don't understand what they are declaring. Instead it is the Greeks who actually SEEK to see the real Jesus and know Him as He is.  Through this seeking Jesus tells them the hard TRUTH: He is all the crowd said and so much more but that means dying on a Roman cross and rising to new life.  Even harder--we too much die to sin, self, and the world and rise to new life if we are to know peace and joy eternal.  This truth leads to a simple CHOICE: will you believe in the Light or be lost in darkness?

John 12.12-36 Seeking and Serving Jesus

The revelation that Isaiah saw Jesus upon the throne in the Temple should transform how we read the Bible.  Seeing Jesus on every page sets our hearts ablaze with joy and love.  What Jesus goes on to explain though is just as amazing--the whole reason why He appeared in the Old Testament and became human in the New was to save us; to allow us to see the Father, to be in the presence of the Father, and have eternal life.

John 12.37-50 Isaiah saw Jesus, we should too!

In Isaiah 41.1-20 we learn how to face our enemies, whatever they may be.  It starts with silence and then seeing that God is in control of all things.  Then we must reject the ways of the world in seeking to survive by our own strength and instead trust in the strength of the Lord who calls us His own.  When we place our trust in Him we become the very thing which crushes the enemy and new life awaits.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the life of Jesus--and if it was true for Him facing the greatest enemies of all (our sin and sentence of death) then it is true for us His people

Isaiah 41:1-20  Overcoming the Enemy

A short five minute spoken word Good Friday meditation around the trials of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate.

Spoken Word Good Friday Meditation: Luke 22:66 -23:25

At the end of Luke's Gospel Jesus opens the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures.  Unless we too grasp this 5-point key to unlocking the Bible we won't understand it either.  To understand the Bible we need to recognise that all of the Bible is about
1.) The Messiah
2.) Who dies and rises
3.) That we might be forgiven through repentance
4.) That this message is universal in scope
5.) that we are to spread this message to the nations in the power of the Spirit.

When we see these truths on every page of Scripture we will worship the Lord with great, great, joy.

Luke 24:36-53  The Key to Unlocking the Scriptures

In this talk we consider how different world cultures tend to react to the problem of sin and therefore how the Good News of Jesus addresses their felt needs.  We especially focus on how the Good News of Jesus addresses the primary issues in shame and honour focussed cultures, something which our culture is increasingly turning into.  The unchanging gospel applies to all people - whether they most need forgiveness from damnation, honour from dishonour, or power over dread.

Ephesians 1 - The Three Dimensional Gospel: addressing damnation, dishonour, and dread

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one we all know, but what it teaches is deeply challenging.  What does it mean to Love God with everything that you and how does "loving your neighbour as yourself" play into truth that we are saved by faith alone and not by good works?

Luke 10 25-37 Works always follow True Faith

Gifted for God's Glory - what does the Bible teach us about our gifts and talents?

Gifted for God's Glory - NextGen North 2023

A sermon on Acts 10.1-23a which looks at the importance of this passage in the history of Christianity, that God does not have favourites, vegetarianism is not inherently holy or moral as all foods are clean as seen when God commands Peter to kill animals and eat them, and finally being an upstanding person with nominal Christian faith is not enough to save you.

Acts 10.1-23a  - Cornelius, Peter, and why God is not a vegetarian

Who Are You?  That question is right at the core of all of creation and salvation.  In just the first two verses of Colossians Paul actually conveys a great number of truths about his identity as an individual, as a child of God, as a saint, and as a faithful brother.  

Likewise, especially in the mission field and in times of transition, we can be stripped of much of our identity and need to return back to the core, and consider who exactly we are in relation to God, to each other, to the world, and deep down inside.

Colossians 1.1-2 - Who are you? What is your real identity?

In Genesis 22 Abraham declares that 'the Lord will provide' and 'the Lord will be seen'.  All of Genesis 22 exists to point us to Jesus Christ the true and greater Isaac who on the same mountain and on the same spot 2000 years later died for our sins.  We can trust God even against impossible odds because God is shown to be trustworthy above all in that He loved us so much that He didn't spare even His only Son who He loves.

Genesis 22 - YHWH JIREH- The Lord will provide

In James 1.1-15 we learn many surprising things.  Firstly, that in we can face any kind of trouble with great joy.  Secondly, that we can only do this through faith in God and God alone - a singular and undivided faith.  Finally, we learn that though temptations may try to pull us away from this faith the way to hold on to it is not to simply try harder but to fall more and more in love with Jesus.  Because when you have Jesus and He is your all, you don't need anything else.

James 1.1-15

In Hosea Chapter 8 the nation of Israel cries out "Lord we know You!" but God doesn't recognise them at all.  God says you recognise His people by their fruits - and Israel was not fruitful!   Sadly the reasons why they were not fruitful are just as common and dangerous to the church today as back then: the twin threats of Ritualism and Liberalism.  Praise the Lord that in Jesus Christ and Him crucified we find the antidote to both!

Hosea 8 - Lord we know you?

When Moses came down the mountain once again with the Ten Commandments his face was shining brightly and he had to cover it with a veil.  This leads us to ask three questions: 1) Why did God make Moses's face shine?  2) How did it come it shine? 3) Is this something for us today? 

Part of this sermon was done away from the lectern using a mirror, a torch, and red pieces of paper with things like 'self-indulgence' written on which were stuck to the mirror to show how it prevents the light being reflected.  This is why the volume fluctuates at times (I currently use my mobile to record as our media system doesn't support recording).

Exodus 34.29-35 The Shining Face of Moses

With the strongest possible charge Paul commands Timothy to "Preach the Word"

A healthy church preaches the whole Word to the mind, conscience, and heart.  Christians must learn to avoid false teaching and sin by being sober-minded, by evangelism, and by doing ministry in all our lives.  Together we must run the race to a crown of glory - safe in the assurance of salvation by faith alone.

2 Timothy 4 - Preaching and the Church

The book of Job is fantastic in so many ways. One of the main themes that it addresses is the utter and complete sovereignty of God over our lives.  In a time when the world and our lives are being turned upside down by a "natural disaster" it is important to take a step back and ask where is God in all of this?  How can I respond faithfully to this tragedy?

In Scripture we see that God is utterly sovereign in many ways.  He is 
- Sovereign in creating
- Sovereign in sustaining
- Sovereign in ordaining
- Sovereign in allowing

Through all of this we can discern many reasons why God does what He does, but it would foolish to point to one and proclaim it alone to be the cause behind the movement of God's hand. 

As Christians we are uniquely equipped to respond to the tragedy around us, whatever it may be, with hope and peace -- but this hope and peace does not diminish nor relativise the real weeping and mourning we express and feel when calamity comes.

Revd Adam Young

Popular tracks