Bart Byl Sermons

Bart Byl on 2 Kings 6:1-7 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament A prophet-in-training loses his axe-head in the river, and the prophet Elisha tosses in a stick and the iron object bobs up to the surface. A charming story: but does it have something to say to the Jewish people buried in the middle of the Babylonian empire? And might this story point us to the Son of God who leapt into the river to...

Bart Byl on 1 Kings 19:1-18 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament The prophet Elijah, discouraged by Israel’s shallow repentance and fleeing for his life, makes his way to Mount Sinai. There God tells him to wait for him to pass by. Elijah experiences a tempest, an earthquake, and a fire, but God is not in any of these fearsome phenomena. Finally, the prophet hears a still, small voice — and recog...

Bart Byl on 2 Samuel 15:1-18, 23, 30; 16:5-13 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament After Saul’s death, David comes to the throne of Israel. God makes a series of stunning promises to David, culminating in an oath that someday a greater Son of David will sit on the throne and establish God’s reign on earth. But David grows complacent and commits adultery and murder, unleashing ripples of destructi...

Bart Byl on 1 Samuel 16:1-13 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament The people of Israel are demanding a king, so they can be like the other nations, even though they’re protected and provided for by God as their king. But God tells Samuel to anoint Saul, a man who stands head and shoulders above everyone else. Saul is the kind of king the people want — the epitome of human strength — but his perso...

Bart Byl on Luke 1:26–38 . The archangel Gabriel appears to a teenage girl in a forgotten village with a startling announcement: you will bear the long-promised Messiah of Israel. And in her virgin womb the highly-favoured Mary, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, knit together the humanity of our Lord. Mary was a human being like us, subject to sin and death and in need of a Saviour. But she was set...

Bart Byl on Ruth 1 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament The charming book of Ruth could almost be described as a romantic comedy. As Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth move back to Bethlehem, and Ruth encounter the godly landowner Boaz, the story moves from famine to fullness, from death to life, and from despair to joy. The book is thus the gospel in miniature, for Christ himself is our...

Bart Byl on Judges 16 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament The book of Judges is set in some of the darkest times in Israel, a time of devastation and anarchy. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and the judges God sent to deliver Israel from their enemies weren’t much better than the people they were sent to save. The last and most disappointing of the judges was Samson, a man of incr...

Bart Byl on Joshua 5:10-6:5 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament Home. We all want to put deep roots down somewhere, and feel like we fit into the landscape. To be “implaced” is to enjoy one of the highest creaturely blessings God can give us. That was the gift God gave Israel when he gave them the Promised Land. In Joshua the twelve tribes conquer and distribute the land—but are also warned that...

Bart Byl on Deuteronomy 6:4-25 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament This is Moses’ last sermon to Israel before he dies and they cross over into the Promised Land. He exhorts them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and strength, and to demonstrate their commitment with a life of extensive obedience. There will be dangers: they might forget God because of affluence, or abandon...

Bart Byl on Numbers 20:1-13 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament Trapped in the wilderness for 40 years, the nation of Israel can’t stop complaining. When they attack Moses because they don’t have water, he finally loses it. But he not only ignored God’s instructions, he failed to represent the grace and patient of Israel’s LORD. Because his people’s determination to rebel is outmatched only by G...

Bart Byl on Leviticus 16 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament Nocturnal emissions and menstrual cycles. Hair loss and skin discoloration. Mold in your walls and mildew in your clothing. Lists of clean and unclean foods. It’s hard to see the relevance of the regulations and rituals described in Leviticus. But this third book of Moses is really describing God’s deep desire to dwell with a people ma...

Bart Byl on Exodus 2:23-3:14 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament From first to last, Exodus is the story of the mighty acts of God, who delivers his people “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm”. Unlike all the other gods, this God sees the misery of the oppressed and he hears their groans. He rides to their rescue, he sweeps away the most powerful army on earth, clearing a path for the tw...

Bart Byl on Genesis 22:1-19 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament The story of the binding of Isaac is one of the most evocative stories in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah had received Isaac in their old age. He was the child of promise: the one through whom the whole world would be blessed. And now God had commanded Abraham to take his son, his only son, the son he loved, and sacrifice him on the mo...

Bart Byl on Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17, 3:1-15 . Series: Christ in the Old Testament These first chapters of Genesis, ‘the Old Testament of the Old Testament’, contain the primeval history of the world. God created the universe by the word of his power and declared all things good. He fashioned humanity from the soil into his own image, and placed Adam and Eve in a garden. The test of their free will to...

Bart Byl on Micah 7:18-20 . When we are trapped in sin, we need to remember that our God delights in mercy. God lifts off the crushing burden of our sin and its terrible consequences, no longer looks at us us dirty and stained and unloveable, but chooses to remember our evil no more. The bad things we’ve done, which seemed so irreversible, will never again come up as a factor in our relationship w...

Bart Byl on Luke 9:27-36 . Christ’s transfiguration on the mountain was a theophany: a revelation of his divine glory to Peter, James, and John. Incredibly, the glory of God is shining out of a human face. Jesus’ humanity is not an obstacle to his divine glory: on the contrary, it’s the vehicle for it. Like the burning bush that Moses saw, human nature burns with the divine fire but is not consume...

Bart Byl on Proverbs 25:11 . “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Wise words build relationships; foolish words destroy them. That’s what communication is all about, this marvellous gift of speech that God has given us and that separates us from the animals. Words form societies and build communities: but they can also destroy them. It doesn’t even require deliberat...

Bart Byl on Proverbs 28:17 . “The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,    and whoever protects their master will be honored.” It’s a basic principle of economic justice that those who work hard and faithfully and well are rewarded and honoured for it. In this sinful world, hard workers are often treated ungratefully, forgotten by the executives and shareholders, and even ex...

Bart Byl on Proverbs 15:17 . “Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.” Wise people prioritize relationships over wealth, status, and consumerist lifestyle experiences. Most of us would assent to the truth of the proverb, but does the way we spend our time, our energy, and our time demonstrate that we care about close relationships more than anything? Hosted...

Bart Byl on John 16:12-15 . The deepest hunger of every human being is to participate in a communion of perfect love. This is what our Triune God has created all of us to experience. The Father pours out all that he is and has to the Son, so that the Spirit in turn make share the infinite riches of God himself with all believers.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bart Byl on Numbers 11:24-30 . The wilderness. The Empty Quarter. The only thing standing between the children of Israel and the Jordan River that marks the boundary of the Promised Land. It should be easy, but unfortunately the people can't stop complaining and accusing God and longing for the old land of slavery. In the midst of judgment, God pours out his Spirit on the elders gathered around th...

Bart Byl on Acts 1:1-11. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus promises the disciples that he will pour out the promised Holy Spirit from his place of exaltation. The church now is empowered and authorized for mission. Our task is not to stand gaping into the empt sky, but to descend from the mountaintop and serve God’s purposes in our world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...

Bart Byl on 2 Kings 6:8-23 . The King of Aram is furious that Elisha is revealing top-secret conversations with his military planning team. He sends a special forces operation to capture the prophet. When Elisha's servant sees the desperate situation, he panics. But Elisha prays that God would open his servant's eyes to see the heavenly horses and chariots of fire that are surrounding them. We, to...

Bart Byl on Ezekiel 1 . The date: July 31, 593 B.C. The place: beside Kebar Canal in the middle of Babylon. Ezekiel, the exile prophet, receives a stunning vision of God's glory. It turns out God is not tied down the temple in Jerusalem. He is sovereign everywhere. What matters to more to us: present circumstances (however distressing) or the divine glory? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

Bart Byl on Matthew 28 . Early on Easter Sunday, Mary of Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb and discover it's empty! An angel sitting cheerily on the stone tells them that Jesus is risen, and they must run and tell the disciples. The eleven go to Galilee to meet Jesus on the mountain — not the high mountain from which the devil tempted Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world, but the mou...