Disciples Church Sermons

This week, we find ourselves in the book of Exodus following the Merciful Presence of God in one of the most dramatic divine encounters in the Old Testament! Yahweh displays his glory in a spectacular way as he leads the Israelites out of Egypt, through the waters and to the mountain for worship.

This week, we come to face with the Relational Presence of God as we trace the theme of God’s presence through the rest of Genesis and discover that he is much more than just a force of infinite power, but a God of infinite love.

Continuing our journey tracing the theme of The Presence of God through the first five books of the Old Testament, we move this week into Genesis 1-11. Here we see that the God is not just Creator, but is intimately involved in creation as the Life-Giving Presence.

This week, we begin our series by tracing the purpose of God’s presence - which is to dwell with us. This theme shows up throughout biblical history in strong Temple themes from Genesis to Revelation, always pointing forward to Christ and the promise of his in-dwelling Spirit for the church.

Psalm 123 teaches us something about the posture we should have as we come before the Lord. It is one of humility, of crying out to God for mercy. It also teaches us something about the confidence we should have as we come before the Lord. Because He is sovereign, almighty and merciful, we can approach His throne of grace with the assurance of receiving His kind attention.

Why do the wicked prosper? It's probably a question we all ask from time to time. People who don't love the Lord merrily living the high life, and all the while you are slugging it out, trying to remain faithful - but it's tough. This is how the Psalmist Asaph felt too. But then he realised something. This Sunday Pastor Sly will lead us through what Asaph discovered, and how we can have the same "...

This Sunday, we take a short break from our current Gospel In A Woke Worldseries for a special one-off sermon for Mother's Day. God loves his children better than any earthly mother ever has, can or will. This love is an outworking of His nature, for God is love. He tenderly displays this in many ways throughout His interactions with His people. As we know His love, and grow in His love, it will o...

As the Autumn school holidays finish out, this Sunday we will dive back into our sermon series from the book of Psalms just for one week, as we take a look at Psalm 27. Here, once again, we find David in the middle of trouble, crying out to the Lord for deliverance, and yet realising he must wait on the Lord with patience and trust.

As Jesus’ followers discovered He was no longer in the tomb but now alive again, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. Jesus had opened the doorway through death; new and eternal life is found in Christ. He had exchanged death for resurrection life and all who believe in Him, share in it. So what does it look like to live out of reality in our everyday lives?

Good Friday 2023

Google says that a "paradox" is a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true. Our new sermon series will walk us through some key paradoxical moments in the Easter story. And we start this Sunday by looking at the crowds worshipping Jesus, which happened just a few days before they condemned Him to die. What insight do we gain from what this drama...

We finish our series from 1, 2 & 3 John this Sunday with a look at John's third epistle. It's an interesting letter, that gives us an insight into some of the ministry frustrations of the early church. But at the same time, there is a focus on three Gospel ministry ethics that are helpful for us to learn.

Having finished our time in 1 John we move on this Sunday to John's follow-up epistle, which has more of the feel of a letter to it than his first. In 2 John we get a reminder of all the major themes of 1 John, as well as another warning.

There's an old saying that we all have a "God shaped" hole in our hearts that only He can fill. As we finish out the epistle of 1 John this Sunday, we will be reminded that this place in our hearts should be reserved for God alone.

How do we know that the Good News of Jesus is true? Because, Johns says, it is the testimony of God. He gives us three witnesses: the Baptism of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit. This is God's testimony of His Son, Jesus.

So far in this epistle, the Apostle John has been labouring the point that Christians should love one another. In this Sunday's passage we see why this is the case: because God is love. If through the work of the Holy Spirit we become more like our Saviour, Jesus, then this naturally means that we will become more loving.

Saying you love someone, and demonstrating that love in very tangible ways, are two very different things. One is just words. The other is observable actions. If our love for God is real, we will hate sin and live out the victory Jesus has won for us over our sinful nature. If our love for one another is real, we will live that out in kindness and generosity.

Religions such as Islam, or even Jehovah's Witnesses, deny that Jesus was God incarnate, and that He fulfilled the Messianic role of Saviour. But if you take Jesus out of Christianity, then there is no Christianity. To deny Christ - to be an anti-christ - is to deny the way, the truth and the life. And so John encourages his readers to remain faithful to the truth, that is, Jesus!

While we find that people can often be hard to love, we seem to never tire of seeking satisfaction in material things. However, when we become a Christian, our experience of the love of the Father, empowers us to love one another, and to turn our backs on things "the world" offers us.

This Sunday we start our new sermon series from the Books of 1, 2 & 3 John. Pastor Greg will unpack the introduction to 1 John and focus on the call to be real about our sin and live in the light of the forgiveness and grace offered to us through faith in Jesus.

Last Sunday, Pastor Sly preached Part 1 of a two-part series looking at Psalm 119. As we learnt last week, at 176 verses, Psalm 119 is the largest Psalm in the whole Bible. The Psalmist (probably David) exhorts a love for the Word of God and the commandments of God as the key to living a life to the glory of God.

Psalm 119 is the largest Psalm in the whole Book of Psalms - 176 verses! Ambitiously, Pastor Sly has decided to tackle it over two weeks. So this Sunday and next Sunday we will be delving into this famous Psalm to see if we can get a handle on its message and its value for us. Don't miss it!

As we start a new year, there are any number of reasons to be fearful about the future. However, as Christians, we can look at the year ahead with quiet confidence and peace because our lives are built on the solid rock that is Jesus.

For a number of reasons we thought it would be fitting to look at the first Psalm on the first of the first! One of our Elders, Nathan Rule, unpacks this Psalm for us. Hot on the heels of our Ten Commandments series, Psalm 1 encourages us to delight in the law of God, drawing strength and blessing from living as we are commanded to do by the One who created us.

God promised to send a Saviour. Someone who would rescue us from Satan, sin and death. With the birth of Jesus, God kept His promise. The One who would live, die and rise again had come in to the world. And we now have hope. A sure and certain hope that through faith in Jesus, we can have eternal life.