Faith Speaks — Reverend Neil Taylor — Sermon Podcast

Read Matthew 11:15-30 Pentecost +5 We’re still often out of step and blind to the wisdom of the moment. We fear violence, so we go to war, instead of dancing for peace. We have poor and abused people all around us, but we don’t weep, because we’re preoccupied with balancing the budget. We miss the midpoint of wisdom, because we’re so rusted onto our left agendas or our right agendas, and so, we ob...

Read Amos 5:14-15; Matthew 8:28-34 Wednesday | Pentecost +4 We have two very interesting texts before us the deal with the issue of evil. One presents itself supernaturally -- in people and pigs. While the other is embedded in our human condition -- the people we are without God. Join me as we wrestle with the perennial question: Are so concerned with our own livelihoods, that we overlook the need...

Read Genesis 22:1-19; Matthew 10:40-42 Pentecost +4 One phrase that jumps out when reading Jesus' words in our Gospel text, is the last line: “...and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple - truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." It's such a little thing to give a cup of cold water, and Jesus even emphasizes the modesty of the...

Read Matthew 10:24-39 Pentecost +3 In this well known Gospel text from Matthew, Jesus is telling us that fear is the opposite of faith. And yet, fear, unlike faith hangs on us like humidity on a hot summer’s night. Fear coats us from front and back and attracts all kinds of grunge and stains. So that even when it dries it’s still sticky. Fear has a terrible effect on the heart, spirit and soul. Jo...

Read Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Wednesday | Week of Pentecost +2 Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” As modern believers, we might express or perceive the above verse differently. For example, our treasures are expressions of our hearts rather than our hearts expressing our treasure. But Jesus tells a more challenging truth for us, and that’s as obvious as the nose o...

Read Matthew 9:35-10:11 Pentecost +2 Mission will always take us into unchartered territory. As humans we don’t like the phrase "unchartered territory" it makes us nervous, but as disciples of Christ, that’s our calling. Join me as we discover together that we called into "unchartered territory" for the sake of the Gospel. 

Part Seven - What God Starts, He Finishes Read Romans 8:31 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part Six - No gain, without pain Read James 1:2-4 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part Five - Active Faith Releases God's Power Read Hebrews 11 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part Four - What You Seek, You Find Read Matthew 6:33 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part Three - What God Requires, He Supplies Read Genesis 22 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part Two - God's Transcendence Read John 15:5 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Part One - God is God, and you're not Read Psalm 115:3 No one knows what the future holds. We live somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow. Egypt is far behind us; the kingdom is yet to come. Therefore it is so important that we live in the light of biblical truths as we journey through this life. Click here for further study notes

Read Matthew 28:16-20 Trinity Sunday is a perfect time to talk about what a Trinitarian congregation might look like, here's my short definition: A group of people who see themselves called and sent by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ, in word and deed, for the sake of the world God created and loves so much. Join me as I look at, in essence, how a congregation must...

Read Mark 12:18-27 Ember Week | Wednesday  Jesus schools a group of Sadducees; who were priests with great power and prestige. However, they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or an afterlife. They did not believe in angels, and they only believed the Torah to be true. Jesus is basically asking these so-called priests, who have great power and prestige, along with some very poor theol...

Read Psalm 104:26-36 & Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost Sunday We are Easter people, that is, we live in the light of a post-Easter experience. We have the Word of God. We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus has risen, and we live our lives in that knowledge. Therefore, in the same sense, we are also Pentecostal people. We live in the age of the Spirit, which is the age of the church, which i...

Read John 17:1-11 Seventh Sunday of Easter As Christ-followers, we are called to live eternity NOW. Not some “pie in the sky” when you die, we are called to partake in - to consume - the heavenly pie in the thick and thin of this life. Join me as we discover that our lives, here and now, are to be shaped and directed by the gift of eternal life.

Read John 16:12-15 Sixth Wednesday of Easter In the final section of his Farewell Discourse to the disciples, Jesus focuses further on the role of the Holy Spirit. Most of what is said in this section repeats themes that have already appeared. The gift of the Spirit to the disciples (or more specifically the church). The Spirit’s relation to Jesus. The Spirit being the continuing presence of Jesus...

Read John 14:15-21 Sixth Sunday of Easter According to John’s Gospel Jesus will continue to be with his disciples forever. So how will Jesus continue to be with them (us) as they continue their earthly journeys? That’s a good question, and John’s Gospel tells us. Jesus will continue to be with them by way of the Advocate -- the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they needn’t worry about being left orphaned.

Read John 15:1-8 Fifth Wednesday in Easter Interestingly, within the synoptic parables of the vineyard (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are stories of violence and greed; but not so in John’s Gospel. In John, the vineyard is an image of fruitfulness, intimacy and love. Join me as we explore what it means to be "pruned".

Read John 14:1-14 Fifth Sunday of Easter Philip makes a reasonable request on behalf of the group: "Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus chastises him in front of the whole group: "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?" (14:9). Is Jesus being blunt, and if so, why? Join me in this devotion as we explore Jesus' "I am the Way" monologue.

Read John 10:1-10 Fourth Sunday of Easter When I read these passages I’m struck that the active language is not always sin and forgiveness, but the active language is life and light and love and abundance. Which leads me to wonder, have we narrowed how we understand and talk about the salvation Jesus brings? “All who enter by me,” Jesus says, "will be saved.” Have we adopted a largely negative vie...

Read John 6:30-35 Third Wednesday in Easter In chapter 4 of Matthew’s Gospel after his baptism, Jesus went out into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and nights. By the time the fast ended Jesus was famished. Then the tempter came and said to him: “If you are the Son of God command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Though Jesus was very hungry, he told the tempter that “one does not...

Read Luke 24:13-35 Third Sunday of Easter We find ourselves travelling an uncomfortably familiar road. Every one of us, regardless of identity or circumstance, knows this road. We’ve walked it. We’ve lost our way on it. We’ve left it behind and then returned to it again, and that road is the road to Emmaus, and we recognise it every time by the words we speak “But we had hoped.”

Read Luke 24:1-12 Wednesday in Second Week of Easter One of the common elements of the resurrection stories across the gospels is that no one expects the resurrection. Even though Jesus predicted his death and resurrection several times across his ministry not one of his disciples greeted the news that God has raised Jesus from the grave and defeated death and the devil by saying “Praise God!” Not...