Forward Church Kitchener Sermons

In Psalm 139 the Psalmist declares that the knowledge of God is so extensive that He knows every thought and action He takes. This is true but it only begins to scratch the surface of what we mean when we say that God is omniscient. When we say God is omniscient we say there is nothing in all creation or all history (past, present, future) that God does not know. As the Psalmist states it is a kno...

God is Holy, which means that he is separate, He is set apart from all else that is. This otherness is an essential part of his nature. When God’s people and God’s angels cry out that he is “holy, holy, holy” they are confessing with force that God is holy in his essence, in all that he is and does, and that this attribute is central to what makes God, God. Tied into this his holiness means that h...

When Jesus is the head of the church, unity will be a core commitment. Jesus teaches that the unity of believers expressed in our love for each other will help us stand out in the world. Unity requires all of us to submit to Jesus as head and to pull in the same direction – a desire to grow as disciples of Jesus and a commitment to seeking His kingdom first. Unity does not mean uniformity; Jesus u...

Our love for Jesus should manifest in a wholehearted desire to always give God our best. God gave us His best when He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. The depth of His love and grace expresses His overwhelming generosity towards us. Because we have experienced God’s generosity, we will seek to reflect that same attitude in all we do. We will do everything to the best of our ability in eve...

If we have been encouraged and changed by Jesus, then we should take on the same posture as Jesus – the posture of serving. Jesus emptied and humbled Himself to serve us through His life and death on the cross. His goal was our ultimate good and the glory of the Father. We are committed to being a church where the norm is to participate in the mission God has given us. We do this because our great...

As we launch into the fall, we want to anchor the church in what our church culture should look like. Our starting point is being a church led by Jesus. We want to be a church that sees and experiences the majesty and love of Jesus to such a degree that we can’t help but want to love and follow Him. Being a church led by Jesus means we seek the Father’s will and blessing through prayer – the Word...

This Sunday as a congregation we will explore different categories of prayer and put them into practice. This passage should be broken into sections with each section explained and then opportunity given for the church to pray.

The power of prayer is twofold. One, it changes us. 1 John 5:14 lets us know that it is part of the process by which God causes our will to be brought into line with his will. Prayer not only changes us though, it also changes things. 1 John 5:15 lets us know that God hears and answers our prayers. Throughout scripture we see people healed, wisdom granted, enemies defeated, by God’s power in respo...

Paul writes in Colossians 4:2 that we need to be devoted to prayer. Why is prayer so critical? This passage offers us two reasons: First because if God calls us to pray, we should obey him. Second, as Paul makes clear in the verses that follow, our mission and the salvation of lost people depends on it. Prayer is a constant reminder of our dependence on God and a constant confession of His ability...

Paul’s final exhortation to the Corinthians in vs. 13 and 14 act as a summary and bookened to all that Paul has had to say to the Corinthians: “Be Watchful, Stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong, let all that you do be done in love.” Paul reminds them again of the importance of discernment, he encourages them to hold fast to the faith, to be brave and strong, but undergirding all of this mo...

Paul’s instruction for giving in this section provide some principles for our giving today. First ,giving should be a priority (on the first day of the week). Second, giving is for everyone, everyone should bring something. Third ought to be proportional. Although everyone can give something, depending on what God has blessed us with we may have much more to give then another. Finally, giving shou...

These are 9 of the most encouraging verses in scripture. Jesus has defeated sin and death. If we are in Christ death no longer needs to hold any fear for us. Because Jesus has defeated death, no matter what this mortal life may bring, we can be “steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work because we know that our labour in the Lord is not in vain.”

If we have received the forgiveness that has come through Christ death on the cross one day, we will also receive a new and imperishable body like Jesus did at his resurrection. The hope of the Christian is not a disembodied existence in the clouds, instead is a new, imperishable, physical body enjoying eternity with God in a new heaven and new earth.

Although you’ll need to deal with what Paul is talking about here as he deals with the issue of tongues and prophecy, Paul’s primary concern here is not about answering all our questions about tongues and prophecy and instead is about the benefits of each of those gifts. In short Paul’s argument is that prophecy is a more desirable gift because it benefits the hearer while tongues benefit only the...

Although this text is most commonly associated with weddings Paul’s instruction here is not limited to how husbands and wives ought to love one another. In this chapter Paul is laying out a definition of love that is meant to be applied not only to how believers relate to their spouses but in all their relationships. Sermon Notes: When we get this chapter right, it distinguishes the church from ev...

Despite the different gifts Christians may have, despite the different ministries we may be called to all those gifts and ministries are given with one mission in mind that name of Jesus would be lifted high and that he would be proclaimed as Lord and that his church would be strengthened. Every Christian has been given a gift and those gifts have been given by God and distributed according this H...

Partaking in the Lord’s supper together is an essential part of Christian worship and community. It is a regular reminder of the foundation of our faith, the forgiveness and grace we have received through Christ’s death for us. In taking it we confess our communion together as a church family and our communion with God through Christ. In light of this, before partaking in the Lord’s supper, we sho...

This may be one of the most difficult and controversial passages in all of the bible. There is a lot of debate and a lot of disagreement over what Paul is saying here and even more so about how relevant what Paul is saying to the Corinthians is to us in Canada in 2023. I think at least a few things are clear from this passage: #1) As both image bearers of God and followers of Jesus our actions can...

Imagine a community of people that all functioned with this phrase as their motto: “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” Imagine how radically different that type of community would look in a world that trumpets “do what makes you happy.” Community isn’t easy, we are different people coming together with different backgrounds, different personalities, different perspectives...

Paul warns the church in Corinth about the incredible danger of idolatry by reminding them of the story of the exodus. They were a people who had been saved by the blood of a lamb. They had experienced a baptism which had buried their past and drowned their enemies in the deep. They had their own equivalent of the Lord’s Table where they “all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spi...

Paul continues the theme of rights. Last week we looked at the fact that our rights and freedoms need to be constrained by our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. This week Paul demonstrates through his example and his instruction that as Christians we ought to be willing to set aside our rights for the sake of the gospel. Out of love for Christ and love for the lost we, like Paul, must c...