Restoration Church Toowoomba Sermon Podcast

We've all been saddened and maybe perplexed when people we have known in church circles walk away from the church and any claim to Christianity. The author of Hebrews presents us with a very real warning - Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Yet he is also hopeful and wants to reassure his recipients that this doesn't have to be true of any of them. In this message, we conside...

This message comes from the first Sunday gathering after the tragic passing of a long-term church member who was a dear sister in Christ and friend to many. If it stirs anything up in you and you would like to talk with someone about it, then please email hello@restorationchurch.com.au. We would love to help you.

Jesus alone makes the most extraordinary claims in history. No one else even comes close. The highpoint of all Christological claims is found in Colossians 1: An early church hymn that confesses the supremacy of Christ, the Son of God.

Christianity stands and falls on the claim of the resurrection. Sceptics may say this is a made up doctrine with no evidence for it. 1 Corinthians 15 is one of the most important texts that gives the Resurrection of Jesus Christ credibility based on eye witness testimony of the early church.  

Jesus alone is the only one who has enough humility to rule the world. Philippians 2 teaches that no one started higher than Jesus in glory and no one has gone lower than Jesus on the cross. He challenges his followers to do the same.  

The book of Psalms are rich in relational theology, depicting what it is like to pour out our hearts to God, and rest wholly on Him. Psalm One is an introductory psalm and provides the readers with a dichotomy for understanding the truths and follies of the ones who walk with God, or choose their own path. In this Psalm we see the blessing depicted by the image of a flourishing tree for those who...

The way we see Jesus impacts the way we live. Psalm 2 describes a mighty warrior who will defeat the enemies of God. This is a side of Jesus we rarely talk about but it is vital to grasp if we want to know the real Jesus.

Learning and growing is a key feature of those who are truly human. This feature is the opposite of what our pride often tells us – that we are right, and we don’t need any help. In this message, Peter explains who our teachers are, what the curriculum is, and what it is like to be a learner taught by God.

In one sense, bearing witness to the person and work of Jesus is quite straightforward – you just need to be honest and open about it. What makes it complicated is the external and internal pressure which comes to bear on those who wish to do so. But Jesus has not left us on our own. He has given us everything we need to fulfill the task he has called us to.

When you become someone’s friend you take on the relational dynamics which exist between them and other people. When Jesus made us his friend, it guaranteed we would receive a share of the hatred the world has for him. But pay attention, because there is something which far outweighs this discomfort – belonging to him.

While Jesus sets a high bar for the church in terms of the way relationships are meant to operate within it, history has shown that we have often fallen short. We haven’t always done friendship with one other very well. But all is not lost, we have the best friend anyone could ever have, Jesus himself, who teaches us by example what a good friend is.

Since the fall, humanity has been infected with a virus which causes us to think it is better to go it alone. But Jesus has come and lived out a life which says it is better to be together. This is the essence of all true friendship.

True friendship is a much rarer commodity than many of us would like. This surprising barrenness often leaves us settling for relationships which are far less than what we long or hope for. But Jesus is a mighty friend to us who teaches us how to be true friends to one another by the way he has loved us.

Everyone wants to raise children who are wise. No one wants to be the parent of a fool. Listen in as Peter and some experienced mums from Restoration Church share from the book of Proverbs about how to grow wise children.

Being loved by Jesus is easy, it comes to us as a free gift. But it is not enough to be loved, we need to remain in it if we are to live loved. In this message Peter explains how we are loved, how to remain in Jesus’ love, and the byproduct of remaining in his love

When it comes to humanity, independence is the enemy of personal fruitfulness. Union and communion with Jesus, on the other hand, guarantees it. In this message, Peter unpacks the how of remaining in Jesus.

If you want to be fully alive and fully human, then you need to be intimately, personally, and ongoingly connected to Jesus. There is no other way.

An abrupt ending of Jonah reveals his self righteousness. It’s a miserable way to do life and yet we can often find ourselves with more in common with Jonah than we’d like to admit.

Jonah’s finally goes to Nineveh with a message of impending judgement. They unexpectantly repent but the only thing that can save them now is the mercy of God.

Jonah’s repentance in the belly of the fish is questionable at best. His heart is messy. Our heart is messy. We need someone to help us truly change. Who more qualified than the great mercy giver himself – God. 

Jesus is the better Jonah who goes to the gentiles willingly. Jonah represents Israel who never went or wanted to go to the gentiles. They wanted God’s mercy but didn’t want to dispense any of it to others. Are we going the same with the mercy we have been shown?

While we can’t bring about our own restoration, we can make choices which lead to our restoration or our destruction. Malachi makes this clear in the last section of his book. Listen in as Peter concludes the series.

Treasure. We all have something we value most which informs the way we live. What is mind blowing is what happens when we make God our greatest treasure - we become his treasured possession! That is incredible.

Money has been a big deal for humanity since the beginning. Everyone has a relationship with it. God is actively interested in the relationship we have with money because of the powerful tendency for it to become the god we centre our lives on. God calls us to be generous with our money and trust in his generosity to provide everything we need and more.

Naturalistic evolution and relativism have had a massive effect on humanity’s ability to clearly understand what is good and evil. The result of this is a society wide ambiguity when it comes to trauma and pain. But God is a just judge who is committed to bringing clarity and justice to humanity, first through the cross, then in fullness when he returns. He is the hope of the world.