Restoration Church Toowoomba Sermon Podcast

After spending the last few weeks learning about the sacrifice Jesus made to give you his righteousness, you might find yourself wondering, “what am I still doing here?” God has an incredible purpose for you here on earth. He wants you to spend your time with him and teaching his ways to the people of the world. How might this look in your life this week? 

From the time of Adam and Eve in the garden, death has afflicted every human to walk the earth. God, however, in his kindness, promised that this would not always be the case. He sent his Son, Jesus, to die a death he didn’t deserve to save the world from their sin. On Easter we celebrate his physical, bodily resurrection from the grave. The incredible thing is that Scriptures says if you believe...

We all want justice as long as it’s not directed at us. But if God is good than all evil must be dealt with. On the cross Jesus took the punishment we deserve and justice was served for all who believe.

Last week we learned that we do not have to strive because Jesus has already given us his righteousness. This week, we will learn why we are to act according to God’s Word despite having Jesus’ righteousness. God calls us to listen to Jesus and this is only possible when we rightly see Jesus as God’s Son, the One True King. 

We have all felt exhausted by the Christian life. It can make us question what God requires of us, whether he’s good and even whether we want to follow Jesus at all. But is that really the Christianity Christ came to offer? The Sermon on the Mount suggests something else…something better…something perfect. 

We all know that we don’t have life in and of ourselves. It is evidenced by the way we continually look for and devour things which we think will bring us life. But life, the life we so desperately want, cannot be found outside of Jesus. He is life itself. 

When we place ourselves in the centre of our lives it fundamentally changes the way we see Jesus and others – we begin to treat them as objects or servants. Often grumbling is the result, either internal or external, and it is the evidence we are spiritually stuck. But God is a good father and he works to draw us out of the bind to Jesus himself. 

Security and safety are critical to a child growing into the person they have been made to be. In God’s family, it is God the Father who is constantly at work adopting and securing those who come to Jesus.

Humanity has a tendency to love the gifts God gives more than God himself. But Jesus won’t let you do that. The only way to get all of the benefits of Jesus is to seek after and give yourself wholly to him.

Jesus had a wonderfully profound effect on everyone and everything around him. As we look at the miracle where Jesus walks on the water, you will see that he can have a similar effect on you too.

In John 6 Jesus is faced with the same kind of problem Moses faced in the wilderness – lots of hungry people and a lack of physical food. Jesus performs a miracle with a young boy’s meal and feeds the crowd with lots left over, thereby showing he is not just someone who provides bread for life, he is the bread of life.

If you want to prove Jesus to be true, then you will need to trust him - there is simply no other way to close the deal. Listen in as Peter teaches about the critical nature of personal engagement with Jesus.

A couple of key items on Jesus’ agenda are the handing out of life and the judging of the world. The way we listen to him now will determine which one we will get in abundance.

There are many different ways of determining God’s will, but in John 5 Jesus lays down the best – find out what God is doing around you and join him in it.

While some are drawn toward Jesus, there are others who oppose him. But that was no hindrance to him then, and it is no hindrance to him now. The hope of the world is this: God is good and he is always at work doing good things.

In a world which is constantly changing, certainty doesn’t come from what we see or what we can control but through trusting in the person of Jesus.

When it comes to salvation and restoration, no one comes close to the kind of saving Jesus provides. He can take the most messed up person, rescue them, and then make them whole again.

In the second half of his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach her about what true worship really is.

In this section of John, Jesus has a long conversation with a messy broken woman. The way Jesus deals with her is a beacon of hope for all those who don’t have their stuff together.

The authority and authenticity of the person of Jesus is stunning. The way we respond to him sets us on a trajectory towards or away from him. 

The secret to joy and happiness is not found in being great, it is found in being connected to someone great – Jesus. While it is counter intuitive, it is a neat fit for the way we have been made.

The loving offer of life in Jesus is stunning, but it doesn’t come to us automatically. We have to work out what we will do with Him. Will we come close, or will we avoid him. 

The most famous verse of the Bible contains the best news ever – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

After telling us about a whole bunch of people who were into Jesus but not really into Jesus, John gives us a case study of one of them. His name was Nicodemus, and what Jesus says to him in this conversation makes his head spin.

In this section of John, the operating system by which relationships run can be seen in way Jesus interacts with others. If you want to have healthy wise relationships you will need to be well attuned to the way it works.