Sermons from Knightswood UF Church

God doesn’t just want us to know about him; he calls us to know and be known by him Genesis 18:1-16 Sam Parkinson

Jonah, who was running away with God, met him where he least expected to; and when he did, when God rescued him, it was an absolutely life-transforming encounter. We, too, can experience this same life-transforming meeting with the God of the Bible. Jonah 2 - The God who Saves us Sam Parkinson

God cares - enough to pursue us, hunt us down, when we don’t want to be found, and when we are heading away from him because of all our self-destructive tendencies. The prophet Jonah ran from God, only to find God close behind, and doing good to all those around him. Jonah 1 - The God who Pursues Us Sam Parkinson

231209_1937 My Recording As we come into the new year, it’s a great time to reflect on how you are drawing on the help and instruction and grace that God offers us in reading the Bible.

Paul’s prayer at the start of the letter to the Colossians is a model for us to learn from in our own prayer, but it also tells us how Christians can grow in maturity, through prayer that leads to wisdom that leads to growth that pleases God. It’s a deeply practical and encouraging passage for every Christian who wants to please God more and see real change in their lives. Colossians 1:9-14 The Wa...

The beginning of the little letter to the Colossians tells us the key place that hope, the sure and certain hope that Christ offers us in the gospel, has in growing our faith and our love. Colossians 1:1-8 - Faith and Love that Come from Hope Sam Parkinson

What does it mean when God doesn’t answer our prayers when we long for him to do so? In the experience of Martha, Mary, we see how Jesus loved them even as they grieved, deeply, in response to an unanswered prayer and the death of their beloved brother Lazarus. Life from Death I - John 11:1-39 Sam Parkinson

Jesus, the good shepherd, does not just call his sheep - he keeps them and he cares for them. He is the one - the only one - who can keep us and give us life forever. And he will accept anyone, anyone at all, to become one of those sheep, even those who hate and oppose him. No-one can take them out of my hand - John 10:22-42 Sam Parkinson

God’s people - those who have come to him and been forgiven - aren’t just given many good things. They are given a great purpose, and great help in that purpose - the purpose of spreading the news of forgiveness and life that is available even to those who have done great wrong in a world under Judgement. Our Great Purpose - Joel 2:18-3:27 Sam Parkinson

After the darkness and difficulty of Joel 1-2:18, we come out into the light - God has been leading us, along with the people of Joel’s time, to face up to our sin, so that we can come, finally, to the joyful confidence of a relationship with him that his marked by his forgiveness and blessing. In that relationship, he never stops pouring good out on us. This recording is of low quality, due to te...

When we really come to know God, we come to realise that we are worse than we ever thought, but more loved than we could ever imagine. Judgement is real, and God will do away with all evil, cruelty and oppression; but mercy is deeper than we can possibly measure, and his forgiveness and love more wonderful than we could dream. God of Judgement, God of Mercy Sam Parkinson

The little book of Joel starts with a terrible natural disaster. Where are we to turn, when everything goes wrong? Joel shows us that in the darkest moments, we are called to come back to God, and turning away from ourselves and our selfishness, to rediscover peace and hope in him. Day of the Locust Sam Parkinson

All through life, we experience the call of two different ways of life - wisdom, with all its wonderful promise for the future, and folly, which promises us pleasures now, but which, in the long run, brings only grief. Which will we choose? Wisdom's Call Nathan MacKay

Even in the hours he was dying on the cross we see Jesus focused on others - full of grief and concern, of longing for those who killed him to be forgiven, and promising to the trusting thief that he would be with him in paradise. His every action, every word, points to his death in the place of others, carrying their guilt and punishment. His death was entirely for us. Dying for Us Sam Parkinson

In our final look at the Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus challenging call is an invitation, not just to live in a better way, but to have a real, trusting, relationship of love with God as our heavenly Father. The Great Invitation - Matthew 7:7-29 Sam Parkinson

Becoming a Gracious Community - Matthew 7:1-12 Sam Parkinson Jesus calls us to live as he does, to lives that show his goodness; but those lives are to be gracious lives, not judgemental ones. His teaching helps us to avoid becoming self-righteous, and instead makes us more and more like him, welcoming and loving to sinners - even those who hurt us.

Freedom from Greed & Worry - Matthew 6:19-34 Sam Parkinson Jesus wants us to know the reality of having God as our loving Father - and that reality is one that frees us from the desire for money, since the future we have with him is better and more certain than anything we can heap up on earth; and it frees us, too, from worry - for he cares for us better than we can care for ourselves.

Love that Drives out Hypocrisy - Matthew 6:1-18 Sam Parkinson Hypocrisy is a constant danger in religion, in prayer, in giving; we see it in others, and hate it. But it can be hard to see in ourselves, and even harder to escape. Jesus shows us the secret of escaping hypocrisy - knowing the love of our heavenly father, who sees everything we do and promises to reward us.

Real Righteousness - Matthew 5:27-48 Sam Parkinson Jesus’ standard of goodness is far beyond us - impossible, in fact. Seeing it makes us recognise our need for forgiveness; and then it calls us to aim higher for true goodness than we ever have before. But he, the one who lived this righteousness perfectly for our sake, is there for us with his love, his compassion, and the power of his spirit, to...

Our Goal and Guide - Matthew 5:17-26 Sam Parkinson Jesus’ teaching about the Christian life, about forgiveness and grace, was so radical that some thought he had come to sweep away God’s law, God’s instructions for living given through Moses. But Jesus tells us that’s not true - instead, his teaching sweeps away all the misunderstandings, the legalism, the way the law is distorted to make it a too...

Disciples Show Grace - Matthew 5:11-16 Sam Parkinson Jesus’ disciples, who have been shown God’s grace and know God’s grace, have an immediate impact on the world around them. They are persecuted, but still salt and light; through them, God’s grace has an impact on the world around them, and people come to see their Father’s glory.

Disciples Live Grace - Matthew 5:6-11 Sam Parkinson Jesus disciples’ are conscious of their need, their need for his undeserved kindness, his grace. That grace, and their awareness of their need, works to change them into people who live out lives of grace - merciful, honest, peacmaking lives that reflect his life. NOTE THAT THERE WERE MINOR PROBLEMS DURING RECORDING. The message should still be a...

Each Disciple's Need - Matthew 5:1-6 Sam Parkinson The beginning of the Sermon on the Mount - perhaps Jesus’ most famous teaching - tell us how the good life is found by leaning in to our need and hunger for God and his kingdom.

Our Mission - Matthew 28:16-20 Sam Parkinson Jesus’s final words to his disciples gave them a mission - and that mission is our mission, the church’s mission, the mission to make disciples from all nations. It is a mission that comes with a promise, a promise of Jesus’ accompanying authority and presence to the very end of time.

Sharing that Leads to Freedom Sam Parkinson The second half of the letter to Philemon is a powerful message to a man - and a world - that treated so many people as slaves. Even though we may not live in a world where slavery exists, it is still a life-changing message that teaches us to see people the way God sees them, to value them as people, and our fellow Christians as God’s children. And most...