Jesus, as the chief cornerstone, is infinitely precious. The chief cornerstone was the largest and most expensive stone used in building. It had to be perfectly cut, and it reminded the other builders who began the work. Jesus must be the foundation of life, for when we believe in him, the cornerstone will not be put to shame. The world may shut you in, but Jesus welcomes you in; the world may talk behind your back but Jesus will shower you with praise; the world may point at you as dirty and broken, but Jesus heals and makes us whole.The love The Father has for The Son, is the same love he has for us now. It is not conditional upon our merit, or whether we have it all together, but on the legitimacy of Christ. Belief is more than intellectual assent, but complete trust in Christ as the foundation of our salvation and of our lives. We cannot build our life on any other foundation, because it is all sand. No one and nothing but Christ can carry us and hold us together. Let us live us...

City on a Hill: Geelong

We are God's House

The Bible is more than the best selling book of all time, it is the living word of God that is life-giving, lasting, and maturing. Thus, we obey the Bible by believing it, and being born again. Our rebirth is not something we gain ourselves, but something that God alone can give you through the life-giving and life-restoring word of God which does the work of God to accomplish the will of God. Kingdom’s will rise and fall, but God’s word endures forever.As children of God, born again through the living word of God in Jesus, we must rid ourselves of hypocrisy, jealousy, and deceit. We must not slander one another, but seek to out-do one another in love and showing honour. To become mature we must drink the pure milk of God’s word, and live a life of repentance in light of this reality as the beloved children of God.

We are Children of God

How do we remain faithful to Jesus in a post-Christian secularist age? By understanding that we are exiles sojourning on earth as temporary residents in a foreign place, and our home is in heaven. Although the world will try to tell us that this life is all there is, God has placed eternity in our hearts and we will find that nothing else will satisfy. Still, instead of rejecting earthly blessings we ought to be thankful for them, but never confusing them as the eternal thing.It takes courage to live out our faith as outsiders in the world, but we know our hope is not in the world but certain security in the living hope of Jesus. When we chose sin, Christ chose holiness. When we chose the world, Christ chose God. Now all who place their trust in him for forgiveness of sins are his elect, inheriting his kingdom and his righteousness, a kingdom unshakable and without end. In his kingdom, our true home, we will enjoy every spiritual blessing and the wholly satisfying pleasure of the pr...

We are God's Chosen

The Great Commission is global, for all nations, because in Christ we are all one. We as the global body of Christ exist to know Jesus and out of the overflow of our knowledge of him to make him known. Instead of building walls, Christians should be building bridges. May we recognise the need for the gospel in our city, sharing the hope of the goodness of God to the some 200 nationalities within our own city of Melbourne. The Great Commission is vital, and by God's presence and power that will be with us always, it is achievable.

With You Always

Baptism is a symbol of our engagement to Jesus, and is open to every believer. Faith is about word and action. The Great Comission instructs us to be baptizing and teaching the faith. It is amazing to see what God can do when we meet together and read through the Bible. It is not complicated, and could be as simple as meeting up with someone over coffee and to read a chapter of the Bible together. May God help us to live out our faith in word and action, pursuing community through loving God and loving one another.

Teaching Them

Everyone is a disciple to something that influences us, and is part of our environment. Who are you a disciple of?A disciple of Jesus is someone who loves, trusts, obeys, and is becoming more like Jesus.There is nodiscipleship without community. As part of the body, we are to encourage one another using the gifts God has given us. This is more than being friendly and talking to people at church, but being vulnerable with and learning from one another. You need not travel the world to go and make disciples, let us know Jesus and make Jesus known to those around us, trusting the Holy Spirit will make us more like Jesus.

Go Therefore

To understand Christ’s authority, look at the cross. His authority is self-sacrificial and humble, giving rest to the weary. He has come to give us eternal life and rest to the weary, freedom from sin, and Satan, and death. Instead of living our own truth and submitting to our own authority, let us fall down and submit to the kingship of Jesus, who has all authority in heaven and earth. Tomorrow is not ours, but it is God’s. The kingdom of this world is coming to an end, but the kingdom of Christ is everlasting. Trust that he is no tyrant, but that the supreme one is loving kind.

All Authority

The first Christmas is historical fact. Some of the first witnesses of Jesus’ birth were pagan magicians, shunned characters that a religious Jew would not have put into their story if it weren’t true. The first Christmas, though predicted by prophets, was still unexpected. He was born in a poor town, slept in a manger, hung out with tax collectors and sinners, and was crucified as king of the Jews. We can choose to be consumed by our self like Herod who secured his own power and kingdom, or the religious leaders who knew the prophecies but did nothing. Else, we can be like the wise men who in their wisdom knew that the maker of the stars and king of kings lay in a manger: Jesus, the Son of Mary.

The King Is Here

As Josiah dusts off the book of the law, he realises that Israel has been at war with God. Showing true repentance, Josiah tears his clothes and made a covenant with God, steering an entire nation away from idolatry and back to God, even reinstituting the Passover which hasn’t been kept since the judges. His efforts were so great that Josiah was called the greatest king that Israel has had, or will have. Still, it was too little, too late. God’s wrath could not be kindled, and by the end of 2 Kings Jerusalem is destroyed and Israel is exiled to Babylon. Fourteen generations later, God’s wrath would be kindled forever through the death of Jesus, his son. Christ is the king Josiah could not be, granting us repentance that does not result in judgement, but in acceptance if we confess our sins, trust Jesus is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us. May we walk in the newness of life by the Holy Spirit.

Josiah

Jehu was anointed by God to strike down Ahab, the former king who did more evil than any king before him, committing atrocious idolatry with his wife Jezebel. Jehu, directly and indirectly, slaughtered the entire house of Ahab and Jezebel, and all the worshippers of Baal. Idolatry angers God and incurs his righteous wrath. Like Jehu, our world wants justice and God has called us to take action. Better than Jehu, we are to show the world how our faith has changed us to push back against darkness and evil with goodness and light. In Christ, we are called to fight the good fight for our faith against the powers with the sword of the Spirit (the Bible) and the armour of God. Christian, use a sword and not a butter knife. First, use the sword of scripture on yourself to pierce through the idols in your own life, then use it to pierce the lies and idols in other’s lives.

Jehu

Every king of Israel was ranked and measured against one criteria: their faithfulness to God. All that mattered was whether they lived to lead others to God, and to please God, not their military success, riches, geographical expansion, or political influence. Every bad king fell away from the correct worship of Yahweh and to idolatry, which was the sin of Jeroboam, Israel’s first evil king. Ahab was worse than any king before him, even worse than his wicked father. What made Ahab particularly wicked is that alongside his idolatry, Ahab married a foreign wife (Jezebel) and took the gods of her people. One of these gods was Baal, a storm god which would have been particularly important considering Israel’s environment. Ahab’s sin was that of compromise. He chose to pray to God but also Baal, and to follow the violent, destructive, path of his wife: Jezebel.God cares about our relationship with him, and the way we treat others, particularly the poor and powerless. There is to be no co...

Ahab (and Jezebel)

Patrick Houghton preaching from 1 Kings 12:1-20 in the second instalment of 'The Coming King'

Rehoboam and Jeroboam

Wisdom without worship is worthless, and kings rise and fall when they lose sight of the wisdom of God, take pride in themselves, and seek to build Eden on Earth through money, sex, and power. Solomon, made king at the age of 12 with the death of his father David, was offered anything by God, and he chose to ask for wisdom. This led him to become renowned as the wisest man in all the world, who wrote elaborate proverbs and was the first to build God’s temple. Yet, he rapidly fell into pride and riches. He became known for accumulating multitudes of horses and chariots, hoarding excesses of gold, and taking many foreign women as concubines and wives. All of this in direct contradiction to God’s command regarding the prerequisites for a king.Like a ship adrift at sea, the compass needs only be off by a few degrees. To reverse engineer our life and live with the end in mind is the key lesson from the wise fool to never forget. Let us pursue our first love, beware of our subtle sins and...

Solomon

Andrew Grills preaching from Matthew 5:10-12 for a stand alone sermon focused on the persecuted church

The Persecuted Church

A mondegreen is a misunderstanding or misinterpreting of a section of a song. In a similar way, many of us have misunderstood the figure of Zaccheus, seeing him as a short man who climbed a tree to see Jesus. Yet, Zaccheus was a rich tax collector, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich. His riches meant that he was corrupt, and had gotten away with taking cuts from tax collection for a long time. Jesus knew the type of man Zaccheus was, but he still called him by name and wanted to dine with him. Though Zaccheus was rich and corrupt, an unlikely convert with an undignified pursuit. Yet, unlike the rich young ruler who held onto his riches, Zaccheus was willing to humiliate himself and give from his riches after his encounter with Jesus. This is the heart of Jesus: one that seeks the lost, and dines with them. If you are to reject Jesus, reject the Jesus of the Bible and not a mondegreen Jesus. He longs to bring the rebel, the renegade, and the unloveable home. Let this Jesus...

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City on a Hill: Geelong

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