Inner West Church Sermons

"You are enough" - this is the mantra of our age. But scripture tells us a very different message: only Jesus is enough. Pete Greenwood preaches on how Jesus' finished work alone is enough to give us life, meaning and hope for the future. Everything less than Jesus' work will fall short. SCRIPTURE: Genesis 3:6-13, Philippians 3:1-14

Guest speaker Bishop Genieve Blackwell unpacks how to work out our faith in response to God's grace in Christ.

Everyone wants to be unified, but that is easier said than done. To a church struggling to be united, Paul lays out what creates disunity - selfish ambition and vain conceit - and what it takes to become unified - adopting the same attitude of humility that Christ Jesus had. Preacher: Kirsten Wade

Guest speaker Brad Watson (wearesoma.com) helps us see how living a life worthy of the Gospel isn't about working harder to be better, but trusting completely in Jesus who has made us worthy, so that we can joyfully work, and even suffer, for Him.

What is the greatest boast of our lives? Jon Tran preaches from Philippians 1:12-26 showing how confidence in Jesus produces rejoicing in Jesus and culminates in boasting in Jesus SCRIPTURE: Philippians 1:12-26

Pete Greenwood preaches on how grounding ourselves in God's story brings us joy as we reflect on the past, have confidence in the present and anticipation for the future. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 28:6-9, Philippians 1:1-11

Pete Greenwood finishes off our 'Commitments' series by explaining that our mission is to bear witness to God's mission to us, that we fulfil this mission by making disciples, and that the power to be on mission comes from knowing Jesus' authority and faithful presence with us. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:1-9

Pete Greenwood helps us consider our commitment to prayer as a church. While we could all spend more time praying, Pete's emphasis is on improving the depth of our prayers, in line with what Paul prays for the church in Ephesians 3. For power to be strengthened inwardly, and to grasp the immensity of God's love in Christ.

Jon Tran preaches on IWC's fifth commitment: We are committed to being generous. Generosity is something we all like to receive but can often find it difficult to practice. From Luke 7 we see that selfishness and shame are both barriers to our generosity. But God's gift of forgiveness in Jesus sets us free to be truly generous. SCRIPTURE: Luke 7:36-50

Pete Greenwood preaching on Inner West Church's fourth commitment - family. The Gospel means that we have become sons and daughters of God, a part of the same spiritual family. What does it look like for us to live together as God's family? How can we continue to grow and thrive as God's family? SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:19-22; 4:29-5:2

What does it mean to follow Jesus? How does discipleship to Jesus impact all of our lives? How can we walk the way of Jesus with commitment? Pete Greenwood preaches on the third of Inner West Church's commitments: following Jesus in every sphere of life. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 16:24-27, Romans 12:1-2

How do we change? Pete Greenwood preaches on how the Gospel is the power that renews individuals and communities. SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, Titus 2:11-14

Pete Greenwood kicks off the series 'Commitments' with the first of Inner West Church's commitments - a commitment to the Bible. From Psalm 119 and 2 Timothy 3, Pete preaches on how the Bible is God's true word, how the Bible is authoritative, and how the Bible forms us as God's people. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 119:1-8, 169-176; 2 Timothy 3:10-17

Jon Tran preaches on the need for disciples of Jesus need to see him for who he is, to be taught by him, and to give him as the message of their lives. SCRIPTURE: Luke 24:13-35

Pete Greenwood preaches on the resurrection of Jesus and how it not only reveals that Jesus is deserving of our worship, but transforms our hearts and gives us power to do so with great joy. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 28:1-10, Acts 2:22-36

Pete Greenwood finishes our series 'Kingdom Come' by preaching from the Matthew 22 and the parable of the wedding banquet. God has invited us into his kingdom, will we be a people who go out and do the same? SCRIPTURE: Matthew 22:1-14, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Jon Tran preaches from Jesus' parables of the treasure and the pearl. God and his kingdom are the most precious treasure in this life, but do we live as if this is true? SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:19-21, 13:44-46

Pete Greenwood preaches from the parable of the yeast. We are either working in the yeast of the Kingdom or the yeast of the self into our lives. Jesus' parables challenges us to ask the question of which yeast is at work. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:33,16:1-12

Pete Greenwood preaches from Jesus' parable on how the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. From this parable Jesus answers the questions of how the Kingdom begins, how it grows and what it is for. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:31-32, Ezekiel 17:22-24

Jon Tran preaches on the parable of the weeds. Through examining the Sower, the Enemy and the harvest, we hear Jesus' call to hear his words, understand them and to live them out. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Pete Greenwood opens up our new series 'Kingdom Come: Parables of the Kingdom'. Preaching from the parable of the sower (Matt. 13) Pete unpacks the questions of what the Kingdom is, what Kingdom work looks like, and how we can bear Kingdom fruit. SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:17-23, 13:1-9 and 13:18-23

Jon Tran preaches from Psalm 134 about the God who not only deserves to be blessed, but who Himself bends down to bless. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 134, Mark 13:32-42

Pete Greenwood preaches from Psalm 126 on how joy remembered and joy anticipated serve as bookends to our joy in the present. SCRIPTURE: Psalm 126

Guest preacher Martin Rogers (GraceWest Bible Church) unpacks one of the shortest psalms and explores how to bring calm and quiet to your spirit.

David Atkinson explores how obedience to God brings about a life of blessing.

Campbell Brice preaches from Psalm 127, reminding us that God is the builder his house, that he guards his city, and that he makes for himself a family through Jesus Christ.

Guest preacher Julie-Anne Laird explores Psalm 120 for resources on how to handle 'low level anxiety' as Christians in a world that increasingly marginalises faith.

Psalm 122 urges pilgrims on the journey to pray for and seek peace and security for Jerusalem. Christians ought to have the posture towards the church - globally and locally - praying and working for her unity, security and maturity.

Jon Tran begins 2022 with a reflection on the spiritual power of 'lifting our eyes' to God as we approach another year of challenges.

Christmas stories always follow the same plot - something extraordinary, a miracle, breaks into the lives of ordinary people. It turns out all these stories are pale imitations of the Christmas story itself, the true story of hope that something far greater than ourselves can come close enough to save us in spite of ourselves.

Josh Allen from Laneway Church closes our series in Jeremiah by preaching on the unshakable hope that is found only in Jesus. Scripture: Jeremiah 33:12-26, 1 Peter 2:9-10

Jon Tran explores the nature of redemption in the strange tale of the prophet Jeremiah's real estate portfolio.

The God of the Bible is the God who redeems. Jon Tran preaches on our need for both redemption, and a Redeemer. God's redemption frees us from the consequences of our sinful idolatry and into the hope of the total redemption of all things in the future. SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 32:1-15, 1 Peter 1:18-21

Pete Greenwood preaches on God's purposes in giving his people new hearts, a new covenant, and the promise of a new city. SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 31:27-40, Hebrews 9:11-15

Pete Greenwood preaches on how lament and hope help us to deal with the brokenness within and around us. SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 31:15-26, John 13:1-11

Rhys Bezzant preaches on hope in exile from Jeremiah 30-31, exploring the way in which a hope grounded in God's story not only changes our future destination, but also who we fundamentally are in the present. Scripture: Jeremiah 30:1-11, Acts 3:16-23

Jon Tran continues our series 'Hope in Exile' by uncovering the various ways in which we deal with exile. Self-trust and mistaken religion won't get us home. Only a hope in a God who is both sovereign and faithful is strong enough to carry us through exile and into home. PASSAGES: Jeremiah 24:1-10, 29:15-32

What does it mean to live as spiritual exiles waiting for a heavenly home? Jeremiah's answer: "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city." Pete Greenwood unpacks what that means for us here in this place and at this time.

Campbell Brice helps us consider how to be effective and wise stewards of one of our most valuable resources - our time.

Pete Greenwood preaches on the influence wealth, money and possessions have and how we can be free to be content and generous through the gospel of Jesus. PASSAGES: Mark 12:41-44, 1 Timothy4:1-5, 1 Timothy 6:6-10

What are my talents and passions? What should I do with them? What obstructs them? What will free me to use them for the good of others? Pete Greenwood continues our series on Good Stewards as we continue to consider what it looks like to live as stewards of all that God has made. PASSAGES: Exodus 35:30 - 36:1, 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Jon Tran opens up our series on Good Stewards by unpacking the source, the perspective and the freedom of stewardship from Genesis 1 & 2. SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:26 - 2:17

To finish our series on Jonah, Pete Greenwood considers the vast differences between Jonah's attitude towards the Ninevites and God's. Jonah is filled with anger and bitterness towards Nineveh and God, while God is relentless in moving towards Nineveh and Jonah with abundant mercy and compassion. We learn that unless we realise just how merciful God is to us, we won't ever learn to be merciful to others.

Pete Greenwood preaches from Jonah 3 on what it takes to see true revival take place individually, corporately and societally. Passages: Jonah 3 and Acts 2:36-41

Jordan Lemley preaches on how the grace of God meets, renews and transforms us, even in our darkest moments. SCRIPTURE: Jonah 1:17-2:10, 1 John 1:5-10

Jonah is a complex, beautiful book, designed to expose the depths of human fallibility and the heights of God's mercy. God's Mission to redeem and restore the world is in full view, as he mercifully works on mission through flawed people. In this sermon, Pete Greenwood looks at the three decision points that Jonah faces in chapter 1. He largely fails, but God is still merciful, and we are pointed forward to Jesus, our perfect hero who succeeds at every challenge and empowers us to be used by God, despite our flaws and failures.

Jon Tran preaches from James 5:13-20 on how the Cross of Jesus doesn't only help us to speak honestly about our sickness and sin, but how it also gives us hope that God is the God who is making all things whole again. Passages: Isaiah 53:4-5 and James 5:13-20

How can we live through uncertainty, hardship and suffering? Campbell Brice preaches from James 5:7-12, encouraging us to persevere in hope because God has not left us alone in our hardship but has come to be with us in Jesus.

We all like to believe things that we know aren't really true. One of most tightly held illusions is that we have the ability to control the future. James helps us see past these illusions to the truth - that we can't control our lives and protect us from all harm, but there is someone who can.

Pete Greenwood was the guest preacher at Rock City Church Melbourne on Sunday August 8 2021. He preached on 'The Spirit of Peace' from John 14:15-31. Having the Holy Spirit means peace with God, peace in yourself and peace in the world. https://rockcitychurch.melbourne/

Only once does James use the word 'grace' in his letter. So when he does, we better pay attention! Grace for James ushers into the Christian heart a sense of humble awareness of the kind of life we ought to live.