Sermons from the Golden Bay Baptist Church in Golden Bay, Western Australia
After the death of Herod the Great, the territory that he had ruled was divided up by the Romans. Herod Antipas was given the region of Galilee to rule. In 26 AD, Antipas went to Rome to visit his half-brother Philip, Philip's wife of about 30+ years, and his neice Salome. At this stage, Antipas would have been about 46, and Herodias in her early 40s. Long story short, Antipas and Herodias decided to divorce their present spouses, and marry […]
It had been raining, and the path around the lake had flooded in various sections. But Taryn and I had some time to spare before I had to be in the city, so we decided to just walk around the flooded parts of the path where necessary. It was a nice walk… until I saw it. A snake, slithering away from us on a bit of unflooded ground. I yelled out, urgently, “Snake!” throwing my arms out and pirroutting to […]
The Magician's Nephew is the prequel to the more famous, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It tells the story of the creation of the world of Narnia, a world where Jesus is represented by a great lion Aslan. A couple of human children, Eustace and Polly, stumble upon Narnia as it is being formed. They find the songof creation that Aslan sings wonderful! But the children had inadvertently brought two others along with them: the wicked witch, and […]
In 2018, a reporter asked a prominent Christian leader in America why so many Christians were happy to support political candidates who seem to revel in disobeying Jesus' teachings. The leader replied that Christians were just happy to have someone “on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.” “What happened to turning the other cheek?” the reporter asked. Replied the leader: “You know, you only have two cheeks.” What if Jesus was serious about calling on Christians to […]
When I was a child, I had a pretty major problem with my sister. You see, although we were both part of a Christian family, my sister had fallen into evil practices. I didn't think she was a real Christian. What was she doing? She was listening to Christian rock music, rather than to classical stuff! Fortunately, it wasn't long until I realised how ridiculous my position was. She was celebrating God; I was setting up my own rules about […]
When we meet someone for the first time, we tend to try and figure out who they are. It's interesting to hear how people define and describe themselves. Some people, often men, will tell you about their qualifications and achievements in life. Others will speak about their nationality or ethnicity. Others might tell you about their family. You might hear about the clubs that they are part of, or the various people you might both know who connect you. Who […]
Over the last few weeks, we've been exploring God's description of His character, given to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. We have seen that God is full of compassion, grace, love and faithfulness. But He is also a God of justice – He does not let the guilty go unpunished. This doesn't, of course, contradict the fact that God is full of mercy and grace. The good news is that God Himself bore our punishment, and invites us to trust and […]
In 2018, a reporter asked a prominent Christian leader in America why so many Christians were happy to support political candidates who seem to revel in disobeying Jesus' teachings. The leader replied that Christians were just happy to have someone “on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.” “What happened to turning the other cheek?” the reporter asked.Replied the leader: “You know, you only have two cheeks.” What if Jesus was serious about calling on Christians to turn […]
As I write this, it is Valentines Day. Across our city, people are expressing their love and commitment to one another. It is a wonderful thing to know that you are loved. I would content that humans need to both be loved and love in return. We are social creatures, designed for deep relationship. The absence of love is both painful and malformative. There are doubtless many today who are feeling alone, unloved and deeply hurt. Over the last few […]
It's not nice being around someone who loses their temper at the drop of a hat. I suspect that all of us have some experience of people like that. Say the wrong thing, or say it in the wrong way, and you will soon know that you have caused offence. In the worst cases, people lash out against those who have angered them. In other cases, their simmering anger sets out to make you feel guilty for upsetting them. Even […]
There's an old saying: “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.” The idea is that children tend to take after their parents. But this isn't just in terms of physical resemblance. We learn character from our family of origin. We learn how to relate to other people. It's amazing how, even if we don't realise it, we find ourselves echoing the attitudes and approaches of our forebears. These days, I find myself speaking to Daniel about how we do […]
Life through the psalms – “A new perspective”. Pastor Nicholas van Oudtshoorn
What sorts of things do you find tempting? Although there may be similarities, our temptations are uniquely ours. They are tailored to our personal wants and desires. Temptations are tempting because we think that they have something good to offer us. We give in to temptations when we think that doing so will make our lives easier and better. Of course, there is always a cost when we do that – a cost that is often far greater than we […]
Solomon's temple must have been an amazing sight to behold. It stood for hundreds of years, a symbol of God's presence with His people. According to 1 Kings 6:15ff, the entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was panelled with wood: cedar for the walls and ceilings, and cypress for the floors. The Most Holy Place in the temple was panelled floor to ceiling with cedar. And everything was covered in gold! There was an opulence and grandeur about the whole […]
Have you ever come across someone who was absolutely convinced that they were right, whilst being absolutely wrong? We all have the potential to be like that. Usually, pride is at work in the mix: a certainty that we already know what the picture is going to be, while everyone else is still trying to get the puzzle pieces out of the box. When this attitude is full-blown, convincing people to see the truth can be a huge, almost impossible […]
Next month, the acting head of the Baptist Union of Western Australia will be coming to preach for us. Speaking with them at the annual pastor's conference a few months ago, however, they told me they thought that only about 25% of Baptist churches in Western Australia would be open to the idea of them coming to preach. Why? Simply because the acting head is a woman. Many Christians have been taught that the Bible rejects the idea of a […]
What does it mean to have faith in God? We could simply say that faith is the same as trust. But what does that actually look like in practice? In exploring that question, we are following in the footsteps of Hebrews 11, we are busy making our way through the stories of different people of faith. As we do so, we will discover how faithful God is, and what it means to live in relationship with Him. So far, we […]
She had no idea who He was - but He knew all about her. When we encounter the living God in Jesus, do we run away from Him or towards Him?
Could it be that at times our work for God could get in the way of God's work? This week we're focussing on how Jesus has to be centre-stage!
Nicodemus was impressive – but there were shadows in his life that Jesus’ light would illuminate. You might look impressive; like you’ve got everything sorted. But we all have shadows that we are ashamed of. Things we like to hide so that we can present a good face. We can often fool each other, at least for a while. But it is harder (aka impossible) to fool God.
Today’s passage: Ephesians 1:1-14 Today’s message is brought to us by Chad Power.
If you were setting out to point someone to the fact that Jesus is God our Rescuer, where would you start? John starts his gospel with a quiet sign, that hardly anyone knew about. What's that all about?
John the Baptist called Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He also said that Jesus would baptise people with the Spirit. What was it that convinced John that Jesus was the Messiah - and what will we do with his testimony about Jesus?
John discovered something about God - and it changed him. Will it change you?
Today’s Passage: Nehemiah 7:73 – 8:12 Last week, we saw how the exiles from Judah were allowed to return home to Jerusalem by King Cyrus to rebuild the temple. We saw them prioritising God in their lives, and celebrating His goodness to them as they laid the foundations for the temple. But there was a lot of opposition to rebuilding the temple – with it stopping and starting. But eventually, it was built. At some point after this, an influential […]
Today’s Passage: Ezra 3 Over the course of the last few months, we’ve set out to get a birds-eye view of the Old Testament story. We saw the start of all things in Genesis 1 and 2 – and it was good. But the world we live in is not good any more. It is broken, as are we. Genesis 1 to 11 introduces us to the two biggest issues in our world. Firstly, there is sin and death, and the […]
Today’s Passage: 2 Chronicles 36:11ffYou might also want to read: 2 Peter 3, 2 Kings 24-25 This week, we’re continuing our journey through the Old Testament story of God and His people. Two weeks ago, we looked at 1 Samuel 8, where Israel went to the prophet Samuel demanding to have a king like all of the other nations around them. At first glance, it might have seemed sensible for them to want to have a king. But the problem […]
This Easter Sunday, we remember the true King of the world. He died, but he was raised from the dead - and reigns right now!
This Good Friday, we remember Jesus our King. But He was a different kind of king to what everyone would have expected.
Today’s passage: 1 Samuel 8 This week, we’re returning to our lighting journey through the story of the Old Testament. We spent a few weeks in the introduction to the Biblical story: Genesis 1-11. There we saw that the way the world now is is a result of human rebellion against God. We have a sin problem. We also saw that we have a knowledge problem: we don’t know who God is or what He is like. As a result, […]
Over the last few weeks, life has changed. Across almost all the world, humanity is struggling to deal with a virus too small for the naked eye to see. How can Christians respond to this crisis?
Today’s Reading: Judges 2:6-3:6 Also helpful to read: Judges 1-21 Over the last few weeks, we’ve slowly been making our way through the Old Testament, trying to get a birds-eye view of it’s story. It’s the story of God’s good creation, and of humanity’s rebellion against God. It’s the story of God acting to set things right. The main emphasis in the Old Testament is on God’s showing us who He is, in preparation for His arrival in Jesus to […]
Over the last few weeks, we’ve started journeying through the Old Testament, and exploring the story of God and His people. We’ve seen how God created everything to be good, and how people sinned by not trusting God. Last week, we looked at the story of Babel, and how humanity had come to a point of not knowing who God is and what He is like. So God acted to change that. He chose one man, Abram, and called him […]
Today’s passage: Genesis 11:1-9 Have you ever bribed someone to do something for you? Every now and again, stories will come up about people or companies or countries trying to gain a competitive advantage over others by greasing a few palms. Mid 2018, an Australian company was found to have been bribing public officials in Vietnam in order to win work on aid projects in that country. There have been allegations made that people were bribed to vote for Qatar […]
Today’s passage: Genesis 3 Have you ever had a sneaking suspicion that you were being hard done by? It hurts when when we are being slighted. But it can also be a problem when we act on an assumption of unfairness that turns out to not be true. In the British sitcom “The IT Crowd,” there’s an episode where one of the main characters becomes convinced that she is being slighted. As the manager of the IT department, she was […]
This week, we’re starting a brand new series exploring the narrative books of the Old Testament. Our aim is to get a big picture overview of God’s story of redemption leading up to the coming of Jesus Christ. This week, we start at the very beginning of the Old Testament – Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Unfortunately, these beautiful chapters can be the cause of much confusion and hurt among Christians. Those who think that Genesis 1 teaches a young, […]
Today’s Passage: Psalm 84In 1977, NASA launched a pair of probes into space, on a course, eventually, out of our solar system. On those Voyager craft, they put a golden record (the height of technology!) 30 years later, Annie Druyan, the creative director behind the project, said the following about what she chose to include in The Sounds of Earth: The first thing I found myself thinking of was a piece by Beethoven from Opus 130, something called the Cavatina […]
Today’s Reading: Colossians 2:3-10 It seems like we’re getting more and more scam phone calls coming through in recent months. Often, these scammers try and convince us that we have a major problem, but that they can provide a solution for us very easily and very quickly, for just a small amount of money. They might claim to be from Telstra, the NBN, Microsoft or even the tax department. And they’re convincing. They keep doing it because they get enough […]
Today’s passage: Colossians 1:1-8 This weekend, we’re starting a new series through Paul’s letter to the church in Colosse. What’s interesting about this church is that it wasn’t one that Paul founded. It seems like Paul himself didn’t get to Colosse with the good news of God’s Kingdom made available to us through Jesus. A man named Epaphras was responsible for sharing the good news there. Maybe Epaphras had heard Paul speak in Ephesus, some 160km away. We’re not sure. […]
Today’s reading: Philippians 1:27-2:11 This Saturday just gone was Australia day. For some people, this day will be a painful reminder of the injustices of colonialism. For others, it will be a chance to have a good time with friends and family over food and drinks and perhaps to “ooh!” underneath fireworks. Just in time for Australia day, the government will also recognise the Australian of the year. Last year’s Australian of the year was a professor in quantum mechanics. […]
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Today’s Passage: John 12:20-36 Over the last three weeks, our morning service has been looking at God’s message through the prophet Hosea. Hosea tells of the greatest love story this universe has ever heard. It tells of God’s love for His people. It’s a story of God’s incredible faithfulness, contrasted with the unbelievable unfaithfulness of us – His people. Our God is the God who does not easily give up on us. He is certainly the God of justice, but […]
Today’s Passage: Hosea 3 Hosea’s life isn’t, perhaps, typical of what you’d expect from a holy man. When he got married, he married not one of the nice girls in town, but one of the prostitutes. And although she stayed around for a bit, it wasn’t too long before she had walked out on him. She ended up with another man – perhaps a slave, or perhaps with debts to him that she couldn’t ever pay off. She was trapped. […]
Today’s passage: Hosea 1 This weekend, our morning service starts a new 4 week series looking at the book of Hosea. Hosea’s the first of the so-called Minor Prophets – the shorter prophetic books. He is, as one of the minor prophets, much less well known than prophets like Ezekiel, Jeremiah or Isaiah. Which is a great pity… because the message of Hosea is incredibly beautiful. Hosea did more than speak God’s words. In a way, Hosea’s life came to […]
Today’s Passage: 1 Samuel 3 Have you ever heard God speaking to you? It’s a strange question to ask of a bunch of Christians, isn’t it? After all, we are those who claim to have a personal relationship with God. We often speak about how God is with us. We read through the Bible, and hear of God’s speaking with people time and time again. In the book of Acts, we read of Jesus speaking with Paul on the road […]
Today’s Passage: Luke 11:1-13 This Sunday, our society takes a moment to celebrate our fathers. Personally, I have been blessed with a wonderful, godly man as my father. He’s a gentle man who consistently encourages his children – to this day! – to be the best that we can be. I know without a shadow of doubt that my father loves me – and that will always be the case. He (along with my mother – mothers are great too!) […]
Today’s passage: Galatians 3:15-29 The situation among the Christians in Galatia wasn’t good. They had put their trust in Jesus to save them. They’d heard the good news that God’s Kingdom was open and available to them through Jesus, who had dealt the death-blow to death and sin. They were a vibrant church, where there was plenty of evidence of God’s power in their midst. God’s Spirit was doing all sorts of miracles among them. God’s Spirit was living in […]
The last session from our combined church camp. After all of our journey through the history of the church, we ask what we can learn from it for our life as Christ’s Church today. Passage for this session: Philippians 1:12ff
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