St Andrew's Wahroonga Podcast

The average person makes around 34,000 decisions a day. That's a lot! Some are very small. Some are life changing. But, big or small, all of our decisions have reasons, motivations, implications. 1 Corinthians 8-10 is an invitation from God's word to take a radically different approach to our decision making. It's brilliant, and I can't wait to explore chapter 9 together on Sunday.

I wonder where you make most of your decisions - both the small, day-to-day ones and the big life changing ones? Do you have a goto place? Perhaps late at night with a cuppa? Perhaps you wait for a holiday, or a long-weekend to have time for such deliberations? Or maybe you're so busy you just have to make decisions on the run? Wherever you make your decisions, I wonder what factors go into deciding what the right decision is; especially when there are a number of right options? This Sunday we begin a 3 part section of 1 Corinthians (ch. 8-10) that will invite us to rethink the way we think about decisions. It is an invitation to have what we know as Christians actually impact the day-to-day of our decisions.

We'll hear this urgent word from the Apostle Paul: ‘what I mean brothers and sisters is that the time is short… …Serving God is what counts…' 1 Corinthians 7, 19, 29 If serving God is what counts, what's the best situation for me to be in to do that? Single or married? With kids or without? Happy or grieving? Young or old? On Sunday we'll hear God's answer to that. He will speak into the particular situations we might find ourselves (especially married or unmarried) and as our great shepherd he will not necessarily lead us into or out of a situation may long for, but he will lead us in the situation we find ourselves.

1 Corinthians 7, as we begin to see the positive instructions that Paul gives with respect to our relationships and how sex should be used within them. It's wonderful that whether we're married or unmarried, our relationships are because of and point to the God who is himself ‘love' (1 John 4:8).

How do you feel talking about sex? (Not my most comfortable topic either). Here is what I know: God is good, Sex is good, and the Bible's teaching about sex is good, and for our human flourishing. In 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Paul continues his straight talk about sex. It is a word to Christians not unbelievers. Paul wants Christians to think right about their bodies, and act right with their bodies, particularly in the sexual realm. There are two key commands “Flee sexual immorality” “Honour God with your body” Let's encourage each other to live these out.

Paul addresses the issue of believers suing each other and urges them to resolve disputes within the church rather than resorting to the secular legal system.

The chapter emphasizes the need for church discipline, urging the Corinthians to remove this man from their fellowship, "handed over to Satan" (5:5), to preserve the purity of the church and potentially save his spirit. The analogy of leaven is used to illustrate how sin can spread and contaminate the entire community.

Paul's insistence to the Corinthian Christians to stop making themselves judges of each other. Only the Lord's judgment matters. They are living as if their wealth and status are all they need, while the apostles serve Christ in poverty and under persecution, imitating Christ. Paul urges them to change course and imitate his life.

The spiritual maturity of the church in Corinth and the importance of building upon the foundation of Christ.

True spiritual understanding comes not from human wisdom or eloquence, but through the power of God's Spirit, enabling believers to grasp the mysteries of God's plan.

Something that looks like an incredibly weak moment - a man dying a shameful death at the hands of the powers that be - is actually God's wisdom, the centrepiece of his plan for the rescue of his world! This Sunday we'll look around and see how that message shapes those who follow this king - us, the church. It's comforting. It's challenging.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Unity in the church - what do you stand for and what do (or should) we unite over?

We're starting our big bible project for 2025 - 1 Corinthians. I love the way the Apostle Paul sets up the letter. 9 times in the first 9 verses he writes the name of Jesus. 9 times, so that we don't miss that the whole heart and shape of our church is Jesus Christ and him crucified! (1 Cor 2.2)

…to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry…I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love… Jonah 4.1-2 Can you imagine having a problem with God's love? Jonah can! And while his anger seems irrational, at first, his heart is not so different to ours. This Sunday we're in Jonah 4 and we see this heart under the x-ray of God's word. But, we will also see God's glorious heart revealed.

Jonah 3. It is a brilliant picture of what true repentance before God looks like. And it is also a picture of how our gracious God responds to true repentance. Looking forward exploring it together.

We again see how great our God's faithfulness is - a faithfulness that graciously comes to our rescue at the very first call!

The Book of Jonah - it ain't about the fish! It's not mainly about Jonah. And it is not mainly about us! It is first and foremost about God and his huge heart of relentless grace for a rebellious world.

The fourth of the letters to the seven churches - Thyatira.

The church in Pergamum is commended by Jesus for the way they've remained faithful to him under big pressure. What amazing words to hear! However, there's also a challenge for them and for us - of not just saying we're for Jesus, but loving him with our whole hearts.

Revelation 2:8-11 is our second of the seven letters to the seven churches. It's a word from Jesus to the church at Smyrna (up the road from Ephesus). It is a word from the Holy Spirit to us. It is a word to encourage and strengthen the persecuted. As Smyrna Christians struggle with slander of a particular kind, we ponder how to face persecution as Australian Christians. Jesus encourages us not to be afraid when opposition comes but to remain faithful to him. The upside is the promise he offers us as we persevere. We look forward to being strengthened by this letter.

We'll hear the word of our King for anyone who has times when they feel jaded in their Christian life. It's a call back to our first love, Jesus!

See our king Jesus revealed in the pages of the book of Revelation.

A passage that asks this tantalising advent question - But will God really dwell with us on earth?

Final greetings to the Thessalonians.

Here is a wonderful picture of the future: … we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him… 1 Thess 4:14 That's an amazing hope - that as surely as Jesus himself rose from the dead, so he'll raise those who are in him!

Christians are set apart to live lives pleasing to God, through faith in Jesus. Paul applies this in the back half of his first Letter to Thessalonians. He gets personal as he applies this to everyday life, sex and work. This week we'll hear the call to pursue sexual purity and flee sexual temptation, pursue peace and productivity and flee sloth. We are set apart to please God in all of life, what does that look like for you?

‘For now we really live!' (1 Thess 3.8a) What's life about for you? And why? Or more specifically, as you look ahead to next week, what's next week going to be about for you? It will contain different things for each of us. And in the sermon we hear what life is about for the Apostle Paul. We see what shapes each day for him and why. And my prayer is that what we hear from God's word will shape the coming week for each of us.

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 1 Thess 2.13 What an incredible truth this is. The word we get to speak to one another, the word we get to share with our community is no mere human word, it is the word of God! And when it is spoken, God's mighty spirit is at work. And when he is at work great things happen – faith, love, hope happen!

11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

It's a great book that talks about living holy lives, under pressure, what love looks like, and the future of hope of Jesus' imminent return.

Friends - we all need them but be careful they can lead you astray or to good.

The tongue has the power of life and death. And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 It's been great to kick off our mini-series in Proverbs and be encouraged to put our heart's deepest trust in God and his grace, to live truly wise lives! One of the keys with wisdom is that it's got to be worked out in community rather than in isolation.

Dine with lady wisdom...

About how Jesus changes things in the great news of the gospel contained in a few simple verses from Galatians

About how Jesus changes things in the great news of the gospel contained in a few simple verses from Galatians

Chris opens up the second half of 2 Corinthians 5 and looks at reconciliation as the main purpose for us.

Chris Edwards opens up the first part of Chapter 5 of 2 Corinthians looking towards our eternal home and new body.

Two Problems Answered

The True Glory of God

Trouble and Triumph

The last in our series in Galatians

‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!' - Galatians 5.1 Freedom! Everyone wants it, but what is it? What does it mean to be truly free? Would you recognise a free person if you saw them? What would they be doing? What matters to them? How would they express that?

The joyful privilege and awesome responsibility that is ours because we are the children of God!

Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.

'I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' Galatians 2.20 What a relief this is! All my mistakes, all my sin, he carries! Hallelujah! What a challenge this is! All my pride, all my sense of my own significance is dead and buried.

We follow up with week 2 in Galatians considering the true message of Jesus and that humans trying to modify the gospel is not the true gospel.

…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus… Hebrews 12:1-2

we come to the end of Deuteronomy! And the end of Moses! The great leader, the great prophet, the great preacher that we've met over the last chapters won't make it into the Promised Land. It seems like a somewhat depressing finale. So where does that leave us? Looking forward to talking about it! Next Sunday, we're doing a special one-off week based on Hebrews 12, that will bridge us from Deuteronomy to launching the following week into our next project - Galatians! Having studied ‘the second law' (Deuteronomy), it'll be excellent to study Paul's teaching on how the law affects Christians today.

It's sometimes easy to get lost in all the laws about war, cities of refuge, tithing, disputes, skin diseases and so on in Deuteronomy chapters 12-26. But here's a verse from the end of this section to put things in perspective: And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. (Deut 26:18) God gives his people these commands because of who they are - loved, even treasured by him.

Thinking about God's kindness and justice.