Podcast. Instagraphics. Website. iTunes. Spotify

Grace grows gratitude. If we haven’t gotten grace, we won’t give gratitude. It’s not as bad in the US, but my wife and I noticed that thanksgiving was dying. We would give a gift to someone or a couple getting married, and there was hardly any response. No excitement, no joy, no appreciation. We decided it was connected with the decline of the Gospel of God’s grace. How are grace and gratitude connected and how can we use each to increase the other? Turn to Luke 17:11-19 for the answer.

Podcast. Instagraphics. Website. iTunes. Spotify

The Christian faith is a social faith. It was never meant to be lived out alone but always in community with others. God designed the fellowship of believers as a help to our faith. But that also brings some difficulties we wouldn’t face if we were Christian hermits. What help does Jesus provide to encourage us in challenging encounters with others? Jesus highlights two relational challenges in Luke 17:1-6, but also gives us help to overcome them.

Podcast. Instagraphics. Website. iTunes. Spotify

A good appraiser should be praised. Recently one of my friends had an appraisal done and it came back valued way below what he’d hoped for, making it impossible for him to get a mortgage on the property. Initially he and his wife were deeply disappointed but before long they realized the appraiser had actually done them a favor. He saved them a lot of money and stress in the long run.

When it comes to life, who is the most reliable appraiser? Luke 16:19-31 gives us zero stars but God five stars.

Podcast. Instagraphics. Website. iTunes. Spotify

I’m great at losing things, but terrible at finding things. Half my life is spent asking my wife, “Shona, have you seen my wallet/phone/keys/belt/charger?” and so on. And she always finds what I’ve spent ages looking for. I still secretly think she hides my stuff so she can ‘miraculously’ find it. Anyway, in our house, I’m known as the loser and Shona is the finder.

In Luke 15, three parables answer a basic spiritual question: “Who are the lost and who is the finder?” Let’s focus on the parable of the lost son to get our answer.

Sermon notes on Daniel 10

How can I know God? I know people by seeing them and hearing them. I watch them and I listen to them and get to know them through my eyes and ears. But how can I know God whom I cannot see or hear.

God makes himself known through creation, providence, conscience, and the Bible. But he has chosen to make himself known and knowable most fully and clearly in Jesus Christ. So the simple answer to “How can I know God?” is, “In Jesus.” As the Apostle John put it: No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (1:18).

Now, of course, we cannot see Jesus with our eyes or hear Jesus with our ears. But we do have a perfect record of his life and death in the New Testament. Let’s take time to know God through Jesus.

Sermon notes on John 1:18.