Give God the glory – a sermon on Ephesians 3:14-21 by Rev. Ralph Adams. Back in 1874, Gil Dodds ran the fastest mile ever, on an indoor track. At the end of [the] race, he picked up a microphone to acknowledge [the crowd] and said: “I thank the Lord for guiding me through the race, […]
Scatterlings entrust their souls to God while doing good – a sermon on 1 Peter 4:12-19 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. In the South-western part of Russia lies the town Saratov. It’s about 4 times the size of Ipswich, and prior to 1991 it was perhaps best known for being a city that was closed to […]
Christ came to set us free – a sermon on John 8:31-38 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. “I want to break free,” the group Queen famously sang. But what does “free” mean? It can of course refer to something that doesn’t cost you anything – perhaps like the gifts you may receive at Christmas. But it […]
Scatterlings are made for this. A sermon on 1 Peter 4:7-11 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. I know some of you like camping and doing all sorts of outdoorsy things, so you may appreciate the brief story I’d like to share with you.[1] Some years ago a young family went on a camping trip to a […]
Scatterlings live for the will of God – a sermon on 1 Peter 4 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. What do you live for? What’s your aim in life? What do you want to achieve? Is it to pass your final year in school so you can get out of the house into the big wide […]
Comfort for my people – a sermon on Isaiah 40:1-11 by Rev. Ralph Adams. Today, on the second Sunday of Advent, God’s eternal message is again couched in Isaiah’s words from this prophecy: ”Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” ’Comfort from your God’ is the gospel I’m to preach to you, today. I am […]
Christ the almond branch – a sermon on Numbers 17, written by the Rev J. Westendorp and read by Br. Brendan Strasser.
Living out our faith in the crucible of life – a sermon on James 1 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. So far 2020 has been a year of challenges, hasn’t it! Some said that this year we just had three months – January, February and Covid. And that third month has been one drawn out challenge […]
Be Still and know – a sermon on Psalm 46 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Martin Luther is perhaps best known today for his “rediscovery” of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which of course was a cornerstone of the Reformation. But what is perhaps less well-known is that he loved the psalms and found […]
God’s Word at work in believers – a sermon by Rev. Ralph Adams on 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Dennis Prager, of Prager University, once asked atheist philosopher Jonathon Glover this pointed question: “Professor Glover, just say your car broke down at midnight, stranding you in a desolate back-city street. Then, as you step from your car […]
Genesis 15:1-4, Deuteronomy 3:23-26 Take it to the Lord in prayer – a sermon by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Before the Covid crisis, going on a cruise was a favourite way to take a holiday. For some reason people really seem to enjoy bobbing up and down in a big ship. But if you’re prone to […]
1 Peter 3:8-12 – Scatterlings live in the the light of the cross. A sermon by Rev. Colin Pretorius. I once read that life is like an elevator ride – it not only has a lot of ups and downs, but it’s also filled with people who push all the wrong buttons. And if we’re […]
1 Peter 2:13-25 – Scatterlings show their love for God by submitting to authority. A sermon by Rev. Colin Pretorius. If you’ve ever watched cage-fighting in what is called mixed martial arts, you’ll have seen how the fighters try to beat up their opponents. This often happens by knockout. Very seldom the fight is determined […]
1 Peter 2:9-12 – Scatterlings are God’s people, who live to glorify Him. A sermon by Rev. Colin Pretorius. About halfway into the first act of the stage production of the musical Les Miserables, the paroled convict Jean Valjean confesses his identity in the song “Who am I?”[1] If you’ve seen the show or perhaps […]
Philippians 2:1-18 – Practicing Christian Fellowship – a sermon by Rev. Ralph Adams. A Christian life has to be lived in harmony with the gospel message on which it is based. If you live in conflict with the gospel, then your claim to be a Christian is fake. This is Paul’s point in his letter […]
Psalm 150 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. A sermon by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Psalm 150 tells us to worship the God who has given us life, and to worship Him with our praises. The previous 4 psalms are praise psalms too but there’s something special about the last psalm – it […]
From Lament to praise – a sermon on Psalm 13 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Some say there’s a Chinese curse that goes something like “may you live in interesting times” … and the past couple of months have certainly been interesting, haven’t they! The country as a whole has been hit by the bombshell of […]
Jesus,the Living stone, is rejected by man but is chosen and precious in the sight of God. A sermon on 1 Peter 2:4 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Surfer’s Paradise: when we hear those two words, we tend to think of holidays, sandy beaches and schoolies, don’t we. But Surfers is also home to the tallest […]
1 Peter 2:1-3 – God’s chosen scatterlings desire His Word, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. How important is the Bible to you? As Christians we believe that it is the Word of God, don’t we, but how important is it really to us? How much time do we spend in it? How much time have you […]
Romans 12:1-2 – Be transformed by the renewal of your minds, by Rev. Ralph Adams. Once again, it is my pleasure to preach to you this morning. My sincere prayer is that the Lord will use my words to strengthen your faith and to further His kingdom. The text for this sermon is Romans 12:1-2 […]
The chosen exiles – the scatterlings of God – are called to love each other. A sermon on 1 Peter 1:22-25 by Rev. Colin Pretorius. In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom recalls meeting a guard from the concentration camp in which her sister had died and where she herself had been subjected […]
1 Samuel 1:1-20 – Prayer, a cornerstone of our Christian life, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. Prayer is a cornerstone of our Christian life. It is how we communicate with God, how we talk to Him, how we convey our thoughts, our needs and our thanks to Him. It is in prayer that we find strength […]
1 Peter 1:13-25 – Scatterlings strive to be holy, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. How fulfilled is your life? How fulfilled do you feel? In what are you searching fulfilment? Where should you be searching for fulfilment? How do you find it? Fulfilment is something with which the human race struggles and although we should know […]
Romans 8:15,23,26 – Living by the Spirit, a sermon by Rev. Ralph Adams. Earlier in this chapter, Paul speaks about ’life through the Spirit.’ He says of believers who receive the Spirit of Christ, ”You… are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone […]
1 Peter 1:1-12 – Count your blessings, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. This morning we’re going to count just some of the blessings with which our gracious Lord has blessed us. And the blessings that Peter points out in these 12 verses are ours because we be¬long to Jesus. These are the sevenfold blessings of being […]
1 Peter 1:3-12 – Joyful hope, by Rev. Chris Pretorius. Now friends I don’t know about you, but I don’t always feel settled. I don’t always feel as if God is in control. I am not always confident that everything is going to be ok, that in the end things would work out for my […]
1 Peter 1:1-2 – Living as scatterlings, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. My son and I are both preaching on sections of the first letter of Peter, a letter written to scattered believers in what is today Western Turkey.[1] When we talked about the various sections of the letter, Chris said that Peter was writing to […]
1 John 2:28-3:10 – Living in God’s Family, a sermon by Rev. Ralph Adams. Congregation, Colin earlier read a passage from 1 John 2 & 3. From that passage, I have chosen as a text for my sermon this morning, verse 28 from 1 John 2, a verse that holds the entire passage together. I […]
1 Peter 3:7 – Husbands, live in understanding with your wives, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. I recently heard about a young man who met a girl at uni. He didn’t know much about her but from what he could see in class, she was quite intelligent and self-assured – and it didn’t hurt that she […]
1 Peter 3:1-6 – Wives, be subject to your own husbands, by Rev. Colin Pretorius. “All marriages are happy,” someone once said, “but it’s the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble!”[1] Friends, those of us who have been married for some time know that the bonds that hold a lasting marriage together are […]