Titus 1

Series: Healthy Church: Paul's Letter to Titus

Preacher: Richard Glover

What makes a church good?

Or, to use the language of the letter to Titus: What makes a church healthy?

In Paul's letter to Titus, we discover what makes a church healthy. A healthy church is one that makes Christians, grows Christians, and helps them to stay Christians. Titus is given the daunting task of establishing healthy churches in the company of gangsters: Crete in the time this letter was written was much like 'Razorhurst'—the nickname affectionately (?!) given to Darlinghurst and Kings Cross in the 1930s and 1940s heyday of organised crime. 

What would Titus need to establish healthy churches in a place like that? He must hold fast to the truth, which will bring about renewal in godliness, and issue forth in meaningful speech.

And all that makes for a healthy church is applied to a particular sphere of church life: pastoral leadership. 

Sermon text: Titus 1

Romans 6.1–14; 1 Peter 3.18–22

Preacher: Richard Glover

What are we doing when we baptise? What's it about, how does it work, and what does it do? 

Baptism is a "visible word" from God to us. It refers to our washing, our clean conscience before God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It assures us that we really are clean; it encourages us to persevere in free, holy living; it defines us as a community of welcome; and sends us on mission. 

On a Sunday when we witnessed the baptisms of a child and an adult, we take some time to reflect on the gift of baptism. 

1 Kings 3.16–28, Luke 4.18–19

IJM Freedom Sunday

Preacher: Christian Koelbach

Christian Koelback joins us from International Justice Mission to speak about the organisation's work toward ending slavery in Jesus' name. 

In this sermon, Christian unpacks the wisdom that God gives to bring his justice into the world. 

CONTENT WARNING: In this sermon we hear about IJM's work to eradicate the Online S*xual Exploitation of Children. 

Genesis 22.1–19

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

'Some time later, the Lord tested Abraham.' 

The story of Abraham offering his son Isaac is an incredibly confronting story. A prominent atheist has asked: 'What kind of morals could one derive from this appalling story?' 

It is confronting. But when we understand what's really going on in this test, the story reaches into the luminous depths of who God is, and the breadth and depth of his love for us. For Abraham's aborted offering of his one and only son whom he loves prefigures the actual offering by God of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. 

When we pay close attention to this text, we begin to see that the deepest desires of our hearts can be ours in Christ—but only if we can first offer them up to him. Our journey through the story of Abraham, which we bring to a close with this sermon, teaches us that responding in faith to the demanding call of God is never easy—but it leads to life.

To know the God revealed in Abraham's story, and to see him made flesh in Jesus Christ, can be the source of a faith that neither death nor doubt can overcome. 

Sermon text: Genesis 22.1–19

Genesis 18.16–33

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Winston Leung

Is God good? That's the question Abraham has, and he tests God. 

Abraham tests God by boldly pleading with God to put into practice who Abraham believes him to be. As we eavesdrop on Abraham's conversation with God, we learn how to approach the throne of grace with boldness, calling on God to be true to who we know him to be in Christ. 

Winston Leung, a member of our evening congregation, opens up the next instalment in the story of Abraham.

Sermon text: Genesis 18.16–33

Genesis 18

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

When did you last have a good belly-laugh? 

In the story so far, both Abraham and Hagar have been addressed by the Lord. Now, it's Sarah's turn. The Lord promises her a son in her old age. When Sarah hears this, she laughs. It's too wonderful to be true. 

But God is always faithful to his promise. When Isaac is born, Sarah laughs again—but differently. God's grace transforms her laughter. 

Martin Luther wrote: 'You have as much laughter as you have faith.' Our ability to laugh—freely, joyfully, even at ourselves—tracks with our trust and hope in God. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 18.1–15, 21.1–7

Genesis 17

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

What is the meaning of the strange sign of circumcision? And what meaning could it possibly have for us? 

After Sarah and Abraham have tried to take matters into their own hands, forcing God's promise into fulfilment, God reiterates his promises, but declares that human will cannot and will not enact it. Only God, by his own gracious intervention, can fulfil the promise. 

Circumcision declares that reality. It's about the dynamic between flesh and spirit; between taking the easy way out, and living in the trust that God will do what he has said. 

For the Christian, that means continually cutting off "the flesh" as we seek to live in the power of the Spirit, bearing fruit in him—especially the fruit of self-control. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 17; Colossians 2.11–14.

Genesis 16

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Sarah and Abraham are desperate. God has promised to make Abraham a great nation—but a decade of living in the so-called "promised land," and Sarah is still unable to conceive. They begin to doubt God's commitment to his promise. 

And so they decide to take matters into their own hands. Sarah gives her Egyptian slave-girl Hagar to Abraham as a wife, to see if he can father a child with her. 

Doubt gives way to desperation, and it all unravels from there. 

Incredibly, we are shown a different way to live: courageously, from faith. And it's through Hagar's experience of God that we learn it. 

If you've ever felt small, insignificant, and unseen, then Hagar's testimony is for you. She meets the God who sees her—and you—and in that encounter she finds the courage of faith. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 16.

Genesis 15

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

How does God respond when we have fears and doubts? 

God has made extraordinary promises to Abraham. But, as far as Abraham can see, God hasn't followed through. Abraham has doubts about God—and self-doubts, too. 

Into Abraham's fears and doubts, God enters to make an even more extraordinary promise: he himself will guarantee his promise—even if Abraham is the one who stands in the way of its fulfilment. 

If God fails to bless Abraham, God will pay the price. If Abraham fails to take hold of the blessing—God will pay the price. 

And in that lies the antidote to our doubts about God, and our own self-doubts: God is committed to blessing us, even when we fail, and at great cost to himself. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 15; Hebrews 6.13–20

Gensis 11.27–12.20

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

We begin a new series reading through the life of Abraham. He's held up in the New Testament as a father and hero of faith—but he is a complicated character, far from perfect. What is it about his faith that we are called to emulate? 

The story of Abraham is one of learning faith: learning to trust the one true and living God, even in the face of all the things that might cause us to doubt his goodness, power, and promise. For all his faults, Abraham will not let go of the promises of God. 

It begins with a call. God appears on the scene, and calls Abraham to a different life. The call will lead to blessing—but it makes also demands of Abraham; massive demands. 

The same is true of our own calling in Jesus. Faith in Jesus makes demands of us. Where is he calling us to follow? What will we have to give up to go there with him? 

Bible Readings: Genesis 11.27–12.9; Hebrews 11.1–2, 8–10

Psalm 136

Preacher: Richard Glover

We all instinctively hide—from others, from God, even from ourselves. There are things in us, our hearts and histories, that we would prefer never to see the light of day. 

What do we do, then, with the knowledge that God sees everything? His knowledge, presence, and power are inescapable. 

In this one-off sermon, Richard Glover unpacks how Psalm 139 moves us from terror at the prospect of being fully know by God, to a comfort in his loving presence that can make it possible for us to open up to others. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 139

Psalms 132, 133, 134

Preacher: Martin Robinson

as we have read the Psalms of Ascents, we have been on pilgrimage with Israel, and so have learned to understand our own pilgrimage with Jesus. 

What happens, though, when we arrive? What is the goal? 

Martin draws the series to a close by reflecting on the goal of the heavenly Jerusalem: life in God's presence, together with all his people. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 132, 133, 134

Psalm 131

Preacher: Richard Glover

Is their noise in your head and your heart? Under the surface, are you constantly churning? 

The writer of Psalm 131 tells us that, for them, their head and heart used to be full of noise. But no longer: now, they are calm and quiet inside. In the presence of the Lord, they have learned a kind of emotional maturity and stability. 

How did it happen? The writer identifies the problem that makes us noisy inside: trying to do God's job for him. And then we learn the secret to calming and quieting the noise inside: to know that we are as safe in God's arms as an infant in their mother's arms. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 131

Psalms 129 & 130

Preacher: Richard Glover

We are called to hope in Christ—but when that hope feels far off, it is hard to wait. Our sufferings, our sin, and our tendency to misunderstand the character of God all make it hard to wait and watch in hope for the coming again of the Lord. 

The writers of Psalms 129 and 130 understand this struggle. They identify for us the barriers to hopeful waiting, and show us how to hope again in Christ. 

Bible Readings: Psalms 129 & 130

Psalms 127 & 128

Preacher: Martin Robinson

How do we find peace, enjoyment, and protection during our earthly pilgrimage? 

The two psalms we look at today major on the blessings of family life—at least on the surface. But a deeper look shows that these psalms are also concerned with external threats, and with the life of the city. "Family values" are, in a surprising way, undercut by what these psalms teach. 

Bible Readings: Psalms 127 & 128

Psalm 126

Preacher: Richard Glover

Life in this world is always a mixture of joy and sorrow. How do they relate? 

The Songs of Ascents—Psalms 120 through 134—are pilgrim songs. Israel sang them as they journeyed to Jerusalem, the city of peace. They are songs that teach us how to journey between Jesus' ascension and the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem. 

Psalm 126 gives us an emotional map for the journey. In particular, it shows us that while tears of sorrow will certainly be ours as we walk wth Jesus, joy is the emotional bedrock of the Christian life. This is so fundamentally true that even our tears of sorrow can become the water that yields a harvest of joy. 

As the psalm says: "They who sow in tears, in glad song will reap." 

Bible Readings: Psalm 126

Psalm 124

Preacher: Richard Glover

How do we deal with the dangers we find along the way as we journey with Jesus between his resurrection and return?

The Songs of Ascents—Psalms 120 through 134—are pilgrim songs. Israel sang them as they journeyed to Jerusalem, the city of peace. They are songs that teach us how to journey between Jesus' ascension and the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem. 

We find peace on the journey as we reflect on how the Lord has shown us that he is on our side.

Bible Readings: Psalm 124

Psalm 123

Preacher: Richard Glover

Shame is a universal human experience. How do we deal with it? 

The Songs of Ascents—Psalms 120 through 134—are pilgrim songs. Israel sang them as they journeyed to Jerusalem, the city of peace. They are songs that teach us how to journey between Jesus' ascension and the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem. 

We find peace on the journey as we learn that the service of the Lord is a powerful antidote to shame. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 123

Colossians 3.18–4.1

Preacher: Richard Glover

Christianity is good news—that's what "gospel" means. Sometimes, though, what we read in the Bible doesn't appear to be good news on the surface of things. 

One of those times is when we read what the Apostle Paul says about wives, children, and slaves. But as we dig into his application of life "in Christ" to the family and economic spheres, it becomes apparent that not all is as it seems on the surface. In each of these realms, Paul both relativises and revolutionises ancient cultural practices in the light of the Lord Jesus. 

Our task, as we come to this part of God's word, is to clear away some of the cultural accretions that have built up around the New Testament's teaching, so that we can receive what the Scriptures say as the good news it really is. 

Bible Readings: Colossians 3.18–4.1

Colossians 3.1–17

Preacher: Richard Glover

We live on earth and in Christ. The life of heaven is coming down into our lives as the Spirit teaches us faithful obedience to the Father. But that life is hidden. How do we make it visible in our lives? 

Colossians teaches us that there are two things we need to do. Firstly, put off the dispositions and behaviours that mark purely world live, and put on those that mark life in Christ. Secondly, practice the spiritual discipline of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the beginning and the end of Christian life. 

Bible Readings: Colossians 3.1–17

A sermon on Romans 1:1-17 by The Rev Dr Matthew Wilcoxen, delivered at St John's Darlinghurst in Sydney, Australia on 11 August 2024.