This sermon was preached in preparation for our Christmas 2024 sermons, which came from Luke’s gospel.
Have faith
4.2 Becoming a Christian involves four things which properly belong together: repentance, faith, receiving new life which the Holy Spirit gives, and baptism. 4.4 Faith recognises that we cannot save ourselves. All we can do is to receive with gratitude
Change your mind
4.2 Becoming a Christian involves four things which properly belong together: repentance, faith, receiving new life which the Holy Spirit gives, and baptism. 4.3 Repentance begins when we see our life and our sin as God sees them, and we
Raised and exalted
3.2 … On the third day after He was put to death He rose again from the dead, as foretold by the Scriptures. By His resurrection He broke the power of death in order to give life to all who
Refreshing others
Philemon 20-25. The Lord Jesus invited the weary to find rest in him. Christians take that example and live it out in daily life: our aim must be not to tire others but refresh them. Paul uses that thought as
Debt free
Philemon 15-19. God loves to see reconciliation. Paul presses this on his slave-owning friend, as he returns the runaway slave Onesimus to him. He hints that maybe God even brought about these circumstances so that they could come together in
Slavery
The big issue which triggers the note we know as Philemon is slavery: Paul is sending a slave back to his master. So what do we need to know about slavery which helps us to understand Paul’s approach? This sermon
Blind spot
Philemon 10-14. Though Paul’s friend has been a great help to other Christians, Paul knows he could easily react badly to his ‘useless’ returning slave. So the apostle writes to impress upon his friend just how much Christ has changed
Trust and respect
Philemon 7-10. Paul’s prayer was for his friend’s love to be applied more widely. Now he turns to what that means in practice: welcoming back his slave not with harsh anger but as a Christian brother. However, Paul doesn’t command
Do good to all
Philemon 4-6. After his greeting, Paul next mentions his prayers for the recipient. In his words we hear indications of the way he will write in the rest of the letter. He thanks God for his friend’s faith and the