Sermons

This passage deals with the letter the apostle Paul sent to the believers of the church in Philippi. The believers had kept the faith well while he was with them, but when their conduct became improper once they had to stand on their own, Paul urges them to humbly serve one another and reveal God's glory. Although they had been saved through Jesus' sacrifice, they showed a proud attitude and wanted to be served by their brothers; it is hard to see this as the way of holy believers who have received grace, and it can even become a sin that pushes saved souls toward death.

So Paul urges them to submit to God's word, to fear God, and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. This means striving to hold on to the grace they have received, to walk with the Holy Spirit, and to live by faith. If we cannot let go of human righteousness and give way to greed, worship and God's word begin to feel uncomfortable, and in the end we walk out of salvation of our own accord. Also, when pastors and those who intercede pray earnestly for believers, it is an important moment that gives believers the chance to be refined and to repent.

Believers must cherish and honor their brothers and sisters in the faith, covering and helping one another's shortcomings. Just as Paul, even in the midst of suffering, asked them to serve Timothy and Epaphroditus well, we must respect and love those who proclaim the word of truth. When God works for believers, believers must work along with him, and when we strive to guard our faith, the Holy Spirit helps us. If Paul prays for the believers, God will answer; how are we responding to that prayer?

This passage deals with the reality of the risen Jesus Christ and the new identity it gives believers. Though Satan threatens people with death and sin, it shows that through the evidence of the resurrection believers can overcome the power of death. It also proclaims that, beyond the limits of the flesh that came through Adam, believers have been restored to the image of God as spiritual people who belong to heaven.

The sermon points out that the anxiety and worry people experience today are in fact a scheme of Satan, rooted in a failure to acknowledge God's sovereignty. Instead of fearing situations beyond our control, it urges us to carry out faithfully the duties we have been given and to entrust control of our lives to God. The reason Paul could rejoice even in suffering was that he had entrusted his life completely to God, and this is the attitude to life that believers should follow.

In this light, the sermon leads the reader to reflect on the purpose of their life and their standard of values. It stresses that a life centred not on wealth or honour but on the risen Christ will not be in vain, and asks how believers who have given control to God can live a life of peace.

Today's passage covers Palm Sunday, when Jesus rides a donkey into Jerusalem, and the Passion Week that followed. The passage shows Jesus not avoiding the suffering of the cross but choosing it himself and carrying it out according to plan. People welcomed him as king and cried out Hosanna, but Jesus walked that road in silence, knowing that it would end in the whip and the cross.

The sermon stresses that this choice of Jesus was not simply suffering but the heart of God's love and plan to save sinners like us. The disciples, by contrast, did not properly understand Jesus' will; dreaming of advancement and comfort, they responded foolishly. Like Judas Iscariot's betrayal or Peter's impulsive actions, it leads us to ask whether we too often act on our own judgment, thinking it right even when it differs from God's plan.

We confess that we have a mature faith that believes in Jesus' death, resurrection and second coming. Yet we need to examine whether in reality we are living with worldly success and comfort as our priority. Following the way of the cross that Jesus chose for himself, we ask with what heart we are now living through this age of suffering, and whether we are living prepared lives as we wait for the glory of the resurrection.

This passage deals with the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night he was arrested. The apostle Paul relates that there Jesus shared bread and wine and instituted the Lord's Supper. It was a time when the Jews believed they obtained salvation through the blood of the lamb in the Passover sacrifice, but Jesus proclaimed that he himself had become that ransom.

The sermon stresses that through Communion believers should remember Jesus' death, resurrection and second coming. It points out that this is not merely a matter of taking part as a formality: we must repent of our sins and take care not to sin against the body and blood of the Lord. It also urges that, just as Jesus showed forgiveness even amid the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, believers too should be thankful for that grace and keep the faith.

The sermon asks believers to meditate deeply on the meaning of Communion, so that their lives may be changed into lives that enjoy peace and rest in the Lord.

This sermon sheds light on how the historical origins and formal customs of Lent lost their biblical basis and degenerated into superstitious, hypocritical religious rules. It points out that the forty days of fasting and rites of repentance that began in the Roman Catholic Church gradually became bound to form, and instead became an occasion for licentiousness and corruption, such as the carnival held just before Lent. The Reformers rejected this legalistic formalism, emphasised the truth of Scripture alone, and sought to convey the essential meaning of Christ's suffering and the cross.

Yet the church today is compromising, borrowing formal elements from Catholicism to relieve the tedium of the Word. Visual devices such as coloured ribbons and candles do not help believers grow in faith; they reduce worship to an entertaining event. Such outward piety keeps believers from truly restoring their relationship with God and causes them to cut themselves off from him. The sermon emphasises that true faith is not formal religious activity but a life that acknowledges Jesus Christ as King, repents daily and is transformed.

The sermon asks whether believers, rather than being bound to formal events, are living lives that remember the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ every day and talk honestly with God.

This passage deals with the extreme situation in which David is driven from his palace by the betrayal of his son Absalom. David lost worldly power and honour and became a fugitive, yet through that very suffering he found an opportunity to look back on his sin and return to God. Refusing to take the ark of the covenant with him, he chose to put restoring his relationship with God ahead of outward protection.

Absalom and his supporters, on the other hand, are gripped by revenge and greed and give themselves to lies and betrayal. Ahithophel in particular, driven by a grudge against David, commits an irreversible sin and loses his spiritual discernment. In contrast, Ittai followed David at the risk of his life to repay the kindness he had received, even though he knew of David's mistakes, and Hushai showed loyalty by helping David despite the threat to his own life.

At such crossroads of choice, we must discern the spirits and decide whom to follow. We need to consider how the outcomes differ: whether the one who looks back and repents in the moment of suffering receives blessing, or whether one is swept away by betrayal and greed and destroyed.

Through the account of King David suffering because he could not forgive his son, this passage deals with the catastrophe that spiritual numbness brings. Following a scheme devised by Joab, David calls back his son Absalom, who had committed murder, but tries to restore the relationship on family affection alone, without proper rebuke or a process of repentance. As a result Absalom was left without ever recognising his sin, and a vicious cycle began that led to greater rebellion and tragedy.

The sermon points out that when David lost his spiritual sensitivity and judged by human emotion and indecision, he was easily exposed to Satan's schemes. When he was full of the Holy Spirit he could discern the wiles of the evil one, but once his relationship with God grew distant, David ended up leaving sin unchecked rather than protecting his son. This warns that when the church simply covers over sin in the name of forgiveness and love and fails to exercise discipline, believers may fail to grow spiritually and be swept into the darkness of the world.

The sermon stresses that believers must stay spiritually sensitive and judge events with the same heart as God. It is important to discern whether the people around us are leading us in the way of truth or drawing us into the darkness of the world, and the sermon asks us to keep relationships that rebuke sin and lead to repentance.

This passage deals with King David's grave sins of coveting Bathsheba and killing Uriah, and the catastrophe that then befalls his family and his kingdom. Although David was a man full of faith, for a moment he looked with worldly eyes, gave in to desire and broke God's law, and this led to consequences that went beyond a personal mistake to destroy even the lives of his children. It stresses that God does not weigh the number or severity of sins, and that believers must fend off Satan's attacks through the faith they have now.

The sermon points out that when Satan attacks believers, he aims at the worldly fruit they cherish most or at their weak spots. The incident in which David's son Amnon falls for the cunning scheme of Jonadab, then rapes and casts off his half-sister Tamar, shows how a father's spiritual indifference and the influence of sin lead to cracks in the family. And David's loss of wisdom and judgment as Absalom kills Amnon in revenge teaches that sin gives birth to further sin and brings on greater catastrophe.

Believers must discern the isolation and temptation Satan brings and live rightly, and must remember that the faith of parents has an enormous influence on the destiny of their children. The sermon asks why believers must not grow spiritually dull but must always respond wisely and rely on God.

This passage deals with David killing Uriah through Joab and taking his wife Bathsheba. When God sends the prophet Nathan to tell him a parable of a rich man and a poor man, David sees what the rich man has done and sentences him to death. But Nathan declares firmly that the rich man is David himself, and rebukes him: although God gave him the throne and wives, how could he despise God and do evil?

David displayed a double standard, judging only other people's wrongs while failing to see his own sin. God feels deep compassion and sorrow over David's betrayal, and announces judgment: because of his sin the sword will never depart from his house, and his wives will be taken by his neighbour. This is because, although God hates sin, he also loves David and wants him to repent. Believers must always rely on the Holy Spirit so that they do not sin by failing to overcome their own lusts, and must discern Satan's temptations.

The word in which God said he would judge in person shows how heavy that judgment is. That David, after his son's death, did not fast and pray but kept his composure means he had already accepted the fruit of his sin. We need to realise why it is so important to share the gospel with people while they are still living, giving them the chance to enter the kingdom of heaven. What attitude should we have in order to live with a mature faith that worships and loves God and resolutely rejects Satan's temptations?

This passage deals with David, settled into complacency in his peaceful palace, seeing from the rooftop the beauty of Bathsheba as she bathed and conceiving desire. David, who had relied on God alone in times of hardship, grew spiritually lax once he gained ease, looking at the world through worldly eyes, and was finally captured by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.

The sermon warns that sin does not end with a single mistake but grows like a snowball into lies and murder. To cover his sin, David drives the upright warrior Uriah to his death, even ordering Joab to commit murder, and falls into a pit of evil. It emphasises that when the wisdom and judgment God has given are clouded by sin, a person commits great sin without even realising how abnormal they have become.

The sermon reminds believers to stay always within the fence of the Holy Spirit so that they do not fall into complacency and pride. It asks what we are looking at now and what standard we judge by, and whether the result is good, the kind that can receive God's grace.

This passage begins with David, king of Israel, mourning the death of Nahash, king of the Ammonites, and offering friendship to his son Hanun. David sincerely sent envoys to repay the kindness Nahash had once shown him, but Hanun, swayed by the schemes of crafty officials, misunderstood David's goodwill. By insulting the envoys and putting them to shame, Hanun broke off the relationship and in the end chose war, taking a foolish path.

The sermon stresses that Hanun, lacking wisdom, could not receive grace as grace, and says that believers need the wisdom of the Word and the Holy Spirit to make right judgments. An attitude that takes grace for granted and is not thankful cuts off the relationship with God and blocks spiritual growth. On the other hand, those who, like David and Mephibosheth, sincerely remember the love they have received and devote themselves develop a mature character that God uses. Hanun's attempt to justify himself by hiring soldiers with money, even after realising his wrong, shows the pride that finally brought his ruin.

Reflect deeply on how a character that does not repay grace and is not thankful leads to spiritual poverty and broken relationships. The sermon also asks how we will seek God's wisdom rather than the world's power and wisdom, and sincerely share the love we have received and devote ourselves.

This passage tells how David, to keep his promise to Jonathan, searches for anyone left of the house of Saul and invites Mephibosheth to the king's table. Even though Jonathan was dead and no one would have reproached him, David sought out Saul's descendants to uphold his character and his faithfulness before God. Disregarding Mephibosheth's physical disability and lowly position, he protected and blessed him solely for the sake of his kindness and promise to Jonathan.

The sermon emphasises that David's action was not mere human goodwill but a promise of faith to be kept faithfully before God. Satan tries to block grace by highlighting Mephibosheth's weaknesses, but God accepts believers who have faith just as they are. We must not take for granted the grace of salvation won through Christ's sacrifice, but develop a humble character that repays the love we have received.

We need to meditate deeply on how keeping promises leads to our spiritual growth and to eternal blessing. Consider also how we should discern between physical and spiritual problems and walk with the Holy Spirit in order to win the spiritual battle against the world.