Sermons Elsewhere

There had been great excitement when Jesus rode in triumph into Jerusalem, but now it was dark. The tomb was sealed, for he had died on the cross. The women who came with reverence hoped to honour his body very early on the first day of the week, but they were too late!

The Lord Jesus Christ offers rest to all who are burdened and heavy laden, to all who have seen their need to come to him, to all who come to him in repentance and faith. That is good news. We looked at it two weeks ago in Matthew 11. Today, we are going to spend a few minutes with one of Jesus's disciples and look at his experience of that rest.

We are faced with a challenge today and every day. How will you live your life? Who will you love and seek to please? What are your priorities? There is a flood today of those who have no time for anything that is biblical. Love, respect and progress are popular words, but you don't have to look too closely to see that they point in the opposite direction from what they did a few years ago. What should we do?

It is New Year's Day, a time for looking back and looking forward. This can be very hard; often, life has a mixture of joys and times of sorrow and sadness. One thing I know for certain is that if the Lord tarries, we will face more days of sorrow in 2023. Job 5:7 “yet man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward." As we face this New Year, I want to draw your attention to 2 Tim 3. The apostle Paul has words of advice for Timothy, which are very relevant to us today.

It is wonderful for us all to be gathered together here. But what is our actual purpose in meeting? Perhaps our main reason is obvious: we meet for worship. We are here to learn more of the apostles doctrine, to join in prayer and have fellowship. From our text, there is one aspect of joining in fellowship that I want you to focus on. It is found in 2 Thes 5:11, "wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as ye do." In meeting together, there is to be an attitude and practice of mutual encouragement, of helping one another, of giving support, based on the facts of the gospel.