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Meadowhead Christian Fellowship

Meadowhead Christian Fellowship

著者: Meadowhead Christian Fellowship
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A podcast of sermons and talks from Meadowhead Christian Fellowship キリスト教 スピリチュアリティ 聖職・福音主義
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  • Sunday Gathering – A Weary World Rejoices – Jonny Greaves
    2025/11/30
    📝 Summary 📝 Title: A Weary World Rejoices Speaker: Jonny Greaves Scripture: Luke 2:1-20, Isaiah 40 Overview: In this sermon, Jonny Greaves explores the Christmas story through the lens of weariness. Speaking from Luke 2, Jonny contrasts the brief, humble arrival of Jesus with the explosive, glorious announcement made to the shepherds. Just as the people of Israel waited through 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, we often find ourselves waiting in a weary world. But the appearance of the angels to ordinary shepherds reminds us that God has not forgotten His people. Key Points: The Reality of Weariness: Whether it's the exhaustion of raising children or the spiritual fatigue of living in a broken world, weariness is a real part of the human experience. The 400 Years of Silence: Jonny highlights the historical context of the "Intertestamental Period"—four centuries where God seemed silent, paralleling our own feelings of waiting for promises to be fulfilled. A Savior and a Sign: The sermon draws a powerful contrast between the angel's grand title for Jesus ("Messiah, Lord") and the humble sign given to identify him ("a baby in a manger"). Active Faith: The shepherds didn't just marvel at the angels; they responded with active faith ("Let's go and see"). They connected the ancient promises of God with the reality before them. Comfort, Glory, and Peace: Drawing from Isaiah 40, Jonny reminds us that the message of Christmas is one of comfort. God keeps His promises, His glory is revealed in unexpected ways, and He brings peace to a weary world. Call to Action: If you are feeling weary today, "Listen to the angels." Remember that God is working in small, inconspicuous ways to grow His Kingdom and that He has not abandoned you. 📝 Transcript: A Weary World Rejoices Speaker: Jonny Greaves Scripture Focus: Luke 2:1-20 Jonny Greaves: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. It's been a while. It's good to see you all. So start with the easy stuff. Hands up, who is feeling weary this morning? Some of you are willing to admit it. Some of you are so weary you can't even lift your hands in the air. That's tough, isn't it? Yeah, we are working our way through a couple of different talks in the Sundays coming up to Christmas, talking about, yeah, what it is that we as Christians look forward to at Christmas time. And what it is to worship God and to look to Jesus at this time in a weary world. Yeah, just out of interest, out of all of you who put your hands up before, how many of you had a baby this year? Anyone else? No, just me. I have to remind myself it's okay to feel weary sometimes. But weariness can take many forms and shapes, can't it? But it is also something that Nick’s already talked about this morning—it permeates our world, not just our hearts and not just our feelings, but the world itself can seem weary. And this is why this is the subject that we're talking about this morning as we read this passage. We're going to be reading from Luke Chapter 2, if you want to follow along. But yeah, the reason that we're looking at this passage is because it speaks into our world today, and it's very relevant in so many respects. I'm going to be reading it for us in the NIV, and we're starting from verse one of Luke Chapter 2. "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." Just going to pause there a second because we've already done the entire Christmas story. Has anyone ever noticed that when they get to this bit in Nativity plays and stuff, you go, "That seems very anticlimactic"? Isn't this supposed to be the most exciting bit? That was seven verses. But Mary's prayer in the previous chapter was nine verses long. You know, when Mary says, "My soul magnifies the Lord"? Nine verses. And we just read the story of Jesus in seven verses, and one of those was about who the governor of Syria was. Sometimes the Bible is incredibly sparse on detail for some reason. That can be very perplexing sometimes. But often, it is for the very reason that the birth of Jesus in this story is just the setup. It's just the setup to what we're about to read in the next little section. Which is really interesting. And this is the thing—those of you who have ever been on journeys with babies will know it was not uneventful, shall we say. Erica and I, when ...
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    26 分
  • Sunday Gathering – This is Us – Lara
    18 分
  • Sunday Gathering – Nick Lugg
    2025/11/16
    📄 Sermon Summary: Grieving and Quenching the Spirit Speaker: Nick Theme: Grieving and Quenching the Holy Spirit (Part of the "Life in the Spirit" series) Key Scripture: Ephesians 4:30 – "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live." 1. The Principle of Responsibility The sermon opens by linking the great blessing of the Holy Spirit (discussed the previous week) with great responsibility (a modified Spider-Man quote). The danger is that Christians can focus solely on the positive aspects of God's blessing and forget their responsibility to live a life that pleases the Holy Spirit, not grieves him. 2. The Danger of Passivity Active Waiting: The concept of "waiting on God" is often misunderstood as passive inaction. The speaker contrasts this with the attitude of a "waiter" in a hotel (using a personal story from Nepal and an example of the ushing ministry in Zambia). An excellent waiter is active, alert, concerned, and anticipates the needs of the person they serve. Pleasure vs. Grief: Our relationship with God should be one of active engagement and should bring pleasure to God's heart, not grief. It's not about seeing how much we can "get away with" but about actively seeking to please Him—this is the true meaning of loving God. The absence of a genuine relationship brings God grief. 3. Sin is Dealt With, But Lack of Faith is a Struggle Christianity is Obsessed with Love, not Sin: Referencing a debate between Professor Richard Dawkins (atheist) and Ayaan Hirsi Ali (new Christian), the speaker affirms that while sin is real, Jesus has broken its power on the cross ("It is finished!"). The focus of Christianity should be on love, life, and hope, not dwelling on sin. Confession and Freedom: If we sin, the solution is to confess it, receive forgiveness, and walk away from it (like Jesus telling the woman, "Go and sin no more"). Sin is dealt with. The Greater Grief: Unwillingness and Unbelief: The harder issue that grieves the Spirit is our unwillingness to enter into all God has for us, our unbelief, and our failure to actively walk in the power of the finished work of the cross. 4. Five Areas That Bring God Pleasure (and their opposites cause grief): The sermon outlines five practical ways to actively seek a life that pleases God: Faith (Hebrews 11:6): Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We must continually believe God in what He is able to do, even when we have struggled with faith in the past. Unbelief grieves Him. Love (John 13:35): We must fight for unity and love one another, valuing others even more than ourselves. It is more important to love than to "win an argument." Division and disunity grieve the Holy Spirit. Obedience (1 Samuel 15): King Saul was rejected as king because he valued his own idea of a sacrifice over simple obedience to God's command. Obeying is better than sacrificing. Self-confidence and our own "theology" are not enough; we must be attentive to exactly what God wants. Thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18): A grateful heart pleases God. It is a simple but powerful act that opens the door to our relationship with Him. An ungrateful heart grieves Him. Perseverance in Faith (Galatians 6:9; 1 Peter 1:6-7): The "well done, good and faithful servant" is spoken at the end of the journey, after we have walked through all the trials and challenges. Jesus's prayer for Peter was not for a new car, but that his "faith won't fail." Through perseverance, our faith is proven genuine and brings God much honor. Conclusion The core question for every Christian is: "Are we resting on the fact that we wear a Christian badge, or are we active in seeking a life that pleases God in the here and now and in the in-between?" 📝 Transcript of "Nick's Sermon" I'm just processing what Mike said, that it's sad the notices are finished because Nick's coming to speak. [laughter] Uh, yeah, buckle up. Um, we are on a, we're still on the "Life in the Spirit" series, and Jonathan spoke last week about the, uh, about being filled with the Spirit and being continually filled with the Spirit. And there was a great response and people came forward, and people were touched and blessed by the Holy Spirit. And so it falls to me this morning to pick up the subject of grieving and quenching the Spirit. And, uh, yeah, we've got to, we've got to take things from all angles, haven't we? And my, my main passage that I want us to look at this morning is in Ephesians chapter 4. When I say passage, it's a verse, actually. It's Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30. And it says this: "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live." "Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." "Do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption." And I want to slightly misquote Spider-Man by saying, "With ...
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    32 分
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