Annalong Presbyterian Church Podcasts

Each year we invite different mission partners to come and speak during our Missionary Weekend. This year, as part of our evening service of worship, we welcomed Mr Feri Kozma from the International Mission to Jewish People. Feri works in Budapest and shares the truth that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah for the Jewish people. Along the way he has known great encouragement as well as great challenges. His encouragement is to continue in prayer for this work across Europe.

Visit www.imjp.org for more information.

Each year we invite different mission partners to come and speak during our Missionary Weekend. This year we welcomed Mr Dale Burnett from Operation Mobilisation (OM) who shared about the ongoing work of OM throughout the world. He also spoke about the Logos Hope, currently docked in Belfast, and the ministry it has in each city it visits.

Following Dale, James Maginnis spoke about his participation in the Lausanne Movement's Young Leader's Gathering taking place in March 2027 in Brazil. James is a member of our congregation and will be part of the decade long programme of seeing young leaders developed in the church.

Visit www.uk.om.org and https://lausanne.org/ylg-4.

For our third service celebrating the harvest Rev Stephen Johnston leads us through John 15: 1-8 thinking about the Christian life. The challenge is to not simply have the name of a Christian but to demonstrate we are in Christ by the fruit we produce.

Looking at John 12, Rt Rev Richard Kerr (Moderator) led us through the truth that we all need salvation in Christ and be active in service for the Kingdom of God. Just as a seed goes into the ground, so our life in Jesus grows as our discipleship is nurtured in the things of faith.

On this harvest thanksgiving weekend we begin by looking at Luke's gospel and Jesus sending out the seventy-two into the harvest field. As they go for the care of the spiritual harvest they are warned of what the world is like around them.

David's fall into sin in chapter 11 had far reaching consequences for him and his family. As we start chapter 12 David thinks that no-one but he and Joab know the depth of his sin. But the Lord knows and through his prophet Nathan, David is challenged about his wrong David. David is left with a choice: either admit his sin or deny it.

David admits and confesses his sin and because he does God fulfils his promise to forgive. But David will know the consequences of his sin. The son born to Bathsheba will die and David's family and dynasty will know conflict of the rest of their days.

2 Samuel 12 teaches us that God takes sin seriously and we must be open and honest about it. We must confess our sin and he is faithful and just to forgive us.

The True King Of God's People is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. To find out more visit www.annalongpc.org/podcasts.

A video podcast is available at https://youtu.be/jMI5IppUZuM.

Verses 13-23 of Matthew 2 are often left out of the retelling of the Christmas story. Whether they are too difficult for us or of no interest, they remain words on the pages of Scripture. Yet, along with verse 1-12, the present to us an agent at work. That agent is not King Herod who gets after Jesus to kill him, but the agent behind the throne who uses Herod's jealousy and paranoia to pursue Jesus is the Satan. Right from the beginning of Jesus' life the evil one tries to defeat him through death but doesn't succeed. The Lord God knows the plan he has for his Son and so protects him from the violence of a despot king.

But these verses remind us of the active work of the Satan today. As Peter tells us, he prowls around like a lion waiting on whom he will devour. Paul tells us that we don't simply face physical attacks as followers of Jesus, but spiritual ones as the devil wants to pull us away from Jesus.

This pull away is not always dramatic. Satan simply wants us to drift away. He wants us to believe our own excuses so we simply go further away from a deep relationship with Jesus. But there is hope. We can find peace and rest in Jesus who, with arms open wide, receives us as his own.

The Life of Jesus: Good News for Everyone is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. To find out more visit http://www.annalongpc.org/podcasts.

You can watch a video of this sermon on YouTube at https://youtu.be/JregppIuMcw.

With 2 Samuel 10 being a catalyst for chapter 11, we now see how that plays out. The kingdom was a rest, with secure borders. But because of the foolishness of the Ammonites David was drawn into seasonal war and ended up in Jerusalem alone while his men were out fighting. This led to David's sin with Bathsheba.

And as is normal with sin, it has far reaching consequences pulling in Bathsheba, her husband Uriah and Joab. David is determined to keep a public face on this and not to be seen for the sinner he is. Yet the Lord knows and the Lord sees.

And so we are left with a lesson from David's sin that anyone of us can fall into it. It is only through prayer and trust in God that we can know his preservation of our lives.

The True King Of God's People is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. To find out more visit www.annalongpc.org/podcasts.

You can watch a video of this sermon on YouTube at https://youtu.be/jMI5IppUZuM.

Matthew 2: 1-12 is one of the most familiar passages of the Christmas story. But so much of what we believe about the visit of the Magi comes from the John Henry Hopkins Jr. song We Three Kings of Orient Are. When we look at the text we see that these men were not kings, nor was there likely just three of them. Rather the Lord brings the Gentiles to search for his Son and the Jews stay at home.

But this is a passage about kings and two in particular: King Herod and King Jesus. This account in the birth story of Jesus is supposed to focus our attention as to which king we desire to follow. Herod portrays the world that worships self and wants to convince us that it can save us. Herod was all show and no substance, just like the world.

Jesus on the other hand is the true covenant king of God's people. He may not have had an earthly throne or crown, but his every word is true and he gave his life so that we can live forever. But it is one thing to know about Jesus and quite another to trust in him for salvation. Our challenge is to respond to Jesus and trust him as Saviour, worshipping him as our true king forever.

The Life of Jesus: Good News for Everyone is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. To find out more visit http://www.annalongpc.org/podcasts.

You can watch a video of this sermon on YouTube at https://youtu.be/g7gmsCHXoO0.

The first nine chapter of 2 Samuel present to us David's victory over his enemies so the that the borders of the Promised Land are secure. In 2 Samuel 7 we are told that the land is at rest and peace from war. In chapter 9 David shows his care for Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. It seems that all is as it should be in the land of God's people.

But when it appears that things are going well, the devil will want to attack and that is exactly what happens to David. Through a simple approach of paying respect to a dead king, David is drawn into a regional conflict where his army is faced with the prospects of loss. But the Lord hears the prayer of Joab and ensures victory.

The warning from this passage is about upholding the name of the Lord in the midst of the devil's attacks. David stands firm and Joab seeks the Lord. So to we today must stand firm in Christ and against the attacks of the one who wants to make shipwreck our faith.

The True King Of God's People is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. To find out more visit www.annalongpc.org/podcasts.

You can watch a video of this sermon on YouTube at https://youtu.be/-54J1PWAo-g.