Faith Speaks — Reverend Neil Taylor — Sermon Podcast

Read Luke 2.2-20

Christmas Day, December 25, 2022

Have you ever felt, like me, tiny and insignificant in a world of 8 billion people? In a world where all the news is of big political, economic, and social movements. In a world where all the news is of outstanding people with lots of power, money and prestige? And if you have felt tiny and insignificant, don't let that make you disheartened or unhappy because it is implicit in the Bible that all the mammoth political forces and all the giant industrial complexes, without their even knowing it, are being guided by God. Not for their own sake but for the sake of God's people.

Read Matthew 1.18-25

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2022

Quoting from Isaiah 7:14, Matthew explains that while “Jesus” is his birth name, Immanuel is his factual reality. Whereas in the Old Testament, Immanuel was manifested by God’s spirit in a place, such as in the Holy of Holies or the burning bush, Immanuel is the factual reality of God’s manifest presence. Now God’s presence is manifested in a baby born in Bethlehem. So what was transient and temporary in the Old Testament — the dwelling of God’s Spirit with Israel — was now made permanent and eternal.

Read Isaiah 7.14; Matthew 1.22-23

Advent 4, December 18, 2022

Who is that baby born on Christmas day? He is the divine Son of God from heaven who, in his earthly birth, took on a fully human nature. All that God is and all that man is meet in perfect union in Jesus Christ. He is fully God and fully man—the God-man who came to earth to save us from our sins.

Read Matthew 11.1-3

Advent 3, December 11, 2022

A man called Thomas Flynn, a once author, journalist and executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, who has now passed away used to explain to rational, freethinking people why they shouldn’t celebrate Christmas. As a secular humanist, Flynn urges other non-believers to ignore Christmas altogether: “If Jesus is not your Saviour, Christmas is not your holiday.”

Flynn had a point, after all Christians believe that over 2000 years ago something happened. Something supernatural. Something totally out of the ordinary. Something humanly unexplainable. We believe God invaded our world in the form of a tiny baby boy. Now that’s a stunning thought. Something happened that had never happened before. Something happened that has never happened since.

Read Matthew 3.1-12; Isaiah 11.1-10

Advent 2, December 4, 2022

John’s baptism was unique. However, not the same as Christian baptism, but similar. This is where the controversy swirled around John’s baptism. The only people baptized in the Old Testament would have been Gentiles who had decided to become followers of God. This Old Testament baptism symbolized an acknowledgement of being an outsider, a need to repent of sins and proclaim faith and total dependence on God.

And so here is the uniqueness. The people baptized by John were not outsiders, not Gentiles, but devout Jewish people!

Read Matthew 24.36-51

Advent 1, November 27, 2022

Here’s the biblical balance as we await the return of the Lord; live as though he might come today. I do not claim to know when Christ will return, but I hope and pray that it will be soon.

It seems to me that many of the pieces are in place, the table is set, and we are not far from the moment when the curtain will rise on the final act of human history. Of this much, I am sure Jesus Christ is returning to Earth. I don’t know when Jesus is coming; it may be soon, maybe today. In the meantime, what should we do to be ready for his return? Matthew 24 has the answer:

• Live each day as though it might be your last—and one day, you’ll be right.

Read Luke 19.1-10

Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost, October 30, 2022

There is no more pressing question today: why did Christ come to the earth? It is not enough to know who Jesus is. By and large, the world knows what Christians believe about Jesus. But what the world wants to know is why he came, and what difference does it make?

Read Luke 18.18-27

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost, October 23, 2022

It is impossible, Jesus said, for those who love their money to enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, we start to ask the same question the disciples asked in v. 26b “Who then can be saved?”

The answer comes in v. 27 ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’ The message is that even rich people can be saved if they give up their trust in their riches.

But the problem is that for the wealthy, money makes rich people feel so secure. Money makes rich people feel in control. And the message is yes; they can be saved, but they have to stop trusting in their riches and start trusting in Jesus Christ and him alone.

Read: Luke 17.1-10; Habakkuk 1.1-4, 2.1-4; Psalm 37.1-9; 2 Timothy 1.1-14

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Kerygma vs Didache

Theologians use these imposing and distinct Greek words when explaining the church's ministry.

• Kerygma (or gospel proclamation) is used to ignite faith.

In preaching, it is essential to keep a balance between the two. However, the texts demand that we receive instruction (Didache) about the basics of the faith they seek to profess. The appointed readings for this Sunday give us an excellent opportunity to learn about the nature of faith.

Read Luke 16.19-31

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

A student once asked Swiss theologian Karl Barth whether the serpent literally spoke in the Garden of Eden. Barth answered, “The important point is not whether he spoke, but what he said.” And so this parable of Jesus is more than a mere explanation about the furniture in heaven and the temperature of hell.