Our redemption is the best that God could give us. Revealed most powerfully in the Father giving his Beloved Son for us, and in Christ’s willingness to lay down his life for us! Our redemption is truly “according to the riches of God’s grace”! God has held nothing back. It cost the whole life of Christ, and it gives us everthing in Christ! In Ephesians 1:7-10 we learn that our redemption is through the blood of Christ and secures the forgiveness of our sins. We also see how it is part of God’s bigger purpose to unite all things in Christ at ‘the fullness of time’!

The Christian has both been blessed and chosen by God the Father. In the original Greek Ephesians 1:3-14 forms one long glorious sentence celebrating God’s glorious grace in Christ! In it we see the purpose of the Father, the mission of the Son and the work of the Spirit and within this we see that we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son and sealed with the Spirit! This message looks at the first part of this (Eph. 1:3-6) which highlights that believers are blessed and chosen by God the Father according to the purpose of his will. Paul tells us believers are blessed by God the Father with every spiritual blessing in Christ, chosen to be holy and blameless in Christ and predestined for adoption through Christ.

This sermon introduces a brand new series on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. As well as giving us an overview of Ephesians this message looks at Paul’s greeting which points believers to our confidence, our call and our peace in Christ. Ideas Paul will develop in the rest of the letter.

The New Testament gives us a number of windows into what happened when early Christians gathered. Hebrews 10:19-25 is one such window. One which particularly helps us understand the threefold purpose of gathering together as Christians. 1. To help us draw near to God in faith (22). 2. To help us hold fast to Gospel hope (23). 3. To help us motivate one another to love (24). In other words, the purpose of gathering is to help us grow in the Christian essentials of faith, hope and love, and all the more so as we see the Day approaching (25)!

When ministry exceeded their expectations Jesus gave the 72 something better to rejoice in! For he knew there would be other days when their efforts would be rejected instead of received. Other days when Satan’s kingdom didn’t fall as quickly! Other days when instead of trampling on snakes and scorpions they would feel like the ones being trampled on! This sermon explores Jesus’ words to the 72 in Luke 10:17-20.

Psalm 148 is all about how all creation points to the LORD! The repeated refrain of “praise him… praise him… praise him” keeps pointing to the One behind it all! The first six verses focus on praise from the heavens (1-6), the next six focus on praise from the earth (7-12), the remining two verses tie it all together while pointing to how God ultimately raises the praises of his people as he raises up a “horn” for them (13-14)!

Psalm 104 celebrates God’s greatness, majesty and splendour, his power, provision and care, his order, wisdom and variety in creation before underlining how much every created thing depends on him. It’s a psalm of praise that introduces God as the King of Creation and fittingly finishes with the first “Hallelujah” in the Bible. You’ll never be able to look at creation in the same way when you grasp the truth of this powerful psalm!

As we continue to explore the Creation Psalms this week’s sermon looks at Psalm 65. A psalm that reveals God as a God of grace, might and superabundance - a God who atones for his people, calms the tumult of nations and causes creation to fully flourish. The psalm speaks of God’s care for creation as well as pointing forward to a renewed flourishing creation. In the wider story of Scripture all of this is accomplished in and through Christ.

Psalm 19 teaches us that God speaks through both creation and Scripture. In the psalm creation, Scripture and prayer are all beautifully weaved together to show us how to live in God’s world as his people! In short, we have a word about God in creation, a word from God in Scripture and a word to God in prayer reminding us that we were created to know and serve the LORD who created the heavens and the earth.

In this sermon we learn how Psalm 8 points us to creation’s magnificence, masterpiece and Messiah. Showing us that God reveals himself through creation as well as crowning humanity with glory and honour . Yet the Psalm also alludes to reality that all is not as it should be because of an enemy and the fall of mankind. However, the writer of Hebrews wonderfully uses this Psalm to tell the good news of how God restores humanity in Jesus. This sermon is the first in a series of looking at four Psalms that speak about creation (Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Psalm 65 and Psalm 104).