SMBC Principal's Hour

Two minutes to live. A man dying in a ditch beside the road needs a rescuer. The crime and the motives are complex; but the message to disciples of Jesus is clear.

Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus commissioned his followers to preach the gospel to all nations. But this commission didn’t come as a bolt out of the blue. He trained his disciples for the task during his time with them. In Luke 10, we have a precious opportunity to be trained by Jesus to carry out the great commission as we sit in on a ‘mission training seminar’ that Jesus lead with his followers.

In Luke 9, Jesus begins a journey to Jerusalem. For him, it is a journey to the cross. For his followers, it is a journey where they discover what it means to take up their cross. In this first part of the journey, we discover what we need to be willing to leave behind if we are going to join Jesus on this journey.

When the disciples have a breakthrough realisation that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus shocks them by saying that it is going to mean suffering and self-sacrifice both for him and for them. But why? Why must Jesus and his followers (including us) self-sacrifice?

It is an exciting privilege to participate in carrying out God’s great missional plan. But what happens if we pour our life into this, and don’t see what we hope to see? What does faith look like when it seems that God’s promises are failing?

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham’s faith in a surprising, even shocking, way. As the test unfolds, we learn some crucial lessons about what genuine biblical faith is, and how to live by it.

Genesis 20 and 21 contain disappointing stories about two men, two women and two sons. There is no getting past the tainted and shadowy behaviour of those who should be expressing God’s mission in the world. But, when God is at work, there is always another way to look at things.

When we hear news of problems and suffering in the world, and also of the huge needs for gospel workers around the world, it can be overwhelming. It can lead to compassion fatigue. But in Genesis 18-19, God reveals a better way to respond.

As children of Abraham, we have been given a big task – to carry out God’s mission in this world. But what exactly does he require of us as implementers of his mission? Genesis 17 contains important answers to this question.

In moments of distress and anxiety how do we wait on the Lord? God is a God of promises, but what happens when God’s timeline is different than ours? How do we keep going when our faith is fading? In this sermon we listen to the challenges of Abram and Sarai as they lived with and responded to this tension.