Humanity Sings for the God of Glory

Who are God’s people to demand that the nations should praise their God; that other cultures leave their own religions? It’s a common objection to Christianity, and especially in a nation whose history with First Nations peoples is so tragic. Psalm 117 — the shortest of all the psalms — expresses the very heart of biblical theology: it’s God’s love that makes praising him make sense, because it’s big enough for all people.

From beginning to end, Psalm 148 is about praise: praise is the song of creation, and we’re invited to join in. But it’s possible for our lives to be out of tune with that praise: what does it mean to praise the Lord, and how can we find our voice in creation’s song?

We hear a lot about work life balance - but what is the Psalmist’s vision of a really well balanced life. Ps 149 is a great Psalm of praise, that invites us to true balance.

One of the foundational truths of the Christian gospel is that salvation is by grace. But if that’s how we come into the family of God, then that matters for the way we relate to one another in the local church. To put it simply: if salvation is by grace, then church must be by grace. And that means we prioritise gracious relationships.

How does a person change? What should we do when we feel like we’re not changing as we’d hoped? As we continue our series on the values of CCIW, we take a look at how grace frees us from try-harder Christianity and leads us into deep, heart-level change.

Culturally Engaged

It’s often tempting for Christians to either reject the culture around them on account of its evil, or embrace it wholeheartedly on account of its goodness. The Bible’s account of culture is more nuanced: culture is a human calling, a good gift of a good God; but it’s been damaged by the effects of sin. So, how should we navigate life in a world where evil and goodness coexist?

What is to proclaim the gospel? Why should we do it? And perhaps even more challenging, how should we do it. Explore these questions in this first of two sermons on our stance as a church towards those outside Christ.

It’s so counter-intuitive: service is greatness, the last will be first, death is life. And yet it is so powerful when you grasp it, or rather, this gospel shaped reality graps your heart, and turns you into a servant after Jesus’ heart.

If there’s one thing our society tells us about religion, it’s that it should be observed privately and in moderation. Extremism is out. And yet Jesus says that his followers must deny themselves, take up their cross, follow him, and even lose their lives for him. How are we to make sense of this outrageous demand? What is it about Jesus that makes this kind of full devotion to him possible — even desirable?

There are few things more sweet than a church community saturated in the gospel, soaked all the way through in God’s grace. As be begin this series on our gospel-shaped values as a church, we start we we need to start - with what the gospel itself is. And where better to go for that than to what is ‘of first importance’, from 1 Cor 15.