St John's Darlinghurst

Healthy Church: The Goal

Titus 1

Series: Healthy Church: Paul's Letter to Titus

Preacher: Richard Glover

What makes a church good?

Or, to use the language of the letter to Titus: What makes a church healthy?

In Paul's letter to Titus, we discover what makes a church healthy. A healthy church is one that makes Christians, grows Christians, and helps them to stay Christians. Titus is given the daunting task of establishing healthy churches in the company of gangsters: Crete in the time this letter was written was much like 'Razorhurst'—the nickname affectionately (?!) given to Darlinghurst and Kings Cross in the 1930s and 1940s heyday of organised crime. 

What would Titus need to establish healthy churches in a place like that? He must hold fast to the truth, which will bring about renewal in godliness, and issue forth in meaningful speech.

And all that makes for a healthy church is applied to a particular sphere of church life: pastoral leadership. 

Sermon text: Titus 1

Washed: A Sermon on Baptism

Romans 6.1–14; 1 Peter 3.18–22

Preacher: Richard Glover

What are we doing when we baptise? What's it about, how does it work, and what does it do? 

Baptism is a "visible word" from God to us. It refers to our washing, our clean conscience before God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It assures us that we really are clean; it encourages us to persevere in free, holy living; it defines us as a community of welcome; and sends us on mission. 

On a Sunday when we witnessed the baptisms of a child and an adult, we take some time to reflect on the gift of baptism. 

Wisdom from God to Administer Justice

1 Kings 3.16–28, Luke 4.18–19

IJM Freedom Sunday

Preacher: Christian Koelbach

Christian Koelback joins us from International Justice Mission to speak about the organisation's work toward ending slavery in Jesus' name. 

In this sermon, Christian unpacks the wisdom that God gives to bring his justice into the world. 

CONTENT WARNING: In this sermon we hear about IJM's work to eradicate the Online S*xual Exploitation of Children. 

Abraham: Faith Tested

Genesis 22.1–19

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

'Some time later, the Lord tested Abraham.' 

The story of Abraham offering his son Isaac is an incredibly confronting story. A prominent atheist has asked: 'What kind of morals could one derive from this appalling story?' 

It is confronting. But when we understand what's really going on in this test, the story reaches into the luminous depths of who God is, and the breadth and depth of his love for us. For Abraham's aborted offering of his one and only son whom he loves prefigures the actual offering by God of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. 

When we pay close attention to this text, we begin to see that the deepest desires of our hearts can be ours in Christ—but only if we can first offer them up to him. Our journey through the story of Abraham, which we bring to a close with this sermon, teaches us that responding in faith to the demanding call of God is never easy—but it leads to life.

To know the God revealed in Abraham's story, and to see him made flesh in Jesus Christ, can be the source of a faith that neither death nor doubt can overcome. 

Sermon text: Genesis 22.1–19

Abraham: Pleading

Genesis 18.16–33

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Winston Leung

Is God good? That's the question Abraham has, and he tests God. 

Abraham tests God by boldly pleading with God to put into practice who Abraham believes him to be. As we eavesdrop on Abraham's conversation with God, we learn how to approach the throne of grace with boldness, calling on God to be true to who we know him to be in Christ. 

Winston Leung, a member of our evening congregation, opens up the next instalment in the story of Abraham.

Sermon text: Genesis 18.16–33

Abraham: Learning to Laugh

Genesis 18

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

When did you last have a good belly-laugh? 

In the story so far, both Abraham and Hagar have been addressed by the Lord. Now, it's Sarah's turn. The Lord promises her a son in her old age. When Sarah hears this, she laughs. It's too wonderful to be true. 

But God is always faithful to his promise. When Isaac is born, Sarah laughs again—but differently. God's grace transforms her laughter. 

Martin Luther wrote: 'You have as much laughter as you have faith.' Our ability to laugh—freely, joyfully, even at ourselves—tracks with our trust and hope in God. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 18.1–15, 21.1–7

Abraham: The Covenant Sign

Genesis 17

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

What is the meaning of the strange sign of circumcision? And what meaning could it possibly have for us? 

After Sarah and Abraham have tried to take matters into their own hands, forcing God's promise into fulfilment, God reiterates his promises, but declares that human will cannot and will not enact it. Only God, by his own gracious intervention, can fulfil the promise. 

Circumcision declares that reality. It's about the dynamic between flesh and spirit; between taking the easy way out, and living in the trust that God will do what he has said. 

For the Christian, that means continually cutting off "the flesh" as we seek to live in the power of the Spirit, bearing fruit in him—especially the fruit of self-control. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 17; Colossians 2.11–14.

Abraham: The God Who Sees

Genesis 16

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Sarah and Abraham are desperate. God has promised to make Abraham a great nation—but a decade of living in the so-called "promised land," and Sarah is still unable to conceive. They begin to doubt God's commitment to his promise. 

And so they decide to take matters into their own hands. Sarah gives her Egyptian slave-girl Hagar to Abraham as a wife, to see if he can father a child with her. 

Doubt gives way to desperation, and it all unravels from there. 

Incredibly, we are shown a different way to live: courageously, from faith. And it's through Hagar's experience of God that we learn it. 

If you've ever felt small, insignificant, and unseen, then Hagar's testimony is for you. She meets the God who sees her—and you—and in that encounter she finds the courage of faith. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 16.

Abraham: The Covenant Blood

Genesis 15

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

How does God respond when we have fears and doubts? 

God has made extraordinary promises to Abraham. But, as far as Abraham can see, God hasn't followed through. Abraham has doubts about God—and self-doubts, too. 

Into Abraham's fears and doubts, God enters to make an even more extraordinary promise: he himself will guarantee his promise—even if Abraham is the one who stands in the way of its fulfilment. 

If God fails to bless Abraham, God will pay the price. If Abraham fails to take hold of the blessing—God will pay the price. 

And in that lies the antidote to our doubts about God, and our own self-doubts: God is committed to blessing us, even when we fail, and at great cost to himself. 

Bible Readings: Genesis 15; Hebrews 6.13–20

Abraham: The Call

Gensis 11.27–12.20

Series: Faith Over Doubt

Preacher: Richard Glover

We begin a new series reading through the life of Abraham. He's held up in the New Testament as a father and hero of faith—but he is a complicated character, far from perfect. What is it about his faith that we are called to emulate? 

The story of Abraham is one of learning faith: learning to trust the one true and living God, even in the face of all the things that might cause us to doubt his goodness, power, and promise. For all his faults, Abraham will not let go of the promises of God. 

It begins with a call. God appears on the scene, and calls Abraham to a different life. The call will lead to blessing—but it makes also demands of Abraham; massive demands. 

The same is true of our own calling in Jesus. Faith in Jesus makes demands of us. Where is he calling us to follow? What will we have to give up to go there with him? 

Bible Readings: Genesis 11.27–12.9; Hebrews 11.1–2, 8–10