Preaching from Ephesians 1, Dion van Breda reminds of some wonderful truths:
When we are saved, we are in Christ;
Our right response is to live holy and blameless before Him;
We are adopted into the family of God because He chose to save us.
Ephesians 1: 3 - 8a (NIV)Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that He lavished on us.
Today, Dion van Breda starts a new preaching series. For the next few weeks, we'll be walking through the Book of Ephesians together, learning with the people in Ephesus what God wants His church to look like.
In this message, Dion van Breda reminds us that God's plan for our lives is for us to become more like Jesus.
He also encourages us to remember that God wants us to live lives of impact and increase, even when we're facing times of trial and difficulty.
Jeremiah 29: 4 - 14 (NIV)
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
In this message, guest preacher Linton Patrick reminds us what we are to do with the Word of God:
Admit that it is the Truth
Commit it to our hearts and minds
Submit our lives to its authority
Transmit it to others
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
John 1: 1 - 9 (NIV
In this sermon, guest preacher Deon Stapelberg teaches us about the Trinity - and that Jesus is truly God.
(John 8:58) Jesus said to them, "Mostassuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:59) Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
In this sermon, guest preacher Malcom Isles
In this sermon, Dion van Breda asks us to consider whether we're building our lives for the King, or focusing on our own comfort and satisfaction.
Haggai 1: 1 - 11 (NIV)
A Call to Build the House of the Lord
1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”
3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
In this sermon, Dion van Breda wraps up the preaching series on the Book of Habbakuk, with the encouragement that when we know what God has done before, we can trust Him while we wait for Him to act in our present circumstances.
1 Corinthians 12: 7 - 10 (NIV)Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In this special service, Barry Farr from the NCMI Apostolic Team preached on the hope of the Gospel, and the need for every Believer to preach it faithfully and continually.
1 Timothy 1: 1 -11 (New International Version)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
In Part 4 of our preaching series from the Book of Habakkuk, Dion van Breda encourages us not to give up, and not to lose hope while we wait upong the Lord's answers to our prayers.
Habakkuk 2: 1 - 4 (NIV)
I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
2 Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness ...
In Part 3 of our preaching series on the Book of Habakkuk, Dion van Breda looks at how we ought to respond to God's answers.
Our Response:
1. Stop and listen to what God is saying.
2. Make a note of what He says.
3. Be patient and wait.
What do we do when it seems as if our prayers are falling on deaf ears? Or when God's answers are not what we expected them to be?
Join us for Part 2 of Dion van Breda's preaching series through the Book of Habakkuk to find out how the prophet dealt with these same questions.
Have you ever had questions like: "I know that You can, Lord, but why don't you?" or "Lord, I've prayed about this for so long, why haven't You answered me yet?"
If you have, join us for our new preaching series: "Why, God?", where Dion van Breda will be exploring what the Book of Habakkuk can teach us about how to respond when God doesn't do the things we want Him to, or doesn't answer our prayers the way we think He should.
Teaching from Acts 7 this week, Dion van Breda looks at the various seasons Moses' life went through, and he reminds us that we need to allow God to complete each season's work in us, before He can take us into the next.
“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’
Acts 7: 20 - 34 (NIV)
Teaching from Romans 3 this week, Dion van Breda shows us that God's righteousness is not a license to sin, but rather that it empowers us to to seek and to follow Him first, before all the things of this world.
Romans 3: 21 - 26 (NIV)
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
In this week's sermon, Dion van Breda shares from Philippians 3 that if our righteousness is not from the Lord, we are striving in vain.
In this sermon, David Howett teaches from Matthew 11 that God not only offers us physical rest, but the peace that comes from His saving grace.
In this sermon, Belinda van de Griendt looks at three common issues that Christians debate, and why the Biblical truth answers each one.
This Father's Day, Dion van Breda reminds us that every one of us will leave a legacy - will yours be one that glorifies God and builds up the next generation?
A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
Proverbs 13: 22 NIV
In this week's sermon, Dion van Breda teaches that although we are in a real spiritual battle, Satan is not equal to God. He is limited in space, time, and presence.
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20: 10 NIV)