Naracoorte Presbyterian Church

Why does Christ need to reveal Himself, and how does it happen?

Scripture Readings 1 John 4:7-16 John 14:15-31 Introduction Dear friends in the Lord, One of the pleasures in our advanced digital society is to talk to robots when you ring enquiries of some more significant enterprises. It sometimes takes many minutes, and many entries into the keypad to get to the right department— if you…
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Living on God’s Earth (2)

Bible Readings Isaiah 46 Romans 1:18-32 Introduction My dear friends in the Lord, How does one understand the world one lives in? How does one answer life’s questions? Who are we? What are we doing here on earth? Where do we fit in? Do we have an influence on things around us? The way…
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Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (4)

Scripture Readings Hebrews 2:10-18; Judges 16:1-7, 23-31 Introduction Han van Meegeren painted a work in the style of the great Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and titled it “The Supper at Emmaus”, fooling the critics who thought it was a lost masterpiece of Johannes Vermeer. The painting was sold for millions of dollars, and displayed in the Boijmans…
Read more: Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (4)
Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (3)

Bible Readings Matthew 10:34-39 Judges 15:1-20 Introduction My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, Many might look at the story of Samson and remember his strength, his long hair and bad choices of women. Some might think of Samson in the same way as what is told of a Spanish patriot soldier who, in…
Read more: Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (3)
Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (2)

Scripture Reading Judges 13:24-14:20 Introduction All Sunday school children will encounter the story of Samson. About all children’s Bibles will have a full-colour page of Samson tearing the lion to bits. What do you remember of Samson? How should we understand the story of Samson? The official synopsis of the 1951 film reads: When…
Read more: Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (2)
Advent: The Long Road to Bethlehem (1)

Bible Readings Luke 1:26-38 Judges 13:1-24 Introduction In Stay of Execution, Stewart Alsop, an apathetic Christian, discussed what it was like to live with incurable leukaemia. There was a period in which the disease was temporarily arrested. During this time, he discussed some variables with his physician. Finally, Alsop said, “There is one variable you…
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Spiritual growth in Christ

Bible Readings Psalm 119:9-16 Philippians 1:3-11 Introduction Who present today would like a 10-page book on 3 easy steps to spiritual maturity? You may go to sleep tonight as a babe, then wake up tomorrow with full knowledge of God’s Word, able to discern the most excellent things in life. But, unfortunately, there are no…
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Participating in the sufferings of Christ

Scripture Reading 1Peter 4:12-19 Introduction The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, honour those who died for their country. Built following World War I, it was expanded to remember those who served in subsequent conflicts. It is a beautiful place, with monuments to courage and devotion, but the highlight of the shrine is a hall containing…
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Living ‘in-Christ’ (4)

Bible Readings Proverbs 10:18-32 Colossians 3:5-17 Introduction My dear friends in Christ, Successful advertising companies design their ads after careful market research, more so about the potential buyers. Not only do they know their product, but they know who they want to buy their products. To get us to buy a product, they persuade…
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Living ‘in-Christ (3) –

Bible Reading Colossians 3:1-11 Introduction In 1976 Dr Francis Schaeffer wrote a book with the title “How should we then live”. The question is by what standard should we live. Dr Schaeffer said when we base society on the Bible, on the infinite-personal God who is there and has spoken, it provides an absolute by…
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