Sermons from Pakenham Lakeside Church

How do God's people prepare the way for God's coming? More importantly, how does God prepare the way for his own coming in our lives and hearts? Luke 3 contains a story which is told in multiple places in the bible, and which continues in our own lives. It's the story of God preparing a way - leveling hills and mountains, straightening crooked ways, walking with us through the rough spots in our lives, and filling the valleys with his presence. This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on December 13th (3rd Sunday of Advent) 2015. It can be viewed with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy!

How do God's people prepare the way for God's coming? More importantly, how does God prepare the way for his own coming in our lives and hearts? Luke 3 contains a story which is told in multiple places in the bible, and which continues in our own lives. It's the story of God preparing a way - leveling hills and mountains, straightening crooked ways, walking with us through the rough spots in our lives, and filling the valleys with his presence. This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on December 13th (3rd Sunday of Advent) 2015. It can be viewed with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. Enjoy!

Mark 12:38-43 has often been called 'The Generous Widow.' But unfortunately this is a misnomer. Jesus is not celebrating the widow's generous gift - he is lamenting the corrupt religious system that would take the last of a poor widow's money. As people who belong to God, we have been given true spiritual riches by Jesus, who by his grace deals with all the dimensions of poverty: poverty of spiritual intimacy, poverty of community, poverty of self, poverty of stewardship. Jesus calls his people, his church, to walk with him and work alongside him in breaking the dimensions of poverty for others - not because of guilt but because of grace and the good news of the gospel. This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday November 8th, 2015. It goes with the Prezi zooming visual found at this link. Enjoy!

A rich young man comes to Jesus asking 'Good teacher, what must I do to be saved?' The conversation takes a very unexpected turn. Jesus says 'It is harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.' But what if it was an infant pygmy camel and a giant novelty needle? There are no loopholes in receiving the Kingdom of God and eternal life - Jesus has closed them all. There is only Jesus. What is impossible for people is possible for God. This sermon was preached on Sunday 11th October 2015, at Lakeside College in Pakenham, Victoria. It can be listened to in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.

Part of Jesus' mission, during his incarnation, was to bring healing to people - spiritual healing, forgiveness, physical healing, emotional and social healing. Jesus continues his healing ministry today, sometimes in miraculous ways, sometimes in more 'normal' ways such as through medical professions. Ultimately, all who believe in Jesus will receive healing by being 'raised up' to new life after death, where there is no more disease or mourning or crying or pain. When we pray for healing, we do not manipulate God. It's not our faith or our pious prayers that have great power - we simply put ourselves into the gracious hands of Jesus and ask him to do what is good for us. This sermon was preached at Lakeside College, Pakenham on Sunday 27th September 2015. Enjoy!

The war is won, but the battle is real. This sermon explores the reality of spiritual warfare, the nature of the enemy's strategy, the armour of God, and the victory of God through the lens of Ephesians 6:10-20. It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link. The sermon was preached at the Pakenham Lutheran church planting project on Sunday 23rd August 2015. Enjoy!

Do your desires define your identity? Or does your identity define and refine your desires?As people who belong to God, we are to 'put off the old self' and 'put on the new self made to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness.' Christian virtue is about a positive imitation of Jesus, not just about 'not doing bad stuff' - and this imitation is powered by the Spirit of God through the Gospel.This sermon was preached in Pakenham on August 9th, 2015.It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.Enjoy!

Do your desires define your identity? Or does your identity define and refine your desires?As people who belong to God, we are to 'put off the old self' and 'put on the new self made to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness.' Christian virtue is about a positive imitation of Jesus, not just about 'not doing bad stuff' - and this imitation is powered by the Spirit of God through the Gospel.This sermon was preached in Pakenham on August 9th, 2015.It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.Enjoy!

Philip has an attitude of scarcity.Andrew has an attitude of possibility.The boy who shares his lunch has an attitude of generosity.Jesus - he has an attitude of trust in God's provision, and an attitude of abundance.Jesus takes what has already been given to us by God, the little we can offer, and gives thanks for it and offers it back to God - to do good things for the sake of others.How does Jesus feed the 5000? He simply does what God the Father has been doing every day since the beginning ...providing people's needs. When we trust that God provides for us, we can move from an attitude of scarcity to an attitude of abundance, from selfishness to generosity, from fear to faith.This sermon was preached at the Pakenham Lutheran church planting project on Sunday, July 26, 2015. Enjoy!

Philip has an attitude of scarcity.Andrew has an attitude of possibility.The boy who shares his lunch has an attitude of generosity.Jesus - he has an attitude of trust in God's provision, and an attitude of abundance.Jesus takes what has already been given to us by God, the little we can offer, and gives thanks for it and offers it back to God - to do good things for the sake of others.How does Jesus feed the 5000? He simply does what God the Father has been doing every day since the beginning ...providing people's needs. When we trust that God provides for us, we can move from an attitude of scarcity to an attitude of abundance, from selfishness to generosity, from fear to faith.This sermon was preached at the Pakenham Lutheran church planting project on Sunday, July 26, 2015. Enjoy!

This is an 'M' rated sermon. It contains violence, sexualisation, and adult themes...for Maturing Christians.The narrative in Mark 6 - the death of John the Baptist - is at first glance, a horrific reading. We might even ask 'Why is this in the Bible? How can the good news of Jesus come through this reading?' But when we stop to reflect, this passage echoes themes which come through strongly in our own society. Unjust imprisonment. Sexualisation of girls. Objectification of women. Abuse and violence within the family. Murder.If the Gospel of Jesus can't address such issues, it's a gospel that is too small. But our God CAN handle our M-rated world. It was to address such issues as these - which arise from what the bible calls sin - that Jesus came into the world.I can't say 'enjoy' this sermon. I hope it will challenge you and give you hope in our Saviour, Jesus.The sermon can be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.

Jairus comes to Jesus with one of the most poignant requests in the bible: 'My little daughter is dying. Come and put your hand on her so she may be healed and live.' Like Jairus, as a father, I would do whatever it takes for my daughter to get better.As Jesus is on his way to help Jairus's daughter, he encounters another desperate person: the bleeding woman.Jesus' gracious response to both the woman and Jairus is to heal, to save, to restore in community, and to give dignity.We are suffering from a fatal disease. The bible calls it sin. It leads to death and isolates us from God and others. But God our father will do whatever it takes to see us 'saved' - healed, made whole, forgiven, restored in community. He does this through Jesus' gracious response to our desperate situation...This sermon was preached on Sunday June 28th at the Lutheran church plant in Pakenham, Victoria.It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.Enjoy!

Jairus comes to Jesus with one of the most poignant requests in the bible: 'My little daughter is dying. Come and put your hand on her so she may be healed and live.' Like Jairus, as a father, I would do whatever it takes for my daughter to get better.As Jesus is on his way to help Jairus's daughter, he encounters another desperate person: the bleeding woman.Jesus' gracious response to both the woman and Jairus is to heal, to save, to restore in community, and to give dignity.We are suffering from a fatal disease. The bible calls it sin. It leads to death and isolates us from God and others. But God our father will do whatever it takes to see us 'saved' - healed, made whole, forgiven, restored in community. He does this through Jesus' gracious response to our desperate situation...This sermon was preached on Sunday June 28th at the Lutheran church plant in Pakenham, Victoria.It can be used in conjunction with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.Enjoy!

When Jesus taught people, he most often used stories...images drawn from everyday life. Jesus knew that stories have a way of getting planted in our mind and growing subversively. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to ordinary, everyday things like a farmer planting wheat or a gardener growing a mustard bush from a seed. This sermon unpacks the gospel through two of Jesus' parables in Mark 4. The parables show that the Kingdom of God does its mysterious, transforming work in and through the ordinary, everyday stuff of our lives.The sermon can be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.It was preached at Lakeside College on Sunday 14th June 2015.Enjoy!

When Jesus taught people, he most often used stories...images drawn from everyday life. Jesus knew that stories have a way of getting planted in our mind and growing subversively. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to ordinary, everyday things like a farmer planting wheat or a gardener growing a mustard bush from a seed. This sermon unpacks the gospel through two of Jesus' parables in Mark 4. The parables show that the Kingdom of God does its mysterious, transforming work in and through the ordinary, everyday stuff of our lives.The sermon can be used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.It was preached at Lakeside College on Sunday 14th June 2015.Enjoy!