Word of Salvation – Vol.49 No.42 – November 2004   Amazing Love! The Prodigal Son   Sermon by Rev L De Vos on Luke 15:11-20a   Scripture Reading: Luke 15 Suggested Hymns: RCNZ Psalter Hymnal: 71; 388; 272; 428; 138   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most endearing parables which Jesus ever spoke. People are so familiar with the story of the wayward son that if we asked them to name one parable, this would likely be the one! How about you? Do you know this story well? There is...

Word of Salvation – Vol.49 No.44 – November 2004   'T' - The Corruption of Man (Right Into The Ground!)   Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Canons of Dort III-IV:1-5  Scripture Reading: Romans 3:9-26   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... The LORD saves! We can't help but have seen that so far in the Canons! God the Father so loved the Church that He sent His one and only Son. But who does the LORD save? Our reading from Romans 3 said that no one is righteous. None of us has any part which is wholly good. Every one...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.2 – January 2005   Why Are We Called Christians?   Sermon by Rev J Joubert on Q/A 32 of Lord's Day 12 Scripture Readings:  Isaiah 40:28-31; Acts 11:19-26 Suggested Hymns:  BoW: 211; 331; 210; 169; 452; 63A; 241   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... Some time ago I had discussions with parents about their spiritual walk and that of their children and what it means to be Christians. They said to me that they and their children believe in Jesus and are therefore Christians. We had a long discussion about this. Among other things...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.4 – January 2005   'P' - Perseverance of the Saints (1) (Going Up!)   Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Canons of Dort V:1-6 Scripture Reading:  Philippians 3:1-4:1   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... We're being drawn up. The Holy Spirit is working out that growing up into Him who is the Head - Jesus Christ. This is called our sanctification. We heard the apostle Paul describe this. In Philippians 3:12 he wrote, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.8 – February 2005   'P' - Perseverance of the Saints (II) (Keeping it Up!)   Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Canons of Dort V:7-15 Scripture Reading:  1 Corinthians 10:1-13   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... This is the second part to our looking at the Fifth Head of Doctrine in the Canons of Dort. And last time we looked at the Articles 1 to 6. There we heard about the gracious gospel message that God doesn't let us go. Once saved, we're always saved. And once saved we are going to keep on...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.11 – March 2005   Too Good to Be True!   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Luke 24:37-44 Scripture Readings:  Psalm 16; 1 Corinthians 15:12-28; Luke 24:30-53   Brothers and Sisters in Christ... Sometimes you read a story that seems incredible - so much so that it seems hard to believe. You read it out to others in the family or at work, and they say, "That is amazing! How is that possible?" Some incidents seem so impossible that you can hardly believe they are true. You doubt what you read or hear. This was...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.10 – March 2005   Father, Forgive Them   Sermon by Rev John Haverland on Luke 23:34 Scripture Readings:  Luke 23:26-34; Isaiah 53   Brothers and Sister in Christ... Ernest Hemingway once told a story to illustrate the popularity of the Spanish name Paco. This same story also illustrates the deep desire many of us have for forgiveness and reconciliation. A father, he said, went on a journey to Madrid to put an ad in the local paper. The ad read: "Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon Wednesday - all is forgiven." The next...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.12 – March 2005   The Way of Salvation   Sermon by Rev A Esselbrugge on Isaiah 30:15  Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 30   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... In Isaiah 30:15 we have a marvellous offer of grace and mercy from the hand of Almighty God, and today we want to focus on that offer. But before we do that, we need to observe a few things about what is happening here in this chapter. There is always a danger that we lift a few sentences out of the Bible, and lift them out of...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.18 – May 2005   A Son's Farewell   Sermon by Rev John Haverland on John 19:25-27  Scripture Readings:  John 19:17-27; Luke 2:21-35, 8:19-21, 11:27-28   Congregation. When people know they are going to die in the near future they will usually try to set their house in order. They will make whatever arrangements they can to organise everything for their death. In part they will do this to make it easier for their wife or husband or family who will be left behind. They will give final instructions and communications about what they would like...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.19 – May 2005   Jesus our Ascended Saviour Reigns as Lord and King!   An Ascension Sermon by Rev J Joubert on Luke 24:50-53  Scripture Readings: Luke 24:50-53; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Colossians 3:1-4   Brothers and sisters... If you had to give a definition of faith, how would you describe the Christian faith? Traditionally Reformed people are quick to say that our faith is an Easter faith. And this is absolutely true. This means that we believe we cannot describe our faith outside the context of the events of Easter. This was exactly the argument...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.26 – July 2005   I Am Thirsty   Sermon by Rev John Haverland on John 19:28  Scripture Readings: Psalm 69; John 19:23-37   Congregation... You have probably had the experience of being busy doing something which absorbed all your attention so that you forgot about everything else going on around you. Maybe you were busy with a difficult task at work, or an intense conversation with someone, or you were absorbed in a book, or hobby or a project. Then, having been busy with this for some time, you come to the end of it...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.30 – August 2005   It Is Finished!   Sermon by Rev John Haverland on John 19:30 Scripture Readings:  Hebrews 9:23-10:18; John 19:28-30   Congregation... There are times when you have been fully occupied with a major task that has taken all your attention. When you complete such a large job or project you can have a great sense of relief and satisfaction. Maybe you have had a big project from school that took up a lot of time - you spent many evenings on it - then finally, it is done. Perhaps you had a...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.32 – August 2005   Whose Fault Is It?   A Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 3 Scripture Reading:  Genesis 1:26-31; 3:1-19   Boys and girls... What do you feel when you've done something wrong? You know it's going to be found out. And anyway, even it's not found out for a while, you know you've done something bad. In that moment, what thoughts are in your mind? Perhaps you're wondering what punishment you'll get. But probably not, eh!? You know what's going to happen. Actually, don't you wish then it...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.37 – October 2005   Old Testament Opposition to the Gospel   Sermon by Rev J De Hoog on Daniel 10 (part 1) Scripture Reading:  Ezra 1 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 23; 20; 433   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... Have you ever wished that you could see an angel, or that you could have a vision of the greatness of God? Perhaps after reading this chapter you might think twice about that kind of wish. Daniel's experience doesn't seem like the kind of experience to be envious of. Far from being elated by the vision,...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.39 – October 2005   Famous Last Words Sermon by Rev. Dr. Steve Voorwinde on John 19:26-30 Scripture Readings:  John 2:1-11;   Dear Congregation... INTRODUCTION: Everyone agrees. Motherhood is a good thing. Everyone wants to honour mothers. For florists around the country, Mother's Day is the day that either makes them or breaks them. The only other time they make anywhere near as great a profit is on Valentine's Day. Mother's Day is the occasion where everyone is supposed to be happy, where there are smiles all around, where never is heard a discouraging word and...

Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.41 – November 2005   A Glimpse of Spiritual Warfare   Sermon by Rev J De Hoog on Daniel 10 (part 2) Scripture Reading:  2 Kings 6:8-23 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 24a; 61; 438; 310:1,4,5   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ... The king of Aram is frustrated. He is at war with the king of Israel, but he has a very serious disadvantage. He can keep none of his war strategies secret! He decides something, and he says, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place." But no sooner has he decided...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.1 – January 2006   The Focus of Spiritual Warfare   A Sermon by Rev John De Hoog on Daniel 10 (part 3) Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20 Suggested Hymns: BoW 214; 18:1,3,5; 457; 468; 430   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel 10 pulls back the curtains on the hidden world of spiritual realities just a little and gives us a glimpse of spiritual warfare. Daniel 10 shows us that behind the scenes of our life on this earth there is a spiritual warfare going on, which very much affects the people of God. When...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.2 – January 2006   Doing Good to All   A Sermon by Rev Reinier Noppers on Galatians 6:9-10 Scripture Readings:  Matthew 21:18-19; Galatians 6:1-10   Congregation. One of the most devastating charges that could ever be made against any church is that we are introverted, considerate only of ourselves, meeting only our own needs, without thought or regard for anyone else. In fact, to live and work with a selfish attitude is also a great danger to a real and genuine faith: a vigorous and spiritual church life! It is a mockery of the name...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.14 – April 2006   As Secure As You Know How   An Easter Sermon by Rev John Haverland on Matthew 27:62-66, 28:11-15 Scripture Readings:  1 Corinthians 15:12-25; Matthew 27:57-28:15   Theme: Nothing man can do or say can prevent Jesus from rising from the dead. Purpose: To demonstrate the certainty and the evidence for the resurrection.   Congregation. In your reading of the Scriptures you may have noticed that there is quite a bit of comedy in some passages! Some of the proverbs are amusing, like the ones describing the sluggard: The sluggard says, 'There...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.15 – April 2006   Betrayed by How Many?   A Sermon by Rev Allan Quak on Matthew 26:47-56 Scripture Reading:  John 18:1-11 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 159; 154; 330; 416   Congregation in the Lord. When you go to the top part of the Niagara Falls there is a point which is called "the point of no return". No boat, no matter how powerful the engine, is able to pull away from the surging of water heading over the falls. Once that point is reached, a crash at the bottom of the falls is inevitable. In...