Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No. 01 – January 2000   Living a New Life in Christ   Sermon by Rev. P. Smit on Colossians 3:1-14 Scripture Readings: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Suggested Hymns: BoW 421, 391, 424, 404, 525; Rej 355; 306; 341   Beloved in the Lord... Do you sometimes ask yourself, "What really is the difference between a Christian and a person that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ?"  Why is it that some non-Christians are actually better people than Christians?  They may seem more patient, or more loving, and they may express more compassion.  You may have seen...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 37 – October 1998   Your Supreme Saviour   A Sermon by Rev. P. Smit on Colossians 1:15-23 Scripture Reading: Psalm 148 Suggested Hymns: BoW: 136a; 217; 174; 211; 159                                               Rejoysing-2: 281; 401; 498   Congregation. In the Christian church, there are certain people who say that, unless you speak in tongues, you cannot be a Christian.  There are those who say, unless you know in depth the teaching of one particular Christian leader, you're only half a Christian.  In the Christian church, some may be looked down on as unspiritual, because they...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 35 – September 1998   Paul’s Non-Stop Prayer   Sermon by Rev. P. Smit on Colossians 1:9-14 Scripture Readings: 1Chronicles 22:5-13 Suggested Hymns: BoW 66a; 156; 452; 440; 451; 527; Rejoysing-2: 392; 306   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. With a barrage of demands on our time, it's hard to keep up the pace.  Sporting activities and commitments; school projects and assignments; unspoken demands to put more time in at work; visiting family and friends; for mums just keeping up with the housework, let alone the 24 hour requirements of nurturing a family. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.17 – May 2000   God's Comforters and Encouragers   Sermon by Rev P Smit on Colossians 4:7-18 Scripture Readings: 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 Suggested Hymns: BoW 8a; 210; 118a; 434; 383; 525; Rej 552; 333   Beloved in the Lord. If there's anywhere in this world that you should find comfort and encouragement, it should be the church.  As I talk to people in the community, so often they say, "I want to know about God, but I'm scared of the church.  They stand in judgment on me.  They speak of love but neglect to...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.9 – March 2000   Working for the Lord   Sermon by Rev P Smit on Colossians 3:22 - 4:2 Scripture Readings: Genesis 39 Suggested Hymns: BOW 8a; 452; 430; Rej 299; 474; 478   Beloved in the Lord. The last time we looked at Colossians, we tackled the passage on family relationships.  We saw that when we follow Jesus Christ, he gives us guidelines to make our family relationships beautiful.  God gives us healthy guidelines for love, for respect, for godly submission. Today we are looking at another aspect to this when it comes...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 44 No.39 – October 1999   Paul's Commission Work and Purpose   Sermon by Rev P Smit on Colossians 1:24- 2:5 Scripture Readings: John 15:18 - 16:4 Suggested Hymns: BoW 46, 467; 444; 205; 180; Rej 458; 555   Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's something amazing about Paul.  He wrote this letter to a Christian church that was going off the rails.  They had got hooked on some way-out teaching that said that if they lived a certain way and did certain spiritual exercises they could work their way into heaven.  They...

Word of Salvation – Vol.43 No.31 - August 1998   Thankful for the Gospel Church   Sermon by Rev P Smit on Colossians 1:1-8 Scripture Reading: Romans 8:28-39 Suggested Hymns: BOW 8a; 210; 118a; 372; 383; 525   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. In a world of countless spiritual alternatives, where religions and philosophies abound, what is the mark of true Christianity?  What in essence is the heart of it?  Can we mix and match Christianity with other religions?  In God's eyes do all religions merge at the one intersection of heaven? Well, the Colossian church was a young church. ...

Word of Salvation December 2010   BEING PREPARED FOR BATTLE – PART 2 By Rev. Peter Smit (Sermon 14 (final) of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church)   Text – Ephesians 6:13-17   Spiritual warfare is real. Jesus faced it, the disciples faced it, and if you’re a Christian you’ll face it. We saw last week that our struggle; our up close and personal wrestle, is not against human forces but rather against spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers in this dark world; Satan and his rebellious demonic angels.   You ignore this at your...

Word of Salvation - December 2010   BEING PREPARED FOR BATTLE – PART 1, Peter Smit (Sermon 13 of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church   Text – Ephesians 6:10-12   It is a great day when people give themselves to God and profess their faith in Jesus Christ. It is a great day because God has been at work changing people’s lives. God is faithful to his promises. It can be a mountain-top experience when people profess faith in Christ.   But next to every mountain top you find a valley. Sometimes they’re...

Word of Salvation - November 2010   CHRIST-HONOURING WORK, Peter Smit (Sermon 12 of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church   Text – Ephesians 6:5-9   Industrial relations is a big issue in society today. The Howard government lost the election a few years ago because of their policy on it. People are concerned today about their rights at work. Relationships between employers and employees can be strained. Workers want better conditions and employers want better returns.   Today we’re going to think about what God says about Christ-honouring work. How should a Christian...

Word of Salvation - October 2010   CHRIST-HONOURING RELATIONSHIPS AT HOME, Peter Smit (Sermon 11 of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church   Text – Ephesians 6:1-4   Probably the most important relationships in life are your home relationships. How parents relate to children and how children relate to parents. If relationships at home work in the way God intends, that impacts children for the rest of their lives. But the flip side is that if home relationships are destructive, or if parents are too authoritarian or permissive, or if children don’t learn to...

Word of Salvation - September 2010   A PORTRAIT OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE, Peter Smit (Sermon 10 of a series on Ephesians, Series Title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church)   Text – Ephesians 5:21-33   I found some quotes on marriage that convey some very different views of marriage. Successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Germain Greer You should "keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half-shut afterwards" Benjamin Franklin   Socrates mused, "If you get a good wife you will become happy, and if you get a bad one you will...

Word of Salvation - August 2010   MOTIVATIONS FOR HOLY LIVING, Peter Smit (Sermon 9 of a series on Ephesians, Series title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church)   Text – Ephesians 5:1-21   Motivation is the key to change. Without good motivation, change seems just too hard. Last time (Ephesians 4:17-32) God spoke to us about a new way of living. He called us to put off old ways and put on new ways. Now as we look at Chapter Five God gives you the reason why you should change. He gives you important truths to motivate you to...

Word of Salvation - July 2010   A NEW WAY OF LIVING, Peter Smit Text: Ephesians 4:17-32 (Sermon 8 of a series on Ephesians, Series title – Ephesians: Portraits of a living church)   (Show a bunch of old clothes that you need to throw out.) Do you enjoy cleaning out of your cupboard from time to time all those old clothes? Problem is you don’t normally like to throw old clothes out until you’ve got new ones. Today our portrait in Ephesians is about new clothes and a new way of living. As we go through this passage, take note...

Word of Salvation – May 2010   MARKS OF MATURITY, Peter Smit (Sermon 7 of a series in Ephesians, Series title – Ephesians: Portraits of the living church)   Text – Ephesians 4:1-16   There is a film called “Indescribable” that looks at space. Some of you may have seen it. One amazing constellation it looks at is called Pleiades . It is roughly 440 light years distance away… Remember light can travel around the earth 7 times in one second. A light year is the distance light travels over one year; it’s about 9.5 trillion kilometers. The radius of this...

Word of Salvation – May 2010   PRAYERS FOR A POWERFUL CHRISTIAN LIFE, Peter Smit (Sermon 6 of a series on Ephesians, Series title – Ephesians: Portraits of the living church)   Ephesians 3   How’s your prayer life? Are you too busy to pray? Do you prefer action rather than talking to God? Is prayer a routine ritual that does little to fan your spirit into flame? Do you wonder what to pray? Do you feel your prayers lack vitality?   Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote: “Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at...

Word of Salvation - March 2010   BECOMING A SERVANT OF THE GOSPEL, Peter Smit (Sermon 5 of a series on Ephesians (Series title – “Ephesians: Portraits of the living church)   Text – Ephesians 3:1-13   Murray Capill, the principal of the RTC wrote an article recently about the changes in the last fifty years that have impacted every part of life. He said,   “People think differently from 50 years ago: modernist to a postmodernist mindset. Now a person under the age of 40 is not that committed to institutions, is suspicious of authority figures, likes to experiment but...

Word of Salvation – February 2010   JESUS, THE BUILDER AND DESTROYER, Peter Smit Sermon 4 of a series on Ephesians (Series title – “Ephesians: Portraits of the living church”) (Could also be used on Easter Sunday)   Text – Ephesians 2:11-22   After the Second World War, defeated Germany was divided up into 4 parts: an American, British, French and Soviet occupation zone. Berlin was also divided into 4 sectors. In 1948, the Soviet authorities tried to annex the whole city but failed. That same year, the Soviet part of Germany became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with East Berlin...

Word of Salvation - January 2010   SAVED BY GRACE, Peter Smit Sermon 3 of a series on Ephesians (Series title – “Ephesians: Portraits of the living church”)   Text – Ephesians 2:1-10   Reality shows: Biggest Loser, Survivor, Australian Idol, Big Brother, so you think you can dance, Dancing with the stars, the amazing race, America’s next top model, and on and on they go. The one factor that turns them from loser to winner = what you do. Work a bit harder, strive a bit longer, work, negotiate, do what you need to do.   Many people approach faith...

KNOWING GOD BETTER Rev Peter Smit   Sermon 2 of a series on Ephesians (Series title – “Ephesians: Portraits of the living church”)   Text – Ephesians 1:15-23   The title of this series on Ephesians is “Portraits of the living church.” The first portrait we looked at from the first half of Chapter 1 was of God’s amazing blessings poured out on us.   Today’s portrait is a picture on prayer.   When you pray for friends, family, parents, children, your church family what do you pray? Common prayers that we often pray are for protection, guidance in decision making,...