Word of Salvation – Vol.42 No.31 - August 1997   What has to Happen for the Lord to Bless Us?   A Sermon by Rev DK Baird on Ephesians 1:1-3 Scripture Readings: Deut. 28:1-6, 15-19; Eph. 4:1-16 Suggested Hymns: BoW:  332, 487, 163, 331:1,2,4   Dear Congregation, Today I want to ask the question: "What has to happen for the Lord to bless us?" You might be thinking, Oh, good!  Business has been a bit slow lately; I need the Lord to bless me.  But it's not financial prosperity I want to talk about.  Sorry! I realise some churches these days...

Word of Salvation - February 2019   B.C.31 – Ministers, Elders & Deacons Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp Scripture Readings: Ephesians 4:1-16, Hebrews 13:7-17 & 1Timothy 5:17-25 Belgic Confession: Article 31   Introd:  Throughout the Middle Ages up to the Reformation the church was divided into two classes of people. There were the clergy and the laity...  a priestly class... and then all the rest. Some even argued that the clergy formed the real church. All the rest – the laity – simply had to pray and pay. A Biblical truth rediscovered at the Reformation was the “priesthood of all believers”. A...

Word of Salvation - October 2018   B.C.22 - What Is This Thing Called Faith? Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp Scripture Reading: Romans 4:1-8 & Ephesians 2:1-10 Belgic Confession: Article 22 Text: Ephesians 2:8,9 & B.C. art 22 –   Introd:  When it comes to faith there are some problems Christians often struggle with. Let me mention two specific problems. 1)   I have often spoken to people who are concerned about the quality of their faith. They are always wondering whether their faith is strong enough and real enough. The upshot of it is that they are never really sure about...

Word of Salvation - August 2018   B.C.16 – Election: No Strings Attached Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp Scripture Readings: Isaiah 6:1-10 & Romans 9:6-26 Belgic Confession - Article 16 Text: Ephesians 1:4,5   Introd:  Why is it that some people... as soon as they hear the gospel... believe it almost immediately. Why is it that other people... who have heard the gospel for years... continue to reject it? It’s a tantalising question that people answer in different ways. Some suggest that it’s purely an accident of birth. We were born into a Christian family.... and into a Christian community. If...

Word of Salvation - August 2018   B.C.14 – The Teaching that Needs no Proof Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp Bible readings:  Jeremiah 17:1-10; Ephesians 2:1-10. Text: Ephesians 2:1 Belgic Confession: Article 14   Introd: Total Depravity... that’s a teaching from the Bible that is most uncool today. An elderly lady from the deep south of the US was once asked once about this teaching. She replied: The teaching of Totally Depravity is a great doctrine if only people would live by it. The reality is that today your average evangelical Christian does not live by it. And I don’t mean...

Delighting in Belonging to Christ - by John Zuidema Text: Eph 2:1-10; (Heidelberg Catechism - LD 1 Q&A2)   Singing: BOW 435; BOW: 188; BOW: 345; BOW: 416; BOW: 443   Beloved people of the Lord Jesus Christ; Last week Sunday morning I spoke about the privilege of knowing that we belong to Jesus Christ. From God's word we were reminded that we were not bought by silver or gold, but by the precious blood of Christ, God's very own Son. Now that gives us great comfort. To know that every moment of every day, we belong to Christ and should...

"The Positive of knowing about sin" BoW: 389; BoW: 187; BoW 330; BoW 398; BoW: 416; Scripture Readings: Eph 2:11-20; Rom 7:7-25; LD 2: q&a3-5; Beloved people of God. Have you ever wondered why Scripture continually highlights the law of God? Why do the elders and minister and other leaders of worship, regularly, if not every Sunday, have a time when they read the law, either the Ten Commandments, or some other section that highlights how God would want us to live our lives? Is it because they sense some sort of power over reminding us about our sin and failures...

BoW: 8a; Rej2: 357; BoW: 361; BoW: 511; BoW 534; Scripture Reading: Gen 1:24-31; Eph 4:17-5:2; LD 3 Q&A6; Sermon: "Our GPS to eternal life" Beloved people of God, Today I wish to speak to you about a GPS. Now some of you may be thinking of an electronic GPS that are basically a Sydway or UBD or Gregorys in an electronic gadget. It has a suction cap attached to it so that sticks to your windshield. Now the advantage of a car GPS is that it can tell exactly where you are and you can enter in a destination and...