Word of Salvation – Vol. 21 No.10 - December 1974   The Intermediate State   Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on Phil. 1:23 Psalter Hymnal: 307, 246 (Law), 22, 38:1-3, 38:4,5   The Bible does not contain a great deal of information about the intermediate state.  It is not the intermediate state that occupies the place of primary importance.  No, the great focus of Christian hope and expectation in the days of the Apostles was not the intermediate state, but the final state.  It was not the day in which the believer dies, but the great day in which Jesus...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 25 No. 14 – January 1979   Nothing But Christ Will Do For Me   Sermon by Rev. B. Gillard, B.A., B.D. on Philippians 3:2 Scripture reading: Philippians 3:1-16   1. Introduction Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, Most of us have had the experience of going to a strange house and before going through the gate reading a little sign which says, 'beware of the dog', and then having second thoughts about going any further. It could be that if you go through that gate a big Alsatian will come rushing around the corner and...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 26 No. 37 – July 1981   Victim Or Victor...?   Sermon by Rev. Keith Moerman on Phil 4:13 Scripture Reading: Phil 1:3-11; 4:4-13 Phil 4:13 - I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength Psalter Hymnal: 287: 1,3 and 4; 395; 411:1,2 and 5; 417   Boys and girls, young people, congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul's letter to the Philippians is a little gem.... a DIAMOND.... sparkling and shining. It's called by some, 'the loveliest letter' Paul ever wrote; or others say, 'the letter of joy'; it is a letter of...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 29 No. 36 – September 1984   God Becomes Man   Sermon by Rev. S. Voorwinde M.A., M.Th. on Phil.2:5-7; Heb.4:14 & 5:10 (Belgic Confession Art.18) Scriptures: Phil.2: 1-11; Heb.4:15 Suggested Hymns: 335; 336; 346:1,5,6; 347; BoW 202; 205   Congregation of our Lord, In this sermon we begin with asking the single most important question that we could ever be asked in our life; the question that Jesus asked his disciples (and it's just as important now as it was then): "What do you think of the Christ?" It's your answer to this question that...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 29 No. 37 – October 1984   To Live Or To Die; What Do We Choose?   Sermon by Rev. B. Gillard, v.d.m. on Philippians 1:21-25 Scripture Readings: Philippians 1:12-30; Psalm 16; Isaiah 11: 1-9 Suggested Hymns: 38, 228, 447, 454, BoW 702.   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters and young people. I wonder if you have ever been faced with a difficult decision, and you didn't know quite which way to decide.  You were kind of pulled in both directions. The Apostle Paul was facing a similar situation as he sat...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 48 No.14 – April 2003   Gaining Christ   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Philippians 3:4-9 Scripture Reading:  Psalm 85; Philippians 3:1-11                              and Belgic Confession Art 23   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The text for this sermon makes us see that Paul could not gain a right relationship with God through his background or the law but only from God through faith in Christ. As we look at that, then we want to direct you away from trusting in anything but faith in Christ to make you right with God. One of...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 37 No. 41 – November 1992   Paradise Is Not Found In The Back Of Plato's Cave!   Sermon by Rev. H. W. Pennings on Gen 3:23, Rom 7:24, Phil 1:21, 23-24 Reading: Genesis 3   Beloved congregation, The Bible tells us to set our minds on the things that are above rather than on the things that are here on earth.  It tells us that we are to see ourselves as pilgrims here below.  However, it also tells us that we should not ignore the things that surround us from day to day.  In fact,...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 27 – July 1986   Praying For Growth In Love   Sermon by Rev. J. W. Westendorp on Phil. 1:9-11 Readings:     John 15:1-8, James 3:13-18 Singing:        BoW.027       The Lord’s my shining light                         BoW.285       Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us                         BoW.450       O for a closer walk with God                         BoW.106       O praise the Lord, for He is good           [1.2.7]                         BoW.525       Now unto Him who is able to keep   Theme: Paul’s prayer for the Philippians to grow in love so that God will be glorified in the life of...

Word of Salvation - January 2012   WHAT IS TRUE FAITH? John Haverland   Text: Acts 16:30-34 Heidelberg Catechism LD 7. Readings: Phil 1:1-11; 4:4-9; Acts 16:11-34   Theme: In response to the jailer's great need and question about salvation Paul directs him to faith in Christ. Purpose: To explain how you can be saved through faith in Christ and to urge you to this.     Sometimes you hear someone ask a very perceptive question – a question that shows a good understanding of the subject under discussion, a question that is thoughtful and clear. That can happen in a...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 42 No. 13 – April 1997   Pondering and Practising Peace   A Lord's Supper Preparatory Sermon... By Rev. S. Bajema on Philippians 4:8-9 Scripture Reading: Philippians 4:2-9 Suggested Hymns: BoW 93A; 216:1-3; 373; 164:2, 4   Congregation, The key phrase in this text is the very last short sentence. "And the God of peace will be with you" gives us the assurance that the Spirit of the Lord blesses this work of our hands. So, as those different qualities, listed in verses 8 and 9, are done, there's something spiritually in it for us. Now,...

10) Giving with Joy Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 4:10-20    Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone else’s generosity? Maybe you were in a bit of financial hardship and out of the blue someone gives you a hundred dollars. Maybe someone bought something for your birthday that you never thought you’d be able to afford, or they took you on a holiday that was way out of your budget. Or maybe you really wanted to visit your family interstate but you couldn’t afford it, and someone paid for your plane tickets.  In the first year of Bible...

9) Rejoice in the Lord – Part 2 Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 4:1-9     If you haven’t been here for the last few weeks, we’re in the middle of a series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians about Living a Life of Joy. A few weeks back we looked at chapter 3 verse 1 where Paul writes, ‘1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! (Phil 3:1a)’ Well he says it again in our text today, not once, but twice. Verse 4, ‘4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4)’  This is Rejoice in the Lord...

8) Running with Joy Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 3:12-4:1     Have you ever run in a marathon? I would like to come across all knowledgeable but the last time I did a marathon was 24 years ago, and I say ‘did a marathon,’ rather than ‘run a marathon,’ because I don’t recall doing all that much running.  Actually, last year I went along to my kids’ cross-country and I ran in the dad’s race. It was only 500 metres, but it felt like 5000. But despite my lack of experience in running marathons I’m going to be talking a lot...

7) Rejoice in the Lord – Part 1  Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 3:1-11     Over the last 6 weeks we’ve been looking at what it means to ‘Live a Life of Joy.’ We learnt that the secret to living a life of joy was in serving Jesus Christ, praying for others, and proclaiming the gospel. We learnt that what makes our joy complete is living in unity. And we really shine with joy when we stand out for Christ even in the midst of suffering.  And last week we looked at joyfully following the example of others. But the heart...

5) Shining with Joy Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 2:12-18     This morning we’re going to take two words in our passage and stick them together. The first is the word ‘shine’ in verse 15, where Paul talks about how we are to ‘shine like stars in the universe.’ The idea there is that we are to stand out, we are to be noticeably different.  The second word is ‘rejoice’ in verse 18, where Paul talks about how even in our suffering we ‘should be glad and rejoice.’ This morning I want to combine those two ideas and talk about shining...

4) Making Your Joy Complete Josh Hartog Text: Phil 2:1-11     I’m actually going to focus on just verse 1-4 this morning, and our text is the first few words of verse 2, where Paul says, ‘2 …make my joy complete… (Phil 2:2a)’ This is the fourth sermon in our series on Living a Life of Joy.  We’ve looked at how Christian joy is not found in our circumstances but how it is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ, in fact in serving Jesus Christ, in praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and in proclaiming Christ. This morning we’re going...

3) Proclaiming Christ with Joy Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 1:12-30    Often what matters the most in life is what brings us the greatest joy. If your work really matters to you, you will find great joy in your work. If your family is your highest priority then you find great joy in spending time with your family. We find joy in what we find significant.  So far in this series we’ve looked at how Paul finds joy in Jesus Christ, in serving Christ, that in Christ he is a saint, that through Christ he has received grace and peace....

2) Praying with Joy  Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 1:3-11    Last week we started a new series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians called Living a Life of Joy. Last week we looked at the secret to living a life of joy, and the secret is Jesus Christ. If you weren’t here last week we looked at how the secret to living a life of joy is found in giving your life in service to Jesus, remembering that in Christ we are saints, and that through our Lord Jesus Christ we can experience grace and peace.  Last week wasn’t just...

1) The Secret to Living a Life of Joy Rev. Josh Hartog Text: Phil 1:1-2    This morning we’re starting a new series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, called ‘Living a Life of Joy!’ The dictionary describes joy as ‘a feeling of great happiness.’ Isn’t that what we all want, to feel happy, to be happy? But the problem is that often we don’t feel happy. In fact, happiness is often hard to find, life is filled with struggles, and hurts, and grief, and pain. We want to be happy but what we often experience is a lack of joy. ...

CREDIT CARD RELIGION Rev John Westendorp   Text: – Philippians 3:1-9 Reading – Luke 18:9-14 Songs - BOW 115, 191, 143, ‘In Christ alone’   Introduction: Over the years I’ve heard two very common complaints about Christian preachers. And – in a way – we could level those same two complaints also against the apostle Paul. The first complaint is that preachers don’t know when to say “Amen!”Well, in our text Paul is thinking of winding up his letter to the Philippians. Notice that he begins by saying, ‘finally....’ but then he goes on for two more chapters. Then finally we...