worship

on

Pastor Ryan is starting his new sermon series on Heroes and Villains of the Bible off with a bang! Jezebel (obviously a villain) was known for many things including leading Israel (via her husband king Ahab) astray to worship Baal. (Note: the recording starts about a minute into the sermon.)

Proverbs 9:13-18 (NLT) ; 箴 言 9:13-18 (CUVS)
Revelation 2:18-29 (NLT) ; 啟 示 錄 2:18-29 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript).

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash (with apologies to the real woman depicted in this photo, who is unlikely to be like Jezebel! But she does look like she is planning something…)

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

on

Pastor Ryan’s sermon “Prepared to Enter” explores how we should prepare ourselves for worship. What kind of character do we need to have if we want to “dwell in the house of the Lord”, or remain in the presence of the Holy One?

Colossians 1:21-23 (NLT) ; 歌 羅 西 書 1:21-23 (CUVS)
Psalm 15 (NLT) ; 詩 篇 15 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript).

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash

on

Pastor Ryan’s sermon “Scattered Seed” is based on Jesus’ parable of the sower: some seeds fell on rocky soil, some on thin soil, some among thorns, and so on. Jesus explains what it means, so our job is to figure out where we fit in the parable. It all seems quite straightforward, until you look at the farmer…

Hosea 10:12 (NLT) / 何 西 阿 書 10:12 (CUVS)
Matthew 13:1-9 NLT) / 馬 太 福 音 13:1-9 (CUVS)
Matthew 13:18-23 (NLT) / 馬 太 福 音 13:18-23 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript).

Photo by Roman Synkevych on Unsplash

on

Pastor Ryan’s sermon “The Jar Paradox” talks about the paradox in the image of believers being “fragile jars of clay”, as well as the paradoxes that follow in Paul’s letter. It doesn’t make sense that the great treasure of the Gospel would be “stored” in relatively fragile containers, and yet that is exactly what God has done in entrusting us not only to experience His love, power and grace for ourselves, but also to be witness of that to the world around us.

Psalm 18:1-6 (NLT) / 詩 篇 18:1-6 (CUVS)
2 Corinthians 4:5-12 (NLT) / 歌 林 多 後 書 4:5-12 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript). In this sermon, he talks about the classic children’s book The Velveteen Rabbit. Since it is out of copyright, you can read it online for free if you like.

Photo by Earl Wilcox on Unsplash

on

Pastor Ryan’s sermon “Honour the Lord” talks about what that means. Are we included in the “heavenly beings” that Psalm 29 calls to honour God? What are some ways that we can honour God with our words and actions? How do we turn our hearts to want to honour Him?

Isaiah 25:1-5 (NLT) / 以 賽 亞 書 25:1-5 (CUVS)
Psalm 29 (NLT) / 詩 篇 29 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript).

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash