Sermons on Holy Spirit
Rekindle the Gift of God
The Letters to Timothy Rekindle the Gift of God Readings: 2 Timothy 1:1-14 Preacher: Kevin Kim Why is it that everything seems to drift towards disorder? Scientists call it entropy—the natural tendency for things to wear out, break down and lose energy. But could the same be true of our spiritual lives? In this message from 2 Timothy, we meet a weary and discouraged Timothy, and discover Paul’s gentle invitation to “fan into flame the gift of God.” Rather than calling Read more
The Audacity of Pentecost Hope
The Audacity of Pentecost HopeReadings: Acts 2:1-21 Preacher: Phil Swain Pentecost is not just the day the church received spiritual energy, it was the day when confused, overwhelmed disciples were given the courage to believe that God’s future was still possible. They had every reason to stay hidden and yet the Spirit came — not to help them escape the world, but to send them back into it with courage, compassion and hope. We will we be borrowing an idea Read more
Hope anchored in Christ
Hebrews – Hold onto Hope. Hope anchored in ChristReadings: Hebrews 6:1-20 Preacher: Phil Swain This Sunday we are continuing exploring the New Testament in our new sermons series focusing on selected passages in Hebrews – Hold onto Hope. When we look around our world at the moment; or even around our own communities or life; there is a lot of things happening that are unsettling. It is like the storms of life have settled in and some of us are Read more
Pentecost – Living in the Spirit
PENTECOST … Life in the SpiritReading: Acts 2:1-4 and Galatians 5:13-26 Preacher: Rev. Phil Swain Pentecost is the day that we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit – the fulfilment of Jesus promise in John 14. Jesus said that he would ask the Father to send us a helper – one to walk beside us and help us in all we do. That helper is the Holy Spirit. But did you know that there is a connection between the Read more
Loving Spirit
The Holy Spirit and the Church: Loving Spirit Preacher: Rev Phil Swain Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 This week we read Paul’s famous discussion on love from 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. We will ponder how love is the one de-constructable reality, the most fundamental principle of the universe, and the very essence of God. The sort of love that Paul calls us to in this passage goes against the world’s thinking where domination, control and pride are the logic of the Read more
Living Spirit
The Holy Spirit and the Church: Living SpiritPreacher: Rev Phil SwainBible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 12-22, 50-58 In our series looking at how the Holy Spirit worked through the Early church, we have come to the Church at Corinth. Despite living in a cosmopolitan city, the first century people of Corinth were finding the worship offered by the usual religions unsatisfying. It was in to this context that Paul established the church with talk of the Holy Spirit that can Read more
Disruptive Spirit
Preacher: Rev Phil SwainBible Reading: Acts 17:1-9 and 1 Thess 1:1-10 As we approach Pentecost we continue to explore how the Spirit moved within the early church – and this week we are looking particularly at the Early Church in Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a busy city with a diverse group of people and religions – and the arrival of Paul with the gospel of Jesus was disruptive. But disruption can sometimes be good as we are forced to consider whether Read more
Healing Spirit
The Holy Spirit and the Church: Healing Spirit Bible Reading: Acts 3:1-11 Preacher: Rev Phil Swain In this period between Easter and Pentecost, we are exploring the way the Holy Spirit works within the church – both the Early Church as told in the book of Acts and our own church here at TUC. This week our reading is the familiar story of Peter and John healing a lame man at the temple and it raises a number of interesting Read more
Guided by God’s Promises
Sermon text As many of you know, I play tennis with some of our church members on Monday morning. Last Monday, my body was so heavy and was not hitting the ball as I hoped I would. My body was not just responding. Although I can still run faster than all of my lovely Monday tennis friends, I know I will be getting slower. I still want to improve my second serve and backhand, but my body will be ageing Read more
Trinity Sunday
Readings: John 16:12-15 Preacher: Rev Kevin Kim Kevin speaks about ‘The Triune God’, based on two Bible passages Matthew 28:16-20 and John 16:12-15 on this Trinity Sunday. We hear the trinitarian language from liturgy, prayers and some theological textbooks a lot these days. Why is the doctrine of trinity still so important for us today? Kevin explores this doctrine in relation to the issue of community and relationship. First, God is community-building love. It is in community that we can Read more
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