Sermons

(For those physically able to, this cannot be a substitute, however, for worshipping in church!) 


The Church in Thyatira – To whom and what are you loyal? Rev. 2: 18 – 29
It is sobering to think that as Christians go out in the world wherever we live, is our life such a mixed message that people look at me and have to wonder, as in our theme today, “To whom or what are you loyal?” God is not a God of compromises. As Jesus said, ‘if you want to serve me, you must follow me’. He remains resolute in that, as the feet of burnished bronze in today’s text suggest. Will people see that your loyalty, and my loyalty, lies with Him? And will our hearts and minds confirm this to the penetrating eyes of Christ? For the only way to follow Christ is to let Him change our hearts and the Holy Spirit renew our minds by filling our lives. To read full sermon, click here.


“Come, my young friends, and listen to me, and I will teach you to honour the Lord.” Psalms 34: 11 – 14 GNB/TEV [Worship the Lord 18.9.11]
As we think of the situation in our Island today, a line from a Bob Dylan song (quoted by Todd Burkhalter in “One Shot”), raises a sobering question: “How does it feel to be on your own with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?” There is no valid excuse for any young person in our society not knowing the way home, home to Christ. But it is a tragic reality that many of them have no direction. And that in all this good life we have here, they do feel like a complete unknown, rather than a VIP child of God. And the consequences are obvious. To read full sermon, click here.


"Risky Business! The costs of being a Christian" - "God is love. God is also absolutely righteous. God sees and hears the heart. So that peril faced by Moses is very real for us as Christians today. Sincerity and integrity. It is why it is never sufficient for the Christian to ‘go and tell’ God’s message with words if what we do is not faithful to God and in obedience to His precepts. It is also not effective! That is one reason the Church is often not taken seriously or, increasingly in today’s world and today’s Cayman, held up to disbelief and contempt by so many. We hear you always preaching, we are told publicly, that God says to do so and so but we do not see you doing that. For the Christian, Moses’ question to God has become Jesus’ question to us, ‘Who do you say – by your actions as well as your explanations - that I am?’ That is a serious responsibility. And it can get complicated." See full sermon here.
 
"Taking Time to Know God" - "We wonder why it is that many of us who profess to be Christians, indeed are active in our churches, don’t match up when it comes to our lifestyles. And if we wonder, what do those outside the church think about us?" See full sermon here.

"God's Grace is for All" - "The good news, in fact the wonderful news, is that God’s Grace is for All. The bad news, the really tragic news, is that God’s Grace is not for all. And a third twist on this morning’s theme is that, for most of us, in some situations we’d like to ignore that good news, that God’s Grace is for All.
Let’s deal with the third twist first, our Jonah tendency..." See full sermon here. 

"God in the City" - “One way of rolling back [the weight of regulation the City is complaining about] would be to have a morality that inspired responsible behaviour and gained the trust of others. I feel, however, that we have passed the point where that will be possible.” See full talk here on the article from which this is quoted.

"Fullness of Life" - Worship the Lord 13^th February 2011. "The ultimate fullness of life that Jesus brings is the eternal life He assured us of if we truly believe in Him. But let us not ignore Christ's concern for people to have a "full life" in this world as well. See full sermon here.

"Holding Nothing Back (from God) demands a willingness to sacrifice our notion of what is the most important" 
 - and much more. So argued and illustrated the Rev. Donovan Myers in a recent sermon calling us to review our level of commitment and the response to our privileges as followers of Christ. For his brief notes for the sermon, please click here.
"Worship God with all my Mind" a sermon by Rev. Dr. Dave Hazle at the Annual Service of Appreciation for the Staff of the Cayman Prep and High School, 17th October 2010 - click here for full sermon.

"Growing in Faith - Touched, in order to Touch Others"  - 
"If I don’t stop to let the little district bus back out into the stream of traffic in Monday morning rush hour, what was I doing in church on Sunday? Clearly his passengers need to get to work on time too. And surely God wants them to. So if God wants it, what is my responsibility?" See full sermon here.

"Be Prepared ... for the Wait" - 18th July 2010 - You think the World Cup was great! Do you want to participate in the Big Event or just watch passively? See full sermon here. 

What are you doing here?
This "brutally direct question" is a call to reflection and action we each need to hear - and this Pastor's letter is a great sermon - click here to read full sermon

Extracts From A Sermon
- by Rt. Rev. Dr. Roderick Hewitt as the CWM Assembly 2006 opens in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on 18th June
CWM's Assembly in Ocho Rios opened on 18 June with a challenge to take the good news home...
"God's redemptive work is opposed to structures of injustice at every level in our world that maintains the privileges of the powerful," he said. - click here to read full sermon

You Matter
St. John 15: 9 - 17
“Love is dangerous” says a cover story article in the National Geographic - click here to read full sermon

Newness
The central message of the Bible is a message of newness.  It speaks emphatically and forcefully of the creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1)  - click here to read full sermon

Being The Church In A Changing World
Isaiah 58: 1- 14
In a recent sermon at an ordination service of the United Church, The Rev. Norbert Stephens, Minister of Webster Memorial United Church in Kingston, Jamaica, examined a number of topics that are critical to all of us who comprise Christ's Church in today's world: "How should the church function in a rapidly changing world?” How do we retain or reclaim our identity? What is our core business as church in a time like this? Should we remain fixed and fixated by our traditions and practices and simply wait out the changes occurring in every area of life, or should we just go with the flow? Should we, like the shapers of our tradition did, raise the theological questions about life and customs, or should we just park the questions in the search for relevance and growth? - click here to read full sermon

Formed For God's Family
A sermon presented as part of the George Town charge’s 40 Days of Purpose Programme, and based on:
The Purpose Driven Life - Part 3
Rick Warren
Saddleback Church – Lake Forest, Calif.
- click here to read full sermon

Going? Or Going along?
Lift your sights higher
(Extract from a sermon on God's grace - New Testament readings and commentary omitted for this purpose.)
Text: Genesis 12:1-4; Psalms 121;
Genesis 12: 4 told us “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.”
So we see Abram going, as the Lord had told him… - click here to read full sermon