Messages

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

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Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, three separate events all fore-shadowed in their Biblical roots, but together forming one composite event, the greatest single event in history.

 

Golgotha (Skull Hill)
The Garden Tomb

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A Mothers Day Message

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A Biblical look at the experience of Mary (Miriam), and what we can learn from this Godly and wonderful Jewish woman on Mothers Day.

 

Click here for a link to the timeline of the Biblical account of Jesus birth, from Answers in Genesis.

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The Letter to Colossians (2)

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How the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Advances in a Disorderly World
Sermon on Colossians 1:3-8: Series of Expositions on Colossians
Dr Annang Asumang
Introduction
The last time I was here, we started a series of expositions on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. We learnt that the theme of Colossians is Advancing the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus in a Disorderly World. In that case, Colossians is as much a letter for then as it is for now. Colossians 1 speaks about the Founding of the Kingdom, Col 2, the Fortification of the Kingdom, Col 3 the Flourishing of the Kingdom and Col 4, the Fellowship of the Kingdom.
The passage before us this morning, Col 1:3-8, is technically called a Thanksgiving Report.
Paul’s letters regularly start with four elements. The first element is a Self-introduction. So here in Col 1:1 he begins, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother” (1:1). The second element is the Address of the Recipients – 1:2a: “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae”. The third is a Salutation which we find in 1:2b: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father”. The fourth element, which is the Thanksgiving-prayer Report, is lacking in Galatians and Titus, but we have it here in Col 1:3-12. Often the thanksgiving is brief and naturally leads him to the longer prayer report. But here in Colossians, the thanksgiving is long and complex, stretching from Col 1:3-8, and then followed by the prayer report in Col 1:9-12 which will be our focus when God willing I join you next time. Read the rest of this entry »

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The book of Colossians

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Advancing the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus in a Disorderly World
Introduction to a Series of Expositions on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians
By Dr Annang Asumang
Introduction
Of the thirteen letters written by Paul, five emanated from his time in prison. One of these letters is Colossians. And in the next fourteen visits with you here at Celebration Church; I shall, God willing, and of course, you being happy to invite me here again, I shall devote each visit to expound on this Letter, its meaning and more importantly, its application to us today.
Now Colossians is a very special book indeed. You may know that in terms of vocabulary, Colossians is very similar to Ephesians. In fact 25%, a quarter of the words in Colossians are also repeated verbatim in Ephesians. So parts of Colossians sounds very much like Ephesians. That is why for many Christians, Colossians exists in the shadow of Ephesians. But, of course, in terms of its message, Colossians cuts its own path, it addresses its own specific situation and it deals with a distinctive aspect of Christian discipleship. We do ourselves a lot of injustice, and rob ourselves of immense blessings if we allow Colossians to remain in the shadow of Ephesians or of any other book for that matter. Read the rest of this entry »

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The related timings of the births of Jesus and John the Baptist

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It is not specifically stated in the Bible when Jesus was born. However, the indications from Scripture give us a pretty good guide of when He was born, and importantly, when He was not born. We are given clues in the details concerning the priestly service of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, and the fact that Jesus and John were cousins.

Zechariah, was of the priestly division of Abijah (Luke 1:5,8). Back in King David’s day, the priests had been separated into 24 turns or divisions. These turns began in the first month of the Jewish calendar (1 Chronicles 27:2), March or April of our modern calendar. According to Talmudic and Qumran sources, the turns rotated every week until they reached the end of the sixth month, when the cycle was repeated again until the end of the year. This would mean that Zechariah’s division served at the temple twice a year.

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God’s Amazing Autumnal Celebrations

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God clearly describes the feasts, set in the yearly calendar of Israel in Leviticus 23, as His feasts, His celebrations. They are special events full of significance. They are called holy convocations, in Hebrew “miqra”, which also means rehearsals. beholdBy instituting the feasts, God was painting a picture of the various prophetic milestones of His entire plan of salvation! And by rehearsing them every year throughout the yearly calendar, His people would be able to recognise the fulfilments when they occurred as being the work of God. Jesus said all things from the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled concerning Him, Luke 24:44.

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The SERMON on the MOUNT (2)

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Part 2 of a series on The Sermon On The Mount by John Lavric

Matthew 5:6-7

The beatitudes are not a multi-choice question, choose any 1 from 8, but the building blocks of the character of a citizen of the kingdom. As Jesus goes through the sermon He will build on these basic principles. Knowing our poverty of spirit, mourning because of it and being meek or humble enough to acknowledge it will do us no good at all unless we are prepared to do something about it. These first three beatitudes imply the next one

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (vs. 6) Read the rest of this entry »

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The SERMON on the MOUNT

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Part 1 of a series on The Sermon On The Mount by John Lavric

Matthew 5:3-5

Rather than searching for which particular subject to consider next, I have decided to look at topics as they naturally arise in the Bible, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount? I don`t apologise for this even though I have preached though it at Celebration and Ashgrove and we have studied it at house group. Because its focus is on the citizens of the kingdom we should always keep it before us. It has influenced many ‘good’ laws since Jesus spoke it and is relevant for every generation. Let us first put it in its historical setting. This is one message, given in one location to a people waiting for a king to come and bring in his kingdom. For that reason I think a better title would be The Sermon of the Kingdom. Matthew records it as one complete sermon but I am sure parts of it were repeated. Jesus seeks to establish what are the pre-requisites for people to be part of that kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »

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