As Christians in a local fellowship, when your local church is ‘vacant’, the inevitable question arises, “What do we expect the new Pastor to concentrate on when he comes to help us?”   Some Christians hope that the new Pastor will be a dynamic preacher who will be able to encourage us in our Christian faith, give good pastoral care to all, especially the elderly and unwell.  They expect him to be a great evangelist, counsellor and be able to set up programs for our young people, and if they can develop a five- or ten-year plan that would be a bonus.   Other...

Recently, a well-known past AFL footballer had a heart attack and after two days without regaining consciousness passed away.   And then without any reference to the grief his family must have been experiencing, the comment was made, "What a nice way to go, but not if he wasn’t a Christian.”  That comment started to make me think that perhaps dying by a quick heart attack is a nice way to go, both for a non-Christian and Christian alike.  I am not making a judgement call about anything that comes after death, for that is a whole different matter.  But to die with a heart...

Singing in worship (No 2) After receiving some expected and constructive feedback on ‘Singing in Worship’ I thought I would expand a little more on what I previously said and attempt to correct the perceived imbalance.  Let me state it again, I appreciate the many new contemporary lyrics and tunes that have been written and sung in many of our churches.  For example, “How deep the Father’s love”, “Grace, greater than our sin”, “His mercy is more,” “Power of the cross”, “Speak O Lord”, the new version of “Just as I am”, “Amazing Grace – my chains are gone” and many more.  ...

Singing in worship Since my retirement at the end of 2020, I have often thought about our worship practices and especially the wide variety of hymns and songs we are now singing.  I appreciate many of the new hymns and songs that are being sung, and I certainly don’t wish to be a ‘wet-blanket’ on those gifted people who can write new lyrics with good singable tunes.   However, I do have a concern that in the process of trying to be more contemporary, we are losing a richness of biblical theology in our singing.  I am occasionally invited to still...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 45 No.46 – December 2000   Glory to God... and on Earth Peace   A Christmas Sermon by Rev J Zuidema on Luke 2:14 Scripture Readings: Revelation 5; Luke 2:1-20 Suggested Hymns: BoW 255; 259; 268; 271; 279; 270; 265   Beloved people of God. It is without doubt that if you are a Christian then you have much to sing about.  Not just on Christmas day, but every moment of every day.  We can sing about the glorious birth of our Saviour and the ramifications of that birth.  We sing because we celebrate God's indescribable...

One often hears that we sometimes need to ‘draw a line in the sand’ or if you will, ‘nail our colours to the mast’. In other words, there comes a time when we must let people know where our Christian values and morals will not allow us to participate in ungodly action. The seven Manly Sea Eagles (Rugby league players) took a stand this past week and said they would not play if the club insisted they wear a specially designed guernsey displaying the club’s support of the LGBTQIA+ movement. Unlike some other sporting codes, the NRL has up until now...

God’s displeasure and solution Do you ever stop and wonder what God must be thinking of his world, especially when one considers the evil and moral decline of sinful mankind?   This past week while watching the news it struck me again how far society has deteriorated in perpetrating evil and in their morals when compared to God’s revealed will for mankind. Let me give you some examples. This past week the American Supreme court reversed the “Roe v Wade” abortion decision which eliminates the federal constitutional right to have access to abortions nationwide and now allows the various states to determine...

Someone asked his congregation to raise their hands if they were looking forward to heaven.    To nobody’s surprise, hands went up everywhere.  He then asked a follow up question whether they would like to go to heaven that very afternoon.  To nobody’s surprise, not too many hands were raised.  The reality is that the gift of life that most of us enjoy this side of heaven is sweet, as our Creator designed it to be.  The beauty of creation, the wonderful fellowship we can have with fellow human beings, not least our spouse, children, and grandchildren, are a wonderful blessing.  Of...

We live in changing times and that is certainly true in the way we do church today.  Intead of the ‘one-man’ show, we now have some very capable worship leaders, bible readers, children section leaders, and those who lead in congregational prayers and that has been a blessing.  However, from time to time, there are some things we do in worship that we need to perhaps revisit and see whether the way we are doing and saying things align with Scripture. One such important part is how we address God and how we end our corporate prayers.   Some ‘modern’ preachers and others who...

One of the things that has fascinated me for years is the study of the universe. I am often struck with awe at each new discovery, especially the ones that show the immeasurable vastness of the universe and the intricacies of creation in general. At one time (some still do apparently) people thought the earth was flat. However, when scientists and explorers discovered that the earth was round, we were amazed that all the water didn’t run to the bottom. Yes, we know its gravity, but it’s God’s gravity. Still others thought that the sun revolved around the earth. When astronomers...

It’s rather difficult not to be upset, disappointed, and even frustrated about what is happening between Russia and the Ukraine and in many other warring places around the world.  And then we need to deal with the terrible floods we see in Australia, and the loss of homes, goods, and livelihoods. We also see unrest in many cities where people are protesting about government mandated vaccinations.  And if that isn’t enough, some of us need to constantly deal with personal illness and other tragedies in our lives.  As we contemplate these difficult things, we need to be careful about making broad...

One of the many blessings for Christians is the freedom to attend worship each week where we can, amongst other things, sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16), hopefully making a joyful noise unto the Lord.  When one reads the Old and New Testament Scriptures, God’s people were encouraged to write and sing about God’s wonderful acts of deliverance and providence.   Moses, Miriam, and Israel sang a new song about God’s deliverance (Exo 15). Moses was commanded to write a new song in Deut 31:19ff that would bear testimony to God and His work in future days (cf Psa...

Word of Salvation - January 2022   Sermon: We love because He first loved us Scripture Readings: Col 3:12-17; 1 John 4:7-12   Congregation, in today’s world there is much talk and singing about love and commitment.  Endless books are written about love, any number of songs, and poems, and yet when we look at this world, there seems to be so little love. So often in this world love centers around self.  We’re happy to love so long as it suits our personal ends and ambitions.  When two people get married, there is love in the air.  And yet in nearly 33% of married...

Most mainline churches will be struggling to attract people back to church as they transition past the pandemic and its restrictions.  I am not speaking about the building made of bricks and mortar, although a meeting place can be very useful, but the opportunity to hear the gospel preached through the mouth of God’s servant, as it occurs each Lord’s Day as well as enjoying the fellowship of gathered believers, a foretaste of heaven itself.  One of the reasons church leaderships are keen to see people back at ‘church’ is because the gospel needs to be heard, not only for the encouragement...

The first day of the week (Sunday) has certainly changed for many Christians experiencing lockdowns. And setting time aside for worship, albeit online, has brought its own set of challenges. When it first became necessary to stream worship services, many Christians, although disappointed they could not meet as a fellowship of believers for mutual encouragement, made the effort to make Sunday worship special. They recognized that their faithful God and Saviour was worthy of their worship, albeit at home, perhaps sitting on the couch watching a PC or TV screen. Some would even make the special effort to get dressed in...

Meditation: Vengeance is mine…. Most of us this past week have seen the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination protest marches in Melbourne.  Some protestors were from the construction industry, which was locked down for a fortnight, others were anti-vaccination people, and still others were dial-a-crowd stirrers.    Not only were these protestors disobeying lawful government directions as advised by the chief health officer, but the vast majority did not wear a proper face mask or practice social distancing to prevent the possible spread of the pandemic. By their silly actions they were placing our community in danger of a super-spreading event, creating undue pressure on our...

One of the blessings of ‘lockdown’ has been the ability to livestream church services via the internet, whether it is through Zoom, YouTube, or some other social media platform.  Many churches have testified that during lockdown when it was necessary to livestream, some people who would normally not watch a church service have been doing so.  Some strangers have pleaded with churches to continue providing that service, for a spouse or a teenage child is again hearing the good news of Christ.    Some churches have been surprised how the Lord has used their livestream to change people’s hearts about the Christian faith and...

  When I was attending the RTC College homiletics class, our lecturer, the late Rev. Dr Keith Warren, would ask us where we led worship the previous Sunday.  When some of us replied that we ‘preached’ at such and such a place, we were quickly reminded that we do not go and ‘preach’ somewhere, but we go to lead a congregation in worship.   It seems that this is a lovely reminder to all who participate in the Sunday worship service, and especially for the ‘preacher’.   Far too often people will refer to those who bring a message from God’s word as someone who...

All glory be to God…. This past week I was listening to an online service and it struck me that the Christian phrase, ‘all glory to God’   can easily slip from our personal focus and corporate worship.  One of the best ways to ensure ‘all glory to God’ is to acknowledge God’s Son as Saviour and Lord of our lives, for this gives God the Father His greatest glory.   Robbing God of His glory easily slips into our talk and singing.  Interestingly, it doesn’t come in when we read the Scriptures.  The authors of Scripture, guided by the powerful Holy Spirit ensured that the glory...

One of the many things I needed to learn in ministry was to ‘lather before I cut’ or if you prefer, to be a “son of encouragement” rather than a “son of discouragement.”  Let me say from the outset, that it continues to be a work in progress for my natural inclination is to cut before I lather.  It seems to be much easier to find fault than to find reasons for encouragement.   But as someone once said, “If you haven’t got anything good to say, then perhaps you shouldn’t say anything at all.”  Generally, that has been a good rule...