Word of Salvation – Vol.  23 No.  37 – June 1977   Cup Day   Sermon by Rev.  A.I. de Graaf, B.D. on Psalm 23:5(b) Scripture Reading: Psalm 23; Matthew 6:24-34 Psalter Hymnal: 318; 94: 1,2 (after law); 428:1,2, (after grace); 380; 38; 402   Brothers & Sisters, Boys and Girls, Young People, Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ Quite a few Christian people are somewhat embarrassed about the special holiday that Melbourne has every year: "CUP DAY”, when every business will be shut and every school closed (except for our Christian Schools by way of protest) and we all have...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No.49 - September 1973   What Kind Of Son Are You...?   Sermon by Rev. Wm. F. Van Brussel on Matthew 21:28-32 SCRIPTURE READING: James 2:14-26 PSALTER HYMNAL: 180; 383:1,2,3; 252; 94:3.4; 232:1,4   God, our Father in Jesus Christ, has many, many children. All of them are called upon to serve Him. You know what is involved there, don't you?  As a congregation of the Lord Jesus you are well aware that to serve God means quite a number of things: It means that...             you LOVE Him with your HEART,             you CONFESS...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 20 No.28 - April 1974   God Rolls Back The Stone   Easter Sermon by Rev. F. L. Vanderbom on Matthew 28:2 Readings: Matt.27:57 - 28:10; Acts 13:16 & 26-41 Psalter Hymnal       356:1  (all)                                            2 (sisters)                                            3 (brothers)                                            4 (all)                                    252:2 + 3 (with Rule)                                     233:5+6                                     sermon                                     357:1 (all)                                            2 (sisters)                                            3 (brothers)                                                refrains by all                                    361 Congregation, Have you ever noticed how you can have just one thing in the memory, which reminds you of a whole lot of other things.  Just...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 20 No. 39 - July 1974   Kingdom Treasures   Sermon by Rev. J. J. C. Westera, B.D. on Matt.13:52 Scripture Reading: Matt. 13:31-51 Psalter Hymnal: 14:1,3; 295:1,3 (law); 317 (faith); 315; 29; 490   Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Young people, and boys and girls, Nobody can talk about the Kingdom of God or of heaven except Jesus and nobody can understand what Jesus says about it except he who believes in Jesus!  In his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus says that we can't even see the kingdom of God unless we are born...

Word of Salvation – Vol.  20 No.50 - September 1974   Survival Of The Weakest   Sermon by Rev. A. I. de Graaf, B.D. on Matt. 5:7 Scripture Reading: Amos 5:6-24; James 2:1-17 P/Hymnal: 204: 1,2,3,5; 301:2,3; 326:1,2,3; 326:4 (dox)   You all know how Darwin's evolution doctrine tells of THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.  According to him, one of the main-springs of the evolution of simple, limited organisms into complex and resourceful ones, is the way the weak ones don't make it and die off in the hard struggle for life. And so the strong ones are left over and...

Word of Salvation – Vol.53 No.45 – December 2008   Joseph — the Silent Partner   A (short) Christmas Sermon by Rev Leo Douma on Matthew 1:18-25 Scripture Reading: Matthew 1:18-25   Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I want to do something different this Christmas and deal with a character we don’t usually talk about on Christmas Day. He is seldom dealt with, although he is a key player in the drama. I guess one of the reasons we don’t talk much about him is that nowhere in the Bible do we read of him saying anything. We hear Mary speak...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.48 – December 2006   Jesus' Origin and Name   An Advent Sermon by Rev John De Jongh on Matthew 1:18-25 Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 7 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 251; 253; 385; Rej 376; 477   Dear Congregation. It's interesting to look closely at the genealogy Matthew records at the beginning of his gospel. We often skip over genealogies like this one, but we shouldn't, because Biblical genealogies often make some very significant points. The genealogy in Matthew 1 is very important. Last time we looked at this passage we saw that this genealogy implies that Jesus...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 39 No.46 – December 1994   From Abraham through David to Christ   Sermon for Advent by: Rev. M.P. Geluk on Matthew 1:17 Readings: Revelation 11:1-14 Matthew 1:1-17   Congregation, beloved in Christ, It might not seem that way but our text, verse 17, speaks about the coming of Christ into the world.  That, of course, is what Christmas is all about.  And with the words of our text, Matthew was aiming to comfort the church with the coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew, the former tax collector, wrote his gospel in the second half of the...

Word of Salvation – Vol.12 No.45 – November 1966   Emmanuel!   Sermon by Rev. J.F.H. VanderBom on Matthew 1:22,23 Scripture Readings: Isaiah 7:1-17 and Matthew 1:18-25 Suggested Hymns: Psalter Hymnal: 334, 289, 342, 343, 468   Brothers and sisters, In our text we read about the wonderful fulfilment of prophecy in the Name Emmanuel, God-with-us.  Have you ever thought over the full meaning of this name? God with us, this means, first of all, that God is not far away.  He is not 'up-there', somewhere, 'but nobody knows where, and even our space-men cannot find Him...!'  No, Emmanuel tells us...

CHRISTMAS MORATORIUM Rev John Westendorp   Text: Matthew 1:21 Scripture Readings: Isaiah 9:1-11 & Matthew 1:18-25   Introduction How many of us know what a MORATORIUM is? Show of hands…? Let me explain. A moratorium is a legal term. It’s especially used in the world of big finance. It means a DELAY: A delay on the payment of a debt in order to re-evaluate it. When we do that it’s called defaulting on our debt. When the government does it it’s called a moratorium. The word moratorium is used for giving something a miss... for a while.   There is a...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.47 – December 2006   A Fresh Start   An Advent Sermon by Rev John De Jongh on Matthew 1:1-17 Scripture Reading: Genesis 2:4-9 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 250; 72a; 252:1-3; Rej 457   Dear Congregation. There was a series on TV a while ago called 'Always Greener' or something like that. It was about one family from the city and another one from the country who swapped places. They both felt they needed a change, a new start. In a far deeper and more important way, a world fallen into sin needs a fresh start. It...

Word of Salvation – Vol.14 No.9 – March 1968   Sons Of The Kingdom   Sermon by Rev. P. van der Schaaf, B.D. on Matthew 8:5-13 & Luke 7:1-10. Scripture Readings: John 4:46-54 Suggested Hymns: Psalter Hymnal: 383; 100 (2,4) (old); 404; 403; 468.   Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ! As you know, in the days when Jesus lived on earth, the Romans ruled over Israel.  Therefore, in several towns, there were Roman garrisons to maintain law and order. Generally speaking, relationships between such garrisons and the population were not too good.  As a rule they hated one another. ...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 47 No.29 – August 2002   Two Ways   Sermon by Rev. John Haverland on Matthew 7:13-14 Scripture Readings: Deut.30:11-20, 31:9-13; Luke 13:22-35   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Most of us, I'm sure, have been out travelling in a car, or walking on a track and have come to a T-intersection, or a fork in the road.  When that happens we are faced with a decision.  Which direction will we go?  What route will we take?  Which path will we go down?  The two tracks go in quite different directions: one is the right...

Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.33 – September 2002   Recognising False Prophets   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 7:15-23 Scripture Readings: 1John 1:5-2:6; Jeremiah 23:13-32   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This sermon is about how false prophets and disciples can be recognised by their failure to produce the fruit of obedience.  And the purpose of the sermon is to urge you to examine false prophets and your own life for the fruit of obedience. People have an amazing ability to deceive themselves.  We have all seen this in people.  If someone has set himself on doing...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.27 - July 2006   Have No Illusions   A Sermon by Rev Allan Quak on Matthew 7:24-27 Scripture Reading:  Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 Suggested Hymns:  BoW 130; 374; 464; 519; Rej 296; 306   Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, young people, boys and girls. You can open any one of a dozen teen magazines available at the moment and the same message will jump out from all of them. "A person who has made it in this world wears the latest fashions, has an executive job, goes on overseas holidays and owns their home". Now is...

Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.21 – June 2002   Do Not Judge   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 7:1-6 Scripture Readings: Romans 14:1-18; 2 Samuel 12:1-7   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The theme of this sermon is: As people who will be judged by God we must not be judgmental of others yet still be discriminating.  And the purpose of the sermon is: To warn us against being judgmental while also encouraging a right judgment. Maybe you have tried to offer someone some advice at some time, or a criticism, or maybe you only gave your...

Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.23 – June 2006   Broad Or Narrow...  What Road Are You On?   A Sermon by Rev Allan Quak on Matthew 7:13-14 Scripture Reading:  Matthew 7:13-29 Suggested Hymns: BoW 51; 416; 425; 479; 451; Rej 512   Congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Finish this sentence in your head. "Life is a ......?" I wonder how many of you said something like, "Life is a journey"? It is a common way to think about life, isn't it? In fact, I would say that many people, be they believers or not-yet-believers, would describe life as a...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 47 No.17 – May 2002   Overcoming Worry   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 6:25-34 Scripture Readings: Philip.3:17-4:13; Psalm 34; Mat.6:19-34   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The theme of this sermon is as follows: Rather than an anxious worry over food, drink and clothing, we must trust God and seek His kingdom.  And the purpose of the sermon is: To explain how believers can overcome worry and to urge us to trust God and seek His kingdom. A recent study showed that children and teenagers are much more anxious now than they...

Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.5 – February 2002   Genuine Prayer   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 6:5-15 Scripture Readings: Daniel 9:1-19   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Many of us find it difficult to pray.  We know we should pray, that we should do that regularly and that our lives ought to be marked by constant prayer.  Yet we are often frustrated in prayer.  We feel that our prayers are inadequate, that we don't pray enough, that we are easily distracted and that we can't find the right words.  I'm sure this reflects the feelings and...

Word of Salvation – Vol. 47 No.9 – March 2002   Fasting - A Neglected Discipline   Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 6:16-18 Scripture Readings: Isaiah 58; Esther 4:1-5, 12-17; Jonah 3   Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Probably many of you have never heard a sermon on fasting.  It isn't part of many church traditions.  In fact, it has been widely neglected by most of the church in the western world for a few hundred years. Initially that neglect was perhaps an over-reaction to the excesses and abuses of fasting in the Roman Catholic Church.  More recently...