Philemon #4 Toowong Baptist Church 18.03.2012 Reading: Philemon 1-25 Greetings from Rome Introduction Well, this is it – the last message on Paul’s letter to Philemon appealing for mercy and a warm welcome for Onesimus the runaway slave. To tell you the truth, when I started out I had no idea how I [...]
Philemon #3 Toowong Baptist Church 11.03.2012 Readings: Philemon 17-21 + 1 John 1:8-2:6 Paul’s Promise and Philemon’s Debt Introduction Last Sunday I got not one word of feedback about the sermon and so I went home thinking I hadn’t done a very good job of touching your hearts and minds and making a [...]
Philemon #2 Toowong Baptist Church 04.03.2012 Reading: Philemon 1-25 Freedom and Love The intercession of an apostle When God created the first human beings he could have programmed them like robots to love and obey him; but that would not have counted as real love and obedience, would it? Instead, he [...]
Philemon #1 Toowong Baptist Church 26.02.2012 Reading: Philemon 1-25 A Very Personal Letter The Occasion I have always loved Paul’s letter to Philemon. I guess it has something to do with the fact that this is a personal letter written by Paul to a Christian brother, named Philemon, appealing for [...]
Ruth #2 Toowong Baptist Church 16.10.11 Reading: Ruth 2 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne Do things like this just happen? 1 Introduction When I first read this chapter last week, the verse that jumped off the page for me was 2:19 – Naomi’s [...]
Ruth #1 Toowong Baptist Church 09.10.11 Reading: Ruth 1 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne The Undetected Hand of God Background Briefing Ruth is a compact masterpiece of storytelling – arguably the greatest piece of storytelling in the Old Testament. It’s [...]
Mark Series 2 – #13 Toowong Baptist Church 02.10.11 Reading: Mark 16 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne Some resurrection Questions Why such an abrupt conclusion? You’d have to admit that if Mark’s Gospel ends at 16:8 then it is a very strangely abrupt conclusion that sort of leaves us up in the [...]
Mark Series 2 – #12 Toowong Baptist Church 25.09.11 Reading: Mark 15 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne THE CROSS Introduction This is the saddest part of Jesus’ life – how he was treated at his death, as he laid down his life for the sins of the world. All we have here [...]
Mark Series 2 – #11 Toowong Baptist Church 18.09.11 Reading: Mark 14: 32-72 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne The cup, the kiss, & the trials Introduction This has been a difficult sermon to write because it’s such an important part of the gospel of Jesus. But, the best advice I got from [...]
Mark Series 2 – #10 Toowong Baptist Church 11.09.2011 Reading: Mark 14:1-31 Speaker: Pastor Charles Byrne The Last Supper Introduction Have you ever wondered about some of the strangeness of the events leading up to the Last Supper that Jesus ate with his disciples the night before the cross? For instance, when [...]