All Nations Presbyterian Church: Morning Sermon Series

Acts 7:54-8:8 - "Suffering Spreads God's Word"

Last Sunday morning, we heard from Acts 7:54-8:8 together. In this passage, Stephen is killed for his faith in Jesus. A widespread persecution then breaks out against the church, and believers are scattered across Judea and Samaria, where they carry the gospel into a new region. We especially saw that as Christians, we and the worldwide church will eventually suffer for our faith. Yet, even in the midst of suffering and persecution, there is hope. Jesus Christ our Savior has suffered before us, dying to pay for our sins. Not only that, but God even uses suffering and persecution to spread His Word in this world. One day, our suffering will be over, and Jesus Christ will welcome us His blood-bought children home to glory. This week, take some time to thank God for Jesus Christ who suffered and died to save us. Then, ask for strength from the Holy Spirit that we and the worldwide church can face whatever suffering we experience with patience, faith, and grace.

Genesis 3:14-24 - God's Curse and Our Reality

On Sunday morning, we looked at the curse that God put on the world as a punishment for sin. This explains so much of what our world is like. Conflict between good and evil, difficulty in child-raising, conflict in male-female relationships, and frustration with work are all part of God's curse. And, of course, death was now a reality. Life, in many ways, is hard now. We feel the challenges and the futility of living in this world. We have no way of fixing it ourselves, just like Adam was not given a way to fix it. God instead gave him hope and explained that one day it would be fixed. That solution is only found in Jesus. Sin explains why our world is a mess, and many feel the difficulty of living in this world under a curse. Yet we have hope, and joy, because of Jesus. One day the effects of the curse will be completely gone for those who trust in Jesus. In the difficult times that come this week, remember this. The effects of sin are temporary but the future hope we have is eternal.

Genesis 3:1-13 - The Biggest Disaster of All

On Sunday morning, we looked at the terrible fall into sin in Genesis 3. The man and woman, tempted by the serpent, decided to do what God had told them not to do. This led to all of us being like them, choosing what we wanted instead of what God has for us. This led to awful outcomes for them, conflict between them, the reality of shame, and hiding from God. This passage is helpful for us in at least two ways. One if that it shows us what sin is like, even in our own lives. We need to trust God's word and understand his rules are for our good, and resist temptation with the help of the Spirit. The second way is that it shows us why we need Jesus, God's perfect solution to the sin problem. If left to ourselves, we hide, we don't earn our way back to being right with God. Spend some time this week both confessing your sins and asking for God's help, as well as thanking God for sending Jesus to die for our sin.

Genesis 2:18-25 - Men and Women in God's Sight

On Sunday morning, we looked at the relationship between men and women from the end of Genesis 2. We already knew that men and women are equal in God's sight, both made in God's image - we saw that in chapter 1. This passage described the creation of woman as a way of helping with the issue of man being alone. People need one another. We need to have relationships with the opposite gender from ourselves. There is difference in role but equality in value between the genders. We shouldn't read the word 'helper' here as a word that describes a lesser person in any way! God made men and women because each gender has a different way of honouring God and living well in God's world. While there will always be gender wars and disagreements and cultural issues to work through, we must always remember the principle of equality in value and difference in function.