Nightchurch In Kenmore

Two Eyes on Christ 1 Peter 3:8-22  The two results of Christ’s suffering then resurrection (18-22)     Live reflecting your inheritance (8-12)    Suffer proclaiming Christ’s resurrection (13-17) (Preacher: Andreas Mayer)    

Living as Foreigners 1 Peter 2:11-3:7   The 'Fear of the Lord'   This is what it looks like in…             -      Society -      Our homes   Jesus is our example of humble trust in God Preacher: Stephen Young

Worship and Witness  1 Peter 2:4-10     Peter explains who Christians are, in OT language:  A temporary temple and the temple that really matters  A people belonging to God - a kingdom of priests and a holy nation       Who we are, in Christ, shapes our worship and our witness   (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

Grow Up! 1 Peter 1:13-2:3   Five imperatives that flow out of verses 1 to 12:   1.     Set your hope on our future blessings (v13)    2.     Be Holy (v14-16)   3.     Live in reverent fear of God (v17-21)   4.     Love one another (v22-25)   5.     Crave spiritual milk (2:1-3)   We have tasted that the Lord is good, so lets grow up and live like it!   (Preacher: Lawrence Claire)

Hope and Holiness 1 Peter 1:13-2:3   What is holiness and how do you be holy?    Focus on Jesus (1:13-14) .. as God’s people who fear our Father in heaven  (1:15-17)   .. and who trust God through the work of Jesus (1:18-21)    Let God’s powerful word keep transforming your heart (1:22-2:1)   .. and keep being thirsty to grow (2:2-3)   For Christians being holy is being who we are in Christ!   (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

Rejoicing in Christ 1 Peter 1:1-12    We are not home…  ...but this should be a source of hope and joy!   Jesus has already paved the way forward Preacher: Stephen Young

Only God Gives True Meaning & Purpose Ecclesiastes 1-3 & 12 (Reading: 1:1-2:3)   1.    The frustrating and futile search for ‘meaning’ in a  life without God          The conclusion at the beginning                    “everything is meaningless”          The conclusion after various tests                    “everything is meaningless”       2.    It is God who gives true meaning and significance to all we do          The burden …          The conclusion at the end                    “Fear God and keep His commands”       3. Some implications:                         

THE ‘PROBLEM’ OF SUFFERING Job 1-42 (Reading: Chapter 1) 1. The pain of suffering - Job’s suffering (Job chapters 1-3) 2. ‘Foolish’ attempts to answer the unanswerable question - why me? (Job chapters 4-37) Life is a mystery to us - so if we try too hard to know why things happen we’ll end up getting it wrong. And getting it wrong only hurts more. 3. The ‘wise’ response to pain and suffering! (Job chapters 38-42) The wise person can’t necessarily explain why everything happens, but the wise person will want to know God and to trust Him, because God knows why things happen, and He can be trusted. 4. If only Job had a friend who could understand (Hebrews 4:14-16) (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, 54-58 What if dead men don't rise? How do we know Jesus was raised? The glorious resurrection of believers? (preacher: Rayk Platzek)

The Foolishness of the Cross  1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 & Luke 23:35-43      Why preach an unpopular message?       Because it’s the most crucial event in human history     The cross highlights:   -       The seriousness and severity of our rejection of God                  -       Our inability find God on our own terms       -       Jesus’ death in our place, as the only answer   (Preacher: Steve Young)         Like the thief, you can be forgiven and saved through Jesus’ sacrifice in your place…     …will you accept this unpopular message?

Tremble at His Word Isaiah 66    The conclusion of the vision of transformation (1:1)      What God wants is people who are humble, contrite and tremble at His word...                       (66:2)                  ...and that is what God will ultimately have       We’re either in or we’re out…                                                             …are you in?                          (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

Church: Order and Worship (1 Corinthians 14)    The best thing we can do is build up the Church   Paul uses the Corinthians’ obsession with gifts to make this point clear (v. 12)    If we love and build in an ‘orderly way’, we reflect the nature of God himself Preacher: Stephen Young

Trust and Prayer Isaiah 36-39 (Bible Reading 36-37:4)   Isaiah shows us the importance of trusting God..  .. by recounting two parallel situations       Two situations where trust led Hezekiah to pray     Hezekiah was not perfect, but he knew to pray..  .. do you?   (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

Church: Love (1 Corinthians 13)   What love isn’t…                            (vv. 1-3)   What love is…                                (vv. 4-6)     What love does…                          (v. 7)     How far love goes…                       (vv. 8-13) Preacher: Stephen Young

The Perfect King Isaiah 11-12 (Bible Reading 11)     Who He is             What He does             Where He leads us          (Preacher: Rayk Platzek)

Church: Gifts and the Body (1 Corinthians 12) 1. Recognise the Spirit’s work by expressing submission to Christ (1-3) 2. Serve as God’s gifted you, for the common good (4-11) 3. Realise your diversity’s a crucial part of Christ’s united body (12-20) 4. Share united concern by accommodating others’ diversity (21-26) 5. Eagerly desire gifts that build the body (27-31) Preacher: Andreas Mayer

Learning to Trust Isaiah 7:1-10:4 (Bible Reading 7:1-17) The shape of these chapters: 7:1-25  Isaiah speaks with King Ahaz 8:1-9:7  Reflects on 7:1-25 9:8-10:4 Describes the end of the Northern Kingdom Look more closely at 7:1-25 Ahaz is in a messy situation (7:1-2 cf 2 Kings 16) Isaiah tells Ahaz what God would have him do (7:3-9) Ahaz refuses listen (7:10-12 cf 6:9-13) Isaiah continues speaking - in signs (7:13-25) Look a little more closely (v13-16 in particular) Now stand back and look accross 7:1-10:4 again What can we learn, from Isaiah, about living for God in our own real-life (often ‘messy’) situations? (Preacher: Steve Blencowe)

Freedom in the Church (1 Corinthians 11:2-34) This passage has a few tricky bits: man/woman or husband/wife? head coverings? headship? o angels (v. 10), and long hair on men? (v. 14) So, we should start by looking at what we do know from the text: We worship a God of order There are God-given differences between men and women Love builds up the church Preacher: Stephen Young

Before The Throne of God Isaiah 6 God's glory is incomparable Hearts will inevitably be changed Repentance is met with cleansing atonement This encounter with God ends with proclamation by his messenger (Preacher: Thom Herbert)

Freedom and its Dangers (1 Corinthians 10:1-11:1) Reading 1 Cor 10:23-11:1 The dangers of abusing our freedom… (an example from history!) We do not have freedom to sin… …but God is faithful (v. 13), and will help us live for him Preacher: Stephen Young