A Fresh Touch – Stephen Riddell

Luke 19:11-27 We have great need to remember that we no longer belong in this world, we are citizens of another Kingdom.  We live in an age and a generation where living is all about living for me!  My ambitions, my dreams, my desires!  We’re so taken up with self and self’s things.  Yet, when we get our hearts right, we’ll get our priorities right; and when we get our priorities right, the fruit of the Master’s basket will once again be full!! It WILL come at cost and it will also come at a loss.  Are you ready and willing to pay that price? 

1 Kings 13:1-10 As one peruses the pages of the New Testament, there stands on record a clear and visible warning to believers against the dangers of deception.  When asked by His disciples, “...what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world” (Mt. 24:3); before ever our Lord made mention of wars and rumours of wars, before ever He spoke of famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places, He first gave warning against the dangers of deception.  In a day of great spiritual deception, we need more now than ever to be vigilant against the smooth infiltration of imposters into the Body of Christ.  May this sermon serve as a reminder and a warning for us to take heed.

Sermon 4 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 14th April 2024

Sermon 3 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 14th April 2024

Sermon 2 of 4 Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 13th April 2024

Sermon 1 of 4  Preached @ 10th Anniversary of Bethesda Shalom 13th April 2024

Ephesians 4:31-32 Relationships matter!  How I treat my fellow man has direct bearing upon my personal relationship with God.  The two are not mutually exclusive. It’s not just me, God and forget everyone else.  Yet surprisingly, this is often how many Christians think.  Husbands can verbally abuse their wives and then turn up to the throne of grace like nothing ever happened.  Brethren, it doesn’t work like that, how I treat my wife is directly related to how God treats me.  Have you not read? “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered (1 Pt. 3:7).  My dear people, this is just one example of many.  This sermon is an exhortation to tenderness of heart; “… be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (Eph. 4:32). 

1 Kings 17:1-5 Suddenly, without announcement or herald, one of the greatest prophets to ever have been born entered into the national arena like a thunder bolt! No record is supplied us of his birth and as to his departure from this world, he was taken up into heaven while still alive! Like Melchisedec coming before him, he was “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). Here before us in 1 Kings 17:1, the prophet Elijah hastily makes his public debut. There’s no time for airs and graces — bypassing the common man, he heads straight for the spiritual White House of Israel for an appointment with the King!!  Now you know the rules Elijah, don’t upset the king — yet the prophet of God knows no such rule, that is if he wants to live up to his calling!!  When a prophet turned up at the door of the royal palace, he wasn't usually bearing glad tidings of peace! Join us as we walk through a portrait of the life of this man of God.

James 2:14-26 Two farmers got down on their knees to pray.  One lived on the east of the village and the other on the west.  The farmer living in the east of the village longed so much for it to rain — it hadn’t rained for months! The crops were perishing and the livestock was famished.  He prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you are going to send rain on Monday!!” News travelled fast of this farmer’s praying efforts and it reached the ears of the farmer living on the other side of the village.  Ordinarily, he would have been the first to join his fellow farmer in prayer for he longed to see rain also; only on this occasion there was a problem.  Monday he had planned a great celebration, “...by all means let it rain on Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday — any day except for Monday or the planned celebration will be a washout!” Thus he got down on his knees and prayed, “O God, I believe with all my heart that you won’t send rain on Monday!!”  Allow me please if I may, to ask a question; which farmer had his prayer answered?  If I were to ask that question in the vast majority of Christian circles, do you know what answer I would get?  The farmer with the most faith!  Now on the surface, this might well seem to be a good and proper answer, but it’s only half the picture, and if left incomplete, it is an unbiblical answer!  In this sermon, we look at the Biblical nature of true faith.

Psalm 46:1-3 They tell me, that Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage or backbone. “Christianity is for those who need a crutch, but as for me and my house, we’ll stand in our own strength!” There are two things that I want to address in the comments I just made.  On both counts, you find the remarks to be erroneous — flawed on every hand.  In addressing the first point, “Christianity is for weaklings; men with no courage nor backbone”.  A precursory glance through the history of the first 300 years of Christianity will serve to amend such talk in an instant. Far from being a religion of comfortability, those early believers were systematically persecuted, first by their countrymen and later by the Romans. Bound by conviction, endued with power from on high; thousands upon thousands of courageous men, women and children embraced martyrdom, counting not their lives dear unto themselves that they might finish their course with joy!!   This sermon is a word of encouragement for those enduring persecution and affliction. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah” (Ps. 46:1-3).