Malachi 2:1-9 “Admonition to the Priests”
Sermon, September 22nd 2013

In the early 21st century in the western world people no longer trust institutions- the banks, the judiciary, the BBC, the Church… In Malachi’s day the Church could no longer be trusted.

It wasn’t just the ordinary people in Jerusalem who were at fault- it was the priests and ministers who colluded with the people and presented their sacrifices to the Sovereign Lord of hosts.

Where is the hope? They could change their ways- they could return to God’s word and restore God honouring worship. Malachi 2 is an admonition to the priests and ministers.

Malachi 1:6-14 “What Connects Christians?”
Sermon, August 15th 2013

What one thing connects Christian people all over the world, down the ages and across the world? Christian worship. All have worshipped or worship the covenant making God.

During Malachi’s day a number of Jews had returned to Jerusalem after the exile. They had, with the encouragement of Haggai, rebuilt the Temple (a more modest structure than Solomon’s Temple)- but the walls of Jerusalem remained in ruins, pilgrims hadn’t been flocking back to Jerusalem in droves and the city was an economic backwater of the Persian Empire. The sparkle had come off their return to the city of God – they had become cynical and jaded with God and when the prophet Malachi spoke God’s word- his covenant people gave a sharp retort.

Malachi 1:1-5 “God’s Covenant Love”
Sermon, August 8th 2013

In Church people make promises: baptisms, weddings, confirmations. In the Bible we discover that God makes promises to people through covenants. He makes a covenant of love with his Old Testament people through Abraham and then in the New Testament through Jesus. Under God’s covenant of love, God calls his people to live distinctive lives – in the Old Testament through God’s law and in the New Testament through the teaching of Jesus.

1 John 1:1-10
Sermon, April 13th 2013