St John's Ashfield

Taking every thought captive for Christ

How can weakness be strength? Why would it make sense to be content with my weaknesses? When does meekness become weakness. This sermons starts a series called Grace and Weakness, from 2 Cor 10-13, a life changing, perspective shifting portion of Scripture. 

IJM Freedom Sunday

God loves a cheerful giver

The most obvious thing in the world is that finances are a zero sum game - if someone has more, you have less; if you give money away, then you have less afterwards. But what if our finances didn’t operate according to the world, but according the power of God. This sermon explores life in the economy of God.

Riches and poverty

The statistics are as significant as they are surprising - nearly half the parables of Jesus deal with issues to do with money and wealth, and fully 10% of the verses in the New Testament are about the same subject. For Jesus, how we deal with our money and wealth really matters. In this sermon, the first of a short series, we look at 2 Cor 8, and see how Paul leads the Corinthians church and us - to be a 'centre of excellence' in Christian stewardship.

Integrated series: The habits of community: Encouragement

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” So writes the author of the Proverbs. How to harness that power to build people up, and give them grace? This sermon examines the final habit of community, encouragement.

Integrated series: The habits of community: Serving

Serving others is perhaps the most countercultural thing that Christians can do. Where can we get the spiritual power to lift our eyes and hearts beyond ourselves and to the interests of others, except knowing the One who put our interests before His own. This sermon challenges us to live lives of service in response to the grace of our Servant King.

Integrated series: The habits of community: Conflict (and dealing with it well)

Conflict - most people hate it, some people love it. The surprising thing about conflict is that it is not only inevitable, but it can also be highly productive for community, when handled healthily. This sermon explores Jesus’ instructions for how to do conflict well, and his powerful word about where we get the strength to do that.

Integrated series: The habits of community: Hospitality

In our individualistic culture, community - real, thick, deep, accountable, involved community - makes less and less sense. This is the first of four sermons exploring the habits of community, and we start with the surprising centrality of hospitality.

Transfiguration

The transfiguration of Jesus is one of those wonderful, and yet puzzling events in the gospel narrative of Jesus’ life. What is really going on in the Transfiguration? And why is is a moment of glorious hope for us! This sermon marvels at the Transfigured Lord.

Trust in the Lord who... is our salvation

How do we respond when we know in our hearts that the Lord will fulfil his promises and save his people? Guest preacher Bishop Michael Stead opens up both the personal and communal aspects of our reflex of thanks and praise.

Trust the Lord who... reigns

The vision of Isaiah is rich and deep and full - it moves from the depths of judgment to the joys of salvation. This sermon takes us into what Isaiah sees about the anointed leader who stand at the front of God’s renewed people. upon whom the Spirit of the Lord will rest.

Trust the Lord who... is always with us

In Isaiah 7–9 God’s prophet exposes the bad deals the king and people of Judah have made to manage the risks they face. How can their experience and God’s promise of a new king help us to avoid making bad deals and instead stand firm in our trust in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Trust the Lord who is... Holy, Holy, Holy

Have you ever wished God would just show himself to you? Isaiah’s encounter with God might make you reconsider! Learn with Isaiah how the terrifying holiness of God also creates the conditions we need for renewal.

Trust the Lord who... judges

The Christian God is a God who judges. That’s a hard truth for our culture. But how unreasonable is it? After all, the judgments we make every day are often pretty poor. How can we hope to escape the consequences of our own misjudgments, let alone the consequences of the judgment of a holy God? The answer lies in the One who received the consequences of God’s judgment on our misjudgments. 

Trust the Lord who... cleanses

In Isaiah 3-4 we see the social condition of Jerusalem and Judah and something is terribly wrong - this is a city bereft, disordered and disintegrating.  With piercing vision Isaiah sees with concern these are symptoms of their spiritual malaise.  They are a people of hard hearts and it forces us to ask the question, how do you overcome a hard heart? Only by grace as our hearts are softened by the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus who stood before the judge in our place to make us righ...

Trust the Lord who ... turns things upside down

Trust the Lord who ... hates hypocrisy

Isa 1:1-31, Matt 23:23-39 | How do you change someone’s heart? How do you change your own heart? Heart failure was the problem that Isaiah saw as he began his mighty prophetic ministry to Israel, and his words speak powerfully to us. Join us as we start this series in Isaiah 1-12.

In Christ Alone

Psalm 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Ephesians 4:1-6 | It's actually fairly possible for the watching world to be positive about grace, faith and even Scripture, which are the first three of the Reformation 'alone'. It's when we get to 'Christ alone' - the gospel truth that only in Christ is the blessing and saving grace of God to be found - that thing get more heated. This sermon unfolds the gospel logic of Christ alone.

Scripture Alone

Psalm 19:1-14, 1 John 1:1-10 | How do we have confidence that what we believe about God is not just guesswork, but is reliable truth? In this sermon, we look at the third reformation Sola, Scripture Alone, and see in it a foundation for humble confidence.

Faith Alone

Genesis 15:1-21; Romans 10:5-15 | If even the devil believes in the existence of God - and shudders! - what is real faith? And how does it actually impact on our lives? This sermon continues our series on the great Reformation rallying cries: Faith Alone.

Grace Alone

Hosea 11:1-9, Ephesians 1:3-14 | The sheer, pure grace of God is both the glory and the scandal of the Christian gospel. And it's also the only thing that will transform hearts and lives. Hear Andrew Katay unpack this paradox as we begin this series on the 5 great rallying cries of the Reformation.

We will be raised with Christ

Bible reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Christ was raised

Bible Reading: John 20:1-29

Dark Church

Bible Reading: John 13:1-30 | Hear from John's account of Jesus' last night with his disciples before his crucifixion

Jesus of Nazareth: The Prophesied King

Bible Readings: Psalm 22:1-21; John 19:23-27

Are you the king of the Jews?

John 18:28-40, Isaiah 9:1-7 |

Whom are you looking for?

Genesis 3:1-7, John 18:1-11 | We all know there's darkness in the world—both "out there" in the big injustices and "in here" in the recesses of our own hearts. John tells us that Jesus is 'the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome him'. But how does the light of Jesus overcome the darkness? And given the darkness in our own hearts, how can we escape being overcome?

Our Cause is Grace

Hebrews 2:5-18 | Grace can be defined as 'attitude in action'. So what's the attitude? And what's the action? And what happens when we make grace our great cause?

Our Mission is People

Hebrews 2:5-18 | So many church mission statements have as their focus the church as an institution or organisation - we want to be X many by Y time. But at CCIW, because our vision is Jesus, our mission is not an institution or an organisation - our mission is people.

Our Vision is Jesus

Hebrews 2:5-18; Revelation 1:9-18 | Sometimes life - our fears, our guilt, our pain - can dim our vision. What happens when we lift our eyes, and Jesus is our vision?

Resolutions: Mission

Colossians 4:2-6

Resolutions: Work

Colossians 3:22 - 4:1

Resolutions: Households

1 Timothy 5:1-10

Resolutions: Community

Romans 12:3-8 | Hebrews 10:23-25

Resolutions: Loving God

Matthew 22:34-40 | 1 Timothy 4:6-10

Zechariah's Song

Malachi 4:1-6 | Luke 1:57-80

Mary's Song

1 Samuel 2:1-10 | Psalm 98:1-10 | Luke 1:26-56

Grace and Repentance

2 Corinthians 2:7-16 | Luke 18:9-14

Grace and Purity

2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1 | Luke 13:20-29

Grace and Servanthood

2 Corinthians 6:3-13 | Matthew 5:14-16

Grace and Resilience, pt. 3

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 | John 2:12-22

Grace and Resilience, pt. 2

2 Corinthians 4:7-18 | Mark 4:30-32

Grace and Resilience, pt. 1

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 | Mark 4:1-20

Grace and Glory

Grace and Confidence

Grace and Forgiveness

Grace and Faithfulness

Grace and Suffering

The model of prayer: when we pray

The heart of prayer: how we pray