First Ballymoney sermon podcast

Holding firmly. Rev Jim Thompson looks at three words - mother, mentor and master - to help illustrate how God is holding us firmly.

James 1:1-12. Having joy in times of trial, and how to find wisdom when we are unsure what God's purpose is for us when we face those trials.

We continue our journey through Matthew as we look at Matthew 7 verses 1-12 as Jesus teaches us to see how we might be judging others.

In Matthew 6.25-34 Jesus speaks about worry in the light of what he has been saying. We can only "not worry" if something greater has taken hold of our hearts.

Matthew 6.19-24 continues with Jesus' teaching about Kingdom living through the images of your treasure, your eye and your master.

Matthew 6:1-15. Rearranging the ashes or living for God's glory. Stephen looks at Jesus' teaching on giving and praying.

Matthew 5:38-48. Continuing our journey through Matthew’s account of the sermon on the mount, we come to Jesus teaching on loving our enemies. Stephen demonstrates that Jesus wants us to be a servant to anyone and a friend to everyone.

Matthew 5:33-36. Why should we tell the truth? Stephen shows us that truthfulness answers the questions about what it means to believe in God, what it means to be human and what it means to love Jesus.

Matthew 5:27-32. As we continue to work through Matthew's gospel, Stephen looks at what Jesus has to say about marriage and divorce.

Matthew 5:20-26. Stephen looks at another section of Jesus' teaching from Matthew's gospel and contrasts our notions of righteousness with Kingdom righteousness.

Psalm 91. Stephen examines this Psalm of hope, a Psalm that reminds us of God’s sovereignty, His presence and encouragement. However, Stephen reminds us that God has not promised to protect us from all and any troubles; rather, it is about God helping us to remain faithful to Him in our times of trouble.

Luke 24:1-6 and 1 Peter 1:3-4. Stephen looks at the unique nature of Jesus’ resurrection.

Mark 15:25-39. Stephen looks at the account of Jesus’ last hours and shows that his death has paid the ransom price to redeem us from our bondage to a new freedom.

Matthew 21:1-17. What is the character of God we are engaging with when we pray? Using the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, His cleansing of the temple area and His acts of healing, Stephen examines the nature of prayer in the context of God’s welcome, God’s cleansing and God’s healing.

Hosea 3. As we continue our journey to Easter, Stephen looks at the story of Hosea and Gomer to demonstrate God's love for us

Jeremiah 32:6-10 and Acts 27:33-39. Stephen uses two stories of believers caught in great troubles around them - one in a battle and one in a storm - to demonstrate that God is the basis of our hope, and His promises never fail. Permalink

Ruth 3:1-13 and Ruth 4:1-10. Stephen examines the story of Ruth and Boaz to illustrate the meaning of redemption.

1 Samuel 15 12-23 and Matthew 5:17-20. To show the supremacy of all scripture, Stephen highlights how Jesus fulfilled scripture, how He recognised its authority and how we ought to practice living according to scripture.

Luke 14:1-7 and 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. Stephen talks about how we ought to use our finances to advance the Kingdom of God; giving that is a priority, giving that is sacrificial and giving that is a response to God’s grace.

Matthew 5:1-12. Stephen examines the first four of the ‘beatitudes’ given by Jesus in His ‘sermon on the mount’ - four qualities of the heart that God is looking for in us.