Category: Kingdom Of God - St Stephen's Whangaparaoa

Hope in Disaster

27/11/2022

Preacher: Peter Lloyd [Text: Isaiah 2:1-5]
The first Sunday of Advent carries the theme of Hope. In today's Old Testament reading we hear Isaiah's message of Hope to Israel even in the midst of the disaster of defeat and exile. Yet there is the hope of a future reign of peace. We too can have hope in the midst of trials and stress - it is the promise of God.

2022-11-27_hope_in_diaster.pdf
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Kings, Queens and Kingdoms

11/9/2022

Preacher: Helen Hardcastle [Daniel 2:19-23; Acts 13:32-36; Matthew 6:9-14]
At the 8am service, Helen's sermon takes into account the death of HM Queen Elizabeth and looks at Kings and Queens and through to the Kingdom of God.

220911_kings_queens_and_kingdoms.pdf
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Overdelivering with God

17/7/2022

Preacher: The Ven Jonathan Gale [Texts: Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:15-28 ; Luke 10:38-42]
Jonathan, our Archdeacon, and paid us a visit this Sunday. He laid before us a vision of Christ and his Kingdom as the basis for our motivation. “Don’t teach people how to build a ship. Teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

2022-07-17_overdelivering_with_god.pdf
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My Cup Overflows: the LORD is my Portion

31/10/2021

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Ps 23; Ps 16; Rev 21:1-6; Mark 12:26-27]

Today, Ian brings to a close the series on Psalm 23 as we consider God's name: Yahweh my Portion and my Cup. We find that David had confidence in God for all he needed in this life and an inheritance in the afterlife. In the New Covenant we have the same hope in Christ. Today is All Saints Sunday and the theme from Ps 23 flows into a consideration of the Communion of Saints and what that means for us.

You can download a PDF of the sermon here:

2021-10-31_my_cup_overflows.pdf
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The Kingdom Use of Power

28/2/2021

Preacher: Peter Lloyd [Text: Mark 8:31-38]
Jesus tells his disciples that his Kingdom has opposite values to the world's. He, the Messiah, must suffer. Power is to be used for others not for selfish reasons. Follow Peter's challenging sermon in this video.

Aliens and Strangers

7/2/2021

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Genesis 23:1-9,16-20; Ephesians 2:11-22 ; Matthew 12:18-21]
There is an arc which spans scripture - the concept of being aliens and strangers. We look at its beginnings and its conclusion and find a relevance to the Treaty of Waitangi, to citizenship, to salvation.

210207_aliens_and_strangers.pdf
File Size:	715 kb
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The Day of Small Beginnings

26/7/2020

Preacher: Peter Lloyd [Text: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23]
Mustard seed - something tiny yet such potential. What tiny things are in our grasp which God can make to be of great significance?

200726_day_of_small_beginnings.pdf
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Is your King big enough?

29/11/2019

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1:11-20 ; Luke 23:33-43]
Christ the King Sunday - the end of the Church year. Jesus is King. Jeremiah looked forward to him; at the Cross it is proclaimed as Jesus triumphed over evil; Paul looks behind the scenes to tell us the wonder of who he is.

191128_is_your_king_big_enough.pdf
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Privilege and Responsibility

8/10/2017

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46; Philippians 3:4b-14]
In answer to a challenging question, Jesus claims he is the Son of God, shows the leaders their disloyalty to God, warns them of coming judgement and announces the responsibility of the new people to be formed! Quite something from one question.

171008_privilege_and_responsibility.pdf
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The Gospel of the Kingdom

25/6/2017

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Matthew 10:24-39; Jeremiah 20:7-13]
In today's gospel reading, Jesus teaches on the Kingdom of God. It is not all peaches and cream. He is a realist who deals with real issues of conflict and division.

170625_the_gospel_of_the_kingdom.pdf
File Size:	389 kb
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The Lord's Prayer: Your Kingdom Come

23/10/2016

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Luke 11:1-4, 12:22-34; Ps 145; Col 1:9-14]
As we continue in this series on the Lord's Prayer, today we look at "Your kingdom come, your will be done."

161023_thy_kingdom_come.pdf
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The video below is from the Brazilian trip we were on. That trip is referenced in the sermon.

Our God is a Consuming Fire

21/8/2016

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Text: Jer 1:4-10; Heb 13:12:18-29; Lk 13:10-17]
A great hope is set before us - but it is connected with faith and obedience. It is only through God's Word that we can know about it and we are warned not to ignore God's Word.

160821_consuming_fire.pdf
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The Heavenly City

1/5/2016

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Text: Rev 21:10,22-22:5]
John tells us seven main facts about the New Jerusalem and its inhabitants ...

160501_the_heavenly_city.pdf
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The King and His Kingship

22/11/2015

Preacher: Peter Lloyd [Texts: Daniel 7:9-14; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37]
How do we handle power? How does Christ? How should we handle power?

It's War!

7/6/2015

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Mark 3:20-35; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1]
We are in the midst of a spiritual battle - it is naive to think otherwise. Jesus shows us and instructs us in today's reading.

150607_it_is_war.pdf
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The Ascension

14/5/2015

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Text: Ephesians 1:15-23]
We often look at the ascension from Luke accounts or even Daniel's vision. But Paul touches on it as well. What is it about, what does it mean?

150514_the_ascension.pdf
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Christ is King

23/11/2014

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Ezekiel 34:11-24; Ephesians 1:15-23a ; Matthew 25:31-46]
Our texts speak of Christ being King - but more than a national king. I wonder if we have a large enough concept of the majestic sovereignty of Jesus or of the position the Church has in Him?

141123_christ_the_king.pdf
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Ambassadors of Christ

29/6/2014

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Text: Jeremiah 28:5-9; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42]
These three passages all touch on our representation of Christ to the world. What sort of ambassador are you? We explore the privilege, the service and the responsibility of being an ambassador for Christ.

140629_ambassadors_for_christ.pdf
File Size:	493 kb
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The Gospel of the Kingdom

22/6/2014

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Jeremiah 20:7-13; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39]
A challenging word from Jesus, but what is its context? We need to get to grips with the Gospel of the Kingdom to understand where he is coming from.

140629_the_gospel_of_the_kingdom.pdf
File Size:	466 kb
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Messiah Revealed

26/1/2014

Preacher: Ian Hardcastle [Texts: Isaiah 9:1-4 ; Matthew 4:12-23]
Last week we looked at Manifestations (showings) of the Spirit. This week we consider how Christ was shown to people. What does Matthew tell us about his preaching, authority, healing?

140126_messiah_revealed.pdf
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