Chichester Baptist Church Sermons

The idea of God choosing people to be saved leaves many asking why me and why not my friends and relatives? This message presents the mystery of the christian faith in which it is God who saves and individuals who have a responsibility to choose God (or not).

Paul affirms that the gospel he preaches has no place for human achievement and merit in earning salvation. But total dependence on the unmerited grace of God, displayed in the Cross of Jesus, offends people’s pride. Whether or not, in daily life, you are led by the Holy Spirit or you follow the desires of the old sinful nature, is evident by the practical lifestyle and moral choices you make.

In just one generation, the Western World view of homosexuality and transgenderism has changed beyond recognition. A generation ago, the practise of homosexuality was condemned by people inside and outside the church. Today, homophobia and transphobia are used critically to describe anyone who holds traditional views of sexuality. But what is the Christian view of these things?

Our All Saints' Day Service. There are range of reactions to grief and loss. Different people react differently and we as individuals can have a range of reactions ourselves. In this message we explore which reactions are helpful and as well as reactions which are less helpful.

This message address questions of how we can be more holy both individually and collectively, and what a holy life looks like.

Through the preaching of the gospel the Galatians had come to put their trust in Christ. But now they were at risk of losing all of the progress that they had made and going back to slavery, being strangers, and immaturity. In this very pastoral and personal passage, Paul appeals to them, "Don't go back!"

Today in our Galatian's passage, we discover the difference that Jesus has made to our relationship with God. To help us explore this more deeply, we look at four illustrations used by Paul: a prison, a guardian, a baptism and an heir. Each example being a wonderful picture of how Jesus frees us, forgives us, gives us a fresh start and opens up the way for us to become adopted children of God.

This second message in our #AskingForAFriend series looks at how we deal with the pain and disappointment of unanswered prayer. We look at Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane to draw out some thoughts to help us navigate when God doesn't answer our prayers as we hope he will. The message included a clip of an interview with Simon Thomas about his own wrestle with unanswered prayer when his wife died. The full hour long interview can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfBnbOtmHEs&t=3843s

Paul has argued that no-one will be justified by the works of the law. So what then is the law for? In this next carefully argued section of Paul's letter to the Galatians he points out the problem of the law (and how Christ has solved it), explains the relationship between the promise and the law, and explains the purpose of the law.

Nigel Coles, Team Leader for the West of England Baptist Association, visited CBC to share a message based on Jesus sending out the 72, called 'Where am I in the mission of God?'.

How is meeting together missional and equipping for when we are not together? Ending our series on Frontline Sundays looking at Hebrews 10:24-25 and commissioning one another to our Frontlines. This sermon included a Frontline interview and a list of prayers for when our Frontline includes our families - more detail of those prayers is available here https://www.wheredowegrowfromhere.org/news-notes/2019/10/7/prayers-for-when-your-frontline-is-family

After nearly two chapters of his autobiographical defence of the gospel, Paul finally states in a nutshell what the gospel is: a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. But he still wants to press home the arguments for accepting this as the true gospel, and so he develops three arguments, appealing to logic, experience, and Scripture.

This is the fourth message in our Frontline Sundays series looking at how knowing who we are as children of God shapes the way we interact in our Frontline places.

This autobiographical part of Galatians tells the story of Paul's trip to Jerusalem to ensure he is not running in vain. The leaders come to his defence and offer him the right hand of friendship. This message has some implications for our understanding of the gospel, how God can be at work through us and challenges us to live in line with the gospel.

In this autobiographical section of the book of Galatians Paul describes the impact of the gospel on his life. If he keeps coming back to to theme of the gospel of grace then so should we.