Role: Pastor |
Hi my name is Phil Irvine and I’m the Pastor at Emu Plains Community Baptist Church. My family and I moved all the way from the Blue Mountains and to live in the community here in Emu Plains. Jesus said “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” Sometimes we find that our lives are so full with things to do, but we don’t seem to be fulfilled. I enjoy running, spending time with my family, playing Xbox and a good coffee. But what fills my life is Jesus. If you are wanting your life full, the best it can be, why not check out Jesus and take him up on this promise?
Sunday, 18 August 2013
Duration: 35 mins 56 secs
James' life was transformed when he came to accept his own brother, Jesus, as his Lord and Saviour. The issue that James deals with in this passage is people who say they are Christians but their hearts have not been transformed, their hearts have not been changed. They are not converted, they are not saved and do not have a real faith. We can know the right answers, but as Christians, we need to show this in our everyday life. Deeds alone will not allow us to enter the Kingdom of God but when, through faith, we give our lives over to God, then our deeds show our faith in Him. What do people see when we call ourselves a Christian? Do our actions match with what we say?
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Duration: 29 mins 22 secs
James reminds us, as Christians, not to show favouritism to one person or group over another. Showing favouritism misrepresents God, dishonours those we reject and breaks the law of love. What are we to do? Verse 8 tells us to keep the royal law - "love your neighbour as yourself". We need to love all people, whoever they are, and reach out to them in their time of need, so that God's love to them can be shown, they can be healed, shown forgiveness and be made whole.
Sunday, 04 August 2013
Duration: 35 mins 43 secs
We have no issues in getting access to God's word - the Bible. How should we take advantage of that? We need to ACCEPT GOD'S WORD by being prepared to listen to what God wants to say and be willing to be changed. We need to LOOK INTO GOD'S WORD. A mirror reflects back what we look like from the outside. God's word reflects what we need to look like on the inside which we can only know by continually reading deeply His word. We need to RESPOND TO GOD'S WORD. Having knowledge of the Bible is of no use if we do not apply, by putting into practice, what we have learned. How will you respond to God's word?
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Duration: 37 mins 51 secs
James reminds us in this passage that we will face temptations in our life. If we submit to God through these temptations, then we will live life to the full. If we submit to the temptation, then Satan will have his way and steal our life. Temptation itself is not a sin but it can be subtle and desirable. If we give into the temptation, then this can give birth to sin. It is our responsibility on how we respond to temptation. Will we submit to our own evil desires and let Satan take control or will we allow God to work through us?
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Duration: 27 mins 48 secs
The bible is clear in that we will face issues and problems in our life. They will come in many different ways and when we are not expecting them. James tells us to see these problems as pure joy. How is this so? God uses our problems to: (1) prove our faith; (2) develop perseverance; (3) produce maturity; (4) develop our character. How should we respond? We need to keep our focus on God and rejoice, pray and trust Him to see us through our issues and problems.
Sunday, 07 July 2013
Duration: 27 mins 12 secs
Through Joshua, God reminds the people of Israel of what He has done for them as they moved from captivity in Egypt to the promised land in Canaan. The people are told to fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness. When we see what God has done for us, what is our response? We need to come before God with humility and commit ourselves to serve Him. We need to 'throw away' things that come between us and Jesus and allow Him to lead our lives.
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Duration: 37 mins 26 secs
As he prepares to move on from this life, Joshua speaks to the leaders of Israel to encourage them not to forget the faithfulness of the Lord and what He has done for them. Joshua warns them what will happen if they turn away from God. Within one generation, Israel will forget about God, they will find themselves not knowing Him and suffer the consequences of this. We need to be careful when things appear to be going well in our life, not to forget about God and assume that we have achieved everything without Him. When we forget about God, we puff ourselves up. We need to know our place, keep our eyes on Jesus and not ourselves. The victory we have in Jesus is found by obeying His written word and choosing to follow Him. God wants us to love Him.
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Duration: 43 mins 15 secs
Joshua and the Israelites have an amazing victory in the battle with Jericho, but there was a condition to this victory, all the spoil had to be given to God. This did not happen and now the people of Israel have become self confident and not relying on God. It is their disodedience to God and their own self confidence that see them lose a battle with the city of Ai. Joshua and the Israelites had failed God and in this passage we see the sin of disobedience but also the sin of omission - not doing what should have been done. What can we learn? (1) God does not want us to be self confident but to be God confident. We are to rely on God and not on our own strength; (2) God wants us to be in a relationship with Him, spending time in prayer and His word; (3) God wants us to obey Him. He wants us to focus on His ways and the not the ways of the world.
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Duration: 40 mins 49 secs
God has shown that He use different ways of achieving His goals. His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. For our own life challenges, there are three spriritual principles we can learn from this passage. (1) Before the challenge we need to remember that we fight from victory and not for victory. Because of our faith in Jesus, we start from a position of victory. (2) During the challenge,we need to remember that we overcome, not by our strength, but by faith. When we hear, believe and obey God's word, we invite God's presence to go with us. (3) After the challenge, we need to remember to obey God and give Him the glory. Our ultimate victory will come by putting our faith, hope and trust in Christ Jesus.
Sunday, 02 June 2013
Duration: 31 mins 16 secs
God calls us to be people of faith - this is what we see in this bible passage. The real focus here is not about Joshua or the crossing of the Jordan River, but rather it is on the 'Ark of the Covenant', that is, God. The Israelite people were to put their focus and faith in God to lead them. The same is still applicable for us today. Faith is about hearing the word of God, believing the word of God and obeying the word of God. Are we prepared to step out in faith when God is calling us to do so?
