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, 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?
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Joshua was not strong and courageous in his own right - he needed God to be with him. Joshua found strength from God’s faithfulness in the past, His presence in the present and His promise for the future. When Joshua received God's call he responded immediately and prepared to move forward with God. Like Joshua, our life should be one surrender and submission to God that separates us from the ways of this world. We should strive to be Christ-like as we serve Him.
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Duration: 37 mins 51 secs
The time had come for Moses to pass on the leadership of the Israel nation to Joshua so that God's promise to lead the people across the Jordan River into the promised land could be fulfilled. Moses mentored Joshua to prepare him for the leadership role ahead. Who are we teaching and equipping to reach people for Christ? Are we taking advantage of the opportunities that God puts before us? God tells the people of Israel that he will go before them as they move into the promised land. We can have this same confidence today knowing that Jesus has already gone before us, but He also goes with us and never leaves us in everything we do.
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Duration: 25 mins 14 secs
Of the 12 men oppointed by Moses to explore the land of Canaan, 10 of these reported back of diffficult circumstances and forgot about God. We are prone to do the same thing in our everday life - we see the problems and forget about how God can lead us through them. Unbelief makes our problems big and God small. Joshua and Caleb put their trust in God and did not see the problems in Canaan that God could not overcome. We need to have this same trust that God has promised through His Son, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we can overcome anything that life demands of us - we just need to be a person of faith, accept Jesus into our life and trust in Him.
Sunday, 05 May 2013
Duration: 36 mins 10 secs
Joshua is a man of obedience - he does not hesitate to do the instructions of God as told through Moses. Joshua needed to be strong and courageous in God's plan for him , but most importantly, he needed to be faithful to God. Joshua was a man of action, but he was also a man of devotion to the Lord. God didn't need Joshua to carry out the battle - He could have dealt with the Amalekites by Himself. The same is for us today. God does not need us to fulfil His ministry, but he does choose to involve us. If we want to have an effective ministry for God, then we need to prepare, by spending devotional time with Him, as Joshua did.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Duration: 17 mins 43 secs
Jesus was in existance before the world began and He will be there in the end. He knows everthing about us. From looking at the I AM statements of Jesus over the past few weeks, it has all been about connecting yourself to Him, which is what we are called to do. We are to connect to Jesus, to look to Him and to keep our eyes fixed upon Him. Is this true for you?
Sunday, 14 April 2013
Duration: 34 mins 29 secs
In this passage Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do people say I am?". Some people thought He was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets. Peter responded that Jesus was the Messiah. We know that the Messiah will defeat sin and death. God's victory is gained through death and resurrection. We need to align ourselves with God's will. We need to trust on God's provision. 'I AM' changes who I am. How has Jesus, the I AM, changed your life?
