In Sermons: showing 1-13 of 13

Holy Spirit, Fill Us

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Mar 10, 2003

A sermon for the 2003 World Day of Prayer. The reason the Holy Spirit doesn’t seem to be moving on us at the moment may be that he has to renew us before he can fill us.

****Introduction**** It is appropriate that the theme for this year’s World Day of Prayer is, in fact, a prayer. It is a prayer that the Church has been praying since Jesus went home to Heaven. It is a prayer that God has been pleased to answer since that first Pentecost. However, it is a prayer ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:16-17, Jeremiah 18:1-23

Denomination: Holiness

Turning On Your Bulldust Filters

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Mar 10, 2003

The smartest of us sometimes forget to question things we hear when they come from a source of apparent authority. It is the duty of all people to turn on our bulldust filters, especially when we are listening to our Christian leaders.

Introduction Time for a quiz! 1. The cells which make up the antlers of a moose are the fastest growing animal cells in nature. (True) 2. The planet closest to the sun is Mercury (True 3. Pi to three decimal places is 3.142 (True. Not 3.141—this is a rounding error) 4. The second General of the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:10-15

Denomination: Holiness

War! What Is It Good For?

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Feb 12, 2003

War is going to happen whether we like it or not. Regardless of our position on war politically and theologically, we are all called to turn to God and to love our enemies.

The major thing in the news over the last few weeks has been all this business over Saddam Hussein and the allegations that he is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Every day another part of the drama is played out—George Bush or Colin Powell or Hans Blix or any one of a number of world ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Matthew 5:33-48

Denomination: Holiness

War Is Over

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Dec 7, 2002

The story of the angels isn’t so much about a heavenly sing-song than God announcing the end to the war between himself and the human race.

I’m sure we’re all fairly familiar with this scene—a group of shepherds are in the field quietly minding their own businesses when an angel appears to them. *The Angels* We don’t know the name of this angel. However, the only angel to be named in the gospels in connection with the birth of Jesus ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-14, Hebrews 4:16

Denomination: Holiness

The Woman Caught In Adultery: And Us, Her Friends Series

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 11, 2002

We all know the woman caught in adultery, or someone like her. That’s fine, until we realise that we too stand in her place.

Introduction [Start to read the story, stop after the scene is set and the woman has been brought before Jesus.] [I put a picture of a woman on the overhead projector, and I refer to it extensively throughout.] Let’s have a look at this woman [OHP]. What do we know about her? Very little! There ...read more

Scripture: John 8:1-11

Denomination: Holiness

Got That Sinkin' Feeling

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Oct 20, 2002

The importance of Spiritual Growth, and how to go about it. Concentrates on the importance of the Bible, but could easily be adapted.

Introduction Story about the sinkholes. (Taken from Gordon Macdonald’s Ordering your Private World.) Sinkholes occur because cavities under the ground become exposed. Sinkholes will occur in our lives if we do not keep them ‘filled up.’ I want to talk to you today about a problem I have seen many ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:46-49

Denomination: Holiness

A Pastoral Response To The Bombing In Bali Series

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Oct 20, 2002

The terrorist attack in Bali came a week before I was to preach on the subject of murder, and a National Day of Mourning was declared for that Sunday. God does work in mysterious ways...

Over the last few weeks God has been showing me how his timing is always perfect. I became more convinced of this when I realised what sermon I had planned to preach today. In view of the events of the last week today’s passage seems to be the most appropriate in the Bible. The bombing in Bali ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:13, Matthew 5:21-26

Denomination: Holiness

Fasting The Hard Way

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

God isn’t as impressed with our pious religiosity as he is about the way we live our lives.

Now the Israelites had a problem. They practiced their religion faithfully, and they did everything that was expected, but God didn’t seem to be listening to them. What was the problem? This is a good question. And it’s an important question to ask ourselves as well. God, through his prophet, ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-9, Isaiah 58:9-14

Denomination: Holiness

The Cross And Sacrifice

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

Taking up our crosses means no less a sacrifice than it did for Jesus.

Advertisements often make all sorts of big offers, but we find out afterwards that there are hidden catches. These sorts of things are always hidden in the ’fine print.’ Companies that sell computer software do this a lot. When you buy computer software, you have to agree to all sorts of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

Denomination: Holiness

Have A Go!

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

Fear of failure is no excuse for inaction.

Text: Mt 25:14-30 I recently came upon this interesting list of words. Let’s see if you know what they mean: 1.Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people. 2.Aerophobia: fear of drafts. 3.Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple. 4.Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people. 5.Levophobia: fear of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Denomination: Holiness

Love In The Midst Of War

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

Jesus calls us to love our enemies. We need to do this this now more than at any other time in our history. (Written as a response to 11/9, but quite relevant today)

Text: Mt 5:43-48 The last few weeks have been some of the most memorable of our lives. Memorable for all the wrong reasons, but memorable nonetheless. Who will ever forget those terrible pictures of airliners crashing into the towers of the World Trade Center? How many will forget the weight that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48, Psalm 46:1-7

Denomination: Holiness

Jesus. Schoolyard Boss

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

Jesus is Lord of all things, and he wants to include us in his domain.

When I was a child, and we played games at school, there was always someone called ’The Boss.’ Every game needed a boss. The boss’ job was important – he (or she) got to choose which game we’d play, what the rules were, and could decide who could or couldn’t play. It was important to be nice to the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

Denomination: Holiness

The Disobedient Prophet

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Feb 20, 2001

An overview of the story of Jonah’s missionary travels, and how his attitude kept getting in the way of God’s plan.

Introduction. What is it we think of when people mention the story of Jonah? I guess a lot of people think about the fish. Others think about the plant that grew and then died. We tend to remember the stranger things, don’t we? My personal favourite part of the story is when the king requires the ...read more

Denomination: Holiness