Sermons on Ministry Struggles:

Your Struggle With Time Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

The Sabbath is not just a day of rest. It is the fulfilment of the whole wek of God’s work and our part in that work

I think you’d have to agree that the fourth commandment has led to more legalism than all the other 9 put together. It’s such a quantifiable thing isn’t it? "Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work." So we make ...read more

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle With Religion Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God cares about how his name is used, both in words and in what we do and what we fail to do.

By Rev Bill Stewart Back in the late 1990s everyone was talking about Y2K and wondering if their computer would still work on the 01/01/ 2000. The new millennium was all over the media. The Australian magazine even ran an article called "10 Commandments for the next Millennium" (7-8 March 1999). No ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 52:4-10

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle With Authority Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God puts us in this world with a small subset of the human race to begin relating to. Our parents are the first representatives of fallen humanity that we meet and our first model for authority figures that we’ll meet later in life.

Introduction Jesus said that the commandments are summed up in the dual command, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbour as yourself." Well today we come to the fifth commandment. This seems to be about loving your neighbour, but it’s one of the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-11

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Peace Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

The commandment not to kill is also a commandment to make peace.

By Rev Bill Stewart 1 Chris said last week that the first five focus on Loving God while the final five Commandments deal with Loving our neighbour. The Sixth Commandment says very simply: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Our translation "murder" makes it clear that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Purity Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God calls us to committed faithfulness to one another as part of our commitment to him. He calls us to purity of mind and action, to help us maintain the purity of our relationship with our spouse. He calls us to keep our promises just as he keeps his.

Introduction There’s a phenomenon that I’ve noticed over the past few years. That’s the phenomenon of ’the better offer’. It comes in two forms: the first is where you don’t reply to an invitation until the last minute because you might get a better offer; but the second is worse. That’s where ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Integrity Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

the caommandment not to stealis a commandment to maintain one’s integrity in everything we do.

1 What images come to mind when you hear the eighth Commandment "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19)? You shall not take what doesn’t belong to you. If you are like me you might have an image of a masked thief in a stripped shirt climbing over a wall with a bag of loot over his ...read more

Scripture: Amos 8:1-8

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle With Truth Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 8, 2008

How do you decide when is the right time to tell the truth and when is the right time to keep silent?

I sometimes wonder whether God has structured these ten commandments with the most obvious sins first and the least obvious or most subtle at the end. Or is it just that our age has become blind to the last couple of commandments? Truth is a difficult concept in this day and age isn’t it? ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-47

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Contentment Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 8, 2008

The commandment against coveting is about contentment. God wants us to be godly with contentment

Blind Spots I recently discovered that I have a blind spot. In fact I have two. I had my eyes checked for new glasses a few weeks ago and while I was there they said I should have a field vision test. This is a test that checks whether there are parts of your retina that aren’t functioning ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:2-11

Denomination: Anglican

Struggling To Be A People Of Integrity

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 12, 2009

Preached 1989. A people of integrity will not act as though God is automatically on their side, apart from righteousness; and they will pay attention to the way in which leadership is chosen.

On this Independence Day weekend we think about our nation’s history, our nation’s life. As we do so I want to assure you that we will be wrestling with the word of God, not just scattering political opinions over the landscape like birdseed. I am not here as political pundit, but as a pastor and ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 8:1-7

Denomination: Baptist

Lot - The Struggle Of Righteousness

Contributed by Timothy Darling on Mar 19, 2009

The stories in Genesis present Lot in a very negative light, but Peter and Abraham thought he was righteous. It is a time for adjusting our interpretation.

Lot – The struggle of righteousness Genesis 18:16-33 This is a classic passage because it depicts something that we somehow know we should not do, bargaining with God. Abraham, out of concern for his nephew Lot, in an episode that sounds like an auction, begs God to be merciful. Five times, ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 18:16-33

Denomination: Mennonite

Life Will Cease To Be A Struggle Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jul 19, 2004

Second in a series on popular illusions; and for Independence Day. Life will not cease to be a struggle if justice is not fully realized, feelings are not fully expressed, and wrong decisions are not fully reversed.

What kind of a retirement party was this? He had worked so long, he had struggled with so many things, and now, here, at the end, it seemed there was still unfinished business. His worries were not behind him, nor were all the issues settled. And why not? Had he no right to expect that now life ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 2:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Struggles Of A Godly Man

Contributed by Mike Turner on Jun 8, 2003

From this Psalm we read of the struggles of a Godly man, and we learn how God helped him overcome !

Psalms 73:1-28 The Struggles of a Godly Man This message this morning is for everyone who struggles with life. It is for everyone that has questions....for everyone who has up’s and down’s in their relationship with the Lord. It teaches us this morning that we can know God and face trials, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 73:1-28

Denomination: Baptist

Grace And Our Struggle Series

Contributed by Martin Wiles on May 3, 2011

The Christian life is a constant struggle to make the right choices.

Romans 7:14-25 Introduction: A. Do you ever struggle with the doing the right thing or making the right decision? B. Do you ever feel as if you are losing the battle in obedience to God? C. Do you ever feel guilty because you are still waging this war even though you have been a Christian for a ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:14-25

Denomination: Baptist

Rest From The Struggle Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Jan 24, 2019

If you want to find rest from the struggle in your own life, trust the Lord, obey the Lord, and wait on the Lord.

A man was standing in the water when he asked a friend on the shore, “Are there any alligators in this river?” The man on shore said, “No, not a single one,” but his friend in the water was not convinced. So the man in the water asked again, “Are you sure there are no alligators? Because if there ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 11:1-23

Denomination: Evangelical Free

The Struggle Never Ends Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 16, 2019

We humans think that we can be happiest when there is no struggle, when we can just coast. . .But that is not the state of society when there are still many who have not accepted and begun to live the call of Christ.

Thursday of the 6th Week in Course 2019 St. Peter Damian Life after original sin came into the human family is a continual struggle. The story of a great flood is found in more than one culture. Here in our first reading we see God establishing a covenant after the flood between Himself, Noah and ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 9:1-13, Mark 8:27-33

Denomination: Catholic