Sermons on Simon Cowell:

The Defining Moment

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 27, 2021

There will be moments in our lives when our choice will determine the direction of our lives. That was the situation for the people of Jerusalem on the day when Jesus entered the city on a donkey.

INTRODUCTION All of us are making choices all the time. Most of the choices are completely inconsequential. But sometimes the choices are really important. A long time ago I taught some lessons on business ethics. I read various books on business ethics and based my lessons on them. One book ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:28-44, Zechariah 9:9, Hebrews 3:7-8

Denomination: Baptist

1 The Good Samaritan, Part 1 Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 17, 2020

Doing is essential for our salvation. Doing means keeping God’s law. But we can’t be justified by doing!

N.B. This talk is in two parts. This is the first. The second talk is uploaded as '3 The Good Samaritan, Part 2'. Also, I can email you the slides I used - simon@roseberypark.org INTRODUCTION [Slide 1] This is my first talk as minister of Rosebery Park Baptist Church – or as minister of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-29

Denomination: Baptist

2 A Cup Of Coffee

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 28, 2020

Jesus sees what we’re doing; he values our service to him, even in things that might seem very small to us; and he will reward our service.

A cup of coffee *** Background: my second service as minister; the interim minister is leaving. At the start of the service I make a cappuccino coffee and cut a piece of cake. I invite Jo, the church secretary, to come to the front and then serve the coffee and cake, explaining that it is a ...read more

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44, Luke 12:35-37

Denomination: Baptist

3 The Good Samaritan, Part 2

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 30, 2020

The lawyer asks, 'Who is my neighbour?' We should not take 'neighbour' to include everyone! But Jesus' parable warns us against excluding people from the group of people we regard as 'neighbour'.

3 The Good Samaritan, Part 2 Note: this talk is the continuation of ‘1 The Good Samaritan, Part 1’, which is also available on Sermon Central. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the expert in the law in the story had two questions. His first question was, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Denomination: Baptist

4 The Parable Of The Talents

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 30, 2020

What does this parable mean? Who is the man with the servants who goes on a journey? What are the talents he gives his servants? And how does the parable apply to us?

Matthew 25:14-30 What does this parable mean? Who is the man with the servants who goes on a journey? What are the talents he gives his servants? And how does the parable apply to us? What does the parable mean? An important rule when we’re looking at Scripture is to look at the context. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Denomination: Baptist

5. Is Baptism Important?

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 30, 2020

We often don't give baptism the importance we should. We look at why baptism is important.

5 Is Baptism important? Mark 1:1-13 Mark's gospel starts with John the Baptist baptising and then goes straight onto Jesus being baptised. So, it’s natural to talk about baptism! Baptism is a somewhat controversial subject as different churches and denominations hold different views on ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Running The Race

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 1, 2025

The New Testament likens the Christian life to running a race. We look at how it uses the metaphor. It calls us to strive, to improve, and to stay the course.

INTRODUCTION The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote: ‘Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.’ The writer imagined the Christian life as a race – a race that requires endurance. We’re presently in a series in which we’re looking at items in the news. In some of the ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2

Denomination: Baptist

God's Power

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 8, 2025

God is more powerful than any other power. He gives his people power. We need to grasp how powerful God is and go to him for power.

THIS TALK WAS FOR A FAMILY SERVICE IN WHICH THE CHILDREN STAY IN PART 1, EARLIER IN THE SERVICE: PHYSICAL FORCES There are different kinds of forces. For example, I can put my hands on Priscilla’s [my wife’s] shoulders and … hey presto! … she goes down. The force is coming from my hands on her ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 40:29

Denomination: Baptist

The Supreme Fact Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 22, 2025

Jesus' resurrection is the supreme fact of history. We need to grasp it firmly as a truth. Everything else builds on it.

Easter talk, No.1 Let’s suppose some components arrive in a factory. They’re inspected. They pass the inspection and they continue into the factory. There was a fact: the components passed the inspection. The fact led to a decision: the components are received. We may not work in business or ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:36-43

Denomination: Baptist

The Necessity Of The Cross Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 29, 2025

Jesus is the key - the only key - which can release us from our imprisonment to sin.

THE NECESSITY OF THE CROSS Charles Wesley was born in 1707. He was the 18th child! His parents had one more child after him. If it was today, the Wesleys would have been in the news! 19 children is exceptional. Charles Wesley’s father, Samuel Wesley, was the rector of the local church. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 John 2:1, Genesis 3:24, John 8:34, Genesis 2:16-17, Romans 6:23, Isaiah 53:6, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:35, 2 Chronicles 3:14, 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 2:10, Philippians 2:8  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Welcoming The King Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Apr 12, 2025

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and in doing so, presented himself to the people of Jerusalem as king. We also come to similar defining moments. We too must decide how we will receive Jesus -- and the consequence of our decision is incalculable.

Last week, King Charles and Queen Camilla visited Italy. They met the president of Italy. They met the prime minister of Italy. They met the pope. Then King Charles was invited to give a speech to the Italian parliament. Then King Charles and Queen Camilla were invited to a state banquet ...read more

Scripture: Zechariah 9:9

Denomination: Baptist

Hungry – But Not For What's Really Important Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Feb 26, 2023

In John's gospel, after feeding 5,000 people with bread and fish, Jesus goes on to say what true bread is. Actually, true bread isn't a what, it's a who. It's Jesus. He is our sustenance.

PRE-TALK earlier in the service Three pictures / slides (1) Israelites collecting manna in the wilderness ~1450 or 1270 B.C. ‘Manna’ = ‘what is it?’ The people of Israel had fled slavery in Egypt. They travelled eastwards, crossed the Red Sea and entered the Sinai Peninsula. There isn’t a lot ...read more

Scripture: John 6:22-35

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus' Brothers Get It Wrong Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 4, 2023

Jesus' brothers gave Jesus some advice. It wasn't very good advice. But we can learn from it, about assumptions, about accepting Jesus as Lord, and about dealing with pressure from our families.

Today, we’re continuing in our series ‘Encounters with Jesus in John’s gospel.’ I’m going to focus on the first eight verses of John 7. These tell us about an encounter Jesus’ brothers had with him. As usual, I’ll try to give the context. Then we’ll look at what happened. After that, we’ll ...read more

Scripture: John 7:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Lord Of The Storm

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 11, 2023

Everyone experiences storms in life. Storms are miserable. They are dangerous. But Jesus wants us to be calm in them. And they provide almost unique opportunities to learn to trust Jesus.

The story of Jesus and his disciples in a storm on the Sea of Galilee is short. But it has a huge amount to teach us. I’d like to show you a little video clip of an actual storm on Lake Galilee so you can get an idea of what that storm might have been like. [Video clip.] Jesus and his disciples ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

Denomination: Baptist

Merciful But Tough: The Story Of The Woman Caught In Adultery Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 25, 2023

Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery. But he didn't water down his demands.

INTRODUCTION I imagine we really like this story of the woman caught in adultery. We especially like the fact that Jesus didn’t condemn the woman – even though the religious experts said that she should be stoned. But as we reflect on the story, we find that it gives us some quite uncomfortable ...read more

Denomination: Baptist