Sermons on Simon On Cyrene:

Reflection C.1 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Two Wrong Goblets

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2020

There is a danger of prematurely imagining that we are in ‘End Times’. There is also a danger of failing to recognize ‘End Times’ when they are on us.

There’s a great family film called ‘The Princess Bride’. It’s definitely worth watching if you enjoy a romance with lots of action and humour. A farmhand, Westley, is in love with a beautiful young woman called Buttercup. A Sicilian named Vizzini kidnaps Buttercup; Westley, wearing a mask, goes ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:4

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.2 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? End Times Will Be Tough

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2020

Jesus' disciples asked a question about 'End Times'. But before answering, Jesus warns them that 'End Times' will be tough.

We want to know if God could be behind coronavirus. Could it be connected to God’s judgement or to ‘End Times’? To answer that we want to know what judgement from God looks like and what ‘End Times’ will be like. We started in the Old Testament and we’ve now moved on to the New Testament – ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:9-11

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.3 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? The Gospel Reaching All Nations

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2020

Has the gospel reached all nations? I think so!

Today we continue to look at Matthew 24. On Monday we noted Jesus’ warning of the danger of ‘premature eschatological excitement’. (‘Eschatology’ is another word for ‘End Times’.) Yesterday we noted Jesus’ warning that ‘End Times’ will be tough. As part of his warning, Jesus said this: ‘…you ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:14

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.4 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Destruction Of Jerusalem By The Romans – Still Relevant To Us

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2020

Jesus' prophecy regarding the abomination of desolation relates to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. However that event is still relevant to our enquiry about 'End Times'.

We have two more Reflections to do on Matthew 24. Today, we look at verses 15-22. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:15-22

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.5 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Israel Is An Important Indicator

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2020

When Jesus refers to a fig tree in Matthew 24, he is thinking of Israel. Israel is relevant to 'End Times'.

Today, we’re on to our last Reflection on Matthew 24! This Reflection contains some relatively complex arguments. I just can’t make it shorter. Sorry. If you’re in the mood for something stretching, read on! As Jesus starts to wind up his answer to his disciples’ question, he says this: 32 ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:32-34

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.6 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Waves?!

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 27, 2020

Matthew, Mark and Luke have a lot in common. But only Luke mentions waves in connection with 'End Times'. It sounds strange. But perhaps it isn't.

Luke 21:25 says the following: And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves… The first part of the verse has a parallel in Matthew and Mark: ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:25

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection C.7 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Antichrist

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 27, 2020

Antichrist is a mysterious figure. But scripture gives us some important pointers regarding antichrists in the past and the future antichrist.

Today we are going to look at the mysterious figure of ‘antichrist’. The word ‘antichrist’ only comes in John’s letters. However, there are other passages of scripture which seem to be about antichrist even though they don’t use the word ‘antichrist’. Historically, there have been many views ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-27

Denomination: Baptist

God's Great Compassion

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jun 19, 2021

Jesus calls us to be merciful as God is merciful, and in the way God acted towards the people of Nineveh, he set the bar very high. The Assyrians were among the cruellest people in history.

INTRODUCTION Jonah is one of the shortest books in the Bible. It’s just 48 verses long. That’s shorter than a lot of chapters in the New Testament. Because it’s such a short book, when Bible translators begin work translating the Bible into other languages they’ll often start with Jonah. They ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-3

Denomination: Baptist

God Of Salvation

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jul 11, 2021

God wanted to spare the people of Nineveh. He didn't want them to face his judgement. But first, he had to save his servant Jonah. Being inside a big fish in the depths of the sea wasn't Jonah's real problem.

Today we’re continuing our series in Jonah. My first talk was titled ‘God of compassion’. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was wicked. God described it as wicked and historians tell us that Assyria was wicked. It wasn’t just a little bit wicked. One historian of the Middle East wrote that ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

God Of Mission

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jul 17, 2021

Talk 2 in my five-talk series on Jonah. Mission is God's mission. In the story of Jonah - and especially in view of what Jesus says about Jonah - we recognize that God is the master strategist in mission and he's breathtakingly creative.

Jonah Talk 2: God of Mission Last week I started a new series on Jonah. My major theme last week was how compassionate God is. At the time of Jonah, the Assyrian Empire was expanding. Historians of the Middle East tell us how cruel the Assyrian rulers were. I spared you the grizzly details. ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5, Matthew 12:38-41, Luke 11:29-30

Denomination: Baptist

The Greatest Conversion In History

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jul 19, 2021

We can make a case for Nineveh's conversion being the greatest conversion in history. But whether it was or not, Jesus was clearly impressed. It shows us what genuine repentance looks like.

When I was a child people would sometimes give me a book called ‘the Guinness Book of Records’ as a Christmas present. I guess many of us have come across it. I remember as a kid browsing through the records. You can now find most of the records online and it’s now called simply ‘Guinness World ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

God Of Restoration

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jul 24, 2021

Jonah is angry; God helps him to deal with it. God's action is a great example to us in how to help someone who's hurting. We also see how God sometimes speaks to Jonah. We should be aware that God may speak in this way.

Over the past four weeks we’ve been following a series on Jonah. Today we move on to the last chapter in the book of Jonah and the last talk in our series. Since some of you haven’t been with us as we’ve gone through the book of Jonah, I’d like to fill you in on what’s been happening. The prophet ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

"Is Not Life More Than Food And The Body More Than Clothing?” Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Aug 2, 2021

Anxiety is a huge issue today. Jesus shows us how to deal with it – by asking key questions!

For the last two Sundays we’ve looked at two questions a lawyer asked Jesus: ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ and ‘And who is my neighbour?’ They’re both really important questions. The two questions are connected. In order to be saved we need to love our neighbour – so we need to know ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-30

Denomination: Baptist

Gathering For Encouragement Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Aug 2, 2021

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to 'run with endurance'. Only long races need endurance - marathons, for example. In a marathon, encouragement makes all the difference. The Christian life can be tough. We need encouragement and we need to encourage others.

Today we’re starting a new series. We will have four talks on the theme of ‘Why we gather’. Last Sunday we met back at church after sixteen months of having our morning services online. That’s a significant moment. But something else has been happening. About four months ago we started a new ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:24-25

Denomination: Baptist

Why We Gather, No.2, Rhythm

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Aug 15, 2021

God wants human life to have a rhythm to it and meeting together on Sunday helps us to establish that rhythm.

INTRODUCTION Two weeks ago we started a new four-talk series titled ‘Why we gather?’ I got the idea for the series from a website called SermonCentral. For the past 16 months most of us haven’t been gathering, or at least, not in person. Two weeks ago we started to meet again. So I think ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:14, Genesis 2:1-3, Isaiah 58:13-14

Denomination: Baptist