Sermons on Simon On Cyrene:

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

Fixing The Problem

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 25, 2023

Why did Jesus have to die on a cross? This is a simple and fairly brief presentation of the gospel.

Last week we looked at the story of Adam and Eve. After God created humankind, Adam and Eve were initially in good relationship with God. But God warned them that if they ate the fruit of a certain tree they would die. It wasn’t that the fruit of this tree was poisonous. The issue was disobeying ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:7, Isaiah 53:6, Psalm 22:1, 1 Corinthians 6:20

Denomination: Baptist

You Are The Salt Of The Earth Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 23, 2022

Jesus calls us to be the salt - the preservative - of the earth. He warns us against losing our sense of mission. Or, considering the Greek, perhaps he is warning us against being pushed off course. But either way, his message is: stick with it.

Today, after a bit of a break, we’re returning to Jesus’ longest recorded sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. Can you remember how Jesus starts his sermon? What was his first WORD? Jesus’ first word is ‘blessed’. ‘Blessed’ means happy or fortunate. Jesus wants us to be blessed. He is going to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13

Denomination: Baptist

Do Not Resist Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jun 25, 2022

Many Christians believe that in Matthew 5:39 Jesus is calling us to pacifism. If that was the case, he would be negating the Old Testament! Jesus does call us to nonresistance, but in certain situations only - as his examples show. He isn't pacifist and he doesn't call us to to pacifism.

INTRODUCTION I trained to become a Baptist minister at Bristol Baptist College. While I was there, a Canadian couple called Tom and Rebecca Yoder Neufeld gave a talk. The Yoder Neufelds are Mennonites. Mennonites trace their origins to the Anabaptists, and the Yoder Neufelds were at Bristol ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

Denomination: Baptist

"Be Perfect” Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jul 9, 2022

Jesus said, 'You therefore must be perfect'. What an unreasonable demand! And yet, there are so many reasons to strive for it.

INTRODUCTION We’re continuing in our series in the Sermon on the Mount. In our passage for today, Jesus starts by saying, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ What do you think of that!? Back in March I told you about an interview I heard on Radio 4. The reporter was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Denomination: Baptist

Christmas: Reason To Hope

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Nov 28, 2020

Simeon hoped to see the messiah before he died and he did. His story teaches us something about why we hope and how to hope.

We’ve just sung that great song by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, ‘In Christ alone my hope is found.’ That’s quite a declaration! Getty wrote the music and Townend wrote the words. Townend isn’t merely saying that Jesus is A source of HOPE. He’s saying that Jesus is the ONLY source of hope! ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:22-35

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus, Prince Of Peace

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Dec 5, 2020

Peace is central to Christmas. Jesus came to heal the age-old fracture and bring us peace with God and he's the only one who can.

What does Christmas mean to you? What do you like best about Christmas? Spending time with family and friends? Christmas trees? Turkey roasts? Christmas puddings and brandy butter? Stockings? Santa? Presents? Carols? A season of goodwill when we put past hurts aside? I certainly like all ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-10, Isaiah 9:6-7, John 14:27, Luke 2:29-30, Luke 2:14, Luke 12:50-52, John 16:32-33  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Joy To The World

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Dec 12, 2020

The angel proclaimed ‘good news of great joy.’ Sounds great! But what exactly is this good news? What kind of joy should we experience? Do you have that joy?

In the lead-up to Christmas this year we’re focusing on four great themes: hope, peace, joy and love. Many churches have Advent candles and they associate these four themes with the first four Advent candles. The fifth candle is for Jesus. The last two Sundays we looked at hope and peace; today ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-11, Luke 2:23, Luke 1:50, Luke 1:54, Luke 1:72, Luke 1:76-78  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Will Come Again.

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Dec 26, 2020

Covid-19, Brexit, climate change. The world today seems very fragile. But at Christmas we remember not only that Jesus came 2000 years ago but also that he will come again. When he does, he will establish a kingdom that will last forever.

Each year, the Oxford English Dictionary identifies a word as its ‘word of the year.’ But this year, the Oxford English Dictionary was unable to. There were just too many new words in this ‘unprecedented’ year to be able to pick one. The word ‘unprecedented’ would be my word of the year. When ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 2:31-45, Matthew 21:5, Daniel 7:13-14

Denomination: Baptist

The Journey Of The Christian Life

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 2, 2021

The Christian life is much more than a single decision to follow Jesus. It's a lifelong journey with Jesus. Jesus is with us on this journey. The journey is his classroom; it provides the context in which we learn to be like him.

Today we’re just about at the end of the Christmas season and we’re going to move on from our Christmas themes. We’re starting a new series in the gospel of Luke and we’ll mostly continue in Luke until Easter. But before we start to look at our passage I want to explain why it’s so important that ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:51-62

Denomination: Baptist

What Mary Got Right

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 9, 2021

Mary was willing to leave the role society expected of her. She's a great example to us: Jesus calls all of us, in one way or another, to leave.

This talk starts with a very short sketch, done online. The person who plays Martha will need an apron, a rolling pin and a few pans. Sketch: [Members of the cast first introduce themselves.] Simon-Peter: Hey, Andrew, we’re quite close to Bethany, aren’t we? Andrew: Yes. Mary and Martha live ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Is Stronger

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Jan 25, 2021

The story of Jesus casting out a demon in Luke 11 teaches us that Jesus has the power to release us from the power of Satan and indeed from everything that enslaves us. The story also shows us how Jesus deals with reproach and the necessity of positively choosing Jesus.

INTRODUCTION We are continuing our series in Luke. Today, we have the story of Jesus casting out a demon. I suspect that this story might not be the first choice of many preachers. Casting out demons probably seems very alien to many of us. But this story appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:14-26, Luke 9:39-42, Psalm 69:19-21

Denomination: Baptist