Sermons on Simon On Cyrene:

Reflection B.12 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Ezekiel 16, Israel, The Brazen Prostitute

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Ezekiel explains why God will judge Judah.

Today, we’re moving on to Ezekiel in our whistle-stop tour of Old Testament prophecy. Just to keep our goal in mind, our purpose in this series of Reflections is to look at passages of scripture which tell us about how and why God judges, and about ‘End Times’, so we can see if coronavirus and/or ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.13 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Ezekiel 40-42, A Third Temple?

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Should we expect a third temple as part of the 'End Time' picture?

You’re on a whistle-stop ‘ten-cities-in-fourteen-days’ European tour. You had three days in Paris and then two days in Rome. Now you have two days in London. On your first day you had a highly cultural visit to the British Museum. That was great! Today, your tour guide takes you to a former ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.14 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast And The Horn Which Made War With The Saints

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Daniel anticipates persecution of 'the saints' to an extent that he describes it as war. Some commentators today have used the word 'war' or 'genocide' to describe persecution of Christians today. Daniel's prophecy seems to be fulfilled.

Today we move on to Daniel. We’re familiar with many of the stories in the first half of Daniel, the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, and so on. But we’re less familiar with the material in the second half. Daniel has a lot to say about ‘End Times’. One thing that Daniel tells us is that there ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.15 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast, Identifying The Horns

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

How can we identify the horns that come out of Daniel's fourth beast? Revelation can help us.

On the small Greek island of Patmos there is a place called ‘the Cave of the Apocalypse’. It is here, according to tradition, that John had the vision which we now have in the form of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. However, in the Book of Revelation, the word ‘vision’ is used just once. ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.16 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? Daniel 7, Daniel’s Fourth Beast, Trampling And Devouring

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

The description of Daniel's fourth beast fits with the identification in the previous 'Reflection'. It looks very much like the westernised nations at the present time.

We are trying to read signs. Are we in a time of God’s judgement? Are we in ‘End Times’? As we look at possible signs, I can imagine several errors we might make: We can take something as a sign that is not a sign. In Greek mythology, the beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus. He ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.17 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Isaiah 65:17-25. Heaven, Or The Millennium? Either Way, It’s Good.

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

The description of 'End Times', and prophecies of judgement may seem gloomy and depressing. No doubt these will be difficult times. But having gone through that, we will come into a very, very good situation.

In today’s Reflection I’m looking at why we can be encouraged, even as we think about ‘End Times’ and God’s judgement. We don’t know if we are in such a time, but suppose we are? Jesus described the various signs that will accompany ‘End Times’ as ‘the beginning of birth pains.’ Painful, but the ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.18 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / "Are These Questions Really Necessary?”

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

Someone may ask, 'Why do who even need to think about whether God might be behind coronavirus?' Here's part of the answer, at least.

I’ve often mentioned that I’m asking three difficult questions. In reality, there are two main questions: ‘Is coronavirus a judgement from God?’ and ‘Are we living in end times?’ But are these important questions to ask? Suppose you don’t feel well and go to the doctor. The doctor checks your ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:12

Denomination: Baptist

Reflection B.19 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Summary So Far. Do We Imagine God Has Something To Say?

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

This is a summary of the Reflections on coronavirus so far (series A and B). I will follow with a series based on the New Testament excluding Revelation, and then another on Revelation, in the coming weeks.

Today we’re at a milestone in our Reflections. We’ll be leaving the Old Testament! Do I hear ‘hooray’? 🙂 After a short break we’ll move on to the New Testament. A milestone is a good place to take stock. It’s probably impossible to summarise 23 Reflections in a short space but I’m ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:12

Denomination: Baptist

The Eighth And Ninth Beatitudes Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 26, 2022

Like it or not, being persecuted is in Jesus' list of the characteristics of the Christian. If we follow Jesus, it's inevitable that we'll be persecuted. But the persecution proves the genuiness of our faith. And it leads to great reward.

Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount with nine Beatitudes – sayings that start ‘Blessed are’. Jesus wants us to be blessed – meaning, happy or fortunate. In the Beatitudes, Jesus presents us with the key characteristics of the Christian. Some people have said they’re the blueprint of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:10-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Guaranteed Return

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Sep 19, 2021

Some investments give good returns. Others completely fail. Is there any investment which gives a guaranteed return? Yes, there is.

I expect some of us invest money, maybe in property or in shares in companies. Perhaps some of us ‘invest’ in other ways. We invest in our future by studying and passing exams. We invest time in people. When we invest, we hope for a return. What do you suppose is the best investment of all? ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:26-29

Denomination: Baptist

How To Stand Firm

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Oct 24, 2021

Paul's key charge to Timothy in his letter is to stand firm for the gospel. In chapters 1 and 2 he's focused on why we should stand firm. In chapter 3, he gives attention to the how.

[SLIDE] I’d like to start today’s talk by showing you a picture. There is a crowd, going one way, and there is a man going the opposite way. The crowd aren’t giving him a hard time; it’s all quite peaceful. In the Christian life, we sometimes have to go against the majority. Quite often, in ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

David The Warrior Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Sep 21, 2024

David's experience as a warrior is unparalleled. There is a huge amount we can learn from him when it comes to fighting battles. The biggest lesson of all is that the decisive factor in a battle is God being with us.

INTRODUCTION Today we’re returning to our series on ‘Learning from David’ and looking at the subject of ‘David the warrior.’ I thought we’d look at this subject this way. We’ll start by thinking about David and consider three questions. Did David fight? Why did he fight? And how did he fight? ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 12:1

Denomination: Baptist

Acknowledging God In The Harvest Festival

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Oct 5, 2024

Why MUST we celebrate harvest? What should we thank God for? When and how should we mark it. And what did David think about it?

Today is our harvest festival. It’s the time of year when we formally thank God for the harvest. I’d like to tell you a couple of little stories as a lead in to the subject of thanking God. The first story is about Christmas when I was a child. A pile of presents would build up under the ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 23:16, Hosea 6:6

Denomination: Baptist

David The King Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Oct 19, 2024

We look at David as king. We see that the foundational qualities he needed were justice and righteousness - and he showed them. And we see in David as king a foreshadowing of what Jesus will be like when he fully takes up his rule.

INTRODUCTION We’re in a series titled ‘Learning from David.’ Today’s talk is on David the king. I think today’s talk is the most important talk in this series. That might seem surprising to you. We’ve had ‘David: man of prayer.’ We all hopefully pray. We can relate to that. We’ve had David ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 89:14, Psalm 97:2, Isaiah 9:7, Jeremiah 23:5, Luke 19:11-27  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

David The Judge: Justice In A Messy World Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Oct 28, 2024

Many people see David as a failure as a judge. But the world of David's time was a messy place. There were reasons why David couldn't do all that he would have liked to do or, we might think, should have done. The Bible doesn't see David as a failure as a judge.

We’re coming towards the end of our series, ‘Learning from David’. Last week, we looked at David the king. We saw that in the Bible, the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness and justice. I suggested that if righteousness and justice are the foundation of GOD’S throne – the key ...read more

Denomination: Baptist