Sermons on Simon The Sorcerer:

What Motivated Paul Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Sep 23, 2023

Paul was extraordinarily determined to take the gospel to the Gentile world. He was full of passion and drive. He got knocked down but he got up and kept going. Why? What motivated him?

WHAT MOTIVATED PAUL We live in a world where a lot of people don’t believe in God. But not only that, many people who do believe in God are not exactly passionate about telling those who don’t believe in God about him. What will motivate us to tell people about Jesus? That’s our subject ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:16-21

Denomination: Baptist

Paul’s Charge To The Ephesian Elders Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Oct 14, 2023

Paul sees the elders of the Ephesian church for the last time. He gives them a charge: 'Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock.' It's a message the church needs to hear today.

Today’s passage has a lot to tell us about the job of a minister or pastor or elder. Maybe you think, ‘I’m not a minister or pastor or elder. This doesn’t apply to me’! But all of us have responsibilities towards other people. This passage has something to say to all of us. Before I get ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:17-38

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

Maundy Thursday Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Apr 14, 2022

Maundy Thursday reminds us of Jesus 'mandate' - his new commandment. Not just to love one another, but to love one another as he has loved us. It can be humiliating, demeaning and messy. But it brings blessing.

The Friday when Jesus was crucified is called Good Friday. On Good Friday we remember that Jesus offered himself as the final, complete sacrifice for our sins, freeing us from a slavery we could never have freed ourselves from. The day before Good Friday is called Maundy Thursday. That Thursday, ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34, John 13:14-15, John 13:17

Denomination: Baptist

Stand Firm And Work Hard Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Apr 16, 2022

'Stand firm and work hard' might seem a very strange Easter message. But it's Paul's key message in 1 Corinthians 15 - the longest passage on the resurrection in the Bible. The resurrection gives us hope - and that hope gives us reason to stand firm and work hard.

Easter Sunday is the day when we celebrate the fact that God raised Jesus from death. When I say WE celebrate the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead, I mean, WE IN THIS CHURCH celebrate it. Clearly, a lot of other people DON'T celebrate it. A few years ago the Daily Telegraph conducted ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:58, 1 Peter 1:3

Denomination: Baptist

God's Power Towards Us Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 2, 2022

In Ephesians 1, Paul compares God's power towards us who believe with the power he used to raise Christ from the dead. It's hard to conceive! But we should believe it - and live in a way that's consistent with it.

INTRODUCTION Two weeks ago it was Easter Sunday. So, do you suppose that we’ve now said goodbye to Easter until next year? Well, we haven’t! The season of Easter doesn’t FINISH on Easter Sunday! It actually STARTS on Easter Sunday and continues for seven weeks after that. That means that it’s ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

Denomination: Baptist

How Do We Respond To Easter? Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 7, 2022

John tells us that we respond to God's agape-love by loving one another with agape-love.

How do we respond to Easter? (THIS WAS A TALK FOR A FAMILY SERVICE. IT HAS SOME POWERPOINT SLIDES TO GO WITH IT. IF YOU’D LIKE THEM, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT SIMON.BARTLETT@VIRTUALITY.CO) Two weeks ago was Easter Sunday and some of us were on holiday. But Easter Sunday wasn’t the END of Easter. It ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Sermon On The Mount / The First Three Beatitudes Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 3, 2022

In the Beatitudes, Jesus states eight or nine things which result in us being 'blessed' - meaning, happy or fortunate. They are right at the heart of being right with God and they are very different to the things which most people think will make them happy or fortunate.

INTRODUCTION Last week we finished our series of six talks on the theme ‘Great Messages of Encouragement’. We’re now starting a new series of talks on the Sermon on the Mount. I don’t know how many talks we’ll have on it, but it will be more than six! What is ‘the Sermon on the Mount’? Well, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Sermon On The Mount / The Second Three Beatitudes Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 5, 2022

In the fourth, fifth and sixth Beatitudes, Jesus continues to describe the child of God. He or she hungers and thirsts for righteousness, shows mercy and offers God a pure heart. We consider what Jesus is asking for.

INTRODUCTION Last week we started a new series on the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount starts with nine statements that Jesus made which begin, ‘Blessed are.’ ‘Blessed’ means ‘happy’ or ‘fortunate’. We often call these statements ‘the Beatitudes.’ If we asked people in the world ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

The Sermon On The Mount / The Seventh Beatitude Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Mar 12, 2022

'Blessed are the peacemakers.' We all too easily think in terms of fight or not fight. But Jesus gives us a clear goal when we are in or see situations of conflict.

Note: this was a talk for a family service which children come to. So we’re only covering one Beatitude and it’s fairly simple. Over the past two weeks we’ve started to look at the Sermon on the Mount. This is a sermon preached on … you guessed it! … a mountainside. It’s the longest of Jesus’ ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Denomination: Baptist

Mary, David, Paul And Margaret: One Thing Series

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Sep 10, 2022

Mary, David, Paul and Margaret teach us to value One Thing above everything else. Indeed that One Thing is the only thing that's essential.

How important is Jesus in your life? QUITE important? VERY important? One of several things that are essential? Or, the ONE THING that is truly essential? Over the period to Christmas we’re mainly looking at Revelation. But we’re also having some talks about people in the Bible. In each case, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 27:4, Luke 10:41-42, Philippians 3:13-14

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

Preach The Word

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Nov 1, 2021

Paul gives Timothy one of the most solemn injunctions in scripture: 'preach the word'. He is talking about preaching God's word to God's people rather than sharing the gospel with people outside the church. It's a solemn message to us too, to hold fast to God's word.

INTRODUCTION (EARLIER IN THE SERVICE) Today is our last week on 2 Timothy. Over the past three weeks we’ve looked at chapters 1 to 3. Today, we move on to chapter 4 – the last chapter in 2 Timothy. I’m going to do a short recap on what we’ve looked at so far before we turn to chapter 4 later in ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Remembering God

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Nov 13, 2021

On Remembrance Sunday we remember conflicts and we remember members of the armed forces who gave their lives. But above all, we need to remember God.

Talk for Remembrance Sunday, 14 November 2021 Today is Remembrance Sunday. In the UK we observe Remembrance DAY on the 11th of November and we observe Remembrance SUNDAY on the second Sunday in November. On both of those days we REMEMBER members of the armed forces who gave their lives in the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:1-9

Denomination: Baptist