Sermons
Listen, watch or read sermons from Manchester Lutheran Church, and explore them through the Christian year.
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Jesus forgave everyone—so why does the Church still discipline people?
Jesus forgave everyone—so why does the Church still discipline people? This part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is such a weird passage to read on Easter Sunday, but it’s been read on this day from the earliest times in the church because not only was Easter the time people joined the church, but it…
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Why stop trying to win?
Why stop trying to win? This week, the House of Lords voted to decriminalise abortions, and many Christians responded online. Whether politically “right” or “left,” we keep tying the Gospel to something visible—something we can point to as success. But the reason we do that is a deeper more pervasive problem: a theology of glory.…
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Isn’t Faith Just Invisible Fantasy?
Isn’t Faith Just Invisible Fantasy? For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about an alternative Gospel: the Gospel of transformation. The idea that you can become someone good enough, and then see that you’re acceptable. It’s attractive — because it’s visible. And it feels instinctively true to sinners like us, because it feels obvious…
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Can Bible-based self-improvement send you to hell?
Can Bible-based self-improvement send you to hell? The headline message of many churches is: Come to church. Be transformed. It sounds fine on the surface. And there is some truth to it—because the Gospel does transform us. But if we confuse this effect of the Gospel with the Gospel itself, Galatians gives us a huge…
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Doesn’t forgiveness encourage bad behaviour?
Doesn’t forgiveness encourage bad behaviour? A couple of years ago someone was behaving in an unhelpful way. And I found myself saying in meetings: “Well, unless there’s consequences, this person’s behaviour is not going to change is it?” Last year, I was in a different situation. Someone was very angry with me. Even when I…
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Why does God care about sex and porn?
Why does God care about sex and porn? All of us have a natural appetite for deep relationships, and a natural appetite for that to be expressed physically. God made you this way because he loves you. All of us are curved in on ourselves in self-trust and self-love, and so all of us experience…
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If I’m already forgiven, can’t I just take what I want?
If I’m already forgiven, can’t I just take what I want? From the very beginning of the Reformation, when Luther told people that God had freely forgiven the sins of the world in Jesus, the Catholic response was: but what about good works? Today, when we translate this forgiveness for people in Manchester and tell…
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Do I make enough of a difference to matter?
Do I make enough of a difference to matter? In ancient Corinth, people were desperate to be significant. And that attitude spilled over into the church. An attitude that is still all over the church today, and one that is in our hearts also. We want to be significant. We want to be important. We…
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Shouldn’t I be ashamed of how tiny my church is?
Shouldn’t I be ashamed of how tiny my church is? One of the most common things I see from churches online is a photo of growth. A full room. A crowd. A caption about momentum, or community, or revival. And I think most of it is well meaning. But it does something to us. It…
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What will keep these boys, baptised today, in the Christian faith?
What will keep these boys, baptised today, in the Christian faith? Last week we heard how God’s Word alone can create faith. Our theme today is all about how we are kept in faith. But some people claim faith is created in different ways. They say: The right education creates faith. You make a decision…
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Why does trying to prove God actually silence him?
Why does trying to prove God actually silence him? One of the biggest confusions of Law and Gospel in our times is the idea that we need to prove the things God claims in the Bible, clear the way for people to understand the Gospel, or win a hearing so that people will listen to…
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How does my life matter?
How does my life matter? Last week we heard Paul explain that the value of our lives is not because we earn anything by them. But that because God is unconditionally in a good mood with us, and has freely forgiven us, so what we do matters and has value simply because he chooses to…