Sermons from Pastor Nathan Hedt

Advent people 1 - Zechariah

The first sermon in a series on Advent People. Advent People are ordinary people receiving extraordinaray promises. 

For Zechariah, he had waited so long for God to fulfil his promises that he had almost lost hope. But then he received a visit and announcement from an angel, Gabriel, that brought hope back to life.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 1st December 2019. 

Luke 19 A tough parable (the ten minas)

Luke 19:11-27 ends with a saying of Jesus that seems at least 'a bit tough' if not downright horrifying! When we understand this tough parable as literature, and get more of the cultural background of Jesus' story, we can appreciate what Jesus is saying and what he is not saying. 

This parable includes 'the tragedy of the rejected king,' 'the tragedy of the fearful servant' and 'the joy of faithful service.' 

It was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 24th November, the last Sunday of the church year.

Enjoy!

New Heavens and a New Earth

In Isaiah 65 we find one of God's great promises, of new heavens and a new earth. The poetic vision of Isaiah 65 is similar to some of the visions of God's restoration in Revelation and elsewhere. 

How will this new heavens and new earth come about?

Through the Suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday November 17th, 2019.

 

Luke 20 Questions about resurrection

Is there life after death? And if there is, what will it be like? People and cultures have wrestled with this question for thousands of years, and come up with many different possible answers.

In Luke 20, a Jewish group called the Sadducees challenges Jesus with a scenario that seems to make resurrection an absurdity.

Jesus responds that 'God is the God of the living, not the dead, for to him all are alive.'

As Christians, our hope and belief is that Jesus has already been resurrected - and we will therefore take part in the resurrection because of him. There is a future for both our body, as well as our soul or spirit. God has a plan and purpose for us beyond death.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 10th November 2019.

Enjoy!

 

A sermon on Thanksgiving

We have so much to give thanks for.

It is good for us to give thanks to God and recognise that he is the giver of all good gifts.

In Deuteronomy, as the people of Israel are about to enter the Promised Land, they are urged to remember God, to give thanks to him for his deliverance from slavery and for their inheritance, and to actively engage in thanksgiving.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 3rd November 2019. Enjoy!

The Christian discipline of fasting

We are in a season of prayer and fasting for church planting and evangelism in the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand. 

This sermon is an introduction to the Christian discipline of fasting. Fasting is giving up something good in order to pursue something better. Fasting is a way to focus our prayers, learn to depend more fully on God, reveal and repent of our idolatries, and have our spiritual ears open to hearing the voice of the Spirit.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 27th October 2019.

Enjoy!

Luke 18 The parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge

'Always pray and never give up.' This is Jesus' encouragement to his disciples in Luke 18. Many things can cause us to 'give up' or 'lose heart' in prayer - great anguish, simple distraction, the lie that God is uncaring. Jesus tells his followers a story to contrast a false view of God with the true view and to encourage us in prayer.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 20th October 2019.

Enjoy!

 

Naaman's story (2 Kings 5)

This is the story of Naaman's healing. It is told as a dramatic monologue from the point of view of Naaman, the outsider and enemy of God's people who receives God's grace from a surprising source - a courageous young girl and a foreign prophet.

It was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday October 13th, 2019.

Enjoy!

Do not be ashamed (2 Timothy 1)

'Join with me in suffering for the Gospel.' So writes Paul, in prison, near the end of his life, to his protege Timothy. Not a really good marketing pitch, hey? It's true that following Jesus is not easy. It takes everything we have - because Jesus gave everything he has. But it is joyful, full of hope, and a life with a glorious future. 

It would be easy to be ashamed or timid of the Christian gospel these days. Yet in the first chapter of his second letter to Timothy, Paul gives so many good news reasons why we need not be ashamed of the gospel or timid as followers of Jesus.

This sermon was preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Sunday 6th October 2019.

Mission Life 6: Be the church

To join God's mission we should stop going to church.

Because 'church' is not a building or an hour's service on a Sunday morning.

This sermon talks about how to BE the church, the body of Christ in mission - the physical thing that Jesus uses to get stuff done on earth.

God has no plan B. His plan is that through the church, the good news of restoration and forgiveness in Jesus should be shared with the world.

This sermon concludes the Mission Life series preached at Pakenham Lakeside Church by Pastor Nathan Hedt.