Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Florence continues the series on the life of Paul, looking at Paul the church planter and the establishment of the first Christian church in Europe at Philippi in Acts 16. She begins with an illustration from gardening. Artificial flowers may look convincing, but an artificial church cannot produce real spiritual life. Church planting requires genuine believers committed to Christ’s command to make disciples. Florence describes this as cross-shaped living: a vertical relationship with God combined with a horizontal concern for other people. Paul originally planned to preach elsewhere...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Vijay continues the series on the life of Paul, focusing on Paul the controversialist in Acts 15:1–21. The controversy is not about a minor church preference, but about the heart of the gospel: is Jesus Christ enough? He begins with an illustration of doctors disagreeing over a scan. Some disagreements do not matter much, but others are life-changing because they concern what is actually true. In the same way, Christians may disagree over many secondary matters, but Acts 15 deals with a central question: how is a person saved, and who belongs to the people of God? The issue arises...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

James continues the series on the life of Paul, moving from Paul’s hidden years into the beginning of his missionary work in Acts 13. He begins by setting the scene in the church at Antioch in Syria, where Paul has become part of a spiritually gifted church. While the believers are worshipping, fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit tells them to set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which he has called them. James highlights that the mission begins not with human strategy, but with the Spirit’s calling and the church’s prayerful obedience. Paul and Barnabas are sent to Cyprus, where...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Malcolm continues the series on the life of Paul, focusing on “the hidden years” after Saul’s conversion and before his wider public ministry. The passage is Galatians 1:11–23, where Paul explains that the gospel he preached was not invented by people or passed on to him second-hand, but received by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Malcolm begins by placing Paul’s story in context. Last week looked at Saul the persecutor being transformed by Jesus on the road to Damascus. This week looks at the quieter period that followed: Paul’s time in Arabia, then Damascus,...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

David begins a new series on the life of Paul, focusing first on Saul before he became Paul and the grace of God that transformed him. He opens with a searching question: what is the worst thing you have ever done, and do you believe there is a way back to God for you? He walks through several biblical examples — Abraham, Moses, Rahab, David, Jonah, Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, Peter, Thomas and the thief on the cross — showing that God repeatedly restores sinners who turn back to him. David stresses that the gospel is a gospel of grace. While some sins may seem...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Vijay preaches from Luke 22, focusing on Peter’s denial of Jesus and what it reveals about human weakness, self-confidence, prayer, repentance and the grace of Christ. He begins by reflecting on the fact that most of us carry around two versions of ourselves. There is the version we are happy for others to see — our strengths, achievements and best moments — and another hidden version containing our compromises, failures and weaknesses. Often, pressure reveals things in us that we did not realise were there. Vijay says the better question is not simply, “Who am I really?”...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Cheri preaches from Luke 7:36–50, the account of Jesus at the home of Simon the Pharisee, where a woman known for living a sinful life comes to Jesus with tears, perfume and extravagant devotion. She begins by linking this sermon with the previous week’s message on the woman caught in adultery, and with her reflections on Rahab and Hagar. Her focus is on how God responds to women who are shamed, rejected or treated as “fallen” by society. Cheri explains the setting of the story: Jesus is invited to a formal meal at a Pharisee’s house. A woman enters uninvited, weeping at Jesus’...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Cheri preaches from John 8:2–11, the story of the woman caught in adultery, where Jesus says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” She explains that this passage has been on her mind because of her recent teaching on Rahab and because of pastoral conversations with young people, especially around questions of sexuality, gender, fear, shame and Christian discipleship. Cheri says the church often finds this subject hard to talk about because it is surrounded by fear. Some fear being misunderstood, accused of hatred or facing consequences...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

The Logos Hope team share a service centred on the power, authority and honour of the name of Jesus. The team begin by introducing themselves and the work of OM’s Logos Hope. Bauka, from Kazakhstan, explains that although the team come from different countries, the focus is not on flags or national identity, but on introducing people to Jesus. He also asks the church to pray for Kazakhstan, where evangelical Christians are a very small minority. Anne Marie then shares a short testimony using the illustration of fleas in a jar. When a lid is placed on the jar, the fleas learn to jump only so...

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

James preaches from Isaiah 6:1–8, where Isaiah sees the Lord in the year King Uzziah died. He begins by reflecting on Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, using it to introduce the theme of living in times of change, uncertainty and instability. His central message is: In a time of change and uncertainty, we need to fix our eyes on the one who is unchangeable and completely dependable. James explains that Isaiah’s vision happened at a real point in history, around the death of King Uzziah. Uzziah had reigned for 52 years, so his death marked a time of national...