Paul the Pastor-Theologian
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
David continues the series on the life of Paul, looking at Paul as a pastor-theologian and asking what makes someone a truly great Christian leader. He begins with examples of fictional leaders such as Leonardo the Mutant Hero Turtle, Captain Kirk, Aragorn and Ted Lasso, arguing that great leaders have the ability to inspire a response. Leadership is not just about having good ideas; it is about turning vision into reality and moving people to act. David then applies this to Paul. Paul was not only a thinker or theologian. He was a leader whose teaching always moved from what...
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Strength in Weakness
Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship
Jeremy continues the series on the life of Paul, preaching from 2 Corinthians 11:16–12:10. His central theme is that Christian faithfulness is not measured by impressive achievements or by how much suffering we can endure in our own strength. Instead, the Christian life is about dependence on Christ, whose grace is sufficient and whose power is made perfect in weakness. Jeremy begins with a story about visiting a bamboo forest in Japan with his wife. They both went through the same tiring journey, but for very different reasons. His wife endured the early start and long walk to enjoy the...
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Paul the Church Planter
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...
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The Life of Paul - Acts 15
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...
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The Life of Paul - Acts 13
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...
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The Life of Paul - the Hidden Years
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,...
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The life of Paul - Episode 1
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...
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Luke 22
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?”...
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Jesus and the fallen woman
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’...
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The woman caught in adultery
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...
info_outlineMhairi’s sermon centres on Jonah and the “sign of Jonah” in Matthew 12, showing how Jonah’s story points forward to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
She begins by connecting Jesus’ words to the Old Testament story of Jonah. Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh and preach against its wickedness, but instead he ran away in the opposite direction. His disobedience led him into danger at sea, where a violent storm threatened the ship. Even there, God used Jonah’s failure for good, because the sailors came to fear and worship the true God.
After Jonah was thrown overboard, God provided a great fish to save him. From inside the fish, Jonah prayed in humility and dependence, realising that salvation comes from the Lord. Mhairi’s point is that God often provides for us even before we properly ask, though not always in the way we expect.
When God called Jonah a second time, Jonah obeyed and went to Nineveh. The city heard the warning, repented, and turned back to God. This shows that God is a God of second chances—not only for Jonah, but also for the Ninevites. God had not given up on either of them.
The sermon then highlights Jonah’s anger when God forgave Nineveh. Jonah knew God was gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, but he struggled to accept that such mercy should extend to people he judged undeserving. Through the object lesson of the plant, God exposes Jonah’s narrow vision: Jonah saw only wicked people, but God saw people, lives, and a city worth showing mercy to.
Mhairi sums up the book with a series of contrasts:
God appealed; Jonah absconded
God provided; Jonah prayed
God called; Jonah conceded
God forgave; Jonah was furious
God justified; Jonah judged
She then returns to Matthew 12, where Jesus says no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish, Jesus would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. But whereas Jonah’s experience led to the saving of a city, Jesus’ death and resurrection bring salvation to the world.
The closing application is that God still appeals, provides, calls, forgives, and justifies today. For those who do not yet know Christ, the invitation is open. For Christians, the encouragement is that through Jesus they will stand saved before God, just as the repentant Ninevites will.