Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Paul the Finisher

Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

Vijay concludes the series on the life of Paul, focusing on 2 Timothy 4:6–8 and Paul’s words near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.” The sermon begins with the reminder that life is short. Psalm 90 asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may live wisely. Knowing that life is brief should not make Christians fearful, but should make us think carefully about how we use the life God has given us. Paul is writing to Timothy knowing that his own death is near. Years earlier, in Acts 20, Paul had said...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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?”...

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’...

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 more socially acceptable than others, before God sin is sin — but equally, grace is grace. There is no such thing as an unreachable sinner. Whoever comes to God in humility and repentance can find mercy through Jesus Christ.

He then introduces Paul as one of the most significant figures in church history: missionary, church planter, apostle, pastor, theologian and author of many New Testament letters. But Paul’s story begins very differently. When we first meet him, he is still called Saul, and he is present at the stoning of Stephen.

David describes Saul in three ways. First, he was zealous — passionate and committed, but at first committed to the wrong cause. Second, he was a Pharisee, sincerely religious but badly mistaken, because his understanding of Scripture had become obscured by traditions and self-righteousness. Third, he was a persecutor, actively trying to destroy the early church.

This leads to one of the sermon’s key warnings: religious sincerity is not enough if it is not rooted in truth. Saul was devoted, but he was profoundly wrong. His pride and false understanding blinded him to Jesus.

David then shares part of his own testimony: childhood exposure to church, drifting away, grief after his mother’s death, depression, and eventually being drawn back into church through a former youth worker. He describes how God spoke to him through John 11, especially Jesus’ words: “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” For David, the answer became yes.

Turning to Acts 9, David retells Saul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Saul is heading out to arrest Christians when Jesus meets him in power, asking, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul is blinded for three days, then Ananias is sent to pray for him. The scales fall from Saul’s eyes, and he is baptised.

David explains that Saul’s blindness reflects the spiritual blindness he had been living in. His three days of blindness also echo Christ’s death and resurrection. Saul is not merely restored to his old life; he is given a new identity. The persecutor becomes a disciple. Saul becomes Paul, a man whose life is now defined by being in Christ.

The sermon closes with the challenge that Paul’s story proves no one is beyond God’s reach. The new life Jesus gave Paul is available to all, and it begins in the same way: surrender.

 0:00 Introduction: Is There a Way Back? 1:20 Biblical Stories of Grace and Restoration 3:08 No Unreachable Sinner 7:42 Beginning the Life of Paul 9:33 Saul, Paul and a New Identity 11:00 Saul at the Stoning of Stephen 12:04 Saul the Zealous Pharisee 15:44 Saul the Persecutor 18:00 Dave’s Own Story of Coming to Faith 25:19 Saul Meets Jesus on the Damascus Road