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  1. 4d ago

    June 7

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/10121328/June-7-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 37:5-11 (NLT) 5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” 8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. 9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” 10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant. Genesis 37:25-28 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.[a] 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces[b] of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.   Romans 11:29 (MSG) A Complete Israel 25-29 I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written, A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;     he’ll clean house in Jacob. And this is my commitment to my people:     removal of their sins. From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.   Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Thank you, Praise Team. What a wonderful morning of worship again. I missed you on the piano though. 6:10, not 6:07, 6:10. We really want you to do that. Alexander had a little fun with you this morning, but please go do that. 6:10 in the morning or 6:10 in the evening or afternoon, whatever you want to call it. Take a few moments, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and pray. Pray for our search team in the work that they are doing, finding the next minister for this church. Pray for the person that God is preparing for this position. But also pray for another team because we’ve been struggling for a long time. We’re looking for someone for our youth, and we just do not have folks that are applying, and it’s not just us. It’s all over that we’re struggling with that. Pray for us too. Pray for folks that feel that call to do that. With God’s grace, I think there might be two people. That’ll be good news for those on the team that we might see apply and that we might be able to sit down and talk to. So 6.10 until we find people, take time. Five minutes is all we’re asking. Be quiet, and that’s all you pray for, nothing else. That’s what you pray for. Lord, as we continue our journey with Joseph, not an easy journey, Lord, because it starts in a home, goes to a pit, ends in slavery, but also in the end, it ends in war, more than that. But as we walk this path, help us, Lord, to see you as Joseph did, to see your hand in every moment, even there in the deepest pit, as we said last week. And every day as we walk, and in these moments, may we see Jesus, and only Jesus. I think you got it right, Alexander. Now I moved it, and now it’s all oblong. It started, the trouble started when Joseph’s mouth started. He walked into breakfast that morning, and he was blabbing about this dream that he had. Read with me. I’m going to do the verses little by little. It’s a little bit of fun. One night, Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. Remember I told you verse five last week? Listen to this dream, he said. We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain, and suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine. I do not know what Joseph was thinking. Was he really thinking that his brothers were going to just slap him on the back and say, baby brother, that’s amazing. We can’t wait to bow down before you. Well, they didn’t. They kicked dirt in his face, and they told him to take a hike. Verse nine, verse eight. His brothers responded, so you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you’ll reign over us? And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. Now you’d think he would take a hint, but he didn’t. So he just comes right back, and this time with a dream even more elaborate than the first one, verse nine. Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. Listen, I’ve had another dream, he said. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me. This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. What kind of dream is that? He asked, will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you? But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dream was. He should have kept those dreams to himself, and I think that’s what he was thinking if you think back to last week’s sermon when he was sitting there right at the bottom of that dark pit, heard the brothers up there laughing and having fun. And then all of a sudden, it’s not just their voices, there are other voices too. So let’s go to verse 25. Then just as they were sitting down to eat, the brothers, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, what will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders after all. He’s our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites who were Midianite traders came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for 20 pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. Just like that. Brothers pulled him out, took the money, grabbed the garment, left, and Joseph had no choice. He was on his way to Egypt to be a slave. Can I just stop the story there for a second? Because I want to set the scene for you for what this sermon is all about. Not too long ago, Joseph had everything going his way. He was hanging out at home. Brothers had to work. He was the loved son and everything was going to him. He had his own tailor who made his own special garment for him. He had these wonderful lofty dreams. But like the old saying goes, what goes up must come down. And Joseph’s life came down with a crash. Down, down, down. Put down by the brothers, thrown down into a cistern, sold down the river of slavery, led down the road to Egypt. Stripped of everything. His name, his status, his position, everything he had, everything he hoped to have, it all went down the drain. Down to Egypt. And this is what the sermon is all about. Because here’s the thing. Life sometimes can do that. It can get us down. We even have sayings for that. I’m down to my last dollar. Just yesterday, this was not written in the sermon, but it gave me in a moment. As I was driving to Zehrs to pick up something, I saw this young lady come to the place where she always stands at the traffic light. And she had this cardboard and she was writing her cardboard again. And as I came back from Zehrs, she was ready and she stood there and she had a down on there. Down on my luck. Because that’s where she is. She’s down. Down to my last penny. Down on my back. Down and out. All of a sudden life takes us down. Boy, that’s a downer this morning. That’s not where I’m going. It takes us down. Now let’s go back to Joseph. Hold on to that. Joseph. When he arrives in Egypt, he has nothing. It’s all taken away. His family, his home, his country. Everything. He has lost everything. But the one thing he didn’t lose was his belief in God’s plan for his life. Joseph never stopped believing that. Never mind how down he went. Down into the pit. Down with the Ishmaelites. Down to Egypt. Down into the dungeon of the jail there. He never stopped believing in the fact that this was God’s plan for his life and nothing would change that. And he was going to hold on to that plan because he knew. Remember last week, Genesis 50 verse 20. You weaved evil. But God is the amazing weaver and God re-weaved, re-wove those plans. And they became pla

    21 min

  2. Jun 3

    May 31

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/03152102/May-31-Sermon.mp3 Genesis 37:12-13 12 Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.” “I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied. Genesis 37:18-24 Joseph Sold into Slavery 18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. 23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.  Genesis 50:20 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.   Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) I think this simple little song is one of my all-time favourites. Laura, you outdid yourself this morning. I don’t know what happened to you, but it happened to me. As you were playing, I was just overwhelmed. I still am. My emotions were just all over the place, and I just see that as the spirit that was doing that. So, thank you for your gift that became God’s gift to us. Thank you. Sorry, old man’s emotions get to him a little bit. We’re starting a new series. By the way, it’s written by Darlene Czech. She didn’t write too many, and the last song we’re singing was also written by Darlene, so it’s a Darlene morning, this morning. Starting a new series today called At the Right Time. Sorry about Joseph, but we’ll get to Joseph in a moment. Father, help me to breathe in this moment. Thank you that you breathe your breath into each one of us, that living breath of your Holy Spirit. May your breath just cover this place today as you blow the wind of your Holy Spirit. And as always, we pray, Lord Jesus, that we may see you and only you. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. This painting that I have here this morning is an original oil painting. I got this as a gift in my first congregation in 1988, so that made me 30 years old. When I received this from the artist that made this, a young woman by the name, sorry, my bladder is leaking. I got this from a young woman called Tia Barnard in 1988 because of something that we shared in 1987. So, I’m saying the age because I want you to understand a little bit of the impact, because I still carry the impact of that to this day. I was 29 years old. It was about 9, 9.30 in the evening. Elsie and I were sitting. We still had a manse in those days. We were sitting in the manse. The kids, two of the three were born. They were in bed, and we were having a cup of tea. And the phone rang in my office. Now, remember those days we did not have cell phones. We still had phones that had tails on them. Phone rang in the office. I went to the office. I picked up the phone, and the voice on the other side, it was just this deadly, shocked, couldn’t really speak voice, was Tia. She just said, Aubrey, you need to come to my house immediately. Something terrible has happened. You need to come to my house. Tia’s kids were about the same age as ours. Her little girl was five. Her little boy was three. I said to Elsie, something’s really wrong at Tia’s house. I need to get there. So, I jump in the car, and I drive as fast as I can, and I get there. She’s waiting at the door, and this woman is shaking. Got two little kids clinging to her legs. I come in there. I said, Tia, what’s going on? She said, just come in, and we walk into the living room, and I’m stunned, because there on the floor lies her husband, dead with a gunshot wound in his head. He committed suicide in front of her and those two little kids. That leaves a mark in your life forever. The cops came, sorry, the police came a few minutes later. The ambulance folks came a few minutes later, and it was chaos. So, they wanted to talk to Tia. So, I took the two little ones. Good thing we knew each other. So, I took the two little ones, and we went to their bedroom, and I tried to settle them down, and when all the stuff was done, I helped Tia put the little ones to bed, and we just sat there, and I cried with her, and I was stunned with her, because you do not have too many words in moments like those. It was early morning when I left. I did call Elsie from her house just to say, I’m okay, don’t worry, I’m going to be there late. Go to bed. I left in the early hours of the morning to go back home. As we stood at the door, Tia just held on to me. She didn’t want to let go, and I said to her, Tia, I know you don’t want to hear this right now, and I know it’s going to sound really crazy, but you will get through this. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be really hard and really tough. It’s not going to be quick. It’s going to take an awful long time. There’s going to be a lot of frustration, a lot of questions, a lot of hurt, but don’t despair. You will get through this. A little audacious of me, right? Where do I get the right to speak such a promise into such tragedy? Well, actually, I got it in a pit, a really deep, dark pit, and the young boy who was in the bottom of that pit could not get out of that pit even if he wanted to, and if he tried, his brothers would kick him right down back into the pit. But don’t let me tell you the story. Let’s read the story. Genesis chapter 37, verse 12. Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. When they’d been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them. I’m ready to go, Joseph replied. When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognised him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. Here comes the dreamer, they said. Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father a wild animal has eaten him, and then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams. But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. Let’s not kill him, he said. Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness, and then you’ll die without our laying a hand on him. Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. Now note this verse. So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty. There was no water in it. He didn’t land with a splash. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, what will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he’s our brother, our own flesh and blood. His brothers agreed. So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for 20 pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. Can you imagine being Joseph? He’s crying out for help and his brothers care more about their lunch than they do about their little brother or helping him. They despised the boy. Why? A little family background in this. Jacob, Joseph’s father and the brother’s father, treated Joseph differently from all of the other kids. Why? Well, there’s a reason. Remember, Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel, but only one love. Rachel. And when Rachel died, giving birth to her second son, Ben-Oni, or as we know him, Benjamin, Jacob just poured out all of his love on his son, Joseph. The other boys would work outside. Joseph played inside. They got their clothes from Value Village. Joseph had a coat that was handmade, hand-stitched with long sleeves, specifically for him. No, it wasn’t a coat of multi-colours. Never says that ever in the Bible. I don’t know where they got that. The Hebrew is actually a kind of difficult word. It actually, that word is the same word that is used for the robe that a young prince would wear, but never said anything about amazing technicolour twinkle. I was dreamed out by a man called Andrew. Sorry about that. The brothers would work. Joseph would play. The brothers would be out in the field, we read. Joseph would hang out at home. Jacob treated his 11th-born son like he was the firstborn. So to say that his brothers didn’t like him was a little bit of a understatement. If I take you back in this chapter to verse 4, 5, and 8, verse 4 says, they hated him. Verse 5 says, they hated him even more. Verse 8 says, they hated him more and more. So do you get it? They hated him. They really hated him. So when Joseph shows up where they’re working in the field, they go ballistic on this boy. They ripped the robe off him. They grabbed him and they threw him in the cistern. Angry words. Rip, grab, throw. An

    25 min

  3. May 27

    May 24

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/27003503/May-24-Sermon.mp3 Ezekiel 37:1-14 The Valley of Dry Bones 37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”   Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Father, you are good. I need help. They need help. Thank you that we may stand before you in the name of Jesus. May we see Jesus and only Jesus. Amen. So last week I made a little mistake. I said we’re starting a new series today. I actually meant after Pentecost. Today is Pentecost and then next week we’ll start a new series. It’s going to be fun. The series is called At the Right Time and we’re going to talk a little bit about the life of a man called Joseph and see what God says to our lives about that. But today is the day of Pentecost where we celebrate the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Now I don’t know if you have ever noticed as you read scripture that it does not only have God’s answers to many of our life questions that we have. Many of the things that we go through in life that God gives us answers to those where we ask for that. But it also has God’s questions. Questions that God asks us about our lives, about who we are, about how we live, about how life around us looks like. Let me give you a few examples because these questions are meant for us to stop, take stock, look at our own lives. Ask, what is God asking of me? Way back when in the garden when Adam and Eve messed up and God came looking for them, they went and they hid. And what was God’s question? Where are you? Having them think for a moment, why are we hiding? What did we do? And God asks, where are you? And often he asks us, where are you? When Moses was reluctant when God called him to go and free his people from Egypt and Moses had all of these excuses one after the other, God asked him a question. What was the question? What do you have in your hand? There was only a staff, but that staff became a snake. That staff became that which changed the Nile into blood. That staff became that which parted the sea. That staff became that which hit the rock and the water came from the rock. And often God asks us, what do you have in your hand? There was this guy called Jacob, the heel grabber, the deceiver. When he came back to the land and there at the Jabbok, he wrestled with God and God asked him a question. Can you remember what the question was? What is your name? And he had to say the name out loud, Jacob, deceiver, the one who deceived my father, my brother, my father-in-law, who deceived them all. I am Jacob and now you will be Isaac. No, Israel. You will be Israel, the one that I have called. And then there was this man called Peter. Peter, the old loud mouth. Peter said, Lord, they’ll all deceive you and they’ll all turn their backs on you and all. I’ll never do that. Peter stands there at the fire and they said, ah, you were one of them. And he said, I don’t know who you’re talking about. I don’t know this man. And then Jesus meets up with him, John 21, at the sea of Galilee and Jesus asks him a question. Can you remember the question? Do you love me? Often God will ask. One more and then we’ll go to our question of the day. There was this man, Paul. He was on his way to Damascus on this road and the Lord stopped him and he asked him a question. Why are you persecuting me? The questions God asks us. They’re meant to stop me in my tracks and let me look at myself and say, why are you asking me the question, Lord? What do you mean by asking me the question? It makes me embark on that journey to look at my relationship with God and ask, when am I with you, Lord? It takes me on another journey where it asks me to look at this relationship with these loved ones that God puts all around me. How are you doing with them? What is your relationship? The questions God asks us. So on this Pentecost Sunday, there is a question for us and what better place to go than the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. I’m going to read verses 1 to 14. The hand of the Lord was on me and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, and here is the question for today. Son of man, can these bones live? And I said, sovereign Lord, you alone know. And then he said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones. I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you and you will come to life. And then you will know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together bone to bone. And I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them. But, there’s the but, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to it, this is what the sovereign Lord says, come breath from the four winds and breathe into these slain that they may live. Can I just stop there for one second? The one thing that we miss when we read English and not Hebrew is that sometimes there are words that are used that have more meaning. The word spirit, the word breath, and the word wind in Hebrew are all exactly the same word. It’s difficult for Canadian tongue to say because there’s a rrr in there and there’s a rrr in there. Ruach, the spirit, the breath, the wind of the Lord. So look how the Lord uses those. The spirit brings him, then he prays for the breath to the wind and the wind brings the breath. Verse 10, so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them and they came to life, stood up on their feet, a vast army. And then he said to me, son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say our bones are dried up and our hope is gone and we’re cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel and then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them. And I will put my spirit, my wind, my breath in you and you will live. And I will settle you in your own land and then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done it, declares the Lord. So God takes Ezekiel, and this is in a time when God’s people are in Babylonian exile, when they’ve lost everything. God takes Ezekiel and he puts him in this dry valley through the spirit, looks at the valley and there’s the skeleton bones of people lying there, dead, dried out, and it represents how God’s people feel about themselves. Dry, hopeless, dead, just there’s nothing left. They’re sitting in this situation and they’re going nowhere. And in this moment, God asks the question, can these bones live? What a profoundly poignant question, not just for people who are in exile and have lost everything, but a question for today and for each one of us. Can these bones live? Because so many of us struggle with the dry bones syndrome in this world. People struggling with their lives, people struggling with things around them. This world’s struggling with itself right now. It is quite dry and dead and desolate despite the fact that we have AI and all kinds of other jazz going on. So many people struggle with a dry bone syndrome, but also in our faith walk, many folks struggle with dry bones. They go through the motions. We read, we pray, we sing, but it’s dry and it’s empty and there’s nothing. And the question is, can these bones live? Let me

    29 min

  4. May 18

    May 17

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18115449/May-17-Sermon.mp3 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (MSG) 16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. Matthew 8:5-10a,13 (NLT) The Faith of a Roman Officer 5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[a] came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant[b] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” 7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) We’re ending our series on prayer today, and starting a new series next week. The new series will be called, At the Right Time. You’ll have to come listen to know what it’s all about, but gonna have some fun with that. That’s a four-part series that we’re doing, kind of just before we hit the summer. And then I’m gonna be gone, I’m gonna leave you alone, and you’ll have some other people that’ll preach for you. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you that the word always speaks into our lives, calls us to that moment to stand before you and ask, so, so Lord, what do you ask of me? In this morning, as always, we pray. We want to see Jesus. And only Jesus. The road of life can sometimes be long and hard, right? Especially when we hit those lonely, those desolate, those broken sections that seem to just kind of go on and on and on. And all you have is prayer. But it’s also true that even the most desolate road will sometimes have its moments of beauty and comfort and care. Maybe you’ll find it sitting in the shade on a hot summer’s day and just being alone for a moment and being able to speak your heart with the Lord. Just talk to him about everything in your life. Maybe it’s in finding that solution for a problem that’s been bugging you for so long and you’ve been struggling with so long. And all of a sudden, there’s the solution that you’ve been waiting for. Maybe it’s in an answered prayer when a prodigal son or daughter finally returns home. No, the thing is this. It is easy to be grateful and to give thanks when things are going well, things are working out for you. But it’s a little more difficult to say a prayer of thanks when life is hard and things are difficult and you’re struggling. So how do we do that? How do we live that? That first congregation that I told you about this morning was huge. But the cool thing about that congregation was it was 4,000 members strong. Just, it’s crazy. The average age was 43. So that’s why I baptised 23 babies. You’ll understand now. So we didn’t have a lot of senior folks there, but there was one beautiful, beautiful lady in that church. 75 years old. I think she was one of the oldest members in the church. 75. The most godly, God-fearing, Christ-following person that you could ever meet in your life sold out to the Lord Jesus. It just radiated from her. Served the Lord with everything in her. And then she got sick. And it was a horrible illness that there was no cure for. It just sucked the life out of her. And we just saw this just going down until at some stage she was bedridden. I would often go visit her. And one day I stopped at her house and we sat talking. I just could see it was a hard, hard day. And I said to her, I can see it’s a tough day for you. She says, oh no, I’ve never been better. And I said, yeah, you’re a good liar like most of us. I can see that. I said, you know, your daughter called me and she said, you’re not sleeping lately. She says, yeah, that’s true. I don’t really sleep much at night. She says, but you know what I can do when I’m awake? I can pray. I talk to the Lord. So every time I’m awake, I just have this wonderful time in the presence of the Lord, just talking to Him and giving my life to Him and allowing Him to speak into my life. And I sat there and boy did I have to swallow because I wanted to cry in that moment. And I’m supposed to be this pastor guy who’s there for her. I just was quiet for a little bit. And we spoke more and we read and we prayed together as we did. When I got in that car, I bawled my eyes out. It was about five o’clock that afternoon. I got a call from her daughter. She said, mom’s gone home to be with Jesus. How do we obtain this kind of victory? How do we die with gratitude despite what’s going on and the struggles and the hurts and the pains? How do we do that? How do we live that victory? Can I give you an answer? By living a life of gratitude. Listen to what the Word says. This is not me. The Bible says this. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 16 to 18. I’m reading from the message for you. Be cheerful no matter what. Pray all the time and thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. Be cheerful no matter what. Thank God no matter what happens. This is how God wants you who belong to Jesus to live. In Scripture, giving thanks is not just something that I could decide that I want to do every now and then. In Scripture, it’s written right there. It’s not a suggestion but a command. More than a hundred times you’ll find it written. Give thanks to the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. Do not be anxious about anything but through prayer and petition and with thanksgiving. Give your requests to God over and over and over. Give thanks. Thanks. How do we obtain that victory? By living a life of gratitude. I think the first sin was the sin of ingratitude. Remember the story right? This man called Adam and Eve or the man called Adam and his wife Eve. They lived in this beautiful garden called Eden. Eden that means this place of beauty and provision. God put them there and there was everything you could see, you could love, you could want, you could eat, everything. They needed nothing. It was so beautiful that God came and just walked through this garden. That’s how amazing it was. And then the snake slithered in and asked the question about a forbidden tree. They had everything they needed. But all of a sudden Eden was not good enough. There should be more said the devil. And ingratitude moved in like a bully on the block. Can you imagine what would have happened if gratitude won the day? If Adam and Eve scoffed at the devil and said, you get out here you snake. You have no idea. Have you seen this place? It’s got orange groves. It’s got strawberry patches. It’s got apple trees. It’s got blueberry bushes. It’s got it all. You want a tour? Get yourself out of here. But he hissed and he hissed and oh the hisses we hear every day. You need more. You don’t have enough. More cars, more horsepower, more money. More fame, more of this, more, more, more. Sounds like a song, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing. God has given us a way to break that and to step on that thing’s head. It’s called gratitude. Living before the Lord with thanks no matter what. Praying with thanksgiving no matter what. As I was preparing, I was looking for an example and I read this kind of funny, sad story. The lawyer won a case for his client and the client was really grateful for that. And he said, can I take you out for lunch to say thank you? And then we can just square up there. I’ll pay you your bill and everything is well there. But let’s go for lunch and just celebrate this. So they went for lunch, had a wonderful lunch. At the end of the lunch, the client took out of his jacket pocket a brand spanking new genuine leather wallet. And he handed that to the lawyer. The lawyer looked at the wallet, he gave it back. He said, no, no, no, I’m sorry. My fee is $500. Client smiled, took the wallet, opened it up. And he took out 10 $100 notes, counted out five, put five in the wallet. He gave him the wallet back, right? Don’t be too quick in your assessment of God’s gifts in your life. Also in the broken and the desolate and the difficult moments. Thank God every moment, every day, I think of that woman again. It’s been a tough, no, no, I’m doing well because I was in the Lord’s presence. You don’t sleep. Oh, but I’m awake and I can talk to God. Don’t be too quick in your assessment of God’s gifts in your life. Thank you. Father, you are good. Sermon number one. I need help. Sermon number two. They need help. Last week, today. Thank you. But there’s one little element that still comes with that. In the name of Jesus. Why? Another story for you. It comes from Matthew. For this one, I need my glasses because I couldn’t print it as big as the other one. Thanks, Ted. Matthew 8, 5 to 13. When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him. Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralysed and in terrible pain. Jesus said, I’ll come and heal him. But the officer said, Lord, I’m not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say go and they go or come and they come. And if I say to my slaves, do this, they do it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. And then I’m skipping to verse 13. And then Jesus said to the Roman officer, g

    22 min

  5. May 14

    May 10

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/13224917/May-10-Sermon.mp3 Luke 11:5-10 5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.[a] 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Isaiah 65:24 I will answer them before they even call to me.     While they are still talking about their needs,     I will go ahead and answer their prayers! John 14:13-14 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Good morning. What an amazing church this is. I had to go for some tests this morning here at the hospital, and I wasn’t sure that I was gonna make it back, and sure what the tests were gonna do. So late night, I text my brother Jimmy, and I said, Jim, I know this is late night. I’m not feeling all that great, and I don’t know about tomorrow. Would you stand in and just be on call if maybe I need you to get up there and preach, and Jimmy said, not a problem. I’ll be there. He made a mistake, though. He said, if you want to, I can take your notes, and I said, Jim, you don’t read hieroglyphics. You won’t be able to read that, and Alexander, I just said, Alexander, maybe Jim’s gonna be there and take care of this and take care of that, and this morning I said to Scott, Scotty, if I can sit for a little longer, it will be really neat. Can you just do the prayer song, and Scott just did the prayer song, and what an amazing place this is, where people give and give freely of themselves. Thank you, Central. You’ve been like that. I’ve been here 25 years. You’ve been like that for 25 years. Our prayers go to David DeVisser’s family. David passed away. It’s in the bulletin. The funeral is Friday at 11 o’clock, Thursday evening, 6 to 8. We’ll have a visitation here at the church. Please continue to pray for David’s family. We’re gonna miss him. He was much loved in this place. As we, in these moments, prepare, Lord, to be in your word and to listen for your word. Thank you that you prepare our hearts. Thank you, Holy Spirit of God. Not only are you the one who inspired these words, but you are the one who takes them and puts them in our hearts, and then you guide us as we live the word. And this morning again, as we pray, it’s always that we want to see Jesus and only Jesus. In your precious name, we pray, Lord. Amen. The phone rings, and on the other end, you just hear this distraught voice of a friend or a loved one. And as they continue talking, and you hear the fear and the hurt and the struggle, and you hear the tears, you sit on the other end, and you wonder, what can I do when the challenge that comes to me from someone else is greater than I am? What I want to help but I feel so helpless, so hopeless. Where do I turn? What do I do with this? This is a problem that Dr. Helen Rosevere faced in her fourth year of 20 years that she would work in the Congo, way back, days before cell phones and all these great things. She was a missionary doctor from England working in the Congo at a small orphanage, a little bit of a hospital there as well. And on this day, in that fourth year of working there, Helen was helping a mother who was giving birth, but it was premature birth, and the mother died during giving birth. She left behind a little prematurely born baby and a two-year-old little girl. She sent one of the teacher midwives to go fetch a warm water bottle, fill it with water, and bring that because they had no incubators. There’s no electricity, none of this stuff to help this little baby. The nurse comes back, and she’s crying. She says, doctor, you won’t believe it. When I poured the water into the hot water bottle, it just burst, and that was the only hot water bottle we have. Here’s this little baby. What do you do? So, they set up a little team that would sleep with the baby and hold them close and put the blankets all over, and they would just do that through the night to keep this little thing going. Next day, during lunchtime, all of the kids of the orphanage was there as well, and Helen would always tell them what’s going on and pray with them. And this day, she told them about the little two-year-old and about the little baby. And their need. Because how would they get a warm water bottle there in the middle of nowhere? There’s no contact. The only way that would happen is if someone would send a parcel from England. But who’s going to send a hot water bottle to someone who lives on the equator, right? So, she tells them, and then they pray. And then this little girl, and you can go read this. Helen wrote this in a book called Living Faith. She writes, this little girl gets up. Her name is Ruth. She’s 10 years old. They all prayed, but one 10-year-old girl named Ruth took it on herself to take the problem directly to Jesus. Please, God, she said, send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow, God. The baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon. And while you’re at it, would you please send a doll for the little girl’s sister so that she will know that you really love her. Helen said she struggled to say amen after this prayer, because how is this ever going to be possible? Where’s this gonna come from? In the four years she’s been there, she’s never even received a parcel from home. So, how? Went along the day, and she was working, and someone came running up and said, there’s someone with a car at your door. She ran out, got there, car was gone, but there’s this huge box, 22 pounds in weight, all beautifully wrapped. So, she thought this must be gifts for the kids. So, she calls the kids. They open the box. They unwrap it. She opens it up. Yes, there’s supplies, bandages, special wool for the folks with leprosy, some sultanas in a bottle, some raisins in cans, and then, as she calls them, jerseys, sweaters for the kids. And as she’s taking them out, her hand feels something, and she’s thinking, no, this can’t be. And she takes it out, and there’s a hot water bottle in the box. True story, I’m telling you right now. As she takes that out, little Ruth sees this, and she comes flying up to the box, and she says, if there’s a hot water bottle, there has to be a doll, too. And she’s in the box, and there’s this beautiful little doll. When Ellen looked at the label on the box, it was sent five months earlier from England. It reminded me of this beautiful word in Isaiah chapter 65, and Ted, you have that on the screen. I will answer them before they even call to me. And while they’re still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers. Do I have to preach? Here’s your sermon. I will answer them before they even call to me. While they’re still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers. The Lord answered little Ruth’s prayer even before she prayed that prayer. As I read that, I not only got emotional about this little girl, but I thought to myself, do I have that kind of faith? A faith that prays so boldly, God, we need a water bottle this afternoon. Tomorrow’s too late, and a little doll while you’re at it. Bold. Right there, right before the Lord accepting the challenge that Jesus gave us. Can you remember the challenge Jesus gave in John 14? It’s up there, Ted. Ask anything in my name, and I will do it. Why? To glorify the Father. Put the rest on there, Ted. Ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Ruth took God up on that challenge. What about us? What about us? We all need help, right? We said that in the series. Father, you’re good. Last week we said, I need help. We need help for those moments when that engine light comes on and life breaks down, that God needs to step in, and we ask that. But here’s the thing. So do other people, that friend, that neighbour, that loved one that gets on that phone. And God who is faithful in his word and promises to meet my needs is also the God who promises to meet others’ needs. All we have to do is to ask. Father, you are good. I need help. So do they. And with those words, we intercede for other people. Asking God to do his miracles in their lives. It’s a huge gift to be able to do that, but it’s also this awesome responsibility. Father, they need help. Listen to what Jesus says about this. Here’s a scripture passage for the day, Luke 11. Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story. This is Jesus. Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, a friend of mine has just arrived for a visit and I have nothing for him to eat. And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you. But, here’s that biblical but, I tell you this, though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you nee

    21 min

  6. May 5

    May 3

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/04214447/May-3-Sermon.mp3 John 2:1-10 The Wedding at Cana 2 The next day[a] there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.[b] 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” Matthew 20:29-34 Two Blind Men Receive Sight 29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” 32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” 34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) It’s been an interesting week in our household. You get one little germ factory coming home, and then Omar works with the other germ factories, and then she becomes a germ factory, and she comes home, and then germs go everywhere. So it’s been an interesting week. I think I’ve done the best of the three. So yeah, it’s one of those silly, silly weeks that happen. That anthem that the choir sang this morning, boy, you took me back many, many, many years. When I worked at the Christian radio station in South Africa, that was one of the favourite songs I played, but I can’t remember the artist who sang that. There was another woman. It wasn’t just Gloria. There was another… It’s still not the right one, but I’ll find it. She sang it better than any of them, but you did it so beautiful this morning. It just touched my heart, and I just thought of those words again. Jesus, you’re the centre of my joy. All that’s good and perfect comes from you. You’re the heart of my contentment. Jesus, you’re the centre of my joy. Isn’t that true? When we find Jesus, and he touches your life, you find that joy. Not the joy that the world brings that’s here today and gone tomorrow. The joy that carries you through happiness, that carries you through those moments when it’s just hard and tough and difficult, and you can still sing Jesus. You’re the centre of my joy. Thank you for the gift of your words, Lord. Thank you for the gift of prayer, and that we may speak of this amazing gift. May we in this morning, as we speak of our need before you, Lord Jesus, may we see you and only you in your beautiful name we pray. Amen. There’s nothing that can take you from being so happy and life is good to almost having a heart attack faster than when you’re driving in your car and all of a sudden, that little orange engine light comes on, especially if you’re in the middle of nowhere. Now, sometimes you’re lucky and it can still get you to where you need to go. Sometimes, car goes slower and slower, starts making some noise, and it stops. And you know, that’s it. I need help. Sometimes life can be like that too, right? We’re just cruising along on this wonderful path of life and all of a sudden, bam, and something breaks. And you know, I can’t fix it. I need help. So what do you do? Well, if your car breaks down, not so bad. Take out your cell phone. Hopefully, in the middle of nowhere, you have cell phone reception and you call CAA or you call a tow truck and you say, I don’t know what it is. This light came on, made a noise, stopped. I kicked the tyre, didn’t help. I got angry at the car and hit the steering wheel. That didn’t help. I need help. And in life, you tag someone. T-A-G. You take it to Jesus. You admit that you do not have the resources I need. Help. And then you give it to him in faith. You tag him. I need help. And then leave it there because we know in his hands, it’s safe, right? Is it that easy? We struggle a little bit. Maybe we’ll do the T and the A, but sometimes the G of the tag is a little more difficult, that giving it and leaving it. Let me tell you a little bit about a moment like this of being able to say I need help and then letting it go and leaving it. And some of you have heard the story and I’m sorry about that, but I think it’s the best story to explain it. We emigrated to Canada in the year 2002. We came from mid-summer in February to mid-winter. Landed on the 12th of February. What a shock. God, what did you do? And God was good. We ended up in this beautiful place called Central Church that loved us and has loved us for all these years. When we left, I left mom and dad. I’m an only child. Elsie had to leave her mom and her mom was really sick. We knew we would never see mom alive again. So we had to say goodbye to mom. Knowing that, we bought or we took extra money and we put it aside to buy Elsie a ticket to go back to go see her mom. Because when you emigrate, as the Fond of Estes, since they know all about it, it’s not that easy. You take a family of five, you take everything you have, you sell it, and then we divided by eight. I think you divided by 10 when you came. And the little bit you have, that’s what you make a life with. But we kept some there for Elsie because we knew that moment would come. It was June of that year that the doc called a friend of ours and he said, Elsie, if you want to see mom alive, you better come because I don’t think she’s going to make it much longer. So we said, thank you, Lord. We saved the money. Elsie could get on a plane. She went and Elsie went to go see her mother. She stayed for a month. Mom did not die. Elsie had to come back. Elsie came back. She was back one week. We were in the mall in Sears, that was still then of Sears, going down the escalator when the phone rang and her brother said, mom passed away. I could see it on Elsie’s face. She said when she came back, I’m okay. If mom passes, I’m fine. When she got that call, she was not fine. She needed to go bury her mother. We did not have the money. We really did not have the money. By then, we did not have credit. So what do you do? You take it to the Lord. We admitted that we did not have the resources and we gave it to him. Didn’t say anything to this church except on a Sunday morning, I stood and I said, would you please pray for us? Elsie just heard mom passed away this week. We need your prayers. That was it. I came into church that Monday. Why? I don’t know. Went to my office and as I tried to open the door, it was kind of stuck a little bit and I bent down and felt it was something under the door and took it out. It was an envelope and I looked at the envelope. It was thick. It says this is for Elsie to go bury her mother. $2,100. That was the exact amount that Elsie needed to buy a ticket to go bury her mother. I’m not telling a story. It’s the truth. To this day, I don’t know who did that, how that got there, but it did. It’s a true story. All we could say is, I need help. As I sat there and I was crying, it reminded me, Philippians, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition and with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding. Regard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And I was reminded in that moment how faithful God is to his word. If only I can say those simple words, Father, you are good. I need help because you know what happens when I do that. That’s the moment where I take that stuff that I do not have the resources for and I put it in God’s hands and I let it go because God can do it in his time. Remember I said that road sometimes from A to B has ups and downs and twists and turns and sometimes feels that I can’t get to the end, but God can do it. All I need to say is, I need help. I said that this morning because I feel miserable as I stand here. So I sat there, I said, I need help. You know what? I’m going to get through the sermon. I know it. There’s a story that you know well and I’ve preached on this, I think three, four, five times in my life, but not this way. John chapter two. I love John. The easiest Greek in the whole New Testament. You can wake me up 12 o’clock at night and I can understand it. I’m not going to teach you Greek today. We’ll read it in English from the New Living Translation. The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities. Now watch. Enter from the left, Mary, Jesus’s mother. So Jesus’s mother told him, they have no more wine. And we just stopped there for a moment. Mary identifies the need. They have no more wine. I need hel

    19 min

  7. Apr 28

    April 26

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/27223739/April-26-Sermon.mp3 Luke 11:1-4 Teaching about Prayer 11 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:[a] “Father, may your name be kept holy.     May your Kingdom come soon. 3 Give us each day the food we need,[b] 4 and forgive us our sins,     as we forgive those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation.[c]” Matthew 6:6-8 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Thank you for your words, Lord. Thank you for this new series that we may start today as we talk about prayer. Maybe we’ve spoken about prayer a million times. May we hear something new. But above all, Lord, not just hear something new, but may we, through this, be renewed in this wonderful gift that you have given us of talking to you and being able to be quiet and also listen to you. May we see Jesus and only Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Our first passage this morning comes from Luke chapter 11 verses 1 to 4, and I’m reading from the New Living Translation. Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, as he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples. Jesus said, this is how you should pray. Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not let us yield to temptation. Hello, my name is Aubrey, and I am a recovering prayer wimp. I have to admit that sometimes during prayer, I doze off. Sometimes my mind will zig and zag, and then it will zig again. And when the ADHD kicks in, I’ll start off with a prayer, and the next thing, I’m busy with a thousand other things, and I forget the thing that I started doing, and that was to pray. Now, it is also true that there are people that really excel at praying. They’re members of the PGA, the Prayer Giants Association. I am a card-carrying member of the Prayer Wimps Anonymous. Maybe you can relate. Maybe the little chuckles I heard tells me that you relate to what I’ve just said. Here’s the thing. Most of us pray to some or other extent. Sometimes we’ll pray when we’re happy. Sometimes we’ll pray when we’re sad. Often we’ll pray when we are in need, when the lump is deemed melanoma. The money runs out before the month runs out. The layoffs start, and we’ll pray. Am I wrong in my presumption, and I don’t want to use the word assumption because that’s not a good word, that most of us wish that we could pray better and deeper and even with a little more faith. So, for the next four weeks, let’s talk a little bit about that, and hopefully by the end of that, we’ll smile a little more about that, and maybe we can hand in our PWA cards and be members of the PGA. Someone used this beautiful image of prayer, said, prayer is like a road. It takes you from point A to point B. Sometimes the road is short. Sometimes the road is longer. It’ll often take you downhill and uphill, and there’s a few twists and a few turns, and sometimes it feels like it’s so long that you’re never going to get to point B, and oftentimes we’ll wonder, is it all worthwhile? It’s not always easy, this road of prayer. Here’s the thing. We’re not the first people to struggle with prayer. If you go check the sign-up list for Prayer 101, you’re going to find quite a few well-known names in there. Jacob, or some of you know him as James, and his brother John, and Andrew, and Peter, and if you don’t know who those are, they were disciples, and when this other disciple comes up and says, Lord, will you teach us to pray? The interesting thing that we find is this. None of those other disciples say, well, it’s you and Jesus. You guys try and sort it out. We’re okay. We’ve sorted prayer out. We’re good. We can go do our own thing. They all stay. It’s also very interesting, if I have my facts right, you’re going to go check me up on this one this week. Sorry, you’re going to check me up on this maybe, but if I have my facts right, this was the only thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach them. Lord, teach us to pray. Did you see Jesus’ response to that? It wasn’t a lecture. It wasn’t a sermon. It wasn’t a dissertation. It wasn’t a seminar. It was a simple, quotable, easy, repeatable prayer. So easy that, would you join me? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. As simple as that. And we know it, and we can repeat it, and everything we needed to say is in there. I think sometimes we complicate prayer too much. Us preachers, we kind of make it difficult. It has to be this, this, this, and this. No, it’s nothing more than a conversation. So in the next four weeks, I’m going to put it into four little things. Each week we’ll talk about one of those, and maybe that’ll make it easier, easy. Father, you are good. I need help. They need help. Thank you, in the name of Jesus. When I wake up in the morning, and I think of the day ahead, Father, driving to work, or to school, or wherever I’m going, I need help. Standing in line, waiting, they need help. And when I come to the end of the day, and I look back on all of God’s grace, thank you, in Jesus’ name. Because that’s the thing about prayer. It is this gift that God gives us, where we can enter into this conversation with our Father. I speak, He listens. He speaks, I listen. And on this road of conversation, these are the moments in which God changes my life. And yes, it’s going to happen that sometimes on this road of prayer, we’re going to run into things that we do not expect. But the amazing thing, it’s nothing that God ever did not expect. Because God is the one who puts me on this road, knows this road, plans this road, and who’s going to get me from A to B, no matter how long it takes, or how up and down it’s going to be. He’s taking me to that point B, that we are talking about. All He asks of me is to take that first step, and get on that road, so we can start. Second thing I want you to notice, did you see the way in which Jesus started the prayer? Father, Abba, loving Father. For a moment, hold on to that, because that’s the important part. Just need to say this, some of us might have, not me, some of us might have grown up, and we do not have the best image of a Father. And if that’s you, I’m really sorry. It breaks my heart. Will you for a moment, if that’s you, just let that go, and just hear about this Father that we are talking about. Because this Abba Father, when the Holy Spirit calls in, Romans 8 says, the Spirit calls in through us, Father, loving Father. That’s who I’m talking about. One who cares, and one who loves, and one who knows you, and one who wants to be there for you, and is there to protect you. That’s how Jesus starts. For me, I see this little image. I don’t know if you’ve seen this in a while. These little kids, and maybe I see it more because I have a seven-year-old that I run around with. Little kids that go to the playground with their dads, and they’re hanging out, and they’re yelling, and they’re laughing, and they’re having a lot of fun, and they, Dad, push me on the swing, and Dad pushes on the swing, and they play tag. And it’s just, but you never hear them say, Father, thank you for being so gracious and driving me in thine splendid vehicle to this amazing place of frolic. Thine benevolence is beyond reproach. Thine care for me is amazing, and thou art so gracious, and neither does God want us to talk to him like that. He wants us to come to him like little kids. Hey, Dad, how’s it going? Hey, Dad, will you push me on this swing? Come to him just as I am. These little ones, they have no filter. Opa, you’re fat. Look at your boot pants. I won’t tell you what a boot pants is. South Africans will know what that is. They’ll just say it as it is, and God wants us to say it as it is. He doesn’t want us to beat around the bush. Thank you for thine benevolence. God doesn’t even want to know what that means, but when I say, God, I need you. Lord, I need you every moment of my life. I need you. That he understands. He doesn’t want us to come to him and to pretend. Hi, Aubrey, how are you doing? I’m fine, and God knows I’m lying through my teeth. He wants us to speak and say, Father God, this is me. This is who I am. We don’t need those words. Remember the old Pharisees and the teachers of the law. They would stand on the street corners, and they had these huge prayers, the thines and the dows and all those things, and they would go on and on and on. Do you know what God does when they do that? He plays them a Shania Twain song. You know which one? You don’t impress me much. Listen to what he says. Matthew 6. But you, when you pray, go away by yourself. Shut the door behind you and pray to your Father in private, and then your Father who sees everything will

    21 min

  8. Apr 21

    April 19

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/21121523/April-19-Sermon.mp3 Hebrews 4:14-16 Jesus the Great High Priest 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 10:19-25 A Call to Persevere in Faith 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) As you saw, we’re starting a new series next week, Sun Prayer, a short series of four, looking really forward to that. And at the end of the service, I’m going to ask you after the benediction to sit, the song that you heard a little piece of this morning, it’s an AI song, and I heard this and it’s so beautiful. So I went to Carrie and I said, can we do this as the song for the whole series? She said, sure, but it has no music. And we can’t find any music for that. So our music team sat down and they produced that music and all of that to go with that. And they’re going to do that song for us this morning as our postlude. And I want you to hear that because with God’s grace, we’re going to sing that every week for four weeks after the sermon saying, Lord, I want to pray. When you hear me, I’m going to pray. When I think you don’t hear me, I’m going to pray. When times are good, I’m going to pray. When times are not good, I’m going to pray. Still, I will pray, is the name of the song. We’re going to do that. So thank you to the praise team for all the work that they put into that. It’s wonderful to have people that’ll just say, yeah, I’m going to do that. Bless you. Thank you for your word that guides us. Thank you for your word that feeds us. Thank you for the word that just paints this beautiful picture, Lord, of who you are. Help us in this morning again, that as we read and as we try and speak, that we may see Jesus, the love of Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Now, scripture reading this morning comes from the book of Hebrews, chapter four. We’re going to read verses 14 to 16, and then we’re going to go to chapter 10 and read verses 19 to 25. And I’m reading from the NIV today. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus, son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. And then we go to chapter 10. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and a living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit, I think they missed the word there, bad habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence to receive mercy and to find grace to help us in our time of need. Go underline that verse in your Bible and read it every day. It is one of the most beautiful promises that God makes, one of the most beautiful invitations that God gives in his word. Let us approach this throne of grace with confidence so that what can happen, we may receive mercy and find God’s grace to help us in our time of need. That word time of need in the Greek is one word. It’s a beautiful word. It’s the word eukairon. You’ve heard the word kairos before, the kairos documents. Remember it was a big deal at some state. The word kairos in Greek means a defining moment. Let’s go to God’s throne in all of the defining moments of our lives, those moments that will change our lives, those moments in which we stand before God saying, help me or God rejoice with me or be with me. But then it starts with the most beautiful word of all of those words. Let’s go to God’s throne of grace with confidence. Greek word and Central knows by now when I retire they will all be fluent in Greek and Hebrew. Greek word for confidence is the word paresia. Paresia means boldness, frankness, confidence. It comes, it’s a technical term that comes from the old Greek city states. Paresia meant that if you were a citizen and you had citizenship of that city state, you had the right to speak in the assembly and that right was called paresia. You could stand up and you could speak and if we put it in today’s words, you could make motions and you could vote on the motions as well because you had paresia, you had confidence. It was your right to do that. That’s the objective side but there’s a subjective side on this too. It only became your right in that moment when you stood up and you spoke and you used that. Can you hear the words? Since we have paresia, that’s what chapter 10 said, that’s why I took you there. Since we have verse 19, this confidence, then what should we do? Verse 22, let us then draw near to God. It’s given. We have the right. You’re citizens of God’s kingdom. You’re children of the most wonderful father in the whole wide world. The king of the universe is yours and he said here’s the right that I give you. Will you please use that and walk into my holy presence? Can we talk about that for a second? How we do that, when we do that, do we do that? But I want to start in the old testament and this is where I’m going to need you Alexander because I was told you do not touch that yoke. Jay will come and he will, I don’t know where Jay is sitting this morning, maybe he wouldn’t. He’s my doc. He would come give me a hard time because my back should not be lifting this. Come on up Alexander. You got to do the high lifting here. Don’t lift it up yet. You can just hold it kind of up straight if you can get it out there. But I take you to the book of Leviticus. I’m going to read one verse and I know you do not read one verse because there’s a context. So I’ll give you the context. Context comes from chapter 26. God brought them into the promised land and now God says to them because you’re obedient I’m going to reward you. I’ll make it rain. I’ll take care of your crops. I’ll give you cattle and I’ll give you sheep. If you keep the Sabbaths I will bless you in so much abundance because you are obedient. And then God says here’s the reason why I want to do this. I’m the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so that you can walk with your heads held high. I wanted to show you a yoke because most of you I don’t think have even seen a yoke. If you’re younger you don’t even know what that is. You think it’s a thing that comes in an egg. This is a yoke. This is one that you put on cattle. This was actually one that my wife’s father used on his farm with the cattle. They go on your neck and you can imagine if you put this thing on your neck. No don’t do that. You’re going to put that on your neck. This is what it does. Thank you Alexander. You can not put it on my neck. You can put it down. Thank you. I want you to just keep that image for a moment and see what God says. He says when you were in Egypt you were slaves. They did not necessarily bear a yoke like that but they bore the yoke of being slaves. You were not allowed to look up and look people in the eye. You had no rights. They bore the heavy burdens every day as they were building those two cities. They would carry that on their backs and your head is always down. You have no rights. You have nothing to say. God says when I brought you out, I took that yoke off your back. I took it off your neck so that you may walk with your head held high. We may approach the throne of grace with confidence, with our heads held high because the yoke and the burden of sin has been lifted off. We may walk into that room, that throne room of our heavenly Father and we may look our Father in the eye and say, Lord, I need you every moment of my life. I need you. You’re my one defence. You’re my righteousness. Oh, you may be bold and say, I can walk in there and I can say, Father, Father, can you just take my hand, please? It’s a little tough right now. I ca

    27 min

  9. Apr 14

    April 12

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/14190039/April-12-Sermon.mp3 Luke 24:13-35 On the Road to Emmaus 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. Transcript (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Joan and Gary, boy, it’s good to see you. It’s just, I’m saying to Gary, it seems that retirement kind of don’t have money for her. It is so good to see you, Joan and Gary. They’re all over the place now. They’re, they’re, yeah, it is just so cool to see you this morning. I’m always happy to see folks. They come back and they come visit. Did so many wonderful things with you over the years, and it’s always a blessing to look up and see. As I, as I prayed in my prayer, please continue to pray for Amira and her family. Amira was in Kuwait when the bombing started. Her sister passed away and she was there. She and her mother, they were both out, and Amira’s back in Canada. So with God’s grace, we’re happy about that. Got really sad news this, this week. My first colleague in my first congregation was murdered in his house this past week, and that’s just horrendous. He and the guy who worked in the garden for him seemed to have had a little moment, and the next thing his wife heard, someone yelled, and she saw the guy wash his hands and blood coming off him when she came out. Her husband was, was not there. So really sad, sad moment. Pray for their family as well. Not, not the kind of things that we want to hear. We need to pray for, for one another. Thank you for the amazing words that we can read together this morning and spend a few moments in. And I always pray, Lord, may we see Jesus and only Jesus, but in this one, we are really just going to see Jesus in action. And what a moment. Thank you. We wait in expectation. In your name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen. Going to Luke chapter 14. And thank you, Grace, for getting those pictures on there. Much appreciated. Luke 14, going to start verse 13. Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. But, and always this but thing, but they were kept from recognising him. He asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas, and we think most scholars will say that the other person that was with him was his wife, Mary. One of them, Cleopas, asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem? Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things, Jesus asked. About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. And here’s an important but, that we had hoped, we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it’s the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. Actually, it’s a very bad word that they use in Greek here, Existemi, which actually means some of the women lost their minds. Some of our women lost their minds. They went to the tomb early this morning, but they didn’t find his body. And then they came and told us that they’d seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the woman had said, but they did not see Jesus. And so the empty tomb. He said to them, how foolish you are. How slow to believe all the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, stay with us for it’s nearly evening. The day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. And when he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us as he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying, it’s true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. And then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke. What a beautiful story. So we, we meet these two followers of Jesus on their way to Emmaus, but they’re not just on their way towards Emmaus. They’re also on their way away from Jerusalem. And you can hear this in their voices that they need to put this behind them and leave it there and just get away from it. Verse 21 will say it so clearly, the disappointment, the disillusionment, this, this departure away from hope when it says, but we had hoped that this Jesus was the one. We had hoped that he was the one who was going to change everything. We had hoped, but hope has died. And so we turn our backs and we leave and we go to Emmaus. As I read that and I was, I was writing and I’m saying, Lord, help me. How, what do I say? How do I preach such a well-known text? I’m sitting there and I wrote, it kind of makes me feel when you think of them, of this world in which we are living right now, it’s a mess. You don’t know what you’re going to find when you wake up the next morning, whether there’s another war, whether this war is going to escalate. We don’t know whether there’s another tariff coming and whether the oil is going up and whether food is going to, through the roof that we cannot pay for that. We’re so uncertain of ourselves. People are, are so, if you look at the world, ready, we’re just ready to bite each other. And it’s kind of a scary place, but we had hoped. And I said to myself, so, so when you write that down, Aubrey, you’re, you’re not a negative person because I’m not. So, so what is the next thing that you write? And the next thing I wrote down is the question, so how do we, as those who follow Christ Jesus, how do we live in this kind of world? What kind of pictures do we paint with our words when we speak to each other? Because I can stand here this morning and I can send you out those doors so negative that you don’t want to come back next week. What are the kind of words that we paint? What do we paint with our words when we talk to each other, when we are there in our conversations at school, at home, at work? What pictures do we paint with our actions, the way in which we treat each other, the way in which we live in this world? What pictures do we paint for ourselves with our thoughts? No one else can see, but I can. We paint these pictures. Are there pictures of hope? Hope in this Lord Jesus that one week ago we stood in this place and we were celebrating. Jesus Christ is risen today and you said, amen, He is risen indeed. Are there pictures of hope in that risen Lord Jesus Chris

    26 min

  10. Mar 31

    March 29 – Palm Sunday

    by Aubrey Botha https://cpcchurchimages.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/31161222/March-29-Palm-Sunday-Sermon.mp3 Matthew 16:21-28 (NLT) Jesus Predicts His Death 21 From then on Jesus[a] began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. 22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him[b] for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[c] Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.” Transcription (Transcribed by TurboScribe) Palm Sunday begins on a road leading to Jerusalem. A king enters the city, not with armour, not with force, but on a donkey. Palms wave in the air like declarations of victory. Voices cry, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They were celebrating a king, but didn’t understand the kind of king he was. Because this celebration is moving somewhere. The cheers of Sunday are already casting the shadow of Friday. This same road leads to a cross. Palms will give way to thorns. Shouts will fall silent beneath the weight of nails. Yet this is not a story of loss. It’s a story of love. Because the cross was never the end. It was the doorway. Palm Sunday leans toward an empty tomb. Toward a morning where death is defeated and hope rises with the sun. The king who came in humility will rise again in victory. Good morning. It’s good to see so many of you and to see your faces on this Palm Sunday. Alexander just said he forgot to remind you that there is a Maundy Thursday service, but it’s online only. So if you go to the website, it will be online and you can watch the Manndy Thursday service online. Father God, thank you for these moments, moments in your holy presence. We’ll hear your words again this morning, Lord Jesus, as you remind us why you came into this world. Help us then to see you and honour you. In your holy name we pray. Amen. I’m sure you’ll agree with me if I say that this amazing life that God gives us, with all of its joy and happiness and also sometimes with a struggle, isn’t always easy and sometimes really painful. There’s many reasons for that. We suffer loss. We struggle. We fail. We get angry. We get frustrated. All of these things and it causes pain. But maybe the most difficult of all of these challenges is the pain of surrender. That moment that I stand before God and I look God in the eye and I say, Lord, here’s my everything, my whole life, and I want to give that to you in a surrender. And from now on, Lord, you lead and I will follow. Because just think, most of us like to lead. Most of us like to make the decisions. Most of us like to be in control. And all we want of God is to follow behind and clean up the messes. So the question we’re going to ask this morning, and each of us has to answer that for themselves, is the question in my life, who leads and who follows? It’s a little bit of the question of Palm Sunday. Because for Jesus to get to that open grave, he had to surrender. And it started on Palm Sunday. So read with me Matthew 16. That was interesting. When I saw this, my last sermon here before I went off was from Mark, and it was the same passage, not the same sermon. So Caesarea Philippi is where they are. You’ll remember that, where Jesus asked the question, who do you say I am? And then we go in Matthew from verse 21, and I’m reading from the New Living Translation. From then on, Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders. Presbyterians, you know that. The word for elder in Greek is presbyteros. He didn’t suffer by the presbyterians. By the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but, and that is a big biblical but. He would be killed, but on the third day, he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Heaven forbid, Lord, he said, this will never happen to you. Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me, Satan. You’re a dangerous trap to me. You’re seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s. And then Jesus said to his disciples, who wants to lead, who wants to follow? If any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own ways. Take up your cross and follow me. For if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. So what do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but you lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with His angels in the glory of His Father and will judge all people according to their beliefs. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in His glory. So here we have Jesus in this discussion with His disciples, telling them what’s waiting for them as they journey to Jerusalem. For what they’ll see in a moment is they’ll go in there and they’ll hear the Hoshana, save us, Lord. They’ll hear what we just sang. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Baruch haba b’Shem Adonai. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. They’re going to hear all of this, and they’re going to see this King. And Jesus says, stop. Let me tell you what’s really going to happen when you see all this. I’m going to Jerusalem because I am surrendering to the plan of God. I’m going there, and they will take me prisoner, and they are going to torture me, and I am going to suffer, and they are going to nail me to a cross, and I am going to die. But on the third day, God is going to let me walk out that tomb. And when you read this, and when you go read it again, you’ll see that when Jesus says this, you cannot feel in the language that there’s regret or a heaviness or, oh, my Holy Moses, why am I having to go and do this? Yes, He says, it’s going to be hard. Yes, it’s going to be difficult. I am going to suffer. I am going to be nailed to a cross. I am going to die. But, and there’s that big biblical but, on that third day, God is going to show up, and I am going to walk right out of that grave. Can you hear that, my friends? What He’s saying is this, if I am prepared to surrender and give it up to God, God will show up on the third day. Sometimes the third day is longer than three days. Sometimes the third day feels like it’s never going to happen. And Satan will stand, as he did outside the tomb of Jesus, and he was celebrating because he’s gone and dead. And on that third day, God says, arise, my love, arise, my love. Death no longer has a hold on you. And Jesus says to you and me, if you surrender your life to me, and you give it up, and I lead, and you follow, whatever it might be, there is a third day, and on the third day, God shows up. Is there any Baptist in this church that can say amen? Because that God that shows up is a good God, and a loving God, and a caring God, a God who knows me, and a God who gave His only Son for me. If I surrender, God shows up. Always. And this is not a biblical, well maybe it is, biblical, but this is one of ours. It’s a causal relationship. Jesus, being obedient and going to the cross, causes God to show up and open that grave. If Jesus did not go to the grave and give it all up, there would be no third day. Not for Him, not for me, not for you, and not for anyone. When I surrender, God shows up. Didn’t sit well with Peter. By now we should know that. And Peter has a word to say. In that beautiful verse 22, Peter took him aside and said, Heaven forbid, Lord, that would never happen to you. Now, if it wasn’t so serious, we could have a little chuckle out of this. Because just think about it. Here’s Peter looking at the Son of God, trying to stop the Son of God from doing what the Son of God had come to do in this world from the beginning. The irony is also a little sad. Peter, in doing this and just being so in a hurry, he misses, doesn’t see what it means for God to show up. Because Peter’s doing the Peter thing and the us thing. Peter’s looking out for Peter’s own interests. He’s thinking, Jesus, we’ve got a good thing going. Look at all the people with us. They’re just coming. We’re going to Jerusalem. It’s the feast. Do you know how we can build that congregation? Do you know how we can build this movement? We’ve got a good thing going. Don’t you talk about dying and stuff like that. Because here’s the thing. Peter’s looking out for Peter’s best interest. And the problem is so many of us fall into that same trap. And we think, if I lead, if I do the things, if I stay in command, if I do, then I’ll be fine. Because it’s for my best interest. How sad the answer that Jesus gives him. And no wonder

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