Freedom Church Chester

Sunday, 1 July 2018​ | Keith Cooper​ // Genesis 3:16-19 | ​The Pain​​ // // God's love of sinners in no way eliminates his hatred of sin. In today's passage we see God continue to pronounce his judgment on the sin of Adam and Eve. We notice however how even within the judgment, God's supreme love for his children is evident.

Sunday, 24 June 2018 | Rob Pomeroy // Genesis 3:14-15 | The Curse // // In today’s passage, we discover how, following the serpent’s deceit and Adam and Eve’s sin, the devil is punished, God’s children are lovingly disciplined and Jesus is glorified over all.

Sunday, 17 June 2018 | Keith Cooper Genesis 3:8-13 | The Blame Game Notice how quickly things changed, how easily the relationship with God was spoiled. Eve was deceived and Adam chose to disobey God. Consequently, they were ashamed – indeed sin and disobedience should cause us to feel ashamed. We must listen to our consciences. If we ignore our consciences, we train ourselves to do wrong. God graciously gives the couple an opportunity to confess and repent. He is always calling to people to listen to him, to obey, to turn back to him. We must take responsibility for our sin and disobedience. Excuses and playing the blame game will not fool or impress God. Confession and repentance are the only way to restore our relationship.

Sunday, 10 June 2018 | Paul Jackson // Genesis 3:6-7 | The Fall // // In Adam, all die. Our relationship with each other and with the world around us is fallen, because of sin. We cannot look on the face of God and live; he is holy and we are not. // // But there is hope: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Man, in God’s image falls. But then Jesus takes on the image of man, to raise mankind again.

Sunday, 3 June 2018 | Dave Brown // Genesis 3:1-5 | Enter the Snake // // God made man to rule over creation; in failing to rule themselves first, they undermined God’s purpose for them. // // This is an inspired passage of scripture. Whatever our supposed learning may tell us, the New Testament writers took this story to be literal. And so should we; in so doing we open ourselves to accepting the full implications of the story of the serpent’s deceit.

Sunday, 27 May 2018 | Keith Cooper // Genesis 2:18-25 | Perfect Match // // This is the first time in Genesis we see that something is ‘not good’. God himself knows what Adam needs in order for creation to be complete. Adam needs a helper. And none of the animals was a suitable helper. // // God has not made us to be alone. In marriage, he makes provision for us, knowing our needs. But more than that: marriage ultimately is an illustration of the loving relationship between Christ and the church. We are Christ’s bride; we come before him in purity and through our worship, with acts of love. // // Make no mistake: though human marriage is beautiful, it is not the final answer to loneliness. Our union with Christ is the cure, the complete solution to human need. We need Jesus above all else.

Sunday, 20 May 2018 | Emma Beddoes // Genesis 2:15-17 | Good & Evil // // Unlike us, God’s knowledge and understanding good and evil is not through his experience. God knows what is good, because it’s like him. He knows what is evil because it’s not like him. In eating the forbidden fruit, mankind attempted to stand in the place of God, deciding what is good (for himself) – believing the lie of the serpent, the devil. // // In declaring the fruit of a single tree out of bounds, God made mankind morally accountable to him. But man chose to trust his own understanding rather than God’s and in this way mankind rebelled.

Sunday, 13 May 2018 | Rob Pomeroy Genesis 2:4-15 | How humans flourish What was God’s design and purpose, in shaping the world the way he did? When we look at today’s passage, what can we learn about ourselves and about God? In today’s sermon, Rob considers the who, what and why of the creation account in Genesis 2.

Sunday, 6 May 2018 | Dave Brown Genesis 2:1-3 | True rest “Rest” in Genesis 2 means cessation of activity. God rests, to model a pattern of behaviour for us. We can be sure that the world is safe in his hands while we rest. And God’s rest is the first “it is finished” moment in the bible. He declared that the work of creation was done. Rest is God’s gift to us and it is essential to our pattern of life and work.

Sunday, 29 April 2018 | Keith Cooper Genesis 1:26-31 | God’s Image ‘Us’ here is not a matter of grammar; it’s matter of theology. God is one in three persons. We are the image and likeness of the living God. This includes a duty for us to act with dominion and responsible authority over his creation. The truth that we are made in God’s image is so important it’s repeated three times in this passage. Being made in his image includes having the power of choice – between life and death, good and evil, love and hate. Since the fall, we present a damaged image of God. But a damaged painting is still worth millions if made by an excellent artist. Nevertheless it is the artist, God, to whom the worship and honour must be directed, not to us, the image.

Sunday, 22 April 2018 | Keith Cooper Genesis 1:14-25 | From Form to Filling We are to worship the one true God who made the heavenly hosts. There’s a very small step between admiration and worship. Even today people head in the direction of worshipping or over-emphasising the stars and creation (at the expense of worship of the Creator). In this passage we discover a God who delights in his creation. Creation itself is an expression of God’s glory. Creation should lead us to ask the question, “What must the Creator be like?” This Creator is the only One worthy of our worship.

Sunday, 15 April 2018 | Dave Scotland Genesis 1:3-13 | From Chaos to Form We need God’s light on our life. But we can’t just have God’s glory in his life; we also need his governance. We see in this passage how God brings his rule and order to the planet, just as we should allow his rule and order to come in our lives. Jesus Christ is the light giver; he is the Light of the world. God is the God of rule and order – and no darkness can be found in him. And he calls us to him. It’s critical that we know him, that we accept his light, his life, his love.

Sunday, 8 April 2018 | Rob Pomeroy Genesis 1:1-2 | The beginning "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The full story of God’s creation is thus: in the beginning, God created everything, through Christ. Then we are remade, through the death and resurrection of Christ. And then when Christ returns, we are made like him. Three creative steps, all through Christ: we are made, we are made clean, we are made like him. Today’s sermon kicks off a series studying Genesis, understanding this incredible story: the story of God.

Sunday, 1 April 2018 | Andy Lawrie 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 | The great exchange ‘Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favourable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ The Corinthian church was spoiling the gospel. They were blending in false doctrines, causing division and dissent. But we should not look down on this church. We may think we’re doing better than them, but our best will still never be good enough to achieve the holy standard God requires. Paul, rather than belittling and writing off the church, instead reminds them of the gospel. Jesus came to die for us so that sinners like us and sinners like the Corinthians could be right with God. Ultimately all scripture is about Jesus. On this Resurrection Sunday it is all the more appropriate that we appreciate this as we remember with gratitude what he has done for us.

Sunday, 25 March 2018 | Keith Cooper 2 Corinthians 5: 21 | The great exchange “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Have we become desensitised to sin? We’re liars and cheats and gossipers. And we things that’s okay; we overlook it. Adam’s great sin in the garden of Eden was doing nothing – nothing to prevent the sin of Eve. The truth is that many of us are doing nothing. None of us is righteous, no not one. (Romans 3:10) God cannot tolerate sin. The great wonder is that God holds back his judgment from us. He sent Jesus to die, to take the punishment for our sins, even before we had repented! “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV) Why did he do this? For our sake. Love. Love was the reason God chose to exchange our sins, our filth for the pure righteousness of Jesus. In today’s sermon, Keith invites us to view ourselves with sober judgment and to understand the extent

Paul Jackson preaching on 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 - Reconciliation. Hebrews 9:15 - Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. We are now ambassadors for Christ - his representatives to the world where we live. Ambassadors live in an embassy, where the ambassador's country and culture are promoted. We the church live in the embassy of heaven, promoting the lifestyle and morals of the kingdom. The first and most important call of the church is to encourage others to be reconciled to God.

Sunday, 11 March 2018 | Rob Pomeroy 2 Corinthians 5: 16-17 | A new creation and a new life “We no longer regard people according to the flesh.” In this passage, Paul shows us the reality of the new life found in Christ. As we continue our journey to Easter and the message of the cross, we see how the entire message of the bible points towards the Kingdom of God, via the sacrifice of Christ.

Sunday, 4 March 2018 | Nathan Paylor 2 Corinthians 5: 11-15 | The message of the cross – one died for all Paul has enjoyed a long and complex relationship with the Corinthian church. Prior to this letter, he’s written a painful letter of discipline. This has brought some strain into the friendship. The letter of 2 Corinthians is written against this background. Paul is engaging in his work because of fear of the Lord. He wants to prepare this church. He wants to help the church understand the purpose and the message of the cross. Why did Christ die? What was God’s purpose? This message makes clear this, the most supreme of God’s purposes. The cross of Christ is not man-centred; it’s Christ-centred.

Sunday, 25 February 2018 | Keith Cooper So often we don’t make the gospel good enough. We sprinkle it with fear and we sprinkle it with death. Paul reminds us that there is joy in the gospel; joy in the preaching of the gospel. And we do it for God’s glory and because of his grace. In this final stretch of Romans (15:25-16:27), Paul emphasises: - The practical impact of the gospel - The essential importance of prayer – earnest, heartfelt, persistent prayer - His personal appreciation of the work of the saints - The value and necessity of praising God

Sunday, 11 February 2018 | Graham Webb – Love God – Encourage One Another – Transform Chester Do you love God? Do you love Jesus? In Joshua 22:5, Joshua is told to be very careful to love the Lord. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to seek first his kingdom; to put God’s purposes first. Are we careful to love the Lord? Do we put him first? We should. But there is no need for us to feel that this is an onerous obligation or a burden. The amazing truth is that God gives us the power to love him – as well as all the reason we could ever need. Romans 5:5 – God’s love has been poured into our hearts; he helps us to love him!