Talks by Kirk Mackenzie (Page 2)
Fix Our Eyes on Jesus || Faith in the Dark || Hebrews 12:1-3
The finale of our Faith in the Dark series looks at the high point of the book of Hebrews – a challenge to fix our eyes on Jesus. After spending 10 chapters pumping up Jesus (“How Good is Jesus??”) the author now encourages us to focus on Jesus, and ru…
Blind Belief || Faith in the Dark || Hebrews 11:1-16
How do you have faith in something you can’t see? Kirk launches our Advent series Faith in the Dark, exploring faith and hope. Starting from Hebrews 11, we’ll be thinking about having faith in darkness and putting our trust in Jesus this Christmas.
Enthusiastic Giving || Generous Giving || 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5
In this weeks sermon, the second in the Generous Giving series, Kirk talks about giving both generously and enthusiastically. Our western culture can often at times encourage us to spend money only on ourselves, and discourages us from donating to othe…
I Believe in Miracles || Good News in Action || Luke 7:11-17
A small story with a big impact – Kirk looks at the story of Jesus coming to a funeral procession. This funeral was especially tragic, as a young man had died, leaving his mother alone with no males to support her (which would have been a big deal in a…
Spiritual Learning || Spirit of Truth || John 14:25-31
Do you hate exams? Yeah, Kirk does too. They create unnecessary stress and pressure, and we generally just don’t want them in our lives. You can feel like you push unhelpful information into your brain, while pushing actual helpful info out the other s…
For Me || Back to the New Future || Deuteronomy 5:1-15
Kirk looks to the book of Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt, to see what we can learn from the Israelites and how it applies to our world today.
The God of Holiness || Kirk Mackenzie || 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
If you aren’t a follower of Jesus right now, this reading might suggest you’re “wicked”, “in darkness”, “unclean” and “contaminated”. Rest assured – we don’t think that! Find out what this part of the bible is talking about with Kirk.
The God of Life and Freedom || Kirk Mackenzie || 2 Corinthians 3:1-18
We all have rules in our lives that dictate to a certain extent how we live our lives. Right now, in the lockdown, we have many extra rules going on as well. Some people are sticklers for rules – they love ’em, and will take them even further than orig…
Dark Times || Good Friday || Matthew 27:33-50
We’re living in dark times. First responders, healthcare workers and others all face that darkness head-on, so others don’t have to. In times like this, we need people willing to sacrifice their own comfort and safety to face the darkness on behalf of …
Hope || In the Valley || Psalm 27
Hope. Through all the Valley emotions in this series, hope remains. The state of mind that something good might happen, or something bad might not happen. Through the bible, we see an ultimate hope in Jesus – the belief that something good WILL happen….
Fear || In the Valley || Psalm 56
There are many ways the Bible approaches the feeling of fear – too many to fit in one talk, in fact – whether it’s a helpful caution or a reverent fear or an irrational anxiety.
This week, Kirk bring us one of these examples from the book of Psalms as …
The Two Sons || Summer Stories || Matthew 21:28-32
This week in our Summer Stories series, Kirk brings us one of Jesus’ many parables from the book of Matthew, in which he points out the hypocrisy of the religious elite and the importance of repentance.
If You Were God, How Would You Reveal Yourself? || Christmas 2019 || Hebrews 1:1-3
If you were the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present creator of absolutely everything, and you wanted to reveal yourself to the human race, how would you do it? God chose to do it by becoming a human himself. Sending Jesus down to earth, to live and…
Emmanuel || O Come, O Come || Isaiah 7:10-17
Advent is again upon us, and this year, these four Sundays leading us to Christmas will be spent exploring the various names given to Jesus in the popular Christmas carol: O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
This week, Kirk kicks off our Advent series by looking …
Elijah and King Ahaziah || Spring Sagas || 2 Kings 1
Continuing our storytelling series on the prophet Elijah, we jump forward to the book of 2 Kings as King Ahab is succeeded by his son, Ahaziah.
This week, Kirk, aided by Jack and Lachie, tell the story of an injured king and his reliance on false gods,…
Argument & Brawl || The Church on Mission || Acts 22:30-23:11
This week, Kirk considers Paul’s provocative actions in the book of Acts as Paul finds himself in a meeting with the both the Pharisees and the Sadducees, two groups of Jewish leaders with different views.
And Don’t Worry || Trust God || Luke 12:22-34
Fully trusting God can be difficult, especially when we are so focused on our own worries. And while worry or stress is not inherently evil, it is certainly useless or unhelpful.
This week, Kirk brings us a message from Luke that tells us not to stress…
Q and A || The Holy Spirit Bonus Episode 3
Wrapping up our series on the Holy Spirit, Andy throws some questions from you at Kirk and Tim.
Can you lose a gift of the Spirit? Why speak in tongues when God understands English? These questions and more, on this episode.
Subscribe in iTunes, Spoti…
Order vs Chaos || The Holy Spirit || 1 Corinthians 14:20-40
Kirk wraps up this series on the Holy Spirit by exploring how the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophesy should be used, as well as tackling one of the more challenging passages in the Bible.
More Gifts of the Spirit || The Holy Spirit Bonus Episode 2
Continuing our deep dive into the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12, today, Kirk and Andy look at Tongues, Prophecy and Miraculous Powers. Next week: a special Q&A episode. Text your questions anonymously to 0490 453 293, or email them to …
Tongues and Prophesy || The Holy Spirit || 1 Corinthians 14:1-19
Throughout our series on the Holy Spirit, many spiritual gifts have been described, as well as their use in the church.
This week, Kirk takes a closer look at two spiritual gifts in particular: tongues and prophesy. Why are people given these gifts and…
Gifts of the Spirit || The Holy Spirit Bonus Episode 1
Our current series of talks focus on the Holy Spirit- one of three persons of our God. In the next three bonus episodes of the St John’s podcast, we’ll take a deep dive into the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12. In this episode, Andy and …
Who Would Jesus Vote For?
Australia Votes 2019.
On the eve of the federal election, we’re taking another look at Kirk’s talk just before the 2016 election, asking “who would Jesus vote for?”. While we won’t tell you how to vote, we’ll look at how we can approach the election in…
Come and See || Anna and Lachie
This week, Anna and Lachie, two regular members of the church congregation, sit down to discuss their journey as Christians. Facilitated by Kirk, this special Come and See service aims to focus on what it looks like to have a relationship with Jesus in…
Jesus: King || Biblical Storytelling
In this episode, we hear another story. Together, we’ll use the Biblical Storytelling method of bible study, and ask these questions while listening to the story:
1. What do you like about this story?2. What questions might people have?3. What do we le…