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Chris challenges us to measure maturity by love and unity rather than loyalty to impressive preachers. Looking back on those who helped him grow, he reminds us that Christian leaders plant and water, but God gives the growth. Christ crucified is the only foundation, and our work of building others up will be tested when Jesus returns. Because together we are God’s temple, division is serious. The invitation is to trust Christ and take our part in building up his people.

Corinth loved polished speakers and impressive people. If we were trying to win over someone like that, we’d give them a slick, impressive message. Paul did the opposite. He came in weakness and preached one thing: Jesus Christ and him crucified. In this sermon from our series “The Wisdom of the Cross”, Chris Bowditch works through 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 and shows how God speaks: - through a weak preacher and a crucified message (vv.1-5) - through his wisdom, hidden before time and now revealed (vv.6-9) - by his Spirit (vv.10-13) - to those who have the Spirit (vv.14-16) We don’t need a slicker pitch or a more impressive preacher. We need the Spirit, and we need the cross. Lindisfarne Anglican: Shining and Sharing the gospel.

The cross looks like the worst possible logo. It was an instrument of death, shame and weakness, something the world dismisses as foolish. Yet in 1 Corinthians 1:18–31, Paul says this is exactly where God displays his power and wisdom. While human wisdom looks for strength, status and impressive credentials, God chooses the cross. What the world calls foolishness is, for those who believe, the power of God that brings life. In the end, the only difference that matters is not the logos we wear, the things we own or the status we chase. It's what we think about Jesus dying on the cross.

There has never been a perfect church. Corinth proves it. In this opening sermon of our series on 1 Corinthians, we look at Paul's letter to a gifted but status-obsessed church that was being shaped by the culture around it rather than by the cross. Paul reminds them (and us) who they already are: the church of God, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy. Our confidence is not in leaders, gifts, or looking successful, but in the grace of God and the power of the cross.

Families matter to God—both our biological families and the church family. Following the Genesis series on God's purposes through Jacob's family, this sermon turns to Ephesians 6:1-4 to ask what it means for children, parents, and the whole church to live together as God's people. 1. Children and the Church Family: Paul speaks directly to children: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honour your father and mother'—which is the first commandment with a promise—'so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth'" (Eph. 6:1-3). By addressing them, Paul assumes children are present in the gathered church and able to respond to God themselves. They are not merely the church of the future; they are the church of today. This continues the Old Testament pattern of assembling men, women, and children to hear God's word. In Ephesians the whole church—including the young—is being built together into a dwelling place for God (Eph. 2:22) and called to bear with one another in love across generations (Eph. 4:1-2). 2. Parents and Discipleship: Paul then addresses fathers: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). In a culture of absolute parental power, Paul calls for restraint and purposeful discipleship. The goal is not primarily happiness or worldly success, but that children love and serve Jesus above all else. Parents (fathers especially, with mothers and grandparents also vital) are the primary disciples of their children; the church partners with them but does not take over. This happens in ordinary life—talking about church on the way home, reading Scripture together, and living out authentic faith in decisions, priorities, and everyday choices (echoing Deuteronomy 6). Conclusion: God wants young people to love Jesus so much that they obey their parents as part of their discipleship, and parents to love Jesus so much that they long for their children to know and serve Him. As a church family we are called to get alongside both our young people and our parents—encouraging, praying for, and investing in one another—so that we grow together as one intergenerational family for God's glory.

Jacob made a vow at Bethel. God kept every promise; Jacob delayed his. Genesis 35 is God calling him back: put away the idols, lead the household, build the altar. The family is completed and still broken — Rachel dies, Reuben sins, the twelve sons are named — and God still confirms the covenant. The same God has met us in Jesus, the true Israel and promised King. He finishes what he starts. Put the idols away and come home.

Dinah is violated. Jacob stays quiet. Her brothers take revenge, dress it in religion, and a city is destroyed. Genesis 34 is a hard chapter — and God is not named once. This sermon from our series in Genesis asks what the people of God do with a real wrong. Keep our heads down? Pick up the sword? Both fail. Into that void steps Jesus: he speaks for the ignored, and he refuses to repay. At the Cross we see justice with mercy — and we are sent back to Bethel, to the God who still keeps his promises.

Jacob is going home. God has promised to be with him. Esau is coming with 400 men. In Genesis 32–33 Jacob sees the camp of God, prays as an unworthy man, then tries to buy peace with gifts. Alone at the Jabbok he wrestles until dawn, is given a new name — Israel — and walks away with a limp. Then Esau runs to meet him. This sermon continues our series in the life of Jacob: God is faithful in spite of us. He breaks our self-reliance so that we learn to trust him. In Jesus we meet God face to face, are reconciled while we are still enemies, and are made new. Passage: Genesis 32–33 Series: Jacob Preacher: Chris Bowditch Church: Lindisfarne Anglican God is with you. He will not leave you until he has done what he promised.

God tells Jacob to return home and promises to be with him. Jacob goes — but he still slips away on his own terms, trying to control the exit. When Laban catches up, Jacob talks as if twenty years of hard work have earned God’s protection. This sermon from our series in Genesis looks at a God who keeps His word to flawed people. Grace is not wages. We are called to obey, and to trust Him with the outcome. Reading: Genesis 31:1–24

In Genesis 30, Jacob’s household is full of envy, rivalry, surrogacy, bargaining and clever schemes. Rachel cries, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Leah and Rachel compete for status and affection. Jacob and Laban try to outwit each other for wealth. Yet the chapter’s message is clear: God alone opens the womb and multiplies blessing. He remembered Rachel. He kept the promise He made to Jacob at Bethel. He builds His people not through perfect families or human techniques, but through His sovereign grace. This sermon invites us to stop manufacturing outcomes in family, ministry and life, and to rest in the God who gives new life through Jesus Christ.

Jacob falls in love with Rachel and gladly works seven years for her — a picture of patient, sacrificial love. But the deceiver is himself deceived when Laban swaps Leah for Rachel on the wedding night. In the middle of this messy, painful story, God sees the unloved wife. Leah’s journey from desperate longing for Jacob’s affection to praising the Lord (culminating in the birth of Judah) shows us that God notices the overlooked and advances His purposes through broken people. This sermon from Genesis 29 calls us to patient love, warns that the patterns we sow often return, and comforts every person who feels unseen: God sees you.

Jacob is alone, on the run, and sleeping with a stone for a pillow—fully living out the consequences of his sin. Then God meets him. In a dream of a stairway between heaven and earth, the Lord reaffirms the covenant promises and declares, “I am with you… I will not leave you.” This sermon explores Jacob’s encounter at Bethel and shows how it points us to Jesus—the true ladder, the true house of God, and the One who meets us at our lowest with undeserved grace.

Favouritism, deception, and self-interest tear a family apart. Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau all try to take God’s blessing into their own hands. Yet God’s purposes stand. This sermon from Genesis 25–28 walks through the messy story of the stolen blessing and points us to the greater reality: none of us deserve God’s blessing, but Christ took the curse so that we might receive it by faith. The invitation is clear—stop trying to force God’s hand, trust His Word, and rest in the free gift of grace.

Abraham trusts God’s promises. His servant prays boldly for guidance. Rebekah says “I will go” even though she has never met the man she will marry. Genesis 24 is a story of ordinary people responding in faith to a faithful God. As we begin a new series on Jacob, this sermon shows how God keeps His word, leads His people, and calls us to the same response: trust His promises in Christ, pray with expectation, and obey—even when the future is uncertain.

Don’t lean on your own understanding. Fill up on God’s Word until it changes your heart, submit to Him in every area of life, honour Him with your resources, and humbly accept His loving discipline. From Proverbs 3, this sermon shows what wise living looks like in practice—whether you’re a parent, a worker, or a child—and points us to Jesus, the true wisdom from God. One practical challenge: where do you need to stop trusting yourself and start trusting Him more fully this week?