Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship

The Book of Proverbs reminds us that decision making requires exceptional skill and wisdom. Vijay explains that godliness is the moral framework out of which wise decison are made. When making decisions beware of deception both from without and within. Weigh the options and then execute decisions in the knowledge that ultimately God is sovereign over every outcome.

Vijay explores the Book of Proverbs for the wisdom of contentment. True contentment is the result of aligning yourself with those things God thinks are important and is expressed in a life of moderation. Some symptoms of contentment identified in Proverbs are generosity, humility and thankfulness. The content person is at ease with themselves and the world in which they find themselves.

In the next sermon of the series, titled Living Skillfully, Vijay looks at the foundation of wisdom. From Proverbs 1.7 we learn that the awe and reverence of the Lord is the foundation of a life that is lived skillfully. The Book of Proverbs calls such awe 'the fear of the Lord'. The fear of the Lord allows a person to know reality for what it truly is. It is also the basis for right conduct.

Vijay begins a new series of sermons, titled Living Skillfully, on the Book of Proverbs. He states that the biblical idea of wisdom has to do with the art of living skillfully. The Bible states that there are 2 path options open to every human being, the paths of wisdom and folly. The Book of Proverbs teaches us to tread the path of wisdom by being receptive to knowledge, by virtuous conduct and reverence for God. He looks particularly at how learning to interpret the proverbs correctly is part of the way wisdom and discretion is formed in us.

In the final message of this series James explores the experience of Peter.  His dramatic encounter with the risen Christ dealt with his past failure, restored him to ministry, and pointed him in a future direction.  As a result, Peter was transformed into a wholehearted follower of Christ. 

In a study of Deuteronomy 8, Vijay explains how the only gift of thanks that can be offered to God in response to his goodness and grace to us is our obedience. Our obedience to the Lord is also the means through which the Lord flourishes us. But, obedience is never easy. Both hardship and prosperity can tempt us away from a life of obedience to the Lord. Nonetheless, every opportunity to drift away is also an opportunity to greater faithfulness and obedience. In the end, those who fail to obey risk losing life as it was truly meant to live.

Vijay looks at the concluding miracle that appears in the Gospel of John (21.1-14). He observes that we can often speak of encountering God in  'mountain top' moments (success, supernatural experience, at a Christian conference and so on). Looking back at our difficult 'valley' moments (disappointments, sorrows, failures and so on), we can sometimes speak about the tenderness of God that we experienced. Very rarely we note that the bulk of our lives are lived in neither place of rapturous ecstasy or despair. It is mostly lived on the 'plains' (the day-to-day grind of life). Jesus meets the disciples while they are unsucessfully fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. An encounter with him makes an ordinary day turn out to be an extraordinary day when they are reminded of their calling to be witnesses for Jesus.

Vijay concludes his series on the 7 signs of John's Gospel this morning with the Raising of Lazarus (John 11.1-44). In today's sermon, he asks the difficult question: how do we as Christians deal with what sometimes seems like the silence of an all-powerful and all-good God in the face of human suffering, evil and death. Whatever the answer may look like or however the difficulties of this problem might be reconciled, the believer is asked to trust the love of Christ. There are ultimate answers that we may find difficult to understand, but Jesus shows enough of his love to sustain us while we grapple faithfully with the problem of suffering and death.

Iain's talk from the morning service

David Maclure's talk from the Sunday evening service