The Afterword

Category: Sermons

  • What Happens When I Die?  – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

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    Peter
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    One hundred questions,and a third were about death.Is heaven real?Is hell real?What happens when I die? Not many of us like to ask it.Google asks about our digital assets,I don’t care about my emails—I do care about my soul. Four theories walk beside me:You rot.You are recycled.You are weighed on the scales of justice.You wake…

  • The Way Back to the Garden – John 14:1-7, Genesis 2

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    Peter
    in

    One question for God—how can there be only one way?It feels sharp,a polarising claim,as though doors are slammed shutand other paths erased. Fear asks it with trembling,anger asks it with fire,injustice asks it by way of challenge.The disciples asked too. We love choice—rows of coffee beans,different milks,different temperatures.Thirty percent of Gen Zchanging not just jobs…

  • Why Does God Allow Suffering? – Psalm 23, Revelation 21:1-5

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    Peter
    in

    I don’t need to persuade you—the evidence is all around:a child’s bruised silence,a friend’s lost job,cancer cells multiplying unseen,an earthquake flattening homes in Afghanistan,a surfer pulled under by a shark,young people shot at a music festival,sixty thousand gone in Gaza. If you are loving,wouldn’t you stop this?If you are powerful,couldn’t you stop this?And if you…

  • Encountering the Holy – Psalm 91, Hebrews 1

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    Peter
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    We live in an agewhere demons intrigue usand angels are dismissed as nonsense.Yet Psalm 91 whispers—they watch over you.Hebrews 1 declares—they are sent to serve. Natasha bought a baguette at Heathrow,a sesame seed hidden in the crust,an EpiPen, CPR,and her father’s arms could not hold her soul.He saw them—five figures, thin, winged,moving around her,and cried,…

  • That They May Be One – John 17:20–23

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    Peter
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    There is something holyabout being one—the swell of voiceshearts caught in a single rhythm.Or friends,who have carried one anotherthrough laughter and lament,their lives stitched together.Or a song that names a nation:We are one, but we are many.And for a momentthe fragments belongto something larger. On the night before his death,Jesus prayed for us:that we would…

  • The Spirit, Our Helper – John 14:15-27

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    Peter
    in

    Not a shadow, not an “it,”but the living breath of God,the third person—to be worshipped, adored, obeyed. If you belong to Christ,you are not waiting for a top-up,no half measure,no trickle-down of holiness.You have all of Him.But does He have all of you? Where He is,there is life,growth,faithfulness.Not dead religion,not tame or sleepy faith. Jesus…

  • Shall We Dance? – John 1:1-18

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    Peter
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    Before the first atom spun,before galaxies lit up the dark,before Mars was a dream for rocket-men,before “before” had meaning—God was there. The Word was there.Life before life,joy before joy,love before love. The Father with the Son,the Son with the Father.And the Holy Spirit carrying their love,making the Son knownto the delight of the Father. The…

  • God the Father – 1 John 3:1-3

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    Peter
    in

    Before you were,before there was a you to be held or known,Love was already moving—circling in light,whirling in joy. The Father has always loved the Son.The Son has always delighted in the Father.And the Spirit breathes that loveback and forth between them—unbroken, unbound,a circle never closed to outsiders. He is not like your father—unless your…

  • Overflow – Mark 1:9-13

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    Peter
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    A Sermon on the Holy Trinity We say:three persons,one God.And already our minds flinchlike startled birds. It is not easy—but it is true. The preacher might jokeabout coming down with influenzarather than preach this mystery.But still—here we are,looking into the cockpit,lights blinking,dials glowing,a thousand unseen systemsmaking flight possiblethis doctrine is the cockpit. This doctrine is…

  • To Be With Me Where I Am – John 17

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    Peter
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    The world keeps score.Finland, for seven years, sits at the topof happiness rankings—clean air, quiet lakes, long days.Australia is close, they say.But we know better.We who live saturated lives,bright with choices,but dimmed at the edgesby a restlessness we cannot name. Where is the joy the Bible speaks of?Where is the peace that surpasses?We scroll. We…

  • To Walk With God – Leviticus 26

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    Peter
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    He is not silent.He is not distant.He is the Onewho split the sea,who broke the yoke,who carried you out of Egyptwhen your arms were too weak to lift. You didn’t earn rescue.You were just there—and he came. Forty-nine timeshis name pulses through Leviticus:I am the Lord.This is not legislation for its own sake.It is the…

  • The Jubilee – Leviticus 25

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    Peter
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    This is an odd book for us in 2025—regulations, rhythms, sabbaths, soil—but liberty is etchedon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia:“Proclaim liberty throughout the landto all its inhabitants.”Leviticus, of all things. We want to be free.God wants it more.He etched freedom into the calendar—every fiftieth year,a holy reset,a factory restorefor a fractured world. Imagine Sarah,her cupboards…

  • Set Apart: A Candle in Leipzig – Leviticus 21

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    Peter
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    In Leipzig, the pews whispered fear.But Christian Fuhreropened the church anyway.He expected ten.One hundred came.He read the Sermon on the Mount alouduntil it filled the arches like wind.Stasi eyes stared from the pews.The state said no god but power.By year eight—seventy thousand candlesglowed against tanks and roadblocks.They walked the streets with light in hand.No rocks.No…

  • Under Renovation – Leviticus 18–20

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    Peter
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    Jesusmoved into the houseI barely cleaned. He started in the living room—gentle with my excuses,quietly moving the clutterthat I’d convinced myselfwas furniture. He opened the doorsI’d kept sealed for years.Even the one I’d labelledDo Not Enter: Shame Inside.And he did not flinch. This house—my life—is under renovation.Room by room.Corner by corner.No part off-limits. He is…

  • Ten Steps to the Heart of God – Leviticus 16

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    Peter
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    1.The priest washes.Strips off his glory.No jewels, no robe—just linen.A servant,stepping into dangeron behalf of the people. 2.He sacrifices for himself.Even he is not clean.Blood must flowfor him to draw near. 3.Two goats.One to die.One to bear the burden—the scapegoat.A choice not his to make—lots are cast. 4.He steps behind the curtain.Incense thickens the air,a…

  • Clean – Leviticus 12–15

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    Peter
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    We don’t preach these chapters.Rashes, discharges, childbirth blood—who puts that in a sermon series?It’s gross.It’s weird.It feels irrelevant—until BBQ Man got sick. He just wanted a snag with friends.Went to the movies,BBQs Galore,the butcher—and then the city shut its doors.Unclean, they said.If you’ve been where he’s been,stay home.Don’t touch.Don’t come near. And suddenly, Leviticus makes…

  • Fit for the Feast – Leviticus 11

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    Peter
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    How can we be fitfor God? Exercise?Healthy food?That’s part of it.But our bodiesare more than that.They are temples,sanctuaries where the Spirithas taken up residence.They’re not our own—they’re made to honour God. Leviticus—pages of blood and fire,priests anointedlike lanterns for the people.Then, chapter eleven:camel, rabbit, pig—off the menu.Clawed birds and scale-less fish—off the table. Why?Not because…

  • Strange Fire – Leviticus 10:1–3

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    Peter
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    Some jobs are really importantbut not very dangerous—teachers with whiteboard pens.Some are dangerous,but don’t seem to matter much—sword-swallowers in shows no one remembers. But then, some are both:like those who run toward burning buildings,those who take a bulletto protect another’s life. And priests.Ancient priests.Their job:Vital.Holy.Dangerous. Set apart—washed with water,dressed in garments too sacredfor an ordinary…

  • Aroma of Obedience – Leviticus 4–7

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    Peter
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    I’ll confess—I’ve read Leviticusthrough gritted teeth.Ticked the box,moved on.This God?Not the one I’ve loved all these years. But digging inI saw what I’d missed.Not a different God—just a deeper one.Holy.Utterly other.Not tame, not safe.But always making a wayfor us to come close. The Sin Offering Sin doesn’t need intentto be real.The priest sins,leaders sin,any one…

  • Joyful Surrender – Leviticus 1–3

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    Peter
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    This is the part of the Biblewhere people give up—and rightly so.Bulls and birds, blood and fire,a wilderness of rules and ritualfar from the songs we sing. But stop—breathe in the smoke.Smell the grain, the roasted meat.Feel the weight of handson a creature’s head,its life for yours. We surrender things all the time—degrees, careers, our…