The Semper Reformata Podcast

HS13 Following Your Heart?The implications of our fallen nature are that all our emotions, thoughts and desires have been distorted by sin. Jesus told the Jews of his day, the religious people, in John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. Jeremiah preached to the Hebrew people of his day, saying Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?That’s why telling people, especially children and young adults to ‘just follow your heart’ is pure folly.Listen on...Read the NOTES HERE.

Service of Lessons and CarolsRecorded LIVE at the Old Reformed Church, Ballymacashon 78 Saintfield Road, Killinchy, Co.Down, BT23 6RN, Norther Ireland Readers:Janette: Isaiah 9:6-7David: Matthew 1:18-21Bob: Luke 2:1-7 Sam: Luke 2:8-14Harvey: Luke 2:15-19 Jim: Matthew 2:1-6 Rueben: Matthew 2:7-12 Malcolm: Luke 1:6-35Fergus: John 1:1-13 Address (and out of tune song-leading) by Rev Bob McEvoy.Some items have been shortened for the podcast.

REPRISE: Talking Honestly About SantaFirst recorded in 2021It’s time to talk honestly about Santa! So let’s see what the Bible says!Read the NOTES HERE

Living as a Christian in a Sexually Immoral World1st Thessalonians 4:1-8Paul moves to discus moral purity in n immoral world. This was an issue then and it is an issue now. Paul’s teaching on this subject is contemporary, and very much to the point, and rightly so, for sexual immorality destroys more lives and more marriages and more families than any other evil.This sermon was preached at Templepatrick Reformed Church and is used here with their kind permission.Read the NOTES HERE.

Human Brokenness - Lesson 12Does God Permit Same-Sex Marriage?Read Romans 1:18-27One of the more recent developments in the human sexuality debate, is the issue of ‘same sex marriage.’ As someone said on another podcast stream, even the mobile phone predates same sex marriage, - you really can’t get much more contemporary than that. So what stance should Christian believers take on that matter? Well, our first guiding principal in every debate and in every ethical issue, is the Bible, the Word of God which is our only rule of faith and conduct. So that's where we start - with Romans 1:18-27Read the NOTES HERE

Lessons from Paul's Prayer1st Thessalonians 3: 11-13Our prayer lives continually need to be encouraged, and we CAN encourage one another by HOW we pray, as well as by what we pray for. In this passage, Paul demonstrates a distinctive ‘teaching element’ in prayer very clearly when he prays for the Thessalonian Christians. This address was given and recorded at Templepatrick Reformed Church, and is used here with their kind permission.Read the NOTES HERE.

Divorce.Welcome back to our series of lessons on Human Brokenness, and in this lesson, we shall ask whether divorce is ever an option for Christians. Before we begin, pause the recording and look up Matthew 19:1-9 and Deuteronomy 24:1-4 in your Bible. Then when you’ve read those two passages, start the recording again. Matthew 19:1-9 and Deuteronomy 24:1-4Read the NOTES HERE.

Trials and Temptations, Trust and Triumph.1st Thessalonians 3:1-5The real instigator of hostility against the people of God is Satan, the enemy of the soul. In this study we’ll return to the subject of the trials and temptations which Christians will often face. 1. The Inescapable Presence of Trials. 1 Thes. 3:3-52. The Indispensable Power of Trust. 1 Thes 3:2-5.3. The Indisputable Promise of Triumph. 1 Thess 1-10The Thessalonians were to EXPECT hostility from the world. The very fact that there is a being called Satan, should always remind us that we are being opposed. But Satan’s power is limited, and in God’s Word we have been given the encouragement and the help that we need to be ‘overcomers.’ Let us therefore stand fast in the gospel. Hebrews 11:24-26Read the NOTES HERE.

The Tale of Two Cities (Tower of Babel, Part 2)Genesis 11:1-9We have learned about the rebellion at Babel, in the plain of Shinar. The descendants of Noah’s children had gathered there, determined to stay together for their own protection. That was contrary to God’s plan, for he had commanded that they were to populate the whole earth. But the rebellion was worse than that. Not only were they disobeying God’s command, but they were turning their backs on God, and rejecting his way of salvation. They wanted to approach God their way, not his. They wanted to get to the heavens, by way of their own works, and they did it so that they would get all the glory for themselves. That’s where we left them last time, in rebellion against God, like every man or woman born since has been ever since. And that’s exactly where we begin our study today.