South Sydney Anglican Church

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Speaker: Matt Johnson

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Matt Johnson

Senior Pastor at South Sydney Anglican Church

Sermons by Matt Johnson

  • 25 December 2023

    Series: Christmas 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    The story of Jesus’ birth is not just a story of joy, peace, wise men, shepherds and a romanticized picture of an animal stable. Jesus’ birth is actually shrouded in evil. There is such a thing as EVIL in this world and many of us have seen it. Immediately upon Jesus’ birth – an evil man named King Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus. As the true and rightful King of Jerusalem – King Herod saw Jesus as A THREAT. Herod himself perceived that there was something true about Jesus.

    If Jesus was A NOBODY, he is a threat to no one. But even Herod saw something rang true about Jesus. But instead of coming to worship Jesus, he conspired to kill Jesus. There are no EXTERNAL HISTORICAL RECORDS of this event. But we know Herods evil conduct is in keeping with his character. Herod had already killed several family members – to preserve his title King of the Jews. So instead of A) worshiping Jesus, B) he uses his authority to order the killing of all the babies under two years of age in and around Bethlehem.

    You can imagine the great SADNESS that must have accompanied many families at this first Christmas. King Herod’s order to kill all the babies was Satan’s final roll of the dice to prevent Jesus actually saving the world. (As we saw in yesterdays sermon – Satan had been working for 2000 years to prevent the birth of Jesus – because God told Satan in the garden of Eden – that a promised child would one day crush his head). But Satan failed to prevent Jesus’ birth. So in a great, grotesque act of INJUSTICE the order was given – kill all the babies. Sadly, Jesus came into the world facing A GREAT ACT OF INJUSTICE and he left the world because of A GREAT ACT OF INJUSTICE.

  • 24 December 2023

    Series: Christmas 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    Genesis 3:15 says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is known as the protoevangelium—the first gospel.
    From the moment God has promised a Saviour will come to redeem mankind, Satan has been trying to prevent the coming of the Messiah by perverting Jesus’ ancestors and disrupt His bloodline. The gospel on Jesus’ genealogy traces back his ancestors and the events that nearly stopped the prophecy.

    In the end, God’s sovereignty and Word prevails, the Messiah who ‘crushed the head of the serpent’ and redeem mankind from sin was born.

  • 17 December 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    The Rejection of Jesus brings Gods Final Wrath Intro:             Well friends, my name is Matt… read more

  • 26 November 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    he original Greek word is actually – “VISITATION”. It is a word that means theophany or an appearance of God. Yahweh God (the Creator) visited Jerusalem in Jesus in 30AD – and they cried crucify. The people didn’t want Jesus or God in their life – so they tried to kill him. But rejecting God the author of life is tantamount to killing ourself. Rejecting God is rejecting life….
    Although, God loves you like a parent and is ready to forgive you of anything and everything – you are ultimately responsible for your ACTIONS and your CHOICES. In the end we will all stand before the judgment throne of God. So what will you do? If the evidence for God and His Son Jesus is equal or better than any of the alternatives currently available – will you believe or not. And if the answer is still no – the question you must yourself is WHY?

  • 19 November 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    Well this passage is wanting us to see that the Lord Jesus is actually the LORD Yahweh in human form. Jesus has the name LORD, because he is LORD. Another famous prophecy written by Jeremiah in 600BC says this; (Jer.23:5-6; Slide 13-14). Now David was the first proper Jewish King and God said the Messiah would one day come from David’s line. But Jeremiah says the Messiah’s name will be “the LORD, our righteous Saviour.” Notice LORD is capitals. It’s Gods name. The problem was no ordinary sinful human king could properly represent God on earth or save the world. So God, the Creator God, came to earth as the man Jesus to help and save his children.

  • 29 October 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    Of course, we all think THE MORE we surrender to Jesus – the more we lose.
    But Jesus says the MORE you surrender – the more blessings you will gain now, PLUS BONUS – eternal life later. John Wesley’s point was that while justification by faith – may be all of God’s grace, sanctification is not just a passive, sit back and wait process. As Jesus calls us into his Kingdom and speaks to us through His word – we need to exercise our new liberated will – in intentional choices to repent and surrender more and more of our life to Jesus. Shooting sacred cows and repenting of certain sins is never easy and sometimes we put it off indefinitely. But what blessings are we forfeiting by not giving up the things Jesus is calling us to give up?

  • 22 October 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    Now this is hard for Christians to navigate – because the Bible does have a special concern for orphans, widows, refugees and the poor. And in many circumstances (but not all circumstances) – orphans, widows, refugees and the poor are victims of injustice. That’s the reality in our fallen world and Christians are called to be concerned about justice. But the Bibles answer to addressing the injustices of the world is quite different to modern secular man’s answer. The Bible also identifies the real oppressor – Satan in a way that modern secular man does not acknowledge. Secularism simply paints a picture that some people are good and some people are bad…

    So who is the oppressor and who is the victim in the Israel-Palestine conflict? In the first week of the conflict – just about everyone was on Israel’s side – because Israel was the obvious victim of a terrorist incident. But then as Israel have responded (and civilian casualties rise in Gaza) – more and more people are identifying the Palestinians as the victims we must now protect. Against this backdrop of increasing hostility on the world stage (and with Israel at the centre) – I want to share with you a prophecy from Zechariah 14 about the day of the Lord (Slide 3).. But can Christians, Israel, Palestine, widows or any of us – really expect justice prior to Jesus’ return?

  • 15 October 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    The Kingdom of God began at Jesus’ First Coming Show:    Luke 17:20-21 (READ) Explain: … read more

  • 24 September 2023

    Speaker: Matt Johnson

    So Jude finishes this section with the quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 – reminding us that God’s judgement for such people is coming.
    God alone is the Creator and going against His will DOES NOT produce fruit, it ONLY and ALWAYS reaps judgment. So be careful of man’s deception and angelic deception that leads you to indulge your desires. If Enoch is true – the angels in Noah’s day gave the people knowledge to chase after their fleshly desires – through the arts of war, witchcraft, alchemy; beauty and even health and medicine. But the knowledge and ability to pursue these desires – all still came to naught and simply brought God’s judgment.