Sermon preached by Anthony Granger of Portes Ouvertes on 31st October 2021

Today is the Sunday of the Persecuted Church. Firstly we will watch a video about the persecutions happening around the world.

Title slide: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed –2 Corinthians 4:8

Let’s talk about the 2021 Index of Persecution. This year, the yellow color has disappeared. Yellow signified « Strong Persecution ». Now we start directly with Orange, or « Very Strong Persecution ». This shows us that persecution continues and increases, as it does every year.

Sermon preached by Luc Massou on 24th October 2021

Let’s read Jeremiah chapter 29 verses 5-7

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

In today’s sermon we will hear about the following points:

1. God wants us to accept and live in our context
2. God wants us to be peacemakers where he has placed us
3. How we can be peacemakers

Sermon preached by Pastor Samuel Niblack on 17th October 2021

When we think of Revelation, we often think of misfortunes and judgment, but this is a book that is mostly about happiness. Do you want to be happy? Are you looking for happiness, joy, elation? This book is for you!

The number 7 gives a certain structure to the book – 7 churches, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls of wrath. And there is another list of 7; if you read the book, you can count 7 blessings, beatitudes: “Happy is he…”. (1st in Rev 1: 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein!) This is not trivial. This book is not primarily to scare you, confuse you, mystify you, this book is to make you happy, happy when the news is often unhappy, happy because you know the happy ending. Any definition of happiness should take into account the long term, eternity, the afterlife.

And this morning we’re going to watch the happiest moment of all. You will not leave church sad this morning!

Sermon preached by Pastor Vincent Bourrel on 10th October 2021

Chapters 17-18 focus on one aspect of the seven bowls: the judgment of Babylon. By the time John writes Revelation, Babylon is in ruins, a city greatly reduced in size and without any influence. In the Old  Testament, Babylon symbolized everything that was pagan, powerful, arrogant, self-sufficient, and vile. But it was judged by God in 539 B.C. under the Medo-Persian emperor Cyrus. Babylon was the capital of the empire (Nebuchadnezzar was its illustrious founder), it was an extremely powerful city, magnificent, rich but also debauched, idolatrous, occult…).

So when the angel makes John see Babylon the great harlot, he is not referring to the historical city of Babylon but to what it represents, to the spirit of Babylon that remains throughout the centuries. Babylon embodies the world system that has rejected God and is intoxicated with power, luxury and debauchery… 

In John’s time this system was embodied by the Roman Empire and its capital Rome, (17:9 the city of seven hills). This is the system that persecutes them, these emperors are worshipped as gods. John  cannot name it, as he is already in exile because of the Roman power. That’s why he says v.9 « It is here  that we need an understanding enlightened by wisdom ». We still need this understanding to understand what form Babylon is taking today.  

Sermon preached by Pastor Samuel Niblack on 3rd October 2021

How was your week? Has it been easy or difficult to do what is right, just, and good? Has it been easy or difficult for you to maintain a Christian witness at work, or at home, or at school? Does the future ahead seem easy or difficult? Well, the text today shows why things are often difficult for us.

Let’s read Revelation ch. 12