Foundation Church Belfast

How To Get Right With God

This Resurrection Sunday we dial right down to the ultimate question: how can messed up human beings get right with a perfect, loving and holy God.
The answer is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through faith in him, God counts us as righteous – right in his sight, pleasing to him.
When we understand the mechanics of faith we realise this is immensely freeing. No more striving to get into God’s good books, no more cynicism that there’s no point, no more frantic religious activity to maintain good terms.
No, it’s all been provided for us by Jesus. We receive the gift by opening the empty hands of faith.
Main Bible Text
Romans 4:23-5:1
Preacher
David Varney, leader Foundation Church Belfast
For more information on our vision check out this post: Our Vision at Foundation Church

How to Turn Your Trials Into Triumphs

Many people are facing severe trials and hardships already as we begin the new year.
However Psalm 3 provides us a model of how to process our trials in a way that is constructive and not destructive. Here are the four steps we can take to move from trial to triumph:
PresentConfessExperienceEmpowerTherefore handled wisely our trials can actually open us up to fresh experiences of God and invigorated faith in him.
Main passage
Psalm 3:1-8
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%203&version=ESVUK
Preacher
David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast
Check out these related messages:
How to Pray Powerful Prayers from the series Real Religion
Authority Over Sickness and Sin from the series The Gospel According to Mark

Context and Contradiction in the Kingdom of God

Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is different in substance from anything that goes before it.
Our behaviour and actions are determined by the context of which system we live under.
If we live in the Kingdom of God, we should be more at home with celebration and joy. There is a place for fasting and solemnity but our overarching stance should be one of enjoyment.
However the Kingdom of God contradicts any system or structure that we may adopt. Therefore Jesus teaches you can’t simply tack on the kingdom of God to our existing belief system or way of life – this only leads to eventual damage and destruction.
Listen to how the CONTEXT of the Kingdom and the CONTRADICTION of the Kingdom make real differences to our everyday lives in gospel community.
Main text
Mark 2:18-22
Preacher
David Varney, leader Foundation Church Belfast

Why Follow Jesus?

What kind of person needs Jesus? Who should follow him? And how should someone go about that?
St. Mark describes a dinner party that Jesus was a guest of. He had recently met and called Levi to join his group of followers – a community Jesus was building to learn from him. A group that would one day take his message and his mighty works, and go and tell the world what he has done.
Levi was a tax collector. In that day it meant he was regarded as a scum-bag, a colluder with the Roman state, a traitor of his own people. Religious people despised him.
But Jesus saw something else. He saw someone who needed to know God, to know that he was forgiven. Levi needed to discover who Jesus is and what he can do.
So Levi, after encountering Jesus, invited all his friends and ‘associates’ round for a dinner party. His fellow tax collectors and other dubious contacts. However rather than resenting Jesus attending the party, they loved it!
At Foundation Church Belfast we are growing to become a community deeply shaped by the gospel of Jesus. We’d love you to join us on mission.
Bible Text
Mark 2:13-17
Speaker
David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast
You might also like to check out these related messages:
Our Missional Vision – from the series Advancing the Gospel
Life From the Dust – from the series Encounters with Jesus

Authority Over Sickness and Sin

In this sermon we see further examples of Jesus’ primary message: ‘The Kingdom of God is coming!’
Here we are shown that Jesus claims authority not only over sickness but his authority to forgive sins.
This authority has a polarising effect: it will either attract or repel (as all forms of authority do). We see the healed man and his friends aware of Jesus’ authority – and they go straight to him for help and restoration.
Yet we also see the response of the religious scholars. They are unsettled by Jesus’ claims about himself. He represents too much of a challenge to their belief systems and way of life.
We take time to think about how to respond to Jesus today as well as consider whether miraculous healings are available for us in the contemporary church.
Main text
Mark 2:1-12
Preacher
David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast.
Check out these related sermons:
How to Pray Powerful Prayers – from the Real Religion series.
Evangelism – from the 9 Marks of a Healthy Church series.

The Kingdom of God: Authority, Mission, Calling

The implications of the teaching and signs of Jesus are far reaching.
In this sermon we examine the first day of Jesus’ ministry following his baptism, Spirit-empowerment and temptation.
We see him teaching in the local Synagogue; his listeners astonished at his authoritative words. We see him clashing with the kingdom of darkness – demons are cast out with a word from him.
All this is set on the backdrop of Jesus’ own stated mission – to preach the kingdom of God has come near, and to demonstrate what it looks like.
As we consider all this we realise there are massive implications for the contemporary church. If we at Foundation Church Belfast are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his disciples, then our prayers, our vision, the way we organise ourselves – all of this must be shaped by Jesus’ own mission – to show and tell the kingdom of God.
Main text: Mark 1:21-39
Speaker: David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast
Check out the following related sermons:
Spiritual Darkness and Spiritual Power – from the series Advancing the Gospel
Three Qualities of an Extraordinarily Effective Kingdom Builder – from the series Restoration

Who Is Jesus and What Did He Say?

St. Mark takes us to some highly significant moments at the start of Jesus’ ministry: his baptism, his forty days of temptation, and his preaching.
All of these snapshots show us who Jesus claimed to be:
He was the Son of GodHe was one of usHe was Spirit-filledHe was victoriousIntegrated to his identity was also his mission – what he came to do. The headline message that he began to give was this:
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.Mark 1:15 ESV
Proclamation of the kingdom of God was only part of it. He came to call people to enter it, to become his disciples and follow him.
In this message we examine these key moments in Jesus’ early ministry and think how they set the pace for us at Foundation Church Belfast as we pray, ‘May your kingdom come.’
Main text: Mark 1:9-20
Message by David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast

The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

If you want to examine the claims of Jesus Christ to see if they have merit, start by studying the Gospel According to Mark.
Over the next few months we shall be examining the central teachings of Jesus as we read and think through passage by passage of Mark.
Many people who dismiss Christianity do so because of past experiences with the Church or with people who claim to be Christians. Rarely it is because they have taken time to read the primary sources, think through the claims of Christ, and conclude that he is not to be believed.
As a church in Belfast we want to have a sound grasp of the life and teachings of Jesus. It is important for believers in Jesus to come to ever-increasing understanding and experience of him in our own lives and in our community. As a community on mission we are built upon the person and work of Jesus, so knowing him better is essential to church health and vibrancy.
Main text: Mark 1:1-8.
Sermon by David Varney, pastor Foundation Church Belfast.