stephenmurray.co.za » MP3 talks

The Incarnation

Stephen Murray — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:42:06 +0000

In the build up to Christmas I thought I’d have a go at two sermons on the doctrine of the incarnation. In the first sermon I explored a little bit of just exactly what the incarnation is and why its so important, in the second sermon I looked at how the incarnation completely changes the way we live and turns our world upside down.

Incarnation: Part I

Incarnation: Part II

The Gospel Works

Stephen Murray — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:34:43 +0000

This last Sunday morning I taught Colossians 1:1-8 at St Stephen’s Church in Claremont, Cape Town. I used Paul’s well-known triad of ‘faith, love & hope’ to explore a very real existential question that exists for many of us in the Christian faith, and that is: Does the Gospel really work?

You can download the full audio here.

Top 8 for 2008: Everything

Stephen Murray — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:24:59 +0000

Who was I kidding? There’s no way I’m going to find the time to write a series of ‘top 8 for 2008′ posts between now and the end of the year so instead I’ll simply cram them all into one post. So here you have it, my top 8 for 2008 of everything!

Top 8 things I did or experienced in 2008:

Got married! (October)
Got engaged! (March)
Started planning and implementing a church plant (All year – but especially last three months)
Heard Piper, Driscoll, Chandler and Mahaney at the Resurgence Conference at Mars Hill in Seattle, spent time at the Journey Church in St Louis and met a whole lot of great peeps from Acts 29, and others, in the States (February)
Was taught Deuteronomy by Gary Millar – the best Old Testament teacher I’ve been taught by to date (September)
Road up Sani Pass – my first real 4×4 experience behind the wheel (October)
Decided to stay in Cape Town long term – gotta love this city (March)
Had my thinking about the gospel deepened and enriched ten times over by Tim Keller through numerous mp3s, articles and the odd blog comment (throughout the year)

Top 8 Blogs I followed in 2008 (See my 2007 list here):

Church Planting Novice – Jonathan Dodson. A newcomer to the list, this blog has been perfect for where I’m at in my thinking at the moment. So much wisdom and insight from a guy on the ground.
Between Two Worlds – Justin Taylor. Last year’s number 1 drops down one place – but still a great blog.
Tim Chester. Up from last year’s number 7 spot. Tim’s writing never stops enlightening, challenging and encouraging all at the same time.
John Scheepers. Give it up for the Saffa bloggers! John is a friend of mine who writes a great blog and brings a welcome voice to the South African Christian blogsphere.
Drew Goodmanson. Down from #2 – sorry Drew. Drew doesn’t post very often, but when he does its almost always worthwhile.
Justin Moffat. Another newcomer to the list. Justin writes an informative and challenging blog with an Anglican slant – I’ve enjoyed it a lot this year.
Michael Jensen. Michael drops down from last years 3rd but still turns out great post after great post. Plus he sent me a copy of his new book which I’ll be reviewing here shortly.
Jason Allen. Jason was one of the first people I became ‘blog friends’ with when I started blogging. I’ve always enjoyed his blog and the sanity he brings to some current trends that rage through the church blogging world.

Top 8 Books for 2008 (books I read this year – most of them are older than 2008 – please note that the books are a little one-sided topically because most of my reading this year revolved around my dissertation):

Total Church – Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. Ok so I first read it in 2007 but I’ve read it several times this year because of my dissertation and I still think its the most important book I’ve ever read on ecclesiology.
The Reason for God – Tim Keller. The first apologetics book that I feel comfortable giving to my friends.
Planting Missional Churches – Ed Stetzer. Great book with practical insight. Really helpful for where I’m at.
The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch. Really good yet at times frustrating. I’m on the same page as Hirsch with a number of things – I guess I’m just a bit more conservative on one or two others.
Breaking the Missional Code – Ed Stetzer and David Putman. Another great help on all things missional.
On the Incarnation – Athanasius. I delved into a bit of church history this year and thoroughly enjoyed this one.
The King of God’s Kingdom – David Seccombe. Dr Seccombe (Doc) was my New Testament lecturer this year and so I got a chance to have a crack at his book. It’s a great overview of Christ in the gospels.
Jesus and the Victory of God – NT Wright. Vintage Wright – I don’t agree with him at every point but this is an important book.

Top 8 places I visited in 2008

Seattle, Washington, USA
St Louis, Missouri, USA
Castleburn, Drakensburg, KZN
Sani Pass, Lesotho
Lost City, Sun City, North West Province
Franschoek, Western Cape
Betty’s Bay, Western Cape
Durban, KZN (my old stomping ground)

That’s my year in a nutshell. It’s been the year with the biggest changes in my life to date. Not only did I get married but we decided to stay in Cape Town and plant churches here rather than in Durban. Things have come a long way in the last 12 months – here’s to an equally exciting 2009.

Merry Christmas all – have a great one!

Created for Community

Stephen Murray — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:22:55 +0000

I’ve posted the sermon I preached on Sunday morning at The Message Church in Mowbray, Cape Town, entitled ‘Created for Community’. If you want to know what I think about the concept of community and its relation to the Christian church then have a listen. Please note that my ideas are not really all that original – I’ve borrowed a ton from people who have influenced me like Tim Chester and Steve Timmis as well as, I think, simply saying what seems obvious to me in the Scriptures. Some feedback would be great…

Monergism’s Mp3 Library

Stephen Murray — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:21:05 +0000

Check out Monergism’s extensive and revamped Mp3 library. There’s enough there to keep you going for a long time.

(HT – Challies)

Goldsworthy Talks

Stephen Murray — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:54:06 +0000

Justin Taylor has links to three talks that Graeme Goldsworthy gave at Southern Seminary on the subject of Biblical Theology.

Resurgence Audio Available

Stephen Murray — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:03:07 +0000

All the audio from the Resurgence Conference that I attended is now available online.

Church Planting Audio

Stephen Murray — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 05:32:06 +0000

The talks from the recent Acts29 Boot Camp are available at their website. They include talks by Mark Dever, Ed Stetzer, Darrin Patrick and Mark Driscoll. Definitely worth checking out!

(HT – Justin Taylor)

Keller Sermons

Stephen Murray — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:26:37 +0000

Steve McCoy points us to some more great Tim Keller sermons. This time they’re a bunch of sermons related to his up and coming book.

The Don on Jeremiah

Stephen Murray — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:48:22 +0000

A friend of mine has just attended the @the Castle young adults bible teaching conference in Northern Ireland and this morning I woke to find that the talks from the conference have been posted online. There are 5 talks on Jeremiah and a bonus talk by the title ‘What is the Gospel‘ all by Don Carson. You can access them all here along with talks from previous @the Castle conferences.