Gospel-centred, Bible-shaped preaching from Open House Christian Reformed Church on the Gold Coast. Each sermon is rooted in Reformed theology and aims to clearly unfold Scripture so Christ is seen and hearts are renewed. Learn more at openhouse.church.
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A 69 year old Dutchman asked a court to lower his legal age to 49, because that is how he felt. The judges refused, but never told him he was wrong. Our culture says the same thing: look inside, define yourself, and happiness follows. Yet desires keep shifting, and turning inward strains relationships and steals joy. Jesus says deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him; He lost His life first so that those who lose theirs for Him find it. Bible Reference: Matthew 16:24–25 Preacher: Ben Fien
The first four chapters of Lamentations put grief in alphabetical order. In chapter five that order collapses, because the pain is too great to keep tidy. Short, punchy verses list famine, forced labour and lost joy, and then confess, we have sinned. Still the people declare that God reigns, and they ask Him to turn them back to Himself, since even repentance is His gift. Jesus answered that request by rebuilding God's people as a renewed city, though the book itself ends unresolved. Bible Reference: Lamentations 5 Preacher: Ben Fien
Everyone wants better leaders. In Lamentations 4, Jerusalem's princes, once dressed in purple, pick through ash heaps after an eighteen-month siege. The prophets and priests who should have warned the people joined the evil instead, and the people leaned on their king as if he were their breath. The deeper problem is sin running through every heart. Jesus drank the cup of judgement, said it is finished, and now leads as the one who never runs away. Bible Reference: Lamentations 4 Preacher: Ben Fien
Jerusalem lies in ruins after God's judgement, and Jeremiah writes as a man crushed under it. He does not deny the pain, but he will not call God cruel either, because the destruction came from real, deserved justice. Then he names God as Yahweh and remembers His steadfast love, mercies new every morning. That same unchanging character which guaranteed judgement also guarantees compassion, fully shown when Jesus bore the punishment His people deserved on the cross. Bible Reference: Lamentations 3 Preacher: Ben Fien
When God’s justice feels unbearable, why pray to Him at all? Jerusalem’s destruction came as judgement for long, unrepentant evil, and Jeremiah endured its horror although God was not his enemy. Lament gives suffering people words to turn towards God, complain honestly, ask for help, and trust His goodness without pretending their pain is resolved. Jesus bore the judgement sin deserves and cried out when forsaken, so those who belong to Him approach God as a tender Father. Bible Reference: Lamentations 2 Preacher: Ben Fien
When suffering leaves people speechless, even prayer can feel impossible. Lament gives their deepest pain an honest voice before God. Ruined Jerusalem asks God to see her lonely grief, yet she admits that generations of rebellion and trust in false gods brought His just judgement. Not every heartbreak directly follows personal sin, but Jesus bore His people's judgement, so they can seek comfort, leave revenge to God, and await a city that will never be destroyed. Bible Reference: Lamentations 1 Preacher: Ben Fien
When disaster strikes, people often either blame particular sins or push God out of the picture. Joel treats Judah’s locust plague as a warning of final judgement, yet neither Joel nor Jesus permits linking one tragedy to one specific sin. Such warnings call everyone to heartfelt, daily repentance. God is slow to anger, gracious and rich in faithful love. Jesus’ cross grounds this mercy, and the poured-out Spirit equips God’s people to warn others while trusting His promise of salvation and a new creation. Bible Reference: Joel 2:11–32 Preacher: John Westendorp
One slip can make a mountain journey feel deadly. Psalm 121 directs the frightened traveller beyond the hills to their Maker, the faithful God who never sleeps and stays close. His keeping does not promise freedom from pain, illness, or loss; it means evil cannot separate His people from His purposes and love. Jesus endured judgement without shelter at the cross, breaking sin's curse so those who trust Him will never be forsaken and will reach God's new creation. Bible Reference: Psalm 121 Preacher: Ben Fien
Onesimus fled Philemon's household and wronged him. He now returns as a brother in Christ. Paul asks Philemon to welcome him as he would welcome Paul, freely rather than under pressure, and offers to repay any debt. Jesus grounds this new way of relating: the Lord became a servant and paid His people's debt on the cross. His grace creates a family where old power structures yield to forgiveness, honour, and peace between former enemies. Bible Reference: Philemon Preacher: Ben Fien
People from different cultures, classes and histories often struggle to stay united, especially after disappointment or betrayal. Colossians 4 names a diverse group serving together, including Onesimus, a runaway slave called a beloved brother, and Mark, once rejected by Paul. Christ makes such partnership possible. His love, shown at the cross and poured into His people by the Holy Spirit, creates one new family. Together they help God's people mature and spread the gospel for God's glory. Bible Reference: Colossians 4:7–18 Preacher: Ben Fien
Authority can easily become harsh control, while faith can seem detached from ordinary life. Colossians places every household member under Jesus, so marriage, parenting and work become places of loving service rather than selfish power. Prayer remains watchful and thankful, seeking open doors to speak about Christ with outsiders in gracious, fitting ways. Jesus grounds every response. The ruler of heaven became a servant and laid down His life to set His people free. Bible Reference: Colossians 3:18–4:6 Preacher: Ben Fien
Trying harder can change habits while quietly feeding pride. Paul begins elsewhere: those who trust Jesus are united to Him, sharing in His death to sin and His risen life. With minds fixed on Christ, they put sexual sin and harmful speech to death, replacing them with patient, forgiving love. The good news about Jesus fills their life together through teaching and singing, while every word and action belongs to Him with thanks. Bible Reference: Colossians 3:1–17 Preacher: Ben Fien
Strict religious rules and impressive spiritual experiences can make simple faith seem inadequate. Food laws and holy days were shadows pointing to Christ, who makes those who trust Him clean before God. Heavenly visions cannot produce the growth God gives as His people stay connected to Christ, their head. Harsh discipline may look wise, but it cannot defeat sin. Freedom rests in Christ’s finished work and His power to change His people, not in human techniques. Bible Reference: Colossians 2:16–23 Preacher: Ben Fien
Appearance, possessions and success often promise lasting wholeness. Real fullness is found in Christ, because God's whole fullness dwells bodily in Him and those who receive Him are already filled in Him. At the cross, Jesus cancels their whole debt, gives them new life and disarms the powers that accuse them. They can therefore keep walking in Christ with thanksgiving, resisting every claim that salvation or spiritual growth requires Jesus plus something else. Bible Reference: Colossians 2:6–15 Preacher: Ben Fien
Secret spiritual techniques can look deeper than an openly proclaimed gospel. False teachers offered the Colossians Jesus plus extra practices, but Paul identifies God's revealed mystery as Christ in His people, their hope of glory. Paul suffers to make this good news known, and he proclaims Christ so believers grow mature. His people stand firm in faith, love one another, and find all wisdom and strength in Christ rather than hidden additions. Bible Reference: Colossians 1:24–2:5 Preacher: Ben Fien
Our broken world leaves people anxious because no human power can repair it. Jesus created all things, holds them together, and began the new creation through His resurrection. By His death, He reconciles His people to God and will bring the whole cosmos into its proper order under His rule. Not every creature is forgiven. He will present His people holy and blameless, so they must remain steady in the gospel rather than add other spiritual powers or solutions to Christ. Bible Reference: Colossians 1:15–23 Preacher: Ben Fien
Spiritual growth can easily become a search for extra rules, practices, or experiences. Paul points the Colossians back to the true gospel they received, whose fruit appears in faith, love, and hope. They grow by knowing Jesus more deeply, doing good, enduring hardship, and thanking the Father with joy. God has already qualified His people through Christ's forgiveness, so their good works please a Father who has made them His secure children. Bible Reference: Colossians 1:1–14 Preacher: Ben Fien
After Jerusalem’s walls are rebuilt, the whole community gathers eagerly to hear God’s law read and clearly explained. The law exposes their disobedience, and they weep before God. Yet God meets their repentance with pardon, turning grief into joyful celebration rooted in His grace through Jesus. Their joy includes those with nothing prepared and becomes strength for faithful living, as God’s people devote themselves to His word, worship, and shared life. Bible Reference: Nehemiah 8:1–10 Preacher: John Westendorp
Sin is not a harmless flaw to excuse or minimise. It attacks the good God who gives life, leaves every person guilty, and cannot be cancelled by good deeds. At the cross, the sinless Jesus receives the sinner’s punishment, while His perfect righteousness is credited to everyone who turns to Him in faith. Forgiven people still fight sin. The Holy Spirit helps them reject its remaining habits and grow in new obedience, while Christ’s finished work remains their only ground for forgiveness and joy. Bible References: Romans 7:7–25; 2 Corinthians 5:14–21 Preacher: Jed Saville
Like a whispered message passed around a circle, an ancient text can seem vulnerable to distortion. Yet abundant manuscript copies, outside historical confirmation, and candid accounts of apostolic failures give strong reasons to treat the Gospels as credible history. The later Gospel of Thomas lacks a first-century eyewitness author and conflicts with Jesus’ treatment of women. Difficult teachings still deserve careful attention because God need not share modern Australian assumptions. John identifies Jesus as eternal life so people may know God. Bible Reference: 1 John 1:1–3 Preacher: Ben Fi
An empty tomb can sound like a fairy tale when resurrection seems impossible. Yet Luke writes an orderly account: women find Jesus’ body gone, remember His prediction, and report what happened; the apostles dismiss their words as nonsense. Peter then finds the valuable linen cloths left behind, weakening the idea that grave robbers took the body. Jesus rose as the beginning of God’s new creation. His victory means death is not the end for those who trust Him, giving courage and hope amid suffering. Bible References: Luke 24:1–12, 36–53 Preacher: Ben Fien
Suffering can make God seem either cruel, powerless or absent. On Good Friday, Jesus is betrayed, abandoned, falsely condemned and crucified, yet He willingly submits to the Father's plan. The cross turns the question around. God enters human pain in the flesh and drinks the cup of judgement that sinners deserve, joining justice with mercy. His suffering does not explain every sorrow, but it assures those who trust Him of forgiveness, God's presence and a coming kingdom where pain will end. Bible Reference: Mark 14:32–15:39 Preacher: Ben Fien
Palm branches greeted Jesus as a military liberator, but a young donkey corrected the crowd’s hopes. He came as the humble king who speaks peace, not as a warlord or a personal problem solver. By giving Himself to death, Jesus faced the deeper enemies behind human oppression: Satan, sin and death. He will not bend to smaller dreams, yet He walks with His people through suffering as faith bows to His rule and follows wherever He leads. Bible Reference: John 12:12–19 Preacher: Ben Fien
Grace becomes hardest to love when God gives it to people who have done terrible harm. Jonah calls God's mercy to Nineveh evil, while caring more for a shade plant that lasted one night than for the city's people. God exposes how sin turns moral judgement upside down. Unlike Jonah, Jesus loves His enemies unto death and pays sin's penalty, so undeserving people may receive mercy and learn to forgive their enemies. Bible Reference: Jonah 4 Preacher: Ben Fien
Jonah obeys God only on the surface, delivering five words of judgement after travelling just one day into the vast city of Nineveh. Yet this violent city believes God, turns from evil, and receives mercy when God withholds the announced judgement. Saving power belongs to God. At the cross, Jesus pays for the sins of those who turn to Him, so mercy does not cancel justice. No sinner is beyond God's grace, and Christians can share Christ without trusting their own eloquence. Bible Reference: Jonah 3 Preacher: Ben Fien
