SERMON & TEACHING NOTES
Here you will find the teaching notes that used for sermons and teaching that go back to March 2015. The notes are in Word document format and are usually in a large font that made it easier for me when I was teaching. Likewise I arrange the notes in colour schemes that enabled me to keep my place easily – not always easy to do in the midst of a teaching session.
Some audio recordings of this teaching that are no longer available on the City Gates website may be found on the Spoken Word page (which is under the ‘MEDIA’ tab), along with some teaching that never appeared on the City Gates site.
Sermons and teaching from Summer 2020 were mainly recorded on video because of the Coronavirus lockdown, and they can found on my Video page under the ‘Media’ tab, which links to my YouTube channel.
The sermon and teaching notes notes available on this page will often contain far more information and detail than is featured in the audio recordings.
There are also recordings on the Audio and video pages that were recorded in locations apart from City Gates church.
“TRIUMPHAL” ENTRY
On the 10th April 2022 I preached at City Gates on the “Triumphal” Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This teaching demolished the romance and fantasy that usually surrounded the tell of this event, and the notes are below.
GRACE OUTWORKED
On 30th August 2020, I preached on “Grace Outworked” in the City Gates online service. The video of that service is on the City Gates YouTube channel, and the sermon video itself can be found on my own YouTube channel or on the Video page under Media on my own website here.
EPHESIANS 5:21 to 6:4 – FAMILY LIFE UNDER ROMAN RULE
On December 1st 2019, I preached from Ephesians 5:21 to 6:4 on “Family Life Under Roman Rule.” The notes that I used are below.
EPHESIANS 4 – CALLINGS
On 27th October 2019, as part of an occasional autumn to winter series on Ephesians, I preached from Ephesians 4 on the importance of the callings of Christ that Paul wrote of there. The audio recording is available on my own website here, and the recording is fuller than these notes.
BORN BLIND
On the 17th February 2019 I preached at City Gates on “Born Blind” from John chapter 9 and the notes that I used are here for you to access.
Born Blind (17.02.2019)
Nehemiah – May 2018
In May and June 2018, City Gates had a teaching series based in the book of Nehemiah. I preached on May 27th, and it was entitled, “Building Together” and it was from chapter three of the book. I closed the series on Nehemiah on June 24th with “Dedication To God’s Work”. The teaching notes that I used are below, and the recordings contain more than the notes.
PRAYER
In March 2018, I preached on “Presence Prayer” as part of our short series that looked at various aspects of prayer. The sermon notes are below.
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In February 2018, City Gates began a short series looking at various aspects of prayer, and the sermon notes below are entitled, “Prayer Is An Open Heart”. I preached the sermon on the 11th of February, and the notes are below are for you to open or download as you choose.
A New Year – A New You
During January 2018, City Gates had a short series around the theme “New You”. I preached on the 14th January on the topic “Be The Best You Can Be”. The notes for that sermon are available below.
Christmas 2017
Here are the notes from the Christmas service at City Gates church on December 10th, 2017.
PROPHECY AND THE PROPHETIC
Autumn 2017 saw City Gates using different ways of structuring our services and, as part of that, I preached on “Prophecy and the Prophetic” on October 1st. The notes are below.
“REAL LIVES REAL FAITH” was our Spring 2017 teaching series at City Gates, and it looked at different people’s meetings with Jesus and how their encounters changed them. The teaching notes for the sermon that I preached appear here.
Mission Impossible?
The new year of 2017 saw a new discipleship series at City Gates Church. It was called “Mission Impossible?” and it looked at history to see what we can learn from it for church today, since God’s plan to save the world can seem a little strange sometimes. Notes from the sermons that I preached appear here.
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Psalms – Songs For Life
In October and November 2016, City Gates Church had a short teaching series based on the Psalms as ‘Songs For Life’. This series led up to the Advent services that began in December 2016. The teaching notes from the three sermons in the series that I preached are here for download. On my ‘Thought‘ page, you can access a helpful introduction to the Psalms, which will give you a lot of useful background information on the Psalms in general.
Psalm 88 Grumbling (23.10.2016)
Psalm 51 Confession (13.11.2016)
Psalm 37 Impatience (20.11.2016)
ACTS
Summer 2016 had City Gates Church looking at the book of Acts in a series running from June through to the middle of October, which was longer than the series was originally planned to run for. As for previous series, the notes that I used in the sermons that I preached are available here for download. Simply click to open or download the notes that I used. They are normally in a large font since I used them when teaching or preaching, but once you open a document you can scale the font down to a more suitable size for yourself.
Healing In Jesus’ Name (05.06.2016)
Disciples, Elders and Stories (24.07.2016)
From Athens to Corinth (31.07.2016)
Apollos, Jews and Gentiles (07.08.2016)
Paul and Suffering (28.08.2016)
Paul’s Pastoral Care (02.10.2016)
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In April and May 2016 there was a short series of sermons at City Gates Baptist Church on ‘Prayer’, and it had looked at different aspects of prayer from a practical perspective. The aim had been to broaden our definition of prayer, and so to widen our experience of prayer beyond that which we already knew – and certainly beyond that which we perhaps take for granted. This teaching series began by looking at using Scripture as prayer through Scriptural meditation.
The series was intended to run for around six weeks from its start, but it was disrupted because City Gates Baptist Church could not access the school that we normally met in. This was due to the Edinburgh school closures that were related to the safety of the school buildings, and it meant that we were having to use our own building before we were really ready to do so. Unfortunately, the disruption caused by the Edinburgh school closures meant that a number of sermons in this series were not recorded.
The teaching notes from the sermons that I personally preached are here as usual. Simply click to open or download the notes. They are normally in a large font since I used them when teaching or preaching, but once you open a document you can scale the font down to a more suitable size for yourself.
Scripture As Prayer – Meditation (03.04.2016)
Praying For God’s Glory (08.05.2016)
Praise and Worship (22.05.2016)
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A teaching series on “Jesus – The Voice of Hope” took place from January to March 2016 at City Gates church, and the teaching notes that I had used for my own sermons are here for download. The series ran through to Easter 2016 and the notes will be helpful if you want to explore the subject further, or simply remind yourself of what was said on the day.
Simply click to open or download the notes. They are normally in a large font since I used them when teaching or preaching, but once you open a document you can scale the font down to a more suitable size for yourself.
Jesus Voice of Hope Intro 1 (10.1.2016)
I AM The Resurrection and the Life (20.3.2016)
Christmas 2015 Preaching Notes
Here are the notes from the sermon I preached on “Visions and Dreams” in December 2015 at one of City Gates Christmas services, and this was not part of any City Gates teaching series. The recording of this sermon can be heard on my AUDIO page here.
Dreams and Visions (December 2015)
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EPHESIANS SERIES 2015
Here are the sermon notes that I used for the City Gates Baptist Church sermons that I used when preaching in our series on Ephesians in 2015. I shared the preaching with other people at City Gates church, so these notes will not cover the whole of Ephesians. Simply click to open or download the notes. They are normally in a large font since I used them when teaching or preaching, but once you open a document you can scale the font down to a more suitable size for yourself.
A LIFE RENEWED
This series was preached at City gates Baptist Church between April to June inclusive in 2015. The preaching was shared between a number of people at City Gates, and the notes here only relate to the preaching that I did.
Dependence Upon God (19.4.2015)
Yearning After Righteousness (10.5.2015)
EASTER 2015
Here are the notes for the sermon I preached on the Last Supper in Easter 2015 at City Gates Baptist Church.