Rev. Craig Lynn preaches 2 Samuel 14 at evening worship on Sunday 26th April 2026 in First Ards.

2 Samuel 14 shows Absalom brought home from exile, but not truly restored. Joab’s scheme moves David to act, but the deeper wounds remain untouched. Absalom returns to Jerusalem without repentance, Tamar remains forgotten and David offers a shallow peace that can’t heal his broken house. The chapter leaves us longing for a better King. In Christ, God truly devises a way for the banished to come home, not by ignoring sin, but by dealing with it at the cross, so that sinners may be forgiven, welcomed and restored.

Rev. Craig Lynn preaches Luke 10:1-20 at morning worship on Sunday 26th April 2026 in First Ards.

“The God of mission has a church”! As Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem, he sends the seventy-two ahead of him to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near. They go in dependence, prayer and weakness, like lambs among wolves, carrying Christ’s message and authority. Some welcome them, others reject them and Jesus warns that rejecting his messengers means rejecting him. When they return rejoicing in what they’ve seen, Jesus redirects their joy: not in usefulness or success, but in belonging to him.

Rev. Craig Lynn preaches 2 Samuel 13:23-39 at evening worship on Sunday 19th April 2026 in First Ards.

Two years after Tamar’s violation, Absalom’s silence gives way to carefully planned revenge and Amnon is killed. David grieves, but once again his house is marked by passivity, confusion and unresolved sorrow. The chapter shows that time alone doesn’t heal what sin has broken and that vengeance can’t produce the justice that silence refused to pursue. David’s household is unraveling exactly as Nathan said it would. The passage leaves us longing for a better King than David, one who judges rightly without sin and brings true peace.