Tonight we pick up the story leading up to Easter. This is Palm Sunday, named after the palm branches that the people in the crowds waved as they greeted Jesus, as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. We read and thought about that episode in this morning's service. By the time we get to the account that Matthew tells us about tonight, we have skipped forward a day. To help us get into the picture, I'd like to fill in a few of the things that have happened in the meantime.
Immediately after Jesus had come into Jerusalem he'd parked his donkey and headed for the Temple. He'd seen desks taking over the place that was meant to be available for Gentiles to come and pray. These money changers were there so that you could change your Roman money, which you had to use in the market, for special “Temple” money that had to be used to buy the sacrificial animals so that people could fulfil their religious duties. Of course, the exchange rate was pretty lousy, and the money changers took a fair creaming off the top, but the system had the dual benefit of making sure that no unholy money got into the Temple treasury and also reduced the risk of those undesirable Gentiles coming anywhere near the Temple.
Jesus saw all this, and thought it was great. He changed some money, bought a couple of doves, as his parents had done all those years before, and took them to be sacrificed.
Continued here...
Sunday 23 March 2008
Suspended
Tom is very excited. His dad has been away from home for what seems like forever. But, he is coming home today. All week Tom has been counting down the number of sleeps left before it will be the day that Dad is coming home. At school Tom has been telling his friends about how great his Dad is, taller than their Dads, the best Dad in the whole world, and he's coming home. In show and tell on Friday morning Tom stood up and told the whole class about how he was going with his mum to the station to meet his Dad, his Dad who is coming home.
He woke up at five o'clock this morning and has been asking every ten minutes if it's time to go and catch the bus yet. On the bus he chatters on excitedly to his mum about all the things that he and his dad are going to do now that he's coming home. The other passengers overhear and smile to themselves.
Tom is sitting on a bench, on the platform, holding his mum's hand, his feet swinging. Suddenly the train swishes alongside the platform and it's all hustle and bustle, lots of people getting on and off. Where's Tom's dad?
There's a man coming towards them, it looks a bit like his dad, but he's shorter than Tom remembers, and he's limping a bit. Tom's mum stands up, but Tom ducks behind her legs, unsure, of the man and of himself. The man comes up to his mum and kisses her, softly and so tenderly, a kiss that Tom has not seen for a long time. His Dad is home.
Continued here...
He woke up at five o'clock this morning and has been asking every ten minutes if it's time to go and catch the bus yet. On the bus he chatters on excitedly to his mum about all the things that he and his dad are going to do now that he's coming home. The other passengers overhear and smile to themselves.
Tom is sitting on a bench, on the platform, holding his mum's hand, his feet swinging. Suddenly the train swishes alongside the platform and it's all hustle and bustle, lots of people getting on and off. Where's Tom's dad?
There's a man coming towards them, it looks a bit like his dad, but he's shorter than Tom remembers, and he's limping a bit. Tom's mum stands up, but Tom ducks behind her legs, unsure, of the man and of himself. The man comes up to his mum and kisses her, softly and so tenderly, a kiss that Tom has not seen for a long time. His Dad is home.
Continued here...
Hezekiah
Last week we met Hannah, a woman who was desperate for a child. A woman who, in some senses, was a symbol of the fruitless life that the people of God were living. A woman who came to the place of worship, poured out her distress to God, and received the promise of God with faith.
We left Hannah as she departed the temple, trusting God for a son that she had earnestly prayed for. That son, Samuel, was born, and dedicated to the service of the Lord. That son was a prophet of God. Through him God answered the cry of the people for a King, and after the first King, Saul, came David, the touchstone example for all Kings of the people of God.
David died, and Solomon came to reign, building a temple for God in Jerusalem, a focus of worship for the nation. The nation seemed set on the road to greatness, but....
Continued here...
We left Hannah as she departed the temple, trusting God for a son that she had earnestly prayed for. That son, Samuel, was born, and dedicated to the service of the Lord. That son was a prophet of God. Through him God answered the cry of the people for a King, and after the first King, Saul, came David, the touchstone example for all Kings of the people of God.
David died, and Solomon came to reign, building a temple for God in Jerusalem, a focus of worship for the nation. The nation seemed set on the road to greatness, but....
Continued here...
Tabernacles
I don't know if this ever happens to you, sometimes I get home from an evening meeting and my wife will be sat watching the TV. Now, if it's Casualty, then it's fairly straightforward. I know basically who everybody is, the plot is fairly predictable and so, if I wanted to, I could pick up what's happening and sit and watch it. If, however, it's an adaptation of a Jane Austin novel that I haven't read then it might take me a bit longer, and a few questions, to work out what's going on and who everybody is.
Sitting down to read this passage made me feel a bit like I was walking into the middle of a story, and quite a complex one at that. There's lots of characters, there's a whole cultural, historical, and religious context that I'm not that familiar with, and there's obviously some more immediate stuff that's been going on that I'm not aware of.
So, what I'd like to do tonight is to go through this passage and fill in some of the background, identify the actors and work out what's going on and what themes we can take and use to shed light on our own lives.
The setting is the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the feast of the Tabernacles. This is a major, 8 day, festival in the Jewish calendar when the people remembered the tabernacles, or tents, that they lived in the desert following the flight from Israel. What is important for us is that this was a feast of pilgrimage. Lots of Jews from all over the known world had come to Jerusalem for the festival.
Continued here...
Sitting down to read this passage made me feel a bit like I was walking into the middle of a story, and quite a complex one at that. There's lots of characters, there's a whole cultural, historical, and religious context that I'm not that familiar with, and there's obviously some more immediate stuff that's been going on that I'm not aware of.
So, what I'd like to do tonight is to go through this passage and fill in some of the background, identify the actors and work out what's going on and what themes we can take and use to shed light on our own lives.
The setting is the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the feast of the Tabernacles. This is a major, 8 day, festival in the Jewish calendar when the people remembered the tabernacles, or tents, that they lived in the desert following the flight from Israel. What is important for us is that this was a feast of pilgrimage. Lots of Jews from all over the known world had come to Jerusalem for the festival.
Continued here...
Community in Kindness
This week we continue our series of services on the theme of building community. Each week we have been looking at the ways in which the work of God, the Holy Spirit, can be seen in the building up of our community. We have looked at love, joy, peace, and now we come to kindness.
When I was preparing for this morning, I did what all good sermon writers do when preparing sermons and went on the Internet. I can tell you now that if you Google, “kindness” you get lots of stuff, especially quoteable quotes from famous writers. I am also pleased to report that kindness is widely seen as a good thing.
This, however, is not the most important thing that I want to say today. The most important thing that I think that we need to get hold of this morning is that God is kind. Everything else that I say this morning flows out of that one, key, fact. God is kind.
Is it just me, or does that sound like a bit of an odd thing to say? I was thinking about what I was going to say this morning, and why it was that this sounds like a bit of an odd thing to say.
Continued here...
When I was preparing for this morning, I did what all good sermon writers do when preparing sermons and went on the Internet. I can tell you now that if you Google, “kindness” you get lots of stuff, especially quoteable quotes from famous writers. I am also pleased to report that kindness is widely seen as a good thing.
This, however, is not the most important thing that I want to say today. The most important thing that I think that we need to get hold of this morning is that God is kind. Everything else that I say this morning flows out of that one, key, fact. God is kind.
Is it just me, or does that sound like a bit of an odd thing to say? I was thinking about what I was going to say this morning, and why it was that this sounds like a bit of an odd thing to say.
Continued here...
Unchanging:Prayer:Mouths:Jesus
Unchanging
Daniel's enemies thought that they knew what couldn't be changed. They thought that they knew what was permanent. They thought that rules and regulations and laws couldn't be changed.
They wanted to destroy Daniel, so they watched him. They couldn't find anything wrong with the way he went about his business or how he did his work. There were no brown envelopes stuffed with cash, no dodgy expenses claims, no shoddy materials used in the buildings he managed, no hidden affairs, he was as clean as a whistle.
But they did see something. They saw him go three times a day and kneel down at a window and pray. They saw this, but they did not understand it. They thought that this must be some kind of law of Daniel's God, some kind of religious rule that Daniel had to keep.
So, they came up with a plan. They would set up a new law, an unchangeable law, a law of the Medes and Persians. They would persuade the King to make a law that would outlaw Daniel.
Continued here...
Daniel's enemies thought that they knew what couldn't be changed. They thought that they knew what was permanent. They thought that rules and regulations and laws couldn't be changed.
They wanted to destroy Daniel, so they watched him. They couldn't find anything wrong with the way he went about his business or how he did his work. There were no brown envelopes stuffed with cash, no dodgy expenses claims, no shoddy materials used in the buildings he managed, no hidden affairs, he was as clean as a whistle.
But they did see something. They saw him go three times a day and kneel down at a window and pray. They saw this, but they did not understand it. They thought that this must be some kind of law of Daniel's God, some kind of religious rule that Daniel had to keep.
So, they came up with a plan. They would set up a new law, an unchangeable law, a law of the Medes and Persians. They would persuade the King to make a law that would outlaw Daniel.
Continued here...
Slavery and Freedom
This sermon was put together with the help of "Keystone", the youth group at St Peter's Church, Littleover. I really enjoyed spending some time with them over a couple of weeks, thinking about what it is to be Christlike, and particularly about this teaching from Jesus.
This passage is about freedom and slavery, truth and deception, and life and death. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem for a week or so, going in every day, sitting there and holding forth to those around, engaging the religious experts in debate. In that time he's said some pretty controversial things about himself, and about the way that the people of God are living out their faith.
These things have provoked different reactions among those who have been listening. Some have decided that he is a dangerous rabble rouser, who threatens their power, someone who needs to be silenced. Others have had faith in him, have believed him, have wanted to follow him.
But Jesus is always clear about a couple of things. He's not very interested in head knowledge alone. He is interested in our whole beings and lives. He's an all or nothing type of guy. Throughout the gospels he makes it clear that choosing to follow him is a costly choice, it is a choice that must be made whole heartedly. It changes our whole lives. But the other thing is that Jesus offers freedom, life in all its fullness, depth. As good as it can be. Jesus is an all or nothing type of guy.
Continued here...
This passage is about freedom and slavery, truth and deception, and life and death. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem for a week or so, going in every day, sitting there and holding forth to those around, engaging the religious experts in debate. In that time he's said some pretty controversial things about himself, and about the way that the people of God are living out their faith.
These things have provoked different reactions among those who have been listening. Some have decided that he is a dangerous rabble rouser, who threatens their power, someone who needs to be silenced. Others have had faith in him, have believed him, have wanted to follow him.
But Jesus is always clear about a couple of things. He's not very interested in head knowledge alone. He is interested in our whole beings and lives. He's an all or nothing type of guy. Throughout the gospels he makes it clear that choosing to follow him is a costly choice, it is a choice that must be made whole heartedly. It changes our whole lives. But the other thing is that Jesus offers freedom, life in all its fullness, depth. As good as it can be. Jesus is an all or nothing type of guy.
Continued here...
Exiled
Happy New Year. You might think that this is a bit of an odd thing to say, but we're in church, and the church can be a bit odd. One of the ways that it is odd, is that the church year begins about four weeks before Christmas, on the first Sunday of Advent, which is today. During this four weeks we do two things. Firstly we begin to remember the time when Jesus first came to live with us as a man. Secondly, we look forward to, and prepare for, Jesus' return.
To help us think about these things, I'd like to explore the idea of exile a little bit.
I wonder what makes you feel at home. When I say, “home”, what is it that comes to mind. It might be a place, a house you grew up in, or a room in a house that fits you and you fit it. It might be the city or neighbourhood where you know the people and the people know you. It might be the country that your ancestors lived in, a country where you can buy the food you grew up with, easily. It might be particular people, friends and family. Whichever of these apply to you, home is the place where you can be yourself and know yourself to be valued and loved.
Exile is the opposite of home. Living in exile means being in a place that is unfamiliar, where you feel isolated, threatened, and lonely. Exile is being far from home.
Continued here...
To help us think about these things, I'd like to explore the idea of exile a little bit.
I wonder what makes you feel at home. When I say, “home”, what is it that comes to mind. It might be a place, a house you grew up in, or a room in a house that fits you and you fit it. It might be the city or neighbourhood where you know the people and the people know you. It might be the country that your ancestors lived in, a country where you can buy the food you grew up with, easily. It might be particular people, friends and family. Whichever of these apply to you, home is the place where you can be yourself and know yourself to be valued and loved.
Exile is the opposite of home. Living in exile means being in a place that is unfamiliar, where you feel isolated, threatened, and lonely. Exile is being far from home.
Continued here...
Shield of Faith
What is it that is distinctive about the shield as a piece of armour that might say something important to us about the nature of faith.
Imagine a Roman battle field. In the middle of the fight you see a person, isolated, sheltering behind a shield. It's a fairly big shield, about as tall and wide as a person, the leather face is dripping wet. As you watch you see that they are trying to protect someone who is on the floor, injured. But you're not the only one who has noticed them.
The enemy archers on the opposite hill have also caught sight of them and are preparing their arrows, wrapping the tips in cotton material, dipping them in tar and lighting them. The arrows rain down on the stranded pair. The one with the shield is catching the arrows, fending them off but the shield is slowly being chipped away. There are gashes on it, and the edges are all notched and broken. There are arrows stuck in the face of it and it is becoming heavier and heavier.
Out of the corner of your eye you see a movement. You see what looks at first glance like a huge, square turtle trundling over the field. You look again and see that it is a gang of soldiers who have grouped together, linking their shields in front, down the sides, above the heads of the group. They make their way across to the besieged pair, they surround them and bring them into the middle of protective structure and escort them to safety.
Having done so the turtle returns to the fight, storms the hill where the archers are and drives them from the battle field.
The shield is distinctive as a piece of armour, because it is most effective when used together with other shields. When it is used like this it also becomes a mechanism for attack on the strongholds of the enemy.
I reckon that faith is like that.
Imagine a Roman battle field. In the middle of the fight you see a person, isolated, sheltering behind a shield. It's a fairly big shield, about as tall and wide as a person, the leather face is dripping wet. As you watch you see that they are trying to protect someone who is on the floor, injured. But you're not the only one who has noticed them.
The enemy archers on the opposite hill have also caught sight of them and are preparing their arrows, wrapping the tips in cotton material, dipping them in tar and lighting them. The arrows rain down on the stranded pair. The one with the shield is catching the arrows, fending them off but the shield is slowly being chipped away. There are gashes on it, and the edges are all notched and broken. There are arrows stuck in the face of it and it is becoming heavier and heavier.
Out of the corner of your eye you see a movement. You see what looks at first glance like a huge, square turtle trundling over the field. You look again and see that it is a gang of soldiers who have grouped together, linking their shields in front, down the sides, above the heads of the group. They make their way across to the besieged pair, they surround them and bring them into the middle of protective structure and escort them to safety.
Having done so the turtle returns to the fight, storms the hill where the archers are and drives them from the battle field.
The shield is distinctive as a piece of armour, because it is most effective when used together with other shields. When it is used like this it also becomes a mechanism for attack on the strongholds of the enemy.
I reckon that faith is like that.
Why Pray?
As natural as breathing. That's how people describe something that just happens, something you don't have to think about it, something your body looks after for you. Nobody asks Why breathe? It's obvious. If you don't breathe you're going to die. And we don't ask, "Why breathe?" because, generally, that's not much chance of us deciding not to.
The thing is, that prayer is as vital for our spiritual life as breathing is for our physical life. In the same way that breathing brings in the oxygen that allows our bodies to function, and gets rid of the poisons that our bodies produce, so prayer brings in the power of God to our spirit and allows God to take away the poisons that build up in our spirit.
There is, however, one big problem. Prayer is not as natural as breathing. It does not come easy and we do have to think about it and make an act of will to meet with God and communicate. And, even worse, it's not enough to know in our heads, we have to allow our spiritual gasping for breath to change the way we act and do things.
We need the conviction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do the thing we want to do, to meet with our Father, our friend, our comforter, our lover, day by day and communicate about life and living. Until it does become as natural as breathing. What we're going to do this morning is look at three modifications of the question, "Why pray", the answers to which might help us to move a little more of our head knowledge to our hearts and help us breathe a little easier.
Continued here...
The thing is, that prayer is as vital for our spiritual life as breathing is for our physical life. In the same way that breathing brings in the oxygen that allows our bodies to function, and gets rid of the poisons that our bodies produce, so prayer brings in the power of God to our spirit and allows God to take away the poisons that build up in our spirit.
There is, however, one big problem. Prayer is not as natural as breathing. It does not come easy and we do have to think about it and make an act of will to meet with God and communicate. And, even worse, it's not enough to know in our heads, we have to allow our spiritual gasping for breath to change the way we act and do things.
We need the conviction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do the thing we want to do, to meet with our Father, our friend, our comforter, our lover, day by day and communicate about life and living. Until it does become as natural as breathing. What we're going to do this morning is look at three modifications of the question, "Why pray", the answers to which might help us to move a little more of our head knowledge to our hearts and help us breathe a little easier.
Continued here...
Saturday 22 March 2008
Persecuted for Righteousness?
Summer's finally here, so we've been told all this week. The thermometer's hit the roof, and pallid knees are being exposed across the nation. Summer's here so are we in shape for it?
It's been a tough week this week. Lots going on, and to top it off, preparing something to say this morning. And the more I read this verse and thought about it, and read about it, the less I could think about what to say.
I've been doing an extension studies theology course recently. It's very good, I'd recommend it, if you want details ask me later. One of things we've looked at is about how we can read the Bible and understand the teaching so that we can apply it to our lives. To do this, we've been using a 6 step process.
As I said, I've been really struggling thinking about what I was going to say this morning. This verse bought up for me a load of questions and issues and not many answers. It didn't seem to me that it fitted nicely into the pattern of the other beatitudes. So I thought that we would explore it together this morning, using the step by step approach and I'd encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to speak what He wants to this morning.
Encountering God in Work
Last week, Charlie talked about the various amounts of time that he’d calculated he would be spending in various activities in his life. Now, I reckon that I’m going to spend about 83,200 hours of my life working, about 20% of my waking hours. That’s quite a big chunk and if I’m not Encountering God in my work that’s quite a big chunk of life God will be missing from.
And I don’t believe that God wants to be missing from 20% of our lives, I believe that God loves us and is interested and involved in everything we do, including our work and therefore we can Encounter God in our work.
For some of us that is a new idea
For some of us it is an idea we have heard before but we’ve forgotten it
For others it will be something we do experience but hunger to experience even more
As I speak I am aware that I don’t put all this into practice and that I fall well short of the vision that I hope to communicate, of how it could be. I’m also aware that my experience of work is limited, both in time and variety. So the challenge to me and to us all, is to take the principles from this sermon and ask God if and how they could be applied to our working lives.
Continued here...
And I don’t believe that God wants to be missing from 20% of our lives, I believe that God loves us and is interested and involved in everything we do, including our work and therefore we can Encounter God in our work.
For some of us that is a new idea
For some of us it is an idea we have heard before but we’ve forgotten it
For others it will be something we do experience but hunger to experience even more
As I speak I am aware that I don’t put all this into practice and that I fall well short of the vision that I hope to communicate, of how it could be. I’m also aware that my experience of work is limited, both in time and variety. So the challenge to me and to us all, is to take the principles from this sermon and ask God if and how they could be applied to our working lives.
Continued here...
Advent 4 - Mary
During Advent, this time of waiting and preparation before Christmas, our services have been themed around, “The Return of the King”. We started by thinking about the quality of our wait for the return of our King, Jesus. Are we fearful, unsure what to expect, or expectant and focussed. We went on to start thinking about our level of activity during the wait. The story of John the Baptist showed us that we are to be waiting actively, preparing the way, in our own hearts and in the world. Last week, in the context of the Christingle service, we saw that part of that preparation is for us to be Christ’s light in the world.
Today is the last Sunday of Advent, and we’re going to look at another aspect of the preparation of the way, in our hearts and in the world.
As we heard in the reading we are taking our example from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although we are reading this story on the Sunday before Christmas Day, she would have had this experience 9 months ago. She has been waiting and preparing for the birth of her son since then, and probably is by now even more impatient for Christmas Day than we are.
The brief dialogue we have heard started Mary’s time of waiting and helped to sustain her through that wait and preparation for Jesus’ birth, and I believe that it can help to sustain us through our wait and preparation for Jesus’ return.
Continued here...
Today is the last Sunday of Advent, and we’re going to look at another aspect of the preparation of the way, in our hearts and in the world.
As we heard in the reading we are taking our example from Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although we are reading this story on the Sunday before Christmas Day, she would have had this experience 9 months ago. She has been waiting and preparing for the birth of her son since then, and probably is by now even more impatient for Christmas Day than we are.
The brief dialogue we have heard started Mary’s time of waiting and helped to sustain her through that wait and preparation for Jesus’ birth, and I believe that it can help to sustain us through our wait and preparation for Jesus’ return.
Continued here...
Advent 4 - Joseph
They say that you wait ages for a bus to come along, and then two come along together. Well, here I am again for the second time in a month and, not only that, it’s the same Sunday as I talked on last year, The last Sunday of Advent, the last Sunday before Christmas. Last year, the reading focussed on Mary, and I felt fairly out of my depth trying to identify with a 15 year old, unmarried, newly pregnant, woman. This year, the reading focuses on Joseph, which, on the face of it puts me in a better starting position. If it weren’t for the fact that Joseph was in a fairly unusual situation.
Let’s walk this through. Joseph was a righteous man, a just man. So why didn’t he have Mary stoned? How would you feel? Your fiancé comes to you and says she’s pregnant, but you know you haven’t slept with her, and not only that but she says and angel told her it was from God.
I’d be devastated, angry, lashing out, vindictive. And the law says, in Deuteronomy that Joseph would have been well within his rights to have her stoned. But he didn’t. Not because he was merciful, but because he was just.
Continued here...
Let’s walk this through. Joseph was a righteous man, a just man. So why didn’t he have Mary stoned? How would you feel? Your fiancé comes to you and says she’s pregnant, but you know you haven’t slept with her, and not only that but she says and angel told her it was from God.
I’d be devastated, angry, lashing out, vindictive. And the law says, in Deuteronomy that Joseph would have been well within his rights to have her stoned. But he didn’t. Not because he was merciful, but because he was just.
Continued here...
Helmet of Salvation
Equipment lists. I’m sure you’re all familiar with them. You’re starting a new school and it consists of the correct number of sweatshirts, socks, football shirts, all with name tags. You’re going to camp and it’s all sleeping bags, knives and forks and warm clothing. Name tags again. You’re off to college and it’s mostly books, books which seem to cost more than you’ve ever spent on books before. And you’d better put your name in these or you’ll never see them again.
Now we’ve spent the last few weeks working our way through a spiritual equipment list, the Armour of God. We’ve gathered together our belt, our breastplate, our footware and last week we got our shield, the shield of faith. Nick shared with us a key reason for making sure we have our shield of faith, for without it, “arrows ignited in the flames of hell can pierce us and inflame our hearts against God”.
So, this week, we’re moving on to look at the next item on our equipment list, the Helmet of Salvation. Last week it was our hearts. This week it’s our heads. And part of what this is about is learning to use what’s in our heads, our minds, for Christ. So there’s some practice for us in this sermon. There are loads of questions in this sermon and the answers I suggest are my answers. They’re answers that I’ve come to after looking at the Bible, reading what other Christians have written and praying. But they’re still my answers. Are they yours?
The Bible
We went to New Wine, a great big Christian conference/holiday a couple of weeks ago. One of the things about that type of event is that you have the opportunity to get some in depth Bible teaching. Every morning we'd take the kids to their groups and head along to the Big Top for worship and word.
One of the elements of this that made an impact on me was how the guy who taught that week held his Bible as he taught. He'd stand there, holding his Bible like this, like something wonderfully precious, like something he didn't want to let fall, like something he wanted to devour. His posture reminded me of how Tabitha, my nearly 5 year old daughter, looks when she's discovered something wonderful to her that she wants not to lose but to examine and wonder over.
But it wasn't the physical book that was inspiring this reaction, it was the content. Here was someone whose very posture communicated his love for the word of God, someone for whom this book clearly contained honey for his lips. When I started thinking about what I was going to say tonight, I remembered this bloke and thought it would be good to share some of the things about the Bible that stir up those reactions in me, and to make an opportunity for us to discover or rediscover a love for God's words.
Continued here...
One of the elements of this that made an impact on me was how the guy who taught that week held his Bible as he taught. He'd stand there, holding his Bible like this, like something wonderfully precious, like something he didn't want to let fall, like something he wanted to devour. His posture reminded me of how Tabitha, my nearly 5 year old daughter, looks when she's discovered something wonderful to her that she wants not to lose but to examine and wonder over.
But it wasn't the physical book that was inspiring this reaction, it was the content. Here was someone whose very posture communicated his love for the word of God, someone for whom this book clearly contained honey for his lips. When I started thinking about what I was going to say tonight, I remembered this bloke and thought it would be good to share some of the things about the Bible that stir up those reactions in me, and to make an opportunity for us to discover or rediscover a love for God's words.
Continued here...
Grace - Come Thirsty
Last week we started off on our journey through Lent, a journey that will explore some of the ideas of spiritual refreshment that are presented in the “Come Thirsty” course. Charlie invited us to come and drink at a well, the well of God’s refreshment for us.
We were introduced to the idea that the word “Well” can remind us of four of the key actions that make up the process of receiving God’s refreshment for the spiritual thirst we feel. We can think of the letters that make up the word WELL standing for Work, Energy, Lordship and Love.
For us to fully receive God’s refreshment, we need to receive Christ’s work on the cross, receive the energy of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s Lordship over our lives and receive God’s unending, unfailing love.
Over the next few weeks, leading up to Easter we will be thinking about each of these in turn, and this week we are focussing on the first of these: receiving Christ’s work on the cross.
Continued here...
We were introduced to the idea that the word “Well” can remind us of four of the key actions that make up the process of receiving God’s refreshment for the spiritual thirst we feel. We can think of the letters that make up the word WELL standing for Work, Energy, Lordship and Love.
For us to fully receive God’s refreshment, we need to receive Christ’s work on the cross, receive the energy of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s Lordship over our lives and receive God’s unending, unfailing love.
Over the next few weeks, leading up to Easter we will be thinking about each of these in turn, and this week we are focussing on the first of these: receiving Christ’s work on the cross.
Continued here...
The Vision for the Finances of St Mary’s
Over the last weeks we’ve been looking in our Sermon Series at the development of the Vision for St Mary’s.
We have a Big Vision: to see God’s Kingdom extended out of the centre of Luton. We have a Big Aim: to build a strong church of disciples of Jesus Christ, reaching out to others. And we have a Big Challenge: to resource and nurture the growth of a healthy, Anglican, cell-based church.
Taking us towards this Vision is the River of the Life of this church. Giving us a framework to achieve our Aim are the streams of Worship, Prayer, Social Action, Discipleship, Relationships and Evangelism. Giving us the means to meet our Challenge are the banks of the river: the church’s Relational and Physical resources. This morning, we are going to look at the financial resourcing of the vision.
Continued here...
We have a Big Vision: to see God’s Kingdom extended out of the centre of Luton. We have a Big Aim: to build a strong church of disciples of Jesus Christ, reaching out to others. And we have a Big Challenge: to resource and nurture the growth of a healthy, Anglican, cell-based church.
Taking us towards this Vision is the River of the Life of this church. Giving us a framework to achieve our Aim are the streams of Worship, Prayer, Social Action, Discipleship, Relationships and Evangelism. Giving us the means to meet our Challenge are the banks of the river: the church’s Relational and Physical resources. This morning, we are going to look at the financial resourcing of the vision.
Continued here...
Christmas 2 - Epiphany
Tonight, getting towards the end of the Christmas season, we’re thinking about Epiphany. On Christmas day we celebrated what is called the Incarnation, that is when God became human. But in some senses today’s celebration is more important . That’s because it’s only through Epiphany that we know what God is up to.
A baby in a manger is all very well, but so what? Now, with the benefit of hindsight we know something about the, “so what”, because of what Jesus did and said, because of what he showed us about himself. And this is what Epiphany means. It means a revelation of something, usually something spiritual, to someone. Celebrating Epiphany is about celebrating the fact that God is a God of revelation and about considering what our response to that revelation will be.
In the reading we’ve just had we had an example of an Epiphany. This was when the Magi, or Wise Ones, from the east came to worship Jesus.
From this story I’d like to concentrate on two things. Firstly how does God make revelations, that is, from where will epiphanies come to us? Secondly, what are possible reactions to these revelations?
Sunday 16 March 2008
Shape Up For Summer
Shaping up for summer. Is it just me, or has the frequency of the Weight Watchers ads on the TV increased recently? It’s that time of year, isn’t? Christmas came and it was great and we tucked in to turkey and all the trimmings. New Year came and we made resolutions and took out Gym memberships, but then it was Easter and all those Easter Eggs. Now, it’s April, the summer is looming and we really do want to get into shape.
Which is great, but as Paul wrote to Timothy, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
I’ve been given the task of introducing what, as far as I can make out, is a 4 month sermon series, leading into the summer and giving us plenty of time to work on getting into a much more important shape, a Godly shape. I am, in effect, the text scrolling up the screen at the beginning of a Star Wars movie. I’m going to do the same job as that text. We’ll have a look at a bit of the background to the story, introduce ourselves to some of the language, and set ourselves up to make the most of the next 16 weeks.
In Prison
Paul is in prison. He had come to this city in response to a vision he had experienced of a man of the area asking him to come over and help. On arrival in the city he had gone to the local place of worship, as was his normal practice and engaged in conversation with those who were there. Some of them were convinced by what he had to say, and invited him, and his companions to stay with them. But Paul is one of those blokes who just can't seem to stay out of trouble. He ends up getting into conflict with some of the worthies of the town and thrown into this prison.
Paul is in prison, but as he repeats again and again in his letters, rejoice in all circumstances. And he walks the walk, or in this case sings the songs. As he and his companions praise God, there is an earthquake, the prison doors burst open and they are free to go. The Jailer rushes in, ready to kill himself because he thinks that the prisoners will have escaped, but Paul stops him, “Do not harm yourself, we are all here.” The grateful Jailer brings Paul out and asks what he must do to be saved. He comes to believe in Jesus, and he and his household are baptised that night.
The next day the city authorities release Paul and his companions, but ask them to leave the city, which after a few encouraging words to the fledgling believers, they do.
It's Just so Rich
There is something fantastic about fudge shops. When you go to your local Tesco's you know that you can buy fudge, but it's likely to be own brand, mass produced, only one or two flavours available. We went to the Lake District for our holidays and we stayed in Ambleside. In that town there are a couple of fudge shops. All they sell is fudge. You go in and there are wall to wall, ceiling to ceiling shelves, all stacked with locally produced fudge. Every flavour you can imagine. The choice and the richness of the food is paralysing. You know that you can't try every flavour quickly, it would be self-defeating, you'll be sick. You have to have a little at a time, trying different types on different days.
As we come to this next chunk of Paul's letter to the church in Philippi, I think that this is a good image to have in our minds. This poem is scripture at its richest, with layers of meaning and depth. All I can hope to do tonight is invite you to taste some of the flavours that have struck me as I have chewed over it during the last week, and encourage you to keep on soaking in it over the coming week.
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