I’d like to take you on a journey this morning. As we travel we will stop off at various places, meet different people and hear what is being said. As we travel, I’d like to encourage you to think about similar journeys that you have taken, or maybe that you are on at the moment.
As in Doctor Who, the first stage of the journey is the one that will take us the furthest through time and space, but it’s the one that I am going to spend the least time talking about. Will you come with me back about 2,000 years and 1,500 miles south east of here, to city called Philippi? We land in this Roman colony in Greece, in the street. It’s dusty and hot, there are people everywhere, going about their daily business.
We spot a little group of people, obviously walking somewhere together. Paul and Silas are part of the group, going to the place of prayer. The place of prayer wasn’t a Temple or a synagogue; it wasn’t a special building, but a spot on the riverbank, outside the city, where people gathered to talk together and to pray. They had gone there when they first arrived in Philippi, and had met Lydia, who had believed the message that they had bought, and decided to follow Jesus. Now they were staying at her house and had got into the practice of going back to that spot, to pray and to share the good news further.
But, there is opposition to them going to the place of prayer. Every time they head off to the place of prayer, they are harassed by this girl, shouting after them, trying to distract them.
Continued here...
Monday, 17 May 2010
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Love and Obey
I’ve just finished reading a novel which took the form of a parable of a man’s journey to faith. This guy is a technology whizz kid, and at one stage he decides that the best way for him to help people follow Jesus is to go through the Bible and draw together all Jesus’ teaching into a computer programme so that anybody facing a difficult decision can load it up, input the details, and the software would tell them what to do, based on all the information from Jesus’ teaching. The angel who is guiding the man doesn’t think that this is such a good idea. He explains that following Jesus isn’t about following a whole series of complicated rules, and much more about knowing and being known, loving and being loved, fighting and dying alongside Jesus so that we can also live in his triumph.
When I was preparing for this sermon, it struck me that if we were going to demonstrate our love for Jesus by obeying his commands, then it would be good to know what they were. So I did a bit of a search on the internet and found lists that people had very helpfully prepared by going through the gospels, and every time Jesus says “I tell you” noting down what he said. Most of the lists had around 50 commands on them.
But as I read them the points that the angel in the book made came back to me. Surely following Jesus isn’t about pinning up a list of rules in church, or on your fridge at home and making sure you stick to them. We know from the whole of the story of the people of God through the Old Testament that maintaining a relationship with God on the basis of rules doesn’t work. People can’t do it. We know that the only way that we can walk with God is by the gift of Jesus, it is only by grace, God’s riches at Christ’s expense, and not by works, not by the things that we do, that we are rescued from the darkness of our own selfishness.
Continued here...
When I was preparing for this sermon, it struck me that if we were going to demonstrate our love for Jesus by obeying his commands, then it would be good to know what they were. So I did a bit of a search on the internet and found lists that people had very helpfully prepared by going through the gospels, and every time Jesus says “I tell you” noting down what he said. Most of the lists had around 50 commands on them.
But as I read them the points that the angel in the book made came back to me. Surely following Jesus isn’t about pinning up a list of rules in church, or on your fridge at home and making sure you stick to them. We know from the whole of the story of the people of God through the Old Testament that maintaining a relationship with God on the basis of rules doesn’t work. People can’t do it. We know that the only way that we can walk with God is by the gift of Jesus, it is only by grace, God’s riches at Christ’s expense, and not by works, not by the things that we do, that we are rescued from the darkness of our own selfishness.
Continued here...
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Heights of love
I was up at Northwood Stadium the other day, and I saw some young people being coached in high jump. The coach had laid out some cones in a half circle, and was asking the athletes to run up to, and past, the high jump bar in a kind of “c” shape, without actually jumping. Then, when they’d got the hang of that, he started to get them jumping over the bar by flinging themselves backwards over it, arching their backs and legs. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I’d never seen the high jump on the TV, I don’t know that I would have worked out that this is the best way to jump over a high jump bar. In fact, people had been jumping over bars for a long time before anybody did try this way of doing it.
In 1968 Dick Fosbury won the Olympic High Jump Gold Medal. As he did so he changed the sport of High Jumping forever, because he did so using the Fosbury Flop.
It was a game changing innovation. For centuries people had been jumping over bars to see who could go highest, but Fosbury, without changing the rules of sport, changed the heights that could be achieved. You had to be willing to take off and jump backwards, and land on your shoulders or head, but if you were up for it, athletes who changed their technique found that they could jump higher than they could previously.
What was it that allowed this to happen, this radical change in this sport? Firstly, there was a trail blazer who proved that it could be done, and showed people how to do it, there was a new champion. Secondly, it took advantage of new circumstances (the introduction of softer landing mats), and thirdly it required the athletes to step up to the new challenge of a different way of doing things.
In our reading from John’s telling of the good news of Jesus, we heard about something new that Jesus gave to his followers. Jesus gave them a new commandment. He told them to love one another as he had loved them.
But hold on a minute, how is this a new commandment?
Continued here...
In 1968 Dick Fosbury won the Olympic High Jump Gold Medal. As he did so he changed the sport of High Jumping forever, because he did so using the Fosbury Flop.
It was a game changing innovation. For centuries people had been jumping over bars to see who could go highest, but Fosbury, without changing the rules of sport, changed the heights that could be achieved. You had to be willing to take off and jump backwards, and land on your shoulders or head, but if you were up for it, athletes who changed their technique found that they could jump higher than they could previously.
What was it that allowed this to happen, this radical change in this sport? Firstly, there was a trail blazer who proved that it could be done, and showed people how to do it, there was a new champion. Secondly, it took advantage of new circumstances (the introduction of softer landing mats), and thirdly it required the athletes to step up to the new challenge of a different way of doing things.
In our reading from John’s telling of the good news of Jesus, we heard about something new that Jesus gave to his followers. Jesus gave them a new commandment. He told them to love one another as he had loved them.
But hold on a minute, how is this a new commandment?
Continued here...
Monday, 22 March 2010
Yearning
Have you ever watched a dog on a lead? Of course, just like people, every dog is different but it seems to me that in the main they fall into four different categories. Firstly are those who you see going for a walk who just amble alongside their owners, maybe a bit lazy, maybe a bit on the elderly side, often a bit podgy, amble, amble, amble, not taking much interest in anything.
Then there are those who lull you into a false sense of security. They seem to be like the first type, but then they’ll catch a scent or see something that interests them, and suddenly they’ll pull at the lead, eager to be off after that squirrel. If the owner’s not particularly aware they’ll find the lead pulled from their hand and a dog disappearing into the bushes.
Then there are those who can’t go more than a step without their attention being caught by something new. They’re always pulling, straining, at the lead, but never in the same direction for more than 30 seconds. They have the attention span of a goldfish. They want to be off the lead and off exploring the world, but they’re not sure about where they’d go first if they were let off.
Then there are the fourth type. They are the ones that if you had roller skates, or a skateboard would probably pull you along the route. They pull and strain and yearn with every ounce of their being against the lead. But in one direction. They pull you on every step of the way. They have a fixed idea in their head and they are going to go for it. The blood hound is on the scent and will not relent until she has found the quarry.
In our reading from Paul’s letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi we hear about how Paul is like our fourth type of dog. He is straining towards a goal. There is a prize, that he hasn’t fully got hold off, but he desires with all his being. He is pulling towards it, utterly focussed. And, it seems to me, that he encourages his readers to do the same.
Continued here...
Then there are those who lull you into a false sense of security. They seem to be like the first type, but then they’ll catch a scent or see something that interests them, and suddenly they’ll pull at the lead, eager to be off after that squirrel. If the owner’s not particularly aware they’ll find the lead pulled from their hand and a dog disappearing into the bushes.
Then there are those who can’t go more than a step without their attention being caught by something new. They’re always pulling, straining, at the lead, but never in the same direction for more than 30 seconds. They have the attention span of a goldfish. They want to be off the lead and off exploring the world, but they’re not sure about where they’d go first if they were let off.
Then there are the fourth type. They are the ones that if you had roller skates, or a skateboard would probably pull you along the route. They pull and strain and yearn with every ounce of their being against the lead. But in one direction. They pull you on every step of the way. They have a fixed idea in their head and they are going to go for it. The blood hound is on the scent and will not relent until she has found the quarry.
In our reading from Paul’s letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi we hear about how Paul is like our fourth type of dog. He is straining towards a goal. There is a prize, that he hasn’t fully got hold off, but he desires with all his being. He is pulling towards it, utterly focussed. And, it seems to me, that he encourages his readers to do the same.
Continued here...
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Who's your hero?
Thirty-eight thousand, four hundred pounds. What could you buy with that amount of money? You could buy a very nice car. You could buy 102,000 pints of milk. Or you could buy a pair of football boots, which is exactly what somebody did this week. What was it about these boots that made them so valuable to somebody? Are they made of some exotic material? No. Do they guarantee the wearer superhuman footballing skills? No. Are they made to a special, futuristic design? No. Somebody paid thirty-eight thousand, four hundred pounds for a pair of football boots because they were said to have been worn by Sir Stanley Matthews in the 1953 FA Cup Final, in which he inspired Blackpool’s victory over Bolton.
You don’t need me to tell you that Sir Stan is a hero around here and around the country. We still encourage young players to look up to him, to aspire to his example. His hard work coupled with sublime skill. His discipline and self control, so great that he was never booked. The way in which he looked after his body so that it could keep playing far beyond those of his contemporaries. All of these are praiseworthy and worthy of emulation.
I wonder who your heroes are? Who do you look up to, whose example do you want to follow. It might be a parent, or another member of the family. It might be a work colleague, or a friend from school, maybe even a teacher. Or is it someone famous, a celebrity, a singer or actor? Who do you want to be like? Have you deliberately chosen your role models or do they affect you without you noticing it?
I wonder who looks to you for an example? Who watches what you do and copies it? Who notices what you’re saying or doing, and follows along after. Who notices your attitude to other people and takes up those attitudes? As I was sitting in a cafe in Hanley thinking about what I would say this morning, an advert came on the radio looking for people who would act as positive role models to children in our local schools. It struck me that we are all role models in some way, we don’t have a choice about that, what we have a choice about is what kind of role model we are.
This reality is recognised by Paul in his letter to the Christians in and around Philippi. Paul knew that people are wired so that they are affected by the people around them.
Continued here...
You don’t need me to tell you that Sir Stan is a hero around here and around the country. We still encourage young players to look up to him, to aspire to his example. His hard work coupled with sublime skill. His discipline and self control, so great that he was never booked. The way in which he looked after his body so that it could keep playing far beyond those of his contemporaries. All of these are praiseworthy and worthy of emulation.
I wonder who your heroes are? Who do you look up to, whose example do you want to follow. It might be a parent, or another member of the family. It might be a work colleague, or a friend from school, maybe even a teacher. Or is it someone famous, a celebrity, a singer or actor? Who do you want to be like? Have you deliberately chosen your role models or do they affect you without you noticing it?
I wonder who looks to you for an example? Who watches what you do and copies it? Who notices what you’re saying or doing, and follows along after. Who notices your attitude to other people and takes up those attitudes? As I was sitting in a cafe in Hanley thinking about what I would say this morning, an advert came on the radio looking for people who would act as positive role models to children in our local schools. It struck me that we are all role models in some way, we don’t have a choice about that, what we have a choice about is what kind of role model we are.
This reality is recognised by Paul in his letter to the Christians in and around Philippi. Paul knew that people are wired so that they are affected by the people around them.
Continued here...
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
How are you doing with your Smarties?
Apparently in America, Smarties are not like the Smarties that you and I know. In America, Smarties, are a roll of multicolored, chalklike, bite-size candies wrapped in clear plastic, about ten to twelve pieces in a pack. A bit like our Refreshers or Lovehearts. Can you imagine what I mean? They are perfect for sharing.
An American pastor called Kevin was not a huge fan of Smarties, but when he saw little Dustin come into church with a fresh roll, he just had to ask for one. Dustin peeled out a piece and handed it over with a smile. From that day on, for the next two years, every time Dustin got a pack of Smarties, he took out the first one and set it aside for Kevin. Every Sunday morning before the worship Service, Dustin would track Kevin down at church and offer him a Smarty.
Sometimes Dustin would open a pack of Smarties during the week, but he would still save Kevin the first piece. By the time Sunday came, the Smarty was a little mangy and furry with lint, but he never forgot to bring it for Kevin, who would thank him and put the candy in his pocket so he could “enjoy it later.”
Out of ten pieces in a pack, Dustin gave the first part to his pastor. What Kevin saw was a little boy who loved to share and who understood the power of generosity. Since that time, he has asked himself many times, “How am I doing with my Smarties?”
This morning, I’d like to give us an opportunity to think about how we are doing with our Smarties.
Continued here...
An American pastor called Kevin was not a huge fan of Smarties, but when he saw little Dustin come into church with a fresh roll, he just had to ask for one. Dustin peeled out a piece and handed it over with a smile. From that day on, for the next two years, every time Dustin got a pack of Smarties, he took out the first one and set it aside for Kevin. Every Sunday morning before the worship Service, Dustin would track Kevin down at church and offer him a Smarty.
Sometimes Dustin would open a pack of Smarties during the week, but he would still save Kevin the first piece. By the time Sunday came, the Smarty was a little mangy and furry with lint, but he never forgot to bring it for Kevin, who would thank him and put the candy in his pocket so he could “enjoy it later.”
Out of ten pieces in a pack, Dustin gave the first part to his pastor. What Kevin saw was a little boy who loved to share and who understood the power of generosity. Since that time, he has asked himself many times, “How am I doing with my Smarties?”
This morning, I’d like to give us an opportunity to think about how we are doing with our Smarties.
Continued here...
Monday, 15 February 2010
Glow, grow, and go.
What is this? It's a box of Ready brek. Will anybody here admit to liking Ready brek? Does anybody remember the Ready brek ads on the telly?
In those ads, what happens to the boys and girls when they eat Ready brek? They start glowing with this wierd orange glow, like a lightbulb has been switched on inside them.
Now how would you feel if one morning you ate some Ready brek and you actually starting glowing? How do you think that the rest of your family would react? I think that I’d be pretty freaked out, I’d probably call the doctor.
So, you can imagine how freaked out the people in the bits of the Bible that we’ve just heard read were when people started glowing.
God’s people, the Israelites, were camped in the desert between Egypt and Palestine, at the bottom of a mountain. Moses, whom God had sent to rescue them from slavery in Egypt, had disappeared up the mountain. They had seen thunder and lightening and all sorts, and now Moses reappears, carrying two big bits of stone and he’s glowing. They are completely freaked out and run away. He didn’t know why, he didn’t have a mirror with him on the mountain, and didn’t know that his face has glowing.
But eventually they sort out what is going on. Moses face wasn’t glowing because he’d had Ready brek for breakfast, it was because he had been close to God, speaking with God.
Continued here...
In those ads, what happens to the boys and girls when they eat Ready brek? They start glowing with this wierd orange glow, like a lightbulb has been switched on inside them.
Now how would you feel if one morning you ate some Ready brek and you actually starting glowing? How do you think that the rest of your family would react? I think that I’d be pretty freaked out, I’d probably call the doctor.
So, you can imagine how freaked out the people in the bits of the Bible that we’ve just heard read were when people started glowing.
God’s people, the Israelites, were camped in the desert between Egypt and Palestine, at the bottom of a mountain. Moses, whom God had sent to rescue them from slavery in Egypt, had disappeared up the mountain. They had seen thunder and lightening and all sorts, and now Moses reappears, carrying two big bits of stone and he’s glowing. They are completely freaked out and run away. He didn’t know why, he didn’t have a mirror with him on the mountain, and didn’t know that his face has glowing.
But eventually they sort out what is going on. Moses face wasn’t glowing because he’d had Ready brek for breakfast, it was because he had been close to God, speaking with God.
Continued here...
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