tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15273520812709975062024-02-21T06:09:45.402+00:00Campbell & Joe's TalksBrenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.comBlogger183125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-21681112355595871022020-03-30T18:00:00.000+01:002020-03-30T18:00:04.945+01:00Fruitful Faith in Fearful TimesLast Sunday morning, in my talk I explained that, for the Christian, a vital part of keeping God’s Second Commandment – loving your neighbour as yourself – is sharing the Good News of Jesus with others in word as well as deed, in what we say to them as well as what we do for them. And how important that is at this time when so many are understandably very fearful about life, as we all of us face so many uncertainties, so many unknowns. /So many things we placed our trust in give us good cause now for doubt; so much of what we took for granted has suddenly disappeared. Anxious times indeed.<br /><br />It was St. Peter, in his epistle, who reminded Christians, when challenged about the truth we have to share, to do so respectfully and lovingly, but to be always ready to do so. Peter trusted in that incredible promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit himself would give us the very words we need on such occasions. It’s a mystery, I know; but I also know it to be true - as millions of other Christians have known it to be true from those very first days of the Church./ How reassuring; and how much it raises our confidence as disciples when we discover this to be true ourselves. All it takes is not a degree in Theology, but faith, faith ‘as small as a mustard seed’ Jesus told his disciples; that is, just enough faith to be obedient to his command to tell others about him, about who he is, about his wonderful love for them, and why he came to ‘save’ them and offer them eternal life./ No, a person does not need a degree to tell someone that; just a little faith, faith ‘as small as a mustard seed’.<br /><br />It is at times like these that people are more open to listen to the Good News that Jesus is. One person who had good cause to be fearful and in the most fearful of times was St. Paul; and yet he chose a fruitful faith in fearful times. <br /><br />The piece we just heard read to us from Ch 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans almost certainly was written from gaol or while under house arrest awaiting judgement. It was for both him and his readers a time of great suffering and fear. And yet fear and suffering are not uppermost in his mind as he writes: he doesn’t focus on these; rather, he focuses on God’s great love for us in Christ, Christ’s championing of our case, and Christ’s promise of eternal life. Paul thinks about their fears and their sufferings with a truly Christian mind; that is to say, he looks at them from the perspective of eternal life, and the deep, deep love of Jesus for us, a love from which as vs 38- 39 ‘nothing can separate us’. It is from this perspective, the perspective of eternal life and of Christ’s deep love, that we can look at how we can grow a fruitful faith in fearful times.<br /><br />Ch 8 of Romans is a wonderfully reassuring chapter which I commend to you all to read in full and to pray about as you put yourself in the shoes of his readers. Great preachers have preached on just one verse alone from chapter 8 for longer than it takes a former churchwarden of mine to get round 18 holes of golf. No names mentioned of course! <br /><br />Paul being Paul, just as Jesus did, mixes reassurance and promise with reminder and rebuke. To belong to Christ, he tells us in this chapter, is to know for sure, for certain, of his eternal presence in us, of our eternal safety in him, and that we can never be separated from his love, whatever life throws at us. So, says Paul, we should live appropriately in that security, seek Christ’s agenda - not only for ourselves but for this world and for others, allowing ourselves to be led by his Spirit in what we say and do, because this shows that we are God’s, by no means perfect, but nonetheless faithful children.<br /><br />Of the many things we can glean from this chapter, one is certainly an insight into the whole perspective Paul has on this life and its troubles because of his faith in Jesus, because of his understanding of the necessity, the inevitability, of that first Good Friday and Easter Day. He understood the requirement of Good Friday, of the meeting of God’s justice and mercy on the cross, and of his love in willingly paying the debt human pride and sinfulness owed. He understood the significance for the whole of humanity of Easter Day, of the resurrection of humanity’s unique and universal Saviour which proved that Jesus was whom he claimed to be and that his offer of eternal life was no empty promise but a sure hope. And so it followed for Paul that these great truths would challenge the Christian to adopt a pattern of belief and behaviour which radiated the life of the Spirit of Christ living in those who had put their faith in him. <br /><br />And of course Paul’s assurance and confidence about his situation - truly awful though it was in human terms - arising from the historical facts of Good Friday and Easter Day and the experience of the Holy Spirit in his life since his conversion, enabled him to build a ‘world view’ we would probably call it today, that made perfect sense. He had found answers to the four essential questions needed to make sense of this life, answers which had to work together rather than against each other: what is the origin of life; what is the meaning and purpose of life; how ought we to behave; and what is our destiny? All these come together and are answered perfectly in Christ. Or as Saint Augustine put it: ‘Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.’<br /><br />God’s great love in Christ then; Christ’s championing of our case; Christ’s promise of eternal life, all these, says Paul in v 31 should convince us that we can put our faith wholeheartedly in Christ and not fear those who mock or slander or persecute us, nor indeed what happens to us in this life. And in verses 35&36 he paints a stark and terrible picture of what one might face. We must, as Christians, be realists: to be human means to live in a fallen and a broken world, a world where disease and death are part of the challenge of what life is. I don’t have time this morning to go into the question which I know troubles many people and prevents many from believing in a loving God, ’Why does God allow suffering?’ But I will just say this. Neither Jesus nor Paul address it in the way that would satisfy our curiosity. Jesus, when asked, simply tells his questioners to make sure they become reconciled to God and to do their utmost to relieve the sufferings of others, making very clear as he did, just who is the ‘neighbour’ whom we are called to love ‘as ourselves’. At base, it is only the prospect of eternal life, freely offered by Jesus, that allows us to believe in a loving God; this and the revelation in Jesus of God’s eternal love for us. Meanwhile, let’s get stuck into the relief of others’ suffering rather than just the cultivation of our own safe spaces and comfort zones, because that is our calling at this time, something we should do with love, peace, and joy.<br /><br />It is obvious that Paul is more concerned about our spiritual life, and how we live that out in the here and now, than he is about our physical death and the sufferings we face. Why? Because he deems this far more important in the greater scheme of things./ It is difficult, I know, for us to do so because so much constrains us to focus on everyday needs, even if not just ours but the needs of others: there are not only mortgages to be paid but the next door neighbour’s shopping to be done, there’s the Coronavirus to be battled and beaten. / But if I know Jesus and the sure hope he offers of eternal life with him, it changes completely the way I look at this life and my relationships. It means that I need not fear and will want to live a fruitful life of faith for him because, as Paul says, nothing can separate us from God’s love. The danger is that the Church and Christians become wrapped up entirely in meeting their ‘neighbours’ physical and emotional needs, forgetting their spiritual needs. I know it’s not seen as very ‘British’ to talk about one’s faith, but the Christian faith is so much more than just the offer of tea and sympathy or doing the shopping – even if that’s all people want. It may well be a good idea to start with tea and sympathy, but we cannot leave it there. The love we know we must offer to all; it is a love which casts out fear and it is founded on Christ.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-43935021952607600132020-03-22T17:00:00.000+00:002020-03-23T10:19:19.809+00:00Some Reflections on the Christian’s Role in this Pandemic - 22nd March 2020I’ve been reflecting over the past few days – as, I hope, you would expect of me - on the Christian’s role during the current pandemic and what it is we, as Christians, can bring to others in their need, in their loneliness, and in their fears. How may we best help our ‘neighbour’? That word ‘neighbour’ which in the teaching of Jesus encompassed a far, far wider meaning than just ‘the person who lives next door’. I am sure you will agree that it has been both heart-warming and encouraging to see how people of all faiths and none have responded to those in need at this critical time we all of us face. With so many uncertainties and unknowns it is very troubling indeed. <br />
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Yet as I talk with people at this extraordinary time when Christians and non-believers alike find ourselves forced by our current situation to think more deeply than usual about life, about its meaning, its purpose, one’s destiny, I find not only the opportunity to talk about Christianity, about Jesus, but also a far greater openness and willingness amongst non-believers to do so. It is an opportunity and a challenge all Christians ought to make the most of: not to do so would be to short-change people, to deny them the supreme and unique comfort of Christ - the message of his priceless offer to all, the assurance of their sins forgiven and the sure hope of eternal life through him. What a wonderful message that is at any time; and especially so perhaps at this!<br />
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Christians have a calling of course, a duty given us in the Second Commandment, to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’; and so the practical deeds of love – doing the shopping for the vulnerable and isolated, collecting their prescriptions, phoning the self-isolators and the lonely, etc, etc are ones we must do as best we can – if of course we are able and, it goes without saying, in a way that poses no health threat either to them or to us.<br />
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But these also offer us an opportunity to speak of Jesus. Our detractors will say that doing so is ‘insensitive’ or ‘taking advantage of people when they are at their most vulnerable’: but such attitudes come from a view of the world that either refuses to acknowledge God’s existence or actively works, wittingly or unwittingly, against Him: they fail or refuse to recognise that we are made by God, in his image, and for a relationship with him. No, here is an opportunity both to serve others and to confess him, those two sides of the same coin of what must constitute the Christian’s love.<br />
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It was through the message of Christ crucified and the sacrificial love of ordinary Christians that Christianity turned the Roman empire upside down, introducing a completely new hierarchy of virtues, values, and morality: the ‘light’ of Christ turned back the ‘darkness’ of paganism, and this against all the odds - or as we would want to say, by faithful self-sacrifice and by God’s grace! <br />
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Christians argued in love and through love (what we used to call ‘charity’) that each and every human being is created in the image of the one, true God, and therefore of infinite value. This turned upside down the prevailing view of the status, value, and rights of every living individual. <br />
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It was this truly egalitarian spiritual doctrine the Christian community believed and, albeit imperfectly, practised, that produced such a deep and dynamic moral and social reversal which then had so many far flung fruitful consequences for all. <br />
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From the beginning, Christians argued, for example, that women were of as equal value as men, that infanticide was wrong, that ‘might’ was seldom if ever ‘right’, and that this life is not the be all and end all of human existence. <br />
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This last point, the message that there is eternal life and that it is offered, as a gift, to all who will be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ, must surely be on our lips at this time when so many are forced by their circumstances to contemplate their mortality. <br />
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The Second Commandment is very much about loving the whole person: and if ‘whole’ means the mind and soul as well as the body, then why would we so restrict our love by not sharing the ‘Good News’ of Jesus with them? <br />
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That Christians and the institutional Church have too often failed in this their calling we must acknowledge; but British Common Law, the ending of slavery, the establishing of universal education, the emancipation of children, the relief, rather than the acceptance, of the evils of poverty, the motivation for modern scientific enquiry, the sanctity of human life, and the very concept of ‘human rights’, all these and so much else are the consequences of the Christian revolution which dates from the first century Anno Domini; and we should not be reticent about saying so.<br />
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This is still a Christian country and most people’s moral outlook - whether they realise it or not - is a direct consequence of that simple but wonderfully liberating and sustaining fact, the historical fact of the first Easter. <br />
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It is the resurrection of Jesus which proved that everything that he taught, did and, most importantly, claimed about himself, could indeed be believed – reasonably, rationally, and on the basis of sound historical evidence. That evidence will never be sufficient for those who do not wish to examine it, but to those who humbly and genuinely search for the truth, Jesus has promised to make himself known; we have only to open the door of our lives, but from the inside, and invite him in.<br />
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For many, sadly, it is only at times of adversity or uncertainty that they are able to hear Jesus knocking at the door of their life (Revelation Ch 3 v 20) with his offer of forgiveness, reconciliation, and a personal, eternal relationship with him: their lives at other times are too much taken up with distractions, temptations, and so much more. We can lovingly and respectfully help them to hear his knock by sharing the Good News of him with them. <br />
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Yes, there will be some who don’t want to hear it, and some, sadly, who will even hold it against us. But the ‘loving’ Christian really has no choice: as St. Paul says to the Corinthians in the passage that was read to us this morning, ‘we are ruled by the love of Christ’, or, as another translation puts it, ‘the love of Christ constrains us.’ <br />
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As a very practical aid in this, the book ‘City Lives’ (you can find copies on a table by the New Room in the church, which is always open) tells the stories of a whole variety of people from different backgrounds who have heard his knock and responded. It would surely be a most ‘loving’ gift to offer (in a suitably gloved or freshly washed hand of course!) to a neighbour in need.<br />
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May the Lord Jesus bless you in all you that you do for him.<br />
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Rev Campbell Paget, Vicar of Brenchley 22 March 2020Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-7761792072839376972020-02-25T18:00:00.000+00:002020-02-25T21:39:07.329+00:00Truth DespisedThe Christian faith may be ‘Good News’ to many – to many millions indeed throughout the world; but it is considered ‘bad news’ by many more. Christianity has been despised by the proud, the prurient, and the powerful since its beginning. As I said in last week’s talk entitled ‘Truth at odds with the World’, it is in the Christian ‘Gospel’s’ challenge to those political, social, cultural and sexual mores increasingly popular or accepted in the world today that we encounter such heartfelt animosity and, yes, fear; and where Christianity is most despised and Christians increasingly persecuted. <br /><br />But right there at the beginning it was Christianity’s challenge to the Roman Emperor and to Roman life which caused Roman writers to describe it with such derision and disparagement: what Christianity advocated unashamedly undermined almost everything the Romans held dear and built their life upon! When the Romans threw away their sick, the Christians founded hospitals; when the Romans threw away their unwanted babies, the Christians found them homes; the Romans idolised might, the Christians revered love. We know this to be true because the Romans wrote it down!<br /><br />I don’t think most people realise just how much Christianity was at odds with the Roman world. But then I don’t think most people realise just how much Christian moral, social, and sexual ideas formed Western society and still, despite opposition, permeate so many of the ideas and ideals the majority of people still hold dear. They may think or choose to believe that these ideas just somehow came about naturally; but history tells us very different. And I don’t think most people realise how much so-called ‘new’ understandings of what life is and what human beings are, are in fact regressions to the very moral and spiritual darkness from which Jesus, the Light of the World, called us and calls us still to shine into that darkness as saving lights to him.<br /><br />And so the words in this morning’s two readings serve a timely reminder that in every generation Christ’s truth will be despised and, if his followers remain faithful, we will, in Jesus’ own words, ‘be persecuted on his account.’ It always has been thus; and so each and every Christian disciple in each and every generation needs to examine honestly and as objectively as possible these two things - ourselves and the society we live in: and we need to ask ourselves this. If our society is at odds with Christianity and despises it, what am I, called to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world for Jesus’ sake, doing about it? And then, if we’re brave enough, this much more challenging and disturbing question. ‘If my honest examination of contemporary society reveals that increasingly it can no longer be described as ‘Christian’, if I have not recently been ‘persecuted and had all kinds of evil uttered against me for Jesus’ sake’, then what is the current state of my ‘salt’ and the location of my ‘light’?<br /><br />These are tough questions, I don’t deny it; which is why telling the whole truth about Jesus and his saving love for us must be told, and not just the comforting, cosy part. He calls us in his love to find in him rest and peace for our souls; but he also calls us to ‘take up our cross and follow him’. This is why he can say, as he does there in verse 12 – and remember this is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, so we are talking about the very heart of his teaching – ‘rejoice and be glad!’ And before that in v 11 ’Blessed are you’. Why? Because you have stood up for me and been faithful: our reward in Heaven is given to us not because of achievement but because of faithfulness.<br /><br />When we look at our society today, increasingly we see social and moral problems which require the major surgery of God’s truth and his love but which receive instead either sticking plaster solutions or quack medicine or worse. And when we examine these issues with an open and objective mind, and a Christian one, we find that at the root of them are the proud, the prurient, and the powerful - people interested only in themselves, their sexuality, their power over others. There has been a concerted campaign going on for years now to undermine Christianity and all it represents, the traditional family and all it represents, love and respect for home and country and all they represent. This is not to say that there are not perfectly healthy and respectable different ways to be ‘made in the image of God’ and a member of society, but we should not be foolishly naïve about the forces trying their hardest to destroy these precious things and set up the most dystopian alternatives.<br /><br />Let me give you just a few examples of where we Christians can be the ‘salt’ and ‘light’ these situations need. If you disagree with me, of course come and argue your case after the service: otherwise, join me with your placards!<br /><br />On 14th Feb 2020 in the High Court, the judge ruled for Harry Miller, an ex-policeman, against The College of Policing and The Chief Constable of Humberside regarding an alleged ‘hate crime’ because he tweeted a Christian view on transgenderism. It transpired in the case that Humberside Police held over 130, 000 registered offences of such ‘non-criminal cases’. They accepted that these could be pointed to in any vetting search on the person concerned by a potential employer. (I couldn’t take my placard to Humberside Police Headquarters, but I did go to their website and make my views known.) <br /><br />Or again, last week I mentioned how the truth is often buried because it is regarded as ‘bad news’ by those wishing to promote a particular cause or agenda. In America, a commonly used hormone blocker has been found responsible for over 6000 deaths including some children, whilst a report in an Australian medical journal in October 2019 said this about the use of such a drug on children and teenagers:<br /><br />‘Puberty blockers are given to adolescents so that they will have enough time and serenity to make up their minds about which path to take.’ So transgender doctors say, but the report also says this:<br /><br />“How can the child be expected to ‘think straight’ when denied the sustaining effect of, in particular, GnRH on various parts of the brain that integrate memory, cognition and emotion into rational action? “What effect can be expected from the administration of cross-sex hormones on the growing brain? There are no relevant studies, but imaging of brains of adult transgenders has revealed shrinkage of male brains exposed to oestrogens at a rate ten times faster than ageing, and has revealed hypertrophy of female brains exposed to testosterone. Neuronal death has been noted on bench studies.” The report continues. ‘Nearly all teenagers are bundles of unfamiliar hormonal activity which provoke increased risk-taking, heightened anxiety, romantic interests, mood swings, and new friends. What transgender medical treatment may do is scramble these on top of suppressing pubertal changes.’’<br /><br />Or something quite different. In United Nations established refugee camps, Christian refugees are regularly denied access or vital supplies. Why? Because the camps are in reality controlled by extremist Islamist groups. You have only to look at how few Syrian Christian refugees have made it to this country.<br /><br />Or thinking of those Roman babies left out to die but collected up by the Christians and found homes. Can you think of a modern equivalent? I can! There are groups who believe that women should be offered the opportunity to have their unwanted child, and have parents waiting to adopt the baby rather than destroy it. But increasingly they are being prevented even from giving women all the facts so that they can make an informed choice.<br /><br />There are many more cases in many walks of life both at home and abroad. <br /><br />So what can you and I do? Are we to sit quietly and say nothing because, well, it’s all too complex, too difficult, and we might upset people, people we know! Or will you be ‘salt’ and ‘light’? Will you not only consider the issue but get stuck in? Will you hide your light, or will you allow it to shine so that people are drawn to it and can see the issue more clearly?<br /><br />We don’t have to be perfect examples of humanity before we take up our cross and follow him. We don’t have to hold Oxbridge degrees in Theology before we speak of him. (In my experience that has often been a hindrance rather than a help to many Christians but I’m not going there this morning.) We do not have to have the gift of the gab: as Paul said to the Corinthians in our reading just a couple of weeks ago, ‘I did not come to you with great eloquence.’ He could have done – he was a very bright button - but he did not: the ‘Good News’ of Jesus can be presented to the ignorant and the blind in simple terms. Some certainly will despise it and us for sharing it. You and I Jesus calls not to change people but to share his truth and his love with them in order that they might have the opportunity to change: and to the humble and sincere searcher for truth Jesus promised to make himself known. <br /><br />We are to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in order to draw attention to him. When we do some loving or ‘neighbourly’ act, when we say something wise or helpful to another …..and don’t mention him, we draw attention to ourselves, and so people go away thinking ‘what a nice person’ rather than ‘he or she did or said that because of this person Jesus Christ.’ Salt and light, remember!<br /><br />I havn’t had time this morning to touch on Psalm 2 but I do recommend you pray it through. Verse 4 reminds me of the adage, ’If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.’ And ‘with fear’ in v 11 is the English translation. Translating is often tricky. Here ‘fear’ is better translated ‘with appropriate awe and wonder’.<br /><br />Let me finish as I finished last Sunday with this thought. If you feel uncomfortable because what the world says is ‘ok’ you feel is not - as a woman, as a man, as a parent, as a disciple – because God’s word tells your mind it is not, and God’s Spirit stirs your heart to feel profoundly that it is not, then you can be sure that God is with you. But then you need to do something about it. He will not leave you on your own; but it is in our sufferings ‘on his account’ that we really get to know Jesus and grow in confidence in our faith in him. So be salt! Be light! And ‘rejoice and be glad!’ As the Psalmist says in the last verse of his psalm, ‘Happy are all who take refuge in him.’Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-91398811123694346622020-02-16T18:00:00.000+00:002020-02-18T20:54:39.684+00:00'Truth at odds with the world’In my experience, and I’m sure in yours too, people who claim to know the truth about life’s big issues tend to be taken with a large dose of scepticism. ‘Who are you to say what the truth is?’ ‘What makes you think, whatever your academic or technical credentials, that you can tell me the truth about matters which are complicated and complex beyond belief?’ <br /><br />So many people these days have given up, not only on the idea that some one or some group might just know the truth about life’s big issues, but even on the concept of truth itself. Sure, we can agree at the micro level – the truth that, for instance, 2 + 2 make 4: but at the macro level? No. There seem to be so many different and differing understandings and interpretations of the truth about this life and our part in it that people just give up and become no longer interested in truth – it’s all too difficult, they say, or else they just become cynical. And who can blame them?<br /><br />‘Bad news’, which so often means ‘the truth’, is ‘buried’ by those powerful enough to do so: all three of my careers to date have certainly convinced me of that! We are all of us flawed, fickle and fallible human beings: can anyone be believed? Is it not therefore wise to be sceptical? Take, for example, climate change. Whose evidence about the truth of what is happening and what is predicted are you going to believe? There are Nobel Prize-winning scientists on either side of the debate; and we know, going back to my first point, that unhelpful truths in this particular debate quickly get buried.<br /><br />And so it’s really not surprising that for many people ‘truth’ becomes ‘whatever works for me’. And if something else ‘works’ for you, then that’s fine by me. As long, that is, until our truths clash; and then we have a problem. How are we going to resolve it? On what basis, what standard, what authority?<br /><br />A few weeks ago I spoke about Jesus Christ’s claim to be ‘The way, the truth, and the life’, and about the incredibly compelling factual evidence to support his claim - his claim not only to ‘know’ but to ‘be’ the truth. Such a claim by anyone would generally be regarded as at best bonkers, at worst evil. But when people have examined closely him, his life, his teaching, his claims about who he was, and, so very importantly, what happened to him after his death - they have realised that he presents a most disturbing challenge to their ideas about the world, about humanity, about themselves.<br /><br />The fact (t?) is that Jesus’ truth, though he intended it first and foremost to be wholly liberating for us, is at odds with the world and what the world believes. And what so many people find so uncomfortable in his teaching is that he refused to compromise - however well-meaning or well-intended - with the views of the world - by ‘the world’ I mean, as he meant, ‘those beliefs at odds with his’ – because he knew that views contrary to his truth lead not to liberation but to frustration, not to freedom but to slavery, the frustration and the slavery which take hold when, ironically, we think we know better about ourselves and about the world, both of which were his design, his creations.<br /><br />I would like to take just three areas this morning where the truth Jesus taught was and increasingly is at odds with current and popular thinking. And I must add, because it is a most worrying and dangerous matter, that in all three areas members of our very own Church of England, in the House of Bishops and in General Synod, have begun to be taken in by or given in to the world’s views on these matters, to the Spirit of the Age, the Zeitgeist, to accommodation …just as Jesus and his Apostles warned us would happen. <br /><br />Almost certainly the most shocking and insulting statement of Jesus, as far as most people are concerned, is his statement on the main reason why he came; his firm and clear statement that human beings need to be ‘saved’ from our sins and from our ‘selves’ or, if you like, the ‘selves’ which are responsible for the sins we commit and which, says Jesus, are a barrier between us and God and which spoil our relationships with one another. But he also made it clear that he and he alone could solve this problem for us – but only his way. As you read the record of Jesus’ life and teaching in the Gospels, it becomes crystal clear, crystal clear, that God is not at all happy with how we are. But Jesus presents God as our ‘Heavenly Father’ who loves us more than we can conceive of or imagine and hates to see the damage we do to ourselves and to others by our selfishness and our sinfulness. And as would any concerned parent, he must do something about this because he loves us. The Gospels show clearly Jesus’ love and compassion for all; but they do not show him coming to indulge our views of ourselves, to flatter our egos, to tell us that we need not change. Rather, he warns us to believe him and to believe in him; that only he can put us right with God and give us new lives freed from the destructive slavery to ourselves and to the temptations and demands of the other gods in our lives - all those things which blind us to the truth about life’s most profound and pressing issues, beginning with ourselves and our relationship with God and our fellow human beings.<br /><br />The world tells us, subtly but o so persuasively, that it can satisfy our pursuit and longing for ‘identity’, whereas Jesus says that our true identity is to be found in relationship with him. The world tells us that we must be ‘affirmed’ in whoever or whatever we are, whereas Jesus says that we need to ‘repent’ and to be ‘born again’ through faith in him. The world tells us to indulge our narcissism and our hedonism – our preoccupation with ourselves and our appetites, whereas Jesus says, ’Come to me with all your burdens and I will give you rest. Take my truth to heart and you will find peace for your souls.’ <br /><br />No, this need to be ‘saved’ is so greatly at odds with the world’s understanding of the human condition and what it means to be human.<br /><br />A so a second, idol-smashing, way in which Jesus’ truth is at odds with the way the world sees things is in his view of what human beings are and how we need to be transformed. Jesus says that we are made in God’s image by him and to live in relationship with him; that to know him and to obey his commandments is to enjoy a freedom the world cannot give. Indeed, the world without God can only offer, as I mentioned, frustration and slavery, the delusion that we can recreate ourselves into whatever we want to be. <br /><br />Sadly, I have talked with so many who, looking at themselves and at their lives, have realised the frustration and the slavery – to job, to wealth, to success, to ambition, to appearance, to feelings, the list goes on: yet will not take the step of faith to trust Jesus’ offer of new life. And so they just carry on. I have also talked with those who, having examined themselves and their lives, have taken that step of faith and found in Jesus the peace and the freedom he offers discovering their true ‘identity’ in him. But the world is very cunning in its propaganda and in its temptations and in its apparently credible but innately specious arguments, drip fed as they are through the media and by groups whose aims are anything but the genuine freedom of the individual. Jesus came to set us free: they offer only slavery to appetite and to destructive addiction. When the New Testament writers spoke of ‘transformation’ and of ‘identity’ they were not speaking of what the world speaks of today regarding those things: ‘transformation’ was not about changing our God-given and scientifically and medically identified sex, it was about becoming like Christ, in whom we find not only our true identity but also the freedom to live fulfilling and abundant lives beyond the prison of the self.<br /><br />All this leads to the third area in which Jesus’ truth is at odds with the world; and that is in how we behave to and with each other. The great and powerful thrust of the world’s propaganda is towards the deification of the self: it puts the self in the place of God and even declares that we are God. The trouble with this though is that the more we concentrate on satisfying our own appetites, the less time and space we have in our lives for others: this alone speaks volumes as to why loneliness, suicide, alienation, family break up, violent crime, and much else are on the increase. The facts simply do not allow us to blame it – though it is very consoling to do so – on economics, on poverty, and much else. The truth, uncomfortable though it is, lies much closer to home – in the preoccupation and infatuation with the self. It may start small; but it gets bigger and bigger as the world strokes and inflates our egos. We have to choose between two incompatible gospels. The world’s gospel centres on ‘me’, on my ‘identity’, on my ‘sexuality’, all of which must be ‘affirmed’ as they are and as I see them - or else! And today ‘or else’ has come to mean such socially destructive weapons as ‘no platforming’ or ‘hate crime’. This ‘gospel’- and powerful forces, even within the Church of England, are promoting it - can seem just and reasonable, appearing to be compassionate and in the name of equality and justice. But it flatters…. to deceive. On the other hand, there is the true Gospel which centres on God and his redeeming and transforming love in Jesus Christ, confirmed and made real in our hearts and minds by his Holy Spirit. There is no possibility of compromise between these two gospels, however much the world and the wolves in sheep’s clothing in the Church try to use Christian vocabulary in support of their views and even change its meaning to suit their own deceitful purposes. We would be both faithless and foolish to swop the true vine of Jesus for the diseased vine of the spirit of the age. We would be both faithless and foolish to swop Agape for Eros. We would be both faithless and foolish to swop the communion of the saints of God for the ‘radical inclusion’ of those who deny God - simply in order to remain the ‘established’ church of this land. And we would be both faithless and foolish to believe that accommodation with world views at odds with God’s revelation in Jesus Christ are ‘harmless’. If we are prepared to stand up for Christ’s truth however, we will find ourselves being persecuted. If so, said Jesus, we should ‘rejoice’! (?!) Let me finish by saying this. If you feel uncomfortable because what the world says is ‘ok’ you feel is not - as a woman, as a man, as a parent, as a disciple – because God’s word tells your mind it is not and God’s Spirit stirs your heart that it is not, then you can be sure that God is with you. Remember. As John put it in his letter, ‘He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world’.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-56196746473050528002020-02-09T18:00:00.000+00:002020-02-11T13:54:50.098+00:00Where are you in the game?1 Corinthians 2: 1 – 16 and Matthew 28: 16 – 20<br /><br /><br />A few weeks ago I spoke about Jesus’ claim to be ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life’. That was the message Paul brought to the Christians at Corinth, and then reminded them of in the portion of his letter we have just heard. It was, it is, a message which centres on ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’.<br /><br /><br />That second part, ‘and him crucified’, is a sobering reminder to us of the great cost of his love – his unique and life-changing love for us and for everyone in the world. It also reminds us of the primary focus of the Christian message, our message, and the challenge it presents to people. It reminds us that our message to the world must never be anything less than ‘Christ crucified’, and that we are not at liberty to change it, or to water it down, or leave out the uncomfortable side of it, the side that reminds us that Jesus DIED for you and for me and for the sins of the whole world, with its most uncomfortable challenge to human pride in ourselves and in our foolish ideas that we do not need Jesus, nor to be forgiven, and the delusion that we are just fine as we are.<br /><br /><br />People come to church for different reasons; people are at different stages in their journeys in or into faith: but until a person embarks on the road of discipleship, of active commitment to Jesus and to unashamedly being known as a ‘Christian’ – and that is becoming even in this country increasingly difficult and dangerous – however else people think of themselves as being ‘Christian’, it is something very much less than how Jesus explained and sees it.<br /><br /><br />As far as Jesus and the New Testament writers are concerned, to be a Christian is to be a disciple. And if we consider his parting words in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 28, read a moment ago, we discover what it means to be a disciple.<br /><br /><br />First of all, Jesus assures us that the authority we have for our task as disciples comes from him; from him to whom (v 18) ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given.’ That is to say, there is no higher authority: no-one, however high their authority on earth, can tell you or me that we cannot do what Jesus has commanded. They may think they can, they may persecute or kill us and often do so: but our authority is from God himself. So, let’s be quite clear here: we do not offer opinions or advice; we speak with authority, his.<br /><br /><br />Secondly, to be a disciple of Jesus means to be publicly committed to him and wholeheartedly engaged in carrying out the mission he has given us, a mission in which EVERY Christian has a part to play. Specifically – and when local churches these days are being asked to draw up mission statements, and mission plans, and mission whatever the buzz word or trendy topic happens to be today – it must be focussed on, contain, and be nothing less than what Jesus told his disciples, for all times and all countries, in verses 19 and 20.<br /><br /><br />‘Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything I have commanded you.’<br /><br /><br />Now I think that’s pretty clear: and so when you hear other Christians or churches or church leaders suggesting anything different, be warned! But thirdly - and this is so encouraging, so heart-warming when we’re feeling feeble or futile or fearful as disciples, faced perhaps with a tricky situation at home or at work – we have his presence with us every step of the way. (v 20 again) He has promised his Holy Spirit to provide us with whatever we need to be effective disciples – even the very words we speak to proclaim his truth. And it is this third aspect or condition of being a disciple that Paul so very much relies on in explaining himself and his mission to the Christians at Corinth.<br /><br /><br />Let me just pick out a few of the vital things we need to know, things that will help us understand about the mission to which each of us has been called. Taking the passage as a whole, these things are clear and ought to give all of us every confidence and encouragement to be disciples of Jesus. The key word here is ‘simple’. First, the role of disciple requires simple people, ordinary people, people who won’t let their egos get in the way of the message entrusted to them. (verses 1, 4, 13) Secondly, our message needs to be simply presented (verse 1, 4, 13 again) Thirdly, the message itself is a simple one, that is, a plain and straightforward one (v2)<br /><br /><br />Fourthly, in everything we can rely on God and on the power of his Spirit in us, in our very words, and in their effect on others. When you and I simply and faithfully speak to others of ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’, it is the Spirit of God who will be at work in the minds and the hearts of those listening. And to those, to anyone, who is genuinely and humbly seeking the truth, our words will register. That is to say that those whose ears are sincerely open will then be in a position to make an informed decision about Jesus Christ. In everyday life we will find ourselves battling, on their behalf, against all kinds of myths and misunderstandings people hold about Jesus and Christianity; we will find ourselves battling against ignorance, against pride, against the temptations of and often slavery to other gods – to wealth, to success, to popularity, to self. But to the humble in heart, to the sincere, the message of ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ will be not the ‘foolishness’ the wisdom of the world claims it is, but the ‘Good News’ of (v9)’the things God has prepared for those who love him.’<br /><br /><br />Like Paul then we go to others not as philosophers, politicians, or salesmen but as ambassadors: and here Paul describes the simplicity of what that means and involves, and the great power that is at work in those who will work with Jesus.<br /><br /><br />The wisdom of the world rejects Christianity as ‘myths’ or ‘unscientific’. But the wisdom of the world cannot answer the questions only Christ and Christianity can. Myths and science by their very nature cannot explain who made us, why we exist, how we should live, what happens when we die. Only the one who created the world and us can explain these things and so much more. <br /><br /><br />We need to have (v 16) ‘the mind of Christ’ to understand and to proclaim these truths. And, says Paul, those who belong to Christ, those who have begun on the road of discipleship do have his mind, that is to say, his wisdom. The question remains then for each of us, ‘Where am I on the road?’<br /><br /><br />So let me leave you with this thought; something to consider and pray about this week. Where are you on your faith journey and have you yet committed to the road of discipleship? It might help if I use a footballing analogy and ask, Where are you in the game? Perhaps you are already in the forward line, taking on the opposition and keen to score goals against the world, the flesh, and the Devil? Or perhaps you are in defence, providing a wall for your team against shots at goal aimed at defeating God’s word or his people? Perhaps you are in midfield acting as a vital link between the two, supporting both attack and defence with your gifts of encouragement, discernment, prayer, and whatever other gifts God has given you to get you to play an active and useful part in the game? Or are you perhaps still somewhere in the stands, watching your team play but playing no really active part yourself? I can only guess that because you are actually here today, you havn’t entirely lost interest in the game and left before the final whistle!<br /><br />The words here of Jesus and of Paul set out very clearly what it means and requires of those who call themselves ‘Christians’: that each one of us is called to discipleship, a calling in which we know what our mission is; we know on whose authority we have it; and we know that we are never on our own because ‘Remember, surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-57762004251163093942020-01-26T19:41:00.000+00:002020-02-02T19:42:07.719+00:00Matthew 14: 22-33 and Acts 3: 1-10Interestingly, after I’d already prepared a good chunk of this talk, I saw that Campbell had written on last week’s service sheet – ‘Why not volunteer for something that takes you beyond what you are used to or out of your personal comfort zone, and discover what amazing things you and God can do together.’<br /><br />And really this is the gist of what I want to talk about this morning – and why I chose today’s readings about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water and Peter and John healing a crippled man.<br /><br />Both these stories are really about stepping out in faith, and the stories show how God can work through us in amazing ways if we’re prepared to do this.<br /><br />When I say stepping out in faith, I mean being obedient to what we feel God is asking or prompting us to do. <br /><br />This may be undertaking some new role or calling in the church; starting up a new venture or group; or it may be responding to a nudge from the Holy Spirit to say or do something in a particular situation that we find ourselves in. <br /><br />It’s basically being led by the spirit of God and responding in faith. <br /><br />Now I’m conscious that many of you are already doing an awful lot to serve this church and the local community – but as Campbell says – I think God wants to encourage us all to step out of our comfort zones – to expand our faith boundaries and to give something we perhaps haven’t tried before, a go.<br /><br />You see the more we get out of our comfort zones – the more we have to rely on God – and the more he can work through us.<br /><br />In the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – there is a bit called ‘Leap of Faith’ which you can watch on You Tube.<br /><br />Indiana Jones has to take a step of faith in order to cross between two sides of a rocky cavern. It looks like there is nothing at all there to support his weight. <br /><br />And it’s only as he takes a step off one side that he discovers that there is an invisible bridge under his foot.<br /><br />And in the Christian life, as we are out of our depth naturally speaking, we have to rely on God to help us and then we discover the supernatural power of God’s Holy spirit working in us and through us.<br /><br />For instance, many of us struggle to to share our faith with those around us. We feel out of our depth talking to our friends and neighbours about our faith in God.<br /><br />So, we refrain from doing this because we feel embarrassed or fearful or we’re not sure what to say; but Jesus tells us not worry about what we should say - because the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to speak.<br /><br />However, the only way we’ll experience this is if we take a step of faith and speak out – and give it a go.<br /><br />Actually, it’s a good thing if we do feel out of our depth and don’t really know what to say – because then God can speak through us.<br /><br />As I’ve said, the more out of our comfort zone we feel – the more we have to rely on God, and the more he can work through us.<br /><br />Many Christians are also really daunted by the idea of praying aloud with other people present – for instance at a prayer meeting or in a bible study group, because it’s not something they’ve done before and they feel fearful.<br /><br />But if we are prepared to take a step of faith and give it a go – we may well be surprised at the help God gives us and the prayers which come out of our mouths. <br /><br />When I was quite a new Christian, I went to a bible study group and to my dismay the guy running it asked each of us to pray for someone else in the group. <br /><br />I wasn’t used to praying aloud for people and even worse, he asked me to pray for an elderly lady who I really didn’t know very well at all but who was clearly struggling with life.<br /><br />When it was my turn, feeling very nervous, I said an arrow prayer - Lord please help me because I haven’t got a clue what to pray – and then I just prayed whatever came into my head hoping it was OK.<br /><br />I was really surprised that the elderly lady seemed quite moved by what I prayed. However, I was even more surprised when the group ended, and another lady who knew this elderly lady quite well, came up to me and to told me that my prayer had been just right for her.<br /><br />Because I was out of my depth I had to rely on God and he helped me and gave me the words I needed to pray.<br /><br />In a similar vein – the whole area of praying one to one for other people is a big challenge for many Christians; and especially perhaps the idea of praying for healing for someone.<br /><br />It does take courage to offer to pray with someone. Quite a few times I’ve avoided opportunities to pray for people because I haven’t felt very full of faith or I’ve felt awkward or embarrassed.<br /><br />To some extent the more we do something, the more comfortable we’ll start to feel, but stepping out in faith is often a challenge because it does take us out of our comfort zone.<br /><br />I remember the first time I offered to pray with someone for healing over 20 years ago. I’d been on a healing course and we’d been told that God would likely provide us with opportunities to give it a go and pray for people. <br /><br />So, when a lady who worked in my office came in saying she was in pain with a kidney infection, I felt I ought to offer to pray for her.<br /><br />I ummed and aahed for about half an hour and eventually summoned up the courage to ask her if she’d like me to pray for her. A big part of me hoped she’d say no – but she didn’t, she said – ‘oh yes, please.’<br /><br />We went to an unused office and feeling very awkward, and wanting to escape back to my desk - I prayed a very quick prayer for her asking Jesus to touch her life and heal her.<br /><br />I hoped that would be it – but she stayed in an attitude of prayer with her eyes shut for what seemed like ages. I asked her if she was alright – and she said ‘oh yes’ and that she’d been experiencing a great sense of peace and the pain in her kidneys had gone. <br /><br />I was really surprised because all I’d felt was nervous and embarrassed - but God was able to work through that. <br /><br />Stepping out in faith needn’t always be a big thing. God often prompts us to do little things. Perhaps to give someone who is struggling our time; to show someone an act of kindness; or to give some money to a person or organisation who needs it. <br /><br />Sometimes he may be prompting us to pass on some words of encouragement to someone or perhaps a bible verse that may be helpful to someone.<div>
<br />And if we’re obedient to what we feel prompted to do, He can make a deep impression on them.<br /><br />I remember a few years ago being welcomed to an evening service at St Matthews Church in High Brooms. This guy saw me come in and walked up to me and gave me a very warm welcome.<br /><br />It wasn’t a big thing, but I’m sure God prompted him to do it, because through this man’s actions I really felt that God himself was welcoming me to the service and that He was pleased I’d come. <br /><br />Sometimes God may be prompting us to start something new. <br /><br />It could be starting a daily bible reading programme – like the Bible in One Year or going to a bible study group or prayer meeting. Or perhaps we feel that God wants us to go on a course, or to start up some new local group or initiative.<br /><br />A friend of my daughter has started up a prayer group for mum’s with young children. And at my previous church a guy set up a monthly men’s breakfast group and invited Christian speakers along. <br /><br />All these things involve stepping out in faith.<br /><br />Perhaps you feel that God is asking you to do something but you’re worried that you’re not up to it.<br /><br />Well, firstly God knows exactly what you’re capable of and if he’s asking you to do something – you are definitely capable of it.<br /><br />And secondly, if God asks you to do something, He will always help you to do it. <br /><br />I’ve mentioned before – that when I first felt called to preach, I really wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. My initial response was a bit like John McEnroe’s to the line judge at Wimbledon – “Lord, you cannot be serious!”<br /><br />I had no desire at all for an upfront role; I really didn’t like public speaking; and I wasn’t convinced that my knowledge of the bible was up to it. But I gave it a go and discovered that God was helping me and actually – apart from feeling nervous - I enjoyed it.<br /><br />Still today, I look at some bible passages I’ve been given to preach on and think – ‘Oh Lord what on earth can I say about this’ – but I’ve found consistently that with prayer and application, God always helps me find something to say.<br /><br />As I’ve said, God calls us to do things we’d struggle to do naturally – because just as a swimmer who is out of their depth has to swim – so we - when we’re out of our depth have to rely on God to help us.<br /><br />So, to tie up what I want to say this morning – I’ll quote Campbell again. ‘Why not have a go at doing something in your Christian life that takes you beyond what you are used to or out of your personal comfort zone.’<br /><br />Something where you’ll have to say ‘Lord you’re going to have to help me with this because I can’t do it on my own.’<br /><br />If you do, you’ll likely experience God the Holy Spirit working in and through you and your faith will become stronger and more real.<br /><br />Maybe you’re not a Christian yet but you’d really like to know God’s love for you, and to experience the power of faith in your life. <br /><br />And maybe this is something you’ve been thinking about for a while.<br /><br />Well perhaps today is the day you need to step out of the boat and invite Jesus into your life to be your Lord and Saviour.<br /><br />Or maybe you are a Christian and you’d like to step out in faith but you feel you need more of God’s Holy Spirit – more of his power and presence in your life. Or perhaps you have a healing need. <br /><br />Whatever your need Aline and I will be very happy to pray with you at the communion rail or after the service – whichever you’d prefer.<br /><br />I’m going to close now with a time of quiet prayer and reflection where you can share anything that is on your heart with God. <br /><br />Perhaps though, reflect on ways that you can step out of your boat and do something for God that is beyond your normal comfort zone.<br /><br />So, let’s all pray quietly for a few moments. </div>
Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-48902311358560288272020-01-19T13:42:00.000+00:002020-02-02T18:25:55.425+00:00Healing and Words of KnowledgeAs some of you may know, Aline, Moira and myself recently did an eight week course on Christian Healing and Wholeness at Goudhurst Church.<br />
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It was a really helpful and interesting course, lead by two members of the Goudhurst congregation – Faye, a lady GP and her husband Wes, whose work involved computers and data analysis.<br />
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They had both written the course after several years of studying Christian healing and of their own practical experience.<br />
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A couple of things we were taught really struck me, and this morning I’d like to share these with you as they have relevance for all Christians and indeed for anyone who has a healing need.<br />
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The first session covered looking at what the bible says about healing and at how Jesus healed people; and the second session, at our own part – as Christians - in God’s plans to heal people.<br />
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Wes said that as a younger Christian he’d prayed for quite a few people to be healed but with limited success. This resonated with me because I’ve also prayed for quite a few people to be healed – but also with limited success.<br />
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For instance, I prayed with my former boss at work three times for his ears to be healed from Tinnitus – but with no apparent effect whatsoever.<br />
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Oddly enough later on in the course we learned about how being a Freemason can have a very negative spiritual influence over people’s lives – and my boss was a freemason for a number of years – so maybe that was part of the reason my prayer didn’t work. I don’t know.<br />
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Anyway, given his limited success, Wes decided that he’d look again at how Jesus prayed for people to be healed and he realised that when Jesus prayed for people, he didn’t pray prayers of supplication asking his Father to heal them.<br />
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He didn’t pray Father God have mercy on this person and touch them with your healing power - as we are inclined to do.<br />
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Instead, he always spoke words of authority or gave people instructions. For instance, he said to the Leper – “Be clean.”<br />
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He said to the paralytic man – “Get up take your mat and go home.”<br />
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He said to the man with the withered hand – “Stretch out your hand.”<br />
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He said to Jairus’s daughter “Little girl I say to you get up.”<br />
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He rebuked demons and the fever which was afflicting Peter’s mother in law.<br />
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Wes and Faye pointed out that Jesus healed people by speaking words of authority over people’s sicknesses and diseases, over demons and even death.<br />
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Now you might think – well it was alright for him - he was God’s son. But the thing I learned on the course which really struck me is that as Christians we share in the authority of Jesus.<br />
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Let me try and explain. You see, as Christians, Jesus lives in us and we live in him. The Holy Spirit who lives in us – is exactly the same Holy Spirit who lived in Jesus and who empowered him to perform the miracles he did.<br />
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And as Christians we are Jesus’ physical body in the world. We are his hands and feet and eyes – and as we submit to him and seek to reach out to others in his name, he gives his authority to us. He gives us authority to speak and to act in his name.<br />
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And this is why I chose this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew – because in it we read about Jesus giving his disciples authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.<br />
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Notice that, authority to heal every disease and sickness. There is no disease or sickness which is too hard for Jesus to heal.<br />
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Faye explained that as a GP – a Doctor – she has been given authority by the General Medical Council to write prescriptions. That authority is hers.<br />
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And in the same way, as Christians, Jesus gives us authority over demons and disease and sickness.<br />
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So, when we pray for people to be healed or to be set free from infirmity – we need to recognise this authority and seek to exercise it in Jesus’ name.<br />
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So, when we pray for healing for someone, we’re not so much praying a prayer of supplication - imploring God to heal them; we’re recognising and exercising the authority which Jesus has given to us.<br />
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We’re seeking to speak and to act in Jesus’ name – as he would.<br />
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Wes said when he recognised this, the words he used when praying for people changed and his prayers for healing started to become more effective.<br />
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We can pray a prayer of supplication before we address a healing need. For instance, Lord Jesus we invite you to come now with your healing power and to touch so and so’s life.<br />
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But then ideally, we should address the sickness or condition we are praying for. For instance, I say to you damaged knee – in the name of Jesus be healed and made whole. Be knit together and restored.<br />
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Or I say to you Arthritis in Jesus name, leave this wrist; depart and be gone; full movement without pain be restored in Jesus’ name.<br />
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Faye encouraged us to picture in our mind’s eye what complete healing might look like in the situation we are facing and to seek to pray it into being.<br />
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It can seem a bit strange and almost presumptuous praying like this, but we are seeking to speak and to act as Jesus would – in his name.<br />
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Wes and Faye stressed that when someone comes with a healing need, we should always try and listen to what God may be saying, as sometimes there may be other needs in a person’s life which first need to be addressed.<br />
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This is particularly true where a person’s relationships are in disrepair and there is perhaps a need for forgiveness or reconciliation.<br />
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Of course, we won’t always be successful when we pray. Sometimes people will experience healing and perhaps a feeling of warmth on the afflicted area; sometimes they may experience partial healing; and sometimes there may be no apparent effect. But we can at least give it a go.<br />
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By doing so we are being obedient to verse 8 of today’s gospel reading where Jesus tells us to go out into the world and; “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”<br />
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Wes and Faye emphasised that we are all on a journey and learning all the time. We’re all wearing L plates.<br />
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They also stressed that perseverance is important. Jesus prayed twice before a man’s sight was fully restored in Mark Chapter 8 and we may need to pray for people several times before they are fully healed.<br />
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There’s a great little series of videos on You Tube about Healing called the Normal Christian Life – and in one of them called ‘Watch her leg grow out’ - a young man prays four or five times for a stall holder’s wrist to be healed from Arthritis before it’s fully healed.<br />
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Each time he prays there is a small improvement. Its actually quite funny because the stall holder says “Listen mate, I appreciate your concern but we could be here all day doing this.” In the end though his wrist is completely healed because the young man perseveres.<br />
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The other thing we learned about in the course which made a particular impression on me, was Words of Knowledge. Words of Knowledge are a spiritual gift mentioned in today’s reading from 1 Corinthians.<br />
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They are a bite sized piece of information which God imparts to us through his Spirit, and they can be particularly helpful in a healing context, as God can highlight specific healing needs that he wants to address.<br />
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And this is why we are now waiting on God before some services and praying for Words of Knowledge.<br />
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Words of Knowledge can be little pictures in our mind’s eye. For instance, at Café Church last month when we were waiting on God, I saw a little picture in my mind’s eye of a patch of skin which wasn’t quite right and I sensed there was a person who was concerned about this.<br />
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It really was a brief little glimpse – but Wes and Faye encouraged us to share anything like this as it might be important to someone – as indeed it proved to be.<br />
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Words of Knowledge can also be specific names or places or professions or diseases which come into our minds as a thought.<br />
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Sometimes we may even see words highlighted in our mind’s eye when we see someone. John Wimber who was a well-known American evangelist recounts in a book how he saw the word ‘Adultery’ written across the forehead of a guy he was sitting next to on an aeroplane.<br />
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They ended up having quite an interesting chat about relationships.<br />
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Words of Knowledge can also be felt as a sympathy pain – where you feel a specific pain in an area of your body – which someone else is experiencing.<br />
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For instance, in the session where we covered them, we were all encouraged to be still and wait on God and then share anything we felt God might be saying.<br />
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I was sitting there relaxing and trying to be conscious of my body when I felt a pain at the base of my wrist. It only lasted a second or two then went. But then it happened again – so I thought I’d better share it.<br />
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It turned out the lady next to me had a pain in this exact spot – as in fact did a guy behind me.<br />
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We prayed for both of them – and the lady’s wrist pain disappeared. I’m not sure about the guy as I didn’t ask.<br />
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We’ve waited on God a couple of times now – at Café Church last month and at the joint service at Lamberhurst on 29th December. A few people have responded to specific words and have experienced various degrees of healing.<br />
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As I said earlier Aline, Moira, and I, are all really new to this and we are by no means experts. We are all learning but we are seeking to be obedient to God.<br />
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In time we’d love to see not just Brenchley Church but also perhaps Matfield, Horsmonden and Lamberhurst Churches become places where through Words of Knowledge, people start to realise that Jesus is alive and real and that he cares about their situations and wants to heal or help them in some way.<br />
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So, to tie up what I want to say this morning – firstly, if you are a Christian – realise the authority that Jesus gives you to speak and to act in his name.<br />
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Although healing may not be your main area of interest or service – do bear it in mind as a possibility if you encounter situations where people are open to being prayed for.<br />
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And secondly, when we were waiting on God at the joint service at Lamberhurst we felt that God was saying that he wanted anyone with any sort of need to come to him – not just those to whom a Word of Knowledge applied.<br />
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We can’t promise that God will always answer our prayers in the way we might hope but we believe that he loves you and cares for you and that he wants to touch your life for good in some way.<br />
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So, if a Word of Knowledge applies to you – or if you have any sort of prayer need do come and see us after the service and we’ll be very pleased to pray for you.<br />
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As usual there will be the opportunity to ask me questions after the next song – but I’ll close now with a time of quiet prayer and reflection – where you can share anything that my talk may have raised or anything that is on your heart, with God. So, let’s all pray quietly for a few moments.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-20176967163343081472020-01-12T09:15:00.000+00:002020-01-21T13:39:39.923+00:00‘The Way, the Truth, and the Life?’<span id="docs-internal-guid-8d569152-7fff-003d-76a6-7fed7923acdc"></span><br />
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‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.’ <br />
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This claim of Jesus of Nazareth is as shocking today as it was when he first made it; but for different reasons. Then, because it was a claim to deity; today, because it is a claim to exclusivity: then, it was a claim to be the only way to God and to reconciliation with him; today, it is viewed by many to be the arrogant, the unpopular, the unwarrantable claim that there is only one way to knowing God and to being reconciled to him.<br />
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In today’s cultural climate three popular modern misconceptions abound: The first is that all religions are essentially the same. But even a brief examination reveals that this is not so: whilst they may appear superficially the same, fundamentally they are quite different and at odds with each other. For example, Islam never speaks of God as ‘love’ but only as a God of ‘justice’; whereas Christianity (orthodox and biblical) insists on both. Secondly, the popular secularist dogma that all religions are private affairs - they may be the truth for you but they are not necessarily the truth for me! And, thirdly, the belief – albeit illogical and without evidence - that a unique revelation is either impossible or somehow unfair. Embarrassingly for their proponents or adherents, it quickly becomes clear that all these arise from sheer intellectual laziness, a refusal to examine and analyse all the facts and evidence available. <br />
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God’s answer however to the human problem is not many ways but one way. His solution is at once unique yet universal, exclusive but this in order to be inclusive – inclusive of all his creatures.<br />
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It should come as no surprise then that this unique and fact-based (rather than subjective and pluriform) truth concerning Jesus is so shocking to so many today. It challenges and deeply offends modern moral and philosophical ideas, modern dogmas, modern social taboos, the proud, the scientist who says there is no God, and the list goes on.<br />
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Take the theory of scientific materialism for example, one in which the atheist scientist states dogmatically, ‘I cannot believe the claims of Christ to be God.’ Why? Because it undermines the world view to which he or she is wedded; because in a philosophy of scientific materialism there is no place for a personal agent in creation. Indeed, as the President of the American Scientific Association recently said, ‘At all costs we must not let ‘God’ get a foot in the door.’ That Science and the idea of God are not at odds is rationally, cogently, and often very amusingly set out by the likes of John Lennox and other scientists who are Christians, some of whom are Nobel Prize winning scientists. That such exclusiveness and uniqueness is for our universal personal benefit is vehemently decried. ‘I came to save’, said Jesus; ‘to bring life in abundance’, and so that a person might know God the Creator not just as idea or object but as person and Father.<br />
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Today then, we Christians are on thin ice here…socially, politically, and morally; but by no means either theologically or philosophically. Why? Because of the historical facts of ‘REVELATION’. It is a basic tenet of Christianity that we believe what we believe not because we have invented it but because it has been revealed to us in the fact of Jesus Christ’s historical existence and confirmed by the historical fact of his resurrection: and these are confirmed not only by the most compelling historical evidence but also by the testimony of God’s promised Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds and in the knowledge of his risen presence with us when we ‘take up our cross and follow him’.<br />
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The uniqueness of this ‘revelation’, of this all-consuming and all-enlightening truth, is of course a problem for many today. But truth tends to uniqueness, to constraints, to boundaries, to prescriptions, to what is okay and what is not, to, dare I say it, absolutes…does it not? Ask a doctor or an accountant! And yet, today, Christianity (any religion in fact) is considered by many as private opinion or preference rather than public fact and universal truth, and therefore of an altogether different category from, say, maths or medicine. <br />
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So what are Christians to do? Remain in the cosy comfort of this ‘saving’ truth? Surely not when so many are confused, lost, ignorant…. whether they realise it or not. (Yes, I know they very often don’t take kindly to being told so!!) No, it is the Church’s business – the business of all of us who call ourselves ‘Christians’ - to be signposts to Jesus, to live as children of the Kingdom with kingdom values in our hearts and to proclaim him; not stay silent. Yes of course, as St. Paul reminds us, ‘we have this treasure in jars of clay’; we are flawed and fickle people with no right or reason to boast of ourselves. But his light can shine through when we allow it, when we allow him to guide and where necessary change us, and when we do not try to hide or keep it to ourselves! So, when people say ‘what’s the meaning of life? What do you say to them? When people say, ’I hurt, life’s unfair, why is there so much suffering in the world, what happens to us when we die?’ What do you say? Well, what do you say? ‘My adherence to modern philosophical dogma, moral inclusiveness, and contemporary social taboos demand that I neither offend nor warn you’? If you saw a blind person swimming in the sea just beyond a sign saying, ‘Danger: Sharks!’ would you leave them there in their ignorance and blindness? <br />
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Let’s assume for just a few moments that Jesus’ claim is true. (Actually, it’s the only rational and reasonable conclusion that makes sense of the evidence! I really would encourage anyone wanting to search for God to start not with philosophical questions about the existence of God but with the historical person and historical record of Jesus, a record of the quality and integrity that no other historical records of that time come anywhere near to matching - this the considered judgement of the best of secular historians themselves.) <br />
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When we consider the reason for Jesus’ coming - that the fact of human sin is a barrier between humankind and God our creator - a barrier that needs to be broken if we are to be reconciled to him - we find that the God whom Jesus revealed is a perfectly gracious and merciful God but that he is also perfectly just and hates evil. So, He himself offers the solution to the human predicament. It’s actually mind-blowingly simple if a person puts aside for a moment their philosophical, political or moral prejudices, their pride and their wilfulness. Fascinatingly, children get this where adults don’t - or refuse to! When you’ve just come in from playing in the garden or (for the benefit of adults here) weeding the flower bed, and you are offered the most beautiful, delicious, Victoria sponge cake by your mother - filled with cream and adorned with strawberries, is it unreasonable of your mother who, don’t forget, made the cake and made you, to ask you first to wash your filthy paws? This is just an everyday picture of what God is doing though Jesus for you and for me, for everyone, but obviously at a considerably more profound moral level.<br />
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Sin acts as a barrier between us and God, just as the aluminium film does between the coffee and you in your Nespresso capsule: it needs to be broken and only God can do this. But along with forgiveness for sin comes the offer of new life. The offer is life – life in abundance with him and in an ever more loving and selfless living of life now and then on into eternity.<br />
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You see, if it is true, if Jesus was and is whom he claimed to be, then it‘s a no brainer! So I say again, start your enquiry with Jesus…his life, his teaching, his claims, his resurrection: examine the evidence with an open mind!<br />
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But in examining all the evidence - and not just the bits that appeal to you! - there will come a very sobering discovery. We have been warned. We will be judged when we leave this life and meet God face to face. Anglican clergy are no longer supposed to talk about this because it upsets people. But Jesus did; he said that it was the very reason for his mission, his mission to ‘save’ us from this judgement through faith in him, in his paying the debt on our behalf, the debt we owe to a perfect God because of our sinfulness and selfishness, the debt to God’s perfect justice. At funerals I often encounter in the most non-religious people a deep-seated feeling or suspicion that when they die they will have to give an account of their lives to someone or something. If a person has any sense of justice at all, it should come as no surprise that God does too! <br />
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The reasons for not taking Jesus at his word I have found, and without exception, are not based on a genuine, impartial, and open-minded examination of the facts and the evidence but on the moral challenge of those words – his challenge to a person’s pride and to their greater desire to formulate their own moral code (with its countless ‘get out of jail free’ cards!) And countless times I have encountered this in people whom often we would label nice, pleasant, good, doers of good deeds, even ‘religious’ - to a certain degree at any rate. But Jesus said that theirs will not be enough goodness or niceness or religion to get to the Father, to the Truth, to eternal life, to the answers to our deepest questions and perplexities if there is no room for Christ in their lives. To receive Christ requires, above all else, honesty about ourselves and humility in ourselves.<br />
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The words we read in the bible are designed to make us Christians – practising believers in God’s perfect solution to the human problem. It is an offer because that is the way of love, and love cannot force itself upon anyone. Look then at Jesus and tell me God does not love you personally. Look again and tell me you don’t need to repent and accept his offer. Look again at Jesus and tell me you owe him nothing, not even the courtesy of the time to check the facts about someone who said that they had died instead of you and for you. Many either do not know this or have rejected this: that is the greatest sadness of the human race; that is why God chose you and me to help such people to ‘see’. And helping such a person to ‘see’ is one of the greatest joys in life you will ever experience. ‘He is the way, the truth, and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through him.’ This is the truth, this is our message. Will you share it or will you ‘pass by on the other side’? If you do, you will be breaking both of the Great Commandments. Yes, it’s that important!Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-31597594758809968682019-12-25T20:00:00.000+00:002020-01-06T13:33:43.804+00:00Christmas Midnight Mass 2019I was listening to a programme host on the radio recently talking about the meaning of Christmas. The real meaning of Christmas, he said, is ‘Goodwill to all men.’ And then he added - because he quickly realised that this sounded very sexist and politically incorrect - ‘and of course women and children and animals too.’<br /><br />Well, I think the turkeys might have something to say about that; but then he added this. ‘For a week or so before Christmas we come over all fuzzy and altruistic; we come out of our mainly selfish shells and try to be nice to each other. But by Boxing Day the peace is at an end and war has once more broken out.’<br /><br />Now I think there are three very important things to say about what he said on a programme heard by possibly tens of thousands of people or more.<br /><br />The first is this. I don’t agree with him that all people are largely selfish for 51 weeks of the year, thinking only of themselves and no other: l know for a fact, as I am sure you do too, that very many people make not only small but often very great sacrifices for other people - and not just their immediate families - for many if not most days of the year. I can only assume that he has a very unfortunate circle of friends and acquaintances, and that life with the BBC has made him rather cynical.<br /><br />Secondly – and I am afraid that he is quite wrong here - is his understanding of the phrase ‘Good will to all men’, which is a wishful thinking misunderstanding of the Gospel Reading we have just heard. What he has done - as many have before him and still do today - is to take the offer God made in Jesus to you and to me, and sentimentalise it into something we offer to each other - if only, as he claims, for a few days over Christmas.<br /><br />You see, this is yet another instance of reading into the bible meanings that simply aren’t there but which suit agendas in which people can happily rule out God - because of course leaving him in leads to some very awkward and embarrassing questions – mainly about ourselves! <br /><br />But Christmas is all about God; that in one of his forms of being God he chose, because he loves us, to come to us in human form so that we could understand him and believe in him.<br /><br />Now if you look at what it actually says in the reading, at verse 14, you will see that not we but God is the author, the giver, of the offer; and that that offer is not just a wishful thinking ‘let’s all try to be nice to each other through our own efforts for a few days over Christmas’, but I, God, in the person of this vulnerable little baby, am offering all ‘on whom my favour rests’ to know real peace; a peace the world can never give. And my favour will rest on those who believe in this baby, in who he is, in why he came, and who then change their lives where necessary to accord with what he taught about humanity, and about our hopelessness without him.<br /><br />The peace he offers, as he will explain to you when he is a full grown man and starts teaching you my ways, is the peace you will have when you know for sure the answers to your deepest questions about this life: it’s meaning, it’s purpose, and what will happen to you when this life ends for you. But above all it is the peace which comes from knowing for sure that you and I have been reconciled, that I have forgiven you for every unloving thing you have ever done, that because of him I have wiped your slate is clean - however dirty it may be or you may think it is, and that we are once more able to be in relationship. And it’s not because of you or anything that you are or that you’ve achieved, but because of everything he, Jesus, is and has achieved for you.<br /><br />The mistake the radio host made was to make us the givers rather than the receivers: it is God’s offer and it is to be found in Jesus. And the fact is that when we truly believe that Jesus is exactly whom he claimed to be and put our faith in him as the unique and universal Saviour of the world, God’s chosen instrument of forgiveness and reconciliation, then we will find that he is in us helping us to bring the Good News of him, all that he is and all that he offers, to those who do not know him and who do not know what they are missing; in short, his personal ambassadors of his ‘good news’ for all – if only they will receive it. <br /><br />No wonder the radio host – even with his ridiculously large BBC salary – sounded so cynical: he had misunderstood the ‘Good will’ offer entirely. Let’s not make the same mistake; but with humble and joyful hearts welcome his wonderful message, his unique and universal offer, welcome him personally as Saviour, Friend, and King. Accept and unwrap this present and you will never know a better one because you will have received the very best present anyone could ever receive.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-48652384470420585802019-12-24T18:00:00.000+00:002020-01-06T13:32:32.674+00:00Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 2019A man was walking along a cliff path one day when he tripped and fell over the edge. Reaching out he grabbed a tree root on the side and clung to it for dear life. He looked down but could not see the bottom. The tree root began to loosen. He looked up to the sky above and in desperation shouted, ‘Is anybody there? Save me!’ Almost immediately a voice from the heavens replied, ‘Have faith; let go.’ The man looked down, and then back up, and said, ‘Is anybody else there?’<br /><br />Now you may be asking yourselves what on earth that little story has to do with Christmas. Well, unlike my joke at this service last year about the three-legged turkey, this little story has far more to do with the real message of Christmas than at first sight. Why? Well because it illustrates two very important truths.<br /><br />The first truth is this. The coming of Jesus into the world that very first Christmas in order to reveal to us in human form - that is to say, in a way that we could understand – God Himself who created us, and also not only to teach us how He wants us to live and to love but also, he said, to ‘save’ us, prompts us to ask if we will ‘have faith’ in him; to have faith that he, Jesus, and he alone, provides the answers to life’s deepest and most pressing questions - Who created us? Why are we here? How are we supposed to live? What will happen to us when this life ends?<br /><br />Now to the person who has not studied closely and with an open mind the person of Jesus - his wonderful life, his amazing claims about himself, and the most compelling evidence for his resurrection three days after he had been killed, asking that person to ‘have faith’ in Jesus to ‘save’ him or her – from avoidable ignorance and unavoidable death - is very much like the situation of the man clinging on to the tree root on the side of the cliff. He or she has no firm grounds on which to trust Jesus’ offer; his offer not only to ‘save’ him or her but also to give them a new life, a fresh start, a new way of living. To such a person there will seem no reason whatsoever to ‘have faith’ in him and ‘let go’.<br /><br />Or again, if a person believes in the foundation of so much of modern and popular scientific faith (because faith is exactly what is needed to believe it), a miracle far greater, far more improbable – or so Nobel Prize-winning mathematicians tell us - than the miracle of Jesus’s resurrection with all the hugely compelling evidence attesting to its historical fact – and what I am referring to here of course is the theory of the miraculous so-called ‘Big Bang’ with its creating of something (our universe) out of nothing (yes, nothing); a belief system in which, so scientists admit, we are asked to believe that human life, your life and mine, has absolutely no meaning; that we humans are simply the outcomes of blind evolutionary processes with no goal, no purpose, no hope – then, again, that person will want to pay no attention to Jesus’ call to ‘have faith’ in him and ‘let go’.<br /><br />Or if a person is so absorbed by the pursuit of power, wealth, success – or even just personal happiness and the enjoyment of this life, then he or she too will see no reason, no benefit, to ‘have faith’ and ‘let go’.<br /><br />But here is the second truth that story illustrates, and it is this: the truth that we are more afraid of ‘letting go’ of the many ideas and things that not only blind us to the truth of Jesus but also let us down time and time and time again: we prefer to put our faith in these rather than take him at his word - that he came to ‘save’ us and to offer us ‘life; life, he said, in all its fulness’. <br /><br />He came that first Christmas because he loves us more than we could ever conceive of or imagine; he came because our heavenly Father does not want us to make choices that will only separate us from him; he came because each one of us, flawed and fickle as we all of us are, are very precious in his sight, made in his image, created to live in love with him and with each other.<br /><br />But to the person who has genuinely considered the evidence for Jesus and is willing to let go of all those things – personal, material, philosophical, political – which blind or prevent us from trusting him, such letting go and putting their faith in Jesus is quite simply the most reasonable, rational, and realistic thing they could ever do. Or, as the Christmas carol so aptly puts it, ‘Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.’ <br /><br /><br /><br />The true message of Christmas, the original one that is, not only reminds us of God’s saving love in coming to the earth he created for you, for me, for everyone, it also challenges those who either have not heard it or have previously rejected it to consider and examine it very carefully indeed. What greater gift could we accept than his offer of forgiveness for the past, new life for the present, and a sure hope for the future – whatever that future holds. Will you welcome him, or perhaps welcome him back this Christmas into your life as Saviour, Friend, and King? All you have to do is humbly ask him: he has promised that he will do so.<br /><br />xBrenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-90114596743176912912019-12-08T18:00:00.000+00:002019-12-09T11:31:12.368+00:00Luke 1; 26 to 38<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So once again we’re in the season of Advent and another Christmas approaches. And this can leave us in a reflective mood, especially as we get older and we see the years passing by and we see our families also getting older and starting to raise the next generation.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe that’s partly why you’ve come to church this morning. But whatever your reason for coming, I hope that you will find something to help and encourage you in today’s gospel reading about Mary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You see I think that much of what is true for Mary is also true for us and that actually Mary isn’t as unlike us as we may think. And this is what I’d like to talk about this morning.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing about Mary is that God knows her intimately. He knows everything about her. He knows all her thoughts and all her actions. He knows how many hairs she has on her head. He knows her hopes and fears and dreams.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And He has watched over her from the moment of her conception all through her childhood years and he loves her.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the same is true of us. God sees you now and knows what you’re thinking. Perhaps its – ‘oh goodness I hope he doesn’t go on for too long cos I’ve got to get to the supermarket.’ Don’t worry, I won’t.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He knows what is going on in your life – your problems and anxieties. He knows all about your relationships. He has watched over </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> all </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">your </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">life since you were born, and he knew you’d come to church this morning. And most importantly He loves </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and wants the very best for you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second thing about Mary that is also true of us is that God has been preparing her for the role in life he has chosen for her. In her case it’s as the mother of his son Jesus – the Messiah, God made flesh.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this preparation is two-fold. Initially when God created Mary, he created her expressly for this purpose. He gave her the character, the abilities and talents to be the very best mother for Jesus. He fashioned her expressly to be the mother of his son.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And secondly as she grew up, he enabled her to experience and learn things that would be useful for her in later life. We’re not told in the gospels – but I suspect Mary had experienced older women around her who taught her about motherhood and childcare – and I suspect it was something she loved because God had built it into her DNA. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our roles will of course be different to Mary’s – but God has also created each one of us for a purpose and role in life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He has fashioned us just as carefully as he fashioned Mary. He has imbued us with gifts and talents and has given us innate likings for doing various things – things we’re good at and enjoy doing.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And he has given us these gifts and talents and likings expressly for the role he has for us.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However old we are, he has a plan for each of our lives – something he wants us to be doing for him. We’re not a random assortment of abilities but tailor-made individuals with a God-given purpose ahead of us.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God says in the book of Jeremiah – “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And like Mary, our life experiences will be part of our preparation for God’s plan for us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We may have gone through difficult times – but these can give us an empathy and understanding for others. Often the best people to help those struggling with life are those who themselves have experienced similar struggles, whether that be an addiction or illness or depression or a bereavement or financial problems.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t know what you’ve experienced in life but maybe you can use your life experience to help others in some way.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The most important part of Mary’s story however, is where she says yes to God. “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All God ‘s preparation – all his watching over her – all his love for her – would have come to nothing if she’d said “no, sorry Lord, I’m not ready for this whole child thing yet. I mean, think how embarrassing it will be. Come back next year and I’ll think about it.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the same is true for us. Everything God has prepared us for; everything he has invested in us and taught us in life will come to nothing if we say “no” to his plan and purpose for our lives.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You see God has given us free will and he will never force us to do anything. He works in us and through us as we co-operate with him.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus has given all Christians the great Co-Mission. It’s a mission in partnership with God – as we say yes to him.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now of course it can take us a while to reach the stage where we believe that God exists and that he has a purpose for our lives – but at some point – like Mary - we all need to make a decision.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that decision is whether we want God’s plan and purpose for our lives or we want our own. Whether we say yes to God – “let it be with me according to your word” or no – sorry God I want to go my own way in life.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is a decision we can make when we’re eight or eighty. Its never too late to say yes to God’s plan.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is really what repentance means. It’s reaching a stage or point in our lives where we realise our desperate need for God and are prepared to say yes to his plan for our life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Repentance is a bit like changing the points on a railway line and deciding that from now on we want to follow God’s track rather than our own.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ve tried living life independently of God but it hasn’t brought us fulfilment and despite what we may have achieved, we sense an emptiness within ourselves; a realisation of the pointlessness of life without God; perhaps our need for forgiveness; perhaps a yearning for meaning and purpose and genuine hope beyond this life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So’ we take a step of faith and make the decision to say yes to God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe for some of you here this morning - this is how you feel and although perhaps you weren’t aware of it there is a prayer that is bubbling up from deep within you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Lord I’ve tried living my life my own way but deep within I feel empty and I want your plan and purpose for my life. I want to know why you created me.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re there God, please make yourself known to me. Come into my life. Be real to me. Show me that you’re alive and that you love me.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Saying yes to God is the most important decision any of us will ever have to make because our eternal destinies hinge on the answer we give. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God will always respect the decision we make. As I’ve said he won’t force himself upon us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He’ll keep loving us and knocking on the door of our lives, hoping that we may change our mind but if we keep pushing God away and saying no to him – there’s very little he can do about it.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The next thing about Mary is that as she says ‘yes’ to God – the Holy Spirit comes upon her and Jesus is birthed within her. In Mary’s case of course it’s a physical pregnancy.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, it is similar for us. As we say ‘yes’ to God’s plan for our life, Jesus is birthed in us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Holy Spirit – the spirit of Jesus comes to live within us and we become spiritually alive. God becomes real to us and we know for sure that Jesus is risen from the dead because we can sense and feel his presence with us.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my favourite Christmas Carols, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ puts it like this: “No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.”</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And he comes to live within us so that we – like Mary - can start to fulfil the plan he has for us. So that we can enjoy a relationship with him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He comes to guide us in life and to empower us to serve him. He comes to help us reach out to others, to prompt us and encourage us to show those around us his love.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He comes to help us to use our talents and abilities to extend his kingdom and to make himself known.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We’ve been running the Talking Jesus course in church recently to help and encourage us to share our faith with those around us because it’s not always easy to talk about our faith.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it is critical that we do because Jesus loves each one of us; because he died to save each one of us by taking our sin - which is what separates us from God - upon himself, and because has a plan for each one of us. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mary’s purpose was absolutely central and vital to God’s plan to come into the world in the person of Jesus to make salvation possible for all people; but our purpose is also extremely important to God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You see every person is of immense value to God; and like Mary he has placed us in a unique position in the centre of the circle of our family and friends and work colleagues - the people we meet each day – and it is through us that he wants to try and reach out to these people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We also each have unique positions and roles to play within our local churches – using our talents and abilities to help create a healthy local body of Christ - whether that’s a role in catering and hospitality; or a caring role; or a role in helping with children and young people’s work; or an administrative or technical role or an upfront role.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God’s church here at Brenchley will only be truly healthy and function as he desires as we each play our part in supporting and serving it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, to tie up what I want to say this morning – I think in many ways we are not so unlike Mary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God knows us and loves us. He has created us for a specific role and purpose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He has a plan for each of us and if like May we will only say yes to Him – He will also be birthed in us. Jesus will come by his spirit to live in our hearts and lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then we can each start with God’s help to fulfil the plan he has for us, to play our part in his overall plan to bring salvation to everyone in the world who will accept him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m going to close in a moment with a time of quiet prayer and reflection where we can each share what is on our hearts with God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps you’re already a Christian but you’re unsure of what God wants you to do; how he wants you to use your gifts and talents and what role he wants you to play. Why not offer yourself to him now in service – like Mary did - and ask him to guide you as you seek to serve him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or perhaps you’d like to say to God’s plan for your life and to know him. If that’s you, in your own words share whatever is on your heart with God. Tell him you want to fulfil the plan he has for you and invite Jesus to come into your heart and life and to make himself known to you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus is present among us now by his spirit and looking at each of us with love in his yes. So, let’s all pray quietly for a few moments and share the cry of our hearts with him.</span></span></div>
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Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-92104623488916923292019-10-27T17:00:00.000+00:002019-10-31T12:14:39.606+00:00John 10: 9 to 18In today’s gospel reading from John we have two of Jesus’ famous “I am” statements and also a very well-known bible verse – “I came so that they may have life and have it abundantly.”<br /><br />And this morning I’d like to look at these statements and their significance and then try and show why a life lived in relationship with Jesus – with him as our good shepherd – we can experience abundant life.<br /><br />So, firstly, John wrote his gospel to show that Jesus is God. As he says at the end of his gospel; “these (things) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”<br /><br />And in order to show that Jesus is God, John includes seven “I am” statements in his gospel. <br /><br />We find the significance of these “I am” statements in Exodus chapter 3 when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of slavery.<br /><br />Moses says to God; “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” <br /><br />And God says to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.”<br /><br />So, God describes himself as “I am” – and I think it’s a great description – because as well as describing God as always just being and existing, ‘I am’ can also be used to describe many aspects of who God is. <br /><br />For instance - I am the source of life. I am the one behind everything that exists. I am your creator. I am love. I am perfect. I am just. I am all seeing. I am all knowing. <br /><br />I could go on – but hopefully you get the picture.<br /><br />And Jesus then continues in this vein with seven “I am” statements that throw light on his identity and purpose.<br /><br />So, firstly, in verse 9, he says “I am the gate” or if you go back a couple of verses, “I am the gate for the sheep.” Jesus is saying that the only way to know God and to be part of God’s people is through him.<br /><br />Before I became a Christian, I used to think that there were many ways to come to know God, but I realise now that this is untrue. You can meditate till the cows come home, but it won’t get you to God.<br /><br />You can try in your own strength, to live a worthy or holy life but it won’t get you to God. You can chant a lot and grow your hair or fingernails to great lengths but it won’t get you to God.<br /><br />There are not many doors to God. There is a single gate or door to God, and that gate is Jesus himself.<br /><br />And that is because Jesus is the only one who has dealt with the problem of our sin – which is humanity’s major problem and is what separates us from God. <br /><br />Jesus is the only person in history to have led a perfect life – and was therefore qualified to offer his perfect life as a sacrifice for us.<br /><br />He is the only one to have borne our sins in his body on the cross; he is the only one to have overcome death and to have been resurrected and to have opened up the way to God.<br /><br />It is only through the blood of Jesus that we can be forgiven and made clean. <br /><br />He is the gate and as we invite him into our lives, we invite salvation into our lives and the way to God is open for us.<br /><br />And this of course leads us onto Jesus’ second “I am” statement in today’s gospel reading – “I am the good shepherd.”<br /><br />The idea of God as the good shepherd is again rooted in the Old Testament. For instance, in the 23rd Psalm – the Lord is my shepherd.<br /><br />But also, in the book of Ezekiel, where God rebukes the leaders of Israel who haven’t shepherded his people well.<br /><br />He says; “I will appoint for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them. My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd. I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince.”<br /><br />So, by saying “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus was both asserting His deity and also claiming to be the fulfilment of a Messianic prophecy. He was saying to the Jewish people, I am the Messiah – the good shepherd who was promised to you in scripture.<br /><br />But as Jesus explains in verse 16 – he hasn’t come just for the Jewish people but for Gentiles as well – ‘other sheep that do not belong to this fold.’ He has come to be a good shepherd for all people everywhere who will accept him.<br /><br />And as I’ve already explained the most important thing that the good shepherd does for his sheep is to lay down his life for them. The sheep cannot save themselves. They need their shepherd to lay down his life for them to save them from sin and death.<br /><br />And because his sheep are so valuable to him, Jesus is prepared to die for them. Each sheep is precious to the good shepherd. None are unimportant. <br /><br />Jesus is totally committed to each of his sheep for its whole life, and each sheep is eternally safe in his hands.<br /><br />Good shepherds don’t lose their sheep and Jesus won’t lose you. He said; “I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.<br /><br />“For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”<br /><br />So, as the good shepherd, Jesus lays down his life for us to save us – but he also acts in many other ways in our lives.<br /><br />He communicates with us and as he says in verse 16, as his sheep we can hear his voice. It takes time to learn to recognise God’s voice in our lives but Jesus speaks to us – to guide us and encourage us; to explain scripture to us and to give us words of encouragement for others.<br /><br />Sometimes he speaks very clearly – especially when he is calling us to a particular role or guiding us onto a path in life.<br /><br />I’ve heard several Christians describe how God has called them to particular roles.<br /><br />I remember when I first felt that God was calling me to preach. I felt a bit uncomfortable about the idea. I didn’t really want an upfront role. I was quite happy sitting at the back and listening to other people.<br /><br />However, God spoke to me very clearly one evening when I wasn’t expecting him to and so I was obedient to what I felt he was asking me to do.<br /><br />The good shepherd leads us into green pastures. Green pastures can be churches where we can flourish and grow strong or the teaching and example of Christian leaders that will help us to grow and mature.<br /><br />I have been helped hugely in my understanding of the bible and my walk with God initially by a great bible teacher called Roger Price, but also by Christian leaders like Colin Urquhart and Nicky Gumbel.<br /><br />Green pastures can also be areas of service where we will flourish and grow strong in our faith. Where we can use our gifts and be a real blessing to other people.<br /><br />The good shepherd watches over us and protects us. I know that my life is safe in God’s hands and that he will watch over me till my dying day. <br /><br />I know that he has drawn a line in the sand and said to Satan concerning me – ‘thus far but no further.’<br /><br />As Psalm 121 puts it; “The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”<br /><br />The good shepherd tends for us when we are hurt or injured or ill. These can be physical or emotional or spiritual wounds or sicknesses.<br /><br />All of us need healing to a greater or lesser degree. We all get hurt by people and by life. Often things that have happened to us in childhood – which weren’t necessarily our fault - can affect us as adults.<br /><br />As the good shepherd Jesus can free us from the effects of these experiences and restore our souls. As we walk through life under his guidance, he helps us to become more whole and complete; to become happier more patient and loving people. He gives us hope and a purpose in life and takes away our fear of death.<br /><br />Although he works through conventional medicine, he also sometimes intervenes in our lives to heal us himself and make us well.<br /><br />And when we are depressed or in despair – when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death - he helps us through the difficult times and helps us to come out on the other side with renewed hope and vigour.<br /><br />Sometimes he gives us promises from his word to help and encourage us. For instance, when I got very depressed several years ago, he spoke to me through Psalm 40. <br /><br />And although it has been a gradual work in my life, which he is still continuing, as he promised he would; “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.<br /><br />“And He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”<br /><br />There are all sots of ways in which Jesus as our good shepherd guides and helps and encourages us through life which I don’t have time to go in to.<br /><br />But Psalm 103 summarises what Jesus does for us quite well. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds; He who forgives all your iniquities, and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”<br /><br />And through Jesus being our good shepherd we come to experience abundant life. <br /><br />We can experience his presence with us and his love. We can experience the joy of being filled with his spirit and know his great compassion for those around us who are lost and struggling with life.<br /><br />As we come to understand the truth of his word and his promises to us, it helps to set us free from fear and anxiety.<br /><br />We come to realise that with him in our lives, we are saved and eternally safe and that whatever life throws at us – he will see us through it. And when death comes, we have nothing to fear.<br /><br />So, to conclude what I want to say this morning, have you entered through the gate and have you invited Jesus to be your good shepherd?<br /><br />If you haven’t, it’s a simple thing to do. What you need to do is to make the decision that from now on you – rather than just going your own way in life -you want to live under his direction and guidance.<br /><br />And then simply invite Jesus into your heart and life. Just say ‘Jesus I want to live under your direction and guidance. Please come into my life. Be my good shepherd and help me to experience the abundant life you promise.’<br /><br />I’m going to close now with a time of quiet prayer and reflection when you can talk to Jesus and share whatever is on your heart with him.<br /><br />So, let’s pray.<br /><br />Lord Jesus thank you that you are present with us now and that you look at us with love and compassion. Lord come to us and helps us; hear the cry of our hearts as we pray to you silently now.<br /><br />my shepherd.I desperately need a good shepherd to <br /><br />And more than anything else, I need a shepherd who will sacrifice his life to save me from sins. A shepherd who will lay down his life for me in order to purchase me for his own.<br /><br />Jesus is all of those things, and so much more.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-7850921104324183602019-09-22T18:00:00.000+01:002019-09-24T14:43:35.006+01:00Healing and wholeness<br />The topic for my talk this morning is healing and wholeness and I’d like to try and give you an outline of my own limited understanding of what is a large and sometimes perplexing subject area.<br /><br />So, to try and set healing in some sort of context the first thing we need to understand is that God is good and that his kingdom is good and his purposes are good.<br /><br />God’s kingdom is a kingdom of love and joy and peace and forgiveness and also of health and wholeness. And his kingdom reflects his character and the sort of king he is.<br /><br />And God, in the person of Jesus, came to usher in his kingdom. This is why Jesus says at the start of his ministry – quoting from our Old Testament reading; "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”<br /><br />You see Jesus came to put right everything that has gone wrong in our fallen world. <br /><br />The reason we live in a fallen world is explained in the early chapters of Genesis where we see Satan coming and deceiving Adam and Eve into disobeying God, and the perfect world God had initially created being spoiled and then everything going pear shaped.<br /><br />Man’s relationship with God is spoiled. Evil and hatred and darkness and sickness and disease come into the world and people start fighting and murdering each other.<br /><br />So, in the world around us although we still see remnants of God’s perfect creation - beauty and goodness and kindness and health and happiness we also see evil and darkness.<br /><br />But Jesus came as the light of the world to dispel this darkness. John tells us in his first letter; “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” <br /><br />So, Jesus came to start undoing and putting right everything that spoils and hurts our lives. At the centre of this of course is our relationship with God. <br /><br />First and foremost, he came to restore our relationship with God which I’ll say more about in a minute.<br /><br />But Jesus also came to heal and liberate and set people free from the powers of darkness, to give them a foretaste of his kingdom – to show people that he is God and that he is good and that he loves them.<br /><br />So, in today’s gospel reading from Mark – we see a lady being healed as she touches Jesus with faith and then we see a little girl who’s life has been prematurely cut short, being raised back to life by Jesus - the Lord of life.<br /><br />He is pushing back the forces of darkness – including death - which have spoiled people’s lives and bringing his kingdom to earth. <br /><br />This is why he told people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was close at hand. <br /><br />Wherever Jesus went he demonstrated and established his kingdom – it was near the people he was with. And the same is true today. Wherever the spirit of Jesus is present and at work – his kingdom is still being established in people’s lives and this includes healing.<br /><br />So, in Jesus, we can see clearly that God’s desire is to heal and set people free and if his kingdom really was established on earth as it is in heaven - everyone would be whole in body, soul and spirit.<br /><br />However, because we live in a fallen and imperfect world, not everything is as God desires, so unfortunately, we do experience sickness and ill health - but this doesn’t mean that God wants us to be ill. <br /><br />Far from it. God allows us to be sick – as for instance he did with Job - but as a loving Father he rejoices when we are well and healthy. As Psalm 35 puts it; “God delights in the well-being of his servant.”<br /><br />Its also true that although sickness and ill health is not what God ideally wants for us – going through difficult times can strengthen our faith, develop our characters, help us to be more sympathetic and understanding people, and bring us closer to God.<br /><br />So, what are some of the causes of sickness?<br /><br />Sometimes sickness can be caused by sin. For instance, if we eat or drink too much – we can damage our bodies and cause them to be sick.<br /><br />If we are promiscuous, we can pick up sexually transmitted diseases. If we take drugs we may become mentally and physically ill.<br /><br />God's wants us to live upright lives because it is good for us. The laws he gives us are for our own good and the good of others.<br /><br />And as we stray from his commandments, we may sometimes become sick as a result.<br /><br />Sometimes the cause of sickness is hereditary or genetic and certain propensities for illness can be passed down family lines. <br /><br />Sometimes the cause of sickness is demonic. I met a Christian guy who had a healing ministry and he told me about a Christian woman who he’d come across in Africa who had been bed-ridden with a bad back for 3 years.<br /><br />Her local church had prayed for her healing without success.<br /><br />He went to see her and sensed there was something she was not telling them. When he pressed her, she confessed that she’d been to see a witch doctor three times, and that each time she’d seen him her back had got worse.<br /><br />The lady confessed her sin to God and this guy assured her of God’s forgiveness and then prayed for the power of any remaining demonic spiritual influences over her life to be broken in Jesus name. The lady got up out of bed and was well again.<br /><br />The occult is very dangerous and visiting mediums or spiritualists is an extremely bad idea as we can open our lives to the powers of darkness.<br /><br />Sometimes the cause of illness is due to stress and anxiety. Again, ideally God doesn’t want us to be anxious and stressed. He wants us to know his love and to trust him.<br /><br />As we go through sickness or difficult times, he wants us to realise that he is in control of the situation that he loves us and that he is and working for our good. <br /><br />Perhaps most often, sickness and ill health is the result of living in a fallen and imperfect world where there are germs and viruses and diseases and where accidents happen.<br /><br />So, it’s all very well to read about how Jesus healed people when he walked the earth or to hear about how other people have been healed, but how can we be healed today? <br /><br />Well there are 3 things that I think are important for us to receive healing.<br /><br />Firstly, as I alluded to earlier, the greatest healing in our lives occurs when we become Christians – when we are born again and the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus comes to live in us.<br /><br />At this point – when we cease rebellion against God and decide that we do after all want to live under his direction and guidance – then his divine purpose for our lives can start to be established.<br /><br />This step of faith can have a tremendous healing effect on our lives – as we start to live as God intended - in a relationship with Him.<br /><br />I like the analogy of a garden with a fence round it and a gate. The garden is our life and what we need to do is to open the gate and invite Jesus in to pull out the brambles and weeds that have grown, and over time to help us transform our gardens into something beautiful and fruitful –something that resembles the life of Jesus himself.<br /><br />Of course, God wants to transform us into faith filled, kind, loving and generous people who reflect his character to others.<br /><br />But an essential part of this transformation will involve healing – not just physical, but mental and spiritual healing; the restoration of relationships and being set free from fears and destructive behaviours.<br /><br />And God is much better able to do this as He lives within us and as we seek to co-operate with His plans and purpose for our lives.<br /><br />When Jesus first came into my life, I was insecure, with a tendency to be quick tempered. But over the years he’s put my feet on rock and I’m now a much more secure, kinder and more patient person.<br /><br />Secondly, although we certainly don’t have to be Christians to receive healing, we do need to come to Jesus with a degree of faith. Time and again when Jesus was healing people, he was looking for their faith to receive it.<br /><br />For instance, in our gospel reading from Mark, Jesus says to Jairus; “Do not fear, only believe.”<br /><br />And Mark tells us later in his gospel that Jesus was unable to heal people in his home town of Nazareth because of their lack of faith. <br /><br />We don’t need a huge amount of faith; faith the size of a grain of mustard is sufficient - but if we doubt that God exists or that He is able to heal us obviously it makes it harder to receive from him.<br /><br />In order for an electrical appliance to work a plug needs to be properly inserted into a socket. If the plug isn’t sufficiently pushed in, the appliance won’t work.<br /><br />Faith is like a plug that accesses the healing power of God. If faith is in place – even just a little bit - the healing power of God can flow into our lives – and that of course is what we see happening in today’s gospel reading – when the lady touches Jesus’ clothes with faith - and his healing power flows into her life.<br /><br />Thirdly, in order to be healed we may need to give Jesus both the time and the opportunity to heal us. <br /><br />Sometimes this may involve putting aside a few days to go to a Christian camp or retreat or to a place where we know God’s spirit is at work.<br /><br />We’re used nowadays to instant fixes – but God can do more for us and work more deeply in our lives if we will put aside the time and be still in his presence for a while. This is particularly true where we need emotional healing from past hurts and wounds in our lives.<br /><br />Of course, we can never guarantee what God will do. He is able to heal every disease and sickness, but sometimes people are healed and sometimes they aren’t. <br /><br />When God heals us – He always wants to deal with the root cause of our sickness whereas sometimes we are more concerned with the symptoms. As all you gardeners will know it is important to pull out weeds by the roots or they will re-grow.<br /><br />We humans are complex beings made up of body soul and spirit – and only God can really see where we most need healing and if we have the faith to receive it.<br /><br />And sometimes his priorities may be different to ours. Sometimes if we need to forgive someone or our relationships are in disrepair – this may be God’s priority.<br /><br />In fact, unforgiveness and bitterness can block us from receiving healing.<br /><br />Of course, for Christians - our ultimate healing will be in heaven where one day we will be clothed with immortality and a new body that will not get sick or wear out.<br /><br />It’s important to say also that we are very fortunate in this country to have access to excellent medical care – so some of our healing can be accomplished through conventional treatment. Doctors nurses and health care professionals are all agents of the healing that God wants to bring.<br /><br />So, to tie up what I want to say this morning – as we see in today’s reading from Mark and in numerous other gospel passages - Jesus ushered in his kingdom and healed people when he walked the earth and he most definitely heals people today.<br /><br />He is the same yesterday, today and forever and his heart of love still overflows with the desire to help and to heal and set free those who are hurting and in need.<br /><br />And although we can never dictate what he will do – we can be sure that He understands us perfectly and that he loves us and that his touch upon our lives will always be for our good.<br /><br />So today, if you want prayer for healing, as you come and kneel at the communion rail, come to Jesus in faith and receive whatever healing he wants to impart to you.<br /><br />I’m going to close with a time of quiet prayer and reflection where we can lift our own healing needs or the need of others to God and invite him to touch our lives with his healing power.<br /><br />Perhaps for some of you, my analogy of a garden resonated with you and you’d like to open the gate of your life and invite Jesus in. If that’s you just talk to Jesus now and ask him to come in to your heart and life.<br /><br />So, let’s pray quietly for a few moments and share what is on our hearts with God.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-59780262310039437862019-09-15T18:00:00.000+01:002019-09-24T14:44:58.713+01:00‘Grace, Mercy, and Peace’<h2>
The Third Sunday Service – September 15th 2019</h2>
Our ‘Third Sunday Service’ offers an opportunity to consider some of the main and essential elements of the Christian faith and to do so in a little more depth than perhaps our other services of worship allow. For this reason, this service is a good one to which to bring friends and enquirers, those who have no experience or understanding of what it is Christians believe and seek to put into practice; and, yes, also those who have misunderstood, or been misled, or who have some reason or other to oppose Christianity.<br /><br />In a world where increasingly, sadly, reasoned and reasonable debate is conspicuous by its absence, and where an unwillingness to listen to other people’s points of view and simply no-platform what they don’t want to hear has become popular practice, it surely has to be a very valuable thing to have the opportunity both to consider and to question in an atmosphere of openness and love - or what I would prefer to call ‘Grace’; for grace is love of a very special sort because it is the particular way in which the Christian God loves those whom he created and then commands those who say they love him to love others.<br /><br />The Christian belief is in the Good News or ‘Gospel’ of God’s grace as revealed by and in Jesus Christ of Nazareth; and, as I am going to be saying a little later on this morning, is characterised by ‘mercy’ and ‘peace’, both of which, like God’s grace, have very special and particular meanings which are intended not only to inform or teach about God but also about the world, about existence, about us. So, the theme for this morning’s service is ‘Grace, Mercy, and Peace’: it is the greeting with which we normally begin our main gatherings here. <br /><br />If we want to know what characterises Christianity – Christianity at its best, that is - and here it is important for me to say to you that Christianity is not about rules and regulations but about RELATIONSHIPS, though I realise many people do not see it that way! – what characterises Christianity at its best and distinguishes it from other religions is this wonderful thing called ‘grace’. <br /><br />I said that it is a very special kind of love. And as John says in his gospel (v 14) and Paul in his letter to Timothy (v 2) (on your Notice Sheets), it’s source is God himself. We need to note (v 14) as elsewhere in the bible that this grace is intimately connected with truth: they go hand in hand; and they are to be seen and understood supremely in the person, life, and teaching of Jesus, who claimed to be God. That claim alone raises many questions: but I would simply ask you to take the time to examine that person, his life, and teaching, and then give me your well-argued reasons and evidence for not believing him! But not this morning! Let’s just consider these three: Grace, Mercy, and Peace.<br /><br />I have just returned from a pilgrimage in Portugal where I met many people on the way searching for meaning and answers to life and to their questions. Very few were Christians: but they sensed both a loss and a need to fill that void in themselves and in their lives which the world, with all its amazing material benefits and offers of fulfilment and happiness they had found unsatisfying. Particularly interesting were the many approaches I encountered to truth and to belief: ‘Truth is whatever you make it’; ‘truth is what makes me feel good’; I like to believe that….’; ‘there is no right or wrong; the world just is’; etc, etc. But all were searching, and most felt deeply that there had to more to life, more meaning, more purpose, more truth than they had so far encountered.<br /><br />And it is to such deep needs and loss and hopes and fears that the Christian Gospel of God’s grace speaks, offering not only answers but relief, fulfilment, and even assurance.<br /><br />The Christian faith is not the same thing as the Christian Church. The Christian Church ought to be the same as the Christian faith in what she believes and practices but the truth is that the latter, the Church, is a very human institution. And so it contains failings and failures, people who make mistakes, people who are very aware of the gap between what they are and what they ought to be, but also people who realise that they are or ought to be wholly dependent upon God’s grace, mercy, and peace. <br /><br />But what are these three, and why are they so essential in the Christian faith?<br /><br />We cannot understand the message of the bible if we do not understand the meaning of grace. But in understanding it we need to be humble in our approach. Why? Because whilst this message has some wonderful things to say about God and his love for us, it also strongly implies some truths about human beings and human nature that are not music to every ear!<br /><br />God’s grace is his message of love and forgiveness to those who do not deserve it – which means everyone, because none of us is perfect. To claim that we do not need to be forgiven or do not need God’s grace is to cling our pride.<br /><br />The first hurdle then is to realise that we need God’s grace, and that without it we cannot know God and be reconciled to him. Yes, he loves us more than we could ever imagine, but because he is perfect and we are not, there is a barrier of sin and pride between us. The very purpose of Jesus’ mission was to remove that barrier and make it possible for anyone to be reconciled to God and to know and live with God for ever. All the while we think that we are good enough for God as we are, or that we can earn his favour, , or that my morality, my philosophy, my respectability, my success will get me to Heaven, or even that God owes me in some way, we delude ourselves. To our pride in ourselves God’s grace says you are all guilty. But to the humble who recognise their need of his grace, he is always willing to forgive. Everyone then needs to say sorry genuinely and to accept God’s offer of forgiveness: He can make no exception.<br /><br />And he does this by asking us to believe in Jesus; to believe that he, Jesus, is God’s chosen way of reconciling the world to himself; to believe that his sacrificial death was the price he was prepared to pay for our reconciliation because he loves us so much that he was prepared to lay down his life for the whole world and for me; to believe not only that we needed to be reconciled but that he has indeed reconciled us; to believe that his resurrection from death proves that all that Jesus claimed and did and taught could be believed; to believe that however terrible or however wonderful our personal track records, we are all in the same boat of need of God’s grace. <br /><br />God’s mercy is what we receive when we personally accept that grace: we are forgiven and need no longer fear either about God’s love for us or about this life or the next. And therefore we have the promise, and the knowledge, and the comfort of God’s peace, the knowledge and assurance that in this life we can ourselves be at peace because we now have peace with God. We have been forgiven and accepted because we have admitted our need of God’s grace; and our faith in what Jesus has done for us, his most amazing act of self-sacrificial love, has set us free: free to live without emptiness and fear because not only has he answered our deepest questions about the meaning and purpose of life and what will happen to us when we die, but also because he has come by his spirit to live in us (V 14) so that together we can live life abundantly…’to ALL who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God’. <br /><br /><b>Grace</b> – God’s free gift of reconciling love to the undeserving<br /><br /><b>Mercy</b> – his forgiveness of those who believe in Jesus, his unique and universal mediator of reconciliation with him<br /><br /><b>Peace</b> – the knowledge and comfort that we have nothing to fear either in this life or the next because we are at peace with our Creator and Heavenly Father.<br /> Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-61883012325240825242019-08-25T18:00:00.000+01:002019-09-04T14:34:28.955+01:00Luke 6 verses 46 to 49Today’s gospel reading about the wise and foolish builders is a story that most of us are familiar with. <br /><br />And it speaks to us in two ways. It speaks to us about surviving the trials and tribulations of life, but it also speaks to us about standing and surviving God’s judgement.<br /><br />And this morning I’d like to look at both of these strands.<br /><br />To set this parable in context, Jesus is surrounded by a great multitude of people. Having healed many of them he then delivers a big chunk of teaching which is commonly called his sermon on the plain. And he ends his teaching with this parable.<br /><br />So, Jesus is concerned as to whether people are actually taking on board what he is saying.<br /><br />Lots of people like coming to see him - to be healed, to hear his teaching, and perhaps see a few miracles. No doubt it makes quite a nice day out. But how many of these people actually then go away and put his teaching into practice?<br /><br />As he says in verse 46; “why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you?”<br /><br />Many of these people are happy to call him Lord, but don’t then actually do what he tells them to do.<br /><br />And this can be true of us today. We can read our bibles and come to church and make all the right noises but are we actively trying to put Jesus’ teaching into practice in our lives?<br /><br />Are we making every effort to live in the way that we know God would like us to?<br /><br />Are we as it says on the beam above me – ‘doers of God’s word’? Do we – with the help of the Holy Spirit - do our best to love God and to love our neighbour?<br /><br />Do we seek to bless others that we may be blessed?<br /><br />Do we give generously of our time and money – that we may receive generously?<br /><br />Do we try and control our tongues? Do we actively - as our Old Testament reading tells us to - try and obey God’s commandments and “observe them diligently – so that it may go well with us?”<br /><br />You see to ignore God’s word and his teaching is to ignore God himself.<br /><br />Whereas to love God is to obey his commandments. As Jesus says in John’s gospel - “If you love me, keep my commandments.”<br /><br />To exalt God’s word and his teaching in our lives – in other words to hold it in high regard – is to exalt God in our lives.<br /><br />This is why, if we claim to be Christians it is so important to immerse ourselves in the bible – in God’s word – to soak ourselves in it. <br /><br />Again as our Old Testament reading puts it – to recite God’s word to our children, to talk about it at home, to reflect on it and write it down.<br /><br />To base our lives on God’s word and to seek to live it out.<br /><br />And Jesus is saying that if we do this – we will be placing our lives on a firm foundation.<br /><br />Of course, just as digging deep foundations for a house involves hard work and effort – so does seeking to love God and demonstrating this by trying to live our lives in obedience to him.<br /><br />And if we’re really going to try to love our neighbour as ourself – as the Good Samaritan found out – this will likely involve effort, inconvenience and expense.<br /><br />It will involve putting our own plans aside and making time to actively help other people. <br /><br />Digging deep foundations – and building our lives on rock – on Jesus and his teaching - requires dedication and the focus of our whole lives.<br /><br />Each day we need to be turning to God and asking for his help to live as we know he would like us to.<br /><br />To help us live clean lives. To help us bite our tongues and not say things we know we shouldn’t. To help us to resist temptation. To help us turn the other cheek and be peace makers. <br /><br />Of course we’ll fall short and fail – but God is most interested in the attitude of our hearts and our desire to at least try and live lovingly.<br /><br />It can be especially hard to forgive people who have hurt us or our loved ones - and we will likely need to pray persistently for God’s help to do this – particularly if we’ve been badly hurt. <br /><br />But if we choose not to forgive - we will find that our own lives are spoiled by bitterness and anger.<br /><br />The bible tells us we should thank and praise God even when life is tough because he loves us and is always working for our good – but this too can be hard. <br /><br />It takes commitment to read our bibles each day and to try and live it out.<br /><br />It’s much easier to live to please ourselves – but if we do this we’ll find we’re building our lives on sand.<br /><br />The thing is though that the more we base our lives on Jesus and his teaching – as this parable makes clear - the better we will be able to stand up when life bowls us a curve ball – when the trials and tribulations of life assail us.<br /><br />The better we will be able not only to survive difficult times but actually to remain confident, steadfast and even cheerful through them, because we have a strong faith in God and know that he is in control of our situation and loves us.<br /><br />God has helped and comforted me through difficult times on several occasions - simply by speaking to me through bible verses or by giving me a great sense of peace about something.<br /><br />Years ago when Mary and I were first married we had to leave the house we were renting because the owner died and his family wanted to sell it.<br /><br />We prayed that God would help us find a new place to live but the only house we could find which we could afford, was a real mess with filthy carpets, mildew on the walls upstairs, and tons of rubbish in the garden.<br /><br />Mary who was heavily pregnant, was really upset by our predicament. I went to Lamberhust church and sat on a bench in the graveyard. I wanted to pray but I was so chewed up I couldn’t.<br /><br />As I sat there, suddenly a tremendous peace came over me and I knew everything was going to be OK. With the help of friends we cleaned the house up and painted and re-carpeted it with offcuts and it turned out fine.<br /><br />And several years ago - when I was really fearful of being ill after I’d had a nasty lump removed from under my arm, God comforted me with the words of Psalm 41. <br /><br />He said to me – ‘Joseph, I will protect you and preserve your life. I will not abandon you to the power of your enemies.<br /><br />I will help you when you are sick and will restore you to health.’<br /><br />It is easy to be a lazy Christian and to treat God like a spiritual headache pill – and come running back to Him as things start to get difficult.<br /><br />But if we do this we shouldn’t be surprised if problems and difficulties then start to overwhelm us.<br /><br />The other aspect of this parable that we need to be aware of is judgement. The life built on rock – on Jesus – stands when the flood – when judgement comes.<br /><br />The first man who hears Jesus’ teaching and acts on it, survives the day of judgement.<br /><br />He has taken Jesus seriously, repented, and made the effort to put his words into practise. He is able to stand on the day of judgement, because his life is built on a firm foundation, on God himself.<br /><br />The second man has also heard Jesus teaching but he has failed to act on it or put it into practise. When judgement comes his life is swept away because it has no foundation.<br /><br />Jesus words are supremely important because how we respond to them will determine whether we stand or fall on the day of judgement.<br /><br />What he says is of eternal significance to our lives. Most of us don’t like to think about judgement. We prefer to think of Jesus patting children on the head and carrying cuddly baby lambs.<br /><br />But the bible tells us that God has set a day when he will judge everyone – and on that day some will stand and some will fall.<br /><br />When God judged the world in the time of Noah and sent the flood – the only safe place to be was inside the Ark.<br /><br />All those who were outside the Ark were swept away in the flood waters.<br /><br />And today in the world – where there is so much evil and hatred and bad news - the only really safe place to be is in Christ Jesus. <br /><br />What this means in practice is making our peace with God and welcoming Jesus into our hearts and lives.<br /><br />It means recognising that we need to be saved and put right with God – because we do sin – because we do fall short.<br /><br />We all fail to love those around us and to honour God as we should. And however nice or kind we may be - we don’t measure up to God’s perfect standard.<br /><br />God doesn’t enjoy judging people – but He is just. He can’t just turn a blind eye when people’s lives are destroyed by hatred and greed and malice. There is a price to pay for sin.<br /><br />And this of course is why Jesus died for us. He never sinned or fell short. He led a perfect life and then willingly offered that perfect life for us on the cross.<br /><br />And on the cross he took all our sin and failure to love others – himself - and was punished in our place – so that God would no longer have any cause to be angry with us<br /><br />And when we accept Jesus into our lives - God places us in Christ Jesus. We become God’s children and members of God’s family - the church.<br /><br />When the flood waters of judgment come we will stand – because our lives are built on Jesus and what he has done for us.<br /><br />We will stand because we have believed in the Lord Jesus – and he has already been judged and punished in our place.<br /><br />And when death comes – we need have no fear because we know that we belong to God; that we are his beloved children and that Jesus has rescued us from judgment and put us right with God for ever.<br /><br />There’s a bible verse in the book of Revelation that says; “behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he shall eat with me.”<br /><br />So, if you haven’t yet put your life on rock, Jesus is standing at the door of your life right now – and knocking. He’s saying please open the door of your heart and let me in.<br /><br />I love you and I want you to be mine. I know everything about your life and I know what’s best for you.<br /><br />If you let me in, I will change your life for the better. I will put your life on rock and you will stand; you will stand in life and you will stand when I come again to judge the world because you will be mine and belong to me.<br /><br />I’m going to end my talk now with a time of quiet prayer and reflection when we can share what is on our hearts with God.<br /><br />If you do want to open the door of your life to Jesus, just tell him. Say to him ‘Lord Jesus please come into my life. Save me and make me yours.’<br /><br /><br /><br />So, let’s all pray quietly for a few moments.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-11798402556479015312019-07-21T18:00:00.000+01:002019-07-25T21:39:38.682+01:00The Christian LifeThis morning I’d like to follow on from what Andrew Axon said a couple of weeks ago about Christianity being a seven day a week relationship with God and not just something we pick up and dust off on a Sunday morning.<br />
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I’ve called my talk ‘The Christian life’ and I want to show why the idea of just having a Sunday faith is completely at odds with what God intends for us.<br />
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And I’d like to start by looking at how we initially find a relationship with God because this is key to how we should then continue to walk with God day by day.<br />
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According to the bible, our relationship with God starts as we repent and turn to him.<br />
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Lots of people think repentance sounds a bit gloomy and negative but actually it’s a very positive thing. And it is simply us reaching a point where we truly want God in our lives and therefore we’re willing to turn to him and submit to him.<br />
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We’re willing to say OK Lord I’ve tried life my way and I’m not happy or fulfilled. I want meaning and purpose and forgiveness. I want to know you and why you created me – so please come into my life and be my God.<br />
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And we can reach this point in life for a variety of reasons.<br />
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It may be because we feel our lives are empty and pointless without God and we are hungry for meaning and purpose. <br />
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Or it may be because we are fearful and feel lost and alone in the world. It may be because we are burdened with a realisation that we’ve made a mess of our lives and we realise we need forgiveness and a fresh start.<br />
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People come to a point of repentance for a whole variety of reasons – but as we truly repent and turn to God and invite him into our lives – he responds to the cry of our heart and comes into our lives by his spirit – and we come to know him and his love for us.<br />
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In other words our relationship with him starts. <br />
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And then in order to grow and develop that relationship, just as we received Christ by turning to him and submitting our lives to him – we should continue to live in the same way day by day.<br />
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Paul says in his letter to the Colossians – “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him.”<br />
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So, each day we should be turning to and submitting ourselves to God afresh - inviting him to guide us and work through us in any way he chooses. <br />
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And this what Jesus is saying in today’s gospel reading when he speaks about taking up our crosses and following him. <br />
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Jesus lived in perfect submission to his Heavenly Father every day of his life even as he approached his crucifixion.<br />
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He chose quite literally to take up his cross in the Garden of Gethsemane when he said; “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” <br />
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And metaphorically speaking we should do the same. In our case the cross Jesus is taking about is self-denial and choosing each day to do our best to follow God’s will for our lives rather than our own.<br />
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This is what Jesus means by losing our lives for his sake and the gospel. He means choosing God’s plan and purpose for our lives rather than our own.<br />
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Paul says essentially the same thing in our reading from Romans chapter 12. He says; “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.”<br />
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The true and proper way to worship God is for us to lay our lives down in service to him. In practice this means allowing God to be the God of our lives.<br />
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It means being obedient to him. It means allowing him to direct and guide us. It means stepping out in faith if we believe he is asking us to do something.<br />
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It means submitting our plans to him and asking him to ensure that whatever we’re planning is in accordance with his will.<br />
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Its acknowledging that he knows best and that his way is best. It’s acknowledging that he is our Lord and God – not us.<br />
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And as we turn to and submit to Jesus as Lord and King we experience his kingdom – his rule and reign in our hearts and lives and we become a part of it. <br />
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And we become ambassadors for it – and our main purpose in life becomes to help extend it because we realise it is an eternal kingdom and it is the very best thing any person can ever experience or become a part of.<br />
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So, we walk through life each day in the world but also in the spirit - conscious of God’s kingdom and always looking for opportunities to share it and make Jesus known.<br />
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We walk in the world and in the spirit at the same time.<br />
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Its interesting that in the Old Testament according to the Law of Moses, the Jewish people could only eat clean animals – animals with a cloven hoof and that chewed the cud, such as cows, sheep, and goats.<br />
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In some ways just as an animal with a cloven hoof leaves a double footprint where it walks, so do we as Christians. As we walk through life, we leave a worldly foot print but also a spiritual footprint.<br />
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And just as cloven hoof cattle chew the cud – so should we chew and reflect on God’s word in order to get the goodness from it.<br />
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Of course we have to live our earthly lives and fulfil our worldly duties – to earn a living, pay our bills, do the washing up, mow the lawn, get our cars serviced – etc - but as we do these things we are conscious that God is with us and that he wants to reach out to those around us through us.<br />
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He wants us to be like salt and light. To change the flavour of life around us and for people to see something of his love and goodness in us.<br />
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And of course every Christian is a missionary – someone who is sent by God - and has a mission field?<br />
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Our mission field is the people we mix with and encounter each day. First and foremost our family. God wants to save our families and to reach out to them through us – through our prayers for them; through our words and the example of faith they see in us.<br />
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Our mission field is also our friends and work colleagues and anyone we may meet in life. <br />
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God loves each one and we just need to be open to the prompting of his spirit as we go through life.<br />
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Now at this point I just want to say that this is what God wants us to do – but as frail and weak and imperfect people, of course we fall short of doing this. I certainly do.<br />
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We get side tracked by the world and our busy lives and we can forget about God. We can put him on the backburner – and we miss what he is asking us to do because we’re too focused on stuff we have to do.<br />
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We fail to reflect his love and goodness. We have a tendency to be impatient and selfish and to wander away from God.<br />
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And this is the great struggle of the Christian life – the pull of God and the pull of the world, the flesh and the devil.<br />
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But so much of this struggle and how well we manage to lead our Christian lives hinges on the choices we make each day.<br />
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How we choose to feed or starve our relationship with God.<br />
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Generally speaking, the more time we choose to spend in prayer and reading God’s word, the healthier our relationship with him will be.<br />
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The bible says draw close to God and he will draw close to you.<br />
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I can’t stress how important it is for us as Christians to make space each day to spend time alone with God.<br />
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I really like doing the Bible in One Year as it gives me a focus for my quiet time each morning. I can lift the day ahead to God and ask him to be with me in it and through it.<br />
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Joyce Meyer is a really good American bible teacher – and she believes that Satan’s primary attack on our lives is often on our quiet times.<br />
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She says that Satan knows if he can stop or deter us from spending time with God, he can disrupt our walk with God and limit our fruitfulness.<br />
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So, don’t be surprised if other things crop up just as you’re about to pray or if you mind starts wandering and you suddenly think about some job you need to do. <br />
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Of course as Christians our walk with God is not just personal, its corporate. We need each other. We need the encouragement and prayer and support of our Christian brothers and sisters.<br />
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And as we meet and come together with other Christians Jesus is among us in a special way.<br />
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He says; “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."<br />
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And this is why we come to church and meet together. This is why we join study groups. Its to meet with our spiritual family, to encourage one another and build each other up, in order that as we go out into the world during the week, we can be fruitful.<br />
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I know I’ve tried to cover quite a lot of different aspects of our Christian life this morning but as I said I wanted to try and show how far away from God’s purpose for our lives is the idea of being a Sunday Christian.<br />
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If we are trying to cram our relationship with God into an hour on Sunday we are miles away from his plan and purpose for our lives.<br />
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So, as I tie up my talk this morning, I’d like us to reflect on how we are doing on our Christian walk with God.<br />
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Are we submitting our lives and our plans to God – because this was the case when we became Christians? Are we spending time with God each day? Are we reading our bibles and chewing the cud? Are we actively looking to try and help others come to know him? Are we seeking to serve God in some way in our lives?<br />
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Of course, he doesn’t condemn us for failing to do these things but he wants us to be obedient and focused on him so that we can experience his life and love and then share it with others because there is nothing we can do that is more important.<br />
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I’m going to close now with a time of quiet when we can reflect on these things with our Heavenly Father. <br />
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So, let’s all close our eyes and talk to God in our hearts about anything I’ve said this morning which may resonate with us.<br />
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QUIET<br />
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Lord Jesus forgive us for all the ways we fall short in our walk with you. As we sing this next song we ask you to come among us and fill us with your Holy Spirit. We ask you to fill us with your life and your love and to give us the willingness and determination to follow you. Help us to make a difference in the world, Lord. AmenBrenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-28812551804664931282019-07-14T18:00:00.000+01:002019-07-15T09:51:25.275+01:00Raising Children in the Faith – Talk 2This morning we have the second in our little series of three talks about ‘family life and faith’, looking at how we – and when I say ‘we’ I mean the whole church family - can be involved in bringing up the next generation of children in the faith of Jesus Christ. If you missed the first talk, there are hard copies available by the font or, of course, you can get it on our website. <br /><br />Are you a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a godparent? If so, then this little series of talks is for you; for you in order to help you to play your God-ordained role - just as we heard in our first reading of God’s instructions to his people in the Book of Deuteronomy – your role in raising the next generation of Christians. How can we, both as individuals with blood ties, and as the church family with spiritual ties, involve ourselves effectively in bringing up the next generation of children to know and love God as their Creator, Redeemer, Father, Friend?<br /><br />After the last talk, one or two people did say to me how uneasy what I said had made them feel, but also admitted that it needed to be heard and that it had prompted them to give the subject much more serious thought. And that is surely no bad thing - declaring what God has said about how important it is Christian parents, grandparents, godparents, and indeed the whole church family, raise children in the faith; no bad thing if it wakes us all up to our responsibilities; no bad thing if it encourages us – as it ought – to take some positive, proactive -albeit in some cases remedial - action; no bad thing in the light of that truly sad and disturbing figure from the ‘European Values Survey’ I quoted from: that of those who s<b>elf-identify as ‘Anglicans’</b>, religious faith was the least mentioned value and was included as a priority only by 11% of respondents. Whereas the most chosen value amongst Anglicans? ‘Good Manners’, picked by a whopping 93%!!!<br /><br />All the research shows that in every area of life it is <b>parents and families</b> who have the greatest influence on the outlook, values and behaviours of their children: it is <b>the home that is the key place where children are nurtured and taught</b>. As I said previously, that’s as true for faith as it is for manners, values and attitudes -WHICH IS WHY OF COURSE SO MANY CIVIL SERVANTS, POLITICIANS, IDENTITY GROUPS AND OTHERS are trying to wrest it away from parents! We surely would not leave our children ‘free’(!) to discover drugs, sex, alcohol, etc; so why on earth our Christian faith?<br /><br />This morning I want to give you some very practical tips; tips that have been shown to be so effective in making a vital difference to our children in their faith’s formation.<br /><br />If we give this our time, quality time; if we create a culture, an environment of faith at home; if we share wisdom with our children – but are also open to learning from them; if we as adults <b>live</b> as if our faith in Christ is the most important thing in our life, then the ‘world’, as Jesus termed it – that is, all those people and forces that find God either inconvenient or a threat to their aims and purposes – will find their task very difficult indeed. And we need to remember that we are not on our own in this: as St. John reminds us in his first letter, ‘He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.’ We all of us need to hold on to that wonderful truth whenever we face the ‘world’, its deceptions, its lies, and its temptations.<br /><br /><b>Making a difference</b> in our children’s lives, the great difference of faith, does not require a <b>degree</b> in theology; but it does require a <b>desire</b>, as the Prayer Book puts it, ‘to grow in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord’. And rather than desperately trying to find <b>extra</b> time in our already full, fraught, and frenetic lives, why not begin to look at what you already do as a family and ask yourself and God how you could best bring a Christian dimension or flavour to that. I realise only too well that to so many Brits - who prefer not to talk about our faith and to compartmentalise it - because that it what is ‘expected’ - this can sound pretty extreme. But we really must ask ourselves, ‘How much do we value our children over silly social taboos or what other people might think of us?’<br /><br />Do you say ‘grace’ at meals together? Do you say prayers with your children – at bedtime or whenever is best? Do you make those prayer times <b>enjoyable</b> and an <b>adventure</b> by writing some of them down and then talking <b>about</b> how God has answered them? Do your children have a bible appropriate to their reading age? Do your children and grandchildren <b>hear</b> you talking about God and also <b>with</b> him? Do they hear you singing some of the hymns and songs you sing on Sunday - or is it just your favourite old ABBA or Rolling Stones numbers? Why not, as a family, try, for example, singing ‘We are walking in the love of God’ but change the words for whatever you’re doing; because then your children will quickly get the message! So we are ‘washing, drying, driving, dressing in the love of God.’ These are all very positive and, I think we need to be honest, <b>very simple</b> things to achieve.<br /><br />Yes, I know that there are many competing priorities. But do you take advantage of them and see them not as problems but as opportunities – opportunities to show your children how vital faith is and that the ‘world’ doesn’t always have to win. <br /><br />If you have to miss the Sunday service, do you have a little service of your own – later at home, in the car on the way to the relations, on the walk by the fields or by the seashore? A couple of songs, a few prayers, perhaps one of you tells your favourite parable? Pretty positive; <b>perfectly possible</b>! <br /><br />What about Christian holiday camps, either as a family or for children to go to and be with children who are Christians where they can have tremendous fun whilst deepening their understanding? My three children made and still have some of their best friends from those camps. There are very local summer ones and they start from around 9 or 10 years of age. <br /><br />I know families who, on principle, will not hold a children’s party on a Sunday morning or even go to one. It’s not about being ‘self-righteous’ or ‘super holy’; it’s about being faithful and, to quote from our second reading. ‘shining like a star in the world’. And of course one very good way of being known as a Christian family is to invite friends to church as well as Sunday lunch. <b>Making our faith visible is a God-given responsibility both at home and in the world; it is the Christians’ principal task given to us by Christ.</b> One mother happened to mention at the school gate that when she prayed with her children they fell calmly to sleep. Another mother, on hearing this said, ’Well, I’d better try that myself ‘cos nothing else is working.’<br /><br />So how do we start? Are you a parent? You might start by taking an honest look at the culture at home. Who calls the shots? God or ‘the world’? Are you a grandparent? Grandchildren see grandparents as very precious loved ones: make sure your grandchildren know what, deep down, makes you tick. Are you a godparent? What kind of presents do you give your godchildren? Are you a member of the church family? The children here belong to you, just as you belong to them. They may not understand that yet; but you do. Remember; you do not have to be perfect, but you are perfectly placed in those roles to be a tremendous influence on children.<br /><br />When we read passages such as God’s commands to his chosen people in the Book of Deuteronomy; when we think of his loving concern for us and for our children in a world that so subtly wants to steer them away from him, and from us as parents, to enslave them to priorities, principles, and practices which, without the defence of a robust and living faith, will overcome them; when we think of what is <b>best</b> in life and <b>best</b> in human beings, how can we not do our utmost for our children in terms of raising them in the faith? God wants us to raise children of character, children of charity – that is, of Christian love; children of his Church to ‘shine as stars’ in a world that is trying its hardest to extinguish the light of his saving Gospel of forgiveness, reconciliation, and new and abundant life.<br /><br />When God says, ‘You shall have no other God’s before me’, why do you think he said that? Was it for his good or for ours? We really do have to ask the right questions about God’s commandments and not listen to the facile, libertarian pontifications of several well known TV celebs in our increasingly destructive and anarchic culture of hyper-individualism. And do we really think that our children will admire and respect us <b>more</b> because we left them alone amongst the wolves to make up their own minds about the Christian faith, or because we followed the crowd, and the social taboos, and the spirit of the age?<br /><br />Psychologists say that children need 18 years of uninterrupted, hands on, parental love if they are to grow up into well-rounded adults. What better human role model is there to give them than Jesus? It’s the question that stops in their tracks every parent at our local school who asks me why it has to be a Christian school with a Christian ethos and values. But if your children spend more time watching ‘Love Island’ than, for example, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, what values are they going to take on board? ‘Oh, it’s harmless’, some will say. No it’s not! Have you read some of the background stories to these ‘celebs’? Children need positive alternatives to the barrage of -misguided and misguiding rubbish that surrounds them today. Genuine parenting is responsible parenting; responsible parenting is parenting as God intended it.<br /><br />I often hear the excuse, ‘But I don’t know enough about the Christian faith to explain it to children.’ Okay, so go on an ALPHA course or come on a course we’re planning to run here on 8 evenings in the autumn called, ’Christianity Explored’. Over 35 years I reckon I’ve heard every excuse under the sun for people not willing to talk about their faith; but never a convincing one. Or perhaps you’re saying to yourself, ’But I’m not a perfect Dad or a perfect Mum or a perfect Granny or Grampa.’ Sure; no one is: but you could take the opportunity to talk to your children about our need for humility and about God’s wonderful gift of forgiveness.<br /><br />How can I help children grow in the faith? Make sure it’s obvious! in your speech, in your conversations, in your priorities, in your home. The role of the Christian parent is to protect and to prepare our children to shine as God’s ‘lights’ in the world. We need to build character modelled on Jesus and in relationship with him, character that can face and overcome the world with God’s truth and his love, those two things which alone can ‘save’ others and bring them new life, life as God intended it, life as no other person or philosophy can bring. <br /><br />Now I don’t expect – though I would be very pleasantly surprised – to drive through the village later this week and admire the ten commandments inscribed as per Deuteronomy 6 on your door frames and gates: but I do hope and trust that they will be on your hearts; that you will impress them on your children because you love them; and that you will talk about them with your children as a perfectly natural and normal part of every day. <br /><br />A few years ago it was not uncommon to see children and adults with little bands on their wrists displaying the letters WWJD? - What Would Jesus Do? That seems to me to be a very healthy and helpful thing not only for those who wear them but also for those who see them and ask, ‘Why are you wearing that, and what does it mean?’<br /><br /><i>Next Sunday, the Church family. What can this family do to help raise our children in the Christian faith?</i>Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-63580077589900170412019-06-23T11:36:00.000+01:002019-07-01T11:40:23.590+01:00Raising our children in the Faith – children of character, children of charity, children of the Church<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reading - Psalm 78</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today and on two further Sundays in July, I will be talking about ‘family life and faith’, and how we – and when I say ‘we’ I mean the whole church family - can be involved in bringing up the next generation of children in the faith of Jesus Christ. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Are you a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a godparent? If so, then this little series of talks is for you in order to help you to play your God-ordained role – yes, just as Psalm 78 and God’s instructions to his people in the Book of Deuteronomy put it – in raising the next generation of Christians. How can we, both as individuals with blood ties, and as the church family with spiritual ties, involve ourselves effectively in bringing the next generation of children to know and love God as their Creator, Redeemer, Father, Friend?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Does it matter? Is it my responsibility, you might ask? Well yes, it jolly well is; and I intend, from presenting a blend of the biblical commands, some recent polls, and the horrors of what our children are facing today in terms of secular and atheist propaganda, to explain why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As we start, a couple of really important things to say. First, this sermon series really is for everyone, whether you have children or teenagers at home or not. <strong>This is for the whole church and not just for parents and grandparents</strong>. One of the things that we will be exploring is how it takes a whole church to raise a child - a whole church - and how one of the really counter cultural things that we have to offer, as a church family, is <strong>a community of belonging in which everyone shares responsibility for each other, and in which children, in particular, belong to us all.</strong> And this in a society increasingly centred on the self, on the narcissistic god of ‘hyper-individualism’, fuelled and fed as he is by commercial opportunity and identity groups whose real agendas – however much they try to disguise their motives as equal rights, personal fulfilment, and even compassion - are truly terrible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Secondly, talking about family life and faith risks the suggestion that there is some kind of ‘perfect’ way of doing this – raising children in the faith; and because none of us ever quite manage ‘perfect parenting’, the risk is that this series will just makes us all feel awful about ourselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So please hear this clearly. This series is about encouragement and about invitation – the encouragement to give it a go because it is never too late to start. This is not criticism or judgement – though I understand some will feel that is. But it’s not: what I want to encourage you to do is to take an honest look, a reality check, about the situation our children face today and the part we all need to play in raising children of faith. It’s about not falling between two stools: the one thinking that being a wonderful parent or grandparent means not ‘interfering’ in our children’s and grandchildren’s faith journeys; the other, thinking that it’s all too difficult or that I don’t have the skill-set or I’m not a good enough Christian. But if we don’t, if we abdicate, we will be letting our children, our grandchildren, our nephews and nieces, our godchildren down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Please put aside for the next ten minutes or so those false cultural imperatives that faith is private, that talking about it is taboo, and that children will somehow or other find their way. And if they don’t, well it doesn’t really matter because the God I believe in is merciful and loves everyone. Sadly, that last statement, though true, is only half the story: it is precisely because God loves all that he sent Jesus to save all and to offer them all life in all its fulness. And when adults refuse their God-ordained role to bring children up in the faith, we not only leave them in ignorance and darkness, we leave them prone to all kinds of terrible temptations and injurious consequences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, first I will lay out why this stuff matters - why intellectual and practical faith in the home matters, and why this is an issue for all of us. I’m going to share some research that has been done on the issue of faith and families. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Secondly, I want to look at some things that our culture tells us about children and faith.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And thirdly I want to come back to the question of why this matters above all else in the world!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We will be looking at the bible, at what it has to say about families, and then some really practical stuff that we can do as families and as a whole church. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, what’s the issue and why does this stuff matter? There has been a lot of research done recently about how people come to faith, and about why churches grow or decline. Here are some figures for you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When practising Christians were asked at what age they <strong>came to faith</strong>, this is what they said: 40% said before the age of 5; 16% between 5-10 and 20% between the ages of 11-18: that’s 76% of Christians who came to faith before they were 18.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And when young people who believe in God were asked who are the key influences on their faith, 72% said their family; not church, not their friends; but <strong>their family.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed a very wide ranging survey of research in this area draws the same conclusion: the most important social influence in shaping young people’s religious lives is <strong>the religious life modelled and taught to them by their parents.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And that all makes sense doesn’t it - we know that in every area of life it is parents and families who have the greatest influence on the outlook, values and behaviours of their kids. Schools have a part to play, groups, friends too - <strong>but the home is the key place where children are nurtured and taught</strong>. That’s as true for faith as it is for manners, values and attitudes -WHICH IS WHY MANY CIVILSERVANTS,POLITICIANS, IDENTITY GROUPS AND OTHERS are trying to wrest it away! We surely would not leave our children ‘free’(!) to discover drugs sex, alcohol, etc; so why something so much more important and life-enhancing - faith!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s another bit of research. The European Values Survey asks large numbers of people across Europe about their values and attitudes. One of the questions offers 11 ‘values’ and asks parents to choose the 5 most important. Of those who <strong>self identify as Anglicans</strong>, religious faith was the least mentioned value, and was included as a priority only by 11%. The most chosen value amongst Anglicans? ‘Good Manners’, picked by a whopping 93%! I nearly cried when I first read that: We all should; because it represents a victory for ‘cultural’, faith-less, Christianity; the kind that keeps us in the world <strong>and</strong> of it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One more statistic for you. Church of England attendance statistics show that <strong>50% of the children of committed adult believers will stop going to church as adults.</strong> Putting together these facts and figures, what do we get?</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The most important factor in anyone coming to faith and growing up to be a practising Christian believer is <strong>their family. </strong></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anglican families do not consider bringing their children up in the faith to be a priority.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Half of the children of current believers will not go on to be adult Christians.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On current attendance figures, that would leave the Church of England with just over 100,000 attenders within 60 years…. were it not for the fact that whilst theologically and culturally so-called ‘liberal’ anglican churches the figures clearly show are declining – because they have shied away from the Gospel and tended to side with the world and the spirit of the age – those churches where the Gospel is preached and practised, and where not just children but children’s faith is fed and watered, are increasing. So why is this happening? Why are so many of us so hesitant to share our faith with children? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Three things seem particularly important. First, many people simply don’t believe in the core Christian offer. Scepticism, indifference and even mockery of Christianity are now the norm - and the constant drip, drip, of negativity has made us less confident in our own faith. It’s hard to be a public Christian: people laugh at you – or behind your back, or argue with you, or tell you you’re a ‘fool’? Is being on an atheist’s Christmas party list really more important? So we keep quiet about it- at work, at school, at the gym - even within our own families. It has been said to me, ‘But Campbell, this is a small village.’ So are we to sacrifice truth and integrity for safety and popularity?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Secondly, A culture of choice. We are surrounded by the promise that choice is everything. Our culture says, ‘you can choose anything and everything - and it is your <strong>right</strong> to do so. In fact, if you want to live a full and free life, you must do so. Don’t let anyone tell you who you are, what you should believe, or how you should live your life. ‘<em>Be true to yourself</em>’, ‘<em>discover your own truth</em>’, ‘<em>be the person you want to be</em>’; these are the phrases that shape our world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And that culture of choice has become part of our culture in church too. And so we feel that we have to let our children choose what they believe. We don’t want to ‘brainwash’ our children; they need to discover their own truth, or their own way. And so we’re happy for them to come to church and to do RE - because then they’ll have the facts they need to make a choice of their own one day. But we’re not going to <strong>tell</strong> them what to believe, because that might be indoctrinating them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet much of this choice is sheer illusion - everything children hear from the culture that we all live in says ‘<em>don’t believe this stuff, find your own truth, religion is dull, church is for losers’</em>. <strong>There is no such thing as a ‘free choice’</strong>. If we don't choose for them when they’re young, society will make the choice for them - and the choice will be for society’s view of things, the ‘world’s’ view. And that for certain won’t include God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And anyway, there are loads of things we don’t let our children choose; we <strong>teach</strong> them to say please and thank you; we <strong>expect</strong> them to do their homework and to go to school. The question isn’t whether we’re imposing things on them - of course we’re doing that - the question is ‘are we sharing the things that matter most to us with our kids and grandchildren?’ And if God matters, if faith is important to us, then we should be really clear about passing it on to the next generation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We cannot simply contract out teaching the faith to the clergy, to Youth Workers, to Sunday groups, to ‘church’ – the ones who can do what we don’t feel confident to do. Talk to any teacher and they’ll tell you that education is a partnership, talk to doctors and they will tell you that good health starts at home, talk to a sports coach and they know that the kids who succeed are the ones where the parents- or another adult - are really involved and interested in the child’s development.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The same is true of faith. Of course church is crucial in the faith development of children; and that’s why children and families are so important to us at All Saints. I love our Baby and Toddler service; it’s my favourite service of the week. I don’t have to dress up in clothes modelled on late 3<sup>rd</sup> century Roman dignitaries attire or 17<sup>th</sup> century English Reformers. We have fun and dance, like King David did before the Lord – or rather we jump! – to show how grateful we are to him for blessing us in so many ways and for sending Jesus to teach us how to live and love. But all the <strong>evidence</strong> is that the vital journey of faith starts and is spent for the greater part at home; that what is modelled at home is the biggest single factor in children growing up with a living and robust faith of their own. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So there’s the challenge. And it’s a challenge for all of us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s not a new challenge. We heard Psalm 78 just now; it was written 3000 years ago <strong>but for every generation of God’s people. </strong>So for now let me finish with the real reason why this all matters so much. And it’s not about church numbers, and whether the Church of England has a future - which in God’s great plan for his creation, isn’t the most important thing. (And, yes, you can tell the Bishop or the Archdeacon that; and if they disagree then we’d all better watch out!) It’s to do with truth. If Christianity is true; if it’s true that there is a God, that he made this Universe, that he cares so passionately about every person and every life that he sent Jesus to live, die and live again for us. If it’s true that suffering won’t have the final word, that injustice matters, and that we can do something about it. If it’s true that the Holy Spirit is alive and active, that prayers are answered, that healing of body, mind and soul is possible. If this is true, then it matters more than anything else that we might ever know – anything else in the whole wide world! It’s more important than the 11+, than their career options, than their popularity or yours: because when these fail, to what or to whom do they turn? No: if it is true, then it really, really matters that our children and grandchildren, and the children that we share church life with, have the opportunity to know it too - and if we don’t tell them, and show them, and be ready to learn from them in turn – remember Jesus’ words, ’unless you become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom of God’- nobody will.Society says - keep this God stuff to yourself. Faith says - this is the greatest gift you can give a child. Tell them, share it with them. Give them the gift of God’s presence in their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After all, it we don’t tell them, chances are nobody will; but someone will be there to fill the void, and with something you will only deeply regret. Next time, the bible and some tips! </span><br />
<br />Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-54156508882040766862019-06-09T18:00:00.000+01:002019-06-10T13:18:41.784+01:00Pentecost Acts 2 1 -21So today is Pentecost when we remember and celebrate the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first disciples to empower them to carry on Jesus’ work.<br /><br />And this morning I’d just like to say a few words about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost and why we also need to be filled with God’s power and his love - just as those first disciples were two thousand years ago.<br /><br />The first thing to make clear is that the Holy Spirit is a person. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is referred to in scripture as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jesus and he has an absolutely vital role to play in our Christian lives.<br /><br />The Holy Spirit is the one who initially brings us to faith in Jesus. He is the one who convicts us of our sin and makes us realise our need for forgiveness and to be put right with God.<br /><br />The Holy Spirit is the one who comes to live in our hearts and lives, who fills us with God’s love and imparts eternal life to us.<div>
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He is the one who opens our spiritual eyes to recognise Jesus as Lord and God, who enables us to understand the bible and who empowers us to serve God.<br /><br />Now in order to understand what happened at Pentecost we need to appreciate that the disciples had already received the Holy Spirit beforehand.<br /><br />As we can see in today’s gospel reading from John, the risen Lord Jesus appears to his disciples, and he breathes on them and says “receive the Holy Spirit.”<br /><br />He breathes his own spirit and the life that is in him - into them And as he does this, the Holy Spirit comes to reside in them and they become spiritually alive.<br /><br />But before he sends them out into the world, Jesus has more to give them. So as Luke records at the end of his gospel, Jesus tells his disciples – to stay in the city until they have been clothed with power from on high.<br /><br />The Holy Spirit is already living in them - but God wants to clothe them with His power. He wants to pour out His Spirit upon them abundantly and to pour spiritual gifts into their lives to equip them to serve Him.<br /><br />And the same applies to us. We may be born again and the Holy Spirit may be living in us - but God has more to give us. He wants to fill us with his spirt – with his life and his love, in order to empower us to serve him.<br /><br />Let me try and illustrate what I mean using this glass of water. The glass symbolises a Christian and the water the Holy Spirit.<br /><br />When we become Christians, we receive the Holy Spirit – so the glass has water in - but God wants to fill us with his Spirit – to clothe us with power.<br /><br />Imagine taking a big jug of water and filling the glass completely so it overflows.<br /><br />As Peter explains in verse 17 of today’s reading from Acts – God wants to pour out his spirit abundantly upon all flesh – men and women, young and old, whatever their position in society.<br /><br />And this is what we see happening for the first time at Pentecost in order to empower those first disciples to continue Jesus’ work and to build his church.<br /><br />God fills them with his Spirit and pours new spiritual gifts into their lives and they start speaking in tongues.<br /><br />And then as we read through Acts, we see these disciples doing just what Jesus did – preaching the gospel, healing the sick and casting out demons through the power of the spirit of Jesus who is living in them.<br /><br />And this is what God wants his church to be doing today - but if we are to do this – like these first disciples we need to filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.<br /><br />Of course we can serve God and bear fruit when we are born again, but we can serve him more effectively when are filled with or baptised with the Holy Spirit. And this is the experience of millions of Spirit-filled<br /><br />Christians around the world.<br /><br />I didn’t know anything about being filled with the Holy Spirit until a few years after I’d become a Christian.<br /><br />But then at the Anglican church I was going to in Tunbridge Wells I came across some Christians who seemed to have a certain power – which was evident when they prayed or spoke about God.<br /><br />I asked about this and they told me that God had filled them with his Holy Spirit and that he’d do the same for me if I asked Him.<br /><br />So, I went along to a Christian meeting and asked someone to pray for me and God filled me with His Spirit.<br /><br />I didn’t feel a huge amount when I was prayed for but over the coming days and weeks I noticed that there was a new power and vitality in my Christian life.<br /><br />I also found that God started to communicate with me with little pictures in my mind’s eye – especially when I was praying with people or sometimes to clarify the meaning of scripture.<br /><br />These weren’t amazing 3D visions but just little pictures in my mind’s eye. If I asked you now to picture a bowl of strawberries and cream – this is the type of picture I’m talking about.<br /><br />I remember for instance praying with a guy who was a lorry driver who was convinced God was calling him to full time ministry - but he didn’t know where or when, and he was becoming increasingly frustrated.<br /><br />As I prayed with him a picture came into my mind’s eye of a huge wheel which was slowly turning. And then I saw that this guy had his shoulder to the wheel and he was pushing it with all his might to try and make it go faster. But the wheel was going at its own steady pace – and his efforts were in vain.<br /><br />I shared the picture with him – and explained to him that the wheel symbolised God’s plan for his life – which was slowly unfolding.<br /><br />He needed to stop wearing himself out and to trust God. All would be revealed in good time. Sometime later he joined the Church Army and he’s now a vicar in Scotland.<br /><br />The reason I found that God started to communicate through these little pictures was because God had imparted a new spiritual gift to me.<br /><br />As God fills us with his spirit – as those first disciples found out he imparts new spiritual gifts to us.<br /><br />What sort of spiritual gifts might we receive?<br /><br />Well Paul deals with some of these in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and judging by the book of Acts - two of the most common gifts seem to be the ability to speak in tongues and to prophesy.<br /><br />A lot of people have weird ideas about tongues but it’s simply the God given ability to speak an unlearned human or angelic language.<br /><br />And the thing to stress about tongues is that it is a gift that we can choose to exercise or not. It’s a gift that is subject to our own free will.<br /><br />Just as we can choose when to speak in a foreign language – so we can choose when we want to speak in tongues.<br /><br />The difference is that when we speak in tongues – we don’t understand the meaning of the words we’re saying, although of course God does.<br /><br />Personally, I find that tongues is particularly useful when you’re unsure how to pray about something. If you pray in tongues first, I find that God will often give you an insight into how to pray for a particular person or situation.<br /><br />Prophesy is simply the ability to deliver a message from God. This can be a message of encouragement for an individual or sometimes it may be a message for a church.<br /><br />Other gifts include healing, messages of wisdom and knowledge, the ability to interpret a message given in tongues, and the ability to discern when evil spirits are at work – which is a gift my wife has.<br /><br />This isn’t an exhaustive list. There are all sorts of gifts which God can impart to an individual – and the purpose of these gifts is to strengthen and encourage others and to build up the church.<br /><br />I think that many Christians can be a bit wary and fearful of receiving spiritual gifts because they fear being overtaken by them. But God’s spirit is very gentle. He never forces us to do anything. He works with us as we are willing to co-operate with him. He doesn’t over-ride our free will.<br /><br />Also, it’s immensely encouraging when God helps or encourages others through you.<br /><br />I have no idea what gifts God might choose to impart to you – but God knows you perfectly and He knows exactly which gifts will be right for you – as you seek to serve Him. Whatever gifts he imparts to you will be exactly what you need.<br /><br />God calls every Christian to be as fruitful as possible and in order to do this we need as much help as we can get. We each therefore need to be open to offering ourselves to God to fill and empower as He sees fit.<br /><br />Our prayer should be - Lord I want to be as effective as I can in reaching others with your love. Please fill me with your Spirit and your love and pour into my life those gifts that you want me to have.<br /><br />It’s important to stress that being filled with the Holy Spirit and receiving spiritual gifts isn’t a badge of honour – it’s for service, and our motivation for seeking to be empowered should be because we want to be as fruitful and effective Christians as we possibly can.<br /><br />And once we have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we still need to put time and effort into our relationship with God. In order to experience<br /><br />God’s spirit working through us we need to walk with God through life each day.<br /><br />And of course, we need to go on being filled with the Holy Spirit because we will find that a bit like batteries we need to be continually re-charged.<br /><br />So how can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well sometimes the Holy Spirit will come upon groups of Christians and empower them as He did at Pentecost – or we can simply ask a mature Christian that we know and trust to lay hands on us and pray for us.<br /><br />We see both of these happening in the book of Acts as God continues to pour out his spirit on the early church.<br /><br />So, as I tie up what I want to say this morning I’d like to ask you – if you’re a Christian - have you come to Jesus and invited Him to fill you with his spirit – and to pour new spiritual gifts into your life?<br /><br />If you haven’t - I’d encourage you to do so. There are people all around you who desperately need to hear the gospel and to know God’s love – and you need to be open to everything God wants to give you in order to reach out to them.<br /><br />Or perhaps you’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit in the past but you feel spiritually dry - like a lawn that needs rain. If that’s the case why not ask God to fill you again – to refresh and revive you.<br /><br />Or perhaps you haven’t yet received the Holy Spirit into your life and you’d like to.<br /><br />I’m going to close now with a time of quiet and the opportunity for you to share what is on your heart with God.<br /><br />I’m going to introduce this quiet time with a brief prayer inviting God to come by his spirit to those of you who want to receive him.<br /><br />If you would like Jesus to fill you with the Holy Spirit, I suggest you just say your own quiet prayer – Lord Jesus please come now and fill me to overflowing with your spirit.<br /><br />And can I also gently suggest that if feel comfortable with it, why not open your hands slightly as a sign that you want to receive.<br /><br />So, let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank you for your great love for each one of us. Thank you that you know us intimately and that you want to fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit and to impart new spiritual gifts to us.<br /><br />Lord Jesus as we rest for a few moments in your presence - please come now to everyone here this morning who wants more of your love and your power in their lives. Pour out your spirit on us. Fill us with your love and empower us; refresh and revive us we pray.<br /><br />QUIET&gt;&gt;&gt;<br /><br />Amen.<br /><br />If there are some of you here who would prefer personal prayer after the service, Campbell or I will be very pleased to pray for you.</div>
Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-63308885454427591212019-05-19T18:00:00.000+01:002019-05-21T16:44:47.089+01:00‘Jesus – human AND divine?’A lot of people have a lot of problems believing in the Christian faith. This is<br /><br />not a modern phenomenon; it has always been the case. It is today, it was in<br /><br />medieval times, it was in the first century AD or, so as not to upset the secular<br /><br />atheists, the first century ‘CE’ (Common Era)<br /><br />People have issues not only in general but in particular - in particular articles or<br /><br />tenets of Christian doctrine or teaching. And one of those particular articles of<br /><br />Christian belief – probably the greatest one, and certainly one of the greatest<br /><br />problems people have in believing – is the belief that Jesus was both human<br /><br />and divine; that is to say that he was at one and the same time both a man and<br /><br />God – God who created the world and all life itself. But even if we believe that<br /><br />there is such a thing, or, rather, person, as God, how can such a thing possibly<br /><br />be?<br /><br />To the modern mind, steeped as it is for so many ordinary people, in notions,<br /><br />usually rather vague, of Evolutionism or Darwinism as the explanation for our<br /><br />existence; or to the non-believing professional scientists with their very<br /><br />prescriptive laws of materialistic science which determine what they will and<br /><br />will not allow as evidence, the very idea seems quite absurd. So why even<br /><br />bother with it?<br /><br />Well, setting aside for a moment the fact that not only have millions and<br /><br />millions of people for the past 2000 years, including very intelligent men and<br /><br />women, and even Nobel Prize winning scientists believed it, I would have to<br /><br />admit that the idea is extremely puzzling. How could an ordinary man,<br /><br />however unsurpassed his moral teaching, however wonderful his character,<br /><br />however unique his suitability as a role model for humanity, also be God?<br /><br />Ironically, one of the first major heresies or erroneous beliefs within the early<br /><br />Church was the belief that Jesus was so amazing in every way that he could not<br /><br />possibly have really been human; he just gave the appearance of being so. But<br /><br />today the reverse is the case: how could an ordinary man possibly be divine?<br /><br />Now some will argue that those poor, simple minded, uneducated,<br /><br />unscientifically qualified first century Christians were simply emotionally,<br /><br />psychologically, and intellectually overwhelmed by the personality and<br /><br />charisma of Jesus. As many people at the time said, ‘No one ever taught like<br /><br />him.’ Or again, ‘No one ever did miracles on the scale he does them.’<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And to support their argument those same people will point today to the<br /><br />naivety and gullibility of the thousands who are taken in by some manipulative<br /><br />US TV evangelists who have been shown to be quacks and charlatans.<br /><br />But there is all the difference in the world between Jesus and such men: Jesus<br /><br />did not wear crocodile skin shoes and live in mansions, whilst those charlatans<br /><br />who have died did not rise to life again three days later – appearing on one<br /><br />occasion to over 500 people at the same time - as proof that everything he<br /><br />taught and claimed and did and promised could indeed be believed!<br /><br />More importantly, not only did Jesus himself claim to be God – something no<br /><br />other person in history (who was not known to be either evil or stark raving<br /><br />bonkers) has ever claimed, he also claimed to be the God who created all life<br /><br />and whose purpose in becoming human was to save humanity from its Self.<br /><br />And that – his claim to be God - as history relates, was the reason why he was<br /><br />executed – for blasphemy, precisely for claiming to be God.<br /><br />As C.S. Lewis so famously put it, ‘Either Jesus was mad, bad, or God: the<br /><br />evidence leaves us no other choice.’<br /><br />Of course, some will argue about the reliability of the evidence for all this – his<br /><br />teaching, his miracles, his claims, and of course his resurrection. But even<br /><br />atheist historians and archaeologists will admit that the literary and<br /><br />archaeological evidence for Christianity’s claims are second to none when<br /><br />compared with the then contemporary events, but also for events of the next<br /><br />1500 or more years!<br /><br />Richard Dawkins’ caricatures of Christianity are just that: caricatures. Even his<br /><br />sincere atheist colleagues are embarrassed by them. (I did hear one wonderful<br /><br />story of an atheist scientist who came to faith in Christ because he realised<br /><br />that Dawkins’ caricatures were not the real thing and because there were far<br /><br />too many bright people who did believe Christianity, many of whom were<br /><br />scientists and some Nobel Prize winning ones!)<br /><br />As with pretty much everything in life, rational people believe something<br /><br />because the quality of the evidence convinces them to put their faith in it even<br /><br />if they do not fully understand it. For example, I don’t fully understand the<br /><br />theory of flight, but I am happy to fly in a plane. I don’t understand gravity, but<br /><br />I was happy to jump out of them as long as my parachute was attached …. Oh,<br /><br />and my reserve!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I’d like to give you just three principal reasons or pieces of evidence that have<br /><br />convinced me that Jesus was both human and divine, both man and God.<br /><br />The first is philosophical: but please don’t be scared; Year 3 two years ago at<br /><br />Brenchley and Matfield Primary (that’s 7 and 8 year olds) got this pretty much<br /><br />straightaway. We do have high hopes for some in that year group but it does<br /><br />remind me of Jesus’ words that it is children who understand the mysteries of<br /><br />God and His kingdom so much more easily than sophisticated grownups.<br /><br />If you were a wizard or a witch and could magic anything at all – I did say Year<br /><br />3 remember – and you wanted to know, because you really loved them, what<br /><br />it was like to think like a rabbit and feel like a rabbit and truly experience what<br /><br />it was to be a rabbit, how could you best do that? Don’t worry, to avoid<br /><br />embarrassing you I won’t put anyone on the spot to answer that this morning.<br /><br />And so, yes, if you are God, and you love the human race you created and you<br /><br />want not only to communicate with them in an unthreatening way but also be<br /><br />as them, exemplify human life, and then save them, how best might you<br /><br />accomplish that? Is there not a very compelling love AND logic in God’s<br /><br />incarnation, in choosing, in one of his forms of being God, to become human?<br /><br />But moving quickly on to my second piece of evidence: how did it happen that<br /><br />the God-man Jesus came about? Often wrongly referred to as ‘the virgin birth’,<br /><br />the ‘virginal conception’ of Jesus is the unique and only way that, biologically,<br /><br />it could have happened. And the point is this. God’s Spirit, not Joseph’s seed,<br /><br />bearing the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son, combines with Mary’s<br /><br />egg so that no new person is created: instead, the Second Person of the Trinity<br /><br />embraces and assumes his humanity from her and is born as the infant Jesus.<br /><br />Those who suggest that Joseph had been intimate with Mary beforehand or<br /><br />that Mary might not have been the innocent the New Testament records her<br /><br />being are simply woefully ignorant of Jewish society and culture of that time.<br /><br />My third piece of evidence is what Jesus had to say about himself and how he<br /><br />proved his claims about himself to be true. By his teaching and by his miracles<br /><br />Jesus proved his direct and indirect claims to be the two things which got him<br /><br />executed - that he had both authority over all life and that he could forgive<br /><br />peoples’ sins. And of course the supreme piece of proof he gave was his<br /><br />promised rising from death to new life again, the evidence for which is<br /><br />thoroughly compelling but will never be sufficient for those who choose not to<br /><br />believe it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Does it matter? Does it matter that we believe that Jesus was God incarnate?<br /><br />Well the writers of the New Testament are quite adamant that it does. St. Paul<br /><br />wrote (Romans 10:v9) that such a belief is required if a person is to be saved<br /><br />and reconciled to God; while St. John provides a sobering warning that anyone<br /><br />who denies Christ’s true humanity as well as his deity is lost to God of their<br /><br />own volition.<br /><br />Does it matter today? Well if what you want is just a moral code for life, then<br /><br />perhaps no. But if you are honest enough to admit that you cannot live up to<br /><br />that moral code and realise that, without faith in Jesus Christ - God’s chosen<br /><br />unique yet universal way to salvation - God cannot accept you, then yes indeed<br /><br />it does matter.<br /><br />Or if all you want from the Church is a cosy little group that leaves you feeling<br /><br />good about the world and about yourself, then probably no. But if you are<br /><br />troubled by bad habits, a bad conscience, and, yes, the other side of death, and<br /><br />want to be saved from these, then yes indeed it does matter.<br /><br />Or if you simply want a cultural or academic interest in some aspect of<br /><br />Christianity such as music, architecture, church history, or New Testament<br /><br />Greek, then, no, it probably doesn’t matter. But if you want to become an<br /><br />effective disciple of his and live not just the comfortable and comforting parts<br /><br />– not ‘just up for the craic’, as the Irish would say - but the serving and<br /><br />suffering aspects too, then yes indeed it most certainly does matter because as<br /><br />Jesus himself said, ‘Without me you can do nothing’.<br /><br />Jesus embraced humanity because he wants to embrace each one of us now<br /><br />and for eternity, each person he brought into being: but we can only know that<br /><br />embrace and respond wholeheartedly to it once we know and believe who he<br /><br />truly is, God himself who became one of us in order that you and I could be<br /><br />with him for ever. All the while we doubt him, doubt that he is whom he<br /><br />claimed to be, our hearts will be deficient in Christian love, our minds short-<br /><br />changed of the truth, our discipleship ineffective.<br /><br />He will not force his love upon us because that is not the way of love. Instead,<br /><br />he leaves the choice up to each one of us. I pray that if you have not already<br /><br />done so you will choose wisely and open or reopen your life to him: he is<br /><br />always ready and longing to forgive and to come in.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-6535040231311921102019-05-12T18:00:00.000+01:002019-05-13T11:34:44.823+01:00Luke 3 verses 1 to 14Just to recap, in the previous two chapters, Luke has told us about the events surrounding Jesus’ birth and early life, but also about how his cousin John the Baptist came to be born.<br />
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And as we move into chapter 3 we see John the Baptist starting to fulfil the mission that his Father Zechariah prophesied he would in chapter 1.<br />
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And the first thing Luke highlights about John the Baptist is that the word of God came to him. As with the prophets of the Old Testament God gave John a message to preach. It wasn’t John’s own message - it was God’s. God was speaking to the people of Israel through him.<br />
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As we’re told in verse 4, John’s role was to “prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.” He was to prepare the hearts of the Jewish people to receive Jesus, their Messiah.<br />
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And so the message God gave John was a call to repentance; it was a call to the people of Israel to repent and to turn back to the God of Abraham and Isaac and the Jacob – the God of their forefathers.<br />
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And as they confessed their sins and asked God to forgive them, John baptised them. He immersed them in the River Jordan to symbolise their being washed and made clean.<br />
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John’s style of preaching is very much Old Testament and very direct. He doesn’t pull his punches and he’s not terribly subtle. But he tells things as they are.<br />
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So, in verse 7 he calls those coming to him a brood of vipers. Why does he do this? Well, Satan is portrayed in the bible as a snake - for instance in Genesis when he tempts Adam and Eve. So, John is effectively telling the people that are coming to him that they are children of the devil.<br />
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It’s not the most endearing way to greet people, but theologically it’s true. Many people assume that we are all children of God, but actually this is not our default position.<br />
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Unfortunately – just like the devil – we all rebel against God and seek to please ourselves. We then inevitably hurt other people and grieve God.<br />
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We only become children of God as we come to recognise our predicament, and repent, which of course is what John was urging the crowds who came to him to do.<br />
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John the Baptist then warns the crowds not to assume that they’re right with God just because they’re descended from Abraham.<br />
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They may be descended from Abraham but they still have to make a personal decision to seek to honour God with their lives.<br />
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In other words, we shouldn’t sit here today and say well I’m OK because I’m an Anglican and I’ve been confirmed.<br />
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Confirmation is only of value if we genuinely mean the promises we undertake, if we sincerely turn away from what we know to be wrong and turn to Christ<br />
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Similarly, the water used in baptism isn’t magic. As my previous vicar used to say – if it was magic – he’d fix up a hose pipe and spray the local school children with it.<br />
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The water is symbolic, and again the efficacy of baptism depends on the promises that are made - being lived out.<br />
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Having called them snakes and warned them not be complacent just because they’re Jews, John then further warns his audience of the judgement that will one day come upon them if they don’t repent and turn back to God.<br />
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He says; “Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”<br />
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It’s often uncomfortable for us as Christians to talk about judgement and as the Australian Rugby player Israel Folau can vouch – it can get us into hot water - but I believe that to avoid talking about judgement is actually unloving.<br />
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The bible makes it very clear that just as there is light and darkness and good and evil, there is heaven and hell.<br />
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Jesus tells us clearly in the gospels that one day he will return in order to judge all people – and that when that happens a separation will occur between those who have believed in him and put their faith in him and those who have chosen to reject him.<br />
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It’s more loving to try and warn people that God is going to judge us rather than to pretend everything will be OK.<br />
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We like the idea of Jesus as kind and gentle and loving and forgiving – which he is - but we don’t particularly like the idea of him as a judge.<br />
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As I’ve said before, because God is perfect, he is perfectly just. just, He can’t simply turn a blind eye to sin and say ‘there there never mind – it doesn’t matter.’<br />
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When people hurt and hate each other and damage each other’s lives and in so doing offend God, there is a price to pay.<br />
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Of course we have a choice as to who pays that price. It’s either Jesus or if we reject his offer of forgiveness - we will have to pay the price ourselves.<br />
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Because he loves us, Jesus has paid the price for our sins himself on the cross and has been punished in our place, but in order to avail ourselves of his forgiveness, as John the Baptist makes clear - we need to repent.<br />
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We need to make the decision to cease rebellion against God and to start to try and live in obedience to his commandments to love Him and to love others.<br />
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However our repentance must be genuine. If we’ve truly decided that we want to follow Christ we should bear fruits worthy of repentance as John puts it.<br />
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There’s a very good little 10 minute video on the Holy Trinity Brompton Church website. HTB as it’s called is where the Alpha course - which I’m sure most of you have heard of - originated.<br />
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This video is of Nicky Gumbel the vicar of HTB interviewing a man called Shane Taylor who’d been one of Britain’s most violent criminals.<br />
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Shane was so violent that at one stage he’d been locked away in solitary confinement as he’d stabbed two prison officers.<br />
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However he went on a prison Alpha course because he’d heard the biscuits were good, and surprisingly found it really touched his heart.<br />
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It helped him to realise that he hated who he’d become, and he really wanted to change, so he asked Jesus to forgive him and invited him into his life and he became a changed man.<br />
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He said that afterwards prison officers became his friends and having been released from prison he no longer goes into pubs looking for a fight but for someone to tell about Jesus.<br />
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He is now bearing good fruit – fruit that is worthy of repentance. And if we’ve truly repented and decided to follow Christ, really that’s what we should be doing.<br />
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If there truly has been an inner change in us, it should be evident in our words and actions.<br />
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However, the good fruit that John is talking about can only be borne by those who have genuinely repented and invited Jesus into their lives.<br />
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And this good fruit is brought forth as people seek to love God and their neighbour under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.<br />
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It’s interesting that John compares us to trees. Trees have sap in them and the sap that must be in us in order to bear good fruit, is the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Jesus.<br />
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Jesus said that apart from him, we can do nothing. In other words although we can be kind and generous and do good deeds, unless the Spirit of Jesus is living in us – these things will only be of temporary, worldly value – not eternal value.<br />
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However as we seek to walk with God and to serve him, He can work through us to extend his kingdom – to draw people to himself, and to open their eyes to know him.<br />
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Christians are the body of Christ in the world. We are Jesus hands and feet and his mouth. As we co-operate with him, he can work through our bodies, to bless and encourage those around us, and to build his church, but he is the source of any fruit that we bear.<br />
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In verses 10 to 14 John gives practical examples of the types of things the people should be doing if they really have changed.<br />
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Notice that in all these examples the changed behaviour of an individual has a knock on effect to those around them.<br />
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So the person with 2 coats helps someone else who has none, and the tax collector improves the lives of those people on his round by not taking too much money from them. And the soldier no longer harasses and bullies others.<br />
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Life around the changed individual improves for those they come into contact with, and ideally it should be the same with us.<br />
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Of course the good fruit that we bear isn’t what saves us. What saves us is putting our faith in and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
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Think of the thief on the cross for instance. He hadn’t born any good fruit – but he put his faith in Jesus and asked him to save him. He simply said “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”<br />
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So to tie up what I want to say this morning, really John’s message is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.<br />
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Christianity is about our eternal destinies. It’s about making our peace with God and finding a relationship with Him that will carry on into eternity.<br />
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And when we’ve found that relationship it’s about bearing good fruit, reaching out to others and helping them to find the same relationship.<br />
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There will one day be a day of judgement and it is essential therefore that initially we ourselves make the decision to repent and to follow Christ and then seek to work with God to lead those around us to make their peace with their Creator.<br />
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God loves every human being he has created and it is his desire that everyone should be saved.<br />
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And he has done everything necessary himself on the cross for everyone to be saved, but people can only be saved as they make the decision themselves to repent – to cease rebellion against their creator and invite Him into their lives.<br />
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If you haven’t yet made your peace with God I urge you to do so today – not just for yourself but for those you love and regularly come into contact with – so that God can reach out to them through you.<br />
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And if you’re already a Christian I’d urge you to renew your concern for those around you, to commit yourself to praying for them and to make every effort to work for the extension of God’s kingdom in the world.Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-1096576773560599622019-03-17T17:00:00.000+00:002019-03-18T12:02:15.526+00:001 John 5: 13 – end ‘That you may know that you have eternal life’Most of us, most of the time, tend to act on the basis of what we believe to be the truth. Of course, we can all make mistakes about that! We can be misled, we can be ill-informed. But by and large most of us tend to act on the basis of what we believe to be the truth. And that is true even when we decide, for whatever reason, to act in spite of that truth and against our better judgement: for example, that third glass of Prosecco that makes me lose not only my sense of proportion but probably also my balance as well. <br /><br />But what we believe to be the truth still remains at least the starting point for how we decide to act. And isn’t one of the great frustrations we feel when we cannot get hold of the facts about something or other, or when others simply refuse to consider certain facts because it undermines their beliefs. <br /><br />And that is true whether we are talking about BREXIT - which I am not going to talk about this morning! – or about Jesus and the Christian faith: but with one huge difference. It is pretty obvious that, on both sides of the BREXIT debate, some of the most important facts are either not known or have been deliberately hidden from public consumption; whereas with Jesus and Christianity the key facts are there for all to examine – should people wish to do so. The truth about Jesus is not something we would ever want to conceal; it’s something that we want to share with everyone.<br /><br />At our first evening here of the ALPHA course last Wednesday, one of the issues that came up was precisely this; the question of whether or not Jesus and the Christian faith are true: what evidence exists for them? Some people refuse or just cannot be bothered to examine the evidence about Jesus, and Christianity - for a whole host of reasons: many are quite happy to write off the Christian evidence as myths, fairy tales, a form of escapism. But as the great C S Lewis said, ‘<b>'Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance; the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.'</b><br /><br />So according to C S Lewis and many others who have examined the evidence for Jesus and the Christian faith – amongst them some of the greatest legal and scientific minds - and then thought about the implications of the truth issues the evidence throws up, it is not unreasonable to say that the decision we make about Jesus and Christianity is actually the most important decision we will ever make in our lives.<br /><br />In my first parish I ran an Agnostics Anonymous Group for men. One member was a forensic scientist for the Metropolitan Police. Over the three months of our regular meetings unbeknownst to us he had been examining the evidence for the resurrection and had come to the conclusion that it must have happened. We were all surprised when he announced this on our last evening because up until then he had said hardly anything! But then he looked around at all of us and said, very solemnly, ‘But what concerns me is what I now have to do about it.’<br /><br />Today we are in a very privileged position thanks to the evidence we have about Jesus and the Christian faith. And I am going to be referring, as part of that evidence, to the letter that was read to us. <br /><br />Not only do we have the Gospels and letters like these from eye-witnesses, we have manuscript and archaeological evidence too; we have evidence from outside of the faith – Roman and Jewish writers; and of course there is the testimony of millions of Christians since that first Easter Sunday – the ‘Day of Resurrection’ – speaking of their own personal experience that the new life, the changed life, the liberated life they now enjoy can only reasonably and rationally be explained by all that Jesus said and promised would happen if they put their faith in him. (John 8: 31 - 32 – ‘If you hold to my teaching, then you will be my disciples; then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free’)<br /><br />If you are in any doubt still about the reliability of the Gospels as historical evidence, then there are copies you can find at the back of the church of a short paper on the subject of their historical reliability.<br /><br />It is this liberating and new life-giving truth that John here in our reading, writing to reassure and encourage his readers (who were at the time facing all kinds of uncertainties and opposition from both outside and inside the Church) wants them to ‘know’ – to know for sure, to know as true, to know in their hearts and in their minds. Because here is a very important thing: the truth about Jesus Christ and Christianity is not just a matter of its historical reliability; it’s very much about its present experience in the life and actions of Christians. What John wrote about almost 2000 years ago he wants the Christians of today to ‘know’ to be the truth. As the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews put it (ch13: v18) ‘Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.’<br /><br />As we can see from the first line, verse 13, of our reading, John wants his readers to know that they have ‘eternal life’: and that life, he says, is to be found in the Son of God, Jesus the Christ (‘Christ’, which means ‘anointed’ or ‘specially chosen one’ of God.) Of course, John had met Jesus, had walked with him, and witnessed him both crucified and then risen to new life three days later: everything about Jesus had convinced him that he was exactly whom he claimed to be – God himself come to earth to teach us, to save us, and to give us eternal life.<br /><br />God did so not because we deserve it but because he loves us and offers it to us as a gift, a gift that can set a person free in so many wonderful ways. Indeed, as you read John, you get the very strong impression that John sees our eternal life not so much as being a time or even a place but as a relationship with this person, Jesus, the Son of God. And if we have been brought into a relationship with the Son of God through our faith in him, through our active belief in him, then, said Jesus, we too become straightway God’s children; and this for eternity.<br /><br />Well, what a weight of our minds that is! What a liberation from fear! To know that my eternity is secure; to know that I need not fear Judgement Day – a day which, by the way, was one of several very uncomfortable truths that Jesus taught and which we must take very seriously because it is a serious part of the evidence.<br /><br />Why can I be free from fear and be sure of eternity? Because my living faith in his dying for me has made it possible.<br /><br />A lot of people – even Christians themselves sometimes – think and act as if God only loves them when they are good, when they are reading their bibles, praying, and helping old ladies across the road. But if that’s not true of human parents in their love for their children, how much more is that not true of our Heavenly Father’s love for us!<br /><br />Some of you may have heard of the new Youtube sensation Jordan Peterson, a Canadian university psychiatric professor who writes with great wisdom about the human condition (His book ‘12 Rules for Life – an antidote to chaos’). He acknowledges that he is also searching – despite his experiences to date of churches!!! – for God and is very attracted to Jesus and his teaching. He recently said this. ‘I act as though God exists; and I live in fear that he does.’ When I heard this, I wanted to wing off an email to him straightaway…’Read John!’<br /><br />Now I understand that this assurance John speaks of, many people will find presumptuous or arrogant. If I say, however humbly and thankfully, ‘I know I’ve got eternal life!’ many people will react adversely. And they react because they think that we earn eternal life through moral goodness and good deeds – and, I might add, usually with their fingers crossed behind their backs! <br /><br />But it’s not a case of MY presumption, but of Jesus’ promise; and it is HE, not ME, who is my standing, my righteousness, my confidence, before our perfectly loving and perfectly just God.<br /><br />I find it so sad that so many people, so many Christians, so many avid churchgoers, still do not get this liberating truth about the consequences of putting their faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. They either struggle to be good and are always being down on themselves for failing, or else they give up their Christian faith because the struggle is too great for them. They don’t realise that they do not need to impress, indeed they cannot impress God with their goodness. Again, is that what you demand of your children for you to love them? Of course not! <br /><br />And that little phrase ‘Saviour and Lord’ gives us the perfect balance when we talk about a true Christian’s faith. The first part, ‘Saviour’ reminds me that he, not I, paid the price of my rebellious pride and sinfulness before a holy God; and the second, ‘Lord’, reminds me that I have invited him to be such in my life and desire to serve him and not myself; though – and here’s the ‘miracle’, but actually it’s just logic and common sense! - in serving him I discover that I serve myself best because he knows me better than I know myself and he knows what is best for me.<br /><br />I don’t feel smug about this; I just want to share this liberating truth, this ‘Gospel’, this ‘Good News’ with others because Jesus told me very clearly that that is a Christian’s duty – however much many people don’t want to hear it, talk behind my back, or cut me from their social circle. (I was read just the other day this snippet. Lord Byron, the author and, well let’s call him charitably, ‘bon viveur’ said this, ‘If God is not just like Jesus, he ought to be.’<br /><br />John touches here on a number of ‘benefits’, let’s call them, of ‘knowing’ that we have eternal life in relationship with the Son of God. Assurance of course is the first; and ‘boldness’ (v 14) to ask ‘anything according to his will’ (key wording there for the requests we make to him) knowing that he will hear and answer in the way that is best for us and best for those for whom we are asking. Asking him to forgive others (v 16) and knowing that God will forgive them anything, except well, except what he cannot forgive (vs 17 and 18) which is the sin of denying that Jesus is his Son, and God’s unique and universal solution to the problem of human sin. That’s a tough one I know; but John is only faithfully saying what Jesus said; so rather than disagree with him or rail against it, or say, as some do, that in their opinion ‘it’s unfair’, wouldn’t it be so much more truly loving of your neighbour as yourself to warn him or her of the consequences of their unbelief and to love them into the kingdom by your standing up for the truth and living it out.<br /><br />Living as a Christian is not about pushing a boulder up a hill, trying hard to be good. Believing that to be true is to call Jesus a liar. No, living as A Christian is about welcoming Christ into our lives, making him Lord of our lives, and walking with him wherever he leads us. Such a life frees us from so many false ideas about God and produces ‘fruit’ in our own lives and in the lives of others. And this we can do with confidence; not because of ourselves but because of him.<br /><br />John ends his letter with a warning (v 21) He does so because he is very well aware of the fickleness of our fallen human nature in the face of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. And an ‘idol’ is anything, anything at all, that takes pride of place in our lives before God. We need to be realistic about such idols; but we also know the truth. And the truth says John is this; ‘v 20’ READ). I pray that each one of us may know this great truth and with great thankfulness, courage, and joy be willing to share it with all.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-45637519690326069882019-02-17T18:00:00.000+00:002019-02-19T13:40:50.854+00:001 John 3: 11 – 4: 6 <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As those of you have been here on the last few Sundays will know, we have been looking at one of the ‘letters’ preserved in the New Testament which was written to one of the very first early churches by the Apostle John, the intimate friend and disciple of Jesus, sometime towards the end of the first century. If you missed Joe’s excellent talk last week, you can get it on the website, or I have put some paper copies on the font by the main door. The text of today’s reading is there on your Notice Sheet so that you can refer to it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our reason for studying these letters to those infant churches is that as soon as we start to read them, we discover that, although written nearly 2000 years ago and in a very different culture from the modern West, human nature and those human communities we call ‘churches’ have not changed much! And that is especially true of human beings’ fundamental need for love and truth. These, as we have already seen, are exactly what John majors on in this letter. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Several people have remarked that John does repeat himself quite a lot in his letter. Well, in his defence, let me explain. First, it is a long letter and would have been read out to an assembled congregation - not everyone in those days could read and he would have wanted to make sure that his message got home. Secondly, he was by then an old man, so I have a lot sympathy for him: after all, they say that when you get old, three things quickly go: first, memory; then………???? Oh, well let’s move on.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What I would like to do this morning, to begin with, is just to sum up the main points he is making and then consider their significance in a little more detail before you, as we do here in the Third Sunday Service, have a chance to ask me any questions about the passage or anything I have said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John reinforces here the main point in his letter, reminding his readers and encouraging them to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hold fast to the perfect revelation of both truth and love which are to be found in Jesus the Christ, God’s one and only Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> truth and love which </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">together</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> provide the one, sure </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">focus and standard</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by which ‘truth’ and ‘love’ are to be defined and judged. But because of what they are, they also attract hatred and lies in the form of opposition from both outside and inside the church. John states very clearly what </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">genuine </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Christian truth and love are, how we know and recognise them, and gives examples of how to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">test</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> them. Finally, he distinguishes between, on the one hand, worldly views and values, and, on the other, God’s truth and love, reminding his readers that they have nothing to fear because (4:4) ‘The One who is in you (the true Spirit of truth and love) is greater than the one who is in the world.’ The ‘world’ in this sense being ‘anyone who is opposed to Christ and his teaching’, as Christ himself put it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What we do learn here from John – a man who faithfully and lovingly explains the person and teaching of Jesus – are some things which, just as much in today’s world as in his own, provoke controversy; but which Christians and local churches need to appreciate - and, I must add, not be afraid to stand up for - if Christians and Christ’s Church are to remain faithful to the personally and socially liberating truth and love of Christ which he called us to proclaim and share with all people regardless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, as most of you know, I always try to avoid controversy and ruffling feathers, realising, as I do, that the average Anglican in the average congregation in the average village in England would much rather a quiet life in which his or her church offered comfort rather than challenge and the status quo rather than innovation. But the Good News of Jesus, his ‘Gospel’, does have this uncomfortable feature of challenging; challenging the beliefs and world views of individuals, the status quo, and those givens and taboos that the world deems sacrosanct. John raises some of those areas of controversy here because the local church and local Christians cannot be either faithful or effective if they will not take Jesus’ teaching seriously and practise his love and stand up for his truth.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I’d like to touch on just three that his letter raises here because they are crucial to a proper understanding of how we recognise or define who a Christian is – according to Christ’s definition, that is; how we recognise or define the opposition to Christ and to Christians; and then why Christians have every reason, indeed a sure hope, that if we remain faithful in both truth and love – love, the Jesus way - there is nothing in this world or the next to fear. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">John begins this passage (v 11) by stressing the supreme and abiding requirement for ‘love of one another’, (citing Cain as an extreme example of failure in this) and a determination to set aside selfishness and sinfulness. Indeed, the kind of love he advocates has three very clear strains. You can see them there in verses 14 – 18. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, Christians must be prepared not only to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not hate</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> but </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">also to lay down their lives for others</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> because that was the example set by Jesus himself. Secondly, we must not ‘refuse help (v 17) to the needy’; and thirdly, we should not be ‘astonished’ (v 13) if people hate us. The first two strains are perfectly obvious; but why the third? Well, because the fact is that such Christian love, whilst it has inspired people to become Christians, has also invited criticism and hatred. In John’s day the Christians were criticised by the rich and the powerful because, for example, they would go around collecting up the babies and children who had been thrown out to die and take them into their own homes and care for them. In the 19</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Century it was Christians who stopped child labour, stopped the slave trade, educated the poor, etc, etc, all because (v 22) they ‘obeyed his commandments and did what pleases him’… and all that in the face of the world’s fierce opposition. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, Christians all over the world and increasingly here in our own country, seeking in love to right wrongs and fight injustices in accordance with Christ’s clear teaching, very often find themselves meeting fierce opposition, being told that the world knows better, and even facing persecution themselves as a direct result of their faithfulness to Christ. But for the Christian, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">truth must also and always accompany love</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; a trust in the truth and a firm desire to see it respected and implemented. As verse 23 says, truth and love go together. And what John expressly states is that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the truth that inspires Christian love is the truth about Jesus Christ.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Why? Because he it is and his teaching that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not only inspire the love but also serve to define ‘love’ and how it should be exercised.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Again we see the world today contesting this with alternative definitions of ‘love’ which, despite often very cunning attempts to hide the facts, do, all too often, lead to the most terrible of consequences especially, in my personal pastoral experience, where children and teenagers are concerned.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, briefly, a Christian, according to John, is someone who believes that Jesus was exactly whom he claimed to be, the Son of God (v 23) come to present in person God’s perfect truth and love, who lived by that truth and love and then demonstrated them perfectly by voluntarily laying down his life to make it possible for humanity to be reconciled to God. And that voluntary ‘sacrifice’ of his was necessary because, like it or not, God’s justice is an integral part of his truth and his love which we cannot simply brush aside because it challenges our own much less than perfect ideas both about justice and about ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, secondly, what about the opposition, those whom Jesus referred to as ‘the world’, and by which he meant ‘</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">those whose ideas about truth and love were opposed to God’s perfect revelation of them’</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? What I absolutely must make clear here though is this: Jesus did </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mean that there were not and are not those who, although not confessing Christians, still live in keeping with and try to promote at least certain elements of God’s truth and love. Of course there are very decent, morally upright, and loving people who do these things because of the upbringing, education, and experiences they have had which lead them to live in this way, or because their consciences lead them this way. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That they refuse to admit or try to explain away the underlying, hidden, or innate Christian origin and influence of those things on their principles and attitudes is very sad and a symptom of the ‘blindness’ Jesus himself spoke of. And I have always thought this both sad and unfortunate because they could do so much more and with so much more joy if only they did welcome Christ and work with him: there is always a cost to the exercise of our free will when we use it either against or without regard to God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But John knew, and Jesus knew, and anyone with any discernment knows, that both beyond the church and, sadly, inside it there are those (4: verses 1 -3 and 5) who, for a myriad of personal reasons, either attack the love and the truth as shown and taught by Jesus or try to change it to suit their own very much less than perfect purposes. John wants Christians to be very clear and wise about the opposition, not to be taken in by it or tempted away by it, but rather (4: 1) to ‘test’ what they see and hear by the standards of Jesus’ perfect truth and love, the truth about him – that he was God himself come to earth to reconcile us – and the truth he taught and practised in the most perfect love. </span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1a324113-7fff-6c59-9431-3edcf7665554"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thirdly and lastly then, John explains the grounds on which Christians have nothing to fear; nothing to fear from God, from the world, or from the false prophets who would lead people astray. Quite simply it is this, (4 verse 4) that when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ and his reconciling and redeeming love, they put themselves in God’s hands, God whom Jesus taught we can best understand, in human categories, as our heavenly ‘Father’. And whilst he does not promise, again in worldly terms, a ‘bed of roses’ – he desires a far more interesting and challenging, character-building life for us than that! – he does promise to be with us and </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">us every step of the way, and then to welcome us to our true home in the life to come – a promise and a hope </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">proved</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beyond reasonable doubt </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by his resurrection, a resurrection which transformed John’s life and inspired him, in love, to share the ‘good news’ of Christ’s redeeming, reconciling, and liberating truth with all; ‘good news’ that we also have been commissioned to share</span></span></span><br />
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Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-83732730078812776762019-02-10T21:00:00.000+00:002019-02-13T12:40:01.656+00:001 JOHN 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This morning rather than picking out a particular theme I thought I’d go through today’s passage and pick out a few things that strike me about what John is saying in his letter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You might find it helpful to refer to the text on your service sheets.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Firstly, John reminds us that a Christians we are children of God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just as a child becomes a part of an earthly family at birth, so we become part of a spiritual family when we were born again. In this spiritual family, we are sons and daughters of God — God’s children. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many people struggle with feeling valued and can feel worthless and insignificant. But as Christians we are highly valued. As John says “See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact that God loves us and calls us his children and sent his own beloved son to die for us, shows us our enormous value in his sight.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And God wants us to recognise our value and to treat ourselves and others accordingly. We shouldn’t abuse ourselves or others because we are extremely precious in God’s sight. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As His children, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Being a co-heir with Christ means that we share in the inheritance of Jesus - an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This inheritance – is received both immediately and in the future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we are birthed into God’s kingdom, we are immediately saved from God’s wrath. We immediately receive God’s Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. We immediately receive eternal life and forgiveness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We immediately become righteous and made clean in God’s sight and we are able to call God - Abba father.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are numerous other benefits of being a child of God which apply the moment we are born again, but there are also future benefits which we will inherit only when we die.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As John points out in verse 2, although the full revelation of what we will be isn’t yet known, we do know that when we die, we will be like him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians - like Jesus, we will receive spiritual bodies that won’t wear out or perish. He says; “just as we have borne the image of the earthly man (in other words Adam), so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man (in other words Jesus).”</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, we will be made perfect for ever. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We will receive the full benefits of Jesus’ death on the cross for us - and the completion of God’s work to make us holy – just as he is holy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the hope that we have that helps us to purify ourselves, as John puts it in verse 3.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we wait for the completion of our salvation and our eventual perfection in heaven, the knowledge that it is coming should inspire us to live on earth in a holy and morally upright way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We should seek to live lives that honour God and we should seek with God’s help to become more and more like Jesus. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, the Christian life should be a gradual process of becoming more like Christ or as Paul puts it - being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Several years ago, I heard a speaker at New Wine describe the process of becoming more Christ-like very clearly and quite amusingly and it has really stuck with me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He compared this process to a pig gradually changing into a sheep.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And he said it started with the pig receiving the spirit of a sheep and finding that it didn’t really want to roll in the mud any more with the other pigs but wanted to eat nice fresh green grass.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said sometimes of course the pig forgot itself and went back to the mud and had a good roll around but then felt uncomfortable and returned to the grass.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And he described - as this process continued - the pig’s grunt gradually changing to more of a bleet, and it growing tufts of white wool on its back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He said of course the pig’s transformation into a sheep wouldn’t be complete until it went to heaven but the process started on earth – and was dependant on the pig co-operating with and submitting to the spirit of the sheep it had received.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He also made the point that this process was irreversible – that that he who had begun this good work in us would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course, what interrupts and interferes with this process of our sanctification – becoming more Christ-like - is sin which is what John talks about in the next few verses.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Verses 6 and 9 are quite difficult, but I think what John is saying is that although as Christians on occasion we will sin – we won’t sin habitually or purposely and without compunction.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of course we will get stuff wrong and on occasion we will allow ourselves to be tempted, but when we sin we will be conscious of it and uncomfortable with it and genuinely want to change.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Using the analogy of the pig changing into the sheep, we will be uncomfortable if we go for a roll in the mud because we will be conscious that we are acting against our new nature – the nature to be Christ-like.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As John says in verse 9, we won’t continue to sin because God’s seed – the spirit of Jesus lives in us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A person who continues to sin is a person who is not sorry or troubled by bad things they do. A person who is blasé and unconcerned about sin and perhaps doesn’t even recognise it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I don’t think John is referring to Christians who genuinely struggle with areas of vulnerability and temptation but who are conscious that they are doing wrong and troubled by it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chapter 7 of Paul’s letter to the Romans is quite helpful as he describes his own struggle with sin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He says; “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing… in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind…”</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For all believers, until we die, there will always be a battle between our sinful natures and the spirit of Jesus living in us. The world will always seek to lure us away from walking with God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But like Paul we should acknowledge our weaknesses and failures to God and confess them, and then with the help of the Holy Spirit seek to resist and overcome them. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In his letter to the Galatians Paul urges us to walk by the Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. As we submit ourselves to Christ and seek to follow him he helps us overcome the desire to sin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other part to avoiding sin is not feeding areas where we know we are weak and allowing ourselves to be tempted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For instance, if a person is tempted by gambling, they should try to avoid walking past betting shops or going on gambling websites. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As soon as they do this, they have put themselves in a position which invites them to succumb to temptation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sin is a bit like a fire - in that a fire needs to be fed in order to keep burning. If you stop feeding a fire it will eventually die out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If we stop feeding an area of weakness, the urge to sin in that area will also die down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Why is sin so important for John? Well, because he cares deeply for his little children as he addresses his readers and he knows how harmful and debilitating sin can be to our walk with God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sin grieves God because it is bad for us and allows darkness into our lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If we continue to sin, we can give the devil a foothold in our lives and before long we can find what was a little guilty pleasure that we thought wouldn’t do any harm, becoming an addiction that is hard to break.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And as we allow darkness into our lives its hardly surprising if our lives become darker and God feels distant; our peace disappears and is replaced by anxiety; and joy goes out of the window and is replaced by heaviness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sin also hampers our fruitfulness as Christians. It makes us feel guilty and then we feel unworthy to serve God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Satan encourages this cycle of sin followed by feelings of unworthiness and guilt and we end up convinced that God can’t use us because we keep tripping up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sin can also destroy our witness as Christians. Someone may have been impacted by our faith in God – but rudeness or harsh words or even coarse joking can rapidly lower their estimation of us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ultimately John says in verse 10 that our lives and actions reveal whether our faith is genuine or not. </span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And in particular the love we demonstrate for our brothers and sisters – other members of God’s family.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He is repeating in effect what Jesus said when he told his disciples that people could be recognised by the fruit they bear; that every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, to summarise briefly the gist of what I think John is saying in this passage – As Christians we are God’s children – hugely loved and valued by God – and we have an amazing inheritance both now and one day in heaven.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The hope of this inheritance should motivate us to live holy lives and to seek with the help of God’s spirit who lives in us, to resist sin and temptation as God changes us into the likeness of Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ultimately our lives and the love we show for our brothers and sisters in Christ reveal whether we truly are children of God.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’d like to close as usual with a time of quiet reflection and prayer where you can share with God anything I’ve said this morning which may resonate with you or perhaps challenge you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, let’s pray quietly for a few moments and share what’s on our hearts with our loving heavenly Father.</span></span></div>
Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527352081270997506.post-69333516928548717302018-12-17T06:54:00.001+00:002018-12-17T06:58:47.386+00:00God is Nice and He Likes YouSo, another Christmas approaches and as Christians we celebrate Jesus – God in a human body – coming into our world both in order to save us – but also to show us what God is like. And that is what I’d like to talk about today.<br />
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I’ve entitled my talk <strong>God is Nice and He Likes You.</strong><br />
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This phrase was used by Christian author Adrian Plass, in his book The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37 ¾. He writes; ‘This seemingly insubstantial fact revolutionised my life. I became a Christian when I was sixteen years old, but it wasn’t until I was thirty-seven that I absorbed an essential truth. God is nice and he likes me.’<br />
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As Nicky Gumbel points out, “sadly, deep down many people think that God is not that nice, that he does not like us very much and he spends most of his time being cross with us. But this could not be further from the truth.”<br />
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You see many many people including many of us like Adrian Plass who have been Christians for years, have distorted views of God.<br />
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We can view him as a strict and disapproving Victorian parent who is anxious to point out our shortcomings but rarely gives his approval.<br />
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Or we can view him as distant and uncaring, and much too busy to bother himself with our trivial problems and concerns.<br />
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It can be particularly difficult for many people to relate to God as a loving Father when their own experience of Fatherhood is less than ideal.<br />
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I really struggled to relate to God as a loving Father when I first became a Christian. My own father was a long-haul airline pilot and when I was a small child he’d be at home for a few days and then disappear for a week or so. I didn’t realise it at the time, but this made me feel subconsciously insecure.<br />
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And then when I became a Christian, I projected this insecurity onto God and was fearful that he might leave me.<br />
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By the grace of God I have now learned that he won’t leave me. In fact once we have invited him into our lives, Jesus promises - “I will always be with you. I will never leave nor forsake you.”<br />
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The problem is that our distorted views of God really affect how we relate to him. So, this morning I’d like to look at what God is really like and how ideally he wants us to relate to him.<br />
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So, what is God really like? – well to find out we need to see what the bible says and I want to start with our Old Testament reading, Psalm 103 and verse 8 which tells us;<br />
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“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”<br />
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God is full of love and compassion and he longs to be gracious to us. He overflows with mercy and forgiveness towards us.<br />
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And we read in verses 13 and 14; “As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.”<br />
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He understands that as humans we are weak and flawed. He knows we get stuff wrong. And his heart isn’t to condemn us for it but as we confess it, to forgive us and help us do better next time.<br />
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Do you realise that God is never surprised by our sin? He sees the future and knows exactly what we’re going to do even before we do it.<br />
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And when he accepts us as his children he does so with the benefit of hindsight. Nothing we do is a surprise to him.<br />
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The bible tells us that as his children, God loves us with an everlasting love, a love that will not be withdrawn. And thankfully his love for us is not dependant on our performance as Christians but on the completed work of Jesus on the cross for us.<br />
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So, as Christians we have security with God – but this security isn’t a licence to sin. The bible tells us God cannot be mocked and we reap what we sow. We will reap what we sow in other people’s lives.<br />
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As a wise parent, God also disciplines us. As the writer to the Hebrews tells us, God disciplines us for our good in order that we may share in his holiness.<br />
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But again, he only does this if its really necessary. He’d much rather we walked through life with him in such a way that he wouldn’t need to discipline us.<br />
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We see God’s love for us most clearly of course in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.<em> </em>As Jesus tells us in verse 9 of today’s gospel reading;<em> </em>“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”<br />
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So, as we look at and read about Jesus, we see God. And we see him healing people and forgiving people and inviting people to join and follow him. We see him befriending outcasts and having compassion on those who cross his path.<br />
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He doesn’t meet people with a disapproving frown but with open arms.<br />
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Supremely of course he opened his arms out widely on the cross and took upon himself our sin and our guilt so we could be entirely forgiven and free from fear of condemnation.<br />
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If you’re a parent you will know that when your children are sick or ill you would gladly take that sickness or illness from them and suffer it yourself.<br />
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Well that is how God feels about us. He sees our sin and the pain and hurt it causes us - and he wants to take it and bear it for us – which is of course what he did for us on the cross, because he loves us.<br />
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Now as I’ve said, it is important that our view of God is based on how he reveals himself in the bible and if you read the bible – especially the Old Testament – you cannot fail to see that God hates sin and that he judges sin.<br />
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But what we need to realise is that the reason God hates sin is because he loves people passionately and sin wrecks and spoils people’s lives.<br />
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Sin grieves him because he cares for us so much.<br />
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I know a lady with a son who was a heroin addict. And she loved her son dearly – but she hated drugs and what they did to him.<br />
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God loves each person that he has created – but he hates what sin does to us – because it breaks his heart.<br />
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And because he is perfectly just, as we remind ourselves in this season of Advent, he will one day – when Jesus returns - hold people to account for their part in harming and hurting themselves and others.<br />
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However, he would much rather forgive us than condemn us. As Jesus said; “For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”<br />
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But this can only happen as we repent – as we acknowledge our part in causing pain and hurt and then seeking with his help to turn from it.<br />
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Another common misconception that people have about God is that he is somehow removed and distant from our suffering. But did you know that God feels our suffering acutely?<br />
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I remember several years ago when our neighbour and his wife’s marriage was breaking up. This couple’s teenage daughter used to come round to our house to escape the arguments and tensions in her house, and Mary my wife was brilliant with her.<br />
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Mary told me one evening that she could really feel God’s love for this girl and her family. I said something like – “that must be nice.”<br />
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But Mary said “actually it isn’t.” I said “what do you mean?” And she said – “Well mixed with the love that I feel, I can also feel something of the pain in God’s heart at the break up of this family.”<br />
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Although this family weren’t Christians, God still loved them very much and the marriage break-up was grieving him because it wasn’t what he wanted for them. Can you imagine the pain in God’s heart at all the suffering in the world?<br />
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At a Christian camp Mary and I went to several years ago, an Argentine pastor from Buenos Aires shared seeing the city through God’s eyes in a vision that God gave him. After a while he had to ask God to stop showing him the city – because he couldn’t bear the pain in God’s heart at what he was seeing.<br />
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Psalm 34 tells us; “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”<br />
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So, God isn’t detatched from our suffering. Far from it – he is close to us in it, and longs with our invitation through prayer to help us through it.<br />
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FFald-y-Brenin is a Christian retreat in Pembrokeshire in Wales where God has been doing amazing healing miracles, but according to Roy Godwin who runs it – the greatest healing they see occurs as people come to know God as he really is – as a perfect, loving, gracious and compassionate Father.<br />
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In his book the Way of Blessing, Roy shares how as he went to bed one night, God told him; “I want my people to be people who come for hugs and I want them to call me father from their heart.<br />
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I want to be able to speak to them by name and tell them how much I love them, how much I delight in them. I want to grow that relationship.”<br />
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You see God really, really loves people. He really, really loves you. He created each one of us for a relationship with Him. And because of Jesus’s sacrifice of himself on the cross – we can come into his presence and enjoy that relationship without fear.<br />
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Yes, we will sin, but God’s righteous anger at our sin has already been borne by Jesus on the cross. He is like a lightning conductor if you will. He has deflected it onto himself on the cross.<br />
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So, we can approach God with confidence and without fear. And we can be completely open and honest with him. We can call him Abba, daddy, and share our deepest hopes and fears and the prayers on our heart.<br />
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Lord I’m really struggling at the moment with great Aunt Doris. I find her so annoying. Please help me to be patient with her.<br />
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Or Lord I feel so weak in my Christian life and I keep doing things I know I shouldn’t. Please help me to be stronger.<br />
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We don’t need to put on masks for fear that if he knew what we were really like he’d reject us.<br />
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He does know what we’re really like and that is the person he loves. He loves us as we are, with all our flaws and weaknesses although of course he wants to help us change into kinder more loving people – who reflect the character of Jesus.<br />
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Yes, we need to acknowledge our failures and shortcomings and confess them to him – but as we confess them with a heart that is willing to change, he forgives us.<br />
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Whoever you are sitting here this morning God knows you inside out. He knows everything about you – even what you’re thinking as I’m speaking - and he wants a relationship with you.<br />
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And if you haven’t already done so you can start that relationship now.<br />
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You can come to him exactly as you are although you will need to say sorry for pain and hurt you’ve caused to him and others. And then simply invite him to come by his Holy Spirit - the spirit of Jesus -to live in your heart and life.<br />
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And as you do this you won’t be met with a frown – but with compassion and understanding and big strong loving arms to welcome and help you.<br />
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I’d like to close with a time of prayer. I’m just going to read a few words I’ve written which I believe reflect what God wants to say to you this morning. So, close your eyes and listen to these words and then in a few moments of quiet - draw close to your loving heavenly father and share whatever is on your heart with him.<br />
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‘My dear, dear child. I love you so much – which is why I died for you. I see all your struggles and all your fears and I hear your prayers.<br />
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I am not angry or disappointed with you. Far from it. What I really want is for you to come close to me and to be completely honest about your life.<br />
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So, come and share your heart with me now in these few moments of quiet. Come close to me and allow me to love and help the real you.’Brenchley Churchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01409896352366644359noreply@blogger.com0