ACTS 1; 6 TO 14

Next week is Pentecost when we remember and celebrate the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first disciples to empower and equip them to carry on Jesus’ work.

I say person, because 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 as I hope we’ll see this morning he has an absolutely vital role to play in our lives and in the church.

Today’s reading from Acts recounts what happens immediately before Pentecost. We have an account of the final conversation between the risen Lord Jesus and his disciples before he returned to his father in heaven.

And what I find really surprising about this conversation is that Jesus’s disciples still don’t understand the nature of the kingdom that he wants them to play a part in establishing.

If you look at verse 6 they ask Jesus – “Lord is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel.”

They were still expecting Jesus as the Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom – rather than a heavenly one.

They were still expecting him to overthrow the Romans and restore a time of blessing and prosperity to the Jewish nation such as they had experienced under king David.

Their understanding of Jesus and his intention to build his church was extremely limited.

And we see this limited understanding of the church – what is was and who it was for - continue in the early chapters of Acts.

For instance, it was a tremendous surprise to Peter and the early Jewish Christians when Gentiles started to receive the Holy Spirit and become Christians too.

This is perhaps not altogether surprising because as Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, the creation of the church was a mystery that was kept hidden from previous generations by God.

We can understand the concept of the church because it is revealed in the New Testament – but the early disciples only had the Old Testament to go on.

Their thinking, which was based on the law of Moses and the prophets – needed to change, and their minds needed to be transformed and renewed, because God was doing a new thing.

And so, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was vital for a number of reasons.

It was to empower and to equip the disciples to share the gospel and build the church – but it was also to change their understanding of the purposes of God and their thinking.

To give them a completely new outlook on life and the people around them, particularly Gentiles.

As Jesus said – “when the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

And of course, this is what the Holy Spirit wants to do for us if we will allow him.

Before we become Christians we too have very little understanding of the church as the body of Christ, or the nature of Jesus’ kingdom.

But when we become Christians our view of life and the world around us starts to change.

As we read and submit our minds to God’s word – to the bible – the Holy Spirit gives us insight and starts to change our view of life and the world around us.

As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians – “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”

The Holy Spirit helps us to start to see life and the world around us from God’s perspective. And he helps us to understand the nature of God’s kingdom and the part we can play in extending it.

And then as we start to understand these things, he wants to empower and equip us to play our role in building the church.

He wants to enable us to be witnesses as Jesus puts it in verse 8, people who experience the new life that Jesus came to bring and then seek to share it with others.

So, when the Holy Spirit comes – yes he brings power – but he also brings understanding and purpose. And the power that he imparts to us is specifically to enable us to carry out the purpose he has for us.

The purpose that we have as Christians is twofold. It is both corporate as members of the body of Christ – and individual – our own specific God given calling.

Our corporate purpose as Christians is to build God’s church here in Brenchley. We are each called to play some part in the life of All Saints Church as we seek to reach outwards to those living in our parish – both adults and children - with the good news of the gospel.

As we seek to care for the people in our parish and to show them something of God’s love. And as we seek to encourage and build up one another for this mission.

Our individual calling is the specific role God is asking us to play. This is both in building up our local church but also the role he has for us to play in our daily lives and the life of the wider church.

As well as working to build our local church – God wants us to be his witnesses in our everyday lives – to reach out to our family and friends and neighbours and work colleagues.

And to play some part in building the church nationally or even globally. There are a huge range of areas that God calls Christians to work in.

It may be working in the NHS or in politics. It may be hospital visiting. Or you may do part time work for a Christian charity. You may have a heart for people who are in prison or for the homeless.

You may have a heart to pray for Israel and the Middle East. You may have a heart for persecuted Christians or for the people of some specific country.

You may be an intercessor – someone who can pray for prolonged periods about specific things that God puts on your heart.

You may be an administrator or someone with a gift for hospitality.

Whatever your role is – it will be perfect for you and for your life.

However, in order to do anything for God – as Jesus makes clear in this passage we need to be empowered by God.

We need to be filled with his Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with his life and his love – because this is what inspires and enables us to serve him.

God longs to fill us with the Holy Spirit but this filling is for the work that God wants us to do – both in our local church and in our everyday lives.

And as we are filled with the Holy Spirit he will guide us and teach us and help us and empower us specifically to do this work – to fulfil the role God has for us.

And he will give us exactly the right spiritual gifts for this work.

The question we then need to ask ourselves is are we willing to offer ourselves to God in his service? Are we willing to play the role that he has for us – both in our local church and in the wider world?

Are we willing to say yes Lord – use me – use my time and my talents – work through me to extend your kingdom in the world.

Show me what it is that you want me to do for you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me with your power and your love so that I can serve you, so that I can make you known.

Send me out in the power of your spirit to live and work for your praise and glory in the world.

I think sometimes we can be hesitant about offering to play a role in the life of the church because quite frankly we don’t feel up to it.

But as Joyce Meyer says, God is more interested in our availability than our ability.

We need to step out in faith and say OK Lord – you know my weaknesses and my limited abilities - but if this is something you want me to do – I’ll do it.

And then we’ll find that God helps us and equips us – and we’ll realise that we can always rely on him to help us do whatever it is that he’s asked us to do.

And why is it so important that we offer ourselves to God and roll up our sleeves and work for the extension of his kingdom?

It’s because as we see in verse 11 – one day Jesus is going to return and when he does, judgement is coming with him.

A separation will occur between those who believed in him and worked for the extension of his kingdom and those who didn’t.

Of course, we don’t know when he’s going to return – and equally we don’t know how much longer we each have on earth to make a difference. So the time we have now, today, is precious.

And we all want our families and friends to be saved. And God wants our families and friends to be saved – but the only way that is going to happen is if we co-operate with him.

The more we give ourselves to him and his purposes the more he can work though us to touch the lives of those around us.

I’d like to end my talk today with a time of reflection and prayer.

A time when we can each consider whether we want to play a part in building God’s church and extending his kingdom in the world.

And then if we do, a time when we can offer ourselves to God and ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit.

To guide and show us what it is that he wants us to do – and to equip with whatever gifts we may need to do this.

So let’s start with a time of quiet when you can reflect on whether you want to help build up God’s church.

On whether you want to offer your gifts and talents to God to help people come to know him.

You may not be sure what it is that he wants you to do – but that doesn’t matter.

All that matters is your willingness to play a part.

And if you are willing, tell God now in the quietness of your heart.

You can share anything that worries or concerns you with him.

…………………………………..

And now – let’s pray.

Lord Jesus thank you for your presence among us now. Thank you that you know us so well. You see what is going on in our minds and hearts.

You understand our weaknesses and our fears and that is why we so much need your Holy Spirit to help and guide and empower us.

Lord as we offer ourselves to you now - we ask you to come and fill us with your Holy Spirit. Fill us with your life and your love and your power.

Lord impart to us now whatever it that we need to serve you.

Now just rest for a few moments. If you feel comfortable hold out your hands to Jesus and receive from him whatever it is that he wants to give you.

……………………………..

In the name of the living God. Amen

Cafe Church Talk – 7th May 2017 ‘What the Resurrection of Jesus Changed’

We are still in the Church’s season of Easter when we not only celebrate but also need to do some serious thinking about the meaning and significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Good Friday and Easter Day go together because together they demonstrate God our Creator’s perfect love for his creation.       If love is to be perfect, then it must hold justice and mercy in equal measure. And so on Good Friday God himself pays the debt to his perfect justice which our sins – the sins indeed of the whole world – required (because his justice is perfect); but he also offers mercy to anyone – anyone at all and whatever their track record to date - through their humble faith in that redemptive or saving work of Jesus on the cross. And Easter Day is the proof that all that Jesus taught and promised and claimed could indeed be believed; proof, as our reading from Luke’s book of ‘Acts’ makes very clear, was more than sufficient to convince (though it will never be sufficient for those who choose not to be convinced), and of which the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling, so graciously said, ’No ‘sensible’ jury in the world could do other than return a verdict that Jesus did indeed rise again.’

Now as a result of the resurrection many things changed – and you’ve already been thinking about some of those around your tables. There are in fact so many things! But what I want this morning to give you is just three of those changes for the world (As a result of the resurrection of Jesus the world became a very different place); and three changes that distinguish or ought to distinguish Christians from other people...though of course those changes are always open, always available, to anyone who puts his or her faith in the resurrected, the ‘risen’, Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died for the sins of the whole world therefore his offer of reconciliation with God is for the whole world....whether they know it, or like it, or want it, or not. (In both cases, one change is or ought to be pretty obvious, one not so obvious, and one may not even have occurred to you – or maybe you preferred not to think about it. We’ll see!

The first change was the new existence of a sure hope and the offer of it to all people everywhere and with everything it entailed: confidence about the afterlife and a person’s place in it; confidence about the true origin, meaning, purpose, and destiny of human life; and confidence to live life as God our Creator intended us to live it.

The second change (the uncomfortable one!) as a result of the resurrection is that the world now has no excuse for not believing in Jesus Christ, for rejecting him, or for rebelling against him. (See why it’s uncomfortable!) Ok, let’s be perfectly reasonable about this: if a person has not heard about Jesus and his resurrection, they have some excuse and God will take this into consideration because his love is perfect. But once a person has been presented with the facts about Jesus and about his sacrificial death and resurrection for them, to reject God is to rebel. And Jesus was quite adamant about that, ‘He who is not for me is against me.’ (Anagram guess by Sunday School Child: ‘He who is against me is for it!’) That person is in exactly the same position as the one who takes no notice of the sign ‘Danger: No Bathing!’

The third change is the existence of the Church whose primary purpose and mission in life is to proclaim the ‘good news’ of the first change and the ‘foolishness’ in the second of continued rejection of and rebellion against God. The church that is not faithfully and lovingly proclaiming both is not being faithful to its Founder. Good News then; but tough news!

So what about Christians themselves? What changes do we need to make in our own lives? Over Easter the media offered various excuses for not having to believe in the resurrection of Jesus yet still considering oneself a ‘Christian’.      I noted especially the peculiarly English heresy that being a good bloke, being sincere in your doubts, or keeping your faith private is perfectly ok. I simply want to remind us, as Jesus said, that it is better to build our house on rock than on sand; the rock of him and his words – which included his clear promise of being resurrected and which then turned into an historical fact.  Attitudes such as those popular ones I’ve just mentioned contradict Jesus himself. In short – I’m sorry to say it and I realise some people will be offended - but they are self-promoting nonsense. In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6: 8) Jesus calls us to be different: ‘Do not be like them’, he says, echoing the Old Testament command, ’You shall not do as they do.’ ‘Different’ is essentially a synonym for ‘holy’: someone who is holy is someone set apart from the world for God but very much in the world as God’s ‘salt and light’ for the world.     

So I offer three changes, then, that define or characterise the Christian and distinguish him or her from others. There are or ought to be many: but here are just three to get you thinking ........and acting on them!

The first change as a result of the resurrection is to have complete assurance about our hope. The ground of our assurance is based not on the strength of our faith, nor on our obedience, nor on any good works we do but upon the finished work of Christ, on what he achieved for us on the cross. There are those who accuse Christians of being presumptuous about such assurance and who assert that no certainty is possible on this side of death: but certainty and humility do not exclude one another. If God’s revealed purpose is that we should know that we are ‘saved’, presumptuousness lies in doubting his word, not in trusting it. Try that answer the next time someone raises it and see how they react! There is a false comfort about doubt and self-deceit that Christians have a calling to dispel with the sure hope of the Gospel.

The second change is the need to develop humility and the practice of obedience. Humility is really a synonym for honesty - honesty about ourselves: and the special and essential way of personal Christian humility is the willingness to hear and receive God’s word, to believe it and to obey it...however humiliating of us its challenge to our pride, our preferences, and our prejudices. And just as a child is dependent on its parents for what it is taught and what it has, so it is for the Christian with God: this is what Jesus had in mind when he taught that ‘unless we become like children, we cannot see the kingdom of God.’ And again, when he said (Matt 11:25) ‘God hides himself from the wise and clever but reveals himself to ‘babes’’, he was not denigrating our minds but indicating how we are to use them. Our very limited and uninformed minds are not to stand in judgement on God’s word but to sit in humility under it, eagerly desiring to hear it, grasp it, and apply it...like a child with an ice-cream or like some of those here I know with a glass of wine!     

The third change concerns in fact the forming or cultivating of a ‘Christian mind’. Yes, our hearts need to change; but our minds do too. Why? because if they don’t, then our ideas about what love is, about who God is, about how life should be lived, and about almost everything else in the world will be prone to sometimes very grave error. And this is where we will find ourselves often clashing both with the world and even those who call themselves Christians yet who do not allow the word of God to dwell in them and guide them.

The world is very clever, very astute and talented, at modifying or deliberately changing what God has revealed to be his will. And it can be hard when our non-Christian friends and even some Christians try to convince us that, for example, ‘God’s word is past its sell-by date’, or that ‘humanity no longer needs God because we have grown beyond the need for religion’, or that Christians are old-fashioned, kill joys, or just plain weak and boring.                 But no person can claim to be converted to Christ who is not intellectually converted. And nobody can claim to be intellectually converted who has not humbly, obediently, and willingly brought his or her mind into submission to the authority of Jesus as ‘Lord’ of their lives. This is why we need to feed, to cultivate, the forming of a ‘Christian mind’, one that rationally reveres God’s revelation and refuses to give in to the uninformed false humility of fashionable doubt or the paralysing pressure of our non-believing peers and popular culture.

These are just some of the ways in which the world and Christians have changed or need to change as a result of the resurrection of Jesus. The world is a different place and we are called to be different. But we are not on our own in this: we have our fellow Christians and, above all, we have Jesus who promised to be with us every step of the way. Let’s not spurn such a wonderful life-saving and life-enhancing offer: and the more we get to know him and allow the risen Christ to direct and rule our hearts and minds, the more willing and the more effective disciples of his we will be.

Campbell Paget 7 May 2017

30th April - Lamberhurst

Lamberhurst Sermon

Acts 2; 36 to 41 and Luke 24; 13 to 35

I love the Easter season when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, because the resurrection is at the very heart of Christianity.

We become Christians as we each encounter the risen Lord Jesus and come to believe in him - and he then shares his resurrection life with us. He brings us new life and hope and forgiveness.

And I love that in this country Easter always comes during the spring – because spring in a way, mirrors the resurrection.

We see new life coming to the earth as plants that had died back over the winter - burst into life and new leaves and buds break forth.

Winter passes away and a new season of abundant growth begins.

And I think we see this change from a spiritual winter to spring reflected in today’s gospel reading from Luke.

The two disciples on their way to Emmaus were initially sad and disillusioned and their faces we are told were downcast.

Jesus on whom they had pinned their hopes has been crucified and buried and now his body seems to have disappeared and they don’t understand. Life seems bleak and confusing.

But Jesus comes alongside them and explains the scriptures to them showing that it had to be this way. As the Christ, the Messiah, it was his destiny to suffer and die for mankind in order to free us from our slavery to sin and death.

And then Jesus acts as if he’s going to leave them. He’s testing them to see if they really want to know him and continue their journey through life with him.

They urge him to stay and eat with them and welcome him into their home.

They are sincere in their desire to know him and as they break bread – their spiritual eyes are opened and they recognise him as their Lord and their God – and their lives are transformed for ever.

They have their own resurrection experience. And they can now say with certainty that Jesus is alive - that truly, he is the risen Lord.

And of course this is what God wants for each one of us here today. He wants each one of us to have our own individual resurrection experience. To encounter him and come to know him. He wants to move us from a spiritual winter – as it were – to spring.

In our wintery state we are cut off from God by our sin and selfishness. We are spiritually dead and blind and we don’t really know God. Life can seem bleak and hopeless and pointless.

But when spring comes – when the Holy Spirit – the spirit of Jesus comes to live in us - we are made spiritually alive.

We are born again as Jesus puts it – and our spiritual eyes are opened to recognise Jesus as our Lord and our God.

And as we encounter Jesus, hope and purpose and joy come with him. We are forgiven and put right with God and accepted by him.

We become his dearly beloved children and we receive all the benefits of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We are saved for ever from condemnation and judgement.

So many people including many church goers have the wrong idea about Christianity and salvation.

They have a religious mind-set and they believe that their salvation – being put right with God - is dependent on them impressing God sufficiently.

They believe that if they try and do the odd good deed and give a bit of money to charity God will put a tick against their name.

And if they come to church God will put more ticks against their name. And they believe that as long as they don’t do anything too terrible – and keep adding ticks to their religious scorecard – they will make it to heaven.

That when they die God will tot up their ticks and say well done – you’ve passed come on in.

But salvation doesn’t work like this at all. These things are worthy things to do – but if we are doing them to impress God and earn our right standing with him – then we have completely missed the point.

You see God loves people. God loves you - and above all God wants a relationship with you. And this is why he created you and this is why he died for you.

So that you can live in a relationship where you know him and his love for you. Where you can know he has accepted and forgiven you.

Not because you’re especially good or holy – or because you try and be religious - but because you’ve acknowledged your need for him and you’ve put your trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross.

However much we try and be good – however often we come to church - however much money we give to charity – we know if we’re honest that we will still end up falling short of our own standards let alone God’s.

We will still end up on occasion being selfish and greedy and unkind and hurting other people.

And this of course is why Jesus died for us on the cross. It’s why he died for you and for me personally. He took all of our sin and wrongdoing upon himself on the cross – because he loves us. And he was punished in our place so we could go free.

The prophet Isaiah puts it like this; “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

So, Jesus died for us in order that we can know him and have a relationship with him without the fear of being judged or condemned.

But how can we find a relationship with him? How can we receive the forgiveness and salvation he offers? How can we move from a spiritual winter to spring?

Well, simply put, we need to repent and then put our faith in Jesus and what he’s done for us on the cross.

And we see this illustrated in today’s passage from Acts where the crowd asks Peter – “what shall we do” and he tells them to “repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Many people have a negative view of repentance but actually it’s a very positive thing.

To repent means to change one’s heart or mind. It’s coming to a realisation that we need God, that we need his forgiveness and love in our lives – and that we were wrong to try and live our lives independently of him.

If you think of points on a railway track that change the direction of a train. Well genuine repentance changes the course of our life from living without God to living with him.

People can repent for different reasons. Some people – as in today’s reading from Acts - repent because they feel a burden of guilt. They know they’ve messed up their lives and hurt other people and they want forgiveness and a new start.

Peter has just explained to these Jewish people that they’ve crucified their Messiah – the very one who God had sent to save them – and they are cut the heart.

They are willing to acknowledge their guilt and they want God to forgive them and make them clean.

Perhaps there are some of you here this morning who are bearing a burden of guilt and you want God to forgive you and make you clean. You want a new start in life.

Some people repent because their lives feel empty and pointless. They want to know God and find a meaning and a purpose to their life.

The only proviso for repentance as far as God is concerned is that it is genuine. That there is a genuine desire within a person to live from now in a way that is pleasing to God – under his direction and guidance.

And when we truly repent as Peter says in verse 38 of today’s passage from Acts – God will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of Jesus will come to live in our hearts and lives and will make us spiritually alive. And as he did for the disciples on the road to Emmaus - he will open our spiritual eyes to recognise Jesus as our Lord and God.

And we will move from winter - being spiritually dead – to spring, to being spiritually alive. And God will be in our lives to guide us into the fulfilment of the plans that he has for us.

And the purpose of our life with God is to love him and to love those around us – and to share the good news of the new life we have found.

As soon as the two disciples who were going to Emmaus encounter Jesus they immediately head back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples – its true Jesus really is alive.

There are so many hurting people around us in the world today – people living in a spiritual winter - who need to know that God loves them, who need to know that they can be forgiven, who need to know that there really is the hope of spring and a new start in life.

And it is our job a Christians to share the hope that we have found with them.

I’d like to end my talk with a time of prayer – which we’ll have in just a moment. And this will be a time where you can ask God for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps Jesus has been alongside you in the service this morning and your heart is burning within you - and you really would like him to stay with you.

Or perhaps you have a burden of guilt and you want to be forgiven and made clean. You want a new start in life.

Or perhaps you just really want to move from a spiritual winter to spring – and you would like to know God’s great love for you.

Whatever your reason - just repeat the prayer I’m going to say now silently in your own heart.

So let’s pray.

Lord Jesus I’m sorry for the things I’ve done wrong in my life and the people I’ve hurt.

Please forgive me as I now turn from everything which I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so I can be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me new life and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

I now receive that gift.

Lord Jesus please come into my life by your spirit and stay with me for ever.

Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen.