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Confidence in Suffering – Sermon on Romans 8
Text below...Acts 2:36-41 sermon
Sermon Audio (recorded at home)
Here is a picture of a young girl who, at the time, was being bullied terribly. Does anyone know who she is? It’s the Duchess of Cambridge of course. Though nobody knew it at the time.
While Kate Middleton was at Downe House school she was bullied. In fact she was bullied so much that her parents took her out of the school after just two terms.
I wonder what those bullies thought as they saw her kissing her handsome prince on the balcony of Buckingham Palce?
Maybe the last they remember of her was Katy Middleton, Flaky Pimpletongue. Maybe the last they saw her they had her in tears. Perhaps they’d told her they wished she was dead and that nothing good would ever happen to her.
How wrong they were! As those bullies watched this moment they would realise that now, because of her Prince, she’s royalty. And one day Flaky Pimpletongue will be Queen over those bullies!
I wonder if the bullies have changed their mind about Kate Middleton. Do you think they have?
Well our passage speaks of an even bigger change of mind. It happened on a Day called Pentecost. It was 10 days after Jesus had returned to heaven. Jerusalem was, if you like, full of bullies. Jerusalem was full of people who had wanted Jesus dead. Just seven weeks earlier these people had shouted out to Pontius Pilate “Crucify Jesus! Crucify Him!”
Now 7 weeks later the Apostle Peter has some news for them. Peter tells them that what they did to Jesus was a million times worse than what Kate Middleton’s bullies did to her. In Acts 2 verse 36, Peter says “You crucified Jesus.”
Confidence in Life – Sermon on Romans 1-8
Have you ever found yourself somewhere you don’t feel you belong?
Emma and I were out walking once and we both really needed the bathroom. The only place we could go was a very posh restaurant out in the country. And it was getting towards evening and all the black BMWs were driving in and the beautiful people were getting out to dine. And Emma and I looked in through the glass doors and saw a snooty maitre d at reception. So we took a deep breath, I untied the jumper from around my waste and tied it around my shoulders, and I was desperately trying to channel the aura of a Syngen, and Emma was Tiffany. And we walked in. Thankfully the maitre d was dealing with some other people so we swanned through, heads held high to the bathroom. Afterwards I was outside in the foyer waiting for Emma. Can I help you sir? He said as though the only help he wanted to give me was out the door never to return again. For the next 5 minutes that man looked me up and down like I was something on his shoe. And when Emma was done we scuttled out the door, happy to be free of a place we just didn’t fit.
I wonder how much of life feels like that though. It often feels like we’ve found our way into a millionaires club, and we feel like frauds. There we are in the millionaires club, dressed like this. And we don’t fit. And it probably seems to us like everyone else knows how to look, what to say, how to behave. But we don’t belong and we know it. I wonder how you handle blagging your way at the millionaire’s club?
Some of us try to shrink away into the corner and be shy, some of us sit back and try to look mysterious, some of us try to look demure or interesting. Some of us step forward with bravado and try to be funny, or clever or outlandish. But we’re all just trying to negotiate the feeling of being a fraud. The brash person and the shy person both feel like they’re a fraud. We all walk around planet earth like we’ve found our way into the millionaires club and we’re not sure we belong.
How do you have confidence in life? I’m not talking about bravado. I’m not talking about blagging your way through life. I’m not talking about bragging your way through life. But also, I’m not talking about shrinking back and closing yourself off from others. I want to know: How do you walk tall with head held high? How do you live at peace with God and the world and just walk in the calling that God has placed on your life and just bless people with who God has made you to be? Wouldn’t that be liberating? To drop the act, to drop your guard and just be you – confident in life.
Don’t you want that? How do you get that?
Well the Apostle Paul was someone who had incredible confidence in life. He was a guy who went out and planted churches all over the Eastern half of the Mediterranean. He spoke to Emporers, and he spoke to common folk and whoever he was with, he just boldly fulfilled his calling. Sometimes his opponents stoned him, and he just came back for more. Sometimes his friends begged him to stay and he knew it was time to leave, so left. He was not determined by other people’s praise, and he wasn’t determined by other people’s hatred. He simply did what God called him to do, he planted churches, he preached the gospel, he wrote half the letters of the New Testament, and he just lived with freedom the life God called him to. He was remarkably free of what the bible calls “the fear of men.”
But you know what makes this even more remarkable is to remember his history. Paul used to kill Christians for a living. Before he was Christianity’s number one spokesman he was actually Christianity’s number one enemy. Paul had tried to destroy the church. He presided over the stoning of Stephen, and as he’s on the road to Damascus to persecute more churches Jesus meets him and confronts him with his terrible crimes. Paul gets converted and sent out as a preacher to the nations.
Now tell me, have you ever stuffed up publicly? Have you ever made a major blunder that’s out in the open, and then you have to face everyone? That might put a dent in your confidence mightn’t it? Especially if your blunder was, killing Stephen, one of the leading lights of the early church! How do you bounce back from that and not just crumple into a guilty mass of self-recrimination?
Paul knows what he did. He knows the horror of murder and of trying to destroy Christ’s church. Nonetheless he sets about his new life with complete freedom and confidence. How is that possible?
You know, if we have confidence, it’s usually because we’ve got some good past performances under our belt, Paul didn’t have that. He only had black marks in his book. Yet he steps out as a Christian, among Christians, and for Christians and lives with utter freedom and confidence. How does he do it?
...continue reading "Confidence in Life – Sermon on Romans 1-8"
Easter Sunday All Age Talk
Passage Matthew 28:1-10
We had loads of "C and E" church-goers last week (Christmas and Easter). Pretty close to the beginning of the talk I challenge them like this... (Do you think this sort of thing is valid / worthwhile??)
...Now imagine if Jesus had died and stayed dead in that tomb? You know what would have happened, the women would have come, paid their respects to the memory of Jesus, they’d have gone home and gotten on with their lives without Him.
And if Jesus died and stayed dead, that would be an honourable thing to do! They could come, pay their respects, remember the good times, remember His teaching and His love, then off home for some DIY on Easter Monday. And perhaps they’d come back again next year, on the anniversary of His death and pay their respects again.
That would make total sense wouldn’t it… if Jesus had stayed dead.
But if He rose from the dead, then, once these women heard about it, they couldn’t dream of carrying on as normal, could they? Once they hear that He’s alive, they can’t go back to their old lives. Once the angel tells them, they need to meet this risen Jesus, don’t they? Paying respects to a dead teacher has been forgotten, now they’ve just got to meet the risen Christ.
Now perhaps this morning, you’ve come to church, a bit like these women. It is an honourable thing to do – to pay respects to the dead. It’s understandable that you want to remember the teaching and the love of Jesus. It’s admirable that you want to mark the anniversary of His death.
But what if He really did rise? If He really did rise, it transforms everything. It means Christianity is not about remembering a dead teacher. Instead Christianity means knowing a Living Lord.
These women went home from the tomb determined to have a living encounter with the risen Lord Jesus. Why don’t you make the same resolution this morning? [I go on to explain about our Christianity Explored courses]...
Full sermon text below...................
Two Cups: Matthew 26:17-46 – Maundy Thursday Sermon
This passage is the story of two cups. Easter is the story of two cups.
One cup was offered in the upper room. The other cup was offered in the Garden of Gethsemane.
One cup Jesus gives to us. One cup Jesus drinks for Himself
One cup is a cup for the forgiveness of sins. One cup is a cup of wrath and judgement.
One cup brings life. One cup brings death.
One cup the bible describes as a cup of blessing. The other cup is a cup of curse.
But this is the story of Easter – Jesus drank the cup of curses so that we can drink the cup of blessings. In other words, Easter is all about a wonderful exchange. That’s how Christians for thousands of years have described it: a wonderful exchange: Jesus takes the curses that we deserve in order to give us the blessings that only He deserves. He doesn’t deserve the Garden of Gethsemane. He doesn’t deserve to drink the cup of curses, but He does. And we don’t deserve to sit at the Feast with the LORD Almighty. We don’t deserve to drink the cup of blessings, but we do. It’s a wonderful exchange. He takes what we deserve to give us what we don’t deserve.
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The Power of the Cross – Mark 15:21-41
Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul said this:
the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
The cross splits the world. Either you look at the cross and think – that’s pathetic – or you look and you think – that’s powerful. It’s either pathetic or powerful. If you think it’s pathetic, Paul says “you are perishing.” The way milk perishes and goes off and soon it gets chucked away for good – that’s you if you think the cross is foolish. But if you think it’s the power of God, you are being saved. That means you have been plucked from the perishing crowd and set on a one-way street to heaven. But it’s one or the other.
The cross splits the world. And tonight we’re going to hear the message of the cross. If you have not become a Christian, the bible says that right now you are in the perishing camp. And you need to look again to find salvation. But you can, tonight, you can look at the cross and say “Wow! That is the power of God!” And you can go home saved from your perishing.
And if you are a believer already, you and I need the message of the cross daily. A few verses later in 1 Corinthians, Paul says “I’m determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Christians grow in their faith as they contemplate the cross. So let’s look at the cross together, and let’s allow Mark’s Gospel to be our guide.
Turn to the beginning of Mark. Have a look at chapter 1, verse 1. And here’s where we need to begin with the cross. We need to begin by realizing WHO is hanging on the cross. Who is He? Mark 1:1
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
So who is Jesus? Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Those are two different titles for Jesus. Christ means “The One Anointed with the Holy Spirit.” In Hebrew it’s the word “Messiah.” In Greek it’s the word “Christos.” In English we say Christ – but it’s all the same thing. Christ means, “The One Anointed with the Holy Spirit.” It means that Jesus is King, because KINGS are anointed. We usually think about “crowning” a King, but in the bible (and even in the British coronation service) you ANOINT kings. It means pouring oil on their head. The oil symbolized the Holy Spirit. The King would reign in the power of the Spirit.
So Jesus is THE Christ. THE King. THE Anointed One. And it’s not like Jesus has been anointed by mere men. Even before the universe began, Jesus has been the One anointed with the Holy Spirit. The One filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. The One who has the most intimate and intense relationship with God the Spirit. That’s what it means that He is the Christ.
And He is also “the Son of God.” That means He has always called the Almighty God, Daddy. Before there was a universe, Jesus was always calling God Most High, Daddy. He’s the eternal Son of the Father.
This is Jesus: He is the Christ – He has the ULTIMATE relationship with the Spirit. And He is the Son of God – He has the ULTIME relationship with the Father. Jesus is one of the Trinity. He is God the Son, loved by God the Father and filled with God the Spirit. He is God filled by God with God. He is God filled by God with God – He is the Christ, the Son of God.
Now then, think, who is hanging on the cross?
He is God filled by God with God. He is the Lord of this world. He is our Maker. He is the Author of Life, the Centrepiece of all reality. And He is nailed to a piece of wood until He dies.
Here is the message of the cross: Does that sound powerful or does that sound pathetic?
God filled by God with God comes to planet earth. And we kill Him. And He lets us.
Does that sound powerful or does that sound pathetic?
God filled by God with God comes to planet earth. And we kill Him. And He lets us.
If that’s true then what are we like? And what is He like?
...continue reading "The Power of the Cross – Mark 15:21-41"
Reverend Flappy-Hand flaps his way through a Flapfest
This sermon was videod. First time I've seen myself preach. Face for radio eh?
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/22227826]
Wedding sermon – For Pete and Claire
Readings: Genesis 2:19-25; Colossians 3:12-19
Opening gag: Pete and Claire it’s my duty to tell you that you are now sat next to the person who is, statistically speaking, most likely to kill you.
Pause for nervous laughter
The bible is all about marriage. It begins with marriage and it ends with marriage when all Christ’s people are united to Him at a cosmic wedding banquet. In the middle the bible is always describing our relationship to Christ as a marriage relationship.
Our first reading described the first marriage. Adam and Eve. Did you hear how they came together? The Groom was put down into a death-like sleep, his side was pierced, his bride was formed, he was raised up and they were brought together to become one.
And the ancient commentators would wax lyrical about the formation of Eve:
She was not taken from Adam’s head to be his ruler, nor from his feet to be his servant, but from his side, that she might be his equal, from under his arm, that he might protect her, and from close to his heart that he might love her.
Isn’t that beautiful? But it’s a picture of Christ and His bride the church. He went down to death, His side was pierced to form His bride, He was raised up again and when we come to Him in faith – we are united to Jesus, like a bride is united to her husband.
So friends if you’re here this afternoon and you’re not a Christian, let me tell you what Christianity is all about. You’ve just seen it. THIS is the heart of the Christian faith. According to the bible, this shows us the heart of all reality!
Did you hear those vows:
All that I am I give to you
All that I have I share with you.
Of course when Emma and I said those vows to each other there were sniggers in the congregation because effectively we were saying “All my debts I give to you, And all my student loan repayments I share with you.”
But in our marriage to Jesus it’s different. He doesn’t have any debts, He has only riches. But we have debts. We are in over our heads in cosmic debt towards God. We are trillions in the red. We have a wealth of badness and a terrible poverty of goodness. And we all have a bad name. We have inherited a shameful family name. “Humphrey” is quite a good name. In spite of all Jonathan’s trying to do to ruin that name, “Humphrey” is still a decent name. But our name, inherited from our human family, sullied by all that we’ve done as a race – that name is stained. We’re in debt and in shame. But the minute we say “I will” to Jesus, what happens? We say:
All that I am I give to you
All that I have I share with you.
We give to Jesus all our debts, all our sins, all our shame. And Jesus takes it. His name covers over ours – the way Deaves has now covered over Humphrey. His name covers over ours, and His riches pay off our debts. He absorbs our debt, and pays it all off on the cross.
Then Jesus turns to us and says:
All that I am I give to you
All that I have I share with you.
What’s that? His riches, His righteousness, His honour, His royal status. He covers over our old name and gives us His name. And He invites us into His royal family, to share in His royal power and royal inheritance. And best of all we get HIM. He gives HIMSELF to us, to enjoy forever.
History is headed towards a cosmic wedding banquet where we will enjoy our marriage union to Christ FOREVER.
That’s Christianity. And anyone can come to Christ and say “I will” to Him. And at that moment they come in on the ultimate royal marriage. Maybe some here would like to do that, or find out more. Come find me today and we can talk more.
But because of this marriage union to Jesus, our second reading for today is true:
It says that Christians are:
God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved
You might think, how can we be called chosen, holy and dearly loved. We certainly don’t look it. And we rarely act like it. Well, remember the marriage analogy. Remember our Groom, Jesus – He is choice in God’s eyes, He is holy in God’s sight, He is dearly loved. And when we are united to Jesus we share in His choiceness, His holiness, His dearly loved-ness. We’re adopted into the family, we enter the palace and we become the ultimate rags to riches story.
And so our passage goes on, and tells us, now that you’re in the palace, put away the rags and start wearing the royal clothing. He says:
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
What wonderful clothes, every marriage could do with this couldn’t it: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience! It’s the clothing of Christ, isn’t it? He is compassionate, He is kind, He is humble, He is gentle, He is patient.
And maybe we think, if we just put on this kind of character, our marriages will go fine, right?
Well it couldn’t hurt. But our passage goes on:
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Our reading expects there to be grievances, it expects there to be things that feel unbearable, it expects there to be sins that need forgiving.
So, Pete and Claire: the strength of your marriage won’t actually be determined by your nice-ness to each other. You need to hear that, because you’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. But marriage doesn’t run on nice-ness. It runs on forgiveness.
A successful marriage is not about your goodness, it’s about how you respond to badness. And this passage says, “forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
You know when we came to Christ we came in with a trillion pound debt. And Jesus took it, absorbed it, paid it off, and it’s gone, forgotten, never to be brought up between us again. Pete and Claire, you’re going to cost each other thousands of pounds worth of hurt. And sometimes tens of thousands of pounds of hurt. And maybe at points a million pounds of hurt. And if you’re just looking at the hurt it’ll be unbearable and you’ll consider it unforgiveable. But if you look to Jesus, it doesn’t compare with how He has forgiven us. So may this be your motto, especially when you drive each other crazy: forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And then Paul tells us how Christ’s forgiveness and love will be brought to mind:
Verse 15: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
Verse 16: Let the word of Christ dwell in your hearts.
Verse 17: Let the name of Christ infuse all your life.
Be Christ-filled people…
And then we come to the specific verses about husbands and wives.
Pete – verse 19 is yours: Love your wife and don’t be harsh with her.
Do you know why that verse is in the bible? Because A) Jesus is NOT harsh with us. And B) Husbands ARE harsh with their wives. And that just can’t be.
Husbands are playing the part of Christ in this whole Christ-and-the-Church picture. So love Claire the way Christ has loved us. He is not harsh with us. He leads in servant-hearted, forgiving, gentle love. How can husbands be harsh, when Christ is so gentle? “Love your wife and do not be harsh with her.”
Claire – verse 18 is your verse: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” Pete is laying down his life for you, to lead you in sacrificial service. Let him.
Pete – love. Claire – receive that love. The great heresy in the history of the church has always been a church that doesn’t receive the love of Christ but tries to earn and perform and do and work and get busy for God. It’s heresy.
And if the great temptation for men is to be a false Christ and shrink back from responsibility, shrink back from service, to never get off our backsides and love – the great temptation for women is never to rest in love.
CS Lewis once said the best marriage prep would be to put a couple in a chaotic kitchen together. The pot’s boiling over, the toast is burning, the cats are nibbling at the plates. Here’s the challenge: the woman has to sit down and do nothing. And the man has to jump up and sort it out. The man has to not be harsh. And the woman has to submit. How counter-cultural, how counter-intuitive! But that’s Christian marriage.
Husbands – love. Wives – submit to that love.
And then you’ll have a marriage that bucks all the stereotypes. Our culture rightly despises the caricature of marriage where husbands are cruel or cowardly and women are clamouring or closed. Not so with you. The world will look on and ask – why is your marriage so different to the stereotype. And you can answer – Let me tell you about our riches in Christ. Let me tell you about the ultimate marriage. Because of His love – that’s how we manage it.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 sermon
In America there’s a ridge running up and down the Rocky Mountains – it’s called the Continental Divide. Any water that falls on this ridge has to go one way or the other. A raindrop may fall on this ridge and if it trickles to the west it ends up in the Pacific Ocean. The next drop may fall on that very same place and trickle off to the east. It will end up in the Atlantic Ocean. Consecutive drops of water will fall on same ridge, but eventually thousands of miles will separate them.
That’s what the cross does to the whole human race. We are all divided into only two camps heading to only two destinations.
Verse 18 speaks of two kinds of person: there are “those who are perishing”, and there are “those who are being saved.” The whole human race divides into the perishing and the saved. This room divides into the perishing and the saved.