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Tag: sermons
Nehemiah 3 sermon – what brings unity to God’s people?
Nehemiah 3
What unites the Lord’s people? What makes for real, lasting, binding unity among the Family of God? Where do we find the kind of oneness that Jesus speaks of in John chapter 17.
“May they [the church] be brought to complete unity.” (John 17:23)
How can the church ever be the answer to Christ’s prayer?
Some will suggest unity through institutions. Be united under bishops, and archbishops. Perhaps under the Pope – surely that’s one way of achieving unity.
Some suggest unity through dialogue and declarations. Sit down with Christians and come to doctrinal agreements on as many things as we can. Certainly there’s a time and a place for that.
Perhaps we should pursue unity through ecumenical services where we put “give and take” into action in our worship. Maybe that can be an expression of unity.
In Nehemiah 3 we see the people united in an incredible way. Men and women. Adults and children. Nobles and servants. Different tribes. Different cultures. Different occupations working as one towards a common goal. There were hardships, there were set-backs, there was serious opposition, but through it all, the gracious hand of God was upon them and in 52 days they did what seemed impossible. They rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem.
And that’s what unites the people of God. And you say “What, a building project?” “Brick-laying is the key to church unity? Urban planning is the great ecumenical hope?” No, but let’s think what building up Jerusalem means. ...continue reading "Nehemiah 3 sermon – what brings unity to God’s people?"
Some talks
Mike Reeves on Just Jesus - three talks on the incomparability of Christ. His self-giving sets Him apart!
Rich Owen on Colossians 1:3-14 - "We need Jesus more today than we did yesterday". Amen!
And I've just spotted Rich's Colossians 1:15-23 sermon. Haven't listened to it yet. But very much looking forward to it.
UPDATE: See also Michael Luerhmann's sermon on Colossians 1:1-2 (ht Dave K).
The Threefold Word – Seminar part 2
Christ must be proclaimed biblically.
John 5:37-47
My job is not to speak about the bible.
My job is to speak about what the bible speaks about.
We don’t minister the word in order to give a “take home point.”
We offer a take-home Christ!
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Christ must be proclaimed biblically
The Bible does not need experts, it creates Heralds.
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Christ must be proclaimed biblically.
The Bible is not given to individuals for their personal piety.
The Bible is given to the church to proclaim Christ to the world.
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A minister of the word is not capable of speaking of Jesus.
They are incapable of doing otherwise!
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Jeremiah 20:9; 1 Corinthians 9:16; 2 Corinthians 4:13; 5:14-21
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If this is true how will it affect the content
of our word ministry?
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The Threefold Word – Seminar part 1
HANDOUT PART ONE
When I say “The Word of God” what springs instantly to mind?
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Genesis 15:1-6
1 Samuel 3:1,7,19-21
Psalm 18:30
Psalm 33:4-6
Jeremiah 1:4-10
John 1:1-3
Acts 6:7; 12:24; 13:49; 19:20
1 Thessalonians 2:8-13
Hebrews 4:12; 13:7
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How do we make sense of the various ways “God’s Word” is spoken of?
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The Three-Fold Word
- Christ
- Scripture
- Proclamation
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Martin Luther: “Tis a right excellent thing, that every honest pastor’s and preacher’s mouth is Christ’s mouth, and his word and forgiveness is Christ’s word and forgiveness… For the office is not the pastor’s or preacher’s but God’s; and the Word which he preacheth is likewise not the pastor’s and preacher’s but God’s.”
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John Calvin: “When a man has climbed up into the pulpit… it is [so] that God may speak to us by the mouth of a man.”
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The Second Helvetic Confession (Heinrich Bullinger): “The Preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed and received by the faithful.”
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Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16 – From Father to Son to Church to world with divine authority!
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When are my words God’s words?
When Christ is proclaimed biblically.
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If this is true, how will it affect the manner
in which we conduct our word ministry?
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Jesus is God’s smile beaming at us out of the depths of eternity
From Ben Myers' sermon here:
When we talk about God, when we write books and attend lectures, and read discussions about this question, “Does God exist”—as Christians when we talk about God we’re not talking about some kind of intellectual hypothesis. We’re not talking about a speculative idea that may or may not have certain arguments for or against it. We’re not talking about a psychological technique for coping with the difficulties of our lives. And when we talk about God, we’re certainly not talking about a supreme being that is so infinitely remote and distant from our world that all we can do is kind of look through our little theological telescopes and try to make a few connections.
As Christians—as followers of the Lord Jesus—when we talk about God, we are talking about one who has entered into the very fabric of our world, who has come as close to us as we are to ourselves, a God who has become incarnate. When we talk about God, ultimately, we are always talking about Jesus. For the God of the gospel is the God who has come among us in Jesus of Nazareth. We believe in God because of Jesus.
Jesus is the one who showed us the face of God—Jesus shows us the truth of God, Jesus shows us the love of God. Jesus is God’s smile beaming at us out of the depths of eternity. Jesus is God’s love wrapping around us, seizing us and not letting us go. Jesus is God’s grace, reaching into the darkest and most shameful dimensions of our experience. Jesus is God’s healing, binding up the wounded. Jesus is God’s goodness, in a world full of chaos and disaster and catastrophe. Jesus is God’s great strength for the weak. Jesus is water for the thirsty, and when you drink that water you will never thirst again. Jesus is bread for all those who are starved and hungry, famished for something good and something true. Jesus shows us God. He is not God’s explanation, he is not God’s argument, he is not God’s debate. He is God’s simple, great, loving act, showing us, Here I am, here you are. In Jesus, God shows us God. That I believe, is the whole secret of the Christian faith.
Religion Causes Wars – Man is the Answer. A sermon for 9/11
Yesterday I had two different conversations with people who called themselves atheists.
“Why are you an atheist?” I asked each of them. They both answered in exactly the same way. I wonder if you can guess what they said:
“Religion causes wars” they said.
It’s a common accusation isn’t it? Days after the September 11th attacks, Richard Dawkins wrote in The Guardian, “To fill a world with religion... is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used.”
That thinking is very prevalent. And on a day like today it might seem difficult to argue with. 10 years after the planes flew into the buildings, 10 years of war, surely it proves the atheists right, doesn’t it? Religion causes war.
Well now, let’s think about that for a second. The last hundred years have been called the murder century. Over a hundred million people have died violently in those 100 years. But do you want to hear the top three perpetrators who account for the great majority of the deaths? Stalin, Mao, Hitler. Add to this Mussolini, Tito, Pol Pot, Idi Amin. All of them atheists either dogmatically or practically. They have killed more in a century than religion ever has.
If we’re going to compare body counts, there’s blood on everyone’s hands. You cannot flee from the evils of religion to the safety of atheism. You cannot escape the human problem because the problem IS humans. Religious humans or irreligious humans – we are the problem. God is not the common denominator in war. Man is.
I say “man”, and I use that politically-incorrect label for a genuine reason, as we’ll see shortly. But God is not the common denominator in war, man is.
Man might use God to justify war. But man might also use godlessness to justify war. It seems that people can come up with any justification for war. What’s the problem? The problem is with us.
After so much war and suffering and terror, people have wanted to ask “How can you believe in God after the last hundred years?” But that is not the question is it? The question is, “How can anyone believe in man?”
That seems to me to be an obvious observation. But let’s think a little more biblically. Because actually, in the Bible, there is hope for man. And actually in the Bible religion does cause wars.
But we’ll have to come at the issue the way Paul does. We’ll do it by studying Romans 5 together and by thinking about that little word “man.”
...continue reading "Religion Causes Wars – Man is the Answer. A sermon for 9/11"
Ecclesiastes 1 – Sermon
Other Ecclesiastes Posts:
The Teacher is not an Atheist - he's a crummy christ
"To everything there is a season"
"Cast thy bread on many waters"
"Of making many books there is no end"
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Meaningless, meaningless, utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless.
That’s quite an opening to a book. Especially a book in the bible. Aren’t you supposed to open up the bible and find little nuggets of timeless truth? Isn’t that how the bible works?
I have a friend who works for Gideons – they’re the people who put bibles in hotel rooms all over the world. He has story after story of people alone in their hotel rooms who intend to commit suicide (hotel rooms are popular places to commit suicide) but they pick up a Gideon’s bible, randomly open up and something leaps off the page and they see Christ and that He loves them and they’re saved. But I hope no depressed person ever randomly opens up to Ecclesiastes to find encouragement. Can you imagine opening up chapter 1:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king of Jerusalem:
Oh this ought to be good. He’s a teacher and a king, he sounds like he knows a thing or two:
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
It’s such a strong opening you’re knocked to the floor before the book’s even got going. The teacher hits you with four punches to the stomach, each harder than the last. First the teacher says “Meaningless.” And you can imagine someone like his wife at a dinner party, “Now dear, don’t go off on one, you don’t mean to say meaningless.” And the teacher says it again “Meaningless!” – the second punch. And then his wife says “Come on now darling, life’s not completely meaningless, what about...” And then he cuts her off again “Utterly meaningless.” The wife tries one last time, “But darling surely some things are meaningful.” And the teacher says “EVERYTHING is meaningless.”
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
Life is emphatically, absolutely and entirely meaningless.
Sermon on the Book of Job
What consolation do we offer suffering people?
Worse things happen at sea? Count your blessings? Lightning doesn't strike twice? At least you're not being shredded by industrial machinery and flung into an acid bath?
God's got a plan? Gotta keep trusting?
Here's my favourite: “Nothing a resurrection won’t fix.” Now that’s consolation.
Job is the story of man. Therefore it's also a story of terrible suffering (and of terrible human comfort). But in the end we learn that there's nothing a resurrection won't fix.
Job 1 – Wooded Place, East, Upright Man, Animals, Satan ruins everything.
Remind you of anything?
Satan’s place: Planet earth
Satan’s premise: People only love God if they’re paid.
Satan’s power: Under God’s. The leash is as long as the LORD decides.
But upright man prevails and Satan's premise is (for once!) proved untrue.
Job 2 – Not just wealth and family, health too. Here come the “Friends”.
Their silence is the best thing they offer.
The trouble comes when they open their mouths.
Job 3:1-5 – How would you summarize? "I wish I was dead." That’s not sinful!
Burden of Job’s speeches: I really am upright, I really am suffering!
There is such a thing as innocent suffering.
Bad things really do happen to good people just as good things happen to bad people.
Job 4:7-9 How would you summarize? "What goes around comes around!"
We all fall into this fleshly way of thinking. We like to imagine we’re safe if we do good. In fact most of our goodness is simply suffering-insurance. That's why innocent suffering offends us so much.
Job 8:1-6 Summarize?
Job 11:13. Summarize?
Job 12:1! Sarcasm is great! 16:1-3; 26:1-4
Job 16:16-21 In the midst of suffering we need to know our Witness; Advocate; Intercessor; Friend!
Job 19:17-27: Redeemer; Earth; Flesh; See.
Job 38:1-11,19-21: The LORD shows up! Not with a cup of tea and a shoulder to cry on!
Whirlwind! He humbles Job, makes him see: We can’t weigh it up. We can’t play God:
Job 42:1-6: Job never gets an answer to his why questions (he asks 20 times).
We are simply not in a position to do suffering calculus. We should leave it to the LORD
Job doesn't get a neat answer. Instead he gets an experience of the LORD and he gets resurrection!
That's what we really need!
Job 42:7-9 Notice Job's title: "Servant". Prays for friends, makes sacrifice, accepted. Remind you of anyone?
This really is the story of man, taken down through Satan into suffering and death, but raised up again through the righteous Servant of the LORD.
Have you been prayed for by Jesus? Have you claimed His sacrifice for your own?
Job 42:10-17 Twice the original. Not just Eden regained – the world glorified.
Redemption - Jemima: Sunshine. Kezia (Cassia): aromatic. Keren-Hapuch: little makeup box.
There's nothing a resurrection won't fix!
Getting out of the blame game: A sermon on Luke 6:37-42
We love to judge.
George Carlin once noted a universal rule of the road: Everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot. And everyone who drives faster is a maniac.
To the speeding driver, everyone’s an idiot. To the slow driver, everyone’s a maniac. But one rule applies to all: My speed is just right.
Two weeks ago the BBC, CNN, the Daily Mail, The Telegraph and many other news sites and blogs have reported a hoax as fact. The hoax was this: Internet Explorer users are less intelligent than those using other web browsers.
It is a lie that has spread like wildfire despite the thinnest of fabricated “evidence” produced by a website cobbled together in the last month. Why did this lie find such instant and universal acceptance (amongst the web-savvy anyway)? Because we love to judge.
David Cameron shortly after the riots said that pockets of our society are not just broken but sick. Pockets?
Rioters; Politicians; Police; Media
We feel superior, but you know what they say? When you point the finger at others, you have three fingers pointing back.
Jesus says:
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Jesus says there’s two realities you can buy into. Either Judgement and condemnation; or Giving and forgiving.
Jesus tells us the currency that God deals in. Verse 36:
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)
He is in the forgiveness game. What game are we in?
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