What have we forgotten?

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child’s cry. A blazing star hung over a stable and wide men came with birthday gifts.

We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries; we celebrate with stars on Christmas trees, the sound of bells and with gifts. But especially with gifts. You give me a book; I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry could do with a new pipe.

We forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled … all that is except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It’s His birthday we are celebrating. Don’t ever let us forget that.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most … and then let each put in his share. Loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth.
The Bishop’s Wife 1947

But it isn’t just that stocking for the Christ-child that gets forgotten.

Every Christmas churches, and many of us in our homes, have some sort of nativity scene. It reminds us of a profound truth, the incarnation, that moment that God became flesh and walked among men. We celebrate God’s love and grace, that He laid aside His heavenly glory to be born in the humblest of ways to save us by dying for us.

Everything and everyone in these nativity scenes is glorifying the Saviour of the world.

Everyone shown in the nativity is portrayed as a worshipper of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The angels worshipped Him. (Luke 2: 8-14)

The shepherds worshipped Him. (Luke 2: 8-20)

The wise men worshipped Him. (Matthew 2:1-11)

Even the animals, in their own way, worshipped Him. (Romans 1:19-20)

And this is quite right and proper but we have forgotten someone and something.

Jesus came to this world to save us from our sins and reconcile us with God. He came to give His life for those who hated Him and wanted Him dead. As Jesus said in Mark 2:!7 “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

So who did we forget?

We’ve left out the ignorant. Let us take Caesar Augustus as an example of this. He ordered a census in order to charge more tax. We don’t know what prompted Augustus’s timing but we do know that God was behind the timing.

When God sent His Son into the world there were several factors that made the time right which we overlook, such as the conditions which made it easier to spread the Gospel. Conditions such as Roman law which protected Paul and others as they travelled around the Roman world preaching the Gospel. Roman peace which meant there was a lack of wars within the Roman Empire, enabling the Apostles and other early believers to travel freely without fear. The Roman roads which made travel easier and the Greek language – which was the most common language used at that time and which was an expressive language enabling the deep truth to be explained in great detail.

When Augustus issued his decree he did not know God was using him to fulfil the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that out of Bethlehem in the land of Judah would come the one promised. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David, their family line from Bethlehem, and so the order of census forced them to travel to Bethlehem where Jesus was then born.

Whilst being ignorant of the part he played, Augustus was part of God’s plan for Jesus’s birth. Jesus came into the world to save those ignorant of God, the lost, from their sins and from themselves.

It’s not just the ignorant we’ve forgotten, we have also left out the indifferent. Take the innkeeper for example, who kept watch over the inn and collected money from travellers. When Joseph arrived at the inn with a very pregnant Mary the innkeeper was not bothered. He turned them away telling them there was no room. Seeing their plight and that Mary could give birth at any moment, he could have, perhaps, offered them his own room but instead he was indifferent to their need and even the offer of the stable was just an afterthought. He was unmoved and indifferent but still a part of Christ’s birth.

There are many like that innkeeper – only preoccupied with themselves, not moved by the Gospel message or our witness to them. Yet Jesus came to save them too.

John 1:11 “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” Jesus came anyway. He died to save the indifferent anyway so that if they do hear Him and come to Him they can still be saved.

But we haven’t just left out the indifferent and the ignorant. We have also left out the incredulous.

In Luke 2:15-18 we hear how, having believed the angel, seen and worshipped Jesus, the shepherds returned to their sheep telling everyone they met about the baby in the manger and the angel’s message. The people the shepherds told were astonished but they did not go to see and worship baby Jesus themselves. They heard the story, were impressed by the story but then did nothing about it.

Jesus still came and died for these people – those who are so wrapped up in their own lives that, despite being impressed, they ignore the invitation given to them to be saved. The message may be impressive but it can only save you if you turn to Christ in faith. Receive Him and be saved by His grace.

But it is not just the incredulous, the indifferent and the ignorant we have left out. We have also left out the self-righteousness. Those so blind to the truth and who Jesus is that they fail to see even when they see it for themselves with their own eyes. Let us take Saul as an example here. He was a very religious man and a zealous Jew but his self-righteousness had blinded him to who Jesus was. When God “opened his eyes” on the road to Damascus he sees himself as a sinner, repented and God saved his soul. Saul became Paul.

Salvation does not come by doing good alone. Jesus, in His death on the cross, did what we cannot do. Jesus opened a way to God for all who believe in Him. When we truly believe we are saved.

But we didn’t just leave out the self-righteous, the incredulous, the indifferent and the ignorant. We also left out the wicked. The wicked such as Herod, who slaughtered those precious, innocent children. Herod who, once he knew death was near, had 70 Jewish religious leaders executed for the sole purpose of having people weeping as he died. The soldiers who followed these orders of Herod should also be included here. Jesus died to save people such as these so that the wicked could be delivered from their evil.

He died for people like Herod and the soldiers following his orders, for murderers, addicts, thieves, manipulators stepping on people just to get what they want, for those who do not care about others’s feelings and needs, for those full of meanness and hate, for politicians, bankers, stockbrokers, teachers, homemakers, drivers, vicars, priests, bishops and all sinners.

Jesus Christ died for everyone who has ever or who will live, for you and for me.

If we had been there the night of Jesus’s birth then the likelihood is, sadly, that we would not have noticed, that we would not, for whatever reason, gone to worship Him at His birth. Because we are sinners just like everyone else. But He still came, out of grace and love, for us. Our salvation wrapped up in a tiny human baby.

So let us believe anew, repenting and turning to Him who forgives and loves us. And, like the shepherds, may we spread His love and the message of the greatest gift of all to all whom we meet so that they have a chance to also be a part of the salvation Jesus bought for us all.

Let Our Little Lights Shine

A long time ago, possibly even in Bethlehem, a story about a little owl called Plop was very popular. The main thing about this story was that Plop, the baby owl, was scared of the dark.

I wonder, who here is, or used to be, scared of the dark?

And how many of you sometimes think that there are monsters or bad things in the dark? Or that the darkness is something bad?

And when a light appears do you feel better?

The opposite of dark is light. So if darkness is bad or scary then the light is good and friendly.

The magical thing about light is that you only need a teeny tiny spark to transform the darkness.

That light, that tiny spark, shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.

There is a lot of darkness in the world, selfishness, greed, things that cause hurt, sin. But a light came into the world and the darkness cannot overcome it.

Jesus is the light of the world, the light in the darkness. And like when one candle shines in the darkness and then another is lit, and then another and another; soon all there is is light.

Jesus starts with us, forgiving the darkness in us so that we can shine; and as each of us are filled with His love, light and forgiveness, the light shines brighter and the darkness diminishes.

Jesus shows us the way to live a good life, full of light and offers us His power to live that way. When He comes again and God’s final judgement comes upon the world the darkness will be banished forever.

When you hold your Christingles look at the candle, as it is lit remember Jesus, the light of the world, whose light vanquishes the darkness.

Let that light into your hearts and lives lighting the way for others to find their way out of darkness into light.

Our task is to be those Christingles (it’s okay, dressing up is optional) to share the joy that comes to us through Jesus and to be His light bringing hope to those in the dark.

In the beginning there was nothing but God. And God created the world and everything in it. He filled the world with all sorts of good things – plants, animals, mountains, rivers, seas, the sun, the moon, and even people. And God saw that everything He had made was good.

But it didn’t stay good. The people did things they should not do. They did not look after what God had allowed them to borrow. They did not look after the world or each other.

This made God sad because He loves us. So He sent us a rescuer, but not just any rescuer. He sent us the best rescuer of all – His precious Son.

Jesus came to be the light to the world, to defeat the darkness and help people come to know God.

A light for everyone, shining in our world, our lives and our hearts.

Even though we are celebrating Christ’s birth (his first coming) on Christmas Day, we are already looking ahead to Easter when Jesus died on the cross and rose again to defeat all the powers of darkness, to defeat all those scary monsters, and to be our salvation.

The ribbon which represents the outpouring of Jesus’s blood also reminds us of the great outpouring of God’s love for us which encompasses the whole of creation.

Christmas and Easter are two parts of the story of God’s love for us. May we live out the truth of that story in our own lives, may we accept again this Christmas the greatest gift of Christ’s light and may we let our little light shine out of the darkness to the glory of God. Amen.

Mary …

We tend to use a mixture of readings from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to revisit the miracle of Jesus’s birth. Here, Matthew doesn’t tell us how the Virgin Birth took place—except that it was by the Holy Spirit. Whereas, Luke gives a little more detail, the angel telling Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The Virgin Birth is a divine miracle in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But Matthew does tell us two things about Jesus, one being what he does: “You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins”. Many Jews were looking for a Messiah who would come in conquering power. But Matthew shows us the much deeper human need. Jesus comes to save us from our sins—our spiritual needs far outweighing other needs.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth is also a sign of the far greater miracle and mystery of God becoming flesh and taking his place amongst us as one of us – the Incarnation. God didn’t just send angels, prophets and messengers—he came! In Jesus, God has come close; has taken human nature and human life to himself joining human nature to his own divine being. This is all of the Grace of God, who is a God who stoops to take us by the hand. In this respect, Matthew quotes from the Old Testament: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him “Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”’ If the name Jesus is descriptive of what Jesus does, Immanuel is descriptive of who Jesus is—God with us.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth points towards both the humanity and the deity of Jesus. He was a human person born in the normal way. He is also the eternal God who has come to us—the God-man. Jesus didn’t begin his existence at Christmas, but as eternal God, entered into time and space at Christmas. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given… (Isaiah 9:6).
So many people are ‘in the dark’ about God and don’t see him clearly. Yet, if you want to know what God is like, you only have to look at Jesus. Jesus Christ is the “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing…” He is the revelation of the will, wisdom and person of God. His teaching is the
instruction of God. His death is the death of God-for-us. His resurrection is the victory of God! The meaning of Christmas is first and foremost a message of amazing grace, of a God who comes near.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth is a new creation, the beginning of a whole new world. What we can’t do for ourselves, God has and is doing. Into a world of brokenness and sadness God has come by means of a supernatural birth in the power of the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t end there: the same Spirit who hovered over Mary and brought about a miracle of new life and transformation in her can also do the same in us! Regardless of who you are or what you have done you can start a whole new life as part of the new world. Jesus is the answer to our deepest needs. He is God come among us in order to save us from our sins and to rescue us from the deepest cause of our alienation and brokenness. When we start from the inside out we can have hope that the entirety of our life can experience the transformation he brings.

Mary, mother of Jesus (Photo by Juan Carlos Leva on Pexels.com)

King of Kings

The Sunday before Advent, we celebrate Christ the King, which concludes the church year as we begin the Advent Season and the new church year the following Sunday.

Whilst one of the more recent festival days of the church, having been added to the church calendar in 1925, it is when we join together to give thanks to Christ our King and to be reminded that all nations fall under the reign of God’s Son, and to remind the world that we all live under this reign, whether or not we acknowledge it.

Jesus is our King and is the King of kings.

So, what kind of king is he?

In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul tells us that in Jesus, our King, all things in heaven and earth, both seen and unseen, have been created through Jesus and for Jesus. There is nothing, no nation, no government, no earthly ruler that has not been created through Jesus and for Jesus. He is the Lord over all. King of kings and Lord of lords.

Paul goes on to tell us that without Jesus being an active part of our world everything would fall apart. Jesus is the glue that holds all things together. The ultimate sticky back plastic.

Paul tells us that our Almighty and all powerful God rescued us from the power of darkness into Jesus’s kingdom, where there is love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. All ruled over by the gentle, loving hand of Jesus. An all – powerful king who chooses not to rule by force but by love.

In Luke chapter 23, Jesus is being crucified and mocked. Jesus, our all – powerful king, allows himself to be crucified – killed in a cruel, torturous, shaming way; choosing to reign from a cross, willingly dying for us.

Yet it is this that shows us what it means to have Jesus as our king and what kind of king He is.

A king who is literally dying to save us. A king who took our humiliation and punishment for us. A king who was tortured and died and refused to save himself. A king who gets what he does not deserve – death on a cross – so that we can have what we do not deserve – life in his kingdom. A king of overflowing love showing us God’s overflowing love for us.

And he does not stop there, as demonstrated when, even though he was dying, he still found the breath to forgive the repentant thief.

Jesus is a king who is always ready to forgive and to welcome a repentant sinner home.

Christ, our king of love has let us off the cross, giving us the opportunity to be his disciples and live each day for him.

I invite you to think about what that means for you.

We give thanks for Christ our King, the all-powerful, who chooses to reign by love. The king who died so that we might live.

So, let us live not for ourselves but for him. Let us make the most of the opportunity to live each day for the king who died to save us and continue to do so until that blessed day when his kingdom will come in all it’s fullness and glory.

Christ The King (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)

Signs of Daybreak

A rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back.

‘Is it when you can see an animal in the distance, and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?’

‘No,’answered the rabbi.

‘Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance, and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?’

‘No.’

‘Well then,’ the students demanded, ‘when is it?’

‘It is when you look on the face of another hunan being and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.’

Jesus said, “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

We are all God’s children. Through faith and in Jesus Christ we are all part of the same family, all brothers and sisters.

This is the starting point for how we should treat one another. We are to respect our brother and sisters.

We should listen to each other and be ready to hear God speaking. We should learn from, heed and act on their advice.

We should value them and the gifts they bring, thanking them for the different ways they serve and encouraging them.

We should be interested in their lives, how their week has been, and we should pray for them.

We are to treat each other as equals and honour them as a fellow heir in Christ.

We should love them, and our neighbour, as ourselves.

Let us look for the daybreak and the light of Christ shining brightly as we greet our brothers and sisters and welcome the day.

Discipleship Is Costly

Luke 14:25-33

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem because the time of His death is approaching. He was accompanied by His disciples, whom He was teaching and preparing, but time was short. Hence, Jesus’s radical call. It was absolutely necessary for them to leave everything behind and be prepared for their own death if they are serious about following Him and about going with Him to Jerusalem.

There were also large crowds accompanying Jesus as He journeyed towards Jerusalem.

Jesus was also teaching these crowds.

Those who were already following Jesus needed to be taught the nature of true discipleship. They needed to be fully aware of what following Him costs.

Following Jesus demands full and total devotion to God.

Jesus was so fully devoted to His mission that it meant abandoning and being rejected by His home town and His family. For those who must leave their family behind to be able to fully follow Jesus it could be perceived as hating one’s family in the eyes of some.

Jesus tells us that to be His disciple means carrying our cross and following Him.

He is giving His disciples advance warning.

The road they were following Jesus down is expected to end in death, and they must prepare themselves.

Full devotion is described by and measured by what future is being committed to.

As usual, Jesus gave examples in order to help His disciples and the crowd understand the importance of fully evaluating the cost of following Him.

It was not a decision to be made lightly. Each person in the crowd and each disciple needed to consider whether they could follow Him to the very end, leaving everything else behind.

“None of you can be my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Jesus is entirely serious in saying that those following Him to Jerusalem must not be encumbered in any way.

But, if we look at other contexts and situations, does Jesus require every one, every disciple, every where and in every time to abandon family and possessions and run headlong towards death for Him?

If we look at the rest of the New Testament we can discern that the answer to this question is no.

The rest of the New Testament portrays faithful disciples maintaining family relationships and retaining possessions.

There are the apostles who travelled with their wives as they travelled far and wide on missionary work. The members of the church who had homes and possessions, with which they supported the church and the work of Peter, Paul and the other apostles.

It is important, however, to reiterate that these converts held their possessions loosely and were willing to give them up for the good of others and to support the Gospel mission.

It is also important to realise and accept that the requirements Jesus placed upon those wanting to follow Him on the road to Jerusalem will be required to be fulfilled should the circumstances dictate.

All followers of Jesus must remind themselves constantly that following Him faithfully could require the full sacrifice of family, possessions and even life itself. Those Christians who do not encounter or experience that extreme sacrifice must ensure that their family, possessions and life do not become so dear to us that they draw us away from full devotion.

Discipleship IS costly.

It demands continuous giving – giving time, giving energy, giving attention, taking initiative, making sacrifices, facing opposition, losing privacy, embracing obscurity, even shedding tears.

The making of disciples is not just sharing the Gospel, but sharing our own selves, gladly, for the souls of others. It means giving, giving, giving, giving and even more giving.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. So it also is with the hearts of disciples. It makes me happier for you to have my time, energy, attention. initiative, than it does for me to keep them to myself.

The crowd who were with Jesus on the road were interested enough to be following Him. However, they hadn’t fully grasped the implications and cost of discipleship. The same is true for many today. Throughout the world, both in churches and out, are crowds of people interested in Jesus but who do not really grasp the full implications, cost and commitment of discipleship for themselves.

And it is to such as these that Jesus is speaking to here. Those people who are willing to follow Jesus and learn from Him but only as long as the cost to them is not too high. Casual followers, followers who are here today but gone tomorrow.

Jesus points out that this is a total misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and He strongly addresses this misunderstanding.

We are to put Jesus first, to put our love for God above everything else in our lives.

The Christian life demands strength to love.

The Christian life demands that we carry a cross.

The Christian life demands that we give up everything for God.

There is only one person who has ever managed to do this perfectly and, of course, that is Jesus Christ Himself. He is our model – our example. We are to imitate Him, or in the words of Thomas A Kempis we are to develop “The Imitation of Christ”.

Growth in discipleship is ultimately growth in becoming more Christlike in our thoughts and actions.

And that involves sacrifice and hard work.

Are we ready to count the cost and become the disciples Jesus wants us to be.

It’s a choice we must make.

Not only that but we must keep making that choice

every

single

day!

Pride and Humility

In Luke, chapter 14, verses 7 to 14, Jesus is teaching us about pride and humility.

Jesus was at the house of one of the pharisees to eat a meal. Jesus often had disputes with the pharisees but He still spent time with them; not as a pharisee Himself but being God’s Son on earth He was showing them God’s example and love. And whilst at this meal Jesus watched.

He watched and saw how the others at this meal behaved and how they strategically placed themselves to get the best seats in the house; that is the places which would grant them the most honour or, if you like, jostling for the Top Table.

In Jesus’s day, seating arrangements were very important in society as the most honoured person sat in a particular seat, then the next most honoured, then the next and so on. A wedding banquet was the most important occasion and where you got seated at such a party was indicative of your standing in the community. This made it the perfect example for Jesus to use to teach His lesson.

And, of course, if you were to take the most honoured place and the host wanted someone else to sit there you would be asked to move – which would be embarrassing and would make you feel great shame.

Not everyone has the same exact customs to denote social standing and highlight how important or honoured someone is. But, there are many occasions in modern life where one’s own sense of self importance, pride and high opinion of one’s self can be displayed.

Pride comes before a fall. Shame comes after self exaltation.

Instead of playing the self promotion game, work hard for the Lord and let God raise us up.

When sitting in that lower place we are not there to make ourselves noticed in order to try and get ourselves placed higher. Nor are we there to pout and show dissatisfaction with the aim to let others know we don’t belong there. On the contrary, there is something wonderful and joyful about being content in whatever place God allows us to have.

Joyfully embrace the lower place. If the Master moves us to a higher place think how much more satisfying it is to know that God has raised you up than if you raised yourself up.

When we seek to honour ourselves we will always be humbled.

Jesus was the perfect One to teach this lesson, because He fulfilled it perfectly. He (God’s Son incarnated as flesh) deserved the highest place but He took the lowest and was ‘granted’ the highest.

Jesus had also noticed that the pharisee had chosen guests from a sense of pride, lacking in love for others and only inviting those who could give something in return. So Jesus went on to warn the host about the danger of pride when choosing guests.

Jesus is not saying that we can never invite certain friends/relatives/associates. What He is saying is not to make a habit of only inviting the same clique of people all the time.

He is telling the pharisee, and us, not to only associate with people for what they can do for us. He is telling us not to put self at the centre of our lives. We are called to follow Jesus and His example was that of putting others in the centre of our living.

It is better to give than to receive.

It is a wonderful feeling to give a gift that can never be repaid. Such a feeling helps give us a small insight into the pleasure of God in giving the gift of His grace, mercy, salvation and blessing to His people.

We never lose out when we follow the pattern of God’s generosity. Jesus shows us that we need to live with an eternal perspective of life as He promises God provides us with full repayment at the resurrection of the righteous; when our lives are weighed up on the balance sheet and audited by He who knows our hearts and minds, our actions and our motivations.

So, in summary:

Practise and prioritise humility over pride in everything.

Our works should be for the glory of God not for the praise of others.

We should embrace a lifestyle of radical hospitality, welcoming all.

And we need to understand that God’s kingdom operates with a different set of values to the world’s values. It operates with God’s values.

The Feast of St Peter and St Paul

(2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18, Matthew 16:13-19)

St Peter and St Paul do not have separate feast days and are celebrated together as foundation members of the church – they were instrumental in establishing and spreading Christianity They had complementary ministries with Peter often being called the Apostle to the Jews and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Peter, originally a fisherman, was chosen by Jesus to lead His church. Paul, originally a pharisee, persecuted Christians until his conversion on the road to Damascus. Their deaths in Rome solidified their connection and their importance to the early church.

In our Gospel reading, Peter is praised for his belief and faith in Jesus as the Son of the Living God. Peter had times of doubt and unfaithfulness but the first call in his following of Jesus was to grow in the faith that would sustain his life.

Jesus withdrew from the mainly Jewish region of Galilee to a place more populated by Gentiles as a kind of retreat or respite. Whilst there He asked the disciples who the crowds thought He was – not because He didn’t know but as an ice breaker to His next question; who do the disciples say He is. And, of course, Peter answered “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.

This question is asked of all who hear of Jesus, it is us, not Him, who are judged by the answer. If we really believe Jesus is who He said He is then that will affect the way we live.

Jesus presupposes that His disciples would have thought differently to the men of the crowds.

Jesus was a national reformer, a miracle worker, a prophet. He is the Christ.

Peter understood that Jesus was not just God’s Messiah but also God Himself. Jesus praises Peter for his bold and correct declaration. Jesus reveals to Peter that Peter had spoken by divine inspiration.

The name Peter means Rock. Peter was and would become a Rock. God was transforming his character into something solid and reliable.

“On this rock I will build my church”. Jesus is the cornerstone – the church’s one foundation. Peter was the first Rock among many Rocks. Interestingly, this is the first use of the word church in the New Testament. It came from a Greek word which just meant “group” or “called out group”.

Jesus prophesies the building of the church and claims ownership – “My church”. Jesus brings His people together, on a firm foundation, building them into something that belongs to Him and which is a stronghold.

“I will build, on this Rock, My church, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it”.

Jesus promises that the forces of death and darkness cannot prevail against or conquer the church.

Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. Peter opened the doors of the kingdom to the Jesus (Acts 2:38-39). Peter opened the doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-44). Peter was allocated special privileges but Jesus did not grant him the authority to pass the special privileges or authority to future generations.

Jesus gave permission and authority to the first generation apostles to make rules for the early church. This was a responsibility of the disciple group as a whole.

Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone He was The Christ. He was pleased His disciples were coming to know who He was in truth, but He didn’t want His identity known before the proper time.

Before they could preach that Jesus was the Messiah, they had to learn what that meant.

The Epistle focuses on Paul’s impending death and God’s faithfulness. Paul’s life was a sacrifice and his death was a transition to be with the Lord. Faith is not faith in one’s own abilities bit in God’s faith planted within us which turns us, despite the upheavals and setbacks and failures of life into faithful workers in the vineyard. It speaks of conformity in Christ and is full of verses filled of hope.

Hope in the present, seeing the world with different eyes, with knowledge that Christ is present today. Hope from the certainty that God works through Him at all times, for the community, in the community, with the community.

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for His heavenly kingdom”. This is the prayer of one who relies solely on God and knows that it is not his work but God who will hold him, justify him and bless him. There is no other help but what God gives.

In this promise, we are all invited to pray.

Father’s Day …

… originated in the United States in the early 20th century. In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington, proposed the idea of a day to honour fathers after hearing a Mother’s Day sermon. She wanted to recognize her father, who raised her and her siblings after her mother’s death.

As we enter into the month of June, Father’s Day is approaching and this gives us the opportunity to address why God is often referred to as Father.

Whilst referring to God as Father was less frequent prior to the birth of Jesus, God is referred to as Father in the Old Testament where He is called the Father of the nation of Israel. In the Gospels, when Jesus speaks about and prays to God He typically refers to Him as His “Abba, Father”. Teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus said, “When you pray, you say, Our Father …” Jesus gave to us the right and privilege to come into the presence of the majesty of God and address Him as Father.

He transformed the meaning of the word for His time to call His people (Jews and Gentiles) to a true relationship with a caring, personal God, as scripture affirmed. It also puts an emphasis on God’s role as the source of all life, love and authority, similar to an ideal image of a father’s role in a family. It shows God’s interest in humanity, His care for His children and His ultimate power, providing, protecting and loving.

Galatians 4:4-4 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

We don’t just call God Father because of Him being our creator but also because of the revelation given to us in Christ; which acknowledges a particular relationship with Him. God is also addressed as Father because He is His people’s redeemer and because we have been joined to Christ by adoption. Jesus died the death we deserve so that we might be joined to Him and adopted into God’s family.

“And by him we cry “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And now if we are children then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his joy.”

Boring and Mundane

Advance warning – my story of faith is not dramatic! I know I am not the only one here who has sat in a church meeting where the minister has asked for people to give testimony or to talk about finding the light and thought “but I’ve always believed”. The reality is my story is ordinary and mundane.

I had a Christian family and learnt about Jesus from an extremely young age. I’ve belonged to and been part of church my whole life.

And, having explained that I have no dramatic Hollywood style event to entertain you with, I could stop here …

…or I could, which is what I’m going to do, continue anyway and tell you more – including why it is that ordinary mundane testimonies can be a blessing to us.

Being a Christian and following a Christian life is difficult – and it’s supposed to be. Remember that old adage that implies that something’s worth is measured by how hard you had to work for it. God, through His grace and His Son Jesus Christ, has given us the most valuable gift of all; but to follow in our Lord’s footsteps takes hard work and perseverance.

We are called to faithfulness. We are persecuted, we suffer, we face trials tribulations. temptation and false teachers trying to send us off track.

When times are difficult we are tempted to give up and many do fall away. The epistles remind us to persevere, to put on God’s armour. to stand firm and to ensure in following Jesus Christ.

Remaining steadfast, staying on the narrow path and being faithful teach the need to focus on persevering, to continue to put our trust in God and to not falter.

The well known poem about the footsteps in the sand really is true. God never leaves us. Whilst people fall away and leave Him; He does not abandon us.

When I give my burdens to Him I feel a physical lightness and literally feel the weight removed from my shoulders as He takes the load for me.

When times are easy, I feel His presence walking beside me and we enjoy the journey together.

If things are more difficult I feel His hand in mine.

In times of great trial He is supporting me or carrying me if you like.

And in times of great sorrow I feel His arms around me as He embraces me with His great love and comfort.

This is certainly a great blessing and in return I pray that God will continue to fill me with His love so that it can overflow through me to others.

We are called to carry each other’s burdens, encourage and bring back the wanderers. We are called to follow Christ’s example to aspire to God’s standard and to repent of all – however mundane – that makes us guilty of not reaching that standard.

God told us to pass His teachings to our children. Having parents, teachers, ministers and peers who did this points to God’s continued faithfulness as does having been preserved in the faith. God catches me when I stumble.

He has blessed me and kept me. He has blessed you and kept you.

So let us sing of His great love for evermore and make His faithfulness known through all generations and let us give thanks to God.