Last week, Danny looked at the first part of John 21 and explained how
Jesus renewed his friendship with his disciples, more or less repeating how He
first called them, by acting like a partner in their fishing enterprise,
directing them to the big catches. Danny suggested that in doing so He showed
how their future relationship was going to be more a partnership which would
flow from their relationship with Jesus, but would involve partnering with
Jesus in the fishing of people. He didn't say this and these words are not
original from me either, but Jesus needs our hands, our feet, our mouths ... He
needs us as full partners with Him in the business of bringing salvation to the
world. The problem is there is often blood on our hands, our feet, our lips and
in our minds. Peter had, so to speak, blood on his lips, lips which had denied
Jesus, as much as the Roman soldiers had blood on their hands.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Fear
Scripture has much to say about fear. In the NIV fear occurs
334 times. If you look for afraid, you can add another 205 references. If you
add worry and anxious … well, you’re getting the picture. Fear is spoken of
both positively and negatively in Scripture …. and the truth is that everyone
of us here has some element of fear in us, and that is as it should be. The
issue is not do we have fear, the issue is what type of fear do we have, and
what we do with our fear.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Easter: Darkness Doesn’t Stand a Chance
To understand Easter in all its fullness and beauty, it helps to have some understanding of Jewish and Biblical timing. In each of the
four gospels we are told that it was early in the morning on the first day of
the week, that the women went to Jesus’ tomb.
Labels:
Easter Season,
Preaching,
Sermons
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Good Friday
If we read the accounts of the crucifixion in each of the
four Gospels, we find that each Gospel writer records different details: same
story, but different details. They record Jesus saying different things during
the 6 hours he hung on the Cross, and if we take all the accounts and read them
as one, we find Jesus saying 7 things from the Cross.
Labels:
Good Friday,
Preaching,
Sermons
Friday, April 7, 2017
Laodicea, Nausea and the Syrian Gassing
Hopefully, this has been a nauseating week for us all … and
I have chosen my words carefully, so let me repeat and say the same thing in a
different way: hopefully we have been sickened in the past week, as we’ve read,
heard or watched the news. And hopefully a few
news items have caused this, but I’m going to focus on the Syrian gassing, as
we look at the church at Laodicea in Asia Minor.
Labels:
Discipleship,
Preaching,
Sermons
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
A call on the Body of Christ to be the body of Christ
You may know that Jesus was Jewish and that Jews, even to
this day, don’t eat pork … in fact they don’t eat a number other very good
foods as well. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish faith had many laws relating to what
was clean and what was unclean. These didn’t only relate to food, but also to
disease and illness. So, for example, people with leprosy were considered
unclean and were to be avoided at all costs. They often lived in exile in their
own homes. Dead bodies and graves were also unclean. People with bodily
discharges were also unclean.
Labels:
Lent
Easter: Look out from, rather than in to, the Tomb
My Lenten journey in 2017 continues to remind me that there is no tomb that can hold Jesus.
He cannot be, and will never be, found in the tomb.....
therefore, let us stop looking in to the tombs in our lives, and start looking out from the tombs in our lives...........
the view is so much better, and always has Jesus in it
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Church of the Living Dead
I hate rats ... there are good reasons for this, but I haven't got time
to tell you why.
I hate rats ... I know I shouldn't; I know that for some reason God made
rats ... but I cling to the truth that God has given us dominion over creation,
and I choose, quite incorrectly, to believe that because I hate rats, I can
kill them.
Labels:
Discipleship,
Preaching,
Sermons
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