Back to the Beginning, Into the Future

Gen 1:24-31 

This morning we are going Back to the Beginning to remind ourselves of the relationship that God established with humans when He created them and I'm going to suggest that the word "Partnership" best describes that relationship. We were created to partner with God in the rule and care of creation. Sin disrupts and destroys that partnership and most of the Bible is about the lengths God will go to in order to restore that partnership so that we can once again take up the role we were created for. Those lengths culminate of course in the life, death and resurrection of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we can be born again, this time with power from above; saved from the sin that destroyed the partnership and set free to be everything God intended. We can of course use the word relationship instead of partnership, but as you will see, and perhaps already know, partnership implies a lot more than relationship.

Jesus to Peter:"We need to talk"

John 21:15-25

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.

Fear

Is 43:1-3

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.

Easter: Darkness Doesn’t Stand a Chance

John 20:1-18

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.

Good Friday

Mark 15

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.

Laodicea, Nausea and the Syrian Gassing

Rev 3:14-22

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.

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.

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

Church of the Living Dead

Rev 3:1-6

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.

The Prophets Prophesy Lies ... and My People Love It That Way

^{Jeremiah 5}

³⁰ ‘A horrible and shocking thing
    has happened in the land:
³¹ the prophets prophesy lies,
    the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
    But what will you do in the end?

The ministry of God in Israel was a threefold ministry of prophet, priest and king. The prophet spoke to the people on behalf of God; the priest spoke to God on behalf of the people; and the king was God’s representative who was meant to ensure that God’s justice and mercy prevailed in the land. The kings as a whole, were a disaster, often leading the nation deeper into disobedience. The exceptions

It is time to go over to the other side

Y

Mark 5:1-20

Our reading today really starts at Mk 4:35:

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’

The “other side” is the other side of the Sea of Galilee … the Decapolis … pagan territory … there are 2000 pigs close to where they land. For the good Jew, this is the other side, this is no-go area. You did not go here, you stayed away from here … you teach your children to stay away from here. This place and this people are not like us and we are to have nothing … nothing,  to do with them. Do you have the expression "the other side of the railway line?" The Decapolis is something like that.You don’t mix with them, you don’t play with them, if you can possibly help it you don’t go to school with them, if you happen to work with them you have as little to do with them as possible, you certainly don’t ever think of marrying someone from the other side and you’d never consider living on the other side.

We proclaim a new reality: God rules the world!

Mark 5:1-20

Today’s Scripture reminds us that Jesus interacted with many different kinds of people in His ministry … we should too. To the east of the Sea of Galilee were the pagans, those people who had never really been part of the ministry of God or of God’s word. Our reading takes us to “the region of the Gerasenes” which is to the East of Galilee in a region called the Decapolis, which means “10 Cities”

   

These were very sophisticated Greek cities ... To the Jews they were pagan cities … founded by the pagan Greeks, they practised the fertility cult, they considered the pig a sacred animal, exactly the opposite to Jews, for whom the pig is unclean. Now, regarding how it ended up being pagan territory, it was the area to which Joshua drove out the 7 nations of the Canaanites … Joshua 3:10

This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.

Now there is much to indicate that in His ministry, Jesus ministered to both the people of Israel and the 7 pagan nations. You might remember that Jesus once fed a multitude of 5000 in Galilee and on another occasion 4000 … here in the Decapolis. (Mark 6:39-43 and Mark 8). These two miracles were a very Jewish way of communicating that He was the Bread of Life to both Jew and pagan. In Galilee, after the people have eaten, they pick up 12 baskets of leftovers, which, to the Hebrew mind would have reminded them of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus is saying that He is the Bread of Life in abundance to the 12. In Mark 7:31, we’re told that  Jesus went into the region of the Decapolis and there feeds a multitude of 4000.

And after feeding the 4000, 7 baskets of leftovers are collected: that’s Jesus way of communicating that He is the Bread of Life in abundance to the 7 nations … to the pagans. He is the God of the 12, He is the God of the 7 …. He is the God of all and in Christ He goes to all … the church must too.

Be this all as it may be, the Jews considered the Decapolis as the place of the devil. Beelzebub lived here because of the pagan fertility religions connected to the old Canaanites. So they referred to it as “across the sea” and it was a no go area for any self-respecting Jew.

Where are the no go areas in Hellesdon and Norwich … the places no self-respecting Christian will go to, or live, … the places where if your children said “We’re going to … on Friday night”, you’d say “Oh no you’re not!” Where is the Decapolis in Norwich? Where is the “other side” in Norwich?

Our story really starts in Mk 4:35 That day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’

And they cross over, but encounter a terrible storm in the night, which Jesus speaks to … and it calms down. To the Jewish mind storms at sea were a sign of evil trying to rise up and destroy, so they are beginning to realise that Jesus has tremendous power. Have you?

 Then they land on the other side and are confronted by this demonised man.

The disciples are probably thinking: “Out of the frying pan and into the fire” … why is Jesus coming to this evil place.

Jesus confronts the evil spirits in the man and then Mark mentions:

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.

Why pigs? The pigs represent the sacred animal of the fertility cult in that area. Mark is emphasising the evil and uncleanness of the place.

¹² The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.’ ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man – and told about the pigs as well. 

¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

3 things: Notice that Jesus deliberately, consciously, in a very planned way goes right to where he knows the evil is and confronts it.

I think that’s part of what we’re called to do as Christians; we don’t wait for evil to come to us … He didn’t wait for the demon possessed man to row across … He went and found him. And as we think of our world-changing call to become disciples, I would like to suggest that just as Jesus did, we need to find where the power of evil is … in whatever aspect of life we’re involved in and confront it. We shouldn’t wait for it to come to us. Now, the word evil is unpopular these days and we prefer to think of things as bad, or wrong … but Scripture only knows good and evil. But, if you prefer, we are talking about whatever is “bad” or “wrong” to God … things that are destructive, that ultimately destroy people, families, nations. Some are obvious …. Drugs, alcohol … others have become more “acceptable” … blasphemy, cheating on taxes or benefits, sexual immorality in its various forms … others are more insidious … the way as a nation we treat the unborn, … the way we treat the elderly. I’ve heard the state of social care for the elderly described variously as sad … unfortunate … wrong. Is it a developing evil in our midst that needs to be confronted? Should the church care? So my first point: we shouldn’t wait for the evil to come to us.

Secondly: Jesus has nothing but compassion for the man. He doesn’t confront the man … he confronts the evil. He doesn’t go into why or how this man became demonised … what lifestyle or bad choices opened him up. He loves the man but hates the evil which has caused the man to become marginalised so that he lives “on the other side”, or the “wrong side of town”  … Jesus goes over to the other side. Jesus could never be found guilty of only associating with people who were more or less like Him … the church must be the same. We must be the same wherever we are. Are there people you avoid … at work, on the street, in your social life. Jesus was accused of mixing with the wrong people … oh, that you and I would be accused of the same thing.

The third is this: When you decide to live out your faith in this way, you can expect people to resist and resent and not to want to have anything to do with you. So the people plead with Jesus to leave because the two just can’t live together.

By this time you might be thinking … “Very interesting, but how is this relevant to me and my life. How does this help me in the office tomorrow?” Well, whether you know it or not, you want and need an office that is more Christlike. You need more Christian disciples in your office, in your home, in our nation. Each of these places only gets better when filled with disciples … that might never happen unless you “go over to the other side.”

But let’s go on because the best is coming yet.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Now you talk about a tough mission field. Here’s a guy who 15 minutes ago had been possessed by demons and completely marginalised by his society … now all of a sudden he’s the only missionary in an area that represented the most pagan place you could possibly be. That’s a pretty incredible calling, but what is so encouraging is that Jesus says: “Your message is simple … you don’t need a theological degree … just tell them what happened… tell them about God’s mercy on you.” This is the key to evangelism for disciples: to be able to simply tell what the living God has done and is doing in your life and mine. That’s all this man had, and to see how this worked out, we pick up some verses that come some time after this episode, again when Jesus is in the Decapolis, this time recorded for us in Matthew 15:29-31.

Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Apparently that man had been a pretty good missionary … because when Jesus came back here at a later stage there’s a whole crowd of people coming to find out who this Jesus was. I find that quite incredible that all those people apparently listened to this one man and his story, by the power of God, made a difference in their lives. That’s the lesson for us.

God calls us to be His people in a culture that doesn’t hold His values. God says: “Your call is to bring My values, to confront the evil values, the bad values, the negative values of the culture we live in, the workplace you work in, in fact in every situation where I place you.”

To evangelise Hellesdon and Norwich requires “going over to the other side” … that might mean the other side of your office, …. classroom or sportsfield … the other side of your street perhaps … the other side of the Boundary road … please don’t leave here this morning without an idea of where the “other side” is for you … I’ve prayed that God will convict you in this area this morning … you’ve quite possibly resisted God for too long in this area … but He wants you to go to the “other side”, which might be terrifying for you, as it was for the disciples. Expect it to be stormy …  we know that we live as part of a world that is fragile and troubled, terrified and terrifying. The last time I preached it was on letting our minds be transformed, getting and using the mind of Christ … Today I’m saying that with this transformed mind, we proclaim a new reality: God rules the world! What’s more, we  live by that reality above all others. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus have inaugurated the Kingdom of God and have reshaped the world into a new reality, which, with our born-again eyes, we see. Thus, amid the same old realities of trouble and turmoil, we are changed and are able to discern by the eye of faith the dimensions of the new creation Paul speaks of in 2 Cor 5:17:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!

When Jesus crossed over, He proclaimed a new reality into a terrible and frightening reality. You and I are called to do the same … and what with, … what do I say?  Just tell people what has happened to you because of Jesus … create opportunities to share your testimony about what Jesus is doing in your life. Believe that even the most pagan, unbelieving folk can be moved by your story … such is the power of God. Believe that your office, your clients, your family can be changed because of your presence and your witness.

Believe that you, by the power of God, can make a difference …  believe …. and cross over.

Discipleship: A Living Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom 12:1-2

The smell that must have hung over Jerusalem must have been amazing. It’s estimated that at Passover at the time of Jesus, at least 256 000 lambs were sacrificed. But every day, pilgrims, sinners like you and me, brought other animal sacrifices as well … bulls, sheep, birds … to be sacrificed on the Temple altar. Over and above personal offerings, the priests made general offerings every day as well. And depending on what the offering was for, various spices and oils were added as well. Can you imagine the smell? … mouth-watering ... unless you’re a vegetarian. Depending on what the wind was doing, you would certainly see the smoke from far off, but the closer you got, the more would have smelt and tasted sacrifice to the one true God. 

Everyday Accountability for Everyday Christians

2 Corinthians 13:1-14

I decided to join a local gym and asked the trainer, bearing in mind my age, how much exercise I should do and how I’ll know when to stop. He said: “You do it till your gym clothes are soaked from your exertion, you do it till it hurts and then you go on just a little bit until you cry.” OK … so I changed, went up some steepish stairs to the main gym … that had me soaked and hurting; I bent down to do up my gym shoes and that got me crying … so I was done and went home.

That’s what often happens in the absence of accountability… we give up … and perhaps get away with things we shouldn’t get away with. Accountability answers the question:

Everyday Discipleship for Everyday Christians

Last week we looked at “Everyday Evangelism for Everyday Christians” and today we look at Everyday Discipleship for Everyday Christians …

and I might as well say it upfront:  While evangelism can be fun … discipleship is not; and, if Jesus and I can’t convince you to embrace evangelism, we will never convince you to embrace discipleship.

That’s (the pic above) about as funny as discipleship will get.

Everyday Evangelism for Everyday Christians

Luke 4:14-21 & Mark 1:14-15

We start our ministry at All Age Worship in 2017 with Jesus beginning His ministry: from Luke as our main gospel reading and with a short verse from Mark’s gospel. Both these readings give us a beginning point for 2017 … let’s begin where Jesus began. In both of these readings we see Jesus doing evangelism, Jesus began with evangelism. What is evangelism? Wikipedia puts it like this:

Christmas 2016: A Call to Believe

Luke 2:1-20

Having begun with Luke's account of the birth of our Lord, I begin my message this Christmas with an article from The Times this past Thursday under the headline:

Belief in God slumps after turbulent year

Caesar or Jesus

In the days of Caesar Augustus, Jesus was born in Bethlehem

Luke 2:1-7

The Christmas story tells of the birth of a new king. The world was moving according to the orders of Caesar Augustus, but although he was hailed as the great bringer of peace, real peace on earth would be realized only through the sovereignty of the child born in Bethlehem. Today the world moves to the orders of many different Caesars …there is the Caesar who is called The Market, and he speaks each day from New York  where he goes by the name Dow Jones,

In Support of Botox

 It’s easy to assume, reading fashion magazines, that “everyone” lives in a high-maintenance, metropolitan world where “everyone” has injectables. This isn’t true. In the real world, normal women either don’t give them a thought or, usually in early middle age, start thinking about them with intense curiosity. Which is as it should be: we’re talking about injecting your face with stuff. Doing it in the first place is not a decision to be taken lightly.

The Four Soils and Christmas

Matthew 13:1-23

Christmas is a season of great sowing for the church and for the Kingdom of God … all the special services and year end functions are wonderful seed sowing opportunities. Your part is to try as hard as you can to bring people to them … just bring them … or at least just invite them.