Sermon Notes: 2024 : July, August, September

The Plan, The Purpose And The Paradox     

Sunday Worship  on 14th July 2024 was led by Brian Hayward. 

Brian preached on Jesus' words from John 17:18- 'As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world'

Why did Jesus come?  There was the Plan, the Purpose and the Paradox.

The PLAN.  It all started in the 'councils of eternity': God determined how he would make salvation possible and chose those he would give to his Son.

In John 17:24 Jesus refers to his followers as: 'those you have given me'. That this was God's choice is explained more fully in Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 10, especially in verse 4: 'he chose us in him before the creation of the world'. (And explained too in 1 Peter 1:2)

The way this would happen was first announced in the prophetic language of the 'proto-gospel', expressed in Genesis 3:15, where One whose 'heel is to be crushed' would destroy Satan. 

The PURPOSE.  Our salvation is to bring glory to God.   All religions try to shape God into their understanding; Jesus was different: he revealed God to ignorant mankind. How?  By Jesus life he showed us the Father. Non-Christians are to see our good works and give glory to God.  We are not of this world any more than he was.  Government, media, and society may all reject God's values but we are to give testimony to them. No wonder Jesus said that he was sending us out as sheep among wolves!  We can be confident that he is a good shepherd and our well-being is his concern.  He warned us that 'everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.' (Mark 13:13)  We have his message to take to those who don't yet believe.

The PARADOX.  What is more paradoxical than the incarnation?  Charles Wesley expressed it as: "God the invisible appears!"

Also paradoxical was the crucifixion: the eternal God-become-Man was killed by evil.  This made it possible for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be accepted by God.

Heroes of Faith 

Sunday Worship on 21st July 2024 was led by the Ladies Fellowship

Hebrews Chapter 11 and 12 resonate with examples of people who exercised faith in God: their actions were governed by the truths they received.  Promises were held on to even if the fulfilment was not immediately evident. We may well regard them as heroes!  

The heroes  '… conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again... ' (Hebrews 11:32-35 NIV)

Using this passage we were reminded of five groups of Biblical heroes:

• Daniel;  who 'shut the mouths of lions'

• Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego; who 'quenched the fury of the flames'   

• Gideon and his warriors;  who 'routed foreign armies' 

• The Widow of Zarephath and Elijah;  who 'received back their dead, raised to life again'

• Sampson;  whose 'weakness was turned to strength'

The examples were applied to us in the words of Hebrews chapter 12: 'Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.'  (NIV)

Whoever 

Sunday Worship on 28 July 2024 was led by Alan Chant

There is no particular 'type' whom God calls to faith in His Son. Using the examples of Nicodemus (from John's gospel chapter 3) and the Samaritan woman (from John's gospel chapter 4) we see two completely opposite people called to follow Jesus.  Contrasts are legion!  Male/female; affluent/impoverished; one deliberately sort Jesus privately, the other had a 'chance meeting'  by a well. One was well educated, the other not so; one had a background of Jewish heritage, the other accepted Samaritan traditions.  At every point they were different, yet both were called to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no particular 'type' whom God calls to faith in His Son.  What is important is to see that God seeks people to worship Him from within, from spirits made alive by new birth from God the Holy Spirit. 

Alan's text was John 4:24: ' God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth'. (NIV), but it might equally have been one word from the well-known John 3:16: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life'. 

Alan also highlighted the contrast of two friends from Bedford who co-founded the United Beach Mission in 1950. Lance Pibworth was an impoverished farm labourer who spent harvest time speaking about the Lord to people on seaside holiday; thus he called himself a 'Brussel-sprout picker'. The other was Dr Verna Wright, who became a valued Professor of Rheumatology in Leeds. These were two very different people who worked together because of the effect the Lord Jesus Christ had on them.

Wisdom Has Built A House

Sunday Worship on 18th August 2024 was led by Colin Woolcott.  

Colin spoke about Biblical wisdom.  'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Proverbs 9:10)

Solomon was invited by God to choose a gift. He made a wise choice: he chose wisdom. What would you have chosen? Wealth? Long life? Revival?

Bible choices are often very black and white, such as the broad way or the narrow way.

Wisdom is seen as a lady - who builds a house (Proverbs 9). Lady Folly builds a different kind of house, with 'stolen food eaten in secret'. (vv. 13-18).  Wisdom's house has foundations! Wisdom enables us to grow in faith, lean on the Lord, and serve him in home and chapel.

Recall the wise and foolish men?  One built his house on rock, the other on sand. Even a child knows that sandcastles don't survive.  Smeaton's lighthouse, now on Plymouth Hoe, survived, where earlier lighthouses failed, because it was build properly and fastened to the rock. It survived to send out a light to guide travellers.

Above the doorway in Smeaton's lighthouse are inscribed the words from Psalm 127: 'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.'

There is no unrequited love with Jesus; he always responds to us in love.

 The Lamb and the Lion 

Sunday Worship on 25 August 2024 was led by Roy Davey

In the Bible Book of the Revelation (a book full of coded images and analogies), in chapter 5 we read: 'Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed." '   But when the writer, John, looks at the Lion he sees: 'a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain' There is no doubt but that these images refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had been crucified, but who has also risen again, alive from the dead, and has ascended to heaven in authority.

Christians are in a battle, ['Stand up! Stand up for Jesus,']. We fight against 'the world, the flesh and the devil' (Ephesians chapter 2:various) but we overcome:  'They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death'   (Revelation 12:11)    Jesus has already won the victory in his resurrection from death.  The secret is to keep our eyes on Jesus, because he is 'the author and finisher of our faith'  (Hebrews 12:2).    

We are surely in last days; we know the Jesus is coming again, returning in the power he was given at his ascension.  

That can be a dreadful thought if we are not ready to meet him!   There is great hope though: he is the Lamb of God sacrificed for sinners at Calvary.  'There is no other good enough to pay the price of sin'.  We are invited to turn to him in repentance and faith for the forgiveness his sacrifice has purchased.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 

Sunday Worship on 3 November 2024 was led by Andrew Richards

Andrew focussed our attention to Galatians chapter 5, verses 16-28, where the 'desires of the sinful nature' are contrasted with 'the fruit of the Spirit'.

THE UGLY:  Pruning is an essential! Try leaving an apple tree for a number of years and see what a mess the branches get into.  We have an oak tree, self-seeded, in the middle of our lawn.  It is pleasant at the moment, but if 50 years it will be a big problem! So with humans; we need to be pruned to be of use to God.

THE BAD: [Suiting the words to the action Andrew demonstrated God's pruning on an overgrown branch.] Galatians 5 gives us a list of examples of the outcomes of man's sinful nature.  Each one needs to be pruned.

Sexual immorality: immoral actions and thoughts - [snip]. Impurity- - [snip].  Debauchery: all of life's excesses - [snip]. Idolatry: worship and focus on anything other than God - [snip]. Witchcraft: how dangerous even the thin end of the wedge in celebrating Halloween! - [snip]. Hatred, Discord, Jealousy: lack of harmony - [snip] [snip] [snip]. Rage, Selfish ambition, Dissensions, Factions, Envy, Drunkenness, Orgies, and the like  - [snip all]. 

When we are converted we have no liking for the unproductive life we have been living.  We will find that even our friends will change.

THE GOOD:  After pruning a tree may produce its proper fruit.  God the Holy Spirit, living His life inside the believer, makes the change.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Without pruning there will be no such fruit.