Living in 3D (Acts 16.6-15 and Mark 3.1-6)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 2). 

Introduction

Last week, if you recall, we said that the single greatest gift we can give people is an introduction to the God who created them and loves them.

The reason we want to point people to faith is because this is what the father heart of God beats for. God gave the gift of his one and only Son so that lost people could become found people.

We talked last Sunday about being willing to enter the Zone of the Unknown; leaving our Circles of Comfort so as to engage with people we don’t yet know. We explored the art of listening for the Spirit’s promptings as we do this. It is vital to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit and not our own clever ideas.

And we saw that, at the need of the day, we need to just walk, remembering that Jesus too left the ultimate comfort zone of heaven to meet us where we are.

Today, I want to talk about what happens immediately after you decide to “just walk.” In other words, what should you be thinking about, praying about, and talking about in that Zone of the Unknown once you step into it? Because if you’re like me, deciding to “walk” is one thing. But knowing what to do once you’ve left your comfort zone is quite another.

I think these are valid questions for us all to ask: After I make the decision to walk across a room … what do I think about? What do I pray about? What do I say?

This week, we’ll explore what we’re going to call “Living in 3D.” It’s a framework for operating effectively (and perhaps over months and years) in the Zone of the Unknown.

1) Develop Friendships

Walk-across-the-room people live life in “3D.” What does that mean? It means that, first of all, they constantly look for ways to: Develop friendships.

If we’re going to reflect the Father’s heart, we need to make a habit of opening up new friendships. That is what Jesus did. And, since Christians are basically called to follow Jesus, this lies at the heart of being a true Christ-follower.

But there’s a problem here that I suspect that most of us will have encountered.

Let me see if I can explain what I mean with a story about an imaginary believer called Jane. Jane has been a Christian for ten years. She comes to Christ, is accepted and redeemed and filled with the Holy Spirit. She thinks it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

She is buzzing. She has a newfound care and concern for people around her. She wants everyone to experience what she has discovered. And so she is highly motivated to encourage them on their own journeys of faith in Jesus.

Jane is walking with Christ … and experiencing a corresponding increase in her love and acceptance of the people whom Christ loves. All is just as it should be!

Over time, Jane sees some of her friends and family come to faith in Christ - the change she sees in their lives is simply astounding! These new believers and Jane start meeting with greater frequency, just to chat about how much they love the Lord … how much their zest for life has increased as a result of God’s grace.

But as time goes by, Jane’s life becomes almost completely absorbed by her Christian friends. That part’s good … I suppose … except that Jane no longer feels that initial enthusiasm she had for sharing Christ with her unconvinced friends … mostly because there aren’t any left in her warm, safe Circle of Comfort.

Jane is still walking with Christ. But simultaneously, her love for others who do not yet know God declines. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it - that this could happen in the life of someone who is maturing in her faith in Jesus?

If you think about it, this is what makes the Circle of Comfort so comfortable. All of us find it easy to love some people - maybe a soul mate or a spouse or friends at church. As soon as we see them, our initial emotion is warm. We love spending time with them. Our faces break into a smile when they come to mind.

Almost every human being has a loving heart toward some people. But almost every human being also has a secret list of people they just can’t stand.

It might be a business partner who took some of your money and broke up your partnership twenty years ago. It might be an ex who walked out on you. It might be someone who wounded you with harsh and unfair words. You might have really sound reasons for not liking a certain number of people.

We don’t talk about this very often because it’s uncomfortable. But it remains true: some of us have a mental “list” … and on that list are the names of people we wish we could put on a ship headed permanently out to sea.

But my firm belief is that unless Christians are determined to eradicate this from their lives, they will fear and avoid the Zone of the Unknown.

Developing friendships means acting on an impulse of the Christian heart that says, “Whoever you are, whatever you have done, whatever you believe life is all about … I’m open to accepting you, understanding you, journeying with you.”

That’s where it all begins.

No question, lots of us Christians are growing in Bible knowledge, in worship, in character, in serving, in giving. All the research shows that. But how much are you growing in your capacity to simply accept and welcome whoever is standing on the other side of the room?

Developing friendships. This is where living in 3D must begin. Once you are willing to view every interaction as the first step in developing a new, God-honouring friendship, you will find that some interesting doors open up.

Look at our first reading from Acts 16. It just so happened that Paul and his companions walked over to a group of women who were meeting together in a certain place and got talking with them. They had already spent several days in that place and had probably spoken with many people. But that deliberate, intentional walk along a riverbank and conversation with Lydia was how the church got started in Philippi.

I was thinking about the growth of the church in the Acts of the Apostles this week. Every now and then Luke gives a progress update like in Acts 5.14: “More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” And Acts 6.7: “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” And Acts 9.31: “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria… was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”

On each occasion that didn’t just happen on its own. Each time it was the cumulative effect of dozens of ordinary Christians leaving their circles of comfort, entering the Zone of the Unknown and developing friendships.

2) Discover Stories

If you live life in “3D”, you are constantly watching for ways to:

• Develop friendships … in order to
• Discover stories

When Kathie and I were first married and living in London, we got a letter from a friend of a friend of a friend called Gillian. We didn’t know her at all. It turned out she was an 18 year-old student who had been accepted to do three month’s work experience at the Ritz Hotel. Would we be able to put her up during that time?

We agreed that we would. Gillian was not a Christian and her values were a bit different to ours but we decided not to judge her or make comments about her choices but just accept her as she was, take a real interest in her and in what she was doing and live our Christian life as authentically as we could.

Over the time she was with us, unknown to us, she had borrowed a book off our shelves and had started reading it. It was called “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. By the end of her stay with us she had prayed the prayer at the end of the book and given her heart to Christ. In her last week with us she burst out “I’ve become a Christian, thank you so much!” We were startled. I can’t really remember ever really having a proper evangelistic conversation with her.

This story intrigues me because there have been many times in my life where I’ve been around someone for weeks or months or even years, and things always seemed to stay at a superficial level.

But if you take time to discover another person’s story … if you neither hide nor push your Christian faith, often the other person opens up about their heartfelt needs when the time is right.

If you are looking at me with glazed eyes, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, maybe it’s because you haven’t stepped outside your Circle of Comfort for a long, long time.

If that’s you, you really need to strike up a relationship with someone who is far from God and start getting to know their story, start praying for them.

Reconnect with the real world. Take an interest in someone who may be just waiting for someone to care. See what God might do.

Discover stories. Discover stories of people far from God who may be one prayer away from encountering the God you know. Be the one person in their world who takes a real interest in their story so that you will know how best to serve them … which leads us to our third “D.”

3) Discern Next Steps

Walk-across-the-room people live life in “3D”. They constantly look for ways to:

• Develop friendships in order to
• Discover stories then
• Discern appropriate next steps

Once you’ve risked walking across a room to stick out a hand of friendship and spent time unearthing what another person’s journey has been like so far, the best thing you can do is look for the nudgings of the Holy Spirit. During every single second of your conversation with the other person, simultaneously ask the Holy Spirit for direction, for guidance, for insight, for wisdom, for creative ideas, for appropriate next steps to take.

Ask! I need badly to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and inspiration when I’m in the Zone of the Unknown. If left to my own devices I will completely foul it up.

I once asked a woman how many months pregnant she was. She was not pregnant, just overweight. That was not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Nicky Gumbel tells about the time he wanted to persuade a young woman of her spiritual need. “Hi” he said. “You look terrible. You really need Jesus!” That was not inspired either.

I want to show you a short clip that illustrates well this idea of taking appropriate next steps. Meet Dave, from Bill Hybels’ sailing crew; a man who knows what it was like to have someone take appropriate next steps in his life. See if you can notice any appropriate next steps…

If you are using the material in your home group, you’ll get to see the whole story of an 8-year journey towards faith and how each step along the way was negotiated.

In the video clip, Bill took several “next steps” in the life of his friend Dave - steps that added up over time and led to changes in Dave’s outlook.

What about simply asking about Dave’s week? Asking about his wife, Beth. Asking about his work. That simple step honoured Dave. It made him feel accepted and cared for. It opened the door for further dialogue because Dave didn’t feel threatened or intimidated by the nature of the conversation.

Or what about giving Dave a copy of a book? Not everyone you know would appreciate this exact book. But they might be helped by a book. That simple step was exactly what Dave needed, at that time, in order to process the questions he had about science and faith. And because Bill was staying tuned into the Spirit … and tuned into Dave’s needs, was able to supply that need.

How about telling Dave that he was going to pray for him every day that week? There’s power in a commitment like that.

I want us to spend a few moments thinking about some of the “next steps” that helped us come to understand God’s grace-filled love for us. In other words, the “next steps” that really mattered to you!

Perhaps someone lent you a book or a DVD or a worship CD? Maybe they offered to pray for you – or with you. It might be someone’s act of kindness at a difficult time in your life. Possibly somebody invited you to their home for a meal and you were touched by the Christian welcome or to a church service that blew your mind. Perhaps someone challenged you to give them a reason why not believing in God was better than believing in him? Maybe you can think of different things.

You’ll never believe this but the truth is that, for me, a nun called Sister Anna coming into my bedroom at 11:00pm and winking were absolutely key “next steps” in me giving my life to Christ at the age of 17. God does indeed move in mysterious ways! If you want to know more about that you can ask me afterwards…

Closing

Our Gospel story in Mark chapter 3 about a man with a withered hand says that Jesus was preparing to teach in the synagogue one day when the Pharisees had an idea. They were upset with Jesus and so they started plotting for how they might catch him out on a Sabbath technicality, which was an absolute no-no in those days. You weren’t supposed to work at all on the Sabbath, no exceptions including, it seems, healing injured people.

The Pharisees drag this poor guy with a shrunken hand into the synagogue and then stand back to see if Jesus will take the bait. Think for a moment what this handicap means. He cannot work. He cannot write or draw. He cannot embrace his wife or hold his children. He cannot shave, bathe, get dressed or relieve himself with dignity. Try living with a hand tied behind your back for a day and you’ll see how frustrated you become.

Jesus sees these religious leaders standing in front of him and just gets irate.

The text from The Message paraphrase says he was angry and “furious at their hard-nosed religion.” He couldn’t believe that they were putting their rigid laws above showing love to someone in need.

Jesus makes no apologies as he asks the crippled man to step forward and receive his healing. He can’t not heal the man. Jesus’ whole mission is about healing people and making them whole again.

And if there’s one thing I want to leave you with today it is this: You have the profound privilege of reaching the people around you with the same extraordinary love and irrepressible acceptance that Jesus himself showed wherever he went.

The same extraordinary love that was extended to you at some point along the way, if you are a follower of Christ.

Just take a look at all of the evidence right here this morning. All of us were spiritually withered in one way or another when people around us chose to take a “next step” or two and help move us a bit closer to God.

Here’s what I want you to remember: We are surrounded by people with withered hearts and withered minds and withered bodies, people with withered dreams and withered hope. I wonder if perhaps God will use you to start to bring healing to them in the next few weeks.

I want to encourage those of you who have the book to read the next section before next Sunday. You will get so much more out of this series if you do.

A new week is about to unfold in your life and in mine. And like all new weeks, we can choose to invest it in things that glorify and satisfy us … or we can choose to invest it in things that glorify and satisfy God. Here’s my challenge to you … my challenge to me.

This week, let’s “live in 3D”:

• Develop friendships … with all sorts of people, withered in all sorts of ways
• Discover stories … remembering to keep the focus on the other person
• Discern next steps … letting the Spirit guide our every action

This week, let’s be alert to the Spirit’s promptings, asking him to lead us toward the people with whom we’re supposed to build bridges of friendship.

Your prayer - “lead me, Holy Spirit” - is so vital! Wherever it takes you, if you choose to be obedient to God’s leading, I think you’ll look back on your week and say, “That was seven days well-lived.”

Let’s stand to pray...


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 30th January 2011

The Single Greatest Gift (Philippians 2.5-11 and John 4.4-42)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 1).

Introduction

If you’re a Christian, isn’t what you want most to touch the lives of the people you know - the people you love - who are far from God?

Sharing your faith should be as simple as taking a walk across a room. And that is something we can all do, isn’t it?

This “just walk across the room” metaphor comes from a true story about one person who was living really far from God until one day, his entire world got upended because a Christian touched his life by walking across a room and starting a conversation with him. You can read about that in chapter 1 of the book. It’s an amazing and exciting story.

The single greatest gift Christians can give to the people around them is an introduction to the God who created them, who loves them, and who has a purpose for heir lives. 

This is what sharing faith is: it’s watching for ways to give this single greatest gift to someone else. Today, we are going to try to understand how God can use us to do that. What does it take in order for us to give this “single greatest gift” to someone we know?

1) Enter the Zone of the Unknown

Think about this with me for a moment. A Christian in a social setting is standing in a conversational “Circle of Comfort.” It is easy and unthreatening. There is every reason to continue talking in that little circle. You have been in situations like that haven’t you? Across the room you notice someone standing alone, who needs a little encouragement or friendship.

Something inside you says, “What if you went over and extended a hand of friendship on the other side of the room?”

You see the situation. You sense a prompting - apparently from the Holy Spirit. Then you actually say to the people in your Circle of Comfort, “Excuse me a minute.”

Now remember, you have no idea what is going to happen once you cross the room and greet this stranger. You don’t know what the reaction will be. But once you have left your Circle of Comfort there’s no turning back.

And so you walk … inwardly praying every step of the way. You walk all the way across and enter what we’re going to call the “Zone of the Unknown.” Have you ever been there - the Zone of the Unknown? It’s where God often does his best work! Here’s the question I want us all to ponder: what would happen if we were all to enter the Zone of the Unknown more often?

Is it possible that we could actually impact someone’s eternal destiny and even that of their family?

I took some time to read through the book this week, and here’s a quote that should stop all of us in our tracks: “The day Christians like you and me stop taking walks across rooms in this manner, the day we stay glued to our Circles of Comfort, refuse to make the walk, refuse to enter the Zone of the Unknown … the day Christians like you and me stop doing that sort of stuff, it is lights out for the kingdom of God here on earth. It is the beginning of the end of redemptive history. It’s the slow defeat of the church - the bride of Christ. It’s the end of the dream of Christ that people on earth would come to know him.”

If you’re a living, breathing Christian, then the Holy Spirit is asking you to walk. He’s asking me to walk. He’s asking us to make a difference in the lives of the people we see each and every day! At work. In social settings. At the gym. At our kid’s football game. Wherever. Whenever.

If you’ve submitted your life to Christ but wonder why you’re not surging ahead in your spiritual development or your spiritual maturity, could it be that, for too long now, you have clung to your Circle of Comfort, and avoided that Zone of the Unknown?

If you have made the choice to follow Christ - if you have found him to be truth, if you have found what the Bible says to be truth - then why would you - why would any of us - think that other people wouldn’t be interested in knowing about what we have discovered to be the most life-changing, heart-stimulating, eternity-altering encounter of our lives?

2) Listen for the Holy Spirit’s Promptings

In order for us to be effective in the Zone of the Unknown, we need to learn to listen to the Spirit’s promptings every step of the way.

Before you get the wrong idea about what this looks like, let me tell you that being available to the Holy Spirit doesn’t always work out the way you think it might. Sometimes we hear about these evangelist types who travel abroad and on their journey they lead everyone they come across to Christ - the taxi driver, the airline agent, the flight attendants, the poor victim sitting next to them on the plane, the family across the aisle - the whole plane becomes a church before they land! Stories like that make us feel like we’ll never measure up don’t they? But it’s actually possible for ordinary people to do this.

About two years ago, when Benjamin was at Preston Primary, I noticed someone new waiting at the school gate. She was always on her own and seemed to know anybody at all. After a few days I felt prompted to just walk across the playground, offer a hand of friendship and welcome her to the area.

It turned out that her name was Sohini. What I discovered was that Wendy and Kathie had already walked across the playground when they were waiting for the children on other days. She was surrounded by Christians! Soon after, she brought her son along to Fuse.

A few months later I invited her to do the Alpha course and she said “no.” But a few months after that I invited her to do the Journeys Course with her husband and they said “yes.” They loved Journeys and it really helped them think more deeply about faith. Then Sohini said she was interested in the Bible so Kathie and I bought her one. When we gave it to her, her face lit up! By that time she’d got to know Julia as well and was volunteering as a helper at Fuse. Every time she came she just drank in what Julia was saying about Jesus. Recently, she has started to come to the Wednesday Communion service and this week, for the first time, she called herself a Christian. Praise God! But if Wendy, Kathie, Julia and I hadn’t left our Circle of Comfort and followed the prompting of the Spirit I wonder if it ever would have happened. I asked Sohini if I could tell her story today and she agreed very enthusiastically.

The key is this: fundamentally, being walk-across-the-room people means that we walk when the Spirit prompts us and we don’t walk when the Spirit says not to. Frankly, it’s what keeps the edge and the adventure in the Christian life.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said this about his followers: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

You’ve got to have savour. You’ve got to be enthusiastic about the Lord. But, more than that, salt needs to be where the food is. I can be the strongest, most salty salt the world has ever seen but salt is useless unless it actually gets on the meat! I won’t make any impact unless I get close to the people who need Jesus.

Based on the law of averages, there are some of you sitting here this morning who are thinking, “I agree with this. But I think this is for spiritual superstars. I don’t have the right training, the right skills or enough confidence. I don’t have a quick mind or a way with people.”And if you’re in that camp, I understand you. I know what it is like to walk across the room and think, “I’ll be so glad when this is over.”

I dread the Zone of the Unknown. I get nervous inside when a normal conversation shifts gear into spiritual territory. But I want to grow old with no regrets. I’ve said this before but I’d much rather spend my life being scared than bored. In the Zone of the Unknown I’m scared. In the Circle of Comfort I’m bored.

I want to walk by faith and not by sight. There is something a lot like Jesus that is going on in you and in me when we leave a Circle of Comfort and take that faith-walk across the room and reach out a hand.

Last Sunday night I had a sensation in my left shoulder as I was praying and I just had a hunch that God was saying someone had pain in that part of their body and that he wanted to heal it. So I said so in the 6:30pm service. At the end of the service, someone came forward who I have never seen ask for prayer ministry.

And she said, I’ve had a pain in my shoulder for about 15 years and the doctors can’t do anything. Last night it was particularly painful. We prayed and she said it started to twitch and feel strange. So we guessed that might be God a work. We kept praying and blessing what God was doing. She looked astonished, saying the pain was completely gone. What is true in prayer ministry is surely true for personal evangelism. As we tune into the whispers of the Holy Spirit and step out in faith God will lead us into the exciting things that he's doing. 

This is something anyone can do. You can learn this. You can be equipped for this. You can become more effective at sharing your faith.

But, bottom line, what’s the reason we want to get better at all this?

3) Just Walk!

Romans 5.8 is familiar to some of you. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Let me push the Pause button here for just a moment.

I spent some time this last week reflecting on what this reality means in my own life … God took hold of me as an annoying, self-centred, slightly geeky 17 year-old, wondering if I’d ever find a job, despairing that I’d ever find a girlfriend, (everyone else probably wondering if I’d ever get a life!) and God extended grace to me through Jesus Christ. He took hold of me and changed my life forever.

And how was it that Jesus demonstrated the love of the Father? What was the radical move he made to prove to you and me that he really does love each one of us? He took a walk.

The verses from Philippians you see on the screen say that at a specific point in history Jesus left the ultimate Circle of Comfort - heaven itself - walked across the universe and reached out his saving hand to people like us. And because of that one walk, humankind was able to be saved and secured in the family of God forever.

Every person who has ever inhaled air has been (or is) in dire need of being rescued.

And these days - right here in our everyday lives - what God tries to do with us between now and heaven is to say, “What I did, leaving that circle, making that trip and reaching out to you… is what I want you to do. I want this to be characteristic of my followers whenever I give them opportunity to do so.”

If you will stay open, with an eye focused on people and an ear tuned to God’s whisper, I think you will be amazed by what unfolds.

God says to us all today, “I am going to ask you to walk across the street; across a restaurant; across an office... I am going to ask you to take that walk, leave whatever Circle of Comfort you are in and enter the unknown - and then something exciting is going to happen. That is what I want you to do.”

And that’s the third point: Just walk!

Why? Because Jesus “just walked” for you. For me. For us. And for every, single person on planet Earth today.

This is why we’re setting aside an entire month of our calendar to this. Our vision is that every home in our parish will know we are a vibrant Christian community ready to pray for them serve them and lead them to Jesus. That’s why we’re doing this.

So that we can all get better about hearing the Spirit’s promptings, but also so that we will start taking action with a sense of confidence … and in the process, become more like Jesus!

One of the most dramatic occurrences of Jesus taking action in this way is found in John 4. Jesus and his disciples had been travelling all day and had come to a well.

It’s the middle of the day, and these men are hot, hungry, and thirsty. They see a woman standing by the nearby well. We learn later that she had been through five divorces and that she was now living with someone unmarried. In highly-spiritual terms, that’s what you call having a lot of tread worn off your tyres.

Make a note to take a closer look at this story this week - again. When you review it, you’ll notice that all thirteen men - Jesus plus his twelve disciples - come up to Jacob’s well. The disciples size this woman up, think she’s not the kind of company they want to be seen with and head off somewhere else for lunch.

Jesus turns around, sees the woman, and simply walks from one side of the well forecourt to the other - which catches the woman off guard.

Because of the customs in that region, she’s not expecting him to have anything to do with her. In their society, Jesus wasn’t just walking across a typical “room” - he was walking through barriers of gender, race, culture and religion.

Because of her lifestyle, this woman would’ve been labelled a “sinner” by the religious establishment. She was a Samaritan. Most Jews wouldn’t have walked through this town because they believed they would have become “unclean.”

But despite all of the protocol and sensitivities, Jesus left his Circle of Comfort anyway.

Moreover, he directs the conversation from the everyday topic of drawing a cup of water from the well to something much deeper … “living water,” and this catalyzes her eventually coming to faith.

The text says that she leaves her basin, runs into town, and drags half of her friends and neighbours out, telling them that they just have to come meet this man who knew all about her past but who accepted her and showed her… grace.

And for the next two days everyone listens to Jesus teach. It says in the text that many people from the town crossed the line of faith and joined God’s family during that timeframe. All because one man took a walk across a room - okay, a well forecourt - to reach out to someone living far from God.

But here’s the picture I want to leave with you from this story: Imagine fifteen or twenty years later when all these people’s kids and grandchildren are sitting around enjoying the beauty of Christian community.

Imagine that they begin to tell stories about where their faith journey began. One of them says … “How did all of this start?”

I know that, like the disciples, we can be tempted into staying in our safe circles. We too can make a habit of rushing off to our lunch appointments or family gatherings instead of engaging with the people standing in front of us. But hopefully, the longer we keep company with Jesus, the more our eyes will be opened to seeing the things that he sees; people around us who need love, friendship, community … and hope.

Ending

As we close, I want you to think about how you ended up as a Christian. I want you to think about how some of your friends did. Almost every Christian I know can think of somebody - it might have been a mum or a dad, it might have been a colleague or a teacher, it might have been a friend or a neighbour - who walked across a room for them.

And so if you are a Christian, then probably someone took a risk for you along the way and did something that interested you in the possibility of knowing the love of God and the opportunity to be freed from your sins.

If this is true for you, thank God today for the person who “took a walk” to hand you the single greatest gift you’d ever receive in your entire life.

I hope you’ll become the kind of person for whom others will thank God at times like this.

I close by reminding you that, if you want to get the most out of this teaching series, you have an assignment this week to read the Introduction and chapters 1 and 2 of the book. There are still copies available from the bookstall and in the library to borrow.

Those who actually do the reading were probably the ones in school who asked the teacher for more homework! I know that. But if you do the reading you will become better at all this than if don’t.

Over the next three weeks, we are going to get very practical. We will learn in detail how to excuse ourselves from our Circle of Comfort. We’ll learn to look across whatever room we are in and open our eyes and use our ears and discern from the Holy Spirit if there is someone on the other side that God is drawing our attention to.

If you’re in a home group and your group has decided to use the material offered you will get even more out of this. Our staff team are doing this as a group over the next four weeks.

And as we learn together I offer you a few predictions about the month ahead:
• Firstly: we will all grow in our relationship with Christ.
• Secondly: those looking at this in groups will grow in relationship with one other.
• Thirdly, we will get better at pointing people to faith.
• And finally, we will have an absolute ball doing it!

Let’s stand for the closing prayer…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 23rd January 2011

How to Win the Biggest Prize (Matthew 13.44-46)

Introduction

Jesus used just 66 words to tell a couple of complete stories.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.” “When he found one of great value” says Jesus, “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

A Twitter tweet can have a maximum of 140 characters. The story of the treasure hidden in a field has 125 characters and the story of the pearl has 128.

Jesus tweeted. Or at least he could have done.

The two short stories are quite similar. Both feature a man. Both men discover something of great worth. Both appreciate the enormous value of their discovery. Both are willing to pay whatever it takes to obtain what they had found. And both end up giving everything they have to possess their prize.

But there’s one big difference. Did you spot it?

In the first story, the man stumbled across his find by chance. But in the second one he was actively searching for pearls when he found a truly exceptional one.


Treasure in a Field

Sometimes you make a spiritual discovery out of the blue. You weren’t looking for anything – but suddenly the answer to all your longings is staring at you in the face.

CS Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia had an experience just like that. He wrote a book called Surprised by Joy about how he went from Atheism to being a Christ follower almost overnight and with little warning.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

Notice what the man thought his discovery of treasure was worth. To him, it was worth more than “all he had” because that is what he traded to get hold of it.

The Cullinan diamond is the largest ever found and is worth about $400 million. How excited you would be if you were digging around in your garden and you found a gem bigger than the Cullinan diamond?

Listen, being a Christian isn’t just a lifestyle choice. Some people like to go the gym, others collect beer mats, others spend time on the allotment and still others call themselves Christians and go to church.

No, no it’s not like that. Following Jesus is not a hobby. It affects everything you do because it changes the very heart of who you are. Jesus becomes the most important thing about you. He redefines all your values. He turns your life upside down and pulls it inside out.

Jesus said that the man who finds the treasure “in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has.” I’ve looked up that word “everything.” It means everything.

This man doesn’t just sell all he has; he does so with joy. No regrets. He doesn’t complain about the sacrifice he has to make. In fact, he probably doesn’t even consider it a hardship. He gives a lot for the field, but he gets so much more in return. What a discovery!


The Pearl of Great Price

But for others, becoming a Christian is not a chance discovery, but the conclusion to a long search.

Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.” He’s looking out for something truly exceptional.

He’s got a magnificent collection.

“Here it is; my pride and joy” he says. “My whole life I’ve built up this portfolio of precious pearls. It has become one of the world’s most valuable collections.

And he starts to give a little presentation of his collection. “This one,” he says, “is where it all started. It was handed down to me by my great, great grandfather the day I was born. It’s been in the family for generations.

“This one was given to me by my mother on her deathbed; she pressed it into my palm, smiled, and then breathed her last. I was just a boy when she died. It is only worth about £2,000 but it has incalculable sentimental value.”

And he continues to show you dozens of pearls on velvet cushions; of all sizes, some perfectly round, some more milky white than others – some with a silvery sheen… He is a pearl nerd. He could bore you for hours.

“This one has a strange glittery shine on it. That’s because it was subjected to great heat (perhaps from an underwater volcano) when it was being formed. It’s the only one like it in the U.K.

“Here’s one that was recovered from a locked safe on board the Titanic. For insurance reasons I’m not allowed to tell you what it’s worth.

“This one was given to me as a retirement present from my work colleagues. For 30 years I worked with those guys – happy days.

“This string of pearls are my wife’s favourite; it was worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang for President Kennedy. I bought that one for £2 million in an auction.

And so he goes on…

One day, his broker calls. A new and rare pearl has come on to the market. In fact, it is not just rare, it is utterly unique. It’s the size of a golf ball, it has an incredible, pure shiny hue, it reflects light in the most glorious ways and it surpasses everything else in his collection.

“When he found one of great value” says Jesus, “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.”

Why is a pearl especially fitting as a symbol of the kingdom of God? What do you think? I think it’s because it is the only gem that cannot be improved by human craftsmanship. God’s kingdom, like a pearl, is conceived, designed, created and perfected by God from beginning to end.

Think about it. All other gemstones have to be cut and honed by skilled artisans before they have any beauty. But a pearl is flawless when it is found and it can’t be improved by cutting. In fact, once cut by a human hand a pearl is worthless.

Any human attempts to try to improve the kingdom of God take away its perfection. Salvation comes from God – you can’t add to it at all - otherwise it’s not salvation; it’s just self-help.

Pile up everything in this world on one side of the scales and put salvation on the other side and it still doesn’t balance. The salvation of your soul, knowing Jesus and eternal life in the glorious presence of God are worth infinitely more.


Conclusion

That’s what Jesus wants you to understand about these two stories about the kingdom. (1) What you have to be willing to give up in order to get into it, and (2) what you stand to gain when you do.

For you to know the joy of God’s kingdom, everything must come after it.

I was talking to Steph Ferguson and Ray Black before the evening service last week. They attended the Alpha course last term and I met them on the first night. They started coming along to All Saints’ after the awayday in November and I noticed that their faces had changed. They were full of joy. They have found the pearl of great price.

So for those of you who have yet to meet them, I thought I’d introduce them to you this morning.

There followed an interview with Steph and Ray; why they signed up for Alpha, what their lives were like before the started the course, what happened during Alpha and what have been the changes in their lives since then.

This is what our vision is all about; people discovering Jesus and being added to the community of faith.

Let’s pray for them both…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 16th January 2011

All I Want for Christmas (Titus 3.3-8 and Matthew 1.18-25)

Introduction

“All I want for Christmas… is you” was a hit for Mariah Carey in 1994. Or, you might be more familiar with an older song with a similar title. “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” (I think that one was a hit for Count Dracula). Actually it was recorded in 1949 by Spike Jones and the City Slickers.

If you have two front teeth missing, it’s not hard to see why you would want to get them back on Christmas morning. Biting into your roast turkey calls for a decent set of top teeth, but I’ve always thought it was a bit unambitious to wish for nothing more than a set of dentures in your Christmas stocking.

What are you hoping to open tomorrow morning? I asked my family at the dinner table the other night and one said “a drum kit” (that was the cat), one said “a handbag” (that wasn’t me) and one, just to make the others feel guilty said “world peace.”

According to xmaselves.co.uk the top 10 presents for girlfriends last year included the Thornton’s I Love Chocolate hamper and Fuzzy Feet Pig Slippers.

The top 10 presents for boyfriends in 2009 included Cookery Courses with Professional Chefs (“Wow, thank you darling, that is just what you always wanted!”) and, at £9.95 each, self stirring mugs. Here’s what the maker says about them – “The Plain Lazy Self Stirring Mug is the ultimate gift for that person you know who is into DDIY (Don’t Do It Yourself)! Simply flick the switch located on the top of the handle and the mechanism will stir your cup of tea for you!”

What do you really want for Christmas? Beyond some nice new lingerie or something frivolous for the man who has everything, or what you always get – if tomorrow morning you could have anything you liked what would you choose?

The Me I Want to Be

I’m reading a book by John Ortberg called The Me I Want to Be which is about our personalities and how there are several versions of us.

The real ‘me’ is the person I am when no one is looking. This is our true self, it’s who we really are.

But there are other me’s as well.
· There’s the ‘me’ I don’t want to be.
· There’s the ‘me’ I pretend to be.
· There’s the ‘me’ I think I should be.
· There’s the ‘me’ other people want me to be.
· There’s also the ‘me’ that I want other people see.

We hope that this ‘me’ is the very best version of us there is; the smiling, laughing, popular ‘me.’ Most of us like to make sure this ‘me’ happy, intelligent, important or funny. The thing is, most of us find it hard to keep this version of us going forever – or sometimes it falls apart.

Like the army lieutenant who wanted to impress people about how important he was. So when a junior soldier knocked on his door he pretended to be on the phone with the Big Cheese so that everyone would know he really was a ‘somebody’. “OK, General, you can count on me. Goodbye Sir” and he slammed the receiver down. He then looked up. “Well Private, what do you want?” “I’ve come to connect your telephone line, Sir.”

One of our fears is that the real ‘me’ will be unmasked - and with good reason. What if Wikileaks published everything you have ever written or what if every private conversation you ever had was secretly recorded by an undercover journalist and put into the public domain?

The discomfort we feel about that is what the Bible calls ‘sin’ and that is what Jesus came to save us all from. That’s why our Gospel reading means when it says “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Why Jesus Came

Our reading from the letter to Titus tonight talks about another ‘me.’ It’s the ‘me’ I once was. Or rather it’s the ‘me’ Saint Paul says he was. And he says “At one time we… were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”

It’s an ugly list but I must honestly say that I would have to plead guilty to everything on that list at some time in my life - and I’m a vicar. That’s the ‘me’ I used to be… And in truth some of that still creeps into the real ‘me’ now at times.

There’s an old African American prayer I like to say when I think about all this and it goes like this: “I ain’t what I oughta be, I ain’t what I wanna to be, I ain’t what I’m gonna be but, thank God almighty, I ain’t what I used to be neither.”

What about the ‘me’ that God sees? He sees all your ‘me’s’ at once; your past, your present and your future; he was there before you were born and he knows the moment you will take your last breath. He knows you through and through, he searches the secrets of the heart, from your darkest darkness to the best you can be. And, oh how he loves you – enough to send his only Son to find you when you are most lost.

After Paul’s frank admission about his wretchedness he goes on to explain why God decided to initiate the first Christmas. He says “But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”

Jesus did not come to save the perfect ‘me’ I want to be
or the ideal ‘me’ others want me to be,
or the false ‘me’ I pretend to be,
but the real ‘me’ – perhaps that’s the ‘me’ I don’t want to be, but it’s who I really am when no one is looking.

That’s the ‘me’ God loves. That’s the ‘me’ God is waiting to be loved by.

Ending

So when you’re opening your Fuzzy Feet Pig Slippers or Plain Lazy Self Stirring Mug tomorrow - or whatever it is you get - remember that God’s Christmas number One is the same tune every year. “All I want for Christmas… is you.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, December 24th 2010

If Jesus Had Never Been Born

Introduction

I expect most of you will be familiar with the James Stewart film “It's a Wonderful Life.” It’s a feel good film in which the main character gets to see what his town would have been like, if he had never been born.

Last year I started to make a list of what our world would be like if Jesus had never been born. I was amazed at how long the list was and it became obvious to me quite quickly that this world would be a much darker and duller place if we were still waiting for the first Christmas.

This thought might come as something of a surprise to many because it seems that whenever the merits or otherwise of Christianity are debated on the radio or TV, someone says that religion just leads to more hatred and war. I'm amazed at how few people challenge this notion.

If the First and Second World Wars had been started by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury I'd understand it! The fact is that the world was torn apart many times by wars before Jesus was born.

"Yes," they say, "but what about the Crusades?" The flaw in this logic is that those appalling events 800 years ago were in direct defiance of Jesus’ own teaching. Jesus said “Love your enemies." He said "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." He said "Blessed are the peacemakers.”

So let’s think about what life would really be like today if Jesus had never been born.

Everyday Life

There is so much we take for granted that would be completely different. If Jesus had never been born, this would not be 2010 AD because AD means the year of our Lord.

If Jesus had never been born, towns we know as St. Albans, St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Christchurch, Corpus Christi, Santa Cruz and Bishop Auckland would all have a different name.

If Jesus had never been born everybody you know called Christine, Christian, or Christopher would be called something else.

If Jesus had never been born, many idioms would never have entered our every day speech; Good Samaritan, prodigal son, wolf in sheep’s clothing, love your neighbour, go the second mile, do unto others as you would have them do to you, turn the other cheek and salt of the earth; all of which were coined by Jesus.

Christmas

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard of Santa Claus. That fat bearded man in a red velvet suit is based on a real person; a generous Christian bishop from Turkey who gave impoverished girls dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard a single Christmas carol or Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

Social progress

If Jesus had never been born, we would have never heard of Martin Luther King or Mother Teresa. Blacks in America would still be second class citizens and the poor of Calcutta would have no one to love them.

If Jesus had never been born, organizations such as the Samaritans, Christian Aid, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army would never have been founded. Life for the suicidal, the sick, the hungry and the world’s poor would be much, much worse.

If Jesus had never been born the first free hospital in the 4th Century would never have been built – and nor would tens of thousands after it.

If Jesus had never been born, the slave trade might still be here, since it was opposed almost single-handedly on Christian principles by a Christian politician - William Wilberforce.

Education

If Jesus had never been born, thousands of schools would never have opened and church schools in Britain today wouldn’t have long waiting lists.

If Jesus had never been born, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris Sorbonne, Princeton, Harvard and Yale Universities would not have opened.

The Arts

If Jesus had never been born, we wouldn’t have much priceless classical art including Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.

If Jesus had never been born, we would have no films such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Ben Hur, Chariots of Fire, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and scores of others.

If Jesus had never been born, we would have no Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, no Dickens’s Christmas Carol, and no The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard “Amazing Grace” or “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

Civic Life

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have had a national anthem which addresses God and asks him to save; we would probably be a pagan nation worshipping the sun and the moon as fertility symbols.

If Jesus had never been born we would never swear on the Bible in court or say that anything is gospel truth.

International Affairs

If Jesus had never been born the net flow of immigration in the world today would not be from non Christian countries to Christian ones – because they’d be no more desirable places to live.

If Jesus had never been born, the Auca Indians of Ecuador would still be spearing white men to death instead of baptizing their children.

If Jesus had never been born, the Arawakan natives of the Caribbean would still be cannibals.

If Jesus had never been born, descendents of the Maya in Mexico would still sacrifice their children instead of teaching them to praise their Creator.

Ending - The Heart of the Matter

If Jesus had never been born, hundreds of Old Testament prophecies would have remained unfulfilled. Death would not have been conquered. God would be a liar.

If Jesus had never been born, three wise men would have just been three wise guys.

If Jesus had never been born, there would be no mediator between God and man, for the only one able to bring God and man together, Christ Jesus, would have been as fictitious as the tooth fairy. We would still be dead in our sins with no hope of eternal life.

If Jesus had never been born, the risen Christ wouldn’t be here tonight, waiting for you to give your heart to him in faith.

What a difference Jesus makes!

Happy Christmas. And thank God for Jesus!


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees and St Mary's Long Newton, 19th December 2010

Jesus is Coming - Get Busy! (Matthew 25.14-30)

Introduction

Last week I was preaching on the parable of the 10 bridesmaids and I said during that talk that I had a burning and unfulfilled ambition. For the benefit of those of you who were not there I said that I would love to jump out of an aeroplane with a parachute. Well now, on Thursday Terry Doyle came up to me and said “Gram’ll fix it” – or words to that effect.

Sowing Seeds Ministries are going to make arrangements for my dream to come true - on condition that they can sabotage my equipment… (No seriously, on condition that it is a fundraising jump for Sowing Seeds Ministries). So, providing I pass the medical, I’ll be jumping out of a plane for Sowing Seeds Ministries sometime next year. Result!

Actually, I forgot to say that I have another ambition; I’ve always wanted to go on a four week, all expenses paid, luxury holiday in the Bahamas!

We’ve been going through Matthew 24 and 25 over the last few weeks which are all about the future return in majestic splendour of Jesus Christ. He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. And we have summarised Jesus’ straight talking in those two chapters of Scripture as follows. Jesus is coming so wise up, watch out, wake up and (today) get busy. Get busy, because when he returns he’s going to ask us what we’ve been doing with our lives and he’s going to want that we have something to show for it.

I’m going to break this passage down to 3 sections of 3. So we’re going to talk about 3 ideals, 3 facts about our future, and 3 options open to us.

Three Ideals

The first ideal comes in v14. It’s the principle that nothing I have belongs to me.

[The kingdom of heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

As Psalm 24.1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” And I’ve looked up that word “everything” and it means “every thing.” It’s all God’s. When I look at everything in my life; my home, my car, my time, my books, my modest talents, my dreams, my memories and my bank balance - which is even more modest than my talents by the way - God… owns… all of it.

To say that God really owns all my time, every one of my talents and abilities, and the sum total of my treasure is to say that he controls the rights. Whatever he wants and when he wants it - it is all his.

When your kids pass their driving test you have to negotiate that most painful of all rights of passage – the ceremonial lending of the car keys. As parents, you entrust your car to your offspring. But there is never any question that you can withhold your car keys at any time, for any reason. Your kids only have responsibilities (i.e. to return that vehicle in exactly the state they found it). But you keep all the rights. Oh yes! In the same way, every single minute I live, every single ability I have, every single pound I spend comes from someone else - God. We may possess much but we own nothing.

That is what it means to say “Jesus is Lord.” He’s the boss, he owns it all. I own nothing. The Bible says “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Which is why if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you get this.

If you own your own home, take a walk around your property when you get home to get a feel for the reality of this principle. You may have the title deeds to it, but that document only reflects your right to possess that pile of bricks as long as you live, not forever. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

If I truly believe that God owns all my time, all my talents, and all my treasure, then I am bound to use these resources for his purpose and pleasure. And in doing so my joy is released and I feel really alive,

The second ideal comes from v15 which says, “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.”

Ideal number 2 is to say “I will be satisfied with what I have.”

Are you a five bag person, a two bag person or a one bag person? I don’t know. God knows. But whatever your lot in life God is looking for an attitude of gratitude.

The Lord has given you opportunities for service in accordance with your ability to make use of them. We don’t have equal abilities and we do not have the same opportunities. But on the day of judgement, the number of opportunities for service will not matter. The question will be, “Have you been faithful in the use of your time, your talents and your treasure?”

The third ideal comes out of v16-18 which say that the first two doubled their money but the third one dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s investment.

Ideal number 3 is obvious. I commit to investing the time, talents and treasure I have, and not waste my life doing nothing.

Three Facts About the Future

As well as giving us 3 challenges to living according to kingdom principles, Jesus gives us here 3 facts about the future.

Fact 1. A day of reckoning will certainly come. Verse 19:

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”

When Jesus told this story, I believe he was implying that he did not expect his return to be imminent. He says “after a long time.” I think he was hinting that a relatively extended period of history would have to elapse before his return.

2 Peter 3:4-9 says this: “[People] will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? … Everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ … But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

How different would your life look if, before every decision you made, you asked yourself a simple question; “How is this going to look on the day of judgement?”

Fact number 1; a day of reckoning will surely come. Which would be extremely daunting and nerve-wracking if it were not for fact number 2 which comes out in v20-23. Those who are faithful, will be fruitful and will be rewarded.

The men who had received five and two bags of gold showed the master that they had doubled his investment. In each case the master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Sometimes people say “The Lord does not call us to be fruitful, only to be faithful.” Have you ever heard that? Well, it’s wrong. The Lord expects fruitfulness in our lives. “I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” said Jesus. The master here multiplied his blessing on his servants after they had shown their faithfulness. But how did he know they had been faithful? It’s because they were fruitful.

So fact 2; those who are faithful will be fruitful and will be rewarded. Conversely, fact number 3 is this: Those who are lazy and unproductive will be condemned.

Listen again very carefully to v24-30. Jesus is giving a sober warning and he is deadly serious.

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.’

For those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance. As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

‘And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

According to Jesus, one of the distinguishing marks of a true Christian is generous service. He says here that eternal destruction comes to those who never lift a finger, who never give a bean and who invest nothing of what they’ve been entrusted into the Lord’s work. Zero service, zilch giving and idle prayerlessness are sad outcomes of a life that is completely unchanged by grace.

How can anyone call themselves a Christ-follower and not have a heart for giving, for serving, for sharing, for praying, for being a blessing to others?

Three  Choices

So then there are three choices open to us concerning the investment of our time, our talent, and our treasure.

Choice 1; do a lot with a lot. That’s what the first servant did, doubling the abundance that what he was entrusted with.
The church has had many five-bag heroes down the years who have done a lot with a lot. Martin Luther King won civil rights for blacks in the USA. William Wilberforce abolished the slave trade in Britain. Mother Teresa saved countless lives in the slums of Calcutta.

Choice 2; do a lot with a little. That’s what the second servant did, doubling the relatively small amount that he was entrusted with.

Note the principle here. We are 100% accountable to God whatever our level of giftedness. Some people think: “O, because I only have modest gifts I have less responsibility.” No! In this story, the master came back and asked those who had received much and those who had received little exactly the same questions.

Thank God for Christians who do a lot with a lot. Thank God for Billy Graham and Hudson Taylor and Nicky Gumbel and Bono and Mike Pilavachi.

But there are many more Christians who have done a lot with just a little. I read about a woman this week who was preparing a box of supplies to be sent to a Christian mission in India. A little girl gave her a penny and the woman used it to buy one tract explaining God’s plan of salvation. Eventually, that little tract was put into the hands of a community leader and was instrumental in leading him to faith in Christ. The man told his community about his faith. Many of them believed. A church was established there and over 1,500 local people became Christians - because one person was willing to let God do much with the little she had.

One day every person who trusted Christ as a result of the chain of events that that little girl’s gift started will say, “Thank you for doing a lot with a little.”

The third choice, which is no option at all, is to do nothing.

You might be thinking, “Why was the third servant treated so harshly? At least he gave back what he had originally been given.”

But Jesus is teaching us here that God does not expect to find us at the end totally unchanged from the way he found us at the beginning. He expects us to discover, develop and deploy what he has placed in us by grace.

Those who have not been given much in the way of time, talents, and treasure can be tempted to think, “When I have more, I’ll start giving more. But for now I’ve got hardly any time, I’m not good at doing very much and I’m always skint so I’m not in a position to invest more at this time.

That won’t wash with Jesus! He says here that faithfulness and fruitfulness are nothing to do with whether you started with a lot or a little. Being a good steward or a wicked and lazy steward doesn’t depend on how much you have.

You can be a wicked and lazy steward with a lot or a good steward with a little. You can be a wicked and lazy steward with a little or a good steward with a lot.

The point is this: not everyone is going to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness” on the Day of Judgement.

Ending

I began by talking about Pam’s stepmother and Mark’s father. Well, I want to finish by saying that I lost a father this week as well. He was a spiritual father. Owen Thomas was vicar of Saint Stephen’s Canonbury in North London where Kathie and I were based when we were first married and he preached at our wedding.

Owen was one of the most significant people in my life when I was a young believer. He had an unflinching faith in the power of the gospel and his consistent Godly character left an indelible mark on me. I praise God for a long life well lived.

His son Andrew wrote to me this week and said, “It's a real privilege to have been up close and personal to such a man of God, for all my life. I will miss him terribly.”

One of the things I will remember Owen for was his passion for talking to anyone and everyone about the Lord.

A tramp would come to the door asking for a meal so Owen would cook him up something tasty and say, “You know my friend what you really need is Jesus.”

An engineer would come from BT to work on the phones line so Owen would show him around and when he was done he’d say, “Thank you for fixing the phones young man but, you know, what you really need is Jesus.”

A woman would come round from the Choral Society asking if anyone from the church would be interested in their performance of Handel’s Messiah. Owen would give her a spontaneous rendering of the Halleluiah chorus, say he’d put a notice in the church notice sheet and then say, “But what you really need is Jesus.”

Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!

Jesus is coming – get busy!


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19th December 2010 (with thanks to Rob Duncan for the outline and several of the illustrations)

Jesus is Coming - Wake Up! (Matthew 25.1-13)

Introduction

Less than two weeks to go before Christmas… Not even a fortnight to get the tree and decorations up, do all the food shopping, write and post all your cards, devise your plan to keep the kids occupied, get those last minute presents wrapped and psyche yourself up for the in-laws. How are you coping with the pressure?

But what if Christmas this year didn’t happen? Jesus said that the coming of the Son of Man will be when you least expect it. What if he were to return in power and glory when we were all stressing out over stuffing the turkey? What if he were to come back tonight? Never mind being ready for Christmas, are you ready for Christ?

As we approach Christmas and as we start to think back about what it means that Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, we are thinking ahead as well to his return.

The first time Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, wearing a crown of thorns. When he returns as King of kings he will wear a crown of glory. The first time Jesus came his mission was to save the world. When he returns his mission is to judge it.

There are at least 45 specific and distinct prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. For example he will be born in Bethlehem, he will speak in parables, he will be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver (not 29.99!), he will be hated for no reason, his hands and feet will be pierced, he will be buried with the rich and he will rise from the dead. These and dozens of other precise predictions were all fulfilled to the last detail in Jesus of Nazareth.

But for every prophecy about his first coming there are 8 concerning his second. One in every 30 verses of the New Testament is about the sudden and dramatic return of Jesus Christ.

God’s track record on prophecy fulfilment is flawless. This is why we must take seriously his promise to return in power and glory and take note of what he says about our being ready for it.

And my question to you this morning is simply this; if Jesus appears tonight in glory and majesty and might – and one day he certainly will - will you be found ready or caught unawares?

Context

This morning’s gospel reading is about a wedding, but not a wedding like any of us have been to, I’m sure. Every culture has its time-honoured wedding customs which appear curious, even bizarre, to those from other countries.

In China the groom’s family offer the gift of a whole roast pig to the bride’s family as an engagement gift and the bride wears red, not white.

In Finland the bride-to-be to walks from house to house with a pillowcase to collect her wedding presents.

In India the bride’s parents wash the couple’s feet with milk and water.

In Bulgaria the bride tosses a dish filled with wheat, coins and a raw egg over her head.

In Fiji the groom presents his bride’s father with a gift of a whale’s tooth.

In Greece they smash dishes on the floor for good luck and throw money at the musicians.

And in Venezuela the newlyweds sneak away from their own wedding reception without saying good-bye to anyone.

So it’s not surprising that, in Bible times, marriage etiquette was very different to ours today. I guess if they could observe an average British wedding they’d say to us, “Why are they blowing - in one day - £20,000 they don’t have when they should be setting up home together?” And “Why does the bride’s father make a total lemon of himself dancing like an idiot after the reception?”

A typical 1st Century Jewish wedding would look quite unlike any wedding you've been to. First of all, no white limousine; the bride, meticulously and beautifully adorned, would walk from her parents’ home to her future parents in laws’ home. There would be no online wedding lists; the bride would have wedding gifts carried in front of her on a sheet by friends and family members. When she arrived at her fiancé’s house, she would be welcomed in by her future in-laws.

But, unlike a Western wedding with the bridegroom waiting nervously at the altar, he is nowhere to be seen. He has already left with his mates to eat his last meal as a single man. Finally, when his stag party is over that evening, he sets out with the lads to get back to his home where his bride-to-be and half the village are waiting.

The custom is that he can come back at any time of the night he wants (hopefully not starting as he mean to go on)! It’s the groom’s prerogative to be behind schedule, not the bride’s. And because it’s in the evening, the route to his home has to be lit up by the bridesmaids holding oil lamps.

As soon as they hear the noise of the bridegroom and his pals a few hundred yards down the road they light their lamps, greet him as he arrives, and join in the procession.

The moment they all get to the groom’s parents' house, the doors are shut and the wedding starts straight away. If you’re late you miss it. The bride and groom sit down on two thrones and the groom’s father presides over the festivities.

In the story Jesus told, the groom takes much longer than expected - in fact he and the lads are having such a great evening that no one can stay awake. And while they are all asleep, five of the ten lamps run out of oil, so they have to run off to fetch some more.

Perhaps the nearest equivalent in our culture would be a bridesmaid who discovers half an hour before the wedding that she has left her dress at home, two hours drive away. What can she do? She can’t really follow the bride up the aisle in a lime green t-shirt and jeans can she?

The Point of the Story

So that is the background to this story. But Jesus didn’t say these words to tell us about someone’s nuptials.

It’s a story with a meaning. Jesus is the bridegroom who is late arriving. In fact, the Church has been waiting for his return since he ascended to heaven in about 30AD - that’s about 1,980 years now which is, let’s be honest, a long time to wait.

The point is very simple; the wise bridesmaids anticipate the possible delay so they bring with them an adequate reserve of oil. The foolish bridesmaids are unprepared; their oil runs dry, their lamps go out, they are taken by surprise and so blow their chances of getting to the party.

10 bridesmaids are waiting. 10 are dressed up and looking their best. 10 fall asleep when the groom is late. 10 have lamps. 10 want to attend the celebration. But only 5 do because only 5 are ready when the bridegroom arrives.

Jesus will come again one day, perhaps in 10 years, maybe in 100 years, it could be tonight. The thing is are you ready?

That’s the shocking point of this story – it’s a warning. If Jesus comes tonight, only those who are ready are getting in to the party of eternal life.

1) Knowing Jesus

Let me be absolutely clear about all this. Who do these bridesmaids represent? The wise ones stand for authentic followers of Jesus, who have encountered Christ and are now filled with the Holy Spirit (that’s what the oil is all about).

The foolish ones are casual believers if you like; they might even be churchgoers, but they have never really been converted to Christ. They’re lukewarm about Jesus, they’re embarrassed to talk about their beliefs such as they are. They are indifferent to the gospel.

5 bridesmaids doze off in complete peace knowing that they will be ready in a flash. Jesus calls them “wise.” And 5 go to sleep indifferent to the urgency of their situation. Jesus calls them “foolish.” They are just negligent and lazy.

My friends, do not put off till later the most important thing in life. The more we approach the return in glory of the Lord Jesus, the more pressing it is for us all to be ready for it.

2) Do It Now

I have a secret ambition that I’d like to share with you. I have a dream, one day, to jump out of an aeroplane with a parachute. For me, that is the thrill of adventure. Kathie, who usually likes my company, is nonetheless unwilling to be anywhere near me on this particular journey. By the way, if anyone here has a private plane and a second-hand parachute (in good condition) please see me after the service…

But one of the most terrifying nightmares imaginable is surely the one when you jump out of a plane, pull the parachute cord – and nothing happens. Feel the panic and anxiety as you plunge towards the earth watching everybody else above you descend gently down as, one by one, their canopies open normally. They can do nothing for you. They can’t carry a parachute for you. It’s too late.

Jesus means to say with this story that there’s no emergency parachute. Nobody can believe in your place. There comes a time when a toddler has to let go of the furniture and walk alone. There comes a time when the stabilisers have to come off a child’s bike so he can learn to balance on two wheels. There comes a time when a bird has to leave its nest and fly. There comes a time when an adult has to stop coming home to mummy. There comes a time when you have to believe for yourself and not lean on someone else’s faith.

The foolish bridesmaids saw - in alarm - that their oil had run dry so they asked the others if they could borrow some but that isn’t possible. The wise bridesmaids said in v9, “No. There won’t be enough for both of us.”

Someone else’s faith is not enough for you. If you were brought up in a Christian home that’s great (well, usually!) but that doesn’t make you a Christian. If you have Christian friends, that’s a good thing (well, usually!) but that doesn’t make you a Christian either. You can’t borrow salvation from a friend and you can’t inherit it from your parents.

What do we need to do then? The wise bridesmaids say in v9 “Go… and buy some for yourselves.”

Christ is the source of light and grace. John 1.9 calls him “The true light that gives light to everyone.” Come to him before it’s too late! Oh, how I pray that for each person here today the moment of death will not be the time to realise that we have no oil, that we are spiritually bankrupt!

There comes a point when it is too late. The return of Jesus Christ will be abrupt, sudden and unexpected. The Bible says he will return at a time when people least expect him. He will come in royal power and unparalleled glory. Before anyone realises what is happening it will be done. The king will have appeared in all his splendour. And when he is here there will be no time for the doubters, the sceptics and those who will get round to spiritual things later.

Listen to the panic in the voices of the foolish bridesmaids in v11: “While they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’”

There comes a point when it is too late. Listen to the sober finality in the voice of the bridegroom: “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you,” Jesus will say. There comes a point when it is too late.

Ending

It would be a big mistake if I were to end my address now saying, “Well folks, that’s all for today, let’s pray as we close.” That would be grossly negligent. So I return to my question at the beginning of this talk; “If Jesus comes back before lunchtime today, will you be ready?”

If you know Jesus Christ personally – and you know that this faith is not just borrowed from somebody else – and you understand that this is not the kind of question you can put off indefinitely well, you are ready. Your lamp is burning brightly and you have plenty of oil.

But if you cannot honestly say, “Yes” to that question, I want to invite you to make a step of faith this morning.

There is nothing more exciting, more wonderful, more marvellous than meeting the Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords, and sealing your eternal destiny. It is a considerable step to make but it is simple to do. You basically need to say three things; “sorry, thank you and please.”

Sorry: “Almighty God, I am sorry for everything I have ever done and thought and said that is wrong. I want to leave behind me today everything that is not right in my life - the whole lot.”

Thank you: “Almighty God, thank you for sending Jesus to earth. Thank you for the gracious gift of forgiveness and new life that spring from the cross he died on in my place. I accept that gift now. I receive all this from you freely today.”

Please: Almighty God, please by the Holy Spirit come and live in my heart from this day on and forever. Fill my life with you. Let heaven be in my heart. Amen.”

If anyone here today has said that prayer in their hearts I’d like to meet with you after the service. I have a little booklet I’d like to give you and I’d like to pray with you and say a few words of encouragement.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 12th December 2010

I Have a Friend Who...

I want you to meet "James", "Hannah" and "Bill." They are three completely imaginary friends of mine. How would you say they look from their faces? … Yeah, happy, contented, cheerful. You’d say by looking at them that they seem to be doing more or less OK. But there is something I should tell you about my 3 friends.

Not one of them is a Christian believer. None of them go to church. None really seem interested in doing so any time soon. Why? What objections do they have to Christianity? Are they strident atheists dogmatically opposed to any form of belief? Are they perhaps members of another religion? Have they just never come across the gospel before?

Let’s start with James.

James has no big hang-up about suffering. (We looked at this subject 3 weeks ago). You won’t find James puzzling over why a God of love allows cancer and war and child abuse and tsunamis.
He doesn’t understand it but he doesn’t lose sleep over it either. No, for James the problem of suffering is not the reason that he is not a Christian.

Here’s why James is not a Christian. James is a friend who says ‘It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me.’ Do you know someone like James? Hands up if you have ever heard that kind of remark, ‘It’s OK for you - but it’s not my sort of thing’?

OK, what about Hannah?

Hannah has no big objection about evolution and creation (which is what we looked at last week). She can understand that if there is a God, he could make the universe and, to be honest, complex life forms spontaneously evolving from nonliving matter requires a certain degree of faith too. The truth is that Hannah doesn’t really have an opinion about science and faith either way. No, for Hannah the debate about science and faith is not the reason that she is not a Christian. Here’s why Hannah is not a Christian.

Hannah is a friend who says “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” Now, again, have you have ever heard anyone say something like along those lines? Personally, I think it is much more common than things like
· “What about suffering?”
· “What about other religions?” and
· “What about science?”

All right, now for Bill.

Bill is not one of those people who say that all Christians are hypocrites and that church is boring. He won’t go on about being forced to attend church as a boy. He doesn’t say that Christians are always anti gay or anti women…

In fact, he might be quite open to mixing with Christians. He might encourage his children to go to a church school or youth group. He thinks the church does good work. He even got married in one many years ago. But he wouldn’t really call himself a believer in Jesus and he never prays.

Bill is a friend who says “I’ve just got too much going on in my life to bother about faith.”

James, Hannah and Bill put things slightly differently but they are all basically saying the same thing. None has a principled objection to Christianity, they just can’t see the answer to this question: What’s in it for me?

James says ‘It’s fine for you - but it’s just not my kind of thing.’ Hannah says ‘I don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.’ Bill says I’m too busy for all that.’

I have two questions that I would like you to discuss in groups.

In Colossians 4.3 it says “Pray for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ.”

So here’s the first question:
How would you pray for friends like James, Hannah and Bill? What kind of things would you ask God to do in their lives?

The second question is this: How would you share your faith with them? What approach would you take to interesting them in the good news about Jesus? What sort of things would you say to them?

We’re going to take about 10 minutes and then we’ll come back together again...

...Feedback on flipchart...

Let me tell you how I pray for people like James, Hannah and Bill.
It says in Acts 16 when Paul, Timothy and Silas were in Philippi, “The Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Until the Lord opened Lydia’s heart she was unable to respond to the gospel that demands a response. It demands repentance for sins. It demands trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It demands obedience in baptism and a life of following Christ. All this is possible once the Lord opens someone’s heart. It was not just Paul's eloquence or persuasiveness that was having such a transforming influence in Lydia’s life. It was the Lord opening the heart. First of all then, for people like James who say “It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me” I ask God to open hearts.

Secondly, I pray that God will bring to their consciousness their need of a saviour. This is what I pray for people like Hannah who say “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” People will never believe that they need to be saved until they really feel lost and that is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Madonna once said “I was what you would call at the top of my world. I’d won a Golden Globe for Evita, I was pregnant, I had fame, I had fortune, everything that you would perceive a person would want in life. But I’m sure everyone’s had that out-of-body experience where you say to yourself, and it might happen at 28 or 38 or 68, why am I here? Why am I inside of this body? What am I doing?”

The third thing I pray for is that people like Bill will have an encounter with God. That is what most needs to happen for people who say “I’ve got too much going on in my life to bother about faith.” In the book the Grace Outpouring that Julia mentioned last week there is a story of a couple of atheist ramblers who wandered past this Christian centre in Wales where there is a revival style awakening going on.

They come under the conviction of sin, fall to the ground and ask “What is going on here? We feel different. We feel like this is what we’ve always wanted.”When people encounter the presence of God they never say “I haven’t got time for this.”

So much for prayer then. How should we share our faith with the likes of James, Hannah and Bill? Or, put it another way, why do we think it would be better for them if they become Christians?

A former vicar of this church, David Osman, was once asked why he believes in Christianity and he replied “Because it’s true.”

On one level what James says seems reasonable. Remember what he said? “It’s OK for you that you believe - but it’s just not for me.”

But the point is that if Christianity is true it is true for everyone. To say, “That’s fine for you but it’s not for me” is illogical. If it’s true then it is true for me, and it’s also true for everyone else. If it’s not true then it’s not true for me, and it’s not fine at all that I believe in it because that would mean I’m deluded and wasting my life.

So I would gently challenge James and say to him “If Christianity is not true then no one should believe it, including me. If it is true then everyone should believe it, including you. How sure are you that Christianity is not true?”

The second reason James, Hannah and Bill should become Christians is this; It works.

Talk about the change that came into your life when you first believed in Christ. Talk about times when you have seen amazing healings or when God has lifted you in times of sadness and tragedy. Talk about walking miracles like Gram Seed.

Hannah says “I just don't feel any need for God; my life is fine as it is.” But everybody has a Madonna moment from time to time. That’s when the illusion of self-sufficiency is lifted and you get to see the real state of the soul without God. Testimony is really powerful – and the greatest testimony is not in what you say but in how you live.

The final reason why should James, Hannah and Bill become Christians is this; It is urgent.

I read a book by a guy called Scot McKnight last week. He talks about how he became a Christian when he was 6 years old. He said to his mother, “Mum, I want to accept Jesus into my heart so I can be forgiven of my sins.” He had heard the gospel, understood that God loved him and had sent his Son for him to die so he could be forgiven. All that was left was his decision. His mother said slightly hesitatingly, “Don’t you think you should wait till your father gets home?” He replied that he was afraid he might die before she got home.”

For people like Bill who say “I’ve got too much going on in my life to bother about faith at the moment” we need to get to a point where we can say (and you have to find the right moment to say this kind of thing) “If you were to get run over by a bus tonight, Bill – and honestly I hope you don’t – but if you did, would you be sure of going to heaven?”

I have a friend who thinks they are fine without God. If only they knew how much better off they’d be with him.

Let’s pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 28th December 2010