Sermon: Galatians 2: 11-22 Freedom by faith

Have you ever noticed that before a football match, the two captains come into the centre with the referee. They’ll toss a coin to see who kicks off. They shake hands, but once the whistle goes, it really does kick off. For a moment they were friendly, but now they are sworn enemies, out to beat the other team. As the bowling club tournament runs in the hall this week, you’ll see the same idea - a polite handshake one minute, then opposed the next.

As you listened to this morning’s Bible reading from Galatians, you might have wondered if the same sort of thing was going on. Glance back to verse 9 in Galatians 2 and you might remember from last time (before the harvest) that Paul and Barnabas shared the right hand of fellowship with James, Peter and John. They shook hands to show that they were in agreement, they were on the same team.

But was that just a formality? Was it all for nothing? Did it mean absolutely nothing, when you read verse 11, just two verses later, and discover that suddenly Paul is opposing Peter to his face, calling him out in public! What is going on? Why were they friends and brothers one minute, and then the next are at each other’s throats?

And when you see why Paul was opposing Peter, you might think, was it a storm in a tea cup? The row arose over something as small as eating arrangements - who sits with who, and what that says. Now, maybe you’ve planned (or are planning) a wedding reception, and you have all the names on bits of paper, seeing who can sit with who, and which people need to be kept apart for everyone’s sake.

That gets us so far in thinking about the importance of sitting and eating together. But the actual issue is there in verse 12. Peter was visiting Antioch - a city in modern day Turkey. The church was made up of Gentile believers. Peter would gladly share in fellowship with them - sharing meals with them, sitting at the table together, with no problems.

But all that changed when some people came from Jerusalem - members of the circumcision party. They were those who insisted that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be real Christians. And when they arrived, Peter withdrew from the Gentile Christians, wouldn’t sit and eat with them as he had before, and would only eat with Jews. When Peter did this, he influenced all the other Jewish believers to also draw back from the Gentiles, in effect making a distinction between Jews and Gentiles.

It was as if Peter was saying there are Premier League Christians - those who are Jews; and there are second division Christians - the Gentiles. Or imagine that as you arrived for church today, the churchwardens asked which football team you supported, and you only sat with people who support the same team - and then insisted that Man United supporting Christians are the real deal, while the Liverpool supporting Christians are at best, second rate.

Paul gets to the heart of what Peter is up to in verse 13. ‘The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy.’ None of us wants to be a hypocrite - saying one thing but doing another. But that’s what Peter was doing - he was saying that all Christians are the same, but then by his actions he was showing that some were more important than others. That to eat together, you Gentiles would have to be circumcised. Without it, you would miss out.

But as Paul says, in verse 11, he was clearly in the wrong. Peter was in the wrong because, verse 14 ‘they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.’ Peter was a bit like a picture hanging on the wall that isn’t level. Maybe you never notice, but sometimes when you see a picture that’s askew, it just needs to be straightened up, to hang right. Peter was out of line when measured against the plumbline of the gospel.

And so Paul confronts him - not privately, but publicly. It’s right that in Matthew 18, Jesus gives us guidelines for resolving a private dispute with a brother or sister, but this is a public matter. Peter was leading people astray, so needed to be publicly rebuked. And the rebuke comes in verse 14.

‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’ Peter was a Jew by his family line. But now he wasn’t living according to the strict food laws and cleanliness code. Jesus had taught him that all foods were clean, and so he was living like a Gentile. Yet now, by his actions, he was forcing Gentiles to follow Jewish customs in order to sit and eat with him. He wasn’t living that way himself, so why was he forcing others to do it?

In verses 15-16, we get to the heart of the matter. What does it take for someone to become a Christian? What is needed to be justified - to be declared in the right with God, declared innocent? There are two alternative paths to take; two approaches to being justified. Either we can do it by observing the law - obeying every detail of the Old Testament law, by living not just a good life, but a perfect life; or we can do it by trusting Jesus.

Listen again to these verses. Three times we’re told the right answer, the only way to be justified: ‘We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.’

How is someone made right with God? Not by observing the law - because no one will be justified that way. It’s only by faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting him. Depending on what he has done for us, because we can’t do it by ourselves.

And it’s the same whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Only by faith. Yet Peter was showing by his actions that faith in Jesus wasn’t really enough - you would also have to be circumcised. It’s right that Paul confronted Peter, so that Peter’s words and right hand of fellowship weren’t just meaningless, weren’t just hypocritical, but were followed through in his actions in welcoming all who believe in Jesus.

We are only made right with God by faith in Jesus. Nothing else will do. Nothing else can make it. Paul then goes on to answer an objection to this. Ok, someone says, you trust in Jesus, does that mean you can live how you want? If you’re not obeying the law, then does that mean that you can sin freely and still know that you’re saved? Like the person who sets out to commit some terrible sin, saying to themselves, it’s ok - God will forgive me after. ‘Does that mean that Christ promotes sin?’

‘Absolutely not!’ Paul says that being justified by faith doesn’t give us a free pass to live how we want, and sin freely. Rather, we will be changed when we’re justified ‘in Christ’ - united with him. When we trust Jesus, we are then ‘in him’ - so that what he does, we do and where he goes, we go.

In verses 19 and 20, Paul talks of the death and the resurrection of every believer. But it’s not a future thing, something that will one day come to pass. No, he speaks of it as something that has already happened, when we first put our faith in Jesus:

‘For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’

As we put our faith in Jesus, we go through death and resurrection - dying to the law and its demands. Crucified with Christ so that ‘I’ - the old me, the unrighteous me, the sinful me, the trying to be justified by myself me - my old self has died. Instead, Christ lives in me.

No longer do we live for ourselves, no longer do we try to justify ourselves by our good works or obedience to the law. Now, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God’ - the Son of God who did all that was needed for me to be saved - ‘who loved me and gave himself for me.’

The only way to be made right with God, to be justified, is by faith in Jesus, who loved you and gave himself for you. Trusting in Jesus is the only way to be saved - by the grace of God, giving us what we don’t deserve. So how could Peter insist on faith in Jesus plus circumcision?

Or how could we insist on faith in Jesus plus anything else? It’s all, and only by grace. We cannot achieve it by our efforts, we simply kneel at the foot of the cross. And, as Paul says in verse 22, if righteousness could have been gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

So stop trying to earn God’s favour by your good works - your giving to charity, your prayer times, your church attendance, whatever it might be. And don’t look down on others who don’t match your supposedly high standards of achievement. Your high standards are still useless to save you. Instead, simply receive. Take hold of the grace given by the death of Jesus for you. You just need open hands to receive - as we’ll do in a few moments at the Lord’s Table.

As you come forward, as you receive the bread and the wine, remind yourself of these words: ‘The Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ Stop your striving, and stand in his grace.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 8th October 2017.

Sermon: James 5: 13-20 Faith in Action - Prayer Power

Whenever you get home today, there are probably a few things you’ll do between now and bedtime. You’ll press a switch or turn a knob, and the oven will come on to cook your dinner (or else to turn it off, hoping that it’s not burnt if the sermon goes on too long...). You’ll twist your fingers, and water will flow from the tap. You’ll pull a cord, and lights will come on. Did you ever stop to consider the power you have in your fingertips? A fairly simple activity brings great power.

Now imagine if you were to go home, and didn’t do any of these things. The water is available, but you don’t turn on the tap. The electricity is waiting, but you don’t use it for cooking or lighting the room. So, even with the fair stretch in the evenings, you just sit in the dark until it’s time for bed. What would someone else think? You have this potential, this power at your fingertips, and yet you don’t use it. You don’t get the benefit of it.

As James brings his letter to a close, this is the point that he wants to get across to us. He’s saying to us that we have the potential of a great power available to us, but we need to use it! Now maybe you don’t feel very powerful this morning, but look at verse 16, in the middle of it: ‘The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.’

In our Bible reading this morning, James wants us to realise the power potential we have. So how do we release this power? How do we see this power at work? It’s when we pray. So let’s dive into the passage to see how we can develop in prayer power.

And as we do that, James has a question for us. Or rather, a series of questions. You see, when we meet together on a Sunday morning, we each come from different situations. On any given Sunday, some will be cheerful - maybe it’s someone’s birthday, or you’ve been feeling great this week. Or maybe you’ve been knowing the Lord’s presence and blessing in a special way. Yet the person beside you or near you is feeling completely different. Maybe there was a row in the car on the way here. Or you’ve been feeling under the weather. Maybe you’re dreading an appointment this week.

That’s why James gives us the kind of checklist in verse 13. ‘Is anyone among you suffering?’ (We’ll not ask you to put your hands up...) ‘Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church...’ Both praying and praising are ways of speaking to God - and that’s what prayer is all about. The opportunity to speak to God; to communicate with the maker of the universe; to let him know how we’re feeling.

But remember that James says that it’s the prayer of a righteous person that has great power. Does that mean that only a certain sort of Christian’s prayer have power? So how do we become righteous?

In verses 14-16, we see how the last of the checklist works out in greater detail. James says, ‘Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’

In this ministry to the sick, the elders are to pray over them (when they’ve been called!). and anointing them with oil. Some traditions save this anointing for the very end of life (extreme unction / the last rites), whereas some of us maybe don’t use oil at all when we maybe should. But notice that it isn’t the oil that is powerful and effective. Verse 15 ‘And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’

What is it that saves, brings forgiveness, and the promise of being raised up (whether that is healing, or ultimately the promise of resurrection)? The prayer of faith. You see, none of us are righteous in and of ourselves. All of us have committed sins.

It’s only when we put our trust in Jesus, when we believe in him and what he has done for us in the cross - it’s only then that we become righteous. It’s only then that we have the promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins. So as we gather here today, whether you are suffering, or cheerful, or sick, I wonder can you say that you are righteous? If not, then look to Jesus today, and call on him in faith to save you.

If you are righteous, if you are trusting in Jesus, have you realised just how powerful your prayers are? When you become a Christian, you become a priest, you have a ministry of prayer - for one another in the church family, and for others who are outside the family of faith (for now!). That’s why James says in verse 16 ‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.’

In admitting our weakness and our faults to one another, and praying for one another, we grow together, and have this promise of healing. Now that doesn’t mean that we’ll have someone come up to the front and tell us everything that they’ve ever done wrong - we’d be here a long time - but it does mean that in appropriate ways, with people we trust, we can admit our faults and pray for one another. Righteous people have a ministry of prayer for one another.

James then gives us an example of how a righteous person’s prayer has great power as it is working. Elijah was just like us, and yet by his prayers, it stopped raining for three years and six months. We heard of the stopping and starting of the rain in our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings 17-18. If Elijah’s prayers could achieve the turning off and on of the rain, as easily as we can turn the tap on and off, then what could our prayers achieve?

Imagine the things that could happen, if we were to realise the true potential of the power made available to us, and actually prayed for them to happen? Sometimes at youth groups we ask the question - if you could have any super power, what would it be? But James is telling us we do have a superpower available right now, if we will just pray.

In the last verses, we have an example of how we can see our prayers at work. Imagine someone wanders away from the truth. They’ve been part of things, but are now far away. If we care for them, and pray for them, how might that power of prayer work? If we bring them back, do you see what happens? ‘Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.’

Jesus is the one who died to bring us salvation, to save us from death, to cover over our sins. Yet by our prayers, we can have a part in the saving of others. So who are you praying for, that they’ll come to saving faith? Perhaps today, as you receive the bread and wine and remember what Jesus has done for you, you’ll spend just a moment longer at the rail to pray for someone who needs his salvation.

And after the service, I’ll be available by the font to pray with you or for you. I’ll even have a little oil if you would like to be anointed for yourself or someone else. But any of us could pray for anyone else - ‘for one another’ as James says.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. This power is at your fingertips today. How will you use it?

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 2nd April 2017.

Sermon: James 2: 14-26 Faith in Action - Faith that works

Consider this headline from last October: ‘Labour “rank hypocrisy” - two more MPs against grammars sent children to private schools.’ The Labour MPs had been speaking out against plans to establish new grammar schools, arguing that every child should be educated together in comprehensive schools - but they were paying thousands of pounds to send their own children to private schools. The hypocrisy stands out - between what they claimed to believe, and how they actually behave.

Or consider another example. Imagine a football manager who works hard to train his team for the cup final. He makes motivational speeches, saying that he believes in the team, and that they’re going to bring home the cup. He might say that, but he then goes and bets on the other team to win. His beliefs and his behaviour are in opposition. Hypocrisy is rife, it seems.

James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, wants to make sure that we aren’t guilty of a similar form of hypocrisy - the inconsistency between our beliefs and our behaviour - our faith and our works. And, as we’re coming to see with James, he doesn’t beat around the bush. He comes straight out with whatever he’s thinking. And he confronts us in verse 14 with this question: ‘What good is it, brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?’

It can be easy to say that you have faith. After all, we’ve just stood up and recited the Nicene Creed, the statement of Christian belief. Or when census time comes around, you tick the box that says Church of Ireland. Or if you get one of those equal opportunities monitoring forms, you tick to say that you are a Protestant. James is asking if it’s enough to do that, to say you have faith, if you don’t do anything about it, if you don’t work at it. As he puts it, ‘What good is it?’ Or, as he goes on, ‘Can that faith save him?’

Now, the way James frames the question, you can tell that the answer he is driving towards is - no good at all. To help us get to the answer, he gives us two negative examples - ways in which it’s obvious that faith by itself isn’t enough.

The first is in verse 15. ‘If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?’

So someone sitting near you in church, a brother or sister in the family of faith, and you become aware that they’re struggling - they haven’t got warm enough clothes for these cold winter days; they aren’t eating because they can’t afford to. You see their need, and you say to them ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled.’ Or in other words - hopefully God will sort you out and provide for you in your need. What good is that?

If you see a need, and you don’t do anything about it when you could do so, then what good are your pious words? Your blessing effectively becomes a curse to them! Such faith, by itself, without works, isn’t real faith at all.

Now, straight away, James expects a reaction. He jumps right in and says ‘But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”’ As if there are different types of Christian - some are the faithy kind of thinking about things type of Christian; while others are the practical working kind of Christian. So how do you show your faith apart from works? How can you give any evidence that you really are believing, if it’s not affecting how you live - the choices you make, the things you do, the way you help others?

In verse 19, we see the second negative example of faith disconnected from works. James points to a person who affirms the true belief that God is one. It’s true, it’s right - but just believing that God is one gives you some strange company. As James continues: ‘Even the demons believe - and shudder!’ The devil and his demons (fallen angels) know that there is only one God, they have right belief, they believe in God, but it makes them shudder - because their belief in God isn’t enough. They know God, but they don’t produce deeds of love and service to them, because they have rebelled and fallen.

So the two negative examples show us that faith by itself isn’t enough. It’s not enough to issue pious words when we could work to help those in need. And just believing true things about God isn’t enough - it puts you in the same league as the demons.

In order to help us see how faith and works are meant to go together, James gives us two worked out examples from the Old Testament. The first one he turns to is Abraham. You might remember a few years ago we looked at the life of Abraham - or maybe you’ve been following the through the Bible reading plan and had a more recent reminder. Well in verses 21-23, James picks out a few different moments from Abraham’s life.

Verse 21 focuses on Genesis 22, where Abraham obeys the command to offer up his son Isaac to God. This was Abraham working out his faith in God, by obeying God’s command. You see, verse 23 quotes Genesis 15 (which was about 25 years before Genesis 22). God had promised Abraham not just a son, but offspring as many as the stars in the night sky. And Abraham believed God’s promise, and he was counted righteous before God.

Abraham believed God’s promise - and so he obeyed, he worked it out, by placing Isaac on the altar. As James puts it, ‘faith was completed by his works.’ He trusted that God would still fulfil his promise, and demonstrated his trust by his obedience. He was justified by his actions. In fact, more than that, he was called a friend of God.

Now sometimes people read verse 24 and think that this is contradicting what Paul says in Romans, that salvation is by faith alone. Indeed, in this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, when we’ll think more about faith alone, it seems that James is saying something different. ‘You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.’ But both Paul and James are saying that it is only by faith that we are saved. But the faith that is saving faith is never alone - it always produces works in us.

To make the case, James points to Rahab. It’s one thing if this applies to Abraham, but Rahab is completely different to Abraham. He was a patriarch (the father of the Jewish nation), Rahab was a prostitute. He was a Jew, she was a Gentile. Does the same faith expressed in works apply in her life? The answer is, yes!

We heard her story earlier. The people of Jericho had heard all about what God had done in bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, defeating kings and nations along the way. And now Jericho was next. Rahab trusted in the God of Israel, and so (at great danger to her life), she took in the two spies, hid them, and made sure they escaped to safety. She was kept safe, by the sign of the scarlet cord, when everyone else in Jericho perished. (And she became a great-great.....granny of the Lord Jesus in the process.) Her saving faith was demonstrated in the way she acted. Her faith was expressed in her works.

Can the same be said of us? We are saved by faith alone in Jesus alone (as the Reformation rediscovered) - but genuine saving faith will always be seen by the way we live. So how are we doing, as we work out our faith, as we straighten out the inconsistencies and hypocrisies that can continue to cling to us (maybe even without us noticing).

Perhaps some of us need to have that real faith in the first place. We're heard all about Jesus and what he has done for us in his cross-work - his death and resurrection, pictured in the bread and wine of the Holy Communion. But we've never really believed. If this is you, then this is the step you need to take today - believe in the Lord Jesus, receive his promise, and discover the faith that God gives.

Perhaps some of us need to move from pious, blessed thoughts to compassionate action. That we move from seeing needs around us to meeting those needs. Are there ways you could help, providing for others from the abundance God has given you? The Pantry is one way we can do so, but you could also dream up other ways of acting out your faith.

Perhaps some of us are really passionate about doctrinal orthodoxy, getting our beliefs right, and debating intricate points of theology until the cows come home. But sound theology isn’t enough - we need to be just as passionate about showing that faith in the truth in our lives.

Perhaps you see yourself in Abraham or Rahab - trusting God’s promise and stepping out in faith, living out your faith by word and deed. Keep going! Abraham waited for 25 years to see the promise fulfilled. Rahab could only imagine how God would bring her into his family and story of redemption.

Please don’t be disheartened as you hear God’s word to us today. While there is challenge in these words - for me as much as for everyone - there is also encouragement to keep doing what we are doing, as we express our faith in our actions. Thursday [and the funeral of the late Kirsty Clarke] stands out as an example of how the church family rallies together, serving in so many ways, as we demonstrated our faith by our works.

So let’s keep going - both believing and be-living in our great God.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 5th February 2017.

Sermon: Luke 17: 1-19 Increase our Faith

I wonder if you’ve got a drawer or a cupboard like the one we have in ours. In it, you’ll find all sorts of random bits and pieces. A key for a lock you don’t even have now. Some string. A few batteries which might not have any power in them. Phone chargers and cables. The comedian Michael McIntyre talks about it as a ‘man drawer’. You never know when you might need it, so you put it there, along with all the other potentially useful but slightly random items.

At first glimpse, it looks like our chapter this morning is Luke’s man drawer as he writes his gospel. Random bits and pieces about sin, forgiveness, faith, duty and so on, so he throws them all in here. Maybe useful some time, but not entirely sure what to do with them. That’s what I was thinking, until I remembered Luke’s express purpose, as he says at the start of his gospel. He is writing ‘an orderly account.’ So how do they fit together?

The key moment seems to be the request of the disciples in verse 5. Maybe as you come to church today, it’s the cry of your heart as well. You’re following Jesus, but you feel that it’s not always easy. You feel like you need his help. You feel like you need more. Do you see what they say? ‘Increase our faith!’ We have faith, but give us more, help us to trust you more. This morning, as we work through the passage, remember that request: Increase our faith! What prompts it? How does Jesus respond? And what might it look like?

So what prompts it? What is it that makes the apostles say to Jesus ‘Increase our faith’? It’s something that Jesus says about sin. Or rather, two things, almost equal and opposite, about sin.

Verse 1: ‘Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come.’ Don’t be the cause of someone else’s sin. Don’t be the one to lead someone else astray. Here’s how serious it is - Jesus says it would be better to have a millstone hung round your neck and be thrown into the sea.

You see, we’re not Christians in isolation. We’re part of the body, we’re responsible for one another - we are our brother’s keeper. Now that might be hard enough, but the next thing Jesus says is even harder. Verse 3: ‘Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent”, you must forgive him.’

Don’t be the cause of other people’s sin; and don’t hold their sin against them. Forgive when they repent. Forgive every time they repent. Now when he says seven times that doesn’t mean you count, and the eighth time you don’t have to forgive. Jesus is saying as many times as they repent, forgive them. Are you ready to forgive?

No wonder the apostles say ‘Increase our faith!’ This isn’t easy. That’s what they’re saying - Lord, if you want us to do this, then we need your help. Increase our faith. Give us more faith to be able to do these hard things.

But look at how Jesus replies. ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.’ The mulberry tree was seen as the hardest of trees to move. It was thought that the root would remain in the ground for 600 years, it was so firmly rooted. So how much faith would it take to do the seemingly impossible? Buckets of faith? Oceans of faith? No, faith like a grain of mustard seed. A teeny tiny seed, you would hardly see.

It’s not that you need loads and loads of faith. You just need to have faith in God. As one writer has said: ‘If there is real faith, then effects follow. It is not so much great faith in God that is required as faith in a great God.’ (cf Leon Morris).

Having even a small amount of faith in God is enough to see miracles happen. It’s only a mustard seed of faith that’s needed to be born again, enough to be guaranteed the hope of eternal life. To stop trusting in yourself, and to start trusting in Jesus, that’s enough to see amazing things happen.

But when we do trust, and we do see amazing things happen; as our faith grows, and we see God working in our lives, we can’t take the credit for it. That’s what Jesus goes on to say in this story of the servant.

Verse 7: ‘Will any one of you who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Does the master become the waiter for the servant? The obvious answer in the culture is no! The servant serves, makes sure the master is fed and watered before he sees to himself. But if the servant does what is required, then he doesn’t need thanked. He’s just done his job. He has obeyed his orders.

Jesus says that we are God’s servants; that we are under his command; that ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ We may see amazing things as we step out in faith. We may see lives changed, but at the end of the day, we’re only doing what God told us to do. We don’t deserve to be part of his plans. It’s all by grace that he chooses to use any of us.

The disciples wanted Jesus to increase their faith. He was calling them to hard things - not leading other people to sin, and forgiving other people’s sins. But Jesus says you don’t need big faith, just small faith in a big God is enough. And then Luke tells us about something that happened on the way. Something that shows us how much faith is needed.

Jesus is entering a village when ten lepers stand at a distance and shout at him. Leprosy in those days was a life sentence. You were unclean, cut off from normal family life, living with other lepers on the edge of society. They see Jesus and shout at him: ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’

Jesus tells them to ‘go and show yourselves to the priests.’ The priests had a public health role as well; they were the people who could certify healing from leprosy. And as the ten set off, they were cleansed. The rest continue, but only one turned back, praising God with a loud voice; falling at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan!

Ten were cleansed, but only one said thank you. Ten were healed of leprosy, but only one heard the closing words of Jesus. As you look at them, you might find them familiar. These are the same words Jesus spoke to the sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7:50) and the woman with the discharge of blood (Luke 8:48). They’re words which show that even a little faith, faith as small as a mustard seed, is saving faith.

Jesus says: ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’ The footnote says that this also means ‘Your faith has saved you.’ As you come to the Lord’s table today, you don’t need to have gallons of faith. But you do need to have faith. Even a mustard seed is enough to be assured of sins forgiven, to have heaven as your home, and to see God use you in the here and now to do his purposes, to do the impossible, as he changes us and makes us more like Jesus. As you cry out to him ‘Increase our faith’, hear his word that your faith has saved you, even if it’s as small as a mustard seed.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 7th February 2016.

Sermon Audio: Genesis 12 - 22

Here's what I've been up to since September. We've been following the life of Abraham in our second chunk of the book of Genesis in the series 'Believing the Promise: Walking with Abraham's God'. All the sermons are also available on the Aghavea Church iTunes podcast.

Genesis 12: 1-20 Receiving God's promise

Genesis 13: 1-18 Walking by faith, not by sight

Genesis 14: 1-24 Meeting Mysterious Melchizedek

Genesis 15: 1-21 Reckoned Righteousness

Genesis 17: 1-27 Covenant Confirmed

Genesis 18:16 - 19:38 Saved from Sodom

Genesis 21: 1-21 The Promised Son

Genesis 22: 1-19 God Will Provide

Sermon: Genesis 22: 1-19 God will provide

Perhaps the biggest decision we have to make in life is this one: Can I really trust God with everything? It’s the make or break question - Is God actually trustworthy? Can we trust him, especially when it doesn’t seem easy or straightforward?

It’s the question we’ve been asking since September as we’ve followed the next section of Genesis, and watched as Abraham took up the challenge. God called him to leave his family behind, to go to a new place, where God would bless him, and give him offspring. We’ve seen how Abraham trusted one moment, and then doubted the next. There were the highs of his obedience, but also the lows of disobedience and unfaithfulness. While we’ve been keeping an eye on Abraham, the main focus, though, has been on God. Who is this God, who spoke and called Abraham; and who continues to call us to follow. Is he trustworthy?

It might seem easy to follow God when all is going well. But what about when he asks the impossible? When he asks us to give up something that’s important to us? Or someone who is precious to us? Can we still trust God in those times?

As we come to Abraham’s test, it’s important to remember that God had already provided in Abraham’s life. Everything Abraham had, God had given him - not least his son, born to him at the age of 100, to a wife of 90. Yet this is what Abraham is called to give up: ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering.’

There’s no doubt about who God is speaking about. If you’ve ever had to open a new bank account and produce your two forms of ID, then God gives four forms of ID here. Take your son; your only son; Isaac; whom you love. This is Isaac, the promised son, the offspring through whom God was going to give descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Yet God says he must die. Will Abraham obey? Will Abraham give up what God has given to him?

Are there things that we hold on to? Areas of our life that we fence off and say, you can have anything else, God, but not that? I’ll serve you, but not if it means I can’t have this? Can we really trust God with all that we have?

It can’t have been easy. The thought of what lay ahead must have been horrifying. Yet we’re not given any hint of Abraham’s emotional state; we’re simply told that he got up, and went to do the job. Just as he’d got up early to send Ishmael away, so he gets up and goes to offer Issac. His faith is displayed in his actions.

But his faith is also displayed in his words. Abraham had set off with Isaac, and also two young men. When they get to where they can see Moriah, Abraham says this in verse 5: ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ Now some people think that he was lying to his staff. If he had said, oh yeah, I’m going to slaughter the boy, they wouldn’t have let him do it. So he lies and says, we’re going, we’ll return.

But is that really what’s going on? I think we can hear in these words the voice of faith. He doesn’t know how, but he is confident that his boy is coming back with him. He’s trusting in God to provide.

That becomes even clearer as Abraham and Isaac walk along. Isaac carries the wood; Abraham has the knife and the fire (flint to light a fire, maybe?). I wonder if you’ve ever started cooking dinner and then realised you’ve forgotten something - you’ve lit the BBQ (maybe not today) and then remember you’ve no burgers! It’s fairly crucial. Well Isaac knows how sacrifices work. He looks at what they’ve got and realises something is missing.

‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ (7) We’ve got all the tools, but we’ve missed the actual offering. Do you see how Abraham replies? ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ He may not know how, but he knows that God will provide. God can be trusted, even when it seems impossible.

If then tension was building with the walk, we’re now at fever pitch. The altar is built; the wood arranged; Isaac is bound, set on top, and the knife is poised, ready to go. At just that very moment, the angel of the Lord cries out ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ The sacrifice is stopped; the test is over. He’s passed with flying colours.

Isaac was under a death sentence. He was in the very place of death, yet he walked free. A ram was caught in a thicket, and was sacrificed instead of him. God had provided the lamb after all. Isaac was rescued through substitution. The ram died in his place. Isaac experienced a resurrection - life in the place of death.

That’s the point the writer to the Hebrews makes. Abraham ‘considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead - and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.’ (11:19) God is trustworthy, and will keep his promises, even when it seems impossible. Just ask Isaac, who escaped the knife and altar and walked free to tell the tale.

The angel of the Lord goes on to renew and expand the covenant once again - and it all comes through ‘your offspring’ - this son Isaac, but also through the fulfilment of the offspring in the Lord Jesus. It is in Jesus that the good news goes to all the nations; in him all the nations gain blessing; in him we are made to be the children of Abraham, a vast crowd that no one could number.

God had provided for Abraham; God would provide the substitute offering; and God continues to provide. The saying that arose from the events that day continues to ring out to this very day. ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’

You see, Mount Moriah was (2 Chr 3:1) the place where Solomon’s temple was built. Moriah became Jerusalem, Zion, so on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah, Isaac was rescued by substitution. In the very same location, another offering was made when a Father willingly gave his Son.

We deserved to die; the just punishment for our sins. But the Son was given as our substitute. The Lord provided for us as he gave the Lord Jesus as our passover lamb. He died our death; we can go free.

We began by asking if God is trustworthy. Can we really trust God? As we look at his dealings with Abraham, his love, grace and faithfulness, we have to say yes, God is faithful, even when his people mess up time and again. But we can say it even louder and even clearer as we reflect on the God who provides for us every day, but especially on that Good Friday. As Paul says in Romans 8: ‘If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?’ If God has provided for us in the most costly item of the universe, then how could we doubt his provision in any other way? God is good, all the time.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 7th December 2014.

Sermon: Genesis 15: 1-21 Reckoned as Righteous

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The theory of that saying is that you get in with a man, you make him like you, by feeding him nice things. Having wondered if there’s a similar saying for a woman’s heart, I googled it. The first page suggested 25 steps; another page said it was through her sole with a picture of very expensive new shoes!

How do we get in with God? What is it that makes us right with God? If a woman has 25 steps, then getting in with God is surely even more complicated? Think again. In fact, it’s very simple, as we’ll see shortly.

This morning we’re continuing to follow Abram as he walks with God. We’ve already seen that it wasn’t easy for Abram, and today it seems to be getting harder. Just think back to the promise of 12:1-3. We’ve summarised it in Goldsworthy’s phrase: ‘God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.’ But what do you do when God seems to be slow? He had promised these things, but nothing seems to be changing.

How do you cope when you’re waiting on someone else? You’re ready to go, but the others aren’t. Perhaps you start to get stroppy. You get in the car and toot the horn. You jangle your keys. You open and close the door. Abram, well he starts answering back. Did you notice the pattern? God speaks (1, 7). Then Abram answers back - each time with ‘O LORD God...’ what/how? (2, 8). You’re saying this, Lord, but I just don’t see it. God, in his grace, answers Abram. So far we’ve been flying high over the passage, let’s zoom in now and see some of the details.

Last time we saw Abram refuse to take even a shoe lace from the King of Sodom. Chapter 15 comes straight after that incident. God says: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ You’ve done the right thing in refusing the King of Sodom. I’m going to look after you and reward you.

But look at how Abram responds. It’s not quite how we think we should speak to God. It almost sounds a bit cheeky. ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.’ Lord, you could give me all the tea in China, but what good would it do if I don’t have a son? The first part of the promise seems to be faltering. Without a son, it doesn’t matter how much God will give Abram. His slave would be his heir. So much for the promise of making Abram into a great nation. Has God forgotten what he said? Remember that Abram was 75 when he left his home and set off on this adventure. The clock is still ticking. The prospect of a son becomes less likely every day.

Sometimes we have false expectations of what we think God should do. God never said that things will always be easy. God never promised us a life free of trouble. But when God doesn’t seem to come through on the things he has promised - that’s even worse!

Look at verse 5. ‘This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’ Then he takes Abram outside for some star gazing. ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.’ Sometimes we get a clear night and see some stars, but think of a time before artificial street lighting and all that light pollution. Millions of stars visible. Another picture of numerous descendants (like the dust of the earth in ch 13).

The key to the whole passage comes in verse 6. ‘And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.’ How was Abram made righteous? What ward work did he have to do? None. What feat of agility or goodness or skill did he have to perform? None. How many religious rituals of prayer and sacrifice and fasting and pilgrimage and all the rest did he add up to become good enough for God? None.

At the end of the week or month you might get a pay slip. It shows the hours you’ve worked, and your wages. You’ve earned them. You’ve worked hard for them. They’re yours by right. But it’s not how things work with God. Abram believed God, he trusted what God said, and God reckoned it as righteousness. He hadn’t done anything to deserve it or earn it. But God put ‘righteous’ in his account.

This is the point Paul makes in Romans 4. Abraham is our father in the faith, because he is just like us - we too hear the promise of God and believe it. That’s how we’re made right with God. It seems so simple. We want to earn it ourselves or at least pay it back. But it comes by faith alone.

Straight away, though, God moves on to say that he is the Lord who brought Abram from his homeplace to give him this land that he’s now in. Having sorted out the problem of a son and heir, this now highlights the second problem. The land. Abram is living in a tent. He doesn’t own even a square inch. So he answers back again. ‘O LORD God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?’

Perhaps you were wondering what the strange shopping list was all about - the heifer, goat, ram, turtle-dove and pigeon. This was how you sealed a covenant in those days. You gathered the animals, killed them, cut them in two, then the two parties to the covenant would walk through the middle as if to say ‘If I break this covenant, then this is what will happen to me.’

Even though it’s Abram that arranges the pieces, he doesn’t walk through the middle. Instead it’s the ‘smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch.’ The LORD makes the covenant with Abram. He commits himself to Abram, promising not to break his promise.

The promise is sure, but even promises take some time to be fulfilled. God promises that Abraham’s descendants will possess the land - but only after a time of slavery and hardship in another land. God tells Abram about the land of Egypt, but also how God will bring them out and give them this land. The promise is sure, but there’s a time delay. The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. God will punish the inhabitants of the land, but not yet.

The LORD made an unbreakable covenant with Abram that day. As we gather around the table today, we meet with the same Lord, who went through death to secure the new covenant in his blood. The terms of entry are exactly the same. No works could ever be enough. Believe the Lord’s promise, and be reckoned as righteous.

As Paul closes his argument at the end of Romans 4, he says this: ‘Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’ were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.’

The Lord has done all that is necessary. You only have to take him at his word. Believe the promise, and be reckoned as righteous.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 12th October 2014.

Sermon: Psalm 137 By the rivers of Babylon

Boney M have a lot to answer for. Thanks to their hit song, the first words of our Psalm today are instantly recognisable. In fact, you maybe even began to hum the tune when Nuala began the reading. When was the song released in the UK? It’s a little older than me - 1978 when you were dancing along to it. But while the first line is fixed in the memory, the last lines of the Psalm aren’t just so popular. In fact, they may have caused a sharp intake of breath. Could this be in the Bible? It just doesn’t seem to fit. We’ll come to them in due course.

From Boney M to another little rhyme. How does this go? ‘Remember, remember, the fifth of November...’. (Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot). The rhyme urges us to remember Guy Fawkes and his failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. As I was working on Psalm 137, I realised that it could be seen as ‘Remember, remember, remember.’ Psalm 137 remembers, not a failed plot, but an actual disaster.

In verses 1-3, we see Remembering Zion- painful memories. As the opening line tells us, the people of God are far away from their home. They’re not in the city of Zion-Jerusalem rather, they are remembering it ‘by the rivers of Babylon.’ This could be the song of Daniel and his three friends - Jerusalem has been destroyed, the people of God find themselves in a strange place, in captivity. As if that isn’t bad enough, the Babylonians want them to sing the songs of Zion, as if it’s an entertaining way to pass some time.

Rather than songs, there is weeping. They hang up the harps; they are faced with what they have lost. There’s no prospect of return. They watched the city being destroyed. They’ve suffered loss, and even now, only have painful memories. Perhaps there’s even some regret over the loss. You see, God had promised David that they would live in the city, have a son of his on the throne, so long as the people kept the covenant and obeyed the Lord.

But the people were unfaithful. They turned away from God. And God has kept his promise. They’re away from the land. They remember Zion. And they weep.

As the psalm moves on, though, we come to remembering Jerusalem - by singing the songs. The question in verse 4 is at the heart of the whole psalm. It’s the question that drives the whole thing: ‘How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?’

Even in the pain, there is a desire to remember Jerusalem, to not forget the city of God. It might come with great cost, but the Psalm writer is committed to Jerusalem, even in exile. ‘If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither (or forget its skill)! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth...’ His right hand’s skill and his tongue are the very things needful to play the harp and sing the Lord’s songs.

And what he’s saying here is that he isn’t going to forget Jerusalem. It’s going to have the place of supreme honour and devotion in his heart and life. They city of God may not be standing, and yet he is dedicated to it. Yes, there will be other joys - even in a foreign land. But Jerusalem will have highest place.

It’s as if we ask through the tears, how could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? How could we keep trusting in God even though we’re far from him, even though this has happened, even though we’re not in that place of intimacy with him? The answer the psalm gives is how could we not sing the Lord’s song?

How could we not keep trusting in God? One of the hardest and yet most special parts of ministry is being with those who are coming to the end of their life. To be with them, and then with families gives an insight into how people tick. To see a believer continue to trust through the darkest of days - how could they do otherwise, they would say? Even in the tears, there is joy.

Remember, remember - with painful memories, we’ll continue to trust and find joy. But it’s when we get to the final remember that we get a little bit jittery. In fact, the compilers of the Church of Ireland lectionary readings would want us to stop at the end of verse 6. (As it happens it’s listed as the Psalm for some weekdays this week & also next Sunday morning). Here and no further, they decree.

But God, in his wisdom, has inspired all of Holy Scripture. As Paul says to Timothy, all of scripture (not just the bits we like, or are sanitised) is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting & training in righteousness. So what do these last verses teach us about God and ourselves? What does the final reminder point to?

The appeal is to remember Jerusalem, a cry for justice. We hear it on the news every day - a crime has been committed, we want the criminal arrested and tried. It’s a natural desire to see justice done. And so, the writer of the Psalm cries out to God for justice.

‘Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall.’ The Edomites were (if you went back far enough), far out relations of the Jews. Esau was Jacob’s brother - their descendants were near neighbours. But when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem, the Edomites joined in. They were like the cheerleaders urging on the Babylonians: ‘how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations.”’ Fair’s fair, you might think. But what about the next bit?

‘O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!’ It’s a brutal image, an almost unthinkable one. Especially if the word used to describe the attackers is ‘happy.’ Could the soldiers have a smile on their face as they attack little ones?

But the word isn’t really happy. Rather, it’s the word (in other versions) ‘blessed.’ The writer of the Psalm, inspired by God, is adding to the curse pronounced on the Babylonians in other places in scripture (e.g. Isaiah 13, Habakkuk 2:8 etc). As we’ve been learning in Daniel, God is sovereign over history and uses nations for his purposes - whether to chasten his people, or to restore his people. And after the harvest, we’ll see how even this prayer was answered with the fall of Babylon.

Our cry for justice is met by the cross of Christ, where every sin on him was laid; where God’s peace and perfect justice meet. In Christ, we are free from our sin, and called to follow his example as he prayed for his persecutors. In Christ, God the just judge reconciles us to himself. We no longer bear our own punishment; instead we are forgiven. But to reject Christ, to make yourself his enemy, to oppose the new Jerusalem, is to face his just judgement forever. In Christ, we belong to the Jerusalem that is above, our highest joy, where we will live with him forever. Remember, remember, remember, and keep going as we journey to that new Jerusalem through the pain, through the tears, to that place of sweet delight.

This sermon was preached in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 29th September 2013.

Book Review: Lies! Lies! Lies!

Michael Green is a well respected preacher, author and evangelist, with lots of experience in apologetics. This book came highly recommended to me several years ago when it was published, but I've only just got around to reading it. Despite the delay, it was well worth a read.

In Lies, Lies, LiesGreen seeks to expose the myths about the real Jesus. He seeks to address some of the regular myths and fallacies floating around in popular culture, in order to help people discover the historical Jesus. It's a vital work, because 'every now and again it is time to break the silence' and answer the objections. Looking at society, he identifies the problem that civilisation is collapsing around us by rejecting Jesus and his truth. This spurs him on: 'This book is written in the conviction that the person and teaching of Jesus offers the most realistic hope for human destiny, both personal and collective. That is why, in what follows, I have tried to peel away layers of untruth and misunderstanding that keep many from considering his claims and recognizing his worth.'

The first chapter serves as an introduction to Jesus, explaining what a gospel is, and how we find out about Jesus in them. He helpfully shows that each of the gospel writers declare unambiguously that Jesus is divine - a very early belief - as well as in the three ways that Jesus claims divinity: he forgives sins, accepts worship and has the right to judge. Each of these are powers reserved for God, but claimed by Jesus. As Green comments, these are 'totally crazy claims - unless they were true.'

In the rest of the book, Green tackles some of the common statements being bandied around: 'Scholars are discovering a very different Jesus'; 'Jesus had a fling with Mary Magdalene'; 'Jesus? He's just a myth'; 'The New Testament manuscripts are unreliable'; 'The New Testament story is incredible'; 'Jesus never really went to the cross'; 'Jesus did not rise from the dead - his tomb has been found'; 'Jesus did not rise from the dead - there's no evidence'; 'Nobody thought Jesus divine until the fourth century'; and 'The "New" Testament is evil'.

Quite a lot of the focus is on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, and all the nonsense claims that are perpetuated in that work of fiction. However, he also discusses the claims of Islam about Jesus; as well as the tomb of Jesus' family which was supposedly found in Jerusalem. There are lots of pages which deal with the Gnostic 'gospels' which demonstrates the unreliability of them. Each of the chapters is carefully researched with the appropriate material explained.

The interested skeptic will find lots to consider here, as will the ordinary Christian seeking to help their friends to discover the real Jesus amongst the many alternative protrayals. It will also be a useful addition for a pastor's library when dealing with those issues in sermons, apologetics series, or with enquirers. Lies Lies Lies is available from Amazon (Kindle) and ThinkIVP (ebook - cheapest!).

Watchnight Sermon: Lamentations 3:19-26

It seems to be the done thing at this time of year to look back on the events of the past twelve months and review what has gone before. It seems that most TV channels have been doing their own celebrity quiz of the year, and the newspapers have been reminding us of the big stories of 2011. There were some good news stories - the royal wedding, the Arab spring revolutions and the fall of Gadaffi, and the mildest Christmas Day since records began. But there have also been some difficult days for many - the Fukushima nuclear disaster following an earthquake and a tsunami; the riots in England; the fall of the News of the World.

But what about you? How was 2011 for you? As you look back on the year, what will you focus on? Will it be thought of as a good year, or a bad year? I’m aware of so many people who found Christmas a difficult time this year because of the loss of a loved one, or some bad news concerning their health, or for a multitude of reasons. And as we face into 2012, we face the unknown. We simply don’t know and can’t know what the future holds. That might leave you apprehensive or fearful, but I trust that our reading from Scripture tonight will give us hope and comfort on this new year’s eve.

Yet even as I say that, you might think to yourself, hope and comfort from a book called Lamentations? It doesn’t sound like a cheerful read! For the most part, it isn’t. Just as we remember a particular year because of some wonderful or terrible event, so it was for the people of Jerusalem. A few years ago, the Queen spoke of her annus horribilus, a year of horrors; Lamentations is the response to those horrors by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jersualem has been conquered, captured and destroyed by the Babylonian armies led by King Nebuchadnezzar. The temple is no more, its treasures stolen and removed. Most of the people have been taken away into exile. And for the first three chapters of Lamentations, Jeremiah spells out the horror of what has happened. Just before our reading, he says this: ‘He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.’ (3:16-18).

As he walks through the remains of the city - just imagine it as one of the TV news reports showing Christchurch New Zealand after another earthquake or a disaster zone following a tsunami. Darkness, despair, sadness and suffering. He’s at the lowest he could possibly go. All hope seems to have vanished.

It’s at that moment that he remembers something that brings him hope - something that even the darkest night can remove - something that strengthens him to continue: ‘but this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ (3:21-23)

Did you notice the timespan of the Lord’s love in that verse? The steadfast love of the Lord ceases when? Never! His mercies come to an end when? Never! His steadfast love never ceases - it is always with us, no matter what the date on the calendar is; no matter what we may be going through right now, or what the new year has in store for us. The Lord’s steadfast love will not cease this year. His mercies will be new every morning, whether you wake early or lie on until lunchtime.

This is something to hold on to as we get used to writing 2012. This is something to cling to when things don’t work out as we planned. This is something to hold us up when we are brought low - God is in control; and his love is still for us. That love was demonstrated on the ultimate day of horrors, as the sinless Saviour died for his enemies in order to welcome us as his friends and give us the sure and certain hope of life with him.

God’s love has been displayed for all time on the cross. His love will never come to an end. It helps us to stand and endure and look forward with hope and confidence, through our pains and disappointments, our struggles and shocks; looking forward knowing that through all that happens God is working out his purposes, and making us more like the Lord Jesus. Do you know his love tonight? Will you trust in this faithful God this new year?

This sermon was preached at the Watchnight service on 31st December 2011 in Aghavea Parish Church.

Can You Spam God?

I've just noticed that a group of atheists and others are planning for a co-ordinated minute of prayer on Sunday 8th November, in an attempt to overwhelm God with their useless requests in a move akin to an internet attack on a website (a DDOS - Distributed Denial of Service).

From their Facebook Event page:

As you may already be aware, recently the Atheist Founation of Australia and the Global Atheist Convention websites were the target of a significant DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, which began on Monday 19 October.

This is a call to all non-believers and advocates for freedom of speech to join us in a global co-ordinated minute of prayer with the aim of inundating God (in this context, the Christian god, God, as distinct from the Greek god, Zeus, the Egyptian god, Ra etc etc) with so many useless prayers that it causes his divineness to go offline as as result of our own DDOS ('Divine' Denial of Service).

The prayer minute will be at exactly 8pm (Eastern Standard Time) and 9am (Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday 8 November 2009.

The prayer can be about anything you want (but say it as frequently as possible in the minute we have assigned to ensure DDOS is achieved) or to whomever god you want. Its mostly directed at the Christian god so as to ensure we don't get too many return to senders from other gods.

Isn't it heartening to hear atheists urging people to pray to God, even for silly reasons? Who knows, perhaps God will answer their prayers in ways they don't expect. One thing is for sure, they cannon inundate the Living God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are higher than our ways. (Isaiah 55)

Some writing on the wall of the event have even suggested getting believers to join in as there's more hope of overwhelming God with prayer - but God is not some internet server that can be threatened by mere mortals, or overwhelmed by thoughts. He is the Alpha and the Omega, he knows the end from the beginning, and knows each of the hairs of their heads as well as their thoughts, so how could a worldwide minute of prayer stop him?

To the atheists, do keep praying!

Book Review: Sign of the Cross

Conspiracy theory novels abound. Peruse any bookshop or search online, and novels which will finally reveal a long-held secret are everywhere. With one of his novels in the cinemas at present (Angels and Demons), you could argue that it is the Dan Brown effect. In both of Brown's novels, a secret has been contained for many years (being suppressed by the Church) and is now being revealed.

Chris Kuzneski offers another unique take on the life of Jesus Christ, and proposes another conspiracy in the form of his novel, Sign of the Cross. The story is fast moving, jumping across the globe, following many different protagonists as they follow various trails before finally converging to discover the secret of Jesus' crucifixion.

From a brutal crucifixion on the lake shore in front of Hamlet's castle in Denmark, Nick Dial of Interpol is plunged into a worldwide chase on the trail of the serial murderers. At the same time, two archeologists are digging under a town in Italy, before coming under attack from unknown combatants. Meanwhile, we're also introduced to Jonathon Payne and David Jones, who (I think), are the main characters in the book, private investigators who are caught up in the whole deal through shady operatives of intelligence agencies.

I'll not give away the plot, but it all centres on a plot by a Roman Emperor to fake the crucifixion and fool the Jews into hailing Jesus as the Messiah, all to benefit the Empire and restore the Empire's glory by uniting it around the Emperor. Expect some twists along the way, in another Dan Brown-esque manner.

Some interesting discussions are shared between the protagonists along the way, covering the nature of religion, belief and faith, and the historical evidence for the life of the Lord Jesus. One such topic is on whether we can know what really happened at the cross.

Toulon says, "I guess that depends on your perspective. If you're a Christian, the biblical version is the way it really happened, right down to he last detail. I mean, the Bible is the word of God." Dial responds by asking what if you're not a Christian and Toulon says that all religions have a different perspective on what happened, so that we can't really know for sure.

"All we can do is sort through the evidence, read what our ancestors wrote, and try to reach our own conclusions, which are invariably tainted by our upbringing... simply put, if your parents taught you to believe in Christ, you're probably going to keep believing in Christ. I mean, that's what faith is all about, isn't it?"

The story seems to suggest that Chrstianity was a state-invented religion, and all for the purpose of control:

"Tiberius started Christianity for one reason only: to gain control. He knew all about the unrest in Judea and figured the best way to placate the Jews was to give them the Messiah that had been prophesied. Then, once the Jews started to believe in Christ, he was going to take their Messiah away, which would allow him to grab control of this new religion."

An interesting conspiracy, but not ultimately one which is realistic. Even had Tiberius the Emperor hand-picked Jesus Christ, how could he have ensured the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies (such as where Jesus would be born, the manner of his birth, his flight into Egypt as a refugee, to name just three of the thousands...)?

Perhaps the most interesting element of the story is found in the epilogue, but I definitely can't mention it in case you find yourself reading the book! All in all, the book was a fast paced tale, with plenty happening, although at times there was almost too much happening, and too many 'main' characters to keep up with. Not a bad read, if you like this type of religio-conspiracy thriller.

BFG

Readers of a certain age might expect me to be writing about a Roald Dahl book by the same title. But I'm not talking about the Big Friendly Giant, but rather the Dundonald version of BFG: Building For the Gospel.

St Elizabeth's Church has been reviewing its property, and looking towards the future of gospel work in the area. What is the best use of buildings that are appropriate for the gathering of God's people and which facilitates the outreach work of the parish to the local community? The Select Vestry have launched Building For the Gospel, with plans to build new church halls onto the side of the existing church building, thus bringing all the facilities under one roof. As well as halls and a youth centre, there will be meeting rooms, and a coffee bar / welcome area. The church building will also be re-ordered (with the appropriate permissions), with the pews removed and a more modern auditorium style established to bring the preacher closer to the people and to gather the congregation around the Word and the Lord's Table.

On Wednesday night we had our latest progress meeting, bringing the congregation up to speed with where we are, and to launch the first section of the financing of the project, a Gift Day in October.

At the close of the meeting, I spoke on Trusting the Lord, and here's roughly what I said:

It’s never easy to step out in faith. Much easier to stay where you are, stay in the comfort zone. We discern what God wants to do, where he wants us to be, and we prefer comfort and ease. The odds don’t look favourable. Humanly speaking, it’s probably impossible. Facing the unknown, the uncomfortable, the unfamiliar.

While this might be our situation at present, as we look into the unknown in the Building for the Gospel project, it’s not uniquely our situation. Countless times in the Bible, we find God’s call to his people to step out in faith and obedience. Think of Abraham, called to leave country and kindred and father’s house to go to a land that God would should him. (Genesis 12:1). No road map, no detailed timetable for when the son of promise, Isaac, would be born. Just the call to obey and the promise that the LORD was with him and would bless him.

Or look at the people of Israel waiting to enter the promised land. An impossible task, it seemed. Remember the twelve spies who went in to check out the land? Ten of them saw the problems - strong people, fortified cities - the Israelites looked like grasshoppers next to them. But Joshua and Caleb saw the opportunity - there was nothing to fear because ‘the LORD is with us’ (Numbers 14:9). That unbelieving generation died out in the wilderness before Joshua led their children into the land and conquered.

Last night at the Prayer Meeting, we were thinking about Ebenezer - not Ebenezer Scrooge, but the name of a stone set up by Samuel after defeating the Philistines. Ebenezer, because ‘Till now the LORD has helped us.’ (1 Samuel 7:12) As we look back, we can see God’s care and protection and provision, and can thank him for his goodness and faithfulness.

Just as we can rejoice in God’s provision in the past, so we can look to the future confident in the Lord Jesus. As Hebrews reminds us: ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.’ (Hebrews 13:8) As he has been, so he continues to be - faithful!

‘Trust in him at all times, O people; pour your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.’ (Psalm 62:8) We can’t do this, but God can. We can’t see the end, but God can. We don’t know how it will turn out, but God does. Will we shrink back, or step out in faith, trusting in the Lord for this project, and for all that we need? Amen!