Sermon: Luke 2: 8-20 Good News

You almost cannot escape the news these days. On the radio, there are news updates every hour on the hour on most stations. On TV there are the news bulletins, as well as the 24-hour news channels, constantly broadcasting the latest news. News is shared on Facebook and Twitter and all sorts of social media. And the good old newspapers are sitting when you walk into the shop. News is everywhere.

Now, if you happen to have avoided all the news in the last week or so, then you might not have heard that we had a General Election on Thursday, and Boris is back as Prime Minister, with a huge majority in the House of Commons. And as you can imagine, the news has been full of him over the past few days. He’s on nearly every broadcast, and on nearly every front page.

The people in power quite often make the news. We’re used to seeing their face and hearing their voice, as the news tells us what they’ve been up to. And, had there been newspapers about 2000 years ago, then it would have been exactly the same. The front pages would have been packed with photos and news about the main man in the Roman Empire - Caesar Augustus. He ruled the roost, and set the news agenda. And the big news was that a census was getting underway.

Everyone had to go back to their own town to register. Augustus said ‘go’ and everyone had to go, whether they liked it or not. No doubt the radio programmes and newspapers would be full of discussion and debate about the news of the census.

Now, I don’t know what you think about Boris - whether you think his victory is terrific or terrible - but have you noticed that so much of the news that we see or read is all bad? Whether it’s the volcano in New Zealand, the earthquake in Albania, break ins, stabbings, drugs and more - the news seems to be all bad news.

But out of sight of Caesar Augustus; and unnoticed by the Israel newspapers; there was something happening in Bethlehem that was totally amazing; something that was truly good news. But to tell you about it, I’ll need some newspapers.

You see, out in the fields near Bethlehem, there were some shepherds, keeping watching over their sheep. It was getting dark, and they were getting drowsy. Suddenly, there was something bright in the sky - brighter than a STAR or the SUN (now, I didn’t bring a copy of either paper with me, maybe for obvious reasons!). And what was it? An angel, a HERALD, bringing some good news for them - and not just for them, but for everybody.

So what was this good news? ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’ (11)

You see, we all need a Saviour. No matter who we are; how young or old; how tall or short; whoever we are, we need a Saviour. That’s because we all have become INDEPENDENT of God - we tell him that we don’t need him; we don’t want him to be in charge of our lives; and we go our own way, doing what we want to do - independent of God.

But when we go our own way, we get trapped in sin. It doesn’t work out when we do our own thing. We get lost. We can’t change by ourselves. We need God’s help - and we need the Saviour God has sent.

The good news is that the Saviour has been born in Bethlehem. He is Christ the Lord. That word Christ means king (anointed one) - and so Jesus is our GUARDIAN. He saves us from our sins; he comes to be with us; and he comes to help us every day.

But the shepherds didn’t just hear about Jesus, the angel told them to go and see him. ‘This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ (12)

Before they started off on their journey, though, even more angels appeared in the sky, praising God, and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.’

Having heard the angel choir, and remembering their instructions, they set off into Bethlehem, like an EXPRESS - they weren’t going to stop until they found this special baby. Having followed their instructions to the (NEWS) LETTER, they found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger just as they had been told. They took a while to GAZETTE (gaze at) Jesus, before sharing what they had seen and heard.

The shepherds wanted to TELegraph the good news about Jesus to everyone they met. And everyone they told was amazed at what they heard.

In this world there is lots of bad news. We don’t need to look very far to find it. We know only too well about the bad things that happen. But the TIMES are changing, and there is some really good news, because Jesus has been born - born to be our Saviour; born to be our King.

So when you get up tomorrow morning, and when you look in the bathroom MIRROR, remind yourself that Jesus came to this world because he loves you. And he wants you to be his friend, and to follow him, to make him your Saviour and your King. And that really is the best news we could hear this Christmas - good news of great joy for all the people.

This sermon was preached at the Family Carol Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 15th December 2019.

Sermon: 2 Kings 5: 1-19 Naaman's New Skin

For this Family Service talk, the first part is an interactive re-telling of the story, with key words. When the congregation hear the key words, they respond with the sound and the actions.

Leprosy - ‘aaaagh’
Wash - ‘scrub, scrub’
Clean - ‘hurray’
River - splish splash
Fight - ‘fight, fight’
Sad - ‘boo hoo’
Soldier - ‘yes, sir!’

Naaman was a soldier. In fact, he was the top soldier for the king of Aram. Naaman would lead the army to fight other armies, and he was very good at fighting. This one time, Naaman led his soldiers to fight against the people of Israel. His soldiers took people away from their homes to become slaves in Aram. Naaman took a young girl, probably not much older than some of the GFS girls, and she served in Naaman’s house.

The girl noticed that, even though Naaman was a good soldier, and very important, he was also very sad. This was because Naaman had leprosy. His skin was diseased, and other people were afraid of catching it.

The little girl knew that God was able to heal Naaman of his leprosy. She said to his wife: ‘If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’

So the king of Aram sent Naaman to the king of Israel. But the king of Israel was very sad when Naaman came to him. He thought the king of Aram was trying to pick a fight with him. ‘How can I cure him of his leprosy?’ he asked.

Elisha the prophet heard of what had happened, and he told the king to send Naaman to him. So Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house. He rang the doorbell, but Elisha didn’t come out. Instead, he sent a message, telling Elisha to go to the Jordan river, and wash himself seven times.

But Naaman was sad. He expected the prophet to come out to him, and say some words, and touch the spot, and heal his leprosy. And as for telling him to go to the Jordan river? Yuck. It wasn’t as nice as the Abana river, or the Pharpar river, the rivers of Damascus. He was sad, and about to go home.

But then his servants spoke up. If he had told you to do something really difficult, you would have done it. If you had to climb a really high mountain you would have tried it. If you have to swim across an ocean, you would give it a go. If you had to complete the Ninja Warrior obstacle course, we would have seen you on TV last night. So why not something as simple as going to wash in the river?

So Namaan went to the river Jordan. He went in for a wash. And then another wash. And another wash. And a fourth wash. Then another wash. He washed again. And then went in for his seventh and final wash.

As he came up out of the river, his leprosy had gone, his skin was like new, and he was clean. Naaman knew right then that there is no God in all the world apart from our God. He used to worship the god Rimmon, but Rimmon couldn’t do what God had just done.

So, having heard the story - tell me this: how did Naaman get cleansed from his leprosy? He dipped in the river Jordan 7 times. But how did he know to do that? Elisha the prophet told him. But how did he get to Elisha? The young girl from Israel told him about the prophet in Israel who could heal him - because of the God of Israel.

That little girl had been taken away from her home. She was far away from her family. She was in a strange place, with people she didn’t know. Yet she didn’t forget about home. She didn’t forget about her God. She still trusted God. And she told people about her God.

Naaman was cleansed from his leprosy because one little girl told him about her great big God. In a few moments the GFS girls and leaders are going to make some promises - to love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ, and to help other people.

We can help other people as we tell them about our God - how great he is, how good he is, and what he has done for us. He sent Jesus to come to die on the cross for us. We don’t need to do something really impossible to be cleansed from our sins - we just need to trust in Jesus, to believe what he says, to be saved by him.

This children's talk . all-age talk was preached at the Church Family Service and Girls' Friendly Society Enrolment Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 15th January 2017. It could also be used as a primary school assembly.

Children's Talk: Ireland's Call

There's something happening in England at the minute, with lots of countries involved. Does anyone know what it is? It's the rugby world cup. I've brought along a rugby ball. So which team are you supporting? England? Wales? Scotland? Ireland?

Lots of support for Ireland - I've brought along my Ireland shirt to show who I'm supporting. Now does anyone know the song that they sing before they play their matches? It's Ireland's Call. Can anyone sing it?

Here's how the chorus goes:

Ireland, Ireland, together standing tall;
shoulder to shoulder we'll answer Ireland's call.

And here's the video of them singing is before the match against Canada:


There's a line in it that sounds a little bit strange. Shoulder to shoulder? When the cameraman pans along the team, their shoulders aren't all beside each other. Some are big and tall, others are lean and short. They're beside each other, but their shoulders aren't all at the same level. Now why is that?

It's because a rugby team needs different sorts of players. You need hefty, strong players to go into the scrum, to push forward and beat the other team's scrum. But if everyone was the same size as your front row, they might not be very good at playing in the backs. In the same way, you need small, fast runners to play at the back. But if everyone was like that, your scrum wouldn't be very strong.

Each position needs something different. Each player is different, but they all work together to make a good rugby team. It's the same in your school teams, whether it's hockey or netball or football - everyone works together with different roles. It's also the same as your body - you have eyes, ears, hands, toes, heart, lungs and lots more besides. They're all different, but they all work together to give you life.

In the Bible we see the same thing: 'Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.' (Romans 12:4-6)

You might be different to other people in your class or in church, but God has made you for a special job, something that only you can do, as you join with people who are different to make up the one team, the one body. We can be shoulder to shoulder as we answer God's call.

This Children's Talk was shared at a School Assembly in Maguiresbridge Primary School last week.

An Easter Assembly: Luke 24:5

We're still in the season of Easter, so if you're looking for an Easter school assembly or a children's talk, here's an idea to work from. I had all the items I talked about so the kids could guess and shout out what they expected to find inside.

When you come along to school, what do you being with you? I've got my school bag here. What would you expect to find in it? Homework: books, and such like.

Now inside, I've also got my pencil case. What would you expect to find in it? Pencils and pens and rubbers.

I've also brought along my lunch box. What would you expect to find in it? My lunch! Some sandwiches and an apple.

You expect to find what would normally be in all those different things. Books in a school bag; pencils in a pencil case; sandwiches in a lunch box.

So when the women go to the tomb of Jesus, what do they expect to find inside? They expected to find the body of Jesus. Jesus had been crucified on Good Friday. He was dead. His body was in the tomb, a cave cut out of rock.

But when the women got there, what did they find? Nothing! The body wasn't there. The tomb was empty!

Jesus wasn't in the tomb because Jesus wasn't dead. He's alive! That is the message of Easter. Jesus died, but he didn't stay dead. That's why the angel says, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5)

So even though we can be sad whenever someone we love dies, we know that Jesus will give life to everyone who trusts him.


Photo credit: Donut_Diva on Flickr

Easter Sermon: Matthew 28:1-15 He is not here!

I wonder if you’ve ever had something like this happen to you. You know that in the biscuit tin there are your favourite biscuits. For me, you probably know that would be chocolate digestives. So you go to the biscuit tin, your mouth is already watering, you’re going to have your yummy biscuit. You get to the cupboard, you open the door, you pull out the tin and, it’s empty! What you expected to find in there isn’t in there. Where have they gone?

So you ask the questions, you try to work it out. Is there anyone in the house with a chocolate stain around their mouth? Anyone with a pile of crumbs around them? What happened to the biscuits? It’s a silly example, of course. You should really be having an apple rather than a biscuit. But when you go to where something should be and it’s not there, then you have to work out what has happened. Whether it’s your homework, or your mobile, or your keys, or your favourite teddy bear. Where has it gone?

At the start of today’s reading, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go looking for Jesus. On Friday, Jesus had been crucified. He died. He was buried in a cave with a big stone across the entrance. So they went to see the place where he was buried. To remember.

But when they got there, something very strange happened. There was an earthquake. The ground shook, everything was wobbly. Sitting on top of the big stone was an angel, shining like lightning, with bright white clothes.

The guards who were watching to make sure nothing happened, they were afraid. Imagine, soldiers being afraid. They became like dead men. They lay down on the ground in fear.

The angel had a message for the women. He knows they are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. But he tells them something very important, which is also a little bit strange. If you have a green egg, then bring it up so that we can see the message of the angel: HE IS NOT HERE.

The place where Jesus was buried. The tomb where he was laid. But he is not there. Lots of different people give lots of different reasons why Jesus was not in the tomb. In our reading we hear two different reasons.

Option one. It’s there in verse 13. The chief priests tell the guards to say that his disciples came during the night to steal the body, while the guards were sleeping. Now maybe this happened. Maybe the guards, the soldiers were sleeping. Do you think soldiers are allowed to sleep while they are doing their work? Outside Buckingham Palace the guards stand in their red uniform with the big fuzzy hat. Do you think they could sleep while they are on duty?

Not at all! And to think the disciples came to steal away Jesus’ body? Where were the disciples? They were all in hiding! They were all afraid when Jesus was arrested on Thursday night. They all ran away and left him alone. Would they now come and risk the guards?

Plus, if the guards were sleeping, then how would they know who had come to do anything? Do you think this could have happened? Disciples coming, guards sleeping, body stole away? No, it’s silly!

But I said there were two options. Two explanations. What about the second? For that, we need more eggs. So if you have orange or yellow eggs, then please bring them up: HE HAS RISEN.

It was wrong to think that the disciples had stolen the body. The disciples were too scared to do anything. It was only the women who came to the tomb. It was the women who met the angel, who heard the good news: HE IS NOT HERE. Why? HE HAS RISEN, just as he said.

Jesus is risen from the dead. Jesus is not still dead. He is alive, and can never die again. This is the good news of Easter - that death will not finally win. Because Jesus is alive, we too will live, as we trust in Jesus.

Imagine being in a big forest. Trees everywhere. You can’t see the sun, there are so many trees. They’re all tightly packed together. How would you get out? How would you find your way? But imagine then that you get to a path which leads you out. That’s what Jesus has done with us. Jesus has cleared a pathway through death, and will lead us out the other side. Jesus is our guide. He has been that way, he can bring us safely through.

The angel told the women to come and see the place where he lay - it’s empty. He is not here. He sent them to go and tell - He is risen. But as they ran off to tell the disciples, they met Jesus himself. He speaks to them, they can take hold of him. Jesus is alive!

This sermon was preached at the Easter Family Celebration in Aghavea Parish Church on Easter Sunday 20th April 2014.

Sermon: 1 Peter 2:4-10 Living Stones

Now, I wonder if anyone can tell me why we’re meeting in the church hall today? Why is it we’re here and not across the road? We’ve got a bit of a building project going on. There was a problem with the paint and plaster peeling off the walls, so while we’re getting that fixed, we’re here in the church hall.

Here are a few pictures of the progress - the plaster has been chipped away, and we can now see the stones in the wall - the big ones, the small ones, all together in the wall.

Now last week if you were with us, we saw that the church is a bit like a garden, where the imperishable seed of the word is sown, with it giving us new birth and bringing the fruit of love. But now Peter moves from the garden to the building site. You might have heard ... mention the stones and builders in the reading.

You might be wondering if Peter was giving some advice to people doing building projects. Was it like a builder’s magazine with some hints and tips for building your house or building a new church? Well, no, because he talks about ‘the living stone’ and other ‘living stones’. Go on to a building site, ask any builder, but you won’t find any living stones. The stones aren’t alive. They’re just stones.

So what is Peter talking about? Or rather, who is Peter talking about? Here’s the description: ‘As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-’

This living Stone is a person, a man. Someone rejected by men - who men didn’t want to listen to; whom men wanted to get rid of; but was chosen by God and precious to God. Who is it? It’s the Lord Jesus, of course.

Jesus was crucified - the ultimate rejection; but God showed that he was chosen and precious, because God raised him up to new life.

Jesus is the living Stone. And Peter goes back into his Bible and finds something written hundreds of years before Jesus was born, a promise, a prophecy of who Jesus would be: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’

Jesus is this stone, this chosen and precious cornerstone. Now what is a cornerstone? It’s the most important in the whole building. It’s the one which all the rest is built upon; it’s the one that keeps the whole building straight. It’s like a foundation stone.

So what do you do on a foundation stone? You build on it, of course! But it’s not with bricks and mortar. It’s not with stones. Rather, what is the building Peter is talking about? Let’s see what he says: ‘As you come to him... you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house...’

Peter is talking about building the church - a spiritual house, a place for God to dwell - but it’s not a church building; it’s not a parish church; it’s not the place across the road. We used to sing a song in Dundonald, but I couldn’t find the words or music to it: ‘Church is not a building, it’s the people there inside; people who love Jesus ...’

You see, it’s us - we are the building; we are the church. We’re each like a stone being fitted together and being built up to be the temple where God lives, inside us. In the mountains of Mourne there are the famous dry stone walls, where the stones are placed together to build the wall. It’s like that with us. We are being joined together.

I’ve brought along a visual aid to help us see this. We’ve got the foundation stone - Jesus. But we also need the individual stones. Here they are. We’re going to write our names on these, and then we’re going to see them being built up together - on the foundation of Jesus, built up.

One more picture - this time not on the wall, but as we join together. Stand up, join hands, end of row join up with people in front - we are the people of God, we are being built together.

As we come to Jesus, we’re added to his church, we’re built into this spiritual house. But verse 7 reminds us that not everyone comes to Jesus. Peter tells us that we who believe know that the stone, Jesus, is precious. But some do not believe. Some people reject Jesus.

What about them? What will they do with Jesus the living Stone? Rather than building on it, instead they stumble over it. The stone is sitting, and they trip over it.

One of my interests is history. I love to explore ruins and castles. But when you’re visiting castles you have to be careful. Look at this picture and see if you can notice something odd about it?

The castle stairs were carefully built to help the defenders and make it difficult for the attackers. There’s a trip step. In your house if you’ve got stairs, they’re probably all the same height. They’re regular. But in a castle, there would sometimes be a trip-step, one of a different height. The defenders knew the stairs, how they were arranged, but the attackers wouldn’t, they would get so far and then trip; they wouldn’t be as quick on the stairs.

For those who don’t believe, Jesus is the stone that makes them stumble. You may not really believe that Jesus rose again from the dead; you might think it impossible that there is anything after death; you might not think that Jesus is the only way to God. You can’t accept what Jesus says about himself - the way, the truth, the life. Please think carefully - to reject Jesus is to stumble over him and to finally fall.

But the focus isn’t on those who fall. Rather, the focus is on Jesus, the living stone. Some may reject him, but ‘the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’ - the most important in the whole building.

Peter reminds his readers and us as well of the change that comes about as we come to Jesus, as we’re built together in him. He uses some more pictures from the Old Testament.

We are a chosen people; a royal priesthood; a holy nation. We have been changed from being in darkness to being in light. We have been brought from not being a people, being on the outside, to now being on the inside, the people of God. Once we had not received mercy, now we have received mercy.

It’s what happens as we come into the church - the people of God, as we believe in Jesus and are built up together. And what is our purpose? It’s to ‘declare the praise’ ; to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise - not just on Sundays, but on every day, wherever we are!

I’ve got a stone for everyone to take away, to be reminded of Jesus the living stone, and of our part in his body.

This sermon was preached at the Family Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 19th May 2013.

Sermon: Psalm 24 Guess Who?

Has anyone ever played the game ‘Guess Who?’

I tried to find my really old game at my mum and dad’s house, but couldn’t find it... but instead I’ve borrowed my niece’s game - it’s now Guess Who extra, with sounds and lights! Wasn’t like this in my day!

So how does Guess Who work? You have to try to work out which person the other player has picked; asking questions to help you decide - are they a man or a woman; with the people falling if they’re not the right one.

We could have a go at this version of Guess Who, but I’ve a better idea. We’ll do a real life game of Guess Who. I need a contestant... I’ve got the picture of someone from church on my phone, and need you to work out who it is - by asking the questions.

So if everyone would get on their feet (if you’re able) and ___ will ask yes / no questions to try to work out who the person is... [Hilarious opportunity to play guess who in real life...]

Now why did we play some Guess Who this morning? Who is the big word in our reading today. In the Psalm, David is asking: Who?

He starts off by answering the question - who does the earth belong to? And how does he answer it? ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.’

You know the way if you were to paint a picture, or make a model, or build something out of lego - that is yours. You’ve made it; it’s the same with this earth - God made it, so it is his.

But then from verse 3 we get to the even bigger game of Guess Who than we played this morning - the question is this: ‘Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?’

In the Old Testament, God owns all the earth, but he chose a special place, the hill of the Lord, the holy place, where the temple would be built. But now, for us, it points us to heaven. The question is, who can go and stand before God in that holy, pure, clean place? Guess Who.

But rather than asking the usual questions male/female; wearing glasses or blond hair; David provides the answers: ‘He who has clean hands and a pure heart.’

First answer: The one who has clean hands. Now, quick inspection, are your hands clean? Did you wash them after you visited the bathroom? In hospital when you’re visiting you have to use the handwash gel to make sure you’re clean; I’ve brought along some hand wash gel... are your hands clean?

Except, he’s not just asking if our hands are clean in this way - he’s also asking if we have done good and right things; if our hands are spotless, or if we have got them dirty by doing bad things...

Now some people might already have ‘sat down’ with the first bit, but what about the second bit? ‘The one who has... a pure heart.’

He’s not asking about how our blood-pumping organ is - rather he is asking about the centre of our being; the person we are - our thoughts and motives... are we always pure in doing what we do?

Here’s a test for a pure heart: if your brother or sister...


Just as in Guess Who, David has made us fall - Guess Who is good enough to climb God’s hill and stand in his holy place? Who can go to heaven because they are good enough? None of us... not you, not me; not anyone.

Yet the Psalm isn’t over; David goes on to talk about receiving blessing from God; of being accepted by God - that those who seek God will find blessing and vindication...

How can this be possible? If we’re all out, if we’re all bad; how can we receive blessing? How can we be accepted?

Suddenly there’s another game of Guess Who which starts in the closing verses. It’s so good it happens twice!

Imagine a city with big gates. Maybe you’ve been in Londonderry at some point and have seen the gates of the city... the cry goes up: ‘Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.’

The question comes from within: ‘Who is this King of glory?’ Twice, they ask the same question, who is this King of glory?

These are the gates of heaven, opening up for the return of the king, the answer to the ‘who’ question:

‘The LORD strong and mighty; the LORD mighty in battle... the LORD Almighty, he is the King of glory.’

The Lord Jesus came down from heaven; down from that holy place, into this world that he made, the world that we have messed up by our sins, and Jesus did what we could not do. For every day of his 33 years, Jesus had clean hands and a pure heart. He committed no sin.

Jesus has received the blessing from God, and shares it with us. It is in and because of Jesus that we can stand with him; that we can be with Jesus in heaven. Now, the answer to the Guess Who: Who will be in heaven? Anyone who trusts in Jesus.

This sermon was preached at the Family Service in Aghavea Parish Church on Sunday 21st April 2013.

Assembly Talk: Powerful Jesus

Today we’re thinking about Jesus being powerful. We’ve heard about him changing water into wine; we’ve also heard about him giving sight to the blind man. Those are just two of the amazing things that Jesus did; just two ways Jesus showed his power.

I want to tell you about another one. And I need you all to help me. I’m going to read the story from the Bible, but when we come to certain words there are actions and sound effects, so you have to listen really carefully!

BOAT - ‘row, row, row your boat’ - rowing action
WAVES - ‘splash’ - waves action
WIND - ‘blow’ - hands around mouth
WHO - puzzled face, scratch head

That day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the BOAT. There were also other BOATs with him.

As they were sailing, there were some little WAVEs and just a little bit of WIND. The WAVEs were getting higher, and the WIND was blowing harder. But then, a big storm started, and the WAVEs broke over the BOAT, so that it was nearly swamped. The WIND was getting louder - the WIND was getting louder. The WAVEs were getting bigger and bigger. 38 Jesus was in the stern of the BOAT, sleeping on a cushion.

The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the WIND and said to the WAVEs, “Quiet! Be still!” Immediately it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “WHO is this? Even the WIND and the WAVEs obey him!”

This is the question the disciples were asking. What sort of man can say to the storm to stop, and it stops? Could you? Imagine you were over at Lough Erne, and suddenly there was a storm and the wind and the waves were fierce, could you get them to stop, just by telling them to be quiet?

That might be too much of a challenge. A lake or a lough is a big thing. What about if you were in the bath and you start making waves - only the water starts going over the sides and your mum or dad will get cross - could you stop the waves?

A bath is still quite a lot of water. What about if we had a basin and a little bit of water. We’ll make some waves - could we stop these little tiny waves? Still not!
We just can’t do it. Stopping waves and calming the wind is beyond us. Yet that’s exactly what Jesus did, with just a word: Quiet.

The disciples were more frightened after Jesus did that than during the storm when they thought they were going to drown. That’s why they ask the question - Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!

Jesus is powerful - the one who made the waves can still them, and shows us that he is God. That means that whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re worried about, Jesus can help you. He is powerful to save.

Children's Talk / Assembly in Brookeborough Primary School on 26th January 2012