Sunday, April 13, 2014

The New Man and other Christian Resources

The New Man tape 3 by Frank Hunting is one of the most telling studies you could listen to if you suffer from rejection,are introverted, feel defeated, have low self esteem and many other things crippling you as a Christian.
Below is the link to it on my youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4VbTYMveE

Before listening to this audio you should determine that you will perservere to hear God speak to you.Blot out any judgements about the topic,the speaker or the audio quality.
I welcome any discussion or email about this message from genuine enquirers.

Back in the 1970's my wife and I received excellent teaching from our pastors on the Gifts of The Holy Spirit and indeed on the Holy Spirit's role in our Christian lives.
We had study guides presented on
1. Mutual  Ministries-Using and discovering our gift or gifts in the Church
2. The Young Church in Action-Studies in the book of Acts.
3.The Holy Spirit
4.Spiritual Warfare
5. The Battlefield-in depth study on spiritual warfare.
6.The School of Prayer
7. Establishing and keeping a Quiet Time
8.Studies in the Gospel of John
9. Baptism
10.The men Jesus won, the men He did not win.(A guide to effective evangelism)
11. Miscellaneous truths from the Bible
12. Emotions and feelings.
13. After decision, then what?


Some of these studies have already been posted on this blog and my general blog and on youtube(pembridge house) as audio tapes.
I am prepared to scan and make pdfs of some of the material mentioned above as an aid to you fully becoming a new creation in Christ.

Please note I am not a "qualified" academic type Christian. I am a layperson who understands well the battles we have as Christians from personal experience and know that my acceptance  of who I am rests entirely on the sacrifice Jesus has made for me on the Cross.
His acceptance means I can accept myself.
.



Sunday, March 16, 2014

Have you been born again?

Today I had the privilege of being guest speaker at the Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ in Adelaide.
Here is an outline of the message I brought.
I did add and subtract from the sermon as I went but the main gist of the presentation is here.

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Sermon for 16/3/14 at Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ


Bible  Verse John 3:1-17

The New Birth
3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.[a] 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[b] have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.


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BORN AGAIN

Born again!

What does the Bible say about this?

What does it mean to be born again?

How can I know I have been born again?

As a young man and a boy and teenager growing up I had some vague ideas about God.

I believed in God and I had tried to read the Bible and had had a few short  years in an Anglican Sunday school.

I was aware of Jesus and knew He had died on the cross and rose again and ascended into Heaven.

I did not have enough interest to ponder these things too deeply or even if they were true.

I just accepted them.

I lost interest in the church at about age 12 as I thought it was all a bit too sissy.

I didn’t start go to church again until in my 20’s I started attending with my lovely Christian wife.

These days I am a Christian who will tell you if you ask that I have been born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are going to Heaven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know our sins have been forgiven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know that God is real and Jesus is our Lord and Saviour.

We are slowly being transformed by the Holy Spirit.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are already experiencing eternal life and we don’t need to wait till we die!

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know all these things are part of being born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know none of this is any cleverness on our part  it is by the grace of God.

Being born again is what Jesus told Nicodemus if he wanted to experience and enter into God’s Kingdom.

He said unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.

This is what He told Nicodemus.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
Notice Nicodemus raises a concern in his question of Jesus in that he mentions his age.

He was a man of mature, perhaps old age.

“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Is it true, as some have said that we need to become Christians when we are young?

That when we get old we are too set in our ways!

That we think it is too late to get into this God stuff now!

Nicodemus could see  even as an older man he needed to know about his eternal destiny and the answers were with Jesus.

Probably it was a little bit of pride that caused him to seek Jesus out at night and maybe for safety.

He was a ruler of the Jews, A Pharisee.

The other Pharisees were already plotting against Jesus at this time but Nicodemus knew this was no ordinary man.


It may be a little bit of pride that causes our hackles to rise when we hear for the first time, or many times, that we need to be born again.

The term “born again” is used time and time again these days in the media to ridicule Christianity and Christians.

You see until we are Christian we have an inbuilt desire to be in control of our own destinies.

To be a self made man or woman!

We want to be as someone said “masters of our fate and captain’s of our soul.”

We also want people to think well of us , not as if we are some loopy religious person.

We also don’t want to think or admit that we do have sin in our lives.

Of course if we have been born again that should not be a problem for us as we have died to self.

That is, if we have been crucified with Christ!

We are told about this in Romans 6
Romans 6  (St Paul speaking)
New King James Version (NKJV)
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice the connection between Baptism and being crucified with Christ.
This where we can truly say it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.
So what happens or how do we become born again?
Many Christians and others have some different answers on this.
Some will tell you that you ask Jesus into your heart.
Some will tell you that you have to believe the Bible but work very hard to be a good person to be justified by God and allowed into Heaven.
Some will tell you that you need to do all the above and then be baptised in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues or you haven’t really arrived.
Some will say just believe in Jesus.
Some will say I was christened as a child and that is my passport to Heaven.
Some will say that Jesus died for everybody and everyone regardless will go to Heaven. (That’s called Universalism.)
Some will say God is a God of love and He would never allow anyone to go to Hell.
Some will say we just keep getting re-incarnated  into other creatures or persons and our good or bad karma determines what will happen to us.
Some will says we are all gods.
The Atheist will tell you we just go 6 feet under and that’s it.
Some will say you need to give up all you have and follow Jesus.
And the list goes on  and on.
What Nicodemus was asking Jesus was the most important question that any of us can ask.
He was asking this question of the Living Son of God.
How can we enter into God’s Kingdom?
It is a question we need to get right.
We need to know the answer.
We run a terrible risk if we don’t respond to Jesus.
If you believe the Bible and Jesus then we can know the answer.
When Jesus speaks of being born of the water and the spirit He is talking about the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and when he talks about water he is talking about Baptism.
1 Peter 3: 20-21  --- in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
In a moment I will outline what the Bible teaches about how we can be born again.

Rather than rely on the opinions of men and women would you not rather rely on what God’s word says?

At various points in your Christian walk you can evaluate you standing with God by checking the scriptures and your response.

None of  these things the scripture tells us are too difficult or unattainable for us to be born again.

Note that in our passage Jesus didn’t actually spell it out how Nicodemus could become born again.

Here is a check list of the essential steps to be born again.

Note these things are not based on feelings or some ecstatic experience you may have had.

They are based on the Word of God only.

In the early days of Churches of Christ we had a saying where the Bible speaks ,we speak! 
This message is given with that in mind.

So this is what I believe the Bible tells us we need to know and act on if we are to be born again.
1.    We are all sinners.. Romans 3:23. 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
2.    Because we are a sinner we need saving. Romans 6:2323 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3.    Jesus and Jesus alone can save us. Acts 4:10-1210 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’[a] 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
4.    In order for us to be saved by  Jesus, we must deliberately and definitely receive Jesus as our personal saviour. John 1:10-1210 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own,[c] and His own[d] did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
5.    We receive Jesus as our saviour :
Through Faith,Repentance and Baptism.
1.Through Faith Acts 16:29-3329 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.
2.We must repent, Acts 2:3838 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,  and in
Acts 17:30-31(Paul speaking to the Greek Philosophers about their unknown God)30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
3.We must be baptised, Acts 2:3838 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,
 We must be buried with Christ in which we die to our old life and rise to a new life in Christ. Romans 6:3-4 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Now if you go through your life and check that all those things are true about yourself, then you are born again.

I have this little Bible that Pastor Harold Long gave me when I was baptised.

I was 28 years of age.
The little certificate in it  is dated 26th May 1974.

I had gone to the front of the Church in early February that year to signify I wanted to become a Christian.

I went through some studies with Pastor Harold Long after that and came to decide I needed to be Baptised. 

I did not fully understand the significance of Baptism in that process at the time.          
I can look at this and know that I can say on that day I was born again. 

Ie. according to the scriptures that on that day I had fulfilled all for me to actually do to receive God’s Grace of a New Life. 

I am still fulfilling those conditions.

Being Born again!  A new beginning!

The Authority of God’s word says I am.

No matter what others may say, you have, and are fulfillng your part in being born again when you go through this checklist and realise that you have done this.

Besides these verses quoted you will find many others that support what I have been saying.

We need to be diligent in checking that we are reading the Bible accurately in these assessments.

You may think you have been sprinkled or “baptised” as a child.
That has been  the case with many  but many have  come to the realisation,myself included, that this was not a Baptism according to the scriptures.
There can be no repentance or belief on our part when we are a baby.
Your “God parents “ while they might fullfill a great role in your life and do the best they can that you might live a Godly life, they cannot receive Jesus for you.

I have come to realise also that when we read the scripture that Baptism is much more than just an outward sign of something happening on the inside.

Folks we really need to get this right , this question of being born again.

We are never to old to settle it and not too young if we can understand and make rational decisions on these things.

Of course like human birth, our spiritual birth when we are born again, is just the beginning.

We will need the right food to grow as a Christian.
 
We need to progress beyond a milk diet.

Have you been born again?

Is God speaking to you today?

Do you want to be born again?

Are you unsure about this?

Even though it is not recorded I have no doubt that Nicodemus followed through on Jesus’ teaching.
He supplied Jesus’ embalming oil and also helped get Him down from the cross.
He would have become aware of or even present on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached his amazing sermon as recorded in Acts 2.

If you wish to indicate that you want to take the first steps to being born again today please come down to the front and tell me that’s what you want to do as we sing this last Hymn.

I will ask you if you believe you are a sinner needing God’s salvation and that you wish to receive Jesus as your Saviour.
That He is the Christ ,the Son of the Living God.

I will then acknowledge this decision you have made before this group of supportive people. 
After the service I will discuss with you briefly what the next steps might be.
I know that it is hard to do that, it took me 3 years sitting in Church listening to sermons like this one before I could hold out no longer.
Pride sometimes has a very tight hold on us.
Let us sing this last Hymn.

It’s no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me.

Does He live in you?

Have you been crucified with Christ?

Have you been born again?

Do you want to be?

Is God speaking to you today?











Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Centrality of the Cross

Below is an extract from a book or series of sermons with the above title by Jessie Penn-Lewis.
Every serious Christian should consider her work and teachings.
These are a few paragraphs taken from her writings.
You can find all this book at the following link.

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/jessiepenn-lewis/8791/8791tc.htm

Put simply the cross of Christ is the key to Christian Living,Experience and Victory.
Some teachers like John Stott,Neil Anderson, Charles Solomon,Frank Hunting and others will show you how we can exchange our lives for the life of Jesus.
The Great Exchange.
Romans 6 is the key.

from Jessie Penn-Lewis

"Now let us pass on to see the Cross as the centre, or 'fixed point', for VICTORY OVER SIN, OVER THE WORLD, OVER THE FLESH, AND OVER THE DEVIL. For a clear unveiling of the Cross as the 'fixed point' for the Christian's victory over sin, we turn to Romans 6. It is the basic chapter in the whole of the New Testament, where the deep meaning of the death at Calvary is set forth, in language which is extraordinary in its simplicity and clearness, and marvellous in its comprehensive explanation of the gospel. No wonder that the "god of this world" has influenced so many to relegate Romans 6 to the theologians, so as to keep believers from understanding its simple truth, because the deceiver knows it to be the CRUCIAL MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL from the experimental standpoint.
God-ward, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was the atonement, and the propitiation for sin, but in Romans 6 we are shown the Cross in its manward aspect-in its dealing with the sinner. Here is the practical, deep and vital message to the sinner, showing him the way of deliverance from the power of sin, from the world, the flesh and the devil. Here in the Romans 6 message of Calvary, Paul laid the foundation deep and, strong. Here lies the bed-rock depth of the Cross, as the 'fixed point' for the personal life of the believer, personal equipment, and personal victory in every aspect of need.
Let us read the passage slowly and carefully: Verses 1-2, "What shall we say then? Shall we persist in sin that the gift of grace may be more abundant? God forbid! WE WHO HAVE DIED TO SIN." Here is the Cross in its aspect of the death of the sinner with the Saviour. It is clear from this that Christ's Cross was the sinner's cross, not, of course, in the matter of atonement God-ward, but in the taking of the old creation life to the Cross, that the believer should be delivered from the power of sin; and that, not by conquering it, but by dying to it. Here is the key to victory. The deepest things are the simplest.
The real trouble about understanding the sixth of Romans is not a theological, but a moral one. When we sincerely want deliverance from the power of sin, it is within our reach. It lies just here for the simple soul who will take the statements as a fact. For the sake of a lost world, let us have no 'moral' hindrances to our knowing the reality of the Cross. If men and women would be utterly willing for the deepest work of the Cross to be wrought in or applied to them, there would be a trembling of the powers of hell, a shaking of the kingdom of darkness. The pivotal secret of God's plan for the redemption of a lost world lies in the meaning of Romans 6. The central fact of the Cross being the sinner's cross, as well as the Saviour's.
Moreover, this Romans 6 meaning of the Cross must be recognized as the root foundation of the Christian life, just as the 'root' is necessary to the life of the tree. A tree cannot part with its root, but must strike it deeper into the ground, so that all external growth may have strong support in the earth, and strong life-force for its maintenance.
" We who have died to sin," how can we any longer live under the mastery of sin? Or "have you forgotten that all of us ... were baptized into fellowship with His death?" writes the Apostle. 'All of us'-not the few who wish to be advanced souls, but young converts also! If every convert to Christ was 'born again' through the gospel message of this chapter, and they knew its power in experience at the very beginning of their Christian lives, there would be less backsliding, and need of careful nursing lest they fell away, for a new life would be imparted to them in stronger power, and Christ as the Living One would be known as a real Saviour."


Monday, February 10, 2014

Rivers of Living Water by Frank Hunting

Below is a Bible study in jpeg from by the late Frank Hunting.

Also here is a link elsewhere on this blog about Frank Hunting.

You will find much of his work on this blog.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/about-fank-hunting.html

Hopefully you can read it on your digital device.
If you can't read email me and I will post you a pdf version.

Click on each image(page) to enlarge.












Saturday, January 4, 2014

About this blog by Geoff Thompson

This post is probably lost at the beginning of my archives so repeated here for new followers.

I have formed this blog as I have decided to post sermons from my collection of Christian Tapes that are from my own past Pastors and others from time to time.
They will feature the recorded sermons of Harold Long and Frank Hunting.
Both men have gone to be  with their Lord some  time ago now.
Some of these have already been posted on my other blog.
You can also access them at my youtube channel as per the below link
https://www.youtube.com/user/pembridgehouse
I am concerned that today's generations of young Christians are not always getting exposed to quality and discerning preaching.
I believe we,today's Christians,  are in danger of being members of the apostate church in the book of Revelation of which Jesus says "you  are neither hot nor cold, I spew you out of my mouth!"(you can find this if you look)
I have a very large collection and I doubt that I can digitise them all before I part this earth but that is no reason not to start.
Below are some outlines about Frank Hunting and Harold Long.

Please note that some podcasts  in this series do not always  stop at the end of the the address.
That is because I have not perfected my editing.
When you get a silence of at least a minute at the end of an address that means it's finished.
I apologise for any convenience.

I have now added some transcripts of some of my own messages which are delivered as a layperson at the Parkrose Nursing Home in Adelaide and also in the Renmark Uniting Church Congregations in Renmark South Australia.These are in a voluntary capacity.

ABOUT FRANK HUNTING

Frank Hunting on the left and Harold Long on the occasion of Frank's 80th Birthday
Frank Hunting was a Churches of Christ Minister who was my minister at the Grote St. Church of Christ when he came there in
1975 after many years Ministry in Ballarat,Victoria and other places before that. He was my minister in tandem with Pastor Harold Long from 1975-1980 (approx) .Frank is now with His beloved Lord. Frank had a very distinctive teaching and counselling ministry. His gifts were very much in counselling people with troubled spiritual and emotional problems , what some would call mental illness. He was Frank by name and Frank by nature. Without Frank’s ministry to myself and my wife and family I doubt that I would have remained a Christian. He taught such things as the necessity to keep in right relationship with God and others through going to Jesus on a daily basis. He alerted us to the fact we have a very real enemy. “ we wrestle not with flesh and blood.” who is out to destroy our homes.
He taught about prayer and also how when we become Christians it
does not mean that everything will now be a bed of roses. He taught that many of our troubles as adults have their roots in not only the effects of our sin but that often we have problems from early childhood and adolescence that we tend to push down into our subconscious minds that the Bible calls the Heart. These problems are usually to do with rejections or abuse that we might have suffered and quite often we are not consciously aware of. He counselled many including myself on how these things affect us and how to take them to Jesus for healing. Even though we may be Christians ,unless these things are brought to Jesus ,we can have much trouble in our relationships and in life and indeed may never come to know the abundant life that Jesus promises us. I have many Bible studies that Frank prepared for use in Churches , booklets on important Christian themes and may cassette tapes of his teachings.
With permission from Frank’s family, for which I am very grateful, my aim is to bring his teaching to a world that is desperate for healing and hope.I will be progressively putting up  material for the use of people who currently call themselves Christians and those who are seekers after God’s truth.

ps Frank Hunting was also a champion Australian Rules footballer in his younger days and played 4 games for Essendon in 1933.

ABOUT HAROLD LONG

Harold was a long serving Churches of Christ Minister who had Ministries in Victoria,NSW and South Australia.
He did his Bible College Training at the College of The Bible at Glen Iris which was a Churches of Christ Theological College.
We met Harold Long and his wife and family when we were attending the Church of Christ in Adelaide at Grote Street in South Australia.
I sat under Harold's teaching for some 3 years before I ran out of arguments as to why I should not become a Christian after listening to many of his sermons.
My wife was already a Christian.
We had the privilege in our formative Christian years of both Harold's ministry and also Frank Hunting.
I have often said Harold was the one who God used to bring me to Jesus, and Frank was the one who God used to keep me there.
Both men were Pastors in the Churches of Christ movement and were very gifted expositors of the Bible.
Harold was well known and loved for his prophetic teaching on the end times of the age and the Church and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have many tapes by both men and also other Church of Christ Ministers who have been our Pastors and many who were guest Preachers.
I will post some of the others at a later date, God willing.
One set of Harold's sermons  I intend to post are a series called "What Churches of Christ Believe."
 There was a time when most Churches of Christ in Australia would have believed the things Harold expounded on but sadly I think there has been a falling away in some of our Churches on what was held dearly by some.
When you listen to them you can judge for yourself.
Harold's son Rob has given me the ok to publish these tapes.
Ps As at January 2014.
As I am now in my retirement speaking in Church services on a more regular basis as a lay person I am also going to start posting my own sermons as shared in the Renmark Uniting Church and the Parkrose Nursing Home.
I have been posting these to this point on my main blog but will attempt to double up on here.
Also you can access them on my youtube channel as below
https://www.youtube.com/user/pembridgehouse
I do not presume that my messages are any where near the quality of my mentors but you will find a lot of the things I have learnt from Harold and Frank in these.




Joy to the World

Below is an outline of the sermon and communion talk I gave  at the Parkrose Nursing Home where Lesley and I help with the service from time to time.


Parkrose Sermon 29 Dec 2012

Joy to the World, the Lord is come:

We sing these words with enthusiasm each Christmas season and yet this song of Joy should be ours all year round.

We should be rejoicing because Jesus has come into the world.

We have a Saviour who walks and lives and breathes among us.

And yet we mostly fail to recognize his presence.

The whole of creation cries out to us that He is here and has been here.

In the song we sung earlier  we sang

“ And heaven and Nature sing.”

We have the beauty of God’s creation all around us and every day the miracle of the birth of a new born babe happens in our hospitals and places all around the world.

So do we have joy or express it?

Do we count our blessings of this past year or do we count the things that caused us grief?

Here are some of the things that we should rejoice about if we are Christians:

WHO ARE WE?
We are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14).

We do have something to share with the world.This passage tells us not to hide our light but let it shine.When we are being Joyful to the world that is what we are doing.
We are children of God (John 1:12).To all of us who have received Jesus he has given us the right to be called Children of God.What a privilege! We see exemplary people and parents in the spotlight from time to time and might say I wish my parents had been or are like them.But we are children of God himself.That should make us leap for joy.
We are members of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30). We are here today as a body of believers.What a privilege to be part of His body, the Church.
We are citizens of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6).
According to the Bible we are already seated and guaranteed a seat in Heaven with Jesus.It is something that has already happened before our earthly passing.
Is that a cause for Joy or not?
We are joint heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rom. 8:17).
Inheritance humanly speaking can be a wonderful gift from our own families.Think of what it means though to be a joint heir with Jesus.That is hard to imagine but surely a cause for Joy.
We are one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).

Last Sunday we attended the Activate Church at Bowden where one our sons and his wife and their 2 boys attend.The Sunday school children did a little play.Our grandson Lucas was dressed up as a construction worker.He was carrying a big papermache boulder.His role involved dropping the rock on the platform and declaring “On this rock I will build My Church!” He announced it with gusto and the whole church burst into applause.
Isn’t it exciting to be a one of the living stones chosen by Jesus to be His disciples on this earth in our communities. A real cause for joy.

Jesus rules the World with Truth and Grace.

His Righteousness is glorious.

His love is wonderful.

When we make room in our Hearts he comes in to dwell with us.

As we approach the new year of 2013 we don’t know what is in store for us.

We may have had things happen in 2012 that were upsetting.

We may have lost love ones.

And yet Jesus is still Lord over all.
His grace has been more than sufficient to enable us to cope with what may have just happened this last year and certainly what may be ahead of us.



Let us resolve to continue to trust Him in days ahead  with our whole lives.

Let us rejoice not in the troubles that may come to us but that Jesus enables us to continue with Dignity and Grace and Healing.

Let us also continue to be prayerful,and practically helpful where we can, for others who we know are struggling ,for when we do we are helping to bring the Joy of Jesus to them..


JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME


COMMUNION TALK

Have you ever wished you were someone else?

Someone who seemingly had it all together?

Confidence?

Charisma?

Wealth?

Physical good looks?

Popularity?

Good Job?

Lots of friends?

Wonderful family life?

Great House?

Would these things make us happy?

Would we be full of joy?

Sometimes we get that low in our feelings and our self esteem we wish we were someone else or might even cry ourselves to sleep each night.

The Truth is The Truth will set us free from the darkness we often can feel.

The Truth is Jesus.

“He said I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through me.”

We may have claimed Jesus as our Saviour, but have we claimed Him as our Lord.

Can we say with the Apostle Paul, “It’s no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me”

The Bible says whoever loses his life in Christ will find his true liberated life in Him.

Some people call that the Exchanged Life.

What Jesus has done on the Cross for us enables us to be one with Him.

Let’s celebrate this morning as we take these emblems the Great Exchange that Jesus offers us.

He took our place on the cross  so that we can have life,life to the full.

      I am (have been)  crucified with Christ : never the 

less I live; yet not I but

      Christ liveth in me: and the life  which I  now live in

 the flesh I live by the faith

      of (or in ) the Son of God who loved me , and gave

 Himself for me.”

      Galations 2:20