Help us Lord to have ears, minds and hearts that are open to your word and will.
In Jesus Name amen.
It is great to be with you this morning, here in St. Donard’s. The last time I was in this hall was when we were playing your Bowling Team - and I can’t remember the score but it was a good night of fellowship and competition!
This morning, as I mentioned in my children’s talk the reading at first seems quite complicated with things like Being Born Again but it also contains good news such as God’s love and eternal life.
For us in Northern Ireland we are very familiar with these verses, we see them on lamp posts, we see them on notice boards outside churches, we see them on sandwich boards in towns and cities ... Ye must be born again, at football matches we see people holding up notices 3:16
We are surrounded by them.
I would like to conscentrate on 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Remote Control
On a remote control for a DVD player there are certain buttons which control the thing
The Rewind
Play / Pause
The Fast Forward
This morning I would like us to pause where we are and look again at the John 3:16 Verse, to focus our attention on the riches contained in it.
We are here in St. Donard’s, One of the things which is great about church is that we can come together, with all the stuff that has been going on behind our front doors, in our lives over the last week, month and year and bring it to God, to gain his perspective on it, to get strength to carry what we need to carry, to deal honestly with the things that need to be dealt with.
So this verse:
The first bit is a rewind from where we are to the past (Jesus is looking at what has happened in the past)
The rewind is a review of what had happened up till now - It is a summary of the Bible. Yes it skips over all the detail, but encourages you to discover how God loves the world. There are so many promises in the pages of scripture which re-iterate God’s love and his provision for his people
God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son
Everything that has happened up ‘till now has been an expression of the Father’s love for us. When we grasp that we are well on the road to realising the potential future he has for each one of us.
Whosoever believes in me
This is where we come into the story, you and me are part of the world God loves, part of the story. We already know that sin mars what we do, what we think and what we say but we are called to be different, we are called to live lives which are different, we are called to believe - Believe and trust in him. Living out each day for him - in the Lord’s prayer
Skip Forward
Will not die But have eternal life
This is where it gets exciting - Yes we know that God Loves us, Yes we know that we are living in the present but then we dare to contemplate that this is not all we have .... we do have a future... we do have the promise, through believing in God, in trusting him that our future is bright, the future is not orange but rather the future for all who believe in God is eternal.
For me as a pastor, as someone who deals with the pastoral concerns of parishioners day in day out, as I draw alongside people who are walking through darkness in the present, for them to catch a glimpse of what the future is great
As Christians once we know that our future is secure, once we know that God has forgiven our sins, once we know that he has a plan for our lives - “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future” then the things which the world throws at us become managable.
Life may not be easy, but we have a saviour who is able to help us cope, who is able to put things into their proper perspective.
As I prepare to hit the play button again, As we prepare to go from this place back into the world - into the situations each of us find ourselves into today
If you are a Christian, a disciple, a person who believes in God - know that your future is secure, trust in him, work for him, talk about him, share this good news with your family, friends ...
If you are unsure wether or not you are or want to be ... talk to trusted Christian friends, give Ken a ring and say that you would like to chat about John 3:16!, Ask God, Chat to me after the service ... do whatever but do something.
Being a Christian is easy and difficult - It’s easy because all we have to do is ask him to strengthen us but it is difficult as we do have to cut out those things in our lives which are destructive, which are contary to his word. That is the balance
In a nutshell - it is my prayer that each of us here today may know the great news that God loves the world, that he loves you and me no matter what we have done, no matter what circumstances we are going through he will as long as we take the step to believe and trust in him. Amen Lets get on and press play!
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