Climate Change and the church

I could be wrong, but for the vast majority of Christians living in ireland -  Climate Change is not top priority and I know that this blog my annoy some of my readers but surely we need to do something.

within the Next couple of weeks in Paris ... our world leaders will be meeting to try and hopefully make some decisions about our worlds use of our carbon resources.

We at the very least need to stop using resources at the rate we're using them, we need to stop exploiting the poor and need to find ways to help our brothers and sisters. 

This year in particular I'm extremely conscious of this as I prepare to bring another team out from Ireland to Zambia which is suffering drought ... This plea goes beyond individuals ... it needs to but it needs to start at grass roots ... doesn't it? 

Take a look at this video ... it shows the real effects of Climate Change on the people of Zambia and what potentially could happen with changes to our weather patterns. As with poverty there's a huge complex matrix of problems. But in terms of helping we need to be strategic in what we do to help our fellow world citizens. 

When we head out next summer one of the major things we'll discover is that development and life generally is being hampered by the lack of water in the hydro station at kafue dam which at the moment at its lowest levels for years

Heres what the Archbishop of Canterbury said recently in a speech... 

"I want to pick out four particular areas very quickly

"The first has already been mentioned by [Second Church Estates Commissioner] Caroline Spelman in her maiden speech, that of education and networking. We have unrivalled access to networks around the world. How are we going to use them and look beyond our own boundaries as the Church of England to draw in the resources of the whole Communion? This is a moment not for just looking inwards.

"It is still too big an issue for most people to get their minds round, including most of us here. And it is above all a classic issue for the whole people of God, not just for the clergy and the bishops and the ordinands. Part 5 of the Anglican Communion’s marks of mission says that we are “to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth”. That has been in our objectives as a Communion for many years; we have to come back to that and say what are we doing as part of our educational work and networking that will demonstrate that we take it seriously.

"Secondly, we have to come back to the basic social teaching principle of the dignity of the whole human person and the breaking down of the barriers between us achieved in Christ. In other words, as Duncan Dormor said, this has to be holistic. There are many questions that stop us facing climate change. We need to be deeply engaged in the development, as we are through the Anglican Alliance, of the new SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals. If climate change is to have the place that it needs in international policy, conflict is one of those areas that destroys any attempt to manage issues around climate change. Climate change is both a driver of conflict and a victim of conflict, and we must face that reality and use our networks to address that issue.

"Thirdly, co-creativity. We need an imaginative commitment to new ways of approaching the subject of climate change that does not accept a deterministic or selfish nationalistic policy. We cannot simply look at ourselves and say, ‘we must do better’, and kick the ladder away from the vast majority of humankind that is struggling to find the prosperity that we enjoy so richly. That requires a huge investment in new ideas. If you look up Leo Johnson’s work in this area, it is quite fascinating.

"And lastly, it must be incarnational. Alexandra Podd and Caroline Spelman spoke of this. We are to be exemplary in what we do ourselves. That comes down to some very basic things about faculty legislation; about use of our buildings and imaginative work there; about how use our heritage; about how we use and invest our finances, of which more later today; and around how we heat and light things. Symbolic action such as use of paper at General Synod, the amount we travel, and disinvestment or the tackling and engagement with companies in certain areas, such as arctic drilling, are equally important.

"This is not a standalone issue. It cuts across all we do. Thank you."

Sermon - James 2:1-13

Sermon preached today at Sunday AM in Carrigrohane as part of our James Sermon Series 

Let’s Pray 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen 

Over the course of these weeks we’re looking at the Book of James across all our services in the parish … we’re going slowly through the book and so picking up on the gems of wisdom, teaching and excellent advice contained with in. Its a Letter to a church who were trying to live out their new found faith but who were tempted to be returning to some cultural norms which were all about them and that they were so used to - They were as we’ve already seen in the first chapter That James was writing to a church with problems … the problem of persecution but also the problem and also of temptation… 

Chapter 1 ended with the reminder that … “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Quite a simple thing in theory but we do know … even after 2,000 years we still find it so difficult to do just that. So let’s see how James tries to unpack what the word (as far as he has received it) and how he tries to translate it for the people in the church(es) he’s writing to, what he’s urging them to do and in turn translating that for us today. 

The health & safety warning of this passage ... 

We could very easily fall down 2 potholes which are difficult to get out of … we could fall down the hole of condemnation and heap up a whole mountain of guilt upon ourselves which isn’t useful nor healthy  - woe is me! 

or we could fall down the hole of defence and say actually this doesn't apply to me at all or trying to justify our actions for a certain event which has happened and the walls of defence go up 

with that warning given ….Let’s look at the passage for today … James 2

Simple Structure … when it comes to reading the letters 

Who is he addressing here? 

These comments are directed to those in the Church assembly … those who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory … in other words - ordinary everyday Christians who know the Lord and who are trying to live out their faith in their community … sound familiar? 

People who know what it is to be in want and know what fantastic gifts he has given to his people. 

Sometimes its easy to live out our faith … but … and its a big but … at other times its really, really difficult … We might understand it but the difficulty comes in putting it into practice … of taking it from the page into our minds but then also putting it into practice 

So, What’s the problem here that james is trying to tackle? 

v2 - In The assembly (their meetings) We’re assuming here their worship gathering which are made up of people of different people … Rich and Poor, Male and female, slave and free. People of different backgrounds but whats important for us to realise The culture of the day would be a hierarchy of all sorts upper and lower classes with various legal rights associated with being in a particular place - The thing with the church is that it was at its best it was to be a place of equality, a place where all were the same. 

The key word here is Favoritism or in other translations partiality - The greek word used here literally means, “to receive the face.” The idea is taking people at face value. They may have said “they’re a good person to be around”, “they’re no fun”, “not going to get on with him” … perhaps this is as close as the Bible gets to the familiar saying - “Never judge the book by its cover”. 

Favourites … we all have them - your favourite singer or band, football team, chocolate bar, meal, restaurant. But lets remember James wasn't writing about those … it was to a church community - a community where people are meant to be different … where all were valued for who they were not what they did or their position in life. 

I was recently listening to a sermon from a pastor in a church in America who has written various books - francis Chan .. he was preaching on this passage and he decided to do a bit of an experiment with his congregation —-> I’ll let him explain what he did … VIDEO 

This is challenging … we might not have the option that the First Century Christians had … in terms of seats verses the floor but there are things we can do to exclude, to put people down … probably not intentionally but we do do it 

As with many things in the Bible … its not the necessarily action itself its the heart behind the action … 

James zooms further in on the problem he gets to the heart of the matter … its not just favourites that are the problem but its deeper than that 

In v4 we see a Rhetorical question - Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

If thats the problem why is it a problem? -  The basic problem is its inconsistentancy 

Why should the rich get the best seats

Why should the poor be told to sit on the floor 

3 reasons 

• It’s Inconsistent with God’s Way of viewing things  (5-6a) 
• It’s Inconsistent with the way the rich are treating believers (6b-7) 
• It’s inconsistent with the claims of the ‘Greatest Commandment’ (8-13) 

Let’s take a look at these apparent inconsistancies

God’s way of viewing things 

God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith  … there are loads of passages. If you’re interested theres a fantastic study in looking at how much of Matthew’s Gospel James uses. But a quick flick through it shows us the beatitudes … blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Also Jesus’ teaching in luke’s gospel … its the poor, the outcast who respond to Jesus’ message 

So if God says he has blessed the poor with the kingdom of heaven, and as paul has he has chosen the foolish and the weak and the despise then we need to rethink our pecking order and what we value

The poor here seem to be those who were both economically oppressed and spiritually inclined.

The way Paul says this … 

1 Corinthians 1: …26For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,… 

The way the rich are treating believers 

Its clear to James that those who are sitting in the good places in the assembly are those who are the ones who are exploiting the poor … The word here is the same word used in Amos 4:1 exploiting the poor 

in Ezekiel 22:7 for exploiting the widows and the orphans. Basically there are those among the gathering who are acting against the demands of ‘pure religion’ which james has already talked about in chapter 1 

So not only has God Blessed those who are being looked down upon, actually those who are being exalted are those who are actively dragging believers down 

If those things are not bad enough James goes on to give them his strongest blow which brings it all together 

The 3rd Inconsistency Claims of the ‘Greatest Commandment’

It’s inconsistent with the most basic, fundamental principle of the law … You shall love your neighbour as yourself

How can they show favouritism without sining … they can’t and neither can we! … James is very clear here … whatever transgression of the law we make. 

Its this sort of idea that the rich man who asked jesus who is my neighbour … and basically the answer was the told in the parable of the good Samaritan … where the unlikely one was the one who showed mercy. 

so is there any hope? 

Well the great news is yes! … change is possible 

this is where when we bring this together and ask the “so what do we do? question” … or to ask it another way … what’s the proposed solution ?

But its also the most challenging thing of all … and takes us on a change process which has the potential of  a change of a complete mindset and world view if we take it to heart 

we show mercy because we need mercy, we love because he first loved us, we can give only what we already have been given. 

This is not a works salvation,  … not at all … but it is a response which we do out of gratitude for what we’ve been blessed with. 

Remember the opening line of psalm 23 … The Lord is my Shepherd … I shall not be in want 

Its because the Lord is our shepherd … we’ll not be in want 

We have been given his love, his grace, his forgiveness, the bounty of creation and 

we’re called to show love, to share grace, to give forgiveness, to share the gifts of all of creation 

So what does that look like? 

What does it look like on a Monday Morning for you … in School, in Work, in your family situation, what does it look like in church? … what does showing mercy and not favoritism look like, what does not judging someone. 

I said at the start 

we could fall down the hole of condemnation and heap up a whole mountain of guilt upon ourselves which isn’t useful nor healthy  - woe is me! of looking at all the times before we’ve failed … we need to remember we’ve got second chance … we have been shown mercy 

or we could fall down the hole of defence and say actually this doesn't apply to me at all or trying to justify our actions and the walls of defence go up - then we’ve got to admit that actually we might be able to do better next time 

Mercy > Judgement 

Where do you and I need to show mercy … where before we’ve shown judgement ?

Men's Alpha Blarney - Week 2 - Why did Jesus Die?

Over the next 9 weeks members of the churches in Blarney are running  a Men's Alpha Course ... A course which looks at the fundamentals of our faith and allows men to ask all the difficult questions about God, Church and life

last week we looked at who is Jesus,

This week we asked the question ... why did Jesus die?


So we looked at the cross - why it is a sign of our faith and asked loads of difficult questions about the Christian understanding of sin, forgiveness

We said that if the cross is the solution what is the problem it was trying to solve.

We looked at sin through various lenses

• Pollution of sin 
• Penalty of sin 
• Power of sin 
• Partition of sin 

A Similar talk to that given tonight can be found here - why not take a watch of it ... feel free to add comments below or message me if you have any comments

What's your initial reaction to the talk?

What is your understanding of sin?

What other questions do you have?

Frontline ... where? and what does fruit look like?

At our young adults group this term we're looking at Mark Greene's book Fruitfulness on the front line ... or to be more specific we're watching the DVD and discussing it with the Biblical passages being discussed.

This evening we looked at the basic questions of what does frontline look like and what character traits does God want to create in us ... where we are and whatever we're doing.

This stuff is hugely important and being accountable to one another for the things we do has the potential to change the church and in turn the world.

We were asked a few questions:

When in the last week did we display Christian Character?
When in the last week did we not display the fruit of the Spirit?

We then were challenged about the importance of keeping close to God to allow his Spirit to produce in us the fruit of his Spirit. When we read Galatians 5

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

We see that we're called to walk by the Spirit and in turn the Spirit produces the fruit ... we're called to not strive but to walk in step with Him.

Lots of challenges but great to be challenged! :-)

What does your front line look like ... where is it? ... who do you come in contact with on a daily, weekly basis? how can you display godly Character?

What's the book about?

A time to ponder ... A time for Practical action

So often in life we're running from a meeting to something something else without time to stop and ponder.

Pondering needs to be done - its in the pondering that processing gets done, that we get a time to think about what could be, and what needs to be done. What's important and what's not. What are the priorities and what's not?

What does this season hold, this term - what are we called to or what are we trying to achieve.

I'm extremely thankful to God for the space and time created to ponder, to process and to think about priorities as we go forward this season.

Of course we can't stay in the place of pondering - we need to be practical and get on and do.

What's on your pondering list?

What's your priorities for this season and how are we accomplishing those priorities?

Church and the world - The challenge of reality of our world today ... a couple of the millions of questions

Folks, what can we do?

Sitting in a comfortable house, thousands of miles away from events which are horrific, world changing, personal and politically charged and in need of a groundswell of need and of humanity.

In our world there is a need for things to change ... but how ... at what cost? ... and are we prepared to pay the costs

Budapest ... Austria ... Turkish coast ... Macedonia ... North Africa ... Iraq ... Afganistan

Peace and Stability in the Middle East and Africa

There are huge questions with all of this and what should the church response be?

People are on the move and we have to do something ... don't we?

There is a difference between migrants and Refugees

People who want to save their lives

As a church locally, national and internationally  ... what could or should our response to be?

How do we begin to grapple with the huge issues involved in this?

We process stuff as Christians through

Theology - Biblically, Tradition, Reason and Experience
Pastorally - what is the right thing to do with the people around about us
Prayerfully - How to pray for those on the move today, tonight

Post Summer Reflection ... new season

Having spent the summer months this year doing all sorts of things ... from Summer Madness to Sligo from Sligo to Holiday Club from Holiday Club to Holidays in West Cork to meeting friends in Portrush and from Portrush to Ballydehob and then to Blarney- Its been a great summer even though Holidaying in Ireland hasn't been the best weather-wise it's been great otherwise.

Sitting in front of the computer now looking forward ... I'm excited about all the stuff that's coming up in the next 6-12 months in and around Blarney and the parish as well as with various things around the church at large.

Some things that are happening ...

IN BLARNEY ... 

After holiday Club this year we're changing Messy Church in Blarney to have a meal each month a huge challenge in a small kitchen! but a big benefit to Ministry in the church

We're doing some improvements around the church - hedges getting a good haircut!,  a new shed and new signage hopefully arriving

We're hoping to have a history and news website for community and tourists to find out more about the church which people will be able to use by scanning our sign!

We're bringing together an all-age team to head to Zambia in Summer 2016 with CMS Ireland

We're really excited about what's happening and our links with our Catholic Church Neighbours

We're hosting this years Community Carol Service

We're going to get thinking about what mission looks like in Blarney in 2016

We're hosting a Mens Alpha Course in October

We've got growth group starting again and continuing to go from strength to strength

We're hosting a New Wine Women's conference in Blarney

We're continuing our prayers for the community group later in September

We're holding a training for Prayer Ministry

We're getting into a new monthly pattern of worship of United Celebration, Service, Messy Church, Service.

----
We're chatting to other churches and parishes  who are thinking about Messy Church in Dublin and the Midlands across the denominations which we're really excited about as a team from Blarney.

Then come the new year ... Messy Church conference in the spring and all sorts of other things including Zambia 2016! in the summer.

One thing is for certain ... it's not dull here in Blarney ... God is opening lots of doors.

Divided united and sent

A sermon preach on Pentecost Sunday - Blarney Church of Ireland - Sunday 24th May 2015 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O Lord our strength and our redeemer amen 

Today is one of the  3 main feast days of the Christian Church … on par with Christmas and Easter but to the outside world there isn't the festivities associated with today. BUT we are celebrating.

When we think of the Holy Spirit -I wonder what do we think of? a dove, fire, a guide or our own particular experience the Holy Spirit … perhaps it was it a church experience, was it alpha away day. 

For me it was seeing the Holy Spirit at a Christian event - Summer Madness - where people started falling down and also others speaking in strange language - bizarre … I remember asking a friend about it … and he said … that’s God showing up! 

Luke’s account of Pentecost shows us two great signs of the Spirit: first, the divided are united, and secondly, order and purpose are imparted so that the united are driven into a world  where they change world views, communities and eventually the empire and the world . 

And both are so needed today in our world at large and in community .

The divided are united 

On that first Pentecost - Jews from all over the Roman empire  and beyond came together for a purpose … doing their duty …  but something happened God spoke to them through this group of disciples in their own language. 

There is a deep longing to be together - the call of the belonging place. The place where they could be together in one place always has been an important part of humanity when events are happening. We see it here in Blarney…with our own community - sunday by sunday, we saw it in dublin yesterday the coming together of people to celebrate. When something momentous happens people want to be together. 

In the passage in acts we see the effect of the Holy Spirit … Throughout Scripture & history - once sworn enemies becoming friends … the lion will lie down with the lamb, the apostle paul, 

We see it here in front of our eyes … In this community where churches which used to be seen to be opponents are working alongside each other for the sake of the gospel - not diluting who they are but working together on the things which unite and being honest about the things which they cannot agree. 

In our world today something is stirring - the old dividing walls are coming down and that can only be a good thing. Right throughout scripture there is a call for barriers to be broken down … in the psalms - where brothers dwell together in unity there God commands a blessing. 

We see in the face of opposition there are no divisions  - did the ISIS murders say to the egyptian christians which branch of the church do you belong to … no they did not. One Lord, One faith, One Baptism. 

On a local scale … we’re called a body … different people, with different gifts - different generations but the call is to a unity and when there is unity then there is blessing and we need to find that unity, work towards that unity and defend that unity. 

This is not a natural unity - but a hard fought and won unity - a unity that takes will, that takes sacrifice and that only finds itself complete in Christ as the head and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

We are a people divided by all sorts of things - In the church we see that we could divide again and again over our disagreements. We could divide over liturgical preferences, music styles, how somebody does something, interpretations of certain passages of scripture, different pastoral issues, theological opinions, clothing worn, historical differneces - but being a part of being a church is that we choose to be together - and these issues when allowed to be discussed and understood have the potential given the right soil provide a richness and a God given creativity which could possibly point others to the beauty that is the kingdom of God.  

We are called to set a pattern for the world by disagreeing in love, and settling our disputes in the unity of the Spirit.  Sometimes we get this right and when we do it is a beautiful thing - sometimes we do get it wrong and it becomes ugly

In Pentecost we see people from all the provinces of the empire hearing the same message in their language … hearing the words of Peter despite their differences and responding in faith 

Justin Welby - Archbishop of Canterbury said this of Pentecost - “God’s  work is unity, and the clearest sign of the presence of the Spirit is the integrating chaos of His power, bringing vision, dreams and calling that enabled scattered people to have diversity without enmity.”

Somehow … whether we like it or not … God is working in our divisions and in our frustrations and somehow we can say - as unlikely as it seems we look at Christ our head and with him in that position we can hold together diverse and seemingly opposing views in a creative way - without diluting truth. 

With the Referenedum result yesterday there may well be in some quarters of the church confusion, there may well be anger, be frustration …  there also will be in other quarters delight of the church and a sense of delight, relief and joy over the issues of the referendum yesterday - 

but folks … we’ve got to remember God is still God - he’s still in control - he’s still working his purposes out. His Holy Spirit is still at work and still moving throughout this land - that does not change because of a vote in a ballot box.

At Pentecost Those who were divided by race and language - heard the gospel in their language - as Christians we believe that all will hear the Gospel preached in their language - and God still does that today. He’s doing it and we’re called to join him where he is at. As unlikely as it seems - Peter spoke up and the spirit worked - it was God’s doing - the divided and the different heard good news in their language, responded to it and saw the possibility of unity despite of their differences

When issues divide - the Spirit is able to unite - history tell us this - Northern Ireland, South Africa, salvery, womens rights  issues down through the years  - I believe this to be so - We’ve seen it down through the years … we can have diversity without enmity … but it does take courage, peace makers, restraint and also boldness and prophetic words. 

He Unites but he also sends out 

Pentecost wasn't simply a nice display of force for the people gathered that day … it was an empowering for those sent … it was the beginning of a world wide mission … to the ends of the earth. And we are a part of that movement. A movement which began on that Pentecost and which continues to the very end of time. 

You and I are called to use our gifts and skills, our passions and our energy living out the message we proclaim where God has placed us. 

Within the Gospels Jesus uses various images for this - we’re to be salt, we are to be light, we are to be seed, we are to be yeast … all of which are small but have big impact. 

Bishop Henderson at our Clergy quiet day on Thursday used an example of the seed … it’s comfortable being seed in a packet with other seed … but seed need to be planted out there - exposed to the birds, exposed to the rain, wind … in the world. 

as one contemporary song states “A boat that’s in the harbour is safe from harm … but it wasn’t built to be there it was made for wind and storm”

Salt is no good in the seller, yeast that’s in the packet … not much use! 

and the gospel was proclaimed 

The life changing news was proclaimed throughout the land … news that changed the lives of those who heard … a radical and life changing message. 

The opportunity to reach out speak up for God is there for each and every one of us … are we prepared to get on and do it. 

Yes it might be frightening, we might feel we’re not good enough, not young enough, not old enough, not equipped enough but folks …we have the Holy Spirit … get on and do … let your yes be yes and get on and do it!  

The challenge that faced the first Christians gathered in Jerusalem at the birth of the church still faces the church today. That challenge involves remaining faithful to the substance of the Gospel, while translating and applying it in all the languages and cultures of the world. For that we too need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And so on this Pentecost we must say, “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”

two great signs of the Spirit: first, the divided are united, and secondly, order and purpose are imparted so that the united are driven into a world  where they change world views, communities and eventually the empire and the world .

Confirm O Lord each one of us that we are sent by you to love and to work to your power and glory. Amen 

Christ's Passion - is nothing less than the transformation of everything for ever!

Sermon preached in Inniscarra Church on Sunday 22nd March 2015

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen 

On this sunday in years gone by … the 5th Sunday of Lent was known as Passion Sunday … a day when we were able to focus our attention on Christ’s Death … The why of it, the what did it achieve. 

As the years went on … these 2 weeks are known as Passiontide

 What I’d love to do this morning is look at the wider context of our readings and see the vision of the new covenant which was inaugurated that day … How everything changed and how we understand it today. But we are preparing for Holy week … It’s a good time to pause and to think about the symbol of our faith … the Cross. 

The Big vision as traced through our readings today … is nothing less than the transformation of everything for ever!  … thats a big bold claim but lets look at it. 

Its the opening up of the covenant, the agreement between God and People 

Its the relationship being sorted out 

Its the fulfilment of the Law … Punishment being satisfied and the Debt paid 

We see in the passage from Jeremiah who was looking forward to the new covenant  … the declaration of the Lord to the people of Israel … a time in the future when things will change .. which will be different from the past - The law wont be written on stone but in their hearts, all will know him and there will  be forgiveness and relationship will be restored. 

We see the writer to the Hebrews written after the events of easter looking back to Christ… and seeing Jesus appointed by His father as the priest who was able to be the sacrifice, to be the one who was able to inaugurate the new covenant, he became to source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. 

And then we get to Jesus himself understanding who he was, why he had come and what had changed. We see in this passage in Johns Gospel lots of things …  

If you are looking for a summary of the Christian message … John 3:16 probably would be it … but as we look at the context around it … we have huge themes of light & darkness, good and evil - trial and condemnation. 

In this passage we see God’s heart for his creation … to save, not to condemn, to provide light, to reward truth, to see plainly 

So many in our world today … well actually everyone needs to hear this message of hope, good, brightness and no condemnation. 

This all sounds great but … What does this mean for us?  

Singer Lionel Ritchie was once interviewed on television by Jeremy Vine, and he was saying that he came from a very poor background but he started to make money out of his singing. And one time it was his father’s birthday, and he gave his father this huge present, and his father was really excited about it. But as he took off the wrapping paper, he found there was more wrapping paper inside. And then he took off another layer; there was more wrapping paper, and more wrapping paper. And this present just got smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller, and he could see his father’s face falling.

And eventually he got to the heart of it, which was just a little tiny piece of paper. And on the piece of paper it just said this: `All debts paid.’ And his father said, `Well, you’ve paid my credit card debt?’ He said, `Yeah, I’ve paid off all your credit cards.’ He said, `Well, what about the car?’ He said, `Yeah, I’ve paid off the car.’ His father said, `Well, what about the mortgage?’ He said, `Yeah, I’ve paid off your mortgage.’ 

As we journey towards Easter this year I want to share with you some question our young people have been asking at Lighthouse Messy Church  just last month … questions which I’m sure many of us have 

Why did God send his son to earth?

Why did Jesus die?

These are questions which I’m sure we’ve wrestled with at one time or another … if we havent perhaps they are questions to take home and meditate on… 

No matter what age we are, as our focus at this time of year begins to turn to the events in Jerusalem all those years ago … events that have eternal significance for us … as we say /sing in our creed … I believe in Jesus crucified under Pontus Pilate died and rose again. 

What does that mean? 

It is nothing less than the transformation of everything for ever! 

All debt has been paid, all consequences of sin settled … and new life is possible. Through the relationship with God … Christ is the mediator … the great high priest and we are called to point others to Him. 

The Cross - a place of  tremendous pain and suffering became a place love and mercy - despair became hope where the great exchange took place 

sin is replaced by forgiveness 

hatred is replaced by love 

death is replaced by life 

pain is replaced by healing 

darkness is replaced by light 

condemnation is replaced by righteousness 

Defeat is replaced by Triumph 

and the great thing is that this not simply theory but it is seen in practice … After Friday … Sunday Came! 

Let's Pray ... 

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying for me on the cross. I’m sorry for the things in my life that have been wrong. I now turn away from everything that I know is wrong. And I now receive your gift of forgiveness.

I put my trust in what you did on the cross for me. And I ask you, please, to come and fill me with your Holy Spirit, to give me the strength to lead the kind of life that deep down I’m longing to lead. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.