Prayer - An Adeventure with God wk 2

In our Bible study in chruch we are looking at the adventure with God that prayer is

Last week we looked at Abraham’s Intercession with God Genesis 18:16-33

we looked at how in any relationship we need two way communication, how there are different types of prayer - intercession, thanksgiving, asking, praising - all of these are crucial to maintain our relationship with God.

We looked at how Abraham was desperately seeking God to save the city in which his nephew lives

Recently I was at a funeral of a father of a friend whose life was devoted to being an intercessor for his children. What an amazing tribute his Children paid to him when they said “wherever they were in the world they knew that their father was at home praying for them” how amazing that was to hear - can you imagine a better tribute?

Defined by prayer!

As we look at prayer this evening are there issues / questions we have as we study scriptures about prayer?

How does God speak to us in prayer / how is he changing you through prayer?

What changed as a result of Abrahams encounter with God- Why did these changes occur?

Prayer today

One of the great things about a Bible Study is that it allows us to share experiences of prayer ....

Formalised prayer: Daily Office - Book of Common Prayer, our liturgy

Less structured:

Prayer Journals

Giving thanks to God

Prayer walking / driving

Arrow prayers

praying with others

24/7 Prayer stations

posit notes

lecto divina

Pray, read, think, pray, do

In the wilderness

Sermon preached in St. Columba's Sunday 21st Feb 2010

... First Sunday in Lent ... Luke 4:1-11

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father, as disciples We pray help us discover more about your word this day and help us to apply eternal truths to our lives by the power of your holy spirit In Jesus name – amen

The two reading this morning focus on the wilderness – The first the Old Testament – the Israelites remember their journey from egypt to the promise land which we know included time spent in the wilderness and then in the New testament we see Jesus directly after his baptism being brought into the wilderness before his ministry

The wilderness is seen as somewhere where one does not want to be, somewhere where there is danger, uncertainty and where the individual is on their own. For the Israelites centuries before, they trekked through the wilderness not for forty days but for forty years – guided by God, even though they grumbled, they moaned, they obeyed God, they disobeyed him. When they eventually get to the promised land they in their sinful nature were faithful but they also fell away.

In Jesus' wilderness experience we see him being tempted but he was able to withstand the temptation unlike the israelite people who folded under the pressure … creating Golden Calf, moaning about food, leadershship …

In the temptation of Jesus we see three times the devil tries to out smart Jesus – The first is quite a physical
temptation – you're hungry … go on change the stone into a loaf.
Which doesn't seem an unreasonable request … he has already spent 40 days fasting but actually Jesus knew that there is more to life than the physical things of life.

Then there is the question of worship – Jesus worshiping satan … could you imagine the consequences of that? Worship … what we give our everything to is so important.

Then there is question of showmanship and fame … Jesus wasn't going to create a spectacle

A few things from Jesus' temptations to look at …

firstly he knew his Bible … this might seem a bit obvious … he is God's Son afterall …of course he knew his Bible ... Well yes he is but it was in his Childhood that Jesus learnt the things of God – In Chapter 2 of Luke's Gospel there is a wee verse which I Love … Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men. He was in the synagogue each week.

Last tuesday the Rector and myself were away at the Diocesan Clergy Quiet day, (an oxymoron??)where the Bishop of our link diocese Albany was leading us through the devotions … one thing he said which jumped out at me... Jesus the Son of God placed immense importance of coming along week by week to the place of worship … which got me thinking about … did he enjoy going?, what about sermons … did the preachers always get it right when he was sitting in the congregation?,
what did he think about the people leading … surely he could have done better himself! ... However it went what we do know is that he had a sure grasp of what is right and what was wrong in God's law from what was said in worship and what he studied at home.

What we see of Jesus' life and ministry from the gospels is only the tip of the iceberg of all that went on in his life, like us what we present to each other each sunday, or to our friends and our work collegues during the week is only a very small percentage of what is going on in our lives, or has been in our past.

Jesus' foundation was sure, Luke spends a few chapters outlining his background, the things that are below the waterline in Jesus' life so that when the wilderness experience comes he has the resources to draw upon. When he is alone, when he is at his most vulnerable he knows who he is and what resources are important.

This is crucial.

In life we prepare for lots of things:
In case of thieves we put in alarms
In case of something happening to our cars and homes we put in insurance
In case of fire we put in smoke alarms
In case of unexpected visitors we pack our cupboards full of food

How are we going to cope for wilderness times?
– By wilderness I mean times when
somewhere where one does not want to be,
somewhere where there is danger,
uncertainty and where the individual seems completely on their own.

In our world today, when we look around at the context in which we are living, so many people are searching for meaning, searching for “the promised land” of happiness. This promised land for some is thought to be the next high, the next club, the next job promotion but actually we as Christians know that peace, that promised land can only be found in a relationship.

As we walk through, as the psalmst puts it … through the valley of the shadow of death, or through the tough times wether it be illness or other types of trial whatever that may be… what resources do you or I have to call upon to sustain us, to protect us.

I have mentioned before in sermons the image of the iceberg where only the tip of it shows ... 50%-99% is below the waterline. In our lives it is the things that we put into place below the waterline as Christians are important and will dictate how we respond and cope with the wilderness times when they arrive in our lives.
The first thing in our relationship with God – do we have one, do we trust in that relationship, do we prioritise it? Prayer for others, for ourselves are we prepared to ask for prayer?,

Then our reading of the Bible – do we know what is in its covers? Are we prepared to study it? Are we prepared to ask questions about what we read? Why not get together with a few friends and study it together? Why not come to our parish Bible study on a wednesday evening?

Then there is coming to church – do we enjoy coming to church? Getting involved in the church community is so important, for fellowship, for connecting with others, when you come to church what are you taking away with you? One of the things I a certainly very keen and open for is people to chat about the readings, I'm very happy to chat to anyone during the week about things I have spoken about on Sunday's from the pulpit.

We also need to rest in the promises in the words of scripture:
New Living Translation (©2007)
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure
1 corinthians 10:13

2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation,


Each one of us, I am sure can identify areas in our lives where we fail, where we again and again would love to get sorted out. Also we may know others perhaps in our own families or friends who we have a desire to see get sorted out. I wonder this lent when we ask the question how are you are we prepared to make the change required- are we strong enough to make the changes ourselves, to remove whatever we may be going through and run with perseverance the race laid out before us.

What priorities do we need changed? , What preparations are we making for the wilderness times?

In Hebrews Chapter 4 we read
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



In time of help and need let us cling to Jesus, But also let us remember the God is not just there for the wilderness but also whilst we are dwelling in the promised land.



Let us pray

Late Evening Office - St. Columba's Parish Church Sunday 14th Feb 2010 @ 7pm

Bible Text

John 12: 27-36a

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people* to myself.’ 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah* remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ (NRSV)

Sermon

Let us pray,
Help us O Lord to apply your word to our lives, your teaching to our circumstances – Help us O Lord to be disciples living each day learning from you. In Jesus NameAmen.

Spec-savers have a new ad on TV running at the moment – an older couple have taken their cheese sandwiches to the beach for a nice day out they find an empty seat with a view of the sea. And suddenly their whole world changes as the bars come down and suddenly they are propelled round a very big roller coaster. Twists and its turns, it propelling the higher and higher round and round at all sorts of angles. Eventually the ride stops and they get off. The husband says to his wife …that was strange cheese.



Sometimes life can feel like a rollercoaster, sometimes its stationary, not moving, then suddenly something unexpected happens, we feel we are not in control – sometimes it can get very scary indeed, sometimes life is moving so fast we want it to slow down, other times we are really enjoying life, othertimes we just want to get off, sometimes we enjoy the views.

The life of Jesus' disciples could be described as a rollercoaster – sometimes they were really enjoying being with Jesus, some great teaching everybody happy, then times of adventure as they are sent out, scary times when they encountered evil or felt like they were going to die when jesus was sleeping in the boat admist the storm, moutain top times, such as the transfiguration when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah or when they saw Lazarus raised from the dead. But there were disapointments and discouargements along the way – Jesus kept talking to them about when he would die, he was ready to die …. this is not what they wanted to hear … this was definitely a time when the disciples and the wider crowd wanted keep him quiet this wasn't the way the messiah was ment to behave.

The roller coaster, the dramatic ups and downs of life, the tight corners, the changes in direction leave us all unsettled, perhaps daunted ...asking what is life about?, what should I do?.


In our reading this evening we see ups and down as Jesus speaks to the crowd

At the beginning we see Jesus – uncharacteristically down – Now my soul is troubled he said .. but a corner is turned … should I say save me … no – he yields to the father's will which is a high point … the reading progresses through Jesus explaining what will happen. He knows that things are uncertain at this time but appeals to the crowd to stay … in the light.

In Johns Gospel Jesus teaches much about darkness and light and the contrast between them.

Darkness in Johns Gospel is seen as … uncertainty, death, sin, not of God

In the great chapter one the distinction is drawn between darkness and light
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not

In tonight's reading we see that we are all called to become Children of light. We are called to overcome darkness, we are called to overcome all that darkness means – sin, death

I wonder how we are all doing … I started off by thinking about a roller coaster … ups and downs, tight corners, scared, afraid of what is ahead. Jesus, as he looked at the road he must travel down was troubled but he did not loose focus, he did not say I don't want to do this, he did not say … “im your son get me out of here” ... what he did say was … father glorify your name.

In our world today – there is so much darkness – turn on the news and you see sin so prevelent, so much darkness in the mindsets of people, so many lives who see nothing but despair, grief, uncertainty and sadness.

However our reading tonight calls us to be people, disciples living a different way … people whose hope and trust is in God, people who are living as children of the light, people with purpose, with love, who face the darkest of nights with the knoweldge that whoever they encounter, whatever they come across, whatever they face they know that Jesus will help them through.

This is not simply wishful thinking but it is core to the Christian faith – Jesus knew the darkest of places and he knew how to overcome the darkness with light. Last week, at our dedication Bishop Harold spoke on the worry we can have and Jesus saying that we are not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. So often our attention is drawn to worry about the darkness,
worry about all kinds of things which may or may not happen.

As disciples, we need not worry about the darkness but rather be living as children of light, of getting on with the business of the things which God has called us to do. Of getting out into our dark communities, of loving our neighbours, caring for those who are lonely, of strengthening our Christian faith, praying, reading our bibles, getting to know strangers in our church, of living out our faith wherever we are.

Let us trust God, that he has a plan for our lives, not wasting time worrying but rather living life to the full. When we do that, when we talk about our faith, when we live out our faith – life becomes an adventure, when we focus on darkness it is very difficult to see light. But if we are focused on the light, when we are living in the light – we can have a profound effect on the darkness around us.

Are we prepared to live life to the full?

Let us pray.

Prayers

Jesus said "Now my soul is troubled"

We pray for all those within our community who today can relate to this … those who have troubles, worries, concerns and issues of whatever kind. We remember how the disciples journeyed with Jesus through the highs and lows of life. How they supported each other, how they allowed Jesus' teaching to inform their actions when faced with difficulties

We recall the fact that Jesus did not take the easy road, he did not promise a problem free life but what he did promise that he would be with us, that he is able to walk with us through the darkness and through the despair.

Jesus in our reading challenged us to live as "Children of Light"

We pray for the challenge to all those, including ourselves, who call ourselves Christian to live as Children of light, ridding ourselves of the sin which so easily entangles and to run the race with perseverence.

O Lord you know that it is not easy to stand up for what is right, to find time in the busy-ness of life to prioritise reading the Bible and praying. Help us Lord to do the things you would have us do, help us to cut out the the things of darkness in our lives and transform us to be beacons for you wherever we may find our selves this week.

In Jesus name we pray
Amen

The Body of Christ ... in this place

A sermon preached at 10:30am Service Sunday 24th January
May the words of my mouth and the mediatations of our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O lord our strength and our redeemer – Amen.

The Human body is an amazing creation … just some facts about it gleaned from various sources

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In our epistle reading this morning Paul writing to to Corinthians goes to great lengths in his imagery to portray a vision of fully functional, active and co-ordinated church community. Where each member is playing their part and where all are working together in common purpose

If you look at the passage – you will see the background of church members is not important –
Jews or Greeks,
slave or free – they were all baptised into one body.

Then we have the working of this body – because one is a hand, it can't say because I am not an eye I'm not part of the Body

If we look at the Human body when all parts are functioning well the whole body is healthy and active.

As we all know when something is up – even with a very small part it disturbs the other parts.

From personal experience in the autumn after my accident on my bike in my elbow … it stopped me from doing some things. When you are sick – it impedes you from fulfilling your potential. Part of my job entails me going into hospital and visiting those who are ill. Usually when people are in hospital there is a bit of frustration of not being able to do whatever they are used doing.

But on the other hand when you are fully healthy and active – the human body is able to do amazing things – Just think of the accomplishments which have happened in the last 100 years

Astronauts in space
Usain Bolt set a new 100m world record by clocking 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix meeting in New York. 2008
Sir Edmund Hillary -29 May 1953. Everest

And not just the physical – but in the world of thought, science, technology.

The body is an amazing creation – it can accomplish much.
The challenging part to all of this is we are called to be a part of a body ourselves … every single one of us. We are all called. The question is are we prepared to play our part.

In St. Columba's here today we see people using their time and their talents to serve.

When you came in you were greeted by sides people & Church wardens,
the organist was playing,
the choir sang,
a reader read the epistle,

Behind the scenes – we have a select vestry, fundraising, glebe wardens, parish secretary, committees who run various organisations, prayer chain praying for those who are ill

lots of people playing their part in their own ways. And that is great. The Body is working well in St Columba's

The challenge for each one of us is how we can improve, how we can encourage others who are part of this church to get themselves involved. There is a part for everyone to play. And it should be all our vision to encourage each other and those outside to get involved.
Today as you will see from your Pew News – our church is the focus for the diocese prayer and we have asked for prayer for three very important aspects of our ministry.

The first: For all involved in the ministry and witness of St. Columba's as we serve God in our parish and community

It is vitally important that we acknolwedge all the really great work that is going on in this parish and pray for each other.

In the confines of this parish we have a rich variety of gifts, talents, experience. Day by day parishioners here have links to so many different people. Each of us has the potential to change lives – to speak words of encouragement, to show our Christian Faith in action.

I wonder how on a daily basis do we use our gifts and our circumstances as followers of Christ?

The second prayer which people are praying for us today is - For God's guidance and direction as we reach out to those parishioners outside parish life

In our reading we cannot say to another part of the body we dont need you –
there are many people in our parish who are on our list but are not taking an active role in the body – and this is sad …

...can you imagine if your foot our even your little finger decided to stop working … for no reason or if there was a reason would you not want to get it looked at?

In St Columbas there is room for everyone, imagine if everyone played their part. We have around 650 families on our books could you imagine what we could do as a church if everyone got involved and used their skills, talents and their insights.

At the moment, as you will see from the Magazine the Rector and I are visiting all houses – whether they be active members of the body or not. We can only do so much.

It is the responsibility of everyone to talk about St. Columba's, to encourage and to invite your friends, your family along, to come up with ideas as to what we can do to reach those parishioners outside parish life, to get them involved. So much in our world today is about personal recommendation and experience.

The third prayer point is around fundraising for causes and for the upkeep of the parish - For our fundraising initiatives as we support Mission and Charity work at home and overseas and raise money for our Building Fund

All of this is so important, that the body all of us play our part in the ministry and mission of the church here in St. Columba's and beyond.

---
As we come to celebrate Holy Communion today, at the heart of this sacrament is the knowledge that we are all parts of the one body, whoever we are, whatever we do during the week, we are all different yes but we are all called to work together for the well being of each other.

Let us celebrate being together, let us also encourage those members who are absent for whatever reason.
And let us remember that we can be answer to the prayers which people are praying this week.

Amen

Bowling

One of the activities I am growing to enjoy at St. Columba's is the Bowling Club on a Monday evening. Apparently, somehow I am now vice-president of it ... not sure how that happened but it is good to be out and about with the Men. We have just returned from St. Donard's where we managed a convincing win 51-25 I think was the final score.

Thankfully, stragetically they placed me as first on the mat each time which is a good tactic! not knowing really what I am doing at the moment. The craic around bowls matches is good and fellowship & conversations are good. Getting to know people and build up relationships socially within the parish is an important part of what ministry is about. Next week the team is over in Stormont Presbyterian - Looking forward to that :-)