"Facts that strengthen our Faith"

I shared these thoughts with the Parkrose Nursing Home Church congregation recently and both Renmark Uniting Churches.
This version was presented at Parkrose. It was slightly different at Renmark.
Below the sermon is the order of service and the Bible Reading.

SERMON

How are you going in the Faith department?

If you’re anything like me I often don’t have much.

I wish I could be more believing more often,

more effective as a Christian.

For some of us,

when we started our Christian life,

it was all very exciting and new.

It was for me.

God’s Holy Spirit had spoken to me about my need for salvation and need of our Saviour Jesus.

I was under conviction for 3 years before I became a Christian at 28.

 but at the time I could see how He was reaching out to me much earlier than that.

Some of us may have had a subsequent period in our lives,after we became a Christian, when we were “on fire for the Lord” as some would say.

Very involved,

attending this service and that,

this convention and that,

listening to prominent speakers,

attending Bible Studies,

sharing our faith with all who would listen,

Sometimes whether they wanted to hear us or not.

Singing in the choir,

taking up leadership roles in our Church.

And then some things might have come along to cause us to stumble a bit.

Relationship break ups,

the onset of chronic illness,

tragedies all around.

You might have worked out previously in your thinking,

like me,

 how God was going to give you a perfect life.

But like me your faith may have started to wain when challenges came.

Maybe we were  starting to become a bit sceptical and beginning to think our non Christian friends might be right.

They didn’t believe and maybe thought we were a bit delusional even though they still liked us.

They came up with questions that you didn’t always have answers for.

You were quite confident there were answers but found it hard to find them when needed.

They couldn’t see how Christians could have any fun and maybe you were starting to believe them.

Some of course who are here today have come from all sorts of Christian backgrounds.

For some our Faith is something that quietly started somewhere and then just grew over the years.

It may have been a slow and steady experience and you really just enjoyed and still do, being a Christian.

For some as we get older and come into places like this we know we are not that far off from passing to the next life.

We might ,even though we are advanced in years, still be searching for answers and assurance about what happens next.

We might be wanting a faith that works that will carry us through.

Well if what I have been describing resonates with you,

or is something you have experienced,

or even still are,

then I think today's passage can bring us some comfort.

A boost to our faith if you like.

We should always hope to leave a Church service feeling better than when we came in.

That can be if we allow God to touch us. 

My prayer is that will be our experience today,

Here are 4 things I think today's reading can help get us back on track.

1. The Fact of Jesus rising from the dead.

^1.8 Don’t ever forget the wonderful fact that Jesus Christ was a man, born into King David’s family; and that he was God, as shown by the fact that he rose again from the dead.

This passage is reminding us of the foundation of our faith which is a fact.

 A fact born about by History and Literature and the Word of God and God’s Holy Spirit.

And the testimony of those who knew Him when He physically walked this earth.

People will dispute this.

But the evidence is outstanding to those who are not prejudiced about becoming Christians.

You see many people, who are never likely to believe, are wanting to protect their right to be who they want to be.

That really means to sin without being accountable to God.

This blinds them from ever wanting to examine the evidence with an open mind.

Their minds are largely closed.

Some such people however may still be touched by God’s Holy Spirit even though it is against their wills.

After all such were some of us.

2.  We will be living in Heaven with Jesus. In a sense we are already.

¹¹ I am comforted by this truth, that when we suffer and die for Christ it only means that we will begin living with him in heaven. ¹² And if we think that our present service for him is hard, just remember that some day we are going to sit with him and rule with him.

This passage is a reminder that the best is yet to come.

That God has a purpose right now for everyone of us.

Suffering is something we are much more able to endure when we have all the promises God has for us and that He will keep.

And this following passage is a great encouragement when our faith is failing and weak.

3.God is faithful to us.

¹³ Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us.
God is aware of our human frailty.
He will and has already imparted His faith to us.
My mum used to love that little poem called footprints.
That is a very good scriptural example of what God, Jesus, is doing for us when we are that weak that our Faith is almost gone.
He will safely and faithfully escort us on through these tough times and over the hurdles we face.

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

And this last bit from today’s passage is encouraging those of us who can, to encourage one another.

4.

¹⁴ Remind your people of these great facts, and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless and even harmful. ¹⁵ Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.

 We need to keep working on our Faith,

reading the Bible when we can,

attending Church here and other activities such as the hymn singing and communion services during the week.

Talk to each other about your faith.

How you’re feeling maybe exactly how someone else is and you can work together to lighten the burden.

We are told also to avoid arguing.

It’s sad but there was for sometime, an argument going on as to who actually was the author of the poem footprints.

The simple fact is that God actually wrote it not word for word, but in truth, in His Bible

Conclusion.

So is our Faith weak?

Does our faith need to be stronger?

In simple truth it doesn’t really matter.

If you are a Christian you are God’s Child.

We have a sign on our mantelpiece.

“GOD,  I am in your Hands.

I know you won’t drop me.”

He won’t.

That’s a fact.

We will now sing our last Hymn.

Can you guess what that might be?

Parkrose service13/10/19

Welcome

Call to worship: 

Hymn: “This is my Father’s World”  4v 

Announcements:

Bible Reading: 2 Tim 2:8-15                      

Hymn: “Great is thy Faithfulness”  3v 

Communion: 

Offering: 

Church Prayer:

Hymn:  “Now I belong to Jesus”  3v

Message:  “Facts that strengthen our Faith”

Hymn: “He’s got the whole world in His hands” 5v 

Benediction and Vesper: Now unto Him 

2 Timothy 2:8-15 Living Bible (TLB)

⁸ Don’t ever forget the wonderful fact that Jesus Christ was a man, born into King David’s family; and that he was God, as shown by the fact that he rose again from the dead. ⁹ It is because I have preached these great truths that I am in trouble here and have been put in jail like a criminal. But the Word of God is not chained, even though I am. ¹⁰ I am more than willing to suffer if that will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.
¹¹ I am comforted by this truth, that when we suffer and die for Christ it only means that we will begin living with him in heaven. ¹² And if we think that our present service for him is hard, just remember that some day we are going to sit with him and rule with him. But if we give up when we suffer, and turn against Christ, then he must turn against us. ¹³ Even when we are too weak to have any faith left, he remains faithful to us and will help us, for he cannot disown us who are part of himself, and he will always carry out his promises to us.
¹⁴ Remind your people of these great facts, and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless and even harmful. ¹⁵ Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.

Living Bible (TLB)

The Invasion of Planet Earth

This was the message I bought to the 2 Renmark Uniting Church congregations recently.

It is slightly different to how it was delivered.

The order of service and main Bible passage is after the sermon.

The Invasion of Planet Earth

What a title!

No! We are not talking about Martians.

We will find out who,what ,when and where shortly.

How did the world get in this mess that it is today?

How come it’s getting into an even bigger mess?

You look at our society in Australia and the rest of the world over say the last 50 years and it is remarkable how much evil and moral decay has set in.

Things that were once considered very immoral are now dismissed as a fair mode of doing things.

The world is full of people demanding their freedom to do whatever they like and they are winning these freedoms.

At their own cost and those around them.

Drug taking is rife and now we are having marihujana being made a legal drug in many parts of the world when medical evidence points quite clearly to its danger.

There are epidemics of things like “ice”.

Families and relationships are crumbling.

People rejoice when they win their so called freedoms but in reality they are putting themselves in bondage( to the devil).

And of course we have the rise of the pure evil of terrorism.

We have been invaded!

By the devil!

So who is the devil?

From the outset I will say it is 100% positive there is a devil and he is alive and active on planet earth.

How did he get here?

How has he got such a foothold and is doing so much damage?

Lucifer, meaning angel of light, was one of God’s created angels who decided he would try and usurp God as the ruler of the universe.

Lucifer is the devil(Satan).

He is not a guy with horns, a forked tail and a pitchfork.

We would soon run if we saw one of those.

He usually tempts us in the same way he did Adam and Eve.

“No harm will come to you. You will enjoy this.”

He is the one behind the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and is still our tempter.

Yes, Adam and Eve were our real initial parents created by God.

All people are descended from them.

Until the devil,the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve they had an idyllic life.

They were in direct fellowship with their creator and were thoroughly enjoying His creation and going about the jobs He had given them.

You can read about this in Genesis.

The whole scene is a blessed picture of peace.

We do not know how long this state of divine communion and mutual love continued.

All we do know is that the heart of God found a unique joy with those He had created.

Then out of nowhere appears this creature.

The invasion begins.

The serpent.

He may have looked like a snake.

This is recorded in Genesis Chapter 3.

Genesis 3King James Version (KJV)

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
⁹ And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Satan challenges Adam and Eve in a very beguiling way to disobey what God has asked of them.

They eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and immediately they are afraid and realised they are naked.

“I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid….and I hid myself” Genesis 3:10

Guilt and fear had simultaneously entered the world.

They hid themselves from God.

This word fear is the word for the emotion that has the whole world in bondage.

At that point the devil had invaded planet earth and  considered the invasion of planet earth was a great success.

    Fellowship was destroyed between man and God , man was driven out into the agony of existence,outside of the garden.

 God was lonely and all of Satan’s accomplices rejoiced.

Now there are many questions about why God would allow the devil and evil to enter the world.

The devil wanted more than the power and authority God had given him.

He wanted to be like god and worshipped as God.

We don’t know the answers to these questions.

The Bible however tells us what we need to know, not what we want to know.

We do know that for any creature to return God’s love they need to be given freedom to say yes or know.

The devil had been given this freedom also.

Before Jesus came,after the fall, God had not given up on mankind and still, as we read in the Old Testament, He gave instruction on Godly living and spoke through His prophets.

The Old Testament clearly foretells the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and then He arrives on earth as a baby born of a virgin.

We heard about that again in our Christmas services.

In the NT we learn of His miracle working life and His death on the cross and His resurrection.

The dying for our sins, the shedding of His blood as a sacrifice in our place.

The victory that He has won over the devil.

We learn of the authority, His authority, He gives to us to deal with evil and sin and the devil.

His authority over the devil is clearly shown in today’s Bible reading.

Now while we need to know much how to use the weapons ,spiritual weapons, God has given us, so that we are not ensnared like Adam and Eve were,

I just want to focus on one of those weapons today.

The devil does not want the world to seriously consider he exists.

He does not want the world to understand that the Bible is God’s revelation of His plan of redemption.

The word of God is one,and a very important one,
of God's mighty weapons.

The word of God!

“Hebrews 4:12King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
And from Ephesians 6.
^"17 And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."
Note the "helmet of salvation". 
We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle, against our invader, and use “the sword of the spirit” the “word of God.”

So we have been hearing today of how the devil invaded the earth and the minds of men and women.

The devil who is the driving force behind all the evil and rebellion in the world.

So one of the simple ruses of the evil one is to convince people that the first 3 chapters of Genesis, where we read about this invasion, are a myth.

In Genesis 3 we see the plan and purpose of satan in his attack in the garden and his unique pattern he follows in all his assaults on mankind.

Now the theory of evolution is a neat package to help further the devil’s cause.

It is used by many to attack the credibility of the Bible.

If people can be convinced the true story of creation and the temptation by the devil is a myth, then why wouldn’t they accept the rest of the Bible’s message as a fairy tale.

Now just a personal note and for consideration.

I was still believing in evolution when I became a Christian.

I thought at first that God had caused evolution but the more I looked into it the more I came to dismiss that theory.

It is still a theory, not a fact.

Folks evolution is the fairy tale.

I am not knocking science.

There is true science and false science.

If it were not for medical science I possibly wouldn’t be standing here today.

One fairy tale we know of is of the Frog Prince who is awakened from his curse by the kiss of a beautiful maiden.

The only difference between  that fairy tale and the theory of evolution is several million years.

No amount of years, however how many millions, will turn a frog, a fish or a monkey or any other creature into a man.

The much maligned Charles Darwin was one of the main culprits behind getting this theory off the ground.

He started off a Christian but became agnostic much to his Bible believing wife’s despair.

According to the book,”The Kiwi’s Egg”she believed the Genesis account of creation.

They remained faithfully married to each other all their lives but you can read about their conflict in the book.

Christians,

 believe the Bible!

every word of it!

It is a matter of life and death.

For all of us.

Take it at Faith value.

So the one thing?

The one weapon of God we can all use.

The word of God.

The Bible.

We should read it and study it.

 If you are challenged by today’s message take some steps to thoroughly investigate the evidence for the truth of the first chapters of Genesis.

Then share what you find whenever you can,

even though some may ridicule you.

A caution though,

share it when you have thoroughly studied the subject.

Know what you are talking about.

Become a champion for the Word of God.

The Bible.

You need to study your Bible thoroughly.

The devil knows the word of God,

 the scriptures,

 and tried to trick Jesus by misquoting it when Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness by the devil.

Jesus countered all his arguments with scripture in correct context.

Promote the Bible as the whole truth,

including the story in Genesis of our creation,

and the part the devil plays in the fall of man.

So folks, particularly the younger people, study the word of God.

Find out that reputable scientists also believe the Bible and its Creation account rather than Evolution.

We are not here by chance but by a deliberate act of God.

There are many fine books and Christian documentaries on this subject.

Older people here, it is equally as important no matter how old you are to make sure you are right with God.

Don’t allow your faith to be nullified by the devil’s lies.

Just last weekend at the Parkrose Village Church service I was sitting next to a little lady,

 she is 94,

who told me that this,

meaning Christian fellowship and the Gospel message,

was what she had been longing for.

I think it was her first day in our church service.

A new resident.

She told me she had done much wrong in her life and did not think herself worthy to be in the same room with all the other worshipers there.

She said she desperately needed to do something about being forgiven.

I prayed with her and assured her that the first step to getting right with God is repentance.

I also assured her she would be accepted by the people present.

I arranged for her to have a follow up meeting with the Village chaplain who had been leading the service that day.

What surprised me was that this was a service attended by about the same amount of people as here, many in their 90’s.

It was just a simple service like this.

We did have communion incorporated into the service which always reminds us of Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross for us.

There were no bells and whistles, people leaping and praising God, which is the impression you can get in some modern churches.

Obviously the Holy Spirit was working in her life at the late age of 94.

Where 2 or 3 are gathered in Jesus name then He is in the midst of them.

He was there speaking to this lady.

^{Ephesians 6:17 says this.
"17} And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."

We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle with satan.

Maybe the Holy Spirit is speaking to someone here today who may over the years may simply have been going through the outward motions of being Christian.

The outward motions but no inner stirring or change.

No recognition that we are all sinners and need to be reconciled to God,

and seeing the need to share that with others.

If young or older people here today are stirred by God’s Holy Spirit, don’t delay making a decision for Jesus or a rededication and re affirming of your faith.

Folks don’t allow the devil in his subtle ways,to  steer you away from Jesus.

Jesus has all authority over the devil and defeated him once and for all on the cross.

When Jesus lives in us we have that same authority.

We do need to exercise it and not just keep the seat warm in Church.

I close with this reading.

Luke 10:17-20

Living Bible
¹⁷ When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Even the demons obey us when we use your name.”
¹⁸ “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! ¹⁹ And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy----------²⁰ However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”

Let us take on the invasion of planet earth in our part of the world.

Amen

 

Order of Service for Renmark 28/1/18 

Call to worship and Opening Prayer. 

Hymn: “How Great thou Art”

Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving

Hymn: “Jesus the name high over all”  AHB 150

Bible readings: Mark 1:21-28

Offering and Prayer: Geoff

Hymn: “Be thou my guardian and my guide” AHB 498

Bible reading: Genesis 3:1-13

Sermon: “Invasion of Planet Earth”.

Hymn: “I will sing the wondrous story” AHB 173

Benediction: and Vesper

May or Lord God of Peace, bless and keep you forever.

Bible Reading: Mark 1: 21-28

²¹ Jesus and his companions now arrived at the town of Capernum and on Saturday morning went into the Jewish place of worship—the synagogue—where he preached. ²² The congregation was surprised at his sermon because he spoke as an authority and didn’t try to prove his points by quoting others—quite unlike what they were used to hearing!^[h]
23 A man possessed by a demon was present and began shouting, ²⁴ “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth—have you come to destroy us demons? I know who you are—the holy Son of God!”
²⁵ Jesus curtly commanded the demon to say no more and to come out of the man. ²⁶ At that the evil spirit screamed and convulsed the man violently and left him. ²⁷ Amazement gripped the audience and they began discussing what had happened.
“What sort of new religion is this?” they asked excitedly. “Why, even evil spirits obey his orders!”
²⁸ The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee.

The Road to Jerusalem by Geoff Thompson

This message was recorded at the Renmark West Uniting Church on Palm Sunday 2016.

I speak as a lay preacher a few times a year in the Renmark West and Renmark Town Church.

The pictures with audio are just so I can upload the audio to youtube.

 I recorded this on my iphone.I also have a blog called geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au

My youtube channel is at pembridgehouse.

The Big Question

What must I do to be saved?
Below is a link to a youtube audio  of this message given to the Renmark West and Renmark Uniting Churches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTWmEuV9W40

The Rich Man and Lazarus by Geoff Thompson

On the weekend of 27/10/13 I had the privilege of being guest speaker at 2 Church Services in Renmark,South Australia.
The churches were the Renmark West Uniting Church and Renmark(Town) Uniting Church.
This has come about becuase when visiting my wife's Renmark family reasonably frequently we have attended Renmark West Church with her mother.
The Uniting Church has long had lay people preach in their services.
WEhen it became known hat I occasionally spoke at services in Adelaide I was asked if I could help out from time to time in Renmark.
This weekend was the second time I have spoken in Renmark.
It has been a really wonderful privilege to share with people in both of these churches.
Church is a great place and institution for many reasons.
Worshipping God,fellowship,christian instruction, and much more.
These are indoor Church experiences.
I am equally in awe of God and His creation when in the great outdoors of Australia.
Some say, like my late father in law, that the outback was their Cathedral.
The music of the birds, the wind and colour and wildlife bring me closer to God.
Indoor Church was Sunday.
Outdoor Church was on the Saturday before when I went with my mother in law to the Sunset National Park  for a picnic and drive.
God's majesty was on display there and also closer to home.
Below are some pics and also an outline of the sermon I presented on Sunday.

-->

Sermon  for Renmark 27/10/13

Scripture.   Luke 16:19-31

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

 

Over the years when I have tried to talk to people about their need for salvation , the gaining of heaven and the avoidance of hell, this is a common retort I have been given.

“No one has ever come back to tell us what happens after death.”

But in actual fact Jesus has done just that.

Jesus Himself rose from the dead after His crucifixion and also then appeared to the disciples and others  in His resurrected body.

He had meals with them and talked with them.

Thomas of “Doubting Thomas” fame is reported to have claimed He would not believe  until He saw Jesus himself.

When he did meet Jesus and saw His nail pierced hands , he believed.

The evidence to him must have been overwhelming.

But Jesus blessed Thomas and told him how blessed he was to have seen and believed but even more blessed were those who were not to see but still believed.

That means us of course who have not seen in person the living resurrected Lord Jesus.

A friend of mine has told me over recent months that he can’t believe until he has seen for himself in effect, Jesus standing in front of Him.

I have argued with him that even a blind person can believe in Jesus but can never physically see anyone.

My friend has also argued how can you believe anything is there if you can’t see it.

I have then said well you watch TV and listen to the Radio but you can’t see those electricity waves or tv signals in the air but they are there.

Our radios and TVs or computers of course translate the signal for us to visibly see or hear the result.

Think of the marvel of the internet where we can now be instantly in touch with anyone any where in the world and also actually see them on a screen and talk to them.

All those waves of communication as they travel through the air and even outer space cannot be seen until they are received in a device of some sort specifically designed for the job.

It is of interest in the book of Job that  God foretold these means of communication centuries before they became possible.

He was reminding Job of His sovereignty and absolute power over the whole of creation.

The marvels of His creation.

Job 38: 1. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

² “Who is this that obscures my plans
    with words without knowledge?
³ Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.

Reading furher down;

Job 38:35       Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
                          Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

Or as another translation puts it

“Who among you can send lightnings and say I am here or there?”

This is communication as we know it today.

The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing,hearing the Word of God.

By hearing the word of God for a period of 3 years, hiding in the back corner of the Church,I became convinced this must be really God speaking and He has a plan for me and anyone else who will listen.

I was hearing the Bible regularly read out and the minister expanding on the passages.

I heard enough to take a calculated leap of faith.

It was not blind faith as some like to describe Christians and their faith.

But faith does not come by seeing the Bible says.

“faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

In my own l conversion to Christianity I came to faith as I had committed as part of my marriage, to attend Church with my Bible believing Christian wife and my eyes were opened.

Even someone rising from the dead today will not convince anyone of their need to respond to Jesus.

Human nature will always find and excuse or argument to get around even something like that.

Why?

Because it is not in our nature to put ourselves under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We want to be “captains of our souls and masters of our fate”

A very smart and eloquent turn of  phrase but if followed it leaves us bankrupt when we depart this earth and often in his life.

We do want to demand our right to our selves.

To be captain and master.

Our Creator is the only one who can set us free from the law of sin and death.

If you have never said yes to  Jesus in your life it is not too late.

If you have said yes to Him have you really turned your life over to

Him.

The apostle Paul tells us that the unspiritual man is blinded and cannot see or experience the miracle of new birth and faith until he or she makes that step of faith.

We were all in that state ie. Blinded, if we are Christians ,until we said yes to Jesus.

We see a very sad story in our scripture brought to us today.

There is a rich man, we are not told his name, and a poor man named Lazarus.

(There is another story in the NT of a rich young ruler asking Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and also another story of another Lazarus being raised from the dead)

Back to these two.

They had both died and “passed on”  as we describe death today.

The rich man is dismayed when he can see the poor man Lazarus enjoying the company of Abraham in Heaven.

The rich man is in torment in Hades or if you like Hell.

Theologians of course argue about Hades and Hell.

We won’t explore that argument today.

It seems to me on reading this passage that the rich man is stuck for eternity.

Abraham tells him there is no hope of crossing over to where he is.

He,the rich man, apparently can converse with Abraham and begs him to send Lazarus back to earth to tell his family in the hope that they will be spared from where he is.

Abraham points out that if the rich man’s family had listened to the prophets  and Moses and acted on the message  they would have been able to avoid the rich man’s predicament.

He goes on to say if they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from the dead.

The rich man had obviously not heeded God’s commandments through Moses and the Prophets.

And this is true of all mankind today.

Ie. As we now have the word of God as explained in the New Testament.

It has been revealed that we now live in the age of grace,not the age of the Law that these two lived under.

As I listened in Church   to the Word of God faithfully expanded on ,and explained, and the actual words of God  read out, I grew into a believer.

Those words of God were touching my soul,my heart, they were reaching in and ministering at a deeper level than I had known before.

And I did have some deep needs that had seen me floundering in life as a 20 year old.

After 3 years of listening I made a conscious decision to let Jesus into my life.

I was 28 at the time.

I have never been disappointed in that decision made nearly 40 years ago.

I have experienced nothing that can assure me there is a better answer for all our fears and frailties than the living, resurrected Lord Jesus.

I have experienced much that convinces me even further. 

That doesn’t mean life has been a bed of roses.

There is a huge chasm separating us from God unless we accept the living way Jesus has prepared for us.

He is “the bridge over troubled water”

Some of us can remember the Simon and Garfunkel song of that name.

The way of salvation that was open to the rich man and Lazarus is different to  what is available to anyone who has been born since the day of penetcost.

We are living under a new covenant.

The message of today’s reading is very relevant to us in that we need to respond to Jesus and the message of the New Testament.

I realise that in a place like this I may be preaching to  the converted.

But I am one of those converted people and  I too need to make room for Jesus in the busyness and sometimes sillyness and laziness of my life.

Have you any room for Jesus in your life?

We need to give Jesus His rightful claim to our lives for our immediate and future well being now, not before it is too late.

My wife Lesley and I were married in the Cong Church here in Renmark in 1971.

One of our guests was my late Grandmother who apart from my mother was a hugely influential and much loved person in my life.

She was very frail and unwell at our wedding.

We went to live in Darwin straight after our marriage and we had only been their a short while when my Dad rang one night and said my Grandma had died.

I wasn’t a Christian at he time although coi- incidently we had a  room full of Christians in our house on that night.

I never had talked to her about God that I know, not much any way.

She had given me a Bible for a Christmas present on one occasion.

Years later I found in her Bible,(hold up) some important verses underlined.

One was John 1:12

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God,even to them that believe on His name.

There is a big gulf between my grandma and I at the moment but Jesus has provided the bridge to walk over.

He has also provided the bridge between us and God.