The Truth of the Gospel

Continuing Salvation-Becoming the best person you can be.

The Christian Hope a pod cast featuring the late Pastor Frank Hunting

God deals with us personally(as individuals). by Harold Long

Pistol Pete Maravich. Christian Testimony.

Pistol Pete Maravich is arguably the best ever basketball player.Search on youtube for some of the documented highlights.Amazingly he quit basketball in his prime.He died when he was only 40.Not long before this his Christian testimony was recorded.This is an incredibly earnest presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.If you are not a Christian listen to this compelling story.If you listen right through you will be moved.

"Keeping Short accounts with God" by Geoff Thompson

This post is a transcript of the message I brought to the two Renmark Uniting Church Congregations on 9th July 2017.


ORDER OF SERVICE RENMARK 9/7/17 
Welcome : Geoff
Call to worship: Psalm 45:1-7 and prayer of invocation.
Hymn: “Jesus lover of my Soul” AHB 139
Bible Reading: Romans 7:15-25 (NIV)
Hymn:”O Love that wilt not let me go.” AHB 525
Offering:
Prayers of Repentance,Intercession, and confession
Hymn:“To God be the Glory.” AHB 85
Sermon: “Keeping short accounts with God.”
Hymn: ”What a friend we have in Jesus” AHB 165
Benediction:
Vesper: “May our Lord,God of Peace.” Edelweiss tune

SCRIPTURE READING

Romans 7:15-25

Romans 7:15-25New International Version (NIV)
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!



SERMON:”Keeping short accounts with God”

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

Do you wonder in dismay when you see someone in an AFl game just out of the blue, king hit someone and knock them out.

Usually the person will say that is just not my usual character.

“I am ashamed I did that.”

“I am so sorry.”

They usually have apologised before the day ends to the person they hit.

I can remember in my football days doing things I was immediately not proud of.

Do you find yourself,  as a committed Christian, that like the Apostle Paul, this is your ongoing experience?

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

Do you have days when you are feeling quite spiritually aware,
and in tune with God’s voice,

and His involvement in your life,

and yet,

other times where you can’t seem to touch base with Him,

and even sometimes don’t want to.

And when you don’t want to,

you feel guilty because you think

“I am a Christian, I shouldn’t think that way.”

When that’s happening you can feel like you are in a tug of war with God.

So we ask ourselves how real is my faith?

Am I really a Christian or am I just pretending?

Do I really believe what I tell people?

We have thoughts that come into our heads along the lines of “You call yourself a Christian, so how come you said that?”

Other thoughts we might have  might say “the Christian life is just too hard, why don’t I just live like everyone else does?”

The Apostle Paul was obviously having some battles when he wrote the words in Romans 7.

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

You can see we are in good company when we have similar thoughts.

So will we ever be free of all this too-ing and frow-ing in our minds?

Now to many people who observe us from a distance they might think we are wonderful Christians.

That can be because we are very good at making sure others don’t know about our secret sin or thoughts that are less than Christian.

We don’t want people to think ill of us.

We have a reputation after all!

I think back, and you can probably think of examples, where a fine  upright Christian person has been caught out for embezzelement and fraud.

Totally the opposite to how the person came across.

Were they just plain evil and deceitful?

The Bible teaches us as Christians that we have 5 enemies.

Sin

The flesh

The devil

death.

the world

Let’s deal with the flesh.

This is what Paul says.
“5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”

And he goes on to say :

“8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Note how three of our enemies are dispensed with here.

Sin, Death and the Flesh.

This has all been accomplished by Jesus on the Cross.

We do need to recognise this of course and make this real in our lives.

The “flesh” is where the enemy of mankind, the devil, attacks us.

He attacks us through

our minds,

our thoughts.

The things we look at,

the things we read,

the things we listen to,

our behaviour towards others;

So will we ever be free of temptation to do wrong?

No!

But we can be free of any power that temptation has over us.

We can claim the victory that our position in Christ has given us.

Paul gives us the answer.
It is found in other parts of the Bible also.

“9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.”
“but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 “

Abiding in Christ.

Walking in the Spirit

is the key to peace with God.

How do we do that?

We allow God to control our behaviour through His Holy Spirit.

We cultivate and develop right habits.

Habits like daily reading the Bible so that our minds become saturated with God’s will for us.

Habits of always seeking to forgive and not condemn.

The habit of giving up our right to ourselves!

Always wanting to be served first!

get special favour above everyone else!

We might see where some Christian we know is failing in their Christian walk.

Usually we can only see where someone else is failing because we have the same sin in our own lives.(finger pointing exercise)

It is not for us to criticise or condemn but to intercede on their behalf.

So what about the devil?

The devil is still very active in the world today.

He attacks Christians through his accusations and life's circumstances.

But the devil is defeated.

He was defeated when Jesus was crucified.

Listen to this in Colossians 2:14-15

“He has forgiven you all your sins: Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it over his own head on the cross. And then having drawn the sting of all the powers ranged against us, he exposed them, shattered, empty and defeated, in his final glorious triumphant act!”

"And then having drawn the sting of all the powers ranged against us, he exposed them, shattered, empty and defeated, in his final glorious triumphant act!”

The Bible tells us we don’t fight with flesh and blood but principalities and powers in high places.

Those powers are the realm of the devil and they were dealt with on the cross.

We need to stand up to the devil  like a traffic cop has the authority to stop traffic.

We have all the authority of the Cross of Christ behind us.

So will we go on sinning?

that is very likely,

as human beings,

 tainted by the fall in the Garden of Eden.

But this is where our title comes in.

“Keeping short accounts with God!”

How do we keep our faith fresh and alive?

How do we keep these so called short accounts.

It’s called repentance.

We have someone we can turn to when we fail.

1 John 1: Living Bible
  5 This is the message God has given us to pass on to you: that God is Light and in him is no darkness at all. 6 So if we say we are his friends but go on living in spiritual darkness and sin, we are lying. 7 But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him,[a] he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.* 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a liar, for he says we have sinned.
1 John 2Living Bible (TLB)
2 My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin. But if you sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely. 2 He is the one who took God’s wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God; and he is the forgiveness for our sins,[a] and not only ours but all the world’s."

If we sin,

we recognise it,

we repent,

we forgive,

we confess,

we keep on with walking in God’s light.

Did I mention the world earlier as an enemy?

We have to live in the world and mix with the worldly,

but we don’t have to be part of it!

we don’t have to conform!

We have choices don’t we?

We can make these choices new each day.

Keeping Short accounts with God through our Saviour and Advocate,
the Lord Jesus Christ!

Just one real life example:
A well known Christian author,pastor and counsellor!

This was just one of his quotes.

He was a highly motivated and gifted Christian.

“Anger is a divinely implanted emotion. Closely allied to our instinct for right, it is designed to be used for constructive spiritual purposes. The person who cannot feel anger at evil is a person who lacks enthusiasm for good. If you cannot hate wrong, it's very questionable whether you really love righteousness.”

You see he was very much against evil,

 against what he did!

 I have some of this mans books and tapes of his sermons.

He was without doubt a very influential and wonderfully gifted teacher and counsellor.

I still value his teaching and books etc.

He fell from grace very badly.

He had an affair.

The good news is his wife forgave him and so did the Church, in time.

He had to take the same course that I have been outlining here.

Confession!

Repentance!

Acceptance of God’s grace!

And God has forgiven him!

He is now with His Lord.

None of us here are denied God’s grace.

The love of Jesus Christ!

Perhaps we should all check our overdue accounts!

Before I close I would just like to make an observation:

When I was about 20 I was overcome by a serious anxiety state or depression.

It was really because of feeling guilty about something.

It gave me some very serious physical and emotional problems.

Lesley at this time, suggested we go to Church and that might help.

This was before we were married.

The sermon was by a man who really belted out the Gospel.

I heard the word sin mentioned about every second word.

All the sermon did, as I heard it, was convince me I was a hopeless case.

Because I felt guilt I knew my problem was sin.

The trouble is I was so neurotic at the time I didn’t hear that a solution was also being offered.

All I was hearing was "the wages of sin is death"

I was thinking I had no hope to be relieved of these symptoms.

I was a hopeless case!

I wasn't hearing the part that says: "but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.!"

I came out of that Church feeling worst than when i went in.

Some 8 years later I fully understood what he was saying and was able to know the peace and forgiveness that Jesus brings.

My prayer and hope that today if there is someone here, who just like me so many years ago, is not really able to cope with all this sin talk, will go home and realise that while sin is a reality in everyone’s lives,

that Jesus indeed provides the way of escape as we have been learning.

and does choose to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Through:

 1Faith and Belief that Jesus is the Son of God,

2. Confession of sin.

3. Repentance

4. Acceptance that He is your only Saviour

5. And by being obedient in Baptism



AMEN!

PS. I have recorded this message and may put it up on youtube later.
If any would like a copy of the recording I can email it to you.

The Centrality of the Cross

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

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

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

from Jessie Penn-Lewis

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

Joy to the World

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

Parkrose Sermon 29 Dec 2012

Joy to the World, the Lord is come:

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

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

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

And yet we mostly fail to recognize his presence.

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

In the song we sung earlier  we sang

“ And heaven and Nature sing.”

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

So do we have joy or express it?

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

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

WHO ARE WE?

We are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14).


We do have something to share with the world.This passage tells us not to hide our light but let it shine.When we are being Joyful to the world that is what we are doing.

We are children of God (John 1:12).To all of us who have received Jesus he has given us the right to be called Children of God.What a privilege! We see exemplary people and parents in the spotlight from time to time and might say I wish my parents had been or are like them.But we are children of God himself.That should make us leap for joy.

We are members of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30). We are here today as a body of believers.What a privilege to be part of His body, the Church.

We are citizens of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6).
According to the Bible we are already seated and guaranteed a seat in Heaven with Jesus.It is something that has already happened before our earthly passing.

Is that a cause for Joy or not?

We are joint heirs with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rom. 8:17).
Inheritance humanly speaking can be a wonderful gift from our own families.Think of what it means though to be a joint heir with Jesus.That is hard to imagine but surely a cause for Joy.

We are one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5).


Last Sunday we attended the Activate Church at Bowden where one our sons and his wife and their 2 boys attend.The Sunday school children did a little play.Our grandson Lucas was dressed up as a construction worker.He was carrying a big papermache boulder.His role involved dropping the rock on the platform and declaring “On this rock I will build My Church!” He announced it with gusto and the whole church burst into applause.

Isn’t it exciting to be a one of the living stones chosen by Jesus to be His disciples on this earth in our communities. A real cause for joy.

Jesus rules the World with Truth and Grace.

His Righteousness is glorious.

His love is wonderful.

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

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

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

We may have lost love ones.

And yet Jesus is still Lord over all.

His grace has been more than sufficient to enable us to cope with what may have just happened this last year and certainly what may be ahead of us.

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

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

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

JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME

COMMUNION TALK

Have you ever wished you were someone else?

Someone who seemingly had it all together?

Confidence?

Charisma?

Wealth?

Physical good looks?

Popularity?

Good Job?

Lots of friends?

Wonderful family life?

Great House?

Would these things make us happy?

Would we be full of joy?

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

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

The Truth is Jesus.

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

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

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

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

Some people call that the Exchanged Life.

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

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

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

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

less I live; yet not I but

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

 the flesh I live by the faith

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

 Himself for me.”

      Galations 2:20

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.

A Christmas Message by Geoff Thompson

Below is the message I shared with the Renmark West and Renmark Town Uniting  Church on 22/12/13.
To any who read this blog I wish you a joyful and blessed Christmas.
Make it a time of celebration and renewed faith.

EMMANUEL:GOD WITH US AND FOR US.

First reading.Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[g] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

  

2^nd reading

Luke 1

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Have you ever thought about the real meaning of Christmas?

Christmas is becoming less real in the lives of many around the world.

Don’t you think?

We have just come back from a holiday to Canberra about 2 weeks ago.

While there we went one night to see a decorated house all  lit up with lights like some people do these days.

It was easily the most spectacular and glittering decorated house  we had ever seen.

Yet there was no evidence,no skeric of a Christian or biblical happening related to the real Christmas!

Not a thing?

We looked but couldn’t find a thing.

No nativity scene-----No angels----No shepherds-----no wise men-----no manger,no Mary,no Joseph,no Jesus.

A child visiting would be entranced but nothing of Christmas at all!

To defend Canberra however we went to a wonderful Carols by Candlelight with lots of traditional carols.

What is called Christmas these days and in the recent past has had little to do with the real Christmas.

The real Christmas had some of these elements in it.

A miracle birth.

The virgin Mary giving birth to a son conceived by the Holy Spirit.

God is now among us and is called Emmanuel and Jesus.

The word Emmanuel means God with us.

His birth has a future  impact on the eternal destiny of millions of people yet to be born and then present  and living at the time of His birth.

Now to the people who God called to be part of this Divine Drama.

Mary and Joseph.

Zacharias and Elisabeth.

Elisabeth  and Zacharias had longed for a child but this had never happened.

They must have felt like many who in this day think they must have done something wrong to not conceive.

Elisabeth was past the Child bearing age.

Yet God’s plans and ways are often much bigger than ours and in this case Elisabeth and Zacharia.

Elisabeth gave birth to John the Baptist who was very much part of this drama.

This  plan for mankind.

They Elisabeth and Zacharia  were humble people who loved God.

They were prepared to do whatever God asked of them.

God chose them!

Not anyone of the stature of a world or local celebrity!

Mary’s amazing response to the angel.

Total abandonment to God’s will!

“And Mary said,behold, the handmaid(or bondmaid) of the Lord:be it unto me according to thy word” Luke 1:38.

To the Lord I belong ,body and soul.It must be as you said: (paraphrase of Phillips translation)).

How many wonderful people does God have who live in total obscurity who love Him body and soul.

They are never in the spotlight.

Who among the great and the wise(?) religious leaders of that day would have picked Mary.

They would not have given her a second thought.

The more one ponders this remarkable event the more one is filled with wonder.

The choice is so accurate,

so right!

God knew the innermost being of Mary.

Body and soul God knew her to be His.

Here was a pure love for Him

A genuinely single love.

God knew that she loved Him with all her heart,mind and strength.

There was nothing else that she shared her devotion with.

There were many prominent people in Israel at that time yet God seems to have by passed most of them.

Is this a lesson for us?

Most of us serve God making allowance for the pressures bearing in upon us.

:what will happen if we do what God wants;

how will my popularity be affected?

 What will others think?

And so it goes on.

Our love of God is mostly a mixture of other things and devotion to God.

As Christians we are also ordinary people called and chosen by God.

We are called to be part of the Divine Drama.

The following verses are some of Lesley’s favourites and should be for us all.

Ephesians Chapter 1

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he^[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
¹¹ In him we were also chosen,^[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

 We now  come to the place God chose.

We know it was Bethlehem.

No one knows the actual location.

We do not really know the year, the  month , the day or the time He was born.

We don’t really know who the wise men were or how many there were.

People have made many assumptions about the birth of Jesus over the years.

What is now called Christmas.

We do not really know whether Mary travelled on a donkey.

We can imagine the long journey they were on.

The anxiety as the baby’s birth drew closer.

Then they came to Bethlehem.

They were crowded out.

We could get angry with the people who crowded them out but they were just ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.

We are ordinary people who often in going about our ordinary business have no room for Jesus.

He gets crowded out.

Our loss when we allow ordinary things to take precedence over Jesus is immense.

Then we come to  the wonder of this truly supernatural event.

Shepherds and Joseph and Mary are in awe as they take part in the birth of our Saviour.

It occurred to me recently that one of the reasons God came to us as a baby was because our own children can identify with babies from an early age.

Just the simple story of the birth of Jesus when told to little ones is something they can relate to.

A  manger on the mantlepiece or under the Christmas tree can have a big impact! 

 more so than we might think.

The rejoicing angelic choir.

Imagine what this must have been like.

The angels knew the significance of what was happening.

They sang their hearts out.

There is arguably no more beautiful song  to evoke the first Christmas than “Oh little town of Bethlehem”

It is a prayer.

A most beautiful song of praise  and in part a  telling prayer.

It is also a marvellous summary of all that was put in motion, the gospel,THE GOOD NEWS, on that night.

We went to a carols night in Canberra on our recent holiday and this same  carol , for me, was the highlight

It would be wonderful if everyone who sings this prayer this Christmas would enable God to answer it!

The prayer part.

5. O holy Child of Bethlehem,
    Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
    Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Holy angels,
    The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
    Our Lord Emmanuel!

The full song.

1. O little town of Bethlehem,
    How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
    The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
    The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
    Are met in thee to-night.
2. O morning stars, together
    Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
    And peace to men on earth.
For Christ is born of Mary
    And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep the Angels keep
    Their watch of wondering love.
3. How silently, how silently,
    The wondrous gift is given;
So God imparts to human hearts
    The blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
    But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
    The dear Christ enters in.
4. Where children pure and happy
    Pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee,
    Son of the Mother mild;¹
Where Charity stands watching
    And Faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
    And Christmas comes once more.
5. O holy Child of Bethlehem,
    Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
    Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Holy angels,
    The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
    Our Lord Emmanuel!

We will sing this as our closing Hymn.

Shall we make it our prayer as well,

as a congregation and as individuals.