Danehill 1

Please pray for the 50 11-14 year olds and 30 leaders who will be at Danehill 1 CPAS Venture from Saturday for The Best Week of the Year.

Preaching Plans

Here are my preaching plans for Sundays at Holy Trinity (Sept - Dec 2010). I'm performing a little more often than usual due to the interregnum.

12^th Sept AM – Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 – Shut up & listen up!

19^th Sept AM – Harvest Family Service – Mark 4:1-20 – How to have a bumper crop

26^th Sept AM – Back to Church Sunday – Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:12 – Money & Meaning: Are the better off better off?

3^rd Oct PM – John 13 – Jesus serves

24^th Oct PM – John 14:1-14 – The Way to a Heavenly Reservation

31^st Oct AM – Ecclesiastes 7 – Better Wise Up!

7^th Nov PM – John 14:15-31 – Father, Son and Spirit

21^st Nov PM – John 15:1-17 – How to be a fruitful Christian

28^th Nov AM – Ecclesiastes 8-11 – Knowing how to live when you just don’t know

5^th Dec PM – John 15:18-16 – What to expect

19^th Dec PM – Christmas Carol Service – Bible passage TBA

24^th Dec PM – Midnight Communion Service – Bible passage TBA

25^th Dec AM – Christmas Family Service with Communion – Bible passage TBA

26^th Dec AM – Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14 – Resolve to remember your creator & fear God

PT Conferencing

I've recently booked myself on to the Proclamation Trust Autumn Joint Ministers' Conference (8th - 11th Nov), details of which are here. See some of you there, perhaps?

Can We Trust The Bible?

Here's the text of my handout:

Can We Trust The Bible?

Yes! And we can trust the God who wrote it!

The burden of proof / unjustified scepticism? - Why wouldn’t we trust it?

A very important question – central to Christianity, big claims, life changing, eternal significance

World’s best selling book - both revered and rubbished – popular rejection / ignoring of the Bible (myths, legends, fairy tales, maybe moral or theological truths but not history)

The basic Christian view of the Bible / what the Bible claims about itself:

Historic / traditional consensus of the church: God’s words – inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) - God’s Word Written – What the Bible Says, God says – God’s Word reflects the character of God - true / authoritative / reliable in all that it affirms – inerrant / infallible (no errors)

Not just believe the Bible because the Bible tells you to (not a circular argument)!

Some reasons to trust the Bible:

Main argument (for Christians!):

Jesus is Lord and Jesus viewed the Bible as God’s trustworthy Word and therefore so should we. He accepted the Old Testament as God’s words and authorised the Apostles to write the New Testament

E.g. John 10:34-36; Matthew 5:17-18; 19:4-5; 22:29-32; John 14:26; 16:12-16

à Are Jesus’ claims about his own identity and authority convincing? E.g. the quality of his life and teaching, the evidence for the resurrection

Supporting arguments:

We can be confident we know what the original manuscripts said since the evidence for the original text of the Bible is very strong. The original text is very well preserved in our Bibles. Relatively few texts are disputed and no major doctrine hangs on any of the mostly trivial disputed texts

Manuscript Evidence for Ancient Writings

Author / Work	When written	Earliest fragment / copy	Time span between writing and copy	Number of manuscripts
Caesar	100 – 44 BC	AD 900	1000 years	10
Plato	427 - 347 BC	AD 900	1200 years	7
Thucydides	460 - 400 BC	AD 900	1300 years	8
Tacitus	AD 100	AD 1100	1000 years	20
Suetonius	AD 75 – 160	AD 950	800 years	643
Homer (Iliad)	900 BC	400 BC	500 years	643
New Testament	AD 40 – 100	AD 125	25 – 50 years	24000

(from Orr-Ewing, p43)

The Gospels were written very close to the events they describe by eyewitnesses or drawing on eyewitness evidence

E.g. Luke 1:1-4; John 20:29-31; 21:24-25; 1 John 1:1-4

The Apostles clearly believed Jesus was who he claimed to be, since they were willing to be persecuted and killed for trusting in him. Christianity is not a fraud job by the disciples!

The extraordinary unity of the Bible – agreement of 66 books, over 40 different authors, written over a period of ? about 1600 years

Where the Bible can be checked, it has proved to be accurate e.g. by archaeological discoveries of inscriptions confirming previously questioned details from the book of Acts

Many Bible prophecies have been remarkably fulfilled (e.g. history of Israel, Jesus)

Professor Peter Stoner took just 11 fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament and tried to calculate the probability of them being fulfilled by chance. He reckoned it was 1 in 8X10^63 (Blanchard, p28 citing Stoner, Science Speaks, Moody Press, pp67-96).

The Bible is remarkably realistic and insightful on many matters, makes psychological sense, interprets our experience. It is a work of supernatural genius

The Bible has the ring of truth about it (J. B. Phillips), it speaks with convincing power

Countless peoples have met with Jesus and been transformed by reading the Bible

à Try reading it (perhaps one of the Gospels in a modern translation) and pray that God would show you whether it is true or not

Further reading:

Paul Barnett, Is The New Testament History? (originally Hodder & Stoughton, 1986; Paternoster, 1998)

John Blanchard, Why Believe The Bible? (Evangelical Press, 2004) – only 40 pages
Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospel (IVP, 2^nd ed. 2008)
F. F. Bruce, New Testament Documents: Are they reliable? (Eerdmans / IVP, 1943)
Walter Kaiser, Old Testament Documents: Are they reliable and relevant? (IVP, 2001)
* Top Recommendation? * Amy Orr-Ewing, Why Trust The Bible? Answers to 10 tough questions (IVP, 2005) – includes consideration of some more modern and postmodern type objections e.g. the Bible on sex, matters of interpretation

J. B. Phillips, Ring of Truth: A Translator’s Testimony (Hodder & Stoughton, 2^nd ed. 1978)
John Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Baker) - deals with a number of supposed "difficulties" with the text. Argues, as above, that Jesus thought of the Bible as the authoritative Word of God and so should we
Brian Edwards, Why 66? The Canon of Scripture (Answers in Genesis, DVD, 2008) - how do we know we have the right books in the Bible?

Seeking A New Vicar (worksheet)

What should we look for in a new Vicar?

Or (rather!),

Biblical qualifications for Pastor-teachers

Look up the passages below and see what you can discover about:

(A) The person specification for a Pastor-teacher – who are we seeking?

Consider (i) character (ii) skills etc.

(B) The job description / work of a Pastor-teacher – what should he do?

Be ready to feedback

(1) Mk 9:35; 10:42-45

(2) Acts 20:17-38

(3) Eph 4:11-16

(4) 1 Tim 3; 4:6-16; 5:17-22

(5) 2 Tim 2; 3:10-4:5

(6) Titus 1:5ff; 2:1, 15; 3:1, 8-11

(7) 1 Peter 5:1-4

(8) (Heb 13:7, 17)

Can you think of any other teaching of Jesus / the example of Jesus or other people in the Bible (e.g. Paul) or any other relevant Bible passages?

Bishop of Chichester re Women Bishops

A pastoral letter from The Bishop of Chichester to the Diocese in the light of movements in the C of E towards women bishops (PDF file).

Bible Prophecy a Fluke?

Professor Peter Stoner took just 11 fulfilled prophecies from the OT and tried to calculate the probability of them being fulfilled by chance. He reckoned it was 1 in 8X10^63. In other words, mind bogglingly unlikely.

(John Blanchard, Why Believe The Bible? Evangelical Press, 2004, p28 citing Stoner, Science Speaks, Moody Press, pp67-96).

REAL

Classically the Church of England is Reformed and Evangelical. The historical formularies of the C of E unmistakably take such a position. But there is great (and not so great!) variety within Anglicanism today and much confusion about what it means to be an Anglican - not to mention what it means to be Reformed or Evangelical!

For these and other reasons, The Church Society's new Reformed Evangelical Anglican Library, edited by Rev'd Lee Gatiss is to be welcomed. They've kicked off with some Whitefield and I look forward to seeing what the subsequent publications will be.

Backwards!

Ouch! :)

Poetry to go with Ecclesiastes 3

Shakespeare’s All The World’s A Stage / Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It - Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)

Solomon Grundy

Andrew Marvel, To His Coy Mistress – “Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime…. But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near;”

Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill

The Weaver by B.M. Franklin

Contrast W. E. Henley’s Invictus – “In the fell clutch of circumstance … I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”

Ps 31:15 - “My times are in your hands”

Ps 33:10-11 – “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. ¹¹ But the plans of the LORD stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”

Is 45:6b-7 – “I am the LORD, and there is no other. ⁷ I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”

Ps 131 – “My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. ² But I have stilled and quietened my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. ³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and for evermore.”

Prov 26:1-12

Etheldreda

Great name for the Abbess of Ely, c. 678 whom the C of E remembers today.

I must admit to smiling when I read in Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship (Darch & Burns), 95:

Etheldreda, sometimes referred to as Audrey, was the daughter of Anna, a Christian King of the East Angles.

King Anna? I bet he had a hard time in the playground!

Jesus the Resurrection

Some jottings for tonight's sermon:

Jesus the Resurrection, Lord of Life & Death (John 11:1-47)

Trust in Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life, the Christ, the Son of God, the Master à belief / faith vv25-26, 45; 20v31

… even in the face of sickness and death – vv1-2

Take your needs straight to Jesus (in prayer) – v3

… even when he seems to get things wrong – v4

… even when his timing is inexplicable or help is delayed – v6

… even when you can’t understand what he says or does, when your faith is weak or confused – vv4-6, 7-8, 11-13; Mark 9v24

… even when it means persecution and opposition and the dangerous self-sacrificial way of the cross – vv7-8, 16

… even when he seems not to answer prayer as we wanted or when it seems hopeless and too late – vv17, 21

… even in the midst of tears, real grief and pain – v19, 21, 31-33

… because of his great love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, true humanity – vv3, 11, 35-36 – Jesus knows what it’s like to weep

… because of his unique, amazing supernatural God-like Creation power, because the Father hears him – vv41-45; 1vv3-4

… because Jesus rules death – vv33, 38 - and gives new life here and now – 17v3 - death is only sleep for the Christian – vv11-13 à nothing to fear – 1 Cor 15v55; a foretaste of the Resurrection, v24

… because if you do you will see the glory of God – v4, 40 - and your faith will be strengthened, which is for your best. Jesus is in control, has a plan and knows what he’s doing

A picture of spiritual rebirth through the gospel – 3v3, 5vv24-29, Eph 2vv1-6à proclaim the gospel with confidence in Jesus’ power

Our Camp Training Day

Here are some plans for what we'll hopefully be up to tomorrow:

By 10am Arrivals, name labels, coffee etc.

10:15am Welcome, introductions, notices, apologies etc., opening prayer

Songs: You’re the Word of God the Father

Now In Reverence and Awe

10:30am Bible teaching and prayer

11am Our aims, vision, ethos, values, ways of working etc.

11:15am Coffee break

11:30am How camp works: a “typical” year, week, day

11:45am Making the most of our “8 Days Around The World” theme

12pm How to lead a dorm Bible study on Mark’s Gospel

12:30pm Personal work and the Two Ways to Live gospel outline

Song: Praise God from whom all blessings flow

1pm Lunch

Song: The Splendour of the King

1:45pm Making the most of dorm time

2:15pm Working with 11-14 year olds: what makes Pathfinders tick?

2:45pm Financial matters

3pm Afternoon tea break

Changes to dorms

3:15pm Time in dorm groups (led by overall dorm leaders)

3:45pm Child protection

4pm Admin & Any changes to the camp handbook?

4:30pm Time in “teams” / sorting stuff out with individuals / groups / speakers and overall dorm leaders

5pm Any questions, any other business?

Song: How Great Thou Art

5:15pm Prayer time

5:30pm You are free to go if you need to!

Evening Meal followed by clean up!

John's Gospel for Danehill 1 Leaders

Here are some jottings for some of the things I plan to say at our camp training day in the morning:

An introduction to John’s Gospel

with some learnings for Danehill 1 2010

and some things I’ve been wanting to say about Camp!

The key to John – reading the last page first – 20:30-31 – the purpose of the Gospel

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful to be one of the first disciples in that upper room…

Doubting Thomas – seeing is believing - 20:24 / reading is believing - 20:29!

John (and the Scriptures) give us “more blessed” / happy access to meeting with the risen Jesus today for ourselves – we are more privileged than the first disciples because we have a Bible!

so it is to the Scriptures we must go, and to which we must direct the Pathfinders

The purpose of John (and the Scriptures) is that we should:

(a) (begin to) believe in Jesus (for the first time) AND / OR ?

(b) go on believing in Jesus

which is our purpose for the Pathfinders – remember both:

(a) those who are not yet Christians and

(b) those who are already believers

We are about: Conversion & Discipleship; Evangelism & Nurture; Mission & Maturity

Belief / trusting Jesus brings us real “life” – quality & quantity of life, now and for ever – 10:10; eternal life, knowing God - 17:3

The authority of the Bible – Scripture cannot be broken – 10:35 – Jesus appeals to the exact words

The point of the Bible is to come to Jesus in faith – 5:39-40 – not just academic knowledge etc.

Meeting Jesus (for the first time or afresh, being transformed by him) – people who meet Jesus in John e.g. Disciples, Nicodemus, Samaritan woman, Royal official, paralysed man, crowds

A new vision of the greatness of Jesus – The Christ, The Son of God, Word (1:1), I AM (way, truth, life, resurrection, door, good shepherd, light of the world, bread of life, true vine), signs, glory etc.

Jesus is the ultimate answer to all our needs and all the Pathfinders’ needs

The example of John the Baptist – The voice - 1:23; We want to cry “Behold, the Lamb!” – 1:29, 35; - Shine our little spotlight on Jesus The Light – 5:32-34 – Witness pointing others to Him - 1:7-8 – Humility - 1:15, 27, 30; - Jesus must become greater, we must become less - 1:30 – rejoice if the Pathfinders make much of Him and little of us

Humble self-sacrificial service – Jesus’ example - wash one another’s feet – 13:14-17

Love - 13:34-35; 15:12, 13, 17; mutual care, thoughtfulness, helping out, carrying one another’s’ burdens – a powerful witness – our lives must match our lips, walk and talk, words and actions

Unity in the truth – 17:20-23; 17:17 – the word of truth; “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love” – distinguish primary and secondary issues; set aside personal preferences, denominational distinctives etc. – CPAS Basis of Faith sets out some essentials

Expecting struggle / hardship / grief - 11:35 / persecution - 15:20 / failures / set backs / misunderstandings, QQ - 8:27; 10:6; 12:16; 20:9 / knowing our weakness and need - 6:5-13

Dependence on the power of the Spirit – new birth - 3:5-8; 16:7-11

An outward and visible sign

James Philip called death the sacrament of sin.

Jesus The Life

Some first jottings towards preaching on John 11:1-47

Trust in Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life, the Christ, the Son of God, the Master

… even in the face of sickness and death

… even when he seems to get things wrong

… even when his timing is inexplicable

… even when you can’t understand what he says or does

… even when it means persecution and opposition

… even when it seems hopeless and too late

… even in the midst of grief and pain

Because of his great love

Because of his amazing power, because the Father hears him

Because Jesus rules death

Because if you do you will see the glory of God

He calls his own sheep by name

I'm not sure the good people of Holy Trinity really got it - I'd worked hard on it and I thought it deserved a bit more of a grin, or at least a grown, but:

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows his sheep by name (John 10:3). Whether it's Lambert, Ewan, Barbara or Shawn, Jesus relates to each of his sheep individually and personally.

Other sheep names most welcome!

The Good Shepherd

Some jottings for a sermon on John 10:

John 10 (p1076): The Good Shepherd

I. (a) Who Jesus is:

(i) The Gate (v7, 9)

(ii) The Good Shepherd (v11, 14)

(iii) Christ (v24f) – cf. King David the Shepherd (Ps 23)

(iv) Son (v36) / One with the Father (v30, 38) – God (v33)

(b) Who are we?

Jesus’ sheep?

Sheep smelly, stupid, needy, defenceless – need a shepherd

“other sheep not of this sheep pen” (v16) = Gentiles

Divided / mixed response (vv19-21)

Not my sheep (v26)

Thieves and robbers (v8, 10)

Hired hands (v12-13)

Wolves (v12) cf. Mt 6:15; Acts 20:28-31; 1 Pet 5:8

II. (a) What Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does:

Gives full / eternal life (v10, v28)

Dies for the sheep (v11, 15, 17-18) – really cares (v13)

Matthew 9:36; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34

Knows his sheep (v14)

Calls his sheep by name and leads them (v3)

Keeps his sheep (vv28-29)

(b) What we, Jesus’ sheep, should do:

Believe (vv25-26, 42; 20:31) – Trust Jesus

Listen to his voice (v4, 16, 27), know him (v14), obey, follow only him (v4-5, 27), run away from strangers (v5)

Sacramental World

Revd Douglas Wilson writes:

There are two sacraments, true, but there is only one sacramental. The world is a sacramental, and everything in it. Grace is everywhere, and gets into everything. Faith can dig it out of anything. The grandeur of God can flame out from anything, like shining from shook foil.

If understood, this results in mediated grace for everyone who is responding to God in true faith. God does grants immediate grace in various ways, true. When He converts a soul, when He visits someone with direct blessing, when He receives our worship, the grace can be immediate. But this immediate grace is supposed to be a radiant grace, spreading out through everything else, affecting everything else, causing everything else to become a mirror that reflects the glory of God.

Critical Biblical Studies

An Insomniac's Primer