Who wants to be a millionaire?

As I've said before (perhaps), sermons are not the place for footnotes or acknowledgements, but I feel I ought to confess to largely plagarising Vaughan Roberts' sermon (preached at St Ebbe's, Oxford) on Ecclesiasties 5:10-6 today at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne.

My working title was: Money & Meaning: Are the better off, better off?

The headings went something like this:

Wisdom about Wealth

(1) The frustrations of wealth: it doesn’t satisfy

(2) The fragility of wealth: it doesn’t last

(3) The fount of wealth: it’s God’s gift

(4) The futility of wealth: it isn’t ultimate

Sorry for more alliteration!

Vicar Wanted!

We'd like our old one back at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne, but failing that, you can find our Parish Profile here.

Have Bible Will Travel!

If you are after a preacher or speaker, you could do a lot worse than my old boss, The Revd John Cheeseman, who has just embarked on an itinerant ministry after 30 years of local church leadership. John is a Bible-believing, faithful, clear, courageous, passionate preacher keen on lively real-life application - and I'm no longer paid to say that. He'll be sound but not dull! I hear his rates are very reasonable! Try to get his wife, Joy, to come too!

John was called to the ministry while reading Classics at Oxford and trained for under Alec Motyer and Jim Packer at Trinity College Bristol. He is the author of The Grace of God in the Gospel / Saving Grace and The Priority of Preaching (Banner of Truth). His sermons on the life of Elijah are forthcoming.

A taster of John's sermons is available, I believe, from The Martyn Lloyd Jones recording trust. Many of his sermons from the last 2 years at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne, can be found on our church sermon page.

True Love

God willing I'm preaching on Sunday morning, which is, of course, St Valentine's Day. I've published the title "True Love" and decided on 1 John 4:7-21 as the reading.

It might go something like:

The Bible as the greatest love story ever: the romance of God and his people

(1) God's love
(2) Our love for God
(3) Our love for one another

Any pointers, tips, resources, links to sermons, quotes, gags, illustrations etc. most welcome.

Scary Liturgy

According to Rev'd Doug Wilson's weblog:

Jerome commented that in the early church, when visitors used to come the church, they were commonly frightened at the Amen -- it had the sound of thunder, said by people who understood it.

The liturgical responses at Holy Trinity can be pleasingly hearty and lively, but to my knowledge that has never happened yet. May the Amen of the church put the fear of God into people!

Abortion & Euthanasia etc. resources

On Sunday I made some comments about abortion and euthanasia (amongst other things) from the 6th Commandment, "You Shall Not Murder". You may find some interesting stuff on these subjects on The Christian Institute website (link on the right). The Institute is a kind of public policy lobbying think tank resource type thing. I also linked to The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child yesterday.

I would also highly recommend Rev'd Dr David Field's ethics notes which cover subjects such as abortion, euthanasia, just war and a whole lot more, as well as quite a bit of stuff on how to think (ethically), meta-ethics.

On our church website sermons page, you can find (evangelistic) talks by my predecessor as curate, Rev'd Jeremy Hobson (who is a medical doctor) on abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research and other topics besides.

As ever, John Frame's The Christian Life (P&R Lordship Series) would be a great place to go to think more about the Commandment and the issues it raises, though arising out of and more oriented towards a US context than a UK one. Get that book - its impressively fat but pretty readable!

Brave Sermon Feedback

Apart from the usual "excellent"s, "thank you"s and "lovely sermon"s (no one said this latter one today), many people told me today that my sermon was "brave". I wasn't sure how to take that! I had a couple of relevant intelligent questions. One person said it was 10 mins too long and one person said it would have been better as two sermons; these people may well be right.

(The whole sermon on "You Shall Not Murder" with an emphasis on abortion will appear on our church website in due course this week d.v.)

Apology

I'm going to say some difficult and controversial things today. I know that. I don't mean to be nasty or to over simplify or generalise or exaggerate. You probably wont agree with everything I say. You may not understand quite what I'm getting at sometimes. That's okay. I'm just trying to say what I reckon the Bible says or implies.

Please do feel free to come and put me right at the end. Or ask me any question.

And if you're a guest or a visitor, sorry you have to put up with this. I'm only going to speak until just after 11:30am at the very latest, so you can escape soon. If it gets to 11:45 I'll stop in the middle of a sentence if I...

And please don't write off Jesus or this church because of what I say today. I don't preach very often. It's normally the Vicar and he's a lovely man and an excellent preacher, so if you can, come back and hear him before you decide you don't want anything to do with those mad fascist bigot fundamentalists at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne.

Does that make sense? Okay?

So, my text today is this:

God said: "You shall not murder."

I'm going to deal with capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicude, self-harm, character assassinations and a few other things beside. So fasten your seatbelts, here we go.

Lighten up your church

I must admit that I was skeptical about our recent church lighting project. I could see well enough and it cost an awful lot of money that I thought perhaps could be used better for preaching the gospel.

Having said that, however, I was very pleasently surprised by the results. The church building seems much lighter! It's given things a much more friendly, lively, welcoming, vibrant feel, I think. Looking back, I'd say the church was a bit dark and gloomy before - even perhaps a little oppressive in contrast to the new - but I'd not especially noticed it then.

The lights are dimmable and more flexible now.

There are noticable spotlights on the table, the font and the pulpit. Worth thinking about whether you want these and what messages they might send. It's perhaps especially odd for us to have the font super-illuminated when we never use it!

The new lighter light does show up the need for a spring clean (in the inacessible heights) and a lick of paint though....

Preaching Plans

In addition to some midweek BCP Communion services (using the lectionary), here are my preaching plans for May - Aug '09. Basically I'm continuing my series in the 10 commandments and John's Gospel. No "clever" titles, I'm afraid.

10^th May PM – John 6:1-15 – The Feeding of the 5000

31^st May AM – Pentecost Holiday Club Family Service

We're using TnT's God's Miracle Worker: Elisha (Christian Focus, CF4 Kids) as our holiday club material.

14^th June PM – John 6:16-24 – Jesus walks on the water

21^st June AM – Exodus 20:12 – Honour your father and your mother

19^th July PM – John 6:25-59 – The Bread of Life

26^th July AM – Exodus 20:13 – You shall not murder

9^th Aug PM – John 6:60-71 – The words of eternal life

16^th Aug AM – Exodus 20:14 – You shall not commit adultery

Talk & Sermon Archive

We're gradually building up an audio library of sermons and talks on our church website.

Amongst other things, as well as my plodding through John's gospel, you can hear the vicar, Rev'd John Cheeseman (of Banner of Truth fame) on Eph 4-5, the life of Elijah and soon the Sermon on the Mount.

There are also some talks by Rev'd Tony Baker who is a retired member of our congregation.

Soon there should be Rev'd Andrew Cornes on "Why Bother to Get Married?" and Bishop Peter Brain (author of Going The Distance) on "Thanksgiving as an Antidote the Discouragement".

I especially thought some people might be interested in these talks - which are especially inteded to be accessible to non-Christians - by my predecessor as curate, Rev'd Jeremy Hobson (who is also a medical doctor).

'Why do bad things happen to good people?’

‘Is abortion ever right?’

‘Euthanasia – a good way to die?’

‘Dealing with depression’

‘What about stem cell research?’

Anglicans, Gays & Women Bishops

The Lord being my helper, I think I'll speak on this subject at our mid-week meeting tomorrow. There'll be an hour for talk and discussion then 30mins for prayer and some bible study ought to be included. I hope people aren't too sick of it all. What would you say? Any pointers?

The Significance of the Resurrection

In our central mid-week Bible Study yesterday we treid to consider the significance of the resurrection. Here are the jottings from my handout:

§ A neglected subject?

- the centrality of the cross (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-4; Acts 4:2, 33)

- busy defending the empty tomb

Past Event

§ Evidence that Jesus was who he claimed to be

§ Shows there is life beyond the grave (1 Cor 15:12)

§ Shows that Jesus’ God is the living and true God

§ Shows God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice – his death was effective

§ Death defeated (Rom 6:9; 1 Cor 15:54-57; Acts 2:24)

§ Jesus’ vindication / justification and ours (Rom 4:25)

§ Jesus is enthroned as Lord of all (Acts 2:32,36)

§ Jesus is the Son of God in power (Rom 1:4)

§ A man on the throne of the universe – New Adam (Ps 8; 1 Cor 15:44b-49)

§ The New Creation / New Age has begun

- Firstborn from among the dead (Col 1:18)

- Firstfruits (1 Cor 15:20, 23)

Present Effects

§ Jesus is alive – we can know him personally

He is with us (Mt 28:20)

§ Jesus our permanent High Priest lives to intercede for us (Heb 7:24-25; Rom 8:34)

§ We have new birth into a living hope through the resurrection (1 Pet 1:3)

§ We are made alive and raised with Christ (Eph 2:5-6; Col 2:12-13; 3:1-3; Rom 6:4-5; 8:11)

§ The power of the resurrection is at work in us (Eph 1:19-20; Phil 3:10-11)

§ Our labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor 15:58)

Future Hope

§ We will be raised (1 Cor 6:14; 1 Thess 4:14)

§ Jesus will judge all people (Acts 17:31; 10:40-42)

§ We will receive transformed physical bodies (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:42-54)

§ Hope for creation / physicality (Rom 8:18-22)

The Difference the Risen Jesus Makes

My Easter Sunday sermon on John 20 can be listened to here.

The headings are:

Mary Magdalene: Bewilderment (vv1-2) and tears (v11, 13, 15) to testimony (v18)

Disciples: Fear (v19) to peace (v19, v21, v26) and joy (v20)

Thomas: Unbelief (v25) to worship (v28)

Chewing Over The Meal Jesus Gave Us

At our agape supper on Maundy Thursday I tried to give some reflections on the Lord's Supper considered as a meal. Here are some jottings from my handout:

The Lord’s Supper in the context of a meal (1 Cor 11)

The Last Supper a Passover Feast (Mk 14:12,16; 1 Cor 5:7)

Early Church: “breaking of bread” (Acts 2:42, 46); agape, love feast (Jude 12)

Man as a needy, dependent, hungry creature fed by God

--> receive with humility not a meritorious good work offered to propitiate God

Cf. eating in Eden (Gen 3) and at Lord’s Supper

--> obedience / faith / gratitude (Eucharist = thanksgiving)

Jesus the True Bread of Life (John 6:35, 51) --> satisfaction and eternal life from Him

Communion (sharing / fellowship) with God

God invites us and offers us hospitality (Ps 23:5)

We are at peace with God and enjoy his company

Jesus’ guest list: eats with sinners and outcasts (Lk 15:2)

We are Jesus’ friends (Mt 11:19; John 15:12-15; Rev 3:20)

--> flee idolatry, shun the table of demons (1 Cor 10:14-22)

Communion with one another

We have Jesus in common – we all participate in him (1 Cor 10:16)

“Com-panion”s – lit. one who breaks bread with another

The family meal – table fellowship, Jews and Gentiles (Gal 2:12)

A sign of unity (1 Cor 10:17) --> table manners (1 Cor 11:20-21, 33): love, sharing

Food & drink – complete provision

Bread – basic staple, essential, satisfying nourishment, strengthens us for service; affirms creation; God uses us --> work

Wine – not water, party drink for glad celebrating (Ps 104:15)

--> Looking forward with hope the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Mt 26:29; Rev 19:9; 1 Cor 11:26)

Preaching and Homegroup Plans (May-Aug)

When we finish 1 John in homegroups we're going to study 2 & 3 John in a session each. Then I'm thinking of 4 sessions on Ruth.


Here are my Sunday preaching plans for May - Aug:

Continuing through John's gospel in the evenings.

It has been "famous texts from the BCP" in the morning. Not quite sure what next.

Sun 4^th May PM – Water into Wine (John 2:1-11)

Sun 18^th May AM – The Trinity (John 17:1-26)
(Trinity Sunday)

Sun 15^th June PM – The Cleansing of the Temple (John 2:12-25)

Sun 22nd June AM - BCP Communion using lectionary (Ps 84:8ff; 1 Kings 19:19-21; 1 Peter 3:8-15a; Luke 5:1-11) at St Nicholas, Pevensey

Sun 6^th July AM – Let the nations rejoice (Psalm 67)

Sun 20^th July AM – Family Service

Sun 10^th August PM – You must be born again (John 3:1-21)

Sun 17^th August AM – The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)

I'm thinking of doing a couple of sessions on the Lord's Prayer. I believe there are some sermons by Rev'd Matthew Mason one could plagarise.

After that I'm wondering about a series on the 10 commandments. Would I have plenty to say on each one? And would it be a bit samey?

A Spotlight on the True Light

Here's the text of my handout for a sermon about John the Baptist and Jesus from John 1:6-8, 15, 19-34. More jottings in a Word document here.

1. John the Spotlight (5:35)

v6 - God chooses to use people. He might even use us

v7, v31 – John’s purpose is the same as John’s (20:31)

John’s “testimony” (v19, v32) is about Jesus not about himself

The messenger is not the message (v8, v20)

v21 – John and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11; Mal 4:5; Lk 1:17; Mk 1:6; 2 Kings 1:8; Mt 11:14); The Prophet like Moses – Dt 18:15; cf. Acts 3:22-23

John the Voice (v23)

--> watch out for gurus / “Popes” / personality cults / preachers who are too full of themselves

--> humility (Mt 11:11 yet v15; v27; v30; vv35-37)

--> faithfully play your God-given part in God’s purposes (3:27-30)

--> point others to Jesus

2. Jesus the True Light (v9)

--> it’s possible to be religious and spiritually privileged yet in the dark (vv19-28)

v15, v30 – pre-existent / eternal (v1; 8:58)

v23 – Is 40:3 – “the LORD” – return from exile

v29 – the Lamb of God (Ex 12; Gen 22:8)

v33 – baptises with the Holy Spirit (Ez 36:24-27)

--> Look to Jesus!

Striking Sermon-heading Award

I'd like to nominate Rev'd John Cheeseman for point 3 of "5 Lessons on the Nature & Effects of Sin" from 1 Kings 21:

• Sin will turn a man into an unprincipled moral jelly-fish.

The youth group wanted to challenge the curate to include various other creatures in his sermon headings next week, but thankfully the moment passed.

Holy Trinity Eastbourne Online

Check out our new and improved church website at:

www.holytrinityeastbourne.org.uk

MP3 sermon files to follow soon, we hope.

(We're going to phase out the .co.uk address.)

We were helped on this by Hugh Bourne of Web4Christ, who did indeed give us "honest internet services".

Any feedback welcome.

Sing to the Lord a new song

Here's the text of a handout (which I didn't in fact handout!) for a sermon on Psalm 98. Some further jottings here.

What?

Sing (vv1, 5) / shout to the LORD (vv4-5)

jubilant (v4) / for joy (vv4, 6)

a new song (v1)

a variety of instruments (vv5-6)

Why?

(a) What he has done:

marvellous salvation (vv1, v3b)

revealed to the nations (vv2, 3)

covenant faithfulness (v3)

(b) Who he is:

the LORD, the King (v6)

(c) What he will do:

comes to judge in righteousness (v9)

Who?

God’s people (v3)

All people (vv2, 3, 4, 7)

The whole creation (vv7-8; Ps 19:1-6; Rm 8:19-21)