Freedom in Christ Session 5: Our daily choice

The following sermon is taken from the Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course by Neil Anderson & Steve Goss.

Introduction

How often have you heard someone describe a Christian as a ‘good person’. But as I hope we all realise, there is much more to being a Christian than simply being a good person, after all as Christians we don’t have the monopoly on being good! But there is a perception that many people have, that once you become a Christian you automatically become a much better person, and do everything right. But, as I am sure we all know, it doesn’t work like that. We want to please God, but we often fail to live the Christian life as we want to, and often when we become Christians we don’t necessarily feel that different. For example, some of our bad habits don’t instantly disappear. In fact our struggle with sin may even seem to intensify. Why?

We need to understand what happened when we become Christians, what did not happen, and how to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What did happen

The moment we become Christians, some dramatic changes take place.

We have a new heart and a new Spirit within us

We have a new heart whose desires are oriented towards God, rather than self or sin. Of course, this doesn’t automatically stop us from sinning, but when we do sin we become much more aware of it because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We have new life “in Christ”

When we become a Christian, we become a new creation, we become alive in Christ.

We have a new master

Our new spiritual authority becomes God, he is the one who now guides and directs our life.

What Did Not Happen

Our “flesh” was not taken away

When we become Christians how we think and react to situations doesn’t change straight away, it takes time, as we train ourselves to think in a way that is in line with what God would want us to think and do. This is a process that the Bible calls “renewing our minds” (Romans 12:2), choosing to throw out the old ways of thinking and behaving, which have no reference to God, and replacing them with God’s ways.

Sin did not die

As Christians we are still faced with the temptation of sin. When we become a Christian, sin does not die – far from it. In fact, it is still enormously appealing, and it tempts us every day to meet our legitimate needs for significance, security and acceptance through things other than God.

So how do we defeat the power of sin? The bad news is that we ourselves can do nothing to defeat sin. BUT, the good news is that Christ has already done it for us! The key to freedom, is knowing the truth about sin.

Paul in Romans, makes the point before we became Christians we were slaves to sin, but now as Christians, sin has no power over us any more. We therefore are to consider ourselves to be alive to God and dead to sin (Romans 6:11). Paul is helping us to grasp the truth that we died with Christ and that His death ended our relationship with sin.

But, just like Paul, we find that whenever we want to do good, evil rears its ugly head and tries to throw us off course – Paul describes this as the “law of sin” (Romans 7:23).

So, if the law of sin is still effective, how do we overcome it? By a greater law: “Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

For example, there’s no way I can fly because every time I try, the law of gravity keeps me stuck to the earth and I haven’t found a way to stop it working. What can I do? Well, I can get into an aeroplane and I can fly! I overcome the law of gravity by the laws of aerodynamics and the power of the engine. It’s not as if the law of gravity has stopped working but simply that I have taken advantage of a more powerful law to overcome it.

The law that is now at work in you as a child of God is the law of the Spirit of life and it is far greater than the law of sin and death. Whereas before we had no choice but to stay on the ground in my sin, now we can choose to fly above the law of sin and death!

Our Choices

It’s becoming clear that we face some very real choices:
Even though we no longer have to think and react according to our flesh, we can choose to do so
Even though sin has no power over us, we can choose to give in to it

So, although nothing can change the fact of who we now are, and God’s love for us, the outcome of that in our day to day lives is very much down to our individual choice.

Although, through God’s grace and mercy, when we become Christians we become new people, we can very often continue to live in a way more akin to a non Christian. In other words, through the choices we make we try to live independently from God following the prompting of our own hearts desires, rather than of God’s Spirit. But when we do this, rather than experience the peace, joy and love knowing that we are accepted and loved by God, and realising our worth in Christ, we can be plagued by feelings of inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, guilt, worry and doubt.

Barriers to Growth

But the wonderful truth is that God has given us everything we need to live a life that pleases Him (2 Peter 1:3). Therefore we simply need to learn to use what we already have to deal with the barriers to growth in our lives. Here are some of those barriers:

Ignorance
Very often Christians are not aware of who they are in Christ.

Deception
In order to grow we need to be firmly rooted in Christ. As Paul writes in Colossians 2:6-7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Paul goes on to warn us saying: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

It is easy for us to be led astray by deceptive ways of thinking. Common areas of deception include thoughts like:
- “this might work for others, but my case is different and it won’t work for me.”
- “I could never have faith like so and so.”
- “God could never use me”

Unresolved personal and spiritual conflicts
For many, the reason that we do not move on is that we simply have too many unresolved personal and spiritual conflicts in our lives. May be something has happened in our lives, for example we’ve been hurt or let down by others, and if not dealt with, this can hold us back from growing and maturing as Christians.

Choosing to Walk by the Spirit Every Day

Once we have committed ourselves to believe truth no matter what we feel, and we have dealt with any unresolved spiritual conflicts, we are genuinely free to make a choice every day. We can choose to obey either the promptings of the flesh or the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The two are in direct opposition to each other.

There was a man who had a very difficult childhood in which he was largely ignored by his parents and sometimes abused by them. He became a Christian and later a church leader, but the pain from his past did not go away and he turned to alcohol to try to escape from it. It destroyed his marriage and his ministry. After years of alcoholism he got hold of the truth that the power of sin was broken in his life because of who he is as a child of God, and he walked away from the alcoholism, resolved his spiritual conflicts and found his freedom in Christ. Yet, he says that there is not a day in his life when his flesh does not tell him that he is “a useless waste of space.” His fleshy thought patterns have not gone away. But he has learned to make a choice every day simply not to listen to them – no matter how strongly they might come over – because they are based on lies. Instead he makes a daily choice to listen to the promptings of the Spirit, and walk according to what is actually true.

So What Does Walking By The Spirit Actually Mean?

Walking by the Spirit is Not:

Just a good feeling
Sometimes the Holy Spirit comes upon us in such a way that we feel full of joy. That’s a lovely gift from God when it happens, but being filled with the Spirit day by day is much more than that. If we base our life on having a good feeling, we’ll be continually looking for “the key” to feel better and we’ll be chasing God continually for a new experience – whereas He wants us to take hold of what He has already done and live accordingly.

A licence to do whatever we want
Some think that freedom means being able to do whatever we want, as if we can cast off all the guidelines God has given to help us lead responsible lives. But actually that leads to bondage. Walking by the Spirit prevents you from doing whatever you please: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.” (Galatians 5:17)

Legalism (slavishly obeying a set of rules)
The Old Testament law revealed the moral nature of God but nobody could live up to it. The point of the law was to lead us to Christ by teaching us our need for Him (Galatians 3:24). Yet so many of us, even as Christians, tend to live as if we still have to obey certain rules in order to be accepted by God or to be a “good Christian”. But Paul writes in Galatians (5:18) “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Walking by the Spirit enables us to live a righteous life by faith.

Walking By The Spirit Is:

True freedom
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

We have the freedom to be the people God created us to be and to make the choice to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Being led
In the West we drive our sheep or use sheep dogs to chase them. In Israel the shepherd leads from the front. The sheep recognise his voice and follow him. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

Walking at God’s pace in the right direction
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Nothing will get done if we expect God to do it all, and neither can we accomplish anything lasting for eternity by ourselves. Being yoked to Jesus doesn’t work if only one is pulling. Only Jesus knows the right pace and the right direction to walk. When we walk with Him we learn that His ways are not hard and we will find rest for our souls.

How Can We Tell If We Are Walking By The Spirit

Just as you can tell a tree by its fruit, you can tell whether you are walking by the Spirit by the fruit of your life. If you’re being led by the Spirit, your life will be increasingly marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

If you are living according to your flesh, that too will become evident in your life.

If you have become aware that you are living by the flesh, what is the appropriate response? Simply to confess it and to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and to start living according to your new identity in Christ.

Walking by the Spirit is a moment by moment, day by day, experience, you can choose every moment of every day either to walk by the Spirit or walk by the flesh.

But once you’ve understood the truth of who God is and who you are, why ever would you want to walk by the flesh any more?

Freedom in Christ Session 3: Choosing to believe the truth

The following sermon is taken from the Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course by Neil Anderson & Steve Goss.

Without Faith We Cannot Please God

A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?" "I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?" "Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer." "That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch." A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
This man, was being challenged to put his faith in God, and it is this theme of faith which is the focus of our sermon today. Because if we are to grow and mature as Christians, we need to have faith in God.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith is the crucial issue. The Bible is clear that as Christians we are to walk by faith. But what is faith?

Faith Is Simply Believing What Is Already True

One little boy put it like this: “Faith is trying hard to believe what you know isn’t true!” Actually he’s wrong, it’s the very opposite. Faith is believing what is already true. Our responsibility is to believe in God’s truth, whether it feels true or not.

But it is not always that easy, as highlighted in The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass:

Monday January 6
Bought a really good book about faith. It’s called “Goodness Gracious – in God’s Name, what on Earth are we Doing for Heaven’s Sake?” A very witty title I feel. It’s all about how Christians should be able to move mountains by faith, if they are really tuned into God. Very inspiring.

Waited until there was no one around, then practised with a paper clip. Put it on my desk and stared at it, willing it to move. Nothing! Tried commanding it in a loud voice.

Tuesday January 7
Hand another go with the paper clip tonight. Really took authority over it. Couldn’t get it to budge. Told God I’d give up anything He wanted, if He would just make it move half an inch. Nothing! All rather worrying really. If you only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, what hope is there for me when I can’t even get a paper clip to do what it’s told!

Saturday January 11
Got up early today to have a last go at that blasted paper clip. Ended up hissing viciously at it, trying not to wake everybody up. When I gave up and opened the door, I found Anne and Gerald listening outside in their night clothes looking quite anxious. Anne said, “Darling, why did you tell that paper clip you’d straighten it out if it didn’t soon get its damned act together?”

If as Christians we choose to believe the truth, to put our complete faith in God, it will transform our lives.

Whether Faith is Effective Depends On What Or Whom You Believe In

Everyone Lives and Operates By Faith

Everyone believes in something or someone – we all have a way of looking at reality that we believe is true and we make decisions accordingly. Every decision you make and practically every action you do demonstrate your faith in something.

Last time you were driving your car and you came to a junction and saw a green traffic light, what did you do? You probably drove right on through. By faith! You couldn’t even see that the traffic in the other direction had a red light. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) If you didn’t believe that there was a red light, that the drivers saw the red light and that they would stop, what would you do? You would probably stop, look around very carefully and creep across the junction. But you believed that there was a red light, that they saw it and that they would stop.

The Only Difference Between Christian & Non Christian Faith is What We Believe In

It’s what or whom we believe in (the object of our faith) that determines whether our faith will be effective. It’s not so much that we believe but what we believe.

Take Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Both set up a pyre with bulls on it to be sacrificed and both believed that their god would send down fire from heaven to burn it up. But only Elijah had a valid faith object – Baal did not exist but the living God was real – so his was the only one that was burned up.

That’s why Jesus said we only need faith as small as a tiny mustard seed to move a mountain (Matthew 17:20) – it doesn’t depend so much on the amount of faith but on whom we put our faith in. It’s not our power that moves the mountain – it’s God’s.

Jesus Christ Is The Ultimate Faith Object

Traffic lights can malfunction of course. Other faith objects can let us down, parents, the church, friends. There is just one faith object that will never fail us: Jesus Christ. Why? Because He never changes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He cannot change, and He is truth. He has never yet failed to be and do all He said He would be and do. He is eternally faithful.

Everyone Can Grow In Faith

How Much Faith We Have Is Determined By How Well We Know The One We Put Our Faith In

Christian faith is about making the choice to believe what God says is true and living our lives accordingly.

The depth of our faith is determined by one thing: how well you know the one you put your faith in.

So there is a limit to your faith. But God’s not controlling it - you are! Our faith particularly grows when we act on what God says is true.

To give an example, imagine you have a two year old, and you put her on a table, stand back a little bit and say, “Come on, jump into my arms.” She may waver a little bit but then jump and you would catch her. What do you do next? Go a little further back and say, “Come on, jump into my arms.” Let’s say she does and you catch her and you go even further back. She will continue to jump provided you continue to catch her.

As you get to know the object of your faith really can be trusted with absolutely anything, you will trust Him for bigger and bigger steps.

Have you ever wondered how Abraham could contemplate sacrificing his son Isaac? He had come to learn through experience that God was loving and could be trusted.

Belief is a choice that we can all make. You start with what God has said is true and you choose to believe it. This then works out into your behaviour and finally into your feelings.

George Muller ran an orphanage at Ashley Down in Bristol. One day, the orphanage ran out of food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting the home. Muller took her hand and said, “Come and see what our Heavenly Father will do.”

In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home’s account. Muller prayed, “Dear Father, we thank you for what you are going to give us to eat.” Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. “Mr Muller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at two o’clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is.”

Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it. What this story illustrates is faith in action.

Faith Grows in Difficult Times

Most of us can probably think of times when God did not do what we wanted him to do. Sometimes we simply have to admit that our understanding of God and what we expect Him to do is simply too limited for us to know whether we are praying in accordance with his character or His will.

Because the question of faith is so crucial, one of God’s prime focuses in your life is to help you develop a real living faith that gets deeper and deeper. He will, therefore often put you in a situation where you can choose whether to put your faith in Him or something else.

A health scare, financial concerns, an uncertain future.

God’s role is to be truth, to declare what is true. Our responsibility is to believe and living according to what is true.

Faith Leads To Action

The words “faith”, “trust” and “believe” in the Bible are all the same word in the original Greek. That’s important to know because in English when you say that you believe something, it doesn’t carry the same connotation as to trust in something. But faith is not simply agreeing with something. It’s a reliance that you demonstrate by actions. No matter what we say, it’s what we do that shows what we really believe. If you want to know what you really believe, look at your actions.

“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith: I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:17-18) In other words, what you believe in will affect what you do and what you say.

People don’t always live according to what they say they believe, but they will always live according to what they actually believe.

The good news is that there’s no one here who could not become a mature and fruitful Christian. There is no one here who cannot resist temptation, get out of hopelessness, leave behind negative behaviour and past influences and move on. You don’t need some special anointing from God or others. You just need to know what is already true, choose to believe it and act on it.

Freedom in Christ: Session 2 Who am I now?

The following sermon is taken from the Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course by Neil Anderson & Steve Goss.

Last week, I began this series on Freedom in Christ with the question: who are you deep down inside? I want to continue to think about this question today.

The moment you became a Christian was the defining moment of your life. Everything changed for you. The language the Bible uses is very dramatic.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Can you be partly old creation and partly new?

“For you were once darkness, but now you a light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8)
Can you be both light and darkness?

“He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves.” (Colossians 1:13)
Can you still be in both kingdoms?

A Saint- Not a Sinner

In Romans 5:8 Paul writes, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse seems to imply that we are no longer sinners.

We certainly were sinners, and we were saved by God’s grace. So if we’re no longer a sinner, who or what are we?

In the New Testament, unbelievers are identified as “sinners”. Believers on the other hand are identified as “holy ones” or “righteous ones” or “saints” – and never the other way round. If you have received Jesus as your Lord, you are not a forgiven sinner, but a redeemed saint!

You are a saint! That’s not just a title. It reflects the fact that at the moment you became a Christian – even if you’re not absolutely sure when that moment was – you became a new creation in Christ. Your very nature – who you really are deep down inside – changed to become someone who is accepted, sure and significant in Christ.

In Christ

We are saints because of our new identity and position “in Christ”. In the book of Ephesians alone, in just six chapters we find this phrase “in Christ” no fewer than 40 times. It means that we have a completely new identity –we now share in God’s nature (2 Peter 1:4)

Not Just Forgiven But A Whole New Person

Changed Behaviour Comes from Realising You Are A Whole New Person

Realising that we are a completely new person, brings changes to our behaviour. Very often in our understanding of the gospel we have tended to focus on the fact that Christ died for our sins. But the trouble with that is it leaves us believing that we’re not very different from who we were before. We’re forgiven, but we’re still sinners. But the truth is more wonderful than that.

Last week we saw that we were born spiritually dead because of sin. (SLIDE) Suppose you came across a dead man and you wanted to save him. What would you have to do? Two things:

1. Find a cure for the disease that caused him to die. Paul says: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) In our case the disease was sin. To cure it Jesus went to the cross. He died for our sins.
2. But there’s more. It’s all very well finding a cure for, say, AIDS, but that does not help those who have died of it already. To save them, we need to give them life again. If we finish that verse we see that Jesus not only cured the disease that caused us to die (sin): “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we only knew the truth that Jesus died to cure the problem of sin that would make us forgiven sinners. But because we have also received back the life that Adam lost, means we have become saints.

That fact that you and I are saints doesn’t, of course, give us any right to boast – we didn’t earn this, it was a free gift.

Defeat Comes From Not Realising You Are A Whole New Person

Many of us have never fully got hold of the fact that we are forgiven once and for all and that God will never, ever condemn us. He welcomes us into His presence because he loves us.

Some might say:
“You don’t know what’s been done to me.”
It doesn’t change who you are in Christ.

“You don’t know how bad I’ve been.”
It doesn’t change who you are in Christ.

“You don’t know what failures I’ve had as a Christian.”
It doesn’t change who you are in Christ. Christ loved you when you were still a sinner. That hasn’t stopped now that you’re a saint.

Our new identity in Christ is not something we’ve earned. It’s a free gift. It’s by the grace of God alone.

You are not saved by how you behave, but by how you believe.

Being Pleasing to God

What happens when I sin?

The problem we have with seeing ourselves as saints rather than sinners, is that we are painfully aware that we do sometimes sin. We therefore conclude that we must be sinners. The issue is who we are deep down inside and, if you are a Christian, it’s a settled matter. At the very core of your being you now share God’s divine nature. You have become someone completely new.

It’s not inevitable – but we do sometimes go wrong.

Being a saint means that we have the capacity to choose not to sin. Indeed we have ended our relationship with sin because we have died to sin (Romans 6:2) and its power over us.

Being a saint does not mean, however that we are living in a state of sinless perfection. “If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) We are fooling ourselves if we claim that we never go wrong – the truth is that we are saints who sometimes sin.

We no longer have to live in constant fear of God’s judgement, because Jesus has already dealt with it on the cross. You are not a sinner in the hands of an angry God. You are a saint in the hands of a loving God. He’s called you to come into His presence with your heart sprinkled clean with confidence, with boldness.

Our fundamental relationship with our heavenly Father does not change when we sin

Going wrong changes nothing in terms of our fundamental relationship with God: 1 John 2:1 says “If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1) Your eternal destiny is secure – Jesus has paid the penalty for your sin.

Can anything change the fact that you are your parents’ child? No – nothing you can do can alter your DNA. You can disown your parents, or do all sorts of things that displease them. But whether they are alive or not, nothing can change the fact that you are their child.

When you become a Christian, you become God’s child. In a way you received his DNA – God’s own Spirit lives in you (Romans 8:9) and you now share his very nature (2 Peter 1:4) Nothing can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:39). No one can snatch you out of His hand (John 10:28).
We restore harmony by turning back to him and away from our sin

But you can disrupt the harmony of that relationship by doing something that does not please God. A harmonious relationship is based on trust and obedience – when either is lacking it affects the quality of the relationship.

So what happens when we do something that we’re ashamed of, that we know is wrong? What is the appropriate thing to do?

We simply need to come to our loving Father, agree with Him that we are wrong (confess) and then turn away from our sin (repent), knowing that it is already forgiven because of Christ’s death.

God does not condemn us

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) We can always be honest with God because we are already forgiven and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

God is not a finger wagging, “inspecting” kind of God. We don’t have to earn our way into his good books, we’re already in them because of what Jesus has done. Realising that you can come straight back to God in repentance when you have done wrong and know that you are forgiven is a key to becoming a mature Christian.

We don’t have to try to become what we already are

So now, let’s come to a crucial question: “what can I do to be accepted by God?”

The short answer is: “nothing at all!” The truth is that you are already completely accepted by God simply because what Christ has done.

If we don’t understand the grace of God and our spiritual inheritance we will keep trying to becoming somebody we already are!

It is not what we do that determines who we are. It’s who we are that determines what we do.

The gospel is not about becoming someone different – it starts with recognising that you actually became someone different the moment you received Christ, you are a child of God.

You are already accepted by God! He delights in you. He is the Good Shepherd. He is intimately concerned with every details of your life. Nothing can change that.

He is love – which means that He couldn’t not love you, not matter what you did. Nothing you could do could make God love you more – more love you less. If you had been the only person in the whole history that needed Christ to die, He would have done it just for you. That’s how special you are!

The key to your growth in Christ in your understanding of whom you are now, recognising your status before God.

A lot of confusion in this area comes from not understanding who God is and what He is like, and so as you came into church you will have received a sheet of paper, which I invite you later to read, and take on board the truths of who you are and what God has done for you.

Freedom in Christ: Who am I? Session 1

The following sermon is taken from the Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course by Neil Anderson & Steve Goss.

Freedom in Christ
Session 1: Who Am I?

Introduction: Who Are You Really?

The purpose of this course is to help us walk in the freedom that Jesus has won for us. How can we do that? Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). We need to make sure that we really know the truth, not just as “head knowledge”, but in our hearts.

The first area of truth we need to know is where we have come from and who we really are.

So, who are you? It sounds a like a simple question, but the more we think about it, the more complicated we realise it is. What makes up the real “me”, the real “you”? Is it my body, is it what I have? Is it what I do? Is it what I think.

Created in the image of God

We tend to identify ourselves and others by outward appearance, performance and social status.

The Bible however is very clear, that that’s not who we are. It says that we are made “in God’s image” (Genesis 1:26). God is not flesh and blood, he is spirit. As humans we have a physical nature, our bodies, and also a spiritual nature, our soul or spirit. It is our inner spiritual nature that is created in the image of God. Deep down we are spiritual beings.

How we were designed to be

If we look at Adam and Eve, we can see how God intended us to be. Not only was Adam physically alive, in the same way that you and I are. He was also spiritually alive, in other words his spirit, the core of his being was connected to God.

This is how we were designed to be too: on the one hand our spirit connected to our physical body, and on the other hand our spirit connected to God.

This connection to God gave Adam a whole different quality of life from mere physical existence. Being spiritually alive meant that Adam’s life had a number of very important qualities:

1 Significance

God gave Adam a purpose for being – to rule over the birds of the sky, the bests of the field and the fish of the sea (Genesis 1:26). Adam did not have to search for significance or meaning in life – he already had it.
2 Security

He was totally safe and secure in God’s presence. Everything he needed was provided – food, shelter, companionship – everything! He had not concept of what “need” was.

3 Acceptance

Adam had an intimate relationship with God. He could talk with Him at any time and have his full attention. He also had a sense of belonging, not just to God but also to another human being, Eve.

That is how God created you to be. You were designed for that kind of life. Complete security, a real purpose, no need to worry about anything, and a sense of belonging to God and other people.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL

But when Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and they disobeyed God, things dramatically changed.

Spiritual Death

Adam and Eve were told, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) But the death that was talked about, was not only physical death but also spiritual death.

The connection that their spirits had to God was broken and they were separated from God. The effects of this spiritual death for them, and for us were:

1 Lost knowledge of God

The wisdom of God was no longer within them, and they were left to discover their identity, purpose and meaning in life independently of their creator.

To be in relationship with God was to know God. When Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from God’s presence, they lost the intimate knowledge of God they once enjoyed. That is how we came into the world, without a true knowledge of God. We may know about God, but we can’t really know him until we establish a real relationship with him through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14).

2 Negative Emotions

They suddenly experienced a whole host of negative emotions that they had never known before.

a) They felt fearful and anxious

The first emotion expressed by Adam was “I was afraid” (Genesis 3:10). Anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem in the world. It is hard to imagine, but Adam and Eve had not irrational fears until they sinned. We are born with a driving need to get back to the position of security that they lost.

b) They felt guilty and shameful

Originally they had a sense of significance. When the relationship with God was broken, that was replaced by a sense of guilt and shame. Therefore we are all born with a need to get back that sense of significance.

c) They felt rejected

Originally they had a sense of belonging, of complete acceptance. When the relationship with God was broken, there came a crushing sense of rejection. Everyone is born with that great need to feel accepted, and to belong.

d) They felt weak and powerless

Originally Adam and Eve had the power of God within them to be and do all that God created them to be and do. Now they had to rely on their own strength and resources.

e) They felt depressed and angry

TRYING TO GO BACK TO HOW IT WAS MEANT TO BE

The best the world can offer does not work

Because of the effects on sin on our world, and upon us, we are born with a strong drive to try and regain the acceptance, security and significance that Adam and Eve lost. But we don’t know how to do it.

We try to find significance through our accomplishments, we try to find security through our status, and we try to find acceptance through the admiration of others. But nothing we do, can recapture what was lost with Adam and Eve.

Bernhard Langer, the top golfer, who is also a Christian said this:

By the time I was about 28 years old, I had basically achieved almost everything that I wanted to. I realised that material things don’t make you happy and that there must be more in life than just accumulating money in the bank, or cars, or houses, or whatever. You just want more, more, more and are never satisfied.

We can’t get that life back by trying harder or dressing to impression, because the problem is that we were born separated from God. But God had a plan to restore fallen humanity.

WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO

Give us back spiritual life

The only possible answer to the problems we face is to restore our relationship with God, to reconnect our spirit to God’s spirit, to become spiritually alive again. That was not something we could accomplish ourselves. So God sent Jesus to deal with the sin that had separated us from God.

Jesus was like Adam in that he was both physically and spiritually alive. Unlike Adam, Jesus never sinned. He modelled for us how a spiritually alive person can live in this fallen world if they live dependently upon their heavenly Father.

However, Jesus came to give us more than an example, he came to give us life.

“In the beginning was the Word…. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even through he dies.” (John 11:25)

What Adam lost was life, what Jesus came to give us was life. When we become Christians our spirit is reconnected to God’s spirit – we are spiritually born again, and we can know God and relate to others in the same intimate way that Adam and Eve knew.

Restore Significance, Security and Acceptance

We tend to think that eternal life is something that we get when we die. But it is in fact much more than that – it’s a whole different quality of life right now. In fact, it’s simply getting back the life that Adam lost at the fall. In 1 John 5:12, the apostle John wrote, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life.” The moment we received Christ, we were given the right to be called children of God (John 1:12). Having the life of Christ within us is what makes possible the restoration of what Adam and Eve lost in the fall.

Now our needs to establish an identity, to be accepted, secure and significant are fully met in Christ. And what this sermon series will do, is to explore what this means for our real day to day lives: why we don’t have to strive any longer for people to accept us; why we are secure in Christ despite our circumstances; and why we don’t have to worry about our needs.

The key thing to understand now is that if God says that these things are true, then they really are true. God is truth – our responsibility is to find out what it true and believe it even when our feelings and circumstances tell us something different.

Summary

We seen that through Adam and Eve, God intends for us all to have an intimate relationship with him, and to experience acceptance, significance and security. But that through sin this was lost.

Jesus has come to give us back that life. We have that life right now.

Next week, we’ll come back again to the question “who am I?” and look at the truth of what it means to be a Christian.

Let us pray…..

Quick & True

In happy moments, praise God
In difficult moments, seek God
In quiet moments, worship God
In painful moments, trust God
In every moment, thank God

Five lessons to make you think about the way we treat people

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:
"What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello." I've never forgot en that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached..
it read:
"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.
Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving
others."
Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have t he plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies...you see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon a pproaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare &serious disease Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away". Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Colossians 3:12-17 Home Group Sermon

Introduction:

Last week I began my sermon by asking the question, what is your vision of a healthy church. We then proceeded to look at Acts 2:42-47, and examined what the early church was like, and we saw that it was a church that:
1) devoted itself to the study of scripture
2) was committed to fellowship
3) that took seriously the call to worship
4) and that it was a praying church.
And we saw also the important role small groups played in the life of that church, and how they continue to play an important role in the life of the church because it is within the small group that
1) relationships are built and nurtured.
2) It is the place that allows us to go deeper in the study of the Bible.
3) It is the place where people can develop their own gifts and ministries in a safe and caring environment.
4) It is a good place to invite friends and neighbours who may not yet be Christians, so they can get to know people in a more informal setting.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose 12 disciples? Why 12, why not more, why not fewer? One reason is that there is clearly a link being made between the 12 Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Disciples.

The twelve tribes of Israel were the specially chosen people of God, by choosing twelve disciples Jesus is making a strong statement that what he is doing is something new. This is picked up in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, in which he writes to the Colossians: YOU are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.” (3:12) Paul’s language of being chosen, set apart, and holy, is the language that had been used to describe Israel, but now it is being used to describe the church.

But I believe there is also another, more practical reason why Jesus chose twelve disciples. The word disciple means pupil or student, the twelve disciples were those chosen by Jesus to learn from him and follow him. Jesus, during the three years that he was with the disciples, modelled to them through his words and through his actions what it meant to be his follower. Jesus was able to do this much more effectively with a small group of close disciples than with a large group.

This is one of the reasons why small groups play such an important role in the life of the church, because they are here to help us grow as followers of Jesus through studying the Bible, praying and worshiping together and sharing our faith.

The home group is meant to be a place
Where we care for one another
Where we learn to serve one another
Where we are affirmed
Where we can learn together
Where we can get to know one another better.

Relationships form the fabric of the church. God uses small groups to strengthen a sense of community. God longs for unity and intimacy within the body of believers, and home groups provide the optimum environment for us to experience that closeness that God so wants for us. In these small group settings, we get to know one another and God better, our practical and spiritual needs are met, and those in our sphere of influence who don't have such a place can be invited to come.

In our reading from Colossians Paul writes that as God’s chosen, and holy people, we are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience. We are to act towards others as God in Christ has acted towards us. In the words of 1 John 4:11 “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Within the context of a small group, we begin to learn what this means.

He goes on to write that as Christians we are to demonstrate God’s family likeness, by ‘Putting on love’ (v14), to ‘let the peace of Christ rule in our lives’ (v15), and to letting the ‘word of Christ to dwell in you’ (v16). And Paul emphasises that this calling belongs to us all, that we all play a part in the ministry of teaching and encouraging one another in God’s word. It is the work the whole people of God, and not just one or two.

If we fail to do this, if the church doesn’t use all its gifts, it is like an orchestra that expects the conductor, the trombonist and the clarinettist to be able to play the parts of all the other instruments, and produce the same results as if all the instruments were playing.

Last week I mentioned the fact that one of the advantages of belonging to a home group is that it provides an environment for people to develop their gifts and ministries, as well as being a place for us to minister to one another. One of the things that can sometimes keep a Christian from growing is they lack confidence, and undervaluing or failing to recognise the gifts God has given them. When I was in my last parish, there was a group that met regularly called ‘prayer pause’, the purpose of this group was to pray for the church. It was set up by a wonderful Godly lady called Rosemary, who was in her mid late 80s at the time. When this group first started, very few people were felt comfortable praying in front of others, in fact many of the group found praying quite difficult. But over time, with the loving care and guidance of Rosemary people grew in confidence and ability, and it was a joy to see them really blossom in their Christian faith as they prayed for one another, and as they saw answers to prayer. At the start this group was totally reliant on Rosemary to lead the meetings, but when Rosemary moved to North Yorkshire to be closer to her family, there were lots of people in that group who had the ability to lead the group, and not only this, but were also confident enough to lead prayers in church, and to pray with others. The point of this story is that this only happened, because they belonged to a group, where they had the space and freedom to discover their gifts and ministries.

We shouldn’t just see home groups as yet another meeting to go to, but something that people enjoying coming together for, because they are meeting friends and there is a clear purpose in their gathering. What I want to encourage each of the home groups in St Martin’s to follow the ‘Four W’s’ pattern, so that each meeting has a clear structure.

The 4 Ws stand for:
Welcome
Worship
Word
Witness

Welcome - gathering
Each meeting will begin with some form of welcome, with the aim of gathering and helping the whole group gel together. Rather than allowing time to slide and eventually stumbling into the programme, the welcome is designed to give a focused start and sense of direction to the meeting. For example it may be a question or some form of icebreaker, that connects with the theme of the evening. The purpose of the welcome to is provide a common focus to draw everybody into the discussion at the beginning of the meeting, it is to help relax people, and it also helps us to get to learn more about one another and opens up conversation. For example, the meeting may start with a question like: If you could spend the day with a Bible character who would it be and why? Or If you could ask God one question now (with a guaranteed answer) what would it be?

Worship - glorifying
Next comes a time of worship, where we have an opportunity to focus our attention on God, and draw close to him. This time of worship may involve listening to a piece of music, lighting a candle, having a few moments in silence, praying together, whatever works best for the group.

Word - growing
After drawing near to God through worship, we then begin a time of focusing on the word, which may mean focusing on a Bible passage, looking at a theme from a Biblical perspective, or looking at the life of a character from the Bible, and considering what God is saying to us through this.

Witness - going
The final section is very practical. It is a reminder that everything we learn from God needs applying and working out in down to earth ways. It may begin with a time of prayer and ministry for each other, based on what we’ve just been learning, but it should also have an outward focus. So that we think about two or three people, he we’d like God to bless, and who we’d like to see come to faith, and to pray and plan for ways that we can build bridges into those people’s lives. For example the home group may plan a BBQ and invite their non Christian friends or partners along to it. Or you meet a practical need like helping someone move home. But what is important is that the group thinks, prays and plans this together.

To be a healthy church we all need to be active participants. As Paul writes “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” (1 Cor 12:12) We all have a part to play in the ministry of the church, and when we are part of a small group this ministry happens much more naturally, we pray for one another, support one another, and encourage one another in our journey of faith. It is about growing as disciples, and being equipped for Christian service. This connects with what Paul writes in verse 17. “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col 3:17) Home Groups can provide a safe and encouraging environment in which to grow in faith, understanding and ministry, equipping the church to be a strong, healthy body to continue Christ’s work in this and every generation. Just as the human body requires vitamins to stay healthy, so does the church. This is the ABC of healthy church:

All involved
Becoming disciples, applying God’s word to our lives
Creating community, sharing lives and building relationships
Doing evangelism as opposed to just talking about it
Encountering Jesus

Acts 2.42-47 Home Group Sermon

What is your vision of a healthy church? Is it to do with how well the building is maintained? The size and quality of the choir? The number of people that attend the services? The range of activities that take place through the church?

Or is it to do with the spiritual life of the church?

If you want a vision of what the church should be like, you cannot do any better than Acts 2:42-45, which provides an exiting insight into what the early church was like. One of the key features of this early church is that people as well as meeting together in larger groups in places like the temple, also met together in small groups, in one another’s homes, and this was one of the keys to the growth of that church. This has been described as the two winged church. For a bird to fly, it requires two wings, and likewise, for there to be a healthy church we need both larger gatherings such as this, when the whole church is gathered together, but we also need smaller gatherings such as home groups. If you look at churches that are growing today, you will discover that small groups play an absolutely crucial role in encouraging growth.

Why are small groups so crucial to growing a healthy church?

There are a number of advantages of meeting together in small groups:
o It is the place where relationships are built and nurtured.
o It allows us to go deeper in the study of the Bible, than is possible on a Sunday morning.
o It is the place where people can develop their own gifts and ministries in a safe and caring environment.
o It is a good place to invite friends and neighbours who may not yet be Christians, so they can get to know people in a more informal setting.

In studies on church attendance it has been discovered that 85% of those who joined a church where not likely to be there a year later. This raises a very important question, why are these people who are joining churches, leaving so quickly. The answer is that they did not make enough meaningful relationships in that time. Another survey discovered that 90% of new members would stay in church if they:
1) Made 4-8 close friendships within the church
2) They belong to a fellowship group
3) They can articulate their faith
The best way to develop these relationships is in the context of a small group, where you have the space and time to get to know people in an informal setting, where people can ask questions and explore what it means to be a Christian

If you look at the church in Acts, you discover that it was a Church built on relationships not structures

The church in Acts was dynamic and growing, it was a church full of vision and enthusiasm for Jesus Christ. It was a church built on relationships, with God, and with one another. It was a church that drew people into it, by it worship and its witness. It was a church that engaged in God’s mission.

Luke highlights four aspects of that early church’s life, four aspects of what makes a healthy church. It was a church committed to the study of the Bible, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Centrality of The Bible

The first feature of this church that Luke mentions is the devotion to the Apostles’ teaching (2:42). These were the people who had been with Jesus during his earthly ministry. And it was the teaching of the apostles that was later to form the New Testament. So the first mark of a healthy church is its commitment to studying God’s word. These first Christians were hungry to receive teaching about Jesus.

And a healthy church is one that takes the study of the Bible as of central importance. Because it is God’s word for us today. This is why we have sermons, to open up scripture and see what it has to say to us. But the advantage of having home groups is that we have the opportunity to go that bit deeper, to ask questions and debate what we’re studying, which is not always possible in church on a Sunday.

A Community Committed to Fellowship

The second feature of the early church was their commitment to one another. It wasn’t just a case of these Christians knowing one another well enough to say hello when they met on the street. It was a deep relationship built on love for God and love for one another. Luke tells us that many of these Christians shared things in common, giving to anyone in need (v45). The other feature of the life of that early church was how that fellowship continued throughout the week. Verse 46 says, ‘Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.’ They didn’t just meet once a week in the temple, and then that was it for the week. They met EVERY day, and not only in the temple, but in one another’s homes, for fellowship, to enjoy meals with one another, and to worship together.

Only this week we have had politicians talking about the problem of social breakdown in our society, and the need for creating community. What people long for is a sense of belonging, of being part of a community where they are valued and cared for. It is much easier to create a sense of community in the context of the small group, than it is in a large gathering. It is within the small group that we can hopefully open up and be ourselves, to share our struggles as well as our joys, and to be supported by the group.

It is within the small group that we learn what it means to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself..’ (Luke 10:27) In the context of a home group, it is the place where we learn to be vulnerable, where we learn to love others, and respect one another’s differences. It is the place where we learn to encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), and help each other in our Christian journey (Hebrews 10:24). It is also the place where we learn to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), accept one another (Romans 5:17) and bear with each other (Colossians 3::13).

In 1992 George Gallup conducted research in America that discovered what peoples main spiritual needs were. They were:
1. To believe life is meaningful and has a purpose. 2. To have sense of community and deeper relationships. 3. To be appreciated and respected. 4. To be listened to--and heard. 5. To feel that one is growing in the faith. 6. To have practical help in developing a mature faith.
Being part of a small group, I believe helps us to enter into these deeper relationships, to feel appreciated and respected, to be listened to and heard, and to help us grow in our faith.

It was a worshipping church

The third feature of the church in Jerusalem was that it was a worshipping church. The life of the church was not only expressed in caring for one another, but also through their worshipping life. They worshipped together not only in the formality of the Temple, but also in small informal groups that met in one another’s homes.

Worshipping in small groups plays a very important role in our own spiritual growth and development. Because it is the place where we can develop our spiritual gifts, where we learn to lead worship, study the Bible and pray, in ways which is not possible in a larger gathering such as now. We’ll look at this subject in more detail next week. One of the things that comes out of this passage is that the worship in that early church was passionate and enthusiastic and central to all they did.

It was a Praying Church

The church in Jerusalem was also a praying church. Verse 42, ‘they devoted themselves to prayer’.

Prayer is the very heart beat of the Christian faith and the church, a healthy church MUST have at its heart a burden for prayer. Through prayer God reveals his will to us, and we are transformed by Him. Again, those churches that are growing in this country, are those churches that have recaptured a vision for prayer, and have discovered the power of prayer. And the benefit of being part of a small group, is that we can learn how to pray in the safety of that close environment, and to uphold each other in our prayers.

So to summarise so far, the early church in Jerusalem devoted themselves to studying the Bible, to fellowship, to worshipping together throughout the week, and through the prayers of the community.

What impact did this have on the church?

The Church Grew!

Verse 47, we read, ‘day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved’. The church grew, and grew, and grew and grew!!! If several people join our church over the course of a year, we tend to think we are doing rather well. But this church in Jerusalem was seeing new people come to faith every single day! This was a community of Christians that witnessed to people, and it was the dynamic life, and the quality of relationships, and focus upon worship of God, prayer and care for one another that led people to faith in Jesus Christ.

My prayer for the home groups is that we’ll see them as the key way of growing St Martin’s. I hope that if you are not already a member of a home group, you will seriously consider joining one in the autumn. And I hope that people will invite their non church going friends along to the home groups, or along to special social events that the home groups put on, so people can get to know Christians. 79% of people who join a church, do so because they received an invitation from a friend to come along. And if people join a home group, it can really help them on their spiritual journey, as they begin to study the Bible with other Christians, as they enjoy the fellowship and care that comes through being part of a small group, as they learn how to pray, and worship. And through this, we will start to see changed lives.

Next week I want to reflect more on this topic, and share with you a bit more of my vision for the home groups.

Luke 12:32-40: True Priorities

What is most important to you in your life? It is a simple question and obviously a fundamental one. Yet answering it often proves difficult.

There is a myth that to know oneself and answer such questions all we need to do is to 'look inwards' and 'see' what is there. However, in life we do not so much know ourselves in a complete fashion, as constantly discover what we really are through the situations we find ourselves in. For example, you can only know how brave you are by seeing how you react when actually faced with danger.

We are also sometimes surprised by our reactions to situations, and thereby discover what we really think about something. We might have thought we would react otherwise, but did not, and so learn something new about ourselves.

What I am getting at is that we may answer whatever we like to the question, 'What is most important to you in your life?' - but we can only discover the answer by looking at how we act and react in our daily lives. Look at where your heart is, and you will find out what you really want, what you really treasure. As today's gospel puts it:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

In today's gospel Jesus speaks of material possessions as capturing the heart, not allowing one to be free to follow him. So he challenges his disciples to reveal what it is they really value, following him or being caught up in material wealth.

Such conflicts are a common feature of life in general. I might tell you, quite sincerely, that God is what is most important to me in my life, but if my actions do not bear that out, then in some way I am mistaken and deceive myself. And, when it comes to issues as fundamental as this, wrong answers can be very costly indeed. Relationships have been destroyed, lives have been wasted, and people have become trapped in illusions, focusing on false goals, because of wrong answers to our simple question, 'What is most important to you in your life?'

You may tell your spouse that you work every hour God sends you so as to provide your family with comfort and security. Is that really true, or is it that you are driven by ambition? You may go out of your way to help those in need, but is it because you wish to help them or gain praise?

You may claim that God is what is most important to you in your life, yet never get round to spending time in prayer. Or, conversely, you may hold yourself in low esteem, but treat people with great kindness and be prepared to stand up for principles you care about.

When we give false answers to our simple question, we not only miss the opportunity to discover the truth, we also reduce the possibility of being able to change and to grow, because we think we have the truth when we do not. We give ourselves false diagnoses, and stop ourselves from being healed.

Today's gospel takes issues such as that posed by our simple question very seriously indeed, even urgently. Jesus expresses this urgency in terms of having your lamps ready for when the master arrives. One way of understanding this passage is to view it in terms of the importance of getting your values sorted out before you die or before Christ comes again. But you can only do this if you can first give a true answer to our simple question.

However, our simple question is also highly relevant to the here and now. Throughout our lives we are presented with circumstances and opportunities which require that we make a choice. And if we are to make good choices, we need to have good values, and this requires knowing what values we have in reality.

Today's gospel is therefore a gift to us. It is a gift because it challenges us to face up to what is in fact most important to us, and in so doing how important God really is to us in our lives.
If we come to answer truthfully our simple question, 'What is most important to you in your life?' - we will have at least made a beginning to evaluating our lives, taken an important first step to living authentically and honestly. So a great deal hangs on how we answer it.

The Simpsons: A Matter of Respect 1 Peter 2:11-17

Love it, or loathe it, The Simpsons have become a iconic programme. There is no other series on television, either comedy or drama, where the environment is depicted so fully and consistently. "Simpsons" fans not only know what the family home looks like and where Homer works, but they also know the entire community of Springfield where the Simpsons live and all of the strange characters who live there. An estimated 80 million people around the world, watch The Simpsons every week. Beyond its mass appeal, The Simpsons has won 14 Emmys, and has been called by Time Magazine, “the best television program of the Twentieth century.”

In case you’re not so familiar with the Simpsons, here is some background information. The Simpsons live in Springfield where Homer the dad, works at the Nuclear Power Plant, and shows scant regard for health and safety. Homer Simpson has debated God on the merits of church vs. football. He's been banished to hell where his head was used as a demon's bowling ball. He's frolicked nude in the Garden of Eden, tried to feed a peanut to a statue of a Hindu deity and committed the sin of gluttony over and over and over again.

Marge is Homer’s wife and the mother of his children. Marge and Homer were High School sweethearts and she demonstrates unswerving love and devotion to her less than perfect husband.

Bart is probably the best known of the Simpsons; if he was living in this country he’d probably be a prime candidate for an ASBO. He has some redeeming qualities though, he does look out for his younger sister, and when he got a D grade, after praying that he wouldn’t fail his exam, he took time to thank God.

His younger sister Lisa is eight, and she is the brains of the family, a highly conscientious and motivated girl.

The youngest of the clan is Maggie who is only a year old.

Not your average family, but if we were honest enough to admit it, most of us have more in common with the Simpsons then with other regulars on prime time.

George Bush Senior, while President, once famously denounced The Simpsons saying “We need a nation closer to the Waltons than the Simpsons.”

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury said "A lot of people attack the show but I think it is very sophisticated and has an amusing slant on modern society. It is a light-hearted look at life and is surreal but there are good, strong Christian morals there too. It is very moral because the good people always win in the end."

Matt Groening, The Simpsons creator said in an interview “Right-wingers complain there’s no God on TV. Not only do the Simpsons go to church every Sunday and pray; they actually speak to God from time to time.”

The Simpson’s next door neighbour is a man called Ned Flanders. Ned is an Evangelical, born again type of Christian, for better of worse.

Homer and many other characters appear to be making up their religious beliefs as they go along, but Flanders is a true believer. What is interesting in this show is that the other characters often “see the light” and eventually try to act a little more like Flanders.

“The Simpsons” often almost always ends up affirming the importance of— honesty, family, community, selflessness and love.

In the Simpsons, people assume that God is real, that he hears and answers prayers, and it is a place where people go to church, and where faith matters. This is not what you normally see in prime time television now adays.

Whether you like the show or not, its impact is far reaching. For example, one of the most famous Christians today is the character Ned Flanders. Whilst this may fill us with a sense of despair, it’s not all bad. The magazine Christianity Today was doing a series of interviews with students who weren’t Christians, here’s what one student said; I follow Jainism, an ancient religion from India that's basically about non-violence and “live and let live.” The only real contact I've had with Christianity is from The Simpsons—and their neighbour Ned Flanders. His main idea is "Love thy neighbour." Even though Homer Simpson does all these mean things to him, Ned Flanders still likes him.

But if there is one thing that we find missing in the Simpsons that needs to be exhibited in the life of believers it is respect.

There is a serious lack of respect in the Simpsons, a lack of respect between family members, between friends, between neighbours, between employees and employers. And you know that’s not really all that surprising, considering that there is a serious lack of respect in our world today, a lack of respect between family members, between friends, between neighbours, between employees and employers.

Throughout the Bible we are told to respect other people, Leviticus 19:3 We are told to respect our parents, in vs. 32 we are told to respect older people, in vs 34 we are told to respect the handicapped, in Isaiah 17:7 we are commanded to respect God. Romans 13:7 tells us to respect our political leaders, Ephesians 6:5 tells us to respect our employers, Ephesians 5:33 says to respect your husband and 1 Thessalonians 4:4 says to respect your wife. I guess it’s summed up in the scripture that we read this evening where it says 1 Peter 2:17 Show respect for everyone.

As believers we are called to be people of respect. If we have a close look at the Ten Commandments, we’ll see that they deal with the issue of respect.

1) Do not worship other gods.
2) Do not make idols.
3) Do not misuse God’s name.
4) Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to God.
5) Respect your father and your mother.
6) Do not murder.
7) Be faithful in marriage.
8) Do not steal.
9) Do not tell lies about others.
10) Do not want anything that belongs to someone else.

Notice how the first four commandments deal with our relationship to God, they are vertical commandments, then we the next six deal with our relationship to our fellow man, they are horizontal commandments.

But regardless of whether they are dealing with God or people they are all dealing with respect. But how do we do that?

1) In our Speech Very few things reveal our true feelings for someone like our speech does. The words we say and how we say them are so powerful. That’s probably why James wrote these words to the early church James 3:5-6 So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

In the Third Commandment God says, show respect to my name. We are not to use God’s name foolishly. Some people show their disrespect for God’s name by using it as a swear word. We show our respect to God by respecting His name.

We also show respect to others by the way we speak to them. Proverbs 12:18 Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.

We mustn’t ever underestimate the power of your words to the people around us. What we say and how we say it is so powerful in lifting people up or tearing them down. Do you ever listen to how you speak to people? In the book of James, the Apostle makes this observation James 3:9-10 Sometimes it (the tongue) praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

How do we show respect in what we say? Paul tells us what to focus our minds on in Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. How about if we change that to read: “Speak about what is true and honourable and right, speak about things that are pure and lovely and admirable, let your words be excellent and worthy of praise.” That should do it.

The second way we show respect is by our actions. Laurence Sterne made the observation “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.”

If we look at the Ten Commandments again we find that God is saying if you respect me, then show it.

Don’t worship other gods, don’t make idols, Take time out of your week to worship me. It’s easy to say we love God, but what do our actions say, where do we give our time, our talents, our money?

Our commitment and our respect is measured not by what we say we do, but by what we do. Jesus himself used our behaviour to measure our love and respect for him, remember what he told us in John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.

The last six commandments deal with how we respect those around us. We show our respect to our parents by honouring them, we show respect to those around us by protecting their lives, by not stealing their things, by not stealing the affections of their spouses, by not lying about them and by not coveting the things they have.

Paul tells us in Romans 13:9 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

And over and over again Jesus commands us to love people. Jesus emphasises loving others, loving our friends, our fellow believers, our neighbours, even our enemies. Oh we haven’t always done it but we are supposed to. Jesus evens tell us that it will define who we are, John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

I want to conclude with advice contained in 1 John 3:18, advice that we all need to heed in our lives. Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.

Back to Church Sunday 30th September 2007

It has been estimated that up to three million people in Britain would go back to church if only they were invited. With this in mind, the Diocese of Manchester launched 'Back to Church Sunday' three years ago, and the scheme has proved so succesful that it has been adopted nationally. The evidence suggests that, on average, 12 people per church respond to the invitations to come on Back to Church Sunday, and many become permanent members (for a church the size of St Martin's that would mean increasing our average adult Sunday attendance by over 15%).

Back to Church Sunday will be taking place on 30 September 2007, and this year St Martin's will be participating in this scheme.

How does this involve you? The most effective way to attract people to church (maybe for the first time), is to offer to accompany them to church. I therefore want to issue you a challenge, over the next four months, I would like you to pray for three or four people who do not currently attend church, who you can invite to St Martin's on Sunday 30th September. At the end of June we will be distributing invitation cards for you to invite your friendsd to church.

This is a wonderful opportunity for us to really grow the church, and it is something we can all do. Please do pray about this scheme, and for the people you will invite.

Simon

Ministry in the Work Place

I want you to spend a moment thinking about what activities you consider to be Christian ministry and service.

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It is interesting how often we tend to think of Christian ministry in terms of the activities we do in ‘church’. For instance being a home group leader, or running Sunday school, or cleaning the church building, or being a warden. And there is nothing wrong with this, these are forms of Christian service. But how many of us think of what we do Monday to Friday at work as part of our Christian service and ministry?

Mark Greene has written extensively of mission in the work place, and in his book ‘Thank God it’s Monday’ he quotes one person who said the following: “I’ve been working for seventeen years and it’s only in the last year or so that I’ve recognized my workplace as a ministry. How many Christians die without ever realizing the ministry God had for them?”

So this morning I want us to think about ministry in the work place, the challenges and the opportunities that as Christians we face. What I want to say this morning, isn’t just restricted to those who are in paid employment, it relates to all of us.

Why Work is Important

We only have to look at the opening chapters of the Bible to see how important work is in God’s scheme of things.

First of all we see that God is a God who works. The Bible describes creation as the work of God. For six days God works, and on the seventh he rests from all the work he has done. God is a worker and it is something he chooses to do- it is part of his plan. And we see that God takes pleasure in his work. We’re told that when God finished creating the heavens and the earth he said that it was ‘very good’.

Work was part of God’s gift to humanity in creation; it was part of his original plan. God has created us for work, and this work is given to us as a blessing. We see this in Genesis 1:28, God blessed them and said to them. ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” And from Genesis 2:15 we read: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And as we see from this verse, we have a responsibility in work to care for the environment, and to care for others. There is a moral responsibility which is connected to the work we do. Elsewhere in the Bible it talks about the importance of working in order to support those in need. Working in order to improve the life of the community as a whole.

God always intended us to be people who work, and God intended work to be a source of satisfaction and pleasure.

And in the New Testament Paul calls upon Christians to do their work for God. Paul writes to the Colossians 3:17, “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Work is one of the ways in which we serve God.

Why the workplace is so important?

In 1945 the Church of England produced a book called ‘Towards the Conversion of England’. In it are written these words. “We are convinced that England will never be converted until the laity use the opportunities daily afforded by their various professions, crafts and occupations.”

As Christians God has called all of us to be his witnesses in the world. The greatest mission field in the world today is right on our doorstep amongst our friend’s neighbours and work colleagues. Britain today is a largely post-Christian society. Fewer and fewer people are attending churches; the level of Christian knowledge in our society is at an all time low.

And this is why being an effective witness in the workplaces so important. Because it is the place where we spend much of our time, maybe up to 40 or 50 hours a week. In the workplace Christians and non-Christians are able to meet and are subject to the same work cultures, and the same pressures. The work place is one of the few places where a non-Christian can actually see the difference that knowing Christ can make to a life, week in, week out. And through the workplace we will know many people, and have many friends, and we will be in contact with people at important points in their lives. For instance when face divorce, illness, or bereavement.

So we see the wonderful opportunities that we have as Christians to minister to those we work with. As Emil Brunner said, what the Christian community needs to do is to regain the lost sense of work as a divine calling.

The challenges of the workplace

We only need to consider the issues facing workers today, to realize what opportunities we have as Christians to bring something positive into the work place.

British workers work longer hours than any other nation in the European Union. And increasingly people are suffering from increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression and less job satisfaction. And people are being forced to work these longer hours, because they fear that if they don’t, their employers will find someone who will. For most people, job security is a thing of the past.

Also consider the values that shape the work place, and the desperate need for a positive Christian witness. For example, most contemporary workplaces assume that God does not exist, and that there are in no way accountable to him, and that he does not intervene in the affairs of business.

The challenge for us as Christians is how to we remind people that we are accountable to God for our actions. What assumptions and attitudes exist in your workplace, and how to they compare to the values and attitudes that God has, such as truth, honesty, justice, and fairness. And what are the values that we bring to the work place? Do we allow our Christian faith to have an impact upon what we do at work?

A further challenge is that increasingly people are seen in terms of what functions they perform in the business, rather than being treated as human beings. And as we work longer hours, people tend to see their work as a measure of their identity and worth. Yet the Bible reminds us that we are created in God’s image, and this attaches a special worth and dignity to each individual person, irrespective of what we do. How can we ensure that this message is heard in the workplace?

So we can see both the challenges, but also the opportunities that we have as Christians in the world of work. So for the remainder of this talk I want us to consider how we can develop a Christian vision for the work place.

A Christian Vision for the Work Place

1. Our work matters to God

The first thing we need to be reminded of is that our work matters to God. God is deeply concerned about the work we do, he is concerned about every part of our lives, and not just what we get up to on a Sunday morning. The work that I do as a priest in God’s eyes is no greater or more important than the work you are involved in. We tend to talk about the priesthood as a vocation, a calling, but secular employment can be just as much a vocation. Think about how important it is for us to have Christian teachers, doctors, nurses, accountants, etc. In fact we need Christians in every walk of life.

If we look at the Bible we see that many of the great biblical heroes were people who had what we would term secular jobs. For example, Joseph who became the chancellor in Egypt, Daniel the imperial adviser to Nebuchadnezzar, or Nehemiah who was the cupbearer to king Artaxerxes.

2. Our primary calling is to be a servant of Jesus Christ

Secondly we need to remember that our primary calling is to be servants of Jesus Christ. A man standing on the platform waiting for the train to take him to work was asked, Who are you? He replied… I am a Christian thinly disguised as an accountant.

If we begin to see our workplace as the context for mission and evangelism, it will change our whole attitude to those we work amongst. For example do we pray for those people we work for? When you go into work do you ask God for opportunities to share your faith with those you work with? And do you meet up with other Christians who work at the same business as you to pray and study the Bible & support one another? Jesus said, Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. The harvest is ripe, we should ask God to preparing and using us to share his love. The important point is that it is not about getting people into church, it is about telling them about the love God has for them.

Being an effective witness in the workplace doesn’t require a degree in theology, just openness to God as the following example demonstrates.

Emily, a small Chinese lady, works at the United Nations. One day one of her co-workers wasn’t feeling well. ‘Can I get you a cup of tea?’ Emily enquired.

‘No’ the other replied rather shortly. ‘I don’t like the tea here. I only drink camomile.’ Emily left her, quietly slipped on her coat, took the lift down several floors and went down the street to a nearby shop. She returned with a box of camomile tea and gave it to this lady, who immediately enveloped her in a huge hug, exclaiming, ‘Emily, I love you’. Emily replied, rather muffled from the epicentre of the massive hug, ‘I love you too.’

Emily’s story illustrates a number of important points:
· We need to be ministry minded- Emily could have just smiled and gone on her way. Instead, because she was ministry minded, because she listened, because she saw the other person’s need and desire, she took an initiative that totally transformed that person’s mood and day.
· Time is on our side- the opportunities will come. We don’t have to create situations in which we can minister- they will happen by themselves. We simply need to pray and be alert.
· Ministry is to individual people- Clearly camomile tea wouldn’t have been a good idea for everybody, but it helped this one woman. We need to care for people and love them as individuals.
· Ministry doesn’t demand- it gives- Emily asked for nothing, not even the money for the tea. She gave expecting nothing in return. Our expressions of love for others shouldn’t have any strings attached. We need to be sensitive and distinguish between the opportunities to serve and the opportunities to communicate the gospel verbally.

The Revd. Tim Montgomery from St Thomas’ Kendal wrote the following in the Westmorland Gazette. ‘My greatest pleasure comes not from singing hymns, in long prayers, in dressing up in funny robes, in bowing or kneeling, in lighting candles or taking up an offering (or any other number of things people tell me church is all about!) It comes from seeing just one person meet with God, draw close to Him and pick up a new life with real hope and a future.’ I totally agree with him, seeing someone come to faith is the greatest privilege on earth, and it is my sincere hope and prayer that all of us will take seriously the call to be God’s witnesses in the world today. Amen.

Acts 11:1-18 Breaking Down Barriers

Introduction

The autumn of 1989, was a momentous time in history, as the Berlin wall which had separated West Berlin and East Germany for 28 years was torn down. Although I was only 12 at the time, the images of that event remain firmly in my memory. It was a great moment in history, a moment of celebration as a symbol of division and separation was destroyed.

The Acts passage is about the destruction of another terrible wall built of pride, racism, and superior attitudes. What we find in this passage, is a church struggling to come to terms with change, and facing issues that could threaten to tear it apart – does this sound familiar?! We see the barriers that can so easily be put up between people, and also how we can overcome these divisions.

Background

The early church was a Jewish Church. Jesus was a Jew, his disciples were Jews, and Jesus’ ministry had been spent amongst the Jewish people. And although Jesus’ commission to his disciples in Matthew 28:19 was to “go and make disciples of all nations,” up to this point the followers of Jesus were mostly Jewish.

But now the church was beginning to see Gentiles, non Jews, coming to faith in Christ, and this posed some significant theological and practical problems. For example, the Jewish Christians continued to observe the Old Testament food laws and circumcision, and one question that arose was should Gentile Christians observe these same laws or not. If not, how were Jewish believers to maintain their own obedience to food laws when fellowship in Christ involved eating with unclean Gentiles? And how would close association with Gentile believers affect the relationship of Jewish believers with other Jews who did not share their faith in Christ? These issues were dealt with in more detail at the Council of Jerusalem which you can read about in Acts 15, but in this passage these issues remain unresolved.

And what we see is potential divisions emerging between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

In Acts 11:2 we read, “when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers (i.e. Jewish Christians) criticized him and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them." In the previous chapter we learn that Peter, after receiving a vision from God, had visited the home of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion who lived in the town of Caesarea. Whilst Peter was with Cornelius and his family, the Holy Spirit came upon them. This event was a turning point for Peter, because he realised that the Holy Spirit, which had been promised by Jesus, and had been poured out on the day of Pentecost, was for all people, and not just the Jews. But now back in Jerusalem, Peter comes under attack by members of the Jewish Christian community for eating with ‘uncircumcised men’ in other words, Gentiles. Although these were fellow Christians, who preached the gospel, who had themselves received the Holy Spirit, they were also still very legalistic in their Jewish practices. If they felt bound by the Jewish food laws, then there could be no fellowship with Gentile Christians, unless the Gentiles were circumcised and observed the Jewish food laws themselves. And so what we find, is that legalism, and fear of what this change meant, was threatening the very mission of the church to carry the message of Jesus into the entire world. What in affect was happening was barriers were being built along religious, racial, and ethnic lines.

And the same can happen today. There are all sorts of barriers that we can build between ourselves and other people. Barriers built along racial, religious, or social grounds. Barriers based on age or sex, upon education, or political affiliation, social or cultural barriers. Whatever the barrier is, it draws a distinction between us and other people. But barriers built on the grounds of racism, ageism, sexism, religious or social and cultural grounds are totally unacceptable, because it is offensive to human dignity, and because it is offensive to God who accepts without discrimination all who repent and believe. What Peter came to learn when he met Cornelius is that God does not show favouritism.

There are also some striking parallels between the church in Jerusalem and the church today. Today the church nationally and locally finds itself in a time of change, and transition, and it we can be left feeling threatened and vulnerable. For example, the church which was once at the very heart of our society, now finds its self on the margins. We are living in an increasingly pluralistic society, where people are interested in spirituality, but reject institutional forms of religion. The church finds itself in a culture, where once it was respected, but now it has to fight to make its voice heard. And the culture of the church and the culture of society can feel so at times very different, and in these situations it can often feel easier to retreat into our church buildings, and stick with what we find familiar, comfortable and safe, rather than engaging with a society we don’t always understand. This in effect builds a barrier which people find hard to cross.

So how did the church overcome these barriers?

1 Dialogue

Notice that Peter did not get drawn into an argument with his critics in Jerusalem. Proverbs 15:1 says, A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

So Peter describes in great detail what had happened. He relates the vision from God, and his own initial opposition to the vision, and how God challenged him about this, and what happened when he visited the home of Cornelius.

Peter could have easily been drawn into an argument about the law, but it would have been futile. But by explaining what happened, his audience is able to begin to understand the reason for Peter’s actions.

So often the barriers that we create are as a result of not understanding enough about a person or a situation. It is very easy to make assumptions about people, but if we are open to dialogue, it opens us to the possibility of these allowing these assumptions to be challenged and changed, and this is turn can lead to healing and reconciliation. This is one of the reasons why the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in South Africa after the end of apartheid.

Constructive dialogue requires a willingness to listen, as well as to be heard, and to allow our perceptions to be challenged. The importance of listening to someone in the midst of a conflict does at least three things:1. it obeys God’s word (James 1:19,20)2. It shows honour to the other person (Phil 2:3)3. It may be God’s way of teaching us something about Himself (as in this text).

2 Following the leading of the Holy Spirit

What we see from this passage in Acts, is that Peter, follows the leading of the Holy Spirit. In verse 12, Peter relates he acted at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, who told him to go with the three men who had arrived at his house. Peter goes onto explain in verse 15, how the Holy Spirit came on the people in that house, just as it had done on the day of Pentecost, which demonstrated both to Peter, and to the others that he had heard the Spirit correctly. What we see is the Holy Spirit moving and working and Peter responding.

The Spirit of God is the one that is meant to lead us, as a church and as individuals. But for this to happen, we need to be open to the Spirit, to hear and respond to the leading of the Spirit. To recognise the movement of the Spirit, we need to grow in our intimacy with God. When you go sailing, if you try to sail directly into the wind, the boat comes to a standstill, to get movement you need to set your sails with the wind, and the same is true with God’s Holy Spirit, if we try to go against the Spirit of God, we get no where. Instead we need to go in the direct that the Spirit is leading.

The Holy Spirit is the source of community, and helps build up community, and therefore breaks down the divisions that would otherwise separate people. If our lives as individuals and as a church, are filled by the Holy Spirit, then we should see the fruits of that spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Those things that promote and encourage unity.

3. Submit to the word of God

The third and final point, is that Peter submitted to the word of God. Acts 11:15 Peter says, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with[a]water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Peter recalls the words that Jesus spoke about baptism, just before he ascended into heaven.

So what is the difference between John’s Baptism and being baptized by the Holy Spirit? John’s baptism was a baptism of preparation – preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit’s baptism was a baptism of identification – identifying those who have placed their faith in Christ into the body, i.e., the church. So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, and realised that it was the same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that had been witnessed on the day of Pentecost. And so Peter realised, “if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" (Acts 11:17) Peter submitted his will, to the word of God.

Conclusion

This issue of how the church was to respond to the inclusion of Gentiles into the Christian faith, could have ended very differently. But because Peter entered into dialogue, because both he, and the church in Jerusalem were open to what the Holy Spirit was doing, and because they submitted to the word of God, they were able to avoid a potential split.

I think we also can draw lessons from this passage both as a church, and also as individuals on how we can help break down the barriers that cane divide people. And Jesus is the example that we follow, because it comes down simply to one command, and that is to love people, the way God loves us. If we are committed to living this way, not only will it prevent barriers being erected in the first place, but it will help break down those we find, just as God has broken down the barriers that once separated us from him.