The sermon for Good Friday is now available on the New Life web-site.
In this sermon, which is based on John chapters 18 and 19, I talk about Jesus’ last words on the cross.
To listen in your browser click here. To download the mp3 click here.
Month: April 2017
Reflection on Colossians 3:1-4
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3.1-4
Scripture
When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Observation
We who are born again have died in Christ and are raised with Him. Because Christ is above, that is where our desires and affections must be.
I have died and am now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ is revealed in glory, I will also be revealed with Him in glory.
Application
We live in a materialistic culture, and everything is about what can be seen or touched. Consequently, we tend to think of eternity as pretty much like this life. We just cannot imagine what heaven must be like.
Paul tells us that we who are born again are born to a higher level of existence. At the moment our true nature is hidden with Christ, but when Christ’s glory is revealed to the world, we will also be revealed.
We are not ordinary people although we look like ordinary people. We are children of glory awaiting our transformation and unveiling.
We have an eternal destiny. We will rule over angels and all created beings. We will share in the glory and majesty of Christ.
We are the ones who have recognised the truth of the gospel. We are the ones who have joined ourselves to Christ, saying “Yes” to his offer of salvation. We are the ones who will overcome and stand firm in Him until the end.
Having passed through all the temptations and trials of this life we will be raised up with Christ to share His glory.
For this reason we must live as people of destiny. As Paul says, we must set our minds on what is above. This is what we were created and saved for.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the destiny, the glory that awaits me in you. Thank you for dying on the cross to set me free from sin and death. Thank you for the assurance that I will share in your resurrection. Amen.
Reflection on Acts 10:34-43
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+10.34-43
Scripture
“They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but God raised Him to life on the third day.”
Observation
Peter is testifying at the house of Cornelius. He says that God accepts those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. There is peace with God through Jesus Christ.
God anointed Jesus with Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus went around doing good and healing all. Men crucified Jesus, but God raised Him to life. He ordered His disciples to testify everywhere that Jesus is the one appointed to judge all people, the one the prophets foresaw who would bring forgiveness to all who believe in Him.
Application
This week is called Holy Week in some churches. It is the week we spend particularly contemplating the Easter message. Men killed Christ by nailing Him to a cross, but God raised Him from the dead.
It wasn’t the Roman soldiers who nailed Jesus to the the cross. That blame is shared by everyone who ever sinned. That includes me.
My sins took Jesus to the cross, but God demonstrated His love by raising Him from the dead.
That simple phrase, “But God” is such a powerful reminder of the power of God’s grace.
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Jesus was dead in the tomb, but God raise Him to life
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I was lost in my sins, but God forgave me
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I was headed for Hell but God rescued me and put me on the path to heaven.
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I was sick but God healed me.
What an awesome God!
God loved the world enough to heap up all the sins that people have ever committed and dump them on Jesus on the cross. Then He showed us that sin no longer has any power to bind us by raising Christ from the dead.
All my sins are gone because of Calvary.
The greatest part of this is that we don’t have to be perfect, or even good, to qualify. God’s forgiveness is here for everyone who receives the gift.
Prayer
Thank you Lord Jesus for dying for me. Now help me to live for you. Amen.
Easter Means We Don’t Need A “Prayer Room”
Stephen McAlpine writes:
Christian: We Don’t Need No Prayer Room
The decision by the Royal Adelaide Hospital to build a prayer room for Muslims, but no dedicated chapel for Christians, merely a multi-faith room instead, has drawn predictable ire from the likes of Australian Conservatives leader Senator Cory Bernardi.
The Australian newspaper today reported Bernardi saying he is “sick and tired” of the constant accommodation to a minority group in Australia, to the detriment of Australia’s historical faith.
The report states:
Senator Bernardi said the new hospital’s arrangement was “everything that’s wrong” with the approach to integrate other cultural groups, and the prayer room was “clearly designed for Islam”.
Separate washing areas were “all the symbolism I need that this is tailor-made to accommodate to a tiny minority’’, he said yesterday. “We’re bending over to appease a minority for fear of causing offence while undermining our tradition and heritage.
is Bernardi right? Is that what is happening?
Perhaps. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility in our secular context, in which Anything But Christianity is viewed ironically, as sacrosanct, that that is the case.
But it’s not the only reason, perhaps not even the primary one. Other faiths are less demarcated in our culture in the sense that Islam has strong parameters about what it can and cannot do; what it can and cannot abide in the public square. Provisions need to be made. Dedicated prayer rooms need to be available.
A multi-faith room for everyone else seems somehow reasonable because no one else seems to care too much about separatism in the way Islam still does. And let’s face it, the anaemic version of Christianity in the public setting today has been at pains to show how much it is the same as everything else. Islam, to its credit, is not making that mistake.
Perhaps too Bernardi, for all his railing against the secular system, misses the radical point of Christianity. For if he understood it rightly he’d realise, we don’t need no prayer room at all!
Read the rest here
Protesters Ignore People They Purport to Represent
The trouble with protesters is that most of them are either blind or stupid.
Tim Blair writes:
SYRIAN BOMBS AT ANTI-BOMBING RALLY
Anti-war riff-raff were chanting and screeching during a London protest against Syrian bombing on Friday – and then an actual Syrian turned up.
Hassan Akkad, from Damascus, asked why the group was not protesting against President Assad instead, but was drowned out.
He said: “British people not letting a Syrian say something about Syria in a protest about Syria. It’s mad.”
The 29-year-old said he had wanted to be the voice of Syrians who were still in the country but left the protest “livid”.
After a video of the encounter was shared widely online, Mr Akkad told the BBC: “I didn’t see them protesting against the chemical attacks, I didn’t see them protesting against Putin bombing Syria for the last two years.
“I wanted to go to that protest and I wanted to observe.
“I went to the protest and I saw a group of 30 people with placards, not a single mention of Assad.
“All the placards are against Donald Trump and they’re repeating baseless slogans with their megaphones.”
He added: “I went to them respectfully and said, ‘Listen I’m a Syrian refugee who lives here and I have an opinion, it’s a protest about Syria I want to say something’.
“They didn’t even address me, they ignored my existence.”
Poor fellow. He didn’t fit the narrative.
Today’s Sermon
Reflection on Matthew 21:1-11
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21.1-11
Scripture
When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking “Who is this man?”
Observation
Jesus and His disciples arrive at Bethphage, near Jerusalem. He sends two of the disciples into the village to collect a donkey and a colt. This was to fulfil the prophecy.
The disciples do as Jesus directed them, and He mounts the donkey to enter Jerusalem. People cut down branches to throw on the road before Him, and everyone shouts “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
His arrival stirs up much turmoil in the city/
Application
Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem stirred up much excitement, interest and discussion in the city. People were asking, “Who is this man?”
The way we answer the question , “Who is Jesus?” is fundamentally important, as our answer determines our life direction and our eternal destiny.
Some people say that He was a good teacher of a good moral example. But He portrayed Himself as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. If this was not true, He was neither a good teacher nor a moral example.
Some say He was a political revolutionary. Yet He failed to deliver any political gains against the establishment. Within a week Jesus would be dead, a public failure. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” denying any political objectives.
So we are left with the conclusion that Jesus truly was the Son of God. He alone can save us by forgiving our sins and reconciling us to God.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, people still ask, as they did then, “Who is this man?” I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour, the one who brings freedom, healing and direction to my life. Help me to show others how to follow you. Amen.
Reflection on Philippians 2:1-11
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2.1-11
Scripture
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Observation
Paul exhorts us to be of full accord and of one mind. We must do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but regard others as better than ourselves.
Instead we are to let the mind of Christ be in us. He did not grasp equality with God, but instead emptied Himself, taking the form of a human servant. He humbled Himself all the way to death on the cross. Then God exalted Him to the highest place, giving Him the name above all names, so that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Application
Our society exalts individuality and selfishness. Everything is directed at self-centredness.
To let the mind of Christ dwell in us, we must learn to think of others first and put the will of the Father above everything else. Our whole way of thinking must be reversed to understand that we belong firstly to Christ and not to ourselves. We were bought with a price, and our primary duty is to find out God’s will for us and then get on with it.
Our minds are infected by the strongholds which dominate our attitudes and ways of thinking. These strongholds of satan are ways of thinking that seem so right to us that we do not even notice that they are there, much less that they are wrong.
As we let the Holy Spirit come into our thinking, He demolishes these strongholds and shows us a more godly way to think.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ please teach me to think like you think and to love others the way you love them. Please take away all self-centredness and replace it with an attitude of God-centredness. Amen.
From “The Babylon Bee“
Skeleton Of Preacher Still Waiting For One More Person To Come Forward Discovered
WOODLANDS VALLEY, TX—The perfectly preserved skeleton of a pastor still waiting for one more person to come forward was discovered at an abandoned church building once belonging to First Baptist Church, sources confirmed Tuesday.
Dated to around 1996, the skeleton was reportedly discovered by a group of youths exploring the church’s abandoned sanctuary on Main Street. The pristine skeletal remains were still standing next to the church’s pulpit, hands outstretched as if waiting for just one more person to come forward.
According to church historians, the skeleton belonged to Pastor Mark, who gave an extended altar call at the end of the church’s final service at the old building in the autumn of 1996, and was never heard from again.
“We always thought he had simply moved on to another church after he didn’t get that one more person to come forward,” deacon Jon Wilder told reporters. “We had no idea he stood there for days or even weeks before he finally passed away, frozen to the spot.”
“If I had only known he was so determined to get that last person to make a decision for Christ, by golly, I’da gone up myself,” Wilder added.
Sources also confirmed that a cassette tape playing “Just As I Am” was still looping indefinitely when the skeleton was discovered.
New Life Narrabri 