The sermon for May 7th is now available on the New Life web-site.
In this sermon, which is based on John 10:1-10, I talk about Hearing the Voice of the Shepherd.
Reflection on John 10:1-10
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10.1-10
Scripture
”When he has brought out all his own [sheep], he goes on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Observation
Anyone who does not enter a sheep pen by the gate is a thief and robber. The shepherd enters the paddock by the gate and calls the sheep by name. They follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger because they do not know his voice.
Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep.” Those who came before, the false Messiahs and false teachers, were like thieves and robbers. Thieves come to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus has come to give life to the full.
Application
Jesus calls us by name. He knows us. We are not a blank face in the crowd or a six-digit number.
The true follower of Jesus knows His voice and follows Him where He leads. We follow because we know the voice.
There is a depth of intimacy in our relationship with Jesus. He knows us more deeply than we know ourselves. He is the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep.
Jesus knows me and loves me!
I know Him. I recognise His voice as He speaks to my heart. I hear His voice in Scriptures and in good preaching. I hear His voice when He speaks to me in dreams and visions. I hear His voice in the stillness and quiet places.
He leads and I follow that voice; it works best that way. Sometimes I try to follow other voices, but it usually ends badly.
It is so much better to follow the shepherd of my soul.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please help me to hear your voice and to follow your voice alone. Amen.
Reflection on 1 Peter 2:19-25
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2.19-21
Scripture
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to our sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Observation
This passage is primarily directed at slaves being punished by harsh masters, but it is applicable to every believer.
It is commendable to bear up under unjust suffering because of our trust in God. It is not worthy if we suffer for doing wrong. The experience of suffering unjustly is a part of our calling in Christ, for He suffered on our behalf even though He committed no sin.
Jesus did not retaliate or threaten those who afflicted Him. Instead He entrusted Himself to His Father. As a result, we are set free from our sins.
Application
Jesus bore our sins on His body when He hung on the cross. He died to set us free from sin and death.
Everyone who receives this gift and dies to their sins can now be raised to new life in Him.
Sin had a hold on us in every way. We could not escape it on our own. But when we died to ourselves and received new life in Christ, then we were dead to sin and alive to righteousness. We were born again to a new life in the grace of Christ.
Part of the benefit of being born again in Christ is that we can know healing from sickness. Sickness is a part of the old covenant of sin and death. Now that we live in Christ we are healed by His wounds.
In this life healing is only partial, in the same way that our freedom from sin is not yet complete. And so we pray and sometimes people are healed and other times they are not.
The healing that we do receive points us to the future when sickness and death will be no more.
Prayer
Thank you Lord Jesus for dying for me. Than you for taking my sin and my death on your body and promising eternal life with you. Amen.
Science in 2017
Reflection on Acts 2:42-47
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2.42-47
Scripture
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.
Observation
The earliest believers recognised that they needed one another. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship and worship. The apostles performed many signs and wonders.
The believers shared their possessions and gave to those in need. They met daily in the temple and in their homes. And the Lord added to their number daily.
Application
This scripture passage is one of the key passages for the cell church movement. We see here that in the early days the church met, as the church, in big gatherings and in smaller gatherings in homes.
There was a strong sense of community, of belonging to one another that is often missing in many churches. They could see the Holy Spirit at work as signs and wonders were happening, as they loved on another, and as people were being saved.
It is easy to get caught in the christian “bubble” in which all of our relationships are with other christians. Somehow, in all of their exciting meetings, the first believers were maintaining friendships with non-believers in such a way that they were getting saved.
This community was not a closed cult. It was a very open group.
I get very excited when I meditate on this passage. It tells us what the church can be and should be. We just have to change our orientation from institution to God-centred community.
Prayer
Lord let my part of your church become the real church. May we develop a community of such intimacy with you and with each other that people are desperate to find you. Amen.
Anne Voskamp: The One Cure For Burnout
Anne Voskamp writes about the one cure for burnout
So this symphony lover invites me to a concert, a box seat, up over the orchestra.
It’s cold. Chicago. The violinists warm up. The whole northern hemisphere keeps trying to warm up to spring.
From anywhere in the building, you can see the guy up front, the conductor.
Somebody’s ironed his black threads pretty smooth. His hair – not so much. It’s this perfect balance of grace.
The lights dim, papers stop rustling. A thousand smart phones are rendered dumb. The conductor raises his arms and in one moment it’s like he’s pulled a million strings and the music rises — and there it is, clear as a spotlight:
The only way to lead a symphony is to turn your back to the crowd, the critics, the court.
Something inside me unhinges.
Read the full article here
Reflection on Luke 24:13-35
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24.13-35
Scripture
They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures?”
Observation
It is Easter afternoon and two disciples are walking the road to a village called Emmaus.
They are discussing the events of the weekend when a stranger comes near. It is Jesus, although they don’t recognise Him. They tell Him about Jesus, His crucifixion and the reports of His resurrection.
Jesus then starts to tell them about how it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer then enter into glory.
At he village, the disciples invite Jesus to stay the night. When they are eating, Jesus takes the bread, blesses and breaks it. Their eyes are opened to recognise Him, then He vanishes. Excited, they rush back to Jerusalem with the news that they have seen the Lord.
Application
An encounter with Jesus will burn our hearts within us. Drawing close to Jesus, communing with him, listening to Him- this is what warms the heart of the true follower of Jesus.
There are three things happening here.
1. Two disciples sharing together about Jesus are joined by Him unexpectedly. Where two or three are gathered in His name He is there. I love cell groups and one-on-one conversations because, as we share about Jesus, He comes and joins the conversation.
2. Jesus talked to them. We need to learn to listen to the still small voice of God. He tells us, ”My sheep know my voice.” The greatest source of life for christians is the voice of the Living Word that comes to us as we listen in prayer.
3. He opened the scriptures to them. All scripture points to Jesus. It can be so easy to come to God’s word as a religious chore that we tick off our daily “to do” list. Here is the word of eternal life. It deserves our attention. We need to learn to hear the voice of Jesus opening the scriptures to us, opening our understanding and our eyes to see how it applies to us today.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, when I come into your presence, my heart truly does burn within me. I confess that I sometimes let the busy-ness of life prevent me from seeking you. Let my heart burn with passion for your presence. Amen.
The Amazing Wax Worm Eats Plastic!
This is amazing!
From the ABC
Wax worms biodegrade plastic bags at ‘uniquely high speeds’, study finds
Posted
Scientist and amateur beekeeper Federica Bertocchini picked parasitic wax worms from the honeycomb of her beehives and left them sitting in a plastic bag.
When she returned to the bag, it was riddled with holes and many of the worms had escaped.
It was that chance discovery that led her to collaborate with scientists at the University of Cambridge in England to unearth the possibility of using worms to munch through the world’s plastic problem.
The team discovered the wax worm, a caterpillar commercially bred for fishing bait, has the ability to biodegrade polyethylene — a type of plastic used to make shopping bags — at uniquely high speeds.
The degradation rate was extremely fast compared to other discoveries, like plastic-eating bacteria, the study published in Current Biology found.
When the team exposed about 100 wax worms to a plastic shopping bag, holes started to appear after 40 minutes, with a reduction of 92mg after 12 hours.
Analysis showed the wax worms transformed the polyethylene into ethylene glycol, a chemical used to make polyester and anti-freeze.
The team of three scientists said the discovery could lead to a biotechnological approach to plastic pollution.
People around the world use about 1 trillion plastic bags each year, the study said, and more than 45 million tonnes of polyethylene plastics are produced annually.
“The caterpillar produces something that breaks the chemical bond, perhaps in its salivary glands or a symbiotic bacteria in its gut,” said Cambridge University’s Paolo Bombelli said.
“If a single enzyme is responsible for this chemical process, its reproduction on a large scale using biotechnological methods should be achievable.”
Wax has similar chemical structure to plastic
Wax moths lay their eggs inside hives where the wax worms grow on beeswax.
The worms are known for living like parasites in bee colonies and damaging hives by eating their wax comb.
Researchers said breaking down plastic and beeswax required similar types of chemical bonds.
“Wax is a polymer, a sort of natural plastic, and has a chemical structure not dissimilar to polyethylene,” Ms Bertocchini, from the Spanish National Research Council, said.
When the team mashed up the worms and smeared them into plastic they had similar degradation results to when the caterpillar “ate through” the plastic.
“The caterpillars are not just eating the plastic without modifying its chemical make-up. We showed that the polymer chains in polyethylene plastic are actually broken by the wax worms,” Mr Bombelli said.
“The next steps for us will be to try and identify the molecular processes in this reaction and see if we can isolate the enzyme responsible.”
Reflection on 1 Peter 1:17-25
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+1.17-25
Scripture
You have been born anew, not of perishable but imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Observation
If we call God “Father” we should live in reverent fear. We were ransomed from the ways of our ancestors through the precious blood of Christ. He was destined to die before the foundation of the earth and is now revealed at the end of the age.
We have been born again with an imperishable seed through the living and enduring word of God- the good news that was announced to us.
Application
Our first birth was in the flesh or from a perishable seed. Tainted by the spirit of death that now pervades the cosmos, we too were destined for death.
The sin of Adam, passed through the generations, put us on the road of death. Our own sins cemented us on the road.
Then came Jesus, the perfect sacrifice. He took away the power of sin and death. We were born again to a living hope through the imperishable seed of Christ’s death.
“Born again” does not just mean a new start or a second chance,although it does include that. It really means an entirely new nature. The Holy Spirit brings spiritual life, living water that washes away the power of sin in our lives.
Because I am born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, I have a new connection with God through the Holy Spirit in me. I can talk to Him any time without going through priests or cleansing sacrifices and rituals.
The vehicle for this process is the living and enduring word of God. This takes four different but related forms.
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The written word of God is inspired or God-breathed, and so it always caries the life of the Holy Spirit.
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The announced word of God (v. 25). When the message is preached or proclaimed it again carries the life of the Holy Spirit,
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The Word of God is of course Jesus Christ Himself (see John 1). He embodies the message of Scripture, the word become flesh. Every word of Scripture is ultimately about Him.
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Revelations from the Holy Spirit- words of knowledge and wisdom, prophecy etc. This is a lesser form of the word because it is so easily corrupted by our sinful nature. It must always be corroborated by the written word or the Living Word. It should not be dismissed because God still speaks to His people today.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word, may I hear your word in its various forms and respond always to your love and your will for me. Amen.
Intolerance Growing in Indonesia
This is a very worrying trend in a nation which has, in the past, been verytolerant of diverse beliefs.
From persecution.org
Survey Finds 59% of Respondents Carried Out Acts of Intolerance Toward Non-Muslims
ICC Note:
The Wahid Foundation, an organization that promotes tolerance in Indonesia reports on acts of sectarian violence. The former first lady of Indonesia, Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, cited some alarming statistics from the Foundation’s research saying that, “Only 11 per cent of respondents expressed strong rejection of the idea of establishing an Islamic nation,” and adding that, “59 per cent of Indonesians who responded to the survey carried out acts of intolerance towards non-Muslims.” Indonesia has been under the growing influence of conservative Islam which is resulting in more acts of intolerance against non-Muslims.
4/25/2017 Indonesia (Asia News) – Sectarian acts against non-Muslims are rising fast, this according to a study by the Wahid Foundation, an organisation that promotes a tolerant and multicultural society in Indonesia.
The Wahid Foundation was set up to support the humanitarian vision of Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), a moderate Muslim intellectual and a former president of Indonesia, who, during his political career, promoted an inclusive version of Islam. As president, and as leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim movement, he promoted the rights of minorities, non-Muslims and Indonesian Chinese.
His widow, Sin Nuriyah Wahid, raised the issue of intolerance during a television interview on 10 April. The former first lady cited the Foundation’s study to warn her fellow citizens and her words continue to echo. The results of local elections in Jakarta on 19 April, which saw the victory of Anies Baswedan and radical Islamist groups, re-ignited the debate.
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