Category: Sermons

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Sermon

Do you love me more than these? Do you Love me? Do you love me?

Feed my lambs, Shepherd my sheep, Feed my sheep.

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

Now lets start from the beginning. And Simon Peter was there, he was one of the first disciples called, his brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. Of all the disciples Simon Peter is the one who get the most mention, some 139 times in the New Testament.

When the disciples ask a question of Jesus, its Simon Peter who does the asking, when something is happening, is Simon Peter to whom is is happening. It Simon Peter’s mother who was the first healing. It’s Simon Peter, who goes up the mountain to witnesses the transfiguration. It’s Simon Peter who cuts the ear of the priest’s servant when Jesus is arrested. Its Simon Peter who pulls the fish out of the water with the coin in his mouth to pay the temple taxes. It’s Simon Peter who asks Jesus to “explain this saying to us”. It’s Simon Peter who walks on water. It’s Simon Peter who declares that Jesus has the words of Life. It’s Simon Peter who declares that Jesus is the Messiah, and it’s Simon Peter who denies Jesus 3 times.

Man this guy is everywhere! If its happening he’s there!

Now I was thinking that this guy, Simon Peter, was so hung up on Jesus, that he literally walked, talked, and ate Jesus. This guy literally lived in Jesus’ pocket. This guy must have been the disciple of disciples. Simon Peter was so thick with Jesus, that it would have been hard to tell the two apart, it’s like they are inseparable.

And now we come to John chapter 21, and Simon Peter, having given up on Jesus having denied ever knowing Jesus 3 times, states that he’s going fishing. Going back to his old job, going back to his old way of life.

It’s been a nice ride lads, but the wheels have fallen off and I’m going fishing.

And so Jesus comes walking down the beach, and Simon Peter leaps out of the boat. Which was not the first time, – Now this is not the sort of person I would take sailing, as soon as something exciting it happening somewhere else, he off, just leaps out of the boat.

After Breakfast, Jesus pulls Simon Peter of to the side, and has a little chat.

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

Now here Jesus is commissioning Simon Peter, in fact you could call it an ordination and induction, and we will do the same to our elders and ministers, we will ask them a series of questions and then commission them with a task. Yet as I read through the questions we ask, I could not find one that asked the question’s Jesus asks of Simon Peter. Sure we have questions of Doctrine and theology and church governance, but we have failed to ask the only question that Jesus requires of us. And the task “to be a minister of word and sacrament”, is that a shepherd?

So I will ask it. Do you love Jesus Christ more than these?

Now before you answer, lets dig into this question some more. And once we have done that I wish to explain the task given to Simon Peter and to you in some detail. The task of being a Shepard not a fisherman.

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

And for those keeping time, that’s the introduction. How are we doing?

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

So for those who like 3 point sermons, I’m sorry tonight you only get two.

Point one, Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost.

Point two, Jesus wants shepherds not fishermen.

Point One, Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost.

Simon Peter was Jesus’ biggest fan, he was there from the beginning, he was there for it all, he made that wonderful declaration found in Matthew 16. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

He knew it all, and yet somehow it just wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough to be there, it wasn’t enough to have the right words. When it looked bad Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

In 2006, the soccer world cup was held, and in Vanuatu where I was living at the time, the locals all selected their favourite teams, and wore their colours, displayed their flags on the their cars, and stayed up late watching the games. Now the fascinating thing was that as each team got knocked out of the competition. People changed their allegiances. If your team was no longer in the running you switched teams, and supported a team still in the game. Don’t we all do this.

Simon Peter did this, when Jesus was arrested and things looked bad, he switched teams. He denied Christ, and went fishing. Simon Peter gave up on his team, he gave up on Christ. Now this is easy to do if you don’t love your team, that is, if your not emotionally involved.

You know, I love my car, its a V6 3 Litre, and I really enjoy driving it, but I’ll get another one when this one has got just a wee bit older. I also love my wife. …

Simon Peter loved Jesus in the way that I love my car. He said the right things, he knew the right things, he knew which octane level of petrol to put in, which oil, what tires.

but when the ride got old, he walked away.

And Jesus questions Peter, Do you love me more than these…

It is as if Jesus is saying, Peter do you love me…Peter do you love me above all things…do you love me with passion…beyond reason…with all your heart…

And Peter answers, “Yes, Lord, You know I’m fond of you.”

But Jesus is looking for more than fondness, he’s looking for loyalty, he’s looking for passion. He’s looking for the Simon Peter who says, you are the messiah, for you alone have the words of life. He’s look for the Peter who said in Matthew 26:33. “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” and again in Luke 22:33. “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

And so Jesus asks again, “Peter, are you sold out, completely devoted, filled with passion and excitement for who I am and what I do and where I’ve been and where I’m going? Where’s the zeal, Peter? —don’t you love me any more, Peter?”

And Peter responds, “You know I’m your friend.”

This is not a cop out. There’s no sadness in this passage. On the contrary – the heart of Jesus is leaping and singing. Peter has matured in his faith.

Peter is the patron saint for every child or teen who got caught up in the emotional fervour of a Summer Camp. For anyone who has gotten saved at least once at a every revival and sometimes twice if it went for longer than a week.

Peter is the hero of all those who tried to surf into heaven on the wave of spiritual passion and fell head first into the sand when the wave lost its power.

It’s easy to be a follower of Jesus when the crowd of thousands chants Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…

But when you’re the only one shouting “Jesus” back at home or at school or around the lunch table at work… It’s easier to say, “Jesus, who?”

And so Jesus asks Peter a third time. But this time He says
“Peter, are you fond of me? Are you a devoted friend to me?
Do you love me like a brother?

Are you ready for a deeper faith? Are you ready to love me with more than your heart? Love me with your mind. Love me with all your sensibilities. Love me because you know me – not just the things I’ve done – but me, the person. Love me with your feet on the ground so that you’re not blown around by every wind of change…every wind of doctrine…every change in the weather.

And Simon Peter responds “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost.

Christianity is not about believing the correct set of doctrines, or about giving to the needy, it actually all about loving the Lord your God with all your mind, all your heart and all your soul.

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

Jesus wants shepherds not fishermen.

For the past 4 weeks, my family and I have been on Holiday, have been camping at Waikawau Bay, Personally I have been camping their since 1978. and we go fishing. And this year we had 3 non fish meals in the four weeks, and these where not because we didn’t have fish, just because we wanted something different. We were catching on average 9 fish a day.

To be fair we set a net every second night, and we spear fish. In about 1 hour of spear fishing we can catch enough fish for 6 families for two days, so its fair to say we are good at it.

Now Simon Peter is fishing, he’s a fisherman, his father was a fisherman, and in our reading for today, Jesus could have said Simon Peter, I want you to become a fisher of men. But no, Jesus here uses a shepherd illustration, and here’s why. Jesus wants Shepherds not fishermen.

Fisherman, by nature, are aggressive. He must go and catch fresh fish every day. He cares not for the welfare of the fish. He is sneaky. When we spear fish we hide in the weeds so the fish can not see us. We use lures to attract the fish with false promises. The hooks are usually hidden.

A shepherd on the other hand, knows his sheep by name. He cares for them, provides for them, protects them. A shepherd provides the space in which the sheep can grow. A shepherd ensures that his sheep have the best possible grass, and the cleanest possible water.

In the bible, Jesus tells a parable about a shepherd who has 99 sheep. Now in those days a shepherd would have had about 5 sheep, and he would have named them. Joe, Mark, Mary, Elizabeth, Susan. And at night when he counted them he did not count 1,2,3,4. but Joe, Mark, Mary, Elizabeth, Susan. Now her was a guy with 99 sheep, an impossible number. A number so huge it was unimaginable.

And out of that huge number the shepherd notices one is missing, little jack is not with us tonight, I wonder here he is?

To put it into today’s numbers, it would be like a sheep herder in the south island noticing that one of the 10,000 sheep he is herding off the mountain hills is missing.

Just last week I was reading in the paper, that just this had happened and they had found a sheep that not been shorn for 4 years. They had to use a helicopter to capture it.

This sheep went unnoticed. When uncared for. And the shepherd did not notice, and yet in Jesus parable the shepherd did notice. And did go and get the lost sheep.

Our task is to care for our sheep, but our task is also to go and get the lost sheep, those who are out their in the world, Those who are struggling with heavy loads. Are task is to be their shepherds.

Last week Ray Galvin told us to share our faith story in our own words, to be ready to explain our beliefs to our friends. And I would encourage you all to do this. The leadership of this church is currently looking for classes that would help us do this. Help us approach our friends, help us to share our faith.

A Fisherman increases his catch by taking more fish, a Shepherd Increases his flock by caring for his sheep, and they increase naturally.

Jesus wants Shepherds not fishermen.

Jesus wants us to love him, first and foremost, and then and only then does Jesus want shepherds not fishermen.

Let us Pray.

Readings

Matthew 16:13-20

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Jesus went to the territory near the town of Caesarea Philippi, where he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” “Some say John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

“Good for you, Simon son of John!” answered Jesus. “For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven.

And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it.

I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

John 21:1-17

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After this, Jesus appeared once more to his disciples at Lake Tiberias. This is how it happened.

Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together.

Simon Peter said to the others, “I am going fishing.” “We will come with you,” they told him. So they went out in a boat, but all that night they did not catch a thing.

As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water’s edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

Then he asked them, “Young men, haven’t you caught anything?” “Not a thing,” they answered.

He said to them, “Throw your net out on the right side of the boat, and you will catch some.” So they threw the net out and could not pull it back in, because they had caught so many fish.

The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off ) and jumped into the water.

The other disciples came to shore in the boat, pulling the net full of fish. They were not very far from land, about a hundred yards away.

When they stepped ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread.

Then Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore full of big fish, a hundred and fifty-three in all; even though there were so many, still the net did not tear.

Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.

So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish.

This, then, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.”

A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”

A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.

Sharing our faith with friends who don’t (yet) believe
Reverend Ray Galvin, 25 January 2009

Acts 17: 16-34, Mark 1:14-20

One of the great challenges for Christians in the western world today is to communicate the Gospel to millions of people who don’t understand it. Often we can see quite clearly how much they’d benefit from a strong faith in Christ. But to get this faith they’ve got to hear the message. And more crucially, they have to hear the message in language they can clearly understand.

I have a very close friend overseas who believes there’s a God ‘of some sort’, and lives an exemplary life, but isn’t sure about Christ. Recently he asked me, very seriously, why did Jesus have to die. Why was this necessary? What did it accomplish?

That’s a very stimulating question, and I could have opened my mouth and rattled off some of the well-known, central tenets of Christian belief. But I thought, no, he wants me to speak in language he understands, in terms that relate to life as he experiences it, and it has to touch him and make him sit up and say, ‘I can see what you’re getting at. That’s food for thought.’

So I thought very hard, and finally sent him a one-page email, in the clearest, most relevant language I could express myself in. And then we got together and talked about it.

Are we good at communicating our faith to our friends?

I want to challenge you today to think about this. If we can learn how to explain our beliefs in everyday language, and clearly express what these beliefs do for us in our daily lives, then I think we’re doing our friends a very big favour. I think they want to hear this.

I’m out of touch with what’s going on in New Zealand, but in Britain the ‘credit crunch’ is pressing down hard on people. Thousands are being laid off; many pension schemes have collapsed or been reduced; house values have plummeted; bankruptcies have increased. Economists still seem to have no idea how long it might last or how deep in might go.

A year ago Britain was so awash with money, many people had no interest in spiritual questions. Now I think they’re much more ready to listen. When the party’s over, it’s not just that people have real worries about their future. It’s also that, now that the glitzy distractions are gone, people no longer feel invincible, and they’re forced to think about more fundamental questions – like ‘What are we here for? Can we be happy without getting drunk twice a week? What gives dignity to human life when the prop of riches is taken away? What’s the bond that joins us all together in this precarious world?

I believe this is a crucial moment, when we mustn’t fail our friends. We must find ways to tell them of the love and hope Jesus can give them. And we must do it clearly, simply, without super-spiritual ‘in-words’ and ‘catch-phrases’.

So lately I’ve been challenging myself to get better at explaining what my faith in Christ does for me. How does trusting my life to Christ benefit me in everyday life? Can I put my finger on some of the key benefits of my faith, and learn to talk about them in words that anybody can understand?

And I want to share some of the results of this with you, as a kind of challenge – hoping you might feel moved to go home and sit down and think out how you would explain to your friends, what putting your faith in Christ does for you.

It’ll be different for each one of us. There’ll be different emphases, and you have to think out how to explain your particular story. That’s what your friends want to know. They know you, they like you, they know you’re a Christian, they’ll want to see what’s real to you about your faith.

So here are 3 of the main benefits I get from trusting God – from trusting my daily life to Christ.

1. It gives me the courage to live in a more daring way

By nature I’m a restless and inquisitive person. I need constantly to be learning new things, facing new challenges, extending myself mentally and physically, discovering more of the abilities I’ve been given.

So last year, for example, I gave up my job and became a full time student again. I did an MSc in climate change science and policy, and now I’m doing a PhD on environmental policy issues.

Mental challenges, but also physical challenges: Every summer my partner and I do a thousand-plus kilometre cycling trip on the Continent. We live in a very small tent and carrying all our luggage on the back of our bikes. This summer it was 1500 km, and because students get longer holidays than workers, I did most of it alone. It included pedalling along German river valleys, over the Austrian Alps, a romp through Slovenia, then over the Julian Alps, back into Austria, then the German Alpine route.

Not everybody’s like this. Many people don’t like doing new things, and I certainly don’t blame them, because life can be pretty scary. Many prefer what’s safe and comfortable, a nice routine, without anything too daring or different: same job, same house, same type of annual holiday, same tastes in music, same beliefs, same views on politics and ethics.

But even for such people, the little challenges of everyday life can be frightening. Wherever we start from, life is risky. It’s uncertain. We have to make big decisions without all the relevant information. Bereavements and diseases come along. We lose our investments; our budget doesn’t balance; life is never fully under our control.

But when I put my faith in Christ each day, I can trust that he’s there with me and up ahead of me, and will be my companion through every danger and calamity.

Faith in Christ turns difficulties into an adventure. A few months ago when I was cycling high up in the Isonzo Valley, the day before I went over the Julian Alps, I camped at a tiny Slovenian village called Trenta (pop. ~20). Its one shop was shut for the holidays and I only had dry bread left. A tent-pole on my brand new tent broke, and that night it rained bucket-loads. The thunder roared and the lightning flashed, as water dripped steadily through the tent onto my sleeping bag.

I prayed (rather desperately – I think even an atheist would have prayed that night) and eventually a kind of peace came over me as I realised that this was not a disaster, it was an adventure. I didn’t know what God was going to bring out of it, but I knew, I just knew, that God would turn this into a very strengthening and meaningful life-experience for me.

And I won’t go into all the details, but that’s exactly what happened. Being alone and wet and a bit cold, and surviving on dry bread and water, and not knowing whether I’d have the leg-power to get over the Alps was a very good experience. Looking back, I can see the hand of God everywhere in it.

And now when I’m facing trouble, of any kind, I can look back on those moments in Trenta I feel that strength and assurance again.

2. My faith helps me deal positively with difficult world issues

I mentioned my concern about climate change. You may know that for the last 10,000 years the earth’s climate has been remarkably stable. For hundreds of thousands of years before that it was up and down like a yo-yo. The global average temperature was almost always changing, as it tracked up and down on its cycles from very hot to very cold. The sea level followed the temperature up and down. Deserts and fertile areas waxed and waned and swapped around. But about 10,000 years ago the climate stabilised, and it’s been fairly reliable since then. (Scientists call it the ‘Holocene’ period)

This is important big reason why civilisation’s been able to develop. Think of all those coastal cities, close to both fishing grounds and fertile alluvial soils, with ports for trade and commerce. London’s been there for 2000 years; the Nile Delta for two or three times as long. Think of the great river valleys in China, fertilised and watered from melting snow on the Himalayas. A huge infrastructure of roads, farms, fisheries and cities has grown up on the basis if this Holocene climate.

Climate change is threatening to break the pattern of this steady, reliable climate and send us back in to the age of massive swings and changes.

In theory that’s not such a big problem. Human beings like you and me can live in a huge range of different climates.

But 6 or 7 billion people can’t. And you can’t suddenly shift 6 or 7 billion people from a stable, reliable Holocene climate to a hotter or colder one, let alone to an unstable one. The human disruption of suddenly shifting out of a Holocene climate would be horrendous.

So my research is concerned with how to improve the political processes of protecting the climate from the human influences that threaten to destabilise it. I also feel committed to being involved in influencing politicians and other key players in this direction.

You can imagine that that’s not an easy task. There are so many vested interests in things that pollute the earth. And many very well-informed people have grave doubts as to whether we’ve left ourselves enough time to make any difference.

My faith in Christ is a very important support and encouragement in this task. I feel that Christ has not only called us to try to make a difference, but he also gives us the courage, the persistence, the sense of hope, the sense of moral commitment, and the good humour to persevere and not give up. There are many people who are just as concerned about climate change as I am and who work just as hard or harder to prevent it, yet without any faith in Christ, or in any version of God. I greatly admire them. I often wonder how they keep going. For me the presence of Christ in my heart is a huge source of strength and encouragement. It stops me getting cynical, puts a song in my heart, helps me understand the people I disagree with, puts a warm glow in my heart and the sense that it’s worth doing even if we don’t succeed.

It’s been the same with every social or political issue I’ve been involved in. And I’m sure there are many things that you do, for the world or for your neighbours, in which Christ also gives you strength and encouragement, even when you seem to be up against a brick wall. My faith helps me deal positively with difficult world issues.

3. It answers my spiritual experience

My friend Rinny Westra recently wrote a very engaging little book, which I enjoyed reading immensely. In this book Rinny set out very clearly some of the big, challenging questions Christians have to face: questions that stop us thinking religion is problem-free and we’ve got it all wrapped up.

For me his two biggest questions (put simply) were:

(1) If there’s an all-loving, all-powerful God, then why do the innocent suffer so much?
(2) If science has explained more and more of the secrets of life and the universe, why do we need a  God to fill the gaps?

These questions have always rattled me. But reading the book helped me realise that the main reason I believe in God is not an intellectual one, it’s based on my experience. The questions raised in the book are very important. But for me they come within the context of me having experienced God and trusted my life to Christ.

Why? Because even though I don’t look for it, I keep experiencing a reality that seems to be beyond the physical world. It’s something I can’t get away from, it just happens. God is just there.

It’s a bit like falling in love. First you fall in love with your partner and commit your life to her, then you realise there are things about her you’ll never understand.

And because I have this experience of the spiritual realm, I need to find a framework that explains it, that makes sense of it, that integrates it into my life.

And it’s not just that I find the Christian faith the best framework I know of for explaining this experience. It’s that the kind of Being I meet in this experience calls me to trust him.

It’s not that God peeks out from behind an existential cloud and shouts, ‘Hello, it’s me, I really am there. You’d better believe it.’ It’s more like a voice saying, ‘Yes I’m here, but I’m no use to you unless you trust me.’

This is a God who doesn’t really mean much if all we do is argue about him and try to prove he exists. [So what?]

Rather it’s a spiritual experience of a God who’s personal and wants to get to know us by us trusting our lives to him.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus calls Simon, Andrew, James and John to leave their fishing nets and spend time with him, so they can become ‘fishers of people’. We’re not all called to be apostles but we do have a faith story to tell. People need to hear our faith story. Your friends may need to hear your story. Even people who are hostile to religion in general might be curious about your faith, if they know you and like you.

In our epistle reading, from Acts, Paul makes a big effort to explain the Gospel to his Greek audience in terms they clearly understand. It’s the only place in the Bible you hear God referred to as the one ‘in whom we live and move and have our being.’ It’s the only place in the Bible you see a direct link being made between ‘the unknown God’ and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was a very practical man who knew how to explain things to the particular people he was talking to.

This is a challenge for each one of us – to explain our faith to our friends in their language. We don’t need religious jargon, it just gets in the way. We don’t need to explain why our pastor or former pastor has faith in Christ, they don’t know him or her. It’s you they know, it’s you they like. Will your friends get to hear what your faith in Christ means to you on an everyday basis?

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Birkenhead Presbyterian

Incorporating the churches of St Andrews and St Philips

Welcome

The Jesse Tree

The Story of Creation to Cross through symbol and song

Our mission is to empower others (and ourselves) through the holy spirit, to live life, in all its abundance, as found in Jesus Christ.

Call to Worship

Angels from the realms of Glory

1 Angels from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth; Ye who sang creation’s story, Now proclaim Messiah’s birth: Come and worship, Come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King! 3 Wise men, leave your contemplations, Brighter visions beam afar; Seek the great desire of nations, Ye have seen His natal star; Come and worship, Come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King!

2 Shepherds, in the fields abiding, Watching o’er your flocks by night, God with man is now residing, Yonder shines the infant Light; Come and worship, Come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King! 4 All creation join in praising, God the Father, Spirit, Son Evermore your voices raising, To the eternal Three in one: Come and worship, Come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn King!

Notices

For thousands of years people waited for a Saviour to come. During Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we too wait for the coming Saviour, to help us create anew the Spirit of Love in the world.

All: Christ could be born a thousand times in Galilee
but all in vain unless he is born in me …

O Come O come Emmanuel

1. O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

2. O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny From depths of Hell Thy people save And give them victory o’er the grave Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

3. O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. 5. O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height, In ancient times did’st give the Law, In cloud, and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

4. O come, Thou Key of David, come, And open wide our heavenly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

To celebrate this Christmas season we use the symbol of a Jesse Tree, which is the family tree of Jesus. A family tree is one which shows our ancestors; those who lived before us; who pioneered and prepared the way for us. The family tree of Jesus shows those who followed God’s plan and prepared the way for his coming. We call it the Jesse Tree because Jesus came from the family of King David, and David’s gather was Jesse. The prophect Isaiah wrote (11:1) … From the root of Jesse a sprout shall spring forth, our of his roots a flower shall bloom

Jeremiah the prophet said (23:5) The Lord says “Out of David’s line I will raise up a King who will reign forever.

1^st Symbol Flowers and the Apple

The flowers reminds us of God’s creation, the Garden of Eden, and the good things God had planned for us.

The Apple reminds us of the fall from grace and our determination to go out own way.

Jesus is Lord, creation voice proclaims it

1. Jesus is Lord! creation's voice proclaims it, For by His power each tree and flower Was planned and made. Jesus is Lord! the universe declares it, Sun, moon and stars in heaven Cry, 'Jesus is Lord!' Chorus: Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Lord! Praise Him with Hallelujahs For Jesus is Lord!

2. Jesus is Lord! yet from His throne eternal In flesh He came to die in pain On Calvary's tree. Jesus is Lord! from Him all life proceeding, Yet gave His life a ransom Thus setting us free. 3. Jesus is Lord! o'er sin the mighty conqueror, From death He rose, and all His foes Shall own His Name. Jesus is Lord! God sent His Holy Spirit To show by works of power That Jesus is Lord.

2nd Symbol The Ark

The symbol of the ark represents Noah who listened to God and was saved.

3^rd Symbol Many Faces

God called Abraham “the father of many nations” because from him all the people of the world would be blessed.

4^th Symbol The Ten Commandments

The law given to Moses on the tablets of the Ten Commandments was to correct and guide those who choose to seek God and follow him.

Jesus too gave us his law.

A new commandment I give unto you

A new commandment I give unto you That you love one another as I have loved you That you love one another as I have loved you

By this shall all men know you are my disciples – if you have love one for another By this shall all men know you are my disciples – if you have love one for another

5^th Symbol The Crown of David

The crown reminds us that David who was a shepherd boy, became king over all Israel. To him the promise was given that the saviour of all the world would be a descendant of David.

Once in Royal David’s City

1. Once in royal David’s city Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her Baby In a manger for His bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little Child. 3. And our eyes at last shall see Him, Through His own redeeming love, For that Child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in Heav’n above, And He leads His children on To the place where He is gone.

2. He came down to earth from Heaven, Who is God and Lord of all, And His shelter was a stable, And His cradle was a stall; With the poor, and mean, and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy. 4. Not in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by, We shall see Him; but in Heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high; Where like stars His children crowned All in white shall wait around.

6^th Symbol The Prophets Horn

The horn of the prophet is to remind us of John the Baptist, who came preparing the way for Jesus.

Reading Matthew 3:1-6 Page 1049

At that time John the Baptist came to the desert of Judea and started preaching.

“Turn away from your sins,” he said, “because the Kingdom of heaven is near!”

John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, “Someone is shouting in the desert, ‘Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!’ ”

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair; he wore a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province of Judea, and from all over the country near the Jordan River.

They confessed their sins, and he baptised them in the Jordan.

I hear a sound (Solo: Anna, Sung twice)

I hear a sound coming from the mountain

I hear it louder each day

I hear a sound coming from the mountain

and it says “Prepare ye the way

Prepare ye the way, prepare ye the way

Prepare ye the way of the lord”

7^th Symbol A lily

The lily is chosen as a symbol of purity. It is to remind us of the Virgin Mary, chosen to be the Mother of Jesus, who made herself available to God’s Call.

Born in the Night (Choir)

1. Born in the night, Mary’s child, a long way from your home. Coming in need, Mary’s child Born in a borrowed room. 3. Hope of the world Mary’s child. You’re coming soon to reign, King of the earth Mary’s child, walk in our streets again.

2. Truth of our life, Mary’s child you tell us God is good. Prove it is true, Mary’s child. Go to your cross of wood. 4. Born in the night, Mary’s child, a long way from your home. Coming in need, Mary’s child Born in a borrowed room.

8^th Symbol The Inn

The symbol of a house, the inn reminds us that at his birth there was no room; that he emptied himself of power and glory, that he came to us, knowing poverty and rejection by men.

Away in a manger

1. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, The little Lord Jesus a sleep ion the hay

2. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes. I love thee, Lord Jesus! Looked down from the sky, And stay by my beside until morning is nigh.

3.Be near me, Lord Jesus: I ask thee to stay, Close by me forever and love me I pray. Bless all the dear children in thy tender care, And fit us for heaven, to live with thee there.

9^th Symbol The sheep

The declaration of the angels to the shepherds is shown in this symbol.

Let us sing Luke 2: 8-20

While humble shepherds watched their flocks

1. While humble shepherds watched their flocks In Bethlehem’s plains by night An angels sent from heaven appeared And filled the plains with light. 3. To you in David’s town, this day Is born, of David’s line, The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord: And this shall be the sign. 5. Thus sake the seraph; and forthwith appeared a shining throng of angels praising God; and thus addressed their joyful song:

2. ‘Fear not,’ he said, for sudden dread Had seized their troubled mind, Glad tidings of great joy I bring To you and all mankind. 4.The heavenly Babe you there shall find To human view displayed, All meanly wrapped in swathing-bands And in the manger laid. 6.All glory be to God on high And to the earth be peace. Good will is shown by heaven to men And never more shall cease.

10^th Symbol The Star of Bethlehem

The star of Bethlehem proclaimed from
the heavens the birth of a great
and mighty king.

Calypso Carol

1. Star of silver sweep across the skies, show where Jesus in the manger lies. Shepherds swiftly from your stupor rise to see the Saviour of the world. Chorus: Oh, now carry me to Bethlehem to see the Lord appear to men; Just as poor as was the stable then, The prince of glory when he came.

2. See him lying on a bed of straw; draughty stable with an open door, Mary cradling the babe she bore; The prince of glory is his name. 3. Angels, sing again the song you sang, bring God’s glory to the heart of man; Sing the Bethl’hem’s little baby can be salvation to the soul.

11^th Symbol The Wise Man’s Gift

The gift of gold reminds us of the Wise Men, travelling from far away lands to bring their most precious possessions to lay at the feet of Jesus. The Wise men also remind us that Jesus came for all the world; rich and poor, far and near.

As with gladness men of old.

During the singing of this song the offering is collected and brought forward to the communion table.

1. As with gladness, men of old Did the guiding star behold As with joy they hailed its light Leading onward, beaming bright So, most glorious Lord, may we Evermore be led to Thee. 3. As they offered gifts most rare At that manger rude and bare; So may we with holy joy, Pure and free from sin’s alloy, All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

2. As with joyful steps they sped To that lowly manger bed There to bend the knee before Him Whom Heaven and earth adore; So may we with willing feet Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

Prayer of dedication for the offering

12^th Symbol The Ultimate Symbol

Our Jesse Tree is now full. These are the symbols that remind us of Jesus’ coming. The ultimate symbol of the Cross constantly reminds us that Jesus’ birth is only important because of his death and resurrection. To remember and celebrate his birth and forget the rest is to miss out on what God was trying to tell us; to miss the riches of his grace.

And can it be that I should gain

1. And can it be that I should gain An interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? 3. He left His Father’s throne above So free, so infinite His grace— Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race: ’Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me! ’Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me! 5. No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine; Alive in Him, my living Head, And clothed in righteousness divine, Bold I approach th’eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own. Bold I approach th’eternal throne, And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

2. ’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies: Who can explore His strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries To sound the depths of love divine. ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, Let angel minds inquire no more. ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore; Let angel minds inquire no more. 4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray— I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Benediction

Please join with us for morning tea in the church lounge.

Birkenhead Presbyterian

Incorporating the churches of St Andrews and St Philips

We wish you all a very merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year.

Birkenhead Presbyterian

Incorporating the churches of St Andrews and St Philips

Holiday Services

28^th December 9:00am @ St Andrews
Rev Roy Pearson

4^th January 2009 9:30am @ Zion Hill Methodist

11^th January 9:00am @ St Andrews
Rev Lester Simpson

18^th January 9:30am @ Zion Hill Methodist

25 January 9:00am @ St Andrews

Rev Ray Galvin

1^st February 2009 Back to Normal

9:00am @ St Andrews
172 Hinemoa Street

11:00am @ St Philips
136 Birkdale Road

Parish Office (closed until February 2009)

172 Hinemoa Street

Birkenhead

Phone 480 5745

Website: www.sasp.church.org.nz

email: [email protected]

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Today is the last Sunday in advent, we have lit the four advents candles.

And I thought, ho hum, another boring church ritual done for another year, what’s the big deal. And to be perfectly honest, lighting candles does nothing for me, it means nothing, its just another irreverent ritual from a bygone era. I mean who uses candles now, the only time we have candles is on a birthday cake, and then the celebrated part is blowing them out.

So to stand here week after week and light these candles, means absolutely nothing to me, its foreign to my world view, its a relic from the past. It means nothing.

The Roman Catholic Church summarises Advent by saying, “When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present the ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for, by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His Second Coming.”

Wow, and this still leave me cold, and so advent is the celebration of an event that happened some 2000 years ago, in the expectation of an event that might not happen in my lifetime. So what!!

Big deal, what does this mean for me today. Nothing.

And people wonder why the church seams irreverent. It is no wonder people are leaving the church in droves, it is no wonder that the people are finding the church to be a waste of time, a boring and irrelevant pile of ritual. Because we are seen to be celebrating events which happened some 2000 years ago, waiting for events that might never happen, using symbols that mean nothing to us.

I mean we don’t even have candles at home (except for the birthday candles), If there was a power cut, and to be honest we don’t get many of those do we. We use torches, they are safer, and more reliable and give a better light. Why would you have candles?

Candles are normally only used by those is extreme poverty, it this the meaning of Advent?

OK to be fair, a candle lit dinner is quite romantic, but are our advent candles meant to be romantic? It that what we are saying by using candles? Are there romantic overtones in advent?

Perhaps there are.

And so we have lit the candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, and in just 4 days we will light the Christ candle. But what does it mean.

Yes we remember the birth of Christ, that has happened. Yes we remember the second coming, but hey, who here actually believes they will see Jesus riding a white horse through the clouds, with trumpets blazing. The great promised second coming.

Now the point I’m trying to make is that unless our faith, our rituals, our customs, mean something, to us today, unless they affect our behaviour, unless they challenge us, or make us question our lives. Then they are useless. Meaningless.

Now I find it fascinating that CWS have tried to capture a new meaning in their advent appeal, they have matched up the four advent Sundays with four regions that need our support.

They write about the Christ Candle

“As we light this candle we bring before God the people of Timor Leste, Darfur, Sri Lanka and El Salvador that in their troubled lives hope may stay alive. Give them courage in their efforts to bring about positive change in their communities.

In the name of Christ Jesus.

Amen”

Now nothing against CWS, but it is as if they are saying, look advent means nothing now days, so lets reinvent a meaning for it. In all of their weekly notices, they divert the focus from God to people in need. Lets read from today’s notice “On this last Advent Sunday we think of the many people around the world…” now I think its important to think about the people in need, but is that what advent is about.

Now as I think about this advent, and its symbolism, I can’t help but feel that at best we have filled advent with meaningless ritual, and at worst these rituals are actually diverting our attention from the true meaning.

Now, I don’t think this is limited to the church, Society has long been uncomfortable with the reality of Jesus Christ. And so Christmas has been filled with alternative rituals, to give people an excuse to avoid thinking about the real meaning of this season.

You know we focus on Santa, on giving presents, on counting down the shopping days, on School breakups, work parties, and at best Jesus is some little baby in a nativity scene tucked away in the corner. Or at worst totally ignored.

Any yet deep down, in the bottom of our hearts we know Christmas doesn’t satisfy. Most children are bored with their gifts by the new year. In our House many of the gifts don’t even last that long. And as the focus shifts to the summer holidays, Christ is forgotten.

I think the Grinch said it best:

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!”

“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”

“Maybe Christmas. . . perhaps. . means a little bit more!”

Dr. Suess

Randel Prior, the key note speaker at this years General Assembly, states

In attempting to draw all four gospels together, it is possible to assert that the gospel of Jesus Christ is essentially about God’s unique and decisive action to break into a broken world with what is God’s promised future for the world.

And this is what we celebrate at advent.

That Jesus Christ came, as God, to a broken world, to bring about the future, a future available here and now.

And this future has 3 elements to it,

The past – The Present and the Future. And as a church we have often focused on the past, and the future and we have forgotten about the present.

We celebrate Easter and Christmas, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, great historical events, which have shaped the world we live in. At Easter we may remember that Christ rose again and that one day we too will live for forever. But what about the now, what about today.

Does our faith have anything to say to us today?

And this is the message for today, that our faith must impact on the way we live our lives here and now.

We must prove to ourselves and to the rest of the world, that Jesus Christ is relevant. That Jesus Christ has something to say about how to live, both now this minute and in the future.

If as Randel states, the Gospel message is about God breaking into our world, with God’s promised future. Then this does have an implication here are now. How is God breaking into your world today?

This week as I was talking with Freda, she told me of how God had broken into her world, and answered her prayers. And sent a helper for her.

Freda to tell the story. Freda said. …

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In Matthew 7 Verse 7 we read, “Ask and it shall be given you.”

There is an interesting story in Matthew 20: 30-34. While two blind men were sitting by the road side, Jesus passed by and they called to Him. He replied “What would you have me do?” And they said “Lord, that our eyes be opened.” So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

I sincerely believe that God hears our every cry for help. For many years Bruce helped me in the garden but it is now many months since he was fit and well. Each spring the Dahlia’s are planted and six weeks later they need support. Bruce bought the sticks for me but one year they were too long. He thought it a waste to cut them shorter so he had a great idea and made a solid stool for us to stand on.

This Spring I found myself with a problem. I knew the situation was a bit hopeless but I said a prayer that the good Lord would send along someone who could help me. There had been a few showers of rain lately so the ground would be softer. Geoff had gone to an appointment in town. I picked up everything I needed and commenced the job.

The sticks were too tall and I had a hard job to hammer one in the ground but by the time I had finished four I was tired and I went inside. Now I wondered if the Lord had heard my prayer so I prayed again for help and returned outside. This time I took shorter sticks for the Dahlias which do not grow so tall, and I was very busy getting a second stick ready when I heard a woman’s voice from the footpath “That job is too hard for you at your age.” She said. I looked round and there stood a middle aged woman. She was tall, well built and looked a picture of health “Would you like me to help you?” she asked, with a smile on her face. I walked over to her and said I would be most grateful.

A beautiful big black dog was with her and she tied him to the letter box. It was a pleasure to have her company and I was told she lived in Number 41 Landing Drive which is not far from where we live. The dog is taken for a walk every Wednesday. My friend noticed the tall sticks and suggested that I ask Geoff to saw one foot off each stick “They are far too tall”, she said. (I must say at this point that Geoff has done his duty.)

Our work was finished and my new friend left with a smile, she said “See you next week, and we will put in more sticks”.

Does God answer prayer? I think so, and I have also found a new friend who lives in our street. I do praise the Lord every day for His goodness.

Now our readings for today,

Turn with me to Page 340,

2^nd Samuel Chapter 7

Now the story goes that King David had built his majesty palace, and had recovered the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines, and brought it to Jerusalem.

Now the period of history was that the Israelites had started to settle in their new land, and things were looking good. Some traditions had been started, and no longer did the people move from place to place. And King David considers it unseemly that while he lives in a palace of panelled luxury, while the ark of the covenant is still in a tent.

Now the ark of the covenant, you should know, was a very important object. It was essentially a box, carved and decorated, and fitted with long pole-handles so it could be carried about from place to place as the people moved. It was important because it was the prime symbol of the covenant between God and the Israelites. The covenant and the tradition surrounding it dated back to the time of the desert wandering, as Moses was leading the people out from slavery in Egypt.

We can only guess that the ark of the covenant contained some religious artefacts – perhaps writings like the Ten Commandments and others of the laws that governed the people. But most important of all it was the symbol of the agreement between Yahweh and the people whereby God said, “If you will listen to my voice and do my will, then I will be your God, and you shall be my people.” Of course there are always two parts to a covenant, and the people agreed, “All that God has said, we will do.” Needless to say, then, the ark as a symbol of the identity of the people was very important.

It was a symbol of God breaking into their world.

But now the people were not going anywhere. They were no longer wanderers. They were settled down in towns and were growing crops. True, the ark of the covenant had been carried into battle, and it was assumed that so long as they kept possession of the ark they would be victorious. But most of the time the ark just sat there in its tent, as though ready to move on to the next place. So David now proposed to build a house for the ark.

Now something very interesting happens here. God twisted David words, and reapplies a new meaning to them. David plans to build a house, Its unfortunate that the Good news translation uses the word temple here, but David plans to build a house to house the Ark, and God replies “No David, it is I that will build you a household.”

God’s word through Nathan was about something much more important than a building, to the point that God will establish his household – or his dynasty or family line – through the faith of David and his people. See David wanted ritual, and God wanted to continue to break into his world.

And so David wanted to settle, to build a solid structure but God wanted a tent, a movable structure. A place of no fixed abode. The danger lurking in David’s good intent was that the institution would harden and that God would have to break through settled traditions and fixed thought and rigid opinions to establish the tent mentality of a pilgrim people once again. The institution did harden. So does the church. And God has to continually break through in the thinking of a new thought or the enactment of a new idea.

Jesus continually struggled against the aspects of Judaism that were “poured in concrete,” but their reason for being had been forgotten.

In this season we celebrate what we regard as the ultimate of break-throughs.

Our reading from Luke tells the story, Mary, a young women, engaged to be married to Joseph, now this was most likely an arranged marriage, Mary may not have even met Joseph, and he would have been considerably older than Mary. Yet God does not follow tradition, and here we note Mary was afraid, but accepting, notice what she said. “I am the Lord’s servant, may it happen to me as you have said!”

Now Mary could have said, but what about protocol, what about the ritual, what about the proper order. Good Presbyterian do these things decently and in order.

In 4 days, Christmas will be here, and we will remember God breaking into our world. We will celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ. Do we block this out with ritual, with tradition, have we built a house to avoid God? Or are we open to the breaking in of the living God, breaking into our lives with God’s promised future.

Possibly the greatest gift we can receive this year is the realization that God has some purposes in mind for each of us and is trying to break through to us.

It is a good season to think about that, for somehow God seems closer and more real to us at this time. And perhaps in the season of Emmanuel, God with us, each of us may discover a new trust within ourselves, and the courage to answer with a young maid named Mary, “Behold, I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be done according to your word.”

And may God break into your world, with his promised future. Amen.