There are four sermons, some very similar in chronological order:
Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 " `But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' " 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Start of 2009. Economic recession, rising unemployment, rising prices e.g. Rail fares. Violent unfair, suffering world e.g. Gaza. World where floods and earthquakes seem commonplace.
Where is God in this? He is with us and reveals himself to us.
He reveals himself to us. Our Epistle, Ephesains 3:1-12 affirms this.
Reveals himself to anyone, the great message of epiphany i.e. The magi, not Jews.
Reveals himself through created order, a star for the magi. God can seen in nature by anyone who will look, see Romans 1:20.
Reveals himself through his word, the Scriptures, verses 5-6.
Here it is about where the leader of God's people was to be born. But, if we truly want to find out more about God, ourselves and his plan for our lives we need to start with the Bible
Reveals himself through his Son, the Christ.
If we want to know what God is like we can look at Jesus.
If we want to know what we should be like we can look at the person and teaching of Jesus.
If we want to turn back to God then we must give our lives over to Jesus. Accepting His sacrifice for us on the cross. Accepting his resurrection life through His indwelling Spirit.
God is with us in all the difficulties of life.
Joseph and Mary had got through the conception and birth of Jesus. They had travelled to Bethlehem and just settled there, verse 11 tells us they were in a house. This was within two years of Jesus' birth, verse 16, cf last week. They were now faced with these foreigners who had brought strange gifts for their child. This triggered events that would lead to them becoming refugees in Egypt from a deranged, volatile, murderous King. Jesus family lived on the border of uncertainty. They did so and trusted in God and His plan for them.
God loves you and everyone. He has a plan for you and for everyone. In this uncertain, volatile world He is the one who we are to trust in. This will bring us security. Ephesians 3: 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
We can know this for ourselves throughout 2009 if we seek Him and trust Him, like the magi.
21/12/97 6 p.m. Carol Service Matthew 2:1-12
I wonder if any of the gifts you have bought for people tell us something about the person they are for. For example we have bought some Sports Socks with padded feet and ankles for Melanie's brother Paul because he does a lot of running.
When people don't know what present to buy they will fall back on something like a handkerchief, socks, or a tie. Since I have been ordained I have never been bought a tie.
My tutor at theological college had a collection of unusual ties, even though he was ordained. He had numerous ties of varying shapes, colours, and with varying motifs and pictures on them. If we were out and saw some hideous ties at a jumble sale or car boot sale we would buy them for Mike. Mike used to walk around college, and other places wearing his ludicrous ties with a grin on his face. When you gave Mike a tie it would tell you something about him. That he didn't mind looking daft to have a laugh.
I noticed this advert in a computer magazine recently. Show and read out. At first I thought it was offensive. But the more I thought of it the more true I thought it would be. If Christ was to be born into our time a computer would tell us something about him. That we have a God who wants to communicate with us, and reveal himself to us. With the Internet being a means of mass communication a computer could be an appropriate present.
The Wise Men had come to Jerusalem with their gifts. They went to the King's Palace, which is the place you would expect to find a King who had recently been born. But he was not there, but in a house in Bethlehem ( verse 11 ). Probably the family home of Joseph.
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had been there for some time because Herod killed boys under two years old when the Wise Men didn't return to tell him where Jesus was ( verse 16 ).
The Wise Men brought gifts for Jesus that were very appropriate, even though they probably didn't realise the true significance of their gifts.
The first gift was gold. Gold is valuable, beautiful, and fit for a King. At the start of his life he is called King of the Jews by the Wise Men. As he was crucified Pilate had the sign King of the Jews hung on the cross. Even though Jesus was born in a stable and lived in a normal home he is still King of all. Therefore, he deserves our gold, our best. We can say that we know that he is King of Kings, but if we give him our loose change. I am not just talking about money, but about our time, talents, our energies, and our worship. Our whole lives. Do they reflect what we say that we believe in.
Are we offering Jesus the best ?
So the gold points to King Jesus.
Frankincense was a sweet smelling glittering gum or resin obtained by cutting tree bark. It was not very useful in itself, but was used in worship as the priests prayed to God for the people. They were acting as a bridge between God and his people. This is what they were set apart to do.
One of the Tsars of Russia used to visit the cities and towns of his kingdom in disguise. Once, dressed as a peasant he knocked at the door of an inn. The innkeeper listened to his request for a room. He was about to tell him that the inn was too full with the king's nobles and to seek accommodation elsewhere. Recognising the voice of the Tsar one of the knights rushed to the door and, beckoning the Tsar to enter said, "The dress may be that of a peasant, but the voice is of my lord, the King."
The frankincense points to Jesus role as an intermediary between man and God. He was qualified to do this because he is God and man.
"Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell..." we have just sung.
God came to earth. Born a helpless baby to grow and become a man. So we can know what God is like. And so we can know God.
Myrrh
Myrrh is an expensive spice used to prepare bodies for burial. It also acts to relieve pain. It is mentioned twice in association with the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.
In Mark 15:23 Jesus is on the cross and is offered wine mixed with myrrh to dull the pain. In John 19:39 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought seventy five pounds of myrrh and aloes to wrap in strips of linen.
The myrrh points to the fact that this baby was to die. Now all of us will die, but Jesus' death was to transform history.
Since the sin of Adam humankind man and God had been separated by the barrier of sin. Humankind's rejection of the will of God for their lives led to a spoiling of our relationship with God. Something that the Bible calls death. The death of our relationship with God.
The Jewish priests used to offer sacrifices of animals to pay the price for their own sins before they sacrificed animals for the sins of the people of God. They would do this every year, again and again.
Jesus came to be the greatest and last priest that there has ever been, and so break down the barrier between humankind and God.
Jesus lived a perfect life. He did everything that God asked of him. He never sinned. Yet he endured death. Not just the slow, painful humiliation of death on a cross. But also he endured the separation from God as he paid the punishment for the sin of you, me, and the whole world.
His death was extraordinary in a number of ways. The most extraordinary thing was that three days later he was seen alive. And because he is alive we can know him as our friend, and he can give us eternal life. A life lived in a right relationship with God the Father.
"Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die;
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth."
The gifts of the Wise Men tell us something about the baby. He is the King. He is a bridge between man and God. He will die in an extraordinary way. They brought him gifts in faith. Even though they knew little about him, or what he had come to do.
Robert Bruce was fleeing from the English when they had invaded Scotland. He came to the house of a poor woman in the Highlands and asked her for lodgings for the night. "Who are you?", she asked. "A stranger and a traveller," replied the King. "All strangers and travellers are welcome here, except one," she said. "And who would that be ?" asked Bruce. "Our good King Robert the Bruce", she said, "whom, though he is hunted by hounds and horns, I acknowledge to be the rightful King of all Scotland."
She could not enthrone him except in her heart; and despite his rejection by the English, she acknowledged him as her rightful King.
PRAY
O God our Father, who by the bright shining of a star led the wise men to Bethlehem;
guide us by the light of your Spirit;
that we may also come into the presence of Jesus to offer our gifts and our worship of him, our Saviour and our Lord. Amen
Acclamations
Father, we give you thanks and praise
for Jesus Christ our Lord:
he was the Word before all creation.
Through him all things come to be;
not one thing has its being but through him.
Jesus, Light of the world:
we worship and adore you.
His life is the light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness cannot overpower.
Jesus, Light of the world:
we worship and adore you.
(The Word was the true light coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
Jesus, Light of the world:
we worship and adore you.)
He came to his own, and they did not accept him.
But to all who accept him
he gives power to become children of God.
Jesus, Light of the world:
we worship and adore you.
The Word was made flesh and lived among us,
and we have seen his glory,
as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
Jesus, Light of the world:
we worship and adore you.
To him be all praise and glory.
We join with all the heavenly host saying:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
John 1
6/1/99 10.45 a.m. Matthew 2:1-12
What do you call a home made especially for a dog ? Kennel.
What do you call a home made especially for a rabbit ? Hutch/Burrow/Warren
What do you call a home made especially for a car ? Garage.
What do you call a home made especially for a horse ? Stable.
What do you call a home made especially for a King ? Palace.
So when the Magi came to find the King of the Jews they, understandably, went to the Palace. They were disappointed. King Herod was worried. It didn't take King Herod much to get worried with fits of rage, cruelty, and jealousy. He had killed close associates, a wife, and at least two sons, as well as the boys under two in the Bethlehem area, recorded by Luke in 2:16.
This story is not about a jealous King. It is not about mysterious, exotically attired foreigners. This story is about God. God who guides. God who reveals. God who demands a response.
God who guides.
God guided these wise men using the stars. These men were both astronomers and astrologers. Astronomers, studying the stars. Astrologers, believing that the stars affect people's destiny. It's easy to remember which is which because astrologers have got l in them, and that's where they'll go if they follow stars and not God !
In Jesus' time astrology and astronomy was a joint practice, unlike today.
Although as Christians we would frown on astrology today, God uses the stars, or one star to guide the Wise Men. Maybe this is a reminder not to disregard those who are searching spiritually, even though they may be looking in the wrong place. Today this may refer to people in religious cults, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, or those who are following New Age thinking.
At the start of a New Year it is good to remind ourselves that we have a God who guides us in many ways. And who meets us where we are, rather than where we should be.
Today we know God's guidance supremely through the Bible. Also through: Christian tradition; the Holy Spirit living within us and other Christians; prayer; sermons and other teaching methods including books; through circumstances; through dreams, like the Wise Men in verse 12; through angels like Joseph in verse 13 and so on...
We see from this story that God is in charge. Of the stars. Of Herod who told the Wise men where they would find this baby King. He also warns the Wise men not to return to Herod. In verse 13 an angel warns Joseph to flee to Egypt. We can be confident in God's guidance as we start a New Year because he is great and is in control. We know that from history recorded in the Bible. And we know it from God working in our own lives and in the lives of others.
We have a God who guides, and we have a...
God who reveals.
The Jews expected God to send the Messiah or Christ to save the Jews from the oppression of the Romans and to establish a wonderful earthly kingdom. God reveals himself in Jesus as coming to save the whole earth and to establish a spiritual kingship. He is more than King of the Jews, he is King of all. One day he will return to claim that kingdom.
Matthew here presents Jesus as the true King, in contrast to Herod. Towards the end of his gospel we read of Jesus having the title 'King of the Jews' attached to the cross ( 28:37 ).
This gospel was written for Jews to show them that Jesus is the Christ. It uses more references from the Old Testament than all the other gospels added together. God had revealed to Micah over 700 years before the birth of Jesus where he would be born. This is quoted by the chief priests and teachers of the law in verse 6.
Yet although they were from God's people and knew of this Scripture they didn't go and try and find the Messiah. They left this to people who were not Jews. They bowed down and worshipped Jesus in verse 11.
Luke's account is more Jewish in that it features nearby shepherds worshipping the baby in the village where King David had lived in a thousand years before.
This is in contrast to Matthew who stresses that Jesus comes as Saviour of the whole world. For Jews and non-Jews or Gentiles. God reveals himself to us in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He reveals himself to us in His word, the Bible. He reveals himself to us in this service as we remember his death, resurrection, and promised return.
We have God who guides, God who reveals and...
God who demands a response.
The Wise Men followed the star; searched for Jesus; worshipped him; and presented him with gifts. The giving of gifts was an ancient Eastern custom when one met a superior. These gifts were expensive and not uncommon. Generous if a little impractical. Perhaps like some of the gifts that will be given today !
They were a thank offering to God for coming to earth as a baby so that anyone can be saved. An expression of devotion that was backed up by their persistence in pursuing the star. The journey that they had undertaken to Bethlehem would have been potentially dangerous. The Wise Men then show that they are willing to obey God further by risking further danger. By not returning to Herod, but leaving Israel by a different route.
Their response to God is a challenge for us at the start of a New Year. They did more than just go through the motions of worshipping Jesus. So must we in 1999.
Are we, like them, generous in our giving to God ? Not just with money but with our time, prayers, energy, and commitment. We have seen in this last year encouragements in various ways : through the increase in our giving; Through answered prayer; through the commitment to the Luncheon Club.
Are we prepared to obey him when he has shown us the way to go ? Even though this may involve us in risk.
A number of years ago a group of ten American ladies decided to visit the Holy Land. They hired a Guide who knew the country well. Before agreeing to take them around the country he laid down several conditions. They had to entrust all of their luggage to him. They had to always let him go in front and never act on their own initiative. And to have complete confidence in him to make all the necessary arrangements for their travel and comfort.
The ladies agreed with these terms but failed to keep the conditions. Firstly they wanted to hang onto their smaller cases and vanity bags. However, on the insistence of the guide they reluctantly handed these over. They were changing trains at an important junction. Seeing an empty train on the opposite platform they rushed to secure the best seats. The guide caught up with them and told them that this train was not going anywhere, and reminded them that they had agreed to let him go first and guide them. they all had to dismount and follow him to train waiting at another platform. Later they had to ride on camels on the edge of a desert to the South of Damascus. The guide told them they would have to spend a night in the desert. They began to worry about what sleeping facilities they would have. Would there be wild animals or robbers about ? What about food and drink ? At nightfall they reached an oasis where there were tents pitched with cots and bedding ready. There were basins and fresh water, a sumptuous meal, and a camp fire to keep wild animals away. Why should we not trust one who has proved himself to be so trustworthy for 1999, and into eternity ?
PRAY : Lord God, you are the journey's end for those who travel. Whatever path way we are on, we want to arrive where you are Amen.
6/1/02 6 p.m. Matthew 2:1-12 ( Ephesians 3:1-12 )
PRAY
Dr. John Rosen, a psychiatrist in New York City, is well known for his work with catatonic schizophrenics. Normally doctors remain separate and aloof from their patients. Dr. Rosen moves into the ward with them. He places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day-to-day, he shares it. He loves them. If they don't talk, he doesn't talk either. It is as if he understands what is happening. His being there, being with them, communicates something that they haven't experienced in years, that somebody understands.But then he does something else. He puts his arms around them and hugs them. He holds these unattractive, unlovable, sometimes incontinent persons, and loves them back into life. Often, the first words they speak are simply, "Thank you."
This is what the Christ did for us at Christmas. He moved into the ward with us. He placed his bed among our beds. Those who were there, those who saw him, touched him and were in turn touched by him and restored to life.
But when the Magi came to find the King of the Jews they, understandably, went to the Palace. They were disappointed. King Herod was worried. It didn't take King Herod much to get worried with fits of rage, cruelty, and jealousy. He had killed close associates, a wife, and at least two sons, as well as the boys under two in the Bethlehem area, recorded by Luke in 2:16.
This story is not about a jealous King. It is not about mysterious, exotically attired foreigners. This story is about God. God who guides. God who reveals. God who demands a response.
God who guides.
God guided these wise men using the stars. In Jesus' time astrology and astronomy was a joint practice, unlike today. Astronomers study stars. Astrologers, believe that the stars affect people's destiny. It's easy to remember which is which because astrologer has got l in it, and that's where they'll go if they follow stars and not God !
Although as Christians we would disassociate ourselves from astrology today, God uses the stars, or one star to guide the Wise Men. Maybe this is a reminder not to disregard those who are searching spiritually, even though they may be looking in the wrong place. Today this may refer to people in religious cults, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, or those who are following New Age thinking.
At the start of a New Year it is good to remind ourselves that we have a God who guides us in many ways and who meets us where we are, rather than where we should be.
Today we know God's guidance supremely through the Bible. Also through: Christian tradition; the Holy Spirit living within us and other Christians; prayer; sermons and other teaching methods including books; through circumstances; through dreams, like the Wise Men in verse 12; through angels like Joseph in verse 13 and so on...
During Idi Amin's reign of terror in Uganda, Kefa Sempangi was confronted by five members of the secret police. 'We are going to kill you', the leader said. 'If you have anything to say, say it before you die.' Sempangi said, ' I am a dead man already. My life is dead and hid in Christ. I will pray to God that, after you kill me, he will spare you eternal destruction.' After a pause the leader asked him to pray, and then he left him alone.
Jesus, Joseph and Mary, and the wise men faced danger from Herod. But we see from this story that God is in charge. Of the stars. Of Herod who told the Wise men where they would find this baby King. And as He warns the Wise men not to return to Herod and, in verse 13, he sends an angel who warns Joseph to flee to Egypt.
God is great and is in control. We know that from history recorded in the Bible. And we know it from God working in our own lives and in the lives of others.
We have a God who guides, and we have a...
God who reveals.
The wise men might have expected to be led to an earthly palace to see a new born King in a sumptuous, clean nursery with a top of the range cot attended by the best midwives and doctors. Instead they were led to a normal house, probably the family home of Joseph there with Mary, a teenage mother with her child. They had their expectations shattered. We have a God who, in his grace meets us in ways that we do not expect.
The Jews expected God to send the Messiah or Christ to save the Jews from the oppression of the Romans and to establish a wonderful earthly kingdom. God reveals himself in Jesus as coming to save the whole earth and to establish a spiritual kingship. He is more than King of the Jews, he is King of all. One day he will return to claim that kingdom something that we remembered during Advent.
Matthew here presents Jesus as the true King, in contrast to Herod. Towards the end of his gospel we read of Jesus having the title 'King of the Jews' attached to the cross ( 28:37 ).
This gospel was written for Jews to show them that Jesus is the Christ. It uses more references from the Old Testament than all the other gospels added together. God had revealed to Micah over 700 years before the birth of Jesus where he would be born. This is quoted by the chief priests and teachers of the law in verse 6.
Yet although they were from God's people and knew of this Scripture they didn't go and try and find the Messiah. They left this to people who were not Jews. These Gentiles bowed down and worshipped Jesus in verse 11.
Luke's account is more Jewish in that it features nearby shepherds worshipping the baby in the village where King David had lived in a thousand years before.
This is in contrast to Matthew who stresses that Jesus comes as Saviour of the whole world. For Jews and non-Jews or Gentiles. This is what today's epistle reading is about, that God's grace or undeserved favour is for everyone. Ephesians 3 :10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
The gospel unites Jews, Gentiles, men and women, young and old, and every other category you may care to think of in the church. The fact that God had done the seemingly impossible, reconciling and uniting different people in the church makes the church the perfect means of displaying God's grace and wisdom.
rulers and authorities. Christ had ascended over all these (1:20-21). It is a staggering thought that the church on earth is observed, so to speak, by these spiritual powers and that the unity of the church portrays to them the wisdom of God.
God reveals himself to us in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He reveals himself to us in His word, the Bible. He reveals himself in the church, although all of us, in our imperfection, hinder that witness when we follow our ways and not his.
We have God who guides, God who reveals and...
God who demands a response.
The Wise Men followed the star; searched for Jesus; worshipped him; and presented him with gifts. The giving of gifts was an ancient Eastern custom when one met a superior. These gifts were expensive and not uncommon. They were very appropriate, even though they probably didn't realise the true significance of their gifts.
The first gift was gold.
Gold is valuable, beautiful, and fit for a King. At the start of his life he is called 'King of the Jews' by the Wise Men, verse 2.
Even though Jesus was born in a stable and lived in a normal home he is still King of all. Therefore, he deserves our gold, our best. We can say that we know that he is King of Kings, but if we give him our loose change this shows what we really think of him. I am not just talking about money, but about our time, talents, our energies, and our worship. Our whole lives. Do they reflect what we say that we believe in. Are we offering Jesus the best ?
So the gold points to King Jesus.
Frankincense was a sweet smelling glittering gum or resin obtained by cutting tree bark. It was not very useful in itself, but was used in worship as the priests prayed to God for the people. They were acting as a bridge between God and his people. This is what they were set apart to do.
One of the Tsars of Russia used to visit the cities and towns of his kingdom in disguise. Once, dressed as a peasant he knocked at the door of an inn. The innkeeper listened to his request for a room. He was about to tell him that the inn was too full with the king's nobles and to seek accommodation elsewhere. Recognising the voice of the Tsar one of the knights rushed to the door and, beckoning the Tsar to enter said, "The dress may be that of a peasant, but the voice is of my lord, the King."
The frankincense points to Jesus role as an intermediary between man and God. He was qualified to do this because he is God and man.
"Veiled in flesh the Godhead see! Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell..." we have just sung.
God came to earth. Born a helpless baby to grow and become a man. So we can know what God is like. And so we can know God.
Myrrh
Myrrh is an expensive spice used to prepare bodies for burial. It also acts to relieve pain. It is mentioned twice in association with the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. In Mark 15:23 Jesus is on the cross and is offered wine mixed with myrrh to dull the pain. In John 19:39 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus brought seventy five pounds of myrrh and aloes to wrap with Jesus' body in strips of linen.
The myrrh points to the fact that this baby was to die. Now, all of us will die at some time, but Jesus' death was to transform history.
Since the sin of Adam humankind and God had been separated by the barrier of sin. Humankind's rejection of the will of God for their lives led to a spoiling of our relationship with God. Something that the Bible calls death. The death of our relationship with God.
The Jewish priests used to offer sacrifices of animals to pay the price for their own sins before they sacrificed animals for the sins of the people of God. They would do this every year, again and again.
Jesus came to be the greatest and last priest that there has ever been, and so break down the barrier between humankind and God. He lived a perfect life. He did everything that God asked of him. He never sinned. Yet he endured death. Not just the slow, painful humiliation of death on a cross. But also he endured the separation from God as he paid the punishment for the sin of you, me, and the whole world.
His death was extraordinary in a number of ways. The most extraordinary thing was that three days later he was seen alive. And because he is alive we can know him as our friend, and he can give us eternal life. A life lived in a right relationship with God the Father. This is what 'Hark the herald angels sing' refers to...
"Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die;
born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth."
The gifts of the Wise Men tell us something about the baby. He is the King. He is a bridge between man and God. He will die in an extraordinary way. They brought him gifts in faith. Even though they knew little about him, or what he had come to do.
They were a thank offering to God for coming to earth as a baby so that anyone can be saved. An expression of devotion that was backed up by their persistence in pursuing the star. The journey that they had undertaken to Bethlehem would have been potentially dangerous. The Wise Men then show that they are willing to obey God further and risk further danger by not returning to Herod, but leaving Israel by a different route.
Their response to God is a challenge for us. They did more than just go through the motions of worshipping Jesus. So must we in the year ahead.
In order to teach his children about Jesus' ways, the evangelist Tony Campolo decided to give a large amount to charity each Christmas and only give one gift to each other. The rest was sent to a school in Haiti. The children resented it at first, but got used to it. When they were teenagers he took them to Haiti and as they approached the school, dozens of children rushed out to greet them. His son turned to him and said, "Dad, this is the best Christmas gift anyone could ever get."
Are we generous in our giving to God ? Not just with our money but with our time, prayers, energy, and commitment. We have seen in this year encouragements in various ways : through the response to our Gift Day; through answered prayer; through the continuing of the Luncheon Club and many other ways. But we need to persevere, not least because our regular giving is less than we need to run this church and we are behind with our Parish Share.
As individuals and a church we need to be wise men and women : different and obeying God when he has shown us the way to go, even though this may involve us in difficulties and risks.
PRAY : Lord God, you are the journey's end for those who travel. Whatever path way we are on, we want to arrive where you are Amen.
Carol service talk 2005 based on Matthew 2:1-12
Strip off robes/dog collar
Come down into congregation. Sit beside folk. Talk to them. Say it is a long way down. Different to be sat in the congregation dressed like other people.
Read Philippians 2:5-11
Imagine church reduced to size of a matchbox.
God is an omni God. Omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent...
God who is bigger than the universe, is everywhere, knows everything, is all powerful but became a hopeless baby in a squalid stable. Born to a disgraced woman.
Incredible!!
Colossians 1:19 "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,"
Jesus deserves our devotion, honour and worship.
Yet not everybody does this.
Herod, opposition, persecution. Killed boys.
Today, Christian persecuted, yet church vibrant!
Challenge to us to help them and to worship like them.
Chief priests apathetic.
Wouldn't go to Bethelehem 5 miles away, even though the OT said that was where the Christ would be born.
Challenge to us, not to be apathetic in our worship and devotion to Jesus.
Magi. Persevered.
Followed God's leading by the star and the scriptures. Came to Jesus, worshipped and offered valuable and symbolic gifts.
Challenge to us. To keep going. To offer ourselves