Sermon-notes from Gary Heard:

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“And Peter”

Mark 16:1-8

ILLN – Many things to worry about: My Grandmother was once warned by some of her family about the dangers of salt. Her response: “I don’t know how I got to be this old without you telling me what I should eat” (she was then in her late 80s). The media constantly feeds this sense of worry – consider the meat scare in relation to Mad Cow Disease.

APPLICN – We worry a lot about our acceptance: whether people care for us, what they think about us, how they react to us. When we start new jobs, finish jobs and move on, move to new places. It is probably true to say that we have great difficulty accepting the love of other people, probably because we have great difficulty in loving ourselves. We know ourselves better than anyone else – perhaps that’s why.

ILLN – Being exposed to public shame. Some examples: public figures.

APPLICN – Peter as the greatest example. Promise before the other disciples, public failure. Resurrection morning, the news, “Go tell the disciples, and Peter….” Why these words? Possibilities…..

Probability – a response to Peter’s feelings…..

APPLY to us. We too have known the pain of denying our Lord, have felt the shame of an unkept promise, have understood some form of humiliation in the presence of others. It is this reason that we find difficulty in knowing our acceptance before God. God loves you as though you were the only person in the world, and he loves everyone the way he loves you. – Augustine

Problems with our theology. How to become a christian. We forget one thing. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit.” John 15:16

APPLICN – It is God’s love that sustains us, that prolongs our acceptance before God – Not how we feel about ourselves. It is in God’s hands that we are kept, and no matter how much we may squirm from time to time, “underneath are the everlasting arms.” God holds us and will not let us go. God loves us and will not let that love die. God accepts us and will hear no ill talk to the contrary. What a friend we have in Jesus! What faithfulness that we have experienced nowhere else.

“Go tell the disciples, including Peter.” Every morning, say that over, and repeat your own name; it is God’s call to remind us each day of a love that will not let go.

Sermons:NT\Peter

Strathalan, February 22, 1995

Strathalan Order of Service – January 25, 1995

Call to Worship

Hymn 32 To God Be the Glory

Opening Prayer

Bible Reading Psalm 19 – 792 responsive

Prayer and Reflection

Hymn 35 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

Devotion Images around us

Hymn 462 Be Thou My Vision

Benediction High Mountains Deep Valleys, p 26

Images Around Us

Psalm 19

ILLN – Observant people who see everything that you never noticed?

APPLICN – The heavens declare the glory of God… In the stars His handiwork I see… (v 1)

How is it that some people seem to sense God’s closeness? Seem to recognise the hand of God at work so quickly? They have learnt the secret of recognising the images of God around us.

Books that you read which illustrate divine truths through the most ordinary of events reflect the person who has taken time to see….

APPLICN – First secret of seeing God is taking the time.

ILLN – Philippines (where time is broken into morning, afternoon, evening) cf Hong Kong (where time is measured by the minute. Watches as a god of this age? TV guide determines what we do when? Be here, do this by such and such. Even concentrating on getting home from church by a certain time can limit our ability to see God.

APPLICN – We need to take the time to see God. Mystics who spent days in contemplation

ILLN – Constant awareness, Song of the Bird, pp 22-23

APPLICN – Discovery of God’s beauty takes time. It means working at being aware, enjoying the things around us. We lose it as we grow.

ILLN – Our first son, who is nearing his second birthday, is teaching us this afresh. In the garden – bird, sprinkler. He is fascinated by these. We have sped past.

ILLN – Drive past forests of trees, have you ever stopped to contemplate the complexity of creation?

APPLICN – Some don’t take the time, others ask, “Why bother?” Then complain that they never get near to God. NB the number of illustrations in Jesus’ teaching that stem from ordinary events. He demonstrated an awareness of God in the things around.

Take off the cover

ILLN – At the Rowville church there was once a window at the front of the church with view to mountains – but it was always covered by a curtain, so we could concentrate on what was happening inside the buildings!

APPLICN – How often do we cover over the images of God??

Eat processed food, watch nature videos, look at photographs in books of places. Even drive past many beautiful sights on our way, but never stop to enjoy the journey. We need to both recognise God in the man-made things around us, but also get out and discover afresh the beauty of nature. (Many discover the joy of God’s creativity in the craft room?)

Enjoy the journey

ILLN – I took a trip around Australia at age 15. I was only interested in the towns, and slept a lot in between. Now I have learned to enjoy the journey, and appreciate the sense of discovery that goes with it. I take the time to see as much as I can of all that goes on around, rather than simply aim get to a destination as quickly as possible. APPLICN – To recognise God is not a destination, but a journey, it is not a state of completion, but a state of the heart that needs to be tended.

Conclusion: The sense of wonder

ILLN – I listened to a parent on their child’s 21st speaking of their joy as a child when they discovered a caterpillar. My reaction when I was told was one of cynical humour. Today my reaction is one of appreciation and joy.

APPLICN – Read Psalm 19:1-4

God, help us to see you in the images around us.

Sermons:OT\Psalm19

Strathalan, January 25, 1995

Strathalan Order of Service – November 22, 1995

Call to Worship – Psalm 22:1-5

Hymn 32 To God Be the Glory

Opening Prayer

Responsive Reading – 869 BHB

Prayer of Confession

Hymn 746 Jesus Bids Us Shine

Community Prayer

Devotion – The Marks of Life

Hymn 426 And Can It Be

Benediction see below

The Marks of Life

INTRO – It seems that wherever the apostle Paul went, controversy followed on the next bus. It wasn’t long before he had set his feet on the ground and begun his work than there would be someone or something that would engage him in deep controversy. When Paul engages the Corinthians by bragging he lists an impressive array of disputes and defeats that leave the Fitzroy Football Club looking like seasoned premiers.

APPLICN – But when he addresses the Colossian Church, he uses the strange description, “I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions….” (Col 1:24) A number of questions immediately spring to mind:

What are Paul’s sufferings that he is referring to here, and how are they “on behalf of the church in general or the Colossian church in particular (a church which he had never evangelised?

In what way is Paul referring to Christ’s afflictions, and how is he making up for any (to this point) un-apparent deficiency?

That Paul would suffer as a part of his ministry was the Christ’s forewarning in Acts 9:16, perhaps to underline to Paul how a godly man, an innocent man, may come under condemnation of the Jewish law. It was a lesson he would spend the rest of his life learning.

Paul had never met the Colossian christians, let alone evangelised them, so how could it be that his sufferings were on their behalf?

APPLICN – We remember that Paul’s major call to ministry was to the Gentiles. It was his focus, his raison d’etre. And in this, Paul faced opposition from within Judaism, and even within the church. This stands in contrast and comparison to the ministry of Christ, which was primarily directed at the people of Israel. Jesus suffered greatly for his willingness to proclaim forgiveness to the black sheep of Israel, those whom the law condemned. Occasionally Jesus encountered Gentiles, and this was important in preparing the way for Paul.

The death of Christ was for all humanity. The first to declare Him was the Gentile centurion. And Paul acknowledged that Christ died for all. The affliction he talks of is not the same as the suffering of Christ on the cross. It is rather more in keeping with the persecution of Jesus by the religious establishment, and consistent with the suffering Jesus predicted for all as the end drew near (Mark 13).

APPLICN – When Paul talks of filling up what is lacking, he is talking about the completion of Christ’s work of proclamation, of opening the door to the Gentiles. Of fighting for their freedom in Christ, which many wanted to remove. It is not that the death of Jesus was not enough, it was that some people did not understand its full implications. The fact that Paul never met the Colossians is immaterial: they are gentiles whose place in the kingdom he had fought to maintain when some wanted to restrict it, or impose other things. Remember this is Paul’s call – apostle to the Gentiles.

APPLY – I wonder how we might understand this word today….

Many of you have felt the afflictions of Christ for family members, for children in particular, that they might know the God who reaches out to us in Christ. Some have even known the sting of rebuke from family members for your zeal. Or have been vilified by church people for the paths that children have taken.

Others have been abused or ignored by neighbours and friends because of your faith, or because of the path that life has gone for you

THESE ARE THE AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST WHICH PAUL IS REFERRING TO… They are painful marks, enduring marks, but they are the marks of life!!!

They remind us of Paul’s words to the Romans about the necessity of “suffering with Christ so that we may be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:17)

ILLN – As a parent I have ached at times already when disciplining our two-and-a-half year old son. As a church leader, I have agonised over responses and attitudes to other people in the church whose behaviour needed to be challenged. As a Youth Leader I have ached inside over my responses to unruly and defiant young people.

APPLICN – These are the marks of life, both for me, and hopefully, for the people concerned. IN the long run, by the grace of God, they may have impact in other places, as God may use these people in His purposes.

CONCLUSION – We too are called to feel Christ’s afflictions as we live and speak the truth in love, as we seek to see people knowing the embracing and redeeming love of Christ. Do we rejoice in the midst of our pain and theirs, realising that the work of Christ is all-sufficient for the task?

Sermons:NT\Col1_24f

Strathalan, November 22, 1995

Benediction

May the God of comfort heal your wounds and strengthen you for the journey;

May the Lord of the journey support you through the rough terrain.

May the Spirit of renewal, encourage you in the battle;

And by the grace of God, may your every endeavour reap a hundred-fold.

Amen.

Strathalan Order of Service – September 27, 1995

Call to Worship – Psalm 77:13-15a, 19

Hymn 119 I Love to Hear the Story

Opening Prayer

Bible Reading – Job 23:1-8

Reflection: Footprints

Community Prayer

Devotion – Loose Ends

Prayer

Hymn 538 Christ of the Upward Way

Benediction

Loose Ends

ILLN – Ev and I watching a movie I’ve seen: wait for this, watch this, this is funny! What a way to spoil a good movie! The spontaneity is gone. The sense of surprise is missing. I do not enjoy films which are predictable in their plot.

APPLICN – We live in a world full of loose ends. God doesn’t seem to be very tidy in the way He goes about things. And it is not just the peripheral issues which He leaves open. Sometimes it is the deepest and most significant questions of all. ILLN – Caleb’s need for tight guidelines. When the question “Why” appears, there is no need for explaining the complexities of life, but rather to satisfy the inquisitive nature, and to allow him to continue exploring. Later in life, the questions will resurface. Someone once said that a child, by the age of seven, will have asked all of the deepest theological questions one can ever ask. But as a child grows, s/he is no longer happy with simple answers. The world opens up in a wonderful way. APPLICN – There are times when the loose ends frustrate us significantly, but is it not also the case that we are ever grateful for them, for the opportunity to create, the chance to grapple and come to some sense of a personal conclusion, to enjoy the exploration, the mystery of life itself?

ILLN – Ev and I have different standards of tidiness around the home. It is a constant source of frustration to both of us, particularly when we are tired. But we have our own sense of order and disorder. My organisational system makes little sense to her (and to me at times), and when Ev tidies up, I lose things! Ev loses things when I do not tidy up!

APPLICN – We must all admit that there are areas of our life that are not systematic. There are things we believe which are in serious conflict with other things we believe. This can be a source of immense frustration from time to time, particularly when someone else points out that inconsistency, and yet there is some truth in the world of R.E.C. Browne when he says,

“Coherency is God’s gift; he gives it freely, but it can only be received by those who preserve an untidiness of mind. The tidy mind is not the truthful mind; the utterance that leaves no room for doubt or place for question is the fruit of a mind that is full of unwarranted conclusions. To think truly, and to speak and act truthfully, …[we] must deliberately preserve an untidy mind. This untidiness of mind will irritate … [we] will often weary of living in what seems a mental muddle…. Generally … respite consists in the realisation that to bear the burden of this muddle is the true way of preserving real knowledge.”

The Ministry of the Word

Job found it difficult to understand his own suffering. He never resolved it. But in his perplexity he met God. It is a place where God can almost always be found. And it is the place where we encounter one another at our most human. The human soul thrives on mysteries, but grows only so slowly on certainties, and even more slowly on the certainties of others.

CONCLUSION Loose ends can be extremely frustrating, but they become the tentacles which intertwine with God, and with others. Someone once espoused a principle which gives us a firm basis, and maximum flexibility: “Hold to Christ, and for the rest be totally uncommitted”.

Sermons:Issues\Loosends

Strathalan, September 27, 1995

Job 23 1 Then Job replied:

2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;

his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

3 If only I knew where to find him;

if only I could go to his dwelling!

4 I would state my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would find out what he would answer me,

and consider what he would say.

6 Would he oppose me with great power?

No, he would not press charges against me.

7 There an upright man could present his case before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Strathalan Order of Service – July 24, 1996

Call to Worship – Hebrews 10:19-22

Hymn 493 Blessed Assurance

Opening Prayer

Reflection – Letter to God – and God’s Reply Plass p 101 ff

Community Prayer

Item – Champion

Bible Reading – Mark 1:30-39

Reflection – Learning to deal with the absence of Jesus

Hymn 119 I Love to Hear the Story

Benediction –

Learning To Deal With The Absence Of Jesus

ILLN – This passage represents one of the more puzzling aspects of Jesus’ ministry – his willingness to open an issue, arouse some excitement, and then move on before dealing with the deep issues of people’s lives. Even in the lives of the disciples, just as they were beginning to catch on, he announces that he is going to be leaving them. APPLICN – Experience of obedience, the door beginning to open on a new stage of the journey, and it’s as if Jesus has disappeared all of a sudden. Perhaps one of the more amazing aspects of the life of Jesus is not that he came, but that having come, he often disappears from view – away from the questions, away from the needy, where he cannot be reached.

APPLY – It is not very long in the christian journey that we discover this absence of Jesus, and learn that it is really a regular part of the journey of a christian.

This raises interesting theological questions: What does it have to say about the faithfulness of God? About his commitment to his promise to “be with us always”, and about the call to follow him!?

I have begun to realise that this absence of Jesus is almost a deliberate ploy – one very common, very hard to take, and extremely perplexing.

WHY? In Mark’s Gospel, this incident is a part of a developing theme of Jesus having to withdraw because the crowd wants to “capture” him for their own purposes. It’s a little like plating “hard-to-get”, seeking to unearth those who are genuinely interested, and weed out the thrill-seekers.

When God does some fantastic things in my life, I realise that often I am falling in love with the victory, and not the master. He has done something “matter-of-fact” and wants to draw my attention to something more important. I’m still standing with my mouth open missing the real issue.

The absence of Jesus is not so much because he has abandoned us, but because we have stopped following – more often than not because we have experienced some of his blessing, and want to stay there. He has given us the blessing in order to keep us moving.

30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.