Sermons on Living Life
Self-Sufficiency, and the claim that "faith is a crutch"
Romans 7: 15-18
Who do you see in the mirror?
When our culture tells you to ‘just be yourself’ … I always wonder ‘which self should I be trying to be?’
The really hard question, in our society these days, is ‘How much do you trust the person in the mirror?’ Just how competent do you think you are? Do you really have all the answers to life hidden inside somewhere, just waiting to be found? Can you really do anything, achieve whatever you set yourself to, if only you try hard enough?
Big Idea: We can’t do this Life thing under our own strength.
Begins with an excerpt from the movie 'Kung Fu Panda', with children's talk.
Romans 7: 15-18
Who do you see in the mirror?
When our culture tells you to ‘just be yourself’ … I always wonder ‘which self should I be trying to be?’
The really hard question, in our society these days, is ‘How much do you trust the person in the mirror?’ Just how competent do you think you are? Do you really have all the answers to life hidden inside somewhere, just waiting to be found? Can you really do anything, achieve whatever you set yourself to, if only you try hard enough?
Big Idea: We can’t do this Life thing under our own strength.
Begins with an excerpt from the movie 'Kung Fu Panda', with children's talk.
Strong and steady under stress
Acts 16: 16-34 - Paul & Silas in prison in Philippi
Learnings about how to deal with tough situations with strength.
So what are the Acts of the Apostles that we celebrate today?
First, prayer and song in the place of pain, made possible through laying down habits of prayer and song in our every-day.
Second, calling out in care to a person in need: habits of compassion, reaching out, to anyone and everyone, without barriers or prejudice
Third, speaking words of faith; being able to put into words what you know to be true about Jesus, strong simple communication
and Fourth, a meal, sharing together with others in hospitality and in communion.
Acts 16: 16-34 - Paul & Silas in prison in Philippi
Learnings about how to deal with tough situations with strength.
So what are the Acts of the Apostles that we celebrate today?
First, prayer and song in the place of pain, made possible through laying down habits of prayer and song in our every-day.
Second, calling out in care to a person in need: habits of compassion, reaching out, to anyone and everyone, without barriers or prejudice
Third, speaking words of faith; being able to put into words what you know to be true about Jesus, strong simple communication
and Fourth, a meal, sharing together with others in hospitality and in communion.
Call ... "God calling!"
2 Peter 1: 1-11
Mark 2:13-17
For myself, I find it so important to remember, when I’m feeling inadequate or frustrated or bored or tired, when I start to doubt that I’m much use to God just now, it is important to remember that I am called and I am chosen and I am given by God what I need for this moment, this week, this year.
This is the beginning of all faith and the foundation for all spiritual disciplines, not that we can somehow by working hard enough get through to God, but that we can get out of the way and let God get through to us.
You are invited to say to the person next to you:
…(name) …, you are called by God’s glory and goodness into God’s great promises. God has given you everything you need.
2 Peter 1: 1-11
Mark 2:13-17
For myself, I find it so important to remember, when I’m feeling inadequate or frustrated or bored or tired, when I start to doubt that I’m much use to God just now, it is important to remember that I am called and I am chosen and I am given by God what I need for this moment, this week, this year.
This is the beginning of all faith and the foundation for all spiritual disciplines, not that we can somehow by working hard enough get through to God, but that we can get out of the way and let God get through to us.
You are invited to say to the person next to you:
…(name) …, you are called by God’s glory and goodness into God’s great promises. God has given you everything you need.
Life after death ...??! exploring different world views
A hand-out explaining a range of world-views about death & the after-life: pagan, Hebrew, Jewish apocalyptic, Maori, Buddhist, Chinese, Islam, secular, traditional Christian ... and raising the question about whether we have immortal souls.
What's your world-view of our eternal destiny ...
... glory & delight?
... punishment and pain?
... a drifting, haunting the present?
... a place of reunion with those you love?
... or simply a final ending with your last breath??
Reincarnation?? - a response
John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life
... my own understanding of life after death: Indestructible
A full order of service for an Easter service.
A hand-out explaining a range of world-views about death & the after-life: pagan, Hebrew, Jewish apocalyptic, Maori, Buddhist, Chinese, Islam, secular, traditional Christian ... and raising the question about whether we have immortal souls.
What's your world-view of our eternal destiny ...
... glory & delight?
... punishment and pain?
... a drifting, haunting the present?
... a place of reunion with those you love?
... or simply a final ending with your last breath??
Reincarnation?? - a response
John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life
... my own understanding of life after death: Indestructible
A full order of service for an Easter service.
A 'Hunch': imagination and 'standing up'
Jeremiah 1:11-19
Luke 13:10-17
Two stories, two people whose lives were touched by God, two people with hunches, two people who stood up ... The old woman who was hunched over, bent, burdened, oppressed, who was set free by God at the touch and word of Jesus, free to stand tall. And the young man, Jeremiah, who found the courage and the wisdom to listen to his own hunches - in the pictures in his mind, in an inner determination to stand up and speak even though his message was unpopular ... and so to hear and to proclaim the word of God in his time and place.
Jeremiah 1:11-19
Luke 13:10-17
Two stories, two people whose lives were touched by God, two people with hunches, two people who stood up ... The old woman who was hunched over, bent, burdened, oppressed, who was set free by God at the touch and word of Jesus, free to stand tall. And the young man, Jeremiah, who found the courage and the wisdom to listen to his own hunches - in the pictures in his mind, in an inner determination to stand up and speak even though his message was unpopular ... and so to hear and to proclaim the word of God in his time and place.
Grandparents and why they matter
2 Timothy 1:1-10
This is the gift that you give to the children in your life. For your grandchildren and any other kids you come into contact with, you are the link with where they come from, you help lay the foundation of who they are and what matters in their lives. Never underestimate your importance.
2 Timothy 1:1-10
This is the gift that you give to the children in your life. For your grandchildren and any other kids you come into contact with, you are the link with where they come from, you help lay the foundation of who they are and what matters in their lives. Never underestimate your importance.
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Creativity ... being co-creators with God
Ephesians 4:22 – 5:2 When we work and as we serve we share in the power of God, a power which in its very essence is creative. The energy we find for our daily lives is the very same energy which called stars and starfish into being. The imagination we find for planning a meal or designing a letterbox is the very same power that imagined rainbows and the intricacies of the human brain. |
Whenever you can picture something in your mind that does not yet exist, that is creativity. Whenever you can use your hands to fashion something out of other things, that is creativity. That is a sharing in the power that continues to create the universe.
The nice thing about creativity is that it brings us pleasure. And so sometimes we make something or imagine something just for the fun of it. If it happens to be useful to someone that’s a bonus. That’s God’s spirit in you saying “And it was good”. Good simply because of its own beauty. Good simply because it expresses something of who you are, and you are good, you are the pinnacle of creation. |
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Encouraging creativity
Isaiah 43:16-21 Revelation 21:1-7 How do we encourage creativity? How do we think fresh? How do we ask new questions, see things in new ways? I love it that the Bible describes God as being creative … our readings today have God saying “I am doing a New Thing!” Watch out for it, I am remaking the world. We all know that God made the world, but we also need to remember that he is also remaking it, restoring it, reworking it. God is the ultimate creative force. Be more creative. How? To be creative I must LOOK and LISTEN, TOUCH and TASTE have SPACE and be alone WORK HARD RELAX, muck around, waste time |
PERMISSION SLIP
I give you permission to day dream, to try, to experiment, to play, to muck around, waste time, ask silly questions, to fail and to rest. The world needs what only YOU can create! With all my love, your Heavenly Father, God |
"Ouch it hurts!" Why does God let us suffer?
Luke 10: 25-37
... including a whole new perspective on the Good Samaritan story
What truth really does meet us in our point of need? What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for you and for me when we are in pain?
It’s not rocket science. It’s not super spiritual or super complicated. Just three core truths … that together keep us calm enough to not freak out, keep us safe enough to trust that we will come through to something better, and keep us held enough to trust and be grateful even through the worst of times.
Number one, if you will excuse me, Shit happens. Life on planet earth is wonderful but also deeply unfair. God promises us many things, but not protection from pain. Getting hurt is an inevitable partner to love. Sacrifice and suffering are not trivial ideas, they are real and thoroughly unpleasant at the time.
Luke 10: 25-37
... including a whole new perspective on the Good Samaritan story
What truth really does meet us in our point of need? What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for you and for me when we are in pain?
It’s not rocket science. It’s not super spiritual or super complicated. Just three core truths … that together keep us calm enough to not freak out, keep us safe enough to trust that we will come through to something better, and keep us held enough to trust and be grateful even through the worst of times.
Number one, if you will excuse me, Shit happens. Life on planet earth is wonderful but also deeply unfair. God promises us many things, but not protection from pain. Getting hurt is an inevitable partner to love. Sacrifice and suffering are not trivial ideas, they are real and thoroughly unpleasant at the time.
The Meaning of Life - 'What's it all about?!'
Philippians 1:1-11
So here’s what I think … I think that without God in it human life slides towards the petty, the hollow, and pointless. Macbeth was right – people are just brief candles, all too easily blown out, or like actors bursting onto the stage for their scene, making ‘sound and fury, signifying nothing’.
Here’s what I think … I think that the more space we make for God in our lives the more real our lives become. As Jesus Christ is able to live within us, in our everyday normal living, so our lives ring with eternity in the here-and-now. A vibrant Christian faith will probably not make you rich or famous. It won’t even make you happy all the time. It won’t protect you from accidents or heartache. But it will give your life meaning. Substance. It will be a real life, well lived … in the giving more than in the getting.
Philippians 1:1-11
So here’s what I think … I think that without God in it human life slides towards the petty, the hollow, and pointless. Macbeth was right – people are just brief candles, all too easily blown out, or like actors bursting onto the stage for their scene, making ‘sound and fury, signifying nothing’.
Here’s what I think … I think that the more space we make for God in our lives the more real our lives become. As Jesus Christ is able to live within us, in our everyday normal living, so our lives ring with eternity in the here-and-now. A vibrant Christian faith will probably not make you rich or famous. It won’t even make you happy all the time. It won’t protect you from accidents or heartache. But it will give your life meaning. Substance. It will be a real life, well lived … in the giving more than in the getting.
God and the Big Bang!
Colossians 1:15-20
Genesis 1: 1-19
It wasn’t long ago that the ‘Big bang theory’ was one among several theories about the universe. Many scientists actively fought against it, because they wanted it to be true that the universe was eternal and self-contained. They wanted to rule out any need for God. And so scientists argued for a ‘Steady state’ universe, or that our universe is just one of many universes, or that our universe cycles around in periods of expanding and contracting, like a bouncing ball. But this year, 2014, even the Pope, even ardently atheist physicists have agreed that the Universe began out of nothing, in an incredible instantaneous explosion … because the scientific evidence for this is now so strong and so detailed.
Colossians 1:15-20
Genesis 1: 1-19
It wasn’t long ago that the ‘Big bang theory’ was one among several theories about the universe. Many scientists actively fought against it, because they wanted it to be true that the universe was eternal and self-contained. They wanted to rule out any need for God. And so scientists argued for a ‘Steady state’ universe, or that our universe is just one of many universes, or that our universe cycles around in periods of expanding and contracting, like a bouncing ball. But this year, 2014, even the Pope, even ardently atheist physicists have agreed that the Universe began out of nothing, in an incredible instantaneous explosion … because the scientific evidence for this is now so strong and so detailed.
Self-Sacrificial Service
... in which I reflect on the Ebola crisis, and ask what makes people put themselves in harm's way for others.
Staying home and shutting our borders seems much more sensible.
There are two strong pulls tugging at each other in the depths of the human heart … one pull is towards security, safety, so when we are under threat we pull back, retreat into our corner, shut the doors.
But there is another basic powerful pull, which is to care about the suffering of others, which pulls us away from worrying about our own needs and into a place of helping other people, working hard for something which might not even benefit us.
... in which I reflect on the Ebola crisis, and ask what makes people put themselves in harm's way for others.
Staying home and shutting our borders seems much more sensible.
There are two strong pulls tugging at each other in the depths of the human heart … one pull is towards security, safety, so when we are under threat we pull back, retreat into our corner, shut the doors.
But there is another basic powerful pull, which is to care about the suffering of others, which pulls us away from worrying about our own needs and into a place of helping other people, working hard for something which might not even benefit us.
The Seven Deadly Sins
The classic ‘7 deadly sins’ are not laws or rules. Nothing on this sheet is illegal. This isn’t about being naughty or bad. The seven deadly sins are about character. The sins on this list shrink us as people. They suck the marrow from our bones. They are ‘bad for us’. They shrink us because they pull our focus inward, into our own selves.
Sermon plus hand-out on the '7 Deadly Sins'
The classic ‘7 deadly sins’ are not laws or rules. Nothing on this sheet is illegal. This isn’t about being naughty or bad. The seven deadly sins are about character. The sins on this list shrink us as people. They suck the marrow from our bones. They are ‘bad for us’. They shrink us because they pull our focus inward, into our own selves.
Sermon plus hand-out on the '7 Deadly Sins'