Sermon
Notebook
‘Location,
Location, Location’
Wilderness: Mark
1:1-13
The opening of
Mark’s gospel focuses on the
The Prophets
As Mark quotes
the prophets Isaiah and Malachi he is pointing to the desert as
the place where God will come to his people to set them free, and
to live with them personally. It was a promise that the people
were holding on to, and Mark shows that it was fulfilled in the
coming of Jesus.
* In what areas of our lives do we look for spiritual freedom?
John the Baptist
John appeared in
the desert to alert people to God’s coming. He prepared them
by a baptism of repentance. They needed to recognise that their
lives were moving in the wrong direction, and he called them to
turn their lives around to God’s way. Lent is an opportunity
to examine our own lives and identify ways in which we are not
living in God’s way.
* In what ways do we need to turn our lives around?
Jesus
The Spirit drove
Jesus into the desert, where he spent time being tempted by Satan.
What was at stake was not his relationship with his Father, as
this had been affirmed at his baptism. Rather it was the nature
of that ministry, and Jesus’ willingness to embrace the call
of the suffering servant who gave his life for us.
* What specific ministry is God preparing us for?
The desert speaks
of the new things that God wants to do in our lives and society;
during Lent, let’s seek these things more expectantly.
Faith, Hope
and Love in Today’s World
‘Love’
The success of TV
sitcoms like ‘Friends’ and the soaps point to a hunger
in society for a genuine experience of belonging and love. This
is a great opportunity for the church to speak the good news of
Christ into our culture by the way we live that truth in the life
of the local church.
A hunger for
relationship
The increasing
fragmentation of marriage and geographical communities has left
people hungry for a sense of belonging. Christians recognise the
important of community, believing that we are made in the image
of a Trinitarian God, whose fundamental nature is community. Our
challenge today is to find new ways of relating and establishing
community, appropriate to its setting, based more on networks of
relationships rather than traditional ways of operating.
A hunger for
demonstration
People today will
only accept what we offer if they see that it works, especially
in the area of handling conflict. The challenge is not dealing
with conflict by simply sweeping it under the carpet. A church
where there is no conflict has little relevance to our society!!
Conflicts in the church can often seem like a distraction from
the real work, but this is the real work. When others come near
such a community they will instinctively know how real the
relationships are.
How does our
church community measure up in these areas?
We have a
strategic opportunity to proclaim the gospel in a language that
our society understands. It is the language of love, belonging
and community. It’s also good news for a society that is
fragmented and searching for a sense of belonging. ‘See how
these Christians love one another’ is as powerful a magnet
today as it was 2000 years ago.
‘The purpose
of the church is to manifest an alternative way of seeing and
living life.’ (John Westerhoff III)
Head for the
wilderness
‘And he
said, ‘Which way shall we go up?’ And he
answered, ‘The way through the wilderness…’ 2
Kings 3.8
The only way into
the Promised Land is through the wilderness. TD Jakes calls
it ‘God’s killing field’. He says: ‘That’s
where the things that cause us to stumble in our walk with God
are permitted to die; where God ‘weeds out’ those who
want only a momentary, superficial relationship with him, from
those who want their lives to really count.”
It’s where
you learn to stand and to cast all your cares on him. (1
Peter 5.7) It’s where God says, ‘I finally have
you where I want you.’
Sometimes he’ll
lead you there abruptly, especially if he’s been trying to
get your attention or talk to you about the call he’s placed
on your life, but you haven’t had time to listen. Now
you find yourself in the wilderness and you realise that God is
the only one who can get you through this.
Here, he permits
you to be stripped of pride, so that you can be clothed with
humility; stripped of self-sufficiency, so that you can be
brought to the place of total dependence on him. If you’re
there today, don’t think that God’s punishing you or
that he’s forsaken you. No, he’s simply allowing
some things in you to die, so that other things can be born and
grow into life and fruitfulness.
You’ll get
through this and by God’s grace you’ll reach your
destiny. The truth is – there is no other way to the
Promised Land other than through the wilderness.
It’s a
funny old world
Funny how we set
our clocks to arise at
but on Sundays we
can’t make church for
Funny how we call
God our Father and Jesus our brother,
but find it hard
to introduce them to the rest of our family.
Funny how much
difficulty some have learning the Gospel well enough to tell
others,
but how simple it
is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone else.
Funny how small
our sins seem,
but how big
‘their’ sins are.
Funny how we
demand justice for others,
but expect mercy
from God for ourselves.
Funny how we
can't think of anything to say when we pray,
but don't have
any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend.
Funny how we are
so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are
lost,
but are hesitant
to take God's direction for our lives.
Funny how so many
church goers sing ‘Standing on the Promises’,
but all they do
is sit on the premises.
Funny how people
want God to answer their prayers,
but refuse to
listen to his counsel.
Funny how we sing
about heaven,
but live only for
today.
Funny how people
think they are going to heaven
but don't think
there is a hell.
Funny how it is
okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world,
but it is not
necessary to thank him for what is good and pleasant.
Funny how when
something goes wrong, we cry, "Lord, why me?"
but when
something goes right, we think, "Hey, it must be me!"
Oh wait...maybe
all this isn't so ‘funny’ after all.