Matt 11:16-30
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Clear Up Your Thinking Audio
Let me just fill you in on what’s gone before in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus has spent an extended time teaching on a mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee, what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. He’s gone from there into the nearest city, Capernaum. He’s performed a number of miracles of healing there as well as in other places around the Lake and people have flocked to hear him. Then we come to the calling of the 12 disciples and then sending them out to tell people about the coming of the kingdom of God, with a warning about the opposition and persecution they might face. Then at the start of this chapter John the Baptist sends his own disciples to check on this Jesus he’s just heard about so Jesus begins to talk about John, He calls John the greatest of the prophets, Elijah who was prophesied to come, yet, he says, he’s no greater than the least member of God’s new kingdom. Remember that because we’ll come back to it later.
That brings us to today’s passage. Here he challenges his hearers, and us, to be clear in our thinking.
Jonah 4 - When God is Too Gracious
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
When God is Too Gracious audio
How strong is your sense of Justice? Do you get hot under the collar when you see someone behaving badly, doing things that hurt others? When you read about gangs running around with knives and machetes doing house invasions do you wish someone would do something about it? When you hear about the rorts being foisted on the government’s big build program, are you outraged? Do you blow your horn when someone cuts in front of you in peak hour traffic? Do you smile in satisfaction when you see someone pulled over for speeding?
What about when someone is found guilty of a major crime and is let off with just a minor sentence? The proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet lettuce? It sounds all wrong doesn’t it? Those who live by the sword are supposed to die by the sword, aren’t they?
Of course the problem with that strong sense of justice, that I imagine most of us have, is that it’s all too easy to look at other people’s behaviour without thinking about the hidden biases that we may have, the blind spots of various sorts that distort the way we see things.
Eph 4:1-16 - Becoming One in Christ
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Becoming One in Christ audio
We come today to the core issue of the letter: If we’re to fulfil our destiny as a church, if we’re to demonstrate the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, as we read last week, then we must be united in heart and mind. But can we do it?
Here in ch 4, Paul begins to outline how being the new people of God is to be worked out in the down-to-earth, concrete realities of life. As we read on we discover that there are two challenges for us. First, it’s to build ourselves into a single united people without any of the social and economic divisions we see everywhere else; and then to be a holy people, showing in our lives the purity and righteousness that belongs with the people of God.
So today let’s think about the unity of the Church. How does that unity arise and how is it to be maintained?
John 10:1-18 I am the Good Shepherd
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
I am the Good Shepherd
“I am the Good Shepherd” has a sort of comforting feel about it doesn’t it? But when Jesus says it in this passage his listeners may not have had the same response. They would have realised that he was saying something very significant; in fact, making a claim that no-one should dare to make.
Now I imagine you know that sheep and shepherds in the Old Testament were a well-known metaphor for the people of God.
For example, in a couple of weeks we’ll be reminded again of those words from Isaiah: “All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah was referring to the nation of Israel as he wrote those words, though we understand that they apply to us as well.
Today we often refer to Christian ministers as pastors. Ministers even refer to their congregation as their flock. So it’s still a common metaphor for God’s people.
Mark 6:1-29 - What Should We Expect?
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
What Should We Expect?
I guess one of the most difficult questions we’re faced with as a Christian is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” For those who might want to reply that “no-one is good, no not one”, I could rephrase the question to “Why do bad things happen to people who have committed their lives to God’s service?” And I could think of many examples of such bad things.
So my question today is “What should we expect?” There are plenty of examples of promises in Scripture of blessings and prosperity for those who serve God with a pure heart. So is that what we expect? Do we give to God’s work, as we saw two weeks ago, out of generosity and thankfulness, or because we’re hoping to be rewarded by God?
Do we rely on the promise that all things work together for good to those who love God, expecting that all will be well, all manner of things will be well - in our lives here and now?
Well, I think Mark may have had those questions in mind when he was compiling his gospel and he put these three instances together in the passage that we just heard read.
2 Cor 5:6-21 New Creation
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
New Creation and Reconciliation
Who’d like a new body? I’d say put your hands up but I wouldn’t want you to pull a muscle in your eagerness. Well today we follow up on what we heard last week, from Howard, of the reality of our hope of eternal life, of the fact that Jesus’ resurrection assures us of our own resurrection and, what’s more, that the presence of his Holy Spirit within us assures us that we’re already experiencing that eternal life with God, even if that is limited by our mortal bodies. Today we’re thinking about what that experience of God’s presence with us might mean for us in our present circumstances.
Paul begins this section reminding us that we remain always confident, not of our own strength or ability, but of God’s promise. One thing about Paul is that he understands what it’s like to struggle with life as a Christian. You’ll remember, if you were here 2 weeks ago, how he used that metaphor of having a great treasure in jars of clay. The jars of clay, of course, are us; our weak bodies and our less than perfect willpower.
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