The 7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross
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- Written by: Chris Appleby & George Hemmings
Good Friday 2012
Father, Forgive
Luke 23:32-34 (NRSV) "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals -- one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots."
What sorts of prayers do you pray when you find yourself in trouble? Are they prayers for help; prayers directed to your own needs? I wonder how you respond when people hurt you? I mean really hurt you? Do you wish that you could get even? If you pray, do you pray the sort of prayer you hear so often in the movies or on TV: “May you rot in hell!”? It’s understandable if you do, I guess. It would have been even more understandable if Jesus had called out to his father in heaven to remember those who were doing such cruel things to him; those whose words must have stung as they jeered and mocked; Pilate who’d knowingly passed an unjust sentence on him; the soldiers as they gambled for the clothes they’d just torn off him, leaving him naked and exposed. But no. We’re told that he prayed for those who were hurting him, “Father forgive them!” In fact the sense of the Greek is that he went on praying for them. Even as they did their worst he was praying that God would forgive them. He understood far better than we ever will, why he was there; that his death was to bring forgiveness to those who are his enemies. The forgiveness that comes from Jesus’ death on the cross is for those who are most in need of it.
Do you worry about whether you’re good enough for God? Well that’s actually the wrong question. The right question is: are you bad enough to need God’s forgiveness? You see only when you acknowledge your need for forgiveness are you in the right state of mind to ask for it and to receive it. Those that Jesus prayed for didn’t know what they were doing, so they couldn’t ask for forgiveness. Yet in his love he prayed for them anyway.
Be strong and courageous 要剛強壯膽
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- Written by: Michael Prabaharan
Be strong and courageous 要剛強壯膽 audio (3MB)
Here we are having church in a very unchurchlike place. Not less spiritual, as God is as much here as he is in church. Just very different to where we usually have church. It’s a strange and often difficult experience when we take experiences that we are comfortable with in one place into a different context. Like Andy was saying, the faith that he is so comfortable with in his own home and the one that was still familiar in a very different country becomes an issue of contention and great discomfort at University. As Ivy said moving countries makes what was so familiar and ordinary in one culture become controversial and a cause of deep hurt in another. We have all experienced this when it comes to our faith. What feels so affirming and guiding at church can feel so different at home or school or at work. Some of you know the difficulty of living in a home where your faith is not shared. Every school and University student knows the difficulty of being a Christian in an Australian school. And even in our workplaces it is interesting to see what people think and feel of our faith’s belief and practices.
I Talk Back to the Devil 4: Jesus Himself
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- Written by: Garrett Edwards
audio (4MB)
In reflecting on what kind of topic could be one that could not only stand by itself, but also sum up all we’ve been talking about in the past year, I was driven to think about what is central to our faith. What is it that we need more than anything to be able to talk back to the devil? And the answer came quite easily actually, who other than Jesus Himself? He is all we need, he is the only one we need in order to talk back to the Devil.
The passage we read this morning testifies to that, please open your Bibles with me to Hebrews 10:19 again. Therefore brothers & sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most Holy place ... how? By the blood of Jesus. And then in verse 21, ‘And since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God, with a full assurance of faith. Nothing else is needed, nothing else is required. There is no other way we can come before God, the author, creator, sustainer of all things, but through Jesus. And if we come before God through Jesus we can trust he will hear and listen to our requests. He is our Great High Priest, says Hebrews. No one else can appeal to God on our behalf no other power is good enough. The only way to be made right before him and the only person to go to, to get to God. Nothing else is needed, it’s that simple and it's beautiful don’t you think?
I Talk Back to the Devil: Concealing the Smiling Face of God
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- Written by: Garrett Edwards
audio (6MB)
Song: David Crowder Band – How He Loves
I really want to do 2 things in my sermon today, while looking at our need to continue growing in our maturity with Christ.
The first is more of a reminder. I’d like to remind us to hold to what is true: To hold to the truth of our salvation and have confidence in it when we confess that Jesus is Lord, and encourage us in the fact that God loves us and he loves us forever!
I think all of us can relate to feeling distant from God, or like we may not have that relationship anymore and I want to confront this, I want to deny this. Not belittle or flippantly cast these feelings aside, just refute it and encourage us on.
The second thing is a challenge as well as a reminder: That we need to continually surrender to His will. Continually give our lives up to him if we are to mature in our faith.
Tozer asks in his book that inspires this series, ‘Why do we not capture the divine illumination of Jesus Christ in our souls?’ And he answers himself,
‘Because there is a cloud of concealment between us and the smiling face of God!’
Read more: I Talk Back to the Devil: Concealing the Smiling Face of God
Guidance 5
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
With a Bit of Help From my Friends audio (4MB)
Well, we’ve come to the end of our series on Decision Making, so let’s have a quick quiz. What have we learned about making decisions in our lives? First of all, who do you rely on to guide you through your life?
If your answer was God or the Holy Spirit you’ve started well.
Next question: What is the primary means by which God promises to guide us? I hope your answer was through his word; through what we find in the Bible?
That leads to the next, and much more important question: Have you resolved to make reading your Bible a priority for your life? Have you worked out that knowing that God has given us his word to guide us is of no use unless you actually take it and study it?
Next Question: What happens if you get it wrong? Does that ruin God’s plan for your life? This one’s a little more difficult isn’t it? All of us get worried at one time or another that we’ve blown it with God. Some of us have made such terrible mistakes that we think they’re irredeemable. Yet we know that God promises to overlook our weakness. In fact he tells us that his power is made great in our weakness. So there are no mistakes that we can make that will limit God in bringing about his plans for us. God is sovereign over all things, including our mistakes.
Here’s our final question: Apart from knowing God’s will and waiting for the prompting of the Holy Spirit to show you the right path to take, what else can you do to make sure you make the right decisions?
