Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

This sermon was preached on 28/10/2012 In this chapter, we have the first sermon by the prophet Jeremiah. His call to that role is detailed in the previous chapter. We can imagine the enthusiasm and hopes that a preacher will have as he preaches his first message. Jeremiah had not been left to decide for himself what to preach about. Instead he was given a message by the Lord, a specific message for his people. Jeremiah was not called merely to pass on some doctrinal details as information. His message was from the heart of God, an appeal from the eternal throne, to those he loved and longed to bless.   In passing, we can note that this is what preaching is, and if we miss this aspect we will lose a great deal. We see something similar in the words of Paul to the Corinthians when he wrote: ‘Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God’ (2 Cor. 5:20). Preaching is for feelers, both in...

This sermon was preached on 21/10/12 Sometimes I take a walk through a graveyard and read the inscriptions. Every one of them has a message, even if the words have faded beyond recognition. They all tell us that we will end up there eventually. Every grave has a message, and that includes the tomb of Jesus. But his grave has a different message for us and it is important that we listen to what it has to say. The apostle Paul, when specifying the contents of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1ff., includes the burial of Jesus as an important element of what is to be proclaimed. He says that it is of first importance: ‘ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures’ (1 Cor. 15:3-4). At the very least, this would indicate that we should consider the significance of the burial of Jesus. Who is in the verse? T...

As we listen to this prayer, we can see various priorities that Jesus had at that time. In the first section of the prayer he reveals the priorities he had about himself (vv. 1-5). In the last section, we can read about his interest in the future work of his apostles and his desires about those who would believe their message about him (vv. 20-26). The middle section, in which he prays for his apostles, reveals the concern of Jesus for their safety, which was that they would be kept from the power of the evil one (or from the overall strength of evil in the world). We also see his concern for their unity as they take his gospel to the world. The context reveals a third feature that concerns him, which is that his disciples would have his joy. Of course, while these three areas of concern initially concerned the apostles, we can be sure that Jesus has the same concerns about all his people. As we think about this emphases Jesus puts on joy, what ideas comes to our minds? Here is what...

This sermon was preached on 14/10/2012 It is evident that we live in a world marked by great suffering. Some of the suffering is caused by natural disasters or by war; there is also suffering caused by criminal activity, whether to individuals or communities. In addition, there is suffering caused by the mistakes of others. Or some have to live with suffering caused by their own actions earlier in life.  The Bible has a great deal to say about suffering. Most of its heroes suffered in one way or another. We have all heard of Job, and in his story suffering is a mystery beyond earthly explanation as his friends discovered. Abraham and Sarah suffered disappointed hopes as they waited for God’s promised child, David suffered from deprivation as he spent many years on the run from Saul, Elijah suffered from depression as he descended from the heights to the valleys of spiritual experience, Mary was told by Simeon that a sword would pierce her heart, and the apostles of Jesus su...

This sermon was preached on 11/10/2012 ‘I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world’ (John 17:14-18). The first question that has to asked is, ‘What does Jesus mean by the world?’ There are many possible options. Does he mean, for example, (a) the geographical world (the world of human space), (b) the world of human history, (c) the world of ideas, (d) the world of pleasures, (e) the world of achievements, (f) the world of political forces, or (g) the world of religious ideas? Perhaps he has in mind a combination of some or all of these suggestions. It is also the case that we approach this term with a history of how the word has been ...