Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Preached on Sunday, 9 March, 2014 The Scenarios Every weekday, several million people make their way to work. In the bigger cities, the journey begins early in the morning and they follow the same activities each day. They wolf down some food, jump in the car and join a traffic queue. Others after devouring their thoughtless diet make their way to the train station and squash the other travellers even further into uncomfortableness, perhaps for an hour or more. Eventually those in the traffic queue and those in the overcrowded department reach their destination, which in many cases is the same desk at which they have sat each day for the previous twenty years. When they sit down, they switch on their computers, observe that there are several emails requiring instant action, and immediately begin to think of their next holiday. If we were to ask them, are you enjoying tour work, the answer would be no. Of course, some manage to escape from this regular routine. They may simply dr...

It is obvious that the Creed does not seem to say a great deal about the Holy Spirit, which we may find surprising given the emphasis that there has been on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in recent decades. One reason for the lack of explanation could be that there was not the same degree of controversy about the Holy Spirit in the early church. Another reason might be a desire to reflect the interpretation which describes the Holy Spirit as the silent member of the Trinity, that is silent about himself in that he usually leads believers to focus on the Father and on the Son. A third possible reason is that his activities are explained in the subsequent statements in the Creed. Whatever the reason, we can deduce one important detail, which is that brevity is desirable when possible. Yet we must not assume that little is said when only a few words are used. This brief statement about the Holy Spirit is a confession that he is a divine person. The Creed does not mention any ...

In verse 2, John mentions two opposing powers at work: one is the devil and the other is Jesus fulfilling his Father’s will. His words indicate that a conflict is about to occur. 1. The Foot Washing and the devil’s preparations John locates the action of Jesus to the activities of the enemy. It is not clear whether ‘heart’ refers to the devil’s heart of to the heart of Judas. Literally, the text reads, ‘The devil had already put in the heart that Judas should betray him.’ It is verse 37 that mentions Satan entering into Judas, which indicates he was not there before. So the verse may mean that Satan had decided that Judas would betray Jesus. Satan had chosen his man and was now waiting for the moment to strike. However, most think it refers to the heart of Judas. How did the devil suspect that Judas would listen to him, and what lessons can we learn from his behaviour? First, the devil would know that Judas was not a true believer. Satan is aware of those who are deliver...

The word ‘pleasure’ is a kind of neutral word that usually needs an adjective or two to clarify it. We know that pleasure is something that everyone is interested in, although sometimes it can be very elusive. Years ago, I heard a Christian singing a song which contained these lines: I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow; And ne’er a word said she; But, oh! The things I learned from her, When Sorrow walked with me. As far as I could find out on the Internet, the author (Robert Browning Hamilton) was described as an amateur poet who lived on the east coast of America in the late decades of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. I don’t think we can find a collection of his works anywhere. But these lines have become well-known because they describe what many people have experienced. I wonder what Solomon would have made of them. I recall also a ...