1st Sunday in Lent – Sermon 80

Bible References :

 

Prayer to start

May the words of my lips and the thoughts of our hearts be graciously received for the Glory and Honour of our Lord Jesus Christ

AMEN

Introduction

“The time has arrived, the Kingdom of God is upon you. Repent and believe the Gospel.”

Jesus tells us – its time for a new start!– a new beginning! – Time for a new world to emerge from an old faith – Time for each one of us to look again at what the Gospel message means to our lives!

This year our thanksgiving service – concentrates on the giving – of our time and our talents to God

How we respond in a practical way to the love that He pours out on us –
If you like – our A-B-C of giving thanks

How we express our – appreciation – of what He has done for us – how we respond to the Blessings that He gives us – how we confirm our commitment to Him and to His church

 

First Point    First we have A for Appreciation

 

Giving thanks to God – is one of the most important and rewarding duties of our Christian faith –

From very early OT times – thanksgiving and praise has been used in everything connected with God – In King David’s time – he appointed special singers – that did nothing but ‘sing praises to the Lord” – a bit like an earlier version of our choir – but for them it was a full time job – then there was the thank-offering – which was given in worship – to express the bearers faith – repentance – or adoration – and of course we have the Psalms – which are absolutely full of it

In the NT – Jesus is seen as the ultimate grateful giver – everything He said and did was in thanks to God – and the glory of His Father

We all know how special the word “thank you” can be – especially if its offered freely and with love –

A local newspaper reported on the retirement of a primary school head teacher – after a lifetime of service to her school – and when it appeared in the press – one of her ex-pupils was so moved – that he wrote to her a letter thanking her for the dedication , help and encouragement she had given him – while he was there – it was the only thank you letter she had received in over 40 years of teaching – and she treasured it for the rest of her life –

When God Receives our thank you’s He treasures them for eternity –

When Jesus healed 10 Lepers – and only 1 returned to thank Him – He was moved by the one – and saddened by the nine – When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume – He was touched by her act of extravagance –

When we express our thanks and appreciation to God – we are saying out loud – that God is working in our lives – and that our relationship with Him – is important to us – When we express or thanks and appreciation to God we are putting our love for God – first –

Most of us have no difficulty in repeating our baptism vows – saying that we would be willing to commit ourselves to God – and rejoice in His love

Most of us have no difficulty saying that we would be willing to offer ourselves to God – and encourage others to give themselves – and their time and talents to build up God’s church

The hard part is actually putting it into practice

When we start to look at what it means in terms of our own personal sacrifice – we suddenly begin to think of all the other things that we have to sacrifice as well

C.S. Lewis listed four obstacles that prevent us from giving thanks to God –

The first one is – that we forget – we get so swept up in things going on around us -that we don’t see the need –

No doubt we ‘re all familiar with this story line –

Would you forget me in an hour?
Would you forget me in a day?
Would you forget me in a month?

Knock knock – Who’s there?
What forgot me already?

Our OT reading reminds us that God’s gifts are given unconditionally – even if we forget Him – He will never forget us – nor any of the creatures He made –

The second obstacle – is when something or someone else – is given a higher priority – we all lead busy lives – looking after our homes – our families – the shopping – work – holidays – DIY – and God never quite gets to the top of our list – what we have to ask ourselves is whether we love these things more than God –

The third barrier is about greed – laying out our own demands – as a condition for our service – if you’re good to me – I’ll be good to you – if you do something extra for me – I’ll do something extra for you – you can’t do deals with God –

The fourth barrier – is that we consider ourselves to be above all this service lark – we’ve done our bit – and its time someone else take the strain – someone younger –with more energy – or maybe someone older – with more time?

Course there is a fifth hurdle we have to jump – and that’s when we say – its too difficult – or its too much for us – but that’s not really a reason for saying no – to admit that we need help to help God – is to realise that we cannot succeed under our own strength – only God’s –

However imperfect – we are – God takes what we have to give and uses it – even though John the Baptist’s understanding of Jesus was only partial – God still used John’s message of repentance and forgiveness and the Jewish peoples misguided expectations – as an opener to Jesus’ ministry.

God’s has never had a perfect church to work with – yet He keeps on keeping His promises – and fulfilling His work through it –

 

Point 2    B for Blessings

 

Which leads us on to the letter ‘B’ – for Blessings –

When we give in love – we receive in love

When Jesus offered Himself in service to God – and to others He received Blessings – from God – through His word – and through the Holy Spirit –

“ As He was coming out of the water, He saw the heavens break open and the Spirit descend on Him, like a dove – And a voice came from heaven
‘You are my beloved Son: In you I take delight”

Most of us think that God would never be able to say such words about us – but what we have to remember is that God sees us through Jesus’ eyes – and there’s no condemnation for those who are in Jesus –

Through the Holy Spirit – God transforms our attitude towards Him – and others – The Spirit breathes the life and power of God into us – He leads and guides – and prompts us into action – He tells us what to say – and shows us what to do – and gives us the boldness to carry it through –

Just as Jesus didn’t set out on His own to change the world – He’s not expecting us to do it alone either – We’ve all got the Holy Spirit to help us – given to us through our Baptism – the closer we are to Jesus – the closer we are to the Holy Spirit –

What we have to remember is that – our faith and trust in Jesus brings us into the body of His church – and equips us with the gifts and the talents that enable us to do His work – and to be something better when we are together – than when we are on our own –

Where the Spirit of the Lord is – there is freedom from anxiety and fear of failure –

Where the Spirit of the Lord is – the sun shines through the clouds – and produces something wonderful – like the rainbow – that speaks to us about the creative power of God – and reminds us of His promises – and faithfulness

 

Point 3 C for Committment

 

Which brings us on to – C – for commitment

From the rainbow – we move to the cross –

Instead of sending a flood to deal with our sins – God sent Jesus

In Noah’s time – water destroyed and saved – in Jesus’ time water is given as a sign of salvation through His resurrection

God is a giver – He’s given us everything we have – even life itself – Jesus gave Himself for us – He left the glories of heaven to come to earth so we might know what God is like – He showed us the boundless nature of God’s unconditional love – by dying on the cross so that we might be forgiven and have the gift of eternal life.

We are created in the image of God – we are created to be givers – life at its best is lived for giving – not for getting – helping – not hoarding –
Life is for service – not for survival

Jesus didn’t need a baptism – He was already pure – but He showed by His example – how important it was for others

After His baptism – the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness – to struggle with temptation –and to strength Him for what was to lie ahead –

No matter how difficult we may feel things are going to get for us – Jesus has been there already – and He will show us how to succeed and get through – like Him we have to be prepared to face the challenges ahead – and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to God’s Kingdom –

As the author John Maxwell puts it – we have to keep pushing beyond what we think we can do – in order to find out what we are really capable of

– its not the first step in the race that wins it – its the last – its not the kick-off but the kick-on goal – that seals the game – He will tell us when its time to move the midfield or the forward line -and we only stop when God blows the final whistle –

Our commitment to God – and to the Gospel – is important to ourselves and to those around us – God calls us to bear fruit – to keep on growing and working for Him – to press on for the mark – and win the race He has set for us –

 

Conclusion

 

So what is our response God’s love – to the A-B-C of thanksgiving –

What’s our response to His Gospel message? –
The Lent courses are a great opportunity to find out!

The Kingdom of God is near – there’s no time to lose – and there’s plenty of work to be done –

It’s time to repent and believe the Gospel – It’s time to step forward for Christ –
Prayer to Finish

In the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit

AMEN