Knowing Jesus intimately is the most important thing of all, but many of our otherwise good gifts and concerns are constantly getting in the way.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Commitment
The glory that has been seen in Jesus can shine forth in us, but there will be obstructions to be purged and commitments to be made first.
God is love, and so love is the only real measure of spiritual maturity or accomplishment.
All-in commitment is unfashionable, but it is often what God needs from us to allow the richest blessings to flow.
God is passionately in love with us and longing to give us every good thing if we will respond to his love.
In an increasingly polarised world, championing the radical love and mercy shown by Jesus is likely to bring hostility from all sides.
Being born of water and Spirit involves becoming as vulnerable and dependent on God as a newborn baby.
We can’t take it for granted that Jesus will be where we want to go, for his ways often go contrary to ours and our business is to follow him.
If we are to call Christ a King and still remain faithful to him, we must begin with the subversion of the very concept of kingship that Jesus points to when he is questioned by Pilate.
When we respond to the call to follow Jesus, he asks us to stop and examine our motives. Is it for the life of the world, or for our own benefit?
Who we think Jesus is has real life implications. If we name him as God’s chosen messiah, we need to be ready to follow and live as he lives.
Jesus offers life in all its fullness, but many would rather settle for the odd snack rather than the full banquet.
Paul’s word play on drunkenness is both a useful contrast and a useful comparison for Christian living.
Jesus’s radical call to align ourselves with his new family trumps even our allegiances to our blood families, and asks us to shape our relationships in the church around a shared commitment to living out the will of God.
Jesus calls us to resist the satanic desire to credit violence and disaster with meaning, and instead to acknowledge meaning and truth only in God’s suffering love and mercy.
Being a follower of Jesus means honouring his authority by following his teachings and his example (something that has become surprisingly rare).
God calls us to live exuberantly, generously reflecting the good things God has done and becoming model citizens in the reign of God.
On our own we are powerless to deal with many of the things that confront us, but when we recognise that and make ourselves available for whatever God wants to do, all kinds of scary things may actually be possible.
We have to choose between being squeezed into the world’s mould or re-moulded from within by God.
Jesus has sown the seeds. It is up to us to respond and even though we may get excited and the interest dissipates, or we get distracted and let the other priorities take a hold of us, or we actually feel nothing, the challenge for us is to continue our walk with God.