[0:00] Good morning to you all and a very warm welcome to our service today. It's great to see you all here. Thank you for coming as we gather in the name of our risen Savior Jesus Christ and! Every Sunday morning a new week begins and we meet together in the reality of that great hope and joy that we have through our risen Savior Jesus.
[0:19] So a warm warm welcome to you. You've seen the notices before you just to highlight that the evening service tonight will be taken by Reverend Gordon Matheson and then after the evening service there'll be a congregational fellowship at which Gordon will be interviewed.
[0:32] And it will be great for you to stay behind for that this evening if you're able to come. You're all warmly invited to be there. And just as well to add to that a reminder that obviously we're still in a time of vacancy and just to encourage you to keep praying for the congregation at this time of vacancy and also just to highlight that I'd love to hear if any of you have thoughts about people you would like to hear or about thoughts about those who you have heard.
[1:01] I expect the vacancy committee to meet again either at the very end of this year or the very start of the new year. And so please do be taking the opportunity over the next few weeks to be feeding back to the vacancy committee or to myself about those you've heard or would like to hear.
[1:18] And we hope very much that with God's help we'll be able to take things forward regarding the vacancy soon. So please do just keep praying and keep talking about that. Most importantly of all we're here to worship our God together.
[1:30] And we're going to begin with Psalm 122. And we're going to sing the whole psalm. Psalm 122. And these words as we sing them from the Old Testament.
[1:48] The psalm was written about going up to the city of Jerusalem, gathering at the temple to worship God. All of that in the Old Testament is a shadow of the church in the New Testament.
[2:00] So as we sing these words today, our minds are not so much thinking of the temple or of the city of Jerusalem, our minds are thinking of the church of Jesus Christ gathering all over the world.
[2:13] And we rejoice that we can gather as part of that. So we're going to sing the whole psalm together to God's face. I join with the house of God.
[2:28] Go up, they say to me, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, as our city is, Jerusalem, as our city is, compactly built together.
[3:07] And to that place the tribes go, the tribes of God go through.
[3:22] Israel, if you do, up to their house their sin.
[3:57] Pray that Jerusalem may have peace and felicity.
[4:10] Let them that love thee and thy peace have still prosperity.
[4:28] For I wish that peace may still within thy walls remain and ever may thy policies prosperity retain.
[4:58] For my friends and brethren sakes, peace be in thee, I'll see.
[5:14] And for the house of God the Lord I'll see thy good always.
[5:29] Let's stand and pray together. Dear God, our Father, we thank you so much that as a new week begins, we can gather together in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus, and in the presence of your Spirit, to worship you, to praise you and to thank you, and to start a new week by acknowledging that you are our God and by rejoicing in the fact that Jesus is risen.
[6:00] And we pray that as we do come into a new week that all of that would fill our hearts with joy, with strength and with energy. So often in our lives we feel weary and weak and we come today just aware of all that the past week and the months and the years of our lives have brought.
[6:22] And for many of us, that will have brought bruises and burdens and struggles and regrets. But as we come to you today, we thank you that in Jesus there is newness of life, that there is joy, there is hope, there is peace, there is healing, there is forgiveness.
[6:42] And we pray, O God, that as we gather in your name, that all these great realities of the Gospel would fill our hearts with joy as we go into a new week together. We are so conscious, Father, that we do not deserve to come to you and we're not worthy of you, but your great invitation to us is to come.
[7:01] And the reason we can come, the reason we can come to you now is because Jesus came to us and Jesus came for us to die and rise again for our salvation.
[7:13] And we pray that for every one of us here, whether that's for the first time or whether it's after many years of following you, that all of us would know the reality of the saving power of Jesus in our hearts and in our lives.
[7:28] We pray that for every single one of us we'd be drawn closer to you, that you'd build us up and lead us in your ways. We want to bow down before you and worship you, acknowledging that you are our maker, you are our saviour, you are our king, you are our God.
[7:45] And we thank you so much that you have revealed yourself to us in the world that you have made, but especially in Scripture that you have provided for us.
[7:56] And we pray that as we gather around your word today, as we sing your word, as we pray your word, as we read your word, as we preach your word, we pray that we would be hearing your voice speaking to us, that we would be led closer to you and built up in our faith.
[8:12] Thank you for everybody who's here today and we pray that for every single one of us you would be drawing us closer to you and whatever our circumstances, whatever this past week has been, however we might be feeling before you, we know that you know, you know each one of us and so we don't want to hide anything before you, but we lay our lives before you, we confess our sins before you and we fall into your loving arms in the power of the gospel, in the fullness of the promises that you've made, that all who trust in Jesus will be saved.
[8:47] And so we pray that you would bless us as we gather here and we pray for all who meet in your name across our island, across our nation and to the ends of the earth. We thank you that there are millions gathering in the name of Jesus today.
[8:58] We pray that there will be many, many more and that you would bless the work of the church as we seek to share the good news of the gospel. And we pray that as your people gather across the world, that we will be united in love for one another and in love for you and that we would live this week of our lives to your glory.
[9:16] So may your blessing be upon us, be with us and guide us, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Hey boys and girls, it's very nice to see you all today. I've got a few things to show you, so I'm going to come a little bit closer so you can see them, okay?
[9:30] So, I've got a few things in my bag. Today I'm going to show you and I'm going to tell you if you know what these things are. These bags are full of some of my favourite things, some of my most prized possessions, okay?
[9:43] So, these are things that I love and these are very, very, very valuable things, okay? So I'm going to show you, just see if you know what they are, right?
[9:54] It's the first one. Anybody know what that is? What's that? A hammer. A hammer. A hammer. A hammer. I wouldn't use a hammer pot.
[10:06] Kicking stuff. That's right. Very good. Use of a hammer. These nails. You can also use this part. Anyone know what this part is for? This bit puts the nails in. What does this part do? Picking the nails out.
[10:17] Take it out. That's right. So it's called a claw hammer. You need to kind of pull the nails out. Very good. Love a hammer. Excellent hammer. Okay? Right. Let's see what else have claws. There you go.
[10:29] A screwdriver. A screwdriver. A screwdriver. Yes, this is one of many screwdriver I have. I have an magnificent collection. And this is a screwdriver.
[10:40] What do you do with a screwdriver? Put it in. You can be screws. Or you can take them out. Go that way. Right behind me. Screw it in. Lefty, Lucy.
[10:51] Take it out. Yeah. So screwdriver. There you go. Handy. Okay? Excellent. Let's see what else have claws. You can see them there so you can see them. Wonderful. Okay. Guys, possessions.
[11:02] Right. Let's make it a little more clear. Anyone know what this is? What does it say? Yes. Yes, that's right.
[11:13] We use this to check that things are straight and leveled, right? And it's actually called that screwdriver. It's called a level, isn't it? It's actually called a spirit level because I think it's got this liquid inside it.
[11:25] And there's a bubble in the middle. So you can see that bubble. And the bubble rocks from side to side. And if you're just leveled, the bubble will sit in between the two lines. So let's test to see if the fuse has been well made.
[11:38] Look at that. Yeah. Spot on. Look at that. Just perfectly leveled. So that's good. So this helps you check if things are leveled. If you're building something, you need to make sure it's straight.
[11:48] And very important, especially if you're doing the foundation of a blower because if you get the foundation squints, everything squints. So this is very important.
[11:59] Okay, good. Right. What else have we got? There are a few more things that are a bit more complicated. You know what this is? They're not quite pliers. Well, close. They're not quite pliers.
[12:11] I did this deliberately. They're just a little bit harder than just pliers. They look just like pliers. You know what? They're not quite pliers. You know what they are? Snips. Who said nuts?
[12:22] Excellent. Well done. They're snips. So they are for cutting things. So sometimes pliers are kind of more for gripping things. Snips are for cutting things, especially for wires.
[12:33] Sometimes you're cutting wires with these. You have to make sure if you're going to cut a wire that you know that the electricity is turned off. But snips are good for cutting wires and for other things. Snips, okay, I thought it was two or three more to make it more difficult for you.
[12:47] So if anybody know what this is? Snips, sorry. What do you know what this is? Snips, snips, snips. Snips, snips. Snips, snips. Snips, snips.
[12:58] Do you know what that is? It's called? It's more sticky. This is called a plane. Okay? Same name as an airplane, but it's not an airplane.
[13:10] It's called a plane. And it's actually a very, very clever tool. And what this is for is for shaving just a little bit off a piece of wood. So it's actually a little, very sharp blade just there where that line is, right?
[13:23] And if you rub this along a piece of wood, it'll just peel off a tiny shaving of the wood. So if your wood is just a little bit too big, or a little bit too tight, you can use this plane to make it nice and flat.
[13:39] So if I just go like this, no, better not. Better not. If I go like that, then it'll take a little bit of wood off that, but then they won't do that. Okay, so that's a plane. And there are a couple more.
[13:52] Anybody know what this is? Do you know? Spanner. Spanner, yes, yes. Special type of spanner. Does anybody know? Let's see if I can turn this.
[14:06] I can adjust it. Some people may call that an adjustable spanner. I would call it a shifter. Okay? Because you shift this bit. So if you go to undo a nut, or the head of my bolt, this is great, because you don't have to have exactly the right spanner.
[14:19] You can adjust the size of it. It'll shift, and you can undo it. Okay, so that's a shifter. Okay? Very, very handy tool. A top tip for you, boys and girls, to ever go up.
[14:31] If you buy one of these, never, ever, ever buy a cheap one. Only buy expensive ones. Because cheap ones are not very good. An expensive shifter is very, very good to see. Last one. A bit bigger, right?
[14:42] This last one. Does anybody know what this is? Look, I can get it in the back. Does anybody know what this is? A saw?
[14:53] It's a dirty, sorry. It's a type of saw, yes? Yes? Now, some people might call this a circular saw, because the blade is not circular. I would call that a rip snorter.
[15:05] Does anybody else call that a rip snorter? I would call that a rip snorter. Which I think is the coolest name ever. And there's no battery on this, but if this had a battery on, I'd be able to press the button, and this blade would spin around super fast, and it would cut through the wood very, very easily, very, very quickly.
[15:22] So it can rip through wood very quickly. So some people call it a rip snorter, which is a very cool name. So, there we are. Lots of tools, right? And I'm sure you guys have tools at home.
[15:35] Maybe, I don't know if I can see it. Maybe it works. You can see them all there. I love tools, and I've got lots of them, and I'm sure lots of you guys have got lots of tools at home. But you know, one of these, all of these tools do different jobs, right?
[15:49] They all do different jobs. So a hammer is good at hammering nails for taking the knife, a playing is good for smoothing wood off, rip snorter is good for cutting through things. They all do different jobs, right?
[16:00] But they've all got one thing in common. None of them do anything on their own. So all these tools, on their own, just sit there. The only way these tools can do anything is if somebody picks them up and uses them.
[16:16] And actually, somebody who's a joiner, or an electrician, or whatever their job might be, they can take these tools and use them and actually do amazing things with them.
[16:30] Because everything that you see that's beautiful, all the beautiful wood that you see cut to cut here, all the great buildings that are made, either the church here, or your house, or school, or whatever, all of these things are made by people who are using tools.
[16:44] And so you can use these tools to do amazing things. None of these tools work on their own. They're going to be used by somebody. Now, that's teaching us a really important lesson.
[16:55] Because the big thing that I want you, boys and girls, to know, every week, is I want you to know that Jesus is amazing, and that following Jesus is amazing. That the best thing we can ever do in our lives is to follow Jesus.
[17:08] And one of the things that makes, one of the things that's amazing about being a follower of Jesus is that basically, as we follow Jesus, we become like tools in His hands.
[17:21] So all of these tools, a joiner, or a builder, or an electrician can pick them up and you can use them to do wonderful things. Jesus does the same with us.
[17:33] He uses us to serve Him. And He does that in lots of ways. Through the church, through the people who follow Jesus, He uses us to help tell people about Jesus.
[17:47] He uses us to help people who are struggling in their lives. He uses us to give encouragement to people when they maybe feel weak. He uses us to go and see people who are maybe on their own.
[18:01] He uses us to help one another when we're maybe going through difficult times in our lives. And He uses us in our jobs, and in our sports, and in our interests, to be good friends, to be a blessing, to be a help to one another.
[18:16] There are so many wonderful ways that Jesus uses us as tools in His hands. And the wonderful thing is that all these tools are different. You can't screw in, screw to the hammer.
[18:29] And you can't hammer in nails with a level. All the tools do different things. They're good at different jobs. And that's so true in the church as well.
[18:40] Different people are good at different jobs. And Jesus uses us all. So that's one of the reasons why following Jesus is amazing. Because we become like tools in His hands.
[18:50] We work together, and He uses us to do wonderful, wonderful things. So, always remember that. That you are so useful to Jesus. And He will be able to do wonderful things through your life as you follow Him.
[19:05] So, please always remember that every time you're using tools or you're using it. Thank you so much for listening. We're going to sing together again in our next series for Psalm 118. And let's lift that very carefully.
[19:16] I'll leave the rest here. And we will sing together. Psalm 118. We'll turn to that together. And we're singing from verse 19.
[19:39] Psalm 118. And we'll sing verses 19 to 25. O set ye open unto me the gates of righteousness, then will I enter into them, and I, the Lord, will bless them.
[19:50] The part of the words we're singing are going to include the phrase, that stone is made head cornerstone which builders did despise. And that's all talking to us about Jesus. That He is the one that holds the whole church together.
[20:03] He is the foundation that everything is built upon. And so we're praising Him together as we sing these words. Psalm 118. 19 to 25. And to God's praise. O set ye open unto me the gates of righteousness, then shall I enter into them, and I, the Lord, will bless you.
[21:08] And thus my safety bill The stone is smitten cornerstone Which builders did despise This is the doing of the Lord And wondrous in her eyes This is the day God made in it Will joy triumphantly Save now I pray thee
[22:08] Lord I pray Send now prosperity We're going to have two short readings this morning One from the very end of Matthew's Gospel in chapter 28 And then the other from near the end of John's Gospel in chapter 20 So first of all, please turn to Matthew 28 And we'll read 16 to the end Matthew 28 from verse 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee Into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them And when they saw him, they worshipped him But some doubted And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore and teach all nations
[23:10] Baptising them in the name of the Father And of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you And lo, I am with you always Even to the end of the world Amen And if you turn to John's Gospel chapter 20 And we will read verses 11 to 23 John chapter 20 From 11 to 23 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping And as she wept, she stooped down And looked into the sepulchre And seeth two angels in white sitting The one at the head and the other at the feet Where the body of Jesus had lain And they said unto her woman Why weepest thou?
[24:02] She saith unto them Because they have taken away my Lord And I know not where they have laid him And when she had thus said She turned herself back And saw Jesus standing And knew not that it was Jesus Jesus saith unto her Woman, why weepest thou?
[24:19] Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener Saith unto him Sir, if thou hast borne him hence Tell me where thou hast laid him And I will take him away Jesus saith unto her Mary She turned herself And saith unto him Rabboni Which is to say Master Jesus saith unto her Touch me not For I am not yet ascended to my Father But go to my brethren And say unto them I ascend unto my Father And your Father To my God And your God Mary Magdalene came And told the disciples That she had seen the Lord And that he had spoken These things unto her Then that same day And evening Being the first day of the week When the doors were shut Where the disciples Were assembled For fear of the Jews Came Jesus And stood in the midst And saith unto them Peace be unto you And when he had so said He showed unto them His hands at his side Then were they glad Then were the disciples glad When they saw the Lord Then Jesus
[25:20] Said unto them again Peace be unto you As my Father has sent me Even so I send you And when he had said this He breathed on them And saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whosoever sins ye remit They are remitted unto them And whosoever sins ye retain They are retained Amen May God add his blessing To that reading of his word And we'll just bow our heads In prayer for a moment Dear God We thank you so much That we have your word Open before us And we pray that As we turn to it shortly That you'd be preparing Our hearts And enabling us By your spirit To hear your voice Speaking to us And that you'd guide us And direct us We pray for everybody here We pray for the boys and girls Who've gone out To Sunday school We thank you for them all Please bless them Look after them Bless their families And we pray that they would know Just the joy of knowing you Throughout every stage Of their lives And we pray that they would be
[26:20] Great tools in your hands Throughout their whole lives And for everybody here We pray that each one of us Would be led by you And used by you And especially for anyone here today Who's struggling Or doubting Or feeling anxious about things Or anyone who's exhausted Anyone who's had a hard week We pray Father That you would meet with them And help them And for others in the community Who are struggling just now We want to pray for them Asking that you'd guard them And help them And especially we pray Father that those Who don't yet know you Or those who are maybe Not sure when they stand before you We pray that even today You just fill their hearts with peace And that they know Just know your amazing love for them So bless us and be with us We remember those in need In our community We also remember those in need Throughout our nation And throughout our world We pray Father That the hope of the gospel Will bring light Even in places of great suffering And darkness So bless us and be with us
[27:20] We pray In the name of your Son Our Saviour Jesus Amen Well let's sing again together From Psalm 25 And we're going to sing The first version of the Psalm And verses 4 to 9 Psalm 25 from verse 4 Oh sorry I'm reading the wrong one The first version Verse 4 Show me thy ways O Lord Thy paths O teach thy me And do thou lead me in thy truth Therein my teacher be And it's a wonderful Psalm To sing before the sermon Because as we often say When we're singing the Psalms We're also praying What the Psalms are saying And so as we're singing these words We're praying that God Would show us his ways That he'd teach us That he'd speak to us And as we sing on We're also confessing our sins In verse 7 But we are also Being assured of the promise
[28:22] Of God's tender mercies And of his desire To show us his ways And to lead us in his paths So these are just amazing words to sing So verses 4 to 9 Of Psalm 25 To God's praise Show me thy ways O Lord Thy paths O teach thou me And do thou lead me in thy truth Let in my teacher be For the Lord God that does To me salvation sent And I upon thee
[29:24] All the day Expecting to attend By tender mercies Lord I pray thee to remember And loving kindnesses For they have been of old forever My sins and faults of you To thou O Lord forgive After thy mercy Think on me
[30:27] And for thy goodness great God good and upright is The way he'll sinners show The meek in judgment He will guide And build his path to know Well I'd like us this morning To turn back for a wee while To John chapter 20 And we're going to read again Verse 21 John 20 verse 21
[31:27] Then Jesus said to them again Peace be unto you As my father has sent me Even so I send you One of the great truths That lies at the heart of the gospel Is that on the cross Jesus finished his work And so there's a great famous statement In chapter 19 Where on the cross In chapter 19 verse 30 You can see it on the chapter Before the one we read Jesus said It is finished And in so many ways That truth lies at the heart Of the gospel The fact that on the cross Jesus did everything That is needed For our salvation We don't have to add anything It does not rely on Our contribution Of our efforts Jesus' Jesus' work is perfect Jesus' sacrifice
[32:28] Is everything that's needed For our sins To be forgiven Jesus' work Is finished So that Is a truth That lies at the heart Of the Christian faith But today I want us to think About this verse In John chapter 20 And I want us to do so Under the title The unfinished work Of Christ Now that might sound A bit odd After everything I've just said That at the heart Of Christianity Is the fact that Jesus' work is finished And that's true But this verse Is pointing us To something And making us Think about something That is not yet Finished And there's an aspect Of what Jesus is doing That is still being done It's really important That we understand The unfinished work Of Christ So what do I mean
[33:28] Exactly by that Sounds a bit odd But it's something Crucial That we must never forget What I mean is this I mean the fact That at the heart Of the church's mission And the fact At the heart Of our purpose As a church As we follow Jesus Is that he is Continuing The work That he began While he was with us On earth And so That's what's been Captured In verse 21 He's saying As the Father sent me So Jesus came He says Now I'm sending you And that's That's telling us That we are continuing What he started The church Continues The work That Jesus began The church Communicates The message That Jesus Announced And the church Is to behave In a way That Jesus Exemplified What Jesus Started We continue
[34:30] The unfinished Work of Christ Lies at the heart Of what we are To do Each week of our lives As individual Disciples And as A church Family And as we do that Jesus is not A spectator In heaven He's not Sort of just Sitting back Saying right Get on with it And do a good job No He is Actively helping us And he's empowering us And that's exactly What he does Through sending His spirit And we Read about that In verse 22 He says to them Receive the Holy Spirit Receive the Holy Ghost And the whole reason He's doing that Is that the Holy Spirit Would be An empowering presence In the lives Of everyone Who's following Jesus That in the strength Of God With the health Of the spirit By him being With us We continue The work That Jesus Started And in fact Earlier in John's Gospel He said something
[35:31] Amazing He said That his church Is going to do Even greater things Than what he did John 14 12 Truly I say to you Whoever believes in me Will also do the works That I do And greater works Than these He will do Because I'm going To the Father So this is so important For us to think about As we go into a new week Together As a church family As we continue to seek To follow Jesus In our lives We're taking forward The unfinished work Of Jesus And this is so important For us all For those of us Who are You know Who are ready And happy And for many years Have said I'm a Christian And following Jesus This is teaching us About how to live Our lives this week And for those Who are not sure Or uncertain About things Well this is really Helpful for Helping you to see Well this is what Jesus wants our lives To look like This is what Following Jesus Involves The unfinished work Of Christ Is super important And so we're going To unpack that together And we're going To look at five Examples
[36:31] Of what Jesus did That we are to Continue doing And the examples Are one Going to people Two Teaching people Three Welcoming people Four Helping people Five Offending people Let's look at them Together So first of all Jesus Jesus exemplified Going to people You see that so clearly In verse 21 As my father sent me Even so I send you So Jesus When he sends us Is not asking us To do anything That he himself Hasn't done He is the one Who came from God From heaven To reach us And then As he entered Into his ministry That's exactly What he did You see He went from place To place Urban places Rural places He went among Poor people He went among Affluent people He spoke to Religious people He spoke to Secular people He went all over The churches To do the same We are to Reach these people We are to travel We are to go
[37:31] Just as Jesus did And when you look At Jesus You'll see that He did lots of things As he went to people He took the initiative So Jesus didn't Sit and wait for people To come to him He went to them Jesus took risks So he went and Spoke to people That people would Have disapproved of And you see that Many times People are saying Why is Jesus Talking to that person Why is Jesus Eating with them Why is he Hanging around With these people And so he took Risks And people Judged him for it Interestingly Jesus also Experienced mixed Results So Jesus went To lots of people Sometimes he was Really well received Other times people Didn't want to listen To a word he said And so it wasn't Like Jesus Whenever he went Everyone was like Oh wow I'm going to follow you Sometimes When he went to people They went away saying How can we get rid Of this guy So he experienced Mixed results But in it all Jesus kept going You see this Magnificent persistence About Jesus In reaching people
[38:32] And the church Must do the same And expect the same And so we are To go to people We're seeking To reach people And sometimes Doors will open And things will go well And sometimes Doors will close And we'll think Oh man That did not go well At all We are to expect that That's what happened To Jesus Is what's going To happen to us The key point Is that the church Is sent The church Is sent By Jesus Commanded And commissioned To go into the world With the good news Of Jesus I often use Footballer list And I've got a lot of My favourite football managers In recent years Has been Jürgen Klopp Who was very successful With Liverpool And Jürgen Klopp Became famous For a phrase That after his team Would have a good result They would win a game And everyone would say Oh this is great Fantastic You've done well Or If he had A bad result
[39:32] And they didn't win He would very often Say the same thing After both games He would say We go again So after a good result He's like Well next game's coming We go again After a bad result He'll say Next game's coming We go again That phrase We go again Kind of really captured The example that he showed In terms of just Relentless We keep going No matter what And I love that phrase Because that's what The church gathers That's what we gather To say every Sunday As a new week begins We're saying We go again We are going again Into a new week We're going to go And serve Jesus In whatever callings He has for us We can leave the past In the past Where the last week Was a great week Or a bad week We go again And we do so In the strength and power Of God The Holy Spirit There are always people To be reached And the key lesson for us Is that we're not going To be Christ-like If we sit and wait And that's I think in so many ways A lesson that I constantly need To remind myself
[40:33] Of And we all do That it's so tempting To kind of sit and wait It's so tempting To be passive But Jesus shows us A different model Jesus got up He went And we must Do the same So Jesus Went to people That work Isn't finished We are continuing What he started He's sending us To reach them So number one Going to people Number two Teaching people The great commission That we read in Matthew 28 Makes this crucial link Between going And teaching Jesus says Go into all nations Baptise them In the name of the Father The Son And the Holy Spirit Teach them To observe All that I Have commanded you And That emphasis Appears throughout the Gospels Throughout the Old Testament Throughout the New Testament That as We follow Jesus As we serve him We are to learn
[41:33] And that Key part of the role Is to teach And you see that Link being made Earlier in John's Gospel Chapter 16 Jesus tells them That I'm going to Send the Holy Spirit When he comes He will guide you Into the truth And so As the Holy Spirit Works in our hearts He helps us To see And understand And he uses us To teach others Now the apostles The disciples They had a Unique role in that In that they were the ones Who would go on To write the pages Of the New Testament But the principle Extends to the whole church That we have been commissioned To go and teach This great deposit That Jesus Has left for us We want to share That good news Of the Gospel That's why A minister's job Is to be a Pastor Teacher So if you look In Ephesians Chapter 4 There's a description There of a minister As a pastor Teacher And so When your new minister
[42:34] Comes That's what you're Looking for Someone who will Be a pastor That's the Greek word For shepherd Somebody who will Look after you Provide for you Protect you And someone who Will teach you So that you will Learn more about Jesus More about yourself More about How we are To live our lives As believers That's why We put so much Energy into Preaching That's why Preaching is the Thing that takes The longest chunk Of our service Because we are Prioritising this Teaching that Jesus has commanded Us We need to learn About him We need God's word To shape our lives And of course The big reason we do That is because That's exactly What Jesus did He went around Teaching And as Mary Calls him in this Chapter He was Rabboni He was the Master He was the Teacher He was the One that he Listened to And as Jesus Taught people He answered their Questions He guided them About how to Live And the church
[43:34] Continues that Work That's reminding Us of a Crucial lesson It's reminding us That following Jesus Never ever Means Leaving your Brain behind And that's So important To recognise Because some People kind of Try to make That sort of Choice today That you know That you know That faith Is kind of Like a bit Blind And it's a bit Irrational And you almost Have to block Out your thoughts And just believe But if you Kind of abandon Faith then you're Making a more Intellectual decision And actually you know It's the choice Between kind of You know Faith that's a bit Sort of Bullish Or you know Well Unbelief But at least That's kind of Intellectually Respectable That is totally Untruth Faith in Jesus Never ever Involves Leaving your Brain behind And
[44:35] And I would Argue And I would Absolutely Argue That actually It's Faith in Jesus And it's the Teaching of Scripture It's Only that That gives you An intellectually Respectable Understanding Of ourselves And of the Word In other words It's only by Following Jesus That it makes Sense Now maybe I'm Speaking a wee bit Personally But the reason I Love tools is Because I was an Engineer And if engineers Are anything Everything has Got to make Sense We're trying To fix A machine We're trying To figure out How something Works It has Got to Make sense In order For that To work And I just Feel like Being an Engineer And following Jesus Are just Like a Hand in A glove Sorry for Anyone here Who hates Engineering But for Those of Us who Love Engineering Following Jesus Being an Engineer And being a follower of Jesus Is like a Hand in A glove Because it's Like Everything Fits together
[45:35] And makes Sense When we Follow What Jesus Is teaching Us So following Jesus Never involves Leaving your Brain behind And the Church's role Is never Ever to Stop you Thinking The Church's role Is to Make you Think And if You're not Yet a Follower of Jesus Or you're Not sure I can't Make you Make that Decision But you Absolutely Have to Think about It You have To think About it Because these Are the Biggest Questions Of all All of This is Telling us That we're Not Christ Like if People Aren't Learning Jesus Taught People That work Isn't Finished So we Continue What he Started Number Three is Welcoming People You see This all Throughout The Gospel Jesus Welcomed People And so Often he Welcomed People Who Were Rejected By Others So John Chapter 4 He meets The woman
[46:35] At the Well He's So kind Towards her John Chapter 8 He speaks So tenderly To a woman Who was Caught In adultery And we See from Other parts Of the Gospels That when Jesus Did welcome People Others Grumbled They're saying This man Received Sinners And eats With And eats With Them And They're Grumbling At It I heard A wonderful Quote From a Theologian Called Leslie Newbiggin He was a Theologian Missionary In the last Century And he Said That the Church's Job Is to Continue The ministry Of jesus Whereby he Receives Sinners And eats With Them And i Thought that Was Brilliant He said The church's Job Is to Continue The ministry Of jesus Whereby he Received Sinners And eats With Them And that's Exactly what You see Jesus Doing Receiving Sinners Eating With Them And that Was the People of The rest Of society Especially The religious Elite They wanted To avoid They were The people That were Judged They were The people Who were Looked Down
[47:35] Upon They were The people Who had Made A lot Of Mistakes They Were The people Who felt Very Ashamed Of Them And jesus Received Them All And ate With Them And of Course We are We have To continue That ministry Mary Magdalene Is a Great Example She was A notorious Woman That everybody Wants to Avoid Jesus Received And ate With And So many Others It was That was True of So many Others As well And so Jesus Began That Ministry We must Continue It And so There's Lots of Obvious Ways In which That works We want To invite People To come Encourage People To come Along To church We want To welcome Them When they Come And you're All so Good at Doing that I'm not Telling you Something that You're not Doing but It's just Reminding us This is the Stuff that It's all About That a Warm Welcome at The door Of the church Which you Receive Which I Received This morning That is Honouring Jesus Because that's Just continuing What he Started And so we Want to Welcome Them We want To eat With Them That
[48:42] That That That That That That That That That That That That's So Important For us To Remember We Can Welcome People Into Church Even If They Think Very Very Differently From Us That's Fine We Want Them Here Because We Want To Tell Them Well This Is What We Believe And This Is why we believe it and whether they will come to believe that themselves is actually the work of God the Holy Spirit in their hearts whatever and more and more and more we're going to be facing this that the people around us think very differently from us and we are not here to keep them away we're here to welcome them in to invite them and our hope and prayer is that their eyes will be open to see the truth as it's revealed in Jesus and alongside that and you know this is true and you do this already we welcome people no matter what their background no matter what their story no matter what their circumstances that we always want it to be the case whether it's Cullinish
[49:55] Carloway whatever but everybody no matter what is going on in their lives they can look at the church and think well I know that I will be welcome there that's the way Jesus was in his ministry that's the way he continues to be Jesus welcomed people that work isn't finished we continue what he started number four helping people so alongside welcoming people Jesus constantly provided help to people who are in need so he healed the sick he cured the blind and deaf he delivered the disciples in a storm he fed the hungry he liberated those who were oppressed by evil spirits he comforted those who were grieving Jesus was so beautifully kind and generous and compassionate towards people one of my favorite examples of that is at the start of Mark's gospel a man with leprosy comes to him and you know this anyway but remember that leprosy then was a horrible disease so the person with it looked awful and it was highly contagious so like you're like you see a leper and you're like don't go near that guy and also of course there was all the kind of ceremonial uncleanness attached to that so to be a leper was horrendous nobody wanted to go near them a leper comes to Jesus imploring him and kneels him says if you're willing you can make me clean moved with pity Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him nobody would touch a leper
[51:29] Jesus did and he says I'm willing be clean and immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean Jesus was willing to help people now giving that help was always costly it cost Jesus time and energy sometimes it cost him his reputation but Jesus did not care about the cost and what Jesus started we are to continue that's why the church should always be a place where people can find help a place a church should always be a place where people can find help in many ways you know the church the church is just it's like a hospital it's a place where you go not when you're feeling amazing well you should go when you're feeling amazing but you know even if you're feeling terrible it's this is the place you can come this is where you will be helped and there's so many ways that we can do that there's provision for the poor and the shoebox is a fantastic example of that and I love love the way you as a church and the community have supported that that's just a brilliant example of of kindness and generosity and help and it cost you all time it cost you all a bit of money it cost you all a bit of effort but you did something beautiful so many other ways we can do it visiting the house bound supporting those who are ill advocating for those who are mistreated encouraging those who are struggling all of that is is what the church is all about because that's what Jesus was all about in so many ways now this is where we have to ask a couple of important but maybe difficult questions so the first question is an easier one did anybody's life get spoiled by meeting Jesus so as you look through the gospels did Jesus make anybody's life worse no he didn't so everybody's lives were improved enriched enhanced by meeting Jesus now sometimes he disrupted people's lives and that was especially true for the religious leaders that he challenged but by challenging them he was exposing something that was deeply wrong in their lives and he was pointing them away from a path that was extremely damaging for them and for the people around them so even when he disrupted things that disruption brought good was anybody's life spoiled by meeting Jesus no now here's the hard question did anyone's life get spoiled by meeting Jesus no um has Jesus made anybody's life worse no here's the hard question has the church ever made someone's life worse and the answer to that tragically is yes now i don't i'm not saying this church i'm saying just the church in general that often we've made mistakes often we've been too quick to judge people often people have been neglected or overlooked or forgotten sometimes unintentionally sometimes deliberately you look back in history you can see lots of ways in which the church has got this wrong and maybe maybe you or someone you know has experienced that maybe you know maybe you have um that can happen and and it's going to happen because the church has not made a perfect people and and we get things wrong and we make mistakes and we have to recognize we have that have to accept that but in recognizing that we we do what we said a moment ago we go again we start again with a new week this week and we're thinking right this week this week we're going to continue what Jesus began in terms of helping people this week we are going to be a beacon of encouragement this week we're going to be a pillar of support this week we're going to be a fountain of positivity this week we are going to be a constant source of generosity warmth and kindness so that everybody in our village in our communities can look at us and say
[55:35] they're there for me they're there for me they will support me they will support me now all of this raises an important theological point that's kind of often caused a sort of like a a polarizing effect in the church when we're talking about helping people the church often moves in two opposite extremes sometimes the church goes this way and and all it thinks about is eternity and so uh the goal uh the goal and the goal is to think well look what matters is not this life it's eternal life and that of course is true and and but the danger is that that becomes the sole focus and and really in some ways it's almost like well as long as I've got my ticket to heaven I'm fine and and all the kind of gravity all the kind of mindset is gravity in that direction other times the church has gone this way and where it's like well questions of heaven and hell and and time and eternity we don't want to talk about we just need to help people we just need to provide people for people we just need to to be generous to be charitable to be kind and all the focus is just on earth rather than eternity so sometimes the church focuses only on turn on eternity sometimes it focuses only on earth and of course both of these are mistakes because Jesus never makes the choice between the two
[57:00] Jesus is the one who who meets the leper and he says of course i'm going to help you and Jesus is the one who says look no one comes to the father except through me nothing matters more for your eternity than whether or not you believe in me and so the mission of the church is defined by the great commission to go and make disciples so we proclaim that good news we call people to follow Jesus and then as we follow him we demonstrate we teach the truth that he reveals in his word and we demonstrate his love and kindness and grace by the way that we treat one another and we cannot be christ-like if our eyes are closed to the needs of the people around us now when i say the needs of the people around us you have to have both categories around us there are people who need help now and all around us there are people who need to settle the question of their eternity those needs are around us
[58:14] Jesus helped people that work isn't finished we continue what he started so we've done going to people teaching people we've done welcoming people we've done helping people number five is maybe you noticed at the start the most controversial sounding self-heading offending people the first example the first four examples are all positive and helpful so going to people teaching people welcoming people helpful people helping people that's stuff everyone wants to do it's all attractive it's all good the last example is different but it's really important in his ministry Jesus frequently offended people and we have to be willing to do the same now we can get this wrong and I don't want to be misunderstood I am absolutely not saying that we go out this week and we're deliberately rude and offensive and unkind that is that's just sin that is not what we're talking about at all so do not go to work tomorrow and be a nightmare and be like oh Thomas told me to be offensive please don't do that it's not what I'm saying so what am I saying well I'm saying that the teaching of Christianity and the lifestyle of following Jesus it's inevitably going to offend some people and sometimes that will mean that people will judge us sometimes it means that people will be hostile towards us and for many Christians it's led to them being persecuted and maybe you've experienced that yourself maybe you know you've maybe you know being a Christian maybe coming to church maybe that makes work harder for you or makes school harder for you because people are going to talk about you and they're going to say things and maybe when you whatever you're going to do tomorrow morning maybe you're kind of like
[60:09] I don't really want to have to let on that I was at church because you know that you're going to be looked down on or spoken about maybe you've maybe you've experienced that maybe you will experience that it's certainly been a constant experience for the church but if we do experience that if we if we get a hard time for loving Jesus we're simply continuing what happened to him because he experienced exactly the same thing that Jesus said earlier in John's Gospel if the world hates you know that it hated me before it hated me and that opposition shouldn't surprise us because the core claims of the Gospel are challenging the core claims of the Gospel are challenging so do we expect that God really is God do we accept that God really is God so we're thinking right at the heart of the claims of the Gospel is the fact that God is God he knows everything he sees everything he reigns over everything and he's in charge so I'm not
[61:15] I'm not and I never look I'm accountable to him that's that's offensive to people do we accept that sin is sin do we accept that certain things are right and certain things are wrong that there are moral categories whereby some things forever and always are right and some things forever and always are wrong do we accept those categories and then do we accept the fact that we are never ever perfectly on the good side and actually in my own heart in my own heart there's envy and jealousy and bitterness and unkindness and deceit and selfishness all of that's there in my heart that's offensive but that's a core claim do we accept that only Jesus is Saviour that we can't save ourselves it's only through him it's only through Jesus that we can come to the Father and do we accept that grace is free and this is what's so interesting the freeness of grace is one of the most beautiful things in the gospel and yet it's one of the things that people find most offensive remember we said at the start on the cross
[62:18] Jesus' work is finished in terms of salvation it's all free it's all a gift we don't contribute anything but people find that offensive because it's like but no no no but surely I'm a wee bit good enough surely surely what I've done counts for something surely I surely the fact that I'm not as bad as them counts for something and people are offended by that and yet the core claim of the gospel is that grace is just magnificently free and all we come to Jesus with is empty hands and do we accept that this is unbelievably serious do we accept that what we talk about on a Sunday morning as a new week begins is the most important things that we will ever talk about do we accept that nothing matters more in our lives than this for so many people questions of that kind of intensity questions that challenge our deepest understandings of ourselves and of the world around us questions which are impossible to be ignored or dismissed the questions of the gospel put you in a corner you can't escape it they put you into a corner where you have to respond they are not easy questions and for many people they are not welcome and they are offensive which is why what do people say when we talk about these big questions what do they say they don't tend to say you are wrong they don't tend to say
[63:40] I have a philosophical objection to the claims of Christianity they don't tend to say well I weighed up there are several religious options in the world and I have come to this conclusion they don't say any of that what do they say they say I don't want to think about it I just don't want to think about that because it's just too it's too too difficult too offensive I don't want to think about it and I get why people say that but but the whole reason Jesus wants us to think about these things is because these are the things that matter most and what we have to recognise is that sometimes what we say is going to make people feel uncomfortable sometimes it'll make us feel uncomfortable sometimes the gospel will offend now it's absolutely crucial that the church is not offensive for the wrong reasons I said that a minute ago but if in the church we're gossiping about people or judging people or making out like we're better than people or looking down on people then we're just sinning because all of that's just sin that we need to repent of that's not what we mean what we have to recognise though is that continuing what Jesus started means that we'll not always be able to keep everyone happy all the time and maybe that lands really close to home with you and maybe you found that in your life following
[65:11] Jesus this has come at a cost or maybe or maybe that's the thing that's holding you back maybe that's the thing that's holding you back that you're like I know I need Jesus and I know that actually he loves me and I actually love him but I know that if I say anything people around me are not going to like it maybe that's what's holding me back and all I want to say to you is look stepping past that is always worth it always and I I've maybe said this to you before I don't know but one of my biggest regrets in my life is when after I became a Christian in school somebody had a little badge on my jacket the shape of a fish somebody said to me does that mean you've got the kourm and I was like oh I don't know
[66:15] I don't really know and I just hid the fact that I became a Christian because I was scared of what they would say it's the biggest regret of my life and yet by God's grace there's many many times when I've not done that and I've gladly said I love Jesus I'm a Christian and I want everybody to know I have never regretted any of them so yes there may be times of opposition may be times of causing offence just by the grace of God push through you'll never regret it I've gone on for far too long I'm really sorry the title of our sermon is the unfinished work of Christ and it's a good thing to think about the fact that as a church as individuals we are following Jesus we're continuing what he started the last thing I want to say is this and this is maybe the most important thing of all that phrase the unfinished work of
[67:15] Christ it is an unbelievably important phrase for you to remember because it's telling you that Jesus isn't finished with you Jesus is not finished with you so let's do it let's follow him let's live for him this week and for the rest of our lives amen let's pray Lord Jesus we thank you so much for your finished work on the cross perfect redemption atonement accomplished thank you for that finished work thank you also for your unfinished work that you are sharing with us and that you've brought us into and we pray that this week and for the rest of our lives we continue that work that we live for you for your glory amen we're going to conclude with psalm 126 this is really in many ways a psalm of that ongoing work of the gospel it's about spoken in the context of the old testament where things had gone badly wrong for the people but god was restoring them and then there's that language of sowing a seed bringing in a harvest continuing the work that god has given us to do psalm 126 when science bondage god turned back as men that dreamed were we when science bondage god turned back as men that dreamed were we then filled with laughter was there man hurt them with melody with melody among the heathens said the lord great things for them hath wrought the lord hath done great things for us whence joy to us is brought as streams of water in the sound how bondage lord recall this so in tears the evening time of joy and joy they shall that man who buried his precious seed in going forth doth mourn he doubtless bringing back his sheeps rejoicing shall return the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all amen