WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.639 So yeah, I'm looking today at God's presence in the home. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.019 So your home is a place that is unique. 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:16.080 It's also a place where your best friends see who you really are. 00:00:17.339 --> 00:00:19.800 And definitely your family see you warts and all. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:25.519 There's often loving, arguing, learning and resting that goes on there. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:34.840 And it's a home where memories are built and people can be themselves and find refuge and rest. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.840 And it's also a place to offer hospitality to family, friends and neighbours. 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:44.539 So I don't know about your home. 00:00:45.519 --> 00:00:48.480 Maybe it looks like a show home most of the time. 00:00:49.179 --> 00:00:52.879 But I can definitely say that ours definitely doesn't. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:58.480 It often gets very cluttered and very messy very quickly. 00:00:59.219 --> 00:01:02.680 So I'm not going to get you to share, but just a question. 00:01:03.260 --> 00:01:05.700 Think about your home right now, how you've left it. 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:10.040 And on a scale of 1 to 10, think what it's like. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:16.879 Are there clothes maybe thrown on the bedroom floor or, you know, stuck on a chair? 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:22.659 Maybe the dishwasher is full with dirty dishes that nobody's bothered to wash. 00:01:22.659 --> 00:01:29.459 Or maybe, as in our house, the dishwasher is empty but the dishes are still on the top because nobody's bothered to check. 00:01:30.619 --> 00:01:40.939 And maybe there's a lovely basket of clean washing that's at the bottom of the stairs that stays there for two weeks until I finally bring it up the stairs. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:45.039 I don't know whether that's just my angst here or whether that resonates with anybody here. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:51.180 So we can think that other people have perfect homes. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:58.440 And we can think that actually maybe our homes and our lives are too messy and we don't want anybody to come in and see it. 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:06.060 In fact, the best way for our family to have a really good clean-up of our house is when we know that we've got visitors coming to stay. 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:10.039 But it's our home for better or for worse. 00:02:11.140 --> 00:02:14.979 And to let somebody into your home is to let them into your life. 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:21.659 No matter the state of your family or your home life, let the Lord Jesus come in. 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:23.539 He's knocking at the door. 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:27.759 The reading we've had takes place in a home. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:36.439 It's the home of Peter and Andrew and it really illustrates Jesus' amazing acts of compassion when he was invited into their home. 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:45.819 So the first thing is that Mark tells us is after Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew's house, Simon and Peter's house. 00:02:45.819 --> 00:02:53.579 So Peter and Andrew not only brought their friends James and John home from church, but they also brought Jesus. 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:56.139 And that's a really good tip for us. 00:02:56.519 --> 00:02:59.259 Let's not just leave Jesus at church. 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:09.099 Let's take him home with us so it's going to impact our home life, our daily life, and those of our friends and our family and those that live under the same roof. 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:24.340 These two brothers, sorry, these two sets of brothers, James and John and Peter and Andrew, they'd abandoned earthly pursuits to follow Jesus and pursue the kingdom of God that Jesus had been talking about. 00:03:25.459 --> 00:03:34.419 And the day that we're talking about, they'd received an up-close and personal front-row seat of Jesus' love and power. 00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:41.099 And when you follow Jesus and invite him into your home, blessings are going to happen. 00:03:41.899 --> 00:03:47.500 You're going to see Jesus do some things in your life and the lives of others that only he can do. 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:50.939 Are there going to be challenges? Yes. 00:03:51.179 --> 00:03:54.739 Are there going to be difficult times? Of course there are. We know that. 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:58.819 But following Jesus is much better than walking away from him. 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:05.319 So question, how do you bring Jesus home with you from church? 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:10.419 And how does what we do here on a Sunday affect what we do on a Monday? 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:18.060 The Book of Mark is a really great introductory book to the Bible, if you've never read the Bible before. 00:04:18.539 --> 00:04:22.360 It's short, it's quick, and it explains the life of Jesus. 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:27.719 In chapter 1, there's a really wonderful thread that weaves its way through it. 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:36.360 The focus is not only what Jesus does and says, but it's also got a wonderful message of where Jesus goes. 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:44.380 There's kind of a holy covering, a massive holy umbrella that covers all parts of our life. 00:04:44.780 --> 00:04:46.880 And Jesus belongs in all parts of that. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:59.600 We in the modern world tend to kind of separate and compartmentalise our lives into who we are at work, who we are at home, who we are out there in public, who we are personally. 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:03.639 And that's why we can have sort of parallel and contradictory lives. 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:13.100 So are we the same person on a Monday at work, or a Saturday out at the football, or a Friday evening out with our friends, that we are on a Sunday? 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:19.939 Anyway, when I was preparing this sermon, I highlighted all the places Jesus goes in Mark 1. 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:30.520 The wilderness is mentioned a couple of times, and the wilderness is when we're alone, but it's really important to invite God to come into that with us. 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:35.879 Nazareth is also mentioned too, so Jesus being seen in the city and the towns. 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:41.959 Nazareth at the time was seen as a bit of a second rate and a bit of a rubbish kind of a town. 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:47.779 And a common phrase that we used when Jesus was about was, nothing ever good comes from Nazareth. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:51.159 Well, that's quite interesting because Jesus was from there. 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:56.699 And when Jesus is baptised in verse 10, the heavens get in on the act. 00:05:57.079 --> 00:06:02.459 The sacredness and the supernatural and the heavenly realm get together and they meet with him. 00:06:02.459 --> 00:06:11.719 And in verse 16, Jesus goes to Galilee to call his first disciples, the fishermen, their place of work. 00:06:12.159 --> 00:06:14.819 So Jesus belongs in all areas of our life. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:16.199 He is Lord over all. 00:06:17.919 --> 00:06:24.159 Then he goes to Capernaum and he heads straight to the synagogue, basically like our church. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.919 It's a specific place that's been built for worship. 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:35.160 And of course, in the UK, I think a lot of people just kind of imagine that Jesus is kind of only found in churches. 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:45.120 So we find Jesus in the wilderness, the workplace, the town, the country, the church, and then finally the home. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.800 So God, we invite you into our messy homes. 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:55.100 Thinking that our lives are part of that vast, holy umbrella. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.259 And we invite Jesus into all aspects. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:00.680 Come into our messy homes. 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:03.540 Your home is your personal space. 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:07.500 To be home is a retreat and to have some form of control. 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:16.420 When people are really ill or maybe they're dying, it's really common that they want to stay in their own home to be familiar and be comfortable. 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:22.360 I know when I've just got a cold, I just want to be in my own bed, in my own home, with my own cup of tea. 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:29.160 But sometimes, and actually very often, our homes get really messy and our lives can get out of control. 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:30.819 So invite him in. 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:39.159 No matter how cluttered your house gets, no matter how out of control your life is, invite the Lord Jesus Christ to enter your home. 00:07:39.719 --> 00:07:41.680 He's knocking at the door of your home. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:45.959 Don't worry about the messy kitchen or the clothes all over the place or the washing up. 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:49.199 The Lord wants to help you to clean up your life. 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:56.219 And the first home that Jesus goes to in Mark is a messy, multi-generational home. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.600 The night was getting late. 00:07:58.899 --> 00:08:00.579 It had been a really long evening. 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.079 And the disciples and Jesus were tired. 00:08:04.099 --> 00:08:06.300 The crowds had been gathering at the synagogue. 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:12.079 And they'd been amazed at what he'd been teaching and the fact that he'd delivered somebody of a demon. 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:18.719 So at the end of the evening, Peter and Andrew invite Jesus to come back because everybody's quite weary. 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:24.120 And Mark goes on to tell us that Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:28.480 So with this, we're not just talking about a minor cold. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.980 Obviously, they didn't have antibiotics then. 00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:37.200 So I imagine that if you had a high fever, actually, you could stand a really good chance that you might die. 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:38.519 So it's very serious. 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:40.539 So Peter's home was a mess. 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:42.519 His mother-in-law was really sick. 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:46.480 But actually, that didn't stop him from inviting Jesus into the home. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:52.500 And I like the way the Bible says they told Jesus about her right away. 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:53.960 Right away. 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:59.840 When you're facing something that is out of your control, don't wait to take it to Jesus. 00:09:00.180 --> 00:09:02.240 Take it to Jesus right away. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:06.600 Yes, go and speak to close and trusted friends. 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:08.340 But talk to him first. 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:11.220 Don't hesitate and don't procrastinate. 00:09:11.659 --> 00:09:14.299 Because Jesus wants you to bring your concerns to him. 00:09:14.620 --> 00:09:17.940 He wants to help you and encourage you because he loves you. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:26.019 And I think this little insight out of Peter is just telling Jesus the first thing is a lesson in prayer. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:28.180 Telling him what's going on. 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:31.159 So they told Jesus right away. 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:34.419 I'm not sure what Peter was expecting Jesus to do. 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:37.279 He'd certainly seen him do some amazing things during the day. 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:42.559 But I think that Peter was really just compelled to want to tell Jesus what's going on. 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:47.939 And if you or I are ill or struggling with something, often we feel the same way, don't we? 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:49.759 We want our friends to know. 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:56.079 I often visit people in their homes when they're ill or they're struggling with something like bereavement. 00:09:56.620 --> 00:09:57.839 I don't do anything dynamic. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:58.960 I just go and visit. 00:09:59.300 --> 00:10:00.480 I sit on their sofas. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:01.860 I listen to them. 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:03.120 Have a cup of tea. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:04.300 Chat. 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:05.600 And I pray for them. 00:10:06.420 --> 00:10:07.220 Nothing special. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:09.420 But they tell me that it helps. 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:15.240 And I know for myself, if somebody comes down and does that with me when I'm struggling with something, that really helps too. 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:17.540 So be honest. 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:19.480 Tell him what's going on with your life. 00:10:20.940 --> 00:10:23.980 And verse 31, I think, is the most beautiful of verses. 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.659 He went to her bedside. 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:31.559 And as he took her by the hand and helped her to sit up, the fever suddenly left her. 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:34.039 And she got up and prepared a meal for them. 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:38.899 So Mark says that Jesus went to her bedside and took her by the hand. 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:44.919 He could simply have just entered the house and sat in another room and just said, be healed, and her fever would have gone. 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:47.480 But no, he went to her and he took her hand. 00:10:47.939 --> 00:10:53.500 And I believe that this tells us masses about what Jesus is like and how much he loves us. 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:58.879 And this is what Jesus wants to do with each of us, both Christians and non-Christians. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.539 He wants to give us all a touch of his grace and his love. 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:07.279 And then she prepared a meal for him, it goes on to say. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:11.059 I find the reaction to her healing really fascinating. 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:13.960 Mark tells us she prepared a meal for them. 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:18.559 Some translations say she began to serve them. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:20.820 So let's be clear here. 00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:22.019 She was completely healed. 00:11:22.019 --> 00:11:24.139 There wasn't a recovery period. 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:26.679 One moment she was kind of at death's door. 00:11:26.939 --> 00:11:29.879 And the next she was up, she was fit, and she was making a meal. 00:11:30.939 --> 00:11:35.899 And I think that this verse demonstrates two things. 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:42.519 One, obviously, that Jesus had authority in healing physical sicknesses. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:50.559 But it also illustrates what our response should be whenever God heals us of something maybe spiritual or physical. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:56.559 And it illustrates what our response should be when Jesus touches us with his hand of salvation. 00:11:57.219 --> 00:12:03.419 And I'm convinced that this miracle reveals that God heals us so that we may serve him and others. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:08.599 As a good friend of mine says, and is always reminding me, we're saved to serve. 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.220 So a question. 00:12:10.220 --> 00:12:16.720 How often has God touched our lives and then we don't do anything with that blessing or that opportunity? 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.000 Your home is a sanctuary. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.920 The most personal of places. 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:36.040 And when you invite Jesus into your house, when you don't leave him at the door looking in, when you're totally honest about the condition of your house, and he then helps to transform your clutter, other people are going to notice. 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:41.699 It says, that evening at sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. 00:12:42.719 --> 00:12:45.679 I think this is a wonderful example of stewardship. 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:52.319 The idea of being good stewards of what we have and what God gives us is that we don't really own anything. 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:56.240 All we have belongs to God, including our homes. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:02.220 So on one hand, our homes are our most personal, sacred places, a place to rest and peace. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:07.860 But actually our homes are entrusted to our care to be used in the service of God. 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:14.960 So the crowds came to Peter's house because they knew that Jesus was there. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.600 They knew that he'd healed the mother-in-law. 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:21.279 And so people kept coming, coming and coming. 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:23.620 People were ill, people were being brought to him. 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:28.179 And he healed them because the news of him had gone viral. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:33.440 Jesus may not ask us to use our homes in quite the same way as that. 00:13:34.019 --> 00:13:37.259 But actually invite Jesus into your home and others are going to notice. 00:13:37.539 --> 00:13:41.139 Invite other people into your home and show them God's love. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.240 They're going to see the difference that Jesus makes in your house. 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:48.220 They're going to be amazed and they're going to want the same thing. 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:55.360 And you can be a light for Christ to help your friends with their own messy homes and their own messy lives. 00:13:55.940 --> 00:14:01.240 Your life will be an example of Jesus bringing peace and wholeness. 00:14:02.019 --> 00:14:07.279 So Peter and Andrew, let their home be a gathering place for the town to come to meet the Lord. 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:10.940 And as I finish, I just want to think about two or three things. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:13.940 Number one, how do we do the same? 00:14:14.379 --> 00:14:16.800 Maybe think and pray how we can do that. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:22.879 Now, also, I'm aware that I'm talking about a lovely safe house. 00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:27.099 Some people in this congregation, you may be sitting there thinking, you know what? 00:14:27.419 --> 00:14:29.000 I don't live in a safe house. 00:14:29.620 --> 00:14:30.799 I feel under threat. 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.819 And if that's the case, please tell somebody. 00:14:34.959 --> 00:14:35.959 Tell a trusted friend. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.159 Tell one of us. 00:14:37.339 --> 00:14:38.439 Tell the ministry team, whatever. 00:14:40.199 --> 00:14:41.899 Don't sit there in silence. 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:47.579 And also, you might be sitting there thinking, well, that's all very well for you to say about your life and everything. 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:48.259 But you know what? 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:49.039 You don't know me. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:52.319 You don't know the mess that I've made, the things I've done wrong. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:54.980 God's not going to be interested in coming into my life. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.259 But I'm telling you that he is. 00:14:57.620 --> 00:14:58.720 He wants to be there. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:14:59.779 He's knocking at the door. 00:14:59.779 --> 00:15:04.500 So when I finish later, there will be prayer ministry. 00:15:04.699 --> 00:15:12.120 If you want prayer ministry for anything that I've said, good, bad, or indifferent, anything that Tim said, please come and have prayer. 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:16.639 So we'll just pray together as we finish. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:30.779 Dear Lord, we invite you into our messy homes and our messy lives. 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:36.500 Lord, you know who I am and what my life is all about. 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.059 Somebody is sick. 00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:41.259 There's messes. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:42.759 There's anxiousness. 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:43.340 There's worries. 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:49.759 You are the Lord of all life, including the most private of places, my home. 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.340 And I want to tell you all about my mess. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:59.800 Help me to transform the clutter of my life and come to my messy home. 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:05.920 For it's not my home, but it's yours to be used in your service. 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:07.759 Amen.