The Sermon

The Sermon                     Word on the Week                     25th September 2021.

Most, if not all, religious groups which take the Bible as one of their guides produce a homily, sermon or prophetic word which becomes the main vehicle through which the people are spiritually fed.   You might say it is a true “Word for the Week” as it is delivered faithfully weekly, usually on a Sunday.

In my own background I must have heard, at a conservative estimate, 3,500 sermons!    Of these approximately 800 were preached before the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to understand that Christ crucified was central.    Trusting in the risen Christ followed, made it personal and, however faltering, life changing.   

From his earliest writings St Paul emphasised the theme of Christ crucified.   In his first letter to the new Corinthian Church he wrote “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.   I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.   My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (Chapter 2 verses 2-5).  

Many preachers have tried to follow the Apostles advice but without the Spirit’s power.   The sermon then becomes like the Grand old Duke of York who marched his soldiers up to the top of the hill only to march them down again!   The benefits of a hilltop experience were somehow lost in the homeward rush as the Sunday lunch beckoned!

At the hilltop Donald McLeod’s question must be asked, “What’s He doing on a cross”?   Or as the song puts it “The darling of heaven crucified”.   The most bewildering event in history.   The greatest paradox ever deserves an answer and it falls to the preacher with the aid of the Spirit to provide it.

The Apostle Peter writing about authority has this to say of the submission of Jesus; “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wound you have been healed” (1 Peter Chapter 2 verse 24).   

The healing referred to here is the fruit of God’s love – the forgiveness of sins and is for anyone who now severs their ties to them and literally dies to sin so as to be freed up to the Spirits leading into a life of righteousness.   The rescue from the past, the new life for the present, and the presence of Christ’s Spirit for the future in this world and the next.

It is all there on the hilltop for the preacher to reveal (1 Peter 1 verses 3 to 6).

Women Today

Women Today                       Word on the Week                   18th September 2021.

When the Lord God created male and female he made them equal in his sight.   They differed by design and in the role designed for them (Genesis Chapter 1 verses 27 and 28).    They were made to complement each other in a monogamous marital relationship and were designed to be fruitful and populate the earth.

The way we were made was disrupted by man’s rebellion against God as he became involved with an alternative source of ‘wisdom’ which was satanic (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 1 to 6).   Separation from fellowship with God resulted in the introduction of sin and death with the resultant breakdown in human relationships (Romans Chapter 5 verse 12).   Denial of God today has been followed by destruction of his order in society.

In the place of divine order has come a state of fluidity.   This was shown in a government questionnaire we received this week where we were asked “With which gender do you identify?”   There were four choices!   Male, Female, Other, Prefer not to say.   It seems that the immature notion of youth, that we may be in the wrong body, has encouraged people to experiment.

The 1st Minister of Scotland has suggested that people trans gendering should be allowed to alter the name and sex on their birth certificate to reflect their current preference.    She has forgotten the Scripture “Male and Female created he them” Genesis Chapter 1 verse 27).    There are no DIY options.

The Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960’ies was necessary to recognise women’s place in a society where they had little influence.   Many of the ‘glass ceilings’ have been broken and women have few, if any, occupation they cannot aspire to.    Throughout the Bible women are treated with respect which would have been counter to the culture of the day.   St Paul listed some of these women, with gratitude, in Romans Chapter 16 verses 1 to 16. 

Today the scale of abuse of women by men is around 1 in 8.   This form of male domination was encouraged by the cavalier lifestyle of people like Trump.   If you have experienced abuse you know all about it.   If you are an abuser, you need to repent and seek forgiveness.   Many cases of abuse occurred in homes during Covid lockdown where the parties were isolated together.

Calamitous situations need not end in tragedy.    When the Lord heard the prayers of Paul and Silas, or perhaps it was their singing in prison, he let them out.   The Jailor, seeing the prison open, reached for his sword to kill himself.    Paul restrained him and explained what God had done, not only that evening but in the death and resurrection of Christ.

We are told that the jailor’s family were also present, received the message with faith, were baptised and had a communal meal to celebrate (Acts Chapter 16 verses 25 to 34).    One instance of a family united from near tragedy to being received into the Kingdom of God.    Pray for many more to join them.     

Anniversary of 9/11

Anniversary of 9/11                    Word on the Week          11th September 2021.

Church bells are sounding in various parts of the world but nowhere more poignantly than New York.   On this the 20th anniversary of the most dreadful attack on America many accounts are being shared not only of the loss of life but the terrible mental and respiratory problems suffered by the survivors.

The facts scarcely need repeating.   Four large passenger planes were involved.   Two were hi-jacked shortly after take-off from Logan International Airport in Boston – destined for Los Angeles with a full complement of passengers and enough fuel to cross the US, were flown by Jihadists into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York causing their collapse.

The third plane took off from Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia and was bound for Los Angeles.   The hi-jackers redirected it into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., killing all 64 aboard (including six crew and themselves) and another 125 in the building.

The fourth and final plane took off from Newark International Airport in New Jersey bound for San Francisco International Airport.   It was hijacked and headed towards Washington DC, but brave passengers managed to overcome the attackers and crash land in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Among the explanations for 9/11 Osama bin Laden gave the US in a letter addressed to them in November 2002 were “The expansion of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its price, and pay for it heavily.”

“The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.  We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and trading with interest.”

On his second point we might have a large measure of agreement! 

But it is the hatred of Israel that is the consuming passion behind it all (Psalm 2).   St Paul’s prayer for Israel’s conversion to Christ is as yet unanswered (Romans Chapter 10 verses 1 to 4).   The Apostle goes on to say that they will rely on the works of the law until, by God’s grace, the veil will be taken away and Jesus recognised as Messiah (2 Corinthians Chapter 3 verses 14 to 16).

Both Israel and Arab, in fact the redeemed from every nation are included in that great multitude before the throne in heaven (Revelation Chapter 7 verses 9 and 10).  

Swallows and Martins

Swallows and Martins         Word on the Week       4th September 2021.

The annual gathering of these birds is in full swing.   They start the day with a magnificent display of flying as they catch insects on the wing.  This food frenzy continues with the birds flying very low in damp rainy weather or higher if the day is dry.  This matches the flight of the insects which they catch in their wide open mouths as they build up their strength for immigration to Africa.

Feeding continues till around 8.30 am when they settle on the electricity wires, and their melodious voices fill the air.   Where they fly to for the remainder of the day remains a mystery but the majority return for their night-time feed in the evening.   From the large number gathered it appears they have had a successful nesting season.   This can amount to two (or even three) families if the weather favours a steady supply of insects.  

Swallows and Martins are difficult to distinguish in flight.    Their speed and twisting and turning patterns are similar.  Most of their life is spent on the wing.  Their legs are short making it hard for them to take off from level ground.    When they are collecting nesting material i.e. mud, they require a clear flightpath to get the beak-full of mud back to the nest site.

This year the bulk of the swallows roosted on some new electricity wires which cross a paddock where a small herd of highland cattle live.   Perhaps they were attracted to the tan hair which could be used to line a nest!   The cattle have an unusual double coat of hair. On the outside is the oily outer hair—the longest of any cattle breed—covering a downy undercoat.

It is because of this hair covering that the meat of Highland cattle tends to be leaner than most beef because Highlands are largely insulated from the cold by their thick, shaggy hair rather than by fat.   The meat is also low in cholesterol.

It is thanks to the wonders of nature that we have such diversity in one small area.   On the other hand, the highland cattle’s horns are not ornaments and, as fallen animals, they could quite easily demonstrate their use!

“In Adam’s fall, we sinned all” the famous line in Benjamin Harris’s New England Primer expresses the basic Christian belief that Adam’s sin had dreadful consequences for the rest of us.   And not only for mankind but also creation which was made subject to futility – horns as weapons would not have been part of the original plan (Romans Chapter 8 verses 20 to 23). The Apostle Paul writes, as a result of our inherited sin comes condemnation, as a result of Christ’s one act of obedience on the cross those who believe in Him will be made righteous (Romans Chapter 5 verses 18 to 19). Choose to follow Christ.