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. . . . SERMON SNIPPETS . . . .
from the Campbell Street Church pulpit |
There you are, a fisherman. Your life is all laid out
Your grandpa died as one. So did your father. So will you.
Mend the nets. Caulk the boat. Pay your taxes. Consume and die !
Get a life ! Get with Jesus !
Nothing ever changes, till that Rabbi comes along.
Fishing can mean something else. So can ledgers and work schedules.
There's eternity of meaning and infinity of truth in that man and what he says
Get a life ! Get with Jesus !
You feel trapped, just like a white mouse in a treadmill ?
Life's the same old thing again and again and again ?
Everything is chronic? Nothing ever seems quite right ?
Get a life ! Get with Jesus !
There's a God-shaped hole in your soul. It's where real life should be.
And that voice calls out to you just like its' right next door, right now.
Lift up your head ! Open your eyes ! Choose life, not death !
Get a life ! Get with Jesus !
- Luke 5:12-26 - BE CLEAN
It's a dirty world
Lets not go into gory details
We clear the dirty beggars off the streets - and leave them in the boardroom in pinstripe suits.
We wash the filfth off the footpath - and leave it on the hoarding in glorious technicolor.
We take truckloads of trash as far out of sight as possible - and watch it on TV and on the internet
Take a walk with Jesus
Put on you sandals and white robe
Try walking through Samaria - instead of around it
Those wierd and awful Samaritans with their sideways looks
Who won't acknowledge you because...
Take a walk with Jesus
Listen to the gossip as you sit down with the woman at the well
Gossip about you sitting down and talking to that kind of person
Take a walk with Jesus
Smell the unwashed leprosy sufferers - and actually (erk!) touch them
And see how no-one wants to touch you until you have washed yourself seven times.
Take a walk with Jesus
See how clean and pure your feet and robe are from the dusty tracks of Palestine
You won't look anything like a stained-glass window by the time that you get back.
Walk with Jesus into the Temple
See how polite and nice you can be as you. too, lay into respectable bankers and accountants
With what the Gospel writer euphemistically describes as "a knotted cord".
Walk with Jesus up Sorry Road
To the hill outside of town where they do executions.
Hear him say
"Take up your cross daily and follow me"
- Luke 5:27-39 - ONLY THE HOLY
So you think you're alright ?! ...Reckon that you've done your best ?
And all the others think you're real good, too.
Just remember : Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous.
A self-made person ? Getting ahead by being good at what you do ?
Busy ! Busy ! Busy ! Always propping up the lesser mortals.
Don't forget : Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous
Can you imagine all the wonderful things the'll say about you at your funeral !
Lived respected. Died regretted. A good time had by all.
Hope you remembered : Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous.
As the nail-pierced hands reach out to you, look over your shoulder and see the abyss
And contemplate that never-ending fall into eternity without the love of God...
You'll want to believe: Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous.
And if you think you've made a mess of things - and your life is not worth much.
You've goofed. You've blown it. You're at the end of your tether.
You'll be glad to know - Jesus came for sinners, not the self-righteous.
Yes, it will be good news for you to know
"It is by grace you are saved, through faith.
Not by works, lest anyone should boast."
- Luke 6:1-11 - Stand up for Jesus.
What about solving all your problems by being a Christian ?
Hey ! What do you think I am ? A snake-oil spruiker ?
You stand up for Jesus and you can bet
some bitter, alienated soul out there will want you down again faster than instant coffee
They've got religion, but they haven't got what you've got
And they don't want what you've got.
It's too disturbing - Too close to the bone for them -
And they've already got the truth - so you must be wrong
And if they can believe black is white - they consider they are obliged to hate you.
You yield your life to Jesus and you will walk the way of the Cross
The people the love of God drives you to love and redeem
stand around and mock while the storm clouds gather and the sun is being eclipsed
and the earthquake is building up and the stars fall from the sky.
And at the end there might be one or two who might bring themselves to admit
You were a righteous person.
Do it anyway !
- Luke 6:12-29 - What a Blessing !
A 'barucha" is a Jewish blessing.
Its called that because it usually begins with the Hebrew words
"Baruch otah Adonai Israel..." ( or whatever it is in Askenozi)
There's a blessing for everything under heaven, a devout Jew will tell you.
This is the godly attitude expressed by the apostle Paul when he says:
"Give thanks in all things"
Who did Jesus give this "barucha" to ?
The down and outs, the opressed and repressed and disposessed.
If Jesus lives in you - Christ is in you - the hope of Glory
Then you will not only bless these people,
You will be the channel of Jesus' eternal blessing
for those who weep and mourn.
For those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
For those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
When you hear these words of Jesus,
you can no longer just sit by and be a spectator of others' suffering.
You can expect that God will make you a blessing to them.
You not only utter the blessing - you are the blessing.
Believe me
- Luke 6:27-42 - Pull out the Plank
And there are those who are only too willing to bring everyone else up to the spiritual mark.
They spend more effort running people out of the church, than bringing them to Christ.
They lay burdens on people's souls that they never intend to bear themselves.
They don't hold out their real selves as role models
They hold up an image. A graven image to conveniently satisfy your expectations.
They are inflated rubber dolls - fakes.
You can try to love them in their falsehood - but they will never lead you to love.
And in their zeal to "cleanse" the church, you never find out about their lies and deceits.
"God is not blessing us" , they wail
So they hunt the women out of office in the church
And God still doesn't bless them
So they hunt the Freemasons and Scouts and Unionists and anyone else with a funny handshake
And God still doesn't bless them
So they say it must be all those people who joined us from other denominations
If they get rid of them.......
.....God still won't bless them
Because the problem is the wickedness of the human heart
And their other problem will be that one day
there'll be only their small band in church come Sunday
Their cherished ambition to be like the Shakers, falling before the Grim Reaper
Desperately holding out their "Other Gospel" to the end
Waiting for just one seeker to stumble in the door - instead of staying clear.
These are the guys who write books for ministers telling them how to have a growing church !
The desperately wicked human heart is also in them, They, too, are the "sin in the camp".
You cannot proclaim the love of God from a position of self-righteousness
You cannot give the Gospel to anyone whom you count inferior to yourself.
You cannot receive the Gospel from anyone except the Holy Spirit of Jesus.
And any Billy Graham or Pope or Preacher is just a messenger,
Or they're a blasphemy.
LUKE 12:49-53 - - - PRINCE OF PEACE ?
At Christmas time we carol him as "Prince of Peace"
That's what Isaiah the prophet said, Seven Hundred years before he came
A little baby helpless in a horse-trough in the barn, back of the local pub
And we see him in the stained-glass window
Blessing little ones - "of such is the kingdom" - Jesus, friend of little children
And he takes up the lamb in his arms - the lost sheep - Jesus the good shepherd
Warm and comfortable
But what is this he says ?
" Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, but I tell you: division!"
And "divisive" is the word for Jesus
There are plenty of people who look upon his suffering and say
"Surely this was a righteous man"
There is no lack of hearers of his words who will declare
"Surely a prophet is come into our midst"
But who is it who stands in the wilderness with John the Baptist
and cries out for all to hear
"This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world !" ?
An inspirational speaker is always well-received
A good and worthy person always well-respected
But a spiritual sacrifice is a pain in the butt to people whose thoughts never rise any higer.
And while religious wars rage on, defiling the name of God
and power-mongers plot and scheme to use the church of Christ to wield grotty influence
There is that cross which divides up the whole human race
The sheep and the goats
Foolish to the intellectuals
Offensive to the religious
But the power of God over life and death to those who believe
JUDGES 4: - GOD CALLS A WOMAN
Why did God choose Deborah ?
Didn't he notice there were no "Y" chromosomes ?
Didn't he see the boobs ? and the long eyelashes ?
Didn't he realise that she was somebody's wife ?
Why didn't God choose Barak ?
He was a good bloke ...
Maybe a bit thick, but that's a good qualification for leadership.
Besides God made men first -
God should be consistent - Barak should have been put first
When God arranged his holy worship on Mount Sinai
He put the men of the Tribe of Levi in charge - definitely not the women !
When God chose and called and sent the Judges of Israel
They were real men ! ... except Deborah.
But then again, why be amazed ?
God doesn't keep the rules,
He makes them !
This is the Word of God which came to the Prophetess Hilda.
This is the Word of God which sat down with a woman
and what a disreputable woman
and argued theology with her
when all the other rabbis would not so much as look a t a woman
would not go near a woman
would never sit down with a woman who was a stranger
much less discuss the Bible with her.
Debate whether she had a soul with other rabbis - man to man.
but don't debate with her !
And when you read what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy
about women keeping silent in church
don't read him as someone who's done all the journeying he needs to do,
read him as a rabbi who is learning what it means
when Jesus says
"In the Kingdom of Heaven there is
neither marrying nor giving in marriage"
and who is coming to grips with this when he writes
"There is neither Greek nor Jew, slave or free, Male or female
for all are one in Christ Jesus"
The curse of Babel was struck down at Pentecost
Yes, just as in the Cross and Resurrection
the all-male Levitical priesthood was abolished
With Deborah God warned that he would remake human society
in the power of the Holy Spirit
That's why God called Deborah, not Barak.
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REPENT
