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Text of the page (random words):
that was not part of old testament prophecy he baptised or so it would seem but the way mark presents this important historic episode brings john s baptism in line with the prophecies in the way he makes john baptising become part of his proclamation the prophecies spoke of a messenger or proclaimer the voice of one crying in the wilderness john s baptism was of significance and baptism with the holy spirit is of special significance moule explains that the holy spirit is god himself at work among his people and it is possible for a person literally to have the holy spirit poured over him like water like a deluge purifying judging presence of god himself in acts 1 5 jesus also refers to baptism with the holy spirit and in romans 8 9 paul claims that unless one has the holy spirit they are not christian in acts 2 the beginning of the church is marked by the signs of the holy spirit s presence as the fulfilment of the prophecy of joel 2 28 ff john was dramatically portraying the great significance of his call to repentance those who responded to his call to moral reform submitted themselves to being dipped in the river as a sign of their response and commitment but john called for much more than mere moral reform he was preparing for something much greater we see therefore that mark starts the story of jesus long before his birth it did not even begin with the appearance of john the baptist preparing the way for his ministry it began with the dreams of the prophets long ago that is to say it began long long ago in the mind of god barclay but this does not mean that john s message is not vitally important as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our lord into the world and at the heart of this is the need for repentance advent is a time of preparation of getting ready a time to return to god it is a time when we need to be honest with ourselves and open our eyes to see the truth about who we are and how we are living we need to be willing to see what we do not want to see we need to be willing to admit to the sin that we have become so comfortable with that we no longer see as a problem this is the hardest part because we do not like to think of ourselves as sinners and we like to think that we are always right we also need to make confession to those whom we have wronged this too is hard because it is so out of fashion and so many people are out of the habit of doing it but there is absolutely no point in us apologising to god until we have first apologised to the people we have offended as barclay suggests the human barriers need to be removed before the divine barrier can be removed when we have done what it is humanly possible to do then we can make our confession to god it is only when we confess that we have sinned that god can give us those lovely words you are forgiven but there is another side to this and important side and also very difficult so often these days people feel offended and the person who causes the offence knows nothing about it because they never intended to cause any hurt at all people can be over sensitive sometimes and it is not impossible that they might also have no right to be offended we must never forget that an integral part of christian love is that we are not easily offended we are not touchy over sensitive people so when we do feel offended we need to ask the first and most important question am i justified in feeling offended or am i being touchy because if it is true that we ought not to be then it is we that need to come before god and seek forgiveness and it is best that the other person concerned knows nothing about it all but is must also be a time when we reflect on the presence of the holy spirit in our lives implanted there at our baptism and springing into life when we came to faith it is this spirit that gives us the courage to do the difficult things and also fill us with god s pure love and forgiveness leading to a deep sense of inner peace and joy these are difficult and big challenges but central to practical christian living this passage stands apart from the rest of the gospel as a sort of curtain raiser in which the reader is introduced to the context so that when the curtain goes up in verse 14 they will already know who the lead character is and can understand the significance of the message they are about to receive this makes clear that mark wrote his gospel from a particular standpoint i e that he accepted the traditional jewish position of a messianic hope so he wrote about jesus not from biographical or psychological interest because he believed rather that in the life of jesus the jewish hope had found fulfilment he believed that in jesus god had begun his final intervention in history the first but decisive stage in the overthrow of the powers of evil and the establishment of god s sovran rule nineham and because of the revelation of this central fact in the history of humankind was to be explained it could transform people s lives the same is true for us this advent and christmas the advent of jesus means that there can always be more to our lives more in our lives there is yet another opportunity for the holy spirit to deal with the sin in our lives but we need to admit that it is there want to do something about it and then open our hearts to the transforming love of god in the holy spirit john said to the people of his generation and i believe the message is as true today as it was then prepare the way of the lord make his paths straight amen break free from the scrooge syndrome each year in the weeks leading up to christmas a great number of people find delight in the marvellous story written by charles dickens a christmas carol there is something in the story that lures us back to it year after year we never seem to grow tired of hearing its message the main character in the story is a surly old man named scrooge who lives a miserly existence he sees no benefit in being generous with the poor or even providing a living wage to dedicated workers he clutches onto his money and despises the thought of parting with any of it but it is not only his money that scrooge withholds from others it is his entire being he withholds love and kindness he withholds warmth and friendship then one night scrooge undergoes a profound crisis he sees himself through the eyes of others he has a vivid vision of his past and then his present but what is most frightful to him what shakes him to the core of his being is when he is granted the opportunity of a lifetime he is allowed to witness his future but his future proves to be so dark and frightening that it prompts within him a dramatic change he undergoes a radical transformation and becomes an entirely new person rather than being cold and indifferent to people he becomes generous and compassionate it is a heart warming story but more than that it is a hopeful story it provides us with the hope that we too can make needed changes in our lives we can break free from the ruts we have burrowed and the negative behaviours we have cultivated we can become kind and compassionate humble and hospitable joyful and generous i have never read anything which suggests this but i wonder if the story of john the baptist influenced dickens and served as an impetus in his creation of a christmas carol posted by david owen at 21 23 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday 26 november 2017 christ the king ephesians 1 15 end sermon paul s prayer 15 i have heard of your faith in the lord jesus and your love towards all the saints and for this reason 16 i do not cease to give thanks for you as i remember you in my prayers 17 i pray that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him 18 so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened you may know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe according to the working of his great power 20 god put this power to work in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the age to come 22 and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church 23 which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all my text this morning is written in ephesians 1 15 16 15 i have heard of your faith in the lord jesus and your love towards all the saints and for this reason 16 i do not cease to give thanks for you as i remember you in my prayers in this passage we see the essence of the characteristic of the church loyalty to christ and love to others these two are inextricable linked together because true loyalty to christ will always if it is authentic lead to love for others verse 15 there can be a loyalty to christ that does not issue in love for others some monastic orders shut themselves off from the world and i have to confess that this makes little sense to me unless its purpose is to be of service to others if not it strikes me almost as a form of selfishness because the individual concerned might feel closer to god and have a sense of peace and tranquillity but this is of little worth unless it also leads to love for others at the same time i have enormous respect for those monks and nuns who live this way so that they might be of more use in caring for the needs of others the jesuits fransiscans and mother teresa s sisters of charity are notable and wonderful examples as was the case of the community of the resurrection in south africa with their school colleges and hostels and a notable example being trevor huddleston this was true of early methodism as well when people came to christ and became part of the church the society they lived in was transformed loyalty to christ must issue in love for others or it is meaningless indeed whatever we do unless it results in love for others is worthless the spanish inquisition and the pharisees are examples of those who were guilty of trying to be so right that this led them to do the most hurtful things to others i believe paul here gives us a practical yardstick with which we can measure if something is truly right anything that does not issue in greater love for others should make us seriously question what we do because it is only in our loving of others that we show our love for christ in our gospel reading we are told of the very practical way this love ought to be demonstrated feeding the hungry giving drink to the thirsty clothing the cold visiting those in prison jesus in this parable identifies with each person in need because on the cross he took their place we meet with jesus when wee minister to those kin need indeed that person becomes the presence of christ for us de dietrich in her commentary on the parable of the sheep and the goats explains what jesus is implying here how many times will we have passed by jesus without recognising him she continues he comes to us under the figure of the stranger the refugee the person of another race or the sorry bore and we turn away or treat such persons with humiliating conceit ione day he will say to us that was i could he then not say to us you pretended to know me but i did not know you i am glad to hear that in some cities there has been a revival in attendance at cathedral worship i love cathedral worship with all its pomp and beauty but there is a real danger that this can cover all sorts of dreadful things we have all heard of times when cathedrals have been in the press because of conflict strife and general inappropriate behaviour sadly i have also experienced this first hand and in fact it is a major reason why today i am ordained as a methodist and not an anglican gladly most cathedrals are beacons of love and hope in christ in the heart of our cities beauty only really becomes beautiful when it is an ingredient in showing love for others this refers to some theological debates as well the truth will become evident when the theology issues in greater love for others all too often in debates and discussions barclay accurately states that we have just enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love one another paul then prays for a church that he loves and that is doing well he prays that they may have wisdom using the word sophia which refers to the deep things of god and so asks that the church might be taken deeper into the knowledge of the eternal truths this reminds us of an important dimension of our life and ministry it is necessary that we are a people of depth that the church be a thinking people we must beware of dumbing things down but rather always strive ourselves to go deeper and deeper into the depths of truth which issues in love at the same time this is worthless unless we make it a personal discovery as well socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living barclay suggests that an unexamined religion is not worth having and adds it is an obligation for a thinking man to think his way to god lionel swain adds that knowledge here also means something else it is knowledge in the sense of intimate experience thompson adds that here paul is praying for a deeper understanding of the gospel and its implications so that one can move closer into line with god s mind and attitude the ministry of the church must be a teaching ministry the exposition of scripture from the pulpit is a vital element because we know that the scriptures are god s primary way of communicating with his people of every age and generation the paradigm was set on the road to emmaus when jesus expounded the word to the disciples and they felt their hearts warmed within them as was the case of john wesley on that important evening in aldersgate street in 1738 as we listen to the scriptures read and the preacher s exposition we should not only be interested in what the preacher thinks but more importantly we should also asking what is god is saying to us as a church and what is god saying to me as an individual within the church we come seeking knowledge that touches us and moves us challenges us and blesses us we come as verse 18 explains to have the eyes of our hearts enlightened but as our lord reminds us in the parable of the sheep and goats unless this enlightenment leads to love as de dietrich explains we may have the most orthodox of beliefs but we remain in death we are therefore in this passage challenged to get things into proportion so much time is spent in the church discussing mundane matters and these often result in conflict how much time do we as a church spend discussing the eternal verities of god how many hours do churches spend discussing problems for every one that is spent discussing the depths of theology ...