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And like a FL his Mercy morning all wow that was loud starts how are you all this morning it is lovely to see you all I missed you all last week so it feels really good to be back to see you all Tom and Gabriel did a fantastic job last week
Isn’t it good to be able to just come together and to spend time with other people who love God and um be able to worship him together and encourage one another this morning we are joined by Tim goodle who is the minister from Tyle Kil Church unfortunately he supports West uh
Liverpool um so we’ll forgive him for that um and you might want to mention sort of Yogen Klo or something just as you um speak to him later um so he’ll be bringing God’s word to us later on um I just wanted to start by reading a little passage from Matthew Chapter 5
And I just wondered whether you feel like you fit into any of these categories that are mentioned here so have a listen and see what you think it said God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs God blesses those who mourn for
They will be comforted God blesses those who are humble for they will inherit the whole earth God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice for they will be satisfied God blesses those who are merciful for they will be shown mercy God blesses those whose hearts are pure for they will see
God God blesses those who work for peace for they will be called the children of God God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against
You because you are my followers be happy about it be very glad for a great reward awaits you in heaven so so let’s just pray father God we just want to thank you because you are an almighty God lord and you know exactly what is going on in
Our lives Lord and you come alongside us and you travel that Journey with us Lord uh we just thank you for that and we praise you for that and we pray that this morning we will be able to come just as we are before you Lord bringing
Our our Joys and our tribulations and the things we’re struggling with and the things we’re excited about and we just pray we can bring them all to you this morning and can share that load with you Lord um help us to encourage one another and to build one another up Lord help us
To hear what you want to say to us this morning we pray that you will change Us by this time that we spend together in Jesus name we pray amen good morning should we stand and sing and just praise our God I Love You Lord all your Mery Never oh my I’ve been held in your hands from the morning that I wake up I my head I will sing the Good oh my life you have been Fa all my life you Happ so good with every breath that I I will s to I love your voice you through the fire in dark you are like no other you are the [Applause] Father in the [Applause] Goodness all my life you have been [Applause] faithful oh my life you have been so so good with every bre that I am I see your goodness is running out is running out to me your goodness is running up is running up to me with my life La down I
Surrender now I give you everything your goodness is turning it’s turning to me your goodness is running out it’s running out to me your goodness is running is running to me when my life L down I Surrender now I give you everything your goodness is running out it’s running out after [Applause] Me oh my my life you have been oh my life you have been so so good with every breath that [Applause] I I will sing all the goodness of God oh my life have been fa oh my life you have been so good with every breath that I am I will s all the goodness of God I will s all the goodness of God I will sing of the goodness of God thank you so just a couple of announcements to make this morning um we’re trying to set up a Tuesday small GR group so we’ve got a Monday group Now set up and running which is fantastic um we are hoping to start a Tuesday small group so if you
Are interested in a small group and you’re available on a Tuesday evening then um do come and speak to me and we can um see if we can get that one up and running as well um if you’re anything like me uh you are terrible at names I
Think I’m probably worse than most um so on the first Sunday of each month we are going to be having a name tag Sunday which we have done before in the past so next week when you up you’ll be asked to write your name on a sticker and to wear
It okay and that’s so that when you’ve been talking to that person for the last three months and you’ve to embarrassed to ask their name you can just slightly look at their sticker and act like you’ve remembered it all that time okay so we’ll be doing that on the first
Sunday of a month and it’s just to help us to get to know one another do try and speak to people that you don’t normally speak to so that you can just get to know one another um it’s such a big church um and what we really want to
Kind of make sure sure that everyone feels like they come and are known whilst they’re here um and part of that also on the first Sunday of a month we also do um the first Sunday lunches so next Sunday we have got a lunch um and
If you would like to come along to that make sure that you just put your name down it is open to everyone so do feel free to put your name down if you don’t know very many people then um it’s a good way of getting to know people if
You’ve been coming for a long time and You’ want to meet some new people then come along and put your name down and um next Sunday we’re really say um having a sort of a special push to try and invite those who may be are single parents we know that it’s really
Difficult to connect uh with church life when you’re trying to juggle children and work um so if you are able to stay around next Sunday after the service then it’s just a chance for you guys to meet one another um and for your youngsters to play together as well so
Do sign up for that next Sunday lunch it’ be really good to meet you and get to know you a little bit more Claire I’ve lost her oh she’s there good morning um you may not be the 20 people that have signed up for the talent show in two weeks time however I
Am inviting all of you to stay um after the service on the 11th of February as I say we’ve got about 20 children who are taking part um and Dan have you got the video um just before you play it and those of you at the church weekend a few
Years ago we did a talent show with the children there was a lot of Tears there’s a lot of laughter and I’m just I’m a bit biased but we’re going to just show a video of one of my children doing their bit just to give you an idea it
Was so lovely to see all the children take part and it’d be lovely if there was this congregation okay watching the children so if you want to see more amazing talent like that and to be able to share some real sort of laughter and fun together then do come along on the
11th of February stick around after the service and you can watch some of this amazing talent that we’ve got in this church winsy ah couldn’t find you either yeah yeah no come up come up so over the last few weeks you may have heard us advertising that there is
An event going on um which is going to be celebrating um the Chinese New Year and we have a large number of people that come over from Hong Kong who are part of our congregation here um now some of you may have spotted a deliberate mistake in update on Friday
Um did anybody spot the deliberate mistake to do the Hong Kong event yeah if you come at 4:00 you will have missed it okay don’t come at 4: come at 2 much more likely to see a bit more if you come at 2 okay so come at
2:00 um but it is fully booked so this is only if you’ve got your name down and we didn’t want people to miss out so we thought winsty could just tell us a little bit about um the Hong Kong and celebrations that you’re going to be having over New Year yeah thank you
Claire so uh let me introduce what Chinese New Year is I uh many of you may know what it is but I just want to give you some background of that so um Chinese New Year is also known as the spring festival and it is the most important traditional Chinese festival
It marks the beginning of the Nuna New Year and is celebrated by U millions of people around the world the celebration has deep cultural and historical Roots dating back over 4,000 years ago the festival usually Falls between 21st January and uh 20th February depending
On the Lunar New Year it is a time for family reunions and festivals um I think it’s just like a Christmas in Weston and it also symbolize the end of winter and the arrival of spring each year is associated with a specific animal from the Chinese sodia rotating through a 12
Year cycle and 224 is going to be a Dron there are some key elements of Chinese New Year celebration um the first one is symbol symbolism with the color of red being predominant R is believed to be bring luck and um what what of evil spirits people decorate their homes with Red
Lanterns and also other various uh red items uh the second part is a wet pocket uh which is the uh traditional of giving giving and receiving podcasts which is a way to share good wishes and blessings these podcasts usually contain money and are given to children and married family members and
Others and other important thing is the family reunions uh during this period uh families comes together for reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year and also the following of two to three days emphasizing the importance of family types there are also some other traditional food like a dumplings FES
And sticky R cake and uh there are also some other activities like dragon and L dances fireworks so um in this coming event uh we would have some activities like uh saying sharing socializing and uh connection from church um as well as uh people outside Church uh we will have
Also some games with children so uh please pay for us pay for the event for the law give us the wisdom to organize and execute the event smoothly play for love and acceptance with those who attend to be a supportive community and last but not least open new comm’s house
To the possibility of seeking God and finding a church within our community thank you you thank you wincy so we’re just going to um take the chance just to pray for that event now so father God we just thank you for the large number of people
That we have here from Hong Kong Lord and we just pray that you will help us to uh make them feel welcome we pray that they will feel part of our church life uh and we pray for this event Lord we pray that it be a real time of
Celebration and that it’ll be a chance for them to hear uh about you too Lord and um just to connect with Church Life Lord we pray that it would be a way of Building Bridges um so bless this event be with all who are um leading it and taking
Part in it um and help it to be a time of um just building relationships and celebrating uh and bringing you uh to people that maybe haven’t heard much about you in Jesus name we pray amen so we are going to worship and as we worship are you going to give them
The nod when they can go out or should we let them go from the beginning um okay so youngsters you can go out during this song Take Your grown-ups with you okay your grown-ups are allowed back in but they’ve just got to deliver you safely and the rest of us let’s uh stand
And uh worship Together He came so we could know the Father’s Love The Savior the he he came to seek and save all that was lost Resto Redeemer light of the dark to the a song for strength for the weary to the lonely he’s the joy of the whole King is come for glorious the Son
Of God the Beautiful the S Lord of [Applause] Jesus the King has Come he came to speak the message of you Creator sustainer he came to bring his rule upon the Earth with Justice I’m Mery his ways are higher his love is greater than the treasures of this world his grace is wider his name is stronger he’s the joy of the
Whole the king is come the glory is the Son of God the Beautiful s all Jesus the King has come and everything with is he is everything We Jesus the King this is the day this is the the kingdom of this is the day this is the time and the kingdom of all this is the day this is the time and the kingdom of all this is the and the kingdom of our God let the kingdom of our
God let the kingdom of our God let the kingdom of our God thank you John I’ve lost John now ah John do you want to come and lead us in prayer do take your seats so as we come into this morning let us uh just think about um prayer um
And what’s going on for us and what’s going on for the world as well let us pray Lord as we as we look globally we see all the the trials that people are going through the disasters the war and we live fairly comfortable lives here sometimes very comfortable let us not become
Complacent or take for granted what we have where we cannot help directly let us lift others to you in prayer Lord you have so many answers to prayers and you do answer prayers and you answer prayers in ways that we do not always necessarily realize or even
Acknowledge Lord we think of the war in Gaza the continual uh um turmoil there and the war in Ukraine as well as the attacks on the on the uh shipping vessels as well Lord we just we know that you’re a God of Peace and a god of
Love may those who are in these situations realize something of your peace and love and may we continue to bring them to you in prayer Lord is there a cost of living crisis in the in the UK we’re still aware of where people are living in poor damp conditions with little or no
Food where so many are below the poverty line Lord and we’re comfortable in what we’re wearing what we’re what we’re eating where we’re worshiping Lord just give us Minds to reach out to to others to help where we can Lord we’re very aware that as we are here there are many who
Have perhaps turned away from you I’m sure I’m not the only one who perhaps has been a prodal Son and Lord I just bring those who have turned away from you to know you again we know that the walk with you can be tough and we’re not guaranteed an easy walk or ride but sometimes those trials can develop us develop our faith bring us closer to
You Lord we think we we can work in our own strength and we don’t always have the patience to let your plans work out and we just base out what we do on our own knowledge and self-reliance but Lord help us to rely on you open your arms to those who have
Turned away those who feel they cannot come back those who are to ashamed or frightened or just they’re disappointed perhaps Lord show that you are a god of love help us to stand firm on your teachings as we reach out to others as we want to see others come to your
Kingdom we know Lord that you bring peace and love so let us share that with others around us let us not be a stumbling block for others to know you let us welcome them Lord Jesus there is power in your name there is power in your name and I
Just be in this place this morning and be with Tim as he comes to preach to us as well and nor let us embrace one another and embrace those who need you and and want to know you as well Lord we give these prayers to you
Amen Angela is going to come and do our Bible reading so if you’ve got your Bibles to hand Now’s the Time to dig them out um and the words will also be on the screen as well readings taken from John chapter 6 starting to read at verse
35 then Jesus declared I am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty but as I told you you have seen me and still do not believe all those the father gives me will come to me and
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away for I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those
He has given me but raise them up on the last day for my father’s will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day and at this the Jews then began to
Grumble about him because he said I am the bread that came down from heaven they said is this not Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how can he now say I am come down from heaven stop grumbling among yourselves Jesus answered no one can come to me
Unless the father who sent me draws them and I will raise them up at the last day as it is written in the prophets they will will all be taught by by God everyone who has heard the father and learned from him comes to me no one has seen the father except the
One who is from God only he has seen the father very truly I tell you the one who believes has eternal life I am the bread of life your ancestors ate the Mana in the wilderness yet they died but here is the bread that comes down from heaven
Which anyone may eat and not die I am the living bread come down from heaven whoever eats this bread will live forever this bread is my flesh which I give you for the life of the world which I give for the life of the world then the Jews began to argue
Sharply among themselves how can this man give us this flesh to eat Jesus said to them very truly I tell you unless you eat the Flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you whoever eats my flesh and drinks my
Blood has eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day for my flesh is real food and my blood is is real drink whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them just as the living father sent me
And I live because of the father so the one who feels feeds on me will live because of me this is the bread that came down from heaven your ancestors ate mana and died but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever he said this while teaching in the synagogue in capernium
On hearing hearing it many of his disciples said this is a hard teaching who can accept it aware that his disciples were grumbling about this Jesus said to them does this offend you then what if you see the son of man Ascend to where he was before the spirit gives life the flesh
Counts for nothing the words I have spoken to you they are full of the spirit and life yet there are some of you who do not believe for Jesus had known them from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him he went
On to say this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the father has enabled them from this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him you do not want to leave two do you Jesus asked the twel Simon
Peter answered him Lord Whom Shall to whom shall we have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God then Jesus replied I have not chosen you the twel yet you yet one of you is a devil he meant Judas the son of Simon es
Scariot who though one of the TW was later to betray him well good morning everybody good morning thank you for reading uh it was a long passage I gave you there so well done for getting through that uh excellent excellent yes uh my name is
Tim it’s so good to be with you this morning and to be invited to speak here uh it’s it’s really encouraging as a pastor of another church to come to other churches occasion you don’t get to do it that often um and to worship Jesus together it’s such uh such a wonderful
Encouragement to me and I bring this morning greetings from the brothers and sisters at T Church uh it’s great to uh to know uh that across this city uh today uh Believers are gathering together brothers and sisters in the Lord to worship him um and uh and I’m
It’s good just good as an aside to have uh it recognized of what a difficult this weekend is for a Liverpool fan with Jurgen klopp resigning uh we’ll leave that there man Le’s job is an interesting uh cultural comment perhaps but this morning I want to actually ask
Perhaps a bit of an awkward question uh looking at this passage and exploring this passage uh not necessarily looking at the richness of Jesus’s teaching there’s a lawful lot there that we can uh spend a long time unpacking but actually looking at the reactions to Jesus’s teaching and
Exploring a little bit as to uh how people respond to what Jesus says uh because there is a whole group In this passage that you will have I’m sure noticed who are offended and outraged by Jesus outraged not in a positive way but in a negative way in a way that causes
Them to walk away in the end and so I want to just explore that Dynamic with you of this passage the people who respond to Jesus and how they do that and what that might just teach us today uh finding Jesus offensive and outrageous has quite a long history uh
Let me give you one example um we’ve got uh Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson who is the primary author of the Declaration of Independence at the US in the United States he was their third president now he uh took drastic action at being offended by Jesus as he read through the
Gospels he started cutting out the bits of the gospels that he liked and sticking them into another book and he created the Jefferson Bible now you can go and see the Jefferson Bible uh it’s in one of the Smithsonian museums I think it’s the Museum of the of Congress
Or the Library of Congress Museum in uh Washington DC and you can see his uh his Bible there so what what things didn’t make the cut let me tell you it was anything miraculous didn’t like Jesus’s resurrection that didn’t make the cut uh he didn’t really like anything that
Suggested uh or pointed to Jesus being Divine Jesus being the the second person of the Trinity the son of God God so here is someone who is offended by Jesus and outraged by him to the point of actually uh making his own Gospel which is of course no gospel at all but you
Know the tradition of being offended and outraged by Jesus goes back all the way to our reading doesn’t it uh in today’s reading that Jesus was always causing offense in one way or another to a certain groups of people at different times you can’t read the gospels without
Noticing that people’s reaction to Jes Jesus uh differed and changed and often caused offense now the struggle for us I think in our culture as Jesus’s followers as his uh disciples is that we live in an outraged culture where it is becoming increasingly acceptable uh to to take offence quite dramatically at
Things we don’t agree with this is our culture around us where it’s easier and easier to feel justified in being outraged at another person’s opinion there’s no sense of uh of ironically tolerance in that there is no sense of Tolerance but of outrage so living in our culture we
Can’t help but live in our culture we can’t help but uh be part of our world and Jes Jesus sends us into our world doesn’t he uh but we do have to be aware of the ways in which our culture will impact us and this is one way in which
Uh I fear we just need to take a little bit of a step up and awareness of that actually if we’re in an outrage culture and bring that into our relationship with Jesus then we might find ourselves in trouble at some point when Jesus says something to
Us that’s a bit close to the Bone and begins and we begin to find a little bit offensive and outrageous we’ll see what I mean as we explore the passage together let me just uh just pray again for us as we as we look into this father
Thank you so much for your word thank you for Jesus who is your word thank you for the testimony of your of your scriptures which testify to Jesus our savior would you just open up our eyes our ears our hearts as well uh to hear from you this morning would your spirit
Spirit speak clearly to us would we hear him clearly today thank you that you are a God who continues to seek us to speak to us in Jesus name amen okay so let me just start by having a little look at the background here what’s going on in this chapter it’s a
Fascinating chapter in John’s gospel right at the start of chapter 6 we’ve had Jesus feeding the 5,000 5,000 men so much more many more than 5,000 people there uh they they enjoy their meal so much they want to make Jesus their king um have you ever enjoyed a meal that
Much uh they these guys have they want to make Jesus their king and a king in the traditional sense that they would understand they want to enthrone him they want him to raise an army and they want him to go immediately to war against the Romans they want their land
Back they want the is they want Israel back uh if you know your Bibles think about King Solomon and that sort of uh The Wonder of his Reign that’s what they’re hoping for a king with a sword on a horse heading into battle Jesus has other ideas and he does not let them
Make him King he disappears it’s not going to happen so uh the next day Jesus isn’t on that side of the lake anymore they’re on lake that he’s teaching them uh they noticed the boats have gone and so they the crowd who’ve just been fed
They head round the lake to try and go find him what’s happened John tells us well the disciples went across the sea Jesus didn’t go with him Jesus end UPS walking on water we’ll have to park that we can’t explore that today they the crowd now get to the other side of the
Sea and they find Jesus and they strike up conversation initially wondering how he got there uh but then there’s this bit of back and forth they’re looking for signs okay well you know if you are uh someone special we want another sign from you we want in a
Miracle and then there’s this bit of back and forth about bread and we go back and round and back and round about bread and bread of life and the crowd are talking about the Mana in the wilderness and what’s going on that Jesus is talking about how that’s a sign uh for God’s
Provision uh the crowd John interestingly calls uh disciples at points and he’s making a distinction between the 12 whom we’ll find later on in the passage and then General disciples who are following after Jesus who are following after Jesus he’s talking about the fringes those who are interested those who maybe have
Experienced something of Jesus but haven’t quite made that step of faith yet but are there enough that that’s possible that they might just follow him ultimately Jesus says in this back and forth uh you’d have heard in the reading that I am the bread of life that
The manner God gave back in Exodus when the Israelites had fleed from Egypt uh after God’s powerful demonstrations uh in the plagues the manner that God gave uh was a sign it wasn’t an end in itself it was a sign to the God who provides
And here I am says Jesus as the as as the provision of God for you the manner in the wilderness in the wilderness is meant to be a uh a signpost the more significant bread from Heaven which once eaten Jesus says you’ll never hunger again Jesus says
This is that’s me that is me that’s what I’m doing and what do the crowd do the crowd are dismayed and angry and frustrated and Confused they say Jesus we know you you’re Joseph’s son we know your mother we know the family what do you all about this is ridiculous outraged disappointed
Confused uh offended he’s made himself equal or better with than the Moses he’s put him is is he putting himself on the level of God himself they’re they’re wondering those sorts of things he’s told us to eat his body and his blood we’ll come
Back to that in a bit uh in a chaotic and classic case of missing the point the crowd get to the point in this back and forth where they say is he a cannibal is he telling us to eat his flesh this crowd of so-called disciples experiencing the grace of God in the
Sign poost Miracles meant to point to something greater miss the point completely miss the point that every human lives not on bread alone but every word that comes from God that the true and life-giving food is the provision of God for salvation not the provision of God for our
Stomachs that the true and real life gift of God is Grace and provision for salvation for Rebels for Sinners Paul said it well that whilst we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly so they take offense and they say this this is a hard
Teaching who can listen to it or in the NIV who can accept it this is a hard teaching who can listen to it and I think that we our translations might just mislead us a little bit here because uh I find maths hard that’s a hard teaching who can understand
It that’s not the disci that’s not what they’re saying they are out they are outrage and offended it’s what is this no one can follow this this is awful this is this is offensive this is not just a difficult mindbending teaching this is no one’s going to follow that that’s
Crazy this is a hard teaching this is an offensive teaching from Jesus they say so why are they offended why have they been offended I think there’s some lessons in here for us I just want to mention two aspects of Jesus’s teaching that they find offending ensive uh and
See just wonder whether they might say something to us this morning so the first one is that they are offended that Jesus did not perform another sign for them so they’ve been fed uh they’ve got the the the feeling the 5,000 they’ve gone around they’re looking for this
Next sign okay if you if you want to say you’re God’s messenger or Messiah well in which case you need to give us another sign we want another sign they want to make him King when they were fed but that wasn’t enough they need something else the people take offense at
Jesus because they’re more interested in seeing something dramatic and outstanding and uh remarkable then they are paying attention to the spiritual realities to the truth of life that Jesus is pointing them towards through his miracles basically folks they took offense because Jesus refused to cater for their felt
Needs and catered for what they actually needed he refused to cater for their felt needs and he came for what they actually needed salvation in it all its fullness and my question awkward question here is do we do that sometimes as well do you do that sometimes times
As well when we’re more interested in having our felt needs met than in hearing the truth of Jesus is teaching of who he is what he’s done what he says having our felt needs met of course is what our world is all about one of the major values of the culture that we
Live in if you feel something you must act on it if you have a desire you must must express it it’s everywhere it’s in the media it’s in the newspapers it’s in uh so even some of our laws seem to be made with that value at the Forefront it’s what culture teaches if
You’ve got a desire you need to express it if you repress it then you’re repressed and that’s a big problem folks that’s a satanic lie it’s a satanic lie that we need to stand on the truth of Jesus against because if we believe that then when Jesus says die to
Yourself how are we going to react when Jesus says deny yourself how are we going to react when he convicts us of our sin and says you are a sinner but it’s okay cuz I’ve made a way being confronted as a sinner how are we going to react if we’ve taken on
A I must express my desires and my needs there’s one way in which we could be tempted to be offended and outraged at Jesus’s his teaching and his person secondly the crowd are offended the crowd of disciples are offended because actually Jesus places himself above Moses he places himself above Moses and
He says that I am re I am the son I’m sent by God I’m the Son of God so he’s telling the crowd in what he’s teaching them about bread and this this this this uh to and fro with bread of life and what that means is that he’s he’s
Greater than Moses he is the one sent by God he’s got greater Authority than Moses and in fact we find in another place in the gospels that Jesus says if if if you people are paying attention to Moses and what he was writing what he taught the people then you yourselves
Would recognize that Moses was pointing to me as being greater than Moses himself sent by God you know that Jesus was the Messiah sent by God to be to die and to rise again to save people from their sins so the people the crowd here are holding on to their Traditions that have
Been handed on to them while simultaneously missing the point missing what they were pointing at pointing to now if you think about Moses most uh what’s the thing that we think about when we think about Moses we think about the plagues in Egypt primarily uh we think about the dramatic
Escape from Egypt God’s Deliverance of his people and in a sense the crowd were like looking for someone like Moses who would turn up and deliver immediately turn up and deliver immediately with signs from God with miraculous things demonstrating his power uh throwing out the Romans who are now the occupying
Army that’s what they were expecting but of course if we know Moses’s story we know that’s not how God worked in Moses’s life we know that’s not quite the story uh as we have it in Exodus and we know that that is not quite how Jesus
Works either not how Jesus works so the expectation was and the Hope was that there would be a messiah a sent one from God who would act immediately with glory and power and that’s not what Jesus does and yet he claims to be above Moses and
Because he Jesus does not act in that way as expected he becomes an offense and an outrage to the crowd now of course Jesus does act in that that way but it’s unexpected he casts out demons he heals he reverses uh the the consequences of sin and death
Throughout his life ultimately in taking on our own punishment for sin and being killed and murdered on that cross and then Rising again but the crowd don’t get it they don’t see it and I wonder then whether we can take offense in a similar way to Jesus sometimes that when
Jesus doesn’t act in the way we expect him to act in our lives today are we tempted to take offense at him then and it’s often connected to something we’re waiting for it’s often connected to suffering and enduring through suffering as if now that Jesus has
Raised has been risen from the dead well we should have all the spiritual blessings and the physical blessings and all the other blessings in the here and now right now and when we’re in the right mind we know that’s not quite true but when we’re experiencing something difficult then we might just be
Tempted but of course Jesus teaches us patience Jesus teaches us that actually in this world we will have trouble take take heart I’ve overcome the world but we are still in this world and we will still have trouble until he comes again we do not know the wholeness and
The richness and the depth and The Wonder of the full of Salvation that is waiting for us Paul says we do have all the spiritual blessings in Christ and they are waiting in the Heavenly Realms and will be revealed when Christ comes again we have this in between time in
Which we are called to persevere with patience and our Temptation in a world that says have it now have it your way is that we can perhaps be tempted to be offended and outraged by Jesus when it’s just when our prayers seem to be bouncing off the ceilings when he’s saying wait wait
Wait so where are we now having missed the point of the uh Miracles with the bread the feeding of them all the crowd of so-called disciples become even more offended when Jesus tells them that you know what salvation is bound up with eating my body and
Drinking my blood the mar the the the words Jesus metaphorical words that that that are that are used by Jesus there pointing to his death and Resurrection uh which in itself we know is an offense in many ways uh they’re taken literally by the crowd the offense has increased as we’ve
Gone and in the end they can’t even see what’s going on warning for us here that as we take offense at Jesus if we do we end up blinding ourselves to the truth we end up missing what God is saying so John 666 says that tragically
Many of this sadly they they left him at that point they walked away but notice that Jesus never sends them away he never casts them out he never dismisses the crowd it’s always their choice they can come back to him and I’m pretty confident that some of these
People here came back to him through the testimony of the disciples after Jesus’s resurrection the giving of the spirit maybe they were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost some of these people always welcome to return we prayed uh some of us are prodigals all of us are prodigals in one
Way some of us know it in a deeper sense but there is always Grace to return to Jesus when we’re offended by him the problem isn’t ever Jesus he doesn’t throw us throw us out the problem is us but there is always Grace enough to return he’s always back in our
Back so offended by Jesus what do we do to uh be aware of our propensity towards that how do we respond when we hit something that’s hard to take from Jesus Jesus responds to this and Peter particularly responds and here’s where I think we find our example sorry if we
Just go back to the last one that’d be great excellent so here’s Jesus’s words Jesus uh responds and he turns to his 12 the crowd of left he turns to the 12 and he knows Judas this is going to betray him but he turns to them look what do you want to
Do do you want to go away as well Jesus doesn’t um get offended himself when this sort of thing happens Jesus doesn’t seek to defend himself Jesus doesn’t uh seek to uh bolster his position with clever argument Jesus doesn’t go into debate about about defending his position Jesus knows who
He is in the father he knows that the father will open the eyes and the hearts of those who are to come to him he doesn’t try uh or feel the need that I that that we feel to shore up our position he doesn’t use the world tactic world’s
Tactics at all in fact he does what I think is a little bit of a um a shocking thing he he then s almost suggests that the 12 can go as well well if you’re not you’re not you know off do you want to I’m not going to hold you here against your
Will um and I and I wonder sometimes if I was part of the 12 how I would respond to that how would I respond because Jesus constantly offers salvation and allows us to respond to him and there comes a time I think there Comes A Time For Us as we’re becoming
Christians where we make the decision where he says what are you going to do are you going to go be fully in or are you off H but once we are believers once we’re following Jesus through our lives I think again and again there come points where he says to
Us what are you going to do deeper in or are you going to go as well deeper in and deeper on or are you going to go as well and as Christians and hear me well with this it’s not that he sends us he offers us a a way to lose
Our Salvation as such but he he invites us constantly to uh trust him more keenly to risk faith in him more readily and if we say I I can’t quite go there he doesn’t love us any differently but we might just Plateau we might just plateau and one of
The saddest things in my uh job as a pastor is to see that is to see those who who 20 years ago were were living Faithfully in a certain way looks very different for different people and then something happens and since that that incident they’ve just plateaued and Jesus constantly invites
Us to take that step of Faith deeper deeper and deeper into him and so if you so there two things that come from that if you are here and you you you know actually you don’t you not fully in you’re not you’re not a Christian yet uh but you’re interested maybe you’ve
Encountered Jesus maybe you’ve uh you’ve you’ve um seen in a in a friend something that is is quite attractive and you you’re wondering what that is and you’re you’re exploring whether that could be this Jesus person uh well now is the time to trust him now is the day of
Salvation don’t don’t hold back anymore put your faith in Jesus he calls you to repent let’s just turn around and go back the way you came Turn Around from where you’re going and follow Jesus receive his forgiveness receive the empowering of the spirit so if that’s you
Here then that’s for you but if you are a Christian you have been for a while and I suspect that’s the majority then the question for you is is Jesus this morning inviting you to take that next step of faith and trust in him and he
And again I want to make a distinction he he does that to all of us every day with the everyday things he invites us to keep trusting him but I’m particularly thinking of something specific so if you know in your heart you know God has called you to something
Specific or for something specific or you know this past week you should have reached out to this person and you didn’t for whatever reason if you know on in your heart that and the way you know is you’ll feel you’ll Jesus will make it known here’s his way of making
It known to you you’ll you’ll you’ll know Now’s the Time to Say Yes to Jesus and he will empow you to do what you need to do now is the time not to take offense at him calling you to die to yourself and follow him not to take offense at
Him when he says I’m calling you to go there there might be a neighbor might be a job might be a family might be another country and it might be you know this this past week it might be that you’re here and you know that you missed it 10
Years ago and it just hasn’t gone away and he’s still just saying look you can I’m still calling you to that today the day to respond today’s the day to say yes to Jesus to say yes and to wait here Peter’s response Peter’s response to Jesus
Lord where do we go to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life Peter’s response is brilliant Peter’s fantastic because he just says the first thing that comes into his head sometimes it’s fantastic and sometimes it is awful and uh and and that’s just really encouraging isn’t
It Peter H places all of his teeny tiny Mustard Seed Faith here in Jes Jesus the whole of it it’s not much it’s not strong we know from reading the gospels we know the rest of the story of Peter and the ups and downs uh we know
That he can say uh in one moment you are the Christ and in the next moment here Jesus say get behind me Satan you don’t have things of God in mind he he he I he has this all the time and that is very normal but here Peter places his Mustard
Seed Faith In Jesus and that is the key it’s not how big the mustard seed is it’s tiny it’s where he’s putting it it’s faith in Jesus Jesus we’ve heard your words they’re the words of Life they’re the words of eternal life even if they are
Hard to hear they are still words of eternal life he says and the response is to believe where else do we go we follow you you got those words full fat trust in Jesus taking God at his words we’ve heard your words going to take you at your
Word and the words of eternal life we’re going to respond with the whole of Our Lives we’re going to respond with the whole of Our Lives we believe and we’ve come to know that you’re the Holy One of god notice the arrangement we believe and we come to know you need
Both but God calls us to Faith first trust in Jesus and knowledge does come trust in Jesus and experience does come and the the importance of that is not to separate them but to keep them together but to know that through our life as a Christian our experience will
Change our knowledge will grow and diminish but our belief has got to grow stronger all the way through we will go through EXP experiences I I can remember one um wonderful Godly older chap uh who said who uh taught me um New Testament at bible college years ago and he said
My uh experience of the Christian Life is that when I became a Christian at sort of 1617 for six months I I tangibly knew and experienced and felt God’s very presence with me all the time all the time for six months and then after that it slowly went away and I’ve never
Experienced a similar sense of his presence but that has not diminished my faith in him because I grew to understand that that was a a blessing for those early days as a Christian and one day when I see him when he comes again when he renews the
Heavens and the Earth and new the earth I that experience will be blown out of the water so I can wait for that sometimes our experience is what we’re looking for what we’re putting first his testimony the testimony of Peter here we believe and we then come to know and our
Experience will shift our experience of God’s presence Peter is a lesson in in perseverance in trusting Jesus in full fat Faith so the question to leave you with is how will you respond there is a temptation to take offense at Jesus to be outraged by him and it will come at
Some point it might have come already for you H it will he will confront you with something and often times regularly in our lives with him and my fear sometimes is that we are not prepared for that John the Baptist I wonder if you remember John the Baptist’s story uh
He’s uh he finds himself after after baptizing Jesus and preaching for repentance he finds himself in prison and uh he hears stories of Jesus and what Jesus is doing but then he gets a bit uncertain and so he sends his followers to Jesus to ask them look are
You the one are you the one we’re waiting for or is there someone else to come and Jesus says to him uh well look around at what’s going on so pay attention John look around at what’s going on and then trust me but then his final line in
Matthew 11: 6 he Jesus says this and blessed is the one who is not offended by me even John the Baptist faced that moment where he could take offence and go this isn’t what I was expecting I wait for something different or I’ll Trust what I can see in Jesus
I’ll Trust the words of eternal life and I’ll follow no matter where that leads Paul reminds us that the message of the Cross is foolishness for those who are perishing but of us who are being saved it is the power of God so refuse to be outraged by Jesus’s claim upon your life
And refuse to be outraged by his call that you’re to die to yourself and live to God refuse to be outraged by his demands upon you to be obedient and faithful day in day out refuse to be offended when he says time to repent time to turn back time to
Confess and receive forgiveness again and Grace again and salvation refuse to be offended when he says time to follow me into the unknown I’ll give you I’ll give you my spirit and I’ll lead you on for the message of the cross the crucified and the Risen one is the power of
God let me pray let me pray and then I think we’re going to worship Jesus together and just and it’s wonderful to respond to Jesus In Worship and so if you know that the Lord’s been speaking uh offer up your song As we sing and uh allow Jesus To speak to your heart and your mind by his Spirit Lord Jesus we thank you so much that you continually offer us opportunities to step deeper into faith and trust in you thank you that you do not reject us we’re so grateful for your patience you are patient with us not
Longing uh not wanting anyone to be lost but all to come to a knowledge uh knowledge of the truth we come before you with our hands outstretched before you and our hearts open we cannot hide anything from you would you help us not to hide anything from ourselves Lord would you pinpoint
Anything that we need to say yes to you for Lord forgive us for those times when we have been uncertain when we have been unwilling to follow you when you’re called uh to love one another to love our enemies as uh to to uh Place others first to follow you into difficult or
Dangerous or just uncomfortable situations when we’ve heard those things and and refused would you forgive us thank you that you’re long and you’re ready to forgive us help us to accept your forgiveness this morning and Lord so fire up our hearts by the power of God that is the Risen
Jesus that we would say yes to you whether that leads us to confront difficult relationships whether that leads us to uh to go to serve the needy but very awkward neighbors whether that puts us on a path this morning which ends us uh on the mission field or in the
Ministry Lord help us to say yes to you in Jesus mighty name we pray amen thank you Tim that’s a challenging uh talk um just makes me want to walk deeper with Jesus and um I hope for other people it’s been challenging as well um just reminds us of that invitation that’s
Always there for us uh reminds us that Grace is always there for us um so as we sing these songs let’s sing these kind of in response there songs focusing on Jesus and just think about that wonderful gift that we have of Jesus um and his grace for us I rest my soul on Jesus when the mountain Shake I my trust in Jesus the More and when my soul is lost and see will be my RO my vision and Me In Christ His is like the Mighty for me will Never oh his are strong enough to care Through it all by the gra of God High saely BR help my hel soul the king broken God the Mighty Me up to through it all by the gra of God when breath go still and night draws near I will not be afraid I know the plan he has for me don’t f sh My go still and night go still I will not [Applause] Bea I know the we have don’t my the might love will never oh his arm are strong enough to by the prise of God is is not the Mighty for [Applause] me are strong enough to car me it all the great of You are the passion of my life Lord Jesus you are the S within my soul my strength My Hope My All In All Is You Jesus You you are the passion of my life Lord Jes you are the S within my soul my strength my my ho and all Jesus You His love is like the Mighty O his love for me will never all his arms are strong enough to car me through it all by the grace God as we as we were singing I I sense the Lord wanting to bless you and so I want to pray a blessing over you and as a church and uh a blessing that is not um to remain with you a blessing isn’t just to be
Blessed by God isn’t just for us it’s actually to kind of like a volcano it’s kind of got to erupt uh and uh what I had a a picture if you like of um where we’re quite high up of of the blessing flowing out and kind of pouring down the
Building and out into uh into chelsford in different ways so I want to ask the Lord to bless you if you do remain standing maybe you want to hold out your hands just as that expression of openness before the Lord uh Lord Jesus thank you for your blessing of us and I
Want to ask for your blessing upon all here this morning and more broadly upon uh CBC uh that you would pour out your spirit and then pouring out your spirit and your blessing upon uh these your people uh your children you would raise up for you those who would be uh who
Would be missionaries in their own places the places that you have already sent them that you would raise up uh for yourself and For Your Glory those who would not be offended by Jesus and would be able them with courage to speak of the grace of Jesus uh in dark and
Difficult places not worrying about offense but trusting in Jesus and I want to pray a blessing the blessing of uh uh uh Minds that that you would raise up for yourself those who would think deeply about how uh the gospel impacts this church and and and then
Outwards that you would raise up for yourself those who’s who would think deeply and honor you with their thoughts and their thinking and their study and that you would raise up for yourself out of these people here and bless them in such a way and with such faith that you
Would that uh that they would head into different different places places where there is a lack of faith whether that’s in this country or others that they might then be uh be your seed for fruit in different places and that you would so bless this church with
Abundance that they would know that they are not just a town city center church but a sending church that they would send people perhaps some people here into other parts of the country and other parts of the world Lord your face is shining upon this congregation in the Magnificent and the
Astounding Wonder of your light of Grace would we stand on Jesus and not cow away like like the volcano like lava that flows as you direct it like the volcano that explodes when you tell it so would you bring your blessing to bear and would your people
Here patiently wait for you to say go and then give them the courage and the joy to go Come Holy Spirit if you and if you want to receive any prayer particularly uh CLA said you sometimes do this you can come to the front I’d love to pray with you I’m sure
Clarewood too and you may have prayers in the congregation who can come and help with that so uh we’ll carry on worshiping but do come to the front and pray you are here moving in I worship you I worship you you are here working in this place I worship you I worship
You you are here moving in our midst I worship you I worship you you are here working in this place I worship you I worship you you are way Mak mirac worker promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are you are make a miracle work promise keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who you are you are touching every heart I worship you I worship you you are he he in every heart I worship you I worship you you are make a miracle work promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you
Are you are way maker mirac work pro keep light in the darkness my God that is you are you are way maker Miracle work promise keep Keeper in the darkness my God that is who you are you are make a miracle work prise Keeper in
The darkness my God there is who you are God is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are
You are way maker Miracle Worker promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are you are we make a mirac work promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are even when I don’t see it you’re working even when I don’t feel it you’re working
You never stop you never stop working you never stop you never stop working even when I don’t see it you’re working even when I don’t feel it you’re working you never stop you never stop working you never stop you never stop working even when I don’t see it you’re walking
Even when I don’t feel it you’re walking you never stop you never stop working you never stop you never stop [Applause] [Applause] Working you are we make a Miracle Worker promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are you are way maker Miracle work prise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you
Are that is who you are God is who you are that is who you are that is who you are that is who you are you are way maker Miracle Worker promise keep keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are you are we maker mirle worker
Promise keeper light in the darkness my God that is who you are Hallelujah God of all light Hallelujah blessed be your name in the L that is BL with streams of our bless it be your bless be your name found in the desert gra all through the wildness bless it be your Name every blessing you pour out help turn by to pra when the [Applause] darknesses still I will blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be all name blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be your glorious name Blessed Be Your Name when the sun
Shining down on me when the world’s all as it should be blessed be your name Blessed Be Your Name on road with Offing in the offering blessed be your name every blessing to pour out out turn back to PR when the darkness CL is in still I will say blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be the name blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be your glorious name you give and take
Away you give and take away my heart will choose to say Lord blessed be your name you give and take away you give and take away my heart will choose to say Lord blessed me name blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be your name blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name blessed be the name of the Lord blessed be your name blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed Be Your Glory [Applause] Father God we just want to give you the blessing this morning Lord we praise you uh because you are worthy of Our Praise Lord we thank you that you go with us into our weeks Lord that you don’t just meet with us within these four walls Lord you go with us
And we just pray that you will help us just to draw in your strength to trust you Lord to dare to follow you boldly where you call us to go Lord in Jesus name we pray amen do stay around for tea and coffee and if you uh feel that God’s been
Talking to you this morning then do speak to other people here so they can encourage you and strengthen you as you continue on in your journey thank you you you Can