Christian Life

I'd noticed that yesterday and today I was getting a lot of search engine originated hits on this website to a previous sermon I preached on Mark 10:35-45.

In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus told a parable to illustrate the principle that we should forgive others. The perspective we need is how much God has forgiven us.

So how big is God's gift of forgiveness to us, then?

The man who was forgiven by the king in verse 24 was in debt to the tune of 10,000 talents.

Tomorrow, many of those who read this will attend a church service. As part of that, there will be a sermon.

At least - please do attend a church service tomorrow. It's a really good thing to do each week. And, if you are responsible for leading a church service, please do ensure there is a sermon - it's a really good thing to include each week.

Today, I'm doing a number of things, but one of them is marking. I have before me a number of assignments on preaching from trainee Readers in the Diocese of Rochester.

The story is told of one Anglican clergyman I had the privilege to meet on a few occasions. Being an ordained minister, from time to time someone who ask him to pray for them. I think the thought was that, because he was ordained, God would hear him. "Say one for me, Father", came the request.

Apparently he used to reply: "Say one yourself, you lazy coot".

I'm not sure quite why the coot gets it in the neck here. I wasn't aware that it was a reputably lazy bird.

On Friday night, there was a sad fire at our end of Kemsing Village. A stack of 500 hay bales caught fire - it helps nobody to speculate whether this was deliberate or accidental, although invariably people start to speculate and everyone has a theory.

What's the whole of Genesis about?

Jason Hood, over at the SAET blog, has some very sensible things to say about how the whole book speaks a message that needs to be heard by NT Christians, and what's more speaks it with great clarity:

His full post is not long and is well worth a read: http://www.saet-online.org/why-moses-wrote-genesis/09/

Here's a small extract to whet the appetite and send you to the full thing:

This Sunday, at Kemsing and Woodlands, we begin a 4-week series looking a single paragraph of the epistle to the Hebrews. We're going to be looking at Hebrews 10:19-25.

At the wedding I'm taking in Kemsing this afternoon, the bride and groom have asked to have Ruth 1:16-17 as their Bible reading, and for me to speak briefly on that passage. It's the first time I've been asked to speak on Ruth at a wedding, and it is a very appropriate part of the Bible to hear on such an occasion.

On another occasion, I might share what I'll be saying at their wedding.

Many will have seen this quotation before. But as I copied it out for a particular purpose, it struck me that this is so gloriously true it deserves to be said again:

“Right there you can see the difference between Christianity and all other religions, including no religion. The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news. Other religions say, ‘This is what you have to do in order to connect to God forever; this is how you have to live in order to earn your way to God.’ But the gospel says, ‘This is what has been done in history. This is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for you.’ Christianity is completely different. It’s joyful news.” (Timothy Keller, King’s Cross (paid link), page 15)

Waltke (paid link) again:

Scientifically, the fire and cataclysmic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah may be explained by an earthquake. Heat, gases, sulphur, and bitumen would have been spewed into the air through the fissures formed during a violent earthquake (14:10). The lightning that frequently accompanies an earthquake would have ignited the gases and bitumen.