Kemsing with Woodlands

It’s time for my final words to you. What do I say? They say before they demand execution, “Do you have any final words?” It doesn’t quite feel like an execution, but I still have to kind of pick my final words. I’ve actually chosen to spend four Sundays working through with you part of Acts chapter 20, and to make my final words to you the unfolding of those words.

This last week I received a text message. Let me tell you what it says:

NHS: You are eligible to apply for a COVID pass, provided you've been vaccinated against COVID-19. You can apply for this here...

And then there's a web link.

I'm going to tell you this morning why this church is the best group to belong to anywhere. It's better than any football team, local or national. It's better than any dance or music group. It is even better than the WI or the Scouts.

I have four Sundays left with you before we head up north, so I have to decide what message I would like to leave you with as the time comes to move on. If you've been with us for any length of time, hopefully you have by now observed that as I prepare for a Sunday morning, I don't sit down and say, "What would I like to say on Sunday?" nor even, "Here's the Bible reading that will be read during the service—what would I like to say based on that reading?"

Perhaps like me you long for good times to return again: the opportunity to take a holiday whenever, wherever you wish; the opportunity to meet with friends, any number of people, indoors or outdoors; the opportunity to forget face masks, to sit closer than two meters to somebody from another household. Perhaps you long for good times to return.

If you do picture for a moment the Jews of Jesus' day. they longed for good times to return.

We’ve reached today the end of the book of the prophet Malachi, written about the year 400 b.c., two and a half thousand years ago. You will remember that the Malachi prophesied in the city of Jerusalem that had been rebuilt after the people had returned from their exile to Babylon. The temple and the city walls were rebuilt, but then nothing much had happened for over a hundred years, and the people were beginning to doubt that God really loved them. So their response to God was becoming increasingly half-hearted.

Let me begin by asking you a question. What do you think being a Christian is like? On balance, when you weigh up the pros and cons, is it in your advantage to be a Christian? Is it a good thing or is it overall a bad thing to do?

I've heard it said that when someone becomes a Christian, the last part of them to be converted is frequently their wallet. That was just as true in ancient Israel as it is today.

A sermon given on Remembrance Sunday 2020, from Ephesians 2:14-22

Do you ever look at the world, and everything that is broken within it, all the bad stuff that there, is the people who do horrendously bad things – and wonder why God does not fix it. Why does he not stamp out all the bad things? Why does he not intervene, and take off the stage of this world all the people who do really awful things?