Sermons

It’s never pleasant to be ostracised. To have your family, your friends, your village turn their back on you. Decide they don’t want to know you.

I’ve heard stories of it happening in villages like this. Someone breaks some unwritten rule about how to belong to the community. Everyone doesn’t ignore them. But people who used to stop and chat no longer do. And you feel the cold shoulder.

Would you say you’re close to God, or distant from him? Is he close to you, or is he somewhere far away.

This matters. Assuming there is a God. He’s powerful. He’s personal. He can do anything he chooses. You’d want to know him. Be close to him. Know that you’re in his good books.

And to be sure of that, we have to know what he’s like.

I want us to steer a path between two very common misconceptions of God.

I don’t know which is harder – to have life going well, or to have lots of difficulties. I’d rather life was good. Of course I would. But I don’t know which makes it harder to follow Jesus. Harder to live for God’s purposes. Harder to trust God’s promises.

If life is tough, God can seem so distant. How do we trust a God who doesn’t do anything about the problems we’re facing? If life is good, God can seem unnecessary. Why do we need to trust God, if life seems to take care of itself, and God’s already given us what we need.

Have you ever felt that God might have some great plans for your life? Ways he could use you to bring blessing to others. If it wasn’t for the fact it’s you we’re talking about.

I know I’ve felt that way at times. Mistakes made. Character flaws. Bad habits I can’t kick. I’m sure God could have used me. But somehow I disqualify myself.

With more than a year to go until the next general election, the politicians are lining themselves up. Grand promises. If we put them in power, here’s what they will do. But will they?

We’re right to be sceptical. They may be in government, but they’re not in power. So much is outside of their control. It’s hard to guarantee anything. A coup in a foreign land 4000 miles away could impact a key export market and send the pound into a dive. They can promise. But can they deliver?

What will happen at the end of time?

It’s a big question. The short answer is that there will be no end of time. But the Bible does tell us that the far future for Christians is very, very good.

The past two Sundays, we’ve said that Jesus is in heaven; when Christians die they go to join him; one day, Jesus will come back. But what happens to us when he does so? Do we come back too? If so, how? And what future will we have?

Death is one of the subjects we don’t speak about today. I suspect this is because many of us have a deep fear of death.

And so we joke about it. Woody Allen famously said: I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens. And Mark Twain said: I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.

But the fact is that we joke to dodge it. The jokes are an anaesthetic for our fears.

Many people today are not confident as to what they believe about the return of Jesus.

We can’t know everything about the future.

But if God tells us certain things about the future, then those are areas where we can be sure.

And Jesus was not silent about his own return.

This morning, we start a short series of 3 sermons looking at the future. Today, we think about the return of Jesus.

One of the most foolish things people say about Jesus is this: He was just a great moral teacher.

So many people would say that. They love his teaching. They think his ethics should be taught to everyone. His ideals of love and integrity should be a feature of public life. There’s nothing here for other religions or philosophies to disagree with. If only Jesus’ moral teaching was more widely heard, we’d be a happier society.

Everyone wants to know that their life is going in the right direction. Heading to the right destination.

I’m sure you’ve had the experience of sitting on a train at the platform in Victoria. First stop is Ashford International. And just as the doors close, someone comes up and asks you if this train stops at Brixton. Sheer horror. They’re on the wrong train. They’re going to the wrong place. And it’s too late to change.