Talks, Sermons and Reflections

Matthew 22.34-40 If we loved God with all our heart, soul and mind, and if we loved our neighbour as ourselves .. .. we would so delight in God that God would be everything to us: more important than anything that we had here on this earth: our reputation, our comfort, our possessions, our passions, even than the person who we love most dearly here. [We think, ‘But how could I possibly love God more than I love my child or my beloved?’ CS Lewis writes, “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”]   If we loved God with all our heart, soul and mind, our greatest desire would be to be in his presence. And separation from God would plunge us into the deepest...

John 13.31-35 ‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another' (John 13.34) I don’t know where to start. There is so much that could be said about this, and so many questions 1.       In what way is this a new commandment? After all, the great command in the Old Testament is that we are to love God, and that we are to love our neighbour as ourselves (in other words as if he or she was one of us) 2.       And why does Jesus command us here just to love one another? He is speaking to his followers, to his disciples. Why does he not simply say that we are to love all people, whether they are Christians or not? But there are other places where he does command us to love all people, because God loves all people. Some of you will know the story of the Good Samaritan. But here Jesus tells his followers that their love is to begin with love for one another. 3.       And how can ...

Matthew 22.34-40 This evening we begin a new series looking at several passages from the Bible about love And today we begin with a really important passage: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and ... love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22.37-40) It is a command that appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke. John doesn't include it, but he does include Jesus saying, ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ (John 15.12) 1.   Love is the rock on which all the other commandments stand There was a debate between the school of Shammai and Hillel about whether the law could be summarised. A story is told that a man went to Rabbi Shammai and asked him if he could teach him the whole of the law while standing on one leg. The Rabbi smacked him round the face for being so impudent. The man then asked Rabbi Hillel the same question, and Hillel, standing on one leg, said, "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is one...

1 Corinthians 13 It really is all about love. This is one of the most beloved passages in the bible. It is the favourite at weddings. I also think it makes a great passage for a Christian funeral! I would love to ask you to consider choosing it for your funeral, but I am not quite sure how that sounds! The chapter speaks of 1.       The Necessity of Love (1 Corinthians 13.1-3) Without love, Paul says, the greatest speaker is a noisy gong. You speak eloquently, you write with flair, but if love is not controlling your words, you are just noise. Without love, the most spiritually powerful man or woman, who can make astonishing things happen, and who has deep knowledge, is nothing. That is a bit of a wakeup call. You can be very spiritual, even have spiritual power, and still be lost. Without love, you can give away everything, subject yourself to strict spiritual disciplines, suffer the most dreadful ordeal, and it will all be for...

Malachi means ‘my messenger’ or ‘the Lord’s messenger’. It may well have been the name of the prophet who wrote these words, but it might be someone who wished to remain anonymous, and he simply calls himself ‘The Lord’s messenger’. And Malachi speaks particularly clearly of one who will come as the Lord’s messenger, who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord himself. God says through Malachi (my messenger) ‘See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way’ (3.1). 1. THE BACKGROUND The people of Israel have returned from exile. They have settled again in the land. They have rebuilt the temple. They have seen amazing answers to prayer. But now the people have become complacent. They think that God does not really matter; they take him for granted They have forgotten that they have been called to be God’s holy, chosen people. They have become self-indulgent. And they question the love and justice of God. 1.1: ‘I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How h...

1 Peter 1:3-9 listen to ‘Hope, power, love,joy’ on Audioboo Peter writes: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’. He praises God for what God has done. God has taken people who were spiritually dead and has made us spiritually alive. And he goes on in this glorious passage to speak of how, because of this new birth, Christians are new people. We were dead, but now we are alive. 1. We have a new hope.  ‘He has given us new birth into a living hope .. into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.’ (v4) We cannot separate this hope from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the ground of our hope: because God raised Jesus from the dead, we know that he can raise our bodies. It is the foretaste, the preview, the model of our resurrection. The bible speaks of the resurrected Jesus as a first ...