sermon this week!

Sermon notes
2 Samuel 23 :20, gut reaction? Run away! Lion chasers are different! You know what? God puts us in positions to fulfil our destiny, sometimes we need to chase our lions, in a pit, snowy day with a lion? Not a bad day, a horrendous day, but look what happens to Benaiah, how we react to our lions, how we take risks to fulfil God’s destiny for us, will give us the greatest opportunities in this life.
When did we become careful, when did we begin to worry about what people thought? When did we worry about the money in the bank, when did we begin to play it safe in case something happens?
I look at the birth of Christ, I don’t see God being careful, I see radicalful, I see riskful, so excitingful! I see a Father who loves his children, so much so he sent his first born to change the world, I see a son who came to challenge the status quo from the get go, birth in a stable, teaching the elders in the temple as a child, leaving his parents to be in his Father’s house, who met the sinners, made friends with them, spent most of his time with them, I see a man who challenged those who always sat in the churches, I see God who got so frustrated with those who had the talents, had the gifts and did nothing. I see God who loved each one of us so much that he laid his life down so that we could have life, I see a man who was and is God after he rose from the grave imploring his friends to go and tell the good news to all they met, and to go all over the world to take risks and live life to the full!
When did we live a careful life where we stayed with what we know, where we played it safe.
For all our good works, in what ways are we accepting the grace of Jesus Christ and letting others know of this great news?
Wiser Christians than me have said on occasion to me, shouldn’t go to the cinema, what would Jesus say if he came back and you were watching some film, I always laugh it off, but you know there is something deeper in that, what in fact are we doing as individuals and corporately as Christ’s church to be prepared for when he will return?
Irish joke about pushing the car, ghosts, rainy night, link of return of Christ is the natural end, not something frightening (well it shouldn’t be!)
History is going somewhere, not random, not eternal, there will be an end, there we will meet Jesus
Triumph, evil will be defeated
Restoration, the Jewish expectation was earthquakes, famines, wars, but with Jesus all will be made new, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, Jesus doesn’t come to destroy but to restore the perfect creation that God has always wanted.
The return of Jesus speaks of judgement., some will be taken, some will be left, now this isn’t about good works we have done, this is not if we have lived a good life, our true colours will be seen on this day, if we delight in Jesus when he returns we will run with arms outstretched, or shrink away in fear in hatred, I guess it is how we choose to live today, if we think we don’t need him, if we think we can do it alone, he will leave us alone when his day comes. Think about it, the repentant murderer, the repentant rapist those who accept their sin and seek forgiveness from Christ will be in his kingdom, we who have not really done that much wrong we who live lovely nice, respectable lives could be out in the cold, or the not so cold, because we have not sought the face of Jesus, that is not where I want to be!
The return of Christ will be decisive, there will be no second chances, the shops will be shut there is no chance of reprieve, so we must go and seek him now while he still may be found.
Sudden and unexpected, quick and not looked for so we must be prepared.
Jesus will return but the time is only known by the Father, the disciples did not know, we do not know, preachers, Jehovah witnesses, millennialists, post- millennialists do not know, Jesus doesn’t even know, the one thing we know is that the end will come, and we must be prepared.
So priorities for us then, a willingness to endure hardships for our faith, a wisdom in reading the signs of the times, a watchfulness so that his return will not find us idle or abusing the privileges we have been given as God’s children.
What does this mean for us then? Well firstly we need to accept Jesus as our saviour if we have not already done so, to do this we need to accept that we are sinners, which is something we never want to do in our nice safe comfortable existence. Who here is a sinner? Each one of us, every one of us, need the grace of God, we may have never done anything really bad, but we have all fallen short of the grace of God, so we need to accept our need of a saviour and that means inviting Jesus in to be our guide, our helper, our friend, our Lord.
So is that it? Nope Jesus calls us all to follow him, and to go and make disciples of all the nations, that means praying to God for opportunities to share your faith, that means sharing your faith with others, that means growing in your faith through study of the bible, through reading Christian books, through attending house groups, that means serving those in need, not the people like you, but those in need in the town of Dalkeith, getting your hands dirty, not because you are nice, but because you are a sinner who is redeemed and you want others to find redemption.
If we take this on board, our faith is no longer about maintaining a respectable image, it is about chasing our lions, there are two types of regret, regrets of action, regrets of inaction, “wishing you hadn’t done something, and wishing you had done something” in the church we are very good at getting at the regrets of action, the sins committed, we have a long list of don’ts which we think will be enough to make us holy, but you know you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right, our calling is much more than doing nothing wrong, we are called to chase lions, when we don’t have the guts to step out in faith, God is robbed of the glory he is due.
We have become to passive, too defensive, we want to play it safe, but you know what taking no risks is the greatest risk of all
Let’s not be frightened to make mistakes, lets not fear failure, we will learn, at least if we make a mess of things we are trying, Jesus is coming back someday, it may be someday soon, how are we going to meet him? How is he going to meet me, how is he going to meet you? Take courage, chase the dreams you know God has given to you!