Category Archives: Sermons

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (1 Corinthians 15:58-16:2)

1 Corinthians 15.58-16.2 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

You could sum up the news headlines this week in one word: ‘exposure’. Exposure to bad weather and travel chaos. Exposure to corruption among FIFA officials. Exposure of false accounting by some MP’s over their expenses. And above all, the exposure of the first few hundred of 250,000 US embassy cables. However we feel about WikiLeaks, Jesus promises there’s lots more exposure to come.

“What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:3-8)

The reason exposure has been so painful for some of our politicians, football officials and diplomats this week is because at some critical moment they have lacked integrity.  The word comes from the Latin ‘integer’ meaning ‘whole or complete’.  It describes an internal consistency between our words and actions, between our private and public lives. Integrity is the opposite of hypocrisy.

Sadly, all the good service these leaders may have given over many years has been forgotten. It was in vain because when it mattered they lacked integrity. Knowing that one day all will be exposed, how can we avoid the same embarrassment?

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How to Avoid ‘Flat Tyre Syndrome’ (Nehemiah 13)

How to Avoid Flat Tyre Syndrome (Nehemiah 13) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Ever had a flat tyre? You know, the kind you are aware of, but you just don’t get round to fixing. You’re too busy and you think you’ll make it to your destination. My most embarrassing flat tyre was late one night, in central London, near Lambeth Palace actually. And I had a sleeping Bishop in the passenger seat. That is until I hit the curb and blew the tyre.

He ended up changing the tyre for me. Very embarrassing.  Most flat tyres don’t occur as a result of a blowout. They go flat gradually because air leaks out over time, slowly, imperceptibly until one day you are grounded.  Apparently, a tyre can lose one or two pounds of air a month in cool weather, and even more in warm weather. Sometimes you don’t even know you’re going flat until the car becomes difficult to steer, and then it is too late. Spiritual decline is very much like that.  Spiritual decline or back-sliding is like a slow flat tyre. We have all been there. We go a week without praying or reading our Bible. We miss a couple of home group meetings. We are so tired by the week or a late night on Saturday and we have a lie in on Sunday morning and before you know it, its lunch time.

As we conclude the story of Nehemiah, we come face-to-face with the reality of what I call ‘flat tyre syndrome’. Now you would think that the last chapter of this great book would contain encouraging and compelling stories of how God’s people, back in the Land, the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt, experiencing God’s blessing. As we left them last week in chapter 12, having rededicated themselves to love and serve the Lord, having signed a solemn covenant to hold each other accountable, you would expect to find God’s people taking their spiritual commitment to the next level. Frankly, this script does not have a happy ending. Between chapter 12 and 13 Gods people had a flat tyre. They backslide as a nation. The verb “backslide” means “To relapse into bad habits, sinful behaviour, or undesirable activities.” Lets find out how it happened, what they did about it and what we can do to avoid a similar flat tyre. Continue reading →

Purpose Driven Worship (Nehemiah 12)

Purpose Driven Worship (Nehemiah 12) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Today is the anniversary of the first ever manned flight in the history of the world. The journey took place on 21st November 1783 when the French physicist Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes lifted off in a hot air balloon from the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. They floated free for 25 minutes, crossing the Seine and landing five miles away. For the first time in history people travelled through the air. In the large audience that day was the American ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin. When asked by a friend what good a balloon flight would do, Franklin replied, “And what good is a new-born baby?” Franklin had the foresight to realise that there might be a useful purpose in flight. On 21st November 1783 most people hadn’t a clue what the purpose of flight might be.  And 227 years on, some people still haven’t worked out what their purpose in life is.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism is considered to be the grandest doctrinal statement to come out of the Reformation. Composed of 107 questions and answers, the most famous of which asks: Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

A rather more contemporary, simplified and popular version was written by Rick Warren and called The Purpose Driven Life. He writes, “If you want to know the purpose of life, you have to either talk to the creator who made you, or look in the owner’s manual. You were made by God and you were made for God.  And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense.” In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says God has five purposes for your life:

1. Worship – We were planned for God’s pleasure
2. Fellowship – We were formed for God’s family
3. Discipleship – We were created to become like Christ
4. Ministry – We were shaped for serving God
5. Evangelism – We were made for a mission

Today, we’re going to look at the first of God’s purposes and see how God’s people discovered them in Nehemiah’s day.

Our first purpose in life is to glorify God.  It’s our primary objective.  It’s our highest priority.  Our number one purpose in life.  And we have a fantastic team of musicians and singers at Christ Church who assist us in our praise and worship.But when you hear the word “worship,” what do you think of? What does Nehemiah 12 say?  The chapter before us today describes the dedication service for the newly constructed walls. The Levites were brought,

“to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres… I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.” (Nehemiah 12:27-31).

Three words in verse 27 summarise our primary purposes in worship: Celebration, thanksgiving and dedication take us to the heart of what worship is all about.

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How to Love Your Enemy (Matthew 5:43-48)

How to Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5 43-48) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

You either love him or loathe him. He is one of the most popular, well known, larger than life faces on TV. Usually Jeremy Clarkson is to be seen extolling the virtues of shiny new cars on BBC2’s Top Gear. But a while back he talked with a passion of something far more fundamental – the often forgotten heroism of men who risked their lives for their country.

Clarkson presented a BBC documentary, “The Victoria Cross: For Valour”, examining the stories of some of our VC heroes, focusing on the one he found so personally inspirational, including his father-in-law he never knew but deeply admired.

The scene was Holland, in mid-September 1944. Airborne forces were attempting to capture a key bridge at Arnhem during the ill-fated Operation Market Garden.

Major Robert Cain commanded a company of the South Staffordshire Regiment. These men landed eight miles from the so-called “Bridge Too Far” where the British were fighting desperately to retain their foothold at the north end. Disaster struck. The Germans sprang an ambush and 300 of our men lost their lives, including two of Robert Cain’s closest friends.

With the remnants of his force retreating, Major Cain and the remainder of the company had a stark choice, to fight or surrender. And fight they did, losing another 40 men before being ordered to the last-stand defence of a village surrounded by 6,000 German troops armed with tanks, rocket launchers and 100 heavy guns. Single-handedly, Cain destroyed three Tiger tanks, standing in the open. He was temporarily blinded but after recovering, he turned the defence into a counter attack with such ferocity that the Germans were eventually forced to withdraw, allowing Cain’s men to escape across the Rhine.

For his courage and leadership, Major Robert Cain received the Victoria Cross, the highest, most prestigious award bestowed for gallantry. It is a sobering to remember that nine out of every 10 recipients died in the action which led to their being honoured. In its 149-year history, only 1,354 have ever been awarded, and as Clarkson discovered, the feats of the men who received it were truly remarkable. Major Robert Cain was one of the few who survived to enjoy the honour of being presented with his VC.

Jeremy Clarkson was clearly moved by the stories he told in the programme, not least that of his own father-in-law. And it prompted him to ponder a simple question which, in this period of remembrance for British soldiers lost in battle… I want us to spend a little while reflecting on this morning…  He asked: “How can we call the likes of David Beckham a hero for scoring a goal?  I wonder who your heroes are today?  And what about your children and grandchildren? Who are the heroes pinned to their bedroom walls?  What kind of people do you aspire to be like? What kind of people do we want our children to aspire to be like?

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Making a Covenant with God (Nehemiah 10)

Renewing the Covenant with God (Nehemiah 10) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Nehemiah 10 is all about the solemn agreement God’s people made.  As we consider it’s significance and relevance, I want us to answer three questions.  1. Why did they make this covenant?  2. Who made the covenant?  3. What did they covenant?

1. Why did they make this covenant?

1.1 Because the Lord had covenanted with their fathers. (9:7-8)

1.2 Because the Lord had protected them. (9:9-15)

1.3 Because the Lord had chastised them. (9:16-37)

1.4 Because they were now determined to change (9:38).

“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” (Nehemiah 9:38)

They meant business. They wanted to begin again.
They wanted to repent of the past. They wanted to start again in the future. I hope you want to today as well. That is why they made this covenant.

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Joshua and the Pile of Stones (Joshua 24)

What is an anniversary? What anniversaries do you celebrate in your family? Why do we celebrate wedding anniversaries, husbands? For a quiet life? No, because we are thankful that our wives put up with us… Remembering our anniversary helps us give thanks for one another. Helps us renew our commitment to one another. Helps us try harder in the future. That’s why we are encouraged when we hear of couples celebrating their 25th, 30th, or 50th wedding anniversary.  Do you remember your parents anniversary? Think about it. If they hadn’t got married you probably would not be here. Anniversaries are important.

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The Need, Process and Results of Renewal (Nehemiah 8)

Nehemiah 8 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.

Today, many celebrate the Celtic festival of Samhain or Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)”. The word is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”. The festival celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”. It is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year”. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the next became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit. The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even (“evening”), that is, the night before All Hallows or All Saints Day when the church celebrates the unity of the church, visible and invisible, earthly and heavenly, the church penitent and the church triumphant.

But on All Hallows Eve, the 31st October 1517, a 34 year old Augustinian monk gave us another reason to celebrate today, when he nailed a statement to the door of the Schlosskirche in the Saxon town of Wittenberg. And so today also marks the first day of the Reformation. What triggered Martin Luther’s historic challenge to the Church of Rome was Pope Leo X’s decision to complete the rebuilding of Rome’s ancient and crumbling St Peter’s Cathedral. Or rather, should I say, how Pope Leo proposed to pay for the work. In order to raise the funds needed, he authorised Bishops to sell indulgences promising to deliver souls from Purgatory. One particularly energetic salesman was Johann Tetzel. Tetzel was a German Dominican friar assigned by the Archbishop of Mainz to collect the revenue in that part of Germany. Using a drum to gain attention, Tetzel apparently wrote praise songs with imaginative words like “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs.”  Tetzel sold pardons for murder, for incest, theft, adultery, perjury and other crimes, all for hard cash. The pardons not only covered past sin but future sins also. With the blessing of the church, therefore, recipients could indulge themselves in the belief that they had bought their forgiveness. Luther vowed ‘to beat a hole in Tetzel’s drum’ and that is why he pinned his 95 thesis to the door of the church in Wittenburg. Continue reading →

The Parable of the ‘Good’ Palestinian (Luke 10)

Do you ever worry about your neighbours? About that they may think of you? What impression you give them as a neighbour? When they meet you or see you from a distance, what impression do they get? Is it accurate or a distortion? Are your neighbours threatened or confused by the impressions you give? Do they want to get to know you or do they lock the door and hide? Scientists tell us that the further away your neighbours live, the more likely they are to hold outdated, inaccurate and stereotypical views of you. Did you know, for example, that once broadcast, TV signals begin an endless journey outward into the cosmos at the speed of light? That means our earliest TV broadcasts are probably travelling through star systems more than 400 trillion miles from earth. Do you realise that our neighbours living 60 light years away are watching the first episodes of the Lone Ranger in black and white. 50 light years away they are now watching Rawhide and Bonanza. 40 light years away they have moved on to the original Star Trek series. 30 light years away they are able to watch the Dukes of Hazzard and Knots Landing. Just 20 light years away its Seinfeld and the Sopranos. Those only 10 light years away are being blessed by the Apprentice and countless episodes of Lost. Does it worry you what our neighbours in space may think about us? Does it matter what impression we give? If you want to explore this further I recommend the new film District 9.

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Runnymede Mayor’s Civic Service: Church and State

Runnymede Mayor’s Civic Service Romans 13 from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.


Thomas Jefferson once asked the rhetorical question: “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?”

In the 18th Century, on both sides of the Atlantic, there might have been a consensus that the answer was self-evident – at least in Britain if not in France. When the same revolutionary spirit infected the North American Colonies it became a more debatable question there also. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which Jefferson helped write, provided one solution – separate church and state.

While originally intended to protect the church from the state, since 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted it to mean that religion and government must stay separate for the benefit of both. Not so today. Most people believe the Church should keep its nose out of politics. Which is why our Bible reading from Romans may have sounded somewhat reactionary or fundamentalist depending on your political affiliation?

Even the idea of holding a religious ceremony to inaugurate the appointment of a new civic leader may to some, appear eccentric or inappropriate. What has religion got to do with politics? I suggest a great deal, and worthy of our attention today. Please turn with me to our Bible reading from Romans.

That we have responsibilities to both God and the state was clearly implied in Jesus’ enigmatic epigram, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ (Matthew 22:21)

Now the Apostle Paul enlarges on the state’s God-appointed role and on the responsibility of Christian citizens in relation to it. His emphasis however, is on personal citizenship rather than on any particular theory of church—state relations.

1. The Authority of the State
2. The Role of Government
3. The Responsibility of Citizens

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The Servant Leader (Nehemiah 5)

Have you ever wondered what leads most people into debt? It’s trying to catch up with people who are already there. It’s the same with nations. Do you remember the Jubilee 2000 Campaign? The international campaign to have the crippling debts of the poorest countries in the world cancelled. How are we doing? Hasn’t most of the debt been cancelled? The good news is that $100 billion of Third World debt has been written off. The bad news is that the total debt owed by the developing world is still $3.7 trillion. In order for the poorest countries of the world to meet their basic needs, a further $400 billion needs to be written off. That is unlikely. Unlikely because most debt relief is administered through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Both are controlled by wealthy creditor nations. We set the rules that allow poor countries to qualify for debt cancellation. If countries do not follow the demands of the IMF or World Bank they cannot get debt relief. To make matters worse, for every £1 developing countries receive from developed countries in aid, they return £5 in debt service repayments. Five times more money still flows out of the developing world than is given in aid and support. [See the Jubilee Debt Campaign]

What does God think about this? Does he care? Yes, he does, most emphatically. Today we come to chapter 5 in the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of God’s people as well as their walls. Last Sunday in chapter 4 we saw there were three different threats to God’s people. Their enemies used both verbal abuse and violent threats. They were provocative and powerful. But the biggest threat was internal. It came from vision fatigue. Their initial enthusiasm was waning. They had begun to focus on their problems and become demotivated. We saw how Nehemiah inspired them to have a mind to work, a heart to pray and an eye to watch. Today in chapter 5 the external enemies and the city walls recede from view, to reveal a more subtle and more fundamental problem. Here the menace is hunger and exploitation, and the structure at risk is not the walls but the community of God’s people itself.

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