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.
Category Archives: Sermons
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.
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
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.
How Can I Handle Discouragement? (Nehemiah 4)
How can I Handle Discouragement? (Nehemiah 4) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.
10/10/10. Today is going to be one of the busiest days of the year for Registry Offices. Couples are joining hands today in the hope that this auspicious day will bring them happiness. Some register offices, like Chichester, are opening for the first time on a Sunday due to the demand. Manchester Register Office is opening today for only the third time on a Sunday since it was established in 1837. Today is also Micah Challenge Sunday when we join hands in prayer with 100 million Christians around the world. We are joining hands to express our solidarity with the poor. We are joining hands to call for justice, ten years after nations around the world committed themselves to halve global poverty by 2015.
The apostle Paul writes in Galatians, “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10). As Christians we want to declare God’s heart for the poor. We want to remind our political leaders that halving poverty is worth every effort. That is why we are asking you to leave your hand print before you leave today. Make a personal promise before God to do something to end world poverty. Then we will send this scroll with our handprints to our MP. So many proverbs refer to the hand.
A bird in the hand…. Lend a hand… Many hands make…. Hands that do dishes….
You know what the world’s most deadly but preventable disease is? No, its not cancer, polio or even AIDS. There is something even more debilitating. Its discouragement. Its easy to become discouraged when you consider the enormity of halving global poverty by 2015. Or reversing climate change, or even building a Church in Virginia Water. Three things make discouragement a deadly disease:
It’s universal. One in four of us will suffer from depression this year. But everyone of us gets discouraged sooner or later. I know I do. I am sure you do. We all do. Its universal.
It’s recurring. You get multiple opportunities to become discouraged every day. It’s universal. It’s recurring. Thirdly,
It’s contagious. In fact it is highly contagious. My discouragement will infect you and vice versa. It rubs off. But there is good news. Discouragement is curable.
The next instalment in the story of Nehemiah illustrates the causes and cures for discouragement. We are going to see that together, when we join hands, when we work together, when we watch one another’s back, when we encourage one another we can banish discouragement. We can make a difference.
The Case for Anger Management (Genesis 4)
The Case for Anger Management (Genesis 4) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.
Before the age of television, I remember as a child playing Cleudo with my grandparents. Cleudo is a detective game of deduction devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor’s clerk from Birmingham in 1949 and originally published by Waddingtons of Leeds.
The aim is find out which of six characters, Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard, Mrs White, Reverend Green, Mrs Peacock and Professor Plum, committed a murder, why they did it, where they did it and how – which of the implements they used to do it. “Was it really Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room using the candlestick?”
All very engrossing for a five year old. And no, it didn’t give me nightmares. At 25 I moved on to the Miss Marple and Poirot stories by Agatha Christie. Now its wall to wall CSI programmes. There was something really quite captivating about trying to figure out “who done it” before the end of the episode.
Today we are considering Genesis 4:1-6:4 and where rebellion leads. It leads to Murder #1, the first murder in history, when Cain kills his brother Abel. This is not a murder mystery, however. Moses tells us right away that Cain is the killer, and even if he had not, there really were not exactly many other suspects around.
Although it may lack suspense, the story of Cain and Abel is important because it contains significant lessons for us. As we look at this tale of two brothers, let’s ask the Lord to help us learn from the tragic account of Cain and Abel.
Continue reading
Women and Men in Leadership (1 Timothy 2)
Men & Women in Ministry (1 Timothy 2) from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.
When I meet a couple wishing to get married, the first thing I have to do is ascertain that there are no impediments. I am required to ask them a series of questions. How old are you? Where do you live? Have you been married before? Are you related to one another? In the reading of the banns and at the very beginning of the marriage service we ask publicly if anyone knows of any reason why these persons may not lawfully marry to declare it now. You will be relieved to know that I don’t ask them about their foundation, mascara, lipstick, cosmetic surgery or hair colouring. In 1770 things were very different. In that year the British Parliament passed an Act which specified additional impediments to marriage which applied not only here but throughout the British Colonies including America:
“All women, of whatever age, rank, profession or degree, whether virgins, maids or widows, that shall, from and after such Act impose upon, seduce or betray into matrimony, any of his Majesty’s subjects by virtue of scents, paints or cosmetics, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron-stays, bolstered hips or high-heeled shoes, shall incur the penalty of the law now in force against witchcraft, and like misdemeanours, and that the marriage upon conviction shall be null and void.”
And had you attended a church in that generation you would have heard clergy warn that the use of lipstick was of the devil, used to seduce men into marriage by witchcraft. I hope the Act was repealed but so far my searches have not brought any assurances.
The controversies surrounding what hairstyles, clothing and makeup are acceptable for Christians today goes way, way back before the very birth of the church and the cultural values of Roman, Greek and Jewish society. For example, the Jewish Talmud contains this ruling:
“A woman may not go out on the Sabbath [in the courtyard of her house only] wearing plaits of hair, whether of her own hair or of another woman or of an animal; or with frontlets or other kinds of ornaments sewn to her headgear; or with a hairnet or false curl, or with wadding in her ear or shoe…”
But in Ephesus, immoral and pagan Greek and Roman values were also influential. Young believers, Jewish and Gentile, were confused about how to express their new found freedoms in Christ.
The controversies were dividing the Christians and scandalising their witness. So Paul is inspired to write to Timothy two letters to help regulate the life of the church in Ephesus. As we have already seen, he begins with doctrine in chapter 1, urging Timothy to confront false teaching and to remain loyal to the apostolic faith.
Who is my Neighbour? (Luke 10) World Vision Day of Prayer
Good Samaritan (Luke 10) World Vision Day of Prayer from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.
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
Pope Benedict, the Church of England and the Challenge of False Teaching
Pope Benedict, the Church of England and the Challenge of False Teaching
The historic visit to the UK this weekend of Pope Benedict 16th has rightly received considerable media attention. There are several reasons for the media interest: Although Pope John Paul II came on a pastoral visit in 1982, this is the first ever state visit by a Pope. The invitation came from Her Majesty the Queen. More controversially, while the Church of Rome forbids its clergy from marrying, it is embroiled in a deeply damaging scandal of child abuse that is truly global in scale. Then, just before Pope Benedict arrived, one of his senior advisers – Cardinal Walter Kasper – suggested to a German magazine that arriving at Heathrow airport was like landing in a “Third World country”. Benedict has also offended some humanists by associating their view with the “Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society.”
While journalists have focused on these controversies, few have asked the more fundamental question of why England is not Catholic like France, Spain and Italy. Why is England Protestant? On Friday Benedict gave an address in Westminster Hall. It was here that Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, was tried and condemned to death for defending his ultimate allegiance to the Holy See rather than his loyalty to King Henry VIII. This is why English Monarch can never be Roman Catholic. Pope Benedict came on this historic visit, in his words, to heal wounds and extend the hand of friendship to the British people. This dialogue is welcomed.
The impression given though, even some religious journalists, is that the RC and Anglican churches believe much the same thing and that our differences are trivial, or the result of Henry VIII’s testosterone levels. The fact is there remain serious theological differences between the Church of Rome and England.
Since the Reformation both churches have believed that the other has departed from the true faith. This is why studying 1 Timothy this Autumn is going to be so important and relevant. We will find practical guidance on how to live as Christ followers. We will also find answers to the questions that continue to divide Christians. Lets recap what we learnt two weeks ago.
The Purpose of 1 Timothy
The central purpose of First Timothy is found in 1:3 and 3:15:
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer.” (1 Timothy 1:3).
“if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Tim. 3:15)
The primary focus concerns false teaching and its devastating effects. But the letter also contains positive instruction that inoculates against the errors of the false teachers. Paul’s real concern is with the results of the false teaching – promoting speculations (1:4; 6:4), arrogance (6:4), and greed (6:5–10). Paul focuses on how authentic faith leads to godly lifestyles. Lives not shaped by the gospel have turned away from the faith. 1 Timothy is therefore a clear call for Christians to live out the gospel – to live like Jesus.