Continuing ministry of Jesus: our role

Preached on: Sunday 24th February 2019
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here 19-02-24-Brightons-Powerpoint-Scott-sermon-morning-website (1).
Bible references: Acts 2:42-47 and Matthew 5:13-16
Location: Brightons Parish Church

Texts: Acts 2:42-47 and Matthew 5:13-16
Sunday 24th February 2019
Brightons Parish ChurchLast week we took out first look at the verses from the end of Acts chapter 2 and specifically focused on verse 42. If you missed that week, or forget what was said, then you can now access the latest sermons online via our website, and thank you to our team who have made that possible. Last week we saw that the life and vibrancy of the early church flowed from them dwelling in Jesus and Jesus dwelling in them; that as “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…the Lord added to their number.”

We saw that these four key facets of church life were like the four wheels to a car or four key ingredients to a cake, that there is no good life without the Good Lord.

I encouraged you to think about how you might live out these verses in your own life and we had some time to talk that over with one another. So, for 1 minute, why don’t we turn to our neighbour and share what came of that discussion? Maybe you did something, thought something, prayed something – so, for 1 minute, it’s over to you again – what came out of last Sunday for you?!

(PAUSE FOR DISCUSSION)

Throughout this series in Acts we have seen again and again that a key theme is the continuing ministry of Jesus and that we (each) are invited to play our part, we are all invited into the adventure of partnering with Jesus. One commentator on the book of Acts points out that the author of Acts never attributes the growth which took place primarily to the preaching of the apostles; indeed, as we see in our reading today: “All the believers…[were] enjoying the favour of all the people.” (v44, 47) This favour that the whole church was experiencing would have given opportunity for them individually to share their faith with friends and colleagues and neighbours – this would have involved all the disciples, not just the apostles – and from this, the seeds of faith were sown and the apostles watered, and God, by His Spirit, brought about a great response.
So, if last week was primarily focused on how we each can walk closely with the Good Lord, then this week we are faced with the question: how can we adventure with the Good Lord? How can we play our part in His continuing ministry? Maybe you don’t think of it as an adventure, but in this next video let English Bishop J John tell you why it really is an adventure! (VIDEO)

As a follower of Jesus we are involved in God’s global mission – it really is an adventure. So, again, like last week, I am going to try and limit what I say on these verses, to give you as much of the remaining time to chat amongst yourselves.

I’ve summarised the verses here as: wonder, wallet and welcome.

• So, firstly, “wonder”: “everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles” – these wonders and signs provoked awe, probably provoked questions. They were given as signs to the Jewish people to highlight that their hopes and dreams were now being fulfilled through Jesus, that the dawn of a new age had come, and the kingdom of God was breaking in to this world. But it wasn’t just the apostles who provoked wonder or questions, as I said last week, the church at large impacted the wider Roman culture. And in chapter six of Acts, Stephen is described as “a man full of God’s grace and power, [who] performed wonders and signs among the people” – so the miraculous wasn’t limited to just the apostles. But the principle is this: whether through the miraculous or through love in action,…
the church at large stirred up wonder, they provoked healthy, positive questions. A small book I read last year talks about this, it’s called ‘Surprise the world’ and in it, Michael Frost suggests that “all believers [are] to live questionable lives…lives that evoke questions from their friends…our task is to surprise the world.” How can we do that? He suggests that we should seek to bless others, understanding that “bless” means to “strengthen the arm of another”. Maybe through our words, our acts of kindness, through a gift and of course our time. So, maybe there is someone in your street you can seek to bless? Or what about prayer? Many of us have a conversation with a friend about an issue in their life, and we listen and we nod and we give comfort, but that’s as far as we go. Yet, would it not provoke a question, maybe wonder, if we said,…
“I’ll pray tonight for you about that.” Or indeed, if we go that extra step, and say, “Can I pray with you just now about that?” No one’s ever turned me down, even before I was a minister, and with a one sentence prayer, you could both strengthen and stir up a little wonder.
It’s a great way to adventure with Jesus.

• Secondly, “wallet”: “all the believers…had everything in common…They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” – last week we saw that the believers devoted themselves to fellowship, to “koinonia”, the sharing of life. That sharing, as we see here, went as far as to touch the wallet and the purse, for property was sold according to need; it wasn’t enforced sharing or communism, but it was sacrificial sharing of life for the benefit of one another.
So, can I ask, when was the last time you reviewed your giving to church? Many of us may give through standing order, but have left that unchanged for some time. Or, when was the last time you donated to the Foodbank? So, this week, or in the coming month, why not think about whether you can adventure with Jesus through your wallet or purse?

• Lastly, “welcome”: “they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” – last week in v42, we saw that the disciples devoted themselves to “the” breaking of bread, but here it is simply that they broke bread and ate together, a subtle difference. Their sharing of life together included the sharing of meals, of hospitality. It was done with
“sincere hearts” –
which means it was done without pretence, but simply and with generosity. It stands in contrast to our individualist age. Prior to coming to Brightons we lived in Dalkeith, in a new housing scheme, with lots of folks that didn’t go to church. We would talk with neighbours quite regularly, but not once, I’m embarrassed to say, did I invite them in for a meal, and likewise they didn’t either. Maybe that’s the reason why the conversation only went so far. It’s just so easy in our time, in our country, to run the rat race, and go from one little box to another little box, rarely interacting with those around us.

But if we opened up our homes, to folks on our street who don’t come to church, then it might open doors to deeper sharing, it might help lonely people…

find a place where they are valued and accepted. You don’t have to necessarily invite the young families, if you don’t feel able to do that – if you reached out to someone your age, or someone 10 or 20 years younger than you, and over time if they decided to give church another try, even at the age of 40, 50, 60, 70 – then that might stir up questions in their children or grandchildren, and who knows where that might lead. So, inviting the neighbours ‘round might look different for each of us, and that’s OK. But let’s not allow embarrassment over furniture or fear of serving an inadequate meal hold us back; to do so is simply letting pride get in the way.

So, once more, let’s break into small groups and talk about what it might look like for us to adventure with Jesus in these areas – and, again, if you can, try to come up with one more thing you personally could do to partner with Jesus in His continuing ministry.

(PAUSE FOR DISCUSSION)

Friends, whether it be through one of these three ways, or by reading the vacancy list and volunteering for a role there, we each are called to adventure with Jesus. As our reading from Matthew highlighted, the nature and character of our lives proves the reality of our faith: we are salt and light if we claim to be Christian, and that saltiness, that inner light, cannot actually be lost…
so it should be evident in our lives and through our lives to the people around us.

That has always been God’s plan – for you and I to play our part in the continuing ministry of Jesus. God has no “plan B” – it’s you and me adventuring with Jesus that will help change this world. And maybe as we lean in to that, through wonder, through our wallet, through our welcome, we might waken up people out there to the fact that the kingdom of God is near at hand and the light of the world is Jesus, and then they too might glorify our Father in heaven.

May it be so. Amen.

Devoted to teaching, fellowship, communion and prayer

Preached on: Sunday 17th February 2019
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here 19-02-17-Brightons-Powerpoint-Scott-sermon-website.
Bible references: Acts 2:42-47
Location: Brightons Parish Church

Texts: Acts 2:42-47
Sunday 17th February 2019
Brightons Parish ChurchJesus said, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”’ (Matt. 22:37-39)

With our young people I began to unpack that, love for God and for one another was central to the early Church, so much so that even in their changing circumstances they prioritised certain practices and were devoted to doing them, because, as we saw last week, they wanted to live for Jesus and play their part in His continuing ministry; they were convinced He was alive and so, they wanted to know more of His life for themselves and be a conduit of His life to others.

Over the years it transformed the world – in a relatively short space of time, the early church came to be envied by the Roman authorities for how extravagantly they showed love to neighbour, no matter creed, colour or class.

And the result was this: “…the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) The growth of the Christian faith was phenomenal, not only here at the birth of the church but across the early centuries. Yet does this phrase mean that these Christians simply stayed at home? Does it mean that they played no part in these historical changes coming to fruition? Of course not – the verses we will look at in a moment, as well as the rest of Acts, if not the rest of the New Testament,… make it very clear that individual Christians and the Christian community as a whole play a key role, that what we do, what you and I do, is of great importance. If Brightons Parish Church is to have a vibrant future, and if that is to overflow into our community, such that our community thrives as well – then we all (we all) have a part to play in that; we all do need to do certain things, as we’ll see today and next week.

But before we get practical, notice this: “…the Lord added to their number” – “…the Lord added to their number” – the early church knew that any life, any growth, any success, any vibrancy, any positive impact upon its own members and then the surrounding community was a result of the Lord being active in and amongst them,… and so, they made it clear in their account: “…the Lord added to their number.”

Maybe it’s because of this conviction that the author of Acts sandwiches the stuff we like: the miracles, the great feats of love, the joy, the incredible growth in numbers – the author sandwiches all these things that we’d love to see, between two key statements: “They devoted themselves to……[and] the Lord added to their number.” The start and the end go hand in hand, because the top list is like the four wheels of a car – without those four wheels, the car won’t move, or with some wheels missing it will only bump and grind along the road, but never reach its full potential, never seeing the distance and destination it could reach with all four wheels.

Or it’s like me trying to make my favourite cake – Chocolate Guinness Cake (and yes, I can make it) – it’s like me trying to make that cake without chocolate, Guinness, bicarbonate of soda or cream cheese: any Chocolate Guinness cake that doesn’t include those things is going to be dull and flat, lacking life and lacking all the good stuff that makes me want to keep it to myself!

With baking and cars we know that we need the whole package, but when it comes to church we somehow think we can have one without the other – we want the miracles, the great feats of love, the joy, the incredible growth in numbers – but we’d rather leave the other stuff to the “spiritual people” or “religious people” or the minister. So, please here me clearly on this: we will never get the good life, without the Good Lord; we will never get the good life, without the Good Lord.
If we want vibrancy in Brightons Parish Church, and if we want that vibrancy to overflow to the community, such that it blesses and benefits the community, and if we want people out there to think church might be relevant, then we each, individually, must know and walk with the Good Lord – because when we do that, His life, His power, His love, His grace will flow into our lives and overflow into the lives of the wider community. It’s simply how it works: we will never get the good life, without the Good Lord.

So, our passage today is not complex or even hard to understand, and many of the ideas and terms you will be familiar with. In some ways, I probably could end the sermon here and leave the rest up to you…but I love to learn, and consequently, I love to give others the opportunity to learn and grow as well.
So, in the time remaining, I am going to try and limit what I say, and give you as much of the remaining time to chat amongst yourselves. My idea is that this week we’ll focus on verse 42, and next week we’ll cover the other verses. Hopefully you’re up for giving that a try for these two weeks, and then we’ll go back to me talking for twenty minutes. Sound fair enough?

So, v42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

But what do these terms mean for us today?

• Firstly, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching: they learnt about Jesus and His ways. We can do that a little through Sunday worship,..
but we each need more, and so today, maybe you should consider starting to read your Bible more regularly, and if you need help with that, then the discipleship team have daily reading notes available in the vestibule after today’s service.

• Secondly, they devoted themselves to fellowship: the word for fellowship here is “koinonia” and its basic idea is “sharing” – sharing in life together. How can we do that with one another? Maybe join a fellowship group; or maybe get involved in active service in this church and next week we’ll hopefully have a vacancy list to help with that. Or help with the Easter Fun Day.

• Thirdly, they devoted themselves to the breaking of bread: they shared in communion,…

they came back to the Cross time and time again. Here we only celebrate that a handful of times a year, so please try and be here for it.

• Lastly, they devoted themselves to prayer: they prayed; again and again throughout Acts we see that the early church prayed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is quoted as saying this: “there has never, to the best of my knowledge, been a revival in the church that did not begin with a renewal of prayer.” We never get the good life, without the Good Lord, and that’s so true of prayer. For us, that could mean coming to the Thursday evening prayer meeting. Or you could come to the Sunday evening services, because this year I’m thinking our theme for them will be prayer.

So, now it’s over to you – I’d like to give you the remaining time in small groups to talk about what it might look like for you to be devoted to Jesus through these things, to know and walk with the Good Lord. If you like, one idea is to start the conversation with the category you are weakest at – but whatever you do, try to come up with one or two things you personally could do differently so as to love the Lord a little more with your heart and soul and mind. So, over to you.

(PAUSE FOR DISCUSSION)

Friends, we obviously have not had time to think about all the ways we could apply these verses in our lives – but hopefully you’ve got a few ideas to take away, and maybe you can take some time this week…

to read these verses again and think through how you might put them into practice in your own life. For these things do help us to walk with the Lord, from whom we receive life, and love and grace – and as we dwell in Him and He in us, then His life and love will overflow in this place and out into the wider community, and maybe then Brightons Parish Church might also testify too that “…the Lord added to their number.”

May it be so. Amen.

The right heart

Preached on: Sunday 10th February 2019
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here 19-02-10-Brightons-Powerpoint-Scott-sermon-website.
Bible references: 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 and Acts 2:36-41
Location: Brightons Parish Church

Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 and Acts 2:36-41
Sunday 10th February 2019
Brightons Parish Church“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”

Between my first sermon in November last year and the first three sermons of my time here, we have begun to explore what the early chapters of the book of Acts might say to us at this time. In Acts we find the early church experiencing the winds of change – they are on the cusp of huge changes, changes like they had never seen nor expected. And so, Acts, especially these early chapters, gives us insight into some core things to remember in the midst of change.

For we are, ourselves, in the midst of change too. You have a new minister here and that will bring change, in time, maybe even already.
But more broadly, the Church, both the Church of Scotland and the universal Church, finds itself in changing times. As a denomination, numbers are falling and we struggle to know how to engage with today’s generation; indeed, we struggle to engage with any of the generations that don’t come to church, not just the young. In our denomination too, it is predicted that minister numbers will continue to fall, that in ten years’ time, maybe less, there will be around half our current number of ministers, meaning about one minister for every three churches. We are very much in changing circumstances, and Brightons Parish Church will not remain unaffected. What’s more, you also may be facing a change in personal circumstances. Change is everywhere.

So, what core things has Acts taught us so far? Well, we’ve thought about how Jesus IS risen and His ministry continues, even to this very day. We’ve seen that part of His continuing ministry is to challenge us, to force us to reconsider the box we have Him in, so that He can expand that box, or even blow it apart, leading us into a greater fullness of life with the aid of His Holy Spirit. And last week, we thought about how Jesus was shown to be the promised Messiah and that He is Lord and so in Jesus we see the reign of God.

In our passage today, Peter has covered the same material we have, and he reaches that point where he says: “‘Therefore…be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’”

But the moment does not end there, for we read: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to
Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”

The people were conscience-stricken and convicted; they were convicted of their need for Jesus; they were convicted that their faith had not been in Him, but in other things and in other people.

Another translation puts it this way: ‘Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?”’

So now what do we do? That question is as applicable for us as it was then. In the midst of change – so now what do we do? After we know whom Jesus is: that He is alive, that He is Lord and Messiah,…
that He His ministry is continuing by His Spirit through His Church – so now, what do we do? So now what do we do when we know He is challenging us and calling us to expand the box? So now, what do we do?

We read on: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

First off, Peter says to repent and to repent is much more than saying sorry or feeling remorse for what we’ve done. True repentance is when our minds are changed about Jesus such that our attitudes towards Him change and consequently, the direction of our life changes too…
In essence, we need to know for ourselves what the Apostle Paul wrote: That ‘he [Jesus] died for all, [so] that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.’ (2 Cor.5:15)

We see here that repentance involves two things. Firstly, we can’t truly repent if we don’t truly know who Jesus is and why He died on the Cross.

In the same passage, Paul writes in v21, ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.’ It’s a strange sounding idea, but what Paul wants us to understand is that Jesus, the perfect, holy, sinless Son of God, was treated as a sinner and bore the penalty of all sin in place of us. But why did God do that?

Well, our God is a holy God – and thank God that He is! Imagine a God who could simply overlook sin? That God would not be righteous, that God would not be perfect – that God would not even be loving because love does not delight in evil. And so, sin offends God, it grieves God, it alienates God and ourselves, and so we need a Saviour – everyone of us needs someone to save us from our alienation from God and the brokenness we have brought upon ourselves. And Jesus is that Saviour, He is the Messiah. Jesus died, that we might be reconciled to God, that we might be forgiven for our sins.

But it is perfectly possible to know who Jesus is and why He died, but never to repent. And so, Paul’s second point about true repentance comes to the fore.

‘he died for all, [so] that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.’ (2 Cor.5:15)

That those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him. This is the true mark of repentance – do you live for Jesus? Does He shape your life? You will know you have truly repented when you see Jesus as He truly is and you can honestly say that He shapes your choices, your values, your priorities – that’s when you know you live for Him. That’s true repentance.

But as I say, it’s entirely easy not to repent because so often we only get half of the story. In the Church of Scotland, we have not been good in calling for a response to Jesus, we shy away from it and so we leave people short-changed…
Sure, we share that God loves you, that Jesus died for you, but we don’t tell people the next bit – that they need to respond. And so, they miss out on the whole package. My own story is a testimony to this very failure in our denomination but also of God’s grace.

I grew up in the Church of Scotland, being baptised within it, going to Sunday School and then to Youth Fellowship. I remember one time in my teenage years of being motivated to read the Gospel of Mark, and going to my minister with my questions, but he simply brushed over them. I could never really understand his preaching, and I cannot remember hearing much about the love God has for me, nor that I needed to respond…

And so, I went to Youth Fellowship until it stopped, and then to the Sunday evening service when I worked in the morning, and I thought I was genuinely a Christian because I went to church, I helped run my local Cub Scout Pack and I had a good public image.

But over the course of my teenage years I grew in confidence and with that I grew in selfishness, and that particularly impacted the girls that I dated, for it was all about me and what I could get from the relationship. It came to a head when I was out celebrating my 19th birthday, and the parts I can remember from that night continue to shock and horrify me. My selfishness was rampant, and I lived for me.

But in the small hours of the morning after, God met with me, as I lay in bed, and He convicted me of my sin, and I repented – I didn’t say anything, but I died to self, and I got up that morning, out of that bed, a new man, a new creation as the Apostle Paul puts it, and I no longer lived for self but for Jesus: He was the centre of my life now, His will and His call and His goodness and love shown on Cross were the things I would build my life upon.

Friends, we don’t all need to have such a dramatic change, but do all need to repent – to respond to the Good News of who Jesus is and why He died, such that He becomes the centre of our lives and we then live for Him. Hopefully you’ve heard that before, but if you haven’t, now is the day of salvation, now can be the day of your salvation – and so as Christ’s ambassador, I implore you: be reconciled to God. Humble yourself, truly repent; come to God anew, set your hope upon Jesus, and come in to that new life with God. Before I became a Christian, I thought I was living life to the full, I thought I knew what the good life was, but it wasn’t the whole truth; it’s only through Jesus that you can know life in all its fullness – not an easy life, not a perfect life – but a life beyond imagination, a life we all hunger for in the deepest parts of our souls.

Friends, if you haven’t repented, if you don’t live for Jesus, then today could be your day, and I invite you to come speak with me after the service and together we can help you find that new life in Jesus.

But if you have repented, if by God’s grace you are a new creation, then there is a call upon your life for Peter says: “‘Repent…every one of you…And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Now what is that gift given for? We’ve heard in recent weeks that the Holy Spirit helps us to know who Jesus is and assures us that we are children of God – but the Spirit is also given for another reason. As the Apostle Paul said: “All this is from God, who…gave us the ministry of reconciliation…We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

So, there is call for all of us to live for Jesus by being His ambassador, His witness, and so you are called into the ministry of reconciliation;…
you are called to share your faith with others, to see everyone you meet through the lens of the cross, and to give of yourself for that ministry, the continuing ministry of Jesus.

Today, I want to focus on our hearts and outlook, because in all likelihood, some of us may shy away from this for any number of reasons. We might let fear, or feelings of inadequacy or awkwardness, or past negative experiences put us off. We might also shy away from it because we are not motivated to do so, that “Christ’s love [does not] compel us”. And that may have happened because of any number of reasons as well.

But whether you shy away because of fear, or for lack of love for God and neighbour, today God wants to help you have the right heart –
He calls you back to live for Jesus, He calls you out of fear and out of apathy, because today, now, is the day of salvation, and what you have received is not for you alone, but for every person that Jesus died for. Friends, if that is you – if fear or apathy hold you back from sharing in the life of this church, from sharing your faith with others – then you need to do business with God, and in a few moments, we’ll have an opportunity to pray about that.

So, we need to have the right heart for this ministry of reconciliation – but we also need to have the right outlook. We need to see, we need to appreciate, that “now is the day of salvation”. Now is the day, now is the time. Now is the day that people can come into a lifechanging relationship with Jesus; now is the time for broken hearts to be mended, and injustices to be challenged, and the poor helped…
Now is the day, now is the time, for the kingdom of God to come in our midst – and for that we need to have the right outlook, so that we can see the world as it is and see the world as it could be within the kingdom of God. With the right outlook we will see that “now is the day of salvation”, and we will do everything we can to usher in the kingdom.

Friends, we are in changing circumstances, and more change will come, and will need to come, if we want to know life in all its fullness, for ourselves, for one another and for the wider world. But for that to happen, we need to have the right outlook – that “this is the day of salvation” – and we need to have the right heart – that
“the love of Christ compels us” –
because then we will give of ourselves to that change, we lean in to that change, and before we know it, we’ll really be living for Jesus and participating in His continuing ministry, the ministry of reconciliation.

Brothers, sisters, what shall we do? First of all – have you repented? Do you live for Jesus? Secondly, will we commit to this ministry of reconciliation? Do we have the right heart? Do we have the right outlook?

Your Jesus box

Preached on: Sunday 3rd February 2019
The sermon text is given below or can be download by clicking on the “PDF” button above. Additionally, you can download the PowerPoint PDF by clicking here 19-02-03-Brightons-Powerpoint-Scott-sermon-website.
Bible references: Psalm 115:1-11 and Acts 2:22-36
Location: Brightons Parish Church

Like with our young people, we each have particular labels, and words, and ideas that describe God, that define His character and His ways. And we take those words and we take those ideas and we construct a box for God.

In reality, putting God in a box suits us – we quite like the idea of knowing we have the lid on God, that we know the boundaries to His character and ways. We generally prefer not having many surprises with God – we like knowing where the edges and corners to God are, we like knowing His colours and so His temperament. We like the assurance that we understand God and that God will behave according to the way we understand Him.
We also like the sense of control we have over God by Him being in the box because being in a box makes God a bit more manageable.

We all have a box for God – I have a box for God. People of every age, of every culture have had a box for God. And the same was true 2000 years ago when the Holy Spirit came upon the early Church for the first time. In that moment, something happened – something totally unexpected and new, something outside of everyone’s box. Certain people felt it went too far and they sneered and mocked the disciples, because these accusers had God in a box – a small, tight, clearly defined box.

But Peter stood up and He countered their allegations, explaining that something new had happened, that what they had heard and seen and experienced was nothing less than God and His kingdom breaking into our world and blowing open their boxes.

Friends, Jesus is always seeking to change, expand, or even blow apart, the box that we all have Him in so that by His Spirit He brings us all into a deeper understanding of Himself, and into a life of faith that is lived to the full.

But that raises the question: who is the Jesus that we each know and follow? Which of these names would you use? How would you describe His character and ways?

Maybe more importantly, would you still hold that perspective when life gets tough? When the difficulties of life come along, they confront us with some searching questions, and we might echo the words of the psalm: “where is God?” Who is this God that I’m called to trust in? What can I be sure of?

Any number of things could force each of us to ask these questions. It could be the death of a loved one; or the loss of health, work or a relationship; or it could be change – maybe changes in family or society, even changes in church.

All those experiences, all these questions, I can resonate with because there have been two times, at least, in my relatively short life when I’ve been left holding the pieces, holding the pieces of my life, of my faith, and wondering, where are You God? Who are You God? What can I be sure of?
It’s in the hard times that you really come down to focus on the essentials, because the hard times remind us that much of life and of faith is mystery, that there are questions we cannot answer, and may never get an answer.

But there are some questions that can be answered, and in their answer, we find hope for the difficult times and something to cling to when we’re holding our broken pieces and asking: where are you God?

One such answer is given in our passage today: in response to the question, “who is Jesus?”, Peter reminds us, encourages us, with these words: ‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’ (v36)

I like how the NRSV puts this verse: ‘Therefore…know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ – – – Know with certainty…be assured – of what? That Jesus is both Lord and Messiah.

But why is that hope for the difficult times? How is that anything to cling to 2000 years after the fact?

Let’s take a moment to think about each of these titles of Jesus and I’ll start with Jesus being Messiah.

Messiah is that Hebrew title from which we get the English title Christ. It literally means, “the anointed one” or “chosen one”…
In biblical times, anointing someone with oil was a sign that God was setting apart that person for a particular role. Thus, an “anointed one” was someone with a special, God-ordained purpose, usually a prophet, priest or king. But the Old Testament predicted that a Deliverer would come – someone who would be chosen and anointed by God to set Israel free, and this Deliverer was called the Messiah.

Is Jesus the Messiah? Well Peter argues He is: that Jesus was ‘a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him’ (v22) – and the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible give us eye witness accounts of what Jesus did – He was no ordinary man.

Peter also argues that the death of Jesus confirms Him to be the Messiah for He died on the cross because of ‘God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge’ (v23). Peter wants us to understand here that the death of Jesus was not the unfortunate defeat of a good man who had no power to save Himself. To see Jesus that way is to miss the point entirely – for even though it might look that way, it was in fact brought about because of the foreknowledge, decision and plan of God. This was no ordinary death of a common criminal or failed religious leader.

And to clinch his argument, Peter concludes with one final claim – – – that Jesus being raised to life fulfils the prophetic words of David, who wrote: ‘you will not let your holy one see decay’ (v27). These words are about the Messiah and were written 1000 years before Jesus,
So in resurrecting His Son, God the Father…
vindicates the death of Jesus and confirms that it was not some failed moral revolution, but instead a triumph over the agonising power of death and sin.

So in His life, in His death and in His resurrection, Jesus is confirmed as the Messiah, the Promised One, our Saviour, our Deliverer, one who is mighty to save, conqueror of sin and death.

In Jesus then, we can find hope, hope for today and hope for tomorrow, indeed hope for all eternity, because in Jesus we see the embodiment of God’s love and faithfulness, in Jesus we see the extent that God was willing to go for us: that He loved you and me with a suffering love, and He has loved us with that love from all eternity…

because He made a deliberate plan to send Jesus as our deliverer, as our Messiah. In fact, God was so meticulous and deliberate about this plan that He gave 60 prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. Do you want to guess the odds of Jesus fulfilling just 8 of those prophecies? It is 1 in a hundred million billion – basically impossible without divine intervention! But the incredible news is that Jesus didn’t just fulfil 8 prophecies, He fulfilled all 60, showing that He truly is the Messiah.

So, when hard times come, and we feel in the grip of darkness, will we remember that Jesus is Messiah? When changes come, and we feel unsettled and fearful, will we remember that Jesus is Messiah? When an opportunity comes to take a step of faith, and we’re tempted to play it safe, will we remember that Jesus is Messiah?
Years after the events of Acts 2, Peter will write in his first epistle these words: ‘set your hope on…Jesus Christ’ (1 Peter 1:13), Jesus the Messiah. So can I ask? Is your hope set on Jesus, Jesus the Messiah? It is a choice – you choose where to set your hope. In the dark times, in the times of asking, “where are you God?”, will you choose to set your hope on Jesus? There’s nowhere better, nowhere surer, no one else has conquered sin and death, no one else offers life in all its fullness and life eternal. So, my friends, set your hope on Jesus, on Jesus the Messiah.

In addition to all that, Peter says that Jesus is also Lord. Peter is convinced of it so, he now introduces a key Old Testament quotation:
‘“The Lord said to my Lord:
‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.’” (v34-35)

To our ears it is a strange argument but it is a quote from
Psalm 110, a psalm that was believed to refer to the Messiah – this chosen one, this anointed one. The Jews understood that the Messiah would be a direct descendant of King David, because that is what God had promised, and so the Messiah would be a man, a real human being.

But David, here, refers to this coming Messiah as “my Lord”, ‘Adonai’, giving to the Messiah a title that is reserved for God alone and the Jews didn’t really have an answer for this conundrum. So, Peter now makes it clear
– this Messiah is a man but He is also God –
and His name is Jesus. And this very Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling in a position of all authority, including over salvation and its blessings, and so it is from Jesus, by Jesus, through Jesus that we receive the grace of God: it is as we call on the name of Jesus that we receive salvation.

And the impact of this is huge! If Jesus is not only Messiah, but Lord and God, then in Jesus we see the reign of God – we see that God is not distant, He came close as a real human being; we see that God is not uncaring, He died for love of you and me. What’s more, we see that God is not a figment of imagination or superstition, rather He is risen and alive, a true person you can know; and finally, God is not just any god or every god, He is Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, and no other but He is truly God.

In the hard times, in changing times, is that the Jesus you turn to? Or is your picture of Jesus simply of a man, or a good teacher? If that’s the case my friends, hear this: your picture of Jesus falls so far short, you have been shortchanged, because you are missing out on knowing the true Jesus, the Jesus who is Lord.

Maybe that doesn’t sound much to you. You may even conclude that if Jesus is God, then He is doing a pretty poor job. And you know, the people of Peter’s day would probably have thought the same thing – for Peter to claim that Jesus was Lord was startling news, ridiculous news, even laughable news, because this Jesus had been crucified, and everyone knew that if you were crucified, hung from a tree, you were under the curse of God…
How could any such person be Lord? How could any such person be Messiah?

But appearances can be deceiving, for despite appearances, God was working His purposes out in Jesus – – – death did not have the final say, that cross, which by all accounts should have been the end of Jesus, was His finest moment.

Friends, in the hard times, in changing times, we can be asking: “where is God?” Who is this God that I’m called to trust in? What can I be sure of?

Despite all appearances, despite all other claims, the testimony across the generations is that only Jesus is
Messiah, only Jesus is Lord –
it is in Him that we can find true hope for the dark times, and someone to cling to when we’re left holding the pieces. It is Him I have run to when my life has fallen apart; it is Him who has been my rock when all else is unsteady and unsure.

Friends, who is Your Jesus? Is He Messiah and Lord? Is He your Messiah and Lord? Have you chosen to put your hope in Him? Have you called on His name for salvation? Do you daily turn to Him in prayer and in His Word to find the refuge and strength and guidance we each need every day? My encouragement to you this morning, is allow your box to be expanded and come afresh to Jesus, even now, and set your hope on Him, our Messiah and Lord.

Waiting

Preached on: Sunday 27th Janaury 2019
The sermon text is available as subtitles in the Youtube video (the accuracy of which is not guaranteed). A transcript of the sermon can be made available on request. There is no PowerPoint PDF accompanying this message.
Bible references: Acts 2
Location: Brightons Parish Church

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