The Community Church: Sermons and teaching

00:06
Harry said last week we're doing a mini series based on the ministry that we had at One Voice, the conference in Cardiff, the end of August. And the theme of the conference was the light of the world. Those of you who know your Bibles will know that Jesus said, I am the light of the world. It was one of the seven statements of Jesus. I am.

00:34
which we looked at earlier this year. And this one is the only one that Jesus turns around and also says, you are the light of the world. Okay? So we're all involved. It's not just Jesus, wonderful Jesus though he is, he draws us in and says, you are the light of the world. And for many of us, it was good to sing this morning.

01:03
You brought me from the darkness into glorious light. Amen. If that's your testimony, you need to let people know. Going right back to Genesis, the first recorded words that God spoke were, let there be light before the stars and the planets, before this planet was populated, anything of that sort, light.

01:32
Number one priority, not a statement, a command, let there be and there was. God approved, said it was good. He then separated light from darkness. He called the light day and he called the darkness night. It's worth pointing out that at that stage, darkness is not associated with evil.

01:58
Not until the fall of Adam and Eve. Darkness originally was just part of the rhythm of day and night. The rhythm by which we live. Daytime largely the time for activity. Nighttime darkness the time for rest. I know it doesn't apply in every case, but that's the general principle. Genesis 1.5 says, together these made up one day.

02:25
And it's only when sin appears that darkness becomes associated with evil. Now, the more I read the scriptures, the more I see an overlap and interlocking, if you like, of light with life and also with love. It's convenient that the three words all begin with L. Light, life and love. And I'd like to unpack that a little bit for you this morning.

02:52
At the beginning of John's Gospel, chapter one, verse four, John is presenting Jesus as uh God in human form. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's Jesus, the Logos, the Word, the expression of God, the human expression of God.

03:19
And John 1,4 says, life itself was in him. And this life gives light to everyone. Life associated with light. Jesus, he is the source of life and he is also the light of the world, the light to guide us in our human experience. So to embrace Jesus into the center of our lives,

03:47
is to receive life in all its fullness. That's what Jesus said, life in all its fullness and also the light that will guide us through our lives. That's in John's gospel. And if we look into the first letter of John, I invite you to turn with me to first John near the end of the Bible. First letter of John chapter two.

04:16
And we'll find there that living in the light is equated with behaving in a loving way. 1 John chapter 2 verse 7, Dear friends, I'm not writing a new commandment for it's an old one you've always had right from the beginning. This commandment to love one another is the same message you heard before, yet it is also new. This commandment is true in Christ.

04:45
and is true among you, because the darkness is disappearing and the true light is already shining. If anyone says, I'm living in the light, but hates a brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves others is living in the light and does not cause anyone to stumble. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is living and walking in dark.

05:15
such a person is lost having been blinded by the darkness.

05:24
What he's saying is you can't be living in the light if you have any bitterness, any hatred in your heart towards somebody else. There was a period in my life when I had that. I was bitter about one person and I felt he had done wrong. And it bugged me for quite a while. I got it sorted out. I approached him and it was sorted. And the darkness...

05:51
the little cloud that was sort of hanging here in my life disappeared. And I do recommend if you have any sort of grudge or negative feeling towards somebody, get it sorted, get rid of it, let the darkness be gone and let the light return into your life. 1 John 1, 7, the chapter before what we've read, talks about walking in the light as he is in the light. And then we can have fellowship.

06:21
with one another. And in the second letter of John, verse six, we read this, and this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. So walking in the light, walking in obedience, walking in love, that's walking in the life of Jesus.

06:49
Because the Spirit of the living God, if you've been born again, lives inside you, enabling you to walk in the light and the life of Jesus. We don't walk to the light. We're not looking for the light. We trust that the light of life is there within us. The risen Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. And we go about our daily lives with that trust that there is something here.

07:19
someone here and he will shine through our lives to affect other people.

07:29
Ezekiel and Mahongo Shibember at One Voice had a lovely ministry, a breakfast time ministry on Zoom. So you could be in your gym jams in your hotel bedroom and receiving ministry at half past seven in the morning. Wonderful. Two mornings. And Ezekiel said at one point, uh there's a perception of God in...

07:55
the scriptures of God as being unapproachable light. But then Jesus changes that. He is the light of the world, but He's very approachable because He embodies love. It was a perception of God, mainly in the Old Testament. know, God is the awesome, holy one, and we dare not go near Him. And that changed. It was amplified, clarified.

08:24
so that the one who was a pillar of fire in the Old Testament is someone much more approachable in the new. It's a bit like the sun. If we had a vehicle to go towards the sun, I hope you wouldn't go too close because you'd be burnt to a frazzle. And we know that even looking at the sun, isn't it lovely to see the sun after all the rain? oh Hallelujah.

08:52
But if you look directly at the sun, you're in trouble. Your eyes will be badly affected. You might be blinded, so don't do it. But looking at Jesus, he's a light that is approachable because we recognize that he embodies love and life as well as light. He who was the light of the world, who is the light of the world, operated totally out of a motivation of love. Even when he was...

09:21
Telling off and arguing with the Pharisees and the scribes and these people who were so rigid in their legalism, he still spoke to them out of a heart of love. He wanted them to change. He wanted them to be transferred from the darkness into the light. We will only shine if we operate out of love.

09:49
We can move in all the spiritual gifts and have all the wonderful supernatural power. But as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, without love, the value of those gifts and that power is zero. We need to remind ourselves of that. You've heard me speak before about the importance of the spiritual gifts, but more important still is that we operate in love, the love of Jesus.

10:18
Ezekiel and Mahongo also said that it's when we serve in love that we shine and that applies inside the church but of course it needs to shine outside the church as well. I'm delighted to hear what Miriam and Alice were talking about. I will investigate that further, it's the first I've heard of it and I'd love to be involved.

10:38
But Mahongo shared how the church in Oldham, which they lead, has made contact in a very wonderful way with a school in their neighborhood. they've, I forget how it was, the details, they've been serving, helping, giving time, giving resources to that school. And they've opened up wonderful opportunities to let the light of the world into that school. And last year, more than 40 children gave their lives to Jesus.

11:07
And this year, more than 80 children gave their lives to Jesus. Wonderful, isn't it? And the church people there, they have opportunities to take assemblies. They have a lovely warm relationship with the head and the staff of the school. Light shining through love and bringing new life.

11:29
into many young lives. And the challenge to the church, to us, is to serve our community in love, bringing light. And Jesus said, don't let your light be hidden under a basket, let it shine. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your Father in heaven. We're not doing it so that the church looks good. We're not doing it so that we look good. We're doing it so that God looks good.

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and people need to know that God is good. Amen? In all the darkness of the world and the mess that the world is in, in so many respects, light and life and love are needed.

12:14
If I was to ask you what's the most famous verse in the scripture, the one that encapsulates the gospel better than anybody else, anything else you would say? Again? Louder? John 3.16. Thank you very much. Yes.

12:35
God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the heart of the gospel. But I wonder if you know what comes shortly afterwards, because Jesus contrasts light with darkness. John 3, back end of verse 19, he says this.

13:00
The light from heaven came into the world, but they, that's people generally, loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. That's why people like Charlie Kirk get shot, because people prefer darkness to light. And it's a very sad reflection on society.

13:27
They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly so everyone can see what they are doing. See that they are doing what God wants. Living in the light. Choosing light rather than darkness.

13:50
A man who constantly shone light into dark places, a man for whom I had a huge respect, was Charles Oxley. He was the principal of three schools with a strong Christian emphasis. They in themselves gave hundreds and hundreds of children, young people, the opportunity to walk in the light. But as well as that, Charles Oxley constantly strove to expose hypocrisy and corruption and darkness.

14:19
in society, in government and in the church. The only reason he made me headmaster of Scarsbeck Hall School was that he was so busy doing other things, shining light into dark places. I didn't realise at the time but he told me on one occasion he was involved with 36 different groups. Campaigns, crusades, committees, whatever.

14:46
If there wasn't a group focused on a particular issue, he would form one. Amazing man. And some of you know that he infiltrated the paedophile ring at considerable risk to his own reputation and in fact to his life. They could have turned nasty and made it very awkward for him. Well, you say men like that are rare. Yes, they are.

15:14
By comparison, you may feel, my little light is only a little light. Okay, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Yeah, it's not just a children's chorus, it's a fact of life for Christian people. However big or small you think your light is, let it shine. Let people know that you belong to Jesus.

15:40
Tim Jones highlighted that little uh chorus at one voice and it took me back to Sunday school days when I used to sing Jesus bids us shine with a pure clear light. Anybody know that one? Oh, about four of us. Jolly good, we're not going to sing it. But it says, in this world of darkness, we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine. Yeah, that's it.

16:07
How can that happen? Well, it can happen in all kinds of ways. Again, I'm delighted at what Miriam and Alice have started off. But you can do all kinds of things. You you hear of people going to work, a Christian going to work in a new environment, and there's lots of blaspheming and swearing in that. And this Christian gets the Bible out at coffee break, and somebody takes notice. And they may poke fun, they probably will, initially.

16:34
But after a while, you'll see that the swearing and the blasphemy dies down or disappears completely. That's the kind of thing, little thing, just to take your Bible into your workplace. And I can encourage you with what's been happening on a grander scale in Silicon Valley. Have you heard of Silicon Valley? California, where all these big companies, Google and so on, they all... em

17:03
do their stuff out there. I came across this, I never read the business section of the telegraph, but there it was a few days ago. And by mistake, I found it. And I'm so glad I did. The picture is of a whacking big Bible against the background of Silicon Valley, because the article said, I don't know whether this guy's a Christian who wrote the article or not.

17:32
Faith is on the rise in Silicon Valley. Somebody who works for Google said, God is at work in San Francisco. For a long time, it felt off limits to openly talk about your faith, especially within tech circles. Now it feels like San Francisco is experiencing a renaissance.

17:52
After an exodus of people during Covid and a crime wave in the city, many young people are not only returning to the city, but also to their faith. There's a church in Silicon Valley and the pastor there says this, we run the Alpha course. Until a couple of years ago, we'd average about a dozen people. In the past couple of years, we've been averaging anywhere between 35 and 50.

18:21
somebody else very much involved there, a think tank, says there appears to have been a cultural and political moment that has seen believers express themselves more openly. It may be a natural correction after an environment that heavily favoured woke ideology, where virtually any kind of belief other than Christianity was accepted as normal.

18:46
And he goes on to say, rise of AI technologies such as chat GPT has also led techies into confronting age old questions like what does it mean to be human? And the article concludes, after years of looking down on faith, the great and the good in Silicon Valley are openly soul searching. Is that good news?

19:13
light in what for many reasons and for many years has been a very dark place. One thing we can be sure of, the more strongly the light shines, the stronger the reaction of darkness is going to be. Again, Charlie Kirk comes to mind, but we were hearing m in the last call to arms prayer meeting that Julia leads.

19:42
A woman coming to faith, a woman from a Muslim background and as soon as she found faith in Jesus, her husband who had been, shall we say, a low-key uh Muslim, suddenly goes ballistic. Can't cope with it. uh Beating her, ostracizing her, whatever else it takes, and some people are murdered.

20:06
because they find faith in Jesus. The darkness reacts so strongly, so powerfully. And let's face it, you and I are not always going to get a positive response when we let our little light shine. Okay? I was in Hesketh Park this week and there's a guy there with, I got talking to him because he had a stick and his leg was encased in one of these.

20:34
shackle things, I don't know what you call them. And he told me all about it. The cartilage in his knee is absolutely shattered. Eventually I got to the point where I said, well look, I'm a Christian. I know God heals because I've experienced it myself. Can I pray for you? And he said no.

20:52
I said, well, what have you got to lose? He said, no, I'm sorry. He said, there was a time when I would have said yes. But now I'm saying no. I think he'd had some kind of bad experience with church people somewhere along the line. But anyway, so it won't always be a positive response. Let me encourage you, 99 out of 100 people will say yes if you offer to pray for them for healing. I've met the one who said no.

21:22
There will be times when the pressure of darkness comes upon us as we stand for Jesus. King David, he didn't know Jesus personally, but he had an experience of God. He felt the pressure constantly. You can read through the Psalms and discover what the pressure was like for him.

21:44
As a young man, he was anointed to follow King Saul as King of Israel. He served Saul faithfully in a personal capacity and on the battlefield, and yet Saul kept trying to kill him. He was so jealous of David's successes. And I came across the other day in 2 Samuel 22 is the chapter. It reads like a psalm. It ought to be in the Psalms, I think. David...

22:12
powerfully describes getting to the limit of his strength and his hope and his crying out to God and God came to the rescue. And part of his appreciation is expressed like this, verse 29 of 2 Psalm 22. Oh Lord, you are my light. Yes Lord, you light up my darkness. In your strength, I can crush an army.

22:39
With my God I can scale any wall. Isn't that good? Under extreme pressure. He sees the light, he recognises God is here, God is with me. God is stronger than all these powers of darkness. And I in your strength can crush an army. With my God I can scale any wall. And that same God is our God.

23:09
we recognize him. What David did was to get close to God, to worship God, to express thankfulness to God in the middle of the storm. And not only does God rescue him, but he re-energizes David to continue the fight and to win the victories. And that same God is with us today.

23:33
I feel I need to say this. If our light is going to shine strongly into our individual worlds, we must avoid a false distinction between sacred and secular.

23:47
If there is a difference between you in your place of worship and you in your place of work, then there's something wrong.

23:58
The fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It's dead easy in this environment, isn't it? To feel the love, to feel the joy, to feel the peace. There's no pressure. Unless you're... don't know.

24:19
unless your mind is wrong. But the fruit of the spirit, I believe, counts for so much more out there in the pressure circumstances. It came home to me one night, a few nights ago now. Next door's dog barked almost nonstop for over an hour between 20 past 10 and 20 to 12. The neighbours were out. They hadn't a clue.

24:49
And that was a real test of my peace, of my patience, of my self-control. When is that so-and-so dog going to stop barking? But that's the nitty-gritty, isn't it? That's the reality of everyday life. And I will suggest to you also that there shouldn't be a division between, well, let's put it this way.

25:16
As we walk in the light, we will find that the dividing line between the natural and the supernatural gets blurred in a good way. Let me ask you, was Jesus any less the miracle-working Son of God when he was having a meal with Zacchaeus and his naughty boy friends? Any less the Son of God than when he was healing a blind man or turning water into wine? Same Jesus.

25:45
wherever he went, whether he was going into a dark place, or are you saying that's Jesus, that's easy for him. Well Jesus had a human body, he lived a human life, he was 100 % human, as well as 100 % God. Don't ask me to explain it, but it's true. He ate food, he got tired, he had to sleep, he had to trim his toenails.

26:12
Yeah, just think of Jesus trimming his toenails. Was he any less the Son of God when he trimmed his toenails? No, of course not.

26:21
And if you mentally divide your life between sacred and secular or between earthly and spiritual, you're trying to walk a tightrope from which you're bound to fall off.

26:35
and then you'll feel confused and then you'll condemn yourself for your failure to live up to some imagined superior standard when all that's required is that you let the life, the light and the love of Jesus that's inside you shine out into the world around however mundane and ordinary your world may seem. So, how do we make sure that every aspect of our lives

27:04
is full of the love, the light, and the life of Jesus. You know the answer. Spending time in His presence. Waiting on God.

27:19
Worshipping Him, speaking in tongues.

27:25
expressing thankfulness towards him. By deliberately focusing on Jesus, the light will shine through our lives in the supermarket, on the bus, in the kitchen. An old saint called Brother Lawrence wrote a book called Practicing the Presence of God. That's it. Get some practice in.

27:49
When you wake up in the morning, what's your first thought? Oh, it's raining. Oh, it's cold. Oh, oh, no. First thought in the morning, thank you God for the sleep I've had. Even if it was interrupted by children or having to go to the bathroom. um Thank you for the sleep I've got. Thank you for this new day. Thank you that everything I do today, I do in your love and in your presence.

28:17
I may not be able to focus on you all the way through the day, Lord, I'll be busy doing all kinds of things, but I want to set the context right now, the start of the day for you to be the centre and the focus. I'm committing my whole day to you. And just go through the day, trusting God, believing God, expecting that he will use you in one way or another. It may not be spectacular. Tim Jones.

28:48
said this, the light shines brightest where people have developed intimacy with God. That's the key, intimacy with God. You see, it's perfectly possible for you to be in this congregation on a Sunday morning, enjoying the singing, enjoying what people are doing, whatever's going on, and yet you haven't got a relationship with God. Or your relationship is...

29:17
not as close as it should be. Tim Jones said, you can't borrow anybody else's oil. He was referring to the wise and foolish virgins. You remember the five who didn't have enough oil were asking the five who did to borrow some. And they said, no. Each one was responsible for their own lamp.

29:41
And we are each one responsible for our own walk with Jesus, our own relationship with God, our own intimacy with God. You can't borrow somebody else's. It doesn't work that way. You can admire them, you can learn from them, but you can't claim anything that they have for yourself. It's got to be you and God.

30:07
Harry reminded us last week when Jesus ascended to be with the Father, the disciples were there in Jerusalem. They weren't just twiddling their thumbs, they were waiting for God in a positive, direct way, expecting God to move. They had a promise, they were trusting that promise.

30:31
They were waiting with expectancy. They developed their intimacy with God. They kept their lives as it were topped up with oil so that when the fire of Pentecost came, it had something to ignite. That's what I want to be like. I hope it's what you want to be like. Amen. I would like to pray.

30:58
I would like to pray for people who are in paid employment.

31:07
because you have particular challenges where you are. Could I ask you please to stand up if you're able to, if you're in paid employment of any kind.

31:23
whether it's self-employed or otherwise employed. Thank you. I would like to pray for all of you. If you're nearby these folk, would you like to just lay hands on them, get around them, and believe that God is going to impart something into their lives, even this morning? Because we need light to shine in workplaces.

31:56
Father God, we thank you for the opportunities that all these people represent. Opportunities for your light to shine in darkness. And we ask you Lord to enable these servants of yours to represent you well. To move in the light and the life and the love of Jesus.

32:25
whether it's through a computer, whether it's on the telephone, whether it's in any other means of communication. I pray, Lord, that each one of these lights will shine brightly and express your heart into darkness. We ask it in Jesus' name. Thank you. Please sit down. The other group I want to pray for, I had this the other day and I feel I should pursue it.

32:57
I believe there are people who have been walking with God maybe for many, many years and you sense somehow you've got stuck. Life has become routine. Reading your Bible has become a chore.

33:16
Prayer is something you would rather not be bothered with. I don't know. If there's anyone in that kind of situation, uh I don't even want you to stand up and declare it. But I am going to pray on your behalf because I believe there are people who you just get into a routine and the routine becomes a rut. And maybe you need to get rid of those Bible reading notes and just read your Bible.

33:47
Maybe you need to set aside uh some of your prayer lists, not forever, and just wait on God and see what God prompts you to pray for. Just that God will freshen things up. Can I just pray for that, please? And then we're finished. Father God, I know from experience that it's possible for the routine to become a rut. And I thank you, Lord, that...

34:15
your promises for life more abundant. And I pray that will be the experience for every one of us. Whatever our home situation, whatever our work situation or our retirement situation, I pray Lord that there will be a refreshing from your Holy Spirit. That our intimacy with you will just open our eyes wide again in awe and wonder of the wonderful God that you are.

34:44
I pray, Lord, that you would stir us again by your Spirit within us. Help us to look afresh at who you are and who we are and all the possibilities. I pray, Lord, that you will make the Bible come alive in fresh, new, living ways. I pray, Lord, that people will experience such a joy in being in your presence and being able to pray.

35:11
that it will be a treasured experience and not a chore. So Lord, for any who are in that situation, we pray you would now impart something of a refreshing bio-spirit in Jesus' Amen. uh