Simplicity according to Da Vinci

Here's a great post from a cool blog I just found called "The Russians Used a Pencil"...

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” —Leonardo Da Vinci




Simplicity, by definition, is freedom from complexity; the absence of luxury or pretentiousness. Sophistication, on the other hand, often implies a sense of style, cultivated beauty and refinement. So is Da Vinci contradicting himself here?



On the contrary. I believe the ultimate level of sophistication happens when the refining process is so complete that there is truly nothing else to add and nothing else to take away; when the nature of a thing is perfectly represented and understood by its state and appearance. To behold it is to know and understand it.



This may seem overly philosophical, but as my co-author, Josh Porter, said recently, “Simplicity is much more than the trite “less is more” we so often hear. Simplicity is… about clarity.” And clarity comes from constant refinement.



John Maeda’s First Law of Simplicity states: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction. Refinement that is thoughtful, calculated, and whenever possible and appropriate, based on data is one of the fundamental tools of any designer.



Anyone who occupies themselves with the task of creating truly usable products becomes instantly aware that achieving simplicity is not that simple. For any single feature in a product we must take into account the way it looks, the way it functions, its place in the overall system, affordances to help convey context of how and why it is to be used, as well as taking into account the motivation of the user.





Designers are in a constant process of weighing each decision against previous ones, against common conventions and against the user’s goals in order to create an interface, a product or a service that is clear in all its meaning and function. There is no denying the difficulty in this process. There is a delicate balance between the simplicity of use and the complexity of usefulness. But it is true the product that is clear in its purpose, elegant in its execution and simple in its use will set itself apart from the competition and endear itself to the user.



Designing for simplicity is a process of calculated refinement.

Cicero on Writing to Speak

Useful info from Nathan Campbell's blog... While trying to get my head around Augustine’s On Christian Teaching (which isn’t particularly complicated) I’ve been reading the work of some of his influencers. Including Cicero, the great Roman Orator and champion of the Republic. Cicero wrote a book called De Oratore (On the Orators) which you can read in a parallel Latin/English .txt version here. It’s not pleasant to navigate.


He had some good stuff to say about preaching.

“This is why, in those exercises of your own, though there is a value in plenty of extempore speaking, it is still more serviceable to take time for consideration, and to speak better prepared and more carefully. But the chief thing is what, to tell the truth, we do least (for it needs great pains which most of us shirk), — to write as much as possible. The pen is the best and most eminent author and teacher of eloquence, and rightly so. For if an extempore and casual speech is easily beaten by one prepared and thought-out, this latter in turn will assuredly be surpassed by what has been written with care and diligence. The truth is that all the commonplaces, whether furnished by art or by individual talent and wisdom, at any rate such as appertain to the subject of our writing, appear and rush forward as we are searching out and surveying the matter with all our natural acuteness; and all the thoughts and expressions, which are the most brilliant in their several kinds, must needs flow up in succession to the point of our pen ; then too the actual marshalling and arrangement of words is made perfect in the course of writing, in a rhythm and measure proper to oratory as distinct from poetry.

These are the things which in good orators produce applause and admiration; and no man will attain these except by long and large practice in writing, however ardently he may have trained himself in those off-hand declamations; he too who approaches oratory by way of long practice in writing, brings this advantage to his task, that even if he is extemporizing, whatever he may say bears a likeness to the written word; and moreover if ever, during a speech, he has introduced a written note, the rest of his discourse, when he turns away from the writing, will proceed in unchanging style. Just as when a boat is moving at high speed, if the crew rest upon their oars, the craft herself still keeps her way and her run, though the driving force of the oars has ceased, so in an unbroken discourse, when written notes are exhausted, the rest of the speech still maintains a like progress, under the impulse given by the similarity and energy of the written word. ”

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Eight Minute Marvels

To wrap up our semester in Advanced Preaching, students will be asked to prepare and preach an 8 minute talk to the class. Here's the proposed schedule...
5 October - Pete K, Andrew P, Matt, Gav
19 October - Ben, Dave, Pete, Rod
26 October - Dan, Steve, Sun Goo, Mel
If you need to trade dates, let me know.

Christmas Crackers

Australia TodayIt seems like Christmas, and to some extent Easter, are still popular relics of Australia's 'cultural Christianity.' In my experience, Christmas Day services are generally full to capacity, and we don't even advertise. It's the one day of the year when regular attenders willingly invite family members along, and the family members willingly come. There are visiting relatives, there are friends, there are people from around the corner… it's a happy and festive occasion. Let's not spoil it with the way we do church! The question is, though, how do we make the most of it.
Redefining the Win
As on any other occasion when you'll be called to speak on 'civic occasions', it's worth thinking carefully about what a 'win' will look like. Again, I'd caution against the view that says you should take advantage of a captive audience, berate them for the fact that they only ever come to church at Christmas, and proceed to whack them with a year's worth of content to make up for it. Or even against trying to pack in a full 'two ways to live' presentation. My definition of a Christmas "win" (including the whole service, not just the talk) would look something like this…

1. Short enough duration for even hostile visitors (dragged along by their family) to find it painless.
2. Appropriate resonance with the familiar 'Christmas narrative'
3. Evidence of involvement of the church community
4. Brisk, joyful, familiar carols – but not too many
5. A simple, listenable "one point" bible talk with a surprising twist, and some degree of challenge. It needs to be 'kid friendly' as well!
6. If items a) to e) are in place, push a little further for some 'squirm factor' – but in a cheeky way, not stridently.

In short, I think it's a win if the non-Christian visitor walks out smiling, having enjoyed the experience of church, having been reminded of the Lord Jesus in the familiar Christmas narrative … and having been provoked to think about at least one aspect of the gospel through the bible talk.
Making it Zing
If there's ever a time I want to make my talk "zing", it's Christmas Day. I'll pour hours into a two minute video to introduce the talk, and hours into an engaging powerpoint, and even more hours into the talk itself, to make sure it is short enough, tight enough, current enough and pointed enough to take people by surprise. Because in my mind, the best thing to do with a 'one shot audience' is not to drill them full of everything you ever wanted to say … but to tantalise them so they'll want to hear more.
The Challenge
The challenge is to find new and interesting ways to tell the same old story. I am always looking for new angles on the birth narratives, or even better, other passages that have a good hook to Christmas. After 20 years or so of preaching at Christmas, it can get hard to come up with new material!


Some Examples – Click on links for full text of talks
1. Matthew 2:1-16 - "It's Not Just the Grinch Who Stole Christmas"
•••
22nd December 2002. Carols in the Carpark. http://mpc.org.au/resources/resources/20021222pm.html
2. Luke 2 - "The First Christmas Carol"
•••
25th December 2003. http://mpc.org.au/resources/resources/20031225.html
3. December 25 - Matthew 1:18-25 - "A Very MA Christmas"
•••
Garnet Swan MPC 25th December 2006. http://mpc.org.au/resources/2006/20061225.html
4. December 18 - Matt 1:18-25; Matt 2 - "King... for a Day?"
••
http://mpc.org.au/resources/2005/20051225.html
5. Carols in the Carpark - Matt 1:21
••
http://mpc.org.au/resources/resources/20001217n.html
6. December 25 - Philippians 2:1-11 - "What do You Give the Man Who Has Everything?"
••
Phil Campbell MPC 25th December 2004.".It's the age old problem at Christmas, isn't it? At least at my place. What do you give... the man who has everything. My wife Louise says it's a...
  ...She says to me, what do you need for Christmas? And I say, well, I... well, um, I guess I don't need anything. I go through the Kmart catalogue. And..." http://mpc.org.au/resources/2004/20041225.html
7. December 25 - Philippians 2 - "Worst Christmas Jobs"
•••
Christmas 2007. As you'll notice, Philippians 2 is quite a favourite! I used it in 2007 in a talk titled "Worst Christmas Jobs." The hook came from a TV show a couple of weeks before Christmas. I caught it on video, and edited it down to around a minute, as well as taking still shots for the Powerpoint. And I used the passage again in 2009, which you can see in some detail in the case study below.


A Detailed Case Study
Christmas 2009 – Philippians 2:1-11 – "Going Down"
Big Idea – Most people seem to want to 'get ahead' and "do what's best for me." (Video of Jonathan Thurston and Libby Trickett saying these words.) But Jesus did exactly the opposite when he became man, and even moreso when he went to the cross. http://media.mpc.org.au/resources/2009/20091225.html
Talk Text – 1930 words, 15 minutes
Some of you might know that we're just back from a couple of week's holiday at the beach, and I wanted to share with you this morning some of my holiday reading.
It's not a deep book by any means.
And I'm not particularly recommending it. Although as holiday reading it wasn't too bad.
It's a book I picked up second hand from Vinnies. It's by David Baldacci, and it's all about what happens when a President of the United States goes bad.
A world leader. Who rapes and kills and does exactly whatever takes his fancy. The book is called Absolute
Power. Because, according to the old saying, power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So let me read you a couple of lines from a scene where he spells out the president's personal philopsophy. It goes like this.
He says, "I have attained my position in life by never losing sight of the fact that the most important person in the world is myself. Whatever the situation, whatever the obstacle, I have never, never, lost sight of that one simple truism. The most important person in the world is... me".
And it's not just fictional Presidents of the United States who think that way.
Take a look at these two video clips. Two Aussie athletes, both on the Today show last week. And listen carefully to their words.

Now did you catch it? I'm not having a go at Jonathan Thurston. I'm not having a go at Libby Trickett. I don't want to be critical. I don't want to be unfair. Because they're just saying what everybody says. They're just doing what everybody does.
I'll do what's best for me. I'll just focus on myself. I'll just concentrate on my career. I'll just look after number 1. Because I'm worth it. And the bottom line is, you've gotta do what's best for you. Don't you?
Compare the Pair
Which is what brings us to the miracle of Christmas, as it's described in our reading from Philippians chapter 2. The miracle of Christmas that if only we'll listen threatens to turn our thinking and our living upside down. Because the one who had every right to think like that, the one who was in very nature God... actually does the very opposite. And instead of saying I'll do what's best for me because I'm entitled to, and instead of focusing on himself, and instead of choosing the hold on to his eternal equality with God... he puts it aside.
Remember those compare the pair ads on TV? The ads for industry super funds. Two people standing on the stairs. Compare the pair. One paying commissions to their financial advisers, the other with an industry super fund? Compare the pair. And one guy starts walking up the stairs, and the other guy starts walking down the stairs. Very graphic. Going lower and lower and lower. I mean, who'd want that? Who'd choose that?
Well, listen again as you follow The Lord Jesus Christ down the stairs. And ask yourself the question, how low will he go?
Starting with the words you can see in verse 6. Jesus Christ...
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
The one who in his very essence, in his nature God... gives it up. And becomes man. That's Christmas. That's what we're celebrating this morning.
That's quite a step. But it's only the first step.
Now if I was God, and was planning to intervene in the world I'd made, I'd be thinking very carefully about the time and the place. I'd be looking to be born into somewhere upper class and comfortable. With hot and cold running water, and wide screen plasma TV and Xbox. I'd be looking to be born to a family with fast cars and cable Internet and the best food money can buy. I'd be looking to be born to a family that could provide the best in private school education, the latest fashion brands and a holiday house by the sea.
And look, even in Roman times, you might not know this, but the upper classes were extremely comfortable. No widescreen plasma TV, live theatre.
And Roman Plumbing systems were fantastic. Articulated water supplies, flushing toilets.
And best of all, slaves. Servants to do everything. So you didn't have to lift a finger.
The Lord Jesus Christ as we read from Luke's gospel, was born in a cowshed lying in a feed trough. Crying and cold.
Did you notice those words in verse 7?
But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.
It's very clear, He's not going to be the one lying back in luxury. When the one in very nature God becomes man, he's going to become a servant man. Take a step down.
And it goes further. How low can you go? The next verse. Verse 8. Not just a servant man. Here's where it's heading.
Read what it says:
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death.
Take a step down.
Can you go lower than that? Yes you can... even death on a cross!
If you're going to rank the ways to die on a scale of one to ten, the lowest form, the most dishonourable form, the way to die in the maximum degree of humiliation and scorn... the way to die in disgrace is to be nailed up on a Roman cross. take one more big step down.
Christmas Day was just the first step. The start of mission. To put his glory aside and step into our world and step down and step down and step down. To become a servant, to face death, to face death on A cross. And it's no secret that we Christians are persuaded by the scriptures that he does that to take the our sin on himself. And to take it away. To take our punishment on himself. And to be done with it.
And it's because of that... that having lowered himself, God raises him again. It's because of that willing humble service, it's because the man of glory puts his glory aside and doesn't say it's all about me, it's because he so willingly makes himself a servant... that God raises him up and says sit with me where you belong. Your name is the name above every name. It's the word therefore at the start of verse 9... it's because Jesus made himself nothing and gave his life on the cross, God exalts him in heaven.
Which is why we bow the knee to him now. Or if we don't, we ultimately will.
We honour Jesus because God has honoured Jesus. We honour Jesus because God raised him up from the dead, as has seated him in the highest place and made his name above every name. That at the name of Jesus, verse 10, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father.
Can you see there the inversion of our whole value system in that? That the one God values most is the one who most humbled himself. That the attitude closest to God's heart is the attitude that says it's not about me. I'm going to make myself a servant. That the heart that's dearest to God is the heart that says I'm not going to focus on me. I'm going to give up my whole life... in the service of others.
That's Jesus. And the crunch is, that's meant to be his followers as well. Which in fact is exactly where our passage started.
The first great missionary Paul, as he writes this letter back to his fledgling church in Philippi, he says to them if you've got any encouragement from Jesus, is you've got any comfort from his love, if you've got any fellowship with the spirt, if you've got even the slightest bit of tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by following the example of Jesus. Take a look at his words in verse 3.
See, here's what it's going to mean to bow your knee to Jesus. It's not just about paying lip service on Christmas Morning. It's not just about singing a few carols.
He says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Forget about doing what's best for you for a while. Forget about focusing on yourself. Verse 4 says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Because, in verse 5, "your attitude... should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Who made himself nothing." Who stepped down. And stepped down. And stepped down.
Friends, can I put that to you as a Christmas challenge? This isn't even advanced Christianity in action. This is the very basic stuff. Paul's not writing these words to Christian experts or old hands. He's writing it to beginners. If you've got even the slightest shred of encouragement from Christ, the slightest tingling of tenderness and compassion, here's how to respond. If you want to honour Jesus as having the highest place, which you should, if you want to align your perspective on what's important with God's perspective, then start looking not only to your own interests. But to the interests of others.
You know I've been thinking about that during the last few days of Christmas shopping. Absolutely appalling at Chermside in the crush of voracious buyers. And you can kind of get impatient when you're queuing for half an hour just to buy something and the cash register's not working. And when it's finally your turn and the shop assistant says how are you, I find it's so easy to be impatient and frustrated. When if you're learning from Jesus, if you could even imagine him Christmas shopping, but if you're learning to be like Jesus your first response would be, I'm doing fine, but how are you. It must be terrible to be working a sixteen hour shift on Christmas Eve. When are you going to even get to see your family?
See, I am convicted by a passage like this. Because I can see very clearly that in the light of what Jesus gave up for me, that God stepped down and made himself man, that he made himself a servant. In such humble circumstances. That he even went through death. And disgrace on the cross so that I could be reconciled to God. That he stepped down so far for me, and yet I still want to step myself up. Compare the pair. We keep wanting to step up and step up and step up. When if we're following Jesus we'll need to keep stepping down and down and down.
Putting Jesus first is going to mean making yourself a servant.
In your office. Putting others first.
In the checkout queue. Putting others first.
In the carpark at the Boxing Day sales. Putting others first.
In your family. Putting others first. in your marriage. Did you hear that old joke, the woman says my husband and I divorced for religious reasons? He thought he was God. And I didn't!
Your Christmas Day challenge is this. If you really want to honour the Lord Jesus at Christmas, then each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing...

 

The Three Marks of a Healthy Sermon

My helpful wife today observed that every worthwhile sermon will have

• insight
• clarity and
• challenge

As I think back over the healthy sermons I've heard (and occasionally preached) I think all three are essential. And if you lose either one, it's all wasted. Any thoughts?

A Wedding Sermon

As you prepare for a wedding, here are some key principles to work with…

 

1. How would it feel to be there?
   
   If you're the couple, you're probably nervous. Have I made the right decision? Or should I have held out for Susan? Will all the arrangements work out? And what about tonight! If you're a guest, you're interested in the couple, and maybe quite excited. There's a celebratory buzz in the air.
   
2. Catch and Release
   As preacher, remember that people are not here to hear you! The main business on their minds is the marriage. Remember again, when you've got a captive audience, LET THEM GO … don't take advantage of their presence by ram-rodding them with the gospel, or by being provocative, or by saying everything you ever wanted to say in one sitting.
   
3. Say something helpful to everyone
   While you'll be aiming to give wise words of counsel to the happy couple, aim your words at everyone.
   
4. Be Brief
   I generally aim for a five to seven minute sermon with a single catchy point. It's also good to be light, humorous at times, and optimistic.
   
5. Emphasise Love as Commitment and Service
   It's probably so obvious that it doesn't need saying, but Christian love is about sacrificial service. That's a good gospel connection, and the thing we need to exhort people towards.
   

 

What to Preach?

People often ask for 1 Corinthians 13. Bear in mind, it's not a passage about ROMANTIC LOVE. Ephesians 5 is helpful, not so much for the emphasis on wives submitting to husbands, as of the husband giving himself up for his wife. In general, I will preach on whatever passage is requested.

 

Sample Sermon

Romans 12:1-18

 

What's it going to take… to make this marriage work?

It's a good question, and I'm glad you asked it. Because marriage is TOUGH WORK.

During the week I saw the movie THE INCREDIBLES. If you're not up to date, it's an animated movie about a RETIRED SUPER HERO. Mr Incredible. And apart from the great animation and the cool superhero stuff, in the end it was a movie that had a lot to say about MARRIAGE. And FAMILY.

Mr Incredible is so busy saving the world that he's late for his own wedding. As they're finally about to take their vows, HELEN, his bride, says to him under her breath, "To make this marriage work, you're going to have to be MUCH MORE than MR INCREDIBLE." 

Which anyone here who's married already will know is painfully true. You can leap tall buildings in a single bound. You can be a ROCK STAR. You can be an incredible achiever in every way. But it takes MORE THAN THAT to make a marriage.

Because marriage, in the final analysis, is about the end of YOU. And the beginning of US.

Which is very much what we've just read about in Romans chapter 12. It's not a passage so much about marriage… as about living in response to the LORD JESUS. Which the Apostle Paul says elsewhere is the model for how we treat one another. In the lead up to the passage we've read, he's talking about the SACRIFICE OF JESUS at the cross. From Romans 12 verse 1, he's talking about OUR RESPONSE. Which is to make yourself not a SUPER HERO… but a LIVING SACRIFICE.

He says, IN VIEW OF GOD'S INCREDIBLE MERCY TO YOU, in view of the fact that God considers you RIGHTEOUS because of what Jesus has done, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices… holy, and pleasing to God. And this, he says, rather than any amount of songs you sing in church, rather than any number of times you say hallelujah and wave your hands about, this SACRIFICING OF YOURSELF is your SPIRITUAL ACT OF WORSHIP.

The way you PUT YOURSELF ASIDE… the way you SERVE… the way you SACRIFICE SELF. That's the New Testament definition of the sort of WORSHIP God's interested in.

Which the rest of the passage goes on to unpack in a very practical way. Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to. Love each other SINCERELY. Hate evil… and hang on to the good.

All linking back to the words THEREFORE IN VIEW OF GOD'S MERCY in verse 1. BECAUSE God has been merciful to you, hate evil. Like God does. BECAUSE od has been merciful to you, CLING TO THE GOOD. BECAUSE God has been merciful to you, be devoted to one another in love.

Because God has been merciful to you, Honour one another ABOVE YOURSELVES.

BECAUSE God has been merciful to you, verse 12,
Be joyful in hope, be patient in affliction. And you need to know in your marriage, hard times are going to come.

BECAUSE God has been merciful to you, Paul says in verse 13,¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

It's because of the way God has been merciful to us, that we Christians are going to BLESS when we're treated unfairly. Even in marriage. Instead of looking for the subtle opportunity for PAYBACK. We're going to rejoice with one another, grieve with one another. It's not by being incredible ACHEIVERS on a personal level that you can make a marriage work. It's because of God's mercy to us in CHRIST…. that we can live in harmony and humility with one another.

Phil and Emma, as you start your married life today I want to urge you to keep on SERVING THE LORD together. I want to urge you to keep looking at GOD'S MERCY TO YOU in Christ as he died on the cross… as the model and the MOTIVE for your marriage.

"To make this marriage work, you're going to have to be MUCH MORE than MR and MRS INCREDIBLE." You're going to have to be people who live in the SHADOW OF GOD'S MERCY every day. And because of that make yourselves LIVING SACRIFICES. Which means you're going to have to be people who learn to put THE OTHER FIRST… as you've promised to do in your vows. And then keep on living to serve others as well.

I know that's your plan. And I know that's your COMMITMENT. And I'm confident as you go forward that because of your commitment to the Lord Jesus, you're going to have an INCREDIBLE MARRIAGE.

Let's pray.

 

Four Funerals and a Wedding

In today's advanced preaching class we're thinking about "Occasional Talks" – by which we mean sermons for public occasions like Funerals and Weddings.

There are all sorts of ways wedding talks and funeral talks can be done badly. Let's discuss some disaster scenarios in the blog comments and in class.

In fact, all we really have to do is identify the disasters and not do them!

Funerals

1. How would it feel to be there?
   
   The first and most obvious thing to think about when you're preparing a funeral sermon is, how would it feel to BE THERE? What would you be thinking about and feeling if you were saying goodbye to a loved one? I'm not really talking about the deep thoughts here… in fact, the immediacy of it all comes crashing in. You'll be thinking, "Where's a tissue? There's Aunty Marg – I haven't seen her for years. Who's that guy over there whose name I can't remember." You'll have tears in your eyes, you'll be sitting on an uncomfortable pew, you won't feel much like singing, you'll be dreading the trip to the Crematorium, you'll be concerned for your grieving mum, you'll be wondering at the effect it's having on your kids, perhaps you'll be so deafened by your overwhelming grief that you can't think about anything at all. Then, of course, there's the majority of the crowd. They've interrupted their working week to say goodbye to a colleague or friend. For them it's not grief in the same way as the immediate family. In fact, often it's not grief at all, so much as respect. Or even being there because it's the right thing to do. When you're preparing to speak at a funeral, the key thing is … don't expect too much from your listeners. They're not there to hear from you, and they are VERY distracted by the events of the past week. Remember… they've just been bereaved.
   
2. Catch and Release
   When you've got a captive audience, the temptation is to make the most of it and ram home your message. But the best rule I know for 'public preaching' like this is, when you've got a captive audience, LET THEM GO … don't take advantage of their presence by ram-rodding them with the gospel, or by being provocative, or by saying everything you ever wanted to say in one sitting.
   
3. Use Keller Kindness
   If ever there's a time for Tim Keller's model of gracious engagement, this will be it! Be kind, be humble, be gentle in everything you say and do.
   
4. Separate the Eulogy from the Sermon
   We know the gospel holds out wonderful hope in the face of death, but the reality is if you're serving in a church in a community, you'll be called on to speak at funerals for all kinds of people. Not all of them will be Christians. The best way forward in this case is to keep the Eulogy – kind words about the deceased – completely separate from the sermon – words about scripture. The Eulogy may be given by a friend or family member, in which case they may sometimes awkwardly make untrue spiritual statements. However, if the preacher is asked to give the Eulogy, do your best to interview the family to discover warm and loving memories, as well as basic life history, so you can deliver a suitably warm and affirming Eulogy. Be sensitive here… and remember, keep it totally separate from the sermon! When it comes to the sermon, on the other hand, speak clearly from a passage of the bible, without reflecting on the life of the deceased. Application is aimed at those who remain, and any inferences need to be made by them, and not you.
   
5. Be Brief
   This really belongs under the heading 'catch and release', because in the case of a funeral you definitely need to let people go before they are restless. I generally aim for a five to seven minute sermon within a 40 minute funeral.
   

A Christian Funeral

Christian funerals are different. They're a great opportunity to express the hope we have, and to reflect on the faith and life of one who has departed to be with Christ. However…

1. Don't diminish grief. Christians grieve too! It is un-natural and un-helpful to by-pass the fact that death is devastatingly painful. While we do not grieve as the pagans do, we still grieve.
   
2. Feel free to connect the Eulogy and the Sermon… but don't over-glorify the departed. If the person was truly godly, they would hate you to do that!
   
3. Don't over-zealously evangelise the non-Christian guest. Be thought provoking, be tantalising, use the opportunity wisely… but again, don't alienate by overplaying to gospel opportunity.
   

Defining a Win

What would a 'win' look like when you have the chance to preach to a church full of grieving non-Christians?

1. They see and hear and are comforted by the compassion of the church
   
2. They are reminded of the fond memories they have of the deceased.
   
3. They feel welcome, comfortable and at home in the church environment
   
4. They listen all the way through the sermon, and feel some sense of connection with what is said
   
5. They hear gently of the hope of resurrection in language that's easy to understand.
   
6. They have found some comfort in the process.
   

   
    

What to Preach on?

If the family has chosen a passage, I am always happy to preach on it. Otherwise, I usually gravitate towards:-

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, Psalm 23, Psalm 121, Romans 8:31-39

A Sample Sermon – Eccl 3:1-9

Right through the 1930s, the people of Sydney were faced with a mystery. Every morning, as commuters were rushing through the Sydney streets, the word ETERNITY was written on the footpaths in yellow chalk. It was written in beautiful, copperplate script. Just one word. ETERNITY. Every city street. The entrance to every railway station. No matter where you went, you couldn't avoid it. Everywhere you turned, there was a reminder of ETERNITY.

It turns out the graffiti was the work of ARTHUR STACE. Arthur was a cleaner by trade, an alcoholic whose life was turned around when he heard the message of Jesus in a Sydney church in 1932. He said, I'm not good with words. I knew I'd never make much of a preacher. But I just wanted to MAKE PEOPLE THINK. Which he did. For almost 30 years. In what people came to call the ONE WORD SERMON. ETERNITY.

I don't know how it is with you. Maybe you've got eternity on your mind a lot. Maybe you don't NEED a reminder from Arthur Stace on your footpath. Or maybe you try to avoid it.

Which is harder on a day like today as we say goodbye to G.

I wonder if you noticed ETERNITY sneaking in to the poem we just heard. It's a poem from a particularly FAMOUS part of the bible. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Back in the 60s it was turned into a pop-song by the BYRDS. Which I'd rather not sing for you. And in fact, they're words that Luella has copied down in the front of an old diary. They're words about TIME. With a word about ETERNITY as well.

They're words with a rhythm a like the swing of a pendulum. Standing back and looking at the seasons of life. And the poem says, it's all going to roll around, whether you're ready or not. There's a summary in verse 1. "There's a time for everything - there's a season for every activity under heaven." And then it spells it out. There's a time to be born, there's a time to die. There's a time to plant, there's a time to uproot.

It's all part of the GREAT cycle. It's all part of time taking it's course. Which in some ways is a comfort. And in other ways is SO SAD, isn't it? Because the times roll around whether we're ready or not. There's a time to tear down, a time to build, a time to WEEP and a time to laugh. A time to MOURN and a time to dance. If you want to count them, there are 14 pairs of direct opposites. Scatter, gather, keep, throw away, tear, mend, love, hate, war, peace. But they're just a sample of the opposites life's made out of.

Time is funny stuff. And in a way, there is a FITTING TIME for everything. There's a sense in which I think L knew, that the family knew, that G's uncle N knew, that in the end, the time was right. That it was time to GRIEVE. Time to WEEP. And it's a HEAVY LOAD, isn't it. And you're tempted to say WHAT'S THE POINT. Which are the words that are said near the bottom of the passage there, the sentences marked NUMBER 9 and 10.

"What does the worker GAIN FROM HIS TOIL? The writer says, "I've seen the burden God has laid on men." AND IT'S HEAVY. He's made everything so GOOD IN IT'S TIME. But then the time is GONE.

And then these words. He's also done this. In the second last line. In the midst of the time for this and the time for that, in the CYCLES of sowing and reaping and laughing and mourning that make up LIFE… there's the unavoidable GLIMMER OF ETERNITY. Which keeps saying to us THIS ISN'T ALL THERE IS. And there's something outside the circle. Something bigger.

GOD HAS SET ETERNITY… in the hearts of men. So that even if there isn't someone WRITING IT ON THE FOOTPATH… you can't avoid it in your heart.

See those words again. "I've seen the burden God has laid on men. He's made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set ETERNITY in the hearts of men... yet they CANNOT FATHOM what God has done from beginning to end."
That's the bottom line. This ancient poet says, God's put ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS. But it's too deep to get our heads around. Eternity like a splinter. A niggle that won't go away.

You know, it's an interesting thing… the whole subject of ETERNITY was something JESUS often talked about. Hundreds of years after this poem was first written. The poem says, we've got eternity in our hearts. But we can't UNDERSTAND IT. With JESUS… that changed. There's one time in the GOSPEL OF JOHN, and I might encourage you if you've GOT A BIBLE to read THE GOSPEL OF JOHN SOMETIME… but there's a time when crowds of people are REJECTING JESUS. And Jesus says to his twelve disciples, his twelve closest followers, he says, "WELL… ARE YOU LEAVING TOO?"

And Simon Peter, one of the 12, he answers him and he says this.  He says, "Lord, WHO WOULD WE GO TO? You… have the words of ETERNAL LIFE. ⁶⁹We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

Peter has been with Jesus long enough to know that the KEYS TO ETERNITY are with HIM. The HOLY ONE OF GOD who has come into our world. So if ever you've got that feeling that eternity is in your heart but you just can't get your head around it, can I suggest you START THERE. With Jesus. Who really does have the WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. And proved it. By RISING FROM THE DEAD himself.

 

Sample Sermon 2

This sermon was for the dad of a church member, who is a well known trivia buff.

Reading – Romans 8:31-39

³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
³⁶As it is written:
   "For your sake we face death all day long;
      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"Seven questions"

I'm not sure if any other members of the family share's Peter's fascination with TRIVIA QUESTIONS. But I know that at least Peter will know that the height of Mount Everest is 8,850 metres.

Although it wouldn't surprise me if Pete were to tell me later that last year a rock fell off the top and it's now down to 8,849.

The fact remains, the PEAK OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST MOUNTAIN is almost 9 kilometres ABOVE SEA LEVEL

What about the DEPTH OF THE DEEPEST SEA?

Well, let me tell you, the record for the deepest manned DIVE in a Bathyscape was set in January 1960. When the TRIEST reached a point 10,916 metres BELOW SEA LEVEL. And I'm sure if you ask Peter some time he can tell you who was in it.

The highest height. 9 kilometres ABOVE SEA LEVEL.

The DEEPEST DEPTH… almost 11 kilometres.. BELOW SEA LEVEL.

Which is kind of useful to know when you look at the final couple of lines in the bible passage we've just read. Verses 38 and 39. Where the Apostle Paul says, "³⁸For I am convinced that neither DEATH NOR LIFE, neither ANGELS NOR DEMONS,
neither THE PRESENT NOR THE FUTURE, nor any powers… ³⁹neither HEIGHT NOR DEPTH… nor ANYTHING ELSE in all creation… will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He says, You can be in the deepest depths of the MARIANA TRENCH. And you're STILL NOT SEPARATED FROM THE LOVE OF GOD that's in CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.

You can be at the PEAK OF MOUNT EVEREST. And it won't change anything. You're STILL NOT SEPARATED from the LOVE OF GOD that's in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Which all pales into insignificance, of course, at least in our minds, when you compare it with the distance that seems to be created by DEATH. I mean, a loved one can be on the other side of the world, and they still seem CLOSE. Compared to the sense of loss, the sense of a YAWNING CHASM… that seems to OPEN UP at the DEATH OF A LOVED ONE.

And to us at a time like this, it's very real. No more visits. No more phone calls. No more handshakes. No more laughs. FOR US, bound as we are by the LIMITATIONS OF FLESH and TIME AND PLACE, the TRAGEDY OF DEATH is that it opens up a gap that we just can't CROSS OVER. In spite of the claims of fraudsters like JOHN EDWARD, who claim they can speak to the dead.

From our perspective, ,the reality is that DEATH CREATES A BARRIER; a GAP of un-crossable proportions.

Uncrossable for a time for US maybe. But the good news is, NOT UNCROSSABLE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

Look again how those verses started out.

³⁸For I am convinced that neither DEATH NOR LIFE… nor any of those other things… will be able to separate us FROM THE LOVE OF GOD that's in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death might separate us from ONE ANOTHER. But it certainly doesn't separate us from the LOVE OF GOD in Christ.

NON TRIVIAL QUESTIONS

I mentioned before that I know Pete's got a passion for TRIVIA QUESTIONS. And it's interesting that our passage today is one that's LOADED WITH QUESTIONS. Although I've got to say, they're ANYTHING BUT TRIVIAL.

In the space of a few short paragraphs in Romans chapter 8, there's a string of SEVEN QUESTIONS.

The first of them springing from that opening statement; that WE KNOW that in all things God works for the GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.

So track your eye down the passage on the sheet and notice the questions.

Question 1. What, then, shall we say in response to this?

Question 2. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Question 3. 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Question 4. ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?

Question 5. It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he that condemns?

Question 6. WHO WILL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST?

And question 7; Shall TROUBLE, or HARDSHIP or PERSECUTION or NAKEDNESS OR DANGER or SWORD… separate us from the love of Chris?

The good thing is, most of them are RHETORICAL QUESTIONS. So it's not as if you have to be a trivia expert or a rocket scientist or a theologian to figure out the answers.

So what can we say in response to God's CARE FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM? Question 1.

NOBODY can stand against us if God is for us.

He's given HIS SON TO TAKE OUR SINS ON HIMSELF AT THE CROSS. OF COURSE he'll look after the rest of the deal.

Who will bring any charge against God's people? NOBODY CAN. We're FULLY FORGIVEN.

WHO WILL CONDEMN US? Question 5. NOBODY CAN. We've been JUSTIFIED BY GOD.

Who will SEPARATE US FROM THAT LOVE OF GOD? NOBODY… and NOTHING.

Trouble? No. Hardship? No. Persecution? NO. Danger? No? Sword? No. Not even DEATH. Nor the highest mountain, nor the deepest sea.

I think he's trying to tell us that if you've put your trust in Christ, then at a time like this, there's nothing to worry about. That if you've lived your life with a confidence in Jesus, then at NO POINT do you need to have DOUBTS or SECOND THOUGHTS. As if anything could MESS WITH THAT.

Which means on a day like today, these are comforting words.

And for those of us who keep living and keep trusting in Jesus, words that should keep our minds at ease for our own future as well. That our future is in SAFE AND SECURE HANDS.

 

Sermon 3 – Di Drake

Di Drake was a member of our church who had come from an incredibly hard background. For her final years, she could only walk with a support frame as her body was wracked with tremors from a nerve condition brought about by anxiety and stress from the abuse she had suffered earlier in life. I chose the passage from Malachi 4… It was a bit ambitious, but my assumption was that it would largely be members of our congregation who attended.

 

Malachi 4 -The Day of the LORD

 1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.

 4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Talk – Phil

I want to apologise in a sense for what you might think is an unusual choice of Bible Passage for a day like today. Although it may be for some of you, you might have guessed why I chose it.

It's a passage that comes right at the VERY END of the Old Testament. Malachi Chapter 4.

And I don't know if in your mind it's kind of CHEATING when you get a new book to sneak a look ahead at the last page. And SEE HOW THE STORY ENDS.

If you were JEWISH, and you only had the OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES, the words I read MAKE UP THAT FINAL PAGE. The END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT STORY.

And it is, in the tradition of the best TV Soap Operas and 1920s silent movie serials, a CLIFF HANGER ENDING. You'd go along to the movie theatre and every week you'd see the next episode of the PERILS OF PAULINE in glorious black and white; where at the end of every episode, PAULINE WOULD BE IN TERRIBLE DANGER. With NO WAY OF ESCAPE. Tied to the railway tracks. Or literally DANGLING FROM A CLIFF. Her grip starting to loosen. And the words come on the screen TO BE CONTINUED… so you'd have to come back the NEXT WEEK. To see how it pans out.

Here's the OLD TESTAMENT CLIFF HANGER. And it's offering, if you look at the words on your sheet, TWO DISTINCT SCENARIOS for the Israelites, the Old Testament PEOPLE OF GOD.

Their FUTURE is dangling by a thread.

And I want you to notice the options.

Future number 1. Verse 1. Surely the day is coming, it will BURN LIKE A FURNACE. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them.

Which is a scary scenario indeed. The Lord Almighty, talking to his people the Israelites, saying, DON'T BE COMPLACENT. Because if you're an ARROGANT EVILDOER, the day's just around the corner where you're going to BURN LIKE A FURNACE.

But FUTURE NUMBER 2. Healing. Verse 2. "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with HEALING IN ITS WINGS. And you will go out and LEAP LIKE CALVES RELEASED FROM THE STALL. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.

Two possible futures. About to unfold. And a final warning. That you'll see in verse 5 and 6. There'll be ONE MORE PROPHET before the Lord comes. And there'll be ONE MORE WARNING. And he'll TURN THE HEARTS of God's people. OR ELSE… the final words in the final sentence of the whole Old Testament…or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Which is it going to be? Future 1? Or Future 2? Malachi the prophet says to Israel, make up your minds. When THE LORD COMES TO VISIT US… you going to be TRODDEN DOWN LIKE ASH? Or are you going to be LEAPING FOR JOY? When everything in Israel's PUT RIGHT AGAIN… you going to BURN? Or you going to frisk around the fields like a calf in the springtime?

That's the question. At the VERY END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. To be continued. What's it going to be? Which way will they go?

Of course, from our point in history we've seen the SECOND INSTALLMENT already; and we KNOW that the FINAL PROPHET CAME; John the Baptist. And then THE LORD HIMSELF CAME. In the person of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. Who SHOWED in a very concrete way that HE WAS THE ONE MALACHI WAS TALKING ABOUT. By very specifically BRINGING HEALING in remarkable ways. And making the LAME LEAP FOR JOY like calves in a field. When they turned to him. "But for you who REVERE MY NAME, the sun of righteousness will rise with HEALING IN ITS WINGS. And you will go out and LEAP LIKE CALVES RELEASED FROM THE STALL."

And so in the book of Acts, chapter 3, when the apostles Peter and John are going up to pray at the temple at three in the afternoon, there's a man there, crippled from birth. Being carried to the temple gate called BEAUTIFUL. Where he's put every day to beg from people going in and out. And he sees Peter and John and he asks them for money. And Peter says, Acts 3 verse 6, "Silver or gold I don't have, but what I have I give you. In the name of JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH… WALK."

And taking him by the hand, he helps him up. And instantly his feet and ankles become strong; and he doesn't just walk. He goes into the temple courts, says verse 8, WALKING AND JUMPING, AND PRAISING GOD." And the people are full of wonder and amazement at what's happened to him.

It is, of course, a picture of the fact that the NEW ERA has arrived. The TURNING POINT TIME. Where people are DECIDING THEIR DESTINY. By deciding what they do with the message about Jesus. Those who REVERE MY NAME… will go out and LEAP LIKE CALVES RELEASED FROM THE STALL.

All that time cooped up in the barn through the winter. Now FREE. In the springtime. And leaping for joy.

Which is of course, the hope we have for DI.

Who FOUND as we heard, the FREEDOM OF SPIRIT that came from PUTTING HER HOPE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS. And now in a very real way, has found the FREEDOM FROM THE FRUSTRATIONS OF HER BODY. And indeed will be leaping for joy like the calf set free from the stall. Like the lame man who was healed in the temple. Walking and leaping and PRAISING GOD.

It's the HOPE WE HAVE. That in a creation that's now subject to BONDAGE AND DECAY… in a fallen world that groans… there's a great ending for those who have put their trust in Jesus. And in that we rejoice.

Let's join in prayer…

Father, we thank you for the hope we have in the Lord Jesus, in whose name we enjoy freedom from the condemnation of SIN… as those of us who DO REVERE HIS NAME like our sister Di have that great privilege of looking forward to the time of no more frustrations and no more tears… the time when ALL WE WHO ARE LAME will LEAP FOR JOY. We thank you for that peace and joy that Di now enjoys in your presence, and we pray that we too might persevere in faith to the end, in JESUS NAME, AMEN

Gracious Engagement – Keller Transcript

Transcript from Authors@Google: Tim Keller

Tim Keller Discusses his Book – Reason to Believe

Tim Keller is a model for gracious engagement with the secular mindset. The following transcript of the first 10 minutes of his talk on the Google Campus comes from the Authors@Google series. Listen carefully, and mark any instances of 'gracious engagement'. Add observations in the spaces provided.

Consider also what aspects of Keller's presentation make it so 'listenable' and attention-getting.

---------------------------

Thankyou. I'm going to stay here. Thankyou. Though I have not – thank you Eugene. Though I have not – thank you Eugene. I don't have any idea why any of you would know anything about my background. Eugene said, for those of you who don't know, my background, I think that had to be all of you. <Laugh> I mean, why would anybody know it. Even my children don't really know it.

OBSERVATIONS?

So I want to talk to you about the reason – the reasoning behind… belief in God, or the reasoning that leads to belief in God. I am not – I can't (ah) possible cover it in say, 25. 30 minutes. My conscience is clear because there is the book. In other words, what I say to you here is going to be sketchy. If anything I say really engages you, I won't be – I won't feel guilty because I can always say, read the rest of it in the book.

OBSERVATIONS?(Body language?)

I certainly can't really give good answers to this question in a talk, but I think – I think I addressed it a lot better in the book where I had a little bit more time.

OBSERVATIONS? Epistemic Humility?

But the question is: What is the reasoning that leads to belief in God? And I'd like to deal with that in the three headings: Why the reasons for God are important, uh how the reasons for God work, and what the reasons for God are.

OBSERVATIONS? Structure, logic, suspense

Okay, first. Why the reasons for God are important; why should you even be here? In fact, I don't know why you're here, but I'll tell you why you ought to be here, okay? If you have a kind of sound, firm skepticism, and you really don't believe in God, you really need to be know this, what I'm about to tell you, and here's the reason why:

OBSERVATIONS?

When I was your age – hmm – looking out there – when I was your age, which is a long tie ago, everybody knew that, ah, the more technologically advanced the society got, the less religious they'd get. That's what everybody thought they knew. And the more economically developed, the more educated people got, the more religion was going to sort of thin out and the idea of a god and truth and miracles was going to sort of die out. Not – hardly anybody believes that any more. Because, really, that's not what's happening. Instead, robust, orthodox faith in God has gotten stronger in the world. It has gotten stronger in America. Secular thought has also increased, so we have a more polarized society now. But you know, last week, the Pew Foundation, took out, sent out its latest survey of the religious life of people in America and now evangelical Pentecostals is largest single category, bigger than mainline protestants, bigger than Catholics. That would never – I can't imagine that 30 years ago. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, to keep some things in mind, Africa has gone from 9% to 55% Christian in the last hundred years. Korea went from about 1% to 40% Christian in a hundred years WHILE Korea was getting more technologically advanced. The same thing has basically happened for China. There's more Christians in China now than there are in America, and this has been happening even as science has advanced, so the whole idea that orthodox religion is going to go away, no, it's going to be here. So the only way we're going to get along is we got to be able to get sympathetically into one another's shoes. So if you don't believe in God, you need to – you need to try to understand why anybody does, or we're not going to be able to work in a pluralistic society.

OBSERVATIONS? Mindset attributed to the atheist listener? Cf current Australian Christian positioning

You know, the new atheist books, Mr Dawkins, Mr Hitchens and company, when they say religion is bad in those books, that's not a new thesis. A lot of people have been saying that for a long time. What is kind of new about those books is they don't just say religion is bad, they say RESPECT for religion is bad. And if you counsel one section of your population to belittle and disdain and do nothing, you know, show no respect for the beliefs of this group of people, beliefs that give them great joy and meaning in life. If you counsel one group of people to despise and do nothing to try to understand this group of people that is a recipe for social disaster if anybody actually takes the advice.

 

Now if you are a believer in God, you need to know the reasons for God, and here's the reasons why. Um. Doubt.

OBSERVATIONS?

You've got doubts. Don't tell me you don't. I know you may come from a church that says, oh, no, doubt, we don't doubt, we believe. Well (sigh), ye… if you don't deal with your own doubts, and say, okay, in light of this doubt, why DO I believe? You know, why do I believe Christianity? Why do I believe in God, or whatever? If you don't let your doubts drive you to ask those questions your faith will never get strong, ah doubts, dealing with doubts honestly is the best possible way to build a faith that can last in the face of anything. And so you need to look at the reasoning for God if you're a believer in God. You need to look at the reasoning for God if you're not a believer in God. And actually, if you – but most of the people I know in this country, at least, are kind of ambivalent. They – your relationship with believe in God is really a weird one. Sometimes you do (chuckle); sometimes, you do more; sometimes you do less. And you particularly need to hear this.

1000 words 6:47

Approx 150 wpm.

Second point, how do the reasons for God work? Important. There are three basic kinds of reasons that all people who believe believe, and for which all people who disbelieve, disbelieve. If you disbelieve in God or you believe in God, it's because of all three of these kinds of reasons. The first kind are intellectual reasons. In other words, you either, you read the arguments for the existence of God or you read the objections to God or Christianity, we'll say – and I'm speaking as a Christian. That's why whenever I go into a particular religion I'm always going to think of Christianity here. And if you think the arguments are compelling, you believe. If you think the arguments don't – aren't compelling, you don't believe. So there's the intellectual. What you might call reasoning proper.

OBSERVATIONS? (Gracious positioning, identifying presuppositions)

Secondly though, you have personal reasons. Nobody believes in God or disbelieves strictly for intellectual rational reasons. There's always personal reasons. And here's what's interesting. Some people have horrible bad experiences, tragedies and difficulties, and disappointments. And some people interpret that as meaning, I really need God in my life. I need something to help me get through this. And other people have the very same experiences and they interpret this meaning, I don't need a god who lets stuff like this happen. Other people get very successful. For example, they come to work for Google. And they're happy, and like, the toilet seats are heated. (laugh)

How would I know that? And – somebody told me; I didn't believe them. So you're happy; things are going well in life. So some people interpret success in life this way; They say, this means, I don't really need God. And other people interpret success in life as saying, you know, I'm successful and I'm still empty. So there's always interpreted experiences, interpreted personal experiences, a set of reasons why some people believe in God or not, intellectual reasons why some people believe in God or not, and, lastly there's social reasons.

Now there's a whole field of – the whole discipline called the sociology of knowledge. And the sociology of knowledge says that basically you tend to find plausible, most plausible, the beliefs of the people that you want to be- you want them to like you, or the people that you need and people that you're dependent on, people who are in the community you're in or want to be part of – their beliefs tend to be more plausible than the beliefs of people who are in communities you don't like or aren't interested in and don't want to be part of. So, to a great degree, you believe what you believe because of the social support, and I think most of us have to be honest about this. If you once believed in God and kind of lost your belief, to some degree, that happened because a lot of the people that you wanted to life you were also being skeptical and sophisticated and making jokes about it.

Or if you move from belief, pardon me, non-belief to robust belief in God, very often, it's because you've found a circle of people that you really like and admire and you can identify with and you'd like to be like, and they believed.

10:00

But what you can't do is reduce belief or non-belief to just one of those three, and people always do it. Let me show you what I mean. Very often, secular, non-believing people, non believing in God, will say to me, "Yet, Christian minister, you think you got the truth, you think Christianity is the truth, if you were born in Madagascar, you wouldn't even be a Christian." Okay. So I sat down and I said, "What is this? What is the point of this?" And here's what he's saying,: he's saying, "My understanding of God is based on rationality. I've thought it out. But YOUR belief is socially and culturally constructed. Totally. You're only a Christian because you were raised here, okay, not Madagascar. But see, what's the comeback?

OBSERVATIONS?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gracious Engagement

This week we're going to be talking about 'gracious engagement' - the way preachers like Tim Keller enter the mind and worldview of their listeners and plant gospel seeds. There's a great transcript here of Keller's sermon at an interfaith commemoration of 9-11. We'll also be looking at Keller's well known Google Lecture.

Leigh Trevaskis on preaching without notes - LIVE BLOG

This is not a key issue.
Eg grant thorpe is stimulating and intriguing even though he uses full text.
Bring intriguing has priority over notes or not.

The reason I don't use notes is that ever since I was a kid, notes made me nervous. I am hopeless with nits!

How is it I can remember my talk and say what I intended?

A lot has to do with logic. James Stewart wrote a book on preaching. Its not hard to remember something if it is logical.

For example, I have a guy coming over on Thursday night. We were talking about electronic pop. We are going to listen to it at his place and talk about the history of it and the way it broke away from appealing to germanys past. 

This story is to illustrate that when someone explains the logic or rationale it creates interest and forms memory.

Preaching without notes is similar. Try to understand hoe the text moves as an animal. How is the narrator moving us? I will then unpack how that animal moves when I am preaching.

What that means is that sermons I find difficult to pre remember indicates I have got something out of place. I am trying to explain or adapt somethi g that does not belong.

Sam chan writes full notes, then writes it again without referring back. Things that did not belong will be gone.

The logic is primary. The logic of the idea of the passage.

The talk is text driven.

So genesis 3 moves through reappraising sin through to consequence. The logic of text shapes the talk.

Walter Moberly sat and read notes - but was gripping because of his logic.  Become entranced by the logic of the argument.

How do you deliberately build in systematics? This is a pitfall and can become over simplistic.
Most of us don't have the capacity to be deep on the fly.

So first, logic. Entranced by the eloquence of the argument.

2. Organization. I write out my notes leaving intro till last. I write down the main movements. 
I look for a crisp and memorable statement for each point.

I use a formula that I always start with a statement. Then read text, then repeat crisp statement.
Then explain if required. Then illustrate if necessary. Or if a break is necessary. Then state again, then apply, then next movement.

I am usually excited by illustrations as I like storytelling. 

The explanation phase needs writing out in full. Illustrations don't. I am afraid of boring people so want to work at being engaging. When they are written out by hand, they are then left behind at the desk.

q. What is an example of a crisp stAtement?  Eg 'sin is a process.' it needs to be memorable and pregnant.

Remembering where I am up to depends on knowing the text.

Think of explaining the passage to a friend.
Always need to slow down. I will write pauses into the notes. I find it hard to hear silence, but it is powerful. Eg inxs two worlds colliding has a powerful pause.

Pitfalls
A. Going on and on. Pentecostal and reformed people tend to do this.
B. Driven by text and texture leaves no space for opening up theology.
How do we show people how our grid works? How much do we explain?

The thing that most helped me is learning to be conversational. When preachers stop being conversational I stop listening. Boring sermons are painful. Why is it that some people who can be personally engaging get dull. You have to treat the listeners as human beings.

Quotes can be remembered by repeating every sentence seven times and building up.

Introductions need to match the tone of the talk. Don't be embarrassed to lead off with the topic.

Dan Leister's talk on Genesis

Dan says "Hi Phil, Thanks for the help on the sermon last week. I think it turned out all right in the end.
Attached is my transcript - I mostly kept to it...
The recording's not up on our website yet, I'll send you a link when it is.
This is a link to the Brookwater ad that I used, it's worth having a look at since it drives a large chunk of the sermon and I come back to it often. The ad is over on the right hand panel.

I had some slides with a couple of photos in them as visual illustrations, you get the gist of them in the transcript.
Below is the outline I had printed in the handouts

Life in the Garden

Looking for Eden?

The Garden of Work

The Garden of Marriage

The Garden of God

Eden Today?

Developing an Argument – Start with the Intro

You can't really write your introduction til you've figured out where your talk is heading. Here are two possible starters for my talk on Deuteronomy 4. We'll talk in class about which one works best, and why…

INTRODUCTION VERSION 1

Words or Pictures?
Mounted above the doorways around the US Library of Congress, which has got to be one of the great libraries of the world, there's a series of FAMOUS QUOTATIONS. They're quotes by and large about the importance of BOOKS. And the POWER of WORDS.
One that particularly caught my eye said this. It turns out they're the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, though I'm sure SIMILAR THINGS have been said countless times before. But set above the massive marble doorway into the main hall of the library, you'll see this.

SHOW SLIDE

"Words are also ACTIONS. And ACTIONS are a KIND OF WORDS."
I dunno. It's kind of obvious. And yet CONFUSING at the same time. It's kind of the same as saying ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, or else maybe it's a BALANCE. Saying WORDS might in fact sometimes speak LOUDER THAN ACTIONS. That WORDS ACTUALLY IN THE END ARE… ACTIONS. With power. With consequences.
I mean, we know that, don't we. Sometimes, simply TO SPEAK is a PROFOUND ACTION ALL OF ITS OWN. And to say the WRONG WORD AT THE WRONG TIME can have DISASTROUS RESULTS. That change the WHOLE COURSE OF A FRIENDSHIP. The WHOLE COURSE OF A LIFE. OVERHEARD WORDS that you WISH YOU COULD TAKE BACK. But you can't. Or else WORDS THAT BRING HEALING. Or bring CLOSURE. Or bring PROMISE. Or SEAL A DEAL.
ACTIONS MIGHT SPEAK. BUT WORDS ACT. Because words are POWERFUL TOOLS.
How much MORESO if the WORDS… are the words of the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE who SPOKE THINGS INTO BEING. What are you going to DO with the WORDS of a GOD LIKE THAT? I mean, what if he didn't just speak CREATION WORDS at the beginning, but SPOKE SPECIFICALLY TO ONE NATION OF PEOPLE? What are they going to DO … with THOSE WORDS?

INTRODUCTION VERSION 2

Seen but not heard

In Victorian England it was often said that Children, like Domestic servants, should be SEEN, but NOT HEARD. In fact, not just VICTORIAN ENGLAND. When I was growing up, which was in an era SLIGHTLY LATER THAN THAT, when I was growing up and mum and dad were having a DINNER PARTY AT HOME, my younger sister and I were always BUSTING to be allowed to STAY UP. And be PART OF IT. At which point I would be reminded that we could stay up ON THE ONE CONDITION that we REMEMBERED THE RULES. We could HELP WITH SERVING THE CHRISTMAS DRINKS. We could even NIBBLE ON THE CASHEWS. But DON'T BUTT IN on the ADULT CONVERSATIONS. Children… should be SEEN BUT NOT HEARD. Which very much kept us in our place.

Well, children these days get it much better. But as we come to Deuteronomy this morning, Moses is keen to warn the people of Israel about the kind of idol worship that was ABSOLUTELY COMMON ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. That very conveniently let you MAKE YOURSELF A NON INTERFERING, NON SPEAKING GOD. A good looking god, as you carved out its features and you inlaid it with gold and propped him up in his temple. But WON'T TROUBLE YOU BY SPEAKING. Or TELLING YOU HOW TO LIVE. Domesticated gods. Which the bible calls IDOLS.

So here in Deuteronomy 4, we've got this interesting interplay. The decision before Israel as they STAND ON THE BRINK OF THE PROMISED LAND. The choice between their TRUE GOD… WHO SPEAKS BUT HAS NO FORM. Or the IDOLS. Who have FORM. But DO NOT SPEAK. The God who is HEARD BUT NOT SEEN. Or domesticated, well behaved and convenient idols. Who are SEEN… BUT NOT HEARD.

Show slide - map

If you were here last week, you'll remember that in Deuteronomy we're looking at the FINAL SPEECH FROM MOSES, Israel's great leader, who's brought the descendants of Abraham, the people of Israel, out of SLAVERY in Egypt, who's brought them to Mount HOREB where God's given them his law, who's LED THEM THE ELEVEN DAY JOURNEY to Kadesh Barnea, where they sent SPIES INTO THE PROMISED LAND. And when the GOD WHO SPEAKS SAYS TO THEM, I'm GIVING YOU THE LAND, GO IN AND TAKE IT… they say, WE CAN'T, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THERE ARE TOO BIG.

A Sermon on Deuteronomy 4

Hey guys and girls, here's the text from my sermon on Deuteronomy 4. It was a tough week of preparation - it's a chapter with lots going on, and it was hard to get a clear line through it. Gary Millar's lecture was helpful and formative, highlighting the fact that Israel's God was heard, but not seen. That's what I tried to play off in the way I structured the talk. There are plenty of flaws here, which is why I'm posting it. If you get the chance, why not highlight some in the comments. (Having said that, it's WAY better than the earlier draft. Dumping my original introduction was a great help. More on that later maybe.)

The God of Word
Deuteronomy 4

SLIDE – SEEN BUT NOT HEARD

Seen but not heard

In Victorian England it was often said that Children, like Domestic servants, should be SEEN, but NOT HEARD. In fact, not just VICTORIAN ENGLAND. When I was growing up, which was in an era SLIGHTLY LATER THAN THAT, when I was growing up and mum and dad were having a DINNER PARTY AT HOME, my younger sister and I were always BUSTING to be allowed to STAY UP. And be PART OF IT. At which point I would be reminded that we could stay up ON THE ONE CONDITION that we REMEMBERED THE RULES. We could HELP WITH SERVING THE CHRISTMAS DRINKS. We could even NIBBLE ON THE CASHEWS. But DON’T BUTT IN on the ADULT CONVERSATIONS. Children… should be SEEN BUT NOT HEARD. Which very much kept us in our place.

Well, children these days get it much better. But as we come to Deuteronomy this morning, Moses is keen to warn the people of Israel about the kind of idol worship that was ABSOLUTELY COMMON ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. That very conveniently let you MAKE YOURSELF A NON INTERFERING, NON SPEAKING GOD. A good looking god, as you carved out its features and you inlaid it with gold and propped him up in his temple. But WON’T TROUBLE YOU BY SPEAKING. Or TELLING YOU HOW TO LIVE. Domesticated gods. Which the bible calls IDOLS.

So here in Deuteronomy 4, we’ve got this interesting interplay. The decision before Israel as they STAND ON THE BRINK OF THE PROMISED LAND. The choice between their TRUE GOD… WHO SPEAKS BUT HAS NO FORM. Or the IDOLS. Who have FORM. But DO NOT SPEAK.

The God who is HEARD BUT NOT SEEN. Or domesticated, well behaved and convenient idols. Who are SEEN… BUT NOT HEARD.

Show slide - map

If you were here last week, you’ll remember that in Deuteronomy we’re looking at the FINAL SPEECH FROM MOSES, Israel’s great leader, who’s brought the descendants of Abraham, the people of Israel, out of SLAVERY in Egypt, who’s brought them to Mount HOREB where God’s given them his law, who’s LED THEM THE ELEVEN DAY JOURNEY to Kadesh Barnea, where they sent SPIES INTO THE PROMISED LAND. And when the GOD WHO SPEAKS SAYS TO THEM, I’m GIVING YOU THE LAND, GO IN AND TAKE IT… they say, WE CAN’T, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THERE ARE TOO BIG.

And so now, after a GENERATION IN THE DESERT, after 40 years of WILDERNESS WANDERING, they’ve come around to the EAST SIDE OF THE JORDAN RIVER. And they’re READY TO CROSS. And maybe THIS TIME… take the land. Which reminded me of the old Sunday School Song that’s still stuck in my head. And it’s got to be one of the advantages of a good kid’s program. Here’s what I learned in St Andrews Inverell Junior Sunday School in 1965, and if you never went to Sunday school, here’s what you missed out on… because there was a song that said THERE’S ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS, and THAT’S THE RIVER OF JORDAN, one more river, there’s one more river to cross.

That’s EXACTLY WHERE WE’RE AT. They’ve IGNORED GOD’S WORD the FIRST TIME at Kadesh Barnea, they’ve had their WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE. And now as they’re PREPARING TO CROSS THEIR FINAL RIVER, there’s ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS. As Moses has a FINAL WORD WITH THEM. About their ATTITUDE… to the WORDS OF GOD WHO SPEAKS BUT IS NOT SEEN.



Pick it up from verse 10. And notice what he’s saying. Because the DEFINING THING these Israelites experienced, the DEFINING MOMENT in their history, was the time when as CHILDREN THEMSELVES, they stood there with their parents at Mount Horeb AS GOD SPOKE TO THEM FROM THE FIERY MOUNTAIN. The thing that THEIR EYES HAVE SEEN, the thing that should be IMBEDDED IN THEIR HEARTS… is on that day 40 years ago back at the mountain, GOD SPOKE. TO THEM.



SLIDE – DT 4v10-12 – Words but no form

Verse 10. Moses says, 10 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to HEAR MY WORDS so that they may learn to REVERE ME as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."
God said, ASSEMBLE THE PEOPLE, to HEAR MY WORDS. So they’ll REVERE ME. So they’ll HOLD ME IN HONOUR.
And so Moses says in verse 11… that’s what you did. You stood there. WHILE THE LORD SPOKE. Follow along. And picture it. How SPOOKY would this be? How much would this RAISE THE HAIRS ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK. How this would’ve set the dogs off HOWLING AT THE MOON. Clouds of black smoke, and deep darkness and BLAZING FIRE. And in the midst of it all a BOOMING VOICE OF GOD HIMSELF. The SPEAKING GOD. STAND IN AWE!
But notice, in spite of the smoke, in spite of the fire, when it comes to God himself, there’s NOTHING TO SEE. This is the God who is HEARD BUT NOT SEEN. Verse 11…

11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 Then the LORD SPOKE TO YOU OUT OF THE FIRE. You heard the SOUND OF WORDS but SAW NO FORM; there was ONLY A VOICE. 13 He DECLARED TO YOU HIS COVENANT, the Ten Commandments, which he COMMANDED YOU TO FOLLOW and then wrote them on two stone tablets.



For Israel, ABSOLUTELY FORMATIVE. Their DEFINING MOMENT. But NOTHING TO SEE. You heard the SOUND OF WORDS. But SAW NO FORM. Which is going to be the constant TEMPTATION at the core of the long battle for Israel’s hearts. Because everyone else has a TANGIBLE, VISIBLE GOD. Why can’t WE HAVE A GOD WE CAN SEE?

For us, I think, it’s WORDS verses FEELINGS. Christians by and large these days would rather have a FEELING FROM GOD than a WORD FROM GOD. Back then, the big thing was to have a god that was SOLID AND SUBSTANTIAL that you could SEE WITH YOUR EYES and HOLD IN YOUR HANDS.

But THE TRUE GOD isn’t like that. “Then the Lord SPOKE TO YOU OUT OF THE FIRE. You heard the SOUND OF WORDS… but SAW NO FORM. There was ONLY A VOICE. Who gave you his commands and decrees and laws.” And so that’s the question. Do you want a God who can be SEEN BUT NOT HEARD? Like the IDOLS? Or a God who is HEARD… BUT NOT SEEN?

Because all the nations around them, all the nations in the land they’re about to TAKE OVER, they’ve got VISIBLE GODS by the truck load. They MAKE THEM themselves, in a workshop. They fashion them out of wood, and stone, and silver and gold. And then… they BOW DOWN TO THEM IN WORSHIP, and they DANCE TO THEM around ASHERAH POLES and they SACRIFICE THEIR CHILDREN TO THEM IN THE FIRE.

And so ISRAEL’S GOING TO HAVE A CHOICE to make. Every day they live in the land. Every day of their lives. No matter how young, no matter how old. Which is the point Moses goes on to make more strongly in verse 15.

Slide - Verse 15-16 NO FORM SO NO FORMS

15 You saw NO FORM OF ANY KIND the day the Lord SPOKE to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore WATCH YOURSELVES VERY CAREFULLY, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and MAKE FOR YOURSELVES an idol, an IMAGE of ANY SHAPE.



GOD HAS COME TO YOU IN HIS WORD. So HONOUR THAT. Instead of making FORMS and BOWING DOWN TO THEM.



See it’s interesting, in the creation account in Genesis 1:26, God has made MAN as his IMAGE AND LIKENESS. And he’s made MAN to RULE over the ANIMALS OF THE EARTH and the BIRDS IN THE AIR and the FISH OF THE SEA or things that CREEP ON THE GROUND.



And now IDOLATRY turns everything exactly upside down. And instead of WORSHIPING THE CREATOR, and RULING OVER the animals of the earth and the birds in the air… people by nature do the EXACT REVERSE.



And they CREATE FOR THEMSELVES an IMAGE of an ANIMAL. They carve themselves a FISH. And they BOW DOWN TO THAT.



Moses says, WATCH YOURSELVES VERY CAREFULLY, verse 16, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an IMAGE of ANY shape whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.



19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.



It might be TEMPTING TO BOW DOWN TO THINGS YOU CAN SEE. Like everyone else does. But the point is, the Lord YOUR GOD has MADE THAT STUFF. And not only that, he’s SPOKEN. To YOU. He’s brought you out of EGYPT, and he’s MADE HIMSELF KNOWN. And he’s VERY PARTICULAR… about WHETHER OR NOT YOU TAKE NOTICE OF HIM.



Which Moses LEARNED TO HIS PERIL. And so like the rest of his generation, he reminds them in verse 20, even MOSES HIMSELF is SHUT OUT OF THE PROMISED LAND.



SLIDE – v24-25 – A JEALOUS GOD…

So here’s what you’ve got to do. Don’t forget GOD’S COVENANT PROMISES; and DON’T MAKE YOURSELVES IDOLS. Because the LORD YOUR GOD, verse 24, is a consuming fire, a jealous God. He CARES ABOUT THIS STUFF. If he speaks and you IGNORE HIM, you DO IT AT YOUR PERIL.



And you can NEVER FORGET, verse 25, even in your old age, even when you’re a GRANDMA or a GRANDPA, there’ll never be a good time to TRADE IN the INVISIBLE GOD WHO SPEAKS for the VISIBLE gods who DON’T. There’ll NEVER BE A GOOD TIME TO GIVE UP ON GOD. There’ll NEVER BE A GOOD TIME TO GIVE UP ON HIS PROMISES. There’ll NEVER BE A GOOD TIME to trade in the GOD OF WORD for MATERIALISM.



Moses says to them, it’s as simple as this. Here’s your choice. TURN TO IDOLS, and you’ll be THROWN OUT OF THE LAND. Turn to idols, and you’ll be SMASHED. And SCATTERED. Turn to idols, and you’ll END UP WITH EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE ASKING FOR. And instead of being God’s SPECIAL PEOPLE in God’s PROMISED LAND… you’ll live among the nations and you’ll BE EXACTLY LIKE THEM. And you’ll WORSHIP WHAT THEY WORSHIP. Verse 28:- “There YOU WILL WORSHIP MAN MADE GODS of WOOD AND STONE, which CANNOT SEE OR HEAR OR EAT OR SMELL.

Gods that YOU CAN SEE. But certainly can’t see you. Or hear you. OR SPEAK TO YOU.



Come on guys. They’re just made out of STUFF YOU’VE BOUGHT FROM BUNNINGS. They’re NOT GODS AT ALL.



So what’s it going to be? The GOD WHO SPEAKS? Who has GIVEN ISRAEL HIS LAW? Or idols. That are SEEN BUT NOT HEARD. Because they’re just lumps of wood.



You’d think the choice will be easy.

But the way the story’s going to play out, it’s clearly NOT SO EASY AT ALL.



SLIDE – V32-33,35 NO OTHER GOD

Verse 32, Moses says as you stand here and look across the Jordan at your PROMISED LAND, CONSIDER YOUR INCREDIBLE PRIVILEGE. He says, there’s been NOTHING LIKE THIS since the VERY BEGINNING. Has anything SO GREAT AS THIS EVER HAPPENED, or anything like it ever been HEARD OF?



Verse 33, Has any other people HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD SPEAKING OUT OF FIRE, as you have, and lived?



Has ANY GOD, has ANY IDOL taken a nation for himself out of another nation, has ANY IDOL done the AWESOME THINGS THE LORD DID FOR YOU… as he brought you out of EGYPT?



Here’s the point. Here’s what Israel needs to know. That the LORD THEIR GOD is the ONLY GOD. And he’s SPOKEN TO THEM. To DISCIPLINE THEM. Because THEY ARE HIS PEOPLE.



Get the impact of this. Because it’s INCREDIBLY POLITICALLY INCORRECT. That Israel’s God, the GOD WHO HAS SPOKEN… he’s not just ONE CHOICE on the GOD MENU. One selection from the smorgasbord of gods and you can CHOOSE ONE YOU LIKE. You don’t CARVE YOUR OWN GOD IN YOUR OWN IMAGE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT HIM TO. Verse 35. Take it in. “You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD IS GOD; BESIDES HIM THERE IS NO OTHER. 36 From heaven he made you HEAR HIS VOICE to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you HEARD HIS WORDS from out of the fire.



It’s there again in verse 39. For good measure. “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD IS GOD in heaven above and on the earth below. THERE IS NO OTHER. And so… KEEP HIS DECREES AND COMANDS. So you and your children will be BLESSED. And live LONG IN THE LAND that the Lord your God is giving you.



See, the SPEAKING GOD… is the ONLY GOD. Which in our multicultural, multi-faith world, it’s just NOT THE THING PEOPLE SAY, is it. When you’re a tourist looking up at the GIANT GOLDEN BUDDHA in Japan, or the GIANT GOLDEN KRISHNA in Kuala Lumpur; when you see whole CULTURES devoted to that stuff, the SPEAKING GOD says, the ONE TRUE GOD says, they’re just stuff you can buy from the HARDWARE STORE. And they CAN’T HELP YOU AT ALL. Of course, our WESTERN IDOLATRY is maybe a little bit more SUBTLE. We’ll be looking at it a bit closer in the next few weeks. An idolatry the New Testament calls GREED. Which draws our hearts away from the GOD WHO HAS SPOKEN.



God’s word to us…

Now from this point on, as we’re going to see over the next few weeks, Moses goes on to SPELL OUT the DECREES and COMMANDS God has SPOKEN TO ISRAEL. LAWS for LIFE IN THE LAND. Laws that are designed to SHOW THE WORLD what RIGHTEOUSNESS looks like. With a STRICT PENALTY CODE to go with it. Regulations for EVERY PART OF LIFE, ways for Israel to STAND OUT AS BEING DIFFERENT. Which Moses says back in verse 6 is going to mark them out as a WISE AND UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE. And their SERVICE of the GOD OF WORD, their RESPONSE TO THE GOD WHO HAS SPOKEN… the way they’re going to SHOW THEY TRUST HIM…. Is very simple. They’re going to REMEMBER WHAT HE’S SAID. And as they live in the land they’re going to KEEP HIS DECREES AND COMMANDS. Because THE SPEAKING GOD SAID SO.

I want to take a moment thinking forward to where WE ARE. And ask the question HOW HAS THE SPEAKING GOD SPOKEN TO US? And how do we respond?

You might be inclined to say, well, I haven’t SEEN A FIRE on a mountain, or HEARD ANY VOICES. Which is maybe why you feel the GRIP OF MATERIALISM is so attractive. Best to spend your time and energy on SOMETHING TANGIBLE. On STUFF YOU CAN SEE.

On the other hand, you might be one of those Christians who feels they hear VOICES ALL THE TIME.

But that’s not actually the NEW TESTAMENT MODEL EITHER.

Because the fact is, the New Testament wants to tell us that God has both BEEN SEEN AND BEEN HEARD… in the PERSON OF JESUS. And so WE … LISTEN TO HIM.

It’s an idea that’s UNPACKED in John’s gospel. And especially in chapter 1. Page?

SLIDE – John 1

Because God is the GOD OF WORD. There’s something DEEPLY PHILOSOPHICAL going on here that I can never quite GET MY HEAD AROUND. But John chapter 1 verse 1 says IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD.

This is the SPEAKING GOD. This is the God who SPOKE CREATION INTO BEING WITH A WORD. This is the God who SPOKE A NATION INTO BEING… with a PROMISE TO ABRAHAM. This is the God who SPOKE HIS LAWS TO MOSES… for LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND.

In the beginning was the Word, John 1 verse 1, and the Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

SLIDE – JOHN 1:14

And now, John chapter 1 verse 14, STUNNING WORDS. “The Word BECAME FLESH… and made his dwelling among us.” THE INVISIBLE GOD… is now TANGIBLE. Not as an IDOL. But in the person of HIS SON. And so now, “ WE HAVE… SEEN HIS GLORY… the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

SLIDE – JOHN 1:18

And to verse 18. “No one has ever SEEN GOD… but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, HAS MADE HIM KNOWN.”

In other words, THE CLOSEST you can ever get to SEEING THE FORMLESS GOD… is in THE WORD BECAME FLESH. Jesus Christ. The BEST YOU CAN EVER KNOW GOD… is in JESUS CHRIST. The WORD BECAME FLESH.

And so the God who was HEARD BUT NOT SEEN has now been both SEEN AND HEARD. In the person of his SON.

SLIDE – MARK 9

Same idea in MARK CHAPTER 9. Jesus has taken PETER and JAMES and JOHN up a HIGH MOUNTAIN. A reminder of MOUNT HOREB. Where GOD SPOKE BEFORE.

Well, he’s GOING TO SPEAK AGAIN. There’s cloud. There’s blinding light. And THEN THE VOICE. This is the SPEAKING GOD. And here’s what he says.

Read it from verse 7. “Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a VOICE CAME FROM THE CLOUD: “This is my son, whom I love. LISTEN TO HIM.”

I don’t know if you ever think much about why we DO WHAT WE DO HERE AT CHURCH. But it’s ALL ABOUT THAT.

See, KNOWING GOD is not going to be all about HOW YOU FEEL, or WHAT YOU FEEL GOD IS TELLING YOU at any particular point. Knowing God is not all about FEELING LED. Or LISTENING TO AN INNER VOICE. Knowing God is about LISTENING TO JESUS.

If Jesus is God’s WORD BECAME FLESH, and if we’re meant to LISTEN TO HIM, it means SOAKING UP HIS EVERY WORD. It means WATCHING WHAT’S REPORTED OF HIS EVERY ACTION. Moses says, GOD SPOKE, SO I TEACH. And the APOSTLES OF JESUS did the same. And we’re meant to HOLD ON THEIR TEACHING ABOUT JESUS. And as generations come and go, NEVER FORGET.

Responding to the God of Word

SLIDE - RESPONDING

On the outline there in the final point I skipped through Deuteronomy 4 and I picked out all the words that described how ISRAEL WAS MEANT TO RESPOND to the GOD OF WORD. Here’s how Israel’s meant to respond to the LAWS and the STATUTES that God gave at Mount Horeb. Here’s how Israel’s going to SHOW THAT THEY TRUST HIM. And for us, they’re going to be words that describe HOW WE RESPOND TO JESUS.

Moses says, HEAR O ISRAEL. LISTEN UP TO GOD’S LAW. In our case, it’s LISTEN UP TO JESUS. Pay attention. One of our CORE COMMITMENTS as a church is that we MAJOR ON CLEAR, CHRIST CENTRED BIBLE TEACHING. But it’s up to YOU to LISTEN.

Moses says, Learn. I’ve TAUGHT YOU THE DECREES OF GOD, So LEARN THEM. It’s up to you to LEARN.

Moses says, KEEP THE COMMANDS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD I GIVE YOU, verse 2. And DON’T WANDER OFF. So in our case, KEEP HOLDING ON TO THE LORD JESUS. The WORD BECOME FLESH. And OBEY HIM.

Moses says, Observe God’s commands CAREFULLY verse 6, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Jesus says, THEY WILL KNOW YOU’RE MY DISCIPLES BY YOUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER. Do people HEAR ABOUT THAT and MARVEL AT IT?

Moses says, Teach this stuff to your children. And REMEMBER. Verse 9. “Only BE CAREFUL, and watch yourselves closely so that you DO NOT FORGET the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Friends, are you doing your best to pass on to YOUR CHILDREN what it looks like to SERVE THE LORD JESUS. Are you teaching them what it means to PRIORITISE GATHERING WITH GOD’S PEOPLE to HEAR FROM GOD’S WORD? Because THAT’S WHAT WE DO HERE, WEEK AFTER WEEK. That’s why we gather. That’s what we’re doing in KIDZBIZ, that’s what we’re doing RIGHT NOW. And more than that… as YOU GET OLDER… don’t let it go.

And one more proviso. TAKE IT TO HEART. The laws GOD SPOKE TO ISRAEL, the REASON HE SPOKE… it wasn’t just to CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOUR ON THE OUTSIDE. It wasn’t just to FILL THEIR HEADS with knowledge. It was to SHAPE THEIR HEARTS. Verse 39. Moses said, “Acknowledge and TAKE TO HEART this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

There’s no point LEARNING ABOUT THE LORD JESUS… if you’re never going to TAKE IT TO HEART. Friends, you can sit on the fence for a VERY LONG TIME. And I know SOME OF YOU HAVE. But if you don’t TAKE IT TO HEART, if you don’t OWN THE IMPLICATIONS that the ONE AND ONLY GOD has MADE HIMSELF KNOWN TO US IN HIS SON, if that doesn’t PUSH ALL OTHER FALSE GODS OUT OF YOUR HEART AND YOUR AFFECTIONS… then you might KNOW LOTS OF STUFF. But the journey’s going to go NOWHERE.

That’s the challenge facing ISRAEL on the edge of the promised land. There’s ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS, and that’s the RIVER OF JORDAN. But if they’re not going to LISTEN TO THE SPEAKING GOD and TAKE HIS WORDS TO HEART, they’re really NOT GETTING ANYWHERE. And neither are you.