[Notes of a sermon preached in August, 2016]
Psalm 5 – Praying under pressure
Do you feel under pressure as a Christian?
Mt 26:26 ‘While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.”’
Mk 14:22 ‘While they were eating, he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it. This is my body.”’
Lk 22:19 ‘Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you.…
There has been a steady migration of prominent evangelicals – or, least, those with an evangelical background – into the fold of Eastern orthodoxy.
These include, here in the UK, Kallistos Ware, Michael Harper, and, in the US, Peter Gillquist, Hank Hanegraff and Mark Galli.
Evangelicals Now reports on Hope Church Halifax, which was affiliated to the FIEC and has now become St Hilda’s Orthodox Church.
One of its leaders, Deacon Caedmon Clark (formerly known as Doug Clark) has explained why they made the move:
Notes of a sermon preached at St Andrew’s Eaton, Norwich, on Sunday 2nd November 20025.
A link to the video can be found at the bottom of this page.
Scripture passage; Matthew 5:33-37
Especially v37 – ‘Let your “Yes” be “Yes.”
Context
At the beginning of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, we have:-
An affirmation: v17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”…
Psalm 82:6 (NET) — I thought, ‘You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.’
John 10:34 ‘Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 10:35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken), 10:36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?’…
What follows is largely a precis of ‘A Fresh Look at the Gospel of John’, in Transforming Ministry (Central Readers’ Council) by Paul Burnham. This itself is based on his book ‘The Eagle Returns: A Fresh Look at the Gospel of John‘.
There is a significant gap between the academic study of the Gospel of John and its use by most Christians.
It is important that we can believe that the Gospel records real events.…
In considering whether it is ever OK to tell a lie, we should distinguished between a general principle and a legitimate exception.
Peter was enunciating a general principle when he wrote:
Is forgiveness unilateral? Must we – can we, even – forgive those who refuse to repent?
Our gut reaction – especially in a day when ‘unconditional love’ is such a popular notion – is probably that it is, we must, and we can (forgive the unrepentant, that is).
But God doesn’t do that. If we we imagine that we can be reconclied with God, regardless of repentance, then we have landed ourselves right in the middle of the heresy of universalism.…
Thinking about our Lord’s teaching on truthfulness in Matthew 5:33-37, I was led to this article, by Paul Carter.
What follows is a summary:
1. What Does Not Constitute A Lie?
(a) A simple mistake
Some people are better ‘historians’ than others. They recall, with a high degree of precision, names, dates and times. Others of us are not so gifted in the area. We might get a detail wrong, and be corrected by someone with a more reliable memory (our wives, perhaps?).…
Psa 122:6a – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
This psalm, and especially this particular expression, is a favourite of Christian Zionists, who urge all Christians simply to obey the command, and pray for the city, so troubled and divided to this very day. Indeed, it is sometimes implied that if Christians do not do this, then they are living, in a rather fundamental way, out of God’s will and purpose. Citing this verse, Kenneth Hagee claims that ‘the scriptural principle of prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem.’ …
