Nothing can stop us getting closer to Jesus Christ (Liam Parker)

Liam read Acts 8 v 26-39, the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who met Philip and was baptised.

Following this message, people responded at the 9:30 am and 11:30 am in Bracknell for salvation and for immediate baptism in water.

We trip ourselves up

As a teenager, Liam would present a request to him mum, and she would say “No”.  But Liam likes to be right, and to persuade others of his point of view, which would lead to ‘heated discussions’!  One day, his dad took him aside, and taught him to think how to say things, to pick the right moment, and to realise that he was the problem in these arguments.  

We are often our own worst enemy and keep tripping ourselves up.

Similarly, the only thing that can stop us coming closer to Jesus Christ is ourselves.  We need to get out of our own way, and choose to respond to Jesus.

Nothing else can stop us drawing closer to Jesus

It is most likely that the eunuch would have asked the queen he served for permission to take the 1500 mile journey to Jerusalem to find out more about God.  But when he got to the temple the law did not allow eunuchs admittance (Duet 23 v 1, Lev 21 v 20).   People would look at his sexuality, his skin, his race, his wealth, his job and count him out from finding God.  But none of these things or anything else can separate us from access to Jesus.

Rom 8 v 35-39 says ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No … For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God.’

Getting out of our own way

We may put up reasons as to why we can’t get close to God – perhaps because of the bad things we have done, our present lifestyle, our current circumstances, or our uncertainly of the future, but actually it is only our choice right now that stops us getting closer to God.

The eunuch made the choice to stop the chariot, and right there and then to get baptised.  We must decide right here and now to obey Christ, and trust him to deal with the past and sort out our future.

Questions

1. Have you been baptised?  If not, what is stopping you?

2. What external things try to stop us drawing closer to Jesus, and how should we respond to them?  [With faith that they have no power to stop us.  Read Rom 8 v 35-39; Eph 6 v 10-20]

3. What things within you (e.g. past experiences, fears, attitudes) are stopping you right now from becoming more abandoned to Jesus?

4. Who are you praying for and asking to come to church this Christmas?

19th Nov 2017 - Living by Faith, Tope Koleoso

Living by Faith

Joshua 5:13-15

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Heb 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Dealing with Strongholds

Joshua, like the gospels, is part of a story of deliverance – a good God redeeming his people – and the way God delivered Israel tells us a lot about how He operates.

Delivered by miracles. Exodus tells of the Israelites in slavery, and of the plagues brought upon the Egyptians to convince them to let God’s people go.  Frogs, flies, floods, hailstones; each time, Moses warned, but the Egyptians didn’t respond.  Do you remember ‘darkness’ as a plague (Ex10:21) – described as a darkness so dark you could feel it, and no-one in Egypt moved for 3 days.  At the same time, the Israelites had light.  Finally, when all other warnings failed, there was the death of the firstborn.

Destined by promises.  The wonders changed Israel – changed their worship, changed their attitude. They saw God keeping his promises, they rejoiced and truly believed.  In all, God made seven promises –seven ‘I wills’ about redeeming Israel.

Sustained by the supernatural.  Camped at the Red Sea and seeing the Egyptian army approaching, the Israelites turned to Moses, and Moses to God – who said “Why are you crying out to me?”(not what Moses wanted to hear!) But then God gave Moses instructions, and as Moses raised his staff, a path opened in the waters of the Red Sea.  Taking that path required trust – walking between the walls of water!  Beyond that day, the Israelites were sustained in other miraculous ways:

·         God’s directed them, pointing out the way with clouds and fire

·         God fed them – food from heaven for 2m people for 40 years.

·         God refreshed them with water - from rocks

·         Their shoes never wore out

And yet, there was unbelief.  As Psalm 106 puts it, “Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.” The mentality of Egypt had a strong hold on them.

By the time of our reading (Joshua 5), we have a new generation; a new leader, new people, and new battles to fight.  They arrive at Jericho – a city with a formidable wall that prevented their advance.

We all face Jericho’s – sometimes they are more of an obstacle than we realize.  They can shape our lives, cause daily difficulties.  It may be:

·         Relationships:

·         Chronic illness,

·         Things of the mind, such as doubt

·         Emotions – guilt, perhaps of past deeds, perhaps unjustly.  Fear – of the future, of the unknown.

People try to deal with Jericho in different ways

·         By climbing over it – Basically a ‘salvation by works’ it rarely works.

·         Sometimes they hit it and then shrink back – perhaps blaming something/someone else for their inability to progress

·         Some camp at the bottom and decide to live there – them never move further on in their journey.

How does one break through?

Acknowledge God afresh. – see the bigger God, the bigger picture.  Joshua’s big picture was a big soldier, and he asked him the wrong question: “Are you on our side?”.  But God hadn’t come to take sides, he’d come to take over.  Joshua’s response was to worship – the only possible reaction to an encounter with a big God.

Walk by faith again.  Often we start by faith, then say ‘Thanks God, I’ve got this’ … and it all falls apart.  Whatever plan the Israelites might have had for beating Jericho, it wouldn’t have been like Gods plan.  “the wall will come down, we just have to walk around it every day for a week”.  It sounded crazy … but they start doing it. 

Everyone can do this faithful walk once, but repeating it when you’re not seeing results comes harder.  Other thoughts and attitudes bubble up.

·         Negativism – always projecting to the worst-case scenario.  That kills faith stone dead.

·         Criticism - - the disposition to be pre-occupied with the imperfect

·         Skepticism – always questioning, but never committing

·         Cynicism – never believing human actions are unselfishly motivated

Obey Gods word boldly.  On the seventh day, the Israelites walked around 7 times, and still it didn’t come down – until on Gods command, everyone shouted.  Then, finally, the walls came down, and Israel was free – they had freedom around, and freedom with because they knew God was with them.

Questions

These might be good questions to discuss with a trusted friend

·         Look at your own heart and life – are there Jericho’s there, blocking your Christian journey?

·         How have you tried to deal with your Jericho?

·         Are you ready to walk by faith and see the walls come down in Gods way? 

·         For which part of the breakthrough do you most need prayer?

29th October 2017: A Q&A with Geoff and Sherry Surratt

Today’s ‘preach’ is a Q&A session with Geoff and Sherry Surratt who engage with Kerith-sized churches and help facilitate their growth.

Ben: What brought you here to Kerith?

G+S: We first came to Europe (Portugal) about 8 years ago, to a leadership conference where we met with leaders from several UK churches. We were amazed at what God is doing, at the desire for God – in the US people hear stories of church decline, but that’s not what we encountered.  We met Becci Oliver and Heather Pocock there and kept in touch afterwards, talking over leadership issues

Ben: Tell us a bit about your background?

G: We were married at 19 & 20, and we’ve been in ministry for about 35 years.  We went to a small church; it grew, had multiple services, and wanted to expand – but was refused permission for a larger building, so instead it opened up a second site .. and then a third.  G ‘s job became one of looking for new sites – we ended up with 14 sites serving 12000 over 12 years of work.  Other churches came visiting, to learn from what we had done.  Since then we’ve moved around a bit, I’m currently serving as an interim pastor in a Denver church.

S: I started out trying to answer the question “How do we help a church leader take an idea an implement it?”.  We formed “Mum’s International” an organisation help churches set up small groups for mothers and toddlers, reaching those who wouldn’t otherwise be in church.  It’s Now called “Orange Family Ministry” where the orange stands for the combination of red (family love) and yellow (church light).  We produce a curriculum for children’s work, which Kerith has now adopted.

Ben: for the record, G+S have written a book on forming multi-site churches which the Kerith leadership have used to help shape their thinking on the way forward for Kerith.

Ben: So tell us about your marriage?

G: We’ve been together about 35 years, so its all e perfect, or course. Or maybe not …  Some years ago we were working in a Texas church.  It was culturally difficult, we were both working really hard to make things work.  There wasn’t much time for family or kids, but I’d not heard anything bad, so I assumed all was OK.  But one day Sherry was obviously upset; she said she felt lost, she didn’t know who she was supposed to be and we never talked of anything except work.  I hoped things would pass, and nothng more was said for a month or two - but when we next talked at a retreat,we  concluded our marriage was basically over.  At the retreat, S just said ‘I want to be friends again’ – and that was the start of a journey back.

S: the lessons we learnt were:

·         Have honest, earnest conversations

·         We hadn’t been in the habit of praying together, but we learnt to be comfortable with praying out loud together – it’s hard to keep resentment for someone who has been praying out loud for you!

·         For me, it’s hard to be a busy working mum, meeting all those expectations of perfection. I learnt I needed to take a few minutes out of busy-ness every day and listen to God.  You’ll never be doing things perfectly, but he’ll maybe tell you it’s OK – relax!

·         Enjoy the moment you’re in, because those times pass fast.

G – praying out loud a good example to kids, too.

S: In the midst of everything, the verse I hold in my heart is Zeph 3:17 (NLT).

“For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Ben: do you think these family lessons are applicable to church, too?

G: some of them are.  Back at the first church we spoke over, we encountered lots of growing pains as the church developed.  We liked the feel of the small church - everyone knew everyone, and it was comfortable.  As the church spread over more sites we lost touch with friends; everyone gave money and time to causes [sites] that we wouldn’t see anything back from; and we changed behaviours and practices we loved, to accommodate new members who didn’t come from a background that would appreciate them.  Soon church members didn’t last out the change, and stopped coming – so there was sadness along the way.  My life’s verse, though is Eph 2:10 (NLT):

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago

So, despite sadness, God plans our lives to become a masterpiece; we, and the church, are better for making the hard changes.

Questions

How do you keep Jesus at the centre of your life at home, in a way that draws you and your family together? What habits and practices would you want to pass on to others?

Kerith is growing, and like G+S’s church, that means it too will change.  How do you feel about that?

·         Are you prepared to embrace change for the greater good of others?

·         Are there things which you couldn’t imaging giving up, so much so that you’d rather change churches if it meant you could keep them?

Ten Talks – What Old Testament Character Do You Relate To Most?

We will have had different speakers at our sites today.  Below are some general questions, as well as a summary and specific questions from the 9:30am talks in Bracknell.

Questions

1. What Old Testament character do you relate to most, and why?

2. What talks did you hear on Sunday, and which Old Testament characters were spoken about?  [It may help to look up some of the key Bible verses they used]

3. What is the most important thing you felt God say to you?

4. What can you do this week to help you put that into practice?

Wendy Jackson on Jonah

Wendy spoke on the different stages in Jonah’s ministry:

1. Jonah the celebrity prophet.  He had successfully prophesied the return of land to Israel (2 Kings 14 v 25).

2. Jonah the runaway prophet.  He did not want to prophesy to his enemies in Nineveh (Jonah 1 v 3).

3. Jonah the repentant prophet.  In the belly of the big fish, he repented and was willing to go to Nineveh (Jonah 2 v 1,9).

4. Jonah the obedient prophet.  He went and prophesied to Nineveh, and the people repented (Jonah 3 v 3, 10).

5. Jonah the cranky prophet.  God dealt with Nineveh graciously, but Jonah was not happy (Jonah 4 v 2).

Wendy shared how she was concerned that one of her daughter’s school friends was leading her astray.  Like Jonah she wanted to run away from this enemy, and for her daughter to have nothing more to do with her.  However, she came to see that Jesus wanted her to show grace, love and kindness to this girl.  She did this, and God worked powerfully.

Question: Who would we see as our enemy, but Jesus wants to us show them love and grace?

Sam Jackson on the writer of Ecclesiastes

Sam spoke on the question “What is the meaning of life?”.

We live in a “post-modern” world that is “post-truth” or “post-meaning”.  The question people ask in the 21st century is not “What is the meaning of life?” but “Why should I bother with such deep questions?”

The writer of Ecclesiastes says that everything in life is meaningless (1 v 1).

Some people think they have not yet found the meaning of life, and so defer thinking about it until they have a job, a partner, or reached a future goal.  People can also distract themselves with acquiring things.  However, all this is meaningless and can eventually lead to cynicism and even despair.

Sam shared how he had struggled to hold on to his faith and identity in Christ during his university course on ‘politics, philosophy and religion’.  Ecclesiastes says that even the quest to find meaning itself can be wearisome (12 v 12), but the way to find meaning is simply to cling to God and keep his commandments (12 v 13).  We find meaning and identity in God. 

This side of the cross, we know God through relationship with Jesus Christ.  The meaning of life is to love God.  We need to make Jesus the centre of our life and he will give us meaning and purpose day by day.

Question: What are you doing to strengthen your relationship with Jesus each day?

Marcus Gore on Job

Job was the greatest man in the East at the time, righteous and wealthy.  God allows Satan to test Job, to see if his worship of God is superficial, and whether Job will still worship God when things are really hard.

Job receives news that he has suffered huge financial losses (his sheep and cattle are stolen), his children have been killed in a building collapse, and his servants murdered in an enemy raid.

Job surprisingly responds with worship and praise ‘At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”’ 1 v 20.

What would we do if things like this happened to us?  It may be best to start with the small things that annoy us – like being held up at a red light or caught out in the rain.  The challenge for us is to worship and praise God whatever adverse circumstances we face.

Question: Are you facing some tough situation and need to choose to worship and praise God?

15 October 2017 - Being Fully Present - Paul Manwaring

During his message Paul led a time of ministry on the three themes of past, present, future. He also spoke and prayed about infertility. To hear his message in full, please visit: http://kerith.church/audio/sermons/20171015_PaulManwaring.mp3


15 X 2017 - Being Fully Present [Paul Manwaring]
Paul illustrated his message by using three chairs on stage to represent the past, present & future.

The nature of the gospel is that it has a past, a present and a future.

• All of us have ‘our’ gospel, not a variation of truth but the experience of the truth of the gospel in our lives.
• The word gospel simply means good news.
• The gospel promises victory from our past, a better today and the promise of a better future.
• Everyone brings with them a past, lives in the present and dreams of the future.
• Our past contains our testimonies. But if we have regret it will cancel the power of our testimonies and we will not be present as we are living in regret.
• Our future carries our dreams and prophecies but if we live in fear we will not be present today as our minds will be worrying about the future....
• ...And if we live in doubt, comparison and shame we will not be fully present today. (i.e. we’re not even in the chair, we’re behind it!)
• The present is the only place which we can act from, we bring our testimonies into the present and they become sources of strength. We plan for and invest in our futures from the present.

Past, present, future:

• Regret gives me a past without victory or value.
• Fear gives me a future without God in it
• Shame gives me a present without me in it.

Dealing with regret.

• Philippians 3:13. Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.
• 1 Corinthians 7:10. A repentance without regret

Dealing with fear

• 1 Tim 1:18. Take the prophetic word and with it fight. (Paul’s paraphrase)
• 2 Tim 1:7. God has not given me a spirit of fear.

Dealing with shame.

• Isaiah 53:4. He bore our sorrows and our shame.
• Isaiah 61:7. Instead of shame a double portion

The greatest challenge is leading yourself. Here are four challenges:

• Believing my story. Where my authority comes from.
• Knowing me. Where my confidence comes from.
• Managing me. Where my integrity comes from.
• Leading me. Where my followers come from.

Let’s be fully present, for others and him. (Shame is destroyed by authenticity.)

• Acts 17:28. In him we live and move and have our being.
• Psalm 46:1. A very present help in time of trouble.
• Luke 4. Jesus returned to Nazareth and stood up and read. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me. Let’s do the same. Confidence with character, not putting ourselves down or allowing others to do so.

Questions:

1. How do you view your past? (What is the past of the nation you live in?)
2. What regrets dominate your thinking and stop you from living in the present?
3. How is fear of the future stopping you from acting now and living in the present?
4. Turning away from regret or fear does not have to be a one-step process. What first steps can you take to live in the present?

1st October 2017 - Sola Osinoiki: The Privilege of Serving in the house of God

Kerith Sermon: 1^st October 2017.

Sola Osinoiki: The Privilege of Serving in the house of God

Gal 6v9 ‘And let us not loose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right. For in due time at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our faith’

To Reap – means a seed will become fruit when you sow it. You will receive something back. However the reality is that we may be forgotten.

Gen 40:23…… The background to this story is that Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery to work for Potiphar. He ended up on jail, where was not bound by chains and in prison he used his gift to bless people. A baker and a butler had the dreams and Joseph interpreted the dreams which eventually came true. However, once the butler was freed, he forgot all about how Joseph helped him. 

For us sometimes we serve, and it feels that we are forgotten. We may help and serve at church events but feel we are not acknowledged. Remember He does not forget.

In Gen 41:2 it continues to read ‘After 2 full years, Pharaoh dreams he was standing by the Nile’ …and then the butler remembered Joseph.

Remember, if you keep doing what is good, in due time, you will reap your reward. For Joseph this took two full years.

Esther 6: 1 ‘On that night, the king could not sleep so ordered that the book of records… be read before the King’. The memorable deeds and chronicles were read to the king so that he could go to sleep….

v3: ‘ “What honour and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.’

It might feel that your service was forgotten, 10 years ago, 3 months ago etc but Jesus still calls your name and asks what honour or distinction has been given to you as a daughter and son of His. Jesus intervenes for us.

The bible teaches us that even our enemies will surrender. If you have applied for a job and has never replied to you, your boss has overlooked your promotion Jesus has not forgotten and your service (whenever it occurred) will be remembered.

When you feel forgotten, remember that all heaven is asking ‘what is to be done for this women / man? For people who have served for years?’  The angels are looking for what shall be done for you as a servant.

In Esther, a robe and horse was given to Mordecai he was proclaimed among the Kingdom. Within the tragedy and death of this story, the result was turned around for him to be honoured.

Ex 17 v8 ‘The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.  Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” ‘

The background to this story is that Amalek came to fight Israel. Moses turned to Joshua and asked him to take men to the battlefield. Moses rose to the hilltop and together they will fight.

Israel prevailed when Moses hand were held high. Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold his hand up high. And Joshua ‘mowed down the people by the sword’.

This is how work is done in the house. How we need to be a team. We can’t just have a welcoming team in a church, we need the prayers in a church, we need the doers, we need preachers, we need cleaners…all of us together …..to make church work.

Luke 17:10 When I have done all I am supposed to do, I am but an unworthy servant ….but why is this? The reality is that we are unworthy because we can only do what we do because somebody volunteered. The greatest volunteer of the church is:

Isiah 6v8…’Also I heard the voice of the lord saying, whom shall I send? And whom shall go for us? Then said Here I am, send me’. He could have sent many angels out, He chose to send Himself. We serve in the shadow of the cross.

I cast my mind to Calvary where Jesus bled and died for me. If He did not die we have no message to preach, no building to build and no cars to park. But He died because He loves us. Jesus, compelled by love, volunteered to die for us. We are celebrating our ability to serve in the shadow of the cross.

Hebrews 10v7 ‘Then I said, here I am coming to do your will, O God what is written of me in the volume of the books’. …..V8 continues to say ‘to do thy will’.

Volunteering is the wrong word – privileged to serve is the correct word.

Let’s celebrate all those who volunteer, all those that are yet to volunteer…by doing it in the shadow of the cross. The one who paid the price on the cross for you and I. So that you are not forgotten!

Questions:

What is your part in church?

What do you have to offer?

What hinders you from having the privilege to serve?

When did you last show appreciation to others that serve?

24th September 2017 - Simon Benham, Remembering what God has done

Simon Benham

24th September 2017

Remembering What God Has Done

In the book that bears his name, the Old Testament tells how Joshua leads Israel across the river Jordan into promised land.

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

“So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been[a] in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.” - Joshua 4:1-9

So they didn’t just cross and move on, they stopped to build a memorial pile of stones.  This was an important day for Israel to remember, because there would never be another day like this; their life was never going to be the same again.

Sean Green spoke at a men’s breakfast yesterday of the challenges Israel encountered as they set out to claim the promised land:

·         Idols - things which replace God, which for us might be careers, possessions, money, family, or sex.

·         Giants - things that frighten us – perhaps following political correctness rather declaring biblical truth, or protecting our reputation rather than standing up for God.

This memorial wasn’t a one-off.  Joshua recounts 7 occasions when the Israelites marked significant occasions with a pile of stones (Joshua 4:20, 7:26, 8:29, 8:30, 10:27, 22:34. 24:36). Each marks an event, often a high point but sometimes a low point.

What are the memorials in your life? What memories remind you of God – the same today, tomorrow and forever - that keep you from being scared of giants or attracted to idols?  Simon’s own list goes like this:

·         Jesus – because he’s so easily displaced in our minds by the day’s business.  We needs to keep bringing his death and resurrection to mind.  “Do this in remembrance of me”.

·         Salvation – once Simon was lost, on the road to an emotional mess; now he’s found, and meeting Jesus changed his life.

·         A church in Reading where things went wrong, and Simon got (most of) the blame.  He was 21 at the time, about to be married, and felt utterly confused.  A failure, but one which God sorted out.

o   Joshua records the Israelites placing stones to remember their failure to defeat Ai (10:27) – a memorial to failure and disobedience which they couldn’t sort out but which God did.

o   Why remember failure? “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.”  Pastorally, there are so many examples of people making the same mistake repeatedly and falling back into debt, addiction, or worse. It helps to remember us that if God was faithful in the past, he’ll be faithful now.

·         The building of Kerith - A walk of faith by a congregation of about 250-300 to build something that would cost about £10m today.

o   The healing of Katherine Pedley.  Katherine had an accident whilst ice skating that left her with difficulty walking, but God healed her at a prayer meeting.  She was totally healed in that moment, and remains so today.  God doesn’t always heal in response to our prayers, but sometimes He breaks in – so it’s always worth praying!

·         Serenje.  We should always be a church that remembers the poor, and it’s good to know that there are girls in Africa that will be sleeping safely tonight because of the Serenje project.

·         God’s word – like Joshua 1:7, “Be strong and courageous”. All God’s promises are yes and amen – you can take hold of his Word and rely on it.

Questions

What are your seven most significant memories? Build a memorial to all God has done in your life by recalling 7 events that remind you of God's work in your life.