Why not be a Preacher? a book by Dr Arnold Caldicott

"Why not be a Preacher?"

That is the name of a book by the late Dr. Arnold Caldicott.

At one time he was our minister at the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide.
That was where he last ministered before retirement.
His late wife Alice was also a wonderful supporter .
They were a great team.

 He was an evangelical protestant minister and passionate about His calling.

He wrote this book and a couple of other books:

"The Gospel under Canvas"

"The Vercoe Story"

Arnold Caldicot was my Minister for a number of years at the Grote Street Church of Christ.

 He was a wonderful mentor and friend  to me and a great encourager.

He  was often encouraging me to become a preacher.

 It is no small coincidence that later in life I've taken up that challenge and have become a lay preacher in both a Churches of Christ nursing home  and also in the uniting Church in Renmark, South Australia.
I fully Love doing what I do and realise that maybe I should've done so a bit earlier.

Arnold had a big booming voice and there's no way I could  replicate that here but I'm just going to read a little bit of what he says in this book in the preface.

"why write this book?  because I'm convinced that young people need a book like this.
 The years of youth  are decision-making years.
 Great numbers of young people are lost to the Ministry because their questions are not answered.
Satan often wins by urging youth to settle for second best rather than the best for God.
And ministers need this book to remind them that recruitment for the ministry depends greatly on them.
 No matter how heavy the load, ministers should not lose sight of recruitment and should allow time and effort for programming in this direction.
 Where ministers take time and effort to encourage young people to give themselves to the preaching ministry, a stimulus will come into the life of the minister as well as that of the church."

Here are the contents headings for each chapter.

1.How do I recognise God's call.
2. Start by being a cadet preacher.
3. Preaching and The beginning: can I do it?
4.Try this for sermon.
5. Advice  on those college years.
6. Dos and don'ts for the preacher
7. Don't squib on the invitation
8.On ministering to a Church
9.On submitting a time sheet.
10. Your question: can I possibly take a funeral?
11.You can use this wedding service .
12. Then don't give up on God, expect a miracle
13. The preacher and the other woman.
14. Loud and clear on what Bible study is
15. Called to be an Associate. preacher:What then?
16.A letter of invitation- For you too!

Dr Caldicott uses many other resources to make this book.

Even in this day and age it is worth considering.

It may be just the challenge that someone needs to take up what God is calling them too.

You may find it listed on the second hand market, it was published in 1979.

I have a spare one for sale and will accept offers until sold. Perhaps $25(Au).

Satanic Oppression and Satanic Accusation

 This message is published on my "going deeper with God" blog.
It will be of some interest to non Christians but only to arouse curiosity and other various thought processes.
I have put it here as I consider it an important message for Christians and has had very few views on my other site.

https://geoffthompsonstapelibrary.blogspot.com/2017/11/satanic-accusationsatanic-oppression-by.html

The attached podcast was part of a School of Prayer conducted by Frank Hunting at the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide in the 1970's.
Frank was visiting the Church prior to taking up a part time appointment alongside his good friend Pastor Harold Long.
I had never heard anything like this and was privileged to sit under Frank's teaching for the next several years.
I may be able to post the whole school on this site progressively.
It was not recorded professionally but you will benefit if you concentrate on this.
I have notes on his school of prayer that compliment this podcast.
Contact me if you wish to have a copy pertaining to this subject.
Unfortunately many Christians and most non Christians are ignorant about the devil.
In this message Frank distinguishes between satanic accusation and satanic oppression.
As CS Lewis remarked, along these lines anyway in his preface to the Screwtape Letters, mankind makes 2 main mistakes about the devil.
They are either totally disbelieving about any such thing or tend to see the devil being responsible for everything that goes wrong.

W C Brooker- Pastor, Mentor,Businessman,Family Man,Sports Administrator Photographer and Much More.

It is amazing how one can stumble across a treasure trove quite innocuosly.

I was invited to lunch one Sunday and my hostess showed me a small card commemorating the fact that the Queenstown Church of Christ Football team won their premiership in 1946.

It had an action pic on the front of a footballer.

(PRG-1316-4-34 State Library of South Australia)

Valmai told me a little bit about the footy club's background and this prompted me to to do an internet search.

Well it didn't take long to hit "gold".

Enter a vast collection of photography and some home movies all produced before 1946 by one W C Brooker.

W C Brooker  (PRG-1316-3-481 State Library of South Australia)

He was a Pastor, Businessman, Evangelist, Sports Enthusiast and much more.

His collection I found on the the Website of the State Library of South Australia.

The file numbers for the collection are noted with each picture and the State library has given permission for these images to be reproduced here.
For any similar use one should contact the State Library of South Australia.
Below is the link to the online collection.

https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1316/3/1-1203

PRG-1316-6-11

PRG-1316-3-568

W C Brooker in his darkroom (PRG-1316-3-746)

Here are some extracts about his life.

"DEATH OF PASTOR  BROOKER (25/3/47 article in paper)

Church Of Christ Cleric For 42 Years Pastor W. C. Brooker, who died yesterday at the age of 72. was
preacher at the Church of Christ. Queenstown. for 42 years.
While still in the furniture business in Rundle street, city. Pastor Brooker preached at the church for
10 years. He gave up his business32 years ago to become a full-time preacher.
He made the decision to become a cleric after his seven-year-old son had recovered from serious injuries received in an accident.
He was born at Hindmarsh, and had lived at Alberton for 32 years.
He preached his first sermon at the age of 18, and delivered more than 10,000 addresses during his life.
He was Federal President of the Churches of Christ of Australia from 1916 until 1920. and was State
President in 1910.
He was on the State Home Mission committee for 30 years, and at the time of hisdeath was a member of the advisory board and a seal bolder. ,
Other official positions held by Pastor Brooker were chairman of the Port Adelaide Seamen's Mission for 17 years, president of the South Australian Alliance for five years, and a member and past chief
ruler of the Independent Order of Rechabites.
As a young man. he studied medicine for four years.
He leaves a widow and three children. Mr. William Brooker and Mesdames J. Hall and D. Broadbent."

I came across some of W C's photography last year in a Churches Of Christ Jubilee Pictorial Publication.
The book did not acknowledge the photographers.

When I found pastor Brooker's online collection I recognised some of the shots that were in that book.

At the time when I saw this book I thought how well the photographs had been done.

Obviously done by someone with a lot of photographic skill and knowledge.

I intend to do some more research on this man and his work and to do some more posts featuring his work.

PRG-1316-6-13

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^{This is an outline of the message I gave at the Parkrose Nursing Home Service today.}

^{Are you a slave of Sin or of Righteousness?}

^{ROMANS 6}

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Whose Slave are You?

Romans 6 is in my opinion, and that of many others ,one of the most important passages that Christians need to take hold of and understand.

Many of us, if we are of the Evangelical Christian tradition, are quite happy to accept Jesus as our Saviour at the start of our Christian life.

In Church of Christ experience that is usually followed not long after in being baptized by full immersion.

Other denominations do things a bit differently regarding baptism.

When we are born again we are said to be new creations in Christ, the old has been done way with and we enter into newness of life.

Sadly many Christians might have a burst of enthusiasm in their early Christian years and at least give the appearance of living a new life but that often falls away. By falling away I mean falling into sinful habits.

You might wonder at the title of this talk.

Whose slave are you?

That idea conjures up all sorts of things .

Many of us have such pride that we might declare, especially in marriage, something like this.

“do it yourself then, I am not your slave.”

Ray Stedman in his sermon on this passage tells this story:

Rs  “Some years ago in Los Angeles I saw a man walking down the street with a sign on his shoulders. The front of it said, "I'M A SLAVE FOR CHRIST." On the back of it, as he passed, you read, "WHOSE SLAVE ARE YOU?" It is a good question because all of us are slaves to one or the other of these two masters -- sin or righteousness. We have no other choices. By the very nature of our humanity, we are made to serve and to be controlled by forces beyond our power.”

By virtue of living in a place like Parkrose you might say to your self well how can I be a slave to sin in this place?

I can’t get up to much mischief here!

My life is pretty much set  for me and I am under the authority of those looking after me.

The truth is we can still be very much a slave to sin if we still have our tongues working.

Think of this from James chapter 3.

³ When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴ Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵ Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

This passage,Romans 6, talks about our members being slave to sin.

^“12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Our tongue, whether we are out in the wide world or living in care or a residential facility such as this, is the member that is most in need of being curbed and made  obedient to Christ, a slave to Christ.

Here are some thoughts from Ray Stedman on this.

A small but telling poem.

“I said a very naughty word only the other day.
   It was a truly naughty word I had not meant to say.
But then, it was not really lost, when from my lips it flew;
   My little brother picked it up, and now he says it, too.
That is the way sin begins to spread. And part of the slavery is that when you yield yourself to something, and do it two or three times before you wake up to what is going on -- it is getting out of control and going beyond what you wanted -- it becomes difficult to begin to change. Something resists every opportunity you take to try to change. It is hard to go back. A habit has begun that is hard to change.”

Have you seen those cups or tea shirts and a variety of tings that have written on them “What would Jesus say?”

We should learn to make that thought automatic before we say anything.

I am very conscious of when I stand before you that I need to be very careful what I say and teach.

This is also from James 3

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ² We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”

You know when I was a fairly new Christian, very enthusiastic, and a reasonably new husband I used to sometimes abuse even this passage when in conversation with my wife.

When Lesley would occasionally give me a lecture and tell me off about some failings of mine I thought as a Christian I could quickly fix that by saying

“James 3”

I can tell you that doesn’t work!

I now more graciously accept her reprimands.

I am actually grateful for them as she is usually 100 percent right.

Getting back to Romans 6 Ray Stedman say this.

• “RS  In this chapter we are dealing with a very practical problem, one that every Christian must wrestle with. The problem is stated by the apostle very plainly in the first verse of this chapter: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" This whole sixth chapter deals with what happens when a believer sins. We do not like to think that believers do sin; but, unfortunately, we do.”

The apostle Paul says “god forbid!” No absolutely not!

The truth is that even though as new Christians we have entered into a new life by the grace of God, we will not be changed unless we make Jesus Lord.

We are told in our Baptism we have been crucified with Jesus and we rise up out of the water into a new life.

We have entered into His burial and resurrection by way of our Baptism which is both a symbol of the reality of what we have entered into with Jesus but is also the means or the vehicle which seals this transaction.

We hear the phrase “entering the waters of baptism in “obedience to Christ”

As we are told in Acts 2:38 we receive the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit at our Baptism..

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

We ,because of this, can say with the Apostle Paul “It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me!”

The secret of the Christian life and saying no to sin and sin’s champion, the devil, is appropriating our position in Christ.

We are to give up our right to ourselves.

Always trying to justify our actions.

The only way we can be justified is through the death burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to put on Christ as our clothing of righteousnous.

We exchange our life for His . We become His slave or you might like to use the softer word, servant.

We make sure we maintain that position by walking in the light.

That would be aother whole sermon, what that means.

Simply the light, or revelation of God, in the bible is our guide.

If we do sin remember we are able to confess our sin and repent of it and maintain our relationship with our Lord.

If we let our sin build up sin upon sin we are never going to know the freedom that only Jesus can bring.

Have you been born again?

Today I had the privilege of being guest speaker at the Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ in Adelaide.
Here is an outline of the message I brought.
I did add and subtract from the sermon as I went but the main gist of the presentation is here.

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Sermon for 16/3/14 at Colonel Light Gardens Church of Christ

Bible  Verse John 3:1-17

The New Birth

3 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? ¹¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. ¹² If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.^{[a] 14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but^[b] have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

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BORN AGAIN

Born again!

What does the Bible say about this?

What does it mean to be born again?

How can I know I have been born again?

As a young man and a boy and teenager growing up I had some vague ideas about God.

I believed in God and I had tried to read the Bible and had had a few short  years in an Anglican Sunday school.

I was aware of Jesus and knew He had died on the cross and rose again and ascended into Heaven.

I did not have enough interest to ponder these things too deeply or even if they were true.

I just accepted them.

I lost interest in the church at about age 12 as I thought it was all a bit too sissy.

I didn’t start go to church again until in my 20’s I started attending with my lovely Christian wife.

These days I am a Christian who will tell you if you ask that I have been born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are going to Heaven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know our sins have been forgiven.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know that God is real and Jesus is our Lord and Saviour.

We are slowly being transformed by the Holy Spirit.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know we are already experiencing eternal life and we don’t need to wait till we die!

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know all these things are part of being born again.

IF WE ARE BORN AGAIN we can  know none of this is any cleverness on our part  it is by the grace of God.

Being born again is what Jesus told Nicodemus if he wanted to experience and enter into God’s Kingdom.

He said unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.

This is what He told Nicodemus.

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

Notice Nicodemus raises a concern in his question of Jesus in that he mentions his age.

He was a man of mature, perhaps old age.

“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Is it true, as some have said that we need to become Christians when we are young?

That when we get old we are too set in our ways!

That we think it is too late to get into this God stuff now!

Nicodemus could see  even as an older man he needed to know about his eternal destiny and the answers were with Jesus.

Probably it was a little bit of pride that caused him to seek Jesus out at night and maybe for safety.

He was a ruler of the Jews, A Pharisee.

The other Pharisees were already plotting against Jesus at this time but Nicodemus knew this was no ordinary man.

It may be a little bit of pride that causes our hackles to rise when we hear for the first time, or many times, that we need to be born again.

The term “born again” is used time and time again these days in the media to ridicule Christianity and Christians.

You see until we are Christian we have an inbuilt desire to be in control of our own destinies.

To be a self made man or woman!

We want to be as someone said “masters of our fate and captain’s of our soul.”

We also want people to think well of us , not as if we are some loopy religious person.

We also don’t want to think or admit that we do have sin in our lives.

Of course if we have been born again that should not be a problem for us as we have died to self.

That is, if we have been crucified with Christ!

We are told about this in Romans 6

Romans 6  (St Paul speaking)

New King James Version (NKJV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice the connection between Baptism and being crucified with Christ.

This where we can truly say it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.

So what happens or how do we become born again?

Many Christians and others have some different answers on this.

Some will tell you that you ask Jesus into your heart.

Some will tell you that you have to believe the Bible but work very hard to be a good person to be justified by God and allowed into Heaven.

Some will tell you that you need to do all the above and then be baptised in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues or you haven’t really arrived.

Some will say just believe in Jesus.

Some will say I was christened as a child and that is my passport to Heaven.

Some will say that Jesus died for everybody and everyone regardless will go to Heaven. (That’s called Universalism.)

Some will say God is a God of love and He would never allow anyone to go to Hell.

Some will say we just keep getting re-incarnated  into other creatures or persons and our good or bad karma determines what will happen to us.

Some will says we are all gods.

The Atheist will tell you we just go 6 feet under and that’s it.

Some will say you need to give up all you have and follow Jesus.

And the list goes on  and on.

What Nicodemus was asking Jesus was the most important question that any of us can ask.

He was asking this question of the Living Son of God.

How can we enter into God’s Kingdom?

It is a question we need to get right.

We need to know the answer.

We run a terrible risk if we don’t respond to Jesus.

If you believe the Bible and Jesus then we can know the answer.

When Jesus speaks of being born of the water and the spirit He is talking about the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and when he talks about water he is talking about Baptism.

^{1 Peter 3: 20-21  ---} in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹ There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

In a moment I will outline what the Bible teaches about how we can be born again.

Rather than rely on the opinions of men and women would you not rather rely on what God’s word says?

At various points in your Christian walk you can evaluate you standing with God by checking the scriptures and your response.

None of  these things the scripture tells us are too difficult or unattainable for us to be born again.

Note that in our passage Jesus didn’t actually spell it out how Nicodemus could become born again.

Here is a check list of the essential steps to be born again.

Note these things are not based on feelings or some ecstatic experience you may have had.

They are based on the Word of God only.

In the early days of Churches of Christ we had a saying where the Bible speaks ,we speak! 

This message is given with that in mind.

So this is what I believe the Bible tells us we need to know and act on if we are to be born again.

1.    We are all sinners.. Romans 3:23. ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

2.    Because we are a sinner we need saving. Romans 6:23²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3.    Jesus and Jesus alone can save us. Acts 4:10-12¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’^{[a] 12} Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

4.    In order for us to be saved by  Jesus, we must deliberately and definitely receive Jesus as our personal saviour. John 1:10-12¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own,^[c] and His own^[d] did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

5.    We receive Jesus as our saviour :

Through Faith,Repentance and Baptism.

1.Through Faith Acts 16:29-33²⁹ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

2.We must repent, Acts 2:38³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,  and in

Acts 17:30-31(Paul speaking to the Greek Philosophers about their unknown God)³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

3.We must be baptised, Acts 2:38³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.,

 We must be buried with Christ in which we die to our old life and rise to a new life in Christ. Romans 6:3-4 ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Now if you go through your life and check that all those things are true about yourself, then you are born again.

I have this little Bible that Pastor Harold Long gave me when I was baptised.

I was 28 years of age.

The little certificate in it  is dated 26^th May 1974.

I had gone to the front of the Church in early February that year to signify I wanted to become a Christian.

I went through some studies with Pastor Harold Long after that and came to decide I needed to be Baptised. 

I did not fully understand the significance of Baptism in that process at the time.          

I can look at this and know that I can say on that day I was born again. 

Ie. according to the scriptures that on that day I had fulfilled all for me to actually do to receive God’s Grace of a New Life. 

I am still fulfilling those conditions.

Being Born again!  A new beginning!

The Authority of God’s word says I am.

No matter what others may say, you have, and are fulfillng your part in being born again when you go through this checklist and realise that you have done this.

Besides these verses quoted you will find many others that support what I have been saying.

We need to be diligent in checking that we are reading the Bible accurately in these assessments.

You may think you have been sprinkled or “baptised” as a child.

That has been  the case with many  but many have  come to the realisation,myself included, that this was not a Baptism according to the scriptures.

There can be no repentance or belief on our part when we are a baby.

Your “God parents “ while they might fullfill a great role in your life and do the best they can that you might live a Godly life, they cannot receive Jesus for you.

I have come to realise also that when we read the scripture that Baptism is much more than just an outward sign of something happening on the inside.

Folks we really need to get this right , this question of being born again.

We are never to old to settle it and not too young if we can understand and make rational decisions on these things.

Of course like human birth, our spiritual birth when we are born again, is just the beginning.

We will need the right food to grow as a Christian.

 

We need to progress beyond a milk diet.

Have you been born again?

Is God speaking to you today?

Do you want to be born again?

Are you unsure about this?

Even though it is not recorded I have no doubt that Nicodemus followed through on Jesus’ teaching.

He supplied Jesus’ embalming oil and also helped get Him down from the cross.

He would have become aware of or even present on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached his amazing sermon as recorded in Acts 2.

If you wish to indicate that you want to take the first steps to being born again today please come down to the front and tell me that’s what you want to do as we sing this last Hymn.

I will ask you if you believe you are a sinner needing God’s salvation and that you wish to receive Jesus as your Saviour.

That He is the Christ ,the Son of the Living God.

I will then acknowledge this decision you have made before this group of supportive people. 

After the service I will discuss with you briefly what the next steps might be.

I know that it is hard to do that, it took me 3 years sitting in Church listening to sermons like this one before I could hold out no longer.

Pride sometimes has a very tight hold on us.

Let us sing this last Hymn.

It’s no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me.

Does He live in you?

Have you been crucified with Christ?

Have you been born again?

Do you want to be?

Is God speaking to you today?