Hair-Not the Musical. Not the soft stuff on top.

"Hair" was a popular musical back in the 70's.

It was groundbreaking with great music.

But this is not about that.

When our kids were young we used to pray with all three of them at bedtime.

They were all in the same room.

We were asking them to pray in particular giving thanks for something.

Our eldest son said he would give thanks for his hair.

We said why?

The answer: "Because some people don't have any"

Well this is not about Hair literally.

There are people in our lives who sometimes we wish would "get out of our hair".

Metaphorically.

Well Roland Brown wrote a wonderful little instruction for those of us who struggle with this.

Here it is.

HOW TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR HAIR by Roland Brown

1. See the sin in yourself.
 
Criticism. Faultfinding.Hardness.

Any wrong or un-Christian attitudes.

Confess.  Repent.  Ask for forgiveness.

2. List all their good points.

       See these when you think of them.

3. Don't ask for them to be changed.

       (inevitably we will ask them to be changed into what we want them to be.)

4. Set them free.      Don't bind their sin - or our feelings- or our judgements
           
                                 or our condemnations on to them.

5. Presume they too love Jesus.
    
     We have no right think otherwise.

      Pray three times a day:

         a.  Pray in love.

         b. Shoot flash prayers up to God for them.

         c. See them loving and responding to Jesus

6. Thank Jesus for them.

Do this for eight weeks and one of three things will happen:

    1. You will change.

    2. They will change

    3.  The situation will change.

There you have it.

A proposition to practice Christian love.

Faith,Hope and Love

This is the outline of the message I brought to the Renmark and Renmark West Uniting Church this last weekend. 

White Plumed Honeyeaters,Renmark West.Young bird on left looking to be fed.

FAITH,HOPE AND LOVE-Renmark Uniting Church 10/5/15

Lesley’s Aunty Doreen, and Audrey’s sister, was a very sincere Christian and she often used to say that unless a sermon mentioned the Book,The Blood and The Blessed Hope, it wasn’t of much substance.

Hopefully to day with a topic that is in three parts we can come close to that.

Faith, Hope and Love.

When we went on a family holiday to Kangaroo Island some years ago we found a quaint museum in a cottage at Kingscote.

It was in one of three identical pioneer cottages on the Island called Faith,Hope and Charity.

At least one of the cottages was destroyed by fire some years ago but it gives you some idea of the faith of the early pioneers on Kangaroo Island.

Well  Faith,Hope and Love are all mentioned in one famous and well known passage in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 13.

It is quoted often during weddings.

13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So lets start with Faith and The Book 

What is the definition of Faith?

It is found in the Book. The Bible.
Hebrews 11 to be precise.

Hebrews 11 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

² For by it the elders obtained a good report.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

And how does our Faith grow and materialise?
Where does it come from.
We are not born with it although we might get brought up in a Christian family which can help and sometimes hinder.
Romans 10:17 says this:
^“17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
If you are continually exposed to the word of God, and sometimes only briefly acquainted, that is how faith manifests itself in us.
For when we engage with the Bible(the Book) we are engaging with Jesus.
Why can I say that?
Because the Bible(The Book)  also tells us this.
John 1:

“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

^{and this}

^“14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

^“14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

So if Jesus is the Living Word, this book is living and when we read it,or hear it, we are entering into the mind of God,the mind of Jesus, His revealed will and message for us.

Hence faith comes to us by reading,and hearing the word of God and as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.

I can testify to the reality of this in my life.

I was not a Christian when my wife and I married and she was. 

I had a principle I wanted to follow in marriage in that we should do things together.

I said "I will come to church with you but don't expect me to become like you."

I was not prepared to become a Christian even though I had always had a basic belief there must be a God. 

Well sitting in Church for 3 years, mostly hiding in the back corner, I ran out of arguments against God as I heard the Word of God explained and expounded to me by two wonderful ministers.

Even though I resisted that long, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me virtually every time I went.

I became a Christian then at the age of 28, just before our first son was born.

From 1 John 5 we read this;

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the^[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

There is a great deal that can be made of that passage but that is for another time.

We come to Hope
The blessed hope referred to earlier is a term used by Christians to point us to the hope of Jesus coming back again as He promised.
What is known as the second coming of Christ.
And this is a great hope we can look forward to as Christians. We don’t know when He is coming we just need to be ready.
Abiding in Him.
Just being Christian really.
(There is a wonderful thought that if we as Christians are alive when He returns,to catch us up to Heaven,we will not go through physical death if we are alive at that time.)

But there is hope that keeps us going on a daily basis.

The hope for a possible cure of an illness, healing of the injuries from an accident
The possible restoring of relationships
The possible healing of an addiction
The possible relief and help when in times of great trial like those affected by earthquakes, floods and fires.
Our hope in these things is sustained by our faith in God and of God.
He is the one who gives us His faith.
Sometimes our hopes don’t seem to be realised in the way we would want them too.
Sometimes they are.
The hope of the mothers and families of the boys put to death in Indonesia was that they would be spared.
But the even greater Hope that materialised is that the boys might not have come to know Jesus as lord and saviour if they had never gone to jail.
They might have died without hope.
But they died with a far greater hope.
The real hope and assurance of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
We too have that hope if we trust Jesus alone for our Salvation.

We come to Love
We heard this earlier:
⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

 ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

And in 1 Corinthians 13 again we are reminded;
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It would be a challenge for us to insert our own names in the place of love in that passage.
And live that out.
I learnt of this idea from a sermon by J Oswald Sanders.
He suggested you do this each day for several weeks and we will change.
In reality if we are really abiding in Jesus,
 then in His strength,

only His, 

we can love like that.

Not only those near and dear to us, but those we wouldn't think to love or want to.

We can only live like that if we have entered into the exchanged life with Jesus.
If like the Apostle Paul we can say "it is o longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me!"

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What a privilege to know the faith,hope,love and friendship of our Lord Jesus Christ


 

Bible readings:

Psalm 98

A psalm.

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

John 15:9-17

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

ORDER OF SERVICE

Call to Worship:  Geoff Thompson

Psalm 98 from UC suggested readings.

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
Hymn: 196(AHB) “O sing a new song to the Lord”

Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving

Hymn:  “And can it be,” 138 AHB

Bible reading: Psalm 98

Offering and Prayer: Geoff

Hymn: God is love let heaven adore Him.93 (AHB)

Bible reading: John 15:9-17

                   

Hymn: “To God be the Glory great things He has done.”85 (AHB)

Sermon: Geoff Thompson 

 

“Faith,Hope and Love”

Hymn:  “My hope is built on nothing less” 344 C of C hymn book

Benediction: from suggested UC handout material

Then from Hymn Book vesper as usually sung

"Love" by Frank Hunting a taped address

This is one of the many Frank Hunting tapes I have in my collection that were largely sermons preached in the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide in the mid 1970's. The messages, as is the Bible, are timeless.An important message on love, in particular Calvary Love for all. See my post "About Frank Hunting" for more info on Frank.There will be more forthcoming as I master the intricacies of putting audio on my blog. This is also found on my you tube channel pembridgehouse.

Advice for Newly Weds from a Wedding Photographer

 

ADVICE TO NEWLY WEDS- from  a Wedding Photographer

Some years ago, starting out as a young married couple we were very much immersed, particularly when we had young children, in the Ministry of Dr James Dobson from Focus on the Family ,a Christian organisation that he founded.

He had a film series that was very helpful to us in the 1970’s and also had  a radio programme from which many cassettes were produced.

One of the cassettes was entitled “Advice to Newly Weds”.

It contained very good  advice for those wishing to heed it.

At one stage as a young man  starting out in  wedding photography who regarded his photography as a Christian Ministry, I had an idea of presenting the tape to all couples whose wedding I photographed.

I decided not to do that as it was not really my role as a photographer to do it, so I thought..

Sadly I am aware some of those marriages have not lasted.

Some whose weddings I did,  caused me to question the match and how long the wedding would last and thankfully some of those people proved my judgement wrong.

So now in the age of blogging I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the theme as titled.

As a wedding photographer you are given the privilege of being very involved with young couples on their special day and I am always prayerful that the marriage will be a good one and able to withstand the challenges along the way.

As wedding photographers we present the couple as atrractively as we can and try to capture the romance of their special day.

While the photos I produce , I  think are great, and as a romantic at heart I try for the  romance of the occasion, they do not depict real life in as much that after all the celebration and the honeymoon period is over, couples have to settle into the daily task of being married, working, bringing up children and interacting and relating with others. .

There are all the challenges that can happen in life;  illness, accidents, mortgages, possible unemployment periods, children difficult to handle, teenagers running off the rails, schooling difficulties, broken friendships and relationships.

The scourge of Drugs and other ills in our society.

Our family has faced  many  of these and the challenges do not go away as long as we draw breath.

So what is a plan to make your marriage work.

A young couple who recently were married in our Church were given some homework by there counsellor, to ask mature, long married couples in their Church how they had stayed married so long and what advice would we give them.

We were very touched that they asked us amongst others.

Here are some of our thoughts.

My wife and I have engraved on our wedding rings a quote from the book of Ephesians Chapter 4:2

From the Living Bible it says this.

² Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

The following verses also are an important part of the plan as well.

³ Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. ⁴ For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. ⁵ There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

Be committed to your Marriage and your partner.

If you are Christians it is God’s will for you that your marriage is until death do you  part.

We try to make sure that we do things together,

        go on holidays together,

to the same concerts.

This doesn’t always happen.

I have come to enjoy operas but I doubt my wife will ever enjoy football.

At all times to always be on your guard when mixing with the opposite sex.

If you are a good listener and you care about people  you may find yourselves in a situation where the person receiving your help thinks there is more in it than you intend.

Be very judicious if you drink alcohol.

When we are intoxicated is when we are in trouble.

My preference and rule is no alcohol at all.

(Bearing in mind I don’t believe the Bible

forbids the drinking of alcohol but we are warned to  “ not let our Brother stumble.”)

The thing is you or your wife might be the one stumbling.

Do not hero worship your partner.

They are capable of letting you down as much as anyone else.

Build in to your marriage the highest aims and ideals but realise that the only perfect

human being was Jesus.

It is He we should put first and worship.

When the going gets rough in a marriage don’t be so proud as to not ask for help but

choose your counsellor wisely.

1 Corinthians Chapter 13 is often read out at weddings.

Don’t just read it claim it for your marriage.

And at verses 4-7 substitute the name Love or it with your first name.

In a marriage and in life as a Christian give up your right to yourself.

1 Corinthians 13

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Corinthians 13

Love Is the Greatest

 ¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

 ⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

 ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

 ¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Well there is so much more.

I don’t believe marriages are made in Heaven. In fact the Bible tells us there is no marriage in Heaven.

Marriages are made here on earth and we need to fight for our marriage to be as God intends it to be.

There are high standards for marriage in the  Bible but God never asks us to do anything that He cannot or will not supply the power for us to carry it out.

The Christian family , if it is being Christian, has by virtue of Jesus , the in built ability to overcome  any challenges

"I don't know how to love Him."

Communion 31/10/10 “I don’t know how to love Him.” Communion talk given at Parkrose Nursing home service Adelaide South Australia.

            Last night Lesley and I went to see the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

There were many people there and it was a very good production with an excellent cast and we were told in the notes in the programme by the director that many of them were Christians.

Indeed we read in the paper a few weeks ago that the young man playing Jesus had after several performances in other productions  become a believer himself.

It was probably for some people there, their  first encounter with the person of Jesus.

For us ,we were there as we like the music and also when it came onto the scene in the 1970,s it was maligned as being sacrilegious.

But a few years ago we went to see a production and found it very moving.

We have now seen 3 or 4 versions of it.

As Christians of course you sit there thinking have they got this right or that right which is exactly what we do when we analyse other denominations or Christians and there take on theology.

It was interesting to note in the programme notes that a theological consultant was listed and she was also in the cast.

Thinking about last night the verse came to my mind, where 2 or 3 were gathered in my name then there I am in the midst of them. There were 2 spare seats next to us.

Jesus may well have been sitting in one of them.

One of the most well known songs in the production is “I don’t know how to Love Him” sung by Mary , the former prostitute.

The young lady who sung this did so beautifully.

It is a good question.

Do we know How to love Him?

Do we know how to make our relationship with Him more than just an intellectual consent to his  teaching.

In the production the last supper scene is very prominent where Jesus gives the Bread and the wine to the disciples saying this is my body and this is my blood. Drink this in memory of me. In the production He says I wonder if they will remember me.

We have the opportunity to do just that as we take the bread and the cup this morning.

We are more than 2 or 3 gathered in His name.

He may well be sitting in one of these empty chairs.

We can show Him our love as we worship Him this morning.

Is He sitting next to you?  We are learning how to love Him all of our lives as we spend time in prayer and reading His Word and remembering Him in this way as often as we can.