"The boy with the shining face"

   

Welcome to Parkrose Village Congregation 3/3/19

This is the message I brought to the residents of our Parkrose United Congregation at Parkrose Village on 3/3/19.

“The Boy with the Shining Face”

 2 Cor 3  ¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.
Have you ever seen anyone glow?
We sometime make remarks about people we see in various circumstances.
We talk about them “glowing” or perhaps “Beaming”.
It can be a proud parent glowing in pride when their son or daughter has won a prestigious medal, award or competition.
It can be a bride and groom glowing as they exchange their wedding vows.
When I was a wedding photographer I used to stop couples half way down the aisle of the church ,just after they have been pronounced man and wife, to take a couple of quick photos.
My idea was to capture the “glow” from their faces.
What I call the newly wed glowing bliss look.
It was one of my must get shots.
When a young mum holds her new babe in her arms for the first time there is often a real glow notwithstanding the exhaustion.
When you see a group of performers taking their bows at the conclusion of a great performance, and they are given a standing ovation, they fairly glow with pride.
Particularly when their family and loved ones are in the audience.
We saw this  the other night at the Opera Tosca.
There were lot’s of people glowing this last Monday when people were presented with their Academy Awards.
And some of the people who came forward at the recent Franklin Graham crusade and their counsellors were probably glowing within and without.
And I could go on with lots of examples where we say people fairly glowed.
They have an expression on their face that radiates joy.
We have a passage read to us today that shows the experience of Moses who went from glowing joy when he received the 10 commandments to soon putting a veil over his face as the joy, the glow, was fading.
²⁹ Moses didn’t realize as he came back down the mountain with the tablets that his face glowed from being in the presence of God. ³⁰ Because of this radiance upon his face, Aaron and the people of Israel were afraid to come near him.
³¹ But Moses called them over to him, and Aaron and the leaders of the congregation came and talked with him. ³² Afterwards, all the people came to him, and he gave them the commandments the Lord had given him upon the mountain. ³³ When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face;^{[a] 34} but whenever he went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he removed the veil until he came out again; then he would pass on to the people whatever instructions God had given him, ³⁵ and the people would see his face aglow. Afterwards he would put the veil on again until he returned to speak with God.
And we read also.
¹² Since we know that this new glory will never go away, we can preach with great boldness, ¹³ and not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelis could not see the glory fade away.
He did not want people to see how he was really feeling.
He was perhaps thinking his people would never live up to these commandments.
Some have said that the people could not cope with seeing his face,his countenance ,glowing like it did when he had been in the presence of God in the Tabernacle.
He would put the veil on when he came out of the Tabernacle and remove it when he went back in as high priest to converse with God in person.
There has been much written about this veil Moses wore and also we think of what happened to the curtain, the veil, in the temple which was split from top to bottom when Jesus was crucified.
This signified that from that time on, through Jesus death on the cross, and His resurrection that we all had the opportunity to enter into the presence of God, made Holy by what Jesus has done for us.
Veils are still in use today of course.
Various religions have traditions about wearing a veil.
It was common once, and still is in some societies, for a Bride to wear a veil as she was about to be married.
Some say this was so the bridegroom was not distracted by her looks but was marrying her for the person she was.
As Christians today we are not precluded from the presence of God by a veil.
There is another passage that was recommended for this Sunday in the lectionary.
It is partly what suggested my title and subject matter.
I will read it for you.
It is bringing us forward to the ministry of Jesus.
³⁷ The next day as they descended from the hill, a huge crowd met him, ³⁸ and a man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, this boy here is my only son, ³⁹ and a demon keeps seizing him, making him scream; and it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth; it is always hitting him and hardly ever leaves him alone. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast the demon out, but they couldn’t.”
⁴¹ “O you stubborn faithless people,” Jesus said to his disciples,^[a] “how long should I put up with you? Bring him here.”
⁴² As the boy was coming the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus ordered the demon to come out, and healed the boy and handed him over to his father.
⁴³ Awe gripped the people as they saw this display of the power of God.
This is an encounter and healing that Jesus did with a man and his demon possessed son.
This family was in a terrible plight.
There were no joy filled faces here.
Not so until Jesus performed His miracle and set the lad free of his tormentors.
⁴³ Awe gripped the people as they saw this display of the power of God.
Can you imagine the joy that filled that father.
The glory of God was manifested here.
My imagination enables me to see this boy’s glowing wonderment, his shining face as he was set free.
“The boy with the shining face”.
We can only speculate what lay ahead for his boy.
We trust he was able to share his story with others to point them to Jesus.
We have all probably had our day in the sun where we beamed with joy in various experiences.
Even at our baptism perhaps.
I have witnessed many baptisms where the candidates were positively beaming as they rose up out of the water.
But how long do our shining faces last?
We can have a wonderful experience as we come into a real faith with the Lord Jesus.
The one who died on the cross for us.
But life is difficult.
We have many challenges along the way where we might lose some of our shine.
The cares of this world can at times overwhelm us
It is very easy to lose sight of the wonderful face of Jesus when we are in extreme difficulties or just a long period of hardship.
We could easily lose some of that shine in Parkrose.
We can get down in the dumps.
But the way back to Joy is to fix our eyes firmly on Him.
We can do that in these opportunities we have in our worship, as we touch heaven through our singing.
We can do it quietly in our rooms in prayer, and if we are able to read our Bibles, or have them read to us by a visit from the Chaplain or a Christian friend.
Or have fellowship with each other.
We can even minister to each other.
Here in this place.
We can forgive those that have wronged us.
That will always restore joy if we do it from the heart.
Shall we leave this place today with shining faces as we have been in the Lord’s presence?
¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.

Will we be like the boy with the shining face?
I hope so.
Our last Hymn is an old one that Lesley remembered from the Alexanders Hymn book.
"Brighten the corner where you are".
It is our challenge today, as Christians who largely have lost our mobility and ability to venture out into the world.
Earlier we sang “I hear you calling Lord, I will go where you send me.!” 
But most of us can’t go too far.
But we can indeed Brighten the Corner where we are.
Shall we sing it.

1.     Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.

o   Refrain:
Brighten the corner where you are!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!

2. Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear,
   Let not narrow self your way debar;
   Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
   Brighten the corner where you are.
3. Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,
   Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
   Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,
   Brighten the corner where you are.

 Here is the order of service for the day.

Parkrose 03/3/19  Order of Service
Welcome: Geoff
Call to worship:  Matthew 5:16
Hymn: “Shine Jesus Shine”
Announcements:
Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18,
Hymn: “Within the veil”  “Into thy presence we come.”
Communion:
Offering
Church Prayer
Hymn:   “I the Lord of Sea and Sky”
Sermon: “The boy with the shining face”
Hymn: “Brighten the corner where you are”
Benediction and Vesper

 

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The Power of Presence

This is the message I shared with the Parkrose Nursing Home Church on 11/3/18

Intro

I want to talk today about the Power of Presence.

1. On our presence with others (ministering by our presence)

2.The experience of our coming into God’s presence,

3. on our presence with God and resting in His presence.

Ministering by our Presence

Some few years ago now, I was going through a real dark period in my life.

I was in the grip of a serious depression.

I was a Christian and in fact this is only going back about 8 years.

I was having trouble functioning as there was this so called “black cloud” hanging over my head.

At the peak of this a friend of ours had to move out of her quite small flat into care in a nursing home.

It took several months for the decision to be made that she was not well enough ever to be able to go back into her flat and live independently.

To get me out of the house and trying to function, rather than wallow in my thoughts, we decided, Lesley suggested, that I would go and feed Bronte’s little cat daily in her flat.

This was until the decision was finally made that she wouldn’t be coming home and her flat would be sold.

The little black and white cat was very timid and frightened of me to start with but because I was feeding her, she came to trust me and accept me.

I would spend about an hour there each time daily, in mainly darkness, just me and the cat.

I tried praying in this time about the things that were troubling me but God seemed miles away.

The depression was not lifting.

The walls seemed to be closing in on me.

I was praying like mad all this time but the problem was my praying was really only reminding me of my despair.

That caused a worsening depression.

I was focusing on the problem not Jesus.

For people in this situation it is sometimes wise to tell people that you will pray for them.

And actually do so in their presence on occasions.

Eventually the decision was made to sell the flat so I stopped going.

I don’t remember who took the cat over.

In that time we didn’t speak much,

 the cat and I.

Many of us talk to Pets and Animals as if they are human , don’t we?

In fact any conversation was only one way.

I am sure though the little cat took some comfort in my presence and in a strange way I looked forward to my daily visit.

I felt I at least was doing something useful.

I was ministering to the cat and in doing so to myself.

I am sure many of you believe in ministering to your pets.

This is one of our cats who we minister to daily

I longed for God to heal me and the situation at that time but God seemed remote.

Any visits I had from friends or relatives during that time of depression did not seem to help me.

I could not communicate very well.

I was very stand offish.

Their presence didn’t seem to help although I knew they meant well.

Sometimes people even seemed to be talking about me as if I wasn’t present.

Thinking because I was not responding to them they probably thought I could not hear them.

How often we are so insensitive and guilty of that sort of thing.

During this time we went on a 2 week holiday to Central Australia.

Our 2 best friends, husband and wife came with us.

I was barely on the same wavelength as Lesley and our friends.

I loved the trip but at the same time was a lot of the time overwhelmed with depression.

On the 2009 trip to Central Australia

I was really quite a kill joy most of the time.

They were incredibly gracious and understanding.

Our friends did not try and fix me, they just were there for me.

When  we minister to others sometimes its better just to listen and be there rather than try and come up with our own recipe for how God can fix it.

I was being ministered to by their presence and love and their prayers.

I don’t know if any of you have heard of Merril Womach.

He died in 2014.

This is from his obituary,

“Merrill is as well known for his amazing vocal artistry and four-octave tenor voice as he is for his creative entrepreneurship that built a national music service for funeral homes designed to minister to families during their time of loss. Years ago, while his fledgling business was growing, a private plane he was flying crashed in the woods upon take off. Merrill not only beat the odds of surviving the fiery plane crash, he also continued to sing and inspire others with his strong faith in God.”

A documentary was made about his recovery called “He Restoreth my Soul”.

Merrill received severe burns over his whole face in that crash.

His whole face was terribly scarred.

When in recovery he become very depressed.

In the documentary he said the thing that helped the depression lift was when a friend came to his house one night and they just sat and talked and reminisced about good times in the past.

There had been much prayer and medical help before that but the simple presence of his friend was the catalyst to finding the joy of living again.

This is the reality of the ministry of our presence.

Now;

COMING INTO GOD’s PRESENCE

It’s never too late to come into His presence.

We come into His presence because of His Grace and outstretched hands.

“As many as received Him to them He gives the right to become Children of God.”

We can come within the veil, into His presence, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

At the time of the crucifixion the veil in the Temple in Jerusalem was ripped from top to bottom signifying we can now enter the Holy of Holies.

I got the idea for today’s sermon from the title of the latest book by Neil Anderson.

It’s called “the power of presence”.

Neil has had a very active ministry as a seminary professor, pastor and author and founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries.

He has written this book and shares some wonderful insights as he daily spends time with his wife who suffers from dementia.

Our reading today from Psalm 95 he speaks about in his book.

Psalm 95:1-7 King James Version (KJV)

95 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

² Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
³ For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
⁵ The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

It emphasizes coming into the presence of God with thanksgiving.

It also finishes “Today if you hear His voice”

We have been giving praise to God with a thankful heart.

What will happen in our lives if today we hear His voice as we come into His presence?

Will it affect our own behavior?

Will it be encouraging us to minister by our presence to others?

Coming into His presence is responding to the call of Jesus.

When we became Christians we invited and accepted Jesus to be our savior.

Coming into His presence we can grow into our full salvation.

Our Maturity as Christians.

Now we come to

RESTING  IN HIS PRESENCE

The other day we were doing some babysitting at our place.

Indy who is 5 asked me to help him put together a lego thing he was making.

I said I have trouble getting down on the floor Indy so I might not be much help.

So I sat there for about 20mins.

He did not really need my help.

But he was very pleased I was in his presence.

Little kids often like to check you are still there and on their team.

We go about our lives quite independently from God but we are comforted by knowing He is always with us.

He is always present.

In the good times and the tough times.

We practice the presence of God when we walk in the light.

“ If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another,and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7.

God has promised to never leave of forsake us.

His Holy Spirit has come to indwell us as the Comforter..

He will ensure we can rest in His presence.

He is here with us both personally and as a congregation today.

Let’s make sure we continue to rest in His presence

 And

 if we are able to,

minister to others by our presence.

AMEN

Nursing Home Ministry

after church cuppa

It has been the privilege of my wife and I to be able to share with the congregation of a local nursing home.
My wife Lesley plays the piano for the singing and I help out on a roster of Lay Preachers.
We have been doing this for some years.
The Nursing Home is one of a number situated in Adelaide's suburbs.
They come under the umbrella of Lifecare, a Churches of Christ originated organisation.
As we have been involved in Churches of Christ for many years we were called upon many years ago to help out with their regular sunday services.
At first for me it was just conducting a communion service in one of the Homes.
My wife being an accomplished pianist found herself in demand in Churches we have attended and over the years others who needed someone to play for them.
A lot of Churches have trouble these days finding Pianists and Organists to help with worship.
Over the last few years I have also been called upon to help with lay preaching in the South Australian Country town of Renmark.
This is in the Uniting Church at Renmark and Renmark West.
My wife grew up there and we are fairly regular visitors.
It is a blessing to us to see the faithfulness of older and more frail members of our communities as they attend these Church services.
Most are in their 80's or 90's.
Many in wheelchairs.
A little while back I did a google search for Nursing Home Ministry to see what happens in other places.
I came across this helpful resource in the link below.

http://www.faithfulfriends.org/manual.html

This type of Ministry is very rewarding and I write this to encourage others to consider whether God might call you to this type of work.

If you click on the tag for parkrose below you will be able to read the outline of many of the parkrose services.
Also the same if click on renmark uniting church tag.