Positively charged?

Walking With Giants Posted on by

There is great pressure on today’s preacher to be ‘positive’.  “Don’t criticise me, judge me, accuse me,” hearers seem to be pleading.  “Uplift me, inspire me, encourage me.”

To what extent should preachers give in to this pressure, and to what extend should they resist it?  This question is addressed by Craig Brian Larson in chapter 68 of The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching.

As Larson says,

One of our most important decisions when crafting a sermon is whether to frame it positively (what to do, what’s right, our hope in God, the promises) or negatively (what not to do, what’s wrong, the sinful human condition).…

Isa 1 – The overture – sermon notes

Walking With Giants Posted on by

She looks as if she has been the victim of a vicious mugging.  She has been beaten within an inch of her life.  Her body is covered with terrible wounds, but they are uncared-for, untended.  Her condition is deteriorating.  She needs help, quickly.  And yet her pain and misery are self-inflicted.  She’s brought it upon herself, and she’s doing nothing to put a stop to it.

That’s the picture that is drawn for us in Isa 1:5f. …

Abraham in Luke’s Gospel

Walking With Giants Posted on by

The first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel contain many allusions to the story of Abraham (Genesis 11-21).  In addition to the two explicit references to Abraham Lk 1:55; 1:79, S. Young (DJG [2nd ed.], art. ‘Birth of Jesus’ mentions:-

  • Elizabeth’s barrenness (Lk 1:7 // Gen 11:30);
  • the great age of the parents-to-be when receiving angelic visitation (Lk 1:7, 11 // Gen 17:1);
  • the promise of a son, to be given a certain name and assigned a future role (Lk 1:13, 31 // Gen 17:16, 19);
  • Mary’s presentation of herself as a “servant” (Lk 1:38, 48 // Gen 18:3–5);
  • Zechariah’s questioning of the possibility of the angel’s message (Lk 1:18 // Gen 17:17; 18:11–12);
  • the mention that nothing is impossible for God (Lk 1:37 // Gen 18:14); and
  • the removal of Elizabeth’s disgrace together with the expression of the joy of her neighbors (Lk 1:25, 58 // Gen 21:6)

J.…

Mk 4:1-20 – The sower- sermon notes

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Text: Mark 4:1-20

Spring-time by the Sea of Galilee.  A large crowd gathered to hear Jesus.

What he said to the crowd, in public

The pathway – the stony soil – the thorny ground – the good soil.

No explanation given.  What was it all about?  Imagine a conversation between four family members:-

Father – “He’s a charlaton.”

Miriam – “I just love those charming stories.”

Mother – “He talks a lot of sense – but I have chores to do, friends to visit, letters to write.”…

What to look out for in Mark’s Gospel

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Tim Chester has written a short piece on ‘What to look out for in Mark’s Gospel’.  What follows is a précis.

The big question in Mark’s Gospel is ‘Who is this?’ (Mk 4:41).  Who is Jesus and what has he come to do?

1. The King who must die

Right at the beginning, Mark introduces us to Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God (Mk 1:1).  Messiah (Christ) means ‘anointed one’, and this reminds us that the kings of Israel were anointed with oil.  …

Romans: a ‘Cook’s Tour’ of interpretative options

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Before we embarked on a preaching series in Paul’s Letter to the Romans in our church, I was asked to provide a summary of some of the main interpretative issues.  Most (but not all) of these are related to the so-called ‘New Perspective on Paul’.

Issues Questions Implications
1.     Reformation spectacles (Rom 1:17) Have we distorted the message of Paul by reading it through ‘reformation spectacles’? Protestant/Catholic relations
2.     1st-century Judaism (Rom 2:17ff; see also Lk 11:37ff) Was the Judaism of Paul’s (and Jesus’) day essentially a religion of merit, or of grace? 
…

Kenosis theory

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Taking Phil 2:7 (“he emptied himself”), along with 2 Cor 8:9 (“he became poor”), has led some to develop a kenosis theory, according to which Christ’s becoming human necessarily entailed a renunciation of some of his divine qualities.  Otherwise, how could he share in those limitations of space, time, power, knowledge, and so on, that are part and parcel of human existence?

According to one version of the kenosis theory, Christ emptied himself of his ‘metaphysical’ attributes (omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience and so on), but not his ‘moral’ attributes (love, justice, holiness, and so on).…

Our fellowship in Christ

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Commenting on Philippians 1:5, William Hendriksen writes of the following characteristics of the fellowship of all believers in Christ:-

1. It is a fellowship of grace. It is not natural to us; nor is is manufactured by us.  It is effects by Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 1:9, and is the gift of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 13:13; Phil. 2:1, who has been sent from the Father.

2. It is a fellowship of faith. As Christ draws us to himself, so we approach him through faith.  …

Luke 5:27-32 – The call of Levi – sermon notes

Walking With Giants Posted on by

What would you rather do: eat your last Rolo yourself, or give it to me?  Spend and hour and a half watching TV, or an hour and a half in a prayer meeting?  Have a moan at your nosey neighbours for being nosey, or make friends with them so that it becomes the most natural thing in the world to invite them to one of our services here at HT?

Simple choices like this illustrate the chasm that so often looms between theory and practice, between what we know we should do, and what we actually do do. …