Jesus - a Gift to the World (John 1:1-18)

Introduction

What, can we communicate this Christmas, of value? That Jesus is a great gift to the world! We would need to appreciate this fact ourselves first, so that we can convincingly share this with others. Part of this entails being able to tell the stories of what Jesus has done for us.

Prologue to the Gospel of John

The beginning of John’s Gospel tells how God makes himself known to the world through Jesus. We may never have seen God, but it is Jesus who makes God known. Want to know what God is like … then look to Jesus; want to introduce someone to God … then point them towards Jesus (1:18). But it is also HOW Jesus makes God known that is in view in this passage. Not from on high, through some mystical experience; but rather God is made known right here on earth; in the nitty gritty of human experience, and in the cut and thrust of life in community.

The first Sunday in Advent speaks of hope. Desmond Tutu once said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness”. And darkness is often what we first experience, leaving us in need of something to guide us through where we cannot see our way. For many, in the dark years of apartheid in South Africa, there was the need to search for and cling to any source of light (through which to maintain hope). And, for many, this light was seen and found in Jesus. How? Why Jesus?? Because Jesus could be found within the most difficult and challenging of circumstances.

The story is told of a man who regularly visited poverty-stricken areas of a large city to tell people about Christ. One day, as he was talking to a woman, she suddenly said, “It’s one thing for you to come and tell us about Jesus and salvation, and then go back to your comfortable home again every evening”. GOOD POINT! This woman continued, “But would you be willing to leave your nice house and neighbourhood and actually live here in some dilapidated, rat-infested shack in order to help us”? A GOOD QUESTION!! Whatever that man answered that day, and whatever he then did, we know that Jesus rose to the challenge of the state of deep human need – Jesus left the riches and splendour of heaven to come to earth and give us life in all its fullness (1:14). Jesus opened the life-gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord! (Fanny Crosby).

This is the Jesus who, with God and the Spirit, participated in creating the world at the beginning of time (1:1-3). Matthew and Luke start their Gospels with the stories about the birth of Jesus. The Gospel of John takes us back right to the very beginning! In all his glory, Jesus took on the frailty of flesh and blood, and entered the danger of a self-obsessed culture, bringing the full measure of grace and truth. Jesus had done exactly what this (questioning) woman had suggested was necessary for credibility sake, and made himself subject to everything that a negative framework could throw up to him. Jesus was tested in all ways, but his light never dimmed.

If we would ever question God’s intentions in sending Jesus, or doubt Jesus in the nature of his ministry … there is a phrase here that should grab us (and make us reach out in awe) – “From his fullness we have all received, GRACE UPON GRACE” (v.16). From the depths of God, from his great and loving character – “grace upon grace”. Not judgement, that we should hide. Not duty, that we should rigidly line-up. But “grace upon grace” that we can simply receive and enjoy.

Incarnation

Eugene Peterson in the message translates verse 14 as: The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood. God through Jesus entered our physical and social environment. Other modern translators, looking at the Greek text of verse 14, go with something like … the Word (i.e. Jesus) became flesh, and “took up residence”, or even, “pitched his tent” where we lived. I used to like this translation as I talked to my previous churches about the importance of pitching a marquee in the midst of community events, as a physical representation that God is more than prepared to meet people where they are. From such a marquee you would provide free children’s activities, or serve sausages, or whatever it was that added something positive and helpful to the community’s experience that day. And from such a space you can connect with people in a non-threatening and happy environment.

God is not aloof nor standoffish; quite the opposite! Ross Langmead wrote: “It is central to who God is, that he reaches out to us through becoming one of us, and demonstrating in the life of Jesus the love he wants to express”. This is God revealing himself; the will of God is profoundly understood in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the window through which to observe God at work!

Jesus was a gift to all the world. Jesus brought hope, love, joy and peace. God came to humanity, so that humanity could come back to God. God entered into the depths of our life, so that we could enter into the heights of God’s life. Yet, some would oppose Jesus; some would be apathetic. But also, some would welcome him, and humbly receive him, and believe in him, and they would become the children of God – through a new spiritual birth (v.12-13). That special relationship we were designed to have with God … has been restored! Yet, what about those who rejected him, or didn’t understand him, or who were undecided about him, or didn’t get to meet him? What about those who, so to speak, remained in the darkness. The witness of Scripture is that the light (which is the life of Jesus) still shines in the darkness – that the darkness CANNOT overcome the light (1:5).

There is such hope here for the lost, and such hope here for those seeking to share Jesus with the lost. There is an assurance here that Jesus will never be defeated, silenced or forgotten. Witnesses to the life of Jesus will continue to be raised up, bringing times of great renewal in different places in various seasons.

The Fullness of Time

It was in the fullness of time that Jesus came, according to Paul in Galatians (4:4), meaning at just the right time.

Human beings had existed for many thousands of years on this planet before Christ's coming. But what's really crucial here is not the time involved; rather, it's the population of the world. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever lived on this planet is about 105 billion people. Only two percent of them were born prior to the advent of Christ. Erik Kreps of the Survey Research Centre of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research says, "God's timing couldn't have been more perfect. Christ showed up just before the exponential explosion in the world's population."

When Christ came, the nation of Israel had already been prepared by prophets like Isaiah, yet at the same time this nation’s religion had in its various forms become rigid, compromised, perverted and/or withdrawn. Thus, there were many seekers after real truth and spiritual freedom – Jews, and also Gentiles … for the ‘gods’ of the Roman world didn’t offer any real hope either. The Roman peace (the ‘Pax Romana’) operated over the whole the Mediterranean world, so there was greater freedom of movement and pathways of trade; this was also an age of literacy and learning. The stage was very well set indeed for the advent of God's Son into the world.

What the law (the ‘Torah’) would never be able to do (as a set of instructions), a personal relationship with Jesus could achieve! God would never become fully known through ‘law’, only through a person. The life of Jesus is a description of God based on fact.

(Sources include William Lane Craig from a debate with the atheist, and now deceased, Christopher Hitchens).

The First Witness (v.6-9f)

The first witness to Jesus’ earthly ministry was John (the Baptist). What was the nature of John the Baptist’s witness (v.7)? John was going to testify to the light, so that all might believe (in God) through that light. So whatever John was going to say or do, he hoped that it would be the light of Jesus that shined out. For only Jesus could ultimately save. In all he said and did from this time on, John the Baptist would seek to prepare the way for faith in Jesus.

John the Baptist had gathered followers of his own, and one might think that he could have become even more famous in his own right pointing to himself (and perhaps also avoid an early death). But instead he chose to be a follower … a follower of Jesus, and point to him. In another Gospel, we hear John say that he is not even worthy to unfasten the sandals of the one he is pointing to (Mark 1:7), such is the difference between them – or should we say, such is the greatness of Jesus. [Yet, at the same time, Jesus said that he came not to be served, but to serve (and give his life as a ransom for many) – Mark 10:45.]

How can we witness to Jesus? >

Ø By knowing well how Jesus has made a difference in our life

Ø By listening and observing well how other people are travelling

Ø By forming intersections between the two

Ø And by sharing a journey.

This is about discovering and resolving whatever separates other people from God.

For me, Jesus gives me clarity – a knowledge of who God is and what God’s will is. This may intersect with those who are struggling to get a handle on life. I don’t have a dramatic conversion story that many of you will have; but those who do have significant stories of rescue, can probably intersect well with the life situations other people find themselves in. Of course, simple friendship and relationship building, tinged with light, can provide beautiful witness to Jesus.

Darkness

Let’s look back to verse 5. How might we describe this darkness, into which the light of Jesus still shines?? How does this darkness look in everyday life???

·        The absence of light

·        Life divorced from God - deadness in spirit, spiritual void

·        Lack of hope, absence of peace, feeling of being unloved

·        Poverty, unemployment, homelessness, depression

·        Oppression, enslavement, entrenched injustice

·        Violence, abuse, cruelty, evil.

Yet, there is no burrow down which Jesus cannot go. This is the point of Matthew and Luke telling us about the humble circumstances of Jesus’ birth – born in a barn with the animals, born to parents with controversy hanging over their heads. Jesus is ever-present with his love. We might also say that God remains undeterred by any human disinterest. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

The Body of Christ

Now we are the Body of Christ … we are the incarnation of God in the world. We are the ones who are to live out the life of Jesus in the way he lived life in the world. C.S. Lewis tells us that what God could do himself perfectly in the twinkling of an eye, he nonetheless chooses us to do, even if it is done slowly and blunderingly. We have the responsibility, especially when things clearly aren’t right, to be representatives of the light and love of Jesus.

Everything that Jesus said and did was fruitful. Jesus lived love, compassion and grace. Jesus was a mouthpiece for truth and justice. Jesus influenced culture towards an appreciation of the kingdom of God. Jesus opened the path of forgiveness and salvation for all humanity. We can show love, compassion and grace. We can be a mouthpiece for truth and justice. We can influence culture towards an appreciation of the Kingdom of God. Our lives can point towards the good news of forgiveness and salvation. We have seen how John’s Gospel commences – later in chapter 20 we read Jesus saying (to his disciples), “As the Father has sent me, so I send you (20:21). Jesus’ human life is the epitome of what a human life lived in God’s Spirit looks like – so we imitate him (Michael Hardin, The Jesus Driven Life, p.258-9).

Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost write that the truly missional church, “disassembles itself and seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ to those who don’t yet know him (The Shaping of Things To Come, p.12).

Ultimately Jesus will shine for himself in his Second Advent, but there is a good reason for us not knowing the time of this. It is because we have been given all that we need to shine for Jesus now. The crucified Jesus brings us forgiveness. The resurrected Jesus brings us a new life orientation. The Holy Spirit develops our character, fruitfulness and giftedness, allowing us to make a difference. Our sisters and brothers in the church make up for our deficiencies with their various qualities, as we become a mutually encouraging and effective body. God will guide us into the frontline of all we need to do in His name, and for His glory, and sometime in the future this will be enough.

"Wonderfully Made" (Psalm 139:7-18)

Verses 13-16

When Psalm 139 was written, attributed to David, there was a sense of how special human beings are. This might come as a surprise when we see how some human beings treat each other and how badly they behave in general. This might also surprise us as we look at ourselves, and at how sometimes we do life. Especially so, if we translate as some suggest verse 14 should be, “I am awesomely wonderful”. But this is in our creation, and in our redeemed potential, not necessarily in the reality of certain moments. David himself had plenty of moments when his life was far from ‘awesomely wonderful’. These verses, especially verses 13-14, simply, but also deeply, express the human ideal – the potential of how a human life looks in the hands of God … intelligently formed, wonderfully made, intricately woven, lovingly overseen.

This is the same human ideal we read about in Genesis – that we were all made in God’s image … male and female created in God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26-27); this creativity described as “very good” (1:31), so well engineered were we, that we were given the collective responsibility for caring for all the rest of God’s creation (1:28). All of the water under the bridge does not deny the great human potential encased in God’s design. Despite all of life’s bruises and dark experiences, we can return to how God views all people of his creation. Each of our senses of self-worth should be lifted by this psalm’s view of humanity. Potentially, each life is a gift to the earth, and a gift to each other. We each have a destiny in God’s purposes, prior even to our birth.

But then, something goes wrong! Despite the original perfection of God’s creation, the accumulating indifference towards God in this world brings pressure upon our decision-making. The glorious freewill we have been given through which to choose God for ourselves, also means that we can choose against God. We want control ourselves, we think we can do it better; and we reach out and take our own apple from the tree … the only tree from which we were forbidden … the tree that displaces God out of our lives. At some point, each of us steps aside, as our human freewill intersects with a world that tempts us to put ourselves into number one position. And at that point, we start to lose our way. Not only do we start to lose track of God, but we also compromise all of the relationships in our life. Once we are in the centre (rather than God) we lose our contact with the needs of others, and our sense of the common good.

Verses 7-12

Life can take us to some very dark places, not only through our own poor decisions, but also sometimes because of what other people have done to us. But this is never the last word on life, because God has not lost interest in us. In this fact, there is great hope. When the first disciples had lost hope (because their master and friend had been crucified), Jesus rose from the dead! Bright hope resurfaced out of the gloom. God never loses track of us! God never forgets us. We may head off in our own direction, but God always knows where we are. “All our hidden motives and fears are like an open book before God; he knows where they came from, and he understands what they are doing to us and what we are doing with them” (NT Wright). God is never far away!

Even if we make our bed amongst the dead (as per the metaphor in v.8b), God can find us. God has been drawn to the places we have gone, and can be found there still claiming our heart. Why?? Because as we saw in verses 13-16, God has a large investment in how our lives turn out – this makes God’s interest in us inevitable. When we invest our money into something, it is very natural to take a very keen interest in the progress of our investment. So it is, with God’s investment in our creation.

None of this is expressed to bring us into fear, nor to make us cower in the light of God’s presence, nor to make us feel horrible about ourselves. It’s just that life is such a struggle without God! Each of us has a void that only God can fill; but too, happily, each of us also has a capacity for a personal relationship with God. These words are expressed in this way so that we might feel encouraged and welcomed back into God’s family. God’s presence and close interest is NOT a negative threat, but rather a positive blessing and an open ongoing opportunity!

No matter how far we think we may have strayed, God remains lovingly available. God is bending close, not to catch us out, but rather to express his love. We might wonder how God can pull this off!?! Personal and informed interest in over 6 billion people all at once! But I think those of us with personal relationships and deep experiences with God could attest to the truth of this. God has found us where we are, when we have needed him the most.

Now, there is no price to be paid to re-enter God’s family … that Jesus has not already paid on our behalf. God’s graceful closeness reminds us of the free access we have to God. So, indeed, we don’t have to fear God’s closeness. God knows us through and through at all levels, and stills wants to be in relationship with us. God fully understands all our difficulties, circumstances and relational tensions, and just wants to help us forward. The book of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus, in his human life, experienced temptation, testing, rejection, disappointment, misunderstanding, grief, betrayal and torture, so he can certainly empathise with us. Then Jesus took all human burdens with him to the cross, such was his love for us.

“The realisation of being known so fully and yet loved so uniquely by God, is wonderful good news indeed” (Frances Hogan). Yet, through encountering God in this way, we are faced with the need to change. We would become unsettled at the state of lives. We would want to embrace that human potential and God-given destiny created within us. We sense something of what is missing. And this can all be solved by accepting what Jesus has done of our behalf. Forgiveness is there for the taking. Healing and renewal is at hand through the Holy Spirit. A daily relationship with God is established.

When the psalmist considers God’s closeness and availability, he acknowledges (in verse 10) the great worth of God’s guidance (“… even there your hand shall lead me”) and God’s guardianship (“your right hand shall hold me fast”). Guidance and guardianship are the blessings of a daily relationship with God. We are truly part of God’s family, and are ready to listen to God’s voice of reason. Just as a parent should guide their children toward maturity, God (through Jesus) can guide each of us into spiritual blessing. God has made all of this possible … first through our very life, and then secondly, through an invitation into his family – our decision is whether we want to be a part of it. A decision of whether we come to Jesus just like a little child - with humility, openness, teachability, trust (Mark 10:13-16).

Verse 16b

I just want to go back to verse 16. God already knows how the days of our lives will pan out (refer v.16b). This is in NO way pre-determined, but rather a foreknowledge that will allow God to prepare us (if we are willing) in such a way that we will be able to cope, even excel, through all the challenges of life.

It’s like God being a couple of pages ahead in the book of our lives … wanting to draw us into the best case scenarios. God knows what we will face, what we can learn out of it, how we can grow through it, the purpose we can fulfil, and thus be constantly nurturing and preparing us. I reckon that every experience I have had in my life up until this moment, is in preparation for what the next day will bring.

Verses 17-18

For those of us well on the way, I give you verses 17 and 18. The more we seek God, the more there is to learn. We should not be satisfied with the milk of our infancy, but rather chew on the meat found in the depths of God. God’s thoughts are more than the sum total of the grains of sand on earth. Now that is vast! We should be now setting our minds on an ongoing journey of discovery, where we can ultimately say, “I come to the end – I am still with you”.

I have continued to seek God’s thoughts … “I come to the end – I am still with you”. Will we be able to say this?!? This then leads into an eternity that reveals even more of God than we had ever imagined.

Invitation

God loves you with a love that just does not dim. There is nothing ever standing in your way (that can't be adequately dealt with). God’s interest has never faded. Hebrews 4:16 reads, “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. With "boldness"? Yes, with "boldness", because we belong there ... at God's throne of grace!

"Discovering the Will of God" (Matthew 12:46-50)

1.     Introduction

How do you respond to a text like this? What jumps out at you?

·        We see here something about our focus, and also possible distractions.

·        We see something about how close a relationship disciples (like us) can have with Jesus. We think of our family as those who are most intimately connected to us. Jesus here was highlighting the intimacy, relationship and connectedness that he would be experiencing with his disciples – all those who come to him to do the will of God. These ones were at least equally, if not more so, considered to be Jesus’ family.

·        We see here something about how we might discover God’s will for our lives.

2.     Discipleship

Look at verses 46 & 47. We wonder what Jesus’ family members want to talk to him about? Mark chapter 3 covers some of the background to this. Jesus was often mobbed and didn’t have time to eat or rest. Others thought Jesus was crazy or demon-possessed; others rejected him outright. Jesus’ family may have wanted to protect him, which was understandable, but, in so doing, still showed a lack of understanding of what Jesus’ mission was about. Of course he would be criticised and rejected. Of course he would put himself in challenging situations. Despite whatever Jesus’ mother Mary believed, we hear from John’s Gospel (7:5), that his brothers did not believe in him. Family members could even have wanted Jesus to abandon his ministry entirely and return home.

Jesus’ family would have believed that they were well within their rights here, however Jesus would have none of this! Remember what happened later on when Peter suggested that Jesus should not go to the cross … as if this was not a big enough temptation without being encouraged this way. Jesus responded strongly to Peter … and knocked the idea right on the head – “Get behind me Satan … for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things (Matt 16:23)! Jesus was not going to allow any family connection nor any cultural convention to disrupt his ministry to the lost ones God had sent him to; especially so when there were crowds gathered around him wanting to hear what he had to say.

Culturally, Jesus dismissing his family in this way, would have been shocking to those there that day. Jesus would have been seen to be shirking responsibility. So clearly this highlights that, from Jesus’ point of view, the most important thing there is … is to do the will of God (v.50), no matter who that puts you at odds with. This might be family, but it also might be an employer, it might be a friend, it might even be the law. In the Gospels, Jesus often took on laws, like the Sabbath laws, or the ruling religious authorities, if these got in the way of him fulfilling and promoting the will of God.

After all, Jesus himself staked his life’s purpose on God’s will. When all the implications of death on a cross started to impact on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when humanly speaking he was contemplating alternative courses of action – what did Jesus say? Not my will, but God’s! Matthew 26:39 reads, “And going a little farther, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; YET NOT WHAT I WANT BUT WHAT YOU WANT’.”

It was the disciples that Jesus pointed at, when identifying who it was that was doing the will of God. This is because it was they who had made the determination to follow Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew has already noted that these disciples have already LEFT EVERYTHING else behind to follow Jesus (e.g. 4:18-22). This is all a far cry from accepting Jesus just for what we can get out of it. We might start there, but we can’t stay there. This is also far more than just intellectual assent – there is an emotional and practical response required. Embracing Jesus ultimately also means … embracing the will of God.

In Luke’s telling of the same incident, we hear Jesus saying, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Lk.8:21). We know that these disciples didn’t always get it right, nor fully understand what was going on, but nevertheless, with only one exception, they kept going forward. They were in the game. They weren’t observers, nor critics; they were card-carrying, risk-taking, followers of Jesus. For them, there was only one way of discovering the will of God … on the journey with Jesus.

[Jesus was not necessarily downgrading his natural family, but was certainly uplifting and adopting those who had determined to follow him – his spiritual adherents. Happily, we later read, in Acts, how Jesus’ family have become believers and are a vital part of the Christian community (his brother James becoming a leader in the church at Jerusalem and a New Testament contributor); but this happened after Jesus ‘stuck to his guns’ and went through with his mission. He completed his mission of salvation for his earthly family as well as everybody else.]

3.     On the Road

How do we discover what the will of God is? And how would you go about doing the will of God? For the first disciples, the instruction manual hadn’t been written yet. These disciples could only be a part of God’s will and purposes one way. They had to follow Jesus, and be a part of everything he was doing. Jesus was their rabbi – their teacher. To be a disciple means to live under the discipline of another (in this case Jesus). For me, there is only one way still to discover the will of God, and that is being on the journey with Jesus. This involves a growing relationship with our teacher.

This means, sometimes, that we have to ignore contrary voices; those people who don’t think Jesus is cool, or those activities that leave Jesus out. We need to watch carefully what it is that tends to influence us, and what we seem to give priority to, and where we spend our time, and who might be trying to hold us back (either inadvertently or deliberately).

We are much better off than the first disciples were, in that we have some written material to guide us (and some inspired written material at that). We have the whole of the New Testament (and, as well, the Old Testament / Hebrew Scriptures to give us more background material). Yet, I fear, that many still aren’t too familiar with these texts. A few comforting proof texts maybe, but not so much the thread of the whole Gospel narrative! My desire is for us all to know the Bible well, and what it is trying to show us for our daily living.

So, hopefully, we have a determination to follow Jesus in the midst of a growing relationship with him. We have an experience of salvation whereby we have been freed from all guilt and shame, and have been propelled into a new life of peace and hope. We have the Bible, especially the Gospels, to guide us in being like Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to give us more mature understanding and an assurance of God’s presence with us. So what else is there in this pursuit of doing God’s will?? The actual journey of life! What is happening out there in the world? How are we to engage with people? It is in this experience of the cut and thrust of life that we encounter the will of God. Let get amongst it … community life!

Sometimes there will be individual callings that we take up. These can then be prayed for by others. More often there are callings that we embrace together … in small or larger numbers – cooperating together, encouraging one another’s complimentary contributions. Again, we have to be aware that there will be certain voices seeking to divert us, because what we are doing does not suit them. And maybe sometimes those voices seeking to divert us … are our own, because the road is not necessarily easy, and there is always the temptation to take the easier path of least resistance).

I believe that Jesus had a growing understanding of the need for the cross, each and every day that he encountered people in deep need and distress. There was also so much darkness and injustice – he increasingly knew something had to be done to break the impasse of sin. Take for instance what happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time (after three years of ministry). He look down upon Jerusalem … and wept over what he saw … because the people had not recognised what made for peace (Luke 19:41-2). But Jesus was not only moved to tears, he was moved to action. He went to the temple and threw out all those who were cheating people or blocking people from being freely able to worship.

It is the more that we engage with people, that we learn how much they need to know Jesus. Even in the most jovial and seemingly together of our neighbours, if we got to know them a little better, we would discover a deep need for Jesus. And it is as we engage with people, eyes and ears fully open, that we discover more of the will of God – we see and understand where things need to change, and thus respond to the opportunities that present themselves to make a difference for others.

LIVE

The purpose of life is to be useful,

To be responsible, to be compassionate.

It is, above all, to matter, to count,

To stand for something,

To have made some difference.

When we talk about the “will of God”, we are not just talking about the everyday decisions we need to make, and whether they are line with God’s best intentions for us. We are mostly talking about our life’s focus, our highest priorities, and what our lives will count for. T.H. Robinson defines God’s will as, “the supreme and decisive factor in all human consideration”. What does God want me to do? What is my calling?? What contribution am I supposed to make???This is what we want to know – this is what we strive for – this is how we want to live … in line with God’s will.

4.     Relationship

There is an intimacy of relationship promised to those who sign on to the will of God. Remember, Jesus refers to such in the most familiar of terms … “brother, sister, mother”. Such intimacy does not exist naturally, but only through a decision – a decision to follow Jesus into doing the will of God. When so many reject, Jesus clings closely to those who make a decision to be Jesus’ true friends … his spiritual family.

And there is an opening here for everyone. “Whoever” (v.50)! There is an invitation here for anyone and everyone to join Jesus’ family. And this is not just an invitation to be on the outer reaches or ‘back-benchers’ of Jesus’ family, but rather right into the centre. In politics, in government, there is often an inner and outer ministry, where the ones in the inner ministry are closer to the ear of their leader. This is NOT the case here. “Whoever”, i.e. all of us, have an invitation into the heart of Jesus’ life, mission and purpose.

We can not only experience a warm reassuring peace-giving relationship with Jesus, but also a meaningful and purposeful daily partnership in what Jesus wants to achieve – the will of God. Thus, we pray, “Your Kingdom come; Your Will be done – on earth as it is in heaven”. Amen!

Do you want to give your life to Jesus and follow him?

Do you want help in discovering what the will of God is for your life??

Do you want to talk about your contribution to church or community life???

Do you want prayer because all of this is a bit of a struggle?

May the mind of Christ my Saviour live in me from day to day!