Monday 18 December 2017

Sermon: Jesus is Lord

As always, David starts his sermon with a little ice breaker for daily living....



Reading for today:
Isiah 9:2-7,
John 1:1-18

A celebrity always attracts crowds - people flock to see royalty and presidents. And here we are at Christmas, with the greatest of all! And so few there! But how few today flock to him? Of course his situation was humble, a baby in the manger, but the angels announced the coming of "Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11). We battle to realise his Lordship, but perhaps we should battle more with how the Lord could become a baby - of course easy for the Lord of all! The Lordship of Jesus is the essence of Christianity. The message of Christmas is EMMANUEL, so a Lord with us!

He is Lord, but that does not mean that he is second rank, less than a king. "Lord" was the title of the emperor, and the kings, such as Herod, of second rank. The name of God in the Old Testament was translated by the word Lord in the Greek, and our Bibles follow that. But do you treat Jesus as second rank? Jesus is Lord - but why do we believe that? It is because

He is God, He is creator, He is redeemer

Jesus is God. This is seen by many miracles, of healing, feeding etc (eg Lk 5:8), by his claim (eg Jn 8:58), especially by his resurrection. But then Jesus shows us what God is like, a God of love.

Is He YOUR God? In the full sense? So obey and worship Him alone

But there could be a god without power ....

Jesus is creator. See Jn 1:3, Col 1:16 etc, and the resurrection shows his power over the life that he made. Then Jesus shows us what His power is like, he is the God who limits Himself for us. More importantly, is He YOUR creator? Is he creating and guiding your life, or are you trying to run it yourself?

But there could be a creator who is not a saviour

Jesus is redeemer. The angels, spoke of the coming of a saviour (Lk 2:11). He came to die for our salvation. Then the resurrection is power over death. He gives new life and Jesus shows us what new life is like, repentance and obedience. Most importantly, is He YOUR redeemer? Do you belong to Him?

Are you serious about his lordship? In the fourth century there was a big movement, like modern Jehovah's Witnesses, that said that Jesus was divine, but not absolute lord. A man rose up called Athanasius, who knew that only full God could save. If Jesus is not fully God there is no salvation. He was prepared to suffer for his Lord, and so for us - are we?

The wise men came to Jesus to worship (Matt 2:11), they recognised the LORD. What of us? And let us be serious, not just using the word without meaning (Lk 7:46)!

Sermon by Prof David T Williams

Thursday 14 December 2017

St Patrick’s Chapel Newsletter December 2017

We can't believe that it is already Christmas!! There are three special items of news this Christmas:

  • Rev Margaret Fourie is back to take the Christmas services – Sunday 24th at 10am; Christmas Day 25th Holy Communion at 8am and Christmas Family Service at 10am and Sunday 31 December 2017 at 10am. We welcome you back, Margaret, and look forward to your services.
  • Christmas Services will kick off on Christmas Eve 24 December 2017 at 5:30 at St Patrick’s with a Carol/Crib Service. We especially welcome our young ones (and young at heart), so please bring your children along. The service will capture the Christmas story in song with the children assembling the crib. Gwyneth Lloyd will sing special items. The Service will be led by Norma Fivaz and Ann Webster.
  • For those early risers (the ones that want to open their presents asap, Christmas Day  (25 December 2017), we will start Christmas day with an early morning communion service at 8am at St Patrick’st St Patrick’s. The Christmas Family Service will be lead by Rev Margaret Fourie at 10am. We were hoping to hold the Christmas Family Service in the Arboretum but Forestry is not able to open the roadway yet. Let’s hope that by next Christmas we are able to return to the forest for our service. If there is any change, check back on this blog for updates. 

Monday 4 December 2017

Sermon: 3 December - Leon Van Niekerk

This Sunday we were very blessed indeed to have our Afrikaans minister, Leon Van Niekerk, visiting us from East London.



The songs Leon chose really put us in the Christmas spirit and brought home the joyous wonder of our baby Jesus to us. Norma and Santie also blessed us in playing Welkom, o stille nag van vrede...