3rd December 2023 - Communion Service

Kingdom ready. So let me encourage you to as we gather around the word

this morning, to think about kingdom, think about his kingdom. I once

had the privilege of traveling and I met some friends in Singapore and they introduced

me to some of their friends in Singapore, and one of the guys said,

oh, do you live And I said, well, I could have

lived between London and Windsor that. You know, these guys had never been

to the UK before, so I just thought, okay, give him a

comics. They probably know where London and said said between London and Windsor and

said, oh, Windsor, that's where the king lives, isn't it.

I said, yeah, King Charles, he said, and at this time,

this is this is a while ago with Prince Charles said so do you

know Prince Charles? And I don't know how you'd answer that question. I

kind of well, I know about him. I know he's the Prince and

now he's king, but I don't know him. And so I said,

well, I know about him, but I don't know him. And we

got onto a further conversation, these these friends and that Jesus. Then I

asked this question. I said, okay, in the same way they had

asked me about Prince Charles said, do you know this? And they obviously

thought that Pow I had answered my question and said, we know about it.

And that's for many people at Christmas. Many people at Christmas we know

Jesus. We stored picularly christ cards to tell you Jesus didn't come to know

about He came to know. Let's look at a few stories here about the

kingdom. He let me, Luke, chapter one, verses eleven. Then

the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of

the altar of incense. But the Angel said to him, do not be

afraid, Sircarius, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will

bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you

will have joy and gladness. And many will rejoice at his birth, for

he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and will drink neither

wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit,

even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many, from many of

the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him,

He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah turn the

hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of

the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. We know

this story, it's a Christmas story, but it also proclaims the kingdom because

John came before Jesus, and he came to proclaim, He came to foretell,

He came to declare who Jesus is and was. And so as we

ourselves know Jesus, who are we proclaiming? What are we declaring? I

want to encourage everybody to take one of these. These are booklets that we've

got on the Christmas story. I want everybody just to take one, take

it home, put it in your pocket, put it in your briefcase,

your handbag, were ivy. But the purpose is not for you to read

it. You know the story in here, but maybe there would be a

moment when you might get into a conversation and somebody says, well, I've

never heard that story before. In the notices when I share them later,

I will talk a little bit about the Open Nativity. Normally you in the

Open Nativity again this year, so norms another shepherd in the Open Ndativity on

the sixteenth to December. And we've done this for many, many, many

years now. When we've gathered in the high street a stage and there's a

narrator and a brass band, and sometimes there's animals and then there's an angel,

and you know, it's just a moment. We sing carols and we

gather in our high street to celebrate Christmas. But about four years ago I

was standing there watching people setting up, and a Chinese gentleman walked down the

street and he turned to look what was going on. The stage being set

up and the brass band starting to get ready to practice, and he said,

what's going on? Oh, I said, we're having a Nativity.

He said, what's that. I said, well, it's the story of

the birth of Jesus. He said, oh, I've heard about Jesus.

It's just a fairy tale, isn't it. I don't know whether you how

you perceived the Christmas story. For me, it's a real story. That's

truth, that's history, that's revelation. So for somebody to go it's just

a fairy story. I just went, oh, my goodness, there's a

different perspective I haven't thought about before. And we stood there in the High

Street of Egan when we talked about it, and I said, well,

what makes you say it's a fairy story. He said, well, it's

only in the Bible. I said, well, you'll find it in other

holy books as well, in the Tora, the Kloran, there is a

story of Jesus. And he said, really, I didn't know that.

I said, And there's history truth this is. This isn't just in the

Bible. There's plenty of history to show us and to declare to us and

proclaim who Jesus is and who he had been proclaimed to be. As we

read in Isaiah. You know, we read from Isaiah it was proclaimed hundreds

of years before that Jesus the King was coming. Now as I'd mentioned,

you know, Prince Charles, now the king. If I'd said, if

King Charles was coming to this place today, I wonder how we would have

prepared ourselves. Maybe some of us may have put on a suit and a

tie or a special dress, some of us may have cleaned our teeth more

thoroughly or whatever. But sometimes when you meet special people, you prepare extra,

don't you, because it's just a privilege. So there was an expectancy

of this king that was coming. And so when a baby is born in

a manger, this is a surprise to people. Well, this isn't what

we're expecting. In Matthew to eighteen Senties one to five, at that time,

and I'm reading from the amplified version, at that time, the disciples

came up and asked Jesus, who then is really the greatest in the kingdom

of Heaven and Hell. And he called a little child to himself and put

him in the midst of them, and said, truly, I say to

you, unless you repent, change, turn about, and become like little

children, trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving, you can never enter

the Kingdom of Heaven at all. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like

these little children, trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving, is greatest in

the Kingdom of Heaven. And whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child

like this for my sake, and in my name, receives and accepts and

welcomes me. This is the Jesus we're talking about. This is the kingdom

that we talk about. This is the kingdom that we share, a kingdom

that is different. What it can say about a kingdom is In a kingdom,

there is a king or queen who reigns. There are rules, there

are guidelines, there's a culture, there's a way, And whoever receives him

receives him in my name. God's love for us is so pressed, he

said, one, and so are we ready for the king? Are we

ready? Are we ready for his kingdom? Before? He said, But

Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and do not forbid

them, for such is the kingdom of heaven. I've had a privilege of

teaching children from four years old to fourth one. I guess they're not children

at forty years old, but talk right across the spectrum, and you know,

one of the things I love about little children is their inquisitiveness. A

good friend of Julia and my wife her son Digby. He was He loved

detail and he was asked once, Digby, we're going to repaint your bedroom.

What color would you like your bedroom? He said, I'd like it

to be. Now, I don't know what you think tomato ready is,

But Mum went and did some diligent research. He took tomato with her to

various patient shop to me. Soon he slept in the room with his brother.

The room was decorated, big device room, so dig be all the

firs. He said, it's a nice hole money. But where the pips?

You know? And it was it was into details. He's something okay,

when you look inside the barto you see his PEPs and is you're expecting

to petically on all the wall in the tomato paint. But but things that

they see and it's nothing more precious. And just to have a child pray.

They pray such simple way you'll hear Hope and Joel and Diet and Ale

and other children pray prayers that are bowls full of faith. And how could

you not not respond to them? If sometimes please, as in the story

of Oliver, please going to have some more? And now even if you

know you've ready done three chocolates, he said, well three is enough.

They come and their eyes are open and they say, please going to have

one more? And what do we do? Still often and of course we

give them some. God looks at us once the come us with child like

it not childish, but like faith, simple, not not compissent, and

something that's ready to be applied and used. So let me arku you this

morning, what's your faith. If the king was extend, I'm here to

were we read read so with kingdom that I'm talking about the kingdom rule and

ring visis, and alsoever it says in John three sixteen whosoever believes in him

should not irish, but have ever lost. And so as we go around

these thoughts, I want to end with a scripture that says this, and

it says, but seek and and all these things shall be added to you.

Seek first his Kingdom, seek first Him and who he is. And

so as he can we gather around the Christmas story. You might like,

I meet someone who says, but he's just a fairy tpe. And I

mentioned that particular story for particular reason, probably many reasons, but one of

additional particular reason was I've had the privilege of connecting with a whole bunch of

Chinese students over the last couple of weeks, and they chat, not app

on we Chat. So I've suddenly got into the world of we Chat.

Now this service is now being connected to we Chat in the sense that people

can now watch what we're doing doing here. And I just have a privilege

that when I think about the different nations that we're sharing with the different nationshipipes,

we're connecting with the different nations that we are touching. It's just a

privilege to be able to share with the world something of what God says to

us and through us. And so but seek first the Kingdom of God and

his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. What do

we find in the Kingdom of God. We find peace, we find hope,

we find joy, we find purpose, we find His love manifest in

our lives. So let me pray, Father God, thank you for your

son. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for sending him into the world

for each one of us. He came as was promised, as was declared,

as was proclaimed. And Father, help us to receive him as we

remember again as we head towards Christmas, as we live in the season of

advent, Father, let us get our eyes on who Jesus is. Let

us get our eyes on your son and Father, help us to lift our

eyes up off our circumstances. Help us to lift the eyes to the hills

from whence comes our help. And help us to press in more and more

and more into the fullness of Your kingdom here on earth. Father, release

your spirit into our lives. Father, hear our prayers and our praise.

In Jesus' name, Amen, Thank you, Lord God. Father on to

pray for the nations of the world that we touch. Father, for those

that I know and the ones that you know. Lord, thank you for

India, for Pakistan, Lord for South Africa, for Turkey, Lord for

Norway, for Spain, for Mexico, for China. Now Lord God Malaysia,

Singapore. Father, as we do just a little something, Father,

I pray that the seed that we press down law will be seed that is

sown in purpose. The seed is sown with destiny. Father, I pray

your word would touch our lives and touch the lives of others, touch the

lives of our neighbors. Let the seed that is in us shine brightly.

The light that is in us burn brightly for your glory, Lord, in

Jesus' name, Amen,