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, how 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 know they probably know where London and said so 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 s way they

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

thought for pow. I answered my question and said, we know about.

And that's for many people at Christmas, many people at Christmas. We know

Jesus. We stored pictularly 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 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. To 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 air Nativity. Normally you

in the open Nativity again this year, so norms another shepherd in the open

Nnativity 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 where 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 Eggen 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 prove 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 are expecting. In Matthew to eighteen seventies 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 he called, 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 there 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 Well, I guess

they're not children at forty years old, but taught right across the spectrum.

And do 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 patent shop and to me. Soon we had out.

He slept in the room with his brother. The room was decorated big

side, so dig be all the first men. He said, it's a

nice hole, mon, But where the pips? You know? And it

was it was into details. He's something okay. When you look inside the

bart you see his pips and is you're expecting topically on all the wall in

the tomato paints. But thinks that they see and it's nothing more precious.

And to have a child pray They pray such simple way you'll hear Hope and

Joel and Dat and Avil and other children pray prayers that are bowls full of

faith. And how could you not not respond to them. Sometimes please,

as in the story of Oliver, please going to have some more? And

now even if you know you've already done three chocolates, and 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, not childish, but like faith, simple,

not not competent, and something that is ready to be applied and used.

So let me ask you this morning, what's your faith? If the

king was extend, I'm here to were we ready read? So with kingdom

that I'm talking about the kingdom rule and ring bisis also it says in John

three sixteen whosoever believes in him should irish, but have ever lost. And

so as we go around these thoughts, I want to end with the 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 we gather around the Christ's story, you

might like, I meet someone who says, but He's just a fairy tale.

And I mentioned that particular sortory for particular reason, probably many reasons,

but one of additional particular reasons 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 in Klina 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 nationships 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 or 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,