27th August 2023 - Teaching Services

We've been exploring a theme over the last three four weeks around asking questions.

Who likes asking questions? Who likes giving answers? Yeah, because there's that

balance, isn't there. If you ask a question, then there needs to

be some kind of response, even if it is I don't know, it's

important that we respond to questions. I have the privilege of teaching from time

to time at various universities, and I was once asked whether I teach this

particular class. And the pupil who sorry, the teacher who was normally teaching

the class, he said, to make Dave, I think you'd be good

at this class. I said why. He said, they ask lots of

questions. It was a room full of managing directors and other senior executives and

they were on an MBA course. And he said, hey, I just

I just get bamboozled when they keep on asking me questions and I'm just trying

to teach the material. But do you know what, I think it's great

to have an inquiring mind. I think it's great to ask questions. I

think if we look at the New Testament and look at when Paul and Jesus

and others were preaching. I am sure there were questions that came from the

room. I think we model church a bit strangely. Sometimes I think we

kind of had this teacher classroom mentality. And actually, we need to learn

together, we need to explore together, we need to press into things together

because sometimes I don't have the answer. And that's okay. It's so important

that we don't put people on pedestals. Teachers, parents, pastors, anybody

who's in a teaching function. You know, we are not the fount of

all knowledge. The fount of all knowledge is Him. And actually, if

we don't know, we can say I don't know, let's go and find

out together. Let's go and explore together. And I wanted to kind of

build upon that theme of asking questions today to ask can we are we ready

to ask? In One Peter chapter three, verse fifteen, as this,

but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give

a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in

you with meekness and fear. Now, how do people see the hope in

you and me? I think of times in my life when maybe I've responded

differently, I've responded differently because there's been some dreadful news and everybody goes,

oh, isn't this dreadful? And I'm going, actually know there's a maybe

a different way of looking at it. Or when I've got peace and no

one else in the room has peace, they said, hey, how can

you be peaceful at this time? That's exactly for me what this scripture talks

about a defense to everyone who asks the reason for your hope? So can

people see in you and me and those listening at home? Can people see

in you and me a hope? We need hope, don't we? We

need hope. We need hope every day for people who are battling through stuff,

for people who are pressing through situations. If we haven't got hope,

what's the point in getting out of bed in the morning. You may as

well just lie and have a pity party. But hope draws us forward.

Hope pulls us forward, and so we need to be ready to respond to

that question, why have you got hope today? What is it that gives

you hope? Well? I can say, honestly, they can say that

I've got hope because God has a plan for me. Jeremiah twenty nine verses

eleven. Something that, and that's not just me, that's all of us.

God has a plan and a purpose for us. And Jeremiah twenty nine,

verses eleven and twelve. This for I know the thoughts that I think

towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil,

to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me

and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. The

hope comes from God has a plan for us. Here's an interesting thought.

When was the last time you asked God about his plan for you? If

we believe this to be true, then wouldn't you be interested if you all

jumped in the car as a family this morning, and maybe dad or mum

has decided where you're going, but the children don't know. Don't you think

they'd probably ask mommy, daddy, where are we going? How long is

it going to take? Have we packed any food? Are we going to

see when we get there? And then that inevitable question as you start on

the journey, are we there yet? If we don't know where we're going,

we don't know whether we've got there. I don't know whether you've ever

done this. I've done it a few times in my life where I've literally

gone on a trip, and it's with young people, particularly on a kind

of treasure hunt, and you've thrown the dice. When you come to a

traffic lights or somebody else is shouting out left and right. You're not following

a plan. You're just literally left right, straight on. So there's no

guarantee where you're going to end up. You might end up in a car

park, you might end up out outside a beautiful, stately home, but

you'll end up somewhere. But without a destination, how do we know that

we've got to where we Well, I typically said, okay, we're going

to do this for thirty minutes, so wherever we are in thirteen minutes time,

that's where we're going to stop. But if we don't know where we

go, we don't know whether we've got there, and then we can't say

how long it is to get there. Jesus has asked a number of questions,

will well, We'll see that in Matthew the Gospel of Matthew. When

Jesus came into the region of the Sarah Philippi, he asked his disciples,

saying who do men say that I am? I the Son of Man Am?

Now I wonder what you how you would answer this question? I wonder

how you would answer this question. Who do you say Jesus is? Well?

How how did they respond? In verse fourteen said this, So they

said to him, some say you're John the Baptist, some say Elijah,

and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. So a good guy.

So what does Jesus do? Now do you remember this story? He's asked

them who do they say that I am? He then turns to the disciples

and says, who do you say that I am? And what was Simon

Peter's response. Simon Peter's response was this, you are the Christ, the

son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed

are you Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to

you, but my father, who is in heaven, the son of God.

Do you know we need to get a revelation of who Christ is to

us? We can be told many many many years ago, So when I

was a teenager. So that shows you how long ago it was. Somebody

very kindly will probably just say it was only a couple of years ago,

Dave. But I had the privilege of it in nineteen seventy seven Silver Jubilee.

So that's really aging me. Now, okay, Silver Jubilee, and

we're not far from windsor actually let she let me tell you a little story.

I can sometimes be a little naughty. And there's the Great Park,

which is the Queen's Crown Land that's there at the top of the hill where

the kings and queens used to ride out down the long Walk and then they

get to the Great Park and then they go hunting in the forest. And

on the edge of the Great Park is Sadle Gardens. And in Savle Gardens

there's a lovely coffee shop. And I like coffee, and so from time

to time I would go there and i'd sit down and I'd be Now,

the Wi Fi signal for the coffee shop is the Crown, so I log

on with perfect permission. I've got it's open WiFi. And to some of

my American friends, I say, I'm sitting in the Queen's back garden,

logged onto our WiFi. And it's a bit of a stretch of the imagination,

but it's pretty close I'm connected to crownd property, and I hadn't had

somebody respond, really, David, are you really well? I'm in Yes,

I'm in the Great Park. And then then he said, do you

know Prince Charles? Because it was Prince Charles. Then now here's the interesting

thing. Do you know Prince Charles? And I was thinking about it and

think, well, I know who he is, I know where he lives,

I know how old he is, I know I know about his mum

and his dad. So I responded back and saying yes I do. And

then I realized I'd dug a great big hole for myself because there's a difference

between know about and no. Lots of people know about God. They've read

it in the in the Bible, they've been told by friends, they've learned

it through Sunday School, they've learned it through hymns and stories and videos and

YouTube. But they know about God. So when you ask the question do

you know God, they're probably saying yes, I know about God. But

this is exactly when Jesus said to him, who do you say that I

am? You are the son of God. This wasn't something that was a

know about Jesus. It was a no Jesus, and I want to ask

us this morning. Do we know Jesus for ourselves, not through our parents,

not through our friends. A very one of my favorite songwriters, Keith

Green, said, going to McDonald's doesn't make you a Hamburger anymore than going

to church makes you a Christian. We have to get to a place where

we will get to know Him personally. And then as Jesus gave the sermon

on the mount he asked some questions of the people who were watching and listening,

and in Matthew chapter five, verses one to twelve, and seeing them

multitude, he went up the mountain, and when he was seated, his

disciples came to him, and he opened up his mouth and taught them,

saying, Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those

who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are

the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who

are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed

are you when they revile and persecute you and say all evil against you falsely

for my sake. Now, I don't know when you hear that sermon what

you immediately think, But for me, I'm immediately thinking, who are the

righteous? Who are you talking about here? Who are the blessed? Let's

go back to the first one. Now, blessed are the poor in spirit?

For theirs is the kingdom of God. So who are the I'm immediately

into questions when I hear Jesus making these statements, I'm immediately into questions.

And if this is true, and Lord, show me someone who needs to

be encouraged. Blessed are those who mourn, not every one of us who

mourns. As some of you know, I've had the privilege of teaching in

Papua New Guinea, and you can see when people are morning in Papua New

Guinea, they put necklaces around their necks. And they in one particular tribe

that I was involved with, they'd put necklaces around the next the widow would

put necklaces around her neck, and each day she'd take off one necklace until

once all the necklaces were gone, a time of morning was passed. In

other cultures, they put mud on their face, and then when the mud

had worn off, their time of mourning had passed. You know, in

the world that we live in today, we don't necessarily know. I was

on a team's call with work recently, and I, you know, chatting

to somebody whilst we were waiting for the team to start the call to start,

and he was pretty is normal, jovialself and that the call started and

we came to the end of the call and he said, Dave, can

I give you a Can I call you straight afterwards? Anyway, we dropped

off the team's call and he called me back. He said, Dave,

I just know I know you're a Christian. Would you pray for me?

He said, I've just lost my brother now from the call, I would

never have known. He put a face on. How we put masks on

from time to time. We'll put on asks regularly. I see it in

that in that phrase good when we say how are you? You know,

when you greet somebody say hi, how are you? And great, thanks

very much? How are you? And I just think how real was that

engagement. Blessed are those who mournful, they shall be comforted. An opportunity

to pray with this guy on teams, and he was in the another part

of the world, and I was privileged to be able to comfort him with

some simple words. But this sermon that Jesus preaches just asks questions for me.

It asked questions for me, because I just want to know who are

who are these folk that need us to be at work? As we looked

at a few weeks ago, we are salt and light. And in the

world as we assault and light, that means we should be making a difference.

We should be driving back darkness just by being like you have to do

nothing more than turn the lights on. By turning the light on, darkness

is driven back by putting salt in food. Flavor is brought out. And

so as we are sun lights, we make a difference in our world.

And what did he end this sermon with? He said, Rejoice and exceeding

be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, For so they

persecuted the prophets who were before you. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. I

don't know what exceedingly glad is? I mean, I think I know what

glad is, But what's exceedingly glad? I mean how much more? I

mean it sing for me, it seems to suggest extra more more than usual.

So rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward? Well,

I just want to ask some questions. And when we look back over

that sermon, we can see that as Jesus was talking as people in need,

I think, how can they give thanks in their moment of need?

How can they give thanks in their moment of lack? And I want to

ask us this question this morning. What can you get? And I'm including

myself in it? What can we give thanks for? Thankful that we have

a home to live in, Thankful that we have food in front of us.

We used to have a retired Elien past who used to be part of

our church. And Jim and new said in their early days when they were

leading, when they're involved in church leadership, they'd sometimes literally sit down at

the table with their children and they'd lay the table plates, knives, and

forks, and then they'd pray. But there was nothing in the oven,

There was nothing on top of the cook I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know whether you could do that. But Jim just said,

there are times when you know, they literally didn't have enough money to feed

themselves, and so they literally sit down and pray so without without questions.

Sometimes sometimes it was before they prayed, but sometimes even as a couple of

times he said, there was a knock at the door and somebody turned up

with a basket for of food, or or a pot of food already cooked.

Just think, God, You're gracious, God, you provide. So

can we give thanks for things that God has spoken into our eyes before we

can see them. Let me give you an example of God promised to abraham

children, and what did he do. He tried to come up with a

separate plan. He said, well, I'm a bit old. Really,

this isn't working here. Let's let's go for a plan. Let's go for

my plan. But God had a plan. And as God has a plan,

you know, they conceived. And now the baby's on the way.

Now the bump's growing. Still can't see the baby, but the baby's coming.

Can we give thanks for the baby before the baby arrives? Yes,

of course we can. The life that is within can we give thanks for

food that is yet to come? Can we give thanks for provision that yet

God is able to give? And impulse letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote

this, rejoice sometimes. Let me say that again, and see I've got

some response for the room. But I don't know how you responded at home

Thessalonians five one Thesalonians five, Rejoice sometimes. No, what does it say?

Rejoice always? Rejoice always? Okay, I'm happy to rejoice when I'm

happy, But what about when I'm not happy? Still rejoice? Still rejoice

and not through gritted teeth. Godly contentment is great gain. So rejoice always,

and then pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks for this is

the will of God, will of God in Christ Jesus. For you.

In everything, give thanks. So when I asked the question, let's go

back to the question, what can we give thanks for? In everything?

Give thanks? And I know Maureen as she as we did a season of

prayer and fasting at the beginning of August, I know Maureen said she she

had to give some thanks for some things she didn't feel comfortable to give thanks

for, but she gave thanks anyway. And in giving thing something broke,

something broke, and in something breaking, freedom came. And as freedom came,

breakthrough came. And as breakthrough came, there's progress, but it's started

by giving thanks. So I'm going to thank you, Jonathan, bring you

back to this question what can we give thanks for? Today? Let me

ask you to close your eyes and just just think for a few moments.

I'm not going to ask you to give me the answers, but I want

to take you on a question journey right now. So with the eyes closed,

those at home, those listening later, those in the room, I'd

like, I just want to take you to some places and say, what

can you give thanks for? At home? Right now? Now? For

some people that's easy, everything's fine. But for someone else who's maybe looking

for a new home, or maybe they've been given an eviction notice, or

maybe there is no home right now? Your sofa surfing. But if that's

you, and what can you give thanks for? The sofa surfer can still

give thanks for the friend who offered them the sofa to stay on? Let

me move on. For those who work and serve in other places, what

can you give thanks for in your workplace? Do you know what? It's

so easy? To go to the nice things, the things that make us

smile. But sometimes we need to give thanks for structure. Sometimes we need

to give thanks for provis for guidance, for covering, for protection. They're

not things that we necessarily see, but they're there and we can give thanks

for them. They don't want to go into the community, maybe a place

where you hang out, a place maybe you play sport or a game,

or connect with people, work in food bank or those kind of things.

What can you give thanks for in those places? In those times, in

those moments, rejoice, always pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks.

Father. I thank you for the prices that we work and serve.

I thank you for the community that we live in and the family that we're

part of. I thank you for your provision, Lord God, I thank

you for your love towards us and for the gift of your son, our

savior, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross and paid the price for

my sin. In all things, I give thanks, in good and bad,

in highs and lows, we give thanks to God in Jesus name.

Amen. Let me just do the notice seas, and then we'll come back