4th December 2022 - Communion Service - Dave Food - His Promise still stands

So we step into a new month, December. Thank you, Judy,

thank you well done. Yes, if you want to go back, one

slide, simon, sorry, step into a season now. People opening the

advent calendars already, those children who come down each morning and open up the

next window and see what pictures inside, and sometimes what chocolate's inside. The

theme for December. We are looking at the promise, which promise. You

might say, well, we'll unpack that as we journey through our week's leading

up to Christmas. But I wanted to start off with a statement that I

believe to be true, and we may even sing it later on. The

promise still stands. The promise still stands. Let's go back and look at

where God made an early promise in the Bible. And let's go back to

look at Genesis, and we hear of Abraham and Sarah. What did God

say to Abraham at this time? Abraham was older than I am now.

And then God said to Abraham, as for Sarah, your wife, you

shall not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall be her name. And

then he goes on to say, and I will bless her and also give

you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she will

be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples shall be from her. So

such a promise not just of a son, but of many generations. Then

Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, shall a

child be born to a man who is one hundred years old, And shall

Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child. So God spoke.

The first thing Abraham did was laughed. Well, But God promised.

God promised, God said, God spoke that there would be a son.

What promises did Abraham receive? Does anybody remember any of the promises? So

he was promised a son? What else was he promised? What else did

God speak? That he'd be a father of nations, that his descendants will

be more than the grains of sand on the sea. Let's bring that up,

Simon. I made it a bit easier for you. He said,

I will give you this land. So first he said, I will give

you the land that you're on for you and your descendants. Now he didn't

have any descendants at this particular point in time. I will make you,

you and your descendants a great nation. I will bless you. And then

it's not just I will give you a son. But it goes on to

say I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars. Anybody tried counting

stars recently? You can just take a picture of a very small You can

look through a telescope and just take a picture of a very small few inches

of the sky and start counting, and you could probably be fair for quite

a long time. So God to God who promises Abraham, who is a

man who received promises. There are three thousand, five hundred and seventy three

occurrences to the word promise in the Bible. Promise or promises quite a few

times. And I think I've told you before now. One of my favorite

Bibles is Dakes. And the reason I like Dakes is Dakes was created before

the computer. You and I are probably very familiar going into words and creating

a document, and then you can count how many words there are in your

document. Very important for students who are trying to do dissertations that must be

no more than twelve thousand words. They want a word count. But Dake

went through the whole Bible and counted things like the number of times the word

promise appears. Manually. This was done hundreds of years ago. He also

went through and counted how many promises occurred, and that's where the three five

hundred and seventy three promises in the Bible come from. He also then talked

about how many prophetic words they are in the Bible and how many of them

have been fulfilled. He did that manually. That's why I like his Bible.

And God's promises are faithful. And God brings us a perspective on promise

where he goes to a covenant promise when he flooded the world and he said

to no, and he put a rainbow in the sky, and what did

he say, I'm never going to do this again. I'm never going to

do this again. I'm never going to And covenant is a commitment from God.

Is a covenant relationship. You know, marriage is a covenant relationship.

And so I want to say this morning, what is a promise? Well,

you go to the dictionary first of all, wouldn't you. That's where

i'd start. A promise is to assure someone that the one will definitely do

something to that something so that something will happen. Now here's the thing.

The important part of the promise is who is promising. The promise doesn't change.

You know, a promise is a promise. And it's very interesting how

we've used the word promise very loosely. Do you know you have pieces of

paper in your pocket that say promise on them? You think, how do

I know that? How do I know what's in your pockets? Well,

if you look at any banknote, you will find I promised to pay the

bearer. And that was because in the original versions of banknotes they could be

of different value, so there would be a commitment to pay you something and

that's where the value came the promise. Now, why is that reliable?

Because it's printed by the Bank of England in our case here in the UK,

and so it has a certain value. And if you ever lived in

Zimbabwe, how long ago was it twenty thirty years ago when inflation went to

one thousand percent and you were paying for bread with fat tens of thousands of

Zimbabwean shillings. I believe it was. You know, you imagine carrying a

wad of paper around because there weren't credit cards at the time, and you

have to get out a wad of notes to pay for a loaf of bread.

So the promiser matters, and so when we read in scripture that God

promises, we look to the source. God is reliable, God is faithful,

But unfortunately we look through the lens of our experience, of our lives.

Has anybody been I'm not going to ask you to give you the details,

but I do want you to engage with you. So has anybody You've

been promised something and it didn't happen, Okay, lots of hands up,

lots of nodding going on, ye, And I don't need to know the

details. Sometimes it might be I'll never leave you, I'll always be there

for you, and then they let you down. I promise I'll be there

at two o'clock on Wednesday and they're not there. And we've used the word

promise to mean i'll try. And I think we need to get back to

a place where when we promise something, I'll be there if I can.

Irene bless her, who's now with the Lord. We'd say to our after

small groups in the week, we'd say to I'll see you someday, and

she said, God willing you know, because we never know what our future

contains, but there are some things we want to commit to do and there

are some things that we'd like to do, And I think sometimes we need

to distinguish and disentangle saying I'll try from my promise, so that promise comes

back to a place where it has the value that I truly believe it should

have. Now, why am I talking about a promise at Christmas? Isaiah,

chapter nine, verses two. Beginning of verse two. I think I've

read this last week as well. But we know this well. And in

fact I know this so well because these words are part of an aria in

Handle's Messiah. And so I know these words by heart because I could sing

it to you, but I'm not going to. The people who have walked

in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwell in the land of

the shadow of death upon them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation

and increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest,

as men rejoice when they divide their spoil. For you have broken the

yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his

oppressor, as the day of Midian. For every warrior, sandal from the

noisy battle, and garments rolled in blood will be used for the burning and

fuel of the fire. For unto us a child is born. Unto us,

a sun is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful Countil Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince

of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace. There will be

no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom. To order it

and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever,

the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. For unto us,

a child is born. Unto us, a sun is given hundreds of

years before the promise of the Christ Child. And that promise is fulfilled as

we celebrate Christmas each year, and it's fulfilled in so many different elements of

stories. Let's go on now to look at the fulfillment of that story.

As we turn to the Gospel of Lucna. There was in the days of

Herod, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the division

of Abijan and his wife of the Daughters of Aaron, and her name was

Elizabeth. Might see a bit of an echo back to the story of Abraham,

and they were both righteous before God, walking in the commandments and the

ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren,

and they were both well advanced in years. So we know first of

all Sacchias and Elizabeth. Sorry, Zacharias and Elizabeth were without child. And

then an angel comes with a message. And the Angel said to them,

do not be afraid, Zacharias, for the prayer is heard, and your

wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his

name John, and you shall have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice

at this birth. So I promised the Zacharias and to Elizabeth. And he

will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. Okay,

so we hear about We hear about this. And 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 of ready people prepared for the Lord. So I promise in this

man John. And the Angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit

will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you.

Therefore also that the Holy One will be born, will be called the Son

of God. Sorry, I've jumped on to description. Now. So we've

got Elizabeth expectant with child, and now we read about Mary, and there's

a moment in history where the promise comes together in reality. And now,

indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a son. So Mary's spoken

to by an angel. And now the angel goes on to say, and

now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a son in her

old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called

Baron. For with God, nothing will be impossible. Mm hmm. I

want I want to pause here. I want to pause here, because we've

got Elizabeth not expecting a child. An angel comes and promises a child.

And I didn't go into the all to the all to the story of azakaraias

was was didn't struggled, and was was was kept muted, and was I

didn't go. Don't get not going into all that story, but it's tied

into the story of Mary and the angel coming to Mary saying you shall conceive

and bear a son, and his name will be called Jesus. And in

these promises coming together, God gives a sign because the child within Elizabeth leaps

within her womb as she meets with Mary. For nothing is impossible to God.

Nothing is impossible to God. And so so when God has promised God's

the source, he is reliable. And so let's move on in Luke now.

And Mary said, and this is Mary's response to the angel. Mary

said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God,

my savior, for he has regarded the lowly state of his maid servant.

For behold, henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed, For he

who is mighty has done great things from me. And holy is his name.

And his mercy is on those who fear him. From generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in

the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and rich

he has sent empty away. It's amazing how music can speak to your spirit.

I used to sing this, these particular words, because this will be

known as the magnificat in a more traditional church. And I would sing these

words every evening of every day at the cathedral. When I was singing in

the cathedral clath these words were sung every evening at even song, the magnificat

and the nunc dimitters, and I just find them very compelling to be singing

them every day. But they just seem to relate to Christmas. But that's

because his promise still stands. His promise doesn't just stand at Christmas. His

promise stands throughout the year. His promise just doesn't stand sometimes his promise stands

all the time. And I want to encourage you because we're going to we're

going to take some moments this morning to consider and think about unfulfilled promises,

promises that you sense God has given you. Some some will be written down,

some will be written down on precious pieces of paper in your Bible.

Some will be recorded on tapes possibly or CDs or m P three's. But

I want to declare, because I believe God to be faithful, his promise

still stands, so please. And I had this picture as I was preparing.

I had this picture of somebody opening up their Bible and pulling out a

piece of paper and it was a bit moth eaten around the edges because it

was well your it was written it by hands, and somebody was picked it

up, read it, screwed it up, and threw it in the bin.

And I don't know who that was for. I don't know whether it's

somebody online or in the room, but I just sense that God wanted you

to go back to your bin, pull out that piece of paper, smooth

it out, and put it back in your bible, because he's saying his

promise still stands. Remember, the promise is not about the process. It's

about the promise, sir. It's not about the words that we use.

I promised to pay, I promised the bearer. I promised never to leave

you, nor for sake you. It's to look through the promise at the

promise, sir. And if we get that perspective right, then our promise

is changed because He is faithful and true to the end, to the end.

I remember talking with Keith Hazel many many many years ago, and said,

what happens when you run out of yourself? And he said that's the

place where you run into faith. And said, well, and what happens

when you run out of runway? And he said that's when you fly?

And said, what happens when you run out of a wind to catch You

said, that's when you saw. He said, just look at the birds

in the sky. You'll see different kinds of birds. You'll see pigeons and

seagulls, and they struggle to stay in the air, they struggle to get

off the ground. But then you watch something like a hawk or an eagle,

and once it's got into the air, it does almost nothing. It

just adjusts its wings just a little bit, and it's sensing the thermals and

it soars higher and higher and higher with so little effort. And I want

to ask you, are you a pigeon, a seagull, or an eagle?

And that's not a criticism, that's just saying, how do you fly?

How do you saw? How do you get onto those promises? Because

he who promised is faithful. And let me give you my last scripture,

which is from Hebrews chapter four, verse one, and it says this,

and now God has offered to us the same promise of entering into His realm,

of resting in confident faith, so that we must be extremely careful to

ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and not fail to experience

it. That's a fairly long version. Let me give you a different version

of it. This is from a new international reader's version. God's promise of

enjoying his rest still stands, so be careful that none of you fails to

receive it. Don't miss the opportunity. Don't miss that opportunity, because his

promise still stands. Your promise still stands. And I'm going to ask us

to close our eyes right now, and I'm not going to ask us to

do a bit of rewinding, a bit of rethinking. Maybe for some of

us it's very ready. It's something we know straight away. There is a

promise we're still waiting for. But I want to declare these words. His

promise still stands for great is his faithfulness. Grad is your faithfulness? Oh

God, H So let me pray. I'm going to pray by this.

I'm going to share a few thoughts, a prayer, three thoughts, and

then we're going to pray. Play a song that sings these words, and

I just want you to respond to God. If you need to stand up

in that song and declare those words over yourself or over a circumstance or a

situation, then please do it. Please do that at home. Please do

that if you're listening later. But I just wanted to call out some things

that I sensed the Father wanted me to call out this morning. In a

sense, the Father would say that there are broken relationships that he's promised would

change. And you are still knocking on that door yourself, saying, God,

you spoke. I'm believing, I'm trusting, but I don't see anything

yet. I'm looking beyond what I see with eyes of faith, open the

eyes of my heart, Oh God, today that I may see that promise

fulfilled. I see a blank certificate with somebody's name on it, but not

yet signed, not yet stamped. It's a qualification you've been wrestling together.

It's a qualification that you sense he's part of your key to the days ahead.

And it just seems like the door is shut. For God had promised

that the door would be opened, and again in that promise, I see

the certificate being signed, it being put on the frame on the wall with

your name in the certificate. And there are some who are wrestling with dreams,

and those dreams you now wonder whether they were your own thoughts. After

some cheese late at night. But I sense the Father says, draw down

those dreams again. They weren't an upset tummy. They weren't processing thoughts.

They were seeds that I placed in your mind and in your heart for the

days ahead. And in them are ingrained threads of hope, and threads of

joy, and threads of purpose. It's not an accident. These dreams are

part of the journey ahead, for he who promised is faithful. Simon,

can we play this song please,