Tag Team Preaching - Fiona and Ruth

Morning, everybody.

I've never been part of a tag team before.

It reminds me of the wrestling in the in the 70s when I used to watch it with my dad.

And we used to watch giant haystacks and Big Daddy.

Can you remember?

Although Big Daddy, I'm sure his name was Shirley Crabtree.

Which is a bit weird.

Anyway, has anyone heard of Tyndale Talking Newspaper?

Yes.

Jess, if you'd like to put the um this is some of our team at Tyndale Talking Newspaper.

It's a charity, and Andrew and I have been involved in it for the last six years.

And we provide um recordings of the Hexham Current and the Northumbrian magazine to people who have sight loss or who are perhaps unable to read because of dyslexia or perhaps they've had a stroke.

Now we try to bring the articles to life for the listeners, and we have to try to not have any background noise for them, because that might just detract from the spoken word.

So things such as rustling pages or ticking clocks or ringing telephones or doorbells.

And I've seen me get to almost the end of a 12-minute article, and then suddenly the bin lorry starts reversing up the street with its beep on, and I've got to start all over again.

See, even the smallest sound can be a distraction to the listener.

You probably know that blind people can often develop heightened senses.

They can have a superior sense of hearing, smell, taste, and touch compared to those of us who can see.

And I read that the brain can rewire itself in the absence of visual information to boost other senses.

And I think sometimes we can rely on what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell perhaps too heavily.

We can concentrate on the carnal rather than the spiritual.

And the Bible says in John 4.24 that God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

But we can be spiritually blind where we can't perceive the things of God, and our hearts can become hardened and insensitive to spiritual truths, and this can cause unbelief.

It doesn't have to be a conscious thing, it can just be through ignorance or busyness.

Do we sometimes say, I'm so busy, I don't know whether I'm coming or going?

We can get so tied up doing stuff that we might get to the end of our lives, never having seen God's miracles and never experiencing the power of God that's within us.

I think we need to make time to slow down and to stop and to contemplate and meditate on God's word.

We have to renew our minds with the word of God to be able to perceive the things of God.

I'd like us to look at the story of the man in the Bible called Bartimaeus.

Let's read Mark 10, 46 to 52.

Now they came to Jericho.

As he went out of Jericho with his disciples in a great multitude, blind Barmaus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.

Then they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer, rise, he's calling you.

And throwing aside his garment he rose and came to Jesus.

So Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you?

The blind man said to him, Reboni that I may receive my sight.

Then Jesus said to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well.

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

So we're just going to look at this passage.

The first couple of sentences are, Now they came to Jericho as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude.

So wait a minute, they came in, and then in the next sentence they left.

But what happened in between?

Well, we're told in Acts 10, 38 by Peter that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

So I think we can assume that when Jesus was in Jericho, he went about doing good and healing all who were sick or possessed.

He must have been performing all these signs and miracles.

Whatever he did caused a great multitude to be with him when he left.

So he went in with his disciples and he came out with his disciples and a great multitude.

It must have been huge, not just a few people.

Blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus.

Timaeus means honor, value, or that which is highly prized.

So Bartimaeus is the son of honor.

The son of honor, but he's a blind beggar.

Bartimaeus is the only person healed by Jesus to be named in the Bible.

Lazarus was named, but technically he wasn't healed, he was raised from the dead.

We don't know if Bartimaeus was blind by birth, it doesn't tell us, but he was probably very famous.

Everyone would have known blind Bartimaeus.

They would have seen him sitting at the roadside as he came and went through the city gates.

You couldn't miss him.

Oh look, there's Bart.

There's Bart again.

Morning Bart.

Same old Bart.

Now, Bartimaeus probably sat there every day at the roadside begging.

He probably had to be placed there on the ground.

On the ground with all the dirt.

All the dust from people's feet would fall on him.

He was probably dirty and smelly.

He might have had a little cup for begging.

Or he might have spread his cloak on the ground to catch the coins.

Can you spare me a little?

Begging for just enough to let him buy food for another day.

Just enough to get by.

But Bartimaeus, though he was blind, saw who Jesus was and what Jesus could do more clearly than the others around him.

Look at what happens next.

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out.

Bartimaeus decides he's not going to miss his chance.

This is his one chance.

He might have missed Jesus on the way in.

It would have been a lot easier to attract his attention on the way in with just a few disciples.

Now he's with a great multitude, all the noise and the hustle and bustle.

He's not going to miss his opportunity.

So what does he do?

Does he say in a timid voice, Jesus, son of David?

No, he's desperate.

He cries out to Jesus, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

Son of David.

When Bartimaeus called Jesus Son of David, he was showing that he had faith that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the one that they'd all been waiting for.

You see, Bartimaeus was physically blind, but he had spiritual vision.

The crowd around him saw Jesus as a local teacher, a healer, a prophet.

But Bartimaeus recognized him for who he was, the Messiah.

He says, Have mercy on me.

It's okay to think of ourselves, to concentrate on our needs.

We don't normally do it, we usually try to think of others, but we can just think of ourselves and our needs and cry out to Jesus, Lord, have mercy on me.

What happens next?

Many warned him to be quiet.

To the crowd, Bartimaeus was an outcast who was interrupting this important rabbi.

We might have people like that in our lives.

Don't get too excited, don't get too passionate, don't get too hungry for God, for healings, for miracles.

Just calm down.

There'll no doubt be someone on hand to tell us why we shouldn't expect to get results from God.

So we can imagine what they said to Bartimaeus.

Shut up, my bot.

Stop shouting your head off.

Just keep your mouth shut.

You're embarrassing us.

Did Bartimaeus say, All right, then I'll keep quiet?

No way.

He wasn't going to listen to the crowd.

He wanted his healing.

He was desperate, and no one was going to stop him from getting it.

What happened?

He cried out all the more.

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

The people couldn't shut him up.

What happens next?

Jesus stood still.

The cries of Bartimaeus stopped the Son of God in his tracks.

Jesus stopped the entire procession for the very one the crowd tried to silence.

Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.

He called Bartimaeus, just like he's calling us today.

Then they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer, rise, he's calling you.

So now they're not telling him to be quiet anymore.

Now they're encouraging him.

Be of good cheer.

A moment ago it was shut up, shut up, Bartimaeus.

Now it's oh, be of good cheer, rise, he's calling you.

He's calling you.

Matt was saying last week that he hated PE at school.

Well, you might be the same.

Maybe you were the one nobody chose to be in their team.

You might be the one who isn't the most popular, the one who doesn't have many friends, the one who doesn't get invited places.

Jesus is calling you.

What happens next?

And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

This means more than we might think.

His cloak would have protected him from the wind and the cold weather, and it would have been his bed at night.

In those days, this cloak would have signalled to everyone, to society and the authorities, that this person was a beggar, a recognized, licensed beggar.

But Bartimaeus had faith that Jesus would heal him.

He wasn't going to need his beggar clothes anymore.

So Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you?

Bartimaeus could have asked for anything.

Jesus lets him choose.

He gives them the dignity of choice.

What do you want me to do for you?

We can ask him for anything.

Nothing is too great for him.

Luke 137, for with God nothing will be impossible.

God's not going to say, Oh, hang on, that's a bit tricky now.

Could you just change that request and ask me for something else, something a bit easier?

I'm not quite up to that.

The blind man said to him, Raboni, which means my great teacher or my great master, that I may receive my sight.

Then Jesus said to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well.

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Immediately he received his sight.

It doesn't say Jesus reached out and touched him.

Faith pleases God.

If you have faith, you can receive what you believe you'll receive.

Matthew 21, 22.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Speak it, declare it.

God loves us.

Jesus has set us free.

We're victorious in him.

We have the victory.

And we have to reach out and take it because it's ours.

We have to see it with our mind, even though we might not see it with our physical eyes.

And what did Bartimaeus do?

Does he go home?

No.

It says he followed Jesus on the road.

He became one of Jesus' followers.

He leaves his old way of life behind and he finds a new one following Jesus.

He doesn't just get his sight, he gets transformed into a follower of Jesus.

And when we have an encounter with Jesus, we can throw off our old cloaks like Bartimaeus and follow him.

The choice is ours.

Amen.

Amen.

Now I'll hand over to Ruth.

Thanks, Fiona.

Blind Bartimaeus is one of my favourite stories in the Bible because I can't see very well, so it's one of my favorite stories.

There are so many people away on holiday.

And I'm thinking, I'm not even going anywhere this year.

Well, next year though.

I'm not going on anywhere.

I'm not going anywhere.

What am I missing?

I don't want to miss out.

My sister and my auntie this morning are going out with my cousins.

My cousins are here on holiday.

We don't see them very often.

And my sister and my auntie are going out with them today.

And I'm always, what am I going to miss?

I don't see.

I don't see Joanne and Victoria very much.

And Victoria, she might be disabled, but she's so entertaining.

So I'm thinking, what am I going to miss out on?

I'm not going to be there with them.

And then you look at things like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever you want, whatever you want to look at.

And you see pictures of what people are doing, the good things that people are doing.

And you think, oh, wish I was doing that.

But what am I missing out on?

And this Facebook and social media, they just like feed into this fear of missing out, don't they?

And um, and it's it's not just me.

It's not just me, is it?

No, not just me.

It's um it's a real thing, and it's not just me, and the Bible tells us about it from a long, long time ago.

If you go back all the way to Genesis, you get the first instance of fear of missing out.

Remember the serpent.

He offered an opportunity not to miss out.

Eat from this forbidden tree, Eve, and then you will be like God.

Let's read it.

Genesis chapter three, it says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made.

He said to the woman, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?

The woman said to the serpent, We may eat from any we may me may eat fruit from any tree in the garden.

But God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.

You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman.

For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

You see, fear of missing out was one of Satan's first tactics.

He knew that he would be able to twist the lady's arm, and he knew that it would sabotage our human relationship with our heavenly God.

It worked, it worked then, and it still works now because we all have a fear of missing out.

We all want something different.

You know, we've got those expressions, don't we?

The grass is always greener on the other side.

And we've got the other one, well, we've got to keep up with the Joneses because we don't want to miss out on anything.

We want what everybody else has got.

But while our friends, our family here are away on holiday, having fun, having a rest, posting photos of the good times, there's something that we don't have to miss out on.

We can plug into God.

We don't have to miss out on the things of God.

He's good.

He's faithful.

We've sang about it this morning.

You're faithful all the time.

We sang about it this morning.

Do you know he's just faithful every single day?

Every single day this he does something, speaks to us, answers prayer.

He's just there looking after us, keeping he's doing things for us that we don't even realize that he's doing at the time.

He's just keeping us, he's steering us in in the right direction so that we are safe from anything that might harm us.

He is there all the time, he is faithful.

And you know, there's a I'll just read the next thing I've got to read.

It's from Lamentations, and it says, Because of the Lord's great love, we are not condemned, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

He is good, he's compassionate, he's faithful, his faithfulness is great.

His mercies are new every morning.

Every single day is a new reminder of God's faithfulness.

Every single day, his faithfulness has not run out.

No matter what you're going through, we had those prayers earlier where we prayed for one another.

No matter what you're going through, whatever we think that we might be missing out on, his love remains constant, his compassion never fails, his grace is enough for us.

Stick with him, don't miss out on all he has to offer us.

I can tell you about many times in my life when he's been faithful.

There was a time when I was ill and I wasn't able to go to work and I wasn't even.

Been able to get to church.

But God remained faithful during that time.

I was going through a period of depression.

So that like really knocked me down.

And I couldn't even, I was like wading, everything was like wading through Triacle.

Every when you everything seemed as if I was looking at it through a black cloud.

But God was faithful.

And he was there in the middle of it all.

And he will never leave us during those times because he is faithful.

There was another time I've been made redundant a couple of times, but one of the times when I was made redundant, you know, you could think, what am I going to do now?

You know, at the age that I am, what am I going to do?

Will I be able to get another job?

But God is faithful.

He provided financial, he provided for me financially, but he also guided me into a new direction.

And I'm just living my best life just now.

Just want to let you know that.

Because he's faithful.

He's faithful, and I'm doing what I've what I've dreamed that I would be able to do one day.

I'm actually managing to do that now.

He will never leave us.

He is faithful.

Psalm 23 reminds us that God is with us all the time.

What he does for us, not always what he gives us, but what he does faithfully every day that we don't want to miss out on.

We might be missing out on a holiday, but we're not missing out on God, because he is with us every day.

Let me read the 23rd Psalm for you.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil.

You are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So I'm not going to miss out.

This psalm reminds us we lack nothing.

There's no fear of missing out because he provides.

He leads me.

Now my path is different to your path.

The way that he leads me is a different direction to what he's going to lead some of you.

But you don't need to worry about missing out because he's there to lead us and guide us.

He comforts me.

And at times I know that many of us have needed to know about God's comfort.

We don't need to miss out on that.

It's one of the things that he said that he will do.

And as I read in Lamentations, He does it.

He's there every morning.

His faithfulness, his mercy is there every morning.

We don't need to miss out.

It says again, you are with me.

We're not alone.

We're never alone.

Even when we're sitting in our houses by ourselves, those of us who live by ourselves, even when you're sitting in your house by yourself, you're not alone.

Because he's there with you.

There's no fear of missing out on anything when you've got God on your side.

And verse 6 of the Psalm, surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God's with us now.

He's with us forever.

He is faithful.

There's no need to miss out.

This fear of missing out, we're not missing out when we put our trust in God.

Because He is faithful.

Don't miss out on that.

Can you just pray for us?

Lord God, help us not to feel as if we are missing out on good things because there is so much good in you.

Help us to plug into you.

Help us to build our relationship with you.

Help us to build a strong relationship with you.

Help us to pray even at times when that's difficult.

Help us to read your word even when we're struggling.

Especially when we're struggling.

Help us, Lord, to be thankful for the faithfulness of you.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Thank you that you are always there.

Thank you for the compassion that you show to us.

Thank you that we can always rely on you to lead and to guide us.