Not long after the death and resurrection of Jesus Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote down the most important aspects of the birth, the life, and the teaching of Jesus. They recorded the details of his death and his resurrection from the dead. Luke then went on the record the details of the life of the early church and we have just heard an excerpt, a snippet from Luke’s second book which has become known as ‘The Acts of the Apostles’.
But what can we learn from events which took place 2000 years ago? Of course I’ve just used the word ‘learn’ and perhaps if you’re experience of school was not a good experience, ‘learning’ might be the last thing on your mind: My experience is that my life of faith in Jesus Christ includes learning about Jesus; it includes an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus; it includes receiving love, forgiveness and direction from Jesus, and sharing Jesus with others.
That also was the experience of the early Church and it is the experience of people today who are regularly coming to faith in Jesus; and I know that it was a great joy for my colleague David to baptise a teenager this week after she encountered and came to faith in Jesus.
If our relationship with Jesus is like a journey, then each of us is at a different point on the road and that’s OK! The end of the journey is Jesus. All who have faith in Jesus will be with him at our journey’s end.
But in the meantime there is a journey to be travelled and the next leg of my journey takes me and my family to Billericay. Yes, we’re massively sad to be leaving here, and desperately sad to be leaving you, but the Christian life has a wonderful continuity about it! Learning about Jesus, encountering Jesus, receiving Jesus’ forgiveness and direction, and sharing Jesus with others does not change.
My life of faith in Jesus does not change as a result of moving to a different place and I would like to give four reasons for that:
1: The Bible
(Acts 2: 42) ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.’
History is God’s story, literally ‘His story’. The events of the life of Jesus are in here and God’s plans and purposes for us are in here. The stories which Jesus told often need some thought but Jesus said that the one who seeks will find. If you want to get to know Jesus then the Bible is the place to begin.
When I worked for ‘The Woolwich’ I would often open my Bible at lunch time and read half a page, asking God to speak to me through what I read; and God does speak to us through the Bible.
I have a friend called Derek who was experiencing awful difficulties at home. Life was becoming unbearable but one day he picked up a small, red Gideon Bible which was given to him at school when he was 11 years old. Perhaps you still have one? Derek is no great reader, but he read and read and read; and Derek put his faith and his trust in the central character of the New Testament; Jesus. Derek’s life was slowly transformed.
For busy people the internet is a great way of reading a bit of the Bible each day. ‘www.word-on-the-web.co.uk’ is excellent.
2. The Church family
(Acts 2: 46) ‘Every day they continued to meet together in the Temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.’
My experience has been that in the various different places I have lived, the Church, the Christian family, has been a family way beyond anything I could ever have imagined. No wonder Jesus pointed to his disciples (Matthew 12:49) and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
I not only encounter Jesus through the Bible, but I also encounter Jesus through my Church family, through you! Jesus could only be in one place at one time during his earthly ministry. That’s why he had to leave. He died but God raised him from death and Jesus spent a few weeks teaching his disciples, but he had to go so that they could receive the gift of his Holy Spirit so that they and we can be Jesus to the world. I am very grateful for the ways in which many of you have been Jesus to me. I am also humbled by the way in which you are Jesus to each other.
3. God
(Acts 2:42) ‘They devoted themselves to …prayer.’
(Acts 2:47) ‘…praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.’
The God of Fair Oak, Horton Heath and Bishopstoke is also the God of Billericay in Essex; and whilst I know this is ‘hard’ for some of us to hear, the God of Southampton is also the God of Portsmouth!
The God whom I love, the Father of Jesus, the God who made us and calls us to be in relationship with him; He does not change. The God who is a perfect Father, always ready to forgive our sins so that we may receive forgiveness and receive eternal life; God does not change!
The God I heard about as a child is the God I love and worship today. He is the God who wants you to know that he holds you in the palm of his hand.
4. Salvation
The early was never inward looking. The early Church did not simply meet together and congratulate each other. The early Church did not spend its money on buildings. The early Church spent its money on the needs of the local community, and the early Church had a message for the world; the message of Jesus.
I can remember when my eyes were opened to the facts about Jesus. The facts became clear: Jesus existed. Jesus had the most amazing message for the world. Jesus died and rose from the grave. Jesus taught people about their relationship with God. At that moment, I thought to myself, “If it was so important for Jesus to come, and to die for me, then how important is it that I do something about it?” I knew I had to do something and so very quietly I said sorry to God for ignoring him in my life. I said sorry for my sins and I knew that God forgave me and loved me.
The message of salvation does not change.
St. Peter addressed a crowd very early in the life of the church. They asked him (Acts 2:37)., “What shall we do?” Peter replied (Acts 2:38), “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Some of us will not meet again. My prayer for you is that you will get to know Jesus through the Bible; that you will become and be and continue as part of the family of the Church; that you will grow in your love for God, and that you will know the joy of his salvation; because what can be better than peace of mind, knowing that one day we will be with Jesus, united with him and with everyone who has believed in him.
Amen!
