Field Notes of an Ordinary Pastor
Sermon I preached on Matthew 16:1-12 at Banstead Community Church on 20th September 2020.
1. Be careful that you don’t ignore the truth about Jesus
2. Be careful that you don’t miss the truth about Jesus
More sermons can be found HERE
(Photo: Carson Arias)
The Big Read – Daily Read
Matthew 22
v1-14: Wherever the gospel is preached, people are invited to the banquet. What a wonderful invitation it is, announcing that “the Father is ready to accept us, the Son to intercede for us, the Spirit to sanctify us; pardon is ready, encouragement is ready; the promises are ready, ordinances are ready to communicate to us God’s blessings; providences are ready to work for our good, and heaven is ready to receive us.”
v15-22: The Pharisees and Herodians were right to call Jesus “Teacher”, for He was both a skilful teacher and a faithful teacher. He knew the way of God, the right way in which we should go, and He has made it known to us. “This is the character of a good teacher, to preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and not to suppress, corrupt, or stretch any truth, for favour or affection, hatred or goodwill, either out of a desire to please anyone or a fear to offend anyone.”
v23-33: Those who deny the resurrection of the dead, either are ignorant about what the Scriptures teach or do not believe them. “Christ rose again according to the Scriptures, and so will we.”
v34-40: We are to love God as our God. “To love God as ours is to love him because he is ours, our Creator, Owner, and Ruler, and to conduct ourselves before him as ours, in obedience to him and dependence on him.” But we must also love him as our God because He is our Saviour and He has reconciled us to Himself, and bought us with the precious blood of His Son.
v41-46: “What those rabbis could not then answer, we thank God, is something that the plainest Christian who is led into the understanding of the gospel of Christ can now explain: that Christ, as God, was David’s Lord, and Christ, as Man, was David’s son.”
Matthew 23
v1-12: What the Pharisees and scribes said and did were two different things. They did not practice what they preached. Their way of life contradicted their teaching. They committed the sins which they condemned in others. They were hypocrites who urged others to believe and put into practice what they disbelieve and disobey. We are guilty of the same hypocrisy when we are great talkers of the faith but little doers of faith.
v13-33: The Pharisees were sworn enemies of the gospel of Christ and the salvation it brings because they did all that they could to stop people believing in Him and entering into His kingdom. “It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but it is even worse to keep others away from him; and yet that is usually what hypocrites do; they do not want anyone to go beyond them in religion or be better than they.”
v34-39: Christ’s came to gather lost people to Himself to give them refuge and rest like “a hen gathers her chicks under her wings for protection and safety and for warmth and comfort.” He is eager to do this. He longs that sinners would come to Him. He takes no pleasure in and does not desire their destruction, but instead delights in their repentance. Sadly, like many in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day, “those who refused to come now at his call will then be forced to depart with his curse.”
Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
(Photo: Brad Neathery)
The King’s Story – The King Saves
Download my teaching handout as a pdf
More teaching handouts can be found HERE
(Photo: MILKOVI)
004: Praying for a larger outpouring of the Holy Spirit
An elder at the Metropolitan Tabernacle wrote to Spurgeon with 10 suggestions about how to give practical expression to a desire for a larger outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church and congregation.
1. Call a meeting of the Deacons and Elders of the church for special prayer for their own families.
2. Fix an evening to meet the older children of the members of the church to urge them to immediate attention to the salvation of their souls.
3. Call a church meeting for special prayer for a still larger blessing on the ministry.
4. Hold a general meeting of the church for thanksgiving for the blessings enjoyed in the past.
5. Invite from the pulpit all the members of the church to set apart, in their own homes, one particular day (which you should name) for special prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
6. Invite the Deacons and Elders and some of the members of the church to open their homes from 7 to 9pm for special prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
7. Set apart an evening in which yourself, with the Elders, should meet all those in the congregation who are as yet undecided, for special exhortation and prayer, urging them to immediate decision for Christ.
8. With the Elders, meet the students (of the Pastor’s College), the Sunday School teachers, the Tract Visitors, the Classes for special prayer and conference, that their labours may be made more effectual in the salvation of sinners.
9. Print out a selection of promises from the Bible which we might plead before God on this matter.
10. With fruit expected, have the Elders ready to see inquirers after the services.
Alongside his suggestions, he thinks “it is very desirable that our Monday Evening Prayer-meeting should be even better attended than it is.”
Do we pray enough together as a local church for a larger outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Would any of these suggestions work in our particular context?
Is it our desire that our evening prayer meeting should be even better attended than it is?
(Photo: Julia Joppien)
10 links to check out over the weekend…
(Photo: Ryan McGuire)
The Big Read – Daily Read
Matthew 21
v1-11: Jesus is humble and gentle. He is approachable. His entrance into Jerusalem shows this. “He did not come in wrath to take vengeance, but in mercy to bring salvation.” He came sitting on a donkey, a creature made to carry loads, and He has carried the greatest load of all, our sin.
v12-17: Christ, as well as being the great Redeemer, is also the great Reformer. By His Word and Spirit, He corrects ungodliness and gradually restores Christians and churches to how they are meant to be.
v18-22: True faith will produce fruit. A false and hypocritical profession may look good for a time, there may be leaves, but it will not last and will soon come to nothing. “A false and hypocritical profession commonly withers in this world, and this is the effect of Christ’s curse.”
v23-27: Before Jesus called the temple ‘a house of prayer,’ and here He is preaching there. Praying and preaching must go together when we gather as Christians. “To make up fellowship with God, we must not only speak to him in prayer but also listen to what he has to say to us from his word.” Elsewhere church leaders are commanded to give themselves both to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
v28-32: “Many people speak good words and make fair promises in their religious faith, and make some good suggestions about what they will do, but stay there and go no further, and so come to nothing. Saying and doing are two different things, and there are many who say but do not do… Many people show much love with their mouth but have their heart going in a different direction. They have good intentions to be religious, but they always have something else to do; they find something precious to them that is too difficult to give up, and so their intentions come to nothing. Buds and blossoms are not the same as fruit.”
v33-46: The Pharisees and chief priests knew Jesus was talking about them. “A guilty conscience needs no accuser.” When the word of God rebukes those who hear it, and they realise it is speaking about them, “if it does not do them a great deal of good, it will certainly do them a great deal of harm. If they are not pricked to the heart with conviction and contrition, they will be cut to the heart with rage and fury.”
Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
(Photo: Brad Neathery)
A prayer based on Matthew 21:12-17.
Our Father,
We adore You for Your plan of salvation.
Lord Jesus,
We thank You for accomplishing salvation for us.
Holy Spirit,
We praise You for applying this salvation to our hearts.
Triune God,
We give You the glory that we are ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven.
For the great hope of eternal life that has come to us through the gospel.
Lord Jesus, we are so grateful that You are the great Redeemer.
That by Your life, death, and resurrection,
You have rescued us from sin’s penalty and set us free from sin’s power.
And having set us free from slavery to sin, You are showing Yourself to be the great Reformer,
as by Your Word and Spirit, You change and transform us, making us more like Yourself.
We pray that You would do this great work of reformation in our lives;
that You would correct ungodliness,
that You would help us to give up every darling lust,
and that You would restore Your image in us.
Help us to follow Your will and Your way.
To listen to Your voice.
To walk in obedience to Your commands.
To depend upon Your strength and power.
To ask for wisdom to respond to every situation and circumstance in a manner worthy of the calling we have received.
To stick to the paths of righteousness.
To hate all the grieves the Holy Spirit.
To shun a careless way of life.
Imperfect though we still are, enable us to press on with eyes fixed on Christ, enduring whatever trial may come.
And Lord as You continue to conform us individually to Yourself, we pray that You would reform and restore Your church, this local church, to how it is meant to be.
To be a community who love You and who love one another.
Whose belief in You is genuine and who are marked by doing the will of Your Father in heaven.
Who encourage and spur one another on to holiness.
Who take sin seriously and are concerned for the purity of Your people.
Who fear doing anything that would dishonour the name of the LORD and cause others to malign the Word of God.
May we be marked by faithfulness and humble dependence, and be good examples to other, especially those who are children or who are young in the faith.
Would we not say anything or do anything that would cause them to curse You, our God.
Instead would they praise You as their Saviour and Lord and by their praise give You the honour that You deserve.
Amen.
(Photo: Freely)
The Big Read – Daily Read
Matthew 19
v1-12: “If husband and wife are by the will and appointment of God joined together in the strictest and closest union, then they are not to be lightly, and for just any reason, separated; if the knot is sacred, it cannot be easily untied.”
v13-15: The best thing we can do for our children and the children in the church is to commit them to the Lord Jesus and ask Him to bless them.
v16-22: An excessive love for the world and an enjoyment of it will keep us from eternal life. Christians shows that they are heirs of eternal life by preferring “heavenly treasures to all the wealth and riches of this world” and by being willing to “dispose of what we have in this world for the honour of God and in his service.”
v23-30: “When we think how good God is, it may seem amazing that so few are his, but when we think how bad people are, it is more amazing that so many are, and Christ will be eternally wondered at in them.” That so many are is entirely due to the power of God, with whom all things are possible. Faith is both brought about and sustained by that power.
Matthew 20
v1-16: God saves some when they are young, He saves others in middle age, while still others are saved when they are old. There is hope for everyone who turns to God, and there is no wrong time for us to do this.
v17-19: “Jesus spoke so frequently about his sufferings because through them he was to enter into his glory. It is good for us to think and speak often of our death and of the sufferings that we will probably meet with between this time and the grave; if we make them more familiar, they will become less formidable.”
v20-28: Jesus laid down His life as a ransom for us. Whilst He lived as a servant and went around doing good, it was His death that did the greatest good of all. He was made sin and a curse for us to rescue us. By humbling Himself and serving us, He has set an example for us to follow. We are to humble ourselves and serve one another so that all may be built up in their faith.
v29-34: Our prayers are to be marked by boldness, humility, faith, and perseverance. Remember that when we are praying, we are going to God through Christ, who came to save and to help.
Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
(Photo: Brad Neathery)
Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on Staying Online while Meeting in Person with John Stevens and Phill Brown.
1. With the additional pressure upon pastors and church leaders caused by the implications to church life of constantly changing government guidance and rules, it is easy for their attention to be taken off God. We need to remember to praise God. Psalm 103:1-5 reminds us that we stop praising God when we forget His benefits. We need to remember that God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies and renews. These spiritual benefits and blessings are comprehensive and so our praise in response should be wholehearted.
2. As much as we want to do what is as close to normal church pre-lockdown, the measures that government has put in place, does not make that possible.
3. Understanding and Applying the ‘Rule of Six’. *
– It is still not clear about what is and is not allowed.
– Gatherings of more than 6 (except in case of larger/extended households) are unlawful.
– ‘Qualifying groups’ of up to 6 people can be in the same premise/place e.g. you have multiple groups of six in a church building.
– Mingling (socially interacting in some way) between qualifying groups is not allowed.
– Social distancing guidance has not changed. It is required between members of different households in qualifying groups and between qualifying groups.
– Exemptions from the ‘Rule of 6’ (but still with social distancing) include weddings, funerals, special life events (max 30), work, education, support groups, provision of voluntary or charitable services.
4. ‘Rule of Six’ and Church Life. *
– Ordinary Bible Studies or Prayer Meetings are unlikely to qualify for either the support group or education exemption, but a Bible Study for new mothers or those struggling with addictions might.
– Church staff team meetings qualify for work exemption (although not relevant in my situation as there are only 2 members of staff).
– Elders Meetings and Church Business Meetings might come under the exemption for the provision of charitable service.
– Member of staff leading a group might be considered as doing work or providing a charitable service.
– A pastors fraternal meeting or preaching group might be classed as work.
– The reason for might is because the guidance for how the legislation is to be worked out has not been published yet.
– If an organised church activity is taking place in a private dwelling, a risk assessment should be undertaken, and everyone who attends needs to understand how social distancing will be observed.
– A big question is whether the ‘Rule of Six’ means 6 people in a dwelling (house/garden) at the same time or means 6 people in each gathering taking place in a dwelling (i.e. the kids in bed loophole).
– More than 6 people can be present at a church worship service, but qualifying groups rule must be observed. The government is keen to stop mingling which means no chatting or moving between groups. Practically this means a group comes to church together, socially distance between households and other groups while they receive the service, and then leaves as a group together.
– If there are lots of groups of 6 on church premise for Bible Study and Prayer Meeting, interaction (discussion, prayers) must be contained within the group of 6 unless it is a contribution from the front to the whole group like in a worship service.
5. A good way to think about how we apply guidance and rules to the church worship service is to think in terms of organisers (staff, stewards) and attendees (those who come). Stewards and pastors do not need to limit their interaction to the qualifying group they are part of because they have a particular function linked to running the meeting.
6. Church leaders must not encourage ‘mingling’ implicitly or explicitly, otherwise they could be accused of organising an unlawful gathering.
7. Children who go off to Sunday school are still counted as being part of the qualifying group of those in the main service they came with.
8. Does a brief greeting in passing count as mingling? Probably not. But stopping to have a brief conversation does.
9. It seems to me that where the ‘Rule of 6’ really impacts church life is home groups that want to gather in person. We don’t have home groups at Banstead Community Church, so this new rule has not impacted church life significantly more than the previous guidance had. We have a weekly church prayer meeting which we moved online to Zoom and that still seems to be working well and is accessible to more of the church.
10. We live in a visual aid. Many prefer to watch over read. Recording sermons on video and uploading them on YouTube can be beneficial for those who want to catch up on a missed service, unable to gather, or who want to watch again.
11. Learn to look down the camera lens. Powerpoint slides with sermon notes on positioned just underneath the camera might be a helpful aid to doing this and work better than a teleprompter.
12. Hybrid services (online and in person) are essential while the whole church is unable to attend due to size of space or health concerns.
13. Remember to speak to both those in the room and at home. Saturday Night Takeaway with Ant and Dec may help with learning how to do this well as they are masters of speaking to those at home watching on TV as well as to the live audience. Practice speaking to the room and camera.
14. Be cautious about using in-house language because if it is online it will inevitably be a shop window to those outside the church.
15. Start online services on time. See viewers as guests, and be ready to receive them at start time. [We have a countdown on our livestream to aid with this].
16. Watch other churches. See what they are doing. Do they have ideas you can borrow, use, adapt?
17. Do the best you can. Remember you are serving your congregation primarily – any from outside the church is a bonus.
* This is my understanding what John Stevens said. He wrote a long blog on this HERE.
003: Sermon Praying
These 8 prayers from Mike McKinley I have found helpful to use during sermon preparation since they appeared in an article on the 9Marks website back in 2012.
1. Lord, please help me to understand the meaning of this text and how it points to Christ.
2. Lord, please increase my love for the people who will hear this sermon.
3. Lord, please give me wisdom to apply this text to the lives of the people in our congregation.
4. Lord, please use this passage to help me grasp and love the gospel more so that I might help my hearers do the same.
5. Lord, please help me to see how this passage confronts the unbelief of my hearers.
6. Lord, please help me to be obedient to the demands of this passage. Help me to enter the pulpit having already submitted my life to this truth before I preach it.
7. Lord, by your Spirit please help me to preach this sermon with the necessary power and with appropriate affections.
8. Lord, please use this sermon to bring glory to your name, joy to your people, and salvation to the lost.
(Photo: Julia Joppien)
This is part of a series of kids talks I’m doing in the morning service at Banstead Community Church based on the New City Catechism.
Big Question #21 – What else does Christ’s death redeem? [NCC Q26]
Powerpoint Pictures: Picture of beautiful places, animals, plants, buildings, artwork
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This world is full of lots of beautiful things.
There are places of beauty.
There are beautiful animals and plants.
There are building, architecture that has a beauty to it.
As well as beautiful pieces of art.
Yet as beautiful as all these things are, they are not as beautiful as they could be. It is possible for all of these things to be even more beautiful than they already are. And that’s because, they, like everything in the world, have been affected by sin.
Sin has damaged every single part of God’s creation. If sin had not entered the world, God’s world and everything He made, would be more beautiful and more wonderful, that anyone can imagine it to be.,
But here’s some incredible news. One day, creation, this world, will be so much better than it is now.
That’s what the answer to our next Big Question tells us.
Let’s find out now as we look at it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q: What else does Christ’s death redeem?
Is it only people?
Does Jesus’ death only mean that all our sins can be forgiven?
Look at this verses from the Bible. “Creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay.” (Romans 8:21)
Here we are told that all of creation is under God’s curse because of sin. However, one day it will be set free. Jesus’ death is the beginning of all of creation being redeem and re-created and made what it was meant to be. A new creation that is truly beautiful.
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)
So, what else does Christ’s death redeem?
The answer.
A: Every part of fallen creation.
And if we trust in Christ we will one day get to enjoy this new creation.
To help us remember that, let’s say the question and answer out loud together.
What else does Christ’s death redeem? Every part of fallen creation.
Children when you go out to Sunday School you’re going to learn a song that will help you to remember this.
The Big Read – Daily Read
Matthew 17
v1-13: Those who love Jesus, and who love to be with Him, love to tell Him so. “Fellowship with Christ is the delight of Christians.”
v14-21: Christ gains victories over Satan by the power of His Word. Those who under the dominion of the devil we are to bring to Christ in prayer and also to bring to them the word of Christ, for this is “the ordinary means by which Satan’s strongholds are demolished in the soul.”
v22-23: “If Christ is a Sacrifice of atonement, he must be killed; without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Nothing but the precious blood of Christ would satisfy God’s justice.
v24-27: Whether it was His omnipotence that put the coin in the fish’s mouth or His omniscience that knew the coin was there, it does not matter. What matters is that “it showed that he is God, the Lord of Hosts.”
Matthew 18
v1-6: We are to be humble like little children. Like children we are to desire milk, the milk of God’s Word. Like children we are to trust our father, our Heavenly Father to care for us. Like children we are to be infants in regard to evil. Like children we are to be obedient and teachable. “Pride threw the angels who sinned out of heaven, and pride will keep us out too unless we are converted from it.”
v7-14: “Many successful temptations to sin arise from within ourselves; our own eyes and hands cause us to sin; if there were never a devil to tempt us, we would be drawn away by our own sinful desires.” These sinful desires must be checked and stopped; they must be put to death, even if they are as precious to us as an eye or a hand.
v15-20: We should not speak about the faults of our brothers and sisters to others until we have first spoken to them. The brother or sister is more likely to be won over by our rebuke, when he sees that we are not only concerned for their salvation, but also for their reputation, by telling them about it privately. “Where private warning is not effective, public discipline must take place.”
v21-35: Every time we sin, the debt we owe to God increases. Our debt of sin is very large and so great that we are unable to pay it. Wonderfully, God is a God of infinite mercy and is ready to forgive the sins of everyone who humble themselves before Him. “There is forgiveness with God for the greatest sins if they are repented of… Although our sins are numerous and detestable, they may be forgiven under the gospel.”
Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
(Photo: Brad Neathery)