This sermon about thanksgiving to God reminds us, as we head towards the end of the year, that we have much to thank God for, and should do so publicly.

Bible Text: 1 John 1:5-2:14 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: I Will Follow Him | In this sermon about walking the talk, we are challenged to ensure we are living our lives as Jesus did. That’s the acid test of discipleship.

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(Apologies for lack of pictures – this week’s video recording failed again)

Are we complacent Pharisees?

Why do we wear our Salvation Army uniform? Or why do we sign the soldier’s covenant? The temptation is that they can lead us to live only for our corps, to us exercising a very narrow form of holiness that ends up excluding those who don’t fit in.

In this passage, that this sermon about walking the talk is based on, the apostle John invites to an altogether different and more exciting holiness:

1 John 1:5-2:14, NIVUK

Light and darkness, sin and forgiveness

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Love and hatred for fellow believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[b] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[c] is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[d] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Reasons for writing

12 I am writing to you, dear children,

    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

13 I am writing to you, fathers,

    because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

    because you have overcome the evil one.

14 I write to you, dear children,

    because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

    because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

    because you are strong,

    and the word of God lives in you,

    and you have overcome the evil one.

Our Confusion about Sin

1 John 1:6 ESV

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

John says part of our complacency, as we parade the outward appearance of our holiness and seek to exclude those who don’t fit in,

Bible Text: Mark 12:38-44 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: Thank God! | This sermon on the widow’s mite reminds us that as the Christmas season approaches, we have many blessings we can be grateful for.

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Have you ever said, “Enough is enough?”

This sermon on the widow’s mite is based on the story iof someone who said enough is enough financially and found her freedom:

Mark 12:38-44, NIVUK

Warning against the teachers of the law

38 As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the market-places,39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’

The widow’s offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’

Beware the Scribes

Mark 12:38–40 ESV

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

What Jesus saw he didn’t like. Scribes had much education and a certain amount of authority because of their position. They liked to walk about in long robes. These robes were supposed to be worn for religious duties, but the scribes had taken to wearing them in public, such as in the marketplaces, in order to receive attention. Their distinctive white robes singled them out. People recognised their authority and greeted them respectfully.

Worse than that, they were defrauding widows by taking advantage of their kindness and taking more than their fare share of what was owed to them. Often, scribes would act as trustees or guardians of the estates of widows. The scribes were taking advantage. They exploited these poor, vulnerable women, cheating them out of everything they had.

The Grateful Widow

Mark 12:42–44 ESV

And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

What a contrast! Imagine the two, tiny, thin coins being slipped into the mouth of the trumpet to the temple treasury chest, falling inaudibly down into the chest. She gave everything, literally everything she had.

Be Thankful

At this point in a sermon on the widow’s mite, you might expect me to say that you and I should follow the widow’s example and give all that we have. Indeed, if I thought anything before I began to study this passage, I guess I probably thought that was where I would end up. Until I read:

Why on earth would [Jesus] turn around and praise a woman for endangering her already endangered life to support an institution he condemns?

The simple answer is, he doesn’t. Read the story carefully; he doesn’t. Centuries of stewardship sermons notwithstanding, Jesus never commends the widow, applauds her self-sacrifice or invites us to follow in her foo...

Bible Text: Micah 4:1-5 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: Special Occasions | In this sermon for Remembrance Sunday, we are challenged to be peacemakers by practising fairness and justice in a world of conflict.

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(Apologies for lack of pictures – this week’s video recording failed)

Harry Patch’s story

Ordinary people, like Harry Patch, like the thousands of people living in refugee camps in Europe (thanks to the conflict in Syria), are caught ‘in the middle’.

A hopeless situation

Micah deals with death and destruction, but he also encourages God’s people to look ahead to what he had promised for them:

Micah 4:1-5, NIVUK

The mountain of the Lord

4 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established

    as the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills,

    and peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

    to the temple of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,

    so that we may walk in his paths.’

The law will go out from Zion,

    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3 He will judge between many peoples

    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.

They will beat their swords into ploughshares

    and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

    nor will they train for war any more.

4 Everyone will sit under their own vine

    and under their own fig-tree,

and no one will make them afraid,

    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

5 All the nations may walk

    in the name of their gods,

but we will walk in the name of the Lord

    our God for ever and ever.

God’s peaceful transformation

Micah 4:3 ESV

He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;

God promises, through Micah, that in the days to come his promises will be fulfilled. He will remove international conflict and ensure that people do not need to go to war again.

The instruments of war will no longer be needed.

Fairness, justice and peace

As Christians, we are challenged to do the work of God by practising fairness and justice.

Walk and wait

Matthew 5:3–10 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Will you lead them like a child and pledge to be a peacemaker in your life?

Your Response

If you found this podcast sermon for Remembrance Sunday helpful, would you please do something for me?

Why not check out these posts from around the blog?

A Radically Different Lord

Combating the Weapons of Mass Distraction

Sharing the Harvest

Communication Changes

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In this sermon for Remembrance Sunday, we are challenged to be peacemakers by practising fairness and justice in a world of conflict.

Bible Text: John 15:1-17 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: I Will Follow Him | In this sermon on authentic Christianity, we are challenged to allow God to prune us so that more and more of his Son, Jesus Christ, is seen in us.

Are We Authentic Salvationists?

We’re either growing or dying. Either Christ is seen in us more and more or we are dying, regressing into sin, lacking discipline, complacent and compromised.

John 15:1-17, NIVUK

The vine and the branches

15 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: love each other.

Be a Disciple of Jesus by Bearing Fruit

John 15:8 ESV

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

An authentic Salvationist, a true disciple of Jesus bears much fruit.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This fruit must be growing in us, otherwise they are dying in us.

Submit Yourself to the Knife

John 15:2 ESV

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

How do you get and grow this fruit? God prunes us. What is noble and attractive in us comes only from God’s pruning.

The more we are pruned, the less there is of us and the more there is of Christ in our lives:

John 3:30 ESV

He must increase, but I must decrease.”

A true Salvationist is first of all a disciple of Jesus Christ.

At the end of this sermon on authentic Christianity, we ask: Can people yet see Christ, and only Christ in you? If not, then there’s more work for us to do.

Your Response

If you found this podcast sermon on authentic Christianity helpful, would you please do something for me?

Why not check out these posts from around the blog?

Productivity: The Challenge of Balance

Letting the Spirit Flow

Becoming God’s Best Friend

God’s Total Makeover

Family Ministries Sunday | Encounters with Christ

Bible Text: Ruth 1:1-18 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: Thank God! | In this sermon about God’s faithfulness, we are reminded that God’s loving-kindness is real, even when we face the most difficult circumstances.

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Great Lines from Films

Many films have memorable lines. The most memorable ones can actually change the way we talk. Have you ever used any of these?

I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse – The Godfather (1972).

May the Force be with you – Star Wars (1977)

There’s no place like home – The Wizard of Oz (1939)

I’ll be back – The Terminator (1984)

My mama always said Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get – Forrest Gump (1994)

These lines shape our lives.

Great Lines from the Bible

Films aren’t the only source of lines that shape our lives. The Bible is full of great phrases that we remember and quote:

Psalm 23:1 ESV

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Philippians 4:13 ESV

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Why do these lines resonate with us? They each give us an important insight on the nature of God and of human beings.

Today’s passage for this sermon about God’s faithfulness contains one of these great phrases:

Ruth 1:1-18, NIVUK

Naomi loses her husband and sons

1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.’

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, ‘We will go back with you to your people.’

11 But Naomi said, ‘Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me – even if...

Bible Text: Ephesians 4:17-32 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: I Will Follow Him | In this sermon on practical holiness, we are reminded that Jesus calls The Salvation Army lives out its holiness in radical but concrete, practical ways.

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What is The Salvation Army?

We seem sometimes to be in a crisis of identity. In the early days we were a radical Christian movement that called people to Jesus’ radical way of living. But now we seem to have settled down into complacency. How can we ensure we are the radical disciples that Jesus needs today?

Ephesians 4:17-32, NIVUK

Instructions for Christian living

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26 ‘In your anger do not sin’[a]: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

A Concrete, Practical Teacher

We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man. (The Salvation Army’s 4th Article of Faith)

We worship God in Christ, but sometimes we are guilty of seeing Jesus as somehow above real life and its limitations and temptations. Jesus was human as well as divine. We forget that.

Ephesians 4:21 NIV – Anglicised

Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

Why is it important for Salvationists and Christians to remember that Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine? Paul reminds us that he is our teacher:

Christ himself is the Christian’s teacher, even if the teaching is given through the lips of his followers; to receive the teaching is in the truest sense to hear him. (Frederick Bruce).

Christ teaches a way of life. A new way of life he called the Kingdom of God. Jesus was not God disguised as a human calling his followers to a holy but impossible way to live. He was a human who taught and showed other humans how they can live.

A Concrete, Practical Holiness

Ephesians 4:23 ESV

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

Look at what Paul says: holiness is about practical things: It’s about right thinking about God.

Then Paul moves on to other practical ways in which we can liv...

Bible Text: Hebrews 7:23-28 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: Undivided Attention | In this sermon on Jesus, the great High Priest, we are reminded that Jesus opens up the possibility of a personal relationship with the God of the universe.

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Our Advisers and Counsellors

Do you have a personal adviser? Many do. People look to financial advisers, lawyers, doctors, insurance agents even politicians to provide them with hope, long life, security against disasters. Our passage in this sermon on Jesus, the great High Priest reminds us that amidst all the advice available to us, our first allegiance and priority is to know and follow the advice given by Jesus, described as a special kind of adviser:

Hebrews 7:23-28, NIVUK

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives for ever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely[a] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

26 Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect for ever.

Our Permanent High Priest and Saviour

Hebrews 7:24–25 ESV

but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

In the Old Testament the function of a priest was to be the mediator between God and mankind. As God’s covenant people, Israel was to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” on the earth. The priest represented the ideal state of holiness and the role of mediation of Israel in order to preserve and facilitate Israel’s service before God.

The problem with Israel’s priests, priests and ministers of today, even Salvation Army officers, is they don’t last! When Aaron, the first priest served his term, God took him and his son Eleazar to the top of Mount Hor, where Moses took the priestly garments from Aaron and gave them to Eleazar. Aaron died on the mountain and Eleazar took over as High Priest. After Eleazar died, his son Phinehas succeeded him, and so on. The inevitable concluding comment on the work and ministry of any priest in the Bible is “and he died”. The ancient historian Josephus reckoned on some 83 priests that served God and Israel between Aaron and the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem in AD70, but the Talmud lists even more – 18 during the first Temple and over 300 for the second Temple.

In contrast, and uniquely, Christ’s priesthood is permanent and eternal. Jesus is alive, fully resurrected and ascended into heaven. He lives for ever. He is our permanent high priest. He remains the same. What he does for us as our high priest is absolute and unchangeable:

He’s the same today as yesterday,

My great unchanging friend;

He’s the same today as yesterday,

Just the same unto the end.

By his mighty power he holds me,

In his arms of love enfolds me;

He’s the same today as yesterday,

My great unchanging friend.

Sidney Edward Cox (1887-1975)

What does that mean for us? First and foremost, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him. If you approach God through Jesus, there is no doubt you will be saved. If you draw near to God through Christ, then he guarantees you will have a relationship wit...

Bible Text: John 17:20-26 | Preacher: Lieutenant Rob Westwood-Payne | Series: Full Measure | In this Salvation Army mission sermon online, we are challenged to get out from behind closed doors and give ourselves on the frontline.

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The Church is not meant to be kept under wraps

A corps that settles in its citadel or barracks behind closed doors, really isn’t a Salvation Army Corps. It’s not much use. It doesn’t fulfil its vital mission. We need to remind ourselves that our place is out there on the frontline.

John 17:20-26, NIVUK

Jesus prays for all believers

20 ‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – 23 I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 ‘Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you[a] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’

Jesus: The Incarnation of God

John 17:26 ESV

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Jesus came in incarnation to reveal who God was, in his glory, and to make his death powerful to save us from our sin and wrongdoing.

As this Salvation Army mission sermon online reminds us, he has shown us what it is like to be wholly dependent on God. Christ’s example throughout his life is one wholly focused on doing what the Father wills, so desiring to bring God glory through his living and working that it controls every aspect of his life.

Jesus’ life is a participation in the glory of God. (G.M. Burge)

The Church: The Incarnation of Jesus

John 17:22–23 ESV

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Here is what Jesus prays for the Church: that we might bear the Spirit of God. And that by bearing the Spirit of God we might also bear the call of God to the world. We are now the expression of the love and glory of God to the world.

The essence of Jesus’ vision for the church … is not a community that heals people just so that they will be whole (though healing is important); it is not a community that teaches so that people will be gratified by knowledge (though wisdom is valuable); it is not a community that evangelises so that it will grow its ranks (though its mission to the world is crucial). The church is a community that invites people to touch the glory of God, to be changed by it, and to bear it to the world. (G.M. Burge)

Be incarnational

We are called to be part of that incarnational movement. Like Jesus we must “move into the neighbourhood”.

The world will get saved by Christian movements, not walled churches. (Commissioner Phil Needham).

What that means for the world

Nothing will open a person to the Gospel as much as in-the-world Christians looking enough like Jesus to make people curious and interested. Worldly holiness. (Commissioner Phil Needham)

We have a priceless gift to offer to the world.