bpchurch Sermons

This Sunday we return to our series in Nehemiah. In chapter 10, the people gather to reaffirm that they are in a covenant relationship with God. There are similarities and differences between their relationship to God with ours today. We won’t be lining up and signing commitments of what we will do to stay in God’s blessing and not be cursed—that’s not for us. But we can, at the start of this new year, reaffirm and celebrate the privilege we have to live in God’s new life in his New Covenant through Jesus. Let’s celebrate this privilege in song, prayer, word and Lord's table this Sunday.

Happy New Year! Here’s a quick question for you as you contemplate your resolutions… How easily do you forgive? It appears the last couple of years have provided an opportunity-rich environment for more and more division. Have you missed any opportunities to give or request forgiveness? Me too. This week we’ll be looking at the book of Philemon together to see what Christianity looks like in the midst of a fallen world and how Christians are called to live within broken structures.

Being under a “Covid Quarantine” has caused me to long all the more to be with our family in worship and we look forward to being with you for the Candlelight service on Christmas Eve and for a combined worship service at 11 am on Sunday the 26th, even if it snows!

Having our grandson Jamie with us has reminded me of that childlike longing for Christmas. At least once a day he asks if it is Christmas yet. He fully expects the arrival of Christmas to bring great joy and happiness. We will do what we can to make those dreams come true, and yet for Jamie Christmas day will still conclude with the disappointing arrival of bedtime… his hopes for fullness of joy will be caught short by human weariness (both his and ours!)

Luke 2:22-38 picks up the first Christmas story in the days after Christmas, and the mood is not one of great joy and happiness. It is more than a month after the exciting night of the nativity and it feels like hopes for fullness of joy have faded under the daily routine of the mundane and ordinary. Here the young family trudges off to Jerusalem fulfill some obscure requirement of the Law. Yet it will be in the ordinary and obscure, and through people others overlook, that God is working, both then and now.

Have you heard about trigger warnings? It's a popular phrase in the world today, and it's a label that is used to warn you about possibly offensive content. So I need to be honest with you, the message we will share this Sunday is offensive, but it is also the greatest news you will ever hear, and maybe there is a connection. Good news isn't very popular today, and that's mainly because it doesn't sell very well. It's a good thing then that we aren't in the business of making money and selling ads, so we are free to share the good news. Join us as we celebrate the good news of a Savior being born, and although it may be offensive to some, it is good news of great joy for all people.

What child is this? Several songs and hymns around Christmas have pondered this question that Mary may have asked as she looked at her newborn child for the first time. And it's still a relevant question for us today; who was this Jesus and why was his birth so important? This week we will travel back 700 years before He was born to look for an answer. Isaiah 7:14 is often given as a prophecy of Christ's birth, and yet the chapter as a whole doesn't seem to have much holiday cheer. Join us as we talk about the sign of Jesus' birth, and the hope that it brings us.

The last week has been a bit of up and down, the anticipation of hope fulfilled interrupted by doubts and delays. Our kids were coming from Africa, but then the news say so was the Omicron. Flights were cancelled and entry was blocked. But then entry could be allowed and flights did resume, but would they get a clean covid test? Then they left, they're on their way, but I won’t get to see them for an extra day…or two…

On a far greater scale, God has given us a wonderful hope in his glorious future, but we still wait for it in a broken, delaying, and sometimes quite miserable presence. And this week has been especially hard for some of our church family… But in the midst of all that, Advent reminds us that what God has started, he will complete. This Sunday in Micah 5:1-5 we will see that in the midst of this seemingly uncertain present, what God has done for us in the past assures us of what He will do for our future.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thess 1:2-4.

This verse expresses my thanks for how the gospel is bearing fruit in your lives. It also expresses how the gospel of Jesus changes life in very difficult places, where many oppose the gospel of God’s grace. This was true for Thessalonica, and it has also been true for one of our Global Partners in the Middle East who will share God’s word with us this Sunday. I’ll not use their names to protect the innocent. They will share with us principles for God’s global mission in the gospel of Jesus, and we’ll be encouraged to give thanks for what God has been doing there, and to pray for what God will also do here around us, as we live out these same principles as God’s messengers on God’s mission.

In Nehemiah 9, God’s people remembered God’s faithfulness. Throughout their history, even though they have been unfaithful, God has always remained faithful to them and to his promise. They are reminded to give thanks for God’s grace, his mercy, his forgiveness. In the words of Jeremiah they can give thanks that despite their sin, “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.”

But there’s also a flip side. Just as our unfaithfulness shows off God’s faithfulness, so also God’s faithfulness shows how unfaithful we are in comparison… That is how thanksgivings for who God is can also bring grief in our hearts for who we are.

We can confess who we are and where we fall, because we trust that our God will always be, for us, who our God truly is.

On Sunday morning, we gather together as Jesus’ Church. We sing, we pray, there are some announcements, maybe a personal testimony... Then, the pastor comes onto the platform; he opens the Bible and begins to speak. At that moment, what are we expecting? What is this all about? What does the pastor think he is doing? For that matter, what are we doing as a church in that moment?

Nehemiah Chapter 8 tells some important things about God’s people gathering to hear God’s word. It tells us what I, as your pastor, should be trying to do. It also tells us some things that each of us can do in order to best receive and respond to God’s word.

Nehemiah Chapter 7 recalls to the previous generations who had been restored from exile and who devoted themselves to God’s rebuilding. Those who came earlier were a reference for Nehemiah’s generation of their unique identity and privilege. They also provide an example for our generation. This Sunday in the Lord’s Table, we will celebrate how God has called us to be his own people. We will remember how God has given a particular work to previous generations of our church, from which we still benefit. We will also devote some time to share our vision of the next step God has for our generation as a church, as we also build for God’s future.