John’s Gospel is a little different to the other three Gospels. Remember that ‘gospel’ means ‘good news announcement’. And remember that the four Gospels are ‘good news biographies’ (g.n.b.) of Jesus.

As John’s g.n.b. begins, we take a walk, if you like, down a long hallway. It is kind of like entering a hobbithole (for those who love ‘Lord of the Rings’) – a long hallway, with rooms and artifacts off each side, leading to the main dwelling. In this sense, John’s ‘prologue’ (1:1-18) is a long hallway into the main account. And here, in this hallway, all the main themes and ideas are laid out as we begin to consider the key question of John’s g.n.b.: ‘Who is Jesus?’

You see, once we have answered that question, then the succeeding question is clear: ‘What does this mean – what should we do with him?’

‘Culture’ is ‘the way we do stuff around here’. It describes our life as a community of God’s mob. Last week, we spent time looking at that internally – intentional inter-generational relationships around the proclamation and practice of God’s good news in Jesus.

This week, we are going to look at our ‘culture’ as we relate outwards, externally, to the world around us. At heart, this is a discussion of our culture of ‘evangelism’ – proclaiming and practicing the good news of Jesus so that others come to meet him.

Daniel 6 gives us a snapshot in the life of one man, Daniel, doing this. It is not an explicit text on evangelism. It is not a ‘how-to’… it is ‘just’ a snapshot in the life of a man living as one of God’s people in this world. And, yet, Daniel proclaims and practices God’s good news – and this is displayed in his consistent and costly prioritising of God, his rule and reign, in all things.

The result is a remarkable proclamation of God and his good news in a hostile world!

‘Culture’ is as simple as ‘the way we do stuff around here’. It covers not just what a mob of people do, but also why they do those things. It covers both what a mob proclaims (about who they are) and what they practice (how they live it out). Every mob of people has one.

It is worth thinking about our culture as we start the year. And that is the purpose of this short two-week series.

This week, we are looking at our ‘Titus-culture’ – the culture we have inwardly, as God’s mob, who do life together. At the heart of this culture, which we see Titus establishing in Crete, is ‘sound teaching’ – the good news of God’s salvation in Jesus, which creates a people for God that are completely transformed. This ‘sound teaching’ is preserved, nurtured, passed on across generations, as men and women meet together, talk together, and encourage each other. It is the proclamation that creates the practice that is ‘the way we do stuff around here’.

The last request that Jesus outlines in the Lord’s Prayer completes our picture of who we are as God’s children—we need his provision, we need his pardon… and we need his protection.

The request for God to ‘lead us not into temptation’ sits parallel with the request for ‘the evil one’ to be kept at bay. Both are a plea for spiritual protection, for God to walk us away from the allure of sin and the work of the devil.

And in both areas, we must be alert to the very great danger we face, a danger that we can often be unaware or unwilling to confront.

And in both areas, because Jesus met the devil and commanded him to ‘go away’ - and then beat him at the cross—we have complete confidence that our Father hears our prayer, and can and will act on it.

And in both areas we are given all that we need to resist temptation and flee the devil—just look at the suit of armour that Jesus has tried and now given us (cf. Is.59:15ff; Eph.6:10ff).

‘Forgiveness’ always makes for a headline in our world. Just recently, online, there was a headline proclaiming the remarkable nature of ‘forgiveness’ that was offered by a sibling of one of those killed at Bondi. Our world marvels at such a notion… but ‘forgiveness’ is central to nature of God’s kingdom. And so it is central to the relationship between God and his children.

That all being said, how do we define ‘forgiveness’? What does ‘forgive’ mean? How does our forgiveness by God affect our relationships with each other?

All of these questions are connected to the next request that Jesus outlines in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors’.

As we read this request, please be aware of two truths. First, this is a request spoken our Father—the relationship with our Father exists, and is displayed in how we live that out. This request is not one of ‘condition’ but of ‘consequence’. Second, please note that this request captures the essential vertical-horizontal nature of being children of God—it starts with God (vertical) and plays out with others (horizontal).

The last Federal election was described as the ‘cost-of-living election’… but, to be truthful, every Federal election has this aspect—and we worry constantly about how to afford this, whether we can have that, where will this come from.

And the first request of the Lord’s Prayer that ties directly to us confronts this head-on: we are dependent upon God for our daily needs, and our eternal future… and he never fails to provide what his people need to pursue his kingdom.

In this sense, the order of the Lord’s Prayer flows naturally—it begins with an address that moves to the vision of God that we desire the world to see, and out of this we call for his rule and reign in our lives (and in this world) to begin… and, as we pursue our obedience to his rule and reign, we recognize that he gives all that we need to pursue that kingdom.

It could be summarized in another, balder way: if the cost of living is so high (namely, Jesus), then our Father will certainly not neglect what we need to live...

What is your greatest desire for the year ahead (even for the day ahead)?

This next verse in the Lord’s Prayer covers two requests that strike at the heart of our most fervent and deeply held desires—and state publicly that our desire as God’s people aligns with His desire for the world to be ruled rightly by His King!

Coming straight after our request that the world know God’s name, this is a statement that we desire God to work obedience to His will, in our lives, as we live as the outpost of His kingdom in this world. Within this, there is an inherent tension that NOW, we are citizens of God’s kingdom and His King rules in our lives as God’s mob; but, NOT YET do we see the full consummation of this in all the universe.

The temptation, then, is to either take matters into our own hands and create His kingdom here… or, to throw our hands up and give up, and pursue our own desires.

Neither is a right or good expression of what these requests desire. Rather, as God answers our request here, He works the proclamation and practice of His kingdom in our lives, individually and corporately!

‘The vitality of prayer lies largely in the vision of God that prompts it. Drab thoughts of God make prayer dull’ (J.I. Packer, quoted in: K. DeYoung, The Lord’s Prayer., p.33-34)

That quote is a striking and confronting observation by Packer—and it captures the immense vision of God that opens the Lord’s Prayer. The opening address of the Lord’s Prayer approaches God personally and immanently (‘our’), approaches God communally and relationally (‘Father’), approaches God in a Trinitarian recognition (He is our Father because of the work of His Son, and this is grown in us by the Spirit), approaches God recognizing His awesome transcendence (‘in heaven’).

And this opening address leads to the natural first request: that the whole world know this God as the only God, the most significant person in all of creation in all of time (‘your name be honoured as holy’).

That is NOT a drab vision or thought of God, is it!

Prayer is a thorny topic for many of God’s mob—not because we disagree with it, not because we think it fails… but because, for something so essential and non-negotiable for God’s mob, it is something we fail to do so often! And, more often than not, when we read a book on prayer, we often finish so laden with guilt that we are even more disenchanted!

The aim of this series is to look at what Jesus said on prayer; specifically, when he was asked about ‘teaching’ his disciples to pray (Luke 11), and when he taught on what it meant to be a citizen in God’s kingdom (Matthew 6). In both instances, it is striking what Jesus does say, and what he doesn’t (perhaps the latter is more striking!).

As we spend time together, we want to be encouraged to pray more, to be more consistent in our praying, because we know that God is our Father. Moreover, we want to grasp a little more the character of the God we pray to—who he is, and what he is like. In this we want to encourage and not discourage...

Message from Bernard Gabbott on Thursday, 25 December 2025