Today we are in the thick of the gender wars, the last 50 years has seen the rise of feminism which has dismantled biblical and traditional views of male headship in the church and in the home. Egalitarianism, the view that teaches that there are no real differences between men and women has won the culture war and is the dominant perspective today. Added to this we have the transgender war. We moved from the removal of the differences between men and women, to pushing acceptance for homosexual activities and marriage, and this has now taken a third step as all traditional categories of maleness and femaleness have become fluid and several new genders have arisen as equally valid, noted in the LGBTQIA+ label. And it is not only a case of everyone attacking traditional views, there are new divisions. For example, J. K. Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series, who is also a feminist, got into trouble in the media recently because she insists on a biological definition for a woman. This met with intense criticism even from the actor who played Harry Potter who insisted against her that transgender women are real women. Jesus was a revolutionary and controversial figure in His day. He touched the untouchables, He befriended sinners, He was an equal opportunist when it came to accepting invitations to dine, and in the section before is Luke 8:1-3 we see that against the beliefs of the day, Jesus had women as disciples. The reason Jesus was a radical is not because He made an enemy of whatever the present status quo was, but rather because He ignored the status quo. Jesus treated everyone as equally sinful and in equal need of salvation. Whether the person was young or old, male or female, Jew...

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The word mystery has various connotations. If you are a book lover it may cause you to think of a favourite genre of who-done-it crime thrillers. The common English word means something that is difficult or impossible to understand it, it is often used in the sense of defeat: ‘It is a mystery, we will never know.’ In the ancient world there were various mystery religions who had secret knowledge which only the initiated could understand. The mysteries were the secret truths revealed to those who had proven themselves worthy of ascending to being indoctrinated in this higher knowledge. The word mystery occurs 3 times in this chapter in v3, 4, and 9. Paul’s use of the word is different to all of these uses we have outlined. Christianity is not to be taken as one of these mystery religions. When Paul talks mystery in this section he is using it in a very simple fashion, it was something hidden that has now become apparent. It is not something only the clever can understand, nor is it an unintuitive way of knowing and thinking, it is simply things that God had hinted at, and which were very vague in detail in the OT now being made clear. It is not knowledge reserved for the initiated but something openly declared through the preaching of the gospel. In the section before us Paul in describing his ministry as an apostle of the Gentiles describes himself as a steward of this mystery; and also lists the benefits of this mystery. These will make up two heading as we move forward.

We have recently experienced something which none of us will have experienced in NZ, the government ordered churches not to gather for worship. Of course, they did not single out religious groups alone to be closed down, but for the first time that any of us have experienced in this context, we were forbidden to meet for worship. Questions arose in our minds about the rightness of this act, and these questions were multiplied as we hit the various alert levels, and especially as we were coming out of the stricter levels into those with more freedom. Questions like does the government have the right to command us not to meet, shouldn’t we practice civil disobedience? Or, if the government is inconsistent in their practice and give more liberties to non-religious groups than religious, are we then allowed to disobey? Or, how long is too long for us not to meet before we decide enough is enough? And when they allowed us to meet, would we allow them to place restrictions upon us like forbidding communion? With Christian examples of some of the early Christians refusing to obey government restrictions to meet under the persecution from Rome, or the examples of early Christians ignoring common sense practices of quarantine during plagues to minister to the sick, some were wondering if we were doing the right thing by not meeting and observing social distancing. Today as we complete our analysis on our experience of Covid-19 we are going to look at what the bible says about the relationship between the Church and State. We will look firstly, at the state’s responsibility, and then secondly, the church’s.

At Bible college during one of the chapel services a pastor by the name of Bill Hughes shared with us. He was a very godly man who was serving in a church that wanted to fire him because of His Calvinistic convictions. It was a long a painful process that ended in him resigning to save the church from a split. During the long and painful time of enduring the difficulties Bill struggled to find a reason to get out of bed being extremely demotivated by the ordeal. But he had a faithful wife who put a sign on the bedroom wall that he would see each day giving him a reason to go out and serve that day. The sign had four words, For Him, For them. For God and for His people, this is the very reason why a minister gets up in the morning. And as we come to Ephesians 3:1, this is what we see motivated Paul as well, ‘For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—.’ We have been going through Ephesians very quickly doing massive chunks of it, we are going to slow down now. In the context Paul has been rehearsing the amazing salvation that God has wrought. He has spoken about the double alienation of being separated both from God and His people, and in Christ the double reconciliation to God and to become a part of the people of God. In Ephesians chapter 3 Paul was going to go from v1 to verse 14. He wanted to explain why and what he is prying for them. But at the mention of the fact that Paul is a prisoner for the Gentiles he feels he may need to explain to those who are unfamiliar with...

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The recent pandemic has raised questions over the nature of the church. All over the world governments asked churches to close and many have taken to streaming church, essentially replicating the church service but having online versions of it. There have been some bold statements like, Church will never be the same again, if things like the hug and the handshake have to go, so do various forms of worship like sharing a communion cup, or too much singing because of how much of our germs we are pushing out into the air around us. Some have relished the total shut down and seen it as an opportunity to clean the slate and start fresh without 2000 years of tradition getting in the way. Some are suggesting we just carry on online doing online baptisms, giving, communion, preaching and singing. Depending on the view of what is church some have been very dissatisfied with the fact that we could not meet, others have not mourned the change and see no problem with the shut downs. How has your understanding of the church come through this time? If you have a strong ecclesiology you will come through it unscathed, if you don’t have a clear view of the church the pandemic can happily reshape everything you ever thought about church. My goal in this sermon is simple, I would like to remind us Christ is building His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, Matt. 16:18; and that God’s plan to fulfil the great commission through the local church has not changed. I am very aware of how everything has been subjected to review and many will be in a state of administrative fatigue as they have had to cope with the constantly changing landscape of alert...

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Do all lives matter or do Black Lives Matter? Do we need separate safe spaces for black Christians to worship, or do we need united worship spaces? The problem of unity in God’s people is a perennial problem. The portion before us, Ephesians 2:11-22 speaks to our identity as a united people of God. What defines you and determines your relationship to other Christians? Do we subscribe to modern views that seek to define and relate us as intersecting minorities situated in relation to oppressive structures; or views that divide us by our gender preferences; are we stratified generational groups each having our own truths; do we define ourselves by our cultural and racial identities? Each one of these views is built on a worldview that has implications for how we relate to each other. One of the biggest divisions in the ancient world was the division between the Jew and everyone else, divisions that were built on race, culture, religion, etc. The portion before us shows how Christ has come to a fractured world that has been divided since the tower of Babel and has only driven the wedge of those divisions deeper and how in Christ God is building a new humanity, a united humanity for a future where all divisions will be gone. The church is the community of the new creation exhibiting that future unity now. The Jewish Gentile division is what governs the foreground of our text, but has massive implications for any other divisions. Paul has just told us how the power of God was at work to save us. He painted a picture of universal deadness in sin, both Jews and Gentiles are dead in sin, are by nature children of wrath and are saved, not by works but by a gracious God...

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We are interrupting our series on Luke to do a Christian analysis on Covid-19. Here in NZ we are very blessed to be at alert level 1, but this is still a living reality for many in the rest of the world. My concern in doing this is a pastoral one. More than ever before we have been inundated with the voices of the media in analysing what has recently happened. We have all been tuned into the media and been saturated with their perceptions, judgements, and problem solving principles. We have all learnt new words and concepts and been told over and over again what the right thing is to do. I am concerned that we need a renewing of our minds, if you like a brain wash, where we remind ourselves of the Bible’s perspective on these matters. In times like these we will be made to feel that Christians do not have the expertise to speak to such matters and so we should just do and think as we are told. The Bible is God’s word and equips us for every good work, in other words, there is not a situation that can arise that the Bible does not indicate the clear path for the Christian to walk in. This will be a short series where we will look at 4 aspects of our lives in relation to the Coronavirus. Firstly, we will look at God and Covid-19, what is God doing in this virus? Many questions about His sovereignty and goodness come up which we will seek to answer biblically. Secondly, we will look at the church and Covid-19. With various new technologies and our inability to meet questions about the nature of church have arisen and revisiting what the bible says about the church is...

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‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ This is a well-known statement which recognises that apart from God’s gracious intervention left to ourselves we would be lost. This statement is credited to the martyr John Bradford, once while walking past a gallows and as criminal were being led to be hanged, he looked over at them as said, ‘there but for the grace of God go I.’ It is this grateful recognition that Paul is trying to prompt in the Ephesians in 2:1-10. The body of chapter 1 is only two sentences in the Greek, the first sentence was v3-14 a song of praise for the glorious riches we have in Christ as the Father, Son and Spirit work in the past, the present and the future. V15-23 was a prayer for the Ephesians eyes to be opened to these riches and the victory that we have in Christ. 2:1-10 is another single sentence and think of this as a description or demonstration of God’s power at work, showing how God saves a sinner. Paul prayed that we might know the immeasurable greatness of His power towards those who believe, here is an attempt to help us see. This section has two clear sections. V1-3 tell the story of what we were; v4-10 tells the story of what God’s power and grace accomplish. You get a real sense of these two sections when you look at the beginning of v4 and see those two words, ‘But God.’ We were dead in sins, but God! Our sermon will divide under two headings, firstly, we will look at Paul’s description of our desperate need, and secondly, we will look at God’s gracious provision.

When do you know if someone is truly a Christian? This can be a difficult question to answer for on the one hand you and I cannot read the heart of another and so will always have an imperfect ability to make a judgement. However, there is also a call in scripture for us to evaluate a person’s credible confession of faith. The true test of someone’s faith is not the amount of religiosity they indulge in, a person can go to church a lot and not be saved; the amount of theologically correct doctrine we have, for some are blessed with a photographic memory and a head for facts but have no heart for Christ; nor the amount of good works we do, there are many socially active people who love their neighbour but have no love for God; but our love for Christ which is evident in the service we render to Him and others. Love for Christ is the true test. Some might be able to fake the actions that usually flow from love and pull the wool over our eyes for a while, but the true test is the love that is evident in our loves because of the grace of forgiveness we have received. This test will help us navigate the next portion before us. This next section in Luke 7:36-50 focuses on 2 people, a sinful woman and a religious man. This story flows on the heels of the previous passage where Jesus was talking about two types of responses to God’s messengers, those who saw their sin and repented and those who were self-righteous and did not. The last section ended with a proverb, that wisdom will be justified by all her children. This section is rolled out as an example of someone...

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Have you ever been slandered and gossiped about and totally misunderstood? John the Baptist was a faithful servant of God but who had been slandered, in v33 he was even accused of having had a demon. We have been looking at a section where John the Baptist has sent some of his disciples to ask whether Jesus is the Messiah, we see Jesus give a yes answer substantiated by evidence that the promises of God are coming to pass. After John’s disciples leave we are left with Christ talking about John the Baptist before the crowds. Jesus defends John’ reputation and puts his ministry in the clearest light. Remember John was languishing in prison, his public ministry was not always understood as some mistook him for the Messiah, but he has also been a victim of the fickle mass’s swing in allegiance and a slander campaign from the opposition. Two things stand out already as we begin. Firstly, that Jesus rushes to defend a slandered believer, and secondly that Jesus helps us see things more clearly. By clarifying who John is and what he had come to do, we can see Jesus and ourselves more clearly. As believes we often share in John’s experience of being slandered and not being able to set the record straight. Ryle writes, ‘There is comfort here for all believers who are suspected, slandered, and falsely accused. Few are the children of God who do not suffer in this way, at some time or other. The accuser of the brethren knows well that character is one of the points in which he can most easily wound a Christian. He knows well that slanders are easily called into existence, greedily received and propagated, and seldom entirely silenced. Lies and false reports are the chosen weapons by...

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