Christ Church Selly Park

Micah: God‘s call

Allan Bartlam | Micah 6:1-8 | Micah 7:18-20 

With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old? ...
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry for ever
but delight to show mercy.

Allan ends our series on Micah by speaking first about God's character, then our response. Micah highlighted the seriousness of Israel's sin but also God's desire that they should turn back to him and find mercy and forgiveness. How can we live as God desires in our very different, 21st century world?

During his talk Allan refers to a slide Susan Haynes had used to illustrate the sins of Israel. Here it is:

An edited video recording of the Sunday service which also includes the reading and prayers can be viewed on YouTube.

Micah: God‘s future

Ben Green | Micah 5.1-15 

'But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.'

Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labour bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.

The early verses in this chapter are often read at Christmas services, speaking as they do of a new ruler to come from Bethlehem. But then the message is one of judgement and destruction. What's going on? Ben explains how Micah's prophecy speaks to every age, ultimately bringing hope and the promise of God's glorious reign to come.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Micah: God‘s forgiveness

Susan Haynes | Micah 4:1-8 

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.

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...
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
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.'

Up to this point Micah has prophesied disaster for the people of God as a consequence of their many sins. But now, says Susan, there is a change of tone as Micah looks forward with hope. God's kingdom rule will be established, bringing restoration and forgiveness. We, living since the coming of Jesus, have all the more reason to trust this promise.

The recording begins with the reading from Janet Chalmers. After Susan speaks, Dan Parnell describes two present-day projects that seek to put into practice the teaching of Micah. There's more information about RAWtools at https://rawtools.org.

These are the furniture restoration photos used by Susan in her talk:

 

A fuller video recording of the All-In service can be viewed on YouTube.

Micah: God‘s leaders

Graham Romp | Micah 3:1-12 

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say,
‘Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.’
Therefore because of you,
Zion will be ploughed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

What hope is there, when the nation which is supposed to belong to God has gone so badly wrong? Yet, says Graham, Micah's message did have an impact, and God responded with mercy. On Advent Sunday we look forward to the coming of Jesus, the perfect leader.

The recording begins with the reading from Matt Fox.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Micah: God‘s people

Ben Green | Micah 1.1-2.5 

Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling-place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel...

Therefore, the Lord says:

‘I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.

It's an uncompromising message of judgement, as Micah prophesies disaster as a punishment for Israel's sins. Yet, as Ben explains, it is a message with a purpose: to turn the people back to God, that they might be forgiven and find true life. The recording begins with Ben introducing the book (and our sermon series) as a whole, then Pat Clayton reads selected verses from the passage before Ben continues with this week's talk.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Remembrance Sunday: the stone of help

Ben Green | 1 Samuel 7:2b-12 

While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites... Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.'

Earlier in the service we had thought of ways in which we receive help from other people and from God. In this All-Age Remembrance service Ben now speaks about how much we depend on God's help, and the need to remember this and thank him.

Later in the service we made a cairn of stones (now moved to the grass adjoining our driveway) to commemorate God's help to us.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

 

Jonah - the reluctant prophet

John Lanchbury | Jonah 3:1-5, 10 

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.' Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh... The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth... When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

As the story proceeds we discover the reason why Jonah was indeed the reluctant prophet, who at first ran in the opposite direction when God called him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Instead of rejoicing at the spectacular success of his preaching, Jonah threw a massive sulk at this outcome. In this recording John first explains the background to the story, then focuses on what we can learn about God and what he calls us to do in our own age.

There are a couple of references in John's talk to Jacquie Dewsbury, who earned the nickname "The gratitude lady" during her stay in hospital which ended with her death 3 days before this service. 

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Loving truly

Ben Green | 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

As Graham Romp had already explained in his introduction to the service, this passage - although often read at weddings - is not speaking about romantic love. Rather, says Ben, it goes to the heart of what the Corinthians had failed to recognise - that love is what matters above everything else, no matter how worthwhile those other things might be. And what is love? Ben has the answer.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

An interlude: In Corinth

Bobbie Frere | Acts 18:1-18a 

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

This week we take a break from our series in 1 Corinthians to look at how the church there was founded. Paul was the leading figure but was helped and encouraged by others, including God himself. Bobbie explains how we too can share together in our individual and common work for God.

Before Bobbie speaks we hear from Aquila and Priscilla, carrying their tents as they approach an unknown future in Corinth. A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.

Living faithfully

Ben Green | 1 Corinthians 4.1-17 

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Paul goes on to contrast his own attitude of service and reliance on God's grace with the pride displayed by the church at Corinth. The modern church is in danger too, says Ben, urging us to live faithfully according to the gospel.

A fuller video recording of the Sunday service can be viewed on YouTube.