Manly Life Church

John 12:20-33 Sermon – Following Jesus / Series Intro

Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Sunday February 5, 2023.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

In this sermon Tim introduces us to our first sermon series in 2023, The Farewell Discourse Series – messages from John 12-17! Tim helps us understand who John is and the book itself leading up to chapter 12, before diving into chapter 12 vs 20-33 and what it means to follow Jesus! We can't wait for this series so make sure you stay tuned each week! SERMON NOTES: https://manlylife.org/2023/02/07/john-1220-33-sermon-following-jesus-series-intro/ Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Sunday February 5, 2023. Find out more here: https://manlylife.org Find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ManlyLifeChurch

SERMON NOTES:

Great to see everyone!

Wow, what a sermon that was last week by Greg…
I’d hate to be the guy who is following that!
Well welcome, welcome, my name is Tim, it is great to see you here today!
Great wedding…

Read John 12:20-33

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Well it is February… last month of summer, first month of school being back…

And it finally feels like we are launching the year here at Manly Life.
And of course there is lots of excitement over all of the things kicking off again either this past week or in the coming ones…
Life Groups, Friday youth, midweek playtime, Alpha, worship nights!
So let me encourage you to get involved.

Attempt to do 3 things today…

Introduce this very exciting series
Look at this first passage that I have just read.
I want to briefly share some of the vision for the next year here at Manly Life…

So let’s introduce this series!

I have this funny way of getting obsessed with books of the bible thinking it is the best thing I have ever read…

Series in Ephesians…
Isaiah…
Last year in the sermon on the mount…
Well now I have been living in John’s gospel for the past few months in preparation…
And particular chapters 12-17 is an INCREDIBLE section of scripture giving us the closest insight into Jesus’ relationship with his disciples
And the revelation of who Jesus is… and who he wants us to be.

Well firstly it’s worth reminding ourselves a bit about John’s gospel…

It is regarded as the last of the 4 gospels to be written, of which we have surviving fragments of manuscripts from as early as 120 AD. Amazing.
It is ascribed by some of the early church Fathers to be authored by John, one of Jesus close disciples.
And his authorship also includes the letters bearing his name in the NT and the Book of Revelation.

And I, and many scholars think John is written as a supplement to the synoptic gospels, with John giving us a more theologically structured account of Jesus life

So for instance, in John there are seven miracles, which he calls signs.
And in John there are seven “I am” statements where Jesus equates himself with God.
And seven of course is the number for completion and perfection in Jewish thought.

In other words, the author has had some time to think about Jesus, and he presents a selected account of Jesus life to persuade people.

Right? John 21:31 the author says “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
That is the purpose of this gospel. That as we behold Jesus…
That we will be convicted or convinced that he is the Son of God… we will believe!
And the result will be, as we become disciples, that we receive life in his name.
Both eternal life and abundant life, so life forever, and fully in the here and now.

So John is different to the synoptics in some ways and similar in others.

So many of the same major events are there… Jesus baptism, feeding thousands, miracles of healing, and of course his death and resurrection…
But it is different too.
It’s like an insiders perspective of some of the most profound teachings of Jesus of Nazareth that only his inner crew could have recorded.
Hence the discourse we are going to study together where it is just Jesus talking with his closest disciples.

So the book is structured a little differently to Matthew, Mark and Luke…

The first 11 chapters are often referred to as the Book of Signs… and as I said there are seven including Jesus turning water into wine, feeding the 5,000, healing a blind man and of course, raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.
And then the final 10 chapters is often referred to as the Book of Glory, including this section we are going to do a series in…
And that’s followed by the events of Jesus death and resurrection.
And in this section Jesus pulls his disciples in close to prepare them for life without him so the his mission of bringing eternal life and demonstrating the love of God may continue.
Which of course we know does… all that he says, comes to pass!

So this section we are going to study is sometimes called the upper room discourse… or the farewell address…

Contains some of the most memorable actions and teachings of Jesus.
And we are going to spend time in chapters 12-17 looking at these over the next few months.
Jesus washing his disciples feet and calling them to do like wise, serve one another.
Jesus proclaiming he is the way, truth and the life…
Jesus teaching on him being the Vine and we the branches… Jesus as the only true source of life in this world, and the disciples being the branches that bring this life into the world.
That’s you and me… no pressure!
And of course we will learn, there is not… we just have to stay connected to him!

There is much about love, glory, the gift of the Holy Spirit and unity…

And possibly my favourite theme, that we see all through the gospel of John, where Jesus identifies himself with God…
An example; John 14:7 “if you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
I mean that is remarkable…
The guessing is over… if we meet Jesus, we meet God. That can only be good news.
Amen?

So why study it? Why should we be excited to dig into this most remarkable of sections of scripture?

Well Jesus is in the business of forming a people who will reflect his glory into the world.
So in this farewell discourse, Jesus wants to prepare us for life without his physical presence… but the promise is he won’t leave us as orphans in this world.
So if Jesus is about to die and rise and ascend to heaven, this is what he wants discipleship to look like…
Living and serving and loving the way of the Master.

I love how many carpenters there are at this church… and not just because its really handy when I need something fixed!

But any good carpenter will have done their apprenticeship with a Master Builder.
And it is obvious in the first week, that they are not above their boss… they are there to learn and grow as they watch and develop their skills.
You know it’s funny, I’m 3^rd generation pay someone else to do it…
So any home reno’s I have done, I always encourage people not to look too closely at my handiwork.
If you want to build a deck, first watch someone build a deck, then help them build a deck, then have a go at building a deck.
That is discipleship!

And that is what Jesus does in his farewell address. He gets his disciples thinking about how to continue his work and ministry without him.

Right? So for instance he washes of his disciples feet
Then he says to them… “Now that I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet.”
verse 15 “I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done..

So this is discipleship… we are going to learn from the way, the truth and the life of our Master… so that we can do as Jesus has done!

And that is going to be all through this series…
John 13:34 “love one another as I have loved you…”
If you learn from a good carpenter, and then one day build to the same quality of the Master builder who taught you…
You’d be considered a great representative and in time a great builder yourself…
So in John 12-17, Jesus is going to teach us and demonstrate to us what being a disciple looks like.

So let’s have a look at the start of this section of John’s Gospel.

So in chapter 11 Jesus does what I think is his most remarkable miracle… he raises his dead friend Lazarus back to life.

It gives us a taste for his own coming resurrection…
So at the start of John 12, Jesus enters into Jerusalem and is hailed as their King.
Imagine being there… Jesus enters the city…. And is met by adoring crowds…
Verse 13 they wave palm branches and yell “Hosanna” and “blessed is the King of Israel.”
But there is a show down coming … while the crowds at this stage are on his side due to the miracles and hope that the long awaited saviour has come…
The religious leaders are plotting in the background to have him executed as a blasphemer and trouble maker.

So with the events of the Passion… that is Jesus betrayal, trial, death and resurrection a mere matter of days away…

Jesus begins to teach his disciples all that they will need to know to understand why he has come into the world…
Verse 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
Verse 27-28 Jesus says; “it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
Verse 31 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

So there is sudden urgency in Jesus teaching… the hour has come!

Now much of John’s gospel focuses on the idea of Jesus revealing his Father, that is God, to the world.
So twice before, during his ministry, and after he does a great sign… Jesus says “my time has not yet come.”
In John 2 around the turning of the water into wine Jesus says “My hour has not yet come.”
Then in John 7 having fed the 5,000 and walked on water, he still says (verse 8) “my time has not yet fully come.”
But now as he enters Jerusalem and the events of the passion are about to unfold… he announces “the hour has come.”

So he says the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Now this is so important to understanding Jesus.
Glorified is this Greek word doxa which is a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word kabod. And it refers to a visible and powerful manifestation of God.
So the hour has come for the Son of Man (Jesus) to visibly and powerfully manifest who God is.
Glory is about revealing the essence of who someone is.
So the hour has come for Jesus to be glorified… it is time for God’s glory, his essence to be revealed through his son.
Are you with me?

You know it is interesting that in John 1 when Jesus is called the Word made flesh dwelling amongst us. It says we have beheld his glory. His doxa. His essence.

And then a few verses later Moses gets a mention.
And I think that is because in Exodus 33:18 Moses expressed this most passionately to God when he prays; “Show me your glory.”
Right? Moses prayer is that God will reveal his essence (show me yourself), pull back the curtain and show me who and what you are?
And it says the goodness of God passed in front of him.
In Jesus we are being told, the hour has come for God’s goodness, his essence, his presence and glory to be revealed.

OK, now here is where it gets really good… Are you ready? It’s time for the price of admission!

So if we are told in John’s gospel that Jesus glory was displayed in his signs… right, his miracles…
But the time has now come for his supreme glorification to be revealed… right his essence, the fullest manifestation of God’s character…
Not in taking over Jerusalem by force, or wiping out his enemies… no.
His glory will be displayed with his willing acceptance of a shameful death with sinners, and for sinners, on a cross on the hill of calvary.

So Jesus uses a little parable…

John 12:24 “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
His coming death he pronounces will lead to an outbreak of life!
Jesus is the one seed that must fall to the ground and die so that many will be reconciled to God and come to life!
The paradox of the true glory of God, the true essence of who Jesus is revealing the Father to be is to be seen in the lowly act of his death on a cross.

As we sing that old hymn How Marvelous…

I stand amazed in the presence, Of Jesus the Nazarene, And wonder how He could love me, A sinner condemned, unclean
He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them his very own, He bore the burden to Calvary, He suffered and died alone.
How marvelous, how wonderful, And my song shall ever be, How marvelous, how wonderful, Is my Saviour’s love for me.

And finally in this passage, what is the result of all of this?

(verse 32) “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Jesus here is referring to the way he would die, being lifted up on a cross…
And is not this the truest statement…
This message of a crucified saviour who puts aside his glory of being God and humbles himself to the point of death so that we may have eternal life
It doesn’t die out in that day or city or region…
He has indeed been like a seed, dying, falling to the ground, that has produced many seeds…
A life given that has given life to so many.
It is a message that has swept up billions of people into the great family of God!

Now of course that doesn’t mean “all people” in a universalist kind of way.

We know, don’t we, that just like in Jesus life, so today, many reject Jesus and his message, many even mocking the Christian faith.
But it is “all people” in the sense of men and women, Jews, Greeks, Australians, Chinese, Brazilians, Kenyans, the wealthy and the poor, a great, great multitude will behold the glory of Jesus and believe.
The hour has come… for the Son of man to be glorified.

So finally today, what does all this mean for us this year?

Well I noticed this week a number of churches are kicking off the year this Sunday with what they call their Vision Sunday…

Setting out their great plans and ministries and hopes… great stuff.
How is this for a vision Manly Life? Die. Die…
Oh my gosh… Jesus could you not have given us a vision that was a bit easier to sell…
Yes its into an abundance of life and indeed eternal life… but the path to this is to Die.
Not literally… but in following the way of Jesus, we too would involve ourselves in self giving, sacrificial acts of love and service.

The great German theologian and thorn in the flesh of the Nazi’s and Hitler Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said “when Christ calls a man, he calls him to come and die.”

What were Jesus words again “whoever serves me must follow me.”
To come after Jesus is to follow his way.
And that is the way of laying down our lives… in order to produce life.
It is dying to the self and old selfish ways… and learning to bring life by laying down our own lives…

One of the things that I get excited about this year is this growing potential for us to launch a campus of Manly Life up at Frenchs Forest.

You know that would involve a sense of loss for all of us… we might not see some people as often as we used to… and it will involve sacrificial service and giving.
But just as Jesus as a seed died and that then sprouted and reproduced itself many times over.
That’s what we are all called to do…

And there is a spiritual law at work when we do this.

We give away… we die a little bit, but then it begins to multiply, and grow… and produce more seeds…
And those seeds produced in turn die to themselves… and lo and behold that then sprouts and reproduces and grows…
And can anyone guess what happens then to those seeds?
Well if they too choose to follow Jesus and die and serve… then that will in turn sprout and reproduce and grow life!
There is a cost, but the is the possibility of a great abundance of new life!

What would be needed from followers of Jesus for this to happen at Manly Life and Forest Life?

What would need to happen for our church family to have 3 or 4 services running by the end of this year?
And people coming to a life giving relationship with Jesus!
Let me suggest 3 things.

Be committed to helping others behold Jesus

Alpha and a culture of invitation

Be committed to doing life together as we grow as disciples…

Life Groups and bible study

Be committed to serving and giving and acts of dying to yourself.

Karen Grey “I can do that…”

Huge need for Primary kids helpers… next generation…

Everyone giving generously…

Verse 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The Glory of Christ Sermon

In this sermon Greg unpacks the movements of Christ, from creating the world to his second coming, Greg encourages us to place our relationship with Christ above all else and enjoy the riches and majesty of an eternal life with Him!

Sermon preached by Greg Beech on Sunday January 29, 2023.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

Luke 15:1-8 Sermon – God’s Heart for the Lost

In this sermon Lani shares from Luke 15 about God’s heart for the lost and how we reach the lost, relating to each other with forgiveness and reconciliation that all flows from knowing how much we are loved by God!

Sermon preached by Lani Daniel on Sunday January 22, 2023.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

1 John 4:11 Sermon – Friendship in Church

In this sermon Tim encourages us to follow the model of Jesus and his disciples and to make friends in the Church, show God’s love, kindness and hospitality to others and think about others rather than ourselves! How will you proactively seek to build friendship with someone this week?

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

Friendship – SERMON NOTES

I am speaking on friendship with Jesus and being a community of friends…

But I’ve been thinking we need to take worship and music in a different direction here at Manly Life…
So I actually wanted to start with a song by an amazing 1970’s Catholic synth-pop group called Sonseed who I think hold the keys to our future…
And also speak into our message today. OK, get ready to be blown away
Video…

Well as many of you know, I was part of a fantastic church network in London 20 years ago when I lived there called HTB…

They have planted hundreds of churches, developed and shared the Alpha Course globally…
And it is just such a healthy… vibrant and admirable church.
Many years ago, I was listening to Nicky Gumbel at a huge leadership conference…
Sharing the secret to HTB’s success… waiting to hear the secret. And we are all leaning in… hoping to learn the key to a growing healthy church…
Maybe it was going to be the music… or the preaching… or amazing social justice initiatives…
And in a very English voice he said, the secret to a great church is… friendship!

And over the years, I have come to realise that he was spot on current… the best of what we call church is built on friendship

Slide: life is better with friends…
After salvation… I think it is friendship that makes the church so attractive.
We don’t join a community of ideas but a community of people… of friends who do life together.

1 John 4:11 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

As we start this year as a church community we have so much to be thankful for…
Last year we celebrated our church’s 10^th anniversary…. And so many people are now involved here at Manly Life…
We have great services, and Alpha Courses and worship nights and missions…
But what makes me most happy… is seeing people connect and make friends.
Dutch girl… Bertine… nervous… wasn’t sure if she was connecting and making friends…
Next I hear she is moving in with some of the young adults at church, she is in the young adults life group… and she says to me… “I’ve never felt so at home and connected at a church”

You see there are many things you can do to grow a church

You can have slightly better coffee than the church down the road… not a great strategy!
Maybe you could offer an introductory 8% tithe 😉
But let me tell you my hope: A church of friends who brings friends to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus…
That is a deeply compelling vision for a community!

My own story: coming to faith… invited by friends… saw amazing friendships… beyond obviously being compelled by Jesus… wanted to be in that community.

Church can be hard to crack if you just turn up… possible! Cornelis. Now most popular person at Manly Life behind Todd Baker…

Easiest way to grow as a church community is not Facebook ads, or handing out flyers at other church’s…
It is to bring friends and introducing them to friends who know Jesus…
Faith makes sense in a community of people doing life together and following the way of Christ…
Jesus didn’t write a book but he did leave a community of friends… and they set about changing the world together.

So I really believe great churches are built on great friendships…

Billy Graham (the great evangelist), had these two friends, Cliff Barrows and George Beverly Shea who sung at his meetings… (there at his first and last crusade).
HTB and the 6 families… Perry – holiday together!
That is my hope for Manly Life too… Ryan and Cass (10 years)… Joey and Bec (8 years)… so many of you through hard seasons…
Beautiful thing: We get to do life together…
So we hurt when the other hurts, celebrate when the other celebrates… raise kids together, keep each other on the right track with faith, have fun!

More so than that, I think it is a part of what it means when Jesus says he came to bring life…

He restores relationship with God but also between one another.
Explain… great reconciliation… cross, vertical and horizontal.
I want to live this way… in close community… to love and be loved by people
I am perhaps never happier than when surrounded by friends…
My guess is those who commit to life groups and life at the church get the dividend of community and friendship…
You will get in one sense what you put into it…

John Wimber used to say people come to church for a lot of reasons but they only stay if they make 5 friends…

See that all the time – you can only sit on your own for so long…
Nicky Gumbel: “People aren’t looking for a friendly church; they’re looking for a church where they can make friends.”
(more than a one off smile)… welcome is important… but it goes deeper…

Our culture is looking for friendship…

University campus – Famous graffiti: “I am surrounded by 30,000 students. Why am I so lonely?”
I read Teenagers spend 6.5 hours a day on social media…
The problem with Facebook and Instagram is we compare our ordinary lives to peoples highlight reels… so we always end up feeling inadequate…
It’s like there is a party going on and I am at home watching replays of the cricket…
We can have a huge social network but an increasing sense of loneliness

CS Lewis “friendship is the main course in life’s banquet.” Love that…

What we seem to have developed in our culture is not a banquet of friendship
But a junk food diet of acquaintances and social media post likes.
Many people have countless acquaintances but few people you do life with!
Thousands of Facebook friends but very few who would drop everything for them

3 quick things about friendship as we think about it as Christians.

In the church, our model of friendship is based and modelled on Jesus and his disciples.

One of the things about Jesus is that he didn’t just come to break down the dividing walls of hostility between us and God, but he also came to show us what friendship looks like.

His entire ministry was in fact built on friendships – doing life with a group of men and women… eating together, traveling together, ministering together.
Jesus had the crowds… but we read he also had the 72 who he did life with… he had the 12 who he was close with… and he had the inner 3.

What does Jesus say in John 15? Remember that is God incarnate, powerful to defeat evil, heal the sick and teach with authority.

He says in verse 15, “I no longer call you servants. Instead I call you friends.”
Here is the Lord of the universe offering not a master and servant relationship…. But friendship!
That’s a mind boggling reality when we think this is who Thomas calls “My Lord and my God.”
So we would do well to look at what this looks like?
But one thing we do see, is that so much of Jesus ministry seems to happen around meal time…
There is an old saying; “Eating together turns strangers into friends…”
So I’d encourage you, if you want to do ministry, if you want to do friendship well… do a lot of hospitality!

True friendship is not a transaction…

John 15:12-13 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

That is really the heart of friendship… it is not about ourselves but what we offer to another.
Proverbs 17:7 “A friend loves at all times…” love is sacrificial
The greatest love and act of friendship the world has ever known is Jesus laying down his life on the cross so we could be free.
It is why the truly admirable acts of friendship are always sacrificial.

Think Philippians 2:3, it says; “in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

People think to make friends we must get people to be interested in us… but actually it is about the other… taking interest in the other…
Dale Carnegie: you make more friends by being genuinely interested in other people…
I remember when I was pursuing Victoria… do you think I made her come and watch me do the swim?
NO! I went and did dance classes and went to the theatre…
Little dating tip but also for friendship: If you want to be a good friend, take a genuine interest in the life of others…
What makes them tick? Get to know their story. Be a good listener.

We are too self interested… who do we look at when we see a photo of ourselves with a group…

Old joke about the man arrested outside a police station because he was staring at his face… on the wanted poster!
So get over yourself if you want to be a good friend… look to the interests of others!

You know this is so important – particularly if we are going to build a church of friends…

Because what happens in any community and friendships is that we will let each other down…
But how we deal with that is what matters.
Christian communities and friendships are voluntary things… and so if you fall out with people you can just leave… but of course you will never deal with things and never put down roots!
Just bounce around from one superficial relationship to another.
Christian community must be a place where we release offences, constantly forgive…

I loved how Pete Brooks last week mentioned the couple of people in Philippians 4 who Paul calls out because they are not getting along.

Wow, what an honour to be in the Word of God forever because you fell out…
But we know this happens all the time… it happens with me!
But strong churches are built on strong friendships where we learn how to deal with offenses and forgive.
Colossians 3:13 says forgive as the Lord forgave you.

One of the amazing things about the church is it produces the most odd friendships.

My favourite film is the seven time academy award winning Milo and Otis… do you know it? Just kidding, Milo and Otis is… only my 2^nd favourite film… and didn’t win any awards…

But it is about this odd friendship between a dog and a cat. Genius, I know…
And along the way in their journey they become friends with a pig and an owl and a deer!
So you get this odd bunch of friends going on a journey together
Totally inspiring, I know! But it kind of reminds me of what church should be like. Right?
You pick up people along the way… and they become a part of the adventure… and you do life with them.

One of the most striking and totally revolutionary things about the early church that intrigued the people of the Roman Empire was the bizarre friendships.

Pauls talks about in Galatians 3:28. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
In other words friendship formed in the family of God across every dividing line humans can put up!
And they ate together… and it baffled the ancient world…

I want to see odd friendships… here at Manly Life!

So many communities and friendships these days are just homogenous, boring, same type of people hanging out with the same type of people…
You know surfers hanging out with surfers, hipsters with hipsters, old people with old people…
But that is so boring and unhealthy.

When I left my last church to begin Manly Life with Victoria I often reflected on who I missed the most…

Guy called Steve Stormer… he was a schizophrenic middle aged man who lived in council housing… so not a lot in common…
But we used to hang out all the time, have lunch together, do projects around the church
Going to speak at a conference… took Steve Stormer!
What do Steve and I have in common… friendship with Jesus Christ, leading to a great friendship with each other.

You know people come to church for all kinds of reasons but they only stay if they make friends.

People aren’t looking for a friendly church, they are looking for a church to make friends at
Friendships modelled by Jesus who gave us a relationship with God
Friendships that aren’t self serving but about giving life to others
And friendships that cut across all the normal divides we find in life…

If this church has grown to 800 people in a few years time it will be because our music is really, really good!

Haha… no… but we do want amazing worship…
But it will have grown because of friendships… and making room at the table!
There is nothing more attractive to a selfish and lonely world than a community doing life together well…
Offering friendship with God through Jesus Christ
And offering a quality of friendship that makes us all come alive!

Response – get connected cards…

Life Groups…

Philippians 3:17-4:4 Sermon – Stand Firm in 2023

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Sermon preached by Peter Brooks on Sunday January 8, 2023.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

Isaiah 42:5-7 Sermon – The Light Has Come!

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Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Sunday December 18, 2022.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

SERMON NOTES

So whether this is your last service with us for the year before you head off on holidays, or whether you will be joining us next weekend for our Christmas services…

Let me wish you a very happy Christmas!

How do you know it’s Christmas?

I got my first clue last weekend when I went and bought $69 a kilo prawns at Harris farm… I had to take out a 2^nd mortgage.
You also know its Christmas in Australia you get your first good sunburn of the year…
And of course everywhere you start to see Christmas lights…
I like those streets up in Davidson which is singularly responsible for the electricity shortages in the power grid…
Why lights? Well it’s the season to celebrate the light of the world, coming into the darkness…

Our theme this year… the light has come!

The Prophet Isaiah says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”
Jesus says, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
Jesus says to his disciples, “You are the light of the world.”

What if Christmas is about more than eating over priced prawns or decorating your house…

What if Christmas was about God bringing light into the darkness by sending Jesus into the world.
And what if Christmas is about the remarkable story of God filling his children with that light in order to bring hope to the world?

One of the things I am enjoying about being a Dad at this particular stage of my kids growing up is introducing them to all the movies I’ve enjoyed over the years.

And our current obsession, having done all of the Star Wars movies, series, stand alone films and TV shows… is… Lord of the Rings…

Admittedly getting the kids through each 3 hour films was a little challenging at first, but now having done the first two, they are pumped for the last.
And of course it tells the story of the battle for Middle earth, the hobbits and their little band of friends, taking on the evil forces of Mordor and Sauron…
So for the next 25 minutes I’d love to tell you the story of the Lord of the Rings… haha – no!
But of course the books were written by the practicing Christian JR Tolkein. And there are heaps of scenes that echo the bible’s story of light versus darkness.
Of course Jesus does not conquer with weapons, but with love… but the themes are still there.

Anyhow, one of the great scenes at the end of the 2^nd movie is the battle for Helms Deep. Who is with me?

And Gandalf the wizard has said to Aaragon the King in waiting, “Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day. At dawn look to the east.”
Well in true epic fashion, the evil troll army have almost defeated the good guys in the castle. All seems lost…

And then, right at the darkest moment, Gandalf the white appears with a huge army of reinforcements on the ridge at first light.

As the sun rises at dawn, so does the promised help appear, and the battle is turned decisively in favour of the good guys…
Gandalf the white… with the light of the sun behind him, defeats the forces of darkness…
It’s a cool moment…
And I think there is a reason that so many of our stories, echo the greatest story ever told!
We long for light to triumph over darkness, we long for good to overcome evil.

Well all through the bible there is this amazing motif of light and darkness…

If you want to understand the bible a great way is to follow a theme through the whole bible story…
Darkness representing all that is wrong and broken about the world and in us…
And light representing God’s presence, his character and our mission….

So from the beginning God separates the light from the darkness and it says, he saw that the light was good. Light brings order to chaos…

As he then forms a people, and God leads them out of slavery in Egypt. And God’s presence is light…

It says; “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.”
As Psalm 27 says, The LORD is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
So in the Old Testament God is associated with light…
And it is his light that guides us, that protects us and saves us

And the promise in Isaiah is that, they aint seen nothing yet! A great light is to come into the world…

Isaiah 9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

That is really what Christmas is all about – the coming of light into the world.

And I love that imagery of a light dawning upon our lives…
Humans of New York – Guy whose quote was Jesus helped me get off crack cocaine and now I own a window washing business… that is what Jesus does.
The light comes into our lives, saves us, transforms us and gives us hope!

So a light is to come into the world that will end the gloom for those living in distress…

And this light is linked to the actions of the people who bear God’s name…

Isaiah 42:5-7 “I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

So a great light is to come into the world… but God’s children also have an incredible role to play in spreading that light…

And what does that involve?
Well it says, his light breaks forth through us, healing the blind, freeing the captives, releasing those in darkness.
That is what God wants to encourage us to give our lives to, to be involved in, to care about, to speak on behalf of?
After all, Christianity is not about just getting saved and waiting to go to heaven!
Our faith is an invitation to follow the light of the world… and then to be the light of the world.

That was always God’s plan.

People may ask – Where is God this Christmas? So much darkness… war in Ukraine and floods and financial distress…
Let me tell you… he is working through his Spirit filled disciples to spread light into the world…
Nicolas Kristoff (NYT’s opinion piece writer) went looking for good news stories in dark places…
Although not a Christian himself he kept finding it was Christians on the front lines doing good work in the most difficult of places…
One of those in his article was my friends dad who worked as a surgeon in Angola through their civil war.
Following the light of the world, pretty quickly turns you into the light of the world.

And of course we are living in an environment where Christians are not always perceived as the good guys anymore… and sadly much of this is for sad and understandable reasons…

Article about the Salvation Army…
Angry comments – how dare the salvos believe things about human sexuality
But then there was one commenter who simply said: “Thank God for the salvos, they were the ones who picked me up out of the gutter when no one else would.”

You see that is the claim, that without God’s children at work in the world it plunges into darkness.

Would Manly miss us? Could it survive without us? Are we essential?
That seems to be the suggestion that the Prophet Isaiah makes…
That God’s children are meant to be the light of the world…
And without us, the world is plunged into darkness, it loses it moral core, its sense of right and wrong, the value of every individual as special…

The Prophet Isaiah says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Now at the time of writing this, God’s people were struggling to believe they had a hope or a future.

In Ch 59 they are asking where is God? Vs 9 we look for light but all is darkness…
So in chapter 60 the Prophet Isaiah reassures the people that God has not forgotten them and that their mission as a light to the world has not changed.
At this point in Israel’s history it is fair to say that there is nothing going forward from this point that suggests that they were functioning as a great light…
As one commentary puts it… “We meet with nothing in the history… which can be deemed a fulfillment of the prophecy in this chapter; we must conclude it relates principally to future events.”

Any ideas who that may be… clue 700 years later someone is born in a manger.

As that amazing song we sing at Christmas says…

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared And the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

So in Matthew 4 we read that the waiting is over. This new glorious morn has begun…

Now the author of this gospel is trying to make sense for us of the coming of Jesus, clearly there are miracles around his birth… something special is brewing…
So Matthew quote Isaiah… “People living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
That is what we are celebrating that the fulfillment of this prophecy has occurred!
Like Gandalf promising to come in the midst of the darkest moment of the battle to rescue, so Jesus is the promised one who comes into the world to defeat darkness.
It’s what makes Christmas such a wonderful time of the year…

Well let me finish by just reflecting on some of Isaiah 60:1-3

It says darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples

This is the reality of the world that we live in….

Westfield darkness and thieves… was there just one thief? Says something about the human condition…

So the world is a dark place…
The majority of the world do not know God, through Christ, in a saving, liberating way.
And the justice and freedom that comes from God’s people reflecting light is not a reality for billions of people.
Imagine living in the Ukraine right now or being a refugee fleeing the violence
Imagine living under the caste system in India or as a woman in Iran
And it is not just globally…. What about on the beaches?
I know we were so inspired by the work of Josie and Lighthouse Northern Beaches a few weeks ago… but it is also deeply saddening that her work even needs to exist
What a tragedy that so many in our community face domestic violence, homelessness and isolation.

The light has come and what we do is in response…

Into this darkness, God speaks to his people…

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”

The imagery is of the dawning of a new day
In Hebrew, shine and light are two forms of the same word. We could translate this “give light for your light has come.”
As Jesus has come to bring light, we reflect this light…
And to us he will then say, “You are the light of the world, let your light shine before others.”

Challenge us this year: where can you tilt the world around you towards light and away from darkness…

My guess is you can be part of a great cause… you can give your money and time to positive causes…
But my guess to is that you can tilt history towards the light by being present for someone, listening to someone, making time for someone…
Your light shines brightest, when inspired by Jesus we stop for the one… we invite people into our homes… we extend hospitality and friendship…
My challenge to us this year, is shine bright right where you are!

As we reflect light, the world is drawn into this great story!
Vs 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
This is our mission – Jesus calls us a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, the light of the world… reflecting God’s presence to the world around us.
And as we reflect the light of God’s presence and character living in us – the world is drawn to God.

Now I know that we as Christians need to let our actions do most of the talking…

But sometimes I just get so proud of you guys that I can’t help brag about what you are doing…
As it says in Ephesians 5, “everything that is illuminated becomes a light.”
You are some of the most illuminated people I know…
Not in a brainy way… well I’m sure you are all very illuminated in that way… but I am talking about how you shine in a dark world.
How you give and get involved with Homes of Hope International and their care for victims of sex trafficking.
How you love one another when someone is hurting or struggling
How you have given so generously to the Christmas appeal this year to help make Christmas a little better for those here on the Northern Beaches without.

That is the invitation this Christmas – behold the light of the world, Jesus coming into the darkness to show us the love of God…

And then as the children of God, reflect that light into a dark world…
Proclaim God’s saving love, advocate and work for justice and peace, being a light in your community!

2022 End of Year Sermon!

In this sermon Tim recaps an amazing year at Manly Life and calls us to remember what we have been taught and put it into action, do we look any different as a church or as individuals since the beginning of the year – have we grown in our faith? Let’s end the year well and join with what God is doing!

Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Sunday November 27, 2022.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

Welcome and introductions…

Well while the year comes into land… it feels a bit like things are taking off for Christmas at Manly Life… waterworks…
Gingerbread, Christmas kids production on 18^th, Christmas Eve and day
It’s been a big year and a good year. Seen people come to faith, baptisms, weekend away for our 10^th anniversary, some farewells but also lots of new people… weddings… babies…
It’s community… it is doing life together.
And doing life together also means the hard stuff… in the midst of community and friendship, we experience grief and struggles and pain…
Some of you will know we took Oli and Katie’s wedding on his family property in Eugowra a few weeks ago… floods…
What I’ve learned is that we are called to faithfulness, no matter what is going on, because we follow a good and faithful saviour.

Cass Mathew’s suggested in 2019 that I do a sermon summarizing all that we had learnt that year…

Which I did in 2019…
That year we did the Book of Proverbs about wisdom and then the Book of Revelation… then in 2020 the world turned a bit Book of Revelation…
Haha… but the following two years I can basically summarize as Covid sucks and online church is not the future…
So back to this year… and despite some limitations and a bit of mask wearing at the start of the year… has been somewhat back to normal.

Q: What have we done this year? Can anyone remember our series or talks?

In fairness, sometimes by Tuesday I have forgotten what I preached on the last Sunday…
And its actually one of the reasons we are so keen for everyone to be in a Life Group, because the Sunday passage is studied and discussed… and that helps it go in a bit deeper…
Well we did two major series this year… one called What Did Jesus Teach? on the Sermon on the Mount and one on the Holy Spirit as God’s empowering presence.
So how do you summarize that?
Maybe something like… what life in the Kingdom of heaven looks like… and then how to be empowered to live that life in the kingdom.

But the Sermon on the Mount as this amazing three chapters of Jesus teaching in Matthews gospel of what life looks like as children of God as citizens of the kingdom of heaven!

Of course my favourite sermon in that series was when I just read the Sermon on the Mount, all 15 minutes of it, in full… that certainly cut down my preparation time.
But we get this radical, upside down life that followers of Jesus are called to live
And at the end of the sermon he says those who put my words into practice are like wise people who build their house on the rock.
The idea being that there will be storms in life, so build your life wisely so that it wont come crashing down.
And so much gold in the sermon on the mount…
The blessed life described in the beatitudes, the call to love our enemies and forgive those who sin against us… to be people who seek first the kingdom of God…

And then the Holy Spirit series where we looked at different ways, God’s presence comes to empower the Christ in us life of you and me, and the church

I thought that was just such a good series for our church…
Because not only did we learn about the Holy Spirit, but we got so many opportunities to receive and be filled with the Spirit
And to give things a go… praying for someone… using our gifts…
Being filled with the love of God… asking for the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us!
Moment at a worship night… prophetic words, praying for healing, God touching people’s lives… happy Pastor…

You know one of the big things that us Baptists have always gone on about is the priesthood of all believers…

The idea being, that in the church everyone has a role to play… not just some super anointed guy in a white suit.
So as we get filled with the presence of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, we can minister to one another, and to the world around us!

So there you go… the Sermon on the Mount, the Holy Spirit…

If its your first time at Manly Life today, then you’ve basically caught up on all we have done this year…
Be good and be filled with God…

Today is also a baptism service!

Right after the service finishes we are going to head into the courtyard and baptise Cornelis…

For Victoria and I, and us as a church community, there can be no greater joy than seeing people put their trust in Jesus and decide to follow him as their Lord and saviour.
And this year we also baptised Trish and Hope – so good!
But one of the joys in leading a church is having people like Cornelis in our community. He and Maren have been such a blessing to us and their Life Group.
And to see this Dutch water engineer be so on fire for Jesus has just been wonderful.

Baptism is this amazing Christian proclamation about who you are following and new life you have in Christ.

Jesus was of course baptized…
And in the early church when someone heard the good news of the gospel and responded, they were then baptised.
And what it symbolizes in going under the water is a participation in the death of Jesus
And then rising out of the water, participating in Jesus resurrection and the promise of new life.
Dying to your sins, and rising to new life in Christ. So cool. It says I belong to Jesus.

So for Cornelis today, he has put his trust in Jesus as Lord!

I love that word Lord… not one we use that term much these days… We don’t go around greeting people My Lord and my Lady…
But as we learnt a bit last week – In the ancient world Caesar was Lord. That was the Roman emperor who ruled a huge swath of the known world.
It meant he was sovereign and in control. Indeed he was seen as a God on earth. You find coins saying Caesar is Lord.
So it means you are under his jurisdiction… his rules for living, his kingdom.
If you wanted to live in Rome as a citizen of the Empire… you followed Caesar’s decree’s.
So in our Sermon on the Mount series we saw what it looks like to live for a different King!

And that has always been the confession we make to become Christians…

It is the confession of Thomas after he meets Jesus, risen from the dead. He goes “My Lord and my God…”

It is in the book of Acts – most basic confession signifying someone is a Christian.
Peter in the cracking first sermon that leads to 3,000 people believing and getting baptized says “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!”
He says, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
So what I will ask these Cornelis before being baptized is do you confess Jesus as your Lord and saviour?
Is he your king and do you want to live in his kingdom?

And this is a big call!

Not like changing from coke to pepsi, or changing from being a goth to a hipster, or changing from riding short boards to long boards…
You are making a call about who is your king! Whom you will serve.
Who is the main hope, the main shaper, the main authority in your life.

In doing so much NT and Jesus this year, hopefully you’ve seen that it is a demanding message.

Of course our tendency is to set the bar so low for following Jesus so as to make it palatable
Sometimes I think we get confused and think our mission is to make Jesus popular.
You know… its ok to be cool and Christian because Jesus is cool…
I mean if Justin Bieber is a Christian… then…
And of course we are saved by grace, not what we achieve or our own moral uprightness…
But sometimes in our desire to make faith accessible we set the bar pretty low for what trusting and following Jesus looks like.

And the result of course is that Christians become basically indistinguishable from the rest of the world…

In other words, who is Lord would be hard to tell…
A good question is: have you begun to shape the world around you, or is the world around you still shaping you?
Alive fish swim against the tide, dead ones float down stream with everything else…
The technical terms for this is syncretism… its where you basically adopt and blend in with your Christianity, opposing views and values…
So your faith should make a difference… it should set you apart!

In the spirit of setting the bar nice and low, here are some things Jesus never said…

John 8 to the woman caught in adultery; “Neither do I condemn you, now go lead a very sinful life…”

Then there was the time Jesus didn’t teach us to pray in the Sermon on the Mount; “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name… now give me what I want… gimme, gimme, gimme…”
Or my favourite; “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice (when it suits them), is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Well, what we have learned from Jesus this year is how to live well in the kingdom of God, as God’s children…

I guess these are my charges to Trish and Hope and Cornelis this year, but also for all of us today.
Come to this Jesus as your Lord and then live well and empowered in his kingdom.
You will be turned right side up, you will have your heart reoriented towards good, you will learn a solid foundation that will help you endure the storms of life!

So the establishing of the kingdom of God was Jesus main focus! Do a word search – it is amazing how often it comes up!

Jesus said I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom
He said; The kingdom is here
The kingdom is within you
Go and proclaim the kingdom
Heal the sick and tell them the kingdom of God has come near
Pray Our Father in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done.
The kingdom has come upon you
Seek his Kingdom and these things will be given to you
What’s the kingdom of God like? Its like a mustard seed, its like yeast
Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast of the kingdom
The good news of the kingdom is being preached
Know that the kingdom of God is near
I confer on you a kingdom
Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom
Get it yet? And this is all just from Luke’s gospel…

Someone at my swim group was asking me something about some obscure doctrine the other day.

I must admit I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said “I don’t know?”
But I can tell you about the kingdom of God. This is what Jesus came to establish. It is simply a reality where God is king and things are restored.
See you got to minor on the minors and major on the majors.
And guys if you want to know what the main game is – it is… the kingdom!

Mark 1:14 NIV

“Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come”, he said, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.”

Dallas Willard paraphrases that verse

“Jesus then came into Galilee announcing the good news from God. ‘All the preliminaries have been taken care of’ he said, ‘and the rule of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.”

So what is this remarkable opportunity?

Growing up, one of my favourite film series was Back to the future – you know Michael J Fox…

But one of the protagonists Biff Tannen steals the time machine, goes to the future and when he comes back…
He gives his younger self a book containing 50 years of sports statistics
The young Biff uses this to amass an enormous gambling fortune and transform idyllic Hill Valley into a living hell.
Biff brings back something from the future and that changes everything…

So in initiating the Kingdom of God, Jesus does this (but instead of using it to bring back a bad future… Jesus brings God’s good future into our world today)…

The kingdom was this future hope Israel had where God would heal the sick, end suffering, bring forgiveness and grace. Basically it is heaven.
In sending Jesus into the world, God is sending his son to release the future now!
That is why our main prayer is let your kingdom come!
Our prayer is to be; God, release this future restoration in the here and now!
Let this kingdom where your rule is perfect, come here in our broken world today!

So that is the remarkable new opportunity – to live under God’s future rule, right here and now!

Jesus spills the future out onto people… the restoration at the end, breaks into the now.

So we watch it tip out on people. As the kingdom is announced and demonstrated…
On the woman caught in adultery…she receives grace and truth
To the lame: Get up and walk!
To the blind: Open your eyes and see!
To the lost and broken: Your sins are forgiven!
And the ethics of the kingdom: Love your neighbor as yourself!
Forgive those who sin against you!

But to get in on what God is doing (this remarkable new opportunity) we are told we must repent and believe…

So repent: see it has all been good news, but what about now? You may ask – does that mean I have to repent, what do you mean I have to change things?

I read a good definition of sin: It’s the difference between how our lives are, and what they should be.
I think as we reflect on our lives… we know there is a gap!
I remember when I came to follow Jesus this conviction that my life was not as it should be.
I wasn’t treating people the right way, I was living for myself, I was easily swayed!
My life was out of sync with God’s intention for it.
Like a fish on a bicycle. Not what it was created for or to do.

And the clearest sign that we have repented is our lives are lining up with the kingdom…

That the gap between how are lives should be, and how they are, is closing.
Not just about saying sorry…
Sorry is easy, turning your life in a new direction is the challenge…

Many year ago in my other life as a corporate titan in London I used to do a lot of travel for work in Europe

Getting lost in Switzerland… crossing the boarder into France…
Saying sorry or feeling bad about going in the wrong direction isn’t going to help…
Need to turn around and drive in the right direction with the right map to follow…
To follow Jesus is to turn around, and embrace the direction and God’s will for our lives.

When his Gospel gets hold of us we cannot help but change… the more we learn, the more God is at work in our lives, the more we will want to re-orient our lives towards Jesus.

I wonder if you need to do that today? To believe and turn around.
Heading in the wrong direction, out of sync
Jesus wants to pour the future into your present.
To bring the love of God into our lives…
To bring healing and restoration into your life.
Turn your life over to Jesus, and let him be Lord.

Finally, we spend the rest of our lives working out what our citizenship in heaven means…

So we’ve come to believe he is Lord, we have turned from our sin… and then we become children of God who take on the family likeness…
Ephesians 2… says… “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers (no longer on the outside of all of this), but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.”
And that citizenship is the best passport you will ever have. It is becoming a citizen of heaven, that is citizens in a new kingdom with a new King.
Paul will encourage you simply in Philippians as citizen of heaven: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel.

So to all of us, to Cornelis, when the Gospel gets a hold of your life remarkable things begin to happen.

It doesn’t mean all of life becomes easy
I mean in the sermon on the mount Jesus said you’re blessed when you are persecuted for his sake and for living righteously…
It doesn’t mean we see the fullness of the kingdom – that will happen when we pass away into glory
But it does mean God is now alive in you… Changing your character, forgiving your sins, and giving you a purpose
Pouring this future hope into your lives now.
And that friends, is the year in review! Bring on Christmas…

Amen.

Sermon – Grace and Truth

In this sermon Tim unpacks how Jesus perfectly balances grace and truth in his relationship with us and how we can rely on the Holy Spirit to guide as we relate to each other with grace and truth!

Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Sunday November 20, 2022.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

SERMON NOTES:

Romans 2 All in the Same Boat

Introduce myself…

I want to talk today about our posture towards the world, as Christians

And as I observe… often a bit from the side lines it is often a debate between grace and truth…

So as we approach difficult ethical and pastoral issues, particularly where our culture has moved so rapidly in one direction…

And we stumbling… but hopefully faithfully, do our best to be a church that is defined by grace and truth

I want to Read from Romans 3 in the Message version…

Verse 9: So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They’ve all taken the wrong turn; they’ve all wandered down blind alleys. No one’s living right; I can’t find a single one. Their throats are gaping graves, their tongues slick as mudslides. Every word they speak is tinged with poison. They open their mouths and pollute the air. They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year, litter the land with heartbreak and ruin. Don’t know the first thing about living with others. They never give God the time of day.

Verse 21; But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Romans is a remarkable letter that Paul writes to the first believers in Rome.

In the ancient world we don’t find the word Gospel very often. The main time it was used was when a new Emperor came to power.

And he is Lord because although he was crucified, he is now risen from the dead!

And the reason was simple. Jesus Christ is Lord was not just something to learn about, but something to experience…

And the good news of Jesus being Lord was an invitation to become a child of God.

Romans 2:4 says; (don’t you know that) God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

So in order to receive this radical life change of following Jesus as Lord… what are we called to turn from? What is it we are being rescued from?

So I would say there are broadly 3 things that Paul goes after in order to get to the good news…

Well Paul starts with idolatry.

So then Paul goes after two more. And he wants us to see that we are all in the same boat when it comes to needing rescue. So lets look at them…

The next is a judgemental mentality, whereby you think that because you know the truth about God you are better than everyone else.

A couple of years ago you may have remembered hearing about a website called Ashley Madison where married people can organise to have an affair…

OK, so after addressing the judgemental mentality Paul then goes after the third thing: that really no one is without excuse because doing the right thing should be obvious but no one can really do it…

Romans 3:9-12

“Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it: There’s nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They’ve all taken the wrong turn; they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.

Now this is not a popular thing to conclude, particularly in the market place of ideas…

So where does that lead us… I would suggest in the same situation… all needing rescue…

When I was in Africa I remember a friend telling a story about them as children swimming in the local river.

Often we find ourselves in that same place, trying desperately to rescue ourselves only to eventually falling into the arms of God…

And remember that it is God’s kindness that can then be revealed leading to our repentance…

Those of us who have put our faith and hope for security in idols…
The self righteous who think they are better than everyone else.
The rest of us who really should know better… but still stuff up.

As I mentioned, I think the best example of truth and grace in Jesus is found in John 8 in the story of the woman caught in adultery… and she is dragged before Jesus…

Imagine the deep feeling of fear and shame that would have swept over her… probably felt similar to a number of users of Ashley Madison. Caught!
But picture the scene, Jesus the wandering teacher and healer… the condemning crowds… the fearful woman… the baffled disciples…
For those who know the story, wouldn’t you give anything to know what Jesus wrote in the dust…
And yet in calling those without sin to cast the first stone… and then saying to the woman, “neither do I condemn you, now go and leave you life of sin”…
Not only did the lives of those there get changed, but I believe the world changed.
Grace and truth took on flesh and dwelt amongst us..
And all of us discovered that really we all live in the same boat… needing and ready to be rescued.

Romans 3:22-24 Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

Tim, why are you a Christian…

The answer is Jesus.
Why do you believe in grace… the answer is Jesus…
Why do you cling to sound doctrine and truth… the answer is Jesus…
Tim, why do you hang out with sinners… the answer is Jesus
Tim, why don’t you just move with the times… the answer is Jesus.
Tim you are leaning too far into grace without truth… or Tim you are leaning too far into truth without grace… the answer is… well I’m not Jesus… I don’t always get it right…
But I’m trying to listen to his Spirit that lives in me… the Spirit of truth and grace.

One final implication for all of us… Can I suggest that the people of God should look and smell and sound like something…

We don’t hear in the gospels about the condemning men or the adulterous woman again.
But I have some guesses about their lives… at least the ones whom the gospel got a hold of their lives…
The men: I imagine they became a little more humble… and slower to condemn others
The woman: I imagine she was very grateful… that someone had rescued her at this greatest moment of shame… and I imagine she started a whole new life as a disciple of Jesus.

And doesn’t all of this then change our posture towards the world?

The idolaters, the judgemental, the serial sinners… actually just all in the same boat.
And so shaped by the one who came in grace and truth…
We too try and posture our hearts and lives, and attitudes and words to be like this!
That is who we are as a church, as the people of God…
We don’t always get it right… but I hope we try…
Ultimately to be like Jesus, knowing… hoping that extravagant grace… and unchanging truth…
That, that will lead to the radical life change that only the gospel can bring!

Amen?

Exodus 20:8 Sermon – Sabbath and Rest

In this sermon unpacks the Biblical principle and command, Sabbath! How do we obey God and fit into His rhythms by allowing ourselves top rest, and what does that look like? Victoria encourages us to make this a priority so we can serve God with endurance and full of the Spirit!

Sermon preached by Victoria Giovanelli on Sunday November 13, 2022.

05/02/23 – John 12:20-33 Following Jesus & Intro – by Tim Giovanelli – The Farewell Discourse Series – Manly Life Church Podcast

SERMON NOTES

How good was the anniversary weekend?

I was so overwhelmed looking back on what the Lord has done in our midst

All the testimonies
All the provision
How true is psalm 16:11 You make known to (us) the path of life;
you will fill (us) with joy in your presence (Lord)
There was so much joy in that place!
I think we need to celebrate more often
So shall we do it all again this weekend? Ask staff to stand and give them a hand.

We are diving back into our series on the glorious riches found in Christ Jesus and today I want to teach on the glorious riches of rest found in Christ.

So get cosy, chill out and soak it in, because the rhythms and promises of God are good.

Now what do you do when you get an invitation to an event that you long to attend?

Well at first your heart leaps with excitement/or joy
You check your calendar, make sure you are available and then dedicate that time to the event.
Get babysitting if you have kids
You work out what you’re going to wear, spend time getting yourself ready – unless your my husband and you seem to just throw anything on 5min before leaving for the event and somehow look awesome
Then you show up, you’re present
You enjoy the moment

What if God sent you an invitation… an invitation to rest?

Would we clear our calendars?
Would we ready ourselves for it?
Would we show up? Be present and enjoy the moment?

I believe in a world where we are so hurried and busy and constantly distracted by all the things, the to-do list, our social media accounts, the need for accomplishment and productivity, that we actually find it really hard to enter into this invitation even though it’s the very thing our souls so desperately need.

Saint Augustine writing at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire said this about God: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Do you know a rhythm of rest was embedded into very universe by God at the very beginning?

So let’s begin by starting there…

Gen 2:1-2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God rested. God blessed that day and called it holy.

This seventh day is called Sabbath and it appears with this title in the 10 Commandments in Exo 20:8

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

This doesn’t mean that God was tired and needed a rest. We know that God is omnipotent, literally “all-powerful.” He has all the power in the universe, He never tires, and nothing he does diminishes His power one bit.

This word Sabbath comes to us from the Hebrew word Shabbat. The word literally means “to stop.” The Sabbath is simply a day to stop: stop working, stop worrying, stop doing, stop buying, just stop.

A.J.Swoboda wrote this: (The Sabbath) has largely been forgotten by the church which has uncritically mimicked the rhythms of the industrial and success obsessed West. The result? Our weary, exhausted churches have largely failed to integrate Sabbath into their lives as vital elements of Christian discipleship (ouch). It is not as though we do not love God – we love God deeply. We just do not know how to sit with God anymore.

He continued (if you can handle some more): We have become perhaps the most emotionally exhausted, psychologically overworked, spiritually malnourished people in history.

I think there’s some truth in what he’s saying.

See if we are honest, most of us don’t know how to Sabbath anymore, or even if we should? But God says: Remember the Sabbath day remember to rest. It’s so important he puts it in the 10 commandments.

Maybe you can relate to some of these reasons that Author and Pastor John Mark Comer in his book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (which I think is one of the most important books of our age – and inspired this sermon) He echoes back to us these excuses…

“Yeah, I’m not really into the Sabbath. I’m an extrovert and I just like to stay busy…”

But God rested.

“Yeah, I get the Sabbath thing, but I work a demanding job that I love, and I just can’t make the time because there is too much to get done…”

God rested.

“Yeah, but I have two kids at home, and it’s just not really doable right now. Maybe later when…”

God rested.

If God rested then just maybe rest is beneficial for you to. You see he built a rhythm into the DNA of creation. A tempo, a beat. God worked for six, rested for one.

When we fight this, (pause) we go against the natural rhythms of a God ordained creation.

The last time a society abandoned the 7-day week was during the revolution in France.

They switched to a 10-day work week to up productivity.
And?
Disaster.
The economy crashed, the suicide rate skyrocketed, and productivity? It went down.

In fact, once you work a certain number of hours in a week your productivity plummets. Wanna know what that number is? 50 hours. Ironic: that’s about a six day work week. Could God be speaking to us even through our bodies?

Some of you are probably thinking right about now – but I don’t work 6 days, I have a two day weekend – but what does that weekend look like? How much of it is spent rushing from here to there, catching up on chores, filled to the brim with events – when do you actually stop and cease and be?

Sabbath is a rhythm of rest ordained by God woven into the very fabric of the universe.

So Let’s now dive a little deeper into what Sabbath actually looks like…

There is a second main Hebrew word used for rest in the Bible. Which is nuakh. This means to “dwell” or “settle.” This is not the same as clocking out from an hourly job. This type of rest is like sitting in front of a fire with a loved one.

God introduces the ideas of shabbat and nuakh right around the same time in Scripture. In the creation account, God works for six days and rests, shabbats, then only a few verses later, we read that God creates humans and then immediately “rests them” or “settles them” (nuakh) in the garden with him.

The structure communicates a link between the concepts of shabbat and nuakh—they are connected. God leads by example as he rests from work (shabbat), and then he dwells (nuakh) with his people.

“God Blessed the 7^th day and made it holy.”

How could a day be holy?

Original audience – their Gods were found in space not time.
In a temple, on a mountain, in a shrine.
But this God, our one true creator God could be found in a day
If you want to go meet with him, you just have to set aside a day of the week to Shabbat, to stop long enough to experience him.

Missy Takano is a missionary with Teach Beyond who puts it like this:

Sabbath rest is an invitation to practice for eternity in God’s presence. It is an act of regular and intentional trust of God’s rule on Earth. We shabbat in order to nuakh. When we practice this purposeful pause, we make room for God to take up residence in our individual lives and communities. And when we do this, we take part in the new creation story, setting the stage for God to make his dwelling place once again on Earth.

Isn’t that beautiful!
By ceasing to work we say God I trust you to provide! I trust in your rule and reign over my life and the coming promise of eternal communion with you.

Next: Shabbat can also be translated as “to delight”. It is about stopping and enjoying God, enjoying creation and our lives in this world.

A spirit of restfulness comes from learning to abide, with God, with creation, with each other. It’s about connection.

You don’t need to lock yourself up in your house and not see anyone and just pray all day. Sabbath is much broader than that! Sabbath is life giving when we stop…

To delight in the world…
In our lives in it…
And above all, in God himself.

Now if I haven’t convinced you enough already about the benefits of Sabbath rest let me tell you this…

A survey was done by a doctor who cited the happiest people on earth.
Near the top of the list was a group of Christians called 7^th day Adventists, who are religious, literally about keeping the Sabbath. The doctor quoted that they lived 10 years longer than the average American.
If you do the math, and Sabbath every seven days, it adds up to… wait for it… 10 years over a lifetime. Almost exactly.
If this study is to believed, every day you Sabbath, you’re statistically lengthening your life!
The Sabbath truly is life giving!

So the Sabbath is about ceasing, abiding and delighting.

Let’s dig a little deeper into this Exodus passage to understand it further:

Sabbath as a command Exo passage

The sabbath is only one of the 10 commandments with a why behind it. God doesn’t say don’t murder and here’s why it’s bad…
But for Sabbath, God goes back to the Genesis story, calling his people into the “rhythms of grace”.
Comer: I find it fascinating that the Sabbath is the only spiritual discipline that makes it into the Ten Commandments. Not church or Bible reading, not even prayer. Sabbath is the anchor discipline of the people of God. So crucial that God lovingly commands us to remember to rest.
I had a brief but interesting chat with Joey the other week where he said it wasn’t the big encounter moments that keep him strong in his faith as great as they are, it is actually the daily, weekly spiritual disciplines that are the things that enrich and awaken his soul the most. And actually the things he has learnt to treasure the most.
Spiritual disciplines are a blessing to our lives not a burden.
A rhythm which brings life to our bodies, minds and souls.

Now, in this passage this day is described as “A Sabbath to the Lord”

or set apart for the Lord.
It’s not just a day for rest it’s also a day for worship, yes singing at church but so much more than that.
Comer asks some great questions when it comes to planning his Sabbath which I found really helpful. He runs the choices of the day’s activities through this question – Is it rest or is it worship? I found that really helpful. Or what could I do today that would fill my soul with joy?
Sabbath will look very different for a single adult living a high paced life in manly, compared to a parent of 5 kids, or a retiree, or a young adult at uni… it will look different for all of us.
Can I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to pastor you and guide you in finding the rhythms of rest and worship for you and your family

So, Sabbath is a rhythm of rest ordained by God woven into the very fabric of the universe.

Sabbath is about ceasing, abiding and delighting.

And, the Sabbath is a command, a day for rest and worship, it is holy and life giving.

My experience as a teacher and I am sure many teachers can relate is that we often go hard all term long, we stretch our hours, we work weekends, we mark papers at night and we think I just got to make it to the holidays. And then the holidays arrive and we crash, our bodies go down – we get sick so we don’t actually fully enjoy the holidays or at least the start of them. Rest comes at us as discipline instead of delight.

Most of us suck at getting these daily rhythms of rest, that God knows we need spiritually and physically into our lives – and I am totally a work in progress on this, but I’m getting better at it and it’s amazing!

And it’s not just Sabbath
But even starting our days in quiet time, communing with God, working out of rest and spiritual fullness
Did you know the Jewish day actually starts at sunset – so the first thing they probably do is feast and then sleep – work comes after rest and out of rest.

Walter Brueggeman has this great line: “People who keep sabbath live all seven days differently.”

Sabbath rest is how you prepare your body and mind for living the rest of the week.

What did Jesus have to say about Sabbath and rest?

Quite a lot actually.
But let me hone in on this…

In the Gospel of Matthew, we see a series of connected stories where Jesus is confronted by Israel’s religious leaders and teachers. On one Sabbath day, the leaders object to Jesus’ friends picking corn as they’re walking through a field. In a loving rebuke Jesus says:

Mark 2:27 The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was made FOR MAN. Created and designed by God himself – “for” us. A gift to be enjoyed.

Jesus was having a go at the religious culture of the time that had put so many rules and burdens on people around the Sabbath practice
Our culture is the opposite – we aren’t legalistic about Sabbath, our culture doesn’t even acknowledge or recognise it and sadly many Christians don’t either – and we therefore miss the blessings that come with it.

Matthew records these Sabbath controversies immediately after quoting Jesus’ words about rest.

Matt 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

All this talk of rest right before a passage that deals with Sabbath? This is no mistake. The people have become weary and burdened by the heavy weight of observing the Sabbath, following the letter of the law while missing God’s intent behind the command.

Jesus clarifies for them and for us. The people are in need of rest—to stop hard work (shabbat) and be present with God (nuakh). And Jesus is here to usher in the full promise. He is God’s rest, and the people can come to him and find the fullness of rest that God intended.

Matt 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath – The Sabbath points to Jesus, the promised one who would come to mercifully restore the rhythm of all creation.

When we observe the Sabbath, we live as if this restoration has already taken place. We take a break from the broken rhythms of hustle and hardship to set aside a time to honor God, enjoy his presence, and extend rest to the world around us.

The wisdom of these laws remains, and the law of the Sabbath is rich with significance for us today. Sabbath is not just a commandment we are bound to; it’s a promise we’re invited to enjoy.

I want to end with some practical tips on how to maybe approach doing Sabbath.

There is a discipline to the Sabbath that is really hard for a lot of us. It takes intentionality, it won’t just happen.

You see Sabbath is also a day of resistance.

Against the exhausting rhythms of consumerism, of our need to achieve more, consume more, have more, do more.
Above all we need to slow down long enough to enjoy life with God, who offers everything that materialism promises but can never deliver on –especially contentment.

You will need capacity to say no to a list of good things so you can say yes to the best thing.

It is a statement to ourselves that there are other things in life besides producing and consuming. And that there is more to our identity than what we do or what we produce.

So, firstly recognise the battle for your attention:

Can I suggest you turn off your phone?? For a full 24 hrs. Don’t freak out.
There is a battle for your attention and plans of the enemy to keep you so distracted that you never take the time to tune into the presence of the creator
One of those greatest distractions is social media and our phones.
I’ve started putting my phone in downtime mode for 24 hours over the Sabbath – I can still receive calls and texts but every other app shuts down – some may think that is terrifying, but I find it liberating! It helps me enter rest…

Then what…

To begin just set aside a day, it can be Saturday or Sunday – we can debate that later, do what works.
Ask the Holy Spirit to come and pastor you into his presence
And then? Rest and worship –– don’t over complicate it or get too religious about it – remember it’s for you and meant to be enjoyed.
What will help you enjoy God’s presence? – maybe it’s a walk through nature, maybe its reading a book, maybe it’s feasting with the family and sharing what you are grateful for…
The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight – it should be the best day of the week, the one we look forward to the most. A day when we feast, play, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk and watch creation in its fullness.
What will stir up wonder, awe, gratitude and communion with God in your heart?

Jesus says: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Let’s play our part in responding to that invitation.

Comer: I feel free. Free from the need to do more, get more, be more. Free from the spirit – the evil, demonic spirit – of restlessness that enslaves our society. I feel another spirit, the Holy Spirit, of restful calm settle over my whole person. And I find that my ordinary life is enough.

Sabbath is a rhythm of rest ordained by God woven into the very fabric of the universe.

Sabbath is about ceasing, abiding and delighting.

The Sabbath is a command and an invitation, a day for rest and worship, it is holy and life giving.

Mustard Seed & Vision – 10th Birthday Sermon

In this sermon Tim kicks off us our recent tenth b’day celebrations at ICMS with a sermon full of vision and talking about the parable of the mustard seed! Unfortunately the last part of the sermon is missing, but you get the main message!

Sermon preached by Tim Giovanelli on Saturday November 5, 2022.