Science

Practicing the Bible not Biblicism

Nov 26 2016

Practicing the Bible not Biblicism

(audio sermon)

The Bible says ‘greet one another with a holy kiss.’ Must we, or is that cultural? Should we preach ancient culture as applicable today? This sermon is about practicing God’s enduring word rather than the ancient expressions it is wrapped in.

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Jesus and the Sad-you-sees

Jun 27 2013

Jesus and the Sad-you-sees

Matthew 22:23-33

The Sadducees were the Jewish materialists of Jesus’ day. They rejected belief in life-after-death, resurrection, angels and other spirit beings (Acts 23:8). As far as they were concerned this was the only life there was and you needed to make the most of it. Knowing Jesus was the latest inform preacher drawing all the crowds they decided to challenge him in public with their latest argument which went like this: ‘Belief in resurrection contradicts Moses’ law which requires a man to marry the widow of his deceased brother. If a woman married two or more men, who would she belong to at the resurrection?’ This was obviously a challenging argument in those days, the Pharisees (who believed in resurrection) claimed the woman would belong to her first husband. But this was not very convincing, and I can see the Sadducees winking at each other in confidence while Jesus’ disciples looked at up at him in horror and dismay.
Materialists today often ask similar questions. A favourite goes like this: ‘If science can explain it, how can Christians say God did it?’ More

Honesty with Scripture

May 2 2013

Honesty with Scripture

Matthew 15:1-13, 16:5-12

Jesus often got angry with the religious leaders of his day. One of the things that angered him most was their traditions. Their traditions were their rules and practices that they imposed on everyone based on their interpretation of scripture. On one occasion Jesus said to them, “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditions.” This was when the Pharisees accused him and his disciples of not washing their hands before eating. There is no command in scripture telling ordinary Jews to do this. The priests were to wash their hands before starting work in the temple each day and some of this work involved handling food, but the Pharisees had transferred this command to everyone. It was a typical example of the law being taken beyond what was intended by those who were zealous to uphold it.
We don’t think of the modern church as having traditions, especially one’s that nullify the word of God, but we do! We have our own extra-biblical ideas of what we consider clean and unclean, and like the Pharisees we place unnecessary burdens on the people we are trying to reach. I would like to discuss two traditions found in most of our Evangelical churches that really bother me.
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