Merredin Uniting Church

The following is the handout that was given out to go with Rev David de Kock’s sermon “The Ten Words of Grace”.

1. They are rooted in a relationship with God

2. They outline human response to the grace of God

3. They move faith from the abstract to the actual by specifying behaviour

TEN IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1. Do you honor anything or anyone above the one true God?
2. Has God been replaced by something physical or material in your life?
3. Have you dishonored God’s name by using it in a frivolous manner?
4. Is your work more important than your relationship with God?
5. Do you honor your father and mother?
6. Do you value human life?
7. Have you kept your marriage vows?
8. Do you respect other’s rights of ownership?
9. Do you tell the truth?
10. 10. Are you content with what you have or do you covet the possessions, relationships and successes of others?”

4. They require personal responsibility for the well being of the community

5. They illustrate the connection between our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with each other

By Rev David de Kock (Evening service)

In the introduction to her book, The Ten Commandments, Dr. Laura Schlessinger writes; “Each day we make many, seemingly minute decisions about things that don’t really seem earth shattering. So what if we broke a promise? So what if we find passion in another bed while we or they are still married? So what if we are too focused on work, TV, or clubs to spend time with our family? So what if religion is not a big deal in our lives? When one adds up all the so-what’s,” one ends up with a life without direction, meaning, purpose, value, integrity, or long-range joy.”

I doubt that you can find another passage in the Bible that so concisely, clearly and compassionately outlines the grace of God and the response to that grace human beings are called to make than the Ten Commandments.

So lets turn to Exodus 20 and read verses 1-17.
And God spoke all these words:

^?2? “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ^?3? “You shall have no other gods before me.

^?4? “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ^?5? You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ^?6? but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^?7? “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

^?8? “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ^?9? Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ^?10? but 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ^?11? For 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.

^?12? “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. ^?13? “You shall not murder. ^?14? “You shall not commit adultery. ^?15? “You shall not steal. ^?16? “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

^?17? “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

I want to about why the Ten Commandments are so important. Any document that has lasted as long and has exerted as much influence on humanity as this one must have something going for it.
1. They are rooted in a relationship.
Look at Exodus 19:4 – 6.
^?4? ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ^?5? Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ^?6? you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

These are not arbitrary laws that require blind obedience to an invisible authoritarian. Vs.5 says, “If you keep my covenant.” A covenant is a sacred promise between two parties. You can have a contract without having a relationship. But you can’t have a covenant without one. The Ten Commandments are like a wedding vow in many ways.
God pledges his power and love and promises and presence to Israel. In turn, God expects Israel’s loyalty to himself and compassion toward others. God didn’t jot down the Ten Commandments then answer Israel’s question, “Why should we do this?” by saying, “Because I told you so.” Often, God does tell his people to obey because, “I am the Lord.” But even then his commands are predicated on this relationship. The Ten Commandments are built on responsibility. God is as bound by them as we are.

That’s why, in part, the Ten Commandments don’t work with people who don’t have a relationship with God. Why should a person avoid stealing if he or she doesn’t acknowledge the God who said, “Thou shalt not steal.”? Why should a person honor their marriage commitments if they haven’t already made a commitment to the God who said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”?

The power of the Ten Commandments lies not in the fact that they are laws, but in that they are descriptions of how people live in relationship with God. It is true that they are law. But more than that, they are words that describe a relationship.

2. The Ten Commandments outline human response to the grace of God.
Exodus 19:1- 2 uses the word ” After” twice. In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on the very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. ^?2? After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

After what? Vs. 4 answers that question. “After I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.”

And Exodus 20:2 says “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Before God ever commands them to do anything or to refrain from doing anything, he saves them. Moses did not show up in Egypt with two stone tablets and say, “If you guys will agree to obey all these commands, God will deliver you from Egyptian slavery.” He showed up and said, “God has heard your cry and has sent me to deliver you.” Then, and only then, did God outline the response Israel was to make.

Exodus 19:4- 5 outline this order perfectly. Vs. 4 says, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.”
Vs. 5 says, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” Deliverance first. Commandment second.

And you remember what happened just 40 days after they first received the commands? They decided to violate at least the first two of them by building the golden calf and having a pagan party. And what did God do? He forgave them and reissued the commands. That’s grace.

One objection we sometimes make about studying the Ten Commandments is that the law was nailed to the cross. We are saved by grace, not law, so why are we having a sermon on the ultimate example of law?
Well, even Paul in Romans, said that the law is good. But the law doesn’t save us, it does however describe how saved people respond to the grace that saved them.

3. The Ten Commandments move faith from the abstract to the actual by specifying behavior.
If you were to do a nationwide survey and ask people, “Do you believe in God?” I’ll bet the numbers would surprise you. A huge percentage would say, “Yes, absolutely, I believe in God.” But then if you examined their lives you’d find that what they profess to believe and how they live show very little correlation. I can say to Margie, “I love you.” But if I never act out that love in specific, concrete behavior, my words are empty.
Faith, like love, is too easily kept in the realm of theory. The Ten Commandments don’t allow us to claim belief in God without demonstrating that belief in concrete actions and behaviors. They require us to affirm our faith in the daily grind of living.

So instead of, “Do you believe in God?” the Ten Commandments ask us ten questions,

1. Do you honor anything or anyone above the one true God?

2. Has God been replaced by something physical or material in your life?

3. Have you dishonored God’s name by using it in a frivolous manner?

4. Is your work more important than your relationship with God?

5. Do you honor your father and mother?

6. Do you value human life?

7. Have you kept your marriage vows?

8. Do you respect other’s rights of ownership?

9. Do you tell the truth?

10. Are you content with what you have or do you covet the possessions, relationships and successes of others?”

To God, our answers to those specific questions about behavior and morality demonstrate our belief.

4. They require personal responsibility for the well being of the community.

The “you” in all these commands is singular. One of the reasons, maybe one of the top three reasons, our world is in such a moral mess right now, can be summed up in these words; “It’s not my problem.” Really, it doesn’t make a big impact on my life if someone in Perth covets his neighbor’s way of life. If someone in Kalgoorlie lies about a business investment, big deal. If someone murders an Indian in Melbourne, that’s just too bad. Those sins don’t affect me; it’s not my problem. The problem is, though, that almost everybody feels that way. And sooner or later you are going to be lied to, or robbed.
When God came down to the mountain, hundreds of thousands of people were gathered around its base. He didn’t address the crowd, though. He addressed each and every individual. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before me. You, standing there by that rock, and you over by that cedar tree, and you too, the one in the red turban who is thinking in his heart how glad he is all these other people are hearing all these commands. I’m talking to you!” There is a connection between personal responsibility and the well fare of the community. The Ten Commandments shout at the top of God’s voice, “It is your problem!”

Every lie you tell or tolerate, every covetous thought you allow to live longer than a flash, every secret lust, every act of dishonesty, all of them matter. And the only way we will see our world healed is if we take the personal responsibility to make it holier and healthier beginning with ourselves.

5. They illustrate the connection between our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with each other.

The first four commands describe our relationship with God. The last 6 describe our relationships with each other.

In Mark 12 Jesus answered a question about which was the greatest command. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this; Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” What Jesus did was summarize the Ten Commandments. Love God. Love your neighbor.

These days in our culture we’ve edited Jesus’ summation of the Ten Commandments from two down to one. As long as people love each other we’re happy. You can keep God, thanks. All you need is love. The problem is we can’t get everyone to love each other. You see God is love. You get rid of God, you lose love.

What sounds like a thoroughly New Testament teaching had its origin in the Ten Commandments. You can’t have a healthy, holy relationship with humans without having a healthy, holy relationship with God.

Sermon by Rev David de Kock (Morning service)

Texts: Leviticus 8:1-9, 1 Peter 2:4-12 & Mark 1:1-8

‘The Franklin Expedition to the North Pole in 1845, with 138 officers and men, carried a “1200 volume library, a hand organ playing fifty tunes, china place settings for officers and men, cutglass wine goblets, sterling silver flatware, and no special clothing for the Arctic, only the uniforms of Her Majesty’s Navy.” It was a noble enterprise, and they were nobly dressed for it. They all died. Their corpses were found with pieces of backgammon board and a great deal of table silver engraved with officer’s initials and family crests. Dignity was all.’ So writes Annie Dillard in her masterpiece of reflection on human expeditions and encounters with God, called “Teaching a Stone to Talk.”

Her experiences in the church’s worship are interweaved with commentary on polar explorations. She finds the amateurism distressing: “A high school stage play is more polished than this service we have been rehearsing since the year one. “In two thousand years”, she says, “we have not yet worked out the kinks.”

The attempts to be relevant are laughable: I have overcome a fiercely anti-Catholic upbringing”, she says, “in order to attend Mass, simply and solely to escape Protestant guitars.”

And though she says that “people in churches are like cheerful, brainless tourists on a tour of the Absolute” she cannot keep herself away, for this is the only bus heading that way. So she discards her dignity and throws in her lot with random people, joining the motley sublime, ludicrous people who show up in polar expeditions and church congregations.

But listen to this comment … “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke?

The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. The ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares as we come in the door; they should lash us to the pews. For one day the sleeping God may awake and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.”

“Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God, for reasons unfathomable, refrains from blowing our dancing bear act to smithereens. Week after week, Christ washes our dirty feet, handles our stinky toes, and repeats, ‘It is all right, believe it or not, to be people.’”

In the great mystery of our faith, God calls us into relationship with Him – into covenant. He knows exactly what it is that we are supposed to be and to do; we, for the most part, stumble along in the dark. We pore over the Bible to find the answers. Like a proud daughter after her first ballet lesson we do our worship pirouettes before our doting Father – its clumsy and graceless, but He smiles lovingly at us, as if we had rendered a world class performance of Swan Lake. We trip over our feet and our tongues, and despite it all, we are okay.

When God calls us, we have absolutely no idea of what it means and where it is going to lead us. We think we do, but for the most part, we are like a man lost, who refuses to ask directions. We go round and round, seeing the same landmarks and then at some point, we turn right, instead of left, and behold, there is our destination. Its never been far away at all.

The beginning of the Gospel is about John baptizing in the desert. All the people went out to him, for he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. They came because here was a man who seemed to know where he was going, and they were lost. Thousands were baptized by him but he always said that there would be one who would come after who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. While wholly within the mission of God, John was still playing with a chemistry set on the church floor – but he was warning the people to don their hard hats: the dynamite was about to explode.

And it exploded when Jesus preached his first sermon in Nazareth – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

This was turnaround time, the stone was laid in Zion – the chosen and precious cornerstone. He called us out of darkness into His glorious light – He issued us with crash helmets and life preserving jackets, He lashed us to the pews.

And He called us … listen carefully to what He called us, “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” We are set apart from our fate, we are rescued from our destiny, we are set on a new course – indeed we are given new life.

Peter, in describing God’s turnaround of our destiny through the ministry of Jesus borrows the words from Hosea the prophet and turns them around. Hosea was instructed to take for himself an unfaithful wife. She bore two children and Hosea was instructed to name them Lo-Ammi (meaning “not my people”) and Lo-Ruhamah (meaning “not loved”, or “not having mercy”). They were symbolic of the destiny of God’s divided people: The Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah – people who were respectively “rejected” and “shown no mercy”.

Peter now says to us, once you were not a people (Lo-Ammi) now you are the people of God (Ammi-El); once you were not shown mercy (Lo-Ruhamah) now you have received mercy.

In Christ, Jesus has turned the tables on our destiny. In His death, He has given us life. By His stripes, we are healed.

We plod along on our journey, often not seeing its purpose and embarrassed about our worn clothes. But that’s not right. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. It might not seem like it to us, but our garments are of splendour – sparkling white, washed in the blood of the Lamb. We are robed in glory, we are headed, with the heavenly throng, to take our place before the Throne – to cry out Holiness and Glory to our magnificent God.

And it begins with our baptism. The first record of a ceremonial washing in the Bible comes with the preparation of Aaron and his sons to be ordained as priests of the Most High God.

The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron and his sons.” Moses washed them and then dressed them in magnificent robes. They were a chosen people, a royal priesthood for a holy nation.

When we are baptized, we too become a chosen nation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation. It might not seem like that to us, but nothing in God’s economy is as it seems. We pray poorly worded prayers, we sing songs out of tunes, we miss God’s cues in the events of life – but it changes nothing.

In faith, we have come; in grace we are blessed.

We play games with God but He takes us seriously, because that is His promise, His covenant. He does not doubt us, He will not forsake us.

We are adorned in royal robes, we stand at the foot of the Throne, God bends forward to hear our whispered prayers – and we are playing with dynamite. Not because it is dangerous to do what we do, but because God takes us seriously. He has made a promise which He will not break, not even bend.

Paul says to Timothy …

If we died with Him, we will also live with Him,

If we endure, we will also reign with Him.

If we disown Him, He will disown us;

If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.

God’s promise is certain and true, He will cleanse us, He will determine a new destiny for us.

If we reject His promise, He will allow Himself to be rejected, but He will remain faithful to His promise to us, because He has made Himself one with us in Christ.

Today is a very special day in the life of the Manara family and indeed, in the life of the Merredin congregation; for today, Tafadzwa (Tee) the elder son of Constance and her late husband Christopher, will be baptized. His baptism is important for us too for this is the task of the church – to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ and to baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

This “baptizing” action has been part of the life of God’s people since the time of Moses. The ‘washing’ of Aaron’s body with water was the initial step in his ordination as the first priest of Israel, and Moses made it clear: “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” From that time on ceremonial washing was an essential part of Israel’s religious life. Baptism (and circumcision for males) was required for any non-Jew to convert to Judaism. When John the Baptist burst on the scene, he made the dramatic statement that even Jews needed to be baptized with a baptism of repentance because they had slipped from the life of faith and trust in God. And Jesus Himself was baptized in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” And He commanded us to be baptized as a sign of our covenant relationship with the Triune God.

So what does this covenant actually mean? Well, I’m going to leave the answer to that for the sermon. May your ears be open and your heart ready…

I will also partly address that question when we begin to look at the Ten Commandments at the SNAC (Sunday Night At Church) service this evening.  I want to address the fact that the power of the Ten Commandments (“Ten Words”, if we want to be literal) is not that they are laws but rather that they are descriptions of how we are to live in relationship with God. They turn the theory of our faith into a specific behaviour pattern. If I believe in God, then this is how my life is to be lived. Of course, I fail often. But the goal is not rendered impure just because I am not pure, this is why grace and forgiveness is so much a part of being a Christ follower. At the heart of my faith is my relationship with God, and because of His grace, our relationship holds intact, even when I fail. Hope to see you this evening.

Rev David de Kock

Sermon: New Years Resolution by Kevin Tengvall

Texts: Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 & Isaiah 40:28-31

Learn Something New

Well here we are one month down, or a twelth of a year gone already. why is it that the older one gets the quicker the years flash past at several times the speed of light? ( well it seems like it does)

I wonder, is it Gods sense of Humour? or is it us getting wiser and realising finally that our sojourn here is a brief one indeed?

Some of you might have read the my say colum in the Mercury the week before last, where I spoke about New Years resolutions and why do we make them? why do we set our selves up for failure? why do we make a resolution that we can’t or maybe won’t keep?

And why can’t or won’t we keep them?

As I said in the paper it’s Possibly because we ( when I say we I’m talking rehtorically) tend to make these resolutions when we are at our most vulnerable.  just after midnight when one may be anebriated or the next day when the same one may be suffering a hangover. I can remember back to my youth hearing people say that they will never drink again after a heavy night on New Years Eve.( funny that?)

New Year’s Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make the top ten list.

This list and comentary’s was taken from the NYE website Australia.  I ‘m slightly gobsmacked that there was a website dedicated to NYE and frivolous resolutions which I’m sure the vast majority have no intention of keeping.

If you have a look at the Celebrity Resolutions it is enough to make your mind like mine, boggle at the inane and down right stupid things people make resolutions about. ( why I ask after reading this drivell are celebrities put up on pedastals?)

Anyway I digress here is the list of The Top Ten New Years Resolutions  for 2010 made by every day Australians like you and I.

1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends

Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others show that more than 50% of Australians vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year.

2. Fit in Fitness

The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

3. Tame the Bulge

Fifty-five percent of adults in Australia are overweight, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Australians who made a New Year’s commitment to shed extra pounds.

4. Quit Smoking

If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you’ve tried to quit before and failed, don’t let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good. Start enjoying the rest of your smoke-free life!

5. Enjoy Life More

Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Australians, it is no wonder that “enjoying life more” has become a popular resolution in recent years.

6. Quit Drinking

While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking. If you have decided that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available.

7. Get Out of Debt

Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? Join the millions of Australians who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances. It’s a promise that will repay itself many times over in the year ahead.

8. Learn Something New

Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you’ll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year’s resolutions to keep. Challenge your mind in the coming year, and your horizons will expand.

9. Help Others

A popular, non-selfish New Year’s resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, these nonprofit volunteer organizations could really use your help.

10. Get Organized

On just about every New Year resolution top ten list, organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want your home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, these tips and links should get you started on the way to a more organized life.

All these are well worthwhile resolutions, has anyone one here made one of these resolutions? And have you so far kept them?

A New Year resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved & are often broken fairly shortly after they are set.

All this got me to thinking that as Chritians we well know, or should know, that trying to do things in our own strength is usually a recipe for disaster.

For instance how does one forgive ones nieghbour? When we’d much rather hold a grudge, thereby feeling superior in our self-righteousness. How do we  love our enemies? etc. the answer,we know, is that alone  we can’t. but if we ask God and trust in him then all things are possible. in   Matthew 19:26 also Mark 10:27 Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. ( the camel through the eye of a needle quote)

So? Should we make New Years Resolutions? I believe so. If we have things in our lives that are not glorifying to God then it probably is a good idea to change that which is holding us back.

Although I generally don’t make resolutions, New Years or otherwise I think there are probably quite a few times when a New Resolution may be just the thing I need to keep me on track with God. How about you?

I found this Quote on a website called Clarity in God which sums up what I’m trying to say…

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

It is not God that you must convince…. It I is you that you must convince. God knows He loves you. You must know and believe He loves you. God knows health and healing is already paid for and settled. You must know that as well. God has done His part in all areas. And we must do our part.

So if you happen to be someone who makes New Years resolutions or even if you don’t. It really is important to Know that all things ARE possible in Christ Jesus Our Lord and Saviour. AMEN