Bible Text: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; Matthew 17:1-9 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Love in Action
36 days ago we started to pray for our families. That Sunday was really hard for me because a day before Rita got the news that her Mom was sick and probably she had to go home, and as you know she went back to Hungary.
So we started to pray for our blood families and church families and during Sundays I told you how God blessed us with our neighbors who came to the manse during this time but I had a not so good feeling knowing that our we won’t have lood family here. You know it’s hard to speak about families when our family is far away. But one Monday we got a call from Romania that Istvan’s parents were coming to visit us. And do you remember what I told you exactly a month ago? That we will invite our loved ones to this service. I don1t know how many of you remembered this and invited your families, friends but I am 100% sure that God remembered and invited our family from Romania. Do you know how far is Romania? They spent 24 hours with travelling from Spesiszentgyorgy to Kirkwall. And God did this for us, He listened to us and acted in love. Love in action was the main theme of February and God shown us the way how He does great things for us by His love. So today I can show you two people as a result of our special prayer time and I am sure that there are more people who were moved by God.
So let’s continue to pray for your loved ones and let yourself to be led by God. When we let God be the leader of our lives we will see great things.
I know that many of us have goals in our lives and we want to reach those goals. If you remember one of my most important goals for 2017 is to deepen my relationship with God. In January I didn’t really have a plan how I would do this, but God had. I enjoyed to spend time with God and think about my relationship with him, think about our families and church families as well.
Object lesson how to reach your goals...
You can ask Jesus Christ for leading and when He is your leader you will discover a totally new life and your faith will grow. You will gain joy, peace, laughter etc.
Those who are farmers and I think everybody else knows that life is growing. When you plant seeds you want to see them grow. This green liquid means growing. We want to grow in our lives, we want to be happy, successful, loved, but growing also means knowing more about God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit so it means growing in faith. But what about if we are blue like this liquid. We want to grow but don’t know how. We would like to know more about God, love more and experience special peace which only come from God but how? We need light, like this light liquid which means the Word of God, the light of our path. So let’s put our sometimes blue lives and the Word of God and see the results: green – growing.
Today when we have this special Family Sunday I have to give you a special invitation from Jesus. In the New Testament story he took three of his disciples and they went up to the mountains. They were led by Jesus and they grown in their faith. Why Jesus chose those three disciples? Why are we the ones who are chosen by Jesus today to walk with Him? Do we need to know the answer or can we believe that we are the ones who need this message, today we are the ones who can see great things then we can share our experience with others.
So let’s go to the top of the hill with Jesus. How many of you have ever experienced how beautiful the view is from the top of a mountain? Just remember how high you were, how small was the land under you. Sometimes we cannot take a breath, the view is so breath-taking.
And we can imagine the disciples, they are with Jesus on the top of the mountain and they experienced something unbelievable. Jesus went to pray on the mountain and when He prayed a miracle happened, He became radiant in glory and His face and clothes started to shine. And this happened to Him because in that moment He was one with God. His disciples who were there realized that wow, their Master is not only a wonderful teacher but He really is God. They had already heard about His teachings, and saw his miracles but on the mountain they saw and felt who Jesus Christ is. And that is why they wanted to stay there with Him especially once they saw two other people, Moses and Elijah standing with Him.
Peter said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here.
It is good for us to be with you and we wish to be with you every day, not only on Sundays, that is why we want to build a house for you. Like, Kirkwall Presbyterian church, we want to meet with you here.
Have you ever thought that you are on the mountain when you are with God? And from the Gospel of Luke we know that Jesus was praying to God when this transfiguration happened to Him. Do you believe how powerful our prayer could be? Everything surrounding Jesus started to shine too, and those disciples around him felt that precious moment when He was really one with His Father.
Coke and Pepsi objective lesson – our lives with Jesus is not the same when we are following our own ways.
With Jesus we are satisfied, we have everything we need, but the story has to be continue, the disciples had to come down from the mountain with Jesus. We also have to go home from here, and next week our Lent journey will begin, and we cannot stay here. But before we leave this church we have to know who is our Lord is, who Jesus Christ is.
The Bible says: “This is my son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.”
My friends, your Lord is Jesus Christ who the son of God, the son of our Creator who has power to transform our lives, who can save you but most importantly He is the one who is going with you when you leave this church. Jesus didn’t remain on the mountain and told his disciples that they should go home and remember what they experienced but Jesus go down with them, he didn’t leave them alone.
Easter is coming, but before that we have to face Good Friday and the cross and toward Easter and Good Friday we have a forty days’ journey, which we call Lent when you can be ready to celebrate with the risen Lord.
I wish you a wonderful journey of Lent, when you have some quiet time and you can be with God. And know that you are not alone, Jesus Christ is going with you. Amen
Bible Text: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 84; John 6:56-69 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Love in Action
Do you also wish to go away? – February 5, 2017 Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 84; John 6:56-69
‘Do you also wish to go away?’ 68Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Have you ever felt as lonely you could possibly be? When you have to go through the desert and no one goes with you. When you wish somebody was with you, but there is nobody around you. You want to say a word as loudly as possible but there is no answer. Just a bleak desert. Loneliness.
One of my high school teachers taught me that God created man to be his conversation partner. I always imagined how God was waiting for us every day. It was so unbelievable to me that God was so big, he could create whatever he wanted and he created me to speak with Him. Sometimes this recognition is painful, since God has to wait for me. What a shame when I realized that my Loving God is the one who has always time for me, but I do not have time for Him. Brothers and sisters, how many times is God the one, sometimes the only one, who is waiting for you?
Of course, we all know that God doesn’t depend on time. It was amazing me when I started to learn English that how many tenses you have. In my mother tongue we have only three: present, past and future. But you have 12. That was why I found it wonderful that the New Testament Greek also has different words for time. Most amazingly there is time for God, which we cannot imagine. We were born one day and will die one day. It is hard to understand with our finite minds that God is everlasting. That is why the incarnation, when Jesus Christ was born, was the best gift from God, who gave himself to us. And we love how Jesus Christ speaks about His Father.
I’d like to share a story with you:
A woman's 3-year-old daughter asked several times over a period of months if she might be left alone with her new baby brother. Afraid of the possibility of sibling rivalry, the parents of the two children consulted a therapist. Should they acquiesce to the child's request?
After being assured that the 3-year-old was a nonaggressive and well-adjusted child, the therapist indicated that she thought the little girl should be given the chance to be alone with her brother. She did, however, suggest that the parent might want to listen on the intercom in the baby's room, aware that they could go to the baby in a second if there were any difficulty. So the parents left their 3-year-old daughter with the new baby and went to their own bedroom to listen on the speaker.
They heard the 3-year-old close the door to the nursery and walk over to the crib. Then, after a moment, they heard her say, "Baby, baby, tell me about God. I think I'm forgetting"
Sometimes we are in the same boat as this little girl. We need somebody who can speak about God to us. That’s why we love Jesus speaking about his Father because through Jesus, God is our Father too.
But our readings today have a heavy atmosphere which reminds me of my childhood imagination that God was so lonely because we didn’t have time for conversation with Him.
Have you ever been in the situation when you felt that somebody wanted to leave you? When your stomach got smaller and smaller because loneliness was in the air.
The Bible uses the desert to express loneliness many times. When we are sitting in this beautiful church, and we are close to the Word, the Bible, when we are singing beautiful songs, we feel that we are close to God. But what about in the desert? The beginning of the gospels tells us that after Jesus had been filled with the Holy Spirit during his baptism at the River Jordan the Spirit immediately led him out into the wilderness of Judaea– a lonely place of solitude and silence far away from the cities and villages with their busy market places and noisy crowds. Jesus was alone for forty days – no contact with family or friends.
Later when Jesus taught the disciples he knew very well what loneliness meant. And when people didn’t understand his teachings he was sad. He saw the disciples’ confusion. They were the ones who were with him, saw his miracles, listened his teachings but it didn’t mean they understood why Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. And he asked them:
“Do you also wish to go away?”
This is a heartbreaking question which really touched me. Jesus, who comes to save us, who wants to give us eternal life, who loves us with the purest love in the world, has to ask this question.
And the question is still the same today: Do you also wish to go away?
Because sometimes we are the same as his disciples. We love Jesus when we feel his love, when his loving hands hold our lives, but there are times when we do not understand his ways. When we want to follow him but in our own way.
A missionary in Brazil visited a market town on a religious holiday, and saw a sale sign in a store's window advertising "Cheap crosses for sale" We may look for cheap crosses – no sacrifice, no commitment, no cost, no pain – but there is no such thing. Jesus' disciples have to follow the way of the cross. /Katherine Fagerburg/
Can I ask you today how many of you believe that Jesus Christ is really the bread of life? Is bread an important food on your table? We are so fortunate because there are several kinds of bread waiting for us in the store. You can choose your favourite one or you can choose something else instead of the bread. But in other countries if you have bread you have life.
Jesus knows that we desperately need the bread of life; without it there is no life. And he came to give us the bread of life, he is in fact the bread of life. It is your choice if you wish to live with it or not.
Do you also wish to go away? I wonder sometimes how I would have responded to this question. Because sometimes the truth is I do wish to go away. I am not a perfect person. I am standing here because once I ate from that bread, from the best bread ever and it keeps me close to Jesus. It means life to me.
One of my pastoral professors told me that being a pastor, a minister is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world, but sometimes it is the hardest one. If I am honest, in those hard situations, I wish I could go away. And what a blessing that I cannot. If you have ever tasted the bread of life it keeps you in Jesus and we can answer with Peter:
Lord, to whom can we go?
When you are lonely remember that you have Jesus waiting for you. He is the one who really knows what loneliness means.
The world’s loneliest and most painful cry is: Eli Eli lamma sabactani. My God, My God why have you forsaken me? This is one of the darkest moment in the life of our Saviour. On the cruel cross Jesus was alone, and he knew and felt that loneliness. He did this for us. For me and you. That you will never be alone or when you feel alone you know that He is the One who is always with you.
Jesus is offering what he really has, his own precious life. He is doing what he can, all he can, to reach out to us.
May we be willing to receive eternal life, when it is being offered to us without price by one who loves us and laid down his life for us.
Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, eternal life and love incarnate.
Amen.
Bible Text: Proverbs 3:1-10; Psalm 127; John 6:1-15 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
Friends,
How many of you like to speak about your money? And how many of you like when a minister speaks about money? See I don’t know about you, but I can tell you that there are certain topics in the Bible which are hard to speak about and one of them is about giving, which is relatively close to our money. I have heard many times “oh I don’t go to church; they are always asking money”. So here we are with this topic, which should be taboo in our church life but when I started to serve God here in Kirkwall there was a special Sunday about giving. It was the planned giving Sunday and because I was pretty new I thought it was better to wait to talk about this topic later. See, I didn’t like to speak about money and I didn’t want to ask for money. This was until our Christmas eve service when we had to decide about the Christmas Eve offering. How many of you were here on Christmas Eve? Do you remember that we had an offering? Because traditionally the Christmas Eve offering is not part of the order of service I had to figure out something about the offering for those who didn’t know about our new addition. I spent time figuring out something when I realized how many times we misunderstand the meaning of the offering. Just imagine that God gave the most wonderful gift to us, which is Jesus Christ, He was the real gift, the real meaning of Christmas and we don’t know what would be our answer to him. It’s not about our money. It’s about our hearts and our lives. That is why on Christmas Eve I prepared white hearts as a true offering to God.
When we give our offering to God it should be an important part of the worship, because offering is part of our answer. But I am not speaking about the five minutes when we collect the gifts. I am speaking about how we answer to God when we get something from Him, when we hear his voice, when he helps us, when he calls us, when we have joy in our hearts, or when we have sadness in our lives. Giving is a kind of worship. How you can give thanks to God will speak about your relationship with God.
In the Old Testament, Proverbs says that we should give our best to God because if we do this the Bible says: “your barns will be filled to overflowing.” Yes, I read it right OVERFLOWING. When we can give our best we will see amazing things. But what does “best” mean? Sometimes it’s problematic. So let’s look at the money question. Is it easy to give offerings? Do we think about how much we should give compared to how much we actually give? And I don’t really want to speak about why we should give the best ten percent to God but I want you to understand why God wants us to answer to Him with our giving.
We all can agree that it’s easy to give when we have plenty. Ok, it’s not true for everybody but let’s see if I have $10 it’s easy to give a cent to God. But I would give him $1, because $1 is ten percent. And I, as a good Christian, will give the $1 to God since I have $9 more for me. But later I realize that I have to pay my bills, I have to pay for my food, my clothing, so I will change my mind and give only 1 cent to God. I am still giving to Him, but I’m in a bad situation, I need money.
But what the Bible says is that before we spend on anything else we should give to God. But why does God need our money? Is it not only about paying the salary of the minister and other utilities? Actually no. If we look at Proverbs again, and closer this time it says that if we give our best we will get more.
I told you already that giving is a real worship to God because if you believe that God will keep this great promise you will give your best. Do you remember last week when Heather, without even a second thought, poured the water on to her hair? She trusted in me. But can you trust in God that if you give Him your best then He will bless you with amazing things?
I hope you understand that’s not only about our money. What is your best? Yes, you can give your “best” money to God and you can see what He will do. Just try for a month and see. But I also wanted to speak about the best part of your lives: the best time, the best thing you can do, do it for God and He will bless you.
Remember the little boy in our New Testament story? We know from the Bible that 5000 men were there to listen to Jesus but we don’t know how many women and children were there too. And they got hungry without food. The disciples were in despair but couldn’t think of how to help. Only a little boy had something to eat.
Peter said: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”Among thousands of people, only a little boy had something to eat and he didn’t want to keep it for himself but gave it to Jesus and through a little boy thousands of people were fed. Do you know what the miracle was? That Jesus used the five loaves of bread and two fish and somehow he multiplied them? Yes, it was a miracle by Jesus. He fed more than 5000 people. But it was also a miracle that a little boy had something that nobody else had and most importantly he was ready to give Jesus what he had.
I read this story again and again over several nights and do you know what my wish was? I would like to be the little boy because through him Jesus fed the hungry. What if I don’t have anything to add or I want to keep everything for myself? The little boy was ready to give his food to Jesus who made miracles from those bread and fish. The bread and fish were the little boy’s best. He didn’t give his clothing or his sandals to Jesus, but what he gave Jesus multiplied.
Friends, do you want to be the little boy who wants to give Jesus his best? On the night I read this story from my Bible I made a note to myself:
A child of God is the one who has fish and bread and through her Jesus can feed the world.
Today I wanted to speak to you about how you can survive financial difficulties. I wanted to show you a way when you can give easily without even worrying about your future. But friends, I have a strong feeling that today Jesus is the One again who gave us His best. He fed our soul. We are so special to Him that He visited us. Thanks be to Jesus.
Bible Text: Genesis 13:14-18; Psalm 95:1-7; Mark 10:13-16 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
A Sunday worship is usually for everybody, but if you are here as a child you have a wonderful opportunity to go to Sunday school. Today we have a different service, and Sunday school is not an option. But if you feel that the service is too long, you can stand up and do some stretches. You are really free to do that.
It’s important that the worship is not only for the adults but for the children as well? Do you know that Jesus wanted the children to come to Him? It’s interesting that the disciples didn’t find this a great idea, but Jesus asked the parents to bring the children close to Him and He said:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We can say so many good things about why it’s good to be like a little child, but today let’s think about this story a bit differently.
So there were the 12 disciples who were close to Jesus and there were also other people who wanted to hear Jesus’ stories, wanted to see Him. When they noticed who Jesus could do miracles and that there was power in His words, they wanted to bring their children to Jesus as well. And this is the most beautiful thing that parents can do.
Imagine the situation, you come to church and hear about Jesus who can change your life, who can wash away your sins, who can make you totally new, who can give you incredible peace and joy. When you feel in your heart how Jesus loves you what would be your next step? Yes, maybe you want to know more about Jesus but as a mother I can tell you about my next step: I would go and tell everything I know about Jesus to my loved ones and want them to know Jesus too. “My loved ones” means my family and also my friends, my neighbours, everybody.
And when in the church more people recognize how Jesus can help us in our families, the whole atmosphere will change and we will start to have worships where we really want to praise and adore God for His love.
But let’s take a moment and think about why we want Jesus to be present in our families. In the Old Testament we can find this passage: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
If we want to understand this text in terms of our families, you have to think about your real family. The Bible is really practical and it says that it’s better if you have somebody who is with you, who can help you when you need help, but the best when a third person is with you also. Let’s think about it with a real family. Can I have a family come up?
What would be the most ideal here in Kirkwall? When all of our families are close to God. That’s why we started the 36 days of prayer today. Family is really important and it’s still important even when you don’t have children or your children are grown up and live far away. We still have to think about our church family. We here in Kirkwall want to be close to each other and to God.
Let’s look at another story about families from the Bible. Abraham’s story is at the beginning of the Bible. He was the one who didn’t have any children until he was one hundred years old. What a story. Abraham’s whole life was about promises from God. He lived far away from the land of milk and honey, Canaan, but God promised Him the land and a big family. And Abraham believed in God. When God told him to go out of his homeland, he left that land but he still didn’t know how he would have a family when he didn’t even have any children. In the old times to have a big family meant everything, especially prosperity in the future. Let’s see why. I need two children to volunteer, who will use only one of their fingers to put a block into the basket…
We hear stories about Jacob having 12 sons, and the kings had more because to have big families was almost the most important thing to them. That’s why it was really important that God promised not only big family to Abraham but a future as well.
Is it easy to believe in somebody being 100? Let’s see. I need a volunteer … I promise that you won’t get wet. You have to follow my instructions and you won’t get wet. Let’s see…
Today we also have a big promise from God, that the Kingdom of God belongs to the children. Who are the children? We, here in Kirkwall. Do we need a future? Do we need blessings? Stay close to God. Stay close to God in your family. Stay close to God in your church family, because everybody matters. Amen
Bible Text: Psalm 121; Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 8:23-27 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas | Series: Fresh New Start
Fresh New Start Part 2 - "The Storm" - Monika Bereczki-Farkas January 15th, 2017
Psalm 121; Matthew 14:22-33; Matthew 8:23-27
How do you know that a storm is coming? Red flags on the weather network's page, or we can see the signs: dark clouds, darkness, heavy rain. Nowadays we have really bad storms. This summer we were invited for a lunch and while we were eating the phone rang and somebody called our friends to see how they were. That was the time when a tornado hit Windsor and at exactly that time we had been praying together for our food and friendship. Of course we were so thankful but hearing what had happened in different parts of the city was scary. This was the first time I realized that I don't like storms. A couple of days ago the wind was so strong during the night and my first thought was to check my phone to see if a tornado was coming. Of course, there wasn't a tornado, but I didn't sleep very well. You don't have to remind me, I know that God is always with me, I don't have to fear but every time I hear about storms I have to remind myself of one thing, and that one thing can save my life. I will tell you later what this one thing is.
But first let's speak about your one thing. What is in your mind right now? Are you really here worshipping God, or is your mind somewhere else and you can not control your thoughts? what is on your mind? Are you worrying about something? Did you hear something that is bothering you? Did somebody tell you something? or Did you read something interesting? Or are your thinking about your next week? What is on your mind? Or do you not want me to ask you because its your secret "just don't ask me, I don't want to talk about it".
To focus on one thing is really important if we know what the most important thing is.
Do you remember when Jesus talked to Martha and said to her: "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
I bet some of your know this story. Jesus visited Mary and Martha's home, but Martha was way too busy to sit down and listen to Jesus so she wanted to ask Mary to help her. But Jesus also spoke about one thing to her which is really important. And today when I want to speak to you about the storm and how we have faith that endures the storm, I have to speak to you about one important thing.
So, let's look at the storm story again. We have two stories and both of them take place on the sea. In one of them Jesus was sleeping while a storm came and the disciples were worried for their lives. in the other one Jesus walked on the water toward his disciples, and when Peter wanted to walk too, he started to sink, because the wind and the waves.
If you look at these 2 stories you can notice the one thing which is really important. What is common between them? When the disciples didn't look at Jesus but instead at the surrounding situation they were in trouble and they were worried about their lives. Today I want you to focus on this one thing, that when a storm is coming you have to look out for Jesus. This is the most important thing.
We can watch for other things. Do you remember I asked you what is on your mind? When you are worrying about something or you don't know something or when you don't know what to do, Jesus wont be your one thing and you will sink like Peter. You will worry like the disciples. You have to notice to watch for Jesus.
That is why Jesus asked Martha to watch only for the important thing, which is Jesus himself.
In the story when the disciples got into the storm while Jesus was sleeping, they didn't focus on who Jesus is. That the wind and waves know Jesus' name, and when He speaks to them, there will be silence. In the other story while Peter looked for Jesus he could walk on water, walk on those waves but when he focused on something else he started to sink.
Storms are coming with different names like illness, depression, loneliness, marital problems, cancer, shame, sexual wishes, etc. I want you to know what to do when the storm is here. I want you to recognize the one thing, which is to pay attention to Jesus. You have to know where He is. This is the only thing which can save you. Trust me, it's not only a sentence that sounds good.
How many of your have goals for 2017? I have five goals for 2017, but I am a bit hesitant to share these goals with you. Not because these are my secrets but because during the year you can check my progress. So, if you are gracious to me I am ready to share my goals.
Here is my list:
Deepen my relationship with God - faith building
Deepen my relationship with my husband and children - family building
Deepen my relationship with my congregation
Love more
Put everything into God's hands - finances
Do you know why I put God into the first place? because I was in storms several times in my life and my relationship with God saved my life. I know what you think, that here is Monika, who is young and always smiling; what does she know about storms in life. But I know. I have never ever spoken about this storm in my life and I don't think I'm ready today, but I know that I have to share my faith with you. I know I have to do this because I don't know how many times I can speak about God to you, so I want to grab this opportunity and tell you how you can survive a storm.
I know what it means to lose friends or loved ones.
I also know how it sounds when you loved one, in my case my Dad, calls to say that he has "Cancer".
At this point, my grandma is dying and I can not be with her.
But - the biggest storm hit me in 2009. I can not tell the whole story, not because I don't want to, but I can not speak about it. Its still like an open wound. I almost gave up everything. Do you know what saved me? Those friends who prayed with me and helped me focus on Jesus. They helped me to focus on Jesus. But its still like an open wound. But I learned that if I focus on Jesus, I am at peace, I can take a breath.
Was that storm from God? I know you have similar questions. Is Cancer from God? Is pain from Him? You know I don't want to answer these questions, even though I know that these are our questions. But God is greater than simple answers and he is also much greater than our questions.
What I know is that with Jesus you can survive the storm, you will live through it.
Today I have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful children. And I'm here with you, with those whom I love. That's why my goals for 2017 look like that list; deepen my relationship with God, my husband, with you and love more and more. I really believe that because God loves us we can survive the biggest storm. He loves us, that's why He send Jesus Christ.
Friends, if the storm is coming, look at Jesus. This one thing will save you. Amen.
Bible Text: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Matthew 3:13-17 | Preacher: Rev. Monika Bereczki-Farkas
Fresh New Start 1. – Monika Bereczki-Farkas January 8, 2017
People with bowed head stood in line near to the river Jordan where John the Baptist proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was coming near. That was the perfect timing because John the Baptist was the one who came before Jesus Christ, but before John’s message there had been no prophecies for 400 years. Can you imagine 400 years without any messages from God? We call this time “Intertestamental Period” which was between the Old and New Testament. It’s a kind of gap between the Old and New Testament. Can we imagine this situation?
How can we imagine a world where there is no sign from God? What characteristics could describe this period?
– darkness, emptiness, pessimism, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, etc.
I was in the living room, preparing this sermon, looking out of the window and I saw foggy landscape around me. I always wanted to love January, but it’s like Mondays, it’s hard to find a reason to even like them; especially when I was in school and knew that I had to go to school four more days. But later as an adult I learnt to be thankful for every month, every day, every moment of life. But this last week was a bit foggy and gloomy.
We know that Spring is coming, that the warm weather is close to us, but we don’t know when. It reminds me of that 400 years. When people wished for God, longed for a message but they didn’t know when God would come. “Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!” – says Psalm 144:5 and we know this feeling and it’s not only about the weather. Sometimes we need help and we don’t know where to find it, our lives can be upside down in any moment and we are like the people in the Old Testament who longed for God: -when are you coming? Are you coming at all?
And when the time came, John the Baptist started to proclaim that hey, God is here, His Kingdom is close, you only need to come closer and I can wash away your dirt and you will be new. Baptism in the River Jordan was a special action. Can you believe that this can be possible, that water can clean us of all our dirt? We know that it can be true. Water is a really good cleanser but we also know that sometimes not only our bodies are dirty, but our souls too.
When the New Year came I heard from many people that they wished for this New Year as a new start with clean pages. They wanted to believe that all of the failures and disappointments from last year could vanish.
Actually I wish for this miracle, because it would be nice to know that all of the negative things we made last year won’t haunt us this year. And friends, this is the Good News today. It’s possible. That’s why John spoke about somebody who would come after him and who he would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. It’s all about Jesus. He is the one who came after John the Baptist, who stood in the line with all those people with bowed head. He was one with us, he wanted us to know that he really is for us, he really knows about you, about your pain and suffering. He knows how you wish to undo your actions, repair your relationships, live your life without guilt. He knows your questions and also He is the One who knows all the answers. That’s why we celebrate the day when Jesus was baptized because it happened for us. Now we know it’s possible that all our sins can be forgiven and it’s possible to start a new life with all clean white pages.
How many of you need this? Friends, I want to be honest with you, I need this offer from God every day.
Without this I am under a heavy load and cannot be happy and don’t find real joy.
This is a great message for us today when we also want to celebrate the amalgamation of Kirkwall and Sheffield. In 2007, 10 years ago, a new life began. It was the year when a beautiful church had to close its doors and open another one here in Kirkwall. Today when we want to celebrate the last ten years, we also have to remember the tears behind the amalgamation. Amalgamation is not always a cheerful moment.
For those who had to leave their beloved church it’s still a sad moment, unless we can celebrate instead that in 2007 a new church was born. Kirkwall wouldn’t be the same without Sheffield and we know this. Those who came from Sheffield should feel that this church is their church, their home too.
I know that is easy to say, but it’s also hard not to mention who is from Sheffield. But this creates a difference between “us” and “them”. Today when we want to celebrate the amalgamation with remembrance of Knox Presbyterian Church in Sheffield, we also have to make a step toward our unity in Christ. It’s not only about who belonged to Kirkwall and who to Sheffield, but this step should be about all of us who belong to Jesus Christ. When Jesus was baptized he stood in the line where the sinners were, like a sinner within the sinners.
Like one of us. I understand John’s hesitation and I want to shout too: “Jesus please go away, you don’t have to be there, you are not a sinner. You are the one who gave your life for us. Why are you there?” Friends, He was there for us so that today we know that there is no depth where he cannot be with us. There is no situation where he leaves us alone. He really wants our unity. He is with us today; I really believe this. Do you remember what happened when John baptized Jesus? Heaven opened and the Spirit of God came down like a dove from heaven to earth. A dove. Do you remember in the story of the great flood that a dove symbolized the end of the flood? It happened again. This time a dove symbolized the end of the 400 years with no word from God. But now heaven is opened and blessings are coming from God. We need these blessings.
Ten years ago an amalgamation happened. Let us ask God today to rebuild this church where people not only from Kirkwall and Sheffield but from everywhere can praise God and His glory. Let’s celebrate our unity in Christ. Without Jesus, there is no Christian community, unity or harmony, there is no future. But with him, we will recognize how special we are to Him.