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Last updated 10pm Sunday 19 January 2025.
Sunday 19 January 2025
Notice Sheet
Notice sheet (19/01/2025, revised) is available to download as are the preaching notes.
10pm Audio Recordings available.
Join the Zoom meeting from 10.15am ready for the service start at 10.30am.
Sermon Notes
Baptism of Jesus
Mark 1: 9-13
A short passage to preach on but it has much to say and much to tell us. Going to share a few thoughts before I get to the ‘main’ thing that I think God wants you to hear this morning…
Matthew 3 v. 13-17
Luke 3 v. 21-22
John 1 v. 29-34 (John’s testimony)
● Such a contrast here about the ordinariness of Jesus (name, location, river) and the extraordinariness of the HS coming down from the sky (like the Nativity). As is often the case, the Bible here serves as a reminder that God works extraordinary into the ordinary parts of life.
● Jesus didn’t have to be baptised. He was sinless and didn’t need the baptism of forgiveness from John… but he did it to identify with you and me. To show he was willing to be human, with all its trappings. He didn’t have to die on the cross either, but he chose to do that to express his love for fallen man.
● After Jesus is baptised, the first instance of a word Mark uses over 40 times (in 16 chapters) - immediately. (Greek = euthus). Mark is an ‘action’ gospel - Jesus’ deeds prioritised over his words - and there is a strong tradition in the church that Peter was Mark's main source.
● As the Spirit descends like a dove (Luke 3:22 - ‘bodily form like a dove’) we see a fairly rare instance in which all parts of the trinity are acting together: God's voice, Spirit descending, Jesus’ baptism.
● Here, 11 verses into Mark, four witnesses have testified to the identity of Jesus. Mark makes it clear from the outset who Jesus is:
○ Mark 1:1, Mark
○ Mark 1:2-3, Prophets
○ Mark 1:7-8, John the Baptist
○ Mark 1:10-11, God
● In verse 12, get our second instance of euthus - immediately - as Jesus is sent/driven/cast into the desert by the Spirit. There he spends 40 days (a number of trial: Noah, Israelites, Moses) being tempted. Again, he is identifying with sinners. We're told (Hebrews 4:15) that Jesus can sympathise in our weakness. He was tempted, but without sin.
But as I was praying and preparing, something came to mind that I felt was the message God needed us to hear this morning. (Also prompted by ‘Radical Love' earlier in the week…)
● I got stuck on the words that God says over his Son, Jesus:
● “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
● Jesus hadn't ‘done’ anything yet. Sure, he'd grown knowing his father, being sinless… but his ministry wasn’t to begin until after this baptism and wilderness experience.
● Yet God is ‘well pleased’ with Jesus.
● We've in chapter 1 of Mark and God s declaring His incredible love for Jesus and saying how proud He is of him.
● All the miracles that Jesus is going to do, all the speeches in the temple, all the people he'll save and the death that he dies on the cross… God won’t - and can’t - love his Son any more than he does in this moment here.
● And that… is also true of you. What God speaks over Jesus here in this moment, God speaks over each and every single one of you. When you put your faith in Jesus, you become his co-heir. That means you sit right alongside him in terms of God’s love and favour in your life.
● God looks at you and says;
○ (NIV) “You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
○ (CEV) “You are my own dear child, and I am pleased with you.”
○ (MSG) “You are my child, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”
○ (NLT) “You are my dearly loved child, and you bring me great joy.”
○ (TPT) “You are my child, my cherished one, and my greatest delight is in you!”
● STOP STRIVING! Stop trying to be worthy of God’s love by working hard and burning out. Stop trying to prove that God was right to choose you.
● God loves you and is so incredibly proud of you. You are his delight and his joy. You bring him pleasure. You are NOT his big mistake or most embarrassing regret. He is not, has never been sorry for choosing you, even on your worst day.
● STOP. And just allow yourself to be loved.
—
● God. Loves. You. Some of you think you already know this. You don’t. You will spend eternity learning it.
● Right now, learn to just be. Be loved; accept that God rejoices over you. Jesus didn’t need to perform all those incredible miracles to earn God’s love. That wasn't why God loved him so much. He loved him because he was was His child. So are you.
● When Moses asks God His name, in order to tell the Israelites who sent him, God chooses the phrase ‘I Am'. Just be.
● Some struggle with this truth because they grew up in a household where earning love was the norm. Where you had to prove you were good enough to be loved. That does make it harder to understand God’s love for you (nothing to compare it to), but it doesn’t make it impossible. God will gladly show you, if you just ask.
—
● I was going to talk about ‘just because God loves you as you are, doesn’t mean you have to stay that way.’ I thought about adding something about ‘the fact that God loves you without you striving doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work to please him.’
● But no, that’s not what God needs you to hear this morning.
● God wants you to hear this: STOP STRIVING.
● Sit in the knowledge that you are loved so completely by God, in a way that your brain will never comprehend. That love has never been, never will be, bigger or smaller than it is right now. It is not something you need to work to be worthy of. It just is.
● Allow God’s words over you to permeate your mind, your heart, your soul, your very being:
○ (NIV) “You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
○ (CEV) “You are my own dear child, and I am pleased with you.”
○ (MSG) “You are my child, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”
○ (TPT) “You are my child, my cherished one, and my greatest delight is in you!”
○ (NLT) “You are my dearly loved child, and you bring me great joy.”
Friday 10 January 2025
Jim Harries - Mid-January News
Jim Harries' Mid-January news is now available. (Jim's website.)
Sunday 24 November 2024
Newsletter
The December - January Newsletter is available to download (updated 25/11/2024).
Wednesday 13 November 2024
Jim Harries - Mid-November News
Jim Harries' Mid-November news is now available. (Jim's website.)
Wednesday 25 September 2024
October-November 2024 Newsletter
