18th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 16v13-20)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


It is impossible to know how many questions we will be asked over a lifetime. Consider even today, "Do you want milk in your coffee?" "How are you?" "Any plans for the summer?" "Did you watch the match?" But I put it to you that the most important question ever asked relates to what you believe about Jesus.


Christ once asked His disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (v13). By way of reminder the phrase "Son of Man" is used by Jesus to refer to Himself. It comes from Daniel 7 where one like a Son of Man was presented to the Ancient of Days "And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7v14)


The responses to the question were positive and varied but also incorrect. Some thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised again to life. Others wondered if He was Elijah coming to prepare the way for the Messiah. Another group believed Jesus to be Jeremiah coming again to preach to Israel's need for repentance. Additionally some considered Jesus to be another of the prophets of old. Varied opinions. All positive. All wrong.   


Leaving the opinions of the crowd behind, Jesus asked His disciples “But who do you say that I am?” (v15). This might seem like a straight forward question for Christ's closest followers but Matthew has already shown us that the disciples didn't yet have a full understanding of Christ and His mission. They called Jesus the Son of God on the middle of the lake (Matthew 14v33) but later took to discussing bread, seemingly missing the point of Christ's miraculous feeding of the thousands.


Nevertheless in response to the Lord's question Peter could not have been more accurate saying “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (v16). In just one moment and in a few words, Peter made clear that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah and the Son of God. It was an admission of Peter's sure belief that Jesus was the one sent to redeem His people and a further admission that Christ was divine. This reply wasn't a mere "I think you're great" it was a declaration of the glory and majesty of Christ. He is true God, true man, without sin, the Messiah and the One in whom all must believe.  


Peter's confession did not come by accident or by study or by pilgrimage. Jesus said “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (v17). Peter had come to realise the true nature of Christ because God had opened his once blind eyes to the truth. It remains this way for all sinners. The Scriptures paint a bleak picture of spiritually dead humanity, we read in Psalm 53v2-3 "God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." Thanks be to God for He opens our eyes to the true reality of Christ. This is God's special revelation.


Jesus continued "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (v18). What did Jesus mean? Peter's name means "rock" and in one sense Peter and his fellow disciples would fulfil a foundational ministry in the church. Paul would later write that the church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone" (Ephesians 2v20). But we do not go any further and use this verse to make Peter into the first Pope.


Instead we look to the solid rock of Peter's confession as the truth on which Christ builds His hell defying church. The kingdom of heaven is seen in the visible church here on earth and to the church have been entrusted the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" (v19). What are these keys? To the officers in His church Christ has given the Word of God and church discipline. By these means the gates of heaven are opened to all who will believe and they are closed to all who refuse to repent.


Although it was not yet time for the identity of Christ to be proclaimed (v20) we are now in days where the church on earth preaches freely that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The marks of the true church are the preaching of the Gospel, the correct administration of the sacraments and church discipline. Where these three exist there we find the kingdom of heaven and no matter what Satan throws against that kingdom, the church will remain standing.


So today I ask you a simple but vital question - who do you say that Jesus is? May Peter's confession be the rock on which your life is built. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and blessed are those who take refuge in Him.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q23 What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

17th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 9:38-41


Message Alan Burke 


Remember where we were last week, what just had happened in v33-37. On the road to Capernaum the disciples, they had been arguing and debating amongst themselves about who is the greatest, when they arrive at Capernaum Jesus asks them what they were arguing and debating about. They respond with silence and Jesus doesn’t tear into them instead he tells them about servanthood, the greatest must be least. 


Jesus himself for them as well as us exemplified what exactly servanthood looks like, the one who emptied himself of his glory, in his coming, took upon him the form of a servant, in his conception and birth, life, and death. 


That day though, with his disciples sitting at his feet he focused on a child, taking a child and put the child in the midst of them and taught them, using the child as an object lesson, making the point to them, a point that we can easily miss, the God given dignity that every human being has no matter how young or old, how even the weakest and most insignificant human being must be served in the same way as the greatest is served. Such a teaching has huge implications for us in how we treat not only the young but the elderly, the vulnerable. 


We could be tempted to think that the disciples vying for position of who is the greatest was over but it wasn’t, far from it. John asks, “Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” (V38). 


Now let’s pause here a moment, there are the twelve on the floor at the feet of Jesus, there are others in the room, there is the child that Jesus is holding, likely his parents as well as others there with them. Luke’s gospel helps us here because so often we imagine the twelve and big crowds, maybe like at the crucifixion with his mother, his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. But Luke 10:1 After this the Lord (speaking of Jesus) appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go (Lk 10:1).


Did you get that, Jesus appointed not twelve but seventy-two and sent them out two by two ahead of him. 


So there were the twelve and there were other followers, there were other disciples, pupils of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bearing this in mind, this statement of John then comes, “Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” The idea of who is the greatest, who is part of their group, on their team, who deserves a seat at the head table is far from over because as John makes clear by what he says that the disciples, the twelve, took issue with those who were not part of the inner circle, who were not part of the chosen twelve doing a work in Jesus name. 


We will come back to this on Wednesday but I want to draw an application out, and I know I mention this application a lot but it is because I am able to take such comfort from the disciples, we all can. The disciples are not held up to us as some kind of super followers of Jesus but they are those who just like us. What I mean by that is they are sinful men who get it wrong, who get caught up in things that they shouldn’t, they understand but they don’t, they like us have a lot still to work on. That being said remember their posture, yes what John has said reveals a lot, but so does their posture, they are sitting at the feet of Jesus desiring to lear and even though in the midst of it they are still getting it wrong, their desire is to learn. 


Let’s take comfort in the disciples, take comfort when we get it wrong that our saviour isn’t waiting there to throw us out of his club, instead he desires that we may learn, that we may know more of the truth of who he is and what he has done. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q22 How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, (Heb. 2:14,16, Heb. 10:5) and a reasonable soul, (Matt. 26:38) being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, (Luke 1:27,31,35,42, Gal. 4:4) yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15, Heb. 7:26)
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15th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 16v1-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I grew up in the city of Belfast and so had no idea about the ways of the countryside but what I did know was "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky at morning, shepherd's warning." I've no recollection of who taught me that little rhyme but nevertheless if the sky had that reddish tone in the evening I expected a good day to follow.


Jesus knew this little nugget of wisdom too. He told the Pharisees and Sadducees “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’" (v2-3). Sadly Christ's opponents had not come to talk about tomorrow's weather but in order to see a sign from heaven.


They had already demanded a sign back in Matthew 12 and the Lord told them then what He was also to repeat in Matthew 16. Christ had performed more than enough miracles to authenticate His identity and mission. His opponents could predict what tomorrow's weather was going to be and yet they couldn't recognise the arrival of the Messiah. The problem wasn't a lack of signs but rather a lack of faith in the Pharisees and Sadducees. Therefore Jesus described His opponents as "an evil and adulterous generation" (v4). They would receive only one more sign and that would be the sign of Jonah.


What was the sign of Jonah? The prophet was dead and buried in the belly of a great fish and yet after three days and nights the Lord raised him to life. In the same way Jesus would be crucified, dead and buried and in the tomb for three days and three nights. Just as Jonah was raised to life, so too Jesus would stand again upon the earth. The sign of Jonah was the miracle of the resurrection and it remains a sure testimony to the authenticity and power of Christ. Jesus is the crucified and risen Lord in whom all must believe.


Later the Lord taught His disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (v6). What does this phrase mean? A little leaven added to a batch of dough spreads through the whole lump. You may add only a little yeast in your bread recipe but that yeast has a widespread impact. The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees was sinful unbelief. It was a leaven that refused to see what was at the end of their nose and a leaven that demanded a sign in the face of overwhelming evidence.


Christ needed to warn His disciples because despite having witnessed two miraculous feasts for thousands of people, they were now discussing among themselves saying "We brought no bread." (v7). Jesus rebuked them and said “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (v8-11).


How quickly the disciples had forgotten! They had served food to thousands of people at the miraculous provision of Christ and here they were scratching their heads about a lack of bread. Yet Jesus wasn't merely talking about bread but rather the bigger picture of faith (v12). His opponents looked the part and were no doubt seen as fine upstanding members of the community but they opposed Christ at every turn even suggesting that He was in league with Satan. Christ had provided a feast and yet they would neither eat nor drink.


We are so often people of little faith. The Lord has graciously opened our eyes and given us new hearts and speaks to us by His Word and washes us in baptism and feeds us in the supper and listens as we pray, but sometimes we act as if God has left us starving. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it is the leaven of sinful disbelief and its destination is Hell.   


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q21 Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect? The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.
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14th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 9:36-37


Message Alan Burke 


Let’s think where we are, the disciples had been arguing amongst themselves about who is the greatest (33-34), Jesus had in response to their silence at his question of what they were arguing about had taught them “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Remember the scene though, they are gathered together in the house and the disciples are sitting at the feet of Jesus as he teaches them and Jesus takes a child and puts it in the midst of them. The word child literally means infant, so this is a child under the age of two and so Jesus gets up, takes this child and uses this child as an object lesson to teach these arguing disciples who had been more interested in their own honour and glory, these disciples who had missed the point. 


This is a wonderfully intimate picture of our saviour Jesus Christ, who was sitting, getting up, taking a child he sets this child before them, say a year an a half old, who stands there, as there as Jesus looks on, as the disciples and he teaches them, “37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”


We miss the true gravity of just what Jesus was saying here to his disciples, the point that he was making, times have changed even in my life time, our understanding, perception of children. Jesus here is not giving us a romanticised notion that some seem to have today about the innocence of children, rather we need to understand the context because things were not like they are today. 


In 1st century Israel, the mortality rate for children was horrific. One in four didn’t make it to their first birthday, and around half of all children died before the age of ten. Until a child was at an age where it was assumed that they would survive to maturity they were not deemed significant, generally they were seen as unformed adults, insignificant, of little value, I can give you things to read on Children in Late Antiquity and it’s not for the faint hearted, it’s grim and much of it I’d rather not know myself. Then a child had no power, status, very few rights, they were dependant on those who cared for them and vulnerable, they were not considered of great dignity or worth, and infanticide was ignored. 


Children were insignificant but it is a child nonetheless less that Jesus brings to his disciples, a child whom he makes stand among them, then taking the child into his arms says; 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”


Jesus is reinforcing what he had just taught, he’s not saying we need to imitate children or our childhood, there is a time we need to leave the childish things behind. He is making the point of something that we can easily miss, the God given dignity that every human being has no matter how young or old, how even the weakest and most insignificant human being must be served in the same way as the greatest is served. 


Jesus didn’t pick on of the disciples among them to make the point but a child, he makes this child an example of his emissary, an example of his ambassador to the world. He’s saying, here he is, this one will go out in my name and how ever receives them receives me and whoever receives me receives the Father who sent me. This world looks at the outside, the status of an individual, if Michael D. Higgins, King Charles or President Biden arrived in Crossgar next Sunday morning the place would be heaving, but they are men no different than you or I in our status and worth, men, women, children, created in the image of God, male and female he created them (Gen 1:26-27). Greatness is not according to what the world sees as greatness but comes from servanthood. 


The disciples were all too willing to argue and debate among themselves of who is the greatest, they were asked what are you arguing about on the road and they were silenced with the embarrassment, shame. Let us be those who know greatness comes from servanthood, we should be those who look to the example of our saviour, selflessly giving of ourselves for the Glory of God, living out that example, the example of our saviour Christ Jesus. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q20 Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

13th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 15v32-39)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


If you've ever spent time in a Sunday school then you have almost certainly heard about Jesus feeding the five thousand. But did you know the Lord also fed the four thousand? Both Mark and Matthew tell us of two miraculous feasts provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. Some have argued that there was only one miracle told twice but this seems unlikely when we consider that the Lord Himself referred to both miracles as separate events (Mark 8v14-21).


Admittedly there are similarities between the two miracles. They both take place in the countryside, both involve bread and fish, both have the Lord giving thanks, both see the disciples serving the food and both end with the Lord getting onto a boat. But there are also numerous differences. One has five thousand men and the other four thousand, the miracles take place in different regions, it seems that they take place at different times of the year, there is a difference in the amount of food and there is a different amount of leftovers. Therefore it seems abundantly clear that the Lord fed huge crowds of people on two separate occasions.


So why did the same miracle happen twice? Do you remember the Canaanite woman? She understood that Christ had come primarily to the Jews and she was a mere dog hoping for a crumb from the masters' table. Some Christians have taken passages like this to mean that the church is a mere blip in God's plan of redemption. The thinking goes that the Lord's great concern is for the Jews with the mission to the Gentiles as an added extra. I once heard a preacher say that he was going to retire to Jerusalem to be among God's people (he didn't by the way) and I watched a documentary a few years ago that followed a group of American Christians to Israel where they worked for Jewish families and some even signed up to serve in the Israeli army. Why? Because the Jews are God's true people and Christians are something less.


Brothers and sisters, I hope this thinking has no place in your church or home. It is true that Christ came first to the Jews but this was not to place the Jewish people at a higher importance to anyone else. If anyone is saved it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Christians from a Jewish and Gentile background are united by their need of the blood of Christ. Equally I hope that there is no place among you for hatred of the Jews known as anti-semitism. Throughout history Jewish people have been persecuted and described as "Christ killers". May God forgive us! The crucifixion involved the actions of both Jews and Gentiles. Please remember that Christ died for the sins of His people. Who is to blame for the crucifixion? Sinners like you and me.  


With that said we must understand that the second miraculous feeding is to a Gentile audience. Jesus took seven loaves and a few small fish, He gave thanks for the meal and the disciples fed the crowd (v34-36). There was no one left out and no one left hungry. Indeed there were seven full baskets of leftovers from a crowd that had four thousand men and many more women and children (v37-38).


If the feeding of the five thousand saw twelve baskets of leftovers symbolising the Jewish people of Israel then perhaps the seven (a number denoting perfection) baskets suggests the full number of God's people brought in by the Gospel? I might not press this too hard but nevertheless Jesus fed both Jew and Gentile alike. All were welcome, all were fed, all were satisfied.


Paul would later say that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3v28-29) These are often misused verses attached to various issues of the day but what they do speak to is the unity of the church of Jesus Christ.


How is the Jew or Gentile saved? By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. What about the slave or the free? By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. How is a man or woman saved? By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We have been united by our faith in Christ and regardless of our background, status or gender, if we belong to Jesus then we are spiritual descendants of Abraham and the fruit of the covenant of grace.


As Jesus left the Gentile crowd behind (v39) it still wasn't time for a wholesale mission to the Gentile world but that time was coming and has now come. The church is not tiered with those at the table and the dogs underneath. Instead all of us were once lost but now we have been found and washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Every single Christian from the greatest to the least, Jew and Gentile alike, will one day take their place at the wedding supper of the Lamb.


Pray (acTS)


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Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
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12th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 9:35


Message Alan Burke 


Who is the greatest, it is a statement that we could debate for a lifetime, who is the greatest footballer, boxer, political leader and while I’m fairly set on each of those and you’re unlikely going to change my mind the disciples had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest among them. Jesus asked them what they had been arguing about and they all red faced, looked to the floor (or at least I imagine) and they said nothing, silence was their response to the question of Jesus. 


What Jesus does is that he sits and calls the twelve to himself. Sitting was the posture of the teacher whereas today teachers often stand to teach in Jesus’ day it would have been that the teacher sat and those being taught would have sat at the feet of the teacher.  
So here Jesus here sitting, calling the disciples is signalling to them that he was about to teach them something significant. After his question to them about what they were arguing about and with their response of silence Jesus doesn’t hammer them, he doesn’t point the finger and say ‘you lot know fine well what I’m talking about’! He doesn’t give them a dressing down and tell them that he will have none of it, instead Jesus uses the opportunity to teach an eternal truth about the Kingdom of God. 


Jesus calls them in and tells them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” This is not Jesus pointing the figure, he’s not accusing but he is teaching them and it is not some abstract principle, he is teaching them the principle that he was living out right before their every yes that the first must be last and servant of all. 


This teaching turns everything on it’s head, this is the polar opposite to how the world works, how we live our lives, what we teach our children, no parent who lines up in the parents race at sports day wants to come last, they are going for the victory, they want to be the greatest, they want to show all the other parents that they are losers and so that their kid has something to look up to. 


Jesus here equates greatness with servanthood, the paradox here is that if you want to be first you must be last. This isn’t the first time he had taught in such a way, teaching them in the paradox of the christian life. Like when Jesus predicted his death at the end of chapter 8 he taught “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35). Here Jesus teaches if you want to be first you must be last is teaching of the necessity of servanthood, as Jesus himself was exemplifying to them.


Who throughout the ages has been captivated by servanthood, this teaching of Jesus is not only revolutionary for those disciples at Jesus feet but it is for today and for the church. Our culture is not focused on the servant, but on the great and the good, who do we remember from history it’s the great and the good, we don’t have annuals of all those servants who died throughout the year, no, we value greatness. So here’s a question for us all, brothers and sisters how are we serving our saviour in how we serve his church, in how we serve one another? I’m often see many people who are quietly serving in many ways, while others I come across are looking for the fame and glory. Is there a way that we can be serving the church and our brothers and sisters? It can be from the simple act of giving someone a lift, making sure someone has a hot dinner, playing your part in the many events that the church runs, but how are you serving the church of Jesus Christ for his glory?


Our saviour the Lord Jesus Christ in what is known as his humiliation left the realms of Glory, the Fathers side and born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time, he exemplifies what servanthood was and is, he is the one who is our model. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
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11th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 15v21-31)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Where would you go to in order to rest from the constant attacks of your enemy? Amazingly, Christ withdrew from the Pharisees and went to the district of Tyre and Sidon (v21). We might skip over this detail but we should remind ourselves that Jesus was entering into hostile pagan territory. The Jewish historian Josephus described the people of Tyre as "notoriously our bitterest enemies." and throughout the Old Testament both Tyre and Sidon receive harsh judgement from the Lord (Isaiah 23v1-17 & Exodus 26-28). Nevertheless, Jesus did not find opposition in Tyre and Sidon but faith.


The Lord was approached by a Canaanite woman whose daughter was oppressed by a demon (v22). Who were the demons? Satan is an angel and when he rebelled against the Lord it is thought that a third of the angels followed him. The demons are the fallen angels who were cast out of heaven along with their leader the devil. The Canaanite woman had somehow heard about Christ and she cried for mercy to Jesus who she called "Lord, Son of David" (v22). Whoever this woman was, it would appear that she understood Christ's true identity.


But the Lord's response was silence (v23) and despite his the pleas of His disciples, Jesus was clear “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (v24). What did Christ mean? Quite simply the Lord's ministry was primarily to the Jews. In John's Gospel we are told "Jesus came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." (John 1v11). Jesus told the Samaritan woman "salvation is from the Jews." (John 4v22) and later Paul would say that the Gospel was "to the Jew first and also to the Greek." (Romans 1v16). There were Gentiles saved in the Old Testament and we have already witnessed Christ's ministry extending to the Gentiles living in Israel (Matthew 4v24-25 & 8v5-13) but the Lord's ministry was first and foremost to the lost of Israel and only then would the Gospel be taken to the rest of the world.


Such a response might cause most of us to leave with harsh words pouring from our mouth but this remarkable woman knelt before Jesus and said “Lord, help me.” (v25). This time Christ spoke and said “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” (v26). Once more this seems like a ridiculously harsh response. Jesus underlined that His ministry was to the children (the Jews) and therefore it wasn't right to give their bread to the dogs (the Gentiles). But again the Canaanite woman displayed her glorious faith.


She took no offence at the Lord's description of her as a dog and stated “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” (v27). This woman knew that she was not a Jew. She understood Christ's mission. She made no demands for a seat at the table. She didn't scream that God was unfair. Instead she willingly and humbly accepted her lowly position and asked for a mere crumb from the Masters' table.


Her faith was commended by Jesus who told her “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” (v28). It would not be long before the Apostles would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth but in this tremendous story a Gentile woman received a crumb from the Lord and it was more than enough. The Lord continued to travel in Gentile territory and He healed many (v30) causing wonder among the Gentiles (v31) and bringing them to a place where they glorified the God of Israel (v31).


Christ came to declare His kingdom to the Jews and to lay down His life as a ransom for many. Yet as He ministered in hostile territory, slowly but surely the light of the Gospel was beginning to rise upon the Gentile nations. Today it continues to shine and both Jew and Gentile have been brought into the one church by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2v11-22). Even so a partial hardening has come over the Jews until the full number of the Gentiles are saved (Romans 11v25) but before Christ's return we can and should expect many of the Jewish people to turn in faith to Christ (Romans 11v26-27).


We may wonder about God's plan but we can be sure that it will not fail. The cross will save all for whom it was intended, both Jew and Gentile, the true Israel of God, will be saved! 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
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10th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 9:33-34


Message Alan Burke 


Did you hear the wains had a fight on the playground? They were fighting about who’s da was stronger. How about did you hear about the wains falling out about how some of them though Man United was the greatest football club in the history of the world and others thought it was a nonsense? If we heard that there was a fight on the school playground about something like that or that there was a fall out about Man United being the greatest football club in the history of the world it wouldn’t greatly surprise us. When grown men and women fighting about who’s da is stronger or Man United being the greatest football club in the history of the world we might think to ourselves that they need looked at, they need to sort themselves out. 


As we once more return to Mark’s gospel we do so in the shadow of the disciples arguing among themselves about who is the greatest and it seems something more suitable to the school playground that it does to grown men but then that is the problem of sin, it leads us to do things that are just plain idiotic. We are not going to get to the response of Jesus to their idiocy today but just focus on the disciples. Look back as we do that to verse 30 as there Jesus had taught his disciples again that he would be delivered into the hands of men, he would be killed and on the third day he would rise again (9:31). The disciples didn’t understand what he meant and they were afraid to ask him (32). 


Depending on the translation you have before you depend on how the sentence is parsed. All have a slightly different way of putting it, disputed, arguing, one that I look at says discussing. The greek word means to argue, debate, Jesus is asking them what were they arguing, debating over on the road. 


These disciples had just heard their master, their teacher, the one who Peter confessed is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah of God’s people, tell them that he would be betrayed into the hands of men, he would be killed and after three days he would rise and they are on the road afterwards having a barney with one another about who is going to be the greatest. Part of the problem was among the disciples is that their expectations and the reality weren’t in line. Their expectations were of a conquering king, one who would free them from Roman rule, bring about a new earthly kingdom, greater than David’s, they still hadn’t grasped the reality of who Jesus was and what he had came to do. Here the disciples were caught up in their own greatness and they along with the others are trying to figure out the pecking order in the kingdom. 


Again and again I find comfort in the disciples of Jesus and I hope that you find comfort in the disciples of Jesus too. While we may might wonder at the disciples idiocy suffice to say none of us are immune to such behaviour even if we are the people of God. What I mean by that is that those who are the followers of Jesus are just as liable to miss the point, get caught up nonsense that is neither here nor there and of no eternal significance.  


Jesus to these disciples asks the question, what were you arguing about? He’s not asking them to give him the list of prime numbers from 1 to 1000, this isn’t a complicated question and their answer… Well there is no answer, they simply keep quiet.


I image the scene as they are all red faced, looking to the floor, trying not to make eye contact. The disciples that day were showing themselves in many ways to be no different than those who were on the outside, we have it from sources that who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God was often a debate that was had among rabbis, which of them would be closest to God’s throne. 


The disciples were those who were closest to Jesus, they had been with them every waking hour for some years, they had seen him do wonders, they had seen lives changed but they still didn’t get it. Proximity to Jesus didn’t mean that those who followed him understood his teaching. Nor does proximity to the church his people today, sitting under the preached word mean that we will get it, get the gravity of who he is and what he has done. There are things that are essential for us to understand, his death and resurrection for sinners like us, but we will spend a lifetime following him and even then we will never grasp the wonder of who he is and what he has done. One other thing for today, if you have found yourself getting caught up in stuff of no eternal significance making it a major issue the question is why? Brothers and Sisters there are to many of us caught up in the trivial rather than the wonder of the gospel of Christ Crucified for sinners. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

8th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 15v1-20)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The old adage "some people never learn" was certainly true of the Pharisees and scribes. They had consistently opposed Christ and just as consistently were left with egg on their face. They brought another challenge to the Lord over the issue of hand washing asking “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” (v2). What was the problem? In Christ's day many traditions had been passed down from previous generations and some of those dealt with how an individual was to wash in order to be ceremonially clean. It would appear that the disciples were not following the Pharisees' strict code.


It is important to note that the Pharisees were not insisting that the disciples adhered to God's Law. The "tradition of the elders" may have been well intentioned but it was not part of the Law. Therefore Jesus responded “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" (v3). The Law was clear that parents are to be honoured (Exodus 20v12) and anyone who cursed his parents should die (Exodus 21v17) but the Pharisees were using the "tradition of the elders" to circumvent the Law.


What were they doing? The Pharisees were making use of something called "qorban" which allowed them to dedicate food, money or property to God thus keeping it from the grasp of their parents. Now dedicating something to God is an honourable thing but it appears that the Pharisees were acting in a dishonourable manner. Imagine a son grew to hate his father - he could declare his home as "qorban" meaning that his father would have no right to his son's property. There is even evidence that such a vow could later be made void with the help of a rabbi - in such circumstances a son could "devote" his money to God and keep it away from his earthly parents and then at a later stage he could take his money back from the Lord. Neither his earthly or heavenly father would get anything from such an individual.


Christ's rebuke was stern, He said "for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (v6-9).


The Pharisees and scribes were making much of traditional man-made rules and regulations which for them had grown to trump the very Word of God. Jesus told the people that the Pharisees were "blind guides" (v13) and tragically if the blind lead the blind they both will fall into a pit and be destroyed (v14). Where the Pharisees had gone wrong was that they were insisting on outward behaviour without inward heart change.


Jesus said that is not what goes into a person that makes them unclean but what comes out of the mouth (v11). What comes from the mouth finds it source in the heart and from the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander (v19). A person could have the cleanest hands in Ballynahinch and still be in a desperate spiritual condition. This is what the Pharisees missed - outward obedience to man-made laws is no substitute for a Gospel transformed heart. Equally man-made laws and traditions should never take priority over the Word of God.


We would do well to heed this teaching in our day and age. The Gosepl of grace has been preached consistently in our land for generations and yet I'm always amazed at how many place their trust in man-made standards. "My hands are clean" we tell ourselves, "There's worse than me" we say, "the big man upstairs will see me right" we hope. But none of these attitudes address the real issue.


Everyone needs radical heart surgery which takes our heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. For such surgery we don't need to go on an NHS waiting list. Instead the Holy Spirit is our doctor who sends us to Christ the surgeon who uses the Gospel scalpel to operate on the dead hearts of sinners. It is by grace we have been saved through faith in Christ. Brothers and sisters rejoice, we have not gone through the motions of ceremonial hand washing, instead we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7v14).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q15 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

7th April 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Hebrews 11:39–40


Message Alan Burke 




As we come to the end of our series on Hebrews 11 and the so called heroes of the faith remember among them were adulterers, prostitute, swindlers, cheaters, murderers, manipulative parents, rebellious children. If we took time I’m sure we could name many more of their character faults, their failures but what mattered was to whom they looked, they looked to Christ. It was by faith all those who are listed here in Hebrews 11 were saved through the shedding of the blood of our saviour Jesus Christ. Through him we can have assurance, we can know that we are loved by God, we can know that in spite of what we have done we are forgiven through the atoning work of Christ on their behalf. Through what Christ Jesus has done, we are indeed forgiven if we have repented of our sin this day and looked to him in faith. 


And we along with those who are listed in Hebrews 11 look with hope to how we with them will be made perfect. While the believers of old, lived and died looking to the future in faith, while they are with Christ Jesus right now in Glory and they are recipients of the salvation that Christ Jesus has wrought they like all who have lived since the coming of Christ and like us await the day when we together with them will be made perfect. All these were looking to a city whose foundations and builder is God, and when Christ returns, after the final judgment takes place, we with them will be made perfect with the coming of the New Jerusalem. 


As John saw in the book of Revelation, a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”…(Re 21:1–5).


On that day, when God recreates the heavens and the earth, when God gives us new, glorified, perfected, resurrected bodies, then will we finally and perfectly experience that which we were created to do. Then we will finally know what it means to glorify and enjoy God perfectly, without the burden of sin laid upon our backs, forever!


There will be no more tears, death, mourning pain, there will be no more dodgy backs, no more falling out with our shadows, no more disappointments, no more of any of that (Rev 21:4). Instead we will live as Adam was always intended to live, in a covenant relationship with fullness and depth with our God (Rev 21:2), where we will enjoy God’s presence, where we will be his people (Rev 21:3). 


This is what the saints of Old were looking to, where the redeemed from throughout the ages along with millions of angels will sing the praise of our redeemer God, as together with us they would be made perfect. That is the hope of those who have faith, in that city whose foundations and builder is God, what are we looking forward to, today, tomorrow, in the midst of this life that is far from how we would want it or desire it to be. What ever lies ahead in this life, what ever tomorrow will bring, or the next, or the next, by faith in Jesus we have hope of the heavenly city and the faith we have in him, the gift that we have received means that when this life is all over we will like the saints of old, even though some of them are those if they were alive today who we’d probably cross the street to avoid, will be made perfect all through what Christ has done for us on Calvary’s hill. We cannot like they could not imagine the reality of that wonder in its fullness, but we look to that something better that lies ahead.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q14 What is sin?
Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. (1 John 3:4)