Acts 2:22-41New International Version (NIV)

Acts 2:22-41New International Version (NIV)

22“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazarethwas a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,which God did among you through him,as you yourselves know.23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge;and you, with the help of wicked men,[a]put him to death by nailing him to the cross.24But God raised him from the dead,freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.25David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’[b]

29“Fellow Israelites,I can tell you confidently that the patriarchDavid died and was buried,and his tomb is hereto this day.30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.31Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.32God has raised this Jesus to life,and we are all witnessesof it.33Exaltedto the right hand of God,he has received from the Fatherthe promised Holy Spirit and has poured outwhat you now see and hear.34For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’[c]

36“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lordand Messiah.”

37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39The promise is for you and your childrenand for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their numberthat day.

St Tims 28/05/17Witness week 5

Preamble

Clarification of a few things

Phil has retired and is living at a secret address somewhere in ... the ... world

I am leading the church until a replacement for Phil can be found. I will be licensed as associate priest at some point.

I am not working for St Tims, I am working full time doing other things. No one is currently replacing Phil’s hours.

We will try to keep the church moving forward towards our 2020 vision during this time but we need all hands on deck. Very much a team effort.

In the next few weeks we will get the go ahead from the diocese to begin the process of finding a new vicar, it may take months.

In their wisdom, the diocese have decreed that the replacement for Phil will be full time but on a temporary contract for three years and the long term plan is that clergy will be shared between churches, possibly two clergy between three or 4 clergy between 5.

We have strongly protested against this but sadly to no avail.

Once a new vicar is in place I intend to resign to give him or hera clear run.

PCC voted to accept the possibility of a woman priest. If you want to talk that through at any point feel free to come and see me.

I have also asked the Bishop of Doncaster to review my position here in Jan 2018 if an appointment has not been made by then as I believe the C of E should be able to fill the post within 8 months.

One of the things Phil was worried about – unruffling feathers. My advice is don’t ruffle each other’s feathers and then no one will have to spend time we haven’t got on things we shouldn’t need to do!! If you are not sure say the Lord’s prayer to yourself and read Matt 18:15-35.

Why Witness? ‘Witness grows the church’ Acts 2:22-41

We have seen that the early disciples witnessed and so we must give witness to the resurrection; this is the vindication of who Jesus was, the assurance of forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life with God.

So why give witness to the resurrection? because it grows the church.

Witness grows the church.

Giving witness to resurrection, resurrection = Jesus is Messiah. That’s why God raised him from the dead as prophesied.

Might be easy to discount what a few people say they have seen so Jesus as Messiah has sent God’s HS.

The apostles were giving witness that this was HS = gift of Jesus because he is Messiah.

So now the proof is public, you can see the work of God in and through the risen Jesus, the risen Christ the risen Messiah.

But Peter says you knew that already really, 22“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazarethwas a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,which God did among you through him,as you yourselves know.

You really knew deep down that this was something special but you were afraid or ignorant or couldn’t be bothered or you were proud.

23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge;and you, with the help of wicked men,[a]put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

You rejected him to death with the help of evil men (The Romans).

So far so good for Jesus enemies – Jesus easily dealt with / God easily dealt with.

As God knew you would. So this wasn’t random and you weren’t in charge. Your selfish nature took you were it inevitably would walking away from God just like in Eden. God had a plan and now having fulfilled your part of a plan there is His part which is your offer of redemption.

24But God raised him from the dead,freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

You can’t get rid of God like that! God won’t be dismissed like that.

32God has raised this Jesus to life,and we are all witnessesof it.

God is back and we are his witnesses.

33Exaltedto the right hand of God,he has received from the Fatherthe promised Holy Spirit and has poured outwhat you now see and hear.

Its not just us, its public. Its what you see and hear! The outpouring of the spirit, the confident public witness and proclamation.

37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”(They heard that Jesus who they knew really was special was in fact special and they knew that their guilty consciences were because they really were guilty and they didn’t want to live like that – who does?)

38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.- Repent from what, be baptised into Jesus why? – because God raised him, God won’t go away

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39The promise is for you and your childrenand for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (complete restoration of relationship with God)

40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”(salvation is offered repeatedly)

41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their numberthat day.(Witness grows the church)

So how is all that relevant to St Tims in 2017?

To begin with always the first thing to be converted is the church!

If we don’t have anything to witness to then we won’t witness.

Where are you with all this, the resurrection of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life.

Do you need to agree to any of this in you mind?

Do you need to take steps to believe any of this in your heart?

Today would be a good day to take that step.

There has been a desperate decline in churchgoing in England over the last few decades. I believe because the church has been populated by faithful people who have not had Jesus as the object of their faith.

If we see the first step is the conversion of the church we see the next step is that the church grows by witnessing, witnessing to the fact of Jesus’ Lordship proved by both his resurrection and the working of the HS.

Are those of us who believe witnessing?

God is dead said Nietzsche, and its assumed to be true and echoed throughout the media and society, in schools, on tv, Prof Brian Cox, Richard Dawkins the new atheists etc

Jesus is easily dealt with by his enemies.

But says Peter (and the NT and the church ever since )32God has raised this Jesus to life,and we are all witnessesof it, God is back and we are his witnesses. Are we though?

Are we in our lives witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus. That God is not dead?

And then there is the public witness of the church. 33Exaltedto the right hand of God,he has received from the Fatherthe promised Holy Spirit and has poured outwhat you now see and hear.

Is there anything to see and hear? Is there enough to see and hear of the Spirit and the church?

37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (If there is sufficient confident witness? Why is no one saying that today?)

38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.(who says that when and where?)

And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39The promise is for you and your childrenand for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (We don’t really say this bit much either, and this is the good bit, receive spirit at confirmation, dodgy theology, unimaginative practice)

40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”(salvation is offered repeatedly, its an ongoing theme of the church)

41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their numberthat day. (2020 vision requires about 5% this number)

So what do we do practically??

Witness grows the church but its scary and or embarrassing because we think people won’t be interested.

Some won’t be interested but some will be, after all we areinterested.

We might also not know what to say or how to answer questions.

Alpha course ideal – experts and witnesses. Experts on DVD we are witnesses how its affected us.

Whole church Alpha in September can help us with the what to say.

What about the scary bit, where does the confidence come from?

Well this is Pentecost so its the HS.

We come together in church to remind ourselves of God’s goodness.

To improve our understanding of our own faith.

To meet with God – by his HS

The HS points us to Jesus in hearing the word.

The HS makes bread and wine for us the body and blood.

The HS speaks into our hearts and minds directly if we give him opportunity.

Which we will now.

Pray - come HS