Hi everyone - worship is at 8.30am this week.
This Sunday's gospel reading from Luke 8 takes us to the 'wrong side' of the Jordan as Jesus comes across the Gerasene man who is possessed by a legion of demons. With very little fuss and without ANY of the Hollywood exaggeration normally associated with exorcisms, Jesus speaks and the man is freed from the hellish torment he has been enduring for years. The demons depart and possess a herd of pigs who flee into the depths of the sea.
A great story of deliverance and one you would expect to have been received with thanksgiving and praise. But no. Instead the people come flocking to see what has happened and then, filled with fear, they beg Jesus to go away! What motivates their fear? Is it Jesus' power? Or is it their fear of further loss if more of their livestock are the collateral damage of another exorcism?
God forbid that we should respond to Jesus' power to forgive and free us from sin, death and the Devil with this faithless kind of fear. Yes, there is a cost to discipleship (as Jesus will tell us in the next chapter). But that cost is about letting go of things that lead to death and embracing the way of the cross, that leads to eternal life. It's about letting go our own, self-styled Christianity and being swept up in the true faith that trusts in Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
The healed Gerasene man got it - and Jesus sent him off to tell everyone what God had done for him. I pray you will receive the same liberation from sin, death and the Devil tomorrow as we gather in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus who continues to call us to life out of the graveyard of this world.
Here are the readings:
Isaiah 65:1-9 The Lord will punish the rebellious but save those who serve him.
Galatians 3:23-29 We are Christ's, justified by faith
Luke 8:26-39 Jesus heals a man with demons
See you all at 8.30am!
Pastor Matt
This Sunday's gospel reading from Luke 8 takes us to the 'wrong side' of the Jordan as Jesus comes across the Gerasene man who is possessed by a legion of demons. With very little fuss and without ANY of the Hollywood exaggeration normally associated with exorcisms, Jesus speaks and the man is freed from the hellish torment he has been enduring for years. The demons depart and possess a herd of pigs who flee into the depths of the sea.
A great story of deliverance and one you would expect to have been received with thanksgiving and praise. But no. Instead the people come flocking to see what has happened and then, filled with fear, they beg Jesus to go away! What motivates their fear? Is it Jesus' power? Or is it their fear of further loss if more of their livestock are the collateral damage of another exorcism?
God forbid that we should respond to Jesus' power to forgive and free us from sin, death and the Devil with this faithless kind of fear. Yes, there is a cost to discipleship (as Jesus will tell us in the next chapter). But that cost is about letting go of things that lead to death and embracing the way of the cross, that leads to eternal life. It's about letting go our own, self-styled Christianity and being swept up in the true faith that trusts in Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation.
The healed Gerasene man got it - and Jesus sent him off to tell everyone what God had done for him. I pray you will receive the same liberation from sin, death and the Devil tomorrow as we gather in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus who continues to call us to life out of the graveyard of this world.
Here are the readings:
Isaiah 65:1-9 The Lord will punish the rebellious but save those who serve him.
Galatians 3:23-29 We are Christ's, justified by faith
Luke 8:26-39 Jesus heals a man with demons
See you all at 8.30am!
Pastor Matt
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