Weston Park Baptist Church

In the heady days of the Roman Empire John cautions the church of Christ to not become overly enamoured with the glory of Rome. As a civilization it was no doubt impressive but the seeds of descent were already taking root. In light of this reality John encourages believers to see what is passing and what abides forever. The question for John's church (and for us!) is can we have "in-sight" into our cultural mors and pursue what is essential and of true value.

The First Epistle of John begins with the famous statement that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (v5). John the Evangelist also affirms that Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). In both cases light communicates illumination and guidance for the way we live our lives. The Father and the Son join together to provide all the light we need to enjoy a meaningful and empowering life both now and forevermore.

Psalm 139 is a treasured Psalm of the church of Christ. It reminds us that our 'all-seeing' and 'all-knowing' God is present with us in every circumstance of life. Nothing lies beyond the care and touch of our loving God. It is for this reason we can trust Him as we pass through both the blessed and challenging epochs of life's journey.

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The psalmist calls us to give thanks to God for his enduring, compassionate love. He encourages us to be mindful of Gods loving presence in our day to day. We are not to grow absent-minded or become forgetful of what is most essential. Rather, we are to remain full of God always praising him for his faithful care.

The smallest psalm in the Psalter is Psalm 117. It is little in size but powerful in its message. The psalm focuses on two key attributes of God - His 'loyal love' and his 'never changing faithfulness'. God remains faithful even when we are faithless! It is for this reason that we are called to praise (and enjoy!) our magnificent triune God.

The Psalmist presents a picture of God as both high above creation as well as being near to us in our everyday world. (Theologians call this combination as God being both transcendent and immanent.) As a result we can place our faith in a mighty God who travels with us in the nitty-gritty of our taxing and troubling world.

Our Journey of a Disciple series focusing on the life of Peter comes to a close with the story of Peters restoration to ministry (John 21:1-19). Peter has denied Christ three times and now he is restored by three times vowing his love and service to the risen Christ. In this story Jesus is revealed to be a patient and forgiving Master who gives us multiple opportunities to return to him as we come with repentant and honest hearts. In a similar manner may we come to Jesus with devoted hearts and pledge our commitment to follow him with perseverance and passion.

Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment that they are to love one another even as Jesus has loved them. They are to love one another with a sacrificial love as Jesus has modelled before them. The question is the same for them and us , How will we respond to Jesus love and the call to love each other? Will we accept Jesus love or push his love away? Will we love each other or seek power over others? It comes down to a crisis of commitment. Are we really for Jesus or for ourselves? Our answer determines the course of our lives.

The foot-washing event in the Upper Room is a powerful enacted parable recorded by the Evangelist. By washing the disciples' feet Jesus challenges the assumptions of his own disciples (and the society at large). Jesus is pointing out that a pyramid model of "power over others" has no place in the new Kingdom of God. Rather than "power over" we are called to be servants of one another where humility and gift-love are the chosen values of Jesus. The invitation is to move beyond competition and comparison and to simply love and serve one another. Too often our own prejudices and "hard lines" keep us back from showing compassion and kindness to all of God's created family.

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The transfiguration story is told in each of the Synoptic Gospels - (each on e has their own details of the event.) However, the key is that Jesus changes into his glorious state ("metamorphosis") before Peter, James and John. They are given the precious gift of gazing upon the beauty of the glorified Christ. Along with this visual epiphany they hear God's voice encouraging them to listen to the words of Jesus. Together they are called to "pay attention" to what Jesus is teaching them. It is a lesson they are not to forget! Similarly, we are invited to truly pay attention to Jesus' words as we live our lives. Indeed, everything depends upon our receptivity to the life changing words (and presence) of the glorified Christ.

The key question in the Gospel of Mark has to do with the identity of Jesus Who is Jesus is the crux of the matter! Jesus asks this question specifically when he asks his disciples Who do you say that I am? Peter gets it right when he answers, You are the Christ! The challenge for the disciples (and us) is to understand and live out the truth of the matter that Jesus is the Messiah. In the words of Jesus it is phrased Deny yourself and take up your cross which means dont live for yourself but live in love for others. This is the challenge that we face as we live out our lives.

The Good News is that God changes us into something beautiful something remarkable. Even as a caterpillar is changed into a gorgeous butterfly so God transforms us into the image of his beloved Son. We dont deserve it. But he does it out of love. It is a work that happens from within by the activity of the Holy Spirit (layer by layer the old self is removed and replaced by the new self of Jesus transformative love.) Pentecost is a celebration of this metamorphosis old into new, from one degree of glory to another.

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As we make our way in the spiritual journey we often experience some turbulence between faith and doubt. We are like the father of the ill boy who cries out, I believe, help my unbelief! At our core we truly do believe in Gods loving presence but in the moment we are caught up in lifes storms and fears. Jesus encourages us to find our rest in him for it is his presence that dispels our fears. In him the tension between faith and doubt lessens and the comfort of his deep love sustains us as we travel our days under his loving hand.