That’s a pity because the message of the angels to the shepherds was one of the greatest of all time for every person on planet earth, yet it has been almost completely misunderstood over the years.  Some bible translations say something like “peace among men”, or “peace toward men of goodwill” (which of course is talking about mankind, not just the male gender!).  But that wasn’t the message.  Anyone can see that the birth of Jesus hasn’t stopped people waging wars and committing violence, yet so often that’s how it is interpreted, a sort of nice message, if only it were true.  In fact, Jesus said He hadn’t come to send peace on earth – at least not at his first coming, and that wars would increase as the time of his return drew near (see Matthew 10:33-36 and 24:6-8).

It’s perfectly true that for those who accept Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, as their Saviour and Lord, there comes an inner peace that simply cannot be shaken or matched by anything on earth – and you have to experience it to know it!  But the angels were declaring that the time of God’s anger against sinful mankind was about to come to a permanent end.  God was about to declare peace with us!  And when Jesus Christ went to the cross he became the once and for all peace offering for every human being in history.  In fact, he has already made peace with God for everyone.  There is nothing anyone of us can do to change or revoke that; it’s a done deal.  The only thing we have to do to make it good to us is to believe it to be the truth; to accept it by an act of faith. 

The Christian gospel is just that.  Gospel is just another word for good news.  God is not angry with anyone anymore because of their sins, failures, bad deeds, rotten attitudes or whatever.  At the cross, Jesus took the full force of God’s wrath and judgement against all of that.  And he did it absolutely perfectly so that it will never have to be directed at us.  That’s the good news – the gospel.  The only judgement left is: did we believe it and accept it?  The bible makes it quite clear that no one on earth can gain acceptance with God on the basis of doing right.  For a start, the 10 Commandments set the bar for acceptable behaviour way too high for anybody to succeed.  And then Jesus took it to a totally new level: the 10 Commandments dealt with our behaviour – what we did – but Jesus said the rules apply equally to our motives – what we think.  He said thinking about it is just the same in God’s eyes as doing it.  Anybody want to go for an A-star grade?  So Jesus, who God said was perfect in every way, took the punishment due to us for our failures – all of them – and gave us, in exchange, Jesus’ perfect right-standing with God.  God’s justice – his judgement against our sin – is totally satisfied.  He is at peace with you and me because Jesus paid the price for peace, and he offers it to us as a free gift.  You could call it his Christmas present to the world.  God has nothing but good will toward each and every one of us.  That was – and still is – the message of Christmas.

We pray that you will all have a Christmas full of the peace and joy and love that God intends for you, and, as the bumper sticker says, that it’s not just for Christmas, but for life!

Don’t we all?  The man Jesus Christ is truly God, but came to earth as a one hundred per cent human being.  One of the things Jesus did was to give us a tangible representation of who God really is and what he’s really like.  You could say that Jesus was God with skin on!  A man named Philip once asked Jesus to show him Father God.  Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  The words and actions of Jesus show us who God is – what He feels, what He thinks, what He cares about, and what – who – He loves.

There is a poem that concludes with the thought that “One is closer to God’s heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth.”  Nice sentiment, but not really true.  According to the bible, it would be more accurate to say that one is closer to God’s heart in a heaving shopping mall, or in a football crowd.  That’s not to say God doesn’t love the fantastic world He created, it’s just that He loves people more than anything.  All people.  Doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, He loves you.  There’s a saying that someone once asked God, “How much do you love me?”  And He stretched out His arms and said, “This much!”  And died.

For God so loved the world – the people who live on planet earth – that he gave His only Son, Jesus, that whosoever would believe and put their trust in Him, would not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3v16).  The fact is that on the cross, Jesus died in our place, taking into his own body not just our sin, but also all the consequences that man’s rebellion against God brought into the world, including sickness and disease.  Jesus died on the cross to make us right with God.

Jesus, as God in the flesh, was a perfect person – the only one who has ever lived.  We, on the other hand, are riddled with imperfections that sometimes manifest in ugly ways.  The deal is quiet simple: In order to make us right with God, Jesus took all our badness and in its place, God has given us all of Jesus’ goodness.  That’s a done deal.  God’s not mad at people anymore.  All of that was vented at the cross.  The only thing left for us to do is to accept what Jesus has already done.  It’s like God has written us a cheque covering every debt we have, and every debt we will run up during our whole lifetime, and placed it in our hand.  All we have to do is cash it in.  Not put in a drawer for safety, or framed on the mantelpiece as a trophy, but put it into our account, where it will do us some good.

A man who knew Jesus once described him as “Jesus of Nazareth, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.”  (Acts 10v38).  He’s a good God.  He’s the same today as in bible days.  His heart’s desire is to do good to you and me.  Look at Jesus – God with skin on – and see His love and care for each and every one of us.

A similar thing happened at when Jesus died on the cross.  On the day of the crucifixion, the fog of hell seemed to roll in with its message, “Christ defeated.” That day ended with a dead Saviour and scattered, weeping, defeated disciples. Then, three days later, the fog cleared and the true message was understood.  Angels from heaven descended to earth and rolled back the stone from the empty tomb so that a waiting world could read the entire message, “Christ defeated Satan.”  The apparent defeat was revealed as an eternal victory that has released the river of God’s grace, mercy and love for us all.

Many years ago Frank Morison wrote a book called Who Moved The Stone?  He was convinced that the miracles recorded in the Bible didn’t actually happen and set out to explain away the most fanciful miracle of all: Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  However, what happened was that as he sifted the evidence and applied pure logic and reason to the argument, he arrived, over a period of time, at a totally unexpected and undesired conclusion: that the biblical accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are incontrovertibly true.

But irrespective of our opinions, it’s what God says about an issue that really matters.  And concerning Jesus being raised back to life on the third day and what that means for you and me, the bible says a lot:

In Luke 24:39, Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, and said, “Look at my hands and my feet (where the nails were); it’s really me!  Come on and touch me, because a ghost hasn’t got flesh and bones like I have!”  All but one of those disciples would be killed for being a follower of Jesus – and it was the rock-hard fact that Jesus was alive again that was the undeniable foundation of their Christian faith.

Years later Peter, who was there that day, wrote,  “We weren’t telling clever stories that someone had made up, but with our own eyes we saw it…”  (2 Peter 1:16), and on the day of Pentecost, six weeks after Jesus was crucified, Peter preached to the crowd, “You killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross, but God raised him to life again…” (Acts 5:30)

Why is the resurrection so important to Christians?  Well, Jesus himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me, even though he dies, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26).  The Christian’s belief in eternal life is based on Jesus’ own resurrection.

In his letter to the Romans (4:25), Paul wrote “God gave Jesus to die for our sins, and he raised him to life so that we would be made acceptable to God.”  A few pages later he said “You will be saved if you honestly say ‘Jesus is Lord’, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death.  God will accept you and save you if you truly believe this and tell it to others.” (Rom 10:9-10)

A text often used at funerals is 1 Corinthians 15:  “If Christ wasn’t raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith.  Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless and you are completely lost and are worse off than anyone else.” (from vs 14-19).  But Paul concludes, “But Christ has been raised to life!  And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life… and so Christ will bring life to us all.” (vs 20, 22)

In verses 17-19 Paul says,  “If Christ is not risen, and our hope is only in this life, we are of all men most miserable”.  Why?  Because the preaching of the Christian gospel would be vain and our Christian faith would be vain.  But the fact that we celebrate at Easter (and throughout the year actually) is that HE IS RISEN and therefore our faith is not in vain!  And therefore Jesus’ promise is literally true when he said in Matthew 28:20, “I will be with you always, right up to the end of the world.”

As it was nearly lunchtime, the magistrate announced an adjournment while he considered over lunch what to do next.  As he left the court building a well-dressed gentleman came up to him.  “Excuse me, but I was in court just now and heard the predicament of the last defendant.  If I may, I would like to pay all that man owes – both to his neighbour and his fine to the court.”

“That’s a very unusual request,” replied the magistrate, “why ever would you offer to do that?  He’s not got a very good character or reputation, you know.”

“Yes I do know. But he’s in a hopeless situation,” the stranger continued, “and I will stand in for him.  Now look, you’ve set the amounts that he has to pay.  Here’s the money in full.  His neighbour gets full restitution, and the court’s fine is met.  If I don’t pay for him, no one will get a penny and you’ll just throw him in the debtor’s prison to rot.”

The bewildered magistrate took the money and instructed the clerk accordingly.  After lunch the court reconvened and the accused man was brought into the dock, trembling with fear, expecting the worst.  But the magistrate simply told him, “Your debts have been paid in full, there are no further charges against you and you are free to go!”

Our rebellion against God has racked up debts that we can’t possibly pay.  In fact, sin – for that’s what the rebellion is called – ultimately carries the death penalty: that “death” is being cut off from God forever.  In reality the stranger’s name is Jesus, and he stepped in to pay the price of the judgement against us – a price we simply couldn’t pay.  It happened at the cross.  We get a holiday at Easter to celebrate it.

The result?  We’ve been set free from the guilt of sin and all its consequences.  Suppose in our story the accused man had still wanted to try and work off the debts himself; the court records would show that to be impossible because there was no more debt to pay.  God wipes the slate clean when we come to him.  The debt of sin has been marked “Paid in full”.  We can’t pay a second time what’s already been paid by Jesus.  The bible says that Jesus “wiped out the certificate of debt that was against us… he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14).  Accepting that truth is called “faith”.

But the reality is better than the story; Jesus didn’t just pay the debt and walk away.  When we accept by faith what he has done, God himself comes to live with us and in us.  Jesus said of the person who puts their faith and trust in him that  “We (the Father and the Son) will… make our home with him”, and that the Holy Spirit also will  “live with you and in you forever.” (John 14:23; John 14:16-17).

And on the cross Jesus didn’t just die for a few people or to pay for a few sins, he died ONCE FOR ALL (Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27).  One perfect sacrificial death wiped out the debt of every sin of every person for all time.  It’s as though God has put into each of our hands a cheque that covers every debt of sin we do, or ever will, owe.  But for our part we have to accept it.  We could return it marked “unwanted gift”; or say, “I don’t believe it’s real”, and bin it.  We could say “No, I’ll sort my problems out my way”.  Or we could think, “That’s nice,” and put it on the mantle piece. Not very wise responses, because that cheque is the only way out.  The only response is to take it to the bank and pay it to your account, trusting that it is indeed enough to make us right with God forever.

The big question “why” is answered in the big word “love”.  “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.  He who believes in him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18).

In this spring season of Easter and the new life that’s blossoming around us, we can reflect again on the gift of eternal life that God offers us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Stephanie was very pretty with a bubbly personality, but as she unfolded her story, her looks belied the reality of a difficult past. She had lived in various parts of the USA for nearly twenty years and had experienced three disastrous marriages – one of which lasted less than a week – in each one of which she was the victim of horrendous abuse. In fact, she was abused and beaten in every single relationship she had. One side of her face had been surgically rebuilt after a man had smashed it with a rock on one occasion. Another time, a man tried to shoot her and her daughter. She had also dabbled in the occult – her haunted house was built on an ancient Native American burial site – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, she had become an alcoholic.

After she became a Christian Stephanie wanted to help people, and in particular she had a big heart for the young. She joined YWAM (Youth With A Mission), but her past seemed to have a hold on her. On one occasion she became so depressed that she went out onto a frozen lake, intending to keep walking until the ice gave way. Fortunately some Christian friends saw her and somehow managed to get her back to safety. Eventually Stephanie returned to England, still needing help and yet desperate to serve God.

It took Stephanie hours to tell us the details of her complex story. But we knew that Jesus could set her free and so eventually we prayed. And over the course of the next few hours God did indeed heal her and totally deliver her from the past. At one point she screamed and pointed to her toes. “What’s wrong with them?” we asked, ”They look fine.” “That’s just the point,” she said, “I broke one of them years ago when I tripped over while blind drunk. It’s been twisted over the one next to it ever since – until just now, when it popped back straight!” And as well as physical healing, God healed her from the guilt over her unborn children, her bad relationships, her deep-rooted fears, and so on. Our prayer session continued until 5am. Stephanie went home tired but free, flooded with grateful praise and thanksgiving to God. In Jesus Christ she had found a man who kept his word, loved her unconditionally, and brought her life.

One of the things that Stephanie regretted was that, because of her alcoholic past, she felt unable to take Communion at her local Anglican church because they used real wine – she was concerned that even a sip could cause her slip back into her old ways. Just after nine the following Sunday morning an excited Stephanie was on the phone: “I just got back from early morning Communion, wine and all. It was wonderful!” Stephanie went on to fulfil her dream and was able to work with YWAM, including a period helping young people with messed up lives on the streets in America.

We’ve never met up again, but every Christmas Stephanie sends a Christmas card, sometimes with a little newsletter, but always inscribed with the same simple message: “Still healed, still free and still praising Jesus!”

To paraphrase the words of the angel who announced to Joseph the forthcoming birth of Jesus: ”You shall call his name Jesus – that means saviour – because he will save his people from their sins, past, present, future, and from all the consequences of them, physical, emotional and spiritual.” The bible says that Jesus is still the same today as he was yesterday, and is recorded of him that he healed all who came to him sick or distressed or troubled. It is the birth of Jesus we celebrate again this Christmas. Our prayer is that you might know him and experience, like Stephanie, his love and peace in your life.

Jacob was a man who had messed up big time, but he eventually found a relationship with God and ended up being very blessed. The following is one of the promises God made to Jacob, and one that we can take as a promise made personally to us if we, like Jacob, turn our lives over to God:

“The Lord who created you, Jacob, says, ‘Don’t be afraid, for I have ransomed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up – the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Saviour.’ ” (Isaiah 42:1-3). Now, since the bible was written for you and me, we can put our names right there in Jacob’s place!

Verse 4 of David’s well-known Psalm 23 says, “Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you, Lord, are with me.” David trusted God’s promise.

God says that whatever happens, I’ll be right there with you; you don’t have to go through anything alone.” And notice that he talks about us going through – not camping there. Those poor folk who got stuck in the Channel Tunnel for hours on end last winter had a horrific experience. They were ok about going on a journey through the Tunnel; it was getting stuck half-way in the dark for hours with no power, no water, and no one to tell them what was happening that caused the anguish. They felt abandoned and it caused great distress.

Jesus told his friends, “Don’t worry, I will never abandon you.” (John 14:18). In Hebrews 13:5 God says, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down – relax my hold on you! Assuredly not!” (Amplified Bible).

The reason for God’s commitment to you and me is simple: he loves us. Passionately. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

We want to assure you that God cares for you; that you are precious and loved and that he values you, wants your company, more than anything else he has created. And he’s just a prayer away.

We thank God and are grateful for the great team of doctors who serve us so well in this community. But praying for the sick isn’t one side of a contest between two opponents. A Christian GP friend of ours from Shropshire has for years catalogued the effectiveness of prayer. Although committed to medical science, Jamie has the hard evidence of numerous occasions when God has intervened and healed people when no medical explanation can be found.

But it really all comes down to faith. It’s interesting but ultimately irrelevant what the papers say. It’s what the bible says – what God says in his Word – that calls the shots. Some of the biblical statements are quite bold and explicit:

“I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)

“Bless the LORD… who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases”. (Psalm 103:3)

“He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds”. (Psalm 147:3)

“They brought to Jesus all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases… and He healed them”. (Matthew 4:24)

“All those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them”. (Luke 4:40)

“Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing”. (Luke 9:11)

“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”. (Acts 10:38)

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven”. (James 5:14-15)

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”. (Hebrews 13:8)

Physical healing, mental healing, emotional healing, forgiveness. God offers it all. How? By virtue of Jesus having paid the price for it all on the cross: “Jesus was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was laid upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed”. (Isaiah 53:5). Why? Love! “For God so loved the world (that’s you and me) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

And God extends an invitation to us, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8)

Pray? Why Pray? What can praying do?

Prayer really changes things, arranges life anew.

It’s good for your digestion, gives peaceful sleep at night,

And fills the greyest, gloomiest days with rays of glowing light.

It puts a smile upon your face, a love note in your tone.

It makes you fit to live with others, and fit to live alone.

Pray? Why Pray? What can praying do?

Prayer brings God’s love from heaven to live and work in you!

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The man’s name was Maximilian Kolbe.  He was a Franciscan priest, sent to Auschwitz in February 1941.  In the midst of awful suffering and death, this man maintained the love and compassion of Christ.  He gave up his bunk, he shared his food, and he prayed for his guards.  Full of kindness, and without malice or hatred. Franciszek Gajowniczek had a moving memory of this man.

That July there was an escape from the camp.  The retribution for such an attempt was merciless: ten prisoners would die for every one who escaped. All the prisoners were gathered in the courtyard and the commandant went through the ranks, randomly selecting the quota.  From there they would be taken to a cell where they would receive no food or water until they died.

Each man steps forward as he is chosen.  The tenth name called is that of Gajowniczek.  As the SS officers check the numbers of the condemned men, a prisoner begins to cry as he thinks of his wife and children.  The officers turn as they hear a movement within the ranks.  Guards raise their rifles and their dogs strain on their leashes, awaiting the order to attack.  One of the prisoners has left his place and is pushing his way to the front.  It is Kolbe. He does not hesitate, nor does he show any fear.  The capo commands him to stop or be shot.  “I want to speak to the commander.” he calmly requests. No one knows why he isn’t clubbed and shot there and then.  His action is unthinkable.  Unprecedented.  What on earth is he doing?

He stops in front of the commandant, removes his hat and looks him in the eye:  “Herr Commandant, I want to make a request.  I want to die in the place of this prisoner.”  He points at Gajowniczek.  “I have no wife or children;” he continues, “I am old and unable to work.  And he’s in better condition.”  He perfectly understands the Nazi mentality.

“Who are you?” asks the officer.

“A Catholic priest.” Kolbe replies.

There is a moment’s stunned silence.  And then, “Request granted.”

The prisoners were never allowed to speak.  Recalling the moment, Gajowniczek said  “I could only thank him with my eyes.  I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on.  The immensity of it: I, the condemned, am to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me – a stranger.  Is this some dream?”

Maximilian Kolbe outlived the other nine condemned men.  And in the end, he didn’t die of thirst or starvation. On 14 August 1941 he was eventually killed by being injected with carbolic acid.

Franciszek Gajowniczek amazingly survived the Holocaust, and after the war he went back home.  But every year, on 14 August, he returned to Auschwitz to pay his respects and say thank you to the man who died in his place.  And he carved himself a plaque as a memorial to Maximilian Kolbe, which he placed in his back garden.

An innocent man dies for a condemned man.  A man facing certain death is unexpectedly given life.  As in Auschwitz, so in Jerusalem – about 2000 years ago.  Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, a Jew, innocent of all charges, dies on a cross in place of the guilty – me and you.  Why?  Out of love, and the fact that there was no other way to bring us eternal life.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes on him might not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

God is only a prayer away; life is only a prayer away, a prayer like this would be a start to knowing him:  “Father God, thank you for loving me so much that you sent your perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me, that I might be forgiven all my sins and cleansed to the very depths of my heart.  I accept you, Jesus, as my Saviour and ask you to help me live a life of love for you.”?

Saul of Tarsus was a religious zealot who went about killing and imprisoning first-century Christians – until he had an encounter with Jesus; he changed his name to Paul and became the greatest missionary of all time, writing the bulk of the New Testament. John Newton was an 18th century slave trader; his encounter with God so changed him that he wrote a hymn reflecting his experience – Amazing Grace.

Jason is a young Christian. One day as he was buying a hamburger and sharing his faith with those behind counter, he looked past them and shouted to three men at the drive-by window, including them in his conversation. They weren’t interested. As Jason left and walked across the car park, he noticed the three men eating in their car. Undeterred, he went over and tried to continue his conversation with them. That was when he noticed that the man in the back had his leg in a plaster cast. So Jason boldly opened the door, climbed into the back seat and, uninvited, began to pray for the man’s broken leg to be healed.

Suddenly the man began to curse, screaming that his leg felt like it was on fire. He jumped out of the car, quickly followed by his two friends, began stamping it on the ground and then started to tear off the cast. It was about then that he realised his broken leg had been completely healed. Shocked by this, the three men went round to the boot of the car, took out a consignment of illegal drugs they were running, and smashed them on the ground, all three dancing on them in the car park.

Jason had just introduced his three new friends to the living God, a God who loves them passionately and who intervened to change their lives for good. God’s whole motivation is love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

The bible says that “Jesus of Nazareth was filled with the Holy Spirit and with power, went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38). It also says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8), and that the signs that followed Jesus would also follow Christian believers (Mark 16:17-18). Paul, John and Jason (and his new-found friends!) are among the millions who have come to know the powerful love of the Lord God, a life-changing love that may be experienced by everyone who comes to him.