Review: Matter - Ian M. Banks

ISBN: 978-1-84149-419-7

Contains spoilers. 

This is a 'Culture' novel.  A universe of truly diverse creatures at different stages of development, all looked over by the 'Culture'.

We start in a feudal society.  The King is at war, he has three sons, two survive and go their separate ways.  He has a trusted general and second in command.  He will win the war, but it will not be a good day.

The description of the war, the culture and the surrounding universe is described in amazing detail.  Too much sometimes.  The thread of the story tends to get overpowered by detail that I've already partly lost track of.

Over the 593 pages of the main story, characters come and go.  There is a whole thread about one of the sons that ends abruptly without there apparently being any contribution to the main story.  It is not until we get to around the 500th page, that the real story becomes clear.  It has not followed the character I assumed was the main character, and then it does.  So, there are some nice twists in the plot.

Overall though, the book was a disappointment.  Any writer who put their characters in an unsurvivable position, and then fails to wrap up the outcome is missing a trick.  I want to know what the 'Culture' and especially the 'Special Circumstances' being made of it all.  Instead, we get an Epilogue - a few pages that follow a surviving servant, starting from a considerable time after the awful end of the main story.

 

 

 

The Most Dangerous Book in the World

Introduction

A couple of weeks ago, when we were in here for our Pray Together service, I found a Bible that had been repaired with black and yellow striped tape. I commented that it was the most dangerous book in the world. It was kind of a joke, but there was a serious thought behind it.

The most dangerous book in the world

How would you respond to the question “What is the most dangerous book in the world?”

From a few internet searches two books vied for the title. One is Mien Kampf – Hitlers manifesto, carefully designed to appeal to all of Germany’s malcontents. It was undoubtedly responsible for many of the horrors of WWII. The other is Chairman Mao's Little Red Book. A collection of sayings designed to strengthen Mao’s cult of personality. It is said that there was one printed for each person, and one of the reasons it was so dangerous was that if you didn’t have your copy with you the Red Guard could arrest you. Then your future would be very uncertain indeed.

Both these books influenced many millions of people, but if read with an open mind and a critical attitude they are easily dismissed. Their influence was greatest in their own generation.

A more dangerous book

Those books were dangerous because they corrupted people. The Bible is dangerous for a very different reason. It challenges us, changes us, and refuses to leave us as we are. It isn’t a manifesto, it is probably not going to appeal to malcontents, you don’t have to carry it with you, although you will. It isn’t about a cult of personality, and if it is read with an investigative mind, it might just change your life. If it does genuinely change your life, you will be immune from the influence of books like Mein Kampf and The Little Red Book.

PP 2026 theme

The theme for Pensioners Praise for 2026 is ‘To know Jesus better and to make Jesus better known’.

We can get to know Jesus in three ways: through the Holy Spirit, through the witness of other Christians, and through Scripture.

For me, the Bible is the first place I would turn to get to know Jesus.

Some people affected

I’m going to look at some of the people who were affected by reading the Bible. These are just a few of the ones we know about, there are, of course, many many more that we don’t know about.

St Augustine (354-430 AD)

The first is St. Augustine. As a young man Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle. He was highly intelligent, but he felt empty and restless. In his book “Confessions” he tells of his conversion. He was in a garden, he says “Suddenly, I heard the voice of a boy or girl chanting over and over again, ‘pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it.’”. The book was the Bible, he opened it and read “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness...” (Romans 13). He said of that experience “all the darkness of doubt vanished away.”

That was just one line from the Bible, but he did have a Christian Mother, so would have been aware of Christian beliefs.

John Newton (1725-1807)

Newton was a slave trader whose language and behaviour was notorious even among sailors.

After surviving a violent storm at sea, he began reading Scripture seriously. Over time, passages about God's mercy convicted him deeply. His life gradually changed, and he eventually became an Anglican minister.

He later wrote the hymn:

"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me."

The man who once profited from slavery became an advocate for its abolition.

Nicky Cruz

Nicky Cruz grew up in Puerto Rico and eventually led the violent Mau Maus gang in New York City.

When evangelist David Wilkerson preached in the streets, Cruz initially threatened to kill him. Wilkerson replied:

"You could cut me into a thousand pieces and lay them in the street, and every piece would love you."

Those words stayed with him. As he later read the Bible and heard the Gospel explained, he became a Christian. He left gang life and spent decades helping troubled young people.

His story was told in The Cross and the Switchblade.

These last two, show the power of the Bible more directly:

Rosaria Butterfield

Rosaria Butterfield was a university professor and outspoken critic of Christianity, she once wrote against evangelical beliefs.

A pastor wrote her a thoughtful letter, and she began reading the Bible in order to critique it more effectively. Instead, she found herself challenged by Jesus' words and the Bible's claims.

What began as research gradually became faith. She often says that Scripture "got to know her" as she read it.

Frank Morison (Albert Henry Ross)

Albert Henry Ross, better known to us as Frank Morison, was a sceptic who sat down to write a book disproving the resurrection. Halfway through, he discovered he couldn't honestly write the book he had planned. Instead, he wrote Who Moved the Stone?. It became one of the most influential books defending the resurrection.

Summarise

Some people open the Bible to judge it, only to discover that it is judging them, which is what Hebrews 4:12-13 is saying. Others open the book and read just a little. They find that all scripture is useful for teaching, which is what 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is about.

Ways to Read the Bible

If you want to know Jesus better, the study of the Bible is a good way to get started, but there are other ways to use the Bible to achieve that aim. Here are some of them.

Devotional Reading

The first is a devotional reading. This will help our personal development, and help us understand Jesus a little better.

To do this, choose a relatively short passage, read it slowly, out loud, listen to your words. Listen for what stands out. Repeat the phrase and ask “Why is this resonating with me today?” Pray to God about the text and the thoughts it has raised in you. Then spend some time in quiet, let the text settle in you.

Historical and Contextual Reading

The second is a historical and contextual reading. For this you will also need a commentary. Then ask 3 questions:

Who wrote it, and for whom?

What is the cultural setting?

What did it mean for the original readers?

This can sometimes be difficult, but the work is worth it for the reward of the better understanding you will get.

Narrative Analysis

The third is Narrative Analysis. With this approach the books that make up the Bible are read as literature. Look for the character development and the story structures. Also look for repetition and keywords. Ask what is the literary genre – maybe Poetry (Psalms), Wisdom Literature (Proverbs), Apocalyptic (Revelation), Narrative (Acts), or Discourse (Romans).

This approach takes more time, but also means you have read more of scripture.

Thematic Reading / Character Study

The fourth is thematic reading. In this type of reading we trace themes through the Bible. You will need commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and concordances. They are all available on-line if you don’t have the books. Pick a concept, like “Covenant” and follow it through the Old and New Testaments. See how the ideas around it develop, and which characters are involved throughout history.

A similar approach can be used to study different people, like Peter or David.

Summarise

Each of these approaches will help us to understand how Jesus interacts with different people in different ways, and what it meant to those in the stories and the people who first read about them.

Meditation

Rather than simply talking about reading the Bible, I'd like us to spend a few minutes doing it together. Christians have often used a prayerful imagination when reading Scripture, placing themselves in the scene and asking what they notice. Let's try that now with Mark 11:15-19, which you’ve already heard read. We will try to put ourselves into the story. Let me re-read the passage so it’s fresh in our minds:

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

Some of these details I will talk about are not recorded in the passage. We are simply using our imagination to enter the scene and pay closer attention to what Mark tells us.

So, imagine that you are either, someone in the crowd, one of the disciples, one of the traders, or perhaps a Jewish official.

I suggest you close your eyes to avoid distractions, and see what images come to mind as we run through the events one more time.

We start in the temple courts, it’s hot and dusty, full of people. Perhaps you can see the walls of the temple, a marvellous building. Traders are everywhere, there’s the noise of conversation as deals are done or argued over.

Jesus enters. Did you see him come in, or do you only notice Him as he starts turning over tables? How does he look? – madly angry? Determined? Apologetic? Is he shouting?

How are people reacting as the tables are turned over?

What are the traders doing?

Is it frightening as the crowd starts to react?

Do you have to move?, Why? Where do you go?

Are there doves flying away? Coins rolling on the ground? People trying to retrieve them? People trying to steal them?

How is Jesus stopping people carrying goods through the temple?

Where are the chief priests and teachers of the law? What about the temple police?

How do you react to what Jesus is saying? Do you respond? Does anyone around you?

Now, do you think He is going to lead an uprising, or is this a one off?

It has been going on for a long time, hours maybe. How have things changed over that time?

Now it’s calming down, and Jesus is leaving. You see him go, perhaps he passes close to you, or is he difficult to see?

What’s His body language now? Is he tired? Still Angry, Still determined? Does He look back?

Now you to have to leave. Maybe to push through the crowds. What sort mayhem is left behind?

How will you tell your friends about what happened?

[pause, longer]

Conclusion

The people we have thought about today, Augustine, Newton, Nicky Cruz, Rosaria Butterfield, Albert Ross and many others, all encountered God through the Bible. They came with different questions, different backgrounds and different attitudes, but none of them left unchanged.

Our theme is "To know Jesus better and make Jesus better known", so perhaps the simplest place to begin is to open the Bible and read.

You do not need to be a scholar. You do not need to understand everything. Augustine's life changed through a few verses. Others began with a single Gospel. The important thing is to begin, and to keep going.

Read on your own. Take a few verses and ask what they tell you about Jesus. Read with a friend. Read with your family. Join a Bible study group. Talk about what you discover and what puzzles you. We often see things together that we never notice on our own.

The Bible may be the most dangerous book in the world, not because it harms people, but because God uses it to change people. It challenges us, comforts us, corrects us and points us again and again to Jesus Christ.

So if you want to know Jesus better, open the Bible. And if you want to make Jesus better known, help someone else open it too.

Amen.

 

References 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEj--UqpJY0

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mein-Kampf

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Quotations-from-Chairman-Mao-Tse-tung

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo

https://earlychurchhistory.org/beliefs-2/the-conversion-of-saint-augustine/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ramsay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mitchell_Ramsay

https://biblehub.com/q/who_was_sir_william_ramsay.htm

https://jamesbishopblog.com/2016/03/08/atheist-frank-tried-to-debunk-christ-and-converted-instead/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Henry_Ross

https://christianpublishinghouse.co/2023/10/23/the-role-and-function-of-the-jewish-temple-police-in-the-new-testament/

Remember the Lord your God

Preached at Christ Church, Billericay on 18 October 2026.  Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IQkXf3UZVE from 25:31 to 40:34

Prayer Father God, open our hearts to hear your word. Remind us of your goodness, teach us gratitude, and help us to use Your gifts for Your glory and the good of others. Amen.

Introduction – Imagine Earlier this autumn we visited RHS Hyde Hall. It is always a lovely garden. That day, however, they had some trails set out for the children. At each site was a large construction made of Lego, the plaque at each of them told us something about the creature that was depicted, how long it took to build, how many builders there were, and how many bricks were used. This dragonfly was my favourite. I have built a few Lego kits too, a Saturn V rocket, with the help of my eldest grandchild, and an F1 car, which I did by myself. Each time I was very proud of my accomplishment saying “Look what I’ve made.” It wasn’t (just) you Imagine if someone had immediately told me "Well, you didn’t make it, Lego provided the bricks and the instructions. Someone made the plastic, other people mined the raw materials, and brought together the box and all the plastic bags. Someone else designed the kit, and probably a team of people wrote the software they used." And so on …

Individualistic Society In our increasingly individualistic society, we look up to people who have appeared to achieve a lot by their own efforts. We say “He’s a self-made man”. This phrase started to be used widely in the 1820s, and is still prevalent today. In reality this is never true. There were his parents, the schools he went to, the already existing roads and cars he used to travel around, the computers and software he used to run his company. The list is endless.

Deuteronomy 8 – The Promised Land This idea of claiming that I built my life by my own efforts is what Deuteronomy 8 is talking about. As Christians, we read these verses through the lens of Christ. We know that God's greatest gift is not fertile land or material wealth, but salvation through Jesus. Yet the temptation remains exactly the same: to enjoy God's gifts while forgetting the Giver. In this passage the Israelites are about to enter the promised land. Here’s what God tells them they have to look forward to: 7b a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce, and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron, and you can dig copper out of the hills. After escaping slavery and wandering for forty years in the Sinai desert, it must have sounded like heaven. Of course there will be a lot of work to do. They have to plant the crops and harvest them, they have to grind the grain to make the bread, they have to mine and smelt the metals, but they will have everything they need and more.

The warning But, there is a warning that goes with the promise of comfort and riches. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, 14  your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” And the warning continues, and becomes more serious past the end of the reading we had this morning. 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God. This is more than an arbitrary threat. God is warning them that turning away from Him and adopting the practices of the surrounding nations will bring them under the same judgement that those nations faced.

Harvest Today is our Harvest celebration. Unless you are a farmer or a gardener, you may not be that aware of the harvest. Our harvest has been going on since July, when the wheat was collected from the fields. In my garden we have already harvested all the carrots, there are still some tomatoes, runner beans and beetroot left, and maybe if the weather holds, I’ll get another courgette or two. We had plums and pears from the allotment too. I am very well aware that, despite the work I do planting seeds and trying to keep them watered enough, it is not me that really provides the food. If the seed is good, the soil is fertile, the weather is not too extreme, and the weeds and pests stay away we should get a good crop. Beyond these things, I don’t do anything, it just grows, as God has designed it to grow, and we get the abundance it delivers. The other type of Harvest

Food, is of course, essential to our lives, but in today’s world we must recognise that there is another type of harvest. It involves our labour, skills and effort, but even these are gifts that ultimately come from God.

Living God’s way

The Israelites were warned that if they forgot God, and lived the way they thought best, they would be destroyed. Spoiler alert - They didn’t keep to God’s ways, and they were almost wiped out.

It seems to me that when societies forget God and reject his ways, they inevitably damage themselves and those around them. We should not assume that we can abandon God's ways without consequences.

We must remember God’s ways, and keep to them as closely as we can. We must acknowledge that what we have is not solely from our own efforts. As verse 18 reminds us:

¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.

God gives not only wealth, but also health, opportunities, intelligence, skills, relationships and the countless unseen blessings that make our work possible.

Help to Remember

He also gave the Israelites several things to help them remember Him. Here are a few of them:

- the Sabbath Day, (Ex 20:8) one day a week when they stopped what they were doing and dedicated themselves to God. Christians have understood Sabbath in different ways, but we still need regular times set aside for worship, rest and remembering God.

- they had festivals, like Passover, where they ate special types of food as part of their remembrance. (Ex 13:6-9) The Passover festival includes telling the story of their rescue from slavery in Egypt and God's faithfulness in bringing them towards the land he had promised them. They are to teach these stories to their children. We, too, have festivals, mainly Christmas, where we tell of the birth of our saviour. And Easter, where we tell the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. So we remember how God saved us from our sins. We too, believe it is important to tell these stories to our children, so that they can take God’s word to the next generation.

Actions

The stories are not enough on their own. We must also remember to act the way God wants us to, so that by living His way we will demonstrate the ways of God to others. Or “actions speak louder than words”.

The prophet Micah (6:8) summarised it like this:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

This is as true for the Israelites as it is for us. There is a lot more detail in the Old Testament, so here are a few other verses we should take note of as we remember the Lord.

Leviticus 19:³³When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. ³⁴ The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

And verse 35 & 36

Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights.

The New Testament says the same things:

Matthew 22:39 "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."

Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

These verses tell us God wants us to be kind, and generous of spirit and also generous with material things. That is what our harvest gifts show, but God wants us to be like this all the time.

Environment

God's concern is not only for how we treat one another, but also for how we care for the world He has entrusted to us.

Psalm 24
¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

² for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

Exodus 23 ¹⁰ “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, ¹¹ but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Deuteronomy 22 ⁶ If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.

These verses show us a little more of the detailed way God wants the Israelites to care for their environment. For us, it is more complex, because we have made it that way.I’m sure you’ve heard of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, by there is much more we can do, if we are to be good stewards of the environment God has given us.

Conclusion

Whenever we are tempted to say, "Look what I've made", Harvest reminds us to pause and remember everything God has provided: the opportunities, the abilities, the people around us, and the world He created. Our response is gratitude, generosity, faithful living, and praise to the God from whom all blessings flow.

Amen.

References

https://sermonsfrommyheart.com/2017/09/28/deuteronomy-87-18-thanksgiving/

https://sermonsfrommyheart.com/2017/09/28/deuteronomy-87-18-thanksgiving/

https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/old-testament-deuteronomy-87-18/

https://www.stmarysbarnardcastle.org.uk/sermons/readers-sermon-harvest-8-10-23-deuteronomy-87-18-luke-12-16-30/

https://www.openbible.info/topics/caring_for_the_environment

https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-important-things-in-life.html

 

Forgiveness: What It Is and What It Is Not

The sermon was preached on 13 September 2026 at Christ Church, Billericay. Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9zfzuYtfuQ. From 27:40 to 44:09

Prayer

Introduction - Scale Let’s get the values in this parable into units we can understand. A talent, called a bag of gold here, was a measure of weight. Estimates vary, as did the weight over time, but in Jesus’ time the weight was roughly equivalent to 41 Kilograms. At today’s gold prices, more than £100,000/kg, one talent is worth over £4 million. So 10,000 talents is over £40 billion (US). No one, not even Elon Musk could pay that easily. The point that Jesus is making is that the debt is not repayable. The smaller debt, a hundred silver coins, is estimated would be a hundred days wages. That is repayable, it may take some time, but it is possible.

Peter’s Question The parable though is not about debt, it is about forgiveness. The point is that as we are forgiven more than we could ever have to forgive, so we should forgive others. Jesus is responding to Peters question asking how many times he should forgive. It follows directly on from Jesus' instructions for dispute resolution that we heard Catherine talk to us about last week. Peter comes to Jesus and asks “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?” And then adds “Up to seven times?”. Peter is Learning It was the common teaching of the rabbis that you should forgive three times. Peter, knowing that Jesus extends things and expects more of His disciples than the religious leaders expect of the people, has already extended the limit to the number of times he should forgive. Seven is not enough though. Jesus says try 70 times 7. So start counting. See how far you get. You may get to 7, 10, 12, but soon you will lose count, and by then the habit will be established.

Message of the Parable As I have already said, the message of the parable is very simple: Forgive, because you have been forgiven something much greater. Fail to forgive and be set up for judgement. There was a man who really loved dogs. He devoted his life to them, he read about them, studied them, and even gave talks about them to other dog lovers. One day he decided to lay a new path in front of his house. His neighbour watched from his window as he smoothed out the last square foot of cement. Just then, a large dog appeared and walked through the fresh cement, leaving paw prints behind. The man muttered something under his breath and smoothed out the damage. He then went inside to get some rope so he could put up a fence around the path. But, when he got back outside, he discovered some more dog tracks in his fresh cement. He smoothed out the cement and put up the fence. He then went into the house. Five minutes later he looked outside and saw some more paw prints. He was really mad now. He got out his trowel and smoothed the cement one more time. As he got back to his porch, the dog reappeared and sat right in the middle of the path. He went inside, grabbed his gun and shot the dog dead. The neighbour rushed over and said, “Why did you do that? I thought you loved dogs.” The man thought for a minute and said, “I do, I do like dogs. But that’s in the abstract. I hate dogs in the concrete.” Forgiveness is a great idea in the abstract, but this morning we are looking at it in the concrete.

It is clear that Jesus says we should forgive and continue to forgive. It's easy to say that you've forgiven someone, but true forgiveness is difficult and costly. If you have truly forgiven someone – let’s say it is a close friend, or family member – then the relationship may be restored, but it will rarely be exactly the way it was before the hurt occurred. But remember: “Forgiveness is given; reconciliation is negotiated.”

True Forgiveness There is a test we can use to see if we have really forgiven someone. If you find out that the person who wronged you is in need, will you proactively go out to help them? If this person requires a plate of food, will you give it to them? Proverbs 25:21 says: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink." Take a minute to think about a time when you have been hurt by someone you love – really hurt. [Pause] How is that relationship now – does it work the same way it did before? If not, if you found out they were in need would you go out of your way to help?

We are forgiven by our Father God. Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Micah 7:19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. And 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. When we first decided to follow Jesus we were probably asked to say a prayer confessing our sins something like this: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour. In Your Name. Amen. If it is said sincerely, then our offences before God are forgiven, and we can become part of the family of God. It doesn't stop us sinning – which is offending God – so we continually have to return to that prayer, or something similar – and confess our sins. That is the reason that we say the confession near the start of each service. God's forgiveness is greater than ours – He can choose not to recall our sins, that is something that we cannot do when we are sinned against.

Cost of Forgiveness God's forgiveness is costly, it cost Jesus his life, as it says in 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. Our forgiveness also has a cost. Aside from the efforts of reconciliation that we must make to put things right – the things we heard about last week – there is also the hurt that must be put to one side.

Dangers of Unforgiveness Whatever has happened cannot be changed. If we are to forgive and move on we must avoid the three 'R's Revenge ­ “I’m going to get even!” Revenge says “I'm going to get even”. Far from making things better this is an escalation. Getting even rarely ends in even, in fact it rarely ends. Your attempts to repay in kind for your hurt will always cause greater hurt than you received. The likely outcome is that further revenge will be visited on you, and so the cycle of escalation will continue. This is where blood feuds come from, as the hurt is passed from parent to child and so on down the years. Resentment ­ “I’m going to stay angry!” Resentment says “I'm going to stay angry”. Prolonged anger is bad for you physically, mentally and spiritually. The only person who suffers with this approach is you. Your anger becomes the focus of your life, to the exclusion of all else. Everyone else in the world has moved on, soon no-one will understand why you are angry – even if you spend a lot of time telling them. You will end up as bitter and resentful – and nothing will have changed. Remembering ­ “I’ll never forget!” Remembering says “I'll never forget”. It is not the occasional memory that pops up, it is a process of keeping the memory of the hurt fresh. Hillary Clinton said “In the Bible it says they asked Jesus how many times you should forgive, and he said 70 times 7. Well, I want you all to know that I'm keeping a chart.” I have no idea of the context, whether it was about Bill, or whether it was meant as a joke – I hope it was. For a while forgetting is hard, and refreshing the memory is easy, but it should soon become less so – otherwise you will end up living in the past and today will become irrelevant.

Benefits for Forgiveness Avoiding the three R's means that the hurt we have suffered is not amplified and reinforced by our own attitudes. Falling for the three R's – Revenge, Resentment, Remembering leads us away from peace and damages our life. Lewis Smedes said “When I genuinely forgive, I set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner I set free was me.” When I fail to forgive it is me that suffers, it follows that when I genuinely forgive, it is me that benefits.

There is nothing that should not be forgiven C.S. Lewis has said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” Not only are there no limits to the number of times we are forgiven, there are no limits to the things we should forgive.

Jesus’ Warning Jesus has given the disciples this message before, back in Matthew 6:15, after teaching them how to pray He says: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Many times when I speak to you, it is difficult to understand exactly what the scripture is trying to say, this morning it is crystal clear. If we call ourselves Christian there is no excuse not to forgive, and that is the only way we will continue to be forgiven by our Father. Paul has the same message for the Colossians. 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Final Challenge Who do you need to forgive? What hurt are you still carrying? What would freedom look like? Forgive because you have been forgiven. Amen.

 Based on:

https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/2014/11/forgive-and-forgive-again-matthew-1821.html 

References:

https://mypastoralponderings.com/2020/09/12/ten-thousand-reasons-to-forgive-my-sermon-on-matthew-1821-35/

https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/learning-to-forgive-ian-johnson-sermon-on-forgiveness-for-others-58947

https://www.threads.com/share/_nO7VlnY_/

https://www.newstartdiscipleship.com/post/42-sermon-illustrations-on-forgiving-others

https://sabbathprograms.com/forgiveness-you-reconciliation-takes-two-bonus-sermon

https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-standard-of-grace-brian-bill-sermon-on-salvation-57667

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-price/silver-price-today/

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-price/live/kilograms/GBP/ 

https://scripturestudio.org/measures.html

 

Who do you think you are?

Father God, You are the One who formed us, knew us, and called us by name. As we gather today, open our hearts to hear Your voice and to understand who we truly are in Christ. Amen. Introduction / Background Part of “Staycation: Mission at Home” What God said to the exiles – Make family. Harsh Question Sometimes the question “Who do you think you are?” can be a harsh question. It can be asked in outrage that you would dare to do something, or dare to question something. That’s not the sort of question we are looking at today. Today, we are looking at identity. What is it that makes you who you are?

TV Show The TV show, “Who do you think you are?” is all about family history. Interesting though it is, there are some occasions when the discovered history has no obvious relationship to the persons current life. On other occasions you can see the consistency of the family characteristics or particular set of skills, through the generations. These only represent a part of each of us, in much the same way that our medical history is not defined by our parents medical history, although there is a strong link. Unlikely Birth In the film “The Meaning of Life” there is a song, the Galaxy Song, which tells us all about our galaxy, but also includes the line: So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure How amazingly unlikely is your birth There are all sorts of things that make your birth unlikely. Supposing your parents had never got together? Or their parents … and so on. You would not be here. Supposing they had for some non-medical reason, been unable to have children around the time you were born – perhaps they were forced apart by war, or economic circumstances. You would not be here. But you are – all of those apparently random circumstances have led to you and I. You are a product of the genetic material of your father and mother, this combines in ways that science says is largely unpredictable. Some scientists estimate the number of possible viable human genetic combinations to be around 10^1024. So, you are not 1 in a billion, you are 1 in 10 with 1024 zeros. That makes you pretty unique. That’s the number of different ways you can be knit together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-14) Identical Twins – Different People Even if your DNA does not make you unique, your circumstances most certainly do. I have twin girls, we are pretty sure that they are identical, that they share the same DNA, but one was born first and one second. When they were babies, they had different birth weights, and freckles in different places, or we’d never have been able to work out who’s who. The circumstances of our family life, the community we grew up in, our friendships, our work environments and many other things also make us who we are.

What does the Bible say The Bible tells us who we are in quite a different way – who we are from God’s point of view. Ephesians 2:10, that was part of our reading today, tells us that we are God’s workmanship, saved by His grace, which is His gift to each of us, so that we can do the work prepared for us. Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” So here on Earth in this life, we are the same as the exiles from Israel when they arrived in Babylon. We do not really belong here. 1 Peter 2:9, tells us that we are chosen, all of us, as a holy nation.

Colossians 3:12, tells us that we are chosen and dearly loved and that we should behave with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Jeremiah 29:4–7, tells us that we are put in a particular place by God, and that we should build our families in that place. John 20:21, tells us that we are sent to where we are.

Acts 1:8, tells us that we are powered by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 5:14, tells us that we are a light to the world. 2 Corinthians 5:20, tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We carry His message, we deliver it carefully, so as not to upset the people whose country we live in. We make our message relevant to them, as though we were a native. These are just a few verses that give us a little idea of who God says we are.

So, here’s a summary of our mission – Mission Impossible style, because without the Holy Spirit, it IS impossible: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to live with unwavering faithfulness in the exact place God has deployed you. Your objectives are as follows: Build and bless — establish roots, strengthen families, and bring peace to your community. Pray and serve — operate with spiritual intelligence, responding to God’s guidance at every turn. Shine and witness — illuminate the darkness with the light of Christ, revealing hope where others see none. Reconcile — act as an agent of restoration, repairing what is broken and healing what is wounded. Walk in the good works — complete the assignments God has already prepared, each one tailored to your calling. Point toward the city to come — keep your eyes fixed on the ultimate destination, reminding others of the Kingdom that awaits. As always, should you or any member of this Kingdom Force be misunderstood, opposed, or rejected by the world, know this: your Commander will never disavow you. He claims you, equips you, and stands with you—even when the world does not recognise who you are or whose mission you serve. This message will never self‑destruct. Your mission is ongoing, Spirit‑powered, and already authorised by the King. Because of that it becomes possible, and gives us hope.

For our activity, we are going to build something that represents the hope we offer. The building bricks can be turned into whatever might inspire you to remember this message. I’d suggest, a house – somewhere that offers a family connection. A tower, that provides the protection that God offers. Proverbs 18:10 says “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” A wall, like a sea wall, that prevents the chaos of the sea reaching the land, and preserves the homes of those living near by. Or whatever, but please be ready to explain your thoughts.

So, who do you think you are? You are not: a random accident, a product of chance. merely the sum of your genetics, your upbringing, and your circumstances. We are God’s workmanship, so we are: chosen, loved, placed, sent, empowered, and illuminated by His Spirit. an ambassador of Christ, carrying His message into the exact place He has deployed you. Our mission is not theoretical, distant, or optional, it is already authorised by the King of Kings. So as you built your small creation today, whatever it was, let it remind you of the hope you carry, the peace you bring, and the identity you live out. Closing Prayer Father God, May we walk in the good works You have prepared for us. May we shine with the light of Christ. May we bless the place where You have planted us. And may we remember, always, who we are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pray for workers

Preached on 14 June 2026 @ Christ Church, Billericay.  Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjpozCozY1s from 26:10 to 43:04

Prayer

Father God, guide us as followers of Jesus, shaping our lives in His way and His wisdom. Help us grow as faithful disciples who reflect Your compassion in our daily walk.

Ordinary People

Jesus and his disciples have been travelling through the towns and villages of Galilee. We can read some of the things that have been happening in the previous chapters. He is proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Kingdom of God.

The promise of Daniel 2:44 is coming to pass.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

The expectation would be high, but anyone can say the Kingdom of God is near. It’s easy to say, but what does it mean. In our time we have plenty of people who are willing to stand up and tell us all how they would magically improve society, but what are any of them actually doing?

Jesus isn’t trying to raise a mob, He is demonstrating to the people what the Kingdom of God means by healing every disease and sickness. In a time when there was almost NO meaningful medical practise, this was truly something they needed, it was truly something revolutionary.

Harassed and helpless

Jesus notices the people suffer harassment and feel helpless. We still have those people today. Go into any town centre and watch the people for a while. Many may look like they have their lives under control, but most of them probably don’t. For a few, it’s obvious that they’re struggling, and I’m not only talking about the homeless.

They are like sheep without a shepherd.

Not about them

In this passage, Matthew is not really talking the people, he is really talking about Jesus’s disciples, the 12 who were with Jesus then. It is for them to look after the harassed and helpless. What he says also applies to Jesus’s disciples now – the millions, including You and I who follow Him in our daily lives.

Too few workers

Jesus calls the 12 together and tells them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” All those people they are looking at, all those people Jesus has healed – many of them are ready to be claimed for the Kingdom of God.

Instruction to Pray

Then we hear Jesus say something really unusual “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Hardly ever do we hear Jesus give instructions to pray for something specific. He does plenty of teaching about how to pray. Some encouragement to always pray and not give up. The other instances of direct instructions to pray relate to very specific short term situations. For example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he tells his disciple to pray that they do not fall into temptation. When He’s talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, He says pray that it will not happen in winter, or on a Sabbath.

This instruction to pray for workers in the field to collect the harvest doesn’t seem to only apply to this occasion, but for all time. That makes it a unique command.

How often do we pray for workers in the field to come and collect the harvest in our town? When was the last time I heard that in any of our intercessions? – I can’t remember.

How God answers prayer

Maybe we don’t pray this prayer because of what happens next. Jesus immediately gets them in to teams and sends them off to be workers in the field. They become the answer to the prayer they haven’t yet had time to pray. Our God answers our prayers, and maybe we don’t want to be that answer.

Training

For the disciples it’s time to put into practice what they have been watching Jesus do. If we look back at chapter 8 and just reading the headings we will see what’s been happening:

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

Jesus Heals Many

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralysed Man

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute

Now, it’s their turn! We might consider this a training exercise.

The disciples - pairs

It is interesting how the disciples are listed in 10 verse 2. Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, The other James and Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

If you want to check the names here against the names in the other gospels there are plenty of places that will help you with that, I’m not talking about the names. I’m seeing that they are paired up. He sends the twelve out in pairs, not as individuals. If you’ve ever had the JWs knock at your door, you’ll know there are always at least two. Yet so often we have ONE evangelist. I think we may have missed something important here.

The disciples – take nothing

Then they are given some instructions. They are in a mixed area, there are Gentiles, Samaritans, and Jews living there. Jesus tells them to only go to the Jews, they are the people who will be best able to understand the message. They are the people who have the greatest expectation, and they are the people whose leaders are letting them down so badly.

The message they are to take is the same one Jesus has been proclaiming – ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Then they are to do what they have seen Jesus doing – heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.

Nothing difficult really!!!

There are more instructions in the following verses, that seem to make it even harder:

⁹ Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

So, leave your jackets and coats on the chairs, put your wallet and bank cards with them, and off you go to Basildon, or Pitsea, or Vange perhaps, to bring the message that the Kingdom of God is near. You’ll have to walk, or perhaps hitchhiking might be allowed.

You should have a lovely Sunday Afternoon.

My Experience

I remember doing some Evangelism training. In 2011, Warner took me to a “Through Faith Missions” training weekend in Woking. In those days they were doing walks in the surrounding towns and villages, “The Walk of a Thousand Men” it was called. We slept on the church floor on the Friday night, and attended various classroom sessions, then did some practice.

Firstly we had a survey and were allocated a street. This is door-knocking in disguise. Then in the evening we were taken to the local Wetherspoons. The objective here was to engage the men in the pub in relevant conversation. We were given enough money to buy ourselves and someone else a pint. That was all we were allowed to have with us. For each of these things we were paired up with others on the training course.

Even with the training, to say that I was out of my comfort zone would have been a massive understatement. Doing the survey was not too bad, but the best conversations we had were with members of other churches. As for the pub, there were no conversations, except the one I had with my fellow novice. Near the end of the evening, I asked one of the leaders to show me how it was done. He was only marginally more successful and didn’t manage to establish a real conversation.

Reflection

After my licensing, at a reception in the church hall I answered a number of questions for our congregation. One of the things I said there, was that if I believed that God said “Go”, I would go. That promise has to be tested from time to time.

These experiences are never a waste of time, some of the classroom sessions had been really useful, and I learnt a little about myself and my mission too. If I were to undertake this type of evangelism, I would need a lot more training and a very specific call.

The disciples

So, how did the disciples get on? Annoyingly, Matthew doesn’t tell us, but fortunately Mark does:

6¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Much, much better than the little group of trainees in Woking 15 years ago. I can think of four reasons why that might be:

• I was exploring my calling, as I suspect others were. The disciples were hand-picked by Jesus for this specific task.
• The disciples had seen a number of miracles first hand. If you talk to people who have seen or received miracles, you will see they have a different approach, a kind of enthusiasm and excitement you can’t get any other way.
• The disciples were offering to fulfil a real need – healing, we were only offering conversation, so far as the people we were speaking to were concerned.
• It’s possible the disciples were recognised in the towns and villages. We were most definitely not, coming from a town 30 miles away.

Conclusion

Jesus looked at the crowds with compassion—harassed, helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He still looks upon our towns, our neighbours, and our generation with the same compassion today.

His response was not simply to feel compassion; it was to call and send ordinary people. People with doubts, fears, limitations, and very little equipment—yet people who had been with Him.

The harvest is still plentiful. The workers are still few. And the command to pray for workers still stands, none of us should forget to pray this prayer regularly and repeatedly. And when we pray that prayer, we must be ready for God to place our own names among the answers, even if He has never done that before.

May we be willing to go where He sends, to speak as He leads, and to trust that the God who calls ordinary people also equips them with extraordinary grace.

Amen.

References 

https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/enter-into-his-gates-100-psalms-melvin-maughmer-jr-sermon-on-assurance-of-salvation-63700

Expositors Bible Commentary for both readings

Matthew for everyone - Tom Wright 

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-pattern-and-practice-of-ministry-in-matthew-9-to-10/

https://desperatepreacher.com/texts/mat9_35/mat9_35.htm

https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-11/commentary-on-matthew-935-108-9-23-3

https://biblehub.com/q/who_are_the_lost_sheep_of_israel.htm 

https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/search/label/evangelism 

gemini created the image and answered questions.  copilot suggested prayers, and some text.