Mike Wray: We read this morning just a few verses from Matthew's gospel, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew's gospel chapter 6, and beginning to read at verse 31. So do not worry, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Colin Chambers: Amen. Thank you. And Lord, we pray that you'd bless, your word to our hearts and may it live in our lives. In Jesus name, amen. If you wonder why I've got this sort of necklace around my neck, I'm actually, waiting a shoulder replacement operation.
NHS is a bit slow sometimes, and there's been a chapter of errors. I actually took a tumble at Miletus, you know, where Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders. I tripped and fell if you've been to on a pilgrimage to that area, and I shattered the top of my shoulders. So it gets a bit painful at times while I'm waiting. So it's not a kind of replacement tie.
It's just, it's support. I can at the moment lift my hand just that high. But the surgeon said I'll be able to scratch the back of my head after the operation. I can do it now that way. But it hasn't held me back, and, you learn to live with these things.
I want to I've got a title for my message this morning. It's a line from the book of Haggai. Now if you've got a Bible in front of you, at the end of my message, I'm gonna read something from the book of Haggai. It's very easy to find it's the 3rd last book in the Old Testament. If you go back from Matthew where we had the reading, thank you, to the book of Haggai, and blink, you'll miss it, because it's only about a page and a half.
But don't worry about turning to it now. I'm going to you can put your finger in it if you find it, and, we can look at it then. Put my other eyes on quickly, and then we can begin. I Haggai was an interesting person. The Israel Israelites were taken captivity by the Babylonians.
Daniel, Jeremiah, well known people in the story of their captivity, in Babylon. Daniel, the lion's den, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. And, then the empire of of Babylon was overtaken by the Medo Persian Empire, and King Cyrus was a benevolent kind of dictator, good man, and, he allowed the Israelites to go back. The prime reason, and this is what I want you to remember, they were to go back to Jerusalem. Amazing that Jerusalem is always in the news.
We're going back 2,500 years, plus. And, to rebuild the temple. That's what Cyrus sent them back to do. And along the first group, they went back in 3 groups. Zerubbabel led the group back, and Haggai was the prophet that went with them.
And a young man whose grandfather went with them, and the young man whose granddad went with them was a young man called Zechariah, who wrote the next book in the Old Testament. Wonderful when history and the word of God aligns up together. Now so they went back to rebuild the temple. Right. So that's my little introduction.
Now I'm gonna deviate from that, and I'm going to mention something. Now when we have Christmas, and those who like Christmas, well, I've got good news. It's less than 10 months to Christmas. It's coming around the corner. A lot of events happening before then.
But at Christmas, I I don't know because I'm a visitor here. I think I asked, Amy, you do like the various advent candles. Alright? If you don't, they're they're on a lot of Christmas cards, these thoughts. And the advent candles actually symbolize amazing truths.
But to many people, they're just candles in the wind, to use that expression. But what are these advent candles, and what are the truths that they represent? Well, hope, peace, and, lady, I can't remember the names in your introduction prayer. You mentioned some of these. And I went, wow, that's wonderful.
There's hope, there's peace, there's joy, there's love. And then on Christmas Day, there's the candle of Christ. Alright? They are wonderful wonderful, candles. So let's just why my question is you expected much, but it came to so little.
Why? And Haggai mentions that in in chapter 1, the first part of verse 9. And for many people, hope, peace hope, joy, peace, love, Jesus Christ himself are lovely thoughts, but they're not a reality in their lives. And the question is, why? Well, the first advent candle lit 4 weeks before Christmas is the candle of hope.
And the Bible says through Jeremiah to the Israelites, but I think it's one of those verses that for all God's people, he as God says through Jeremiah, I know the plans I have for you. Isn't it wonderful to know that God has a plan for you, Whether you're young or even those little children that have gone down, below. I don't know if it's still called Sunday school terms and words change over the years, but God has a plan for every one of us. Plans to give you a hope and a future, a hope and a future. And, you know, just that word hope is a wonderful thing.
And we're constantly bombarded with negativity. You put on the news in the morning and it's doom and gloom and doom and gloom. All the time, the cost of living crisis, we're not gonna make it. You know what David said, I've been young and now I'm old, and I've never seen the righteous of the Lord forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. The, John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, said through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.
Your grace has brought me safe this far, and your grace will take me on. You know, we we we have this negativity all of the time, and, we we lose our hope. Because, you know, we've been through cost of living crises before, but we're still here. We're still managing. We're we're still going on.
The word of God says, in in Peter, that wonderful one of one of those well, they're all tremendous verses, aren't they? In Peter's first letter, he says, praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope, guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That is our guarantee. If I want to borrow some money or a house, I've got to have a guarantee that that can be met.
The guarantee of the living hope that we have is that God raised Jesus from the dead and he is alive. And he says, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for you, and that's not all, and you are kept by God's power. What an amazing promise is that, But it's a living hope, and faith is being sure of what we hope for. I know it's a wonderful thing. We have that living hope that I'm gonna have a new body.
There won't be surgeons to do shoulder replacements in heaven, because there'll be no sickness, suffering, sorrow, pain, or death. That's a living hope that we have. And it's a wonderful thing. I often say, there'll be no dentists in heaven, but there will be. There'll be born again dentists in heaven, but they won't be there with their drills and their tongs and their all all those, things.
And so hope is a reality. And, you know, Jesus is real, the guarantee. So the next scandal we wrote, I'm a speed on it, but get carried away. I think it's 3 weeks before the second candle lit, is the candle of peace. Jesus says, peace I leave with you, not the peace that the world gives.
That's circumstantial, But the peace that Jesus gives is beyond circumstances. You know, I can go and, before thank you for Michael bringing me up here. I took the train from Portsmouth to Cambridge, and we came up by car. And before we had breakfast this morning, I went down, saw the harbor at Saint Andrews. My, what a peaceful little bay that is.
But I can sit there and experience great peace, but when I come back home, the problems are there. And in the reading, every day has problems. But the peace of Jesus is not the peace that the world gives. A deep inner peace that can only be experienced, through a living relationship with Jesus Christ. And concerning peace, you expected much, but it came to little.
You know, peace in the world is a hope, but it's only gonna be realized. We can pray for it. But when Jesus comes back to reign for a 1000 years, then there'll be peace. I don't know what to pray, to be honest, when you see Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, even Congo area, wars everywhere, Myanmar. I don't know what to pray, because God sweeps away kingdoms, done that through history.
He sweeps away nations, but he's concerned about the individuals. So I pray you see, Jesus said there'll be wars and rumors of wars. And he says, these are the birth pains to the coming of the kingdom of God on earth, to his return. I you you won't be surprised to say I've never had a baby. But I do know from people who have had a baby, that once the birth pains start, they cannot be stopped.
Am I right? I think I am. Okay. The lady says yes. So she obviously knows.
And you that that you the birth pains are heralding what is expected. Right? And they get sharper and more intense the closer to what is expected actually comes. Okay? And the doctor can't say, well, hold on.
I'm gonna have a cup of tea, or I'm gonna go to a meeting. I'll come back later. Just hold on. That can't happen. And so the birth pains herald what is expected is coming.
Now we expect the return of Jesus. And Jesus says that one of the birth pains will be climate change, will be famines, will be earthquakes, will be pestilences, will be wars and rumors of wars. So I can't really pray for wars to stop if Jesus said they're the birth pains, because I want Jesus to come. So it's very difficult. Pray for individuals in the situation.
Pray for peace. But peace is a wonderful thing, but in this context, the cannula is Jesus, the Prince of Peace, when he comes back. So I I could go on with that joy as, the 2nd Sunday before Christmas, we light a candle signifying joy. And once again, by and large, we live in a a pretty joyless world. You know, people always seem to be moaning and complaining, Not in Scotland, I'm sure, but in England, yes.
And in Portsmouth, yes. You know, it's it's, let me mention a few as I move on. The government, the council, the NHS, the weather, the traffic, all the time moaning and complaining. And you know what? The more we moan and complain, the less joy we have.
It's every time you moan and complain, it's like pulling the plug in the bath of joy and that little bit of joy goes out. You know, to release the joy of the lord is to be thankful, to be grateful. You know, there's lots of things we can moan about. There's lots of things we can be miserable about. There's lots of things we can thank god about.
I mean, I could stand here and moan that I've waited 2 years for this operation, but, you know, praise God, I've got an NHS that I can go to, and I'm not here to speak on behalf of the NHS. I'm here to speak on behalf of Jesus, but we forget that the blessings that we have. It used to be a song we sang years ago, count your many blessings. Name them 1 by 1. And I I find that since I've been traveling a lot on the bus at the moment, people are always complaining.
And sometimes I I walk down in not in Scotland, but in Portsmouth, because people don't moan up here. And I hear and ladies, I'm sorry to say, it's often ladies that seem to be men are talking about sport and they're moaning about the rugby result and that. But they you come with you're not eavesdropping, but you come close to them. And they're moaning about this and moaning about that. And, you kinda turn around and you take a glance at them, and they look like they've been weaned on a lemon or a pickle.
Miserable faces. No joy. Nothing whatsoever. You know, thankfulness brings joy. Easy to moan about the rain, but thank God for the water.
We wouldn't be able to live without water. It's one of the greatest gifts we have from God is is water, makes this planet the only inhabitable planet in the whole universe, which is so big that I I cannot even comprehend, the size of it. So we've got lots of things, and thankfulness always brings joy. And, even Habakkuk reminds us, one of the prophets, if there's no food in the pantry, no cattle in the stalls, no money in the bank, he doesn't quite say that, but by implication, yet will I rejoice in the lord. You see, it's a choice, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters.
It's a choice to say, I'm going to be thankful. Next time it rains and you're gonna moan about the rain, say, well, thank God we got rain. If I was on the moon, we'd be praying for rain. I remember times in South Africa where we prayed, for rain. And so it's a wonderful truth, joy.
And then, you know, I I I say, I haven't got a favorite verse. But one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 15 verse 13. Remember it or put your finger in it or look it up afterwards. I'll just read it. It Paul says or God says through the Holy Spirit, now may the God of hope write.
Now, let me say something here. If there's the word hope, there is the concept of hopelessness. But if God is the God of hope, nothing in your life can ever be hopeless. God is the god of hope. He says, now may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of god the holy spirit.
You know, it's that is a a little verse that says an incredible allot. The word of God says such a lot in so little. I love that statement that Winston Churchill once made. He said, I'm sorry I've written you such a long letter. I didn't have time to write a short one.
Easy to be long winded. I hope I'm not being long winded this morning, but the Bible is so succinct and to the point, now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, there's the key, so you may overflow with hope by the Holy Spirit. And then the Sunday before Christmas, we have the the the candle of love. Now I could be here until late afternoon and into evening and talking about love. It's one of the most misconstrued concepts in the word of God, But the love of God, God is love.
Let me just suffice to say that. And if you want real love, you need to go to God who's the source of love. God is love. If I want a Coca Cola, I'm not going to go to the petrol station. If I want petrol, I'm not going to go to the the brewery.
If I want love, I go to God because God is love. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Love is is giving. It's an action. God so loved that he gave.
And it's not just a flickering candle. It's a real thing that we can have from God. And then on Christmas day itself, we light the 5th candle and that is the candle of Christ. Oh, the glorious reality of Christ, that that child that was born for us, that son that was given to us. And again, Amy, there's so much that one, can talk about Christ, but it says, you looked for much and it came to so little.
That's what Haggai said, and that's the subject this morning. I'm just gonna say one thing about Jesus. You can look in John's gospel and just those promises that Jesus made about himself. Every one of them, so simple, so practical, and so easily obtainable. I'm the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and never be thirsty. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life. I'm the door. Whoever enters through me will have life and life more abundant.
He says, I am, the good shepherd. I know my sheep. Doesn't and my sheep know me. It doesn't say they know about me. They know me.
It's a personal living relationship. They know me. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live even though he dies. What a wonderful hope that is.
Will live even though he dies, eternal, everlasting life in a new body. As I said a few months ago, Peter said, I just could be the words from him. It will never perish, spoil, or fade in that. A wonderful promise. I'm the true vine.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you, and you'll be fruitful. Sorry. I just paused my vine. I'm the vine, you're the branches. Remain in me, and you'll produce much fruit.
That's the secret. How can I be fruitful in every area of my life? Well, it's so simple. Just remain in that close relationship with Jesus. There's so much I could say about him.
And, folks, that was my introduction. Now let me give my message. The message is gonna be very short, and we can have a cup of tea. And, thank you for having me this morning. It's been lovely.
But what I I want to tie it up very simply and succinctly. Hope, peace, joy, love, Jesus, they're all realities. They're all within our grasp. They're all something that we can have. They're not just candles.
Now you expected much and it came to little. Let's just look read from Haggai if you found it. If you haven't and you got a bible in front of you, as I said, it's only 3 books back from the New Testament. Only a page and a half. And it will be self explanatory.
Let's pick it up in verse 2. Remember they'd come back under Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple. That's the key. Okay. Verse 2, this is what the Lord Almighty says.
I like that. The Lord Almighty. Jesus is the Lord Almighty. He's not the Lord Almighty. Okay?
He's the friend that sits closer than a brother, but he's the king of kings and lord of lords. So anyway, that's another thought. These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai, is it time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin, the temple that come back to build that. Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, give careful thought to your ways.
You've planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. Always moaning and miserable and nothing the candles are flickering in the wind, if you like. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm.
You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it. My word, they had inflation then. We all know about inflation. Maybe on the way back tomorrow when I'm in, London to get the train, to Portsmouth, I could pop in at the chancellor's house and say, well, you know, prime minister, chancellor, to bring down inflation, put the Lord first. Expected much and it came to little.
This is what the Lord Almighty says, give careful thought to your ways. Now go up into the mountain, bring down timber and build my house, so that I might take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You expected much, but see, it turned out to be so very little. And my question was, why? Give careful thought to your ways.
You know, the bible is so practical. You expected much and it came to little. In fact, in a nutshell, their priorities were wrong. Our reading was seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added. Praise God, it doesn't say seek only the kingdom of God.
It says seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added. And so to close, I'm going to tell a little story about a little girl going to Sunday school, and it will illustrate what I mean by priorities. In South Africa, we had a little coin, it was a bit. It was called a ticky. But none of you probably know what a ticky is, and telephone boxes in South Africa are still called ticky boxes, because you put a ticky in and you could talk, and people used to actually put a hole in the ticky and a piece of string, and it was called a long tiki.
And they put it in, and when the time came up, they pull it out and drop it down with a spring. So if you speak to South Africans of my age, they'll tell you about the long tiki. But just for my little story, which is very short, we'll call it a 6pence. It's easier to understand. Mommy gave the little girl 2 6pences.
The one 6pence is for Jesus in the Sunday school collection. The other 6pence is for some sweets on the way home. A little girl was going to Sunday school and she tripped, and the one 6pence rolled down the drain, and he says, oh my word, there goes the Lord sticky. Sixpence. Sixpence.
That is that sums it up. Seek first the kingdom of God. You know, that's priorities. I I'm not gonna explain that. It explains itself.
So my challenge to you, all the way from Portsmouth up to Saint Andrews, my challenge to you, folks, if you really want to experience the hope, the peace, the joy, the love, the promises, the reality of Jesus, simply just check on your priorities. Is Jesus first in your life? Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added. There'll there'll be time for all these other things. And Jesus says, don't do don't don't not enjoy all these other things.
Give richly to enjoy, but put me first. Get your priorities right. And when you do that, you won't fit into the category you expected much and it came to little. God bless you. Lovely to be with you today.
Amen. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the simple practicality of your word. You for the truth of it. And my prayer for myself and for everyone here is we just do a little rain check of our priorities, not rain check, because it's just immediate check of our priorities.
Are you first in all our areas? Thank you. You've given us space for our own interest, but you've just said put me first. Get your priorities right. Thank you for the hope, the peace, the joy, the love, the promises of Jesus.
Lord, help us to obtain them. Bless each person here in Jesus' name. Amen.