Week Commencing Sunday 9th May 2021

Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday May 9^th 2021

Call to Worship

Jesus said “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness." (John 8:12). Today and next Sunday we look at the Lord’s healing of a man born blind.

Opening Prayer

Lord we thank you for your presence with us. Thank you for setting us free, and for showing us your grace and mercy. Lord shine upon us this morning. Please guide us by your goodness and truth that we may walk in your ways and worship you always. Amen

Opening Hymn (Piano)

In the midst of the darkness, shining

Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us

Set us free by the truth you now bring us

Shine on me, shine on me

Shine, Jesus, shine

Fill this land with the Father's glory

Blaze, Spirit, blaze

Set our hearts on fire

Flow, river, flow

Flood the nations with grace and mercy

Send forth your word

Lord, and let there be light

Lord, I come to your awesome presence

From the shadows into your radiance

By the blood I may enter your brightness

Search me, try me, consume all my darkness

Shine on me, shine on me

As we gaze on your kingly brightness

So our faces display your likeness

Ever changing from glory to glory

Mirrored here may our lives tell your story

Shine on me, shine on me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rce9UHYZwl4

Reading. Mark 8: 22-26

8²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home, saying “Don’t even go into the village.” (Mark 8:22-26)

Sermon. “Seeing and Understanding”

You can’t see. Perhaps you can just tell light from dark, or is it only the sun’s warmth that distinguishes day from night? You’ve developed a routine in the darkness. You know the way around your home; the path along the road where you sit and beg, but the larger world confuses, threatens. If you stray off the path you have problems. You can identify some voices, people you know. Others simply come out of nowhere, from any direction. Now they are telling you about Jesus. Rather disconcertingly they take you to him, they beg him to heal you and, even more unexpectedly, he takes you by the hand and leads you outside the village.

This is Jesus initial encounter with the blind man described in Mark 8. It’s worth noting that Jesus touched him. (23) He took him by the hand. This wasn’t an impersonal touch on the elbow to steer a blind person across a busy road. It was an intimate gesture. Touch is important. Some people touch easily, unselfconsciously. Others are more reserved. When our children were young they would hold our hands as we walked in the park. The same is now true of our grandchildren. It’s a great feeling of safety. People shake hands today to seal an agreement, to end a quarrel, or to put someone at ease- particularly if they are meeting them for the first time. Touch in this way creates trust. It brings people together. That’s why we take the hand of the patient when we visit someone in hospital, or when we sit beside those who grieve. Jesus took the man by the hand. This was his way of cutting through the formal to the familiar. He was conveying warmth and friendship, helping to overcome the loneliness and isolation the man probably felt.

Jesus uses spittle with the blind man. And in John 9 we read there how Jesus spat on the ground, mixed clay, and smeared it on the eyes of the man born blind, and told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. He assured him that if he did he would return seeing.

So why spittle? Why do these things?

On the one hand these actions speak of Jesus as Creator.

Genesis 2:7 tells us: “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground”

It is a scientific fact that the chemical constituents of our bodies are literally found in the earth. That these elements can be fashioned into something as complex and sophisticated as a human being shows the miraculous power of God. We are as the Bible says, “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Scientists have tried by natural means to stimulate non- living elements into living ones. Through controlled experimentation they have tried to emulate what they believe took place by accident in our supposedly evolutionary past- but without success. And they never will.

I would recommend an article to you on the CREATION.com website entitled ‘Abiogenesis?’ written by Renton Machlachlan. In it he highlights the scientific absurdity of ‘spontaneous generation’- the idea that life can arise from non –life. He writes ‘‘Spontaneous generation’ was a mainstream scientific doctrine for a very long time, until proven wrong by Francesco Redi and Louis Pasteur. Even then it died a slow and painful death. Spontaneous generation basically proposed that given the right conditions and precursors, life would arise all by itself ‘spontaneously’’.

He says that this debunked theory is being recycled today under the title ‘abiogenesis’. Maclachlan shows very clearly that abiogenesis- the idea of non- living elements turning into living elements- so necessary for the big evolutionary story- is a scientific impossibility. Rather as Redi and Pasteur proved ‘Life comes from life’. Now ‘life comes from life’ is a scientific law, realised from what we actually observe in nature and is known as the ‘Law of biogenesis’. (https://creation.com/abiogenesis )

This is just one of many ways in which the evolutionary story cuts across scientific law that we observe today. Colin Garner, Professor of Applied Thermodynamics at Loughborough University, will be speaking in person here at Angmering Baptist Church on Saturday, 16th October 2021, (10.00am start- 3.00pm finish.) His title is "Creation & Evolution. Why it matters what you believe" (Three lectures and a Q & A session. Please bring your own packed lunch. There is no charge, just come along.)

Colin Garner will also explain some of the other ways why the evolutionary story is poor science, including how it is contrary to the Laws of Thermodynamics- which is his speciality.

The insidious thing about the evolutionary story, is not first its unscientific nature, but that it is contrary to the biblical account of Creation. To the extent that in many minds God is not the Creator, rather they believe all we see has come into being by itself. Everything from nothing, with no first Cause. The most up to date surveys about people’s beliefs now show that we are producing more atheists than ever before. One of the key reasons for this is that they have been brainwashed into believing God is not necessary for understanding how all things have come into existence.

The reality is that all the evidence does point to the need for a Creator as Garner and others affirm, but for recent generations they are only exposed to the evolutionary story in educational establishments, and do not realise the necessity of God as Creator. You know they are not singing hymns like ‘All things bright and beautiful…the Lord God made them all’ in the schools anymore. Ask your grown children- those who do not believe, or your grandchildren- they have swallowed the lie- the material is all there is.

The Bible attests to the fact that because of our sinful rebellion against God we suppress the truth of God as Creator.

1¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 

₁₉ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

Because of our sin we will find any way we can to avoid accountability to God, even to the point of trying to explain existence without Him. But the reality is the more we see at the macro and micro level in Nature, what we are seeing there speaks of an awesome intelligence, a level of ingenuity, far beyond anything man made, and this in itself testifies to God’s power and divine nature. Because of technological advances we have been able to see these things to a greater degree, more than any previous generation has been able to see. So we too are without excuse before God.

However, those who put their faith in evolution come to believe the book of Genesis is not to be trusted. They reason if there is no Creator God, then why believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God in any other respect? Why is there such an ignorance of the Bible? Even a number of churches are ‘Bible lite’. They have lost confidence in God’s revealed truth and are merely copying the culture in its worldliness and thought forms.

So the Evolution/Creation issue is absolutely crucial today. The Apostle Paul when he preached to the Jews went straight to telling them about Christ, but when he went to the Greeks and preached in Athens, he began with the truth of Creation (Acts 17:16-34). Why? Because the Jews already shared that foundational doctrine, but the Gentiles did not. In this country we have all but lost a shared Judeo/Christian heritage and are reverting quickly to a pagan outlook- with all its ruthlessness and immorality.

We need to start where the Apostle Paul started- with the truth of God as Creator. There are some who refuse to hear, even if you lay the best evidence before them, they have decided to shut God out, and that is why on the Day of Judgement they will face God’s wrath and Judgement for their sin and for rejecting His salvation in Christ. But there are others who have been deceived and are ignorant of the facts. They would be pleased to hear the truth. So I would encourage you to invite such to hear Colin Garner later this year. And having become convinced of God’s existence logically are more open to seeing how God has revealed Himself to us in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (If you can’t wait for Colin’s visit see an excellent overview of evidences for Creation as opposed to Evolution by Ken Ham in his ‘Science confirms the Bible’.¹ Please also note the upcoming day webinar ‘Noah and the worldwide flood’ on 22^nd May 2021. See details.²)

So then it wasn’t abiogenesis that led non- living elements to become living ones, and for these elements to somehow form themselves into microbes and then amoebas all the way up to monkeys and then men. The Word of God tells us it was the Lord God who fully formed Adam, as He did all the living creatures, and He breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.

God is the source of life. He is the life giver. Only He can take what is material and inanimate and give it life. A greater intelligence is needed to fashion human beings with a power beyond merely natural or material means. A supernatural, miraculous power is required to explain our existence. Jesus’ actions could not in themselves affect such change naturally, but they point to his identity as the Creator of all life. We see this clearly as he miraculously renews and restores this man’s eyes.

John in his gospel identifies Jesus as ‘the Word’, who was with God and was God, through him all things were made...In him was life, and that life was the light of men’ Christ spoke and light flooded into this man’s world of darkness, just as it did in the beginning when the earth was formless and empty and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and God said ‘Let there be light’, and there was light’

The well-known Carol states ‘Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain, heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign; in the bleak mid- winter a stable place sufficed, the Lord God almighty, Jesus Christ’

Further, Jesus actions here encourage hope. Imagine yourself dumb or blind. You have probably discounted any idea that you might ever speak or see. Now imagine this man- the usual feeling of hopelessness he would have. But he has heard of Jesus. He has probably wondered who Jesus is. He has certainly heard about what Jesus has already done. This man’s faith in Christ is probably already active. Now these actions have also further helped to reinforce the man’s budding faith. It may well be that Christ did the unusual, spitting into the man’s eyes, to give him hope.

And only Jesus can give you hope. There are people here who have had high hopes again and again, only to be disappointed and hurt.

Perhaps you are feeling that way right now. Your hope about the future is being squeezed out of you because you feel someone else is frustrating the good you would like to see happen. Perhaps it’s a family member.

Perhaps it’s someone in your workplace.

Perhaps in the Church. You are losing hope. In his letter to the Philippians Paul says of Timothy “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone else looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2: 20, 21). Do you feel that no one is looking out for your interests? Perhaps you feel alone in what you face- does anyone care? you ask.

Is someone else thwarting my hope in life? Matthew 7 Jesus says “Do not judge or you too will be judged” It’s easy to focus the mind on how they are killing my hope. What does Jesus say? He says “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?” This is sobering. Is it really all their fault? What about the bitterness polluting my soul, and unforgiveness. The other person could list faults they see in me. Perhaps it’s the plank in my own eye that is killing off any hope in my life as I become obsessed about judging the “speck” in them.

Immediately after Jesus teaches we should not judge. He says “Ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7) Here is the focus we need, not to home in on the faults of others. Rather we are to focus on the power, the provision and the generosity of God. Don’t judge the other, rather ask God to bring about the good you want to see happen. Do you feel someone else is thwarting your hope and expectation? That is not the issue after all. Jesus says “ask me.” Ask me and it will be given to you, seek me and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Stop blaming the other- they are not killing the good I want to do. No, he says- check yourself, but even more than that, he says ‘ask me’ I can bring the only true hope to your marriage, to your workplace, to the Church. Invite me in to this seemingly hopeless situation and see what I will do in answering your prayers. ‘Ask me’:

Many people today feel hopelessness. The homeless refugee, the ill, the anxious, the lonely and bereaved, but Jesus has shared in our experience in every way. Christ was tempted and tried too, but was without sin. Let us then ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence and so receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’ (Heb.4:16) ‘Ask me’ the Lord says, ‘and I will restore your hope.’

In 1967 a man by the name of John Teixeria a fisherman and some of his friends had the bottom of his 40 foot fishing boat ripped off by rugged lave rocks. They were out in the Pacific Ocean and the 8 men had only life jackets and inner tubes to keep them afloat. They knew sharks would be in the area because of the freshly slaughtered fish they had on the sinking boat. Currents were pushing them further out into the ocean. But as night approached it seemed that there salvation was near. Bouncing up and down in the inky sea, the men thought they could make out the lights of a boat in the distance. Two of the men decided to swim toward the lights.

It turned out that they weren’t boat lights at all. They were the airplane warning lights on the top of Koko Head, a far- distant mountain.

The two men were never seen again.

By morning the situation had worsened. One of the inner tubes was losing air. The men had no food or water. The planes that passed over head could not see them bobbing in the middle of the Pacific.

It was then that John decided to call a prayer meeting. No one objected. With all hope gone, the group of tough, self- sufficient sailors had only one place to turn. They huddled together in their life jackets and inner tubes and, with loud cries, pleaded for God to intervene.

The moment the last man finished his prayer John looked up. ‘A stick!’ he cried out.

The stick was standing vertically out of the water. It appeared to be a fishing buoy or a marker of some kind. If they could get to it, John reasoned, someone might come along to check it and find them. At the very least, it might support the ones who were losing air in their inner tubes. Using all of the energy to fight the current, the men paddled toward the stick.

Suddenly the stick began to move rapidly in their direction. The six men stopped paddling, stunned and puzzled.

Seconds later there was an incredible whoosh that seemed to pull the ocean out from under them. At the same moment, a monster emerged from the depths.

It was a nuclear submarine!

The hatch opened and the captain of the sub came to the observation deck as the men in the ocean screamed wildly. They had been rescued. Hidden below deck the six tired survivors listened awestruck as the captain explained that it was against orders for him to surface his sub in that region and that he expected disciplinary action for what he had done.

‘But’, he explained softly, ’something beyond my control told me to go to the surface. I can’t explain it. Something just told me to bring the sub up right then and there. I did…and there you were!

Do you feel you face a hopeless situation? “Ask me” Jesus says. Jesus gives hope where there would otherwise be no hope. Jesus gave the blind man hope.

Today we have seen the way in which Jesus healed the man born blind speaks of His being the Creator described in the Book of Genesis. God is the source of life. He is the life giver. Only He can take what is material and inanimate and give it life. This cannot be accomplished through natural means alone.  Jesus’ actions in using spittle could not in themselves affect such change naturally, but they point to His identity as the Creator of all life. We see this clearly as He miraculously renews and restores this man’s eyes.

Jesus actions also gave the man hope and we have seen only Jesus can give us hope. Our hope is not subject to other people. ‘Ask me’ the Lord says, ‘and I will restore your hope.’

Next week we look more at the healing itself, and especially the significance of that healing being in two stages

¹ For excellent overview on origins (Creation vs Evolution) see Ken Ham’s ‘Science Confirms the Bible’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74UIt8uHQPs

² See also upcoming British day webinar ‘Noah and the worldwide flood’ on 22^nd May 2021. For details look up https://answersingenesis.org/outreach/event/flood-webinar/  Seven presentations, seven speakers; well qualified scientists in their respective fields. Once registered these presentations can be accessed for up to a month after. Total cost £6.  “If there really was a worldwide flood, what would the evidence be? How could Noah fit the animals on the ark? Why weren’t more than eight people saved? This special conference will tackle many common misconceptions by looking at the Bible for answers about the size of the ark, the number of animals, the state of society back then, as well as the geological, geographical, biological, and historical implications of such a catastrophic event. Looking at the state of our society today, what can we learn, and how can we share such important information?”

…………………………………………

Who paints the skies into glorious day?
Only the splendour of Jesus.
Who breathes His life into fists of clay?
Only the splendour of Jesus.
Who shapes the valleys and brings the rain?
Only the splendour of Jesus.
Who makes the desert to live again?
Only the splendour of Jesus.

Teach every nation His marvellous ways;
Each generation shall sing His praise.

He is wonderful, He is glorious,
Clothed in righteousness,
Full of tenderness

Come and worship Him,
He’s the Prince of life,
He will cleanse our hearts
In His river of fire.

Who hears the cry of the barren one?
Only the mercy of Jesus.
Who breaks the curse of the heart of stone?
Only the mercy of Jesus.
Who storms the prison and sets men free?
Only the mercy of Jesus.
Purchasing souls for eternity?
Only the mercy of Jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHvbGXYLrc8

Hymn (Piano)

O Lord, hear my prayer
O Lord, hear my prayer
When I call, answer me

O Lord, hear my prayer
O Lord, hear my prayer
Come and listen to me

J Berthier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f51n-yb11dY

Prayer

God of all blessings,
source of all life,
giver of all grace:

We thank you for the gift of life:
for the breath
that sustains life,
for the food of this earth
that nurtures life,
for the love of family and friends
without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation:
for the beauty
that the eye can see,
for the joy
that the ear may hear,
for the unknown
that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder,
for the expanse of space
that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities:
for families
who nurture our becoming,
for friends
who love us by choice,
for companions at work,
who share our burdens and daily tasks,
for strangers
who welcome us into their midst,
for people from other lands
who call us to grow in understanding,
for children
who lighten our moments with delight,
for the unborn,
who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for this day:
for life
and one more day to love,
for opportunity
and one more day to work for justice and peace,
for neighbours
and one more person to love
and by whom be loved,
for your grace
and one more experience of your presence,
for your promise:
to be with us,
to be our God,
and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings,
we give you thanks, eternal, loving God,
through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. (Vienna Cobb Anderson)

I would also value your prayers. I have gained written permission from Arun District Council to distribute leaflets at Angmering Green/shops, the shops in Rustington and possibly Angmering Railway Station (I am waiting on confirmation from the Station). The leaflet identifies themes of key biblical messages on our website that might be of help to people in turning to the Lord, and also mentions how we are gearing up for a return to ‘normal’ in our activities at ABC in the coming months. In addition I have copies of a magazine entitled ‘’Hope” by ‘Good News for Everyone’ (formerly called ‘the Gideons’) which I can freely distribute to any who are interested. I had an encouraging start at Rustington shops last Saturday. I believe this is a time of unprecedented openness, so please pray this will be the case- here and indeed throughout the UK. Thank you.

Hymn (Piano)

2 Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word; I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord. Born of thy love, thy child may I be, 
thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.

3 Be thou my buckler, my sword for the fight. Be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tower. Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

4 Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise; thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and thou only, first in my heart, Ruler of heaven, my treasure thou art.

5 High King of heaven, when victory is won may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun! Heart of my heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O Ruler of all.