The Mix

We pray father that you would speak to every single 1 of us here this morning.

Show us Jesus, and we ask it in his name. Oh, man. Okay, Steve. If we can have the first slide up, here is the big point for this morning, big point for this morning, the god who made us has spoken to us. Last month in September, we were learning that god created us and the heavens and the earth.

And today, the big point is that the god who made us is not silent, but that he has spoken to us and that is very, very, very good news. Let me try to show you why with a game. Right. I need my 3 volunteers up. I say volunteers.

They were chosen. So I need a Zach and Dave and Abby up the front on the stage, please. And we are going to play together a game, and the winner of this game will receive a maltesers reindeer chocolate. I know. Don't adjust your radio sets.

Maltesers, reindeer chocolate. It's really happening. Now, here's the game. I am going to give each of you a slip of paper on 1 of these slips of paper is absolutely nothing at all. On another slip of paper is complete gibberish, which you won't understand, and on another slip of paper is a set of instructions.

If you follow those instructions, you will win the Maltesars reindeer. But only 1 of you is going to get the slip with the instructions on it. The other 2 will still have to try to complete the task, which is in my mind, but you will have to do it with either gibberish or no instructions at all. Okay? Only 1 of you is gonna get the instructions, but I expect the other 2 to have a go at something.

Try to guess what the challenge might be to put yourself at least in with a chance. Of winning the prize. Okay? Is the rules clear, everybody? Alright.

Here we go. So there's 1, and this is all random. It's not pre pre chosen or anything. It's all random. There we go.

There we are. There we go. Okay? So on the count of 3, not now? Don't cheat, Dave.

Don't make sure he can't. Yeah. On the count of 3, open your instructions, and then have a go at the task that I want you to complete. Okay? Zach, have you done it?

Did you complete the challenge? Alright. Come on. Round applause for Zach. There you are, Zach.

Zack won the prize. Here was the challenge. It was not to do limp kind of star jumps like Dave Law's. The challenge was to run to the back of the room and give 3 people a high 5. Yeah.

A very simple challenge. Zach can read, so he was able to do it. He's won the prize. The other 2 had gibberish and nothing and gave it a good go, but were able to win absolutely nothing at all. Okay?

Short, sweet illustration to make this simple point that to be in a game, where you do not know the rules is very, very frustrating, isn't it? To try to compete in a game when nobody has told you what to do or how to win or how you should play is very, very frustrating. It's like being in a maze. If we can have that picture up, Steve, you're inside a maze, and you know that there probably is a design and a right way to go and a wrong way to go and that there is a purpose to this thing, but if you have received no help and no guidance and no instruction, it is very, very frustrating. And if that is true for a little game here on Sunday morning and for being in a maze, how terrible would it be to have been created to live in this world?

But to have a silent god in heaven, 1 who does not speak or does not communicate or never gives us help or never guides us. Terrible. That would be, wouldn't it? To find yourself alive in the world, with a god who is silent. Maybe you know the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, and, if you've got your coloring sheets, kids, this is on the back.

The story of Elijah on Mount Carmel with the prophets of bail. There's 1 book which you might own published by the good book company called The God contest. And, here's that you might recognize the the front cover. You've got Elijah on Mount Carmel. You've got the prophets of bail on Mount Carmel.

And then there is this challenge or they make an agreement together. So, Steve, if we can have the verses up, please. Elijah says, get 2 bulls for us. Let Bail's prophets choose 1 for themselves. And let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it.

I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the lord, and the god who answers by fire, he is god. And so, basically, here's the challenge, let's find out which 1 of us can worship a speaking god. Which 1 of us? Is Baylor speaking god?

Or is the god of the Bible the speaking god? That's the challenge. The 1 who answers is the true god. Well, here's what happens. Next slide, please, Steve, if it's if it's up.

Okay. Let me read it to you. The false prophets prepared 1 of the bulls and placed it on the altar, then they called on the name of Bail from morning until noontime shouting. Oh, Bail answer us. But there was no reply of any kind, then they danced hobbling around the altar they had made.

So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response. Friends and boys and girls, Can you imagine trying to follow a god who makes no sound and gives no reply and who never responds to you? Imagine trying to worship and follow a god like that, or perhaps worse. Imagine trying to follow a god who can speak and can hear, but who chooses not to, and leaves you to fumble around in the silence, trying to guess.

I mean, what does what does your religious life become? There you are, and you're thinking, well, okay. God hasn't spoken. So I don't know what to do, so maybe a bit like Dave and Abby in this game. I'll just do this, and maybe I might win.

Or maybe if I do that, he'll listen to me, or maybe if I shout louder, he'll respond to me, or maybe if I eat better, or wash more or travel to that place, he'll save me, but I can never quite know because God is silent, and he doesn't speak. And so I have to get I can never know. But look at the god of Elijah. Next slide, please, Steve. Answer me, lord, answer me.

So these people will know that you lord our god. And that you are turning their hearts back again, then the fire of the lord fell. So here's the big point. Next slide, please, Steve. Boys and girls, what a blessing it is?

That the true god is real and that he can hear us and that he speaks to us in his word, the Bible. We are not lost in a maze. With no help from god trying to guess what he likes. We are not at the top of Mount Carmel having to shout louder so that we can impress him and hopefully get his attention, but rather we have god's word, the Bible. Which tells us about Jesus, and gives us everything that we need to know so that we can have a relationship with god and so that we can live in a way which really pleases him.

We don't have to guess. We don't have to make it up. We don't have to cut ourselves or run away and sacrifice and pray more and eat different. We can know because god has spoken to us in the Bible. It's worth us remembering that from time to time, isn't it?

When you look at your bibles at home, just to pause and remember, this is god's word. God has spoken to me in this book so that I can know him. That's a terrific thing, isn't it? So in section 1, we learned that the god who created us has also spoken to us, and that is very, very good news because it means we can know real truth about the real god. Are you ready for question number 2?

Catechism question number 2? Yep. Good. Here we go. Here's number 2.

You're gonna be learning this this week. And by the way, kids, if you've got your coloring sheet, you'll notice that on the front, there's some fill in the blank boxes. And so you might find the answer to that first 1 on this screen. Who knows? What does god command?

We must always love god and love each other. The god who has spoken has said to us that we must always love god and love each other. Here's what Jesus says. If we can have that up, please, Steve. Jesus says in Matthew 22, love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the first and the greatest commandment, and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the law and the prophets, which basically is shorthand for saying, all of god's revelation to us. All of god's word is about those 2 things. It is about love for him and love for our neighbors.

But third question, this is gonna be quite an important 1. How do we love god? How are we to love god? It sounds very nice, doesn't it? We've gotta love god and love our neighbors.

Yes, but how do we actually love god? The catechism tells us that we must trust and treasure god more than all he has made. And so here we're learning that to love God means to both trust in him and to treasure him as something more valuable than anything else we could ever own. To love him is both to treasure and to trust. Now I've got another game for us all to play.

And this game, Steve, could we have this slide up, please, is called trust worthy or trouble. And what I'm about to do is to show you a series of faces Some you will recognize and some you don't, and you will have to decide based on what you can see, whether that person on the screen is trustworthy or trouble. Okay? So I'll ask for a show of hands, and you can consult with your neighbor if you need to speak to a friend. Here's the first 1.

Who thinks that character is trouble? Trust worthy? Heather? Ready? Okay.

Fair enough. It's good that we're different. Right. Next 1. Trustworthy?

Who thinks trustworthy? Or trouble? Gladys, really. Don't like beards. Next 1.

Trustworthy. Hands up. Trust worthy. Or trouble. Ain't you trouble?

Anyone who swears to be telling the truth is suspicious, aren't they? Next 1. Trustworthy. Hand's not gonna need a trustworthy. Trustworthy or trouble.

Okay. It's a bit harsh. Next 1. Trustworthy till he's till he's another scar or, trouble trouble. Yeah.

Next 1. Is he trustworthy? Trouble? Okay. Next 1.

And you've gotta consider these as a unit rather than as individuals. Trustworthy? Yeah. Trouble. Yeah.

All the wives. It's all the elders' wives. Trouble. Okay. Next 1.

Now it's just a face I'm not commenting either way. It's up to you. Alright. Trustworthy? Trouble?

Okay. There we go. Well, that brings us to the end of trustworthy or trouble. Now, an interesting little game, a bit of fun. But here's the question, what was different about those last 4 or 5 pictures?

What was different about them from the ones I showed you at the beginning? Well, the ones I showed you at the beginning were only pictures. They were just generated either by AI, or I found them as Google cartoon images. They're not real people. But the second lot of pictures were actually either real people or real characters And in those cases, your decision about whether to trust them or not was based on what you already know about them.

Your decision was based on their track record. Do you know them to be a faithful, kind, and truth telling person or not? That's what influenced your decision. Right? Whether or not we trust a person is strongly shaped by who they are or who we think they are.

And something very true is similar when it comes to trusting god. Whether or not we're going to trust or treasure him in our lives, depends an awful lot on what we actually think about him. So imagine it this way. You're at a crossroad, Steve. Can we have that picture, please?

You're at a crossroads in your mind, and there's 2 ways that you can go. You can either go god's way, or you can either go your own way. You can live according to what you think, or you can living live according to the Bible. So maybe it's a moment when you're trying to decide whether or not to tell the truth. Now it could apply to all kinds of things.

It could apply to what we choose to watch on the internet. It could apply to whether we choose to listen to our mums or dads or not. But in this case, we're thinking about that moment where we need to decide are we gonna tell the truth or not? Now inside, there's often a little voice which we call conscience, which leads us towards telling the truth. It kind of whispers to us in the moment.

You should go that way. You should go god's way. You should tell the truth. That's the best way. But sometimes we override that voice.

If we want to try to save ourselves, or if we think that telling a lie will mean that we look good, or we're able to cover up something wrong that we've done, or if a little lie will help us to avoid punishment of some kind, then we might tell it in order to get those things. And so let's suppose that in the crossroads, instead of going god's way, we go our own way. Now, what has happened there in that moment of decision? What has happened? Well, you could say all that's happened there is I've broken god's law.

He told me not to lie, and I've lied. I've broken the law. But I think you and I know there's something more going on there, isn't there? It's not just merely a case of breaking a law. We've actually said something there about who we think God is.

You see, if I choose in that moment to ignore my heavenly father and go my way, what I'm actually saying is not just I've broken your law, but in this moment, father, I don't really trust you. Even though you have a perfect record, and it is literally impossible for you to lie, In this situation, god, I'm just not sure about you. I'm just not sure that you see things rightly or that you've got my best interests at heart, and so I'm gonna go my way. Do you see how that works? If we don't trust him, it means at least in that moment, we don't really love him, do we?

We're not willing to trust him. It says quite a lot about what we what we think about him. But that also means that the opposite is true, right? Doesn't it? So if I'm at the crossroads, and it's really hard because I'm tempted to lie, and I wanna lie because I think in the short term, it's gonna do me some good.

But if in that moment I can remember what Jesus said to me, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. And if I say lord help me because I wanna tell a lie and go my way, But you've told me that truth is better and truth will set me free, and so help me please to go your way. It's impossible for you to lie. You love me. Your way is best.

And we go that way, that expresses a trust in his character, doesn't it? And a love for him that even though we don't see everything, we actually entrust ourselves to him because he's got a great track record, and he loves us, and we're confident in his character. And so that's what the catechism is getting at, Steve, if we can have that back up, please. How are we to love god? We must trust and treasure god more than what we might think in the moment, more than what some guy on YouTube tells us, who we've never met, More than what our friends at school or work might tell us to do, we trust and treasure god more than all that he has made.

K? So do you see that very important connection there? God made us. God spoke to us. He told us to love him.

To love him means that we trust him and treasure him. Whether we live for god each day largely depends on how we view him. What is his track record to us? What is his character in our minds? That's what shapes how we decide to live each day.

So we've looked at what it means to love god, and now we're going to consider what it means to love 1 another. So 2 Bible verses on the screen. Jesus says, in Matthew 22, 37, as we've already seen, love your neighbor as yourself, but look at what extra is added to that in Matthew chapter 5, also the words of the lord Jesus. You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your father in heaven. Here's a little activity for us all to do together, and you'll have to speak with the person next to you about this 1.

On the screen, I've got 3 circles with 3 different headings. People, we find it easy to love. People we find it harder to love, and people we find it very hard to love. And what I want you to do is to talk with your neighbor about the kinds of people that we might put in each of those circles. There's no need to name names.

You don't have to actually say my husband is in the green circle. We're talking about kinds of or categories of people. Rather than specific individuals. What kinds of people are easy to love? What kinds of people are harder to love?

What kinds of people do we find it very hard to love? Just talk with a person next to you about that. Okay? Why don't we come back together and, see if we can find some agreements on the sorts of people that are easy and hard to love now you don't have to shout out your answers, but here's some of the ones I put down, and you can see whether you agree with them or not. People we find ease ought go back.

Please. People we find it easy to love. Well, family can be quite they can be hard to love sometimes, but most of the time, family can be quite easy to have. Our best friends can be very easy to love because they tend to like the things that we like and enjoy the things that we enjoy. And so we find them quite easy to love.

Because they're like us, and loving people who are like us, is not so hard, is it? People we find it harder to love. Well, that might be somebody in your class or in your office who is just a bit irritating. You know, you, you have to work with them. And from time to time, you don't mind them, but you wouldn't choose to hang out with them in your free time because they're just a little bit irritating.

There might be quite a few people in life. We would put in that circle. And then there's people we find it very hard to love. Now those might include, that class bully who is not just difficult to get on with, but who actively gives you a very, very hard time. Maybe they think it's really stupid that you love Jesus and wanna follow him and want to make fun of you about that, or maybe it's someone who just hates you, and they seem to devote their whole lives to making your life miserable.

But those are people who are very, very hard to love. Okay? And I'm sure you've got some good and, better answers for those things. But here's the point that the Jesus and the catechism are making, Steve, can we have that slide now, please? All of those different people sit within a larger circle called our neighbors or each other.

Here's how question 4 puts it. If we can have that, please. How are we to love each other? And just look at the different categories of people here. Here's each other.

So each other is the big circle. Each other or neighbor is the big circle. Who's in that? We must be humble and kind to our families and friends. And even to our enemies.

Now, don't misunderstand this. We can have the next slide again, please see. Don't misunderstand this. Those circles are still there. And so it's not that Jesus says, love your enemy.

And all of a sudden, those circles magically disappear, and they all sort of splurge into 1 person called neighbor. No, that's not what happens. There are always going to be in life, people that we find easier to love, and there are always going to be people who we find much, much harder to love. So maybe it is that person at school. Who thinks it's really silly that you go to church and follow Jesus, and they just don't wanna hang out with you, or maybe it's that person, at work in the office, or, or even in your wider family perhaps.

Who it's just very, very hard to love. Well, you may never become their best friend. But Jesus is saying, and the catechism is saying, yes, but to follow him is still to love even those that we might really struggle to love. Now that sounds good, doesn't it? But what does that actually mean in practice?

How do we love those? Who we might find it hard to love. Well, here's just 1 way of thinking about it, Steve. We can have the next slide, please. This is what I've called the enemy circle.

Okay? This is the enemy circle. So in the enemy circle, basically hate and payback are going on all the time. You say something horrible to me. I respond by typing something vicious about you.

You make a mean face to me. I respond by physically harming you. You respond to that physical harm by shouting back at me. And that's the enemy circle. It's just a big circle of payback.

You hate me. I hate you. You do something mean I plot my revenge and round and round it round. The enemy circle goes. But to love our enemies is to break up the the circle.

Okay, Steve, if we can have that please. It's to smash the circle. In other words, we are to live in such a way that even when nasty stuff happens to us, we respond in a different way in order to break the cycle. So we don't carry on paying back wrong for wrong and evil for evil. But rather we think of ways that we can break the cycle, not with hateful responses, but with kind words and actions, or as the catechism puts it to be humble and kind.

Instead of vengeful and payback y. Yeah? Now it's important to say that sometimes if things are really, really bad in life, it may not be possible to do a kind thing for someone who is our enemy, and there are sometimes in life where if things are really, really bad, we shouldn't actually try to even go near certain types of enemy. But as Jesus says, even if we couldn't or shouldn't do something, we could at least pray for those who would persecute that they might come to know the lord Jesus Christ. And isn't that in the end?

The greatest way that we can love our enemies, not by paying back, but by praying that they would come to know the love of Jesus Christ for themselves. And so back to those verses, please. Jesus says, oh, no, sorry, previous slide. Jesus says you have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That may you may be children of your father in heaven or in the words of the catechism, how are we to love each other?

We must be humble and kind to our families and friends and even to our enemies. And so 2 things as we finish. Firstly, a summary. The god who made us has spoken to us, and that is very, very good news because we don't have to guess what god is like anymore. And what has he said to us?

He has commanded us to love god, which means to trust and treasure him, not just in our minds or with our feelings, but in real life, to trust and treasure him more than all he's made, and he has also called us to love each other. Love him and love others. In some ways, it's the traditional Christian answer, isn't it? But just think how different our world would be if we listen to Jesus. On this issue.

You see the news every week is full of sad examples where we are reminded that people need the words of Jesus. Every week, We see something like the enemy cycle, don't we? Just being played out. You're like me. I love you.

You're different from me. I hate you, and I'm gonna kill you. And round and round it goes, the enemy site, just imagine what our world would be like if more people listen to the words of Jesus, not putting ourselves at the center, but putting god and neighbor at the center and knowing the freedom. Of doing that. Now here's the other thing.

That's the summary, but secondly, and this is a very, very big problem. We just can't do this, can we? You ever tried living like this? Have you ever tried living like this for just like a couple of hours, even? I'm just trying to love god and love enemy and love your neighbor.

Have you ever tried living like that for a week? It's very, very hard, isn't it? It's impossible for us. We had a great sermon on this last Sunday evening. You know, Jesus summarizes the law in Matthew 22.

Why does he choose love god and love neighbor? Well, because they're the most impossible. We can't do them. They're impossible for us. And so boys and girls and friends, this is why we need the lord Jesus, not only to tell us how to live, but to save us for when we choose not to live that way.

Here's those verses from colossians, please, Steve. Here's what the lord Jesus has done for us. At 1 time, you were separated from god, You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways, but because Christ died, god has brought you back to himself. Christ's death has made you holy in god's sight. At 1 time, we were, what were we?

We were enemies. We were separated, and we were enemies of god. En we were his enemies, but very, very, very, thankfully. Jesus has chosen to love his enemies, not only with his words, but with his actions, and he has come, and he has given himself on a cross. That's what the Christian good news message is that Jesus Christ loves his enemies, and he came to die for people like you and me on a cross because we failed to trust and treasure him, and because we failed to love our neighbors properly.

We've sinned against god. And yet because he loves his enemies, Jesus bled on a cross for your sin and for mine, so that if we trust in him, his love comes to live within our hearts, and enables us to do that which is impossible for us to do, to love him and to love our neighbors. And so friends and boys and girls, you've seen the law today. The law giver says love god and love your neighbor. How are you doing with it?

I've broken it. I'm afraid. And that's why I need Jesus. And so you've gotta come to Jesus. You've gotta come to Jesus.

If you wanna be saved from your wrongdoing, And if you want power to live a human life, which puts god and others before yourself, you need Jesus. And so come to Jesus. You might like to do it even for the first time today to say Jesus, I wanna live a life of love. But I haven't done it. So forgive me and change me in Jesus' name, and he will answer that prayer and set us free for a new life.

K? So that's section 2, sovereign creator September. Lawgiver, October, and next time we'll be back with another big truth in a bite sized chunk. Let's pray. Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that you love your enemies.

People like us who've sinned against you, and you've loved us so much that you've even died for us, and you've risen again. And we pray that you would help us to trust you. So that we can live this wonderful life of love, loving you and loving others we pray. We can't do this on our own lord. We can't do this.

We don't have the power. And so please forgive us and free us to live this way in Jesus' name. Oh, man.