Talk by Christoph Lindner at our 10.30am service on Sunday, 19th January 2020.

This talk is based on 1 Corinthians 1.1-9.

Here is the prayer used at the end:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

(Attributed to Sir Francis Drake – 1577)

Here are the notes, which were included in the news sheet:

Healthy Family: The Adventure Begins

Today we are starting a new sermon series on being a healthy church family. This is part of our process of renewing our mission plan for the next years. You can listen to sermons again on our website: www.denhamparish.church/blog

Being disciples of Jesus

• The initiative is with Jesus (“Follow me!”).
• We don’t know where the adventure will lead, but we know who we are going with.
• The biblical word for disciples is mathetes, which means ‘those who learn as they follow’ – it’s training on the job!
• We are called to follow a person, not a philosophy or a set of rules.
• The adventure is for everyone – not just for the clever, the important, the physically able!
• Discipleship happens in community – you cannot be a disciple apart from the family of Jesus.
• Jesus calls his disciples the Body of Christ – his living active presence in the world today.
• The same Spirit that empowered Jesus now empowers his followers!
• A sense of urgency: Jesus will come back and our time on earth as his followers is limited.
• There will be battles and blessings, but following Jesus will be the most fulfilling life possible.

“The need for active, adventurous disciples of Jesus is as urgent as ever. There is a broken world in need of healing, good news to be shared and Kingdom work to be done, all energised by the Spirit so powerfully present at the baptism of Jesus and the birth of the church at Pentecost.” Andrew Roberts

Questions for Reflection

• How do you feel when you hear Jesus’ words ‘Follow me’? Find a trusted friend to talk with about your thoughts and feelings.
• Do you know someone who might find the adventure of following Jesus challenging at this time? How can you support him or her?
• Imagine Denham Parish Church as a sailing boat. Where is the boat at the moment? In the safety of the harbour? Heading out to sea? Caught in a storm? How strongly is the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing through its sails? How could you catch a fresh wind?