SERMON THEMES - Evening Worship

January to April 2012

From January to April we intend to explore on a Sunday evening the on going issues and themes that have been raise on the Sanctuary First web page. This is an opportunity to start a daily routine of bible reading and prayerful reflection.

God in The Ordinary
The month of January picks up the theme of encountering God through the ordinary things in our lives. When we take time to look back, we often discover that there is really nothing that is just ordinary everything even the dullest of moments can be pathways into the presence of the Almighty. During January on a Sunday evening the services will highlight the role that artists play in helping us see God in the ordinary.

January 15th Discovering God in the Ordinary – Sanctuary First
January 22nd Robert Burns the Poet – Seeing God in the Ordinary
January 29th Singer Songwriters - God in the ordinary

God’s Extravagant Generosity
We would like to take the idea of “God’s Extravagant Generosity” as our over all theme from Sanctuary First this month. In our prayers and readings we will consider the various pictures, ideas and stories that Jesus told as he explored and expressed to us the implications and demands that the extravagant love of God has on our lives.

February 5th An Extravagant Generosity - Sanctuary First
February 12th Living out total Gratitude
February 19th Encountering the Compassion of God
February 26th Simply Grace

Chocolate Sunday
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves what is the real cost of Christian discipleship. It’s more than a bar of chocolate.  There is no doubt that there is a cost involved when we decide to follow Jesus.
So what is the cost? I think the cost is centered around the temptation narratives mentioned in Luke chapter four.  Here you find the universal temptations which are common to all of us spelt out under the broad themes of money, power and fame.
At the heart of the gospel is a call to service.  It is a call that invites us to take up the cause of the poor, to work and live in such a way that we don’t look for personal adulation and fame, instead we even explore what it means to become powerless in order to identify with the oppressed and the weak.
I guess this is the stuff Jesus was talking about when he engaged with his disciples in conversations which included, children, rich people, needles and camels, house building, boats and nets and even a cross. So what would Christianity be like without a cross?  Indeed is the cross an essential part of our faith?  Where does the cross lead? To failure or glory?  These are the themes that Chocolate Sunday is attempting to unwrap?

March  4th Sanctuary First - Counting the Cost of Discipleship
March 11th Crossed Out – So what’s your Alternative?
March 18th Give up or pick Up – Obedience Vs Sacrifice
March 25th Follow Me – Beyond the Cross to Resurrection

The Cross Shaped Space
In our Sanctuary First Worship Service this month we have built a two metre high cross using the space to create a cross shape. The space is there because we are reminded that Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is no longer on a cross. The cross is now transparent.  We should not see it as an empty cross. It is a gateway that allows us to peer from time into eternity. It invites us to bring the kingdom of heaven into our world through this cross shaped space.
This image speaks of the temple curtain being torn in two. It speaks of God’s revelation and redemption. We are invited into the Holy Space with God. Indeed God comes to dwell within the believer by the power and presence of his Holy Spirit. The cross space invites us to also become crucified with Christ. The space invites us to fit ourselves on the cross. To walk through the cross. To make a daily cross shaped space in our lives. To experience the power of the resurrection through the suffering of the cross.
This month we are inviting all of you to draw closer to God. To begin to seek a deeper relationship with God the Father. The cross shaped space we believe can be an important visual to draw us closer to God.

April 1st  Sanctuary First  - A Cross Shaped Space
April 8th  From the Cross Shaped Space – The gifts of the Spirit
April 15th From the Cross Shaped Space – The fruit of the Spirit
April 22nd From a Cross Shaped Space – The Spirit in the Church
April 29th From the Cross shaped Space -  The Spirit in the world