Podcast Summaries

17 and 18, and today I've asked Kerry to come and unpack chapters that you felt particularly drawn to chapter 18, haven't you? Yeah, and so you've been kind of thinking a little bit creatively about how we can deliver this message, haven't we? We've been working together for the last few weeks because speaking isn't exactly your thing. Is that fair to say? Yeah, because you've got cerebral palsy, and so your muscles don't behave the way you want them to sometimes. They're very naughty. Yes, sometimes your muscles are very naughty. And so, what we've done today is that we've kind of, so the message that's being brought today is Kerry's message. She's written it, and she's written it in such a way that we can hear what she has to say on the subject. And so, I've asked Kerry to come and speak because she, do you have a master's in theology, is that right? Very good. So she's more qualified to speak than I am. And so I'm delighted to give Kerry the opportunity to speak to us today. Yes, OK, very good. I feel like I've gone off the script. I wasn't supposed to go off the script, was I? No, I know. You like that off script. I'm so delighted because I thought to myself, I'm going to go off this script immediately and Kerry's going to be really cross with me. So you might tell me off later on, but we'll do that in private. OK, so have you got some questions for these guys? Oh, they're over there. Shall I just read them off my piece of paper? OK, so the first question is, a quick show of hands, who here likes things that are free? Yes, come on, bargain hunters in the room. Anybody else? Does anybody feel a little bit suspicious when you come across something that's free? You're like, hmm, it's free, why is it free? OK, so what we're going to do today is a lot of what we're going to do is going to be discussion in small groups. And so please do turn to the people around you, just say hello, make sure you know their name. And if you have a story of a time when you found a thing for free, then share that story. So say hello, introduce yourself and share a very, very quick story about when you found something for free. OK, so the way we're going to handle today is we are going to be watching some videos that Kerry has created, after which we'll be having some discussion moments. And that's how today is going to go. And so Kerry, we are talking about things that are free. Yeah, we are. OK, so let's go with video number one. We are looking at something Jesus said is completely free. No earning, no proving, no performance required. But first, when Jesus talks about the kingdom of God, he is not talking about a place on a map. He is talking about God's rule, his good and loving authority at work in the world. The kingdom has begun wherever people trust him as king, but it is not yet complete. One day God will put everything right. It's often described as the now and the not yet. We experience a glimpse of it now, but the best is still to come. Most things in life have entrance requirements. Universities want grades, jobs want experience, airports want passports. So what are the entrance requirements for the kingdom of God? Jesus gives a surprising answer. Not strength, not success, not status, but rather attitudes of the heart. Deficiency, humility and dependency. We begin with the first requirement, deficiency, recognizing our need for God. Jesus explained this by telling a story about two people who come to God in very different ways. One guy comes empty, understanding his need. The other guy comes to try and impress God, listing everything he has got right. Listen to the story. Okay, we're going to act this story out really quickly. So point to some confident, flamboyant people. Who's confident and flamboyant? Are you confident and flamboyant? You've just been pointed at. Point to other people who are confident. Who's confident? Yeah, Ryan, you're confident. Come on, you can come and read for me. So there you go, I'll give you that one. Who else is confident? I need two more people really quickly. Who else is going to come? Yeah, come on then, Karen. Very good. If you could take that one, that would be amazing. Maybe, can you read without them? I need one final person. Yeah, come on then. Emily, if you wouldn't mind. Okay, so Ryan, you're our narrator. Karen, I need you standing on a chair. Are you comfortable on a chair? Okay, fine. Okay, very good, very good. So Ryan, can I just ask a favor? Just give it some beans, okay? If we're going to do this, let's do this properly, okay? All right, let's give it some beans. Ryan, go for it. I'll hold the mic. So read your script. I've highlighted your part. That's all you're saying. I know it's not much, but just really make the most of it. Just make the most of it. If you want to come here just so we don't feedback, that'd be great. Thank you. That's my mother, Karen. Jesus told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One, a Pharisee. The other, a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this. Oh God, I thank you that I am not like the other people. Like robbers and crooks. Like adulterers or heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all of my income. That was some beans. Meanwhile, the tax man slumped in the shadows. His face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, God forgive me. I'm a sinner. Very good. Jesus commented, This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself. Round of applause for these guys. Thank you very much. In this story that Jesus told, the Pharisee comes defending himself, listing his good behavior. The tax collector comes empty asking God for mercy. And it is the empty one who goes home at peace with God. If there is anyone here who's feeling weighed down by something in particular you've done that you're feeling really ashamed of, please go to God with it ASAP and ask him for mercy. You too can go home this afternoon right with God, like the tax collector did. I can tell you from experience, it's such a great relief to be set free by Jesus, the king of the kingdom. When we've admitted our faults and received God's mercy, it becomes much harder to look down on someone else. Instead, we mirror the heart of Christ. The Bible says, Be kind and merciful and forgive others just as God forgave you because of Christ. The wonderful thing about God is this. When we finally come to him and admit we have messed up, it does not weaken the relationship. It strengthens it. God's response is not, why on earth did you do that? It is more like, I'm glad you came. I saw you struggling. Jesus took the punishment for this very thing when he died on the cross. Let me take that weight from you. You have my forgiveness. I still love you. I always will. Now we are going to look at the second entrance requirement to the kingdom of God, humility. Just wanted to pause here and clarify what the word humility does and doesn't mean as I feel this is important. Humility is not thinking of ourselves as rubbish. God does not make rubbish. It is knowing that we are loved and have talents, but also acknowledging our limits and that we need God. Once we've clocked this, we can treat others as more important than ourselves. Not because we are less, but because we are secure. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less and lifting others more. Jesus showed us this by the way he treated and talked about children. This is how the Bible tells it. Some people brought their little children for Jesus to bless. But when his disciples saw them doing this, they told the people to stop bothering him. So Jesus called the children over to him and said, Let the children come to me. Don't try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom. You will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child. When the disciples told the parents to stop bothering Jesus, Jesus called them back. The disciples were not simply grumpy. They were reflecting how society treated children in that culture. Children had no status. People were not rearranging society around children. Today we have baby on board signs on our cars. In the first century, there were no baby on board signs on camels. No kids temple. No toddler soft play. No parent and baby groups. In Jesus' world, it was the opposite.

it, children had no status, no influence, no power, which makes what Jesus does shocking. The disciples were trying to clear the way for the important people. They were saying, in effect, move the children aside, this is serious grown-up spiritual business. And Jesus stops everything. Jesus highlights these children who are small, delicate, and often unnoticed. He illustrates that true entry into God's kingdom is defined by humility rather than self-sufficiency, status, or strength. Jesus values what others might disregard. He elevates what the world tends to overlook. It's a very human trap, and we need the empowering of the Holy Spirit so that we can be freed from seeking status in worldly things to try and make us feel secure and worthwhile, such as our job, the car we drive, the position of leadership we might have, or the number of likes we have on our social media posts. Even the disciples continue to struggle with this. Later on, in chapter 22, Luke records the disciples making quite a scene at the Last Supper, the night before Jesus is to be crucified. Jesus is preparing himself for the cross, and there they are, having argy-bargies about their position in the kingdom, asking Jesus who is the greatest, who matters most. And Jesus replies, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. Here's a few ideas of how we can reflect the humility of Jesus in our lives. Listening before speaking, letting someone else shine, not needing to win an argument, asking for or offering help. Okay, so let's pop into those little discussion groups. So the discussion questions that Kerry has prepared for this one. Where do you feel tempted to compare yourselves with others? In what environments do you feel yourself tempted to compare yourself with others? And the second one is, would you like to stop trying to stand above or prove yourself? That's a great question. And in case you're wondering, the questions from the first video, where do you most feel the pressure to appear capable or put together? That's a great question as well. What makes it hard to admit you've messed up either to God or to others? So let's get into those little groups. Beth, if you, sorry Fern, if you wouldn't mind just swapping between those two slides, that'd be great. We'll give this maybe three or four minutes to just have a decent discussion in those little groups. So pick whichever one of those questions jumps out to you, and then we'll carry on with the next video when we're done. Okay, let's try and bring our conversations into a close. And then if you're able to just turn your attention back to the screen, we're going to watch the final video. How do you think it's going so far, Kerry? It's going okay. Good. All right, good. It's going okay. Right, let's watch the final video together. And this is where Jesus takes the lesson deeper. The final entrance requirement is dependency. Jesus calls the children over, holds a child in his arms, and says this, you will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child. When Jesus talks about becoming like a child, it is very easy to miss the point. We hear the word childlike and might think cute, curious, innocent. This is me with my nephews when they were kids. They were very cute, maybe not innocent though. They could be little monkeys at times. But if we do this and we read the scene as cute-like in kids' storybooks, with children bringing Jesus flowers and Jesus sat there in his beautiful spotless, well-pressed white robe, we project our 21st century sense of safety onto a first-century text. No, in Jesus' time, around half of babies born would not reach the age of one. And if they reached that, then their chances of reaching 12 were halved. The emotional tone of this moment is not, look how sweet my baby is. The atmosphere is urgency and desperation in a world where there was no NHS. There was no Calpol, no antibiotics, no antiseptic cream. Parents were pushing forward because their children were vulnerable and fragile. They had no safety net. They wanted Jesus to pray for their children simply to stay alive. Jesus is not praising their cuteness. He's pointing to their dependency. That is why he says the kingdom of God belongs to these. And that is why this moment is uncomfortable. Because most of us would rather be capable than dependent. The kingdom of God is about what we lack, not what we bring. A baby is loved not because it contributes, but simply because it exists. This is the bit I find hard. I find it really difficult to ask for help. And I need a little more help than most. I do not like being seen as needy or a problem or too much. Sometimes asking for help feels almost painful. Please tell me it is not just me. If I am honest, a lot of that fear is unfounded. God gives us a church family because none of us were meant to live independently. We are meant to support and carry one another. In many cases, I find that asking for help actually brings connection. Although sometimes we do let each other down because we are human with limited time, strength and energy. But when we come to God and ask for help, he is never irritated. He never rejects us and never thinks any less of us. In fact, he encourages us to be persistent in our prayers for help. Children receive. They trust. They know they are in need. Dependency is not weakness. It is trust. The kingdom is not something we can earn. It is something we receive. And dependency on God becomes most visible not when everything works, but when we still come to him when it does not. Yes, I can testify to God helping me many times in my life. And in our sharing time at church, I'm encouraged to hear stories of what God has been doing in our lives that week. It's great to give thanks together and celebrate. But honestly, there have also been many times when I have prayed for help for myself or for others and there has just been silence. I have prayed for sick people to get well and instead they have grown worse. I've prayed for world peace and seen wars escalate. And this is where our dependency on God also shows up. Not when everything works, but when we still go to him anyway and we talk to him through our tears. When we speak a little less politely. When we bring him our frustration and our confusion. When most children are in pain, they run to their parents. Even when the parent cannot take the pain away, the child still climbs into their arms. And that is how God invites us to come. Not with strength, not with answers, but with our need because the kingdom of God belongs to people like that. And moments like that remind us of something important. We were never meant to carry life on our own. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus tells a story about a widow who goes to see a judge to demand justice. This woman, she has guts because in that culture, a widow had almost no power. With no husband to be her voice and no influence. She was exactly the kind of person society overlooked. Someone had wronged her and the only person who could help was the local judge who was known as the unjust judge. He didn't fear God and he didn't care about people. Most people would have given up before even trying, but not this widow. She walks into the courtroom and asks for justice. He dismisses her. So the next day she comes back and asks for justice. He dismisses her. So the next day she comes back and asks for justice. He dismisses her. And the next day and the next. Day after day she returns. Not shouting, not threatening, just asking again. Grant me justice. She refuses to disappear. She refuses to give up. Eventually the judge says to himself, I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice. Otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black and blue by her pounding. And so finally the judge grants her request. Jesus tells this story for a reason. The point is not that God is like the unjust judge. The point is the opposite. If even a hard, uncaring judge eventually responds, how much more will our good and loving father hear the cries of his people? But I think Jesus also wants us to notice something else. He wants us to admire the courage of that widow because she had every reason to give up. Every door seemed closed. Every answer seemed delayed. And yet she kept coming. She teaches us that faith is not always loud and confident. Sometimes faith looks like showing up again. Praying the same prayer again. Believing that even when we cannot see it, God still sees us. At the end of the story, Jesus says God...

He hears those who cry out to him day and night, which means our prayers are not ignored, our tears are noticed, and our faith, even if it feels very small, matters deeply to God. It is okay to cry out like a child. It's not fair. When we experience silence from God, it does not mean he is distant. Sometimes that silence is a companionable one. God sits with us in our pain. The world is not as it was meant to be, and he grieves with us, and that comfort can come through other people. The Bible says that God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others with the same comfort we ourselves have received. We share in the sufferings of Christ, but we also share in the comfort he gives. And one day, when the kingdom comes in its fullness, the Bible says he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be gone. Crying will be gone. Pain will be gone. But until that day, we keep coming to him like children, sometimes with faith, sometimes with questions, sometimes just needing somewhere safe to cry. And the wonderful thing is this. God never gets tired of being our Father. Okay. That was a challenging one, right? Dependency. Crikey. Let's move into our final moment of discussion. There's a good likelihood that the kiddos will come back and join us whilst we're discussing, so let's welcome them when they do. But the questions here are, and these are good ones, what are you currently trying to manage on your own? Any other self-sufficient people in the room, or is that just me? And what might trusting God with that actually look like? So some really good, knotty questions. So get back into those groups. We'll give this a couple of minutes. If the kiddos don't come back, then we'll wrap it up in a different way. But let's just take a little bit of time in those groups to discuss. Okie dokie, the kiddos are back. Welcome back, kids. It is great to see you. You are so welcome. Okay, so let's welcome the kiddos back. Kids, we're really looking forward to hearing what you guys have been up to in Kids' Church. We are going to just take a moment now to wrap up our time together over here. So let's just wait until all the kids have come back in again. Okay, marvellous. Grown-ups, who's enjoyed Kerry's message? It's good, right? How good was that? Yeah, really good. Do make sure you take an opportunity to share that with her and encourage her, because coming and speaking like this, it takes a lot out of you. So really appreciate the time you've put into putting that together, Kerry. And I did say to Kerry, if you're going to speak, you're going to speak twice. So this is part one. We're going to hear Kerry speak again. I'm excited about that. That's good, right? Okay, in order to finish up today, Kerry's asked that we sing the song Good, Good Father as part of our response. And so she's also recorded a prayer to pray over us. And so what we're going to do is we're going to respond in a handful of ways. We're all going to stand together if we're willing and able. Lauren is just going to play, and then we're just going to pray this prayer. We're going to play the prayer that Kerry has recorded over us, and we're going to say amen to that in our hearts. And then we're going to sing the song together, and we're going to celebrate communion as well. And so here at the front and at the back, is there one at the back? Yes, there is at the back as well. We've got two different stations where we can celebrate communion today. Everybody is welcome to come and celebrate communion with us. It is gluten-free and dairy-free bread, and it is squash, not wine. So everybody is welcome to take part. You don't have to call yourself a Christian to take part, but you do need to know that this is a real moment of saying yes to Jesus, either for the first time or the 551st time. What we do is we take a small amount of bread and we dip it in the juice to represent Jesus' body which was broken for us and his blood which was shed for us so that we could live in friendship and family with him. So if you'd like to do that, you're very welcome to as part of your response. But why don't we stand now if you're willing and able. We're going to sing this song. Kerry is going to pray over us, and then we're going to celebrate communion. Heavenly Father, please help us to really believe that we are loved by you simply because we exist, because in a world where we feel under constant pressure to prove ourselves, we can forget and begin to doubt this. Thank you that you are not a distant God, but our loving Father who walks beside us each day. You see what we see. You feel what we feel. Thank you that the only way you ask us to come to you is just as we are, sometimes weak, sometimes fragile, sometimes bewildered. As we enter your kingdom in that spirit, help us to love in the same way you love us. Help us to show mercy, to walk in humility, to lift others up, and to live lives that are more deeply connected to one another. Amen. Amen.