'Almighty God . . . . .

One of the positive things about Prayer Book (PB) worship (not perhaps appreciated by some who use a PB) is the way it keeps a congregation and leader 'on track'. Believe it or not, we are prone to wander, to lose direction and to find ourselves headed for the quicksands of heresy (Acts 20.29f; 2Pet2.1).

When I first attended Anglican church PB services in the '80s much about the services was foreign to me. I had been brought up in 'non-conformist' (without knowing it) Pentecostal worship¹ (following some of the practices of the Churches of Christ and Baptists, plus the expression of the charisms of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 12.8-10).

The Forgotten Father

The title of this post takes its cue from a book written by Tom Smail (1928-2012) on the first person in the Trinity, God the Father, a study, which I heartily recommend.

Smail had a Church of Scotland background but later entered the Anglican ordained ministry; he was evangelical, and charismatic (but with reservations later in his career) in churchmanship.

He was a learned theologian and a godly man who wrote with care about church teachings-practices which he believed were becoming lopsided in emphasis.

He believed that in evangelical and charismatic circles an over-emphasis on the Son and the Spirit with a corresponding under-emphasis on God the Father¹ was in evidence.

One can only speculate why this state of affairs might have arisen. I suspect it began with revival² movements which also affected Australia in the mid-1850s and also into the 20th century.

Song Affects Christian Living 

It's well to remember that the manner in which any church group sings influences their living, sometimes even more than what is preached! The Wesleys back in the 18th century knew that and the Wesley hymns are rich doctrinally because they understood hymn singing to be educational!

The revivalist movements became evangelistic, usually mass evangelism, and produced songs, choruses and hymns. These tended to push the Lord Jesus into greater prominence than had been the case before their development. I guess they took this action for both biblical reasons and because they were reacting to liberalism and modernism which had all but denied the sacrificial and miraculous work of Christ incarnate. 

Hence, these newer movements (rightly) sang much about Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to place the work of Christ's redemption at the centre of the plan of reconciliation.

Unfortunately, a decline in the prominence of God the Father ensued. (Maybe this change was also affected by the Pentecostal-Charismatic movements which emphasised the Holy Spirit, and Jesus as the baptiser with the Holy Spirit.)

Who is Jesus?

Every one of the gospel accounts is concerned with this question and every one of them answers it. Each one shows how Jesus is bonded to his Father in heaven.

For example, the declarations of the Peter about Jesus point to his relationship with God.³ One records, 'You are the Christ' (Mk 8.29); another says, 'You are the Christ of God' (Lu 9.20); and a fuller account adds, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Mt 16.16). 

In the fourth gospel, the writer says of his record that it is a call to believe, 'that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God' (Jn 20.31).

We find in John's account, the question about Jesus answered in some detail in chapter 1 verses 1-18. As the Word (logos) he is 'with' God and is God (Jn 1.1c). And further, Jesus is the 'only begotten of the Father' (Jn 1.14) and 'in the bosom' (Jn 1.18), inseparable from God the Father.

To that witness can be added the human witness of John the Baptist (Behold the Lamb of God!)(Jn 1.29a, 36) and then the initially sceptical Nathaniel calls Jesus, 'the Son of God, the King of Israel' (Jn 1.49). 

Following that comes Jesus' own witness to Himself, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man' (Jn 1.51; Dan 7.13-14).

To be 'Christ', 'Messiah' is to be anointed for a calling and task by the Holy Spirit; and in these references, it is God's own Son who has been called to the vocation of freeing his people from the bondage of sin.

My point is that Jesus is always one with the Father even when he is in the garden of Gethsemane and even when he is on the cross.⁴ The cross and all it entailed was done according to 'the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God' (Acts 2.23).

Jesus, The Way To The Father

My plea is not one urging Christians to reduce their devotion to the Lord Jesus -hardly- but in perhaps taking up the challenge of reading the fourth gospel to see how Jesus constantly refers to his Father directly.

Jesus is the only Way but to where? Jesus is the only way to the Father (Jn 14.6) through the power of the Holy Spirit (Jn 3.5).

If that is so, we should also ensure that we don't become 'Jesus people' alone but disciples of Christ our Lord giving all the members of the Godhead their rightful places as revealed in scripture; and at the same time, emphasising the unity of God (Deut 6.4; 1Tim 1.17; 1Jn 4.7).

1. Interestingly, 'western' Christians (Catholics, Protestants) tend to emphasise the oneness of God over the three-ness of God -the reverse being the case in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Pentecostals and charismatic Christians don't always self-identify with Protestantism so I'm not so sure they can be easily classified using these categories.
2. 'Revival' is chiefly about the renewal of an existing but dying or dead church. However, revival of the church frequently leads to others outside the church's meetings being drawn into the Faith through active evangelism.
3. In the NT, the Father is typically called 'God' (e.g., Jn 17.3; 2 Cor 13.14); less often are the Son (Jn 1.1; 20.28; Rom 9.5; 1 Tim 3.16; Titus 2.13), and the Spirit (Acts 5.3-4).
4. Despite the strange doctrine taught today that God 'left him'! We need to examine Psalm 22, the psalm from which Jesus is quoting, and realise that to quote the first line of a psalm as He did is to invoke the rest of the psalm as well. But furthermore, this psalm is a Messianic psalm! That's the major point involved in Jesus' citing it on the cross. He is saying in effect, 'I am the Messiah!'. Christians should read through the entire psalm, carefully noting the details. In particular, we need to note how the psalm ends.

A Church's Most Important Piece Of Furniture (2)

'Then the preacher said the most provocative words that church congregations need to hear and act on today.

The most significant piece of 'furniture' or fitting in this building are: 

the doors through which you will all leave at the end of this service and go out into the world.'

I ended with the above words in my last post.

I'm a bit crabby at the moment. Yes, I know, good Christians are not supposed to get irritable, fractious, fretful, cross, petulant, pettish, crabbed, crotchety, cantankerous, disagreeable, miserable, morose, peppery, edgy, impatient, querulous; etc but I am. 

I think my crabbiness has to do with the fact that the visible, institutional church doesn't get it! But then I have to remember that for many years I didn't get it either until a rude, Dutchman woke me up out of my dogmatic slumber. 

So I have nothing to boast about. None of us does. The church is in such a parlous condition in Australia that none of us has anything to brag about. Australia is also in such an alarming state and the Lord God is its only salvation but it fails to give Him the time of day.

So, what am I talking about? I'm talking about the church which fails to preach in such a way that every area of the WORK and LIFE of the congregation sitting being taught is addressed by the Word of God. Every area! 

Let me give you an example. Tom leaves his church building and on Monday he is at work in a job he hates. It is boring and to him seemingly pointless. He goes to an enlightened church friend and talks about this problem. 

His friend says, 'Maybe this boring job is where God wants you to be for the time being. How can you erect a small sign of God's Kingdom in this place? If you saw your boring job as Kingdom work, what would that do for the way you approach your work?'


Tom decided that he would come to work a quarter of an hour earlier each day and set that time aside to meet any others who were in early. Gradually with this change, he developed stronger relationships with his work colleagues which had all sorts of exciting consequences. 

For example, the others found out he was a Christian which provoked conversations about the Faith; two of them separately asked him if he would pray for various situations in their lives.

This group of workers began then to think about their work practices and how their work situation could be improved. They approached their supervisor about forming a work practices committee to suggest improvements to the running of the business.

Tom asked his church to pray for him at his work. In fact, his Vicar's interest in Tom's request led him to say, 'Could I come to your workplace and see what you're doing?'.

Like music to my ears! The institutional church seeing that it's not all about it and its evangelism programs, or getting every church member to become an evangelist. God is the God of every legitimate part of human living.

The Australian community is not listening to the church because it is not doing its ministry in workplaces, neighbourhoods, mothering networks through its congregants, the little people. And by ministry, I don't just mean trying to get people to come to church! Ministry in these areas is more than that. And it's more than evangelism. Much more.   

A Church's Most Important Piece of Furniture (1)

A church minister recently related this experience. He said, he heard another church minister ask his congregation, 'What is the most important piece of furniture in the church building?'

You might think, the questioner went on, that it's the church's lectern because it's the place where the holy Scriptures are read. 

But you'd be wrong.

You might think, he continued, that it's the pulpit where the Word of God is preached or the Lord's table from where the 'spiritual body' and 'spiritual blood' of our Saviour are dispensed.

But, you'd be wrong.

By now, the whole congregation is wondering where is all this going?

What could be more significant than any of these items that have been mentioned?

Then the preacher said the most provocative words that church congregations need to hear and act on today.

The most significant piece of furniture in this building are the doors through which you will leave at the end of this service and go out into the world.

Next time we will consider why these words are so important.