Posted on October 28, 2018 by Ben Clapton — Leave a comment

Call and be called

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Call and Be Called, was given at The Salvation Army Rochester on Sunday October 28, 2018. The Reading was Mark 10:46-52

Places of welcome

Last week, Liesl and I ran off at the end of the service. So I apologise to anyone who wanted to speak to us, but we weren’t available. Remember, you can always pop in and see us during the week, or call us and we’d be more than happy to come round and have a chat, if that’s what you need. But I wanted to share with you a couple of experiences that I’ve had this week.

As you know, our wonderful Davey has been diagnosed with Autism. And because of the way that his brain is wired, it means that we often don’t go out. We’ve got a few places that we’re familiar with – the playgroup at Nanneela, Gravity Shack at Echuca, Mainly Music, Church, etc. But taking Davey to somewhere new is often really difficult. On our holidays just recently, there were some Sunday’s where we didn’t go to Church, because going to a place where we have this unstated expectation that he sit down, be quiet, and not noticed is just sometimes too much for us. We end up stressing over what he might do next, that we don’t end up getting anything out of the service. And so there were some weeks where we just stayed home, or only one of us went, because it was better for our soul to do it that way.

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Ben Clapton — Leave a comment

End times?

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Worship as Lifestyle, was given at The Salvation Army Devonport on Sunday 15 November, 2015. The Reading was Mark 13:1-13.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The End is near! War is upon us! Syria is rising up against the world! Russia and the United States are arguing. Israel and Palestine! Earthquakes all over the world. Famines through Africa. A shortage of Baby Formula in China. Donald Trump being an US Presidential Candidate. Starbucks not putting Merry Christmas on their coffee cups. Bunnings rising up next to K&D. These are the end times people! Jesus is coming! Look Busy!

As the human race, we seem to have an addiction to wanting to know when the end of the world will happen. The Great Fount of All Knowledge, Wikipedia, lists 168 Apocalyptic predictions, dates when various people have predicted the end of the world would happen. There are also 13 future estimates currently listed, including three scientific predictions over when the earth will no longer be habitable.

Some of these predictions, we seem to laugh at – such as Harold Camping, who had six attempts at predicting the end of the world. But others are from people that we respect, such as Sir Isaac Newton, John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church from where The Salvation Army traces its lineage, and Martin Luther, the man who started the Reformation.

We want to know. We want to see Jesus. We want to know how much time we have left. We want to know whether it’s worth us doing the washing, or whether we’ll have enough clean pants to see us through… Continue reading End times?

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Ben Clapton — Leave a comment

Respect your Mother and Father

Biblical Truth

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

” ‘These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Mark 7:1-13 (NIV) Continue reading Respect your Mother and Father