Presidential Address 2008

Sermon preached by the newly installed President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Aian Ferguson

Friday 6th June 2008, Carlisle Road Methodist Church, Londonderry

I am sure you would want me, on behalf of us all to say a very big “Thank You” to the Rev. Roy Cooper for his hard work and great leadership these last twelve months,.

Roy has given himself unreservedly.

He has travelled near and far representing Jesus Christ and His Church very well.

Roy and Joy – our very sincere thanks for a job well done.

We wish you a good break and a refreshing rest and then continued fulfillment and blessing in your ministry at Newtownards.

As I say in the Conference handbook Conference for me this year is a mixture of joy and awe.

Thank you, to you the Methodist Church for trusting me with this appointment.

It is a great honour, responsibility and privilege to serve the church in this way.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Please pray for us, in every way, that we shall discharge this role with great faithfulness.

Right at the very beginning I want to assure our respective governments of the prayers and good wishes of the Methodist people.

The governments

• At Stormont
• Dublin
• and Westminster

We are glad to see devolved government at Stormont; we are pleased the shared government has worked so well together.

We are conscious of the many challenges facing our governments in these days of an economic downturn, nevertheless we urge them to uphold and promote that which would strengthen the moral fibre of our countries.

You have our prayers that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

So much of what I am is owed to the Christians called Methodists.

• My Dad has been a lifelong Methodist, he was brought up in the Magheragall Society on the Lisburn Circuit, and then from before I was born a faithful member and leader at Seymour Street , Lisburn.
• My Mum is a reluctant Methodist, having been born into a Church of Ireland home.

I was born into the fellowship of Seymour Street Methodist,

I was baptized there by the late Rev Robert W McVeigh.

I was taught there and nurtured there with my one brother - Edwin

Then on a Sunday night in January 1968, as a young teenager, I began the Christian life of faith and discipleship with Jesus Christ my Saviour and Lord.

I was received into full membership there by the late Rev R. Desmond Morris.

I did my Local Preacher's studies under the Rev J. Winston Good's guidance who had a very formative influence on both Joan's life and my life.

I had a very short career in the Northern Bank leaving that to study for the ministry at Edgehill College .

My first appointment was to this Londonderry Circuit with my Superintendent, the Rev Dr. Jim Williamson, followed by the late Rev Frank Bolster.

There then followed happy appointments at

• Sligo ,
• Finaghy,
• Enniskillen,
• And Carrickfergus.

I say all this to make the point that the Methodist Church in Ireland is dear to Joan and me, for much of what we are we owe to its people.

 

So, a very sincere thank you to ALL who have played some part in Joan and I being here this evening.

• Our families.
• Our church families.

Thank you to the Carrickfergus congregation for these new robes and to the Seymour Street congregation for my preaching scarf which was designed by the ex= President's wife – Mrs. Joy Cooper.

A night like tonight as we meet in Conference leads us to think about the Church's Purpose and Mission .

Before we reflect on our purpose and mission, a good friend of mine, our youngest daughter Nicola is going to sing a song of Keith Getty's:-

Speak, O Lord as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word.

Well, that is our prayer this evening

Rev Dr John Stott says about Mission :-

The Call of God is to share in his own mission in the world. First, He sent His Son.

• Then, He sent His Spirit.
• Now He sends His Church, that is, us.
• He sends us out by His Spirit into his world to announce his Son's salvation.
• He worked through his Son to achieve it;
• He works through us to make it known.

I want us this evening to reflect on the key verse in Dr Luke's 2 nd book – the Acts of the Apostles.

Verse 8 of chapter 1 is the key verse to the entire book of Acts:-

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you: and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Our Lord has laid down in the clearest terms the mission of those who follow Him.

 

This is the mission of the church that would dare to call itself New Testament – the mandate of apostolic Christianity.

1. First of all, let's think about Our Mission - Mission Itself.

The core commission is seen in the heart of verse 8

You will be my witnesses

We are to be witnesses to Jesus Christ.

This is the recurring message of Acts.

The word occurs no less than 39 times.

To be a witness for Jesus Christ will involve:-

What we are.

How we live.

What we do.

What we say..

It all needs to match.

It is of little good preaching and teaching if how we live contradicts what we are and how we live.

We must be a GOOD CHRISTIAN PRESENCE in our communities and country.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used great metaphors when He said that we were to be The SALT OF THE EARTH and THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

But beyond being a good Christian presence, we have something to SAY and TELL.

 

To be a witness for Jesus Christ is to bring a message that is clear and straightforward:-

Jesus Christ is God come here in a human person.

To have seen Him is to have seen God the Father

To have heard Him is to have heard God the Father.

His life was one of Incarnation and compassionate, loving service.

Jesus Christ died in our place, on our behalf, the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus Christ was raised again on the third day triumphant over evil and death.

Jesus Christ has ascended back to the Father and is exalted over all, ruling and reigning.

The Holy Spirit has been sent, He has been given to God's People.

Jesus Christ calls ALL people to REPENT and BELIEVE on Him so that they might receive forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is good news but it requires costly commitment from its carriers.

We need to ask ourselves:-

How determined?

How authentic?

How passionate are we about this gospel and it reaching people today???

When George Whitefield a contemporary of our own John Wesley, was getting people in Edinburgh out of their beds at 5.00 in the morning to hear his preaching, a man on the way to hear him met David Hume, the Scottish Philosopher and Skeptic. Surprised at seeing him on his way to hear George Whitefield the man said:-

I thought you did not believe the gospel.

David Hume replied:-

I do not, but he does.

 

The command, the commission of Jesus Christ to every Christian is:-

You will be my witnesses.

What we are, what we do, what we say is to bear witness to Jesus Christ, the world's ONLY SAVIOUR AND LORD.

Whatever we do and say in the church and the church in the community has this purpose – bearing witness to Jesus Christ.

No Christian can say:–

This does not apply to me…….

 

Jesus Christ's last words to us are:-

You will be my witnesses.

 

Do notice that we are to be witnesses for Jesus Christ in Jerusalem , Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

We are so familiar with this that it is difficult for us to feel the impact.

But what a shock these geographical designations must have been to the disciples.

Jerusalem – The Lord was crucified there.

Judea – They had been rejected there.

Samaria – Witness to those of a mixed race

Ends of the earth – witness to Gentiles.

His words were not only spiritually revolutionary but socially and ethnically unheard of.

You know the story!!!

Don't you?

The Lord's outline was carried out to the letter.

Jerusalem was filled with the preaching of the gospel and 3000 were saved in one day.

Later Philip broke the taboos of Judea and crossed over into Samaria .

And so the gospel of Jesus Christ spread.

We must have missionary hearts, longing for the gospel of Jesus Christ to go to the ends of the earth as well as into our local communities.

John Stott says about the context of mission:-

To go “into the world” does not necessarily mean to travel to a distant country or primitive tribe. “The world” is secular, godless society; it is all around us. Christ sends us “into the world” when he puts us into any group which does not know or honour him. It might be in our own street, or in an office or a shop, school, hospital or factory, or even in our own family. And here in the world we are called to love, to serve and to offer genuine, sacrificial friendship. Paradoxically stated, the only truly Christian context in which to witness is the world.

So, our Mission – Witnesses for Jesus Christ in the world.

2. Secondly,

Let me underline The POWER FOR THIS MISSION .

Listen to Jesus:-

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

There was a brief interlude of about 10 days and then the Holy Spirit came upon them.

There were tongues of fire.

They spoke in other languages.

Spiritual power rolled through them.

God used:-

• Peter
• John
• Paul
• Silas
• The Others

When the Holy Spirit comes into and upon the followers of Jesus Christ, the most unlikely people become fountains of power.

The spiritual power is always available.

God displays it according to his sovereign plans.

The Holy Spirit is the power:-

• To become a Christian.
• To live the Christian life
• To live it consistently
• Good and attractive

To live like Jesus - loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.

To control what is said and done.

To control how one reacts when things get tough or go wrong.

To enable us to speak our witness to Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done historically in His Life, death and resurrection and what he has done experientially in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the one who convinces, converts, rescues, sets free, changes, matures and equips people.

I think of a friend from over 30 years ago addicted to alcohol. He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and has found the power and freedom to be free from his addiction. He has used his life to minister to men and women facing similar addictions.

Charles Wesley teaches us well about the Grace and Power of the Gospel:-

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

How we long for God to enjoin our Mission with Power.

The early chapters of Acts demonstrate that the early church was a praying church.

There is an unexplainable link between Prayer and Power in Mission .

Samuel Chadwick, a great old Methodist of Cliff College fame said:-

The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayer less studies, prayer less work, prayer less religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.

How we need to pray for God to work powerfully in our Mission bringing people to forgiveness and life in Jesus.

Charles Wesley would have us sing prayerfully:-

Now then the ceaseless shower

of gospel blessings send.

And let the soul converting power

Thy ministers attend.

On multitudes confer

The heart renewing love

And by the joy of grace prepare

For fuller joys above.

There is Power for Mission .

The Church needs that Power in its mission in every age.

Without Him we can do nothing, we must be asking Him in prayer to be at work in us and through us and in the lives of those to whom we bear witness.

 

3. Thirdly, let me take you on into chapter 2 and to verses 42 -47. Here Luke tells us about the CHURCH that was in MISSION .

Here we have a model church; I don't think a perfect church.

It is a model church for mission.

a. It was a Teaching Church .

Is it not significant that teaching is mentioned first?

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching…

I believe it was so because everything else depends on the plain teaching of God's Word.

It is the Spirit by the Word that establishes the church by bringing people to trust and follow Jesus Christ.

It is the Spirit by the Word that teaches us how to worship, defines the sacraments, and sets the agenda for prayer.

It is the Spirit by the Word that instructs us to love one another and teaches us how to care.

It all flows from God's Word which means that a Teaching Church will enjoy every blessing of God's Spirit.

The first Christians devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.

In our twenty first century we cannot go to Jerusalem and to the temple courts and hear the Apostles in person.

BUT there is a way for us to devote ourselves to their teaching and that is by being people who are people of the Bible.

We have a clear message to teach about

God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

And Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended to the dead.

On the third day He rose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

And the Holy Spirit

The holy catholic church

The communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting.

We need to be churches that

Read the Bible

Preach the Bible

Study the Bible

Teach the Bible

Understand the Bible

Heed the Bible

Live the Bible

Is this what we are where we are -

Teaching Churches that are always listening and obeying God?

b. But also A Worshipping Church .

For as Luke tells us

They devoted themselves to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer……every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God……..

The early church consistently met for worship.

Every day the first Christians went at set times to the temple courts. There, in addition to hearing the apostles preach and teach, they sang psalms and said their prayers in Jesus name.

They also worshipped in smaller groups from house to house:-

Privately as well as publicly, they enjoyed fellowship in the truest and richest sense, joining their minds and hearts to give glory to God.

The application of this for us is obvious – we must be a church that EXALTS GOD in ITS WORSHIP.

As much as anything else, what defines a church is its public gathering in the presence of God.

A local church is a congregation – a group of Christians who gather around God's throne to offer Him their praise and thanksgiving.

The reason worship is at the centre of our church life is that in worship, God is placed at the centre of our attention.

Marva Dawn says in one of her books about Worship:-

Let's begin by realizing that worship is our glad response to the immense grace of the Triune God. All of life is worship if we live in gratitude and reverence, with mindfulness of God and eagerness to serve Him. At particular times, we expressly worship with words, songs and actions of thanks and petition and praise. When we do this by ourselves, we engage in the practices of private worship or devotions. If we gather with other Christians, we participate in public, corporate worship. The result will be that we become more deeply formed to worship God in all we think, say or do in daily life.

John Frame asks:-

Why do want to save people?

He answers:-

Ultimately, the answer is so that they will glorify God, so that they will worship Him. Jesus says that throughout history God has been seeking worshipers. That is what missions is, God seeking worshipers.

Is that what we are where we are – Worshipers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprit - a Worshipping Church ?

Giving God His Worth, His Honour, His Glory.

 

A Teaching Church

A Worshipping Church

And

c. A Caring Church

Luke tells us

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

For those early Christians sharing and fellowship involved more than sharing in teaching and worship.

It involved sharing one another's burdens and problems.

They were a sharing, caring church.

Jerry Bridges of the Navigators in the USA says there are really only three attitudes towards material possessions:-

The thief's attitude – What's yours is mine, I'll take it.

The selfish person's attitude – What's mine is mine; I'll keep it.

The caring person's attitude – What's mine is really God's, and so I'll share it.

That is exactly what the Christians did in the early church

They made a radical commitment to the Christian community, which included a willingness to give time and money to meet one another's needs.

This is a remarkable testimony to God's GRACE and POWER in the church.

The first Christians had one heart and one mind. They had a deep sense of spiritual unity that was based on their common faith in Jesus Christ. This made them willing to sell their property and share their possessions to meet the needs of the poor.

This is all the more remarkable when we remember how diverse Jerusalem was in those days.

The church of Acts 2 was a multi-ethnic, multi-national, multi-generational community that was united by its faith in Jesus Christ and thus committed to care for anyone in need.

Folks, it is the kind of church we need where God has placed us

Is that what we are - where we are – a Loving, Caring Church ?

Do we really care for one another?

d. Notice the result –

Outsiders were impressed by this Teaching, Worshipping and Caring community and wanted to join.

Luke says in verse 47 that the first Christians enjoyed the favour of all the people and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

By the grace and power of God, a Mission-minded, Praying, Teaching, Worshipping and Caring Church becomes a Growing Church .

The early church was probably unique in this respect, for it grew more rapidly than perhaps any other church in history.

In order to confirm the truth of His Word, God empowered the apostles to perform miracles and greatly blessed their preaching.

Peter's first sermon led to the conversion of more than 3000 people.

That was only the beginning, for the Lord added daily those who were being saved.

Needless to say these are not events that every local church can reproduce.

Yet the principle here is valid at all times and all places – A Church that follows the biblical pattern in mission, prayer, teaching, worship and fellowship will be fruitful in outreach and evangelism.

The Bible says relatively little about the evangelistic efforts of ordinary Christians during the age of the apostles.

But it is not hard to guess what they did.

For them evangelism was not so much a special event or a practiced method as it was an integral part of their overall life as a church.

They would have invited their friends and family to hear the apostles preach and teach.

They would have prayed.

They would have shared with others in need.

As they had opportunity, they would have witnessed to their own personal faith in Jesus Christ.

They would have engaged their community mind to mind, heart to heart and life to life.

Their God-centered way of living inevitably had a way of pointing people to Jesus Christ.

As people experienced the attractive power of authentic Christian community, many of them accepted Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.

For us, it may be hard to imagine how the church can grow in this island at this time but here in Acts 1 and 2 is a biblical model for church growth. It is to be:-

A Missionary Church

A Praying Church

A Teaching Church

A Worshipping Church

A Caring Church.

And for the glory of God – a Growing Church .

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, we worship you as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and we praise you for the gift of life, health and strength.

Lord Jesus, we worship you, Saviour and Lord of the world and we praise you that you have found us, washed us, forgiven us and given us a place in your church.

Holy Spirit, we worship you, Sanctifier of the People of God and we praise you that you have renewed us and gifted us

Heavenly Father, help us to live this day in your presence and please you more and more

Lord Jesus, help us to take up our crosses and follow you.

Holy Spirit fill us with yourself that we may bring forth love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Increasingly make us the living, loving people that you want us to be for your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.