Sermon: 1 Samuel 17
This term at St Luke’s we’re looking at the second half of 1 Samuel – going from the first appearance of David through to the death of Saul.
The second sermon in the series – “Fighting For The Lord” looks at 1 Samuel 17.
Preached at St Luke’s Liverpool on the 29th of April, 2012.
Making The Most of the Cross by John Chapman
A few years ago, a friend and I were writing a kids talk for a church service. We wanted my puppet orangutan to tell the kids why the resurrection was so important. And we paused. We both knew that the resurrection was important, but we were struggling to put into words WHY it was important. I’m sure if we had a copy of John Chapman’s book Making The Most of The Cross at hand back then, we wouldn’t have been struggling. Because this is a great resource that clearly explains some big truths.
The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers (2012)
Rated M
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth
It all comes down to this. Marvel Comics’ movie plans have been building up to this moment since 2008’s Iron Man. Four years worth of intertwined super-hero movies, climaxing in The Avengers, a movie that on paper looks insane. A cast full of actors who have headed up their own movies, a plot that has been simmering over several movies, a director best known for his work in television, and the necessity for a big budget, special effects heavy plot that ups the ante of the previous movies by at least five fold. To make that work is just crazy talk. And yet, somehow they manage to pull it off. The Avengers is the super-hero movie people have been waiting for since the team made their first comic book appearance in 1963. This is super-hero action on a scale we rarely see on-screen – and I hope that this is only the beginning.
Battleship (2012)
Battleship (2012)
Rated M
Staring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Liam Neeson
When your movie is based off a board game that pretty much involves guessing numbers, you don’t have a lot to work with. I wouldn’t be surprised if the brainstorming meeting for Battleship happened at 4am after three days with no sleep and everyone on a massive caffeine high. Because on paper, this movie looks ridiculous. The US navy versus a bunch of high tech aliens from the creators of Transformers. And we’re talking the toy creators here, not the movies (not that this would make things better). Taking my seat in the cinema to watch Battleship, my expectations were so low you’d need James Cameron in a submarine to find them.
But some how Battleship manages to pull it off. It’s not going to win a best picture Oscar or join the ranks of the all-time great action movies. However, if you’re willing to ignore logic and common sense and watch things blow up good, there’s a lot of fun to be had.
Vote For Fervr in the Webby’s
Fervr is a website that I (and many others) write for. Quite frankly, I think it’s the best Christian youth website on the net. And we’ve been nominated for an award! The Webby Awards are a pretty big deal and we’ve been nominated for the People’s Choice Award for Religion and Spirituality Websites. Could you take a moment to head to the voting page and help us win? We need every vote we can get! Voting closes Thursday April 26th.
After the jump is the official press release from Fervr.
Sermon: 1 Samuel 16
This term at St Luke’s we’re looking at the second half of 1 Samuel – going from the first appearance of David through to the death of Saul.
The first sermon in the series – “The Heart of a King” looks at 1 Samuel 16.
Preached at St Luke’s Liverpool on the 22nd of April, 2012.
Easter Sermon: Jesus – The Champion of the World
I had the pleasure of preaching on Easter Sunday at all three services at St Luke’s this year. The title was “Jesus – the Champion of the World”. I used Revelation 1:9-18 as the base of my sermon.
Listen to the sermon after the jump.
The Resurrection is not a Zombie Story
(This article originally was posted 16th of April 2010)
When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth
George A Romero’s 1978 movie Dawn of the Dead is considered a horror classic. The dead have dug their way out of their graves and are slowly lurching around as horrific zombies. They’re not quite dead. And not quite alive. When done right, zombies are very, very scary.
It seems these days that zombies are very popular. They seem to be every where in books and movies. So much so that they’ve even started invading classic literature. I’m not sure what Jane Austen would think if she was to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Zombies have even found their way into the Christian realm. Professor Farnsworth on Futurama would use the phrase “Sweet Zombie Jesus” as an exclamation.
There’s even the Stinque Zombie Bible Project, a website where people are encouraged to go through the Bible and add zombies to people’s favourite verses. For example, John 3:16 now reads For God so loved the world, that he made His Son a zombie, and whoever is bitten by the Son shall also become zombie and be undead everlasting.
Quite frankly all this zombie stuff is nonsense. Jesus was not, is not, and never will be a zombie
The resurrection is not a zombie story. When people talk of Jesus as a zombie, what they’re doing is trying to discredit and ridicule the Christian faith. They’re not taking the resurrection seriously. They’re turning it into a joke
The resurrection is essential to the Christian faith. It’s the thing that holds everything together. If Jesus did not rise from the dead as a fully alive person, then Christianity is a waste of time. We can’t treat the resurrection like a zombie story. It’s a story where the dead become alive. It’s the story that can bring you life.
Check out Matthew 28 and read what really happened on Easter Sunday.
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