Sermons

Last few weeks we have been looking at the darker side of prayer – when God seems silent, or prayer doesn't seem to be working. And at persevering when it's tough.

We've been looking at theodicy.- the fact that God is all knowing, He is all powerful and He is all loving. How can that be when we are going through suffering or suffering tragic loss. How can an all knowing, all loving, all powerful God allow the tragic loss of Feyi so young.

Hard to answer – the why does God allow that is not simple. The book of Job takes 42 long and boring chapters to have a go.

We don't know. But God is good all the time. He is all loving, He is all powerful and He is all knowing even when that hurts too much.
God doesn't tell us everything – Deut 29:29 tells us the secret things belong to God.
I found Isa 57:1-2 somewhat helpful.

Good people pass away;
the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
2 For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.

It doesn't tell us why or what evil to come she has been protected from – that's a secret thing. But it does tell us she has been spared evil, she has eternal peace and she is resting in peace. And perhaps that is enough.

She often wore here “JAM” hoodie – Jesus and Me – and know she's there.

Feyi had accepted God's invite and now she is with the Lord.

I got to Zoom with Feyi's parents Tunde and Laide along with her aunty Ini and heard that the night before she died she was sharing Isa 53:1-3 with her parents. Let's spend a few moments there too.

Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.

God is an inviting God – Come, drink, eat, live!

So who is invited?
Two kinds of people

Verse 1 The thirsty and the broke
Perhaps you are thirsty and can't pay. You feel like up a dried up plant. Old hopes dried up. Dreams drifted away. All that is good seems out of reach – no money, no strength, no motivation. But still a longing, a thirst. God says come!
Jesus says I'm the one you are after – come and enjoy a banquet of salvation and rest.

Verse 2 The self sufficient
The opposite of the thirsty and the broke. And you are invited too!
First category know they are spiritual bankrupt. The second don't know it – got money and work, maybe some success. Still spending, still working, still dreaming, chasing, searching – job house, car, latest phone.
But there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Things get old, applause fades.
Why spend money on what is not bed and work for that which never satisfies.
God says come!

Everyone one of us would fit into one of those two groups – those that know they are spiritually broke and those that think they aren't!

What are we offered?
We are offered water, milk and wine.
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Those three drinks symbolise our needs that we all have,
Water – refreshes thirst. When you are dehydrated – water is best. Come alive with water.
Milk nourishes us – for a baby it gives them all they need to grow. Be strong and stable with milk.
Wine gives us joy – Proverbs says it gladdens the heart! I don't just want to live and not die. I don't want to just be strong and stable instead of weak and wobbly. I want to be filled with joy and laughter.

And that's what God offers when he says come!
Come alive, be strong and stable and be filled with joy and laughter.
In v3 he tells us as we come he makes a covenant with us. That's a binding agreement that cannot be broken. A covenant of his everlasting love.

Come and he will give you ever-refreshing water, ever-strengthening milk and exhilarating wine.

How do we get that?
Come and buy with no money – open your heart to God. Eat and enjoy – enjoy a new found relationship with God.

As we celebrate Feyi's life and faith today – remembering her passion for Jesus. God invites us to come to the God the same way she knows God.

If you are distant from God to day – come, draw near.
If you have never known God – thirsty and broke or self-sufficient. Come draw near. Come on our next Alpha course to see and grab hold of this invite.
Delight in God – even in the darkness around. Receive his life giving water, his strengthening milk and his joy-filled wine.