Sermon preached by the Very Revd Andy Bowerman, Dean of Bradford on Sunday 11th December 2022
Prophets and Prophecy
Self fulfilling prophecies
Over or Under expectancy. Disillusionment
Cultural gap – Western mind is largely unexpectant while the global south mind set is the opposite – is a bit of generalisation.
Patricia & team – Wareham – Edwards Chapel
Nathaniel & others (OPTO)
“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” Benjamin Franklin
The place of hope – what might we hope Bradford, our families, our circumstances might look like if the Kingdom of God was being made evident in them?
Does your experience shape your expectations?
Isaiah prophecy – description
John the Baptist – expectations – like many for a messiah who would free & conquer
God’s kingdom does not always break out or become evident in the way we expect it to. That sick person does not always get well, that job does not always materialise, that addiction does not always get recovered, that hunger does not always get fed. But we can still see evidence of the new Kingdom if we take time to …. We’ll do as Ned’s artist friend suggested and Ned reminded us at the beginning of Advent.
Be still, be alert or awake
Read the scriptures
We must learn to know the Scriptures again…. We must not grudge the time and the work that it takes…. How often we hear innumerable arguments ‘from life’ and ‘from experience’ put forward as the basis for the most crucial decisions, but the argument of Scripture is missing – Bonhoeffer
Listen to others stories of faith – share your own encouragements
It seems to me clear from the whole New Testament that the Christian life has room both for a godly confidence and for a godly fear. The contrast between these is not a contradiction.
Lesslie Newbigin
Invite others to come and be encountered by God. Services or Alpha.
Rejoice – Emmanuel shall come to thee ….God with us!