One off sermons

Can we be certain what God is like?

I know we can’t know everything about him. God is infinite, and we have tiny minds by comparison. We couldn’t hold it all in our heads, even if it was possible to discover everything about him.

But that’s not what I’m asking. Can we know anything about God with absolute certainty?

A sermon from our annual memorial service, held for those who have lost someone they love in recent years or longer ago.

The Christian message is such good news! It offers hope. Not insubstantial hope, no more than wishful thinking that all would be well. But real, solid hope. Actual promises from God that he will not fail to keep.

There is a danger in talking like that. The danger of pretending life is neater than it is. All of us here tonight know that losing someone we love hurts a great deal. Grief is painful and all too real.

One of my heroes is the Member of Parliament for Hull, in the year 1780, William Wilberforce. He went on to be elected Member of Parliament for Yorkshire in 1784, always an independent MP. The following year, he became a Christian, and wondered whether he should leave politics. He carried on, but his new found faith gave him a sharp social conscience. He sought to use his position in Parliament to campaign for issues he felt strongly about, and one of those was the trade in slaves from Africa to work in the West Indies.

Last time, we asked the question: Are we ready for Jesus to come back?

Jesus himself clearly taught that the day will come when he returns to this earth. He won’t come back as a baby, he’ll be a grown man. He won’t come back in obscurity, in one Middle-Eastern village; he’ll come back in a way that nobody will miss. He won’t come back in weakness; he’ll come back in splendid power and glory, as king of the world and judge of every human being.