Krish Kandiah is a fellow blogger (see blogroll) and works for the Evangelical Alliance – I think. So he’s gonna speak on the parable of the Good Samaritan…

Where do you draw the line? Arts vs Sciences. Whites vs Blacks. Who’s in and who’s out? How do we decide who we care about?
‘Jesus: the end of the line’
Saviour vs Lord, Grace vs Obedience?

Krish tells a joke – Dont worry if you don’t know what eschatology is, it’s not the end of the world.

This parable isn’t about works, so v.25 the people are asking the wrong question – what must I do?

Who is my neighbour? The man tries to justify himself – but the real question is ‘who was a neighbour?’ in the parable. He’s a bit like the rich ruler who tries to justify himself against the law – but the standard is higher, to love God with all our heart. Being justified by doing good works is impossible, this isn’t about being saved by works! The parable draws us to our need for a saviour.

But, once you’ve been saved, what is the fruit that God is looking for in your life? The priest walks by, the Levite walks by, but it’s always the 3rd guy who matters, the Samaritan. Why does the Samaritan help? Not because he’s trying to merit favour with God, but because he’s a compassionate person!

2 Dangers of dividing Jesus as saviour and Lord
- preach half a gospel
- do half a mission

The gospel is personal but never private. Our relationship with God is shown in the way we relate to others. It’s not just about believing – belief should translate into action. You cannot be saved by good works – but if we don’t, is the love of God really in us?

What is God saying to you?
- you can’t earn eternal life
- you can’t pass by on the other side

One of the great features about conferences is the seminars and NWA is no exception. I’m currently sitting in a marquee waiting for a seminar on Justification.

This year i’ll be following the two ‘Doctrine Matters’ seminar streams – sadly this means I’ll miss Vaughan Roberts on 1 Corinthians 1-7. The first session is by Mike Reeves, the UCCF theology guru, he’s looking at Martin Luther and the whole topic of Justification.

The next session will be all about engaging with culture – Dan Strange, a lecturer at Oak Hill college will be speaking. I’ll do some summary posts at the end of the series about these topics. Alright, cue Mike Reeves…

Well I’ve discovered some limitations with the iPhone, I made it crash! Tonight Richard Cunningham, chairman of UCCF preached and was interviewed. He spoke about his vision for the future of NWA as a single-week, all age event that equips Christians for real life and unites Christians of different traditions.

RC spoke from Luke 8 on the parable of the sower. Jesus drew a crowd and spoke the parable – he divided people, some were hard some received the word. The disciples ask the key question in v.9 – what does this mean? That’s how we should come to God’s word, ask questions of it and listen, not to come with our own thoughts and feelings.

3 Marks of the Kingdom
Sowing, Growing, Harvet
The seed, God’s word is planted in the hearts of men. It grows, to maturity and to new believers – so keep going! The seed is planted, grows and produces fruit for a harvest.

Have ears to listens. Don’t harden yourself – cf. Hebrews.

Like I said the app crashed so I lost my notes!

Well I’m here in Pwllheli after a long drive from Brighton, currently sitting in the main tent waiting for the evening celebration to begin. Stuart Townend is helping us with a new song and Richard Cunningham is going to speak later. The evenings are going to be looking at bits in Luke.

Hugh Palmer just got up to welcome us to NWA09. I’m going to be live blogging from the iPhone this week, let’s see how that goes, more to report soon…

Last night I had the privilege to preach my first ‘proper’ sermon… when I say ‘proper’ I mean at a main church service – the 8am communions with a congregation of 10 is a little bit different. I got to speak on 1 Corinthians 9, but choose to just look at verses 19-27. I put a shirt on for the occasion, but kept my un-ironed jeans and dirty trainers on… it’s all about becoming all things to all men… to the people who wear scruffy jeans I became like one who wears scruffy jeans!

I titled the sermon ‘Freed to Serve’… but have since changed it to ‘Serve/Win, Run/Win’… because I can.

You can listen to the audio here…

…and my preaching notes – maybe Josh Harris could add it to his preachers notes series… maybe not

Two points:

1. Serve to Win
2. Run to Win

Q: How do we live as Christians in Brighton & Hove?

A: We run, and we do everything we can to win others on the way!