[0:00] This is the morning service at Holy Trinity on the 19th of September 2004.
[0:11] The preacher is Tim Johnson. His sermon is entitled, I Am the Way, Truth and Life, and is based on John chapter 14, verses 1 to 7.
[0:26] Can we have the children up the front, please? We're going to have a think about what the Bible has to say from our second Bible reading from John 14, but it would be great for the children to come up the front.
[0:40] And I've got some helpers, and it would be good if they came up the front too. Now today, to start off with, we're going to be hearing a story about a little boy called Jason.
[0:51] And I need the children, and I actually need the adults too, to help in the telling of this story. Every time you hear me say, poor Jason, I want you to say after me in a big loud voice, poor Jason.
[1:08] Okay, can we have a practice of that? So I say, poor Jason, and then together we say, poor Jason. Jason, yeah, we're going to be hearing about poor old Jason this morning.
[1:20] There was once a little boy named Jason. Jason was very excited. You see, Jason had learnt a new game, a game called Trust, and Jason wanted to play the game.
[1:37] To play Trust, you needed a friend. A friend, a friend who you could trust. A friend who would catch you when you fall. But Jason had a problem.
[1:47] Can anyone see Jason's problem? He had no friends to play with. And Jason needed a friend to play the trust game. Poor Jason.
[1:58] Poor Jason. What's going to happen? Suddenly, a voice called out, I'll play with you, Jason. I'll play with you, Jason. Who could it be?
[2:11] It was Miss Week. Miss Week had come to play. Jason was very excited. Jason explained how to play the game to Miss Week.
[2:23] Jason looked at Miss Week. Hmm. Maybe he needs to make her a bit taller. I think there's a chair over there, Jason. Maybe if he made her a bit taller, that'd work.
[2:41] But Jason was still not quite sure. Miss Week was willing to play the game. But Miss Week could not catch Jason.
[2:53] She was just too weak. So Jason couldn't trust Miss Week. Poor old Jason. He couldn't play the game. Poor Jason.
[3:04] Poor Jason. Suddenly, another voice called out, I'll play with you, Jason. I'll play with you, Jason. Who could it be? It was Mr. Broken Promise.
[3:16] Jason quickly explained the game to Mr. Broken Promise. Jason stopped. He checked to see how strong Mr. Broken Promise was.
[3:28] Yes, Mr. Broken Promise would be able to catch him. Now, all he needed was a promise. Jason asked, Will you promise to catch me?
[3:40] Will you promise to catch me? Mr. Broken Promise replied, Of course I'll catch you, Jason. Of course I'll catch you, Jason. You can trust me. You can trust me.
[3:50] And so, Jason trusted Mr. Broken Promise. Poor Jason.
[4:04] Poor Jason. Jason was feeling very sad. Very sorry for himself. And he had a sore bottom too. When suddenly, a voice called out, I'll play with you, Jason.
[4:18] I'll play with you, Jason. It was Mrs. No Promise. Jason explained how to play the trust game to Mrs. No Promise. But Mrs. No Promise shook her head.
[4:31] Jason cried, What do you mean, no? What do you mean, no? Miss No Promise said, I'm not going to promise to catch you. I'm not going to promise to catch you.
[4:41] I might break a nail. I might break a nail. Jason shook his head and said, If you don't promise to catch me, I can't trust you.
[4:53] And if I can't trust you, we can't play. Poor Jason. Poor Jason. Was there no one who was strong enough to catch him?
[5:07] Was there no one who he could trust? When suddenly, a voice called out, I'll play with you, Jason. I'll play with you, Jason.
[5:17] It was Mr. Willing and Abel. Jason began to explain how to play the game to Mr. Willing and Abel.
[5:27] But Mr. Willing and Abel said, No need to explain the game to me, Jason. I made up the game. I am strong enough to catch you.
[5:41] And I promise I will catch you. I never break my promise. Trust me, Jason. Trust me. So, Jason trusted Mr. Willing and Abel.
[6:01] Hooray! Mr. Willing and Abel caught him. He did keep his promise. He was strong enough to hold him. So, Jason and Mr. Willing and Abel played the game again.
[6:12] And again. And again. Jason had a tough time trying to find someone to trust.
[6:26] Miss Weak was willing, but she couldn't catch Jason. Mr. Broken Promise was strong enough, but he couldn't be trusted.
[6:39] Mrs. No Promise was not even willing to make a promise. There was only one person Jason could trust. Mr. Willing and Abel. Let's give them a round of applause.
[6:51] That was very good. Now, children, I've got some questions for you all.
[7:04] Who can tell me, from watching that little show, what were three things that Jason needed before he could trust someone to play the game of trust?
[7:16] He needed people, three things that he needed. Christopher, you've got one of the three. You don't need to know all of the three, but maybe if you can name one of them. He needed to explain the game.
[7:27] That's right. He needed to explain the game. But he also, he needed three things. That's a good answer. Three things that the people needed to be able to do. He needed trust. Yes. He needed a friend.
[7:38] What were three things that the friend needed to be? Yep. Great. He needs to be strong. That's the first thing.
[7:50] And Miss Weak wasn't strong enough, was he? He needed to find someone strong. Now, there was a problem with Miss's no promise. What was the second thing that was needed? You need someone to make a promise.
[8:03] Great. So you need someone who's strong. You need someone to make a promise. But there's a third thing. Mr. Broken Promise wouldn't do it. What's the third thing? You don't just need to make a promise. You need, do you know Joshua?
[8:16] Yeah. Trust and to keep the promise. So you need someone strong, someone who'll make a promise, someone who'll keep a promise. Do you know what? If we're wondering whether we should trust Jesus, who can tell me the three things that we need to think about if we want to know whether we can trust Jesus?
[8:35] It's exactly the same three. We need to know whether Jesus is strong. We need to know whether Jesus is willing to make us promises. And we need to know whether Jesus keeps his promises. Do you think Jesus is strong?
[8:49] What are some of the things that we know that Jesus does that shows that he's strong? Maybe some things that you've learnt in Sunday school. What are some things that Jesus does that show he's strong? Yeah. He helps people.
[9:00] In fact, when people are sick, he can help people showing he's strong. Sometimes Jesus, when there was a big storm, a really powerful storm, Jesus was strong enough to stop it. So Jesus is very strong.
[9:11] So we know that Jesus is strong. Does Jesus make promises? Yeah. Jesus promised his friends that he was going to come back to life after three days.
[9:22] He also promised his friends that he would give them the Holy Spirit to be with them and help them. So Jesus makes lots of promises. So he's strong and he makes promises. Does Jesus keep his promises? Yeah. Yeah.
[9:33] So when Jesus promised he'd come back in three days, he did. And when he promised he'd give his friends the Holy Spirit, he did too. So Jesus is strong, he makes promises and he always keeps his promises.
[9:45] Now today in the Bible, we read about another promise that Jesus makes to people. Jesus says that he promises that he will take people who trust in him to be in heaven so that they can spend forever in heaven with him and with God.
[10:03] Do you think that's a promise that Jesus is going to keep? Do you think if we trust in Jesus, do you think he's strong enough to keep that promise? Yeah. And do you think Jesus is the sort of person who keeps his promises?
[10:16] Yeah. So we know that because Jesus has promised that he'll take us to heaven, if we trust in him, then we will be in heaven forever. That's a great promise, isn't it? Oh, hello.
[10:29] Oh, hello, Tim. I've been listening very carefully and you said to get to heaven. Yeah. I've been looking. I've been looking.
[10:40] I've been looking. What have you got there? I got the Melways. Oh, the... I can't find it, Tim. I looked at the index and not there. Well...
[10:52] I can't find it. Of course... Is it in Doncaster somewhere? No, it's not in Doncaster. No, I didn't think so. Heaven's not in Melbourne. You're not going to find it in the Melways. Oh. It's not in Melbourne?
[11:04] No. Oh. Hang on, Tim. Hang on. I know. I got it. I got it worked out, boys and girls. It's okay. I've got it worked out. Hang on a moment. Hang on. I'll get rid of this one. Imagine thinking that he'd find it in the Melways.
[11:16] Heaven's not in Melbourne, is it? We all know this. No, no. I got it. It's in Sydney. Oh, what a place. It's got to be there, Tim. I'll just...
[11:26] Now, it's got to be on the North Shore, I think, somewhere here. Hang on. Hang on a minute. It's got to be there somewhere. Can you find it? Hang on, Tim. Hang on. Hang on. It's got to be here.
[11:36] Hang on. I know it's got to be here. Um... Um... Um... You haven't found it, have you? No.
[11:47] No. No. You see, heaven's not in Melbourne, but it's not in Sydney either. So you're not going to find it in the Sydney Street Directory because, I mean, people from all over the world, not just from Sydney in Melbourne and the...