These are notes for a talk shared with our gathering of the saints on 3 May. Ruth, one of the saints in our meeting, had spoken on the Lamb of God at our previous meeting. She remarked how strange this idea seemed when she first became a believer and how difficult it is to explain to those not familiar with Christian jargon. So I went on from there to explore some other familiar yet strange concepts in Christian jargon using the message from Frank Viola's book "From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God".
Opening comments
Maybe I only have one sermon. I think I have said some of this before.
Intro
Last time Ruth explained for us the symbolism of Jesus our Saviour being called the 'Lamb of God', and
- how strange that seemed to her when she first became a Christian in relation to the lambs on the Welsh mountains
- how difficult it would be to explain the 'Lamb of God' on the streets of Eindhoven.
This morning I want to go on from there and talk about some other terms, phrases or symbols we use
- on the one hand very familiar
- on the other hand very strange when we start to think about them or explain them
- and certainly problematic to explain on the streets of Eindhoven
I also want to try to put the sacrifice of the Lamb of God into the big picture by considering the questions:
- what is God's purpose?
- what is God aiming to achieve and how does the sacrifice of His Son fit in the plan?
- how could it be explained on the streets of Eindhoven?
