Month: August 2016

Don’t worry about what others think, but do what God asks

by Ben Clapton, posted in blog, faith

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Don’t worry about what others think, but do what God asks, was given at The Salvation Army Rochester on Sunday 28 August, 2016. The Reading was Luke 14:1, 7-14.

Did you know that there is only 119 days until Christmas? That’s 2856 hours, 171,300 minutes or 10,281,600 seconds. Not that I’m counting of course. Now, Christmas is a wonderful time of year because everyone is excited about the birth of Jesus, right? The whole world stops, and celebrates the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, because the whole world realises what an important and holy occasion this is, and that’s all that happens, right? No, for the vast majority of the western world, Christmas means one thing: Presents. Lots and lots of presents. The big department stores have already had their big Christmas lay-by sales, there will be more and more sales as we get closer and closer. Come next week we will probably start seeing Christmas decorations being put up into stores as they encourage us to spend more money to buy more presents because if we start buying earlier we can afford to buy more presents and buy bigger and better presents. But gift giving isn’t everything that it’s cracked up to be. Sheldon knows this. If you don’t know who Sheldon is, allow me to introduce you to him. Dr. Sheldon Cooper is one of the main characters from the TV Sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. He is a Caltech theoretical physicist who received his first Ph.D at the age of 16. He is incredibly smart, incredibly nerdy, and incredibly socially awkward. Now, despite coming from a deeply religious family from the Bible Belt of Texas, Sheldon doesn’t celebrate Christmas – or as he puts it, the pagan festival of Saturnalia. And he similarly doesn’t like the tradition of gift giving, as demonstrated here. Continue reading “Don’t worry about what others think, but do what God asks” →

Run the Race with Endurance

by Ben Clapton, posted in blog

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Run the Race with Endurance, was given at The Salvation Army Rochester on Sunday 14 August, 2016. The Reading was Galatians 1:11-24.

The final lap

Right about now, the 10,000m race is underway at the Rio Olympics. Now, when I say 10,000m it seems like it’s a really long race. And as I was preparing for this message, and I looked up to see when these various running races would be on, I saw the 10,000m and thought “wow, that’s really long.” And then I realised – wait, that’s just a 10km. What I would do in about an hour. Then I looked at the time they’ve allowed for it, and saw that they’ve allowed half an hour. Which means that the athletes will be completing the 10km in less time than it takes me to run 5km. I better get back on the training track.

I enjoy running. When I can get out, I love to go for a run, and a bit of a long run as well every now and then. But it hasn’t always been that way. I really only started running at college, running around Princes Park. I started with what’s known as a the Couch to 5k, which is designed to get a couch bound person to running 5kms in half an hour. So I did that. Then I started reaching towards 10kms. And I set myself a goal of completing a fun run that year, which I did with the 2012 City to Sea, a 14km fun run from the Melbourne Arts Centre to St Kilda. And then I did it the year after, in 2013, with some more friends. Then in 2014, I started going to Parkrun in Devonport, a weekly timed 5km run. And I did the City to Sea again that year. And I really enjoy it.

One thing I love about the fun runs and Parkruns as well is the finish line. More so for the Parkruns, but with the Fun Run’s as well, when you get to the finish line, there are always competitors around who are cheering you on, encouraging you to the finish. Encouraging you to finish well. To strive for that line, to pick up that extra second with a bit of extra effort. It focusses you onto what your focus should be – crossing that finish line. Continue reading “Run the Race with Endurance” →

Faith in the Game Plan

by Ben Clapton, posted in blog

As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Faith in the Game Plan, was given at The Salvation Army Rochester on Trinity Sunday 5 June, 2016. The Reading was Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16.

I love this time of year. Well, this time of every couple of years. It will see me getting up early, staying up late, and even pulling the mattress into the lounge room so I can make the most of every single second. See, I love the Olympics. I was up early yesterday morning, to watch the Opening Ceremony… and then realised I got the time wrong. So after Men’s breakfast, I was back quick smart to keep watching it.

And yes, Liesl and I will most likely bring out the mattress at some stage so we can watch the games until we fall asleep. We love it. I love the stories that come about every year, of athletes pushing through adversity, of never giving up, and finishing, even when all hope is lost.

I was just six years old when this happened, so I have no idea if I actually saw it live, or have just seen it in so many replays and telecasts that it feels as if I was there, but this video captures so much of that Olympic spirit that I love. Continue reading “Faith in the Game Plan” →