Bonny Downs Church

2 - The younger brother

2012-01-17T14:56:00.001Z

We follow on from Ben's talk last week about the lost sheep and lost coin - with the lost younger son, better known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In fact, both sons are lost, but we'll leave the older one til next time...

The picture on the left gives a good start to the parable, for whilst Jesus says very little at the beginning ('Once a man had two sons'), because we know the story we can glean a lot to begin with: the father is understanding; forgiving; compassionate; he has land and property and servants; the two sons have an inheritance to look forward to.

In many ways life is good - and it paints a picture of the beginning of the Bible - a Father with his two children (Adam and Eve) - where God says it is good. It's an important point because we need to know what the sons are lost from and what the father is seeking to bring them back to - harmony, relationship.

We also need to know where we started and what relationship humankind had with God before our sin and selfishness broke that relationship, as Adam and Eve found out.

“Give me my share of the property”
The younger son was due a portion of the inheritance, probably a 1/3rd but when his father died. By asking for it now, he’s effectively saying ‘dad, I wish you were dead, give me what I will inherit’. Tremendously insulting in any culture, but in a patriarchal society, with its emphasis on honour, this was deeply shameful.

The Pharisees would now expect the father to say no, to give his son a clip round the ear perhaps!

"So the father divided his property between his two sons."
If the Pharisees weren’t shocked before, they would be now. People belonged to the land, it was part of them and their ancestry, it was their life, no wonder the Greek says he divided not just his property but his 'life'. Note, the father divides between BOTH sons.

“Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country”
- i.e. he had brought such shame on his family and his community (they would not have lived in isolation – all part of a closed and known community), he had to disappear to a foreign country. To be able to do that he would have had to liquidate his assets – ie turn the land into cash and sell off his portion, thereby severing his family’s claim on the land and his ties to them.

The community would have been insulted by this as well – they would not welcome him back easily – in fact there was a ceremony that may have been enacted that suggested that the son was cut off from the community and would never be welcome back.

‘Wasted all his money in wild living’
What did he spend his money on? We don’t know. The Greek suggests 'expensive living', that he was wasteful – it’s the older son who says he spent it on prostitutes but we don’t know. What’s the final straw as far as the family and community are concerned – he lost his money to Gentiles… non-Jews.

‘He had spent everything, famine, nothing to eat… worked for Gentile.. with pigs… but he had nothing to eat’
Perhaps there's a joke in here... privileged son at the mercy of a foreigner, who sends him to work with pigs for as laugh - for pigs were and still are considered unclean. He must have been desperate because he agreed and now he's starving.

‘He came to his senses’
The sheep could not save itself in Jesus' first story. The coin could not find itself in the second story. The son does not repent here – he does not feel sorry for his sin, other than to feel sorry for himself, for the son cannot save himself.

‘I will go to my father and say, ‘I have sinned…’
Jesus’ listeners who knew their Scriptures better than us, would know that this is exactly the phrase Pharaoh used with Moses… i.e. he wasn’t sorry, he just wanted out of a difficult situation. It’s the same for the son – he comes to himself, he wants out of this difficult situation but not once does he say, 'you know what I miss my dad, i wish I could make it up to him'. No, his belly is empty and he's thinking of his himself.

‘My father’s workers have plenty to eat’
Even his father’s servants have something to eat, so he figures he can work his way back into his father’s and his community’s good books by working to get himself out of trouble. Here we know he’s not repenting, he’s going to rely on good works to save himself. Perhaps he’s influenced by seeing the example of his brother, who tries to be good to get his father’s approval…

But how does the father react?

Before the son can get out his speech, before the community are aware of what’s going on, his father sees him and runs to him.

THIS IS THE INCARNATION IN ACTION.

‘when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him’
The father offers grace before the son says anything. The shepherd goes looking for the sheep. The woman goes looking for the coin. The father goes to the son after he’s been looking for him.

But the father’s actions would have shocked the Pharisees. It would have shocked the 'tax collectors and sinners'. A father running! He would have had to lift his clothes, expose his legs! And to run!! Men of a certain age and status didn’t run, other people ran around after them. Look at the fact that when the father speaks he speaks to his servants, they must have run too, after the father who ran to his son.

The father has suffered shame at the hands of his son. He's been treated as if he were dead.

Yet, he’s been waiting, looking, hoping (perhaps knowing that the son would fail).

And he knows how the community feels about this – they will see him and get to him and and announce that he is cut off from the community and not welcome. He has to get to the son first and welcome him back into the family as a son before the community runs him out.

So, the father shames himself again, and pays a price in front of the community by acting shamefully himself. He then gives the son a robe – ie he’s a son again, it’s probably the father’s robe (he doesn’t say have a wash and a shave first, get clean- no, he gets the robe so everyone understands he is a son again). He has a place in the community, he has status again. And there’s a party – my son who was lost has now been found!

what does the son do? Is he repentant?
He has a choice to make, to accept his father’s sacrifice on his behalf.

we have a choice to make
- do we try and earn our way into God’s good books?
- Or do we accept his free offer of grace and allow ourselves to be found and welcome back to a celebration.

For all along, what had been broken was a relationship, and the father sought to restore that. All along God wants a relationship with each of us, and he's looking out for us, ready to bring us back for a celebration. Amen!

1 - The Lost Sheep & The Lost Coin

2012-01-10T16:15:00.001Z

From Luke 15... Ben shared with us about the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.

Here Jesus is with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of their day, together with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees can't believe Jesus is eating with the other groups, after all, they're 'sinful', 'irreligious', untouchables.

And when you ate with people in that culture it meant you accepted them... and the Pharisees couldn't believe such a Rabbi would accept such people - either he wasn't telling them the truth ('you're sinners'), or he was watering it down to make it palatable.

By these parables (lost sheep, coin and the two lost sons), Jesus is actually saying that it isn't as straightforward as the Pharisees think, and actually the gospel is more amazing than they understand, for they themselves are 'lost' and are in need of finding.

- The lost sheep - sheep known to be stupid, wandering off to eat grass wherever they see it, even to the edge of a cliff... often we say, 'well, I was born this way' as an excuse for our sin (NATURE)

- The lost coin - mis-management, poor stewardship or caring - perhaps we want to blame our upbringing for our sin - 'it's my parents fault' perhaps (NURTURE)

- The lost younger son - wilful disobedience - choosing to sin (CHARACTER)

So, sin can be the result of different causes, though more often than not, it's probably a mix of all three. But they're all sin, and they all need finding. Jesus hasn't reduced the problem of sin, but rather wants to point out its seriousness and the cost of making it right, for him.

- The lost sheep - valuable, represented livelihood, food, perhaps an offering to God - no wonder the shepherd goes looking for it

- The lost coin - valuable, could have been part of her dowry, or her tithe perhaps - no wonder she looks for it

So, if a sheep and a coin are so valuable, and the Pharisees would recognise that they should go looking for them, then how much more valuable are PEOPLE, and who is going looking for them? The Pharisees want to criticise, label, condemn, whereas Jesus has gone looking for the lost.

The Prodigal God - intro

2012-01-04T14:20:00.000Z

We start our new sermon series this week, 'The Prodigal God', from Luke 15. Known as the parable of the prodigal son, this story has so much more going on than you think. Especially when we come to look at the older son and his relationship to his father.

It's powerful stuff. It will be the subject of our preaches at The Well on Sunday mornings, in home groups, and at Evening Cafe.

7 - Gifts for Witness

2011-11-23T09:26:00.001Z

Andrew's talk can be heard here:

http://sermon.net/bonnydowns

This is the last in our 'Discovering our Gifts' season.

Oppressed & Oppressor

2011-11-15T21:11:00.001Z

It's Remembrance Sunday, when we remember those who gave their lives for the freedoms we now enjoy. And we are welcoming Stop the Traffik tomorrow, who help people today find literal freedom from being trafficked or used as domestic slaves, both very real and disturbing, and in our communities.

Read Ezekiel 34:11-16
• ‘I will search for my sheep’ – God has lambasted the leaders of Israel for failing to care for others, bad shepherds, who’ve taken, stolen, letting them wander off without looking for them, and so they have been attacked by wild animals
• So, God decides to intervene, "I will search for them", he says.

Read Luke 18:35-43
Jesus is on his way to Jericho. People come out to meet an important person to welcome him into town. There was a beggar as part of this group. He cries out to Jesus, and is told to shut up!

Jesus gets them to bring the blind man to him. 'What do you want?’ – if he’s healed, he's got no education, job, family that will accept him, he will have to fend for himself, and won't be able to rely on begging for a living anymore.

A man who has been oppressed, thrown out, considered unworthy, a nuisance, who most people have walked past every day without a thought, he has an audience with Jesus and Jesus heals him.

The crowd join in with the celebration of the former blind man – he’s now accepted and people join in with the celebration of God’s goodness.

Luke 19:1-10
Jesus is now going through Jericho. Odd, that he's not staying, the disciples were probably checking where best to stay, people of import welcoming him and asking him to dinner, etc

Zaccheus, a hated tax collector, considered a traitor to his people who has got rich at his people's expense, ran on ahead, climbed a tree (a rich important man would not do such things!) He must have really wanted to see who Jesus was.

There was a sycamore tree – large leaves, low branches – he can get in this tree and hide!

Jesus goes straight to him. The people expect that he should tell him to repent, that he brings shame to God and upon himself by his actions, he should quit his job, and if he turns his life around then Jesus will consider meeting him next time he’s in Jericho.

But Jesus invites himself to dinner!

The crowd’s hostility turns to Jesus. They don't like this. They don't like grace being extended to someone they believe doesn't deserve it.

(And these are the same people who don't look after the blind man and tell him to shut up).

This is costly grace being extended to Zaccheus by Jesus. Zaccheus responds to this costly grace by saying his life will change, he will repay, reimburse, exaggerated offers perhaps, but repentance has come upon him. 'Salvation has come to this house', Jesus says. he then says that Zaccheus is a son of Abraham, i.e. he's bringing Zaccheus into community as the blind man was accepted and brought into community earlier.

God says he will come for his sheep, his people. In Jesus he comes for the oppressed, the lost, rejected, downtrodden of society:
- Bartimaeus, crowd hostile, but join in with celebration when he is healed

In Jesus he also come for the oppressor
- Zaccheus, crowd hostile, but their hostility turns to Jesus when he accepts Zaccheus.
Both are brought back into the community – Bartimaeus, and Jesus calls Zaccheus, a son of Abraham, he too is included

Jesus has come to seek and save the lost
- Oppressed and oppressor

The disciples would have been shocked by this. As disciples we are probably shocked too – not that we should just seek out and help those who are trafficked, but that Jesus extends his grace to those doing the trafficking (people in war – and grace to our enemies…)

With Jesus, we respond to his costly love that he extends to us – blind man and Zaccheus begin the process of proving that salvation has indeed come to their lives.

We do too.

And part of that is seek and save the lost, whatever side they come from.

6 - Gifts for the Workplace

2011-11-15T21:03:00.001Z

I was at Occupy London recently, the demonstration outside St Paul’s. I chatted to some people, read the posters and flyers that were everywhere around. And… it’s a mess! But it’s an interesting mess.

Partly, they’re there because of the greed of bankers, the failure of capitalism as they see it,
• But, there’s support for Kurds in Turkey
• For better rights for sex workers
• For various trade unions etc
• One guy I chatted to said logic and reason would one day win the world round
• There was Buddhist chanting; a communal meal tent serving 3 meals a day; a meeting place; library
• And there are posters and flyers everywhere inc lots of Bible passages, saying of Jesus, and a woman walking round holding a cross with a t-shirt saying Jesus is the King of mercy!

When their spokesperson says there’s no unified agenda you can understand that! They’re there for different reasons, and yet…
They’re there for 1 reason – they believe something’s wrong, and they don’t feel heard.

-

1. God at Work | We need Godly work.

This week, we’re looking at Gifts for the Workplace
In many ways, Occupy London demo has come about because of failings in the workplace – in banks, financial institutions, in government, in our greed and failures to look after people less well off than we are.

If there’s a time when we need God in the Workplace – it’s now!

We want Godly people at work.
We need Godly offices.
We need Godly outcomes.
We need Godly people, filled with His Spirit, in banks, in politics, in all spheres of work, making a difference, praying, speaking out, serving, & leading by example.

When we leave God out of workplaces is it then any surprise that we get un-godly outcomes…

2. The Spirit at Work | Bezalel filled with the Spirit of God to do… work!

Read Exodus 31

Bezalel was ‘filled with the Spirit of God’ to do his work. The very presence of God came upon him to help him fulfil what needed to be done. And it glorified God.

Bezalel had the Spirit of God to do his work – building! Not the most spiritual of tasks it seems at first! We talk about gifts for leadership, speaking in tongues, but on this occasion it was for work.

Regrettably, the church can place so much emphasis on Sunday meetings, home groups, church activities, etc to the expense of what most of you do most of the time.

Go to work.

The early church was sent.

You are sent out into the workplace every Monday morning.

And yet we can give the impression that God is more int’d in “church” things, than “work things”.

And yet, the Spirit filled Bezalel…

3. The Spirit in Us | That same Spirit wants to help us with our work, and be part of God’s redemption.

In learning about our Spiritual Gifts in the recent course, we spent time finding out about our passions, and a place to express them. For some, that’s in their workplace.

God is intimately involved in our lives.
God is intimately interested in all we do.
And that includes our work.

“But if I enjoy it, then it can’t be of God”!! – rubbish!

Exodus 36: 2 – ‘minds prompted – people gave exuberantly’

When God said he filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, this was a phrase that had only occurred once before – in Genesis 1:2 – Creation.

Now that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all people, as happened at Pentecost, and when we give our lives to Jesus, so…

…now God fills us with His Holy Spirit, for the purposes of re-creation in a way, to transform what was lost, to be in the work of redeeming what’s gone wrong with our world.

And this not in our own strength, though God will use our passions and our gifts, but like Bezalel, we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who made Creation, who brought Jesus back from the dead, is available to you and I.

5 - Gifts for Liberation

2011-11-03T10:53:00.001Z

Amazing scenes this week/year… what with the Arab Spring and demo's now in the UK, US and beyond. Gaddafi is the latest ruler to fall, as nations of people rise up to topple their former leaders...

New film out this week - Machine Gun Preacher based on a true story about a guy who after giving his life to Jesus, heads off to Africa to get his hands dirty… but having had the orphanage he built knocked down, he takes up arms and goes off to re-capture children from the militia groups.

But what drives people to act this way – and is it good?

Psalm 33 say this..

4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.  
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;  
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

- From Creation, God says that it is good.
- But humankind decide to go their own way and rebel.
- And their actions lead to death and their being driven out of Eden – God’s justice for what is right.

God chooses Abraham and says he will teach them to everything that is right and fair…

18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

It’s then contrasted with the outcry from the earth about the injustice and sinfulness of the people of Sodom & Gomorrah in verse 20.

This people group that springs from Abraham grows and eventually they find themselves in Egypt, in slavery. The Lord hears their cries ‘Let My People Go’ says Moses to Pharoah. The people are led into the desert where they receive the Law and the 10 commandments, how to live right by God, for they are to be like him, holy, set apart, different from their neighbours.

But they struggle, and their sinfulness and rebellion leads them to suffer.

So they cry for help and God sends Judges to redeem them and lead them to safety.

And they promise to live right…

But they struggle…

And the Psalms are full of expressions of people crying out to God about the injustice of it all but that they can rely on God to hear their cry of pain and cry of despair and being who He is, he will act.

And then the Prophets, sent by God, speak of justice and fairness, of treating your neighbour well, not cheating people, looking out for those who need help, sharing and caring for each and every person.

Then, as Sally led us earlier, in Isaiah there’s a promise of what’s to come, of what the Messiah, the Saviour will do and be like. And Jesus stands in the Synagogue and announces that what Isaiah promised is fulfilled in him. The Early church are encouraged to live as Jesus did.

For we trust and hope in what is to come, as recorded in the Book of Revelation, about the new heaven and the new earth.

All this points to a God that Psalm 33 says,’loves righteousness and justice.’

The gifts group have shared about receiving not just God’s gifts but his heart too. His heart is for the poor, the oppressed, the needy, the downtrodden, those who are cheated, who suffer injustice, who are left out, ignored, who feel they have no voice or say in what goes on…

And so when Jesus shares you can believe that this is good news for those people…

…to whom is it good news today …to whom might this be liberation…

We then had 2 testimonies of gifts in action - Alex shared about the orphanage he has set up in Northern Uganda, and Ellen shared about how the elders work first started in the church hall.

4 - Controversial Gifts

2011-10-14T12:01:00.001+01:00

I was in prison, visiting before you ask, with 2 fellow students giving our testimonies to inmates in the chapel (this is a few years ago). I was a little nervous and when a group of 20 young men with muscles and tattoos walked in, I wondered how on earth I was going to speak to them about Jesus.

As it happened, it went very well. The three of us shared, and I remembered sharing about how I came to know Jesus and how I struggled in the first few months. After there was a Q&A session and the young men had such open, honest and searching questions. It was incredible. The chaplain explained that whilst these men were in prison they considered themselves the lowest of the low, thrown out by society. And they had questions therefore about God and the difference he makes.

I left the building wanting to praise God, and I wanted to praise him in tongues. God was doing something amongst this men and I wanted to praise him for it. And my spirit wanted to express that. I already spoke in tongues, but this was a special moment when I knew the tongues were there and I just wanted to express my joy to God.

Unfortunately, my fellow students were already on to talking about other things and I thought breaking out into tongues in the back of their car would be inappropriate! Shame!

We're looking at 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul speaks to the church in Corinth who are struggling with some of the more prominent spiritual gifts.

There are 3 points:

1 - Speaking in tongues is ok, where appropriate
2 - Prophecy is better
3 - All must point us/others to God

1 - We don't give much space to talking or speaking in tongues in our church. I know there are a few of you who have this gift and find it valuable in prayer, as I do. Often it helps praying for people or issues where we don't know what to pray. Often, as above, it's an expression of prayer/praise/joy to God. Often, it seems to lead to breakthrough, as the Spirit intercedes for us (see Romans 8).

But the church in Corinth appeared to be in disarray during their services. People were speaking in tongues, others had no idea what was going on, and there was confusion all around. Paul, though, said tongues were good but there should be order. He himself said he spoke in many tongues but there was something better for church services, especially if there were unbelievers present. We'll come to that.

But, speaking in tongues is not something we should be afraid of. It is a special gift to pray and praise. There are 2 other associated gifts with tongues, one of which is speaking a tongue with a message that someone else should be able to interpret; and also in evangelistic settings, as at Pentecost. These last two expressions sometimes get overlooked, but I thinks a church tongues should be encouraged in prayer for our own building up and praising God. We'll worry about the others later!

2 - Paul says though, that prophecy is better than lots of tongues in a meeting. Prophecy is speaking messages of comfort, encouragement or strengthening for a person or the church, or it could be to lead to conviction, again of a person or the church.

As with tongues, it should lead us and others closer to Jesus. Prophecy is better because it's understandable whilst tongues by their very nature tend to be intelligible and personal.

As a church we don't speak about prophecy in such terms although I do believe it happens, we just don't label it that way.

There are times when people speak into a situation or to an individual that could be classes as prophecy. And there are times as a church when we definitely need this gift amongst us!

3 - Wherever we stand on these things, they should lead us to God. It's not about you or me having a particular gift, rather the gift should enable us to worship God and lead people to Jesus. If we keep that focus we should be ok.

3 - Discovery

2011-09-19T13:19:00.000+01:00

Continuing our series on Spiritual Gifts, we looked at Romans 12.

Paul has a been writing to the Church in Rome about the Good news of Jesus Christ. But having spelled out the gospel (that includes Jew and non-Jew, and that grace is better than law), comes a very practical outworking. We can have all the head knowledge we like, but until we put what we believe into practice...

And it's no good having a Christian Self-Help Manual - 'Do-It-Yourself' - for that is not how God made us or wants us to behave. Rather, in picturing the body of Christ, we are to be inter-dependent.

But how does this all happen...

1. Paul speaks of the renewing of our minds - we've been spending years, perhaps decades, living life our way, forming un-godly habits but that now has to change. We have to be open to the Holy Spirit, to allow Him into our lives and change us internally (verses 1-3 "...let God change the way you think... Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him"). What we think leads to what we do.

Say 'yes' to the Holy Spirit by feeding your mind and life with Jesus.

2. And we don't so this alone. There are no 'Lone-Ranger Christians'! In picturing the body, and speaking of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Paul speaks about how we are inter-connected and how we should live together (verses 4-8 "...we are each part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another. God has also given us different gifts to use".) In bringing us together we all have something to give.

Say 'yes' to the Holy Spirit by being part of the church and exercising the gifts He has given.

3. Paul then outlines, if you like, how the Holy Spirit then should naturally outwork among us.. (verses 9 onwards "...love each other... never stop praying... be hospitable... don't take revenge (paraphrased)".

Say 'yes' to the Holy Spirit by obeying Him in how we live and treat others.

1 - Spiritual Gifts

2011-09-16T14:23:00.000+01:00

This September we are starting a new series on Spiritual Gifts and we started by looking at 1 Corinthians 12 (& Luke 7:11-14).

However, first I want to share/speak about what happened in the summer.

During the week of the riots we went to Soul Survivor and one of the speakers spoke from Luke 7, about Jesus meeting a funeral cortege. Moved with compassion, for this was the only son of a widow – and therefore her only hope of survival in society – he touched the burial plank and brings the son to life at a word.

Death is all around us, and yet, like Jesus, we are called to be moved to compassion and face it. To say to death, ’enough’! We need to be praying, acting, that on behalf of Jesus we are saying enough to death in our young people.

Let’s commit to pray this month for young people – to understand – to empathise with what they’re going through – to encourage – to share – to support and believe in them. There is hope, there is life after death, for we were all dead to our sins and Christ has set us free – let’s pray he does that for young people too, and we can say to death ‘enough’ in Jesus’ name.

On Spiritual Gifts...

A guy, asked if he could serve refreshments after church, said’ I’ll go home and pray about it and see if that’s what God wants me to do’!!

I saw a guy fall outside church, cut his face, bleeding, but I walked on by because I don’t have the gift of mercy…

- both stupid, the first is true, you’ll be pleased to know the 2nd story isn’t!

Sometimes there’s a need and we need to respond. Sometimes someone at work needs to pour out their troubles – we can all listen and offer to pray. But, inside each of us, God has given us passions, things that set our heart on fire when we do them. Sometimes this is a good indication of the gift the Holy Spirit has given us, a place where we flourish.

Over the next few weeks and months we can discover what God has got for us...

- on Sundays
- in home groups
- on a 6 week course, Mon nights, Weds am

The three points were: 1 Corinthians 12
1. Gifts given by the Holy Spirit i.e. they come from God
2. Each of us has a gift, often different to each others
3. Helps us form the complete body of Christ, each with a part and role to play

London Riots: Where was God during the UK riots?

2011-08-17T16:47:00.000+01:00

The steadfast love of the Lord

Jeremiah in the book of lamentations wrote these words after seeing Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases!
His mercies never come to an end.They are new every morning.Great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

Lamentations 3:22-24

I must admit after seeing the devastation of London burning on Monday night... Tuesday morning I did not naturally think of these words. But I found them as I read through the whole book. You may be thinking “Why chose Lamentations to read?” Well I felt like lamenting on Tuesaday morning! London, the city I love had been hurt! East Ham the community I live in and love had been attacked by it’s own youth! Lamenting seemed like the only appropriate response!

The last thing I expected to find were words of hope. I completely forgot they were in there. This time they stuck in my mind like glue. I couldn’t shake them. How could Jeremiah hope in a time like that? When everyone else would be cursing God, Jeremiah was hoping in Him? Wow, what faith!!

You see Jeremiah knew God had a purpose for the suffering. After all just a few verses later he wrote, “for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.” God wasn’t revelling in the suffering caused, He did it for a reason. To start the process of drawing them back to Himself. You see how ever horrible that Babylonian attack was being separated from God forever is far worse! And eventually a remnant of His people came back, this lead the way for Jesus and salvation for the whole world!

We may not know why bad thing happen but in faith we can trust that God has a reason for all of it. And we know we can trust Him because He sacrificed Himself for us on the cross. We may not know why bad things happen but because of the cross we know it isn’t because God hates us, or has abandoned us. He loves us, wants what is best for His people and knows the best way to bring it about.

An opened wound!

After think all this through I came to my next question. What is God wanting His church to say through all the riots and looting?

Over the past week many people have come up with reasons for the riots. Poverty, unemployment, EMA cuts, materialism, racism, class distinctions, godlessness, lack of respect for authority, hopelessness, judgment to name just a few. Most of these ‘causes’ have there grounding in facts in some way or another. However, I can’t see how just one of any of them can sum the violence that has just swept across our nation. The real answer I am sure is very complex and involves most if not all of these suggestions. The fact remains that right now in the UK we have a sub-culture of thousands of youth, that are living in a society that provides all the rights social ingredients for them to erupt into anarchy and violence.

As I prayed over what I was seeing on the news I felt God had momentarily removed His common grace from our society, so we could see the real state of our country. It was like He let a deep painful wound open up so we could look into it and see just how deep and dangerous it is! We saw that the wound was deeper and more serious than we could possible imagine! After all it wasn’t an outside enemy coming into attack us... It was our children!

I believe through the riots God was crying out for this lost generation! And He wants the church to hear His call to reach them with the Gospel of Jesus!

Poverty, unemployment, EMA cuts, materialism, racism, class distinctions, godlessness, lack of respect for authority, hopelessness, judgment... These are some of the issues facing this current generation and the Gospel of Jesus has a message of hope and reconciliation that speaks into all these situations.

Please pray we will be able to relevantly share this amazing Gospel with this generation!

Hope

One last thing. I think it is really important to point out that it wasn’t all young people who got involved in this violence. Here are three quick great things I saw on the same weeks as the riot.

i. On the days surrounding the riots I was working with a team of young Christians to run Gospel fun days to reach children in East Ham. There were 9 young volunteers who gave up three weeks of their summer to share Jesus. As a result many children heard about the hope of Jesus in a relevant way for the first time. Hope!!

ii. At the same time other members of our church were involved in another summer scheme to keep work with Children for three whole weeks. They ran three fantastic weeks, had over 190 children attend, and had 25 amazing young leaders running it. Hope!!

iii. On the same night thousands of young people were rioting on the streets of London, 12,000 young people were praising Jesus at Soul Survivor. And 191 young people gave their lives to Jesus! Hope!!

Let’s treasure the young people we have in and on the fringes of our churches. They are amazing!! If we want to reach this generation it has to start with them!

Recommitment challenge

2011-06-06T13:05:00.000+01:00

"I promise that this new temple will be more glorious than the first one. I will also bless this city with peace."
Haggai 2:9 CEV

613,200 - the number of hours one has in a 70 year life, and as Sally shared yesterday, the Office for National Statistics says we use a third of them for sleeping; followed by working; and then watching TV/surfing the web. So if an alien looked at our lives they would presume that sleeping, working and watching TV were out top three things...

The prophet Haggai spoke at a time when a number of Israelites had returned to Jerusalem and Judah after 70 years in exile.

Perhaps not surprisingly, they set about restoring their homes. Most probably had precious few possessions and life was hard. But some had obviously fared well in Babylon and God castigates them for panelling their own homes when his temple is in ruins.

What were they spending their time doing?

God reminds them that he is a God of restoration and rebuilding. It's not about the temple, or harking back to the so called 'good ole days', rather it's seeking to take on God's character, treating people fairly, fighting injustice, helping others, rather than working on their homes at the expense of others (or watching TV!!).

Will we heed God's words to use our time (and hours) wisely, knowing that we are the temple that God seeks to see rebuilt, for his presence is available to us now; it's our homes, workplaces and communities that need restoration, and God seeks us to partner him in this work.

And the blessing of this? You may hark on about the good ole days, God seems to say, just as we may be tempted to do when thinking of Pastor Howe or events in our history as a church, but God tells the Israelites what's to come will be even better... and with Jesus it was, and can be for us too.

Recommitment Sunday

2011-06-06T12:51:00.000+01:00

These are the words/prayer we used for Recommitment Sunday;

Lord, help us to love another, that others may know we are your disciples.
Where we have failed to love you and our neighbour, forgive us and restore us.
Show us your paths, Lord, and teach us to follow.

Lord, help us to live out the lives you call us to; in our homes, workplaces & in our community.
Where we have failed to do this, forgive us and restore us.
Show us your paths, Lord, teach us to follow.

Strengthen and guide us in the year ahead, give us wisdom and a greater vision of you.
We commit to one another and you, that you may show us your paths, Lord, teaching us to follow.
In Jesus' name we ask this. Amen.

Church Vision

2011-06-06T12:39:00.002+01:00

Ben has encapsulated what we've talked about in church for the past month here on his blog.

Transforming communities

2011-06-06T12:34:00.000+01:00

I wonder what kind of neighbours you have? We have/had Romanian, Pakastani, Spanish, African and East End! And of course, Jen and I are 'Sarf Londoners.

One of our neighbours never opens their curtains and keeps the world shout out. Another keeps a watchful out for everything.

I wonder what kind of neighbours we are? I wonder what our outlook on the places we live/work is?

In Acts 2, the disciples were believed to have hidden away in the upper room or were gathered around each other in the temple, perhaps keeping themselves to themselves. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them and their reaction is go out, to go to people, to share about Jesus.

They've had no instructions on how to start church, no blueprints from Jesus, no rota's to fill out; but their natural heart response is to share, to form a new community, a community that will show what difference Jesus makes.

It was not about being young or old; about being a man or a woman; having status or none; suddenly they were one, sharing, giving to those in need, supporting and loving each other.

And God added to their number each day.

People only had good things to say about them.

This was an attractive community.

Something amazing happens when Jesus comes into our life, when we allow His Spirit to start changing us, no longer fearful but dependant instead on God, reaching out, being vulnerable, having courage, giving, serving, and seeing Jesus at work.

'...Jesus changing lives...'

2011-05-17T16:12:00.000+01:00

"In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over ninety-nine good people who don't need to". Luke 15:7 CEV

Rest: Repentance: Purpose

Rest - Jesus has done it all! We are like sheep who have gone astray (Isaiah 53) and yet He is the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23) who comes looking for us. He finds us, carries us back home, and in His joy has a party!

This is the picture and the reality of the God who loves us and gave His Son for us (John 3:16-17). We cannot earn it or work for it or pay for it or change our lives for it. Jesus has done it all.

Repentance - '..sinner who turns to God...' We have to recognise our 'lostness', that without God we have nothing, and certainly not the full, enriched life Jesus promises (John 10:10). So, continuing the picture of our being sheep, we have to turn toward our Rescuer, and allow ourselves to be saved, trusting in Jesus.

Purpose - And now God wants us to lead a new life (Ephesians 2:10), discover our gifts and place in His body, the church, and begin to love and serve others.

We want to see Jesus...

2011-05-17T16:03:00.000+01:00

"Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent." John 17:3 CEV

It's a fascinating verse, spoken by Jesus, but that means more than 'getting to heaven' (eternal life). Rather, this eternal life is full, enriched living that starts and happens and is available now.

And the base of the word 'know' in Hebrew, means more than knowing things and having knowledge. It expresses more an intimate, experiential relationship - that is, Jesus can be known intimately and in our experience.

So when we say 'We want to see Jesus...' in our church vision statement, we mean we want o know Jesus, we want to know him intimately, to experience him in our lives, and to live that full, rich life that is on offer.

And that starts by our recognising that Jesus has done it all. He is our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Friend, and his sacrifice on the cross means we are free of our sin, we can receive God's forgiveness: and his resurrection means we can start to live this new life.

Amen to that!

Church Vision

2011-05-06T14:13:00.001+01:00

Fasting too

2011-02-20T17:15:00.001Z

We're in Isaiah 58, a challenging but ultimately encouraging outlay from the Prophet Isaiah.

The Israelites have turned a growing relationship with God into rule keeping, believing if they pray and fast and sacrifice, then God will reward them. It's acting out of duty rather than love.

God quite rightly says he doesn't listen to such prayers or take notice of such fasting. After all, their fasting made them grumpy and irritable and they were ready for a fight at the end. They abused their workers, ignored their family, but hey, surely God will do what we want!

Rather, God seeks them to move away from selfish desires and rule keeping, that they might discover his heart. This is the relationship he's been trying to grow with them. It's the relationship that should have developed between the father in the story of the prodigal son and the elder brother.

Instead of becoming like the father, the elder son acts out of duty not love, angry with his father for showing forgiveness and acceptance to his brother. God though wseeks for us to show the same love and grace, our fasts helping us to identify with those in need, those suffering injustice, inequality and inhumanity.

This is God's heart and it's the heart he seeks from us.

And the result? God promises a new dawn (the beginning of a new day, new life), that healing will come (new flesh on an old wound - he can take care of our hurts and harms), we will walk in righteousness and relationship ('you will pray and I will say "Here I Am").

Fasting: the basics

2011-02-15T14:39:00.001Z

Fasting is the giving up of food for a time - but it could be media (TV, internet, texting, newspaper), alcohol, chocolate, snacking, tea/coffee, luxuries, etc

Why?
In response to sin; sickness; grief; unanswered prayer; for direction; for other's to be blessed; to overcome temptation; for breakthrough but ultimately to get closer to God.

How?
Don't eat... but drink plenty of water (or fruit juice). if you're fasting for a while, eat mints to keep breath fresh and don't scoff when you're finished, start with a lighter meal.

How long?
Up to you... but start small, e.g. fast breakfast or lunch, or from evening meal to evening meal.

Side effects
Your tummy will rumble because it's being used to fed at the time when you're not eating, and you may get a headache.

Er, what should I do instead?..
Pray! Use your time constructively.

Don't fast (food) if...
You're pregnant; diabetic; have a heart condition; are feeling unwell; want to get slim, etc If in doubt, ask or see your Doctor.

Fasting (1)

2011-02-15T14:30:00.001Z

As part of our series on Giving, Fasting and Praying we are now at Fasting.

WHOLE person prayer
Fasting helps us to offer God a WHOLE person prayer: heart; mind & body. For often, our heart and our mind might be praying but our body is thinking about what's to eat!

In RESPONSE
Instead it's good for us to deny our body as part of our prayer/sacrifice to God. And we do that 'in response' to something. We don't simply fast to get what we want from God but as a response to something that concerns us (e.g. sin) or that concerns someone we know (e.g. sickness).

By fasting in response to this we show God our seriousness by being willing to deny ourselves, especially in an age of indulgence. It helps us to identify with the seriousness of our sin, or the seriousness of what a friend is going through.

There are plenty of biblical examples of this;

Moses fasted in response to the sin of the Israelites
Nehemiah fasted in response to the state of Jerusalem
Esther fasted in response to the threat the Jews faced
Ezra fasted in response to the lack of faithfulness of the people
Joel encouraged fasting so that people could turn from their sin to God instead
Hannah fasted in response to her not being able to have a child
and so on.

Get CLOSER to God
But ultimately we fast to get close to God. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights BEFORE his ministry began. He fasted in order to deny himself and concentrate on God instead.

It often happens that when we fast our concentration levels rise, we are able to conquer sin, and we hear God better. And God hears us and sometimes it leads to 'breakthrough' - answered prayer. But not always, for it is up to God to know our motives and our heart and to exercise his will. We don't always know best!

I would like us to fast as a church during Lent. But I encourage you to 'try' it now. To get used to the idea of fasting, either a meal, or something that has the potential to consume you (TV/internet, etc) in order to seek God instead. And do it in response to something - something in your life that you want to bring before God, or in relation to someone you know who is facing difficulty at this time.

And let's listen to God speak.

Open, generous & Your bit counts

2011-02-08T10:35:00.000Z

Sally shared about two seas; one is the beautiful Sea of Galilee that is fed by other sources and gives out to other rivers; and the other is the Dead Sea (pictured) that receives in but doesn't give out.

It's a picture of what we can be like. When we receive and give out, we flourish. When we only take but don't give, we die. There's something of being open and generous and having life flow from us. It's healthier than being closed and mean.

And Ben shared about the widow who gave her last two pennies. It was all she had but she trusted God to provide for her. And her giving has gone on to inspire millions.

And God saw. No-one else knew, but Jesus saw and her bit has been multiplied many times over. Whatever you give, God can use.

Breakthrough or breakdown?!

2011-01-31T13:58:00.000Z

In calling the church to 'A Year of Breakthrough', I neglected to mention there is a catch...

Yesterday, both Ben and Paul spoke some powerful words in the morning and evening services respectively and they have relevance to the church.

In seeking and praying for change God often starts with us. Ben spoke from Galatians 2 where Peter had gone back to his old ways and was 'called out' by the Apostle Paul. And then Paul shared from John 15 about God pruning the vine, that is, you and me.

When Joshua was instructed to lead the Israelites to conquer Jericho, the men were circumcised to make them acceptable before God (Joshua 5:1-12).

Pruning, being called out, is an uncomfortable process, but how can we ask for change in others if we are not willing to undergo the same changes. Later, when Joshua is near Jericho he meets the Commander of the Lord's Army, who responds to a question of Joshua's that he is on neither side - neither that of the Israelites or the opposition - but rather God is holy and neither side is able to live up to the standard of God's holiness.

Only Jesus can do that. Only Jesus has done that. And Ben's summary yesterday said that whilst we may seek comfort and satisfaction elsewhere, the only answer is Jesus. Only in Him.

When we choose to follow Jesus we may make Him our all in all. He makes us acceptable to God because of his sacrifice and our love response is to choose to live His way.

And that requires some pruning...

"Show me your paths..."

2011-01-10T12:06:00.001Z

David, the man after God's own heart, wrote this fascinating psalm. And like many psalms there is pattern to it that's not always immediately obvious to us.

Originally written in Hebrew, each sentence of the psalm would have started with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And themes would be paired - that is, A and Z would be the same, B and Y, C and X, etc

So, Psalm 25 looks a little like this;
I trust in you
- don't shame me (don't let me fall)
- - shame others (let them fall!)
- - - show me the way
- - - - God is faithful, merciful
- - - - - I am a sinner, forgive me
- - - - - you lead humble (repentant people)
- - - - continue to be faithful, Lord
- - - lead me your way
- - don't let my enemies have their way
- only you can see me through
And I trust you

'I trust you' is a good place to start and finish isn't it?! But along the way, David is concerned for being on the right path with God, in having direction. He was facing physical dangers at the time and he knew that only God can show him the way.

At the heart of the psalm though is the key. Humility, repentance, seeking forgiveness from God so that we can turn to the right path. Despite David's immediate dangers, he knows he is not without fault and it's his sin that needs to be dealt with.

In seeking breakthrough, in seeking to be led by God on his path, our first step is an honest assessment of ourselves in relation to God.

2011: A Year of Breakthrough

2011-01-10T11:41:00.000Z

"Show me your paths, Lord, and teach me to follow" Psalm 25:4

Your walking in the forest, it's misty, you can't see the way ahead. What do you do?

In a way, this is life sometimes, we face challenges along the way, decisions about work and relationships, and everything is not always very clear. Do we keep going? What is the right path? How do we get 'breakthrough'?

I think we as a church face such situations;
Building Futures - what's the way forward, especially in terms of funding?
Establishing a worshipping community north of Flanders - how do we go on from here?
Encouraging the work at Britannia Village - how will they get on?
Sharing Jesus (in word and deed) with people of other cultures and faiths - how do we do that?
And so on.

All these areas need breakthrough, for the way forward to become clear. Hence, I encourage all of us to pray for 'breakthrough' in these and other areas, not that we may twist God's arm up his back, but that we will better know God and what he would have us do.

In addition, you may have people on your heart who need to see breakthrough in their lives for whatever reason. And you may be calling out to God for something in your own life.

So let's pray and seek God together.

New Year - Be Thankful!

2011-01-04T14:42:00.001Z

You can watch Sunday's powerful video 'New Years transformation' here - www.floodgateproductions.com

We looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22;

1) Be teachable (verses 12 & 13a)
2) Be family (v13-15)
3) Be thankful (v16-22)

1) Set your stall out this year to learn, to know God better, read good stuff, share thoughts with others
2) Get involved, for church is people who want to walk life with you - so join a home group, become a member, attend an event, serve, pray with a friend, etc
3) Being thankful makes you like clay - that is God can use you if you're thankful to him and he is able to shape and change you (see the video)

10 - Taking the Hill Country

2010-12-02T14:50:00.003Z

Last in series of 'The Me I Want to Be' - becoming God's best version of ourselves.

Jesus promised ‘You will have living waters flow out of you’ in John 7:38. Out from your gut, from the very heart of you.

So far, we've looked at:

o It’s involved SURRENDERING OURSELVES to God
o TRUSTING in GOD through the storms of life
o Centring our MINDS on HIM
o RESISTING TEMPTATION
o Being WILLING to REPENT and TURN OURSELVES AROUND
o Being in CONVERSATION and RELATIONSHIP with GOD
o Having COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS and FRIENDSHIPS
o Taking an INTEREST in WORK and our COLLEAGUES

For many in this world, Christianity has become a cause worth dying for. We may never have to face that situation, but we do want something worth living for.

And what will we give our lives to...

Caleb, faithful to God all his life
- One of the 12 spies
- 40 years of patience, waiting on God
- Final challenge, ‘I’ll take the hill country’

Is Jesus worth dying for?
Is Jesus worth living for?

As we look forward to Christmas, as we celebrate his 1st coming, and anticipate his 2nd coming, is Jesus worth it?

- Will we respond with FAITH like Caleb when faced with GIANTS?!
- Will we respond with PATIENCE as we wait upon the Lord
- Will we be willing to be COURAGEOUS & take up the next challenge, knowing that God loves and longs to draw us into relationship with him, for us to grow, becoming more like Jesus

The answer is we are not Caleb or like Caleb. The truth is we're more like the 10 spies who came back full of fear; like the Israelites wandering around, moaning, wishing they were back in Egypt; like the tribe of Dan who wanted the easy country.

It is Christ who is Caleb. Who trusted in God; who acted with patience whilst he waited fore the right time to give his life; who was courageous in Gethsemane.

But...

It is Christ living in us who can take our hill country. We can't do it, but He can.

He had living waters flow from within him. Because he was committed to God.

Paul, in the NT, was the same...
‘I have the life Jesus promised’ (2 Timothy 1:1)
And yet, ‘I’m locked up in jail’ (2 Timothy 2:9)

Not about circumstance or benefits, but RELATIONSHIP to God, taking up the challenges of life he offers, in all our weakness, knowing that we can’t do it, but God living in us can.

What is worth living for?
What is your current challenge?
What is your 'hill country' that God is calling you to?

9 - God at Work

2010-12-02T14:28:00.002Z

We want God’s Spirit to be flowing in all areas of our life….

o What good it is if we give / tithe 10% of our income and waste the other 90%?
o What good is it if we honour God on a Sunday, but the rest of the week He’s nowhere to be seen in our lives?
o What good is it if we give our hearts to God at church, but have no time for him Monday morning?

God intends his Holy Spirit to fill and energise our workplaces. After all:

Isaac was in real estate
Jacob was a rancher
Joseph was in governement
Moses was a sheepherder
Esther wona beauty pageant and then worked in govt
David was in animal husbandry, the military and statecraft
Daniel was the Prime Minister
Lydia was a businesswoman
Paul a tent maker
And Jesus a carpenter/stone mason

God intends his Holy Spirit to fill and energise our workplaces and He’s already shown how he has worked through the lives of those we read in the Bible.

Trouble is, we sometimes have a negative attitude toward work…
TGI Friday’s
POETS - Push Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday

In today’s reading from Genesis 24 it’s through the life of a servant, who prays and asks ‘Dear Lord, make my work a success today…’

Having 2 weeks ago said that prayer was God’s invitation to us into a relationship with him, here we see someone inviting God into a relationship in their work and duty.

o The servant wanted success for his boss – the servant himself would not necessarily benefit – there was no bonus on offer
o He was given a serious responsibility and he shouldered it well, trusting in God
o He wanted success in being part of God’s will
o He sought to do his job well and in line with what he had been entrusted to do
o He was well prepared (camels and gifts)

These are principles we can carry over…
- Seeking the success of the people and place where we work
- Being willing to take on responsibility and act to the best of our ability
- Seeking God’s will and help in all we do
- Doing the job to the best of our ability,

It’s not about doing the minimum, but giving our best, by cultivating our work for passion doesn’t always appear overnight.

Pray for your colleagues and the work you all do.
Ask for God’s help and direction.
Seek to give your best.

In doing so, you’re allowing God to work through you, for his Spirit to be for you are showing God at work, you represent Him, you are the priest in your workplace, the intermediary between earth and heaven, between God and man

It’s the same in your family, in the block of flats you live in, amongst your neighbours:

God is interested in how well you work and what you do. And by doing so, you allow God’s very Spirit to flow through you.

The servant had no relationship with Abraham’s God. He used an oracle approach – yes or no answer because he had a limited understanding of God.

But we do have a relationship with God, and hopefully a growing understanding of who he is.

Pray for your work, that you will do it well - Take an interest in your work and seek to improve
Pray for your work colleagues - Take an interest in them and seek to share life with them

8 - Committed Relationships

2010-12-02T14:24:00.002Z

A Call to Perseverance

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.
33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.
34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Keep reminding each other that our forgiveness…
…is FREE
…but not CHEAP

7 - In Conversation with God

2010-12-02T14:20:00.003Z

Matthew 6:5-15 CEV
5When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward.     6When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you.
7When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. 8Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.
    9You should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
   help us to honour
   your name.
    10Come and set up
   your kingdom,
   so that everyone on earth
   will obey you,
   as you are obeyed
   in heaven.
11Give us our food for today. 12Forgive us for doing wrong,
   as we forgive others.
    13Keep us from being tempted
   and protect us from evil. 14If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. 15But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Start with God / ‘Our Father.. Your Kingdom’
Personal / ‘Father’
Direct / ‘Give us...’
Honest / ‘Forgive us’
(End with God / ‘Thine be...’)

6 - Turning Around

2010-12-02T14:15:00.004Z

RECOGNITION – seeing it as it is
[PSALM 51 v.1-4]
1You are kind, God! Please have pity on me.
You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins.
2Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt.
3I know about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt.
4You are really the one I have sinned against;
  I have disobeyed you and have done wrong.

REPENTANCE – turning back to God
[PSALM 51 v.5-11]
5I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born.
6But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom.
7Wash me with hyssop, until I am clean and whiter than snow.
8Let me be happy and joyful!
You crushed my bones, now let them celebrate.
9Turn your eyes from my sin and cover my guilt.
10Create pure thoughts in me and make me faithful again.
11Don't chase me away from you or take your Holy Spirit
   away from me.

RENEWAL – starting over again
[PSALM 51 v.12-19]
12Make me as happy as you did when you saved me;    make me want to obey!
13I will teach sinners your Law, and they will return to you.
14Keep me from any deadly sin. Only you can save me!
  Then I will shout and sing about your power to save.
15Help me to speak, and I will praise you, Lord.
16Offerings and sacrifices are not what you want.
17The way to please you is to feel sorrow deep in our hearts.
   This is the kind of sacrifice you won't refuse.
18Please be willing, Lord, to help the city of Zion and to rebuild its walls.
19Then you will be pleased with the proper sacrifices,
   and we will offer bulls on your altar once again.

5 - Facing Temptation

2010-10-21T14:19:00.005+01:00

Back to our series on 'The Me I Want to Be', becoming God's best version of ourselves.

Some girls at a local school used to sneak into the toilets, paint their lips red, and plaster kisses all over the mirrors. Upset that this was the case, and for making more work for the cleaner, the Head got the class they thought was responsible to meet them in the toilets.

Unable to stop the girls acting this way, the head showed them how they clean the mirrors... by taking the toilet brush, dipping it in the toilet and using it to clean the mirror...!!

They weren't tempted to act in that way again!

We're looking at Genesis 39 where Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, finds himself head of the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Here he catches the eye of the wife and she makes advances toward him, begging him to sleep with her.

There are some helpful principles that we can gleen from this story;

1) Refuse - It's the first thing Joseph does (verse 8) and the first option for us. Just say no.
2) Repeat - Here Joseph outlines all that has been given and entrusted to him (vv8-9). Why should he risk that? Why should he sin. Perhaps it's good to remind ourselves of how blessed we are and how much we have before we give into temptation.
3) Run - If all else fails... get out of there, as Joseph does (v12)! Leave the situation, walk away from the computer, wherever or whatever the temptation is we can walk away, change the scenery.

We also have God in us. We may not be able to defeat temptation but He can.

a) Share - James (5v16) suggests we confess our sins to one another. Better still, we need to get to the point of friendship and accountability where we confess our temptations to each other.
b) Self-aware - and that means admitting we have certain struggles and recognising when we are most vulnerable.
c) Sure - It's good to remind ourselves that we want to drink from the life-giving stream that Jesus promised in John 7:37ff. Giving in to temptation can cause blockages to the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Nomination forms for Joint Leadership Team (JLT)

2010-10-21T13:54:00.002+01:00

There can be up to 12 members on the JLT plus the Minister(s).

Presently, the JLT is made up of; Alan G; Ben; Bode; Ellen; Gilly; Malcolm; Paul; Richard; Rodney; & Sally.

Up to 5 Members can be elected at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) as Mark and Morad have stepped down recently, Rodney will be stepping down at the AGM, and Alan (Church Secretary) and Paul are due to step down but could stand again for re-election if they are nominated.

In particular, the JLT needs a longer term Treasurer, a Church Secretary, a member with a heart for Bonny Downs North & Church planting, a member with a desire to reach people with the good news of Jesus especially those from a different culture, a member with a commitment to children & young people, and members in general who can encourage and support others in the Church, leading by example.

Richard

Poverty & Justice

2010-10-12T11:12:00.005+01:00

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘poverty’?

We tend to think of those without food or money or clothing, of images of Africa, of the ravages of droughts and failed harvests perhaps.

But poverty can be much wider than that.

It is reported that 55% of children in Newham fall below the poverty line. We have the highest proportion in London.

But poverty is much wider than that.

What about those who sit alone at home? Or those that have no access to basic facilities? Or those that don’t know God.

And all of this is an injustice. For we have enough food to go round. We have enough money to go round.

In Zechariah 8 God speaks of what justice can look like. At a time when there was very little (the Israelites had returned from exile in Babylon to a devastated land), God paints pictures for them of what happens when His presence abides in Jerusalem, when the young and old alike can enter the city in peace (verses 2-10).

God speaks of fruitfulness, fertile fields and peaceful places (11-12). It’s an intoxicating view of what life should be like for all, only possible because God is a God of justice who cares for all.

And it’s very attractive.

Peace and plenty is one thing, but combined with love and friendship, of knowledge of God, it forms a wholeness and attractiveness that we’re all after. Notice vv22-23 where there is no need to tell people about our God, for his kindness is heard from afar and everyone wants a piece of it.

And yet…. There’s always a but!

Verses 16-17 speak of God’s desire that we are people of kindness and justice. In chapter 7 the people ask about when they should fast, but God answers here by saying that when we fast it will be a celebration for we are being the people of God. Justice reigns amongst us, for we don’t fast to get something from God or for the sake of religion or ritual, but out of a desire to put God first before food or spending or watching TV.

This attractiveness of justice at work can be seen at Casa Haralui where Ben and Maria care for parents and children that the country does not/is not able to. It’s a place of love and acceptance, where God’s love is spoken and acted out.

It’s at work locally with the advent of the foodbank we donated to last week, providing for people in need.

It’s at work amongst Christians locally who patrol the streets of Stratford on Friday nights to make sure young people are safe.

It’s at work here with the Elders project at The Well, with so many elders saying they would be home alone otherwise. It’s at work with the new youth club where we seek to have a place where it’s safe to come and play and grow for teenagers.

It’s something we want to see in our homes and communities and workplaces. What part or step can you take?

What's Your Promise? video

2010-10-07T15:24:00.002+01:00

What's Your Promise? list

2010-10-07T15:20:00.004+01:00

Here's the list given out on Sunday. Have you given some thought to what your promise will be....

New youth club at The Pavilion

2010-10-06T15:46:00.001+01:00

4 - Right Mind

2010-09-28T15:00:00.003+01:00

Both Alan and Jennie gave powerful personal testimony of events in their life the details of which are not for posting here, but which spoke to all of us given their honesty.

There was a little girl sat in the front room with her grandfather, safe, happy, and listening to stories. She was up later than usual, dark outside but a nice fire glowing in the hearth. A heavy knock on the front door spoilt this tranquil scene and gave fright to the little girl. Who could it be at this late hour? As her grandfather went to open the door, she clutched one of his legs hiding behind it.

As it turned out, it was a friend of the grandfathers. But fear can quickly grip us and our minds can play havoc.

The same was true for Elijah. A great prophet who'd brought a boy back to life, seen flour and oil jars continually refill, who'd taunted the 400 prophets of Baal before killing them (!), he'd had plenty of 'mountain high' experiences.

And then he experienced a 'valley low' - the queen threatened his life (1 Kings 19:2), and despite seeing God work miraculously before, he turned tail and ran away.

"I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." (verse 4)

But it's interesting how God treats him...

- when Moses complained God got angry
- when Jonah disobeyed, God sent a fish to swallow him

But when Elijah suffers his 'valley low', God shows how much he understands and cares;

- Elijah is provided for (food miraculously appears - verses 5-8)
- God asks what's wrong and listens (v9-10)
- he visits Elijah in a gentle breeze/whisper (v12)
- God reassures Elijah (there are 7,000 other 'believers')
- and gives him purpose (appoint kings and your successor)

Our minds are precious places and God is interested in us being at peace. But when we're not it's good to know he cares, for whilst we may relate to Elijah's 'mountain high/valley low' experiences, it's to a loving, caring God who longs to bring us peace and restore us that we should be looking.

3 - Facing Storms

2010-09-21T15:43:00.003+01:00

There was this man who decided he wanted a barometer. So he ordered a posh and expensive one and when it arrived he placed it in a prominent place in his home. Trouble was, despite it being a beautiful sunny day, the barometer was pointing to ‘hurricane’.

No matter how much he tapped it, shook it, or read the instructions to change it, it stayed the same. In his indignation the man wrote a stinking letter to the manufacturers and posted it on his way to work, only to discover on his return home that his barometer was missing…. as was his house due to the hurricane that day.

Have you ever looked for something only to find that it was right in front of you the whole time? (It’s a man thing!).

The man who inherited the farm, who struggled to get water to keep it going, and for whom a stream ran under his farmstead without his knowledge probably needed a wife to tell him where it was!

Sometimes what we need is right in front of us but we can’t see it.

We need to start looking at things differently.

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Romans;

“be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (12:2 NIV), or “let God change the way you think” (12:2 CEV).

The disciples had to face up to this when they got in a boat with Jesus in the story recorded in Mark 4:35-41.

Jesus encouraged them to get in the boat and go to the other side. A storm blew up, the disciples panicked, they woke Jesus who was sleeping in the back, and He stepped forward and calmed the wind and the waves.

“Who is this?”, they said.

They needed to look again at Jesus.

Perhaps we need to as well. The disciples had been with Jesus, heard what he said, seen him in action so to speak. But when the wind and the waves blew up so did they. Often we can do the same. So concerned with what’s happening to us, so fixed on our present situation, we forget to centre on Jesus.

We can’t escape storms. We can’t hope to find lakes with no storms. But we can ensure we are in the boat with Jesus.

There were three women each with 2 sacks. When asked what was in their sacks, the first lady commented, “well, I have life’s disappointments in the front. It weighs me down, but I do have life’s joy’s in the back which just about keeps me going.”

The second lady responded by saying that she had life’s joys in the front to spur her on, though she did admit that life’s burdens in her rear sack was a problem.

The third lady also had life’s joys in her front sack. But when asked if the sack on her back carrying life’s troubles weighed her down as well, she was able to say, “no”. ‘I cut a hole in the bottom ages ago”.

Jesus invites us to cast all our anxieties and fears on him. He is equal to anything that life can throw at us.

And in doing so, we become people who begin to see other people’s problems instead of our own. We begin to practice giving, sharing, forgiving, which in turn begins to help us see things differently.

We begin to be open to the streams of the Holy Spirit flowing through us.

2- Surrender

2010-09-13T13:55:00.004+01:00

There was this man who was working on a roof when he suddenly slipped. He desperately threw his arms out and managed to grab hold of the gutter, but his legs were left dangling over the edge.

He looked left but there was no-one there. He looked right, still no-one. He looked down, arrgh...! Too scary. So, he decided to look up, maybe, just maybe, there might be someone 'up there' who could help.

"Is there anybody up there?" he shouted.

The clouds parted, a light shone, and a voice boomed out of the heavens.

"I can help you. Let go and I'll catch you".

The man thought for a moment, then shouted back,

"Is there anybody else out there?"!!!

Surrender. I wonder what you think of when you hear that word. 'Give in', 'white flag', 'submit', 'lost freedom', 'denied rights'. Often it comes up in military terms, of surrendering to the enemy, who will take you prisoner, you lose your liberty and you're either imprisoned or have terms dictated to you.

Not nice.

Jesus spoke of surrender in Mark 8;

34Jesus then told the crowd and the disciples to come closer, and he said:

If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. 35If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it.

But what does it mean? What does it look like?

In the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26) we see what it meant personally to Jesus;

39Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, don't make me suffer by having me drink from this cup. But do what you want, and not what I want."

42Again Jesus went to pray and said, "My Father, if there is no other way, and I must suffer, I will still do what you want."

Trouble is, we can look at this and think that surrender is 'passivity'. But Jesus came that we might live life to the full (John 10:10), and last week we spoke of Jesus saying that living waters would flow from the very heart of us (John 7:37-39). Rather, Jesus wants us to be peacemakers, hope-givers, fighting injustice in our world and in our workplace, being creative, expressive, loving our enemies and those around us.

That's not passivity.

But it is surrender.

Because it means letting go of our selfishness and giving ourselves to living God's way.

There was a girl named Michelle who through tremendous grit and determination became a very successful athlete. And then she fell ill to the point that a five minute walk would debilitate her for 2 days. Her coach suggested she go back to church. But would God forgive her, having been away from him for so long?

That Sunday she offered herself to God. "Here I am, little weak and useless me. I don't know if you'll take me, but I offer myself as I am to you". Michelle, no longer able to live life in her own strength, surrendered herself to God fully for the first time. She felt a warmth come over her as the Holy Spirit blessed her, and she was moved to tears. Her life never looked back after that.

This the second part of our series 'The Me I Want to Be', and the first step to have living water flow from us, to have the Holy Spirit flow through us, is to Surrender to God.

The Me I Want to Be - becoming God's best version of you

2010-09-07T13:18:00.003+01:00

There was once a man who inherited a farm. A good farm at that. Crops, and livestock were excellent and the man expended all his energy and finances in trying to make it work.

It was painstaking, back-breaking stuff... especially when he found out that the water supplies were inadequate. So he spent most of his time travelling across the mountains to collect water to feed his animals and irrigate his land.

But it was never enough. No matter how many trips he took, how much water he carried back, crops began to wither and animals began to die.

Unbeknown to him, all this time, there was a beautiful stream running underneath his land....

For some, this is a picture of our Christian life. We have a wonderful inheritance but we spend all our energy in trying to make it work. We live life in our own strength. Occasionally we get a sip or a splash of relief, blessed at church or someone prays for us, but it's never quite enough....

And all this time, there's a beautiful life-giving stream available to us...

Jesus mentions it a couple of times in John for example. In John 4 when he meets the woman at The Well, he promises;

13... "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. 14But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life."

Then in John 7, after the people have feasted for a whole week at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus says this;

37... "If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! 38Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say."

A more literal translation would be that this life-giving water is flowing out of our belly!

What on earth was Jesus talking about?! Fortunately, John spells it out for us;

39Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him.

This is God's Spirit flowing through us, not just filling us up, but pouring out as well to those around us. The author John Ortberg describes it as living by grace.

In the story of the man who inherited the farm, the reason he was unaware of the stream running under his land was that it had been blocked off...

And for some that’s the reason we’ve been unable to receive all that God has for us...
- Either through our own choices
- Through our own sin
- Through the actions of others
- The fact that there’s a spiritual battle going on for us

We’ve been unable to draw fully from the life-giving water, this stream has been flowing through us.... we haven’t received all that the Holy Spirit has come to do for us. Jesus promised he would come to help us

And the first step is.... .... we’ll find out next week!!

In the meantime, we can pray.

Firstly, to offer ourselves up to God,
- To give up to him all that we’ve been struggling with, like the farmer,
- The fact that we’ve been living in our own strength
- That we need & want this life giving water, God’s Holy Spirit flowing through us instead

Prayer

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said this about these verses in John 7,
“Ask God to make you all that the Spirit of God can make you, not only a satisfied believer who has drunk for himself, but a useful believer who overflows the neighbourhood with blessing”

We can pray that too...
Lord, make me all that the Spirit of God can
make me, not only a satisfied believer who
has drunk of Jesus, but a useful believer who
overflows the neighbourhood with blessing.
Amen.

This is part of the series, The Me I Want To Be, that will run in Small Church Groups and Cafe Church complete with DVD sessions.

The Me I Want To Be - trailer

2010-09-02T12:25:00.003+01:00

Starting this Sunday at The Well and at Cafe Church, and in Small Church Groups next week...

What we say

2010-07-13T11:52:00.003+01:00

World Cup – everyone has an opinion… phone in’s, newspapers, facebook, twitter, everyone’s in on it, everyone has something to say...

Injustice – we’re up in arms
Gossip – celebrity magazines, everyday conversations
You can’t shut us up…

This is in marked contrast to Jesus, who they couldn’t get to speak; faced with injustice, he never said a word; faced with questions, he never seemed to give full answers; faced with people, he spoke in parables.

He was careful in the way he spoke
He spoke encouragement
He forgave
He spoke words of healing

He also spoke angry words, it wasn’t just gentle stuff.

James 3 speaks of the power of the tongue, drawing the contrast between those who teach (and the responsibility they have in sharing God's truth), and the way we speak to each other (and to God).

And James speaks of the challenge we have, that if our tongue is out of control it's likely the rest of us is as well.

Fortunately, God is at hand. There is forgiveness;

- Peter, I will not deny – I don’t know you
- John, disciple, wanted to blast Samaritan village out of existence

Yet Jesus forgave, and their lives were turned around.

But it’s not simply a case of “don’t’s”... Jesus comes to Jerusalem during the Festival of Shelters in John 7. And they’re amazed at what he says. What he speaks honours God and comes from God. And he is Truthful (7v28).

And then, after a week of feasting and drinking, Jesus turns up again and says, "If you are thirsty come to me and drink!"

Is he mad – they’ve been drinking for 7 days! But Jesus speaks of something better. We should not be known simply for the "don't's" - but what good things we do say. Words of life, of hope, of healing, of encouragement and peace.

Let's spread this message instead.

Faith in Action

2010-06-29T13:13:00.003+01:00

Here's a challenging statement;

"If your faith doesn't benefit others, it doesn't benefit you".

I wonder whether you think that's true. Or true of you.

Morad shared about how he puts his faith into action in his workplace. Not that he stands on a soapbox and preaches the gospel, or that he's perfect, but in many ways he's a (reluctant) pastor in his workplace (ask him!).

And it's a challenge to us, that our faith may be personal but it's not private. It's to be lived out, in community, just as God is community (God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit), and he created us to have relationships. We can't escape it, and therefore our faith should just come out of us as we live. It determines who we are, our attitude, what we say (or don't say), how we work, how we hope.

If we're honest, we'll accept that it's not that easy!

We're in James 2:14-26. Faith without works is dead. But there's a battle going on. The Apostle Paul in writing Romans talks of this, perhaps in a black and white way...

"5People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things.

The truth is, we have seasons where we're pleased to give, and times when we definitely aren't.

Praise God, that Christ is in us and we are in Christ. For He is at work in us, changing us, and as we spoke last week, when we obey we are blessed and draw that little bit closer to God.

James gives two examples of people who responded to God because they had faith;

Abraham

Rahab

Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed, as asked by God. What?! Was he crazy?!! Well, in part perhaps, but in those days to sacrifice a child was not unusual, for people wanted the favour of the gods. Having offered crops and sacrifices, what's left to change the gods minds than your own child. So in a way, God was not asking something of Abraham that was completely new.

However, God wanted to see Abraham's faith in action. Abraham wasn't seeking to appease a god or find favour, he already had that. He was responding because he already had faith and a relationship with The God.

And it's the same for us. Why do I do things for my wife? Because I love her. Not to earn her love, because I already have that, but in response and because I love her.

Should we do any less for a God who loves us and gave his Son as a sacrifice to get our love?!

Obedient sons?!

2010-06-21T12:38:00.004+01:00

'Which one of the sons obeyed his father?" (Matthew 21:31 CEV)

Sally shared Sunday evening, continuing the theme of hearing and obeying.

Which son obeyed his father? It's a good question, raised by Jesus to the Pharisees in Matthew 21.

Jesus was sharing about a vineyard (the world) that needs work (help). The father (God) goes and speaks to his two sons, and asks them to work in the vineyard which they will receive as an inheritance in due course (i.e. it's in their best interests).

The younger son said he would go, but didn't.

The elder one said he wouldn't, but did.

As Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees you can be sure he's talking about them! They have heard God's law and have said they will obey. But they don't.

Others have shown with their lives (tax collectors; prostitutes) that they are not interested, but change their minds and Jesus says will get into the kingdom of heaven before the Pharisees, the religious leaders.

As I read Tony Blair has said about Israel this morning, "it's not what's said, it's what's done that counts".

How we respond to God is everything, and is evidenced by our faith and how we put it into practice. There's good news in that both sons change their mind - so there's hope for us. And there's challenging news, for God says the world is in a mess and needs cleaning up?

What will say? Or more importantly, what will we do?

Hearing & Obeying (Father's Day)

2010-06-21T12:14:00.002+01:00

"God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget". James 1:25 CEV

Where you any good at listening to and obeying your parents, or teachers?! Maybe you have a different view now...

We're in James, looking at chapter 1:19-27. He is writing to the church in general talking about putting faith into action; "Obey God's message. Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave." (v22-24a).

Recently I heard a story of a young woman who felt she was prompted by God to speak to someone on a train. She wasn't keen! Having made a deal with God that if the woman got off at the same stop she would obey, she rued her decision when the woman did indeed get off at the same stop. However, she told God she would do it, and felt a smile well up inside her so that juts couldn't help smile at the woman. She was eventually able to chat and pray with the woman.

It reminded me of another story I'd read of a man who visited a cafe at 3am to see a group of prostitutes come in. Overhearing it was one of their birthdays the following day, and that the woman had no plans to celebrate it because of her life situation, he arranged with the cafe owner to throw her a party. She was suitably surprised and delighted at her birthday party.

For me, both stories show obedience to God. The first woman actually felt God speak to her and chose to obey (eventually!). Whilst the man in the 2nd story didn't 'hear' anything, he knew God's heart and had 'heard' how he should live and what God might do in such a situation.

God calls us to do the same.

We may all want to hear God directly, to hear a voice, an urging, have a verse jump out from the page when reading God's word, or perhaps receive an encouraging word from a friend, but often we have to go with where we are. And here James speaks of looking in the mirror...

At the time of writing there weren't many mirrors. What mirrors did exist belonged to the rich and so many people had not seen their own image or if they had, perhaps only briefly. And the mirrors were not made of glass, but were likely shiny metal and gave a blurred image.

So chances were, looking in the mirror then was brief and blurred.

But James speaks of "never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free" (25a). James points us to God's word, the Bible, to find out what God is like. We can't say we don't know God, or don't know what he's like if we don't read what he's saying. Both the young woman and the man knew God and his heart and what he would have them do. They knew from experience and from his Word.

And they put it into action.

They were obedient.

And the amazing thing? We get blessed when we obey God! "God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget" (25b).

XLP

2010-06-18T12:26:00.002+01:00

Ollie, Hannah and Helen shared on Sunday of their year with us. It's been part of a year out programme in partnership with XLP youth project with Ollie placed at Bonny Downs & Hannah and Helen at Royal Docks.

It's certainly been a blessing to us to have them and they were able to share of the work they have done with youth in schools, clubs and projects. They've read with kids, mentored, assisted, led talks, listened, played football and all kinds of fun games. Ollie and Helen have also been to Ghana with Hannah visiting China and an orphanage (she's on her second year with XLP).

Ollie has been part of youth home groups here, helped with football coaching, been at Friday Club, taken Sunday Schools, helped set up with Children & Families work at the Pavilion and played the drums, amongst other things. I also attended his theology presentation as their year is a three way split; third with us; third with XLP; third learning.

Helen and Hannah have been helping out at Royal Docks including the Breakfast Club, youth work and at Garden Cafe, in addition to XLP school's projects.

Hannah shared with us about how the the things they feared or troubled them the most often turned out to be the best things they did. For they recognised at those times, they dug into God, and were blessed.

And they recognised they were not alone. They've felt God has put them in a great team, got good people around them at both XLP and through church.

When we are weak, we are strong, for we rely on God. And God has made us for community, to support and encourage each other.

Hannah aslo shared the following poem, entitled 'About You';

Let it be about you, not about me.
They want to get a taste of your word you see.

You're all about living and loving and caring,
Going out there and gospel sharing.

We can spend time singing songs all day,
Or step on the streets and to the people pray.

In the people out there it's Jesus we see.
Let it be about you, not about me.

Fun Day

2010-06-10T09:46:00.003+01:00

Pentecost & Presence

2010-05-25T13:17:00.003+01:00

Jennie shared about Pentecost and what God is up to amongst us.

Key Scriptures were Jeremiah 31:33-34; Isaiah 43:18-21; & Acts 2:1-21

1) The disciples were probably taking part in the Feast of Shavuot, the feast of weeks, celebrated 50 days after the Passover. Whilst the passover was to help them remember the exodus from Egypt, the feast of weeks was a reminder of when Moses came down Mount Sinai with the ten commandments.

Here was the Law written on stone tablets. It was a source of relationship between God and His people, to be taught to all, including children, so that all could know what a relationship as God's people looked like.

It's at this festival that God fulfils his promise in Jeremiah to write the law on our hearts instead through His Spirit. The Apostle Peter quotes 'I will pour out my Spirit' from the book of Joel as an explanation for what is happening, as the consequence is that we can all have a relationship with God now. It doesn't need to be through Priests or rulers who tell us the Law and how to please God, but we can know it for ourselves.

2) In the passage in Isaiah, the Israelites are calling out to God to save them in exile like he did when they were in Egypt. Then God took them out of slavery and took them through the Red Sea. 'Do it again' they cry.

But God says, 'Look, I am doing a new thing', you don't need to be taken through water like last time, instead I will make 'roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands', appropriate for they are now in Babylon.

And God is doing a new thing amongst us and our community and our workplaces. Faith and hope in Jesus is springing up in surprising places, including amongst people of other faiths and through dreams (speak to Jennie to hear people's individual stories).

Just as God did a new thing amongst those in exile, just as God did a new thing at the feast of Shavuot with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so God is doing a new thing here and now.

Are you watching to see what God is up to?

Are you praying to see God at work?

Are you asking to be part of it?

Recommitment Prayer

2010-05-25T13:07:00.002+01:00

Using the reaction to Pentecost as our base, these were our prayers for Recommitment Sunday.

The believers devote themselves to learning from those appointed and discipled by the Lord.
Lord help us to know you better, to spend time seeking you, encouraging each other, knowing that your Spirit reveals your word and your truth to us.

They devote themselves to prayer, to communing with the Lord and developing a relationship with him.
Lord help us to share with you our hopes and our fears, encouraging each other to listen and obey, knowing that your Spirit enables us to hear & know you.

They break bread, remembering and sharing in Christ’s suffering and death on the cross.
Lord help us to remember your sacrifice, encouraging each other by your example, knowing that your Spirit strengthens and comforts us.

And they devote themselves to the fellowship, to one another.
Lord help us to share our lives and our faith with those around us, knowing that your Spirit enables us to give of ourselves to others.

Wordle

2010-05-25T13:02:00.003+01:00

This is a 'wordle' of the words used in this blog and therefore in the preaching at Bonny Downs.
http://www.wordle.net/

Building Futures

2010-05-17T16:23:00.002+01:00

'Jesus welcomed them. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed everyone who was sick'. Luke 9:11 CEV It's not a bad picture of what we'd like to see at our new church building is it?!

You can comment in particular about the proposed new building at www.bonnydownsrebuilding.blogspot.com which has a video walkthrough of one of the options are architect has given us, read Edna's poem, view plans and suggest fundraising activities.

We are part of history, part of the Bonny Downs story, or more importantly, God's story in this place. About how he's been changing lives and transforming us and the community around us. And we'd like to see that continue for generations to come.

On Sunday we had the opportunity to pray outside the old building, perhaps 80 of us.

Then Colin called us back together, for if God is not present amongst us, shaping us, then a new building won't be worth much. He shared that we are a;

Prophetic Community
This means that God speaks to his people and God speaks through his people about the wrongs and hurts in the world.

Inclusive community
This means making everyone who comes to our church feel welcome, wanted and needed.

Sacrificial community
This means a church made up of people who want to be like Jesus and give their lives for others.
This means thinking about the work we do for God and thinking about the way we live day by day will make a difference to other people.

Missionary community
This means if we follow Jesus and do what he asks, others will see and hear about his love for them and will want to follow Jesus too.

Worshipping community
This means worship must not just be what we do on Sundays but how we follow Jesus every day of the week.

Planting & Sharing

2010-05-17T16:08:00.004+01:00

1 Thessalonians 2 says that Paul shared not just the gospel, the good news, but his life as well. Faith has often been considered private before but that's not right. Personal maybe, but never private.

Jesus made us for community, for sharing, for being in relationships. If that's the case how can we keep our faith quiet? It's part of us, who we are, how we live and why being part of church means sharing your life and your faith with others. You can't separate the two.

Trouble is, we live in a culture that gives creed to individulism, then when we do get together it quickly turns into institution (press 5, press 3, 'we'll be with you shortly'...). So either it's all about us, or it's impersonal.

Yet, Jesus modelled incarnation.

God, in person, came amongst us, shared his life with us. And he calls us to do the same. So when Paul speaks to the Thessalonians he can say that;

Sent by Christ
Shared their lives
Sought to bring people to God.

It's not a bad way to live!

So as we recommit to being part of Bonny Downs, we know it's about being willing to share ourselves with our family, neighbours, work colleagues, it's why we are present in our community, setting up The Well, putting Flanders Field back into use, and being part of the Pavilion.

It allows us to be present amongst people around us, serving them, helping to see lives transformed for the better.

Growing & Serving

2010-05-17T15:59:00.002+01:00

I always find the story of the woman caught in adultery intriguing. After all, what happened next?!

It's the tale of us all I guess. We've been caught, find out, exposed - we're sinners, going our own way with out a thought for God. We're brought before Jesus expecting to be condemned and rebuked only he doesn't... and he doesn't allow anyone else to either.

But having encountered Jesus, how shall we now live? As before, or do we take on board Jesus' words to the woman 'sin no more'.

Having met with Jesus, experienced his love and grace, how can we not respond by choosing to live for God and not for ourselves now? He first loved us, gave his life for us, and now in love seeks us to respond.

And this is the life of a Christian.

We now choose to change, to become more like Jesus, to grow, to be people of love and grace, full of God's spirit. It's not an overnight thing but a life thing, a journey. And we take that road when we meet Jesus.

And so at Bonny Downs when we take that opportunity to recommit to what we feel God is calling us to, we're recommitting to growing, to becoming more like Jesus.

And we're committing to finding our place within the church, to serving, to sharing with others. Often we get our needs met when we take the time to meet other people's needs.

Recommitment Sunday

2010-05-11T13:18:00.000+01:00

May 2010

Committing together to what God is calling us to

Each year at Bonny Downs we choose to celebrate all that God has done in, through and around us over the last 12 months, whilst recommitting ourselves to what we feel God is calling us to for the next year and thus renewing our membership of the church. I believe this can be best summed up below;

Growing & Serving
That having encountered Jesus, we now seek to grow, becoming more like Him, allowing God’s Holy Spirit to shape us, and to find both our place and our gifts within church and the world to serve others.

Planting & Sharing
That we do this in both in person & together as part of the church, ‘planted’ amongst our neigh-bours, communities & workplaces, sharing our lives and our faith with others, & sharing with the wider church the reconciling of people to God and the transformation of the world we live in.

Building Futures
And that we commit to seeking to have a new building that will provide a heart/home to spring-board from and invite others to, a place of healing and hope in Jesus’ name.

Together, on Sunday May 23rd, both at The Well and Café Church, we will have the chance to commit to what we feel God is calling us to, thereby confirming that we wish to remain a Member of Bonny Downs for another year. If you cannot make either of these meetings, can you please write or email to say whether you wish to remain a member of the church.

God bless,
Richard

Easter Sunday

2010-04-12T13:35:00.004+01:00

Jesus is risen! Hallelujah!

Sunday has come, the dawn has broken, the morning star has risen.

Jesus is alive! Hallelujah!

Death has been defeated, sin has been forgiven, the old way of life is done with...

Jesus, God in human form, crucified on the cross, bearing our sins and selfishness, taking the world's guilt and shame, upon himself, upon the cross.

And just as he predicted, three days later he is alive.

Suddenly there is hope, suddenly there is purpose, suddenly new life has started and we're invited to join in. For it's personal, it's got to mean something in our lives, and people gave testimony that Jesus has changed their lives. The old has gone, the new has come.

'For we are a new creation..' says Colossians 3:10

And we so want others to know this new life, this hope, this love, this acceptance, this forgiveness, this 2nd chance, and so we put the names of people we know and love into the empty tomb, in the prayer, in the hope, in the belief that God in His mercy may come into their lives.

Good Friday

2010-04-12T13:19:00.003+01:00

If you've been following the tweets, or read on from Matthew 21, you'll have had at least a flavour of the events between Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

It's a tragic story. A betrayer. Sold for 30 pieces of silver. Denied three times. Disciples scatter.

The powers of this world, the religious and the military combine to condemn Jesus. He's handed over to be mocked, whipped, beaten, crucified.

And us too. We've condemned him.

For it's personal, we can no longer hide in the crowd, no longer distance ourselves from our sin and selfishness.

And us too. We have been confronted, charged, found guilty, condemned.

But Jesus has taken our place. Naked, and exposed before us on the cross.

And we are exposed before him. For he sees into our hearts.

and what does Jesus say, "Forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing".

Our guilt. Our shame.

And He says, "It is finished".

We have a picture at home that has the caption, 'It's always darkest before the day dawns'. The last few months in particular have been a challenge for a good few people we know and love.

Perhaps we've also experienced the feeling that all is not right and there appears no way out. Sometimes it's of our own accord, sometimes we have no say in what happens.

But this darkest hour for Jesus was pre-ordained.

This is God at work.

He's faithful; He's loving; He keeps Hs promises. And He's still working.

"No-one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for his friends'. This light shines out in the darkness, this love shines out from the gloom, the day is about to dawn, the morning star is on its way.

For some, that darkest hour has passed and the day is beginning to dawn. For others, it's still night and the dawn is not in sight.

But Sunday is a comin'!

Hope is on its way.

Jesus will rise
Jesus has risen
Jesus will come again!

Palm Sunday

2010-04-12T13:11:00.002+01:00

The dream has been building... The shout is getting louder… Thirty years of hurt about to healed... ‘It’s coming home, it’s coming home’…

People were talking about it
It was on everyone’s lips
Stories were told of past failures
Past efforts at the one true glory
Of heroes and champions

Euro 96! When England got to the semi finals of the European Championships, held in England.

For the Jews the stories had been going on for centuries -
The story of King David coming to Jerusalem
Of freedom, peace and prosperity
Stories of the kingdom being divided, conquered
Of brave kings
Of battles lost
Stories of disaster and exile
Shame and destruction

Stories of hope
Of God’s intervention
Of return rebuilding renewal
Of a messiah

Stories of the last 200 years
Of Judas Maccabeus recapturing Jerusalem after the Syrians desecrated the temple
Of crowds waving palm branches at his triumphant entrance

So the stories abounded about a new king
A new triumphant entry into Jerusalem
A new warrior

And along comes Jesus...

Yes, you’re right, the story is reaching its climax but it’s not as you expect. (Matthew 21:1-17).

Riding on a donkey not on the horse of a warrior - Come to bring peace not conflict - That he would be the rejected and killed
And yet be the cornerstone of a the new temple God was building.

Evil isn’t something ‘out there’, it’s something in here… inside all of us - Rebellion selfishness pride power sex money

The crowd went from 'Hosanna to the Son of David' to 'Crucify Him' in the space of a few days…

God had been trying to get their attention – the parable of the tenants in the vineyard
God had sent the prophets but they were rejected and killed
So God has sent his son

Suddenly it's turned from being an onlooker, part of the crowd, into something personal. Just like Jesus did when he was confronted by the religious leaders and the woman they'd 'caught' in adultery, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem asks a question... 'Who is without sin can throw the first stone' to 'What do you want me to do for you?'.

We can no longer hide in the crowd. This time it's personal.

We like the idea perhaps, like the people of Jerusalem, about this Jesus. Trouble is, it’s personal. He’s not come to set us free to live and go our separate ways, to continue to as life was, but rather how life could be if we’re willing to give ourselves over to him.

People were sold into slavery in Jesus time – to redeem them you had to pay a price to the local temple god and the person would be freed to this religious god, a slave of the temple, – by our selfishness, our sin, deliberate or otherwise, we’ve sold ourselves into slavery – and God wants to redeem us by buying us back through the death and sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ – it doesn’t get any more personal than that, - and we become Jesus’ slave, free to live as God intended, loved, accepted, chosen, gifted, blessed, healed, restored, forgiven,

And in this world we need all the help we can get.

'What do you want me to do for you?'

2010-04-12T13:03:00.003+01:00

We're about to enter Jerusalem with Jesus. The buzz is building, people are following, hanging on his every word. But is it making a difference? (Matthew 20:29-34).

Jesus is about to face the ultimate betrayal and rejection. Yet here are two who call out to him from amongst the crowd. The crowd tries to silence them – but they (the crowd) are only onlookers – perhaps they are unwilling to admit their personal needs or think they are ok.

The blind men see that they're not.

It's the first step to knowing we need God in our life, a picture of us, stepping out of denial, calling out to the one person who can really help us.

And these men have probably called out to many others before.. Other people, for money, for help, etc

And Jesus turns to us as he did to the other men and asks a question – ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ i.e. if I heal you it will change your life – are you ready for that?

For the blind men, they would be unable to beg, they would be unable to get their daily bread from passers by, they would now have to work for their food

And for us, as Jesus asks us, if we choose to let Jesus heal us, meet our deepest needs – to whom will we turn for our daily bread?

The world or God?

'Man cannot live by bread alone', says Jesus, a quote from Deuteronomy when he was being tempted by the devil. And it speaks of a God who met the needs of the Israelites while they were in the desert for 40 years – ie a lifetime. They should have believed that God could provide for them like he said he would, he provided manna, something they had never even heard about before – he was faithful to his promise.

God can provide for us for a lifetime – what do we want him to do for us?

Do we trust God to meet our needs?

Just as Jesus was tempted to live by his status / the way of the world
So the blind men faced a change in theirs / trust in what they were used to or take a step of faith with God
And we face the same challenge / trust in ourselves or what we’re used to or TRUST in God

Mother's Day - A Mother's Request

2010-04-12T12:56:00.002+01:00

A cheeky request? A complete misunderstanding? The mother of James and John comes to Jesus and asks if one of her sons can sit at the right of him, and the other on the left in the new kingdom. (Matthew 20:20-28).

And what Mother doesn't want the best for her children? And this is a picture of what God is like - he wants the best for his children, that is, you and me.

But is this the best way to go about it?

For Jesus points out his role is to suffer, can the boys suffer for His sake? 'We will' they reply and history tells us that's true. For it's not about dominating, having power or position, rather it's about serving, loving, giving.

And this is Jesus, for this is what God is like.

And this is our mums, for they bear God's image.

Jesus' saving work

2010-04-12T12:39:00.003+01:00

Jesus and the disciples are on their way to Jerusalem when Jesus takes the 12 aside and tells them again of the fact that he's going to be handed over to the chief priests and and teachers of the law of Moses. He tells them he will be sentenced to death, handed over to the Romans who will mock him, beat him and nail him to a cross.

But on the third day he will rise again.

(Matthew 20:17-19).

The disciples don't get it. We of course have the privilege of looking from the other side, with history and hindsight.

And Jesus claims it's his and his father’s choice – "I must be about my father’s business", to ‘it’s finished" at the close.

There is sin. It separates us from God (Adam and Eve being driven out of the Garden of Eden). Adam walked with God but the books of Leviticus etc share how we can come back to God – but thru sacrifices, rituals, priests. It’s a substitute. Waitng for the real thing. Jesus. Like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah). Crucifixion – Roman form of punishment, cruel, no Roman citizen, not done by Jews.

a) Zechariah 9:9 says He would enter into Jerusalem.
b) Psalm 2:1-3 says He would know the fury and rage of His enemies.
c) Zechariah 13:7 says He would be deserted by His friends.
d) Zechariah 11:12 says He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.
e) Psalm 22:14-17 says He would be crucified.
f) Psalm 34:20 says none of His bones would be broken (cf. Ex. 12:46).
g) Psalm 22:18 says His garments would be parted by the casting of lots.
h) Psalm 69:21 says He would be given vinegar to drink.
i) Psalm 22:1 says He would cry out in pain of distress.
j) Zechariah 12:10 says they would pierce Him with a spear.
k) Psalm 16:10 says that He would rise from the dead.
l) Psalm 110:1 says that He would ascend into heaven.

All those prediction were part of the Old Testament prophecies. A detailed description of the suffering and death of Jesus. Christ can be seen in Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 12. So as He went to Jerusalem, Jesus remained on schedule with no deviation.

In a way, so what? What on earth does it have to do with you and me and the rest of the world in 2010.

There’s earthquakes in Haiti
Suicide bombs in Iraq
Murders in Huddersfield
Former child torturer back in prison

Or closer to home...
Teenager stabbed outside Showcase cinema
South African president visits Olympic site with the newest of his three wives

Or even closer...
To the dozen or so Romanians living across the road from me
Or some of the kids locally I see who only go to school when they feel like it
Or that we face more burglaries locally

Or what we’re each facing in our own lives…

What about you… if this had never happened – if Jesus had not died on the cross, if you didn’t know Jesus, what would your life be like?

Seems we need a lifestyle guru, counselling, father figure, friend, someone strong

And yet, this Jesus is betrayed, mocked, spat upon, silent before his captors,

This doesn’t sound like a saviour… led like a lamb to the slaughter, nothing about him was attractive,

And yet, his suffering, his sacrifice, means lives are changed

When we look at the world or round our homes and streets, when we look at ourselves in the mirror, there’s hope, because of Jesus.

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever belives in him will not perish but have etrnal life. For Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it." (John 3:16-17)

'Even while we were still sinners Christ died for us'
For all the mess in the world
For all the wrongs
For all our nonsence
Christ died

It’s no wonder the disciples can’t grasp it -

2000 years later we’re still wrestling with it -

That Jesus way of peace and forgiveness, seemingly futile in the face of lunacy and lies and wars and words, is triumphing amongst us and around us

For this Jesus says
Love your enemies
Turn the other cheek
Leads by example of suffering and service
Rather than dominating over others

By God's Grace

2010-03-02T14:39:00.003Z

We continue on the 'Road to Jerusalem', leading up to Jesus' entry on what we now call Palm Sunday and what is for us, Passion week, ending with Jesus' death and resurrection.

But we don't want to get ahead of ourselves! Jesus' dying and rising to life should be hand in hand with understanding his living. And in the last few weeks we've been grappling with that; extravagant forgiveness; extravagant (committed) relationships; extravagant lifestyle (relationship rather than religion).

And it shows in the way we respond to Jesus and to others. In Matthew 20:1-16, labourers are found by a landowner to go out and work. But the landowner keeps returning to get others who are waiting to be chosen. The landowner ultimately pays them all the same wage regardless of how long they've worked, to which the first labourers complain. but the landowner responds by pointing out his generosity.

In fact, on first reading, we might have some sympathy with the first workers. After all, as they say, they've worked all day in the sun.

This story has been seen to talk about the complaining workers, firstly as the disciples, that though they have responded to Jesus first doesn’t mean that others who follow will in anyway be less than them, and secondly, to do with the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who couldn’t understand that Jesus ate with sinners, and invited people they thought were ‘unclean’ into the kingdom of God.

And we might think it's about us. For we can insist that we are 'in' and others are 'out', and don't we deserve this or that, whilst those sinners deserve what they get... At Rose Franklin's funeral, we were reminded that her catchphrase was 'I've got so much to be thankful for'. And it's a saying that we need to take to heart - that God has given us his free gift of salvation and we should rejoice too when others respond to Him.

For really this is all about Jesus.

And the later labourers get to find that out. Even today in this country there are labourers waiting for employers to come and choose them for work. Who also live hand to mouth, exploited as they are foreigners, overcharged for rooms and rent, underpaid, and lied to.

But the landowner in this story is very different. For it paints a picture of a gracious God. He doesn't leave the work of hiring the people to his steward or manager but rather seeks people out himself.

This landowner is God.

And He comes in person.

To find us.

To extend grace toward us.

To be generous toward us.

He’s out in the marketplace looking for people to respond to Him. People that perhaps we would say don’t deserve it.

Jonah, acts the same. In the story of the one who was swallowed by a whale, he won’t go to Nineveh because they don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, and when he finally goes there and the people say sorry, Jonah’s upset – ‘I knew you’d forgive them’ he complains!

This is our God. A God of love and grace. Who extends his grace to everyone.

But if we serve him to get a reward, thinking that it’s all about us, then we will be last. Rather, if we serve with thankfulness and grace, we will be first.

Treasure in Heaven

2010-02-23T16:01:00.003Z

Continuing along 'The Road to Jerusalem', our Lent series, Jesus is approached by a rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-30).

There was a story recently in the paper about a multi millionaire who had gone to a five star hotel in Hawaii with his wife. Whilst he was there he was suddenly hit with the realisation that the hotel employees were only friendly because it was their job, and that the other guests pretended to be important because they had money. To him, everyone was false.

So he made a radical decision... give all his money away and go and live in a shack!

But as Ben pointed out, this is not the answer to his problem.

In the Gospel story, the rich young ruler comes to Jesus effectively boasting about all he's done, he's obeyed all the commandments and now he wants to know what else he can do to get eternal life.

It's as if it's a transaction - if I do this you'll have to give me this.

And it's often how we view Christianity (and how religion is defined) i.e. if I obey all that I think God asks of me, then he'll have to let me into heaven. I'll have been good and I'll get what I deserve.

But Christianity is not like this.

How can we possibly earn our way into heaven?

And if we think this is the way to do it, we're putting ourselves in the place of Jesus, making us the Saviour of our lives. And that means there's no room for Jesus.

The Gospel is this; we've sinned and fallen short of what God requires of us; Jesus came and paid the price for our sins; then rose to eternal life meaning we now have a second chance to choose to love God and others because of how God has loved us. This is then the beginning of eternal life.

Jesus has 'earned' our way to heaven and eternal life. It's beyond us, and it was beyond the rich young ruler. He couldn't sell up what meant most to him and that which meant he had control over his own life. He couldn't let Jesus take complete control of his life and trust in Him.

So the millionaire may realise his life is empty and give all his money away, something the rich young ruler was unable to do, but until hie gives his life to Jesus and trusts him completely, life will still be empty of its real meaning.

Two Become One

2010-02-15T11:12:00.003Z

Last week on The Road to Jerusalem we considered extravagant forgiveness - this week it's extravagant relationships!

'Teachings on Divorce' is the title in my Bible for this week's passage (Matthew 19:1-12), something that doesn't sound very appropriate for Valentine's Day... but really it should be Teachings on Marriage or committed relationships for this is at the heart of what Jesus is saying.

A friend of mine in his RE class asked his pupils what they would do if they fell out of love or their marriage became difficult - their reply was 'get divorced, stupid'! Divorce for them was matter of fact.

But relationships are no more difficult now than they were then - Romans and Jews both got divorced lightly then as well, the Jews having a 'any cause' divorce based on a mis-interpretation of the grounds God gave Moses.

Jesus though speaks of how relationships were intended, that two become one - 'no longer two people, but one' (Matthew 19:6), or 'one flesh' in other translations. When a man and a woman get together 'no-one should separate a couple that God has joined together' (also v6). This is a permanent coupling, of two people joining together in marriage, committed, giving, forgiving, loving, being selfless rather than selfish.

Indeed, it's a picture of our relationship with God - committed, loving, giving, forgiving & eternal.

A few years ago a man in Dubai got home from work to find his wife not there and his dinner was not on the table. He texted her to say, 'you're late, I'm divorcing you', and because this was the third time he had said this, he was able to do so. Hardly committed or fair.

The Pharisees also think they have Jesus by pointing out in verse 7 that Moses allowed them to divorce. But as Jesus said, God only did this because we are 'heartless' or 'hard-hearted', to care for those who have suffered the consequences of a broken relationship. For then a man could throw out his wife or just abandon her, she would be unable to work for there were no professions open to her, unless she could work any land that they may have, she (& presumably her children) would starve. And to make it worse, her husband could reclaim her within the next 2 years at any time thus cutting off the likelihood of remarriage and safety.

It is like reading the manual of your car which gives you advice in case of an accident. The car is not designed to have an accident, but rather helps you deal with the consequences if you do.

The same goes for marriage - it's not designed for divorce but because we are 'heartless' provision is made to help us deal with the consequences.

'Yikes', cry the disciples, for suddenly marriage sounds incredibly hard. Jesus has narrowed the reasons for divorce to adultery (and I believe building on the requirements in the OT for provision of 'food, clothing & conjugal love', not abolishing it).

And then Jesus says it's ok to be single. A revolutionary thought when they believed the first commandment of God was to 'go forth and multiply'.

But in all this, whether married or single, divorced or divorcing, happy and healthy or struggling, we need grace.

Grace to make these relationships work.
Grace to help relationships that are struggling.
Grace for those divorced.
Grace for those hurt.
Grace for those at fault.

Yes, God made us for loving and committed relationships, and we need his grace every step of the way whatever part of the path we're on.

God loves us and he yearns that this assurance dwells in us that we might commit to others and love them.

God is a God of grace
who sees the beauty of bringing us together
who cares for those hurt by relationships, caring for them
for he has brought us to Him
for eternity
through Jesus.

The Road to Jerusalem - Forgiveness

2010-02-11T12:57:00.004Z

We begin our journey in Capernaum where Peter thinks he's being a big man!

Peter approaches Jesus and asks how many times he should forgive someone. Now, at the time, there was teaching from other Rabbi's that up to three times was allowed. After that don't bother as they are obviously not repentant. So Peter thinks he's being clever perhaps by saying should he do it up to seven times?!

Trouble is, Jesus often turns what we think on its head. The number he gives is probably not significant as such, other than that it's exaggerated, extravagant, as befitting our extravagant, generous God.

He may also be recalling a little known section in Genesis (4:23-24) where Lamech states he will pay back anyone who hurts him 'ten times more'. It's exaggerated, over the top, a precursor perhaps to God specifying 'a tooth for a tooth' i.e. a limited, measured response. Jesus though takes this exaggeration, his upside down (in our wordly view) thinking, and applies it to forgiveness.

For Jesus knows, when he gets hold of us, when we begin to immerse ourselves in God and his truth, it begins to change us, to change the way we think and behave. In fact, the gospel changes our hearts.

And as the gospel works it's way into our hearts, we can begin to forgive, to seek reconciliation, to heal, to unburden ourselves from seeking revenge and putting ourselves in God's place.

I remember the mother and sister of Anthony Walker, a 16yr old who was stabbed to death recently, saying they forgave his killer(s). It wasn't easy they said, in fact that they said they had to choose to forgive them every day. But they were mindful that this is what God has asked us to do.

Gandhi said 'only the strong can forgive', though the world often sees it as a weakness (I wonder what people's reaction will be if Tiger Woods and John Terry's wives forgive them). But Jesus came so that we would live life to the full (John 10:10), and making the choice to choose to forgive takes the weight off our shoulders, begins to release the bitterness and thoughts of revenge we've harbouring, and we begin to find peace.

And it’s understanding there’s more to life and eternity… Jesus cried out on the cross, ‘Lord, forgive them for they do not know what they’re doing’, and Stephen cried out when he was being stoned to death ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’. For they already had everything they needed – they were entering glory.

And if God supplies all our needs, what place is there for greed or grudges?

We can give and forgive recklessly.

See below for a powerful video on forgiveness.

Forgiveness NOOMA Luggage | Part One

2010-02-06T20:52:00.002Z

Forgiveness NOOMA Luggage | Part Two

2010-02-06T20:26:00.002Z

Daniel Part Three - Liars, Laws & Lions

2010-01-25T15:55:00.003Z

For our final part in this instalment of Daniel, we head to the tale of the lions' den.

For me, the key part of this passage from Daniel chapter 6, is verse 10;

"Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God."

Over the last few weeks we've talked about living in our 2nd choice world i.e. in a place not of our choosing, but that God blessed Daniel in his 2nd choice world (Babylon) - he prospered in fact - and he can bless us too. God's will was done in Daniel's life and we should be open to God working in ours.

In addition, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego spoke of the fact that they believed God was in control of their lives, not Nebuchadnezzar or any other person or circumstance. They were able to submit their lives, and their fate, to God rather than bowing to the pressure to bow down to other gods.

Having recognised where we are, that God can use us where we are, (in fact may well have placed us here, or allowed us to be here in order to challenge us and bring out our faith), we then have to choose to submit to God and seek a relationship with Him.

In the meeting I asked what a relationship with God looks like;

'peaceful'. 'happy', 'involves time and commitment', 'is like a marriage',

were some of the comments received.

The only way Daniel was able to cope and face the highly pressured situations he faced was because he had a relationship with God. In fact verse 10 points to the fact that this was a daily routine, part of the rhythm of Daniel's life. For many Jews, both then and now, praying at set times, often with set prayers, is a normal way of life.

It has been said that 'set' prayers at 'set' times leads to repetition or saying things you longer mean but repeat by rote.

But that's a problem with us, not with the prayers.

Each of us is different, each of our relationships is different, but we must seek to develop a personal, 2-way relationship with the living God. But prayer and time will be a necessary part of this. Only as we do this, only as we spend time with the Almighty, will we be able to learn and understand more of who He is, how much He loves us and ministers his grace and mercy and forgiveness to us.

It's then that we realise that no matter what we face in life, whether the lies of others, serious consequences at work, family breakdown, etc we do so with a God who is with us. The same God who was with S, M & A in the fire, who was with Daniel in the lion's den, is with us also.

Amen to that.

Daniel Part Two - Out of the frying pan...

2010-01-21T13:09:00.004Z

From Daniel we move to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego - or as my Sunday School teacher used to say - 'Shake your bed', 'Make your bed' and 'A bed you go'... he may get a fiery reception from them in heaven!

The situation in Haiti is terrible. Moving, distressing, and many other words come to my mind, and perhaps we also think, 'Where is God?' And if there is a God, why does he allow such things to happen? These are fair questions.

Perahaps these are questions that Shad and his friends asked. Despite the fact that they had been taken, probably as teenagers, and were 're-educated' by the Babylonians, they stayed loyal to God.

Shad and his friends, like Daniel, would not have started where they were, but they had decided to submit their lives to God. Despite all the stuff around them, despite the attempt to ‘re-educate’ them, they stuck to their God.

It was their God who helped them to work well, serve a hostile state, etc not the king, Nebuchadnezzar.

They had come to the point where they knew this vital truth - 'God is in control'. And so must we.

Our boss doesn’t rule; God does. Sickness doesn’t rule; God does. The majority don’t rule; God does.

Often we want to live in our own protective world, which of course makes no sense when God rules. So God often leads us, or allows us, to enter into challenging situations so that He can work within us and around us. To places we would not go, to places where we may not want to start from, to people we might not want to be with, because if it was left to us, we would never step out in faith.

S, M & A get to the point of submission to God – they announce to the king that whether their God chooses to save them or not, they will not bow to the king.

Powerful statement, no matter where we are, of choosing to submit to God whatever the consequences. Of choosing to trust God despite the circumstances. Of giving ourselves to God regardless of what we see with our own eyes. Of believing, God is in control - in my life, your life, this nation, this world.

God is in control.

If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.

And then Jesus appears in the fire…

Daniel Part One - Dreams & Destinies

2010-01-11T13:42:00.004Z

The book of Daniel is a book of two halves. The first half deals with what's on the surface - characters Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego and King Nebuchadnezzar for starters. The second half deals with prophecy, what's below the surface, what's going to happen.

In all of this, God is revealing Himself and He is in control.

Key Scriptures: Daniel, chapters 1 and 2

So we start with Daniel. One of the young people, probably a teenager, taken from Judah, from a privileged family, well educated, handsome, fit, etc Someone who I am sure had dreams of his future, of what position he may take in the court, or similar position, when he is suddenly uprooted from his home, his family, his relationships.

He's taken to Babylon, now in Iraq, where he is due to be re-educated, taught the local language, customs and divine arts, as well as maybe being castrated. Ouch!

Life would never be the same again.

Ben and I went to the British Museum to see a Babylonian Exhibition where there was a model of the gates and entrance to the city of Babylon. It had huge walls, covered in pictures of fierce animals and was meant to intimidate. Any dreams or hopes Daniel would have had for life were dashed. In what he may have wanted to achieve in life, he would not have wanted to start from here.

Perhaps much like us.

Perhaps we would not want to start from here, where we are now. Perhaps we have made poor choices, or life has not turned out as we expected, but whatever has happened, whether we wonder where God is, whether he's forgotten us, or we think He is punishing us, we don't want to start from here.

And yet, with Daniel, God blesses him where he is and God's will was done in his life.

Initially, despite facing pressure to be conformed to a Babylonian official, the one thing Daniel chooses to oppose is rich food and wine. Probably because they were offered to idols first, or were banned foods for Jews, by eating the vegetables and their resulting good health, the glory went to God.

Indeed, the same happens when God gives Daniel the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's first dream. This is not Daniel's skill, rather God's grace.

When we seek to draw near to God, He draws near to us. Despite being exiled, being re-educated, having lost family and friends, had his hopes and dreams dashed, God still speaks and still blesses.

This is the God who is in control. He is Almighty God, who loves us, who calls us his children, is compassionate and gracious, who longs to draws us to Himself. And we know that as we respond to this loving God, Jesus is our example;

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11 NIV

New Year Prayer

2010-01-07T21:56:00.001Z

My Father, you have carried me through
another year, through my wanderings,
through my rebelliousness, through my times
of comfort.

I praise you.

You have given me untold riches;
friends and family to love;
beauty to enjoy;
quiet spaces.

I praise you for life on this planet,
for your people, the church, and the
indescribable gift of Jesus.

Keep me thankful all my days,
that, against all odds,
I may never lose sight
of the hope and delight you give me.

Amen

(adapted from an original prayer)

Retooning the Nativity

2010-01-07T21:18:00.003Z

Christmas as it really was...

Open Doors

2009-11-17T14:01:00.004Z

We were priviliged to have an Open Doors representative this last Sunday sharing about the plight of persecuted Christians in other parts of the world - especially Northern Nigeria.

However, what was more incredible was the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing forgiveness and change amongst those most affected. Incredible stuff.

If you'd like to know more just click below;

Open Doors website

'Walk with them'

Gifts of Hope

Free monthly magazine

3 - Relationships (Holy too)

2009-11-02T15:21:00.004Z

The third part of our series on 1 Peter, where we started talking of the hope we have and the way it should now influence the way we live our lives. Secondly, to be able to do this, we have to have a right view of how God sees us - as priests! That is, mediators between people and God.

Key Scripture(s); 1 Peter 2:11 - 3:7

I don't know about you, but there are times when I people watch. I remember being taken to a cafe in the Old City of Jerusalem, and being able to sit and watch the world go by - Muslim traders; Jewish shopkeepers; Christian pilgrims; tourists; and every nationality under the sun! But by the same token, people watch us...

Peter's writing to a group of Christians who were under scrutiny - they were considered a sect with strange practices who often suffered for their new found faith.

I was once written a letter by a friend pointing out that my behaviour (I was a teenager) did not live up to my saying I was a Christian. And they were right.

So Peter speaks of the relationships we have. It's like three concentric circles; on the outside is our part in society (and hence our relationship to those in authority); the middle circle covers that of a slave to his master (closest for us would be employee to employer though not perfect); finally, the inner circle, the closest of relationships, wives and husbands.

Peter tells them, as he does us, that actually our citizenship is in heaven with God, hence 'you are foreigners and strangers on this earth' (2v11). And here comes the key; don't give in to your old way of living, rather 'always let others see you behaving properly' (v12). i.e. don't give people any reason to persecute you further, don't be a hypocrite by the way you live, for you believe in Jesus and that should be reflected by how you live to day to day so that others can see Jesus in you.

And now Peter lays out the three relationships; society; workplace; marriage.

Society - Obeying even the Emperor (vv13 & 17) might have seemed strange for an Emperor (likely Nero) who hated Christians and who later executed Peter (and Paul) and burnt Christians on poles in his garden for illumination at night!

There is something godly in order rather than chaos - faith in God does not produce chaos - and order brings justice (or it should) - verses 13-17. And it's the same for us - we all appreciate living in an ordered society where there is structure and order rather than anarchy. And we can be grateful that this order brings some form of justice, and for the fact that we don't have Robert Mugabe as a dictator or live in Afghanistan where elections are rigged. We may complain about Gordon Brown and Sir Robin Wales (and we can!), but we should play our part in society and pray for those who lead us.

Workplace - There are still slaves in this world today as we have talked and prayed about before. But the closest we can come to what Peter is saying here is between employee and employer. Whatever our bosses, and I've had a varied bunch (!), it is better to suffer for doing the right thing, than to suffer for doing wrong (vv18-20).

Peter writes 'God will bless you, if you have to suffer for doing something good' (v20). We'd rather not suffer at all of course, but God is pleased when we live the right way and he blesses us for that. And even more so when the result does not end in something for us - when doing right causes us to suffer we show we are God's people and following Christ's example (vv22-25).

Let's pray for our bosses, and seek to do the right thing whatever the consequences for this pleases God.

Marriage - This is one of those passages that a pastor should wear armour over for fear of upsetting people! So, first, let's understand who Peter is writing to and the circumstances they are in.

This was a male dominated society. Men and therefore husbands held the power and women were often considered property with little or no rights. Peter does not argue above for a slave revolt to overturn slavery but rather seeks slaves to win over their masters by their behaviour. And so with wives with unbelieving husbands - win them over by your behaviour (3:1-4).

After all, it would have been shocking enough in such a society for a wife to have a different religion to her husband, for then Peter to demand she get full rights - rather win their hearts over than through protest.

Husbands rightly do not get off lightly, in fact they face a sterner rebuke, for they must change their view of their wives, respecting and honouring them (v7). And if they don't... then God will turn a deaf ear to their prayers. Strong stuff.

The example -
'Christ did not sin or ever tell a lie.
Although he was abused, he never even tried to get even.
And when he suffered, he made no threats.
Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly.
Christ carried the burden of our sins.
He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right.
By his cuts and bruises you are healed.
You have wandered away like sheep.
Now you have returned to the one who is your shepherd and protector.

1 Peter 2:22-25 (CEV)

2 - Holy

2009-10-27T14:28:00.005Z

The second part in our series from 1 Peter takes us on from having hope, to what difference it makes to our lives today.

Key Scripture(s): 1 Peter 1:16, 1:22 - 2:10

Peter uses a number of words and phrases that we either don't use today, or whose meaning has perhaps changed. Words like 'holy', 'priests', 'priesthood', 'spiritual milk', 'living stone', 'sacrifices', etc

We probably don't have a problem with "I am the holy God, and you must be holy too" (v16), as we understand something about God being holy, different, pure. And that he wants us to be like him - though whilst we probably don't consider ourselves 'holy', we understand that this is what God wants to make us.

The trouble is, Peter calls us (he's writing to Christians), 'holy priests' (2v5).

What on earth can he mean?

We cannot earn salvation - we can't buy it or earn it, nor inherit or study for it. It's ours when we choose to believe in Jesus -'you obeyed the truth and your souls were made pure' (1v22). By the action of faith, of believing in Jesus, we are saved. And so, when God sees us, he sees us through Jesus - we know we are not pure but that Jesus is - and so Jesus' sacrifice means we are pure. Or 'holy'.

But with God that's not enough. It's not enough for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be made holy. God now wants to see a change in our lives that reflects that. 'Be holy'. Or, act like a priest.

Now we think of 'priest' in a church way - that is, administers communion, preaches, hears confession, etc But Peter is saying we are all priests! (2v5, 9) After all, we are now all God's children (like Jesus), we now seek to be like his one perfect child (Jesus) whom the Bible says is a priest.

In this way, like a priest, we can mediate between people and God - after all we've received Jesus, we now know of the difference he makes to us and we can pass that on ('God has brought you out of darkness into his marvellous light' 2v9). Now, we can't do this in our own strength but only with Jesus as the foundation, capstone, cornerstone (2v4, 6).

And we are 'living stones', each with a part to play to build a 'spiritual house' (2v5). For we are not priests alone nor a house alone - only together are we priests and God's house. We are the 'church', not a building but God's people. For where the Temple in the Old Testament was a place of God's presence, we are now that presence, for God lives in us. Where the Temple offered sacrifices to appease God, Jesus has been sacrificed and so we now offer our lives in service to him as a sacrifice.

Craving And we need to crave (2v2) the things of God - his word, the Bible, time with him, knowledge of him, and the things that God craves, such as forgiveness, justice, care for the poor, etc

Offering Peter understands that Jesus was obedient to God, who offered himself as the sacrifice, and we are to be obedient to God as well, offering ourselves as 'living sacrifices' (2v5) - being God centred and focused and not self centred.

Telling 'now you must tell of all the wonderful things he has done' (2v9)

1 PETER - Hope (FlashForward)

2009-10-19T14:30:00.004+01:00

Peter, the disciple Jesus called 'Rock', wrote what we know as 1 Peter probably in the early 60's A.D. It was written to a group of churches in what is now northern Turkey, churches that were experiencing a difficult time. I think he has something to say to us, today.

Key Scripture(s): 1 Peter 1:1-12

In verse two Peter writes that the members of the churches have been 'chosen' by God (CEV). Other versions use words like pre-destined, a term which gets some Christians in a spin - did God choose us or did we choose God? Perhaps we have to juggle this tension by saying both are right - God fore-chose, and we have free will.

Peter writes this as an encouragement. The God of this world, the Creator, the Lord of all chose you (yes, you!), and Jesus died for you. And by his shed blood you have been cleansed and forgiven ('sprinkled with his blood' - verse 2).

But not only that, you now have Hope. '..by raising Jesus from death, he has given us a new life and a hope that lives on'. For 'God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear' (v4).

Again, Peter is trying to encourage his hearers, that having been chosen, having been saved, means you get to heaven, have eternal life, and that your current problems ('hard trials' v6) will fade in comparison to the wonder of heaven.

So what? That's then and I'm facing now...

Have you seen FlashForward a new U.S. drama series on Five? The premise of the show is that on a particular day the whole world, all six billion people, blacked out. And for exactly 2 mins 17 secs.

In that time, most people had a dream or vision or what they call a 'flashforward', where they saw an event in their life six months from now - everyone seeking what they would be doing at the same day and time.

It raises all kinds if fascinating questions.... is your future pre-destined? Can you change your future?

But most interesting of all for me was the fact that it started to change people's lives. They started to make conscious decisions about their life to fit in line with their flashforward. Significant choices that they would not necessarily have made at this point if they hadn't known their future.

And Peter is saying the same to us. If we know our future (and we do), then it should impact the way we live now. We are not to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly use, but our heaven view affects how we now seek to live in light of the fact that we are heaven bound.

We choose to live by faith, not by sight, not hampered or broken by our current circumstances, for 'these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold' (v7). And by living this way, choosing to live as people who are heaven bound, we will receive 'praise and honour and glory when Jesus returns' (v7).

In effect, 'well done, good and faithful servant'.

Harvest - time

2009-10-05T12:06:00.004+01:00

We had a look at Leviticus, not everyone's favourite book for sure, but here God speaks of the things that the Israelites can do, such as festivals.

Included in this is harvest. Here God speaks of sacrifices, rams, goats and bread! But it's verses 21 and 22 that we're interested in for now.

'This is a day of celebration and worship, a time of rest from your work. You and your descendants must obey this law.

When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the Lord your God!'

Each festival was always followed by the Sabbath - a day of rest. God had instituted the Sabbath, allowing or providing the opportunity for each person and family to have a day off each week. And we know there's a lot of sense in that - what with stress and burn out these days - taking some time out, where we do not work, is a blessing.

God having allowed us time for ourselves, time to refresh and recharge, speaks of us finding time for him. Amidst our busy-ness we need to find time for God, not only on Sunday where it's good to come together, to share, be encouraged and receive from God, but throughout the week; whilst driving; on the bus; with the kids; there are moments we can take to speak to and listen to God - keeping our relationship with God just that... a relationship.

But that's not all! In addition to time for ourselves and time for God is time for others. Harvest provides the opportunity to give, but God speaks of the law of the harvest, where farmers where not to gather everything or leave what fell, so that poorer people could collect and eat.

But as the video we watched says, who decides on what you leave or what you don't pick up?

Actually it's about motives.

What is it in our hearts to do?

Come as you are

2009-09-28T12:22:00.003+01:00

Daniel shared his moving testimony of how God turned his life around.

For Back to Church Sunday we thought about what reaction we think we would get if we met Jesus. Often this is the reaction we feel we might get when we go to church; judgment; indifference; coldness perhaps. We saw a video of different people from different backgrounds describing how their lives had been dominated by selfishness, sin or alcohol, but that Jesus turned their lives around.

Jennie and I visited two new churches on our first Sunday at Bible college. The first we considered would be very traditional - which it was - but we had a great welcome and the people were very friendly and welcoming.

The second, because we wanted to find something a bit more 'hip and happening', offered us free doughnuts and pizza- wow! But no-one spoke to us.

Key Scripture: John 8:1-11

The story from John's gospel is a controversial one. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of their day, brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus.

Where is the man?! Why do religious people pick on women? You only have to watch the news about the Taliban in Pakistan or Afghanistan or Islamic fundamentalists in Northern Nigeria for example, to know that the same is true today. More often than not, it is the woman, not the man, who is sentenced and stoned or executed.

Certainly many cultures consider the honour of their family rests on the sexual purity of its women - even in our British culture there appears to be one standard for men ('stud', 'sowing their wild oats') and another standard for women who may sleep around. They are the most vulnerable.

And so these religious leaders bring this vulnerable woman to Jesus hoping to trap him. The law says she should be stoned (and the man too but he's not in this story).

I wonder what the woman thought - vulnerable, exposed, defenceless - brought before a rabbi who would surely sentence her.

And yet Jesus doesn't do that.

He doesn't condone her actions, but neither does he judge her. In a moment of divine wisdom, he challenges the 'mob' - 'if you are without sin, you can cast the first stone'.

No-one takes up this challenge. It's easy to hide behind a crowd but now Jesus personalises the issue. His reaction to the woman is one of grace and mercy, the reaction perhaps we all hope to receive, and do, when we come to Jesus.

For he has paid the price through his sacrifice on the cross, that our sins and wrong-doings, our selfishness and addictions, would be paid for and dealt with. For now we come to God to receive his forgiveness and start life anew.

This was the challenge to the woman - we don't know what she did - but it's now our challenge, having come to Jesus, 'as we are', as to how it will now change our lives.

It's actually been a telling feature of the testimonies we have had in church this month, that Jesus took people from their lowest points and changed their lives for the better, beyond where they started from.

Amen.

3 - Jesus Wept

2009-09-24T10:22:00.002+01:00

And so to our final part of 'Where is God when it hurts?'

Mehdi shared with us of how God is helping him, and of the importance of God's word in giving re-assurance and direction.

Key Scripture(s): John 11:1-44; Matthew 26:36-46; Hebrews 5:7-9; Revelation 21:3-4

Jesus Wept
How come? Jesus is told that his friend Lazarus is unwell and that he should come quickly. But Jesus takes his time, four days in fact, to travel the short distance between Jerusalem and Bethany. On the way he speaks about the fact that what will happen will bring glory to God.

Upon his arrival, he is told that Lazarus is dead and has been for four days. In fact, it is likely he died before the messengers even reached Jesus. But Jesus knew. He knew his friend Lazarus would die and that this would be an opportunity to bring glory to God by raising Lazarus from the dead.

So why cry? After all, Jesus knows what's going on, he's the Son of God, so he knows how all this will turn out, he knows that Lazarus is going to a better place, and yet...

I think there are two reasons for this. Firstly, Jesus is fully human as well as fully God. He can relate to grief and suffering as we do, he mourns with those who mourn, and Lazarus' death genuinely upsets him. Jesus wept.

But the passage also speaks of the fact that he was deeply moved and troubled. There is a sense in the original Greek that this means more like anger. And I believe that this anger is directed at the grief and suffering.

Jesus had earlier declared that "I am the resurrection and the life", that he is about life and hope and yet all around him he sees suffering, grief and death. And this angers him. For sin and death have brought suffering to God's creation and his people and Jesus is angry and upset about it.

Jesus suffered
That's all very well that Jesus is angry and upset by it all, but has he suffered at all?

In the account of his time in the Garden of Gethsemane, we learn that Jesus suffered real mental anguish. "I am so sad I feel like dying", and "My Father, if it is possible, don't make me suffer..." In Luke's gospel it is written that "sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood" (22v44).

And then he was crucified.

So, Jesus suffered. He knows what it's like to go through suffering and death. He knows about rejection, for where were we when he hurt? We ran away - for the disciples scattered and left him to the authorities. He knows what it's like to be mocked and bullied, from the beating and insults hurled at him by the guards, the crowd, and finally a thief who was crucified to the side of him.

But why?
There is a really troubling passage in the book of Hebrews, sometimes known as Jesus' 'path to appointment'. Jesus had to suffer, and by suffering he learnt obedience to God.

The Son of God.

Learning obedience.

Through suffering.

But this suffering had a purpose. Our own sin and selfishness has caused this suffering in the world. And the only way for God to defeat it is through the sacrifice of his 'perfect' son, "Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save for ever all who obey him" (Hebrews 5:9)

This is the good news.

Jesus identified with our suffering. He was uspet by it, grieved over the hurt it causes, and then sought to turn it round by suffering himself.

And the result?

We can be forgiven. We can know God. We can have the promise of eternal life.

"God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying or pain. These things of the past are gone forever." (Revelation 21:3-4)

Amen, thank you Lord.

2 - A Woman Healed

2009-09-15T13:30:00.003+01:00

Part 2 in our series of 'Where is God when it hurts?'

Paula shared testimony of God's faithfulness to her despite choices she had made and how He took her through those times.

Key Scripture(s): Mark 5 (esp. 21-36)

Jennie shared about Jesus' introducing the Kingdom of God, first in word and then by deed. And then some...

First of all Jesus calmed the storm, then he delivered a man from the demons that possessed him, he healed a woman who'd struggled for 12 years, and then raised a girl from the dead... incredible!

This was the Kingdom of God in action, displayed before the disciples for them to have faith in God, and administered to those in need for God has compassion.

And the tale of the woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years gives a demonstration of both physical and emotional healing, for she has spent all her money (she's literally poor), she is known be 'unclean' and therefore ostracised from family and community (she's poor emotionally), and she is probably depressed (poor in spirit).

But she has faith.

It's not a confident faith for she seeks just to touch the tassles of Jesus' cloak whilst he is on the way to heal Jairus' daughter. Jairus, by comparison, has a confident faith, for he approaches Jesus openly, in front of everyone, and begs for his help.

But this woman, meek, 'unclean', brings herself back into the community, jossles amongst the crowd (presumably mostly men), and reaches out to Jesus believing that just a touch will heal her. And it does.

Great. End of story. Er, no... for Jesus turns around knowing that power has gone out from him and seeks the woman out. He picks on an 'unclean' ostracised woman. That doesn't sound right.

But Jesus knows her situation and by getting her to declare her actions (and her faith), he raises her up, and effectively brings her back into the community by pronouncing her clean (healed).

Where is God when it hurts?

Last week we considered that God is there and there is hope. And now we see that God does choose to intervene, he has compassion, he can and does heal. Not always, and there is a requirement of some sort of faith in God and who he is, but He does care.

And this is a taste of the kingdom of God.

WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS? 1 - Jeremiah

2009-09-07T16:08:00.003+01:00

A big subject, and we can't cover it all over the next three weeks, but we can begin to scratch the surface.

Bode shared about how, when he was struggling, it felt like God had abandoned him. And yet, in hindsight, he can see that God was there.

Key Scripture(s) - Jeremiah 38; Lamentations 3; Romans 8:18

We were made to suffer! In that I mean we have been made, designed, put together to deal with pain. Pain is a warning sign to our body that something is wrong and we would be in all sorts of trouble without it. We are made in such a way as to know and understand pain. 'Fearfully and wonderfully made' says the Bible.

But why have pain at all? Why didn't God create a world without it? But life would be pretty boring though without risk, danger, adventure and discovery. And a little pain or struggle actually helps us develop as people, 'builds your character' as my parents would say.

Ok then, we accept that some pain or hardship is ok... but we can't sign up for the measure that we feel we want to deal with - life is not like that. Pain and hurt is random, reckless, no respecter of people or power or privilege, wealth or health.

So where is God when it hurts? Philip Yancey, in his book, 'Where is God when it hurts?', tells of the story of a woman in hospital visited by various Christians who all claim a different biblical reason for her illness. But which is right?!

The Bible in fact gives voice to those that suffer (and often rail against God as a result); Job; the Psalms; Lamentations; for example.

In Jeremiah 38 we find the prophet Jeremiah in trouble for telling the king that years of ignoring and abusing God are about to have consequences. The Babylonian army is about to conquer Jerusalem and if the king surrenders he'll be ok. Jeremiah is beaten and abused by his detractors for being a doomsayer and they eventually put him in a pit to die.

Lamentations 3, which may or may not have ben written by Jeremiah, tells of how the writer felt being put into a pit by his adversaries who wanted to kill him.

On the one hand then, you have the people of Judah, suffering because they disobeyed God, and on the other hand you have Jeremiah who is suffering because he obeyed God! It seems like a no-win situation.

Hope But it's here that the writer of Lamentations changes his tune. Despite his circumstances, despite his physical location and what he can see, he begins to remember who God is and what kind of God he is. He begins to praise and thank God remembering his promises.

There is hope. There is hope for the people of Judah, that despite their predicament, God will still look after them in exile and captivity. And Jeremiah is rescued from the pit. Whether they obeyed or disobeyed God, there is still hope. In Jeremiah 'hope' is translated from the Hebrew, meaning 'waiting expectantly'. And whether that hope comes now or later, we can believe that God is there for us. He had not abandoned the people of Judah, nor had he abandoned Jeremiah;

God is with us and cares for us;
'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me' (Psalm 23)
'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5)
'I will be with you always, even until the end of this world' (Matthew 28:20)

And our hope is also in what Jesus has done for us by his death on the cross. We have the opportunity of forgiveness and the hope of eternal life with God;

'I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us' Romans 8:18

Prayer
Gracious God,
we praise you for your love which never lets us go.
We thank you that you love each of us
as if there were only one of us to love.
Let us be awake to your presence by day and by night,
even if we feel helpless and alone.
May we experience what Jesus promised:
'I will be with you always.'
May that give us a trust nothing can shake,
a peace which can weather every storm,
and your grace which can enter the depth of our being,
bringing wholeness of body, mind and spirit.
We pray in the name of Jesus
who is able now and for ever
to save those who come to God through him.
Amen

(Gathering for Worship Canterbury Press 2005)

The lighter side of pain and suffering...

2009-09-03T18:36:00.000+01:00

Communion

2009-07-13T15:15:00.004+01:00

What's communion all about?

A minister was trying to explain it to a group of children. He said communion/eucharist was often referred to as a 'joyful feast' - he said, joyful meaning 'happy, and feast meaning 'meal' i.e. a 'happy meal' then! (Would there be more takers for burger and fries than bread and wine?!).

Sally described it as God's table to which everyone was invited - a family table rather than an altar that we might picture in a church.

Where do we get it from?

When the Israelites called out to God when they were suffering at the hand of the Egyptians, God called Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh to 'let my people go'. Ten plagues ensued of which the worst was the killing of the first born sons. Judgment was at hand for Egypt, as salvation came to the Israelites.

Were the Israelites good then?

By no means! But to cover their sin they were to take a lamb, roast and eat it, then place its blood on the doorframe and doorposts of their homes. When the Lord came over, he would see the blood and 'pass over' - hence the name of the feast which the Israelites celebrated their saving out of Egypt - Passover (see Exodus 12 and 13).

Later, when Jesus partook in the Passover meal with his disciples, he said of the bread, 'take, eat, this is my body' i.e. he was the sacrificial lamb. And then he passed round the cup, saying 'take, drink, this is the sign of the new agreement between God and you' - his blood was to be shed (see for example, Luke 22:14-23).

Just as the Israelites started a new life as a result of their deliverance out of Egypt, so we can start a new life through Jesus being the sacrificial lamb who takes away our sins. And this is an invitation open to everyone, hence the idea of the family table.

So when we take communion and receive the bread and wine, we are doing it in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.

It is not something we should take lightly or for granted. In being invited to share at the family table, we should be honest about our relationships with the family - with God - and with each other.

Is there something we need to confess to God that we might be forgiven?

Is there someone to whom we should forgive or make amends?

And let's thank God for the wonder of Jesus.

Judging others

2009-07-06T13:09:00.004+01:00

Well done to the Yoof! and WWG groups in leading our Sunday morning meeting yesterday. Perhaps, 'excellent' would be a great way to describe the drama, dance, singing, preaching, and more.

And the subject was something that affects us all; judging others.

Henrik pointed out that we often judge by appearance, citing the Israelites and their choice of King in Saul (who was tall and handsome - see 1 Samuel 9:2), whereas God looked at the heart, and chose David (see 1 Samuel 16:7).

At the heart of this was the teenagers' desire not to be judged by their own appearance - and judging by their commitment and application yesterday - that is something we do in peril.

God bless these guys as they grapple with exams, relationships, becoming adults, and how Jesus fits into all of this.

WORK 2: Life in Balance

2009-06-22T11:03:00.007+01:00

Father's have a tough life! (It's Father's Day, bear with me!).

Balancing work, home life, time with friends, etc And it's not just dad's that have to get this balance - we all do. This may seem an odd place to look, but Luke 18:9-17 may have something to say.

Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else:

Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn." The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, "God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner."

Then Jesus said, "When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored."

Some people brought their little children for Jesus to bless. But when his disciples saw them doing this, they told the people to stop bothering him. So Jesus called the children over to him and said, "Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom. You will never get into God's kingdom unless you enter it like a child!"

How do we balance all before us?

What is our attitude to Work?
There's the story of the American football coach who took on a job with one of the leading American football teams. The equivalent of a Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho etc

But when he saw the schedule of coaching times and meetings before matches, he told the owners of the club he couldn't attend the last team meeting on Saturday afternoon before the big game on a Sunday.

His reason?

He wanted to watch his son play baseball!

What is our attitude to our children?
The culture at the time of Jesus had very little time for children. Not even seen let alone heard.

Children in our culture seem to fall between becoming our idols or being left to their own devices. Either they're our whole life or we want as little to do with them as possible.

What is our attitude to life?
Jesus turned his culture on its head when he accepted the children, blessed them and spoke of their ability to accept the kingdom of God - open, willing to embrace. This is often seen as telling us to embrace the kingdom like a child, but could it also mean living it as a child would;

- Willing to live for the here and now
- willing to forgive and forget
- & not worrying about tomorrow

It's a challenge to balance work and family - the football coach was criticised for his stance by the previous coach who said he was letting the team down - in fact that coach was so caught up in the job he lost his wife and kids.

Perhaps he was proud like the Pharisee at the beginning of this passage - hardly humble, living for himself, prepared to judge others. The exact opposite of the way Jesus called us to live our life. The tax collector was humble - 'have mercy on me a sinner' - perhaps we also need an honest assessment of our attitude and how we stand before God in all of this.

And the balance centers on our attitude to them - our attitude to work, our attitude to our children (& partner), and our attitude to life.

WORK 1: Example

2009-06-22T10:40:00.004+01:00

(Picture of ancient Thessalonica)

We begin our mini series on Work with Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica. In the first few verses Paul talks a lot about 'example' - Paul had taught and emodied the gospel whilst he was with the believers;

'When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you' (1 Thessalonians 1:5 CEV)

Paul then comments on the Thessalonians reaction to this;

'So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example, and the example of the Lord... you became an example for all the Lord's followers... and because of you, the Lord's message has spread everywhere..' (verses 6-8)

The gospel message holds power - power to change people's lives (c.f Romans 1:16) - by word and action. Paul taught and lived out the gospel, setting the right example to the church and they in turn lived and taught the gospel so that it spread.

In our work, how we 'live out the gospel', speaks volumes to our work colleagues.

Alan spoke of the Thessalonians example;
1) 'Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us' (verse 9)
2) 'How you turned away from idols' (v9)
3) 'How you are waiting for the Lord's return' (v10)

Is this the example we set at work? Willing to welcome, to accept other colleagues, to avoid being caught up in materialism perhaps, about understanding that we do all this in patient expectation of Jesus' very real return.

Does this come from our strength?

No.

We start at the point of knowing we are under God's grace. 'Grace and peace to you' (v1 NIV), and 'God loves you... he has chosen you to be his people' (v4 CEV).

If we understand better who we are in Christ, about how much we mean to God, how His grace has covered our sin, then we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, we begin to start living the way God calls us to, living the gospel as Paul did, being an example...

Membership Renewal

2009-06-08T13:42:00.004+01:00

These are the promises we made as members, Sunday 7th June 2009;

We thank you Lord for your faithfulness to us.

We thank you for Jesus and for what you have done in our lives.

We thank you for each other and the family, community, workplaces and church you have placed us in.

We are sorry when we fail to live up to your command to love each other.

We are sorry when we fail to live up to your command to love those that are different from us.

We are sorry when we place other things in the way of a relationship with you.

We ask Lord that we may better know your love for us.

We ask Lord that we may receive your strength, and be given your wisdom for each day.

We ask Lord that we will continue to know the guidance of your Holy Spirit and understand where we can best serve.

We promise as a church to continue to seek after you Lord.

We promise as a church to continue to love and serve our family, the people we work with, the people of our community, and each other.

We promise as a church to be committed to your call on us, wherever that may lead.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

BUILDING WORSHIPPERS SERIES: 4 - Church

2009-06-08T13:01:00.004+01:00

In the final talk of our Building Worshippers series, we are now at 'Church'. And we looked at 1 Corinthians 12:7-31.

With Temple, we understood that it was Jesus' sacrifice that enabled us to get right with God;
We can now be at peace with God
We can be at peace with ourselves
We can seek peace with others
We can seek peace with the world

And those that take this step, of accepting Peace with God, are 'Israel', that is the new community, the body of people that choose to live a life that pleases God; i.e. the church.

In reading the passage we discovered three 'P's' - Power; People; Purpose.

Power - Paul, in writing to the church at Corinth, talks about gifts of the Spirit. Much is made of talking in tongues, healing the sick etc, and although we don't have the chance in this session to go deeper into this, the likelihood is we all exhibit and have some gifts of the Spirit in the way we welcome people at Bonny Downs, love them, care for them and serve in practical ways.

This is the Holy Spirit at work in you and I.

And we need this presence of God in our lives to help us live the way that pleases God. We need His strength and wisdom and love through having the Holy Spirit present in us - and we shouldn't be afriad to ask for Him - Jesus said, "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:11).

People - 'Love your neighbour', 'pray for your enemies' - yikes! Living this new way isn't easy and yet it's what God calls us to. However, the apostle Paul speaks of us being 'one body', each of us with a role to play.

We make much of making a personal decision for Jesus - saying that we believe so that we become a Christian - and yet this is not about us in isolation. It's about living in this new community, church, supporting and encouraging others as they support and encourage us. 'Love your neighbour' doesn't sound so difficult when we know we're all in this together.

And for us as a church it remains a challenge to continue to reach out to people, whether they are Muslim, Eastern European, kids that hang out on our streets, etc

I've heard recently about groups of Christians who visit New Age fairs with Psalm reading tents; of others who've chosen to live in areas largely populated by gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals. We shouldn't hide away thinking others will 'infect' us as some Christians do, but understand there's something in us (see Power above!) that has the ability to change people's lives.

Purpose - Having attended the World Sports Minsitries evenings this week, it's been really exciting and encouraging to hear what other Christians are doing to reach young people in our borough and those that play and enjoy sport. And of the ideas people have for us to all work together.

We must continue to look outward. And discover what role each of us is to play. People's giftings often become apparent when we meet together, when we get to know each other, when we share with each other - and that's difficult to do on a Sunday morning. Each of us should commit to a Small Church Group/Home Group, that we might be 'one body', sharing and caring for each other, encouraging and being encouraged, discovering what God has for each of us.

And in all of this, we know we are following Jesus' example;
Power "Jesus returned to Galilee with the
power of the Spirit."
Luke 4:14 CEV

People "Now that I, your Lord and
Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet."
John 13:14 NIV

Purpose "For I have come down from
heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."
John 6:38 NIV

BUILDING WORSHIPPERS SERIES: 3 - Temple

2009-06-08T12:40:00.005+01:00

We now move on to the Temple built by King Solomon, and from the passage 2 Chronicles 6:18 to 7:1.

Solomon, King David's son, prays that the Temple will be a place where Israelites (and foreigners) will be able to pray toward, knowing that this is where God is. And that God, in his mercy, will answer the prayers of the humble and repentant.

But the Temple was also a place of scarifice. Whilst other cultures sacrificed their crops, their livestock, even their children (e.g. Leviticus 18:21), and not know if their sacrifices had appeased or pleased their idols/gods/forces of nature, the Israelites could offer their sacrifices knowing that peace could be made with God (see Leviticus 16). They could walk away knowing that their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had heard and answered their prayers.

This was revolutionary.

But, up to, and including at the time of Jesus, for many, it was no longer about a relationship with a real, personal, God, rather a system, a rite, a religious practice which led to no changes in behaviours or attitudes. It was no longer real or personal.

And Jesus swept through the Temple courts overturning tables and condemoning the practices of the powerful religious leaders. The temple was no longer a place of prayer, but a 'den of robbers' (see Matthew 21:12-17).

And so, highlighting the fact that we are unable to appease or please God, we are unable to deal with the sin in our own life, God sacrifices his son, Jesus.

It's no longer a case of people sacrificing their first born son to appease God. Now it's God who sacrifices his first born son to make peace between us and him.

Incredible.

And so by Jesus’ sacrifice, we know where we stand;
We know we can approach God through Jesus;
We know we can pray to God through Jesus;
We know we have God’s forgiveness through Jesus.

And so, instead of pointing to The Temple, we are to point people toward Jesus.

For Jesus is now the place where people can come to meet with God and find forgiveness and purpose for their life.

BUILDING WORSHIPPERS SERIES: 1 - Altar

2009-05-19T15:13:00.004+01:00

Genesis 12:1-8
Abraham is told to leave Haran and go to the land God has promised. God promises to bless him and make him the Father of nations. Abraham's response is to build an altar.

Last week we considered how people came to sacrifice crops and animals in order to appease the forces (gods - sun, moon, rain, etc) around them. Abraham, or Abram, as he still is at this point, would have grown up in this kind of environment.

But he's asked to leave this all behind. This old way of living. For Ur, where he lives, is a civilised part of a city, where he will have wider family and clan. There would have been no major worries about food and shelter, although the scarificial system had turned into religion.

Abraham leaves with his father Terah, wife Sarah, and nephew Lot. They get as far as Haran and Terah dies - (Haran was perhaps a twin town of Ur - both had the moon as their patron god) - and God makes a promise to Abraham,
'I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you... all people's on earth will be blessed because of you'.

Abraham builds an altar. For he trusts God. Believes in Him. For he has been taken out of his comfort zone, to a place where he is a foreigner. And he trusts God will come good.

The altar would have looked like the one in the picture above.

The altar was a signpost in a way. For Abraham it was a reminder of God's faithfulness in the past, and served as a sign to His fulfilling future promises.

In Ur, and Sumeria, and even in Canaan where Abraham is now, the sacrificial syetm would have been similar. But, they were offering sacrifices in the hope that something would happen.

Abraham offered his sacrifice in the knowledge that something had happened, and would happen.

This was revolutionary.

But what does it have to do with us?

Today we could argue that our church buildings are a signpost, the altars of the now. They are a sign of New Testament times, of the coming of Jesus, what with their crosses, but is that really the point?

After all, is God not in us?

So we are the signposts - people who can look back to God's faithfulness, and look forward to God's promises (in Jesus). We are the 'living sacrifices' as the Apostle Paul describes in Hebrews 12;
'Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.'

For we are the sign that God is faithful and keeps his promises.

In the beginning...

2009-05-12T10:34:00.004+01:00

One of my lecturers from college always used to say there are two questions you should ask when reading the Bible - what kind of God? And so what?

Trouble is, we often don't ask these simple questions, especially when we come to consider reading Genesis, thinking about creation, and the popular evolution debate (what with it being the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of the Species').

Religion, or the worship of a god or gods likely 'evolved'.

How do things grow? We may know that answer in 2009 A.D., but what if we lived in 2009 B.C.? Sure, we may have an awareness that it's something to do with the big ball of heat in the sky, and the water that sometimes falls from above.

And we would probably recognise that we have no control over these elements, these forces. Perhaps though we can appease them, that our crops may grow, that we may catch aninals to eat, that even the life that is inside of the women may be born and live.

So we offer scarifices. Give the first part of our harvest or sacrifice an animal. That way these life forces may bless us.

In time we personalised these forces, and we put our image upon them. We made the sun, moon, sky, earth, the seasons, elements into gods. Experts arose about how to appease these gods (priests) and stories evolved about how these gods came about, and about how we came into being (Creation myths). Part of this came about to try and understand life, its struggles, its seasons, harsh winters, about appeasing nature around us, about survivng.

It is believed that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, including Genesis, and that he brought together stories and oral traditions that may have been passed down through the generations.

Only this 'God' was very different. Whilst all the other people groups had their own gods and creation myths, where we were supposedly born out of chaos and struggle, where the earth was formed from the corpse of a a god, and humans from the blood of another god (Babylonian Creation myth), the Israelites God was unique.

For a start there was only one. No other gods.

We were created in His image. Not the other way round.

We were created out of love. Not out of chaos and struggle.

This God was interested in us - he walked with Adam. In the Babylonian creation myth, humans were made to do the gods work so that they could sit around and do nothing.

There was equality between man and woman - woman, termed 'helper' in Hebrew, a word used elsewhere to describe God in his actions to help the Israelites. Elsewhere, men dominated, in the Babylonian story, Marduk the male conquering god, banished female gods.

And God considered Creation 'good'.

What kind of God? And so what?

This is a loving, involved God, interested in us. When the Israelites lived amongst other people, they had a God who was persoanlly involved, who had saved them out of Egypt, led them to the promised land, had provided for them, taught them, even disciplined them.

And this is our God.

Interested and involved in our lives.

'When the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt, you saw how he fought for you and showed his great power by peforming terrifying miracles. You became his people, and at Mount Sinai you heard him talking to you out of fiery flames. And yet you are still alive!
Has anything like this ever happened since the time God created humans? No matter where you go or who you ask, you will get the same answer. No one has ever heard of another god even trying to do such things as the lord your God has done for you.'
Deuteronomy 4:32-34 CEV (Italics mine)

In Relationship

2009-04-27T13:51:00.004+01:00

Have you ever been criticised for doing what you thought was the right thing?

Jennie and I did when we refused requests for people to go round and 'sort out' our tenant, who at the time was refusing to vacate our house. We didn't believe this was the right action, but we were labelled crazy as a result.

Peter and John in Acts 3 and 4 also faced hostility for doing the right thing. They are brought before the religious authorities, questioned, imprisoned, flogged, threatened and then let go with a 'shut up or else' ringing in their ears.

Their crime? Healing a lame man in Jesus' name, and then sharing about Jesus to the crowd.

In returning to to the other disciples they share their experiences and instead of shutting up shop or praying for protection, they ask for boldness!

Are they mad?!

In fact part of their prayer is very revealing (Acts 4:23-31). They too question why they have to face such ridicule and aggression, just as we often do when we're faced with criticism or rejection or just plain nastiness for doing the right (God) thing.

For last week we spoke about Jesus' command to 'go', to teach others what Jesus has taught us (Matthew 28:18-20). But it would be unrealistic to think we will not face any opposition for this. Others are threatened by this change in (our) behaviour, living God's way, seeking to forgive when others would condemn, seeing the best when others will only see the worst.

But in all this, the disciples remind themselves that;
God is the God of Creation;
'You made...' (Acts 4:24)
God is the God of Revelation;
'You spoke...' (25)
God is the God of History;
'You decided...' (28)

It is in this God we trust regardless of what is sometimes going on around us.

The disciples also remind themselves of their relationship with and to God;
'Master...' (24)
'...we are your servants' (29)

Jesus has asked them (and us) to live this new way - not to shut up shop or seek safety - & so they ask for boldness to be able to live up to this command.

And they do this together.

Not only are we in relationship to God, but we live this life in relationship with the church. So, when we 'go', we go not alone, but together, choosing to share the journey and the joys and the burdens along the way, just as the disciples did.

And the amazing thing? God answers the disciples prayer, and in a powerful way.

Church History has shown that when the church (this body of believers) breaks new gound in Jesus' name, God shows up, people are touched, healed and their lives are changed.

So, let's not be discouraged by what others say or do when we're seeking to live and share God's way. Rather, let's ask for boldness!

Commission (A relationship worth Living & Sharing)

2009-04-20T15:18:00.006+01:00

Matthew 28:18-20 (CEV)
Jesus came to them and said:
I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

Last week we celebrated Easter – where God showed his immeasurable love and grace to us by sacrificing his Son upon the cross, that we might be forgiven for that which stains us, and then Jesus rose again, showing that we start a new life now with God.
We now jump a few weeks to the point where Jesus is about to leave his apprentices, and he commissions them.

But, I first want to talk about chocolate!

Did you have plenty of chocolate last week? Are you sick of the sight of the stuff yet? Did you know that a significant proportion of the chocolate we eat comes from cocoa in the Ivory Coast. And the farms that deal with cocoa in the Ivory Coast have about 30,000 trafficked children working there.

It’s why the organisation Stop The Traffik was formed a few years ago and have sought to bring the confectionery companies to book, to be ensure that their chocolate is free of trafficked and exploited children and workers.

Last month Cadbury announced that its entire range of Dairy Milk will be certified Fairtrade by the Autumn – ensuring a better deal for farmers – and Mars have just announced that Galaxy will be certified free from trafficked and exploited labour next year.

John Cadbury, a Quaker, started Cadbury's back in the 1800's, opening a shop selling cocoa and drinking chocolate as an alternative to alcohol. His son, George, went even further. The business was booming by now and they needed bigger premises and homes for workers.

So he built his factories out of town, known as the ‘factory in a garden’, with gardens and sports fields, heated dressing rooms, then built homes for his workers (and others – not limited to his workforce), not back to back tenements, but homes with gardens front and back. He wanted his workers to be able to live in a peaceful environment and enjoy a better quality of life.

But that wasn’t enough for George Cadbury. He not only wanted better quality of life for people but he also wanted them to know the benefit of having Jesus in their life. For 50 years, the day began at Cadbury’s with morning prayers and a bible reading.

For some time the Christian community has struggled with the balance of sharing your faith and/or doing good works. For Cadbury the two were linked.

For Stop the Traffik, the two are linked – stopping children being trafficked is God’s work.

A Jewish translation of our reading this morning talks about ‘immersing them in the reality of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit’.

‘Immersing them in the reality’ – or ‘teach them everything to do I have told you’ – grasping that Jesus showed and taught the disciples how to live and we are to do the same. It's a relationship not only worth living, but sharing too.

You can believe but not share, and that’s incomplete faith – our relationship with Jesus should transform us and those people or situations around us.

How might we do it?

‘We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learnt that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. God made great and marvellous promises, so that his nature would become part of us’.
2 Peter 3-4 CEV

How does your being a Christian benefit others?

Richard

Easter Day

2009-04-20T14:55:00.002+01:00

Palm Sunday (Arrival)

2009-04-20T14:47:00.002+01:00

Climax!
It’s all been boiling down to this. Jesus has been skirting in and around Jerusalem, and now he’s on his way in. The crowds have been following him. His disciples, the followers, women, perhaps Mary, Martha and Lazarus, others who’d heard about Jesus or his miracles or the raising of Lazarus.

‘Crowds’ the Bible says.

He comes from the Mount of Olives, as they believe the Messiah will come, they lay palm branches down as they apparently did for Judas Maccabeus 200 years before as he came to be king, and they lay their cloaks, perhaps their only coat, on the floor – we give everything to this person.

‘Hosanna’, they cry.
‘Please. Save Us!’ or ‘Deliver us!’

Perhaps like Peter last week they are thinking that this prophet Jesus is coming as a king.

‘Everyone in the city was excited’, it says.
Something is up and it’s infectious.

But in just a matter of days it’s all going to turn a bit nasty...

Just a few months ago, Barack Obama is lauded and seen as the saviour of the US, if not the world. The momentum grew as he went from his time as Senator to Presidential nominee to the 44th President of the United States.
Crowds amassed at his inauguration, he was cheered, feted, ‘worshipped’ even.

OK, different place, but the crowds that amassed this week at the G20 Summit were less than complimentary. They may not have been against him per se as what he stands for.

But it’s an interesting comparison, of how one minute we look to someone as a Saviour, and are then deeply disappointed when they don’t deliver what WE WANT.
Commentators at the time said there was no way that Obama could live up to the expectation that was being placed at his feet.

And the people that welcomed and cheered Jesus into Jerusalem had great expectations of Jesus as well. Here was their Saviour, their promised Messiah, the one who be king of Israel, who would free them from Roman occupation and make their lives that bit better.

Trouble was, Jesus came to bring change far deeper and longer lasting that anyone expected or perhaps even wanted.

Matthew, in his gospel, quotes from two verses in the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures;
Here is what the Lord has said,
"Soon I will come to save
the city of Zion,
Matthew says, ‘Announce to the people of Jerusalem: ‘Your king is coming to you’

And Zecharaiah 9:9 says,
Everyone in Jerusalem,
celebrate and shout!
Your king has won a victory,
and he is coming to you.
He is humble
and rides on a donkey;
he comes on the colt
of a donkey.

The first hints that Jesus is the Saviour and God – ‘I’ will come to save Zion / Jerusalem. And Jesus arrives on the donkey, humility, coming as the suffering servant, on a beast of burden, ready to do work – and yet, there will be a time when Jesus will come to Jerusalem as King, but this is not that time.

For Jesus came not to free them from Roman oppression or rich landowners, but from our sins and selfishness. That he might be sacrificed for our wrongdoings, to pay the God-price that we might be forgiven and come back to God, our eternal destiny and longing.

The question is – are we ready to receive him?

And we begin to find out the lengths that Jesus / God will go to to get us back. For we have wandered from Him
For we thought we knew what was best
We wanted control of our own lives
We have gone our own way

And Jesus comes
Riding on a donkey
To call us back

And he's saying;
"I can carry everything you’ve ever done
My love for you is so great I can bear it
I can take it with me all the way to the cross

I am loving, forgiving, full of grace and mercy
I can thoroughly clear out all your mess
A deep cleanse

Here I come – will you receive me?"

Richard

Cost

2009-03-30T12:54:00.006+01:00

Easter is nearly here and we start by considering the Cost.

The three main points are;

Believing in Jesus
Thinking like Jesus
Living like Jesus

Believing in Jesus

'You are the Messiah, the son of the living God' Matthew 16:16

Who do you say Jesus is? Two people I spoke to last week had a fascinating take on God and Jesus. One said that they believed in a god because of the solar system and the way it was planned, the other that they believed that Jesus was a real man who told us the right way to live, but didn't believe there was a god.

Jesus asked his followers who other people believed he was ('Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah or Jeremiah or some other prophet') before asking them the same question.

Peter responded, 'You are the Messiah, the son of the living God'.

Perhaps we're still at the point of working out who Jesus is. Is he real? Of what relevance is he? Peter was sure. It's taken the disciples some time perhaps to work this out, to come to this belief. Jesus praises Peter for knowing this for it could only have been revealed by God. But he'd listened and heard and understood and now told Jesus.

There's a cost to discovering who Jesus is. Perhaps in the ridicule of others, perhaps because of our own pride.

Thinking like Jesus
'Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God' Matthew 16:23

A few of the organisers of the G20 protests were interviewed this week on Radio 5 Live. Most were organising peaceful demonstrations but there was an anarchist present who believed that violence was the only way to put across their point.

Two sets of people, looking to effect the same change, but looking to go about it in very different ways. Asked about the incredible impact Gandhi had by peaceful means and one of the interviewees could only comment that Gandhi had once apparently planted a bomb.

It's all very well believing in Jesus but unless we begin to think like Jesus it's all in vain. Peter, having just exclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah, responds in a typical 'foot in mouth' way by telling Jesus he's wrong that he will soon suffer and die (I'm not sure he understands the 'rise to life' bit).

Jesus rebukes him strongly for thinking like others - Peter perhaps is thinking of a more violent revolution where Jesus will be proclaimed King and the Romans are thrown out of Israel.

But this is not God's way, and it's not Jesus' way. He seeks the path of peace and sacrifice.

There's a cost to us in thinking like Jesus, seeking to pray and read the Bible, asking questions, and starting on a journey to become a follower of Jesus.

Living like Jesus
'If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me' Matthew 16:24

Did you watch The Apprentice this week? 16 people seeking to become Sir Alan Sugar's next apprentice. Over the next few weeks and months they'll battle it out, they'll work hard, bitch about each other, and have plenty of tears and tantrums. It's every man, or woman, for themself.

And it's anti-gospel.

In all their effort to become like Sir Alan Sugar, it's juts about them, nobody else. When Jesus speaks of becoming like him, becoming one of Jesus' apprentices, he talks of self sacrifice, of giving, serving, loving.

God is often portrayed as a party-pooper - 'you can't do this, you can't do that' - but community, loving God, loving people - so ably demonstrated by those that gave up their Saturday to work at the Pavilion - is a party starter.

But there's a cost to this. One of the Apprentices dropped out the night before as being away from his wife and two young children for up to three months was too big a price to pay. And we have to consider that there's price to pay in being one of Jesus' apprentices by the way we choose to live like him.

And in all this we know that Jesus paid a great cost. Crucified on a cross so that we might be forgiven. He gave his life so that we can start ours with God.

Mother's Day

2009-03-24T16:12:00.005Z

The theme for Mother's Day was taken from the book of Ruth.

It's the story of the family of Elimelech and Naomi who move from Israel to Moab due to a famine. Here Elimelech dies and Naomi's two sons marry. Tragically, both sons die and Naomi senses now is the time to return to her larger family in Israel.

Initially she sets off with her daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth, but then entreats them to stay in their own homeland. Ruth though vows to stay with Naomi;

'I will go where you go,
I will live where you live;
Your people will be my people,
your God will be my God'
Ruth 1 verse 6 (CEV).

Naomi and Ruth return to Israel, and Ruth is sent out into Naomi's wider family's fields to collect grain left by the workers. She is noticed by Boaz and one thing leads to another... and they marry and live happily ever after (Ruth even appears in the family line of Jesus as a result).

The book of Ruth follows on from the book of Judges. A book detailing how the people of Israel kept straying from God. And here, we have a Moabite woman who shows incredible faith. As Ruth is faithful to Naomi and to the God of the Israelites, so God is faithful to her.

But in thinking of the relationship between Naomi and Ruth, who do we seek to 'mother' or be a 'daughter' to? It's not just our mums (or dads) that we can learn from. It's not just our daughters (or sons) that we can teach.

Who has influenced you in life and faith? Tell them, thank God for them and pray for them.

Who might you be able to get alongside and encourage, challenge and look out for?

God has blessed us with a larger family, the people of the church, in which to live and love and learn, becoming more like Jesus along the way.

Richard

Wisdom

2009-03-17T12:53:00.003Z

Henk Bouma from London City Mission was our guest speaker at the induction of Ben Clark as a Minister here at Bonny Downs Baptist Church.

He gave a challenging talk from 1 Kings 3 and the wisdom of Solomon.

Solomon asked God for wisdom; 'I'm very young and know so little about being a leader...(so) make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong' (verses 7 and 9). God was pleased to grant this (10-11).

Then follows the story of the two prostitutes arguing about a baby boy. Solomon orders the baby to be cut in half at which the mother declares that the first woman can have the baby; 'Please don't kill my son... I love him very much, but give him to her (the other woman)'. At this, Solomon knows she is the real mother.

Henk asked what drives us to make decisions, to choose which job, or where to live, etc Where is this wisdom going to come from when the Bible seems vague or doesn't cover what we're concerned about?

Henk invited Jess to choose between a Crunchie bar or 55p. She chose the chocolate (her motivating factor!). The woman who sought to take the baby from its mother was driven by avoiding shame. That was her motivating factor, and she was willing for the baby to be cut in two and neither woman have the baby. The real mother was prepared to give up her baby if that meant her son could live - 'love' (CEV) or 'compassion' (NIV) drove her decision making.

What drives us? Money, perhaps? Or something else? Whether we take this job or that job, or we move here of there, if Jesus is everything to us, if He is the motivating factor in our decisions, then that is (divine) wisdom.

Richard

A Cheerful Giver

2009-03-17T12:42:00.006Z

Alan spoke at The Well from 2 Corinthians 9, Paul's letter to Corinth. Do we view things by what we can give? Or by what we can get?

Remember this saying, "A few seeds make a small harvest,
but a lot of seeds make a big harvest. Each of you must
make up your own mind about how much to give. But don't
feel sorry that you must give and don't feel that you are
forced to give. God loves people who love to give
[A CHEERFUL GIVER]. God can bless you with everything
you need, and you will always have more than enough to do
all kinds of good things for others. The Scriptures say, "God
freely gives his gifts to the poor, and always does right."
God gives seed to farmers and provides everyone with food.
He will increase what you have, so that you can
give even more to those in need. You will be blessed in
every way, and you will be able to keep on being
generous. Then many people will thank God when
we deliver your gift. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11

Alan's main points were;
GOD LOVES A
CHEERFUL GIVER
2 COR. 9 V.7

GOD LOVES A
CHEERFUL TAXPAYER -

GOD LOVES A
CHEERFUL FAMILY SUPPORTER -

GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL TITHER -

GOD LOVES US TO TREAT OURSELVES -

GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL BENEFACTOR

Rather than asking for more giving, Alan shared about what we had already given, including recent gifts to Smile International and their work in Zimbabwe; Open Doors and their work in Orissa, India, where Christians have been facing persecution; World Sports Ministries, who BDCA are looking to partner with in sports and outreach work on and from Flanders Field; and Flanders Football Club to go toward helping their younger teams of local kids.

Richard

Exploring Worship 1 - 'Worship: Wassat?!

2009-03-10T09:40:00.009Z

Someone once said that 'worship' is abit like love - everyone knows what it is until they're asked to define it! At our Sunday evening services in March we've been having a go at not only defining worship, but also working out how to worship; we're not only working out what worship means to us, but also having a go at worshipping using inspiration from different Christian traditions.

Worship: Wassat?!

~ The Big Picture

So, what is worship? Perhaps it's helpful for a moment to try to detach worship not only from us but also from God: what, in and of itself, does the Bible suggest that 'worship' actually is? Biblical worship, I would argue, is simply giving glory, honour and worth to that which is ultimately and completely worthy of that glory, honour and worth. In other words, giving glory honour and worth to that which is good, right, perfect, beautiful and true.

We worship God, Scripture suggests, not simply because of what He does (although the Bible certainly encourages us to do so: Ex. 15:1-18 for example), but ultimately because of who He is: in God is all that is good, right, beautiful and true. What is more, God knows this even better than we can ever do - in worship we join our Trinitarian, Relationship God in glorifying Himself, not because God has a sadistic need to be worshipped but because, if in God is all that is worthy of worship, it makes perfectly right to acknowledge that and for God to be worshipped.

One of the most remarkable things about us being made in the Image of God is that, like God, we are capable of recognising beauty and perfection and worshipping it. And in that worship, we join with God Himself and we find our true purpose in life. Worship is not just about singing a few songs on a Sunday morning, it is a lifestyle.

Jesus and the Trinity

And it makes sense that Chritian worship is a lifestyle centred on Jesus Christ. Our worship must always be Trinitarian (indeed on the occassion that Jesus speaks most clearly about worship He uses language that is arguably Trinitarian: John 4:21-24), however within our Trinitarian worship Jesus has a special place.

Firstly, we worship Jesus. It is the disciples' worship of Jesus (Matt. 28: 17) that provides perhaps the most stark evidence of their belief in His deity - good Jews would worship only one God (Deut. 5:6-7; 6:4-5). Jesus is indisputably worthy of our worship.

Secondly, we worship through Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross made Him our great High Priest. In the Old Testament, the High Priest was the one who was the go-between between God and His people; it was the High Priest who interceded to God on the people's behalf. Now we have Jesus as our great High Priest: One who is continually interceding for His people, One who enables us to access the Father (Heb. 7:11-28).

Thirdly, we are equipped as worshippers by Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice for us didn't simply provide a better go-between for us so we could access God better; Jesus' sacrifice cleanses us - makes us able to access God ourselves without a go-between. Through Jesus we are made High Priests - we are a chosen people (1 Peter 2:4-12). It is through Jesus that our great purpose in life - worship - is made gloriously possible.

~ Words

Finally, to discover what Scripture has to say about worship we must listen to the words that it uses to discribe it. There are three main themes to be found in both the three Hebrew words translated into the English word 'worship' and in the four Greek words translated the same: reverence, submission and service. Biblical worship is an amazingly big thing: something that is bigger than us, something that goes some way to defining God, something that we are uniquely caught up in. But the practical outworking of our lives of worship is very simple: reverence, submission and service: a life that glorifies God.