| sermon_-_john_2v1-11._january_2021.pdf |
| zoom_service_january_3rd_2021.pdf |
| zoom_service_15th_november_2020.pdf |
| remembrance_sunday_2020_sermon_-_zoom.pdf |
| philippians_4v1-9.pdf |
| harvest_message_2020.pdf |
| sunday_20th_september_2020.pdf |
| taking_ourselves_seriously.pdf |
| vlog1_25march2020 |
The Season of Epiphany - January 2020
One of the themes we associate with the season of Epiphany is that of giving.
When we remember the Magi (or Wise Men) we recall how they brought gifts which they gave to Jesus.
What we can overlook easily is the main desire of the Magi was to worship the new-born King; and they presented their gifts, after or as the overflow of meeting and worshipping Jesus.
Accordingly, in the early part of this new year (and new decade) let me encourage you to think again about your giving as an expression of Christian discipleship and worship.
What follows is something I have shared preciously; but, like all good things, is worth a re-read…
Playing our Part
4 things we believe about Giving:
(1 Corinthians 16v2)
In practice the principle of ‘the first day …’ is the frequency with which we receive our income – this could be weekly, monthly and in a few cases annually; whilst giving ‘in keeping with … 'income’ suggests it is about equal proportions rather than equal giving > i.e. someone earning £10,000 pa will give a lot less than someone earning £50,000.
2. Sacrificial giving is the ‘norm’ for all Christians. “Just as you excel in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love … see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Corinthians 8v7)
It is about being rounded, balanced and consistent about how deep and far our faith is permeating our way of life.
3. Giving is part of our worship to God “This service is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Corinthians 9v12)
Our vision is much more than ‘doing our bit for the church’; rather how we give often reflects the nature of our devotion to Him. Similarly, as we don’t restrict our worship of God to a couple of visits to church each month when the diary allows, a particularly reliable way to fulfil what we intend is to translate our prayerfully considered plan for giving into a Standing Order in the church’s favour, payable each month.
4. Giving includes providing for generations to come
“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children …” (Proverbs 13v22)
When we understand as Christians we have been born into a new family (John 3v3) and have a common standing as daughters and sons of God (Romans 8v14-17), the question of legacy becomes important. Decisions to provide for a legacy take careful planning supported by appropriate advice, reflect thankfulness for how God has enriched us, earth the desire we have to bless future generations and (along with legacies to other charities) often make good sense in terms of tax planning!
One of the themes we associate with the season of Epiphany is that of giving.
When we remember the Magi (or Wise Men) we recall how they brought gifts which they gave to Jesus.
What we can overlook easily is the main desire of the Magi was to worship the new-born King; and they presented their gifts, after or as the overflow of meeting and worshipping Jesus.
Accordingly, in the early part of this new year (and new decade) let me encourage you to think again about your giving as an expression of Christian discipleship and worship.
What follows is something I have shared preciously; but, like all good things, is worth a re-read…
Playing our Part
4 things we believe about Giving:
- Giving should be regular and not left to how we might ‘feel’ on the day or whether we have made it to church this week!
(1 Corinthians 16v2)
In practice the principle of ‘the first day …’ is the frequency with which we receive our income – this could be weekly, monthly and in a few cases annually; whilst giving ‘in keeping with … 'income’ suggests it is about equal proportions rather than equal giving > i.e. someone earning £10,000 pa will give a lot less than someone earning £50,000.
2. Sacrificial giving is the ‘norm’ for all Christians. “Just as you excel in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love … see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Corinthians 8v7)
It is about being rounded, balanced and consistent about how deep and far our faith is permeating our way of life.
3. Giving is part of our worship to God “This service is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Corinthians 9v12)
Our vision is much more than ‘doing our bit for the church’; rather how we give often reflects the nature of our devotion to Him. Similarly, as we don’t restrict our worship of God to a couple of visits to church each month when the diary allows, a particularly reliable way to fulfil what we intend is to translate our prayerfully considered plan for giving into a Standing Order in the church’s favour, payable each month.
4. Giving includes providing for generations to come
“A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children …” (Proverbs 13v22)
When we understand as Christians we have been born into a new family (John 3v3) and have a common standing as daughters and sons of God (Romans 8v14-17), the question of legacy becomes important. Decisions to provide for a legacy take careful planning supported by appropriate advice, reflect thankfulness for how God has enriched us, earth the desire we have to bless future generations and (along with legacies to other charities) often make good sense in terms of tax planning!
| Growing as Disciplers -Team Service 30/06 |
| Celebrating God's Goodness |
| 10 Things Jesus said about money |
| Handling my giving in regard to the local church |
Team Service – 29th July 2018 ~ ‘Growing in RESILIENCE’
Today I’ve chosen to return to Bible passages read a few Sundays ago. It’s an opportunity to digest something rather than just dashing through.
First some explanation why I feel this is timely.
Everyone knows times when … the unexpected blows up, it starts to feel we will drown in the storm that is overtaking us.
Right now Annie and I have friends in northern California in shock, danger and fear for what next because their locality is engulfed with fire and has already destroyed an area the size of a major city; closer to home and through the years we have felt the same at times within family life, through work and even the ways of the church.
The end of July often feels like a year-end, a time to look back and try to put into some focus the good, the bad and everything else that has stood out in the recent past. If the past few months have been tinged by a sense of being under siege or with flood-waters rising maybe this message will bring illumination, wisdom and fresh resources.
The aim is that we catch a simple but profound vision – how we can become more like Jesus > facing battles we go through but able to sleep like babies; and when brought to by others … finding we are able to inject calm and become an inspiration to others in their fear…
… and what we are in those times becomes what they can be the next time something similar unfolds.
In terms of BECOMING BIGGER CHRISTIANS … I am talking about GROWING IN RESILIENCE.
One definition of resilience is: the capacity to spring back into our prior or intended shape … whatever has been dumped on us, rather than being left damaged by the pressure we have been under.
FROM OUR FIRST READING > David often stood apart from his peers as a resilient person – in early life as a shepherd, then a fearless warrior, later as king and politician as well as the parent of a dysfunctional family. Whether it was facing a roaring bear, the taunts of Goliath or bruising from battered relationships … David was a person who kept his shape and knew God’s favour.
Not that he found it easy, far from it.
Often, he found himself in deep angst; on one occasion when supposed friends wanted to stone him the response was this:
“David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30v6)
We may ask: what did that mean and was David not just a ‘one-off’? Be patient and we will try to find out!
Nevertheless, along the way, we are likely to need also the sort of discernment Jesus displayed.
In Mark 4v39 we read Jesus “rebuked the wind …”
This is the same word used elsewhere when Jesus recognises evil spirits wreaking emotional and physical torment on some people. In the wind and the waves Jesus saw not just natural forces but also unnatural powers manipulating the environment around them.
In Ephesians 6 Paul reminds Christians the real battles we face are with spiritual forces that have the capacity, unless checked, to influence the world around us.
On this occasion, recorded in Mark 4, the storm on the Sea of Galilee had been whipped up by malevolent spiritual forces affecting the natural elements, intent on destroying Jesus and the disciples. I am sure all of us have either recognised times like that or wondered about the strange feel in things imploding around us. We need to allow to enter our thinking and responses the possibility that some are signs of us being in the crucible of spiritual battles.
In John 10 Jesus offers an important contrast: He describes the devil as the thief who comes to rob, steal and destroy whereas he came to give life.
We know Jesus got it right on this occasion; as soon as he gets involved the storm abates.
Some people are quick to blame God for all the things that go wrong in our lives and the world around us. That is unfair and not true to the revelation of God in the Bible.
The Bible says, in giving us free will God also delegated this world’s affairs to humanity; and also, through Jesus, restored our capacity to draw the superior authority of heaven into our midst if and as we will.
Speaking personally: there are numerous times when I had to admit to myself I failed to be suitably resilient, when I was marked negatively by what was happening and yet have found God being gracious to me – those times I found myself thinking or saying later:
“I see how such and such an experience has been good for me; with God’s help it’s made me a better person … even though I wish we could have got here by a different route, and without caving in to fear and anxiety on the way!”
So, this message is for me not just from me!
Paul puts it like this in Romans 8v28:
God can work for good in all things …
… but that does not mean he is responsible for the all things! It is when we invite him into the messes we are in … (and sometimes have responsibility for) … that his goodness wins out.
To grow more resilient can be very practical; it’s no good discerning what is happening around us unless we use that insight to respond as Jesus shows! The storm recorded at the end of Mark 4 gives some clues.
Step 1: Be real about what we are facing.
As soon as Jesus was stirred he saw the terror on the faces of his disciples. A number of them were experienced sailors, but on this occasion, it felt like the perfect storm would win out.
When we hold together what he did in response with what he says subsequently to the disciples we might think he could have rolled over, told them to ‘man-up’ and let him sleep! He did not.
Denial is not a spiritual gift; there was an achilles heel in the disciples’ emotional and spiritual armour at that point – they were unable to be his salt or light; they were flailing and he knew it was his time to act.
He did and left the case review for later.
Step 2: Exercise the authority given to us.
Jesus didn’t tell the lads to row harder, pull down any sails or try to drop an anchor.
Jesus got up, took charge and raised his voice with commands that redirected the forces of nature.
It wasn’t much or very long, just “Peace! Be still.” They were!
This principle worked in different kinds of situation: In the early days of his public ministry Jesus silenced a chap raising a storm in the synagogue just a few miles away in Capernaum – he was trying to disrupt Jesus’ teaching and keep the congregation from what God had to say.
The onlookers marvelled at Jesus’ capacity to overcome and establish God’s peace.
The same word, authority, is used in John 1 when describing what we are invested with, a new identity and capacity when we receive and believe in Jesus.
He came to rescue us so that we might represent his redeeming presence in the world around us.
HERE IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT: all-too-often we fail to appreciate the power of the spoken word; that is becoming harder in our generation as we struggle to distinguish what is real and true from ‘fake news’!
We know this in everyday life. For example:
➢ The ‘I will’ and ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health’ is at the heart of sealing the covenant of marriage where 2
become 1;
➢ The verbal assent or personal handshake is often the preface for legal documentation to confirm what is already agreed in many arenas of life; and
The Christian tradition is very clear: what we say matters:
➢ It is how the world came into being out of nothing;
➢ Fundamentally, when God spoke in the coming of Jesus as The Word made flesh that salvation was made personal.
In this light we glimpse the potential for how we exercise AUTHORITY over the elements and circumstances – to displace the power of evil and underpin the revelation of God’s kindness.
There are times to speak out and declare what we know to be God’s clear will for us and for others around us.
Step 3: Let our victories encourage the ‘carrying capacity’ of those journeying with us.
It’s easy to assume Jesus gave his disciples a ‘hard time’ once the storm went away, in the aftermath of what they had been through. That would be unfair.
Rather he says in effect:
“Your terror was unnecessary … and can be addressed with faith … faith being what is built on the foundation of all you have seen and experienced with me!”
We have an applied example of this in Matthew 28v16-20.
We meet Jesus, after the Resurrection and gearing the disciples up for life after his Ascension.
First, he says:
“I have spent the best part of 3 years making and establishing you as my disciples; now it’s time for you to go and make your own!”
With confidence in what they had witnessed with Jesus in person and now him having been raised, as they accept and start to implement their commission, so they can be assured they will not be alone:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (v20)
The testimony of what they had known hitherto was the premise for what they could expect in the future.
In Mark 4 Jesus can be heard saying, in effect:
“You have seen me defeat evil spirits before and now I have overcome in this storm, so you also can do likewise!”
They had another testimony to call on that spoke eloquently of how they could expect to know God’s intervening grace henceforth, whatever the challenge!
We have stories that others need to hear!
On Tuesday 17th July I had the privilege of being in the congregation when Beccy, a friend of ours was instituted as Vicar of a parish in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. It was a great evening and during the service I thought back to when Annie and I met Beccy and her husband Dave for the first time.
It was 2011. We had been invited for a meal in the home of parishioners. Beccy and Dave were on the ticket that night also.
Dave is a well-qualified academic theologian, teaching ordinands at the major theological seminary in Birmingham. Beccy, having had a significant career as a teacher, was at that time was a devoted home-maker and mum.
But at the end of the evening I said to Annie: I believe Beccy is called to ordination in the CofE.
I spoke to her about this a few weeks later; then she joined our staff team as the paid leader of the 3 days per week parent and toddler group and in July 2015 she was ordained in Birmingham Cathedral.
Then came the surprise. A few weeks into Beccy’s role as a Curate I realised my input had positioned Beccy and her family in a spiritual battle > in early October 2015, at the age of 45, Dave had a major stroke that threatened her calling and his work also as well as their whole way of life. Things felt grim when we say him in rehab unit but we were able to pray and call on God’s strength for them in the chapel of that hospital. Thankfully he has made a wonderful and almost complete recovery and they carry now a story of perseverance as well as finding grace in times of acute weakness, encouraged by the prayers and declarations of many friends who gathered around them.
3 years on, Beccy now has her own boat to captain and Dave is back training others for ordained ministry.
There is power in what we see AND SAY, in humility before God.
Before I stop … just a few suggestions on the sort of disciplines we can develop to fuel resilience for when we need it, so that we can learn how to strengthen ourselves … so we can sleep and be at peace when others are in a panic.
Think of these as patterns that ensure our batteries are fully re-charged making us ready to go at all times.
a) Let’s aim to increase the time given to reading and absorbing Scripture.
In Psalm 119v28 we read:
“My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.”
Jesus put it more assertively when he faced down the devil in his great temptations declaring and quoting from what we call the OT:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Do we have a pattern and plan for reading and studying the Bible that is fit-for-purpose? Maybe the summer is a good time to look at this and start something new.
b) Let’s imbibe a central truth many Christians struggle to accept: God is good, all the time.
Therefore, He is not the author of sickness and dangers that threaten to destroy us. It is this conviction that helps us identify what we are facing and therefore the strategies to overcome. It is this conviction and understanding that helped me to see Dave’s stroke as an attack rather than God’s calling card on his life.
We don’t have to be passive; we can learn to be alert and effective warriors when we encounter spiritual forces intent on defeating us; but we need to start with the way we think if we are to be resourced for how to react.
c) Let’s start to connect our spirit with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible makes it clear that whilst we are 1 integrated whole … as human beings we are spirit, soul and body; and whereas the soul (or mind and emotions) and body need rest, our spirit is that bit which is there to connect with God, and is always alert for us to live in constant communion with God.
This is one small reason why Paul can write in 1 Thessalonians 5v17:
“PRAY WITHOUT CEASING”
We can; and one of the best things we can do night and day is invite the HS to be active in seeking out our spirit; so that whenever and wherever that fellowship remains and allows the body and soul to sleep in safety and peace.
If you want more time to think these things through, this message will go on the PTM website at the start of September. Meanwhile join me in saying today:
Lord make me, make us resilient for the calling you invite us to embrace here and now.
Today I’ve chosen to return to Bible passages read a few Sundays ago. It’s an opportunity to digest something rather than just dashing through.
First some explanation why I feel this is timely.
Everyone knows times when … the unexpected blows up, it starts to feel we will drown in the storm that is overtaking us.
Right now Annie and I have friends in northern California in shock, danger and fear for what next because their locality is engulfed with fire and has already destroyed an area the size of a major city; closer to home and through the years we have felt the same at times within family life, through work and even the ways of the church.
The end of July often feels like a year-end, a time to look back and try to put into some focus the good, the bad and everything else that has stood out in the recent past. If the past few months have been tinged by a sense of being under siege or with flood-waters rising maybe this message will bring illumination, wisdom and fresh resources.
The aim is that we catch a simple but profound vision – how we can become more like Jesus > facing battles we go through but able to sleep like babies; and when brought to by others … finding we are able to inject calm and become an inspiration to others in their fear…
… and what we are in those times becomes what they can be the next time something similar unfolds.
In terms of BECOMING BIGGER CHRISTIANS … I am talking about GROWING IN RESILIENCE.
One definition of resilience is: the capacity to spring back into our prior or intended shape … whatever has been dumped on us, rather than being left damaged by the pressure we have been under.
FROM OUR FIRST READING > David often stood apart from his peers as a resilient person – in early life as a shepherd, then a fearless warrior, later as king and politician as well as the parent of a dysfunctional family. Whether it was facing a roaring bear, the taunts of Goliath or bruising from battered relationships … David was a person who kept his shape and knew God’s favour.
Not that he found it easy, far from it.
Often, he found himself in deep angst; on one occasion when supposed friends wanted to stone him the response was this:
“David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30v6)
We may ask: what did that mean and was David not just a ‘one-off’? Be patient and we will try to find out!
Nevertheless, along the way, we are likely to need also the sort of discernment Jesus displayed.
In Mark 4v39 we read Jesus “rebuked the wind …”
This is the same word used elsewhere when Jesus recognises evil spirits wreaking emotional and physical torment on some people. In the wind and the waves Jesus saw not just natural forces but also unnatural powers manipulating the environment around them.
In Ephesians 6 Paul reminds Christians the real battles we face are with spiritual forces that have the capacity, unless checked, to influence the world around us.
On this occasion, recorded in Mark 4, the storm on the Sea of Galilee had been whipped up by malevolent spiritual forces affecting the natural elements, intent on destroying Jesus and the disciples. I am sure all of us have either recognised times like that or wondered about the strange feel in things imploding around us. We need to allow to enter our thinking and responses the possibility that some are signs of us being in the crucible of spiritual battles.
In John 10 Jesus offers an important contrast: He describes the devil as the thief who comes to rob, steal and destroy whereas he came to give life.
We know Jesus got it right on this occasion; as soon as he gets involved the storm abates.
Some people are quick to blame God for all the things that go wrong in our lives and the world around us. That is unfair and not true to the revelation of God in the Bible.
The Bible says, in giving us free will God also delegated this world’s affairs to humanity; and also, through Jesus, restored our capacity to draw the superior authority of heaven into our midst if and as we will.
Speaking personally: there are numerous times when I had to admit to myself I failed to be suitably resilient, when I was marked negatively by what was happening and yet have found God being gracious to me – those times I found myself thinking or saying later:
“I see how such and such an experience has been good for me; with God’s help it’s made me a better person … even though I wish we could have got here by a different route, and without caving in to fear and anxiety on the way!”
So, this message is for me not just from me!
Paul puts it like this in Romans 8v28:
God can work for good in all things …
… but that does not mean he is responsible for the all things! It is when we invite him into the messes we are in … (and sometimes have responsibility for) … that his goodness wins out.
To grow more resilient can be very practical; it’s no good discerning what is happening around us unless we use that insight to respond as Jesus shows! The storm recorded at the end of Mark 4 gives some clues.
Step 1: Be real about what we are facing.
As soon as Jesus was stirred he saw the terror on the faces of his disciples. A number of them were experienced sailors, but on this occasion, it felt like the perfect storm would win out.
When we hold together what he did in response with what he says subsequently to the disciples we might think he could have rolled over, told them to ‘man-up’ and let him sleep! He did not.
Denial is not a spiritual gift; there was an achilles heel in the disciples’ emotional and spiritual armour at that point – they were unable to be his salt or light; they were flailing and he knew it was his time to act.
He did and left the case review for later.
Step 2: Exercise the authority given to us.
Jesus didn’t tell the lads to row harder, pull down any sails or try to drop an anchor.
Jesus got up, took charge and raised his voice with commands that redirected the forces of nature.
It wasn’t much or very long, just “Peace! Be still.” They were!
This principle worked in different kinds of situation: In the early days of his public ministry Jesus silenced a chap raising a storm in the synagogue just a few miles away in Capernaum – he was trying to disrupt Jesus’ teaching and keep the congregation from what God had to say.
The onlookers marvelled at Jesus’ capacity to overcome and establish God’s peace.
The same word, authority, is used in John 1 when describing what we are invested with, a new identity and capacity when we receive and believe in Jesus.
He came to rescue us so that we might represent his redeeming presence in the world around us.
HERE IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT: all-too-often we fail to appreciate the power of the spoken word; that is becoming harder in our generation as we struggle to distinguish what is real and true from ‘fake news’!
We know this in everyday life. For example:
➢ The ‘I will’ and ‘for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health’ is at the heart of sealing the covenant of marriage where 2
become 1;
➢ The verbal assent or personal handshake is often the preface for legal documentation to confirm what is already agreed in many arenas of life; and
The Christian tradition is very clear: what we say matters:
➢ It is how the world came into being out of nothing;
➢ Fundamentally, when God spoke in the coming of Jesus as The Word made flesh that salvation was made personal.
In this light we glimpse the potential for how we exercise AUTHORITY over the elements and circumstances – to displace the power of evil and underpin the revelation of God’s kindness.
There are times to speak out and declare what we know to be God’s clear will for us and for others around us.
Step 3: Let our victories encourage the ‘carrying capacity’ of those journeying with us.
It’s easy to assume Jesus gave his disciples a ‘hard time’ once the storm went away, in the aftermath of what they had been through. That would be unfair.
Rather he says in effect:
“Your terror was unnecessary … and can be addressed with faith … faith being what is built on the foundation of all you have seen and experienced with me!”
We have an applied example of this in Matthew 28v16-20.
We meet Jesus, after the Resurrection and gearing the disciples up for life after his Ascension.
First, he says:
“I have spent the best part of 3 years making and establishing you as my disciples; now it’s time for you to go and make your own!”
With confidence in what they had witnessed with Jesus in person and now him having been raised, as they accept and start to implement their commission, so they can be assured they will not be alone:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (v20)
The testimony of what they had known hitherto was the premise for what they could expect in the future.
In Mark 4 Jesus can be heard saying, in effect:
“You have seen me defeat evil spirits before and now I have overcome in this storm, so you also can do likewise!”
They had another testimony to call on that spoke eloquently of how they could expect to know God’s intervening grace henceforth, whatever the challenge!
We have stories that others need to hear!
On Tuesday 17th July I had the privilege of being in the congregation when Beccy, a friend of ours was instituted as Vicar of a parish in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. It was a great evening and during the service I thought back to when Annie and I met Beccy and her husband Dave for the first time.
It was 2011. We had been invited for a meal in the home of parishioners. Beccy and Dave were on the ticket that night also.
Dave is a well-qualified academic theologian, teaching ordinands at the major theological seminary in Birmingham. Beccy, having had a significant career as a teacher, was at that time was a devoted home-maker and mum.
But at the end of the evening I said to Annie: I believe Beccy is called to ordination in the CofE.
I spoke to her about this a few weeks later; then she joined our staff team as the paid leader of the 3 days per week parent and toddler group and in July 2015 she was ordained in Birmingham Cathedral.
Then came the surprise. A few weeks into Beccy’s role as a Curate I realised my input had positioned Beccy and her family in a spiritual battle > in early October 2015, at the age of 45, Dave had a major stroke that threatened her calling and his work also as well as their whole way of life. Things felt grim when we say him in rehab unit but we were able to pray and call on God’s strength for them in the chapel of that hospital. Thankfully he has made a wonderful and almost complete recovery and they carry now a story of perseverance as well as finding grace in times of acute weakness, encouraged by the prayers and declarations of many friends who gathered around them.
3 years on, Beccy now has her own boat to captain and Dave is back training others for ordained ministry.
There is power in what we see AND SAY, in humility before God.
Before I stop … just a few suggestions on the sort of disciplines we can develop to fuel resilience for when we need it, so that we can learn how to strengthen ourselves … so we can sleep and be at peace when others are in a panic.
Think of these as patterns that ensure our batteries are fully re-charged making us ready to go at all times.
a) Let’s aim to increase the time given to reading and absorbing Scripture.
In Psalm 119v28 we read:
“My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.”
Jesus put it more assertively when he faced down the devil in his great temptations declaring and quoting from what we call the OT:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Do we have a pattern and plan for reading and studying the Bible that is fit-for-purpose? Maybe the summer is a good time to look at this and start something new.
b) Let’s imbibe a central truth many Christians struggle to accept: God is good, all the time.
Therefore, He is not the author of sickness and dangers that threaten to destroy us. It is this conviction that helps us identify what we are facing and therefore the strategies to overcome. It is this conviction and understanding that helped me to see Dave’s stroke as an attack rather than God’s calling card on his life.
We don’t have to be passive; we can learn to be alert and effective warriors when we encounter spiritual forces intent on defeating us; but we need to start with the way we think if we are to be resourced for how to react.
c) Let’s start to connect our spirit with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible makes it clear that whilst we are 1 integrated whole … as human beings we are spirit, soul and body; and whereas the soul (or mind and emotions) and body need rest, our spirit is that bit which is there to connect with God, and is always alert for us to live in constant communion with God.
This is one small reason why Paul can write in 1 Thessalonians 5v17:
“PRAY WITHOUT CEASING”
We can; and one of the best things we can do night and day is invite the HS to be active in seeking out our spirit; so that whenever and wherever that fellowship remains and allows the body and soul to sleep in safety and peace.
If you want more time to think these things through, this message will go on the PTM website at the start of September. Meanwhile join me in saying today:
Lord make me, make us resilient for the calling you invite us to embrace here and now.
Team Service – 29th April 2018 ~ 'Growing in our practice of prayer’
Today I aim to encourage everyone in the practice of prayer and to see prayer as a front-line tool (not just the passion of a few) in growing as disciples and pursuing God’s plans for our lives as well as our ministry in the PTM.
We put down a marker for this at the end of last year. Through the initiative of Geoff Dodgson, we made up our PTM Prayer Cards as a practical resource to fuel this aspect of us growing bigger as Christians.
Moreover, it is timely: in the past term the Women’s Group that meets here in Etilsley has been looking at prayer with the help of study material from HTB; and as we journey from Easter to Pentecost … our Archbishops are - for the third year running - promoting the practice of intentional and focussed prayer for all Christians.
When we get beneath the surface of Jesus’ ministry we discover this: a main strategy was to invest in a relatively small number who were making it clear they wanted to go further and deeper … and have a greater impact, as a result of choosing to follow him.
So, the Sermon on the Mount is for DISCIPLES …in it he casts and drills down on a big vision.
Having given the Beatitudes, he goes on to talk about disciples being like salt and light. In effect he is saying of our identity:
‘You are leaders, people of influence those who can make a profound difference …’ … before going on to spell out the sort of hallmarks that mark out such people.
At the heart of the nitty-gritty, when he gets down to brass tacks he is very direct: is how we handle the spiritual dimension of our lives really matters.
This is where we are at in today’s gospel passage (Matthew 6v5-15).
That said it’s worth saying: prayer is not is trying to cajole God in heaven to bless our feeble ways; rather it is one of his gifts to us that helps position us in the slip-stream of what the Holy Spirit is doing and about to release.
This is precisely what we see in Acts 1 between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost, when the disciples gave themselves to prayer as they waited for the promise from on high.
Now turn with me to the passage we read in Nehemiah chapter 1. The man at the centre of the book shows what positioning to find the slip-stream of what God is doing looks like.
This is set 00s of years before Jesus came into the world. Nevertheless, Nehemiah is one superb example of someone who had learned to pray as the starting point for a defining shift in his life that led to a dramatic upturn in the fortunes of the whole nation of Israel. He found what was on his heart was what concerned God and he came to be personally involved.
In case you feel daunted … we meet a man who did not see himself as a leader, feeling probably a nobody; but who took what he heard on Facebook, in the Sunday papers, on news feeds of the day to his place of prayer, and ended up on a journey that took him to the crucible of substantial power and impact.
Part of the usp (Unique Selling Point) of a Christian community is …
* we can pray …
* we can draw the life and power of God into our midst …
* we can enable others to experience things on earth as they are in heaven.
Looking at Nehemiah …
* Circumstantially things were unpromising …
* Technologically the resources were negligible …
* Personally, he was trapped, a slave in exile …
Nehemiah was 00s of miles from what he knew to be home; news took weeks to arrive; he was in the domestic service of a despot with no capacity, normally, to reach for his rights.
However, one thing Nehemiah did NOT lack was persistence, when it came to lobbying heaven on behalf of Jerusalem.
In 1 Thessalonians Paul exhorts us to ‘pray without ceasing’ – he could have been thinking about Nehemiah. What we read of in chapter 1 was the unrelenting focus of his prayer times for 4 months > that’s the time span between Nehemiah 1v1 and 2v1.
In the NewTestament, James declares there are things we lack as believers because we are failing to ask for them from God … in other words:
Our vision may be too small and our confidence in God’s goodness too narrow.
We can learn from Nehemiah: we sometimes get breakthrough when we give quality and extended time to God, and by so doing … God is convinced about the passion and intentionality in our asking; when he sees a growing agreement between our heart and his.
As we will see, a feature of what was on Nehemiah’s heart would be for no personal gain, advancement or increased comfort. His focus was the fate of the nation and the pain of his people. He burned with the conviction that the news he had heard showed Jerusalem was not on earth as it was seen and planned for in heaven. On this basis Nehemiah could not remain apathetic or keep silent.
If you read on in the story … once breakthrough occurs, it all happens rapidly. This is the sort of message we need to run with for the sake of the communities we are from and can stand before God for.
Here are 4 things Nehemiah teaches us (in his prayer recorded in chapter 1) when it comes to praying about the big and important issues in such a way that an avalanche of change is triggered.
A) We should align our requests with the revealed character of God.
Look at 1v5. Nehemiah says to God:
‘You are great …
‘You’re awesome …
‘You will be faithful …’
He is reminding God of his position, his power and his promises; which is the very nature of praise when we believe God responds to prayer based on who we know him to be.
That’s why Jesus could each us to pray ‘Our Father in heaven hallowed by your name …’ beginning with the expression and desire to praise.
B) We need to be real about our shortcomings.
This is what is going on in 1v6-7 …
… repeatedly Nehemiah says ‘I … We …’ in the unfolding of his prayer.
We have to understand … the nation’s current situation was NOT Nehemiah’s fault.
He was most likely not yet born when the exile began … more than likely all he had ever known was to be a Jew living, unwillingly, 00s of miles from his homeland; even so he saw himself sharing in the national shame and sinfulness.
We live in a culture which has taught us to be responsible only for ourselves. That is only a half-truth; we are our brother’s keeper.
We are all in the post-referendum, post Stephen Lawrence world and cannot say any longer whether about Eltisley, Ely, England or Europe …‘it was not me it was my forebears’ .
It is time to pray with a sense of acceptance of blame rather than trying to dodge the issue.
It is a principle which is at the heart of the gospel, why Paul could say Jesus was “For our sake … made to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
God practiced what he invites us to replicate now.
C) We can claim God’s promises for ourselves and generation.
Nehemiah, in 1v8-9, asks God to recall what he had said to Moses 00s of years earlier. Read the OT carefully and we see Abraham, David as well as the prophets doing the same.
Is God forgetful? With the exception of not holding sin against us, the answer is NO; but in reminding him we also remind ourselves so that when he delivers on what he has declared he, not us, will get the rightful glory.
D) We must ensure we are specific in what we ask for.
In 1v11 Nehemiah asks God for success; by which he means the opportunity to:
* unburden his heart to and,
* win practical support from someone who is known as a heartless despot …
…someone who could just as easily have the man’s head taken off for daring to voice his big ask.
Note what success looked like: In chapter 2 we see he asks for leave of absence to inaugurate the work of restoring the boundary walls to Jerusalem – a task of civil engineering as much as a symbolic statement about the nation’s well-being and future.
He wanted and succeeded in getting unheard of freedom to deliver a great capital and labour-intensive project his captor had nothing to gain by.
> Have we accepted that our new identity in Christ is as leaders and shapers of the world around us?
> To what extent will we allow God through his word and by his Spirit to enlarge our vision so that we become passionate and will press in on heaven to secure what we know is on his heart?
> How much do our prayers derive their focus from the character of God as the great, awesome and faithful one?
> Are we ready to shoulder our responsibility in the issues and challenges of today in our villages, places of work and where we mix and move with others?
> Are we alive and sustained by the unfulfilled promises of God for people today so that we are ready to remind him of what he is ready and able to do?
> Will we ask for success in the areas that will truly prosper others around us and demand of us that as doors open we will get our hands dirty to deliver what is being unlocked for them through us?
* There is no true separation of prayer and action as some might think;
* the real choice is between action with the resources of heaven to deploy over against action that is full of sound and fury but may signify very little; OR …
* passivity which says ‘Lord instead of investing what you gave me I buried it and all I can do is give back what you loaned with nothing to show!’
And finally, remember how in Luke’s account Jesus gives the disciples the Lord’s Prayer when they come to him and ask for his help.
For us to say today “Lord teach me … teach us to pray …” may be a really worthwhile next step in saying our yes to God’s next for us.
Today I aim to encourage everyone in the practice of prayer and to see prayer as a front-line tool (not just the passion of a few) in growing as disciples and pursuing God’s plans for our lives as well as our ministry in the PTM.
We put down a marker for this at the end of last year. Through the initiative of Geoff Dodgson, we made up our PTM Prayer Cards as a practical resource to fuel this aspect of us growing bigger as Christians.
Moreover, it is timely: in the past term the Women’s Group that meets here in Etilsley has been looking at prayer with the help of study material from HTB; and as we journey from Easter to Pentecost … our Archbishops are - for the third year running - promoting the practice of intentional and focussed prayer for all Christians.
When we get beneath the surface of Jesus’ ministry we discover this: a main strategy was to invest in a relatively small number who were making it clear they wanted to go further and deeper … and have a greater impact, as a result of choosing to follow him.
So, the Sermon on the Mount is for DISCIPLES …in it he casts and drills down on a big vision.
Having given the Beatitudes, he goes on to talk about disciples being like salt and light. In effect he is saying of our identity:
‘You are leaders, people of influence those who can make a profound difference …’ … before going on to spell out the sort of hallmarks that mark out such people.
At the heart of the nitty-gritty, when he gets down to brass tacks he is very direct: is how we handle the spiritual dimension of our lives really matters.
This is where we are at in today’s gospel passage (Matthew 6v5-15).
That said it’s worth saying: prayer is not is trying to cajole God in heaven to bless our feeble ways; rather it is one of his gifts to us that helps position us in the slip-stream of what the Holy Spirit is doing and about to release.
This is precisely what we see in Acts 1 between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost, when the disciples gave themselves to prayer as they waited for the promise from on high.
Now turn with me to the passage we read in Nehemiah chapter 1. The man at the centre of the book shows what positioning to find the slip-stream of what God is doing looks like.
This is set 00s of years before Jesus came into the world. Nevertheless, Nehemiah is one superb example of someone who had learned to pray as the starting point for a defining shift in his life that led to a dramatic upturn in the fortunes of the whole nation of Israel. He found what was on his heart was what concerned God and he came to be personally involved.
In case you feel daunted … we meet a man who did not see himself as a leader, feeling probably a nobody; but who took what he heard on Facebook, in the Sunday papers, on news feeds of the day to his place of prayer, and ended up on a journey that took him to the crucible of substantial power and impact.
Part of the usp (Unique Selling Point) of a Christian community is …
* we can pray …
* we can draw the life and power of God into our midst …
* we can enable others to experience things on earth as they are in heaven.
Looking at Nehemiah …
* Circumstantially things were unpromising …
* Technologically the resources were negligible …
* Personally, he was trapped, a slave in exile …
Nehemiah was 00s of miles from what he knew to be home; news took weeks to arrive; he was in the domestic service of a despot with no capacity, normally, to reach for his rights.
However, one thing Nehemiah did NOT lack was persistence, when it came to lobbying heaven on behalf of Jerusalem.
In 1 Thessalonians Paul exhorts us to ‘pray without ceasing’ – he could have been thinking about Nehemiah. What we read of in chapter 1 was the unrelenting focus of his prayer times for 4 months > that’s the time span between Nehemiah 1v1 and 2v1.
In the NewTestament, James declares there are things we lack as believers because we are failing to ask for them from God … in other words:
Our vision may be too small and our confidence in God’s goodness too narrow.
We can learn from Nehemiah: we sometimes get breakthrough when we give quality and extended time to God, and by so doing … God is convinced about the passion and intentionality in our asking; when he sees a growing agreement between our heart and his.
As we will see, a feature of what was on Nehemiah’s heart would be for no personal gain, advancement or increased comfort. His focus was the fate of the nation and the pain of his people. He burned with the conviction that the news he had heard showed Jerusalem was not on earth as it was seen and planned for in heaven. On this basis Nehemiah could not remain apathetic or keep silent.
If you read on in the story … once breakthrough occurs, it all happens rapidly. This is the sort of message we need to run with for the sake of the communities we are from and can stand before God for.
Here are 4 things Nehemiah teaches us (in his prayer recorded in chapter 1) when it comes to praying about the big and important issues in such a way that an avalanche of change is triggered.
A) We should align our requests with the revealed character of God.
Look at 1v5. Nehemiah says to God:
‘You are great …
‘You’re awesome …
‘You will be faithful …’
He is reminding God of his position, his power and his promises; which is the very nature of praise when we believe God responds to prayer based on who we know him to be.
That’s why Jesus could each us to pray ‘Our Father in heaven hallowed by your name …’ beginning with the expression and desire to praise.
B) We need to be real about our shortcomings.
This is what is going on in 1v6-7 …
… repeatedly Nehemiah says ‘I … We …’ in the unfolding of his prayer.
We have to understand … the nation’s current situation was NOT Nehemiah’s fault.
He was most likely not yet born when the exile began … more than likely all he had ever known was to be a Jew living, unwillingly, 00s of miles from his homeland; even so he saw himself sharing in the national shame and sinfulness.
We live in a culture which has taught us to be responsible only for ourselves. That is only a half-truth; we are our brother’s keeper.
We are all in the post-referendum, post Stephen Lawrence world and cannot say any longer whether about Eltisley, Ely, England or Europe …‘it was not me it was my forebears’ .
It is time to pray with a sense of acceptance of blame rather than trying to dodge the issue.
It is a principle which is at the heart of the gospel, why Paul could say Jesus was “For our sake … made to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
God practiced what he invites us to replicate now.
C) We can claim God’s promises for ourselves and generation.
Nehemiah, in 1v8-9, asks God to recall what he had said to Moses 00s of years earlier. Read the OT carefully and we see Abraham, David as well as the prophets doing the same.
Is God forgetful? With the exception of not holding sin against us, the answer is NO; but in reminding him we also remind ourselves so that when he delivers on what he has declared he, not us, will get the rightful glory.
D) We must ensure we are specific in what we ask for.
In 1v11 Nehemiah asks God for success; by which he means the opportunity to:
* unburden his heart to and,
* win practical support from someone who is known as a heartless despot …
…someone who could just as easily have the man’s head taken off for daring to voice his big ask.
Note what success looked like: In chapter 2 we see he asks for leave of absence to inaugurate the work of restoring the boundary walls to Jerusalem – a task of civil engineering as much as a symbolic statement about the nation’s well-being and future.
He wanted and succeeded in getting unheard of freedom to deliver a great capital and labour-intensive project his captor had nothing to gain by.
> Have we accepted that our new identity in Christ is as leaders and shapers of the world around us?
> To what extent will we allow God through his word and by his Spirit to enlarge our vision so that we become passionate and will press in on heaven to secure what we know is on his heart?
> How much do our prayers derive their focus from the character of God as the great, awesome and faithful one?
> Are we ready to shoulder our responsibility in the issues and challenges of today in our villages, places of work and where we mix and move with others?
> Are we alive and sustained by the unfulfilled promises of God for people today so that we are ready to remind him of what he is ready and able to do?
> Will we ask for success in the areas that will truly prosper others around us and demand of us that as doors open we will get our hands dirty to deliver what is being unlocked for them through us?
* There is no true separation of prayer and action as some might think;
* the real choice is between action with the resources of heaven to deploy over against action that is full of sound and fury but may signify very little; OR …
* passivity which says ‘Lord instead of investing what you gave me I buried it and all I can do is give back what you loaned with nothing to show!’
And finally, remember how in Luke’s account Jesus gives the disciples the Lord’s Prayer when they come to him and ask for his help.
For us to say today “Lord teach me … teach us to pray …” may be a really worthwhile next step in saying our yes to God’s next for us.