Fresh bread

Mar 31, 2025

In our modern world with fridges and freezers readily available in most homes, the value of daily shopping and fresh food is easily forgotten. There’s no doubt it’s convenient, practical and often cheaper to do a weekly or monthly shop and keep our freezers well stocked through batch cooking.
But this modern tendency cuts at the need for ‘daily bread’ and can leave us spiritually empty if we try to apply the principles of planning and hoarding to our Christian walk, because God has not designed us to live spiritually out of the deep freezer!
In the wilderness, God sent manna on a daily basis, giving double the amount only on the day before the Sabbath to allow the people the required day of rest commanded by Him. (Exodus 16:4-33) They found exactly the right amount required each day.
God provides for us, but the principle of daily manna meant the people had to learn to rely on God every day. There is no room for hoarding blessings or trying to stockpile God’s favours, for we would then forget the source of these blessings. Daily provision requires daily dependence – which is needed (funnily enough!) on a daily basis!
Following God means we can’t afford to miss out on daily communion with Him. We need to receive our daily bread, for we do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from his mouth. (Matt 4:4) That may go against our modern tendencies, but the path to spiritual sustenance requires us to lean on God every single day. Many of our problems come because we try to deal with today’s emergencies by using previous blessings or help; what is needed is God’s grace today, God’s help today, God’s strength today. He has promised to supply all our needs (Phil 4:19), so enjoy the fresh bread that’s freely available, not the stale or frozen bread gathered previously.

Knowing God

Mar 30, 2025

In our study tonight on Christian beliefs we looked at the subject of knowing God (A. W. Tozer said, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.’ It’s important that the Bible shapes our understanding of God, for on our own, we can come to some very faulty conclusions about who God is!
The Bible tells us some basic facts about God:
• God is self-existent (I am who I am, Ex 3:14, John 8:58)
• God is holy (Exodus 3:5-6, Ex 19:23)
• God is good (Luke 18:19, Romans 8:28, Ps 119:68)
• God is omnipotent (Matt 19:26, Ps 115:3)
• God is omniscient (1 John 3:20; Matt 6:8)
• God is omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10)
• God is perfect (Matt 5:48)
• God is immutable (unchanging) (Mal 3:6, James 1:17)
• God is love (John 3:16, 1 John 4:8, Rom 5:8)
• God is forgiving and compassionate (Ps 103:5-6, Ex 3:7-8)
We looked at Isaiah 40:9-11 for further revelation about God’s nature and learned that He is both mighty and compassionate, looking after us like a shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms, carrying them close to his heart. Often, we feel the ‘tensions’ in God’s character, seeing these as contradictory, but the Bible shows us a God who is both powerful and caring, mighty and tender. Our aim should be to know God more and more.

Motherhood

Mar 30, 2025

Today is Mothering Sunday – and as many maxims remind us, motherhood is often a bittersweet affair! (‘The joy of motherhood is best experienced when the children are in bed….’) All of us have had mothers, but our experiences will all be different, not to mention there are those who mother others even if they have not given birth to children themselves.
Mothers have a bond with their children which God alludes to in Isaiah 49:15 when he says, ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!’ God describes himself as both a mother and a father and shows us what the perfect parent looks like. He never gives up on His children. He sacrifices for us – He gives us Himself.
God does not forget us and longs for us to know Him. He waits for us to return to Him and cares for us at all times. As we spend today giving thanks for our mothers and remembering those who have had that special mentoring role in our lives, let’s remember also the God who cares for us as tenderly as any mother.

The Revelation of God

Mar 23, 2025

The Bible discussion tonight focussed on Psalm 19 and how God reveals Himself both through creation and through His word. We talked about how particularly in Western society, an attempt is made to ‘muffle’ the psalm by ascribing everything around us to chance and demeaning God’s word (asserting that it is unreliable and untrustworthy.) The psalm reminds us of God’s power in creation and that He speaks to us through His word.
The children made paper flowers to give to their Mums in readiness for Mothering Sunday next weekend.
We also had a birthday to celebrate.

Fishers of Men

Mar 23, 2025

This morning we looked at our identity as the people of God as ‘fishers of men’. The call of God to Simon and Andrew (Matt 4:18-22, Mark 1:17-20, Luke 5:1-10) reminds us that God gives us a new identity and purpose when we come to know Him. The metaphor about fishing for people was obviously relevant to fishermen whose living was made by fishing, but when Jesus the carpenter told them to let down their nets for a catch which was greater than anything they had achieved on their own, they must have realised that here was someone with far greater authority and power than anything they had ever seen before.

The metaphor of fishing may not seem relevant to us nowadays, but the call to share the good news of Jesus Christ remains (Matt 28:18-20). Our identity can never be divorced from Him. He calls us to tell others what He has done for us, which involves being with people and being willing to speak openly about our faith and what Jesus means to us. We have to understand, as with fishermen, that this can take time and patience, but what matters is our willingness to testify when opportunities arise. We are not responsible for how people respond to what we say, but we must give the invitation to follow Jesus whenever we can.

We are all chosen by God and empowered to serve Him, but like those first disciples, we must respond to His call – something they did without delay (Matt 4:20, Mark 1:18, 20). Our lives, our words, our patience, our kindness, our generosity, our tenderness and faithfulness matter enormously. The call to evangelise and make disciples of all nations is not meant to burden us and make us feel inadequate; it is an open invitation to follow Him and invite others to join us on this wonderful adventure of faith.

 

Confusing Emotions

Mar 21, 2025

Anyone who has raised a child knows something of raw emotion and brutal honesty: the tantrums, the howls of despair, the way a mood can change in seconds for no apparent reasons, how giggles of laughter can turn to screams of unhappiness. They know that meltdowns occur for apparently inexplicable reasons, not to mention as a response to the most awful word in the English language (‘no’). A child shows us what unfiltered, unprocessed and unregulated emotions look like. Joy is infectious (there’s nothing quite like a toddler’s belly laughs), but misery and despair can be present almost simultaneously. A child’s ability to express their feelings can feel overwhelming to watch.
Although as adults we get better at understanding and regulating our emotions (hopefully!), the same maelstrom of emotions assail us daily. We feel hope and despair, joy and sorrow, frustration and patience, anger and kindness every day. The ‘four seasons in a day’ syndrome used to describe English weather applies here too. This tumult of emotions is played out regularly in everyone’s life, even if you do look like a stormtrooper to the outside world.
When their brother died, even after a direct plea to Jesus for help, Martha and Mary knew the devastation of bereavement. (John 11) Martha felt bitter disappointment and frustration (‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’) But she also had hope (‘Even now, I know that God will give You whatever You ask of Him.’)
Hope, it seems, can sit alongside feelings of despair, confusion and desperation. These feelings can co-exist. We can bring ALL our feelings to God at the same time. ‘Brutal honesty with God is the sign of a fighting hope, not a fading one.’ (‘Living Hope’) Keep hoping, even if other emotions are there as well.