One of the most powerful symbols of trust is rest. If we trust someone, we do not always have to be active, always doing something. We are prepared to rest in their presence, to cease our activity, to put ourselives in a vulnerable position because we are confident they will not harm us when our guard is down.

Resting is almost impossible if fear, anxiety and worry are present in our lives. It’s one reason sleep often becomes ellusive when our mental health is not good. Conversely, if we are at peace with ourselves, our situations and with God, then rest is less troublesome.

The Bible has much to say about the importance of rest in connection to trust. Ps 116:7 speaks of returning to our soul’s rest, giving us reasons we can do this: ‘for the Lord has been good to you.’ The psalmist remembers God’s deliverance from death, tears and stumbling (Ps 116:3-4, 8); he remembers God’s goodness to him. (Ps 116:12) In Psalm 131, David speaks of calming and quieting himself as he urges Israel to ‘put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever.’ In Ps 62:1, 5, we read of finding rest in God alone; Jesus spoke about finding rest for our souls when we come to Him, lay our burdens at His feet and exchange our yoke of slavery for His easy yoke. (Matt 11:28-30)

The temptation to forego rest in lieu of impressive-looking activity will always be with us. Prayer takes us to the place of rest, of contemplation, to the daily (hourly?) need to let go of our activity in order to hide ourselves in God and immerse ourselves in His truths, to exchange our doing for trusting.The battle is not ours; it belongs to God. Moses was told, ‘The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ (Ex 14:14) Stop… rest… be refreshed. God has it all in hand.

Yan Hadley spoke tonight on 2 Cor 3:17, ‘where the Spirit of the Lord, there is liberty.’ This verse speaks of both a place and a promise. Wherever the Holy Spirit is (and this is not confined to church buildings by any means!), there will be great things happening; the promise He gives us is the promise of freedom.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned right at the start of the Bible (Gen 1:1-2) and the breath or wind of God is at work bringing transformation, as the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37) reminds us. In the Old Testament, we see characters like Saul, Gideon and Samson completely changed by the Spirit of God (see 1 Sam 10:6, Judges 6 & 7, Judges 14 & 15). David was overlooked and underestimated by all, but when the Spirit of God came on him, he was able to defeat Goliath. In the New Testament, this transformation is continued at Pentecost, when ‘a bunch of misfits were transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.’

God’s Spirit brings us:

1. courageous boldness (Acts 4 demonstrates the fearlessness and audacity of the apostles, even when facing great opposition)

2. consuming motivation (giving us zeal and passion for God’s cause, a motivation that frees us from complacency and mediocrity). We need the fire of God to keep things going so that we can maintain our witness even in the face of rejection, torture, beatings and death.

3. convincing signs and wonders (supernatural power giving rise to signs and wonders was a feature of the early church, which saw healings, deliverances, miracles and even raising of the dead.) Paul may have preached with fear and trembling, but his preaching was confirmed by the power of God’s Spirit. (1 Cor 2:1-4)

4. conviction leading to salvation. We are called to bear much fruit for God (John 15), but we need to acknowledge that only the Holy Spirit can bring conviction (see John 16:8). Conviction comes not by our own messages but when the Spirit breathes life into our words (2 Cor 3:6, Luke 4:18-22). Only the truth can set us free and the Holy Spirit is the one who will lead us into truth. (John 16:30)

How do we receive this transforming power? Jesus tells us that if anyone is thirsty, they should come to Him to drink. (John 7:37-38) We have to have a thirst for God in order to receive from Him; we must believe Him in order to know the living waters of the Spirit in our everyday lives.

This week sees the Summer Fun event at Phoenix Park on Wednesday 28th July between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Prior to the event, we will be litter-picking and cleaning at the park on Tuesday 27th July (6-8 p.m.) and the event will feature a range of activities from different organisations on the Wednesday.

Dearne Churches Together will be hosting a range of sheep activities, including a sheep trail, the story of the Good Shepherd (told at 11.30 a.m., 12.30 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.) and sheep crafts. You can paint ceramic sheep flower pots… or make stacking sheep puppets… or decorate wooden sheep puppets.

We’ll also give you the opportunity to think about Psalm 23 at the labyrinth area or dig for dinosaur fossils by the dinosaur sculpture.

In addition, other organisations will be offering the chance to go bug-hunting, build a bug hotel, make a bug feeder, explore the woods through den-building, nature trails, making flower crowns and wands, take part in Sports Day activities or do science experiments, paint rocks or find out more about the Elmer the Elephant project taking place in Goldthorpe this summer.

All activities are free; there will be snacks and drinks provided, but don’t forget to bring your own picnic and come ready for a fun-filled day of activities!

Garry continued looking at the life of Joseph this morning, focussing on Gen 39:6-20. Here, we see Potiphar’s wife tempting Joseph into sexual sin. As often happens with us, temptation comes in different guises, for the devil wants to stop us doing God’s will, and works to derail or disable or make our ministries ineffective. We need wisdom to stay away from every form of evil (1 Thess 5:22) and even avoid the appearance of evil, for so often we can be led astray. In church life, the enemy seeks to disrupt our relationships, using the age-old technique of divide and conquer, where opinions become more important than love, when we major on minors or take offence or give offence unnecessarily. Peter urges us to love each deeply, for love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Pet 4:7-8)

Joseph showed great maturity even at a young age in resisting this temptation. We need maturity too, not being easily distracted or misdirected. We need to be like David, willing to change when we are confronted with our sins (see 2 Sam 7:1-4). David shows us that even when we do fail, there can be hope and restoration if we repent.

Joseph was in a tricky situation as a slave, with the owner’s wife having authority over him. Nonetheless, he knew the truth and applied this to his life. He stood his ground and gave reasons for his refusal; she tried to pester him day after day, but he consistently refused. This ultimately led to imprisonment; once again, his world had collapsed not because he had done something wrong, but because he had stood for what was right. Joseph’s reputation was shattered unjustly, and it can be hard to bear when this kind of thing happens to us, but we ultimately see that God was in control, even in this apparent collapse. A partial view of our lives, such as Joseph had at this moment, is not the full picture. To be faithful, we need consistently to have faith; Joseph’s story reminds us that even when there is convincing evidence otherwise, God is still in control and will work for good in every situation. (Rom 8:28)

One of the things I do remember from my geography lessons at school was that a map was not much use without orientation (showing where north is) and scale (showing us how far things are from each other.)

My friend still laughs at my lack of spatial awareness, which means I have to physically turn a map around so that I am walking in the direction the map says. I can’t just look at it and do the orientating in my head. It messes me up to be walking in the opposite direction to the way the map appears to me. Left and right become confused and I get lost!

Orientation is extremely important in life. We need fixed points (hence the usefulness of a compass) to work out the direction to go. Orienteering – using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in unfamiliar terrain – is a very useful skill to possess.

Sometimes, life seems to leave us disorientated and confused. What should we do? Where should we go? We need a moral compass as well as a literal one at times!

Just as God has provided fixed points by which we can navigate, so too He has given us fixed points, anchors, in the moral maze of life. His word and His Spirit are our guides through life, directing us and leading us back to Him, our ultimate destination.

I have been working on a map of Phoenix Park recently with my friend, who is a cartographer. I say ‘working with’, but she has done all the real work and I have simply walked around the park taking photos and verifying locations for her.

I found the initial map we used utterly confusing, as the paths on it seemed to bear no relation to the paths I was walking. It has taken a lot of maps (including Ordnance Survey maps, aerial photos from Google Maps and maps from Phoenix Park staff) to get it right and I have learned a little about the art of cartography in the process.

Where I was daunted and helpless (both in terms of expertise and software), Ruth was pragmatic and even quite excited. My map could be personalised to show the activities being held at the Summer Fun event. Did I want this symbol or that one? Did I want this picture of a marquee or that one? I had never realised before there was so much choice available to me!

When we hand out these maps at the event, I doubt people will give more than a cursory glance at them to find out what’s happening where. They will, at best, find them useful and maybe even pretty! They will not understand just how much work, how many trips to Phoenix Park, how many photographs I took, how many phone calls and emails it took to produce these maps (and if they did, they probably won’t care!)

Most of us fail to see behind-the-scenes stuff or even notice it exists. We’re only interested in the final product, the destination. But I believe the journey, the process, has much to each us. Life is, after all, a process, a journey, not a destination.

We are God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10). He is constantly refining us, changing us, transforming us. When He appears, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2) and it is this hope which keeps us going and shapes all we do in the meantime on our journey of life.