We continued our series on exploring the big questions of life tonight, looking at the question ‘What Is God Like?’ This meant exploring the attributes of God (the things that make Him God.) We started with the ‘Three Os’ – His omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience.

Omnipresence

This simply means that God is everywhere at the same time. Ps 139:7-10 demonstrates this, and Prov 15:3 says, ‘The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. It is difficult for our finite minds to comprehend the idea that God can be everywhere at the same time because we are so used to thinking in terms of time and space, but of course, God is eternal (He is not bound by time) and He can fill all things in every way. (Eph 1:23) The fact that God is omnipresent means that we cannot hide from Him at all, but it also means we are never alone. (Matt 28:20, Heb 13:5)

Omnipotence

This means that God is all-powerful. There are so many examples of His miraculous power in the Bible, from His creative power (Gen 1) to His power to part the Red Sea (Ex 14) to His power to heal, demonstrated so many times in both Old and New Testaments. Every miracle in the Bible is evidence of God’s power, but of course the greatest miracle we see is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (Acts 2:24)

The Bible reminds us repeatedly that Satan is a defeated foe and that God is the ultimate victor. John reminds us that ‘the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.’ (1 John 4:4) Paul tells us that ‘having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’ (Col 2:15) We don’t have to fear any human foe and we don’t have to fear Satan, because we serve an all-powerful God. What is even more amazing is that He gives us access to this power (Eph 1:19, John 14:12) God’s omnipotence is not just of academic interest; it has a direct impact on how we live, since we can have access to that power in our own daily lives. Jesus said, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:20) That’s the kind of life we can have, because that’s the kind of God we have.

Omniscience

This means that God knows everything (see Ps 139:1-6). Unlike our knowledge, God’s knowledge has no limitations (Ps 119:96) and His understanding has no limit. (Ps 147:5) God’s knowledge of us, other people, the world and the future mean that we can live ‘care free in the care of God’ (1 Pet 5:7). It means we don’t have to know everything, because God does, and this enables us to relax and live in trust, rather than in anxiety or fear.

Stephen spoke this morning about keeping our vision clear. Ps 16:1,5, 8 all speak of the refuge, security and peace which God can bring us, and in these uncertain times, when we may feel unsettled and afraid, it’s more important than ever that we fix our eyes on the Lord and trust in Him.

Stephen recently purchased new glasses which were single-vision, and although these were useful when driving, when it came to reading, his vision was blurred; he needed varifocal lenses in order to be able to see clearly in all situations. Our vision of God can easily become clouded or blurred and our thoughts can stray from Him when we are faced by difficult circumstances. Like Peter out on the waves (Matt 14:25-31), when we take our eyes off Jesus, we easily sink. That moment for Peter of realising the power of Jesus to walk on the water and then doing the same must have been a real ‘buzz moment’, but it’s easy to lose our footing when we focus on the size of the waves rather than on God’s presence with us.

God is there to save us, to catch us, to bring us to a place of refuge and security; His arm is always outstretched towards us, but we need to reach out to Him as well. When we do that, we will find Him there, ready and waiting; as Casting Crowns sing, ‘I’m not holding on to You, but You’re holding on to me.’ (‘East To West’) God is able to be our portion, our cup, our refuge, our strength, our security: when we  fix our gaze on Him, we will find we have all we need for every situation.

Throughout December there will be the opportunity to join us in person for services and also to watch online for a number of special Advent features.

Each weekday between 1st and 24th December, Julie will be reading excerpts from the Christmas story online to help us to prepare our hearts for the King’s arrival. The first session will be on Tuesday 1st December at 9.30 a.m. on the GPCC Facebook page.

On Wednesday 2nd December, we will be taking part in the ‘Dearne Churches Together’ Prayer Meeting at 10.45 a.m. on the DCT Facebook page. Join us as we consider the angels’ messages of hope and pray for our churches, communities and country.

On Fridays at 10.45 a.m. on 4th, 11th and 18th December on Facebook Live we will continue to look at making decorations for our Jesse Tree and how this can help us all to see the Christmas story in the bigger context of God’s Story, told throughout the whole Bible. It’s a lovely way of teaching children why Jesus had to come to save us and giving them the opportunity to make craft items at the same time as learning about Jesus.

Midweek meetings will be on Thursday 3rd, 10th and 17th December at 7.30 p.m. in the Market Street building, but there will be no midweek meetings on 24th and 31st December.

Sunday services will be held at our usual times of 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. in person throughout December and we will have our ‘Good News Nativity’ at the carol service on 20th December at 6.00 p.m.

We hope you will join us in person or online for these activities and will set aside time this December to worship Christ the King.

This morning, we started looking at how to make a Jesse Tree, through which we explore the reasons Jesus had to come to earth at Christmas. The name comes from Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.’ (Is 11:1) Isaiah used the image of a tree to talk about Jesus, saying that Jesus would be like a shoot or a branch growing from the stump of Jesse, and the tree is a useful teaching aid, for it looks not only at the Christmas story but at God’s bigger story as it is found in the whole Bible.

The idea is to make tree decorations which illustrate specific Bible stories, and this week we looked at the following:

• an apple (representing the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from which Adam and Eve ate and thus brought sin and death into the world, which is why we need a Saviour!)

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• an ark & rainbow, representing the story of Noah and the flood, reminding us also of God’s promise never to flood the earth again and again reminding us that we need rescue from sin and evil.

• a dove, representing the hope brought back to Noah in the ark after the flood that the earth was inhabitable again (represented by the olive leaf) and also representing the Holy Spirit

• a scene from the story of Abraham’s life, reflecting God’s promise to him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, Abraham being the ‘father of faith’ to all who believe:

• a dagger, representing Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice the son of promise as an act of obedience to God, a reminder also that Jesus is God’s Son, willingly given to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Join us again next Friday (4th December) on Facebook live to see how the story is developed!

Another significant feature in Acts 21:1-16 is the value and importance Paul placed on fellowship. These verses give us a whistle-stop journey from Kos to Rhodes to Patara on to Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesarea, and in these latter places, Paul made a point of seeking out other believers and spending time with them:

• We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. (Acts 21:4)

• We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. (Acts 21:7-8)

• After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples. (Acts 21:15-16)

This highlights for us the high value Paul placed on the Christian community. Far from being a lone ranger, he travelled with other believers, worked alongside local churches and, busy though he was, wanted to spend time with other Christians whenever the opportunity arose.

This year has proved a difficult year for Christian fellowship, since government regulations have been intent on social isolation as a means of suppressing the coronavirus. For many months, church services have been suspended and the normal means of regular fellowship have not been allowed. Hopefully this has shown us how much we need each other and heightened our appreciation of each other and the importance of fellowship. It is certainly possible to maintain fellowship through a variety of other means, but it is sadly also true that we can become used to this isolation and fail to appreciate the necessity for fellowship. Fear and apathy can mask our common need for community, and we need to take note from Paul’s example and seek out believers whenever we can, for we are built up by fellowship and strengthened and encouraged in the Lord as we gather together with other Christians. We can’t wait to be back together in our building next Thursday!

The prayer ‘Your will be done’ (uttered by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded in Luke 22:42 and Matt 26:42) represents for us Jesus’s total surrender to God’s will. He knew the agony that awaited Him on the cross and was fully aware of the spiritual and physical anguish which faced Him there. Not surprisingly, we see that He did not relish this prospect. He actually asked for the cup to be removed: ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.’ (Luke 22:42) Nowhere do we see the humanity of Jesus more clearly than in this scene; the writer to the Hebrews comments, ‘Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.’ (Heb 5:8) Yet we see from this scene that surrender to God’s will is possible, even when suffering is great. Jesus is able to offer us the greatest example of obedience we can ever hope to see and because of His sacrifice is able to lead us to that same place.

Surrender to God’s will is costly. It means laying aside our will and choosing to obey God rather than our own human instincts and desires. It means giving God first place in our lives and being prepared to lose everything (as Abraham was prepared to do when God called him to offer his precious son, Isaac, on an altar or as Ezekiel had to do when faced with the loss of his beloved wife.) Often, it can be just as hard to face the suffering of a loved one as it is to face suffering oneself. The believers experienced this when faced with Paul’s journey to Jerusalem; they knew the trials facing him and would dearly have loved for him not to go there so that he could be spared from suffering. Paul knew, however, that he needed to complete the task Jesus had set him (Acts 20:24) and that he was willing to die for the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 21:13) At this point, the believers had to stop their arguments and simply pray, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’ (Acts 21:14)

All of our prayers ultimately need to include this surrender to God’s will. It’s not a phrase we say lightly, not a mantra to be tacked on to the end of our words glibly or without thought. Instead, it’s the painful yet joyful expression of trust in the goodness and grace of God which can transform our lives. Jesus said ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’ (Mark 8:34-38) We don’t ask for God’s will to be done because we don’t know how to pray (though that is very often our experience!) but because we know this is the highest good for ourselves, our families, friends, communities and world. We surrender to God because that is the pathway to real life.