This evening, we looked at John 15:1-17 and our identity as friends of God. Last time, we looked at the idea that we are God’s servants, but in this passage, Jesus reminds us that if we remain in His love, we are more than servants; we can be called friends of God, as Abraham and Moses were (see 2 Chron 20:7, James 2:23, Ex 33:11). To be a confidant of God is an amazing thing!

Friendship is a precious gift; we often say that friends are the family we choose for ourselves. We looked at the qualities we value in a friend (such as good communication, being trustworthy, reliable and honest, loyalty, understanding and acceptance) and saw that all these characteristics are found in Jesus. (Ps 145:13, 2 Timothy 2:13, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Cor 10:13, Romans 15:7) Friendships in the Bible such as that between David and Jonathan reminds us of the strength and help we find in good friends, but we are blessed even more to have Jesus as our friend, the friend who loves at all times. (Prov 17:17) All our human needs can be satisfied in God, and so we are then set free to be a friend to others.

John 15 goes on to connect love and friendship very strongly, but the most obvious conclusion we can then draw is that to be a friend of God must result in concrete action, that we live a life of obedience to the commands of Christ. (John 15:9-14) We are never an equal with God in this relationship, but we are offered the opportunity to go beyond a distant relationship with a heavenly teacher and instead come into intimate fellowship with Him. Ps 25:14 says, ‘The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.’ Just as God made known His ways to Moses (Ps 103:7) and confided His plans about Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham (Gen 18:17-19), so we can know God’s heart and whispers and can be led into a deeper, intimate relationship with Him as we learn to abide in Him and live the way He commands us to.

Garry spoke this morning from 2 Thess 1:11-12, where Paul prays that by God’s power He may ‘bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.’ This echoes Psalm 20, which asks God to ‘give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.’ (Ps 20:4) Ps 37:4 also urges us to ‘take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.’

A heart desire is something which is held deeply and is highly valued. Paul talks about the Thessalonians’ desire for goodness; he talks about God fulfilling His good purpose for our lives in Phil 2:12-13;. God really wants what is best for us, but this means leaving our old lives and old desires behind. We must let go of our sinful desires which corrupt us; we need to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions (see Titus 2:11-13).God wants to give good gifts to us (Matt 7:9-11), but we have to let go of the old in order to receive His good gifts.

Paul also prays for our deeds prompted by faith to come to fruition. Sometimes it can be hard to continue in our deeds; we have a tendency to give up when lfie gets tough. 1 Cor 15:50-58 reminds us that we need an eternal perspective in order to persevere and must be prepared to be steadfast in our works. We must not stop before God does and must not continue after He stops, but this involves careful listening to God so that we are sure that what we are doing is indeed prompted by faith. Paul prayed for fruitfulness from our desires and deeds; we must learn to persevere in faith with all that we do and realise that fruitfulness is what God desires from us more than anything else.

Our thanks to all who attended and helped at this morning’s Christmas coffee morning, which raised £268 towards the church’s community outreach.

We served bacon butties and sausage sandwiches along with hot and cold drinks and had a variety of cakes and buns for sale. Our thanks to Bev for her buns!

We had a number of lovely things on sale; our thanks to Beckie, Esther, Stacey, Penny and Julie who contributed these.

We decorated biscuits to eat and did some crafts.

We also had the second draw of our Christmas raffle.

All in all, it was a lovely celebration and we had a great time!

Thursday 12 December

Jesus lived in difficult times. He was not universally liked and respected. Many religious leaders hated him and were successful in plotting to kill Him. If anyone had cause to be worried, Jesus did.

And yet we don’t find Him being panicked, paranoid or afraid. Jesus demonstrated trust in God which enabled Him to face opposition and hatred with equanimity. When He tells us not to let our hearts be troubled (John 14:1), we need to consider who is talking!

In that final conversation with His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke about peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Peace is God’s gift to us. It is, as we have said, supernatural peace, God’s peace. It might not be definable or explainable, but it is real. It’s not like the world’s peace, based on shifting sands. It’s solid, dependable, available. It’s a gift.

At Christmas time we will receive gifts. They must be opened and used to be of any real benefit to us. There’s little merit in an unopened gift or one left on a shelf or put away in a cupboard. God has many gifts for us, but we have to receive them, open them and use them for there to be any lasting benefit to us.

Fear and anxiety rob us of God’s gift of peace. We need to let go of them to embrace this precious Advent gift of peace.

Mental health is crucially important to our overall wellbeing. Good mental health helps us to have perspective in difficult circumstances and to be resilient people who may wobble like a Weeble but who ultimately don’t fall down (and who can get up again if they do fall!)

Peace is an essential ingredient in mental health, because turmoil, insecurity, doubt and anxiety rob us of peace and strength. Isaiah says that God ‘will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You.’ (Isaiah 26:3)

How do we develop steadfast minds? How do we become unwavering people?

Isaiah links peace and steadfastness to trust. Those who trust in God will be kept in perfect peace. This is a promise God makes and therefore we can have hope, because God doesn’t make promises He can’t keep!

Trusting in God is the antidote to wavering and wobbling, to fear and anxiety. Trust in God steadies us. As we focus on God’s love, mercy, faithfulness and reliability, we are given external help (peace) to keep us steadfast and firm.