New challenges
Garry then went on to talk about God’s promise to do new things found in Isaiah 43:16-19. We need to remember the amazing things God has done for us (as He did for the Israelites in delivering them from Egyptian slavery), but we must not live in them. We must be prepared to leave the past behind (‘familiar things are never easy to discard’, as Sara Groves puts it) and to trust God in the new things He wants to do.
Are we prepared to remember the past but not live there? Are we prepared to be encouraged by the past, but live in the now and accept the new challenges that God gives? Are we willing to go where the only certainty is that God has promised to be with us? Peter stepped out onto the water to walk to Jesus – that was something new which tested his faith. Are we willing to do likewise?
New year, new life
Despite cancelling our morning service because of the snowy conditions and difficult driving conditions, we managed to meet at the earlier time of 4 p.m. this afternoon for our Little Big Church service, where Garry told the story of Claudia the Caterpillar. Claudia saw butterflies flying around her and thought about how she too would like to fly. When she tried to do this by herself, though, she ended up falling and hurting herself. It was only when she asked God for help that things started to change.
God’s plans for Claudia’s life were amazing, but difficult. She had to be wrapped in a cocoon and do nothing for over two weeks! But one day she broke out and realised that she had been transformed into a butterfly herself! Because of God’s help, she was enjoying something completely different and new. She had a new life – and all of us can have a new life if we ask for God’s help.
Children’s Room Cleaning
Yesterday we spent much of the day putting up new storage shelving and sorting out the children’s room, which has become a bit of a dumping ground for everything in our building! There was barely a surface without something on it!
We sorted and tidied all the craft materials, paper and paints, throwing out all that was broken or not working.
Then each thing found a new labelled home to live in!
Our thanks to Garry, Carl, Stacey, Kathy and Janet who literally spent all day Friday working on this transformation.
New Year’s Day Party (Pt 2)
There were plenty of silly games at the New Year’s Day party.
New Year’s Day 2025 (Pt 1)
As always we gathered together on New Year’s Day to start the year 2025 together. There was lots of food and lots of fellowship!
Nicodemus
Tonight Garry spoke about Nicodemus, a man who features several times in John’s Gospel, most notably in John 3:1-21, one of the most famous parts of the whole Bible. Nicodemus was a Jewish leader living in troublesome times under Roman occupation, and the idea of the Messiah was inevitably connected to people’s political views. Many Pharisees did not admire Jesus but thought him troublesome; Nicodemus, however, wanted to know more.
He approached Jesus at night, wary of the consequences if others found out he was talking to Jesus. Today, there can be severe consequences in some countries (e.g. North Korea) for becoming a Christian, but we have the opportunity to enquire and to help others enquire about faith. Jesus took the opportunity to talk with him about the kingdom of God and made the most of his opportunity; we too need to be the same, being willing to speak openly to others about our lives.
Nicodemus came to Jesus a second time in John 7:45-52. There, he was willing to stand up for the right to listen to Jesus and was unwilling to let Him be ridiculed by others. It’s all too easy to be negative about people, but he sought to work with fact. In this scene, we see Nicodemus growing in faith and courage, being willing to speak up for Jesus.
Nicodemus’s third appearance is recorded in John 19:38-42 when he goes with Joseph of Arimathea to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus to bury. We see here that he is no longer hesitant, but is willing to nail his colours to the mast. He and Joseph were apparently on the losing side, but he was still willing to speak up and count the cost.
Are we prepared, like Nicodemus, to go on that journey with Jesus? Will we move from hesitant contact to open declaratoin? Are we prepared to stand? Let us pray to continue to grow and develop as we share what God has done for us and let everything we do be to the glory of God.