Dave’s sermon this morning focussed on Acts 3:1-8, showing us the power of God to heal completely. Here, Peter and John, on their way to the temple to pray in the afternoon, encountered a man crippled from birth, begging for money. They may not have had silver or gold to give to him, but they had received power from God on the Day of Pentecost, and that power transformed the man from a human tragedy through a heavenly touch.

Pentecostal power is not given to us so we can become an exclusive club, content with power for our sakes. We must never be content to simply sing the old hymn, “Standing On The Promises” while all we are doing is sitting in the premises (or in our own homes, as is currently the case!) This power is given to transform lives, and though we may feel that we have nothing to give to others, the truth is that behind the affluence and apparent self-satisfaction all around us, there are hurting people desperately in need of God’s heavenly touch, which we can offer through His power in us.

A Human Tragedy

This man had been crippled from birth and had never known the pleasures and joys of childhood, learning to walk, run and play with other children. He was entirely dependent on others to bring him to the Temple gates to beg. All he could do was beg, to sit there, and hope that people would have pity on him. This man symbolises for us the reality of tragedy in life. As we look at him, we are reminded that everywhere around us there is human hurt, human suffering, and human tragedy. Sometimes it shows itself through a physical affliction such as this man had, but more often it goes unseen to human eyes. For every one who is crippled physically, there are literally tens of thousands who are crippled emotionally and there are hundreds of thousands who are crippled spiritually.

How many of those we work with, how many of our friends or neighbours, who appear outwardly to be doing OK, are inwardly struggling? They are struggling financially. They don’t know what to do with their children.Their marriages are falling apart. Their job is hanging by a thread. They’ve lost all self-esteem. They’re guilty and depressed and don’t know where to turn. Behind every door there is human need. Every person has a story to tell, including us; each person needs Jesus.

A Healing Touch

This man had no expectation of meeting with God or being healed, and many people today simply don’t see the need for God or think that the church has anything to offer them. Peter and John knew their lives had been turned around by Jesus and now they wanted to share what they had received. And because of that, they weren’t in a hurry. They had time for people. After all, Jesus always did. In the midst of His busy schedule, He always had time for the individual. His ministry was to people and so was theirs. The man wanted money, but needed healing, and healing was what they offered through the outstretched touch of their hands. The apostles didn’t have silver and gold, but they had the power of God.

What we need are not possessions, but power. Power to touch people’s lives with the presence of the living God. Power to reach out to people and lift them up out of their tragic circumstances and give them hope and healing, friendship and fellowship.

A Heavenly Transformation

By the power of Jesus of Nazareth, the lame man was healed… and not only could walk, but began to run and jump and praise God! More than just the tremendous news of healing, the man could now live in communion with God every day. He had been healed in more ways than one. What else could he do but rejoice? And that is precisely what he did. He was walking and leaping and praising God. He was ecstatic.

People need the healing and transformation that Jesus brings, and we have what they need. May we have the courage and faith to step out as Peter and John did, knowing God has given us HIs power through the Holy Spirit living in us.

This weekend was supposed to be when Franklin Graham came to Sheffield Arena to preach the gospel. Some of us from our church had been planning to attend as counsellors; many of us had been praying for people to come to know Jesus as Saviour at this event.

Even before lockdown, there were difficulties over the Franklin Graham tour as the venues decided they did not want to host the events. Then, in March, all such public events were cancelled as lockdown was imposed. All our plans have been drastically altered and at the moment, no one is quite sure when large gatherings will be allowed again.

It can be difficult to adapt to altered plans. All of us have experienced this in recent weeks as we’ve made arrangements to cancel or amend holidays, had to celebrate birthdays alone and live in ways we could barely have imagined at the turn of the year. This creates feelings of frustration, disappointment and loss in us, and it’s easy to become resentful or bitter about the changes.

The Bible says, however, ‘the plans of the Lord stand firm together, the purposes of His heart through all generations.’ (Ps 33:11) Our plans may be changed and thwarted, but God’s plans are not: ‘many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.’ (Prov 19:21) I’m sure Franklin Graham and his team have been exceedingly frustrated at the change to their plans, but we can be confident that none of God’s purposes can be thwarted. (Job 42:2) We may well be experiencing personal frustration and bitter disappointment right now, but even when we do not understand why, we rest in God’s promise that His plans are to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. (Jer 29:11) God’s plans and purposes can be trusted. We know that God is continuing to work in our communities and nation and world at this time; people are becoming Christians even in lockdown (read this testimony here.) Our prayer is still ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10), even when our plans have to change.

On 6th June 2010 we held our first Sunday services in the building at Market Street. We had had the keys for the building since February and had worked tirelessly – every Saturday and many evenings during the week as well as all day during school holidays – on renovating and decorating the building. It truly was a labour of love as we all worked on making the run-down building fit for worship. At the end of the evening service, we took a photo of all who had been present.

Today, 6th June 2020, things look very different in some ways. We have not been able to meet together in the building since 19th March because of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic, although Garry and Julie have been livestreaming services from the building since 22nd March. We are very much hoping we will be able to physically meet together soon (perhaps from July, depending on the Government’s guidelines) and in preparation for that, we have decided to have the room decorated for the first time since 2010. Today has been spent emptying the room of all the chairs and furnishings. (We have since taken down the cross and moved other things too!)

The advantage of the current situation is that with no one using the building, we could transfer all these items to the community room (which is also not being used!)

Hopefully by the end of next week, we can show you photos of a newly decorated worship room and foyer!

In some ways, this has got us thinking about lots of things… There’s no doubt that a church building is hugely useful, and it’s deeply frustrating to us that we can’t use the building to its full potential at the moment. We miss not being able to hold services, prayer meetings and Bible studies, our Parent & Toddler group and youth club and are sad that other groups such as Slimming World, Dearne Stay Fit and TADS can’t use the building either for their groups. We are very much a community church, and we miss the physical contact we have through our presence on Market Street. But at the same time, we are very aware that the church is far more than a building… and the church is very much alive still, even if we have had to learn to meet in different ways over the past eleven Sundays. We are still meeting on Sundays at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m. and on Thursdays at 7.00 p.m. We are still holding prayer meetings and Bible studies. We are staying in touch with our parents and toddlers through Facebook Live on Fridays and have continued to work with other local churches, supporting the Salvation Army food bank and running virtual Family Fun Days at Easter and Pentecost. We are still in touch with each other through snail mail, telephone calls, texts, WhatsApp and Facebook. We have posted out craft packs and Easter eggs at Easter to local families and have posted out craft packs at Pentecost as well. We’re doing our best to stay in touch and to reflect God’s heart for our community. We are still seeking, ten years on, to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community’ and we continue to believe that God has good plans and purposes for this area, this community, this church and this building!

When we talked about mental health issues during Mental Health Awareness Week in May, we used the analogy of a bucket which, if faced with too much stress, overflows (and said that overflow represents our inability to cope and the fact we then become pronte to anxiety, fear and depression). In that analogy, the goal is not to have an over-full bucket, but to learn coping mechanisms which allow us to let out water (stress) in a controlled and helpful way.

The image of an overflowing bucket does not always have to be negative, however. In the Bible, the image of a cup overflowing is often seen as a sign of God’s blessing which is so abundant it cannot be contained. Ps 23:5 says, ‘my cup overflows’ in the context of God’s anointing and blessing.

Jesus talked about generosity as a key to blessing: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.’ (Luke 6:38)

Joel prophesied about a time of blessing when ‘the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.’ (Joel 2:24)

The abundance found in God is often described positively: ‘your carts overflow with abundance’ (Ps 65:11); ‘you will drink deeply and delight in the overflowing abundance.’ (Is 66:11)

If we view the overflowing cup in this light, we notice several things:

1. God is a liberal, generous God who is not mean or stingy in any way. James reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from Him. (James 1:17) Paul tells us that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. (Eph 1:3) There is no lack in God, and He is not only able to bless us, but willing.

2. God’s generosity is so overwhelming, there will inevitably be mess. When my grandchildren play in water, I have to be prepared for everything to get wet! Their splashing, tipping and pouring result in water getting everywhere – their clothes get soaked; the ground gets soaked; the water goes everywhere. We mustn’t be afraid of the ‘mess’ blessing can bring us. Revival – surely the ultimate example of God’s blessing seen on earth – often looks messy: people weeping uncontrollably, people laughing for hours, people prostrate before God, meetings that last for hours as the Spirit of God moves in ways we have not seen before. For many, the ‘mess’ of blessing is too much, but we are urged not to quench the Holy Spirit. (1 Thess 5:19)

3. God’s generosity in overflow means everyone gets blessed. Blessing is not really meant to be contained. It’s meant to overflow to others. God’s plan has always been to bless others through His people: ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ (Gen 12:3) The parable of the talents reminds us that ‘whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.’ (Matt 25:29) Abundance isn’t meant to be simply hoarded, but to be used to benefit others. We are blessed to be a blessing.

4. Blessing comes from God. This truth is fundamental to our spiritual growth. We don’t earn blessing (we earn wages!) There’s no place in God’s kingdom for the quid pro quo mindset which governs so much of our thinking. Abundance and blessing are rooted in grace. They have nothing to do with our ‘rights’ or what we think we deserve, and we have to let go of all that’s connected to the legalistic way of life if we are to know God’s blessing more fully. Holding on to grudges, seeking revenge and trying to force blessing from God will all ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. We don’t need to twist God’s arm to bless us. We simply have to live as children of God.

 5.  The bigger the cup, the bigger the blessing! We may feel there’s not much we can do about the size of our ‘cup’: it is what it is. But if our cup is     clogged up and filled with other things, it does affect its capacity. Our part is to ‘put off’ our old self and ‘be made new’ in the attitude of our minds (Eph 4:23) so that our capacity to receive God’s blessing is increased.

Garry spoke tonight about the subject of human value. So often, we associate our value with work, and it’s true that God gave us work to do (see Gen 2:8-17), but work is not the source of our value. Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of the garden; he was meant to serve and guard it, demonstrating the servant nature of work which Jesus exemplified. (Luke 22:24-27) After the Fall, work became more painful and involved toil and sweat (Gen 3:17-19), and as a result of sin, our views on value and work have been largely distorted (see Eph 4:17-18).

So often, the prevailing culture sees evolution as the norm and this means that human value has no real explanation; we exist ‘randomly’ or ‘by chance’ and have no purpose or meaning. Instead of having value because we are made in God’s image and because God values us, people feel there is meaning only insofar as they can create their own meaning and identity; this is often tied in with the job they do or the money they earn. When we become the arbiters of meaning, the consequences can be frightening: Down’s Syndrome has been virtually eradicated in Iceland because abortion is practised on babies shown to have this ‘defect’; they are viewed as ‘things’ to be eliminated rather than people having value. God places tremendous value on human life, however (see Matt 10:29-31); so much so that Jesus came to redeem those under the law (see Gal 4:4-5; 1 Pet 1:18-19). God places great value on us and we do not have to earn this value and cannot change our value. God’s acceptance of and love for humankind is unconditional and unwavering. Through His great love and because of the value He places on each and every one, He gave Himself for each and every one, to draw each to Himself for now and eternity. It cost Him so much, but He looks at you and says, ‘You’re worth it!’

Our hope rests on the unchanging nature of who God is (see Heb 6:17). God’s faithfulness is a thread which runs throughout the whole Bible. Here are just a few verses reminding us of this fact:

• Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (Deut 7:9)

• He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. (Deut 32:4)

• All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Ps 25:10)

• For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. (Ps 33:4)

• For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Ps 57:10)

• Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. (Ps 89:14)

• Great is Your faithfulness. (Lam 3:23)

These verses remind us of God’s faithfulness to us and this theme is continued in the New Testament, where we see that God fulfilled all His promises in Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us of God’s faithfulness in 1 Cor 1:9 and 1 Cor 10:13; he goes on to say, ‘But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ (2 Cor 1:18-20)

We are not consumed or destroyed because of God’s great faithfulness!