‘Conversion’ is described as ‘the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.’ In spiritual language, the word describes what happens when a person’s religious beliefs are changed and, for example, the person becomes a Christian. The process can happen quickly but often involves a period of time and several stages.

In Acts 28, we read of Paul’s conversation with people even while imprisoned and stages in conversion are described when people have the opportunity to ‘see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.’ (Acts 28:27, quoting Isaiah 6:9, 10, a passage to which Jesus also referred on occasions.)

Conversion, therefore, seems to involve 4 stages:

1. Seeing – in the book of Acts, we often read of miraculous signs and wonders which seemed to act as the ‘gateway’ or ‘opening’ in the apostles’ evangelism. Healings or mirauclous signs not as Paul not being affected by a snake’s bit opened people’s eyes to the fact these people had a message worth listening to. We need to pray these signs and wonders will be seen in our evangelism too.

2. Hearing– the miraculous signs were explained by the apostles, who always brought the focus back to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. There is a place for preaching in evangelism. This can be one-to-one (Philip explaining the message of Isaiah to the Ethiopian, for example) or preaching to a crowd (as Peter and Paul frequently did), but the spoken word of proclamation is still necessary: how will people convert if they don’t hear the message? (Rom 10:14-15)

3. Understanding – understanding has to involve both the head and the heart. There is a place for rational explanation (apologetics) in our evangelism, but we need to understand that conversion involves the heart (emotions and will) as well as the head (reason and logic.) Conversion is a holistic process; if only one part is convinced, it’s more likely the person will not put down roots and may fall away.

4. Repentance – the final stage in conversion is when we trun away from our sin and turn back to God. This theme is stressed repeatedly in Acts and needs to be stressed emphatically today. We have to renounce our old ways of living and turn towards God so that times of refreshing may occur. When this happens, we become new creations in Christ. (2 Cor 5:17)

Don’t forget our AGM today (Saturday 13th July) at 4 p.m. It’s always good to look back at what God has been doing over the past 18 months (yes, we are a bit late holding the AGM!) and to see the ways He has blessed us! It’s also good to pray about what’s ahead and to be together as we look to the future.

Tomorrow (Sunday 14th July) we’re at Cherry Tree Court in the morning (10.30 a.m.) and will be holding a communion service in the evening at 6 p.m. at Market Street.

On Wednesday 17th July we have our ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting at 10.30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Lockwood Road.

This is the last full week of term, so it will be the last youth club on Monday and Parent & Toddler group on Friday until September.

The fact that we are children of God means, in essence, that we are distinctively different. Fashion urges us to conform to the latest styles, but some people have the knack of looking different, no matter what the prevailing fashion gurus declare! They are quirky and dare to be different, where most of us spend our time trying to fit in and be like everyone else.

God wants His people to stand out, to be different, not to conform to the world around us (Rom 12:1-2). Christians are urged to be distinctively different – not in our fashion tastes, perhaps, but in our deameanour, attitudes and actions. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is perhaps our clearest picture of what this looks like.

So often, we can look like the world all around us. We may be like the Israelites who followed the practices of the nations around them (to their peril). (2 Kings 16:8) We imitate the values and actions of others, even when these are at direct odds with God’s word. (2 Kings 16:15) At times, we allow our worship of God to be mingled with our worship of other things (2 Kings 17:41).

Jesus urged us to live by kingdom standards, to live in a way that acts as salt to a godless society. (Matt 5:13-15) He wants His people to be distinctively different, to live out their birth! This is seen in 3 different areas:

1. our speech – saying kind and gentle things, speaking the truth in love, seeking to build people up, not tear them down, refusing to join in gossip and seeking to find positive things to say.

2. our attitudes – refusing to allow bitterness, envy, pride, unforgiveness and dog-eat-dog attitudes dominate our lives.

3. our actions – living out our faith in practical ways, seeking to reflect God’s nature in all we do.

Dave spoke last Sunday about the fact that we are children of God now (1 John 3:1-3). This is not just a future aspiration for us all, but is something which utterly transforms our way of thinking and living. John, writing this letter towards the end of his life, has preached, taught and encouraged Christians for well over half a century, but writes once again with passion and emotion as he stops to ponder the love of the Father

A right vision of God is essential if we are to live as He wants us to live, secure in the love He has for us. Being born of God and understanding what this means is essential to us.

1. The Nature of True Conversion & Spiritual Life

John emphasises that conversion begins when we are born of God and thus become children of God (see also John 3:1-16). Being a child of God is not simply a label for us to wear (the way we may be proud of being from Yorkshire, for example), but a daily, living truth: God’s seed impregnating our life with the very life of God. This is something that should cause us to gaze in wonder and awe at God!

2. Seeing and Loving Jesus is Related To Holiness

Whilst the world doesn’t understand who we are and how we live, the fact we have seen the beauty and wonder of God in the face of Jesus Christ radically changes how we live. Full holiness may not be available until we see Jesus as He is (1 John 3:2), but the more we gaze on Jesus, the more we are changed into His likeness. Our desires change (see 1 John 2:15-17) and the fleeting pleasures of sin become more pathetic in our eyes. The vision of Jesus removes our gullibility  and transforms us (2 Cor 3:18).

3. The Transformation Begins Now!

John reminds us we have a hope of being like Jesus which becomes our focus throughout life. When we are with Jesus, we will no longer have to live with our spiritual weaknesses and compromises, drawn to the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride in our possessions. We will be completely satisfied and gloriously happy, but it’s hypocritical to pretend that this is our ultimate desire if we do not want to be like Jesus now as well. We have to set our lives in the direction of being like Christ now with growing anticipation. As we fix our eyes not only on a better world but being a better person, we realise that the fact we are children of God now (not just in the future) transforms our daily living here on earth. What we are determines what we become!

Body language (non-verbal communication) is said to make up 55% of communication; it often speaks louder than words. Our body language communicates far more than we realise. When we are hurried and harassed, we tend to continue doing things and avoid eye contact with the person speaking to us, telling them that we are too busy for them and communicating to them a sense that they don’t really matter to us. When we are ashamed or feel guilty with someone, our posture usually becomes shrunken (hunched shoulders, head down) and again, eye contact is avoided lest the other person sees our true feelings reflected in our eyes (‘the mirrors of the soul’). When we are glad to see someone, our eyes light up and our arms are opened wide in a welcoming hug, communicating gladness and welcome, worth and value.

In the recent performance of ‘Fisherman’s Tail’, the actor playing Simon Peter used body language to great effect to communicate Simon’s feelings. When Simon first encounters Jesus’ miraculous powers and he recognises his own sinfulness and Jesus’ greatness, Simon fell face-down before Jesus, communicating his smallness in the face of God’s greatness. In the scenes depicting Simon’s denial of Jesus, his avoidance of eye contact with his interlocutors and his huddled posture confirmed his unease and divided loyalties. When Simon recognised Jesus on the shore after the resurrection, he ran to him with outstretched arms shouting ‘Jesus!’ and enveloping him in a bear hug. In the scene after the resurrection when Jesus asks him three times ‘Do you love me?’, his posture was studied indifference: eyes fixed on his fingernails, avoiding looking at Jesus because he feared rejection at first, only on the third question raising his eyes to look directly at Jesus and finding in His eyes not rejection but acceptance and forgiveness.

Our body language is more innate and unconscious than our words. I’m just seeing the first smiles from my youngest granddaughter at three months old as she learns to mirror the expressions around her; it will be many more months before she learn to speak. Similarly, our body language cannot really hide our true feelings, whatever our words say. The author Jeffrey Deaver has had huge success with his investigator Kathryn Dance, an expert in kinesics (the study of the way in which certain body movements and gestures serve as a form of non-verbal communication.) precisely because she can interpret what is not said as effectively as what is!

Worship involves the whole body as well as our words. We bow down in awe before God, like Simon Peter, to indicate our unworthiness and His greatness:

We lift our hands hight to God to indicate our openness to His greatness:

We hold our hands out to Him to indicate our willingness to empty ourselves to receive from Him.

We clap to indicate our approval of His magnificent deeds; we dance in His presence as joy grips our heart.

Hunched, indifferent, unresponsive worship communicates a lack of respect and a lack of awe. We need our body language to match our words and thus we become whole people.

We had fun today at Carrfield Primary School’s family picnic chatting with families about the work we do as Dearne Churches Together and listening to people’s stories. The picnic was held in the big field behind the school and reminded me a little of what it must have been like when all the people gathered to hear Jesus preach. We didn’t have to feed anyone as everyone brought their own picnics, but it was lovely to connect with so many local families.

The ‘Churches Together’ banner and literature about us:

Chatting with people: