We had another birthday to celebrate on Sunday evening:

How we respond to the injustice of life and personal insult is extremely important in our witness to the world. It is not wrong to be angry per se; the problem comes, however, in that so often we are only angry when we ourselves are wronged or hurt, rather than angry over the things which make God angry. James reminds us that ‘human anger dosn’t produce the righteousness that God desires.’ (James 1:19-20) We so often become angry when we are hurt or wounded, but there is a selfish element to much of this anger.

The Bible speaks of different kinds of anger: that which is slow, cold, almost a settled habit which has the purpose of revenge (Matt 5:22), often manifested in our desire to ‘get even’ with those with whom we are at loggerheads. Another type of anger is volatile and turbulent, flaring up quickly and singeing all who come near to it. In contrast, we are told to bless those who persecute us (Rom 12:14) and to be careful that we do not let anger tip us into sin. (Eph 4:26) Our reaction to people needs to be laced with courtesy and love, for all are made in God’s image. When we become angry, so often the self is predominant and we dehumanise others.

God reminds us that hatred will be a common response to His love (see John 15:18), but urges us to overcome anger with love. (Rom 13:8-10) We have to be ruthless in investigating the source of our anger, for so often it reveals our hearts. Love is not easily angered (1 Cor 13:8), and to mange anger successfully, we must be filled instead with God’s love (love displaces anger!) When we are angry, we need to stop, pause, and allow God’s love to be in the air!

Anger in itself is not wrong, but we need to be sure we are angry as God is – angry at injustice and a disregard for Him – and that we respond as He does, showing love and mercy even to those who don’t deserve it.

Garry spoke last night on the subject of anger. In 1977 the song ‘Love Is In The Air’ was popular, with its line that this is ‘everywhere you look around’. Nowadays, it is a sad fact that ‘anger is in the air‘. We seem to be a nation of angry people, whether this is manifested in road rage, vitriolic debates on social media, political hatred (which resulted in the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016, for example) and a general intolerance within society.

In the eyes of many people, this anger is justified and justifiable. Some even cite God as an example of someone who is often angry, as if this excuses their selfish and uncontrolled anger (presumably overlooking the many differences between humanity and God, including mankind’s sinfulness and God’s holiness). The Bible does talk of God’s anger, but when we look at this, we see that this is manifested when people deliberately ignore or rebel against His commandments.It is not a ‘first response’. In 2 Sam 6:1-7, we see the death of Uzzah for reaching out and touching the Ark of the Covenant, something many feel to be disproportionate to the act. If we look further into this incident, however, we see how God had given His people clear instructions about how to carry the Ark, which was the symbol of His holy presence, so that the priests would carry it with poles, never actually touching the chest. God’s anger arose out of the people’s insult and disregard for His commands and their lack of respect for all that the ark represented.

In Exodus 4:14, we are told that the Lord’s anger burned against Moses. In this encounter (when God calls Moses to lead His people out of Egyptian slavery), Moses makes many excuses to God about why he cannot fulfil this commission and God is exceedingly accommodating! It is only when Moses begs Him to send someone else that God becomes angry. God is far more patient and long-suffering with people than we are!

Some also justify their anger by saying that Jesus got angry, often citing the fact that He overturned the tables in the temple as a proof of this. This incident (see Matt 23:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, John 2:13-7) shows us Jesus overturning tables to make a definite point and talks of the zeal of God consuming Him, but there is actually no mention of anger. It is only when we see Jesus confronted with the stubbornness of the Pharisees, who would rather their interpretation of the Sabbath laws be honoured than actually see a man healed and delivered, that we read of Jesus being angry (Mark 3:1-6). Jesus’s anger was not vindictive or vengeful; His response to their hardness of heart was still to go ahead and heal the man!

So often, our anger arises when we are wounded, hurt or feel wronged or insulted. Jesus did not respond to insults or personal hurt with retaliation and threats and anger (see 1 Pet 2:21-23). We can be passionate in our beliefs and fervent in our zeal, but this does not have to tip us into anger.

John spoke at Cherry Tree Court about the cross of inclusion. So often we get upset if ‘Christmas’ is abbreviated to ‘Xmas’, feeling that this is disrespectful to Christ, omitting Him from the festivities when the season is ultimately all about Him. However, far from being an omission or exclusion, ‘X’ carries with it many connotations which pertain to Christ.

The Cross of Discovery: ‘X’ often marks the spot on a treasure map and Jesus reminded us in Matt 13:44-46 that the kingdom of God is like hidden treasure, like the merchant who finds a pearl of high value and sells everything to acquire this pearl. Col 2:3 reminds us that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ; He is the source of all treasure.

The Cross of Selection: When we vote in elections, our choices are marked with an ‘X’ on the ballot paper. Jesus reminds us that He has chosen us (John 15:6). We are chosen and beloved!

The Cross of Multiplication: In mathematics, ‘X’ is the sign of multiplication and God’s grace, love, blessing and mercy have been multiplied to us in abundance.

The Cross of the Unknown: ‘X’ is also used to indicate something unknown; if we don’t know someone’s identity, for example, we call them ‘Mr X’. In Acts 17, Paul preaches to the Greeks in Athens and speaks of their altar to an unknown God. Jesus makes God known to us; ‘anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’. (John 14:9)

The Cross of Affection: We use ‘xxx’ as a symbol of affection, as a sign of kisses. In this context, ‘X’ is the symnbol of love and God is love (1 John 4:8), demonstrating this in the fact that He sent Jesus to die for us and rescue us from sin. (John 3:16)

The Cross of Error: In schools, work is often marked with a tick when it is correct and with ‘X’ when it is not. It can seem depressing to get things wrong, but ultimately we have all sinned and gone away from God, and it is this recognition of wrongdoing which is needed before we can turn back to God in repentance and be saved. This is not something negative in the long run!

The Cross of Calvary: Jesus came ultimately to die on a cross for the sins of the world. All the other blessings previously symbolised by an ‘X’ are only available becuase of this cross. Jesus came to reveal that cross to us and through His death on the cross we are saved.

As a grandparent with a two-year-old granddaughter, I am rediscovering the joys of building blocks. These wooden blocks provide hours of fun: first of all, as an adult builds towers for the toddler to knock down gleefully and then as the toddler learns to build them up for themselves, balancing shapes and bricks to form the strongest, tallest structures. Some blocks can even be used to teach other things, such as letters of the alphabet or numbers. Experience Barnsley has a section where children can use building bricks to build a new town centre, allowing imagination free rein!

Peter tells us ‘you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Pet 2:5) All of us are important to God and to the church, and we need your ideas, suggestions and input as we go forward in the new year. To this end, we’ll be holding a ‘Building Blocks’ meeting on Saturday 2nd March at 4 p.m. when we’d love as many members as possible to come along and discuss with us how we can go forward with God as we seek to fulfil Jesus’s command to go into the whole world, making disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. (Matt 28:18-20) What new things does God want to breathe into being? How can you be involved in all God is doing through His church? We hope to hold these meetings on a regular basis and see people enthused and committed to serving God. All of us have a vital role to play; we need every living stone to take their place! Come along to find out more.

Over the coming months, we will be studying the book of Acts chapter by chapter, but as an introduction to the book, here are some of the common themes we find within that book.

1. Jesus, who was crucified, is alive! (Acts 2:32-33) The apostles were astonished by the news of the resurrection and took every opportunity to speak about this Christ, crucified by the authorities, but raised to life by God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus stand at the centre of the preaching in Acts.
2. Jesus is the Messiah and Lord, the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. (Acts 2:16-39, Acts 17:2-3) It’s impossible to understand the book of Acts without an understanding of the Old Testament prophecies concerning God’s Messiah. The apostles use prophetic names and apply these to Jesus (e.g. Messiah, Lord, Saviour, Lamb of God, Son of David), being convinced that Christianity is the fulfilment of pure Judaism (see Acts 7:2-53 and Acts 21:9-28:28).
3. The Holy Spirit does the miraculous as the message of Jesus goes forward. Truly, this is a book dominated by the Holy Spirit (He is mentioned over fifty times in the 28 chapters). Keith Ferguson says, ‘the narrative of Acts makes the case that both the witness of the church and the miraculous power of the Spirit are required for gospel to spread’, noting that miraculous signs accompany the preaching of the Word (see Mark 16:20). Miracles abound in this book – healings (e.g. Acts 3:6-9), deliverances (e.g. Acts 19:12), even the raising from the dead (e.g. Acts 20:7-10), and it is noteworthy that Luke records these miracles happening to both Peter and Paul:

• Peter heals a lame man (Acts 3:2-8), so does Paul (Acts 14:8-10)
• Peter’s shadow has healing power (Acts 5:15); Paul’s handkerchiefs do too! (Acts 19:12)
• Peter exorcises demons (Acts 5:16); so does Paul (Acts 16:18)
• Peter has a victorious encounter with a sorcerer (Acts 8:18-24); so has Paul (Acts 13:6-11).
• The Holy Spirit comes on believers when Peter lays hands on them (Acts 8:17); the same happens with Paul (Acts 19:6)
• Peter raises the dead to life (Acts 9:36-41); so does Paul (Acts 20:9-12)
• Peter has a miraculous escape from prison (Acts 12:6-11); so has Paul. (Acts 16:25f)

4. The apostles boldly proclaim the truth about Jesus to all regardless of consequences. The power of the Holy Spirit turned cowards to crusaders, ‘wimps’ to witnesses! There was much persecution and opposition to be faced (Acts 4:2-3, Acts 5:17-18, Acts 9:1, Acts 12:1-2, Acts 13:50, Acts 14:5, 19, Acts 16:16-40, Acts 17:5, Acts 18:12), but the apostles spoke out fearlessly, astonishing those in authority. (Acts 4:13)
5. God’s power can turn the most unlikely of sinners to Him. The story of the conversion of Saul to Paul (see Acts 9) is a reminder that no one is beyond the reach of God. Paul was God’s ‘chosen instrument’ to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15), but this story of how the one who persecuted the early church became its most powerful advocate reminds us that with God, nothing is impossible. (Matt 19:26)
6. The gospel is for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, religious background or moral values. The inclusion of the Gentiles in the story of salvation is one of the great themes of Acts, showing us ‘that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.’ (Acts 10:34-35) Salvation is seen as part of God’s sovereign plan (Acts 2:23-24), bestowed by Christ (Acts 13:38-39) and offered to all people, not just Jews (see Acts 2:17, 39).
7. God has chosen to and will build His church through His people. (Matt 16:18, Eph 1:22-23) We may despair at times over the state of the church in our nation, but God remains committed to the church and so should we.

Luke undoubtedly wrote as a historian and as a Christian apologist, defending the Christian faith against accusations of sedition. He reminds us that history is not random, but is directed by God Himself, His acts being witnessed by people who can give an eyewitness account to others. As John was later to put it, ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.’ (1 John 1:1-3)