Follow Your Heart?

Jul 30, 2023

Garry spoke tonight on the theme ‘Follow Your Heart.’ This is definitely the world’s mantra, urging people to do whatever makes them happy and following wherever the heart takes them. The problem is that our hearts can mislead us; as Jeremiah reminded us, ‘the heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.’ (Jer 17:9) Solomon, one of the richest men in the world who could presumably have anything he wanted, discovered that such things did not ultimately satisfy him (Eccl 2:10-11).
It can be difficult to know our own hearts, but God weighs the heart; He knows us through and through (see Prov 21:2). He is the ultimate arbiter of what is right and wrong. Deut 4:9 urges us to guard our hearts and remember what God has done; if we do not, it’s amazing how quickly God’s many wondrous acts fade from our memories.
Matt 6:21 reminds us that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If we have wrong values, we will end up going in the wrong direction and harming ourselves and others. Our hearts become calloused, desensitised and then it’s dangerous to follow our heart.
What we need is a new heart, a pure heart (see Ps 51:10). God has promised to do this (Ezek 36:26) He is able to restore and renew us, illuminating our hearts, giving us new values and new desires. He gives light to the eyes of our heart (Eph 1:18), enabling us to follow God who has then promised to give us the desires of our hearts. (Ps 37:4)

An Inconvenient Miracle

Jul 30, 2023

This morning we looked at an inconvenient miracle found in Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 6:6-11, where Jesus heals a man with a shrivelled hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. It’s difficult for us to understand the outrage that this miracle caused, but the Pharisees and religious leaders were furious with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. As far as they were concerned, this was an unnecessary miracle and it led to accusations and further plots to kill Jesus.
Keeping the Sabbath was an important part of the Jewish life. Its origins lie in the creation story, when God rested from His work on the seventh day (Gen 2:2). The Sabbath was made for man (not man for the Sabbath), an opportunity to rest from work, worship God and find our spiritual energy in Him, but by this time, people had added a whole raft of man-made rules to the original commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy (Ex 20:8, Ex 31:15). Jesus made it plain that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matt 5:17), but He lived by the spirit of the law, whereas the religious leaders lived by the letter of the law.
Jesus knew God’s heart because of His close relationship with the Father (see John 5:17, 39-40). Religion is useful in giving us organisation and form, but relationship is at the heart of our faith; we cannot simply hide behind rules and regulations, even though this means having to deal with the mess of relationships! – learning to forgive, love and live with imperfect people and walk by faith and not by sight.. The healing of this man was an inconvenient miracle to the Pharisees because it smashed their rules; it broke their taboos. It offended them because it seemed to them unnecessary. Their response ultimately showed the hardness of their hearts.
The fact that Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath shows the worth He placed on one individual (see also Matt 12:12, Matt 10:29-30, Luke 15:3-7, 8-10, 11-32). We can feel overwhelmed at times by the needs around us, but Jesus shows us that sometimes miracles happen one person at a time. Even a cup of cold water can count! (Matt 10:42)
In this story, Jesus challenged the hypocrisy of the leaders, exposed the folly of their position and showed ordinary people something more of God’s heart for each one of them. His pointed question remains: “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4) May we learn from His example and follow God’s heart in all things.

Flamingo Land trip

Jul 29, 2023

Yesterday the Parent and Toddler group (all 72 of us including older siblings and additional family members) went to Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire as our annual trip. This was a real family effort, as we wanted to make the trip affordable for all – every child over 4 cost the same as an adult, so each entry cost £44 including transport. The group, undaunted by this, have been fund-raising since March and raised a whopping £2,227 through a variety of means. We are grateful for donations towards the trip as well. IN the end, families paid just £10 per person and had a great day out.

The breakdown of income is given below:

  • Easter Coffee Morning £430.00
  • Easter Raffle £186.00
  • Sponsored Walk £300.00
  • Sponsored Toddle £575.00
  • Donations £283.00
  • Snap Tin Raffle £50.00
  • Dummy Clips £24.00
  • Tea Towels £365.00
  • Bottle Bag Sale £14.00

What was so lovely to see was how the children interacted with each other – we really are a big family!

There were rides to go on and places to explore:

There were animals to see, including the eponymous flamingos!

Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny came to visit.

There were a lot of ice-creams eaten (and one dropped…)

All in all, it was a lovely day out. Our thanks to Oakleaf coaches for transporting us and to Flamingo Land for a fun day out.

Food For All!

Jul 29, 2023

After the dedication service last week, we enjyed a lovely buffet. Our thanks to all who contributed and helped with setting up and tidying away.

Dedication Service Photos

Jul 29, 2023

Here are some more photos of the dedication service for Melody Turner last Sunday (23 July). Our thanks to Alan for taking these photos and videoing the service.

 

The Millennium & God’s Final Judgment

Jul 29, 2023

In our Bible study on Thursday we looked at Revelation 20, a chapter which speaks of the millennium or thousand-year-reign of Christ. This is a controversial and often contentious chapter amongst Biblical scholars, with three main views having arisen as to how we should interpret these verses. Amillennialism (the most popular current views) sees this reign as symbolic and happening now, the period between Christ’as first and second comings;. Post-millennialism believes that Christ will return to earth after this period, believing in a ‘golden age’ when many will come to faith. Premillennialism (the view of the early church fathers and the classic Pentecostal view) takes these verses more literally and believes there will be a literal 1000 year reign after which Christ will judge the earth.

It’s always difficult to be dogmatic about theology, and there is no real way we can be sure that our interpretations of prophecy are correct! What is clear from this chapter, however, is that God is in control and that Satan’s power is limited. Judgment will come, and there will be everlasting torment for Satan and those who have relied on their own deeds for salvation rather than on Christ’s redemptive sacrifice. The books of life are mentioned in this chapter. The Lamb’s book of life has a record of all who have trusted in Jesus (see also Luke 10:20) and we can be confident that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1) Judgment emanating from God’s white throne will be just and we need not fear the second death (separation from God) if we have trusted in Christ as our Saviour.