The God Of Hope

Jun 28, 2024

I spend a lot of time writing funding applications and feeling frustrated that I am not rich enough to pay for all the things I want to do! As a Christian, I’m called to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7), but I’m also called to be responsible and not reckless. God often gives me ideas for projects, and I work on the basis that if it’s His idea, it’s His responsibility (not mine) to fund it. He is Jehovah Jireh, the great provider, and I have seen His miraculous provision often enough to know that He never lets us down.
But, of course, that’s easy to say when He has provided, and not always easy to believe when you’re in that waiting period when you’re not 100% sure that this ‘idea’ is God’s and not yours. Jeremy Camp’s song ‘Ready Now’ is one I really identify with:
‘Three, am I really gonna do this?
Are You gonna carry me through this?
Two, is it really something You want?
Should I maybe get a parachute on?
One, can I find the nerve?
Is it gonna work?
Is it gonna hurt?
God, just say the word.’
A long time ago I felt God tell me that He wanted to give beauty for ashes to Goldthorpe and I’ve been heavily involved in community art projects ever since then as my way of involvement in this aim. One such project is to paint positive, colourful messages of hope all over the place. For me, this is as much about a spiritual statement asserting that God is the God of hope (Rom 15:13) as it is about art.
I wanted to start with a statement in our own church yard, on the wall. I wanted to have the line from Rend Collective’s anthem ‘Build Your Kingdom Here’ on the wall: ‘come, set our hearts ablaze with hope!’ – a prayer I pray on a regular basis.
Last year (November 2023) a funding stream called Pride of Place asked for artistic applications and I thought of this project. I found out about costings for having the wall rendered (and gulped at the prices) and submitted an application. Projects needed to be spent by March 2024. Not a great time to be rendering a wall in winter, but hey…if God’s in it…
I heard nothing back. Ah well. Wait and see. I do that a lot. I don’t enjoy it, but I’ve learned that God isn’t always in the same hurry that I am! I didn’t forget about the project. I would look wistfully at the drab grey wall frequently and yearn for colour and hope, but that was as far as I could go by myself, and so I simply had to wait and see.
The subject of hope (and its enemy, despair) has been on my mind a lot lately. There seems plenty to despair about both locally, nationally and internationally. I’m reaching the end of the school year where I need funding for the Parent and Toddler group and the arts’ festival’s approaching, so I need money for that as well, and I don’t really do well at these times. Each year I can feel anxiety fluttering within, and it takes determination and faith to keep holding on to God. The practical demands chafe against the faith element on a daily basis.
This morning I received a notification from an artist I admire called Hannah Dunnett. She has a new card for sale focussing on Romans 15:13: ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ I felt God’s nudge within: ‘Are you going to overflow with hope or wallow in despair?‘ It was time to think about hope again!
Ouch. That sharp scalpel point of God’s word piercing again.
“O.K. I get the point. I’m going to hope.”
I walked into the church yard this morning and looked at the wall again. Hope. “I haven’t forgotten the project, God.”
It turns out neither had God.
Because when I got home, I had an email full of apologies saying that our application for funding had been successful but they had forgotten to notify us. Even though the deadline had passed, they hoped they could still be involved with this project.
Now if you are involved with funding applications, you know this rarely happens. Deadlines are deadlines, after all. But when we bought the church building on Market Street, we saw not only one miracle (getting a grant for £160,000 to buy the building) but two (we had to give the grant back because of timescales… and then were given it again!) So God is definitely the one sorting things out with funding!
It looks like my crazy idea was from God after all. And so let me encourage you, wherever you are and whatever you are waiting for in God, to hope against hope, just like Abraham, even when there seems no reason to hope, even when it’s so much easier to despair. Because the God of hope can do things we can’t, and therefore we really do have hope.

Holding On To God’s Promises

Jun 23, 2024

This evening, guest speaker Joy Gascoigne spoke about holding on to the promises of God. She spoke about her friend, Barbara, who as a child was left in the unenviable position of having to look after her brother when her mother was taken into hospital. She was invited to church and went because she had aspirations to be a singer; there, she found not only solace but practical help. One night before Christmas, she prayed that if God loved her, He would give her the presents she so desired but knew she could never have because of her family circumstances. The next day, there was a knock on her door and three girls from her church brought her the presents she had asked God for. This evidence of God’s reality and faithfulness led her to Christ and she remained His servant all her life.
What God did for Barbara, He can do for each one of us. We need to take hold of His promises and believe His word. His word is living and active (Heb 4:12), God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16) and shows us where we go wrong and how to do right.
Taking hold of God’s promises will involve prayer; like the apostles in Acts, we need to be devoted to prayer and to pray continually until we see the breakthrough for which we long. We must prepare for God to do amazing things, which may well mean being generous in our giving, not focussing on ourselves like the rich fool but trusting God to provide for us. God can work through unlikely people in unlikely ways, changing hearts and attitudes as He brings about all that He has promised.

Living According To God’s Plan and Purpose

Jun 23, 2024

This morning we looked at the subject of living according to God’s plans and purposes (Eph 1:11, Eph 3:10-11). The world in general often doesn’t believe there is any purpose to life and to live without any hope of meaning can be depressing and dispiriting. The Bible makes it plain that God has plans and a purpose for the world and that His plans cannot be thwarted. (Job 42:2)
The Bible tells us God’s story in 6 acts:
* Act 1: Creation – God establishes His kingdom
• Act 2: Fall – Rebellion in the kingdom
• Act 3: Redemption initiated – The King chooses Israel
• Act 4: Redemption accomplished – The King himself comes
• Act 5: Redemption proclaimed – Spreading the kingdom
• Act 6: Glorious renewal – The return of the King
We see that God’s plans are for reconciliation and peace (Eph 2:15-18), that He wants to be in a relationship with humanity and that this relationship includes giving us eternal life (John 3:16) and allowing us access again to Him. (Eph 3:12) His plans for us are always good (Jer 29:11) and for our benefit, as He seeks to transform us into the image of Christ. (Rom 8:29)
We live in an age of doom and gloom; so many people will tell us that there is nothing worth living for and nothing to look forward to. Climate catastrophe, the threat of wars, economic instability, political manipulation and deceit and a sense of helplessness are pedalled to us on a daily basis. But for the Christian, life is worth living just because Christ lives. God has a a purpose that lasts beyond time. He is working to bring unity and reconciliation to our world, to restore all that sin stole from us. We may be waiting for Act 6 still, but rest assured, nothing will thwart the plans of God.

Understanding Limitation

Jun 18, 2024

I’m spending time re-reading one of my favourite books, ‘Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work’ by Eugene Peterson, a masterly exposition of five Old Testament books (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther) as they pertain to prayer, stories, pain-sharing, nay-saying and community building. I find these commentaries life-affirming and helpful in keeping me in touch with my primary role as a pastor.
One sentence in the chapter on Ecclesiastes has made me pause: Peterson’s observation that the writer was ‘sure of the importance of his work but sure also of its limitations.’ (P170)
We tend to despise limitations. We want to be all things to all people and end up, as a result, exhausted and careworn. We tend to despise God’s boundaries, seeing them as restrictive rather than protective. But just as we need a sense of purpose and significance in our lives if we are to function well, so we need to live ‘within the limits’ if we are to flourish (to thrive instead of merely surviving.)
The driver who drives within the speed limit and laws can travel with confidence. The citizen who pays his taxes and lives lawfully generally has nothing to fear from authority (providing, of course, that the authority is not despotic or acting unlawfully itself.) The person who lives within the limits of God’s laws has confidence and trust (God’s laws are for our good, not simply to limit). Limitations do not have to be viewed negatively. They are boundaries, and God has brought us into a ‘spacious place’ within the boundaries He sets.
We often struggle with both importance (‘does what I do really matter?’) and limitations (‘why can’t I do more?’) When we accept God’s perspective (the cup of cold water given on a hot day brings an eternal reward; the limitations God sets are protective, not restrictive), we can live with confidence and hope.

Speaking According To The Needs of Others

Jun 16, 2024

One way we can bless, encourage and build other people so that their needs are met is through our speech. Paul said, ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.’ (Eph 4:29)

We need to learn to think before we speak:

 

Prov 12:18 says, ‘The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.’ James warns us about the power of the tongue: ‘With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.’ (James 3:9-12) Words are powerful and there needs to be consistency also in our speech so that we encourage and build people up, instead of running them down through ridicule, ribald humour and scorn

Children learn from what they hear, so if we want our children and grandchildren to speak well and to bless others instead of bullying people, they need to hear positive, encouraging words from us. When I worked as a teacher, we had this poem up in the staff room to remind us of the power of our example to others:

Children Learn What They Live

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.

If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.

If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.

If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.

If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.

If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.

If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.

If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.

If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live. (Dorothy Law Nolte)

 

Speaking well is the first step in meeting the needs of other people.

God Meets Our Needs

Jun 16, 2024

This evening we looked at one of the most encouraging verses in the whole Bible: ‘And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:19) Here, Paul promises not only that God will meet all our needs but that this is entirely possible because of the riches of His glory. Our God is both willing and able to meet needs!

Needs so often define our everyday lives: physical needs (the need for food and water, shelter, clothes and so on), emotional needs (for significance, security and self-worth) and spiritual needs (the need to belong, to feel loved, to know we are accepted and forgiven by God.) But we often confuse and conflate needs with wants and can end up feeling disgruntled instead of contented, rather like the demanding toddler whose meltdowns over trivial thing make life difficult!

God does not promise to meet all our wants, but He is our provider and protector. Paul had learned even through imprisonment to be content no matter what the circumstances, because he was convinced God was working for good in it all. (Rom 8:28) Imprisonment is leading to others knowing boldness in witness and in people becoming Christians (Phil 1:12-14, 19) and therefore, he was content and secure in God’s provision.

Paul was grateful for all the help the Philippians had given him, and urges us to be one of the means God uses to meet people’s needs, rather like the boy whose lunch fed five thousand. After all, God loves a generous giver (2 Cor 9:7-8) and all we have is from God anyway. (1 Chron 29:14) As we seek to be generous and to honour God through our tithes and offerings, He promises to bless us (see Malachi 3:8-12). As we find God faithful and trustworthy, we can bless others and be the human means God uses to meet their needs… and so the circle of giving and receiving goes on and on. Jesus said, ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38) Try it and see.