Preparations for the Summer Fun day which will be held at GPCC tomorrow (Wednesday 15th August) were not really that onerous, as the pictures below show!

We’ll be decorating maps of Yorkshire, which will then be displayed at the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival later this month:

We’ll be glass painting too – the practice session looked fun!

In addition, there’ll be colouring, table tennis, air hockey and pool.

And in true GPCC style, Ann from the Dearne Area Team had to celebrate her birthday with us:

Stephen, back from a caravanning holiday in Cornwall, was keen to tell us all about the spiritual blessings of the ‘caravan of life’. He spoke about the tabernacle (‘a fixed or movable dwelling of light construction’), which God commanded Moses to build during the wilderness years (see Ex 25 & 26) This portable sanctuary housed the ark of the covenant, and God gave very specific instructions about who could serve in the tabernacle and how they could approach God. The tabernacle was effectively the ‘home’ of God’s presence and certainly the holiness of God meant that the only way to approach Him was with reverence and with sacrifices (barbecues have always been popular, it seems!)

The rules and regulations governing the tabernacle (cleansing rituals, sacrifices, boundaries determining who could go where, with the High Priest only allowed into the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement) show us how sin spoiled the intimate relationship God and man shared in the Garden of Eden, and how God wanted a restoration of that intimate relatioship. Jn 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling (literally ‘tabernacled’) among us. Jesus shows us how much God wants to dwell with His people and HIs sacrifice (see Hebrews 9) reflects the revolutionary truth that God actually wants to live in us. Eph 2:22 reminds us that in Christ we are being built together to become a dwelling-place in which God lives by His Spirit. Effectively, we are now God’s tent, God’s movable dwelling place!

We may ask ourselves why God has done this. God wants an intimate relationship with us and effectively wanted to ‘move in’ with His people – He is among us, in us and lives through us. Now, we no longer have to face segregation or make sacrifices. We can know Christ personally, accept His Spirit in us and can be happy campers indeed!

We had three birthdays to celebrate – one in retrospect, one for the coming week and one for the week after (when the lady is on holiday!)

How did Paul learn the secret of contentment? I suspect he learned it through the times when God said ‘no’ to him.

In 2 Cor 12, Paul tells us he faced great trouble which he describes as a ‘thorn in the flesh.’  He tells us he pleaded with God to remove this from him. We don’t know exactly what this thorn in the flesh was, but clearly Paul wasn’t very happy about it! And then, to top it all, what God said to him wasn’t the answer he was looking for. God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9) In other words, no. God wasn’t going to do what Paul had wanted. At this point, most of us fail to learn the lesson Paul learned. We get upset with God for saying no to us. We get angry with Him because He doesn’t do what we want. And we allow unhappiness to have the last word. Paul’s reaction was different. Eventually, he learned to say, ‘I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’ (2 Cor 12:9) He learned that if God’s grace was sufficient for him, then he could live with the thorn in the flesh. He could actually go one step further and boast about his weaknesses, because he realised that it was when he was weak that Christ’s strength could actually be seen. He went on to say, ‘That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Cor 12:10) He had moved from being discontented, dissatisfied and unhappy to being delighted, contented and strong.

When things don’t go our way and we face adversity in all its many different guises – illnesses, bereavement, disappointment, loneliness, wrecked expectations, loss of hope, betrayal, opposition, persecution and whatever else may cause us to  stumble – we have a choice. We can turn our backs on God, believing Him to be fickle, capricious, mean and unloving, or we can learn to trust Him and lean on Him all the more, even when we don’t understand what is happening and even when our hearts are breaking. ‘What’s true in the light is still true in the dark,’ as Rend Collective sing. (‘Weep With Me’) Contentment is the result of a heart that leans on God and finds, in return, the peace that transends all understanding guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7)

This morning at Cherry Tree Court we looked at the subject of contentment. We live in a society which doesn’t seem to value contentment, with advertisers urging us always onto better, bigger, brighter things! But Paul told TImothy that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6) and warned us against placing too high a value on material possessions. (1 Tim 6:7-10). Contentment is of great value in life:‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’ (Phil 4:11-13)

We might view this is as idealistic hopefulness, but throughout his life, Paul faced many hardships for Christ. He was flogged by the Jews five times because of his faith in Jesus. He was beaten three times with rods, pelted with stones and was shipwrecked three times. (2 Cor 11:24-25) He knew what it was not to know where he was going to spend the next night because he was constantly on the move. (2 Cor 11:26) He knew all kinds of danger – including danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from other Jews, and danger from Gentiles. (2 Cor 11:26) Paul knew what it was to work until you were utterly exhausted and then still not be able to sleep because there was other work to be done. (2 Cor 11:27) He knew what it was to be hungry and thirsty, to be cold and naked. (2 Cor 11:27) He knew what it was to be imprisoned unfairly – in fact, he wrote this letter to the Philippians whilst he was in prison. So if anyone had reason to be discontented, it was Paul.

Yet Philippians is a book which resounds with joy, because Paul has learned the secret of contentment, which is bound up in our relationship with God, our security in knowing He is Lord of all and that He is working for our good in every situation. (Rom 8:28) It’s Christ’s strength in us which enables us to rise above our circumstances and learn to patiently wait for the Lord. Joseph is another person who learned this secret. Despite opposition, being sold into slavery and unfair imprisonment, Joseph learned to wait and trust God, forgiving his brothers and seeing God’s ‘bigger picture’ come to pass. (Gen 50:20) If we learn this lesson, we too can find contentment in any and every situation.

“The early church didn’t import existing culture into the church; they exported kingdom culture into the world. It’s what culture carriers do.” (Alan Scott)

Jesus talked about His disciples being in the world but not of the world. (John 17:14-19) When we are in Christ, we become those who participate or partake of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4) We are given access to God’s way of doing things and have access also to the very power that raised Jesus from the dead. (Eph 1:18-19)

So many of us live, however, as though Jesus is simply an add-on to the life we used to live. This is not how it is meant to be. (Eph 4:17-24) Jesus wants to transform us totally from the inside out. His principles, methodology and motivation have to become ours. We have to put on love. (Col 3:12-14)

I find Alan Scott’s words challenging but entirely consistent with Scripture: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2)

Be a culture carrier today. Forgive those who don’t deserve forgiveness. Love those who don’t love you. Bless those who oppose you and persecute you. Do something for nothing. Extend grace to those who have no hope. Show mercy to those who deserve judgment. Don’t retaliate when you’d love to punch someone. Live out kingdom culture insteasd of being indistinguishable from the world. Our evangelism has to be more than words. Carry God’s culture into the world and show people what God is really like.