In our series on ‘Battles and Blessings’, we looked this morning at the blessings God has for us revealed in Eph 2:1-10. The picture looks bleak initially as Paul reminds us we were once ‘dead in transgressions and sins’ (Eph 2:1), but if we never fully appreciate the seriousness of sin, we will never marvel at the blessings which God’s grace, mercy and kindness bring us.

Sin is the root problem in our world. It is at the heart of every war, crime and injustice and we are all tainted by original sin. Because God is pure, holy and righteous, He cannot look on sin (see Ps 45:7) and therefore without God’s intervention through the sin-offering of Jesus, we are lost (see Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23). The good news of the gospel is that God has done something about this problem and in His mercy has transferred us from death to life. Eph 2:3-6 in the Message version says ‘It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.’ (Eph 2:3-6)

The blessings we focussed on today were:

1. God’s amazing grace (Eph 2:5, 8-9) which reminds us that it is not by our own righteousness that the sin problem is fixed, but is entirely His free gift to us
2. God’s mercy (Eph 2:4) which enables us to escape the punishment, wrath and just judgment we deserve, receiving instead God’s pardon and welcome, the forgiveness of sins and redemption and restoration and adoption into His family.
3. God’s loving kindness (Eph 2:7) which shows in the tender-hearted way He receives us into His family, righting the wrongs of sin and giving us a new position in Christ
4. our new spiritual position (Eph 2:6), which is to be seated in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus (being seated indicating the completeness of the once-for-all sacrifice Christ has offered, see Heb 10:10-12, Col 3:1)

Our service for God needs to spring from hearts that overflow with appreciation and gratitude for these blessings He has poured out on us. We need to learn to wade in the lavish love of God, to splash in His grace, to dive into His mercy, to float on His kindness and then to swim into the good works He has planned for us to do, works unique to us, service that is tailor-made for us by a Father who created us and shaped us and continues to transform us into the image of His Son.

May looks set to be a busy month for local churches.

Fredrick & Reeba are with us from India on Sunday 6th May at both the morning and evening services. We are looking forward to hearing more about what has been happening there over the past year and to discussing future mission trips with them.

On Saturday 12th May, Thurnscoe Pentecostal Church is hosting another children’s event with crafts and a children’s magician, finishing with a pie & pea lunch. Please let us know if you are interested in that as numbers are needed for catering purposes.

The next ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting is on Wednesday 16th May at 10.30 a.m. at the Salvation Army and gives us an opportunity to draw together with Christians from local churches to pray for our community. Later in the month on Wednesday 30th May we will be holding a ‘Pentecost Party’ during the half-term holidays at Houghton Road Centre in Thurnscoe (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.), another family fun day with Pentecost-themed crafts, crazy golf and a free lunch provided.

We’re pleased that Big Local Thurnscoe have re-arranged the Dinosaur Day for Sunday 20th May. After the morning service, we will be going to Phoenix Park in Thurnscoe to take part in dinosaur craft activties and this looks set to be a great event!

Please pray for all these events and support us where you can by coming along!

Stephen Fry said of his involvement in the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ programme that he received more mail and feedback from one programme on the Holocaust than from anything else he had ever done. One viewer even said, ‘I never knew what the Holocaust meant until I saw your programme.’ This demonstrates that many people cannot see the link betwe4en facts and historical narrative unless these facts are brought to life, mediated by personality. The slaughter of a nameless six million people is hard to fathom, but if we follow the story of one named and delineated family, we can be moved inexpressibly.[1]

Many find the long historical narratives in the Old Testament tedious and abstract. Yet the Bible gives us many personal stories of faith: Abraham, struggling through years of waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled; Joseph’s ups and downs over thirty years; Moses dealing with fractious and rebellious followers; David’s life story from shepherd boy to old king. These personal stories help us to see the connections between history and life as we are living it – for the pilgrim way is not so different now, despite vast changes in our world. Human nature (the basis of history in many ways) does not change much, and we relate to these personal stories of faith as we allow ourselves to enter into them

God does not change (Mal 3:6), and therefore the historical psalms remind us of His faithfulness, love, compassion and forgiveness – all attributes of His nature which are constant. By rooting history in the wisdom genre of literature through these psalms, we see also that the connection between the abstract and the personal is meant to have a direct influence on how we live life now. If we want to live wisely, we will be careful to absorb the lessons history teaches us and learn to keep God’s commands. (Ps 78:1-7)

[1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2006/jul/09/featuresreview.review

Each of the historical psalms looks at different aspects of Israel’s history, with fuller accounts being fleshed out in the historical books of the Bible, such as Exodus or Numbers.

1. Ps 78 remembers the wilderness rebellions (Ex 17:1-17) and how disobedience led to the loss of the ark (1 Sam 5).
2. Ps 105 looks back over Joseph’s history (told in Genesis) and at the plagues and exodus from Egypt.
3. Ps 106 remembers the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings, specifically referring to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16) and the making of the Golden Calf (Ex 32), as well as Phinehas’ righteousness and zeal for God (Num 25.)
4. Ps 114 looks poetically at the parting of the Red Sea (Ex 13-15).
5. Ps 135 & Ps 136 both look at the Exodus and the defeat of Sihon and Og. (Numbers 21:21-35)

These historical events have a present-day application, however, as 1 Cor 10:11-13 makes clear. As we learn from Israel’s grumblings, disobedience and lack of faith, we are urged not to make the same mistakes. We are to ‘remember the wonders He has done’ (Ps 105:5) so that we are not stubborn and rebellious ourselves. (Ps 78:8) We are to teach the next generation (Ps 78:4-8) so that from generation to generation we will proclaim God’s praise. (Ps 79:13) These is something wonderful about different generations being joined together in praise and worship. History is the narrative of God’s actions in our world – actions which continue to this day, following a long history demonstrating His love, care, provision and power.

Tonight’s Bible study began looking at the historical psalms (Ps 78, Ps 105, Ps 106, Ps 114, Ps 135, Ps 136), psalms which specifically draw on aspects of Israel’s history in order to encourage us to remember all that God has done, learn from the mistakes of the past, urge us to obedience, teach the next generation and help us to worship God.

History is not always seen as useful or relevant, with verses such as Is 43:18-19 apparently always encouraging a forward glance. There is a world of difference between being tied to the past in a nostalgic or morbid way (like Miss Havisham in Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’), however, and looking to the past in order to learn from its examples (‘those who forget history are doomed to repeat it’, Winston Churchill once remarked.) 2 Tim 3:16-17 reminds us that all Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness and Rom 15:4 reminds us that everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Far from being dusty history or irrelevant examples, the historical psalms have many useful purposes and are valuable not simply as ‘potted histories’ but as instruction manuals for how to live a life of faith.

The CLC Bookshop team is thrilled to let you know that the bookshop has moved to 2 Church Street  SHEFFIELD  S1 2GN. It’s the blue corner building just to the left of the Cathedral as you look from the tramlines. This is a very strategic move for the CLC ministry and a huge answer to prayer!!

The aim is to open 2 Church Street on Tuesday 24th or Wednesday 25th April. Call us first on 0114 2724663 if you prefer. Yes, it’s the same number as always.
We really need and appreciate your prayers; there is still a lot to do in a very short time… Thank you for supporting and joining us on this journey – and for telling your friends where we are!