Over the weekend, we had the privilege of attending Festival Church in Chester, and once again it was interesting to see how God is moving and speaking in other areas and to see just how many points of commonality there are.

Festival Church, situated in the heart of the historic city of Chester, meets in a former Methodist building which has been refurbished so that the balcony area now houses a lovely coffee shop which reaches out to local people during the week.

The welcome there was warm and it was good to join with people from all ages and backgrounds. The pastor was speaking on the church’s values, one of which is to be ‘faithfully creative.’ Having just organised a community arts’ festival because of my firm belief that we are all created to be creative, it was encouraging to hear the same theme being preached on at another church!

Creativity takes many shapes and forms – since we are all so diverse as people, our creativity flows from this diversity. Some ponder and reflect and are very deliberate, being good at taking things apart and seeing how things work in order to build new things. Others are good at organising and pulling strands together. Others are more spontaneous and emotional, visionaries (like Elijah!) who ‘see’ the invisible. Whatever our style, everyone has ‘an irresistible, divinely-inspired impulse to create, organise and fashion.’ (Stephen Altrogge)

John Piper said, ‘If you are God, your work is to create out of nothing. If you are not God, but like God – that is, if you are human – your work is to take what God has made and shape it and use it to make Him look great.’

We are called to glorify God in all we do, and as we are creative in myriad ways, others will see the fulness of God and be drawn to Him.

Motivated by the family service on Elijah and Elisha, Dave spoke on Sunday night from the life of Elijah. Israel was in a bad way at this time, with Ahab king and Jezebel queen. The name of Jezebel will forever be linked with evil. She is regarded as the epitome of a shameless impudent scheming woman. But more than that, she introduced into Israel the worship of Baal with all the immoral and vile practises that this entailed. Baal was the Canaanite god responsible for rain, thunder, lightning, and dew.

Jezebel was a very strong woman and she was the power behind the throne. Ahab may have been the king but Jezebel was the one with the power. The tide of evil was so strong in the land that it appeared as though the knowledge of God would be wiped from the face of the earth… but in fact this did not happen, because God raised up the prophet Elijah to save his people, a prophet so great he is talked of in both Old and New Testaments (see Mal 4:5-6, Matt 16:14).

God used Elijah to prophesy drought to Ahab. He used him to challenge Israel to stop wavering and sitting on the fence (1 Ki 18:21) and to choose God. Tolerance is a great buzz word these days, but God is not tolerant of sin, nor does He want us to be. Jesus warned us too that we cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24) and Elijah challenged the people to choose between God and Baal. We too need to choose. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and we need to follow the narrow path if we are to find salvation. We also need to return to this path if we have strayed from it.

Revival doesn’t mean religious hysteria, like the prophets of Baal displayed. It means coming back to our first love, taking up our cross and following Jesus. It means flourishing again after decline. It means making a decision, not wavering, and following the Way. The way of obedience is the only way to God.

John spoke yesterday morning on shadows, contrasting the shadows that can blight our lives with the security and comfort of living under God’s shadow. David Crowder’s song ‘Shadows’ talks about this theme too:

‘Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we’re thrown and we’re tossed
We remember the cost
We’re resting in the
Shadow of the cross

With every breath I take, every heartbeat
Sunrise and the moon lights the dark street
Every dance, every glance, every note of a song
It’s all a gift undeserved that I should have known
Every day that I lie, every movement I covet
I’m deserving to die, I’m just earning Your judgment
Without the cross there’s only condemnation
If Jesus wasn’t executed
There’s no celebration
So in times that are good, in times that are bad
Or any times that I had it all, I will be glad
And I will boast in the cross I will boast in my pains
Boast in the sunrise, boast in His reign
What’s my life if it’s not praising You?
Another dollar in my bank account a vain pursuit
I don’t count my life at any value or precious at all
Let me finish my race, let me answer my call

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we’re thrown and we’re tossed
We remember the cost
We’re resting in the
Shadow of the cross.’ (David Crowder, featuring Lecrae)

We had another birthday to celebrate last night:

In our alphabet series ‘The A-Z of Christian Faith’, tonight we looked at S is for Salvation. Salvation is one of the key words of faith, but its meaning is very simple: to be saved or rescued from danger or harm, ruin or loss. That apparently useless antique which is rescued from the skip may turn out to be hugely valuable; the arm stretched out to help someone up the mountain prevents them from falling. To be saved is a wonderful thing!

Acts 16:25-34 gives us a picture of salvation: the Philippian jailer, faced with an earthquake which led to the prison doors being opened, feared for his job and his life and asked Paul and Silas, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ (Acts 16:30) The reply – ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.’ (Acts 16:31) – shows us the importance of personal faith and the assurance of salvation.

Saved From What?

Many of us do not recognise the danger we are in and don’t see any need for salvation, but sin is the real problem we all face. Man’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden has had far-reaching consequences, bringing sin and death into God’s perfect creation. (Rom 5:12) Every single problem we face nowadays can be traced back to that first sin; we see its consequences in a polluted world, in fractured relationships, in broken families, in mental health problems, in sickness and disease, in alienation from God. Paul says, ‘the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time’ (Rom 8:22) and all the misery, heartache, anguish and hurt in our world today can be summed up in that one word: sin. Most of all, sin caused separation from God and if we are to be saved from punishment, death and eternal separation, we need a Saviour!

Jesus’ Mission : To Seek And Save the Lost

The Bible teaches us that not only do we need salvation, we need a Saviour. We need someone who can do the rescuing and delivering, because we can’t do it ourselves. And it teaches us that Jesus is that Saviour: His name means ‘The Lord Saves’ (see Matt 1:21). Jesus did not come simply to bring good teaching to us. He did not come simply to feed the hungry, heal the sick and preach about love and forgiveness, important though all of those things are. He came to save us from our sins. He came to do something about the harm we are in, to rescue us from the danger of living lives that are alienated from God, something He accomplished through His sinless life and His sacrificial death: ‘a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people.’ (Heb 10:12, The Message) His resurrection demonstrates that this sacrifice was acceptable to God (see 1 Cor 15:3-5)

Saved For What?

We are not just saved to sit around waiting for heaven, however. We are saved to live new lives (Rom 6:4), to put off our old way of living and embrace the new self God creates (see Eph 4:22-24). We are saved to do the good works God hs planned for us (Eph 2:10) and we are saved ultimately to be like God and to reflect His glory (Eph 5:1, 2 Cor 3:18, Rom 8:29). Salvation embraces everything God is and does for each one of us.

John spoke this morning from Psalm 91. He reminded us that it is easy to feel pessimistic about the world and our prospects; recent newspaper reports indicate that 1 in 3 teenage girls worry about being stalked by strangers and 1/4 of teenage boys are in dread of being assaulted. The whole world is affected by shadows which cloud our perspective – shadows of guilt and failure, debt and ill-health, family problems or work issues, disappointment or bereavement. Nonetheless, despite all these shadows (which affect Christians as well as non-Christians), if we dwell in the secret place with God, we can abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Ps 91:1) –  a very different kind of shadow!

In hot countries, the shadow provides a place of refuge and protection from the sun’s scorching rays. God Himself is our refuge and fortress, a place of safety and survival. We are protected from snares and pestilence, from visible and invisible threats. Moreover, even in the middle of death and destruction, we are preserved (Ps 91:7-8), just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were. We are protected in dangerous situations and from dangerous situations (Ps 91:10-11).

Not only does God’s shadow provide protection, it give us the promise of deliverance, honour and salvation. God’s shadow overshadows everything; as Elisha’s servant discovered, God’s armies are far greater than the armies of our enemies! (2 Ki 6:17) If God is for us, then none of our enemies will prevail. We can dwell in the secret place and find both protection and promise.