Obedience is saying ‘yes’ to God and doing what He asks us to do. It will always be a response to God’s word to us as people.

Disobedience can be blatant at times (think of Jonah, running in the opposite direction to God’s commands!), but it can also be mixed with half-hearted obedience (think of Saul who protested to Samuel that he had obeyed God, even though Samuel could hear the bleating of sheep which told him Saul had not done all that had been asked of him.) Samuel reminded Saul that ‘to obey is better than sacrifice’ (1 Sam 15:20) – half-hearted obedience is an insult to God who did not spare His only Son but gave Him freely for our sins.

Jonah is an example of how grudging our obedience can be at times. Even when Jonah finally obeyed God, he was not pleased that the Ninevites repented and were spared God’s judgment. (Jonah 4:1-2) Jonah knew God’s merciful, loving character, but still felt that Nineveh should have suffered judgment. He was happy to receive God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and protection from himself, but was reluctant to see that extended to others. We can be encouraged by the fact God uses complex, ungrateful, rebellious, disobedient people like Jonah! – that means there’s hope for us too! At the same time, we need to learn from Jonah’s example and understand that if we have received freely, we must also freely give. (Matt 10:8)

Obeying God is costly, but He is our rightful owner, the creator of heaven and earth and the One who has paid for us through the blood of Christ (Ps 47:2, 1 Chron 29:11, Gen 15:2, 8; Deut 9:26, Judges 6:22, Ps 68:20, 1 Cor 6:19-20). Jesus Himself learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb 5:8) and modelled costly obedience for us as He submitted His will to the Father’s in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). We must learn to do the same if we are to enter into the blessings that God gives to all who obey.

In our alphabet series ‘The A-Z of Christian Faith‘, we looked at the subject of obedience. Obedience is never a popular topic, for ever since Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, people rebel against being told what to do. Disciplining children is an important part of parenting (see Heb 12:11) and God is our heavenly Father who seeks our ultimate good which can only come about if we follow His rules. Obedience has to be more than to the letter of the law, however; our love for God is proved through our obedience.

Jesus placed great emphasis on obedience (see Matt 7:21-23) and told His disciples that the work they had to do was to believe in Him (Jn 6:28-29). Obedience has to be practical (1 Jn 3:18, James 2:15-18) and must affect every area of our lives. God has given us free will and does not rule as a dictator, wanting us to choose obedience freely (see Deut 30:15-16, 19-20; Joshua 24:15). Our response to God will always be determined by our view of God; if we see Him as restrictive and cruel, we will struggle to obey, whereas when we understand that we are in a relationship based on love and trust, we find His commands are not burdensome (1 Jn 5:3) and want to obey (see Rom 6:1-2).

Obedience can lead to legalism if it is not based on a relationship with God. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their legalistic attitudes (see Matt 23:23-24) and reminded them that it’s not just a question of following rules, but of understanding God’s heart. All the commandments were summarised into two: loving God and our neighbours as ourselves (Mk 12:29-31), which Paul condenses, saying, ‘The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.’ (Gal 5:6) We can’t be prescriptive about obedience but must learn to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and then do whatever He says. (Jn 2:5)

Mark spoke this morning on the subject of encouraging, citing Barnabas as a good example of someone with the gift of encouragement. Barnabas is seen in Acts 9:26-30, introducing Saul – former persecutor of the church – to believers and urging them to give him the opportunity to show how God had changed him. Others were fearful and suspicious of this volte-face, perhaps feeling Saul was just pretending to be a Christian in order to infiltrate the church and wreak havoc, but Barnabas had a different attitude, encouraging Saul to speak and the apostles to listen. Given that Saul went on to become the great apostle, Paul, Barnabas’s encouragement had a profound effect on history and the whole of the New Testament, showing us the power of encouragement.

In Acts 11:19-23, Barnabas and Paul were sent by the church in Jerusalem to see what was happening in Antioch. Barnabas encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts, endorsing the move of the Holy Spirit among the Greek-speaking world. He encouraged the people to be true to God’s purposes and again had a great influence on the whole church.

Acts 15:36-39 shows us Barnabas and Paul in ‘sharp disagreement’ over whether or not to take John Mark with them on their next missionary journey. Paul was reluctant, feeling that John Mark had let them down badly on their previous journey and was therefore unreliable. Barnabas, true to his name (‘son of encouragement’), saw the potential in John Mark, however, and wanted to give him a second chance. He mirrored God’s heart, for God sees our potential and gives us countless second chances in Him.

It is very easy to complain, criticise and discourage people. Discouragement can be a dream-killer, but encouragement can be a bridge builder. We need to mirror God’s heart as Barnabas did and be encouragers, seeing the potential in people, looking beyond where they are now and seeing what they can become in God. Our aim should be to help others to fulfil the plan and purpose God has for every individual’s life and as we encourage, we too are encouraged in a circle of encouragement. (Rom 1:8-12)

Thanks to all who attended the Annual General Meeting tonight. As always, it’s only when we look back over the past year that we realise how busy the church has been in so many different areas!

We looked back on our community outreaches, including coffee mornings, Parent & Toddler group and youth club, along with support for the Salvation Army food bank. Alison is now able to run this every day of the week, thanks to an army of volunteers, and because they now receive food wastage from Morrison’s and Tesco’s, they are able to provide food parcels which include fresh fruit and veg as well as tinned and dried food. A ‘working families’ food bank’ is run on the 3rd Saturday of every month to enable families on low incomes to access the food bank. In addition, a clothes bank helps to support local families. Thanks were given to all who support this ministry which aims to fulfil Jesus’s commands in Matt 25:35-40.

We looked back on people’s growing involvement in church meetings and how local churches are working together, including helping at the community carol service and Christmas Market and now joining regularly to pray together (the next ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting is on Tuesday 18th July at 7.15 p.m. at GPCC.) Future plans include ‘family fun days’ at Houghton Road Centre in August (where the minigolf facility will be available) and the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival on 1 & 2 September at Dearne Playhouse, with workshops available before then.

The India trip was a highlight of the church’s mission support this year, and we would like to support a specific family we met at the tailoring programme from this. Support for Bedline continues and the church wants to continue to be involved in mission, both locally (working alongside other churches) and further afield.

On a practical note, much has been done to maintain and improve the building this year, including fitting new lighting in the corridor and worship room, fitting a new fire alarm and sorting out the doors to open outwards and be effective fire doors. In August, work will start on flooring under the stage so that this can become a storage area. In preparation for this, there will be a work day on Friday 14th July from 5 p.m. – come along to clear under the stage and sort things out and have supper at the end of this!

Looking ahead, we want our focus to be outwards – we need to see the church grow and must be involved in God’s great commission to make disciples of all the earth. We also must have an upwards focus – prayer is the key to everything we do as a church. We need to be unafraid to ask big things of God, for we have a big God!

Recent birthday photos:

This week we had the ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting; it is so good to pray with people from local churches in our area. The next ‘Churches Together’ prayer meeting will be on Tuesday 18th July at 7:15 p.m. at GPCC.

We have the service of celebration for Lorraine’s life on Monday 26th June at 1.30 p.m. and will be serving refreshments after the interment at Wombwell Cemetery. The service of celebration for Pat’s life will not be until Wednesday 12th July at 1 p.m.

Don’t forget we have the Annual General Meeting this Saturday (24th June) at 6 p.m. Come along to find out more about what has been happening over the past year and to pray about what lies ahead!

Garry continued his series on ‘Living Wisely’ tonight by looking at how we respond to mistakes and how truth needs to shape our lives and determine how we live. All of us have made mistakes and most of us have tried to cover up our mistakes in the hopes that we will not be found out! Some mistakes, however, are so great that there is no way we can cover them up. Eve discovered this in the Garden of Eden when she believed what she was told by the serpent rather than believing the truth God had told her.

Garry’s favourite chocolate is 100% plain chocolate (with no milk added), but anything over 65% is officially classed as ‘plain chocolate.’

However, anything less than 100% truth is ultimately mixed with lies and we must be careful not only to learn from our own mistakes, but to learn from the mistakes of others, as Eleanor Roosevelt advised. Wisdom is the product of survivable mistakes, so we need to be careful not to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Paul reminded the Corinthians (1 Cor 10) that we need to learn from history and from God’s Word so that we do not make the same mistakes as our forbears.

Truth ultimately is the thing that will guide us and enable us to live wisely (see Ps 25:5). Jesus is truth (Jn 14:6, Jn 1:14) and He wants us to learn from the Spirit of truth and to be sanctified by truth. The truth has the power to set us free, but this will only happen to the extent that we take truth in, assimilate it and live it out. Cosy half-truths are more comfortable at times than the plain, unvarnished truth which can be challenging and hurtful. Half-truths are dangerous because they sound so plausible (the devil is the father of lies but is adept at mingling truth with those lies to make us believe what he tells us.) We have to act in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14), allowing the truth to see us free as we embrace it and live it, if we are to live wisely.