Blind Trust
Mark spoke on the subject of blind trust this morning. When you play games which involve blindfolds, you soon find out if you really trust the person giving you directions or not! If we don’t, we tend to move nervously and slowly; if we do, we can step out more confidently.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to trust God; there are times when we feel like life is lived with the blindfold on and we aren’t always sure if we trust God or not. It’s easier if we can see where and how He is leading us, but there will always be periods of uncertainty and God wants us to continue to trust Him at those times instead of making our own contingency plans.
Ps 9:10 remind us that those who know God’s name will put their trust in Him. We need to know who God is, understanding that He is our provider (in both the material and spiritual realms.) God does not forsake those who trust Him, but promises to be with us to lead and guide us, even in those times when we feel uncertain of His direction.
Prov 3:5-6 reminds us that God is looking for whole-hearted trust. We have to seek God’s ways first (see Matt 6:33), knowing that God’s leading is available always.
Jer 17:7-8 assures us that those who trust in the Lord will be blessed by Him. Even during seasons of practical need and drought, we can be like well-watered trees, yielding fruit all the time. Every Christian will go through periods of drought, but we do not hav to be anxious in those times, for God is able to use us to bless others even when we feel dry ourselves.
Is 26:3-4 talks of how God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on Him. Shalom, that sense of wellbeing and wholeness, is available to us in God. The word ‘mind’ does not just refer to our thoughts but encourages us to fix all our creative imagination on God. We might paraphrase these verses saying ‘those whose creative imaginations are founded on God will know shalom in all its fulness.’
Num 6:24-27 tells us of the priestly blessing which Moses spoke to Aaron to pass on to the people of God. This prayer talks of God blessing and being gracious to His people and making His face shine on them and concludes ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ (Num 6:27) This involves invoking (calling, asking, seeking) God’s name so that He may come in blessing on others.
Ps 32:10 reminds us that the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him. Our trust in God is never wasted. God’s love surrounds us – a love that is not flawed or affected by stress or illness or fatigue in the way that human love is. His love never ends and never fails (1 Cor 13:8).
Pentecost – ‘Churches Together’
Tonight the ‘Churches Together’ meeting celebrating Pentecost was held at Furlong Road Methodist Church, where the beautiful banners and photographs remind us of the creativity God has given us:
Karen Beecham told us a ‘godly story’ (as used by the Methodist church in three local primary schools) about the Tower of Babel and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Building the tower:
The tower falls and the unity of one language in the world is replaced by multiple different languages:
When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost, they received the power to speak in other languages and to witness to all Jesus had done:
Afterwards, we were given the opportunity to engage in different activities.
Some built their own towers, with young helpers!
Some used Lego to build means of evangelism!
Some were involved in sewing:
Some were involved in drawing or using playdough to make models:
Some investigated children’s books and how to work with children:
Our thanks to the Methodist Church for hosting this meeting and providing refreshments for us all and to all who came to make this a really interesting evening, full of worship, prayer, conversation and fellowship.
Daily Faith
In our series ‘Everday Christianity’, we looked at the importance of allowing our faith to permeate every aspect of our lives and the danger of living compartmentalised lives, relegating our faith to a meeting or two on a Sunday and perhaps a few minutes of prayer and reading the Bible during the week. Christianity is nothing if not holistic; we are urged to love God with all our mind, heart, soul and strength (Matt 22:37, Deut 6:5), which inevitably ‘overflows’ into our everyday lives.
Daily Faith, 4 sessions of teaching on this issue, will be held on dates in June and July at Leeds Church Institute. The four-session course (which costs £24 if booked before the end of May and £29 after this date) explores what it means to develop a ‘baptised imagination’ in our day-to-day lives, whether we are at work, are unpaid volunteers, carers, parents, students, retired or anything else! It tackles questions such as:
- How can you share your faith as an opera singer (or accountant or teacher or any other profession)?
- What does it mean to be a Christian diplomat (‘ambassadors for Christ’)?
- How can you live out a Christian calling in a call-centre or shop floor?
It unpacks biblical teaching on work, rest and play and uses inspiring stories of Christians who have been salt and light in their day-to-day lives. It challenges the common view of ‘calling’ that focuses only on Christian ministry and provides inspiration and space to explore how to ‘live life in all its fulness’ from Monday to Saturday.
Led by Mark Roques, an author, storyteller and director of RealityBites (which works with schools, churches and the media to communicate the use of the Christian faith effectively in contemporary culture), this course runs on Wednesday 22nd and 29th June and 6th and 13th July from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Leeds Church Institute at 20 New Market Street, Leeds, LS1 6DG. Tickets can be booked here.
Urban Rescue
Urban Rescue is a revival band from Los Angeles and the first ever act signed to Rend Family Records – a partnership between Irish celebration band Rend Collective and Capitol Christian Music Group. With a drummer to rival ‘Animal’ from the Muppets, these guys gave a great introduction to the Rend Collective concert last night.
Their songs:
Rend Collective: irrepressible exuberance and infectious confidence
Last night I had the privilege of worshipping alongside Urban Rescue, Rend Collective and hundreds of other people in Sheffield. It was an experience not to be missed.
Rend Collective, a Northern Irish band with a dazzling array of talent, a plethora of musical instruments and a passion for God and His church, bring to music an irrepressible exuberance and infectious confidence in the goodness of God. Zany, quirky and refreshingly unique (where else would you find confetti showers, bubble bursts and musicians wearing panda heads and a unicorn head? – because ‘seriousness isn’t a fruit of the Spirit, but joy is’), they bring a message of hope wrapped in music that sets your feet dancing and your spirits rejoicing.
Their songs proclaim the freedom that God has purchased for us (‘the only difference between a sinner and a saint is that the sinner is running to God for forgiveness’) and urge us to take the message of radical love and dazzling hope byeond the four walls of church. ‘Worship is simply the soundtrack to our lives as we go into the world,’ we were reminded, with the obversation that we can be quite good at the ‘family’ part but not so good at the ‘going’. The gospel is meant to be lived out by ordinary people in a world that’s full of darkness and pain, for Jesus makes us more than conquerors: these songs provide the soundtrack for our everyday lives.
Their set list (click on the highlighted titles to listen):
Our responses
Looking at other people’s responses to God’s generosity, forgiveness and grace will never be enough, for God speaks to each one of us personally and asks us to respond individually.
The characteristics of extravagance are challenging: we’re taken out of our comfort zone, out of the politeness of the tit-for-tat society we inhabit, away from the world of quid pro quo into the realm of total surrender, radical devotion and actions which may well be misunderstood, frowned upon and opposed.
The responses to extravagance may well be hard to deal with: disdain, disgust, confusion, bewilderment, rebuke, even betrayal. But this story shows us that God’s response to extravagance is worth it. He rejoices; He blesses; He is excited by extravagant worship and passionate devotion to Him and rewards it in ways beyond our wildest imaginings.
So what will our response be? Will we settle for mediocrity? Will we draw back from total surrender, from fervour and passion and emotion because we think it’s messy, reckless, a waste of our time and money? Will we be like Simon or the disciples or even Judas? – full of pragmatism and good reasoning, but ultimately missing the point and having no heart? Will we be like Michal, David’s wife, who despised his extravagant worship of God, greeting him with sarcastic words designed to cut him down to size? (2 Sam 6:20) Will we spend our lives in true British decorum, never really risking anything for God because we’re not really aware of the enormity of the debt He’s cancelled for us and so we love little? Or will we be like this woman, prepared to risk everything, prepared to break open our alabaster jars of expensive perfume, whatever that may look like in our lives, prepared to do anything, absolutely anything, out of devotion to the God who has done everything for us?
