Every man has at some point to deal with a loaded question from a woman, a question to which only one answer really is acceptable…There is absolutely nothing wrong with us asking questions of God, of ourselves, of other people. Questions can be a valuable way of learning; Jesus often asked questions to stimulate thinking and conversation. But we have to face the fact that loaded questions are dangerous, because they do not genuinely want the other person’s honest answer; they want an answer which pleases us, even if it’s untrue.

The serpent in the Garden of Eden asked loaded questions. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1) Not only did he rephrase God’s commands in a wholly negative form, he went on to cast doubt and aspersions on God’s character and integrity, implying that God has only issued this commandment not to eat from that tree to protect Himself, rather than to protect Adam and Eve. He sowed ideas into Eve’s mind, offering the tantalising lure that eating from that tree would lead to man being ‘like God, knowing good and evil.’ The Voice paraphrases the snake’s answer in this way: ‘Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.’ (Gen 3:4-5, The Voice)

Loaded questions can blind us to the fact that they lead us inextricably to one answer only, without letting us discern if that is the correct answer. So often, when we ask questions, we are not willing to face unpalatable answers. We keep asking questions just to get a different answer! But no matter how many times I ask the question ‘What does 2 + 2 make?’, the answer will be 4, even if I don’t like that answer. We need to be careful with loaded questions. No matter how many times we ask God if it’s OK to do something He has forbidden us to do, the answer will be no. If we hear otherwise, we’re kidding ourselves… or listening to the wrong voice. There is a world of difference between honestly asking God something and being willing to accept whatever He says and asking God loaded questions, when it doesn’t really matter what He says, because we’re going to do our own thing anyway. We have to beware loaded questions. The enemy is a master at them and because of that, it’s easy for us to fall into the trap of asking them ourselves…

This morning, in our series ‘Battles and Blessings’, we looked at the very first battle man experienced, which continues to affect every single one of us today (see Gen 3:1-19). We have an enemy who seeks to lead us away from God, who wants nothing more than to separate us from all the blessings God has for us, and even greater, sometimes, than the battles we face with other people is that battle we face with the devil, and with our own flesh.

Before this point, everything that God had created was good and man’s relationships were good. Adam had been given a helper by God, Eve, and they lived together, naked and unashamed, in the Garden created for them, looking after God’s creation by divine decree. Everything in the garden truly was lovely! The only restriction placed on man was the command given by God in Gen 2:16-17, but the serpent caused Eve to question not only God’s commands, but His intentions, planting the seeds of doubt and uncertainty which, if left unchallenged, can lead to sin.

Questions and temptations are not, of course, the same thing as sin. But as James reminds us (James 1:13-15), they can lead us to sin if we allow ourselves to be enticed by evil desires within. The danger in every spiritual battle we face is that we will succumb to the temptation to believe the enemy’s lies rather than the truths of God’s Word.

Adam and Eve failed in that first battle, succumbing to temptation, but Jesus, in the wilderness, showed us how the sword of the Spirit can be used to defeat the enemy’s whispering lies. (Matt 4:1-10) The blessings we find in the Bible belong to those who do not yield to temptation but who choose to believe God above and beyond what the other voices say. The blessings of God are for those who believe. Paul said, ‘So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.’ (Gal 3:9) Jesus, in defeating temptation not only in the wilderness but also in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41), became our great high priest who is able to empathise with our weaknesses, uphold us in our struggles and bring us the victory as He ever lives to intercede for us (see Heb 2:18, Heb 4:15, Heb 7:25). He provides a way out of temptation for us (1 Cor 10:13) and therefore helps us rely on the help and hope He brings to every battle. (Ps 146:5, Deut 33:29)

There’s a lot happening in November, so here is the latest news bulletin!

Sunday 13th November

Don’t forget both meetings will be at Market Street this Sunday (at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m.) and the CLC bookstall will be available after both meetings. This is an opportunity to buy Christmas cards and presents (books, calendars, fridge magnets, CDs, DVDs etc.), support our local Christian bookshop and earn 10% commission for the church all at the same time! Please remember to bring any unwanted commentaries or books which would help Bible college students to donate to CLC.

Thursday 17th November

The community choir practice will be at 6.45 p.m. at our church, followed by the Bible study at 7.30 p.m. We will be looking at the start of 1 Corinthians 16 in the Bible study.

Friday 18th November

Furlong Road Methodist Church is holding a day of prayer on Friday (from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.) Pop in for a time of quiet meditation, prayer, fellowship and a cuppa!

Hope House Church is hosting its ‘arts festival’ on 18th & 19th November, so if you’re in Barnsley, do pop in to have a look at this creative arts festival. The church is on Wellington Street, opposite Morrison’s supermarket.

Saturday 19th November

As well as the arts festival in Barnsley, there is the ‘Winter Wonderland’ in Thurnscoe flower park from 12-6 p.m. This is an opportunity to go ice-skating, visit Santa’s Grotto and buy Christmas food, including chutneys, piccalilli, apple sauce and tomato & basil soup from Turner New Leaf!

Sunday 20th November

The morning meeting will be at Cherry Tree Court at 10.30 a.m., with the evening service at 6 p.m.

Wednesday 23rd November

Come along to help prepare the goody bags for the Christmas Market if you can – we’ll be stuffing bags from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. This is an opportunity for local community groups to advertise, as we will be including leaflets about what’s on in the area (including our carol service on 18th December). Also in the bag will be Christian comics and leaflets about Christmas, sweets and glow sticks. Please pray for the Christmas Market on 9th December.

Sunday 27th November

Fredrick and Reeba will be here for both meetings (10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.), so come along to find out more about their work in India and about the missions’ trip next Easter. We are having a buffet meal after the evening meeting (onion bhajis and samosas welcome!), so this is a great opportunity to meet Fredrick and Reeba and find out more about how to support their vital work in Bangalore.

I think many of us despise the boring and the mundane, even though these make up a significantly large proportion of our time and energy. We are more interested in the spectacular (healings, miracles, mass salvation) and the glamorous (exotic holidays, buying new gadgets to entertain us) than in the ordinary jobs of everyday life which seem so utterly lacklustre and unremarkable.

As I study 1 Corinthians, I’m struck by how much time Paul – that great apostle whose gifts included teaching, miracles of healing and even raising the dead – gave to what I would call the ‘nitty gritty details’ of life. He wrote extensively about practical subjects: eating meat that had been sacrificed, how to deal with a communion service, what to do about spiritual gifts, how to deal with church discipline. And he spent quite a lot of time thinking about the practical details of organising money for relief support. (1 Cor 16:1-12, 2 Cor 8-9). Such things are not particularly exciting. Think, in modern terms, of customs forms, VAT and other forms of red tape and you get the picture!

I spend a lot of time on what might be termed the unspectacular. Putting stickers on plain goody bags to make them look attractive to people so that when we give out God’s Word at the Christmas market, they might actually keep the bag and look inside. Travelling on buses and trains to visit people in hospital. Juggling rotas so that we have people to help at coffee mornings and with the preaching of God’s Word at church. These things seem a far cry from what I’d like to do at times and often seem to take up far too much time.

But if Paul took time out to organise a collection to help needy Christians in Jerusalem, our shopping for the food bank must also be valuable. If Paul thought it was important to write about mundane things like that, then our ordinary, ‘boring’ lives must be significant in God’s bigger picture, even if we can’t see it now. Cleaning the church building, checking the insurance details, filling in the CCLI records so that Christian artists can be paid for the work they offer to God… these things are not ‘a waste of time.’ Nothing done whole-heartedly for God is a waste of time. (1 Cor 15:58)

Aaron Shust reminds us that Jesus knew all about the ordinary: ‘Forsaking majesty, embracing mundane and all of its shame.’ (‘Wondrous Love’) Matt Redman reminds us that God’s grace is not just for the mountain-top experiences but is there ‘in the everyday and the mundane.’ (‘Your Grace Finds Me’) Zech 4:10 says ‘Who dares despise the day of small things?’

God looks for faithfulness in the ordinary, boring, mundane things of life. Paul tells the Corinthians, ‘Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.‘ (1 Cor 4:2) Jesus said, ‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.‘ (Luke 16:10) Honour God with the ordinary, and maybe then the extraordinary will be mingled in with it!

Prior to Sunday, when we are running a Christian bookstall through CLC Bookshops in Sheffield, why not have a look through your bookshelves and see if you can help Bible college students? Yesterday, we received this email from CLC:

‘Having recently run several book sales at theological colleges and with more coming up, CLC Bookshops need used books for those preparing for Christian ministry. The students’ main cry is for commentaries (whether part of a set or not) published after 2000 and of an academic/practical standard including and above that of the Bible Speaks Today series (IVP). Declutter those shelves, emply those boxes, tell your friends and family – and put those cherished resources to good use. Drop off your surplus commentaries – and other Christian books, DVDs, music and audio CDs – at the bookshop and they’ll be very gratefully received. What CLC cannot use is passed on to Book Aid.’

Because we are involved with CLC, if you bring these resources to church on Sunday, we will take them to CLC for you when we return any unsold items, so you don’t even have to make it to Sheffield!

The quiz tonight had us guessing the identity of some rich and famous people from their childhood photos. See how you get on!

Guess who?

The answers?

David Beckham

The Duchess of Cambridge

Robbie Williams

Hugh Jackman

Sometimes, the children of famous parents become famous themselves, often building on their parents’ celebrity and fame. We might not be rich and famous in the most accepted sense of the words, but certainly, we have been blessed in the spiritual realms with every spiritual blessing from God (Eph 1:3) and are heirs of everything God owns! We are being transformed into His image (2 Cor 3:17-18), made to reflect His likeness.