This morning’s sermon looked at Rom 12:9-21, verses packed with commands about how we should be and what we should do. It’s important to get the balance between knowing, being and doing right; all three are important to a balanced Christian walk.For us to be the people God wants us to be and live a life of service as commanded in Rom 12:9-21, we have to have God (and love) at the centre of our beings – Christ living in us (see Gal 2:20-21). All our doing, if it’s simply oriented in ourselves, will not be enough to please God; all our striving to be ‘better people’ can’t actually get us close enough to God (see Rom 3:23, John 15:4).

Being

Paul gives us 6 commands about how we should be and 4 about how we should not be. The positives are:

1.Be devoted to one another in love

2.Be joyful in hope

3.Be patient in affliction

4.Be faithful in prayer

5.Be willing to associate with people of low position

6.Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone

The negatives are:

1.Never be lacking in zeal

2.Do not be proud

3.Do not be conceited

4.Do not be overcome by evil

Paul reminds us that love has to be free from hypocrisy and dissimulation; it has to be sincere. Much of what he talks about here relate to the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, patience, faithfulness etc.), another indication that we must have God’s life within us if we are to be all that He intends us to be. Humility and pride are contrasted, and we are not be slothful or indolent, but must have God’s energy, enthusiasm and passion within us. If we are going to do what is right, we have to ‘be careful’, having thought through beforehand what God’s Word says to do in certain situations, for in a crisis, we will react instinctively. Knowledge has to be assimilated, hence the need for transformed and renewed thinking (Rom 12:1-2).

Doing

Some of the things we are commanded to do (such as showing hospitality to people and honouring others) seem eminently practical and reasonable. Many of these commands are connected with others so that there is a balance between what we shouldn’t do and what we should do. Paul tells the Romans to hate what is evil and cling to what is good, for example, offering us a contrast between our response to evil and our response to good, reminding us that we are to be ‘glued’ to all that God says is good (which is why we need to know God’s Word.) However, much of what Paul teaches us in this section goes against the grain: we are commanded to bless those who persecute us and not to take revenge, for example, showing kindness and forgiveness to all (see also Matt 5:43-45, Eph 4:32). Thackeray commented, ‘Revenge may be wicked, but it’s natural’ , and we often feel that God asks more of us than is humanly possible.

We need not only to reflect on Jesus’s response to enemies (see Luke 23:34) but how Christ’s life in us produces the same response (see Acts 7:60). Paul is calling for supernatural behaviour indicating a spiritual origin and maturity. We cannot live the Christian life from the outside in, but from the inside out. As Darrell Bock says, ‘The reason the disciple can love all humanity is that the disciple knows that God will deal justly with all one day.’ We have to give room for God’s vengeance, understanding that He will deal with everything justly (see also Matt 5:40-42, Luke 6:36).

Paul sums up this section of advice and commands by saying, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ (Rom 12:21) We may feel that evil is prevalent and will prevail, but God reminds us that He is in control and love never fails. Martin Luther King Jr said, ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ As Boromir discovered in The Lord of the Rings, the evil ring of power could not be used to wage war against the Dark Lord. Evil cannot be overcome by a stronger force of the same kind; it can only be overcome by good. Paul tells the Ephesians to ‘put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.’ (Eph 6:13) If we are to stand strong this year, we have to be integrated people, people who know the truth of God’s Word and who live by that truth, people who are becoming all that God intended us to be as we allow Him free reign in our lives and people who will do all the things God tells us to do, whether those things make sense to us or not.

Our heart for 2016 is to see many people saved. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved, their reply was succinct: ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.’ (Acts 16:31) Our longing for this year is for it to be a YIELD YEAR, a year when God brings salvation to many, including our households – family members who do not know the Lord or who have wandered away from Him. We long to see people bow the knee to Jesus, surrendering their hopes, fears and lives to Him and reaping the lavish gift of eternal life He bestows freely to all who believe.

Let’s pray for salvation to come to many: to our family members (we want to see parents, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, step-parents, step-children and everyone else worshipping and serving the Lord), to our neighbours, to our friends and acquaintances, work colleagues, and to our community. Let’s pray for salvation to come to all who set foot in our building as they feel and recognise the presence of God. Let’s pray for salvation to come to all we meet, that God will give us boldness in witness and wisdom in sharing the gospel and that He will be pleased to reveal Himself to many. We know it’s God’s will for people to be saved (see 2 Pet 3:9) and we long to be faithful ambassadors and willing co-workers with God in this precious task of reconciliation (see 2 Cor 5:17-21).

To wash our sin and shame away.’ (‘Salvation’s Tide’, Passion)

Yesterday’s New Year’s Day party was the usual feast of good food:

There were plenty of silly games, some including food (the aim of this game was to eat an After Eight placed on your forehead, without using your hands…)

Mark devised a game not of ‘pass the parcel’, but ‘pass the baby’ (thankfully none of our real ones!), with forfeits done when the music stopped:

One of the forfeits involved slapping someone, which Jade enjoyed!

Then there was the familiar Goldthorpe-style ‘musical chairs’. The ladies are quite calm about this:

… but for the men, this is serious business, with a trophy to be won!Mark McKeown was the worthy winner this year, regaining his trophy after Tony’s victory in 2015, and giving a worthy winner’s ‘thank you’ speech:

We also had a birthday to celebrate!

Continuing with our ‘Bigger Picture’ series, we also looked at specific ways we can engage with the Bible in 2016 so that we remain devoted to God’s Word and can grow in grace and in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many different ways to engage with the Bible:

1. Reading it all the way through! Reading the Bible cover to cover in one year is a measurable and realistic goal. The ‘Bible In One Year’ is an app you can download or you can receive the readings by email. The One Year Bible Online consists of passages from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs to read every day. Having a daily guide through the Bible gives a framework to reading all of it.
2. Reading it meditatively (‘lectio divina’). Here, the aim is to read a smaller portion of Scripture (eg ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’) and to ‘chew’ on this, thinking about what you have just read from different angles. Meditation is like ‘letting a very slowly dissolving lozenge melt imperceptibly in your mouth’ (Baron Friedrich von Hügel, quoted in Eugene Peterson’s ‘Eat This Book’ P 2-3) It involves using the imagination and taking time to ponder what we are reading, rather than rushing through our Bible reading.
3. Memorising Scripture. It’s good to learn verses and passages off by heart. Jesus quoted Scripture when faced by temptation (see Matt 4:1-11) and often this is the only way we can overcome temptation too! Ps 119:11 says, ‘I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.’ Knowing God’s word is the first way to avoid sin. There are a number of online resources that can help you with choosing verses to learn: Fighter Verses and Remember Me, for example.
4. Singing Scripture. We often remember things better if we sing them! Websites that help us focus on this include the Bible Gateway store, but we can all start this by reviewing the lyrics of songs we know and finding where these come from in the Bible. Col 3:16 says ‘Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.’
5. Writing out verses. Writing (or typing) out specific verses helps us to learn them. Deut 6:6-9 recommends this: ‘These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.’
6. Reading Scripture aloud. Often, we skim over things when we read silently; reading aloud (see 1 Tim 4:13) is a useful way of focussing our attention.
7. Engage with the Bible through the arts. Throughout history, artists, sculptors, musicians and authors have created many amazing works inspired by the Bible (eg da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ or Dutch artist Rembrandt’s ‘Return of the Prodigal’, or the Creation Window at Chester Cathedral.) ‘Christians in Visual Arts’  seeks to help Christians ‘to rehearse and remember the biblical story’  through the arts.
8. Studying the Bible. We can do this either in groups (eg on alternate Thursday nights at church) or on our own, using books, commentaries and concordances to find out more about the context and meaning of the Bible. We can study books, characters or themes.

Whichever method or methods suit us best, what matters is that we engage with the Bible, opening this wonderful book and allowing it to guide, inspire and change us (see Psalm 119:105-112).

In the sermon tonight, we looked at people’s fondness for making New Year’s resolutions, some of which may well be:

1. Lose weight
2. Get fit
3. Learn something new
4. Eat more healthily
5. Spend more time with my family
6. Travel to new places
7. Be less stressed
8. Drink less alcohol
9. Give more to charity
10. Spend more time reading the Bible and praying

Most of us know, however, that despite our good resolutions, we are often unable to keep them past the first few days of January. Reasons for this are varied, but some of the obstacles to fulfilling our resolutions are:

1. Having unrealistic expectations. Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by having unrealistic resolutions (such as losing 3 stones in weight in one month alone!)
2. Unrealistic timeframes. We often feel we must do things instantly or feel that a lack of time prevents us from achieving new goals. We have to learn to ‘number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Ps 90:12), making the most of every opportunity, redeeming the time (Eph 5:16). Prioritising time is important; we have to make time for God, for prayer, for reading the Bible and for service.
3. Unwillingness to really change. Only when we are determined and disciplined about change will it come about. Reading the Bible requires effort, commitment and perseverance. There are parts of it that are hard to read and understand. Some parts are not as exciting as others! But if all Scripture truly is God-breathed and useful for us, then we have to be willing to engage with it, whether we feel like it or not.
4. Businesses talk about setting ‘SMART’ goals. ‘S’ stands for ‘specific’ and ‘M’ stands for ‘measurable.’ So often, we fail because we are vague about what we are hoping to achieve. We have to be specific about what we are trying to achieve and specific in prayer. (Phil 3:12, Rom 9:26-27)
5. Many of us fail in our resolutions because we are half-hearted and apathetic. God does not want us to be lukewarm in faith, but to be full of spiritual fervour, never lacking in zeal (Rom 12:11), passionate about this race we are running. (Rom 9:27, Heb 12:1-3).

If we are going to set realistic goals for the New Year and achieve these, we need to be smart – setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic goals with a time-frame that is sensible. Making no goals or having no direction for the New Year means we’ll never reach our destination, because we have none! We need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, but must also realise that without God, we can do nothing. We have to remain in the vine and allow God’s fruit to grow from that personal relationship with God, being willing to change as He leads us ‘onward and upward’.