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’.

Garry spoke this morning from John 1:1-18, focussing on John 1:17 in particular. The law was given through Moses (who acted as a conduit), but grace and truth are found in Jesus.

Gal 3:22-25 talks about the role of the law, which was our guardian until faith came. The word ‘guardian’ (pedagogos) was used to describe a servant who was employed by someone wealthy to take children aged 6-16 years old to school, someone who was responsible for their behaviour and development. Bill Mounce’s website talks of how the dominant image was that of a harsh disciplinarian who frequently resorted to physical force and corporal punishment as a way of keeping the children in line. The law, although good, was basically intended to show us how far off the mark we fall; so often, we simply settle for less because we realise we are incapable of reaching God’s standard, and substitute our achievements for the standard He sets instead of turning to Christ as God’s solution to this problem.

Many people feel the God of the Old Testament is full of wrath and punishment and Jesus portrays a ‘gentler’ side to God. In truth, the Old Testament speaks also of grace and mercy (God’s ‘chesed‘) and the New Testament also speaks of justice and wrath. Nonetheless, Jesus does reveal to us God’s grace and love; we see the exuberant giving and lavish love of the Father. Luke 6:38 reminds us that God’s measure is overflowing; we may feel overwhelmed by His goodness, but as this blessing is pressed down, we are enabled to receive even more. God’s grace to us is overflowing and expansive (as demonstrated by Jesus’s first miracle at the wedding of Cana where six jars, each holding 20-30 gallons of water, were turned into wine!)

The world works with rules and systems, and to some extent feels comfortable with these. When people become Christians, they often assume that they are exchanging one set of rules for another, but actually, the church needs to demonstrate the rule of grace, not law. John reminds us of the light of Jesus, but He tells us we too are the lights of the world (Matt 5:14-16). We are intended to be illuminators and revelators, just as Jesus is, for as grace fills our lives and overflows, it becomes the motivator for all we done.

As we draw closer to the light, however, we become even more aware of our faults and failings. Rom 7:21-25 reminds us of the inner conflict we often face. As we progress in our journey with God, we need to understand that the journey is not always a gentle incline. Sometimes, we have to take steps of faith which are uncomfortable… and sometimes, the steps of faith we face are huge, way beyond our capability! God reveals our need and works with us to overcome it so that we can progress ‘onward and upward’. God calls us to rise to these challenges of faith and determine to be a revelator of grace and truth, even as He is.

SEPTEMBER

A wedding at church!

The Macmillan Coffee Morning:

OCTOBER

Lessons in anger management:

NOVEMBER

We learnt about remembrance:

We celebrated our first baptism in the Market Street building:

DECEMBER

The Parents & Toddlers enjoyed a Christmas party:

We raised £500 for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal through the Christmas Market:

We enjoyed a community carol service outdoors:

…and a carol service indoors!:

Photos can only capture so much of what God has done in people’s lives this year, however. There have been two funerals at church (remembering and celebrating the lives of Angela Craven and Letty Fletcher who both went to be with the Lord in April and November respectively). People have served faithfully in a range of ministries, including the Monday Night Youth, Parent & Toddler group, coffee mornings, cleaning, helping with the food bank, preaching, praying, painting and decorating, leading worship, playing music and giving financially. We had a flying visit from missionaries Steve & Katuska Davies who attended the September wedding en route to their niece’s wedding in Derbyshire. We continued to support the ministries of Fredrick and Reeba in India and have sponsored Bedline Bazile in Haiti. As we look back on 2015, we’re grateful for all God has done, for His healing and strengthening, for His amazing grace to us all. We are looking forward to 2016 as the ‘yield year’ when we see fruitfulness and harvest for all the seed sown.