On this Fathers’ Day, Mark spoke about our heavenly Father and His desire to provide for and bless His children. There are many qualities associated with being a good father, including being a good listener, an encourager, a good leader and someone who can be relied upon, not to mention being a taxi-driver and mender of broken things! A child who is secure because of good parents doesn’t have to worry, and Jesus reminds us that we have a heavenly Father who knows our needs and provides for them (Matt 6:25-34), so there is no need for us to worry.  The Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13) reminds us that our Father in heaven is our regular provider of all our needs; He forgives us and delivers us from evil as well as being strong and mighty to save.

Even if we have lost our earthly fathers or never have experienced the security and love of an earthly father, God is a father to the fatherless (Ps 68:5) and because He is an everlasting Father (Is 9:6), He is the constant presence in our life, the One who gives appropriate provision for our lives (Matt 7:7-11) – fishfinger sandwiches, perhaps?! Certainly, James reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from our heavenly Father (Js 1:17), reminding us that He is constant in His benevolence, constant even though we are often wavering, indecisive and variable.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of God’s promise that He will be a father to us, giving us the rights of sons and daughters. (2 Cor 6:18) God the Father has lavished His love on us (1 Jn 3:1), with the result that we are the children of God. Our identity is secure in Him.

Yesterday a group of men from church went along to a men’s meeting in Barnsley to find out more about the ministry of CVM (Christian Vision for Men), a group which aims to connect men with Jesus and the church.

It’s a fact that women are often happy to meet together and just chat, but men tend to bond with each other more when they are actually doing something; in the words of J. John, they are ‘like arctic rivers: frozen at the mouth!’ CVM has an aim of introducing men to Jesus and the church to men, organising activity-based meetings with the ultimate aim of reaching a million men in this country with the good news of the gospel. If you win a child to Christ, there is a 3.5% chance the whole family will come to Christ. If you win a woman to Christ, there is about a 17% chance the family will follow, but if you win a man to Christ, there is a 93% chance the whole family will come to Christ. Whilst 50% of men would feel comfortable in a ladies’ underwear shop (hopefully buying lovely presents for their wives!), only 33% of men say they would feel comfortable in church. CVM uses various events (such as curry clubs, BBQs, mission trips and men’s gathering like the one taking place in Swindon on 24-26 June – see here for more details) to bridge the gap and show that church is not just for ‘women and wimps’!

We need to be imaginative and innovative in how we present the gospel to all people; hopefully, this meeting will have triggered thoughts about how to reach out to the many men in our communities who don’t yet know Jesus.

God is a God of revelation who loves to speak to His people. We are urged to eagerly desire to prophesy (1 Cor 14:1, 39) because we desperately need to hear God’s voice speaking truth and life to us. There are, however, many barriers which can prevent us from pursuing this gift, including:

1. fear (so often we allow fear to hold us back from stepping out in faith, worrying about things such as ‘How do I know this is God?’, ‘Am I just making this up?, ‘What will others think of me?’ and so on. Fear of other people can hold us back (see Prov 29:25.))
2. bad experiences (either having been on the receiving end of controlling, manipulative ‘words from God’ or being harshly rebuked for stepping out in faith and being condemned for this)
3. indifference (believing that there is nothing really special about this gift and so it is not worth pursuing)
4. feelings of worthlessness (‘I’m not good enough to be used in this way‘) or that one must reach a certain level of spiritual perfection before God could use us in this gift (the church at Corinth was certainly not perfect yet were used in spiritual gifts, so we must not equate perfection with availability)
5. lack of faith (we are told to prophesy in proportion to our faith (Rom 12:6) and it seems that the more one exercises faith, the more it grows!)
6. ignorance (we don’t know much about this gift or fail to see that it can be given in many forms, not just a thundering ‘Thus saith the Lord’ experience)

Let’s strive to prophesy, knowing that there is a balance always between our seeking and God’s giving (see Phil 2:12-13). We cannot ‘make’ prophecy happen, but we can earnestly desire this gift and seek to pursue it, being content with all God gives us but yearning more that ‘so much more’ which we know is available in Him. Let’s also create an atmosphere of acceptance so that we encourage others to step out in faith, understanding that we won’t always get it right, but that we need to be seeking to build up the church in love. Wayne Grudem says, ‘Churches should be willing to be patient and encouraging toward those who are trying this gift for the first time (as they would with other gifts, such as teaching, evangelism etc.’) (Wayne Grudem, ‘The Gift of Prophecy in the NT & Today’, P 180) May we seek the mind of Christ as we follow after Him and wait with expectancy for what He has to say to us.

New Testament prophecy has both similarities and differences to prophecy in the Old Testament. It’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus is the fulfilment of much Old Testament prophecy (something Matthew, in particular, is keen to stress to the Jewish Christians to whom he wrote – see Matt 2:15, 17; Matt 13:14, Matt 35:54, Matt 27:9, for example, along with Luke 4:21, Luke 18:31, Luke 22:37, John 19:24), a fact which the apostles also stressed when first teaching people (see Acts 2-3, Acts 8.) The apostles’ authority in teaching the revelation of God was similar to the Old Testament prophets’ (see Luke 11:49, 2 Pet 3:2). Prophets are mentioned in the New Testament (see Acts 11:27-28, Acts 13:1, Acts 15:32, Acts 21:9), but it is clear from the fulfilment of Joel 2:28-29 at Pentecost that the gift of prophecy is more widespread in the New Testament, affecting many believers (hence Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians that all should eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.)

The content of New Testament prophecy was similar to that in the Old Testament, including prediction, guidance, personal words (see 1 Tim 1:18) and incisive knowledge which revealed secret sins (see Acts 5) or which caused unbelievers to marvel at God’s knowledge (see 1 Cor 14:24-25, John 4). Prophetic words can be a valuable tool in evangelism (see Acts 8:26-40, Acts 10, Acts 16:8-10) and are for the encouragement, strengthening and comfort of the church. (1 Cor 14:3)

As with the Old Testament, the means of New Testament prophecy varied, including visions, dreams, pictures and symbolism as well as words. The prophecies we find in the New Testament did not necessarily have the same ‘weight’ as in the Old Testament (Agabus, for example, was not wholly accurate in his predictions about Paul’s fate in Jerusalem (Acts 21:11), but this does not appear to have been a problem for Paul or the other leaders.) All prophecy nowadays has to be weighed and tested (see 1 Cor 14:29, 1 Thess 5:19-22); it must be subject to the revelation God has given us in the Bible. The subjectivity of prophecy and the fact that it is open to misuse often lead us to be wary of this gift, but we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater. God is good and delights to give good gifts to His children. (Luke 11:13, Matt 7:11)

We also had two birthdays to celebrate.

The numbers on the photos (38 and 27) are clearly fantasy, but everyone’s entitled to dream…

Yan Hadley spoke tonight from Ps 34, focussing on God’s ability to deliver us.

The Reality of Affliction

Ps 34 was written by David at a time of great affliction as he faced many problems. The troubles that can afflict us can be varied, but tribulation and persecution will certainly come (see 1 Pet 4:12). The enemy causes problems (as Job testifies) and at times people can cause problems (including family problems). When we face affliction, we have to hold on to God’s truth and reject the devil’s lies (and half-truths…)

The Release from Affliction

God promises to deliver us from troubles. Ps 34:19 acknowledges the troubles David has, but he is keen to focus on the Lord’s ability to deliver. We need to look for God’s ‘buts’ in the Bible (see Ps 30:5, Jn 10:10, 2 Cor 4:8). All things are possible to those who believe (Mk 9:23), but the key is for us to look to God in expectant faith, knowing that He is willing and able to release us from snares, traps and pitfalls.

The Response of the Righteous

We can respond to troubles either by adopting wrong attitudes (usually involving doubt) or by focussing on God’s ability to hear and deliver us. It’s easy to believe God when everything is going well, but He longs for us to trust Him in the dark times as well. David’s response is to bless and praise God at all times (Ps 34:1, see also the disciples’ response to opposition in Acts 5:41). David shows us that we need to respond to trials by seeking God (Ps 34:4), reminding us that those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (Ps 34:10) The experience of those who have seen God at work in deliverance is to pass this message on so others can believe for and experience this themselves. ‘My God is able to deliver!’