Our service last night looked at the subject of ‘Everyday Witness’, focussing on Jesus’s words to His disciples known as the ‘Great Commission.’ (Matt 28:16-20) Even after the Resurrection, there was a mixed response amongst the disciples, with some worshipping but others doubting. They needed these instructions to give shape and purpose to their lives and it was only after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost that they were equipped to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

Often, we feel inadequate to this task, but we need to understand that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and therefore we have all we need to witness in Him. The Jesus who gives these final instructions to His disciples speaks with the total authority of the Godhead, for He speaks as the resurrected One whose resurrection proves our faith is not futile, whose resurrection becomes, therefore, the motivation for how we live our everyday lives.

Everyday witness involves more than speaking; whether we are gifted in this area or not, our very lives are called to be light for God. ‘Imagine Church’ (a project run by the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity) talks about the 6Ms which we all need in our lives to be effective witnesses:

1. Model godly character
2. Make good work
3. Minister grace and love
4. Mould culture
5. Be a Mouthpiece for truth and justice
6. Be a Messenger of the Gospel

Our everyday witness must involve our character and our actions as well as our words.

This provocative title was chosen by Mark as he continued his series on Joseph this morning, looking at Gen 46:28-34 and then at Gen 47:1-12. It might be said to sum up the Egyptians’ attitude to shepherds and sheep, which was potentially bad news for Joseph’s family, since looking after livestock, and sheep in particular, was what they knew best. However, God’s care for them meant that, rather than being condemned for their role and for the fact that their sheep would take precious grazing land in Goshen, Pharaoh not only allowed them to stay in this fertile land, but even gave them authority over his own herds!

The reunion between Joseph and his father Jacob after thirty long years of separation was obviously emotional, but it was also the fulfilment of the dream he had had as a teenager. Joseph is a vivid reminder to us that no matter how long it takes, God will fulfil His promises and purposes in our lives. As Hab 2:1-3 reminds us, we have to wait on God for the arrival of the vision; we have to keep on looking for God to answer, and must also learn to listen to Him. Writing down the vision as a reminder can keep it fresh in our own lives and help others to remember God’s promises. Not only do we have to wait for God, we must also wait for the vision to be fulfilled, recognising that there is an anointed and appointed time for God’s dreams to be fulfilled. God is not slow concerning His promises (see 2 Pet 3:9), but often works to a different timescale to ours!

God was able to turn the Egyptians’ antipathy and resentment to generosity and grace. He is able to do exceedingly more than all we ask or imagine (see Eph 3:20) and we need to learn to trust His ability to turn situations around and make us a blessing (Jacob, the elderly, wandering shepherd was the one who actually blessed the mighty ruler Pharaoh, not the other way around!)  Joseph’s family eventually settled in Goshen, and were given permission to stay in that lush land. God’s provision for our lives lacks nothing and He is able to work all things together for good. (Rom 8:28)

Services will be at the usual times this weekend, but don’t forget some of the special events coming up in May. The church day out to Bridlington is on Monday 4th May. We will be leaving church at 8.45 a.m. and will leave Bridlington at 5.30 p.m., so hopefully we will have plenty of time to enjoy the day, including fish and chips for lunch!

The ‘Churches Together’ meeting is at GPCC on Saturday 16th May, starting at 7 p.m. All who can help with the buffet supper should see Julie as soon as possible about this. The theme will be ‘Pentecost’ and as always it will be great to meet with Christians from other local churches.

The funeral service for Angela Craven will be held at GPCC on Wednesday 29th April at 9:30 a.m. Further details to follow.

We are very grateful for the many volunteers and workmen who help to keep our building up-to-date, especially those who recently painted some of the toilets. This past week, Dave has been supervising specialised work in the community room as joiners provided a board around the middle of the room to prevent chairs scuffing the walls:

Pipework has also been boxed in to give the room a smarter appearance:

This work is in preparation for the decorating work in the community room which will be done in the summer holidays. We are hoping we have enough church volunteers to complete this task swiftly!

Workers were busy sweeping up the evidence of their labours at the end of the day:

Some say that talking to yourself is a sign of madness; others that talking to yourself is O.K., but answering back is risky! Whether we acknowledge that we talk to ourselves (not necessarily outloud) or not, the fact remains that there is an internal dialogue that goes on in our hearts and minds which deserves investigation at times to find out why we think as we do or why we behave in a certain way.

Whatever we may feel about talking to ourselves, God’s Word encourages us to speak truth to ourselves. Ps 42:5 says ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’  (see also Ps 42:11). Ps 57:8 is a command to ourselves: ‘Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.’ Ps 62:5 is another example of the power of speaking truth to ourselves: ‘Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.’ Clearly, God understands that there are times when we need to speak truth into our own hearts.

Matt Redman’s songs frequently capture this need, which is an essential element of praise (we often have to encourage ourselves to do this: if we waited until we felt like praising God, we would probably only rarely praise Him…!) I recently heard the song ‘The Awesome God You Are’, with its lovely line ‘To my heart I preach Your sovereignty and the power of Your name.’ It is easy for us to doubt God’s sovereignty and power; we frequently feel fearful and uncertain and often question God’s goodness and kindness. It’s at times like that that we need to preach to ourselves, to speak truth to our own hearts, to declare truth, even if it contradicts our feelings. Songs can be a great way of doing that, I’ve found. By the end of them, I even believe what I’ve been singing!

‘Let Your majesty speak peace to me

And chase my fears away.

To my heart I preach Your sovereignty

And the power of Your name.

I’ll stand in awe of You alone.

God, let hope arise

And faith become the fortress of my heart.

I will lift my eyes and see You

As the awesome God You are,

Believe You as the awesome God You are.

You’re the glory of our brightest days,

The comfort of our nights.

When the darkest shades are all we see,

You’re the everlasting light.

And see You on Your throne so high above,

See You watching over me in love,

I will worship You and You alone,

The awesome God You are.’ (‘The Awesome God You Are’, Matt Redman, Jason Ingram & Ed Cash)

[God’s awesomeness… see Ps 68:35, Ex 15:11, Deut 7:21, Neh 1:5, Job 37:22, Ps 89:7, Dan 9:4 if you need more truth to speak into your own heart.]

Stephen continued his series on the armour of God last night, looking at the shield of faith (‘take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.‘ Eph 6:16)

Shields come in all kinds of different sizes and shapes. The gladiator shield (pictured below) was quite small and soldiers had to rely on skill to get in place in time because of its size:

A Viking shield was also small, but was more defensive than the gladiator shield:

A Roman shield, used by the infantry, was about three-quarters of a man’s height and was therefore much bigger:

Because of its size, it gave more coverage of the body and therefore more protection. Its curved shape also gave protection from the sides, not just from the front. This kind of shield gave the Roman armies a big advantage, for when the army formed a ‘tortoise’ shape (lining up in squares), they were almost impregnable.

In Roman warfare, flaming arrows were launched in attack, but the Romans soaked their shields in water to put out these arrows. For us, however, our shield is the shield of faith, which is invisible to the natural eye (rather like the Klingons’ cloaking device in Star Trek which made their ships appear invisible to the enemy and therefore harder to engage in attack!)

The Bible has much to say about shields. Gen 15:1 reminds us that God is our ultimate shield. Ps 3:3 reminds us that God is a shield about us, protecting us and guarding us. God’s faithfulness is our shield (Ps 94:1) and our faith helps us to sing and have joy, even in the midst of battle, allowing us to put out the flaming arrows of the evil one, which seek to destroy us. Most of the armour parts mentioned in this section of Ephesians 6 are defensive, looking at our protection. It is this defensive armour which enables us to move forward in God, fully equipped in His strength. He is our refuge, our shield, our rampart and therefore we can move forward in faith, knowing that He will bring us the victory we long for.