Mark’s gospel begins with the words ‘The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet‘ (Mark 1:1-2). The New Testament scholar and former bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, has just released a book called ‘Simply Good News’ in which he explains what Jesus and his later followers understood as Good News by examining scripture, the historical context of the original message, and by linking the Good News back to the covenant God made with the Jews.

It’s not enough for us, he argues, to bombard people with good advice (however worthy the advice may be); what is more important is that we tell them the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, how this affects what is happening now in the lives of those who believe and what God will do for us in the future. Jesus coming was ‘a step toward the restoration and transformation of all creation by a God capable of doing it for the creation he loves and the humanity he made.’ (Russell E. Saltzman, in a review of the book). Wright writes, ‘The good news is primarily that God – the generous God, the loving God – is being honoured, will be honoured, has been utterly and supremely honoured, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.’ (‘Simply Good News’, P 166)

In everything we do and say, we need to remember that God’s actions in history – past and present, giving us the assurance that He will do in the future that which He has promised – are the basis of our hope. 1 Pet 3:15 says ‘But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ We have good news to share, for we have hope. We have a reason for the hope we have: God’s love and faithfulness. Our focus on advice, our tendency to exhortation, our passion for improving society, must always be secondary to our proclamation of ‘the good news about Jesus’, for only God’s actions have the power t0 change. As Wright wrote in a Christianity Today article, ‘The gospel is the royal announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again according to the Scriptures, has been enthroned as the true Lord of the world. When this gospel is preached, God calls people to salvation, out of sheer grace, leading them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the risen Lord.’

I have been surprised today by the power of good news. I suppose I really shouldn’t be, but sometimes when you’re close to a situation, you take it for granted and fail to appreciate the joy that good news can bring to other people.

My son’s wedding was six weeks ago and I have just received the photo album I lovingly (and painstakingly, given the irregularity of our Internet connection, a long-running saga that is not yet fully resolved, alas…) assembled online. It’s one thing to look at all the pictures on the computer, but quite another to hold a book with them in your hands and inevitably other people want to see the photos. A wedding, it seems, is universally seen as ‘good news’, and people enjoy sharing in the joy of others.

Today, I showed the album to a lady in a care home who has known my son all his life but who rarely sees him these days. Not only was she delighted to see the photos, but two of the assistants working in the home asked to see the album as well because they remembered my son from eighteen years ago when he used to visit his grandmother in the same home. I had no memory of these assistants who work tirelessly with the elderly and infirm, but they remembered him as a young child, full of curiosity and enthusiasm, who had brightened their days many years ago and wanted to share in the joy of his marriage.

Then I saw another lady who used to work in a shop near where we live and who attended the same church as us, a lady whose calm common sense helped me enormously when my son was a screaming baby who never seemed content, no matter what I did! ‘Look at him now!’ she exclaimed, as she saw the photos. ‘I can’t believe it’s the same boy!’

More surprising, however, was the joy of a lady I see when I go swimming. She has never met my son at all, but has heard, from conversations each morning, of the preparation and plans for the wedding. When I tentatively asked her if she would like to see the album, her face lit up. She is struggling with illness and adversity on many fronts, and I felt rather diffident about showing her the photos, because I did not want to seem to be trivialising her difficulties. To my surprise, she expressed enthusiasm for seeing them, saying ‘I need some good news; this is wonderful!’ and spent time looking through every photo with joy, even though she didn’t know any of the people on them apart from me. As she left, she thanked me for showing her the photos; ‘this is the best news I’ve had in ages‘, she said. ‘It’s made my day.’

People need good news. We forget this sometimes. We are not sure how to share the gospel. Sometimes, when we see the scale of the difficulties and problems people face, we don’t always feel it’s appropriate to mention that we have hope and joy and peace, because we feel that that would intrude upon them. But people actually need to know that there is hope and joy and peace, even in the midst of trials and difficulties, and are often far less offended by hearing good news than we think they will be. We need to be willing to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others, because it is the best news they’ll ever hear. Don’t ever forget that.

Bible Society remind us that ‘the value of the Bible lies in its use. We must use it or lose it.’  In our country we have free access to the Bible. We have a variety of different translations and can have the Bible in electronic versions as well as in book form. There are commentaries, guide books, devotional books and a variety of apps freely available to help us to understand the Bible and to make the most of this precious gift God has given to us.

Just as a banquet may look appetising and appealing and be nutritious but will do us no good unless we partake of it, however, the Bible cannot feed us and sustain us if we never open it!

Paul told the Thessalonians, ‘When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.’ (1 Thess 2:13) The Bible is a living word with power to change us and transform us… but only as we accept its authority over us and bow the knee to the God who speaks through it. David Kinnamann says, ‘A person with a biblical worldview experiences, interprets, and responds to reality in light of the Bible’s principles. What Scripture teaches is the primary grid for making decisions and interacting with the world.’ (David Kinamman, ‘Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… And Why It Matters’) We can only know what Scripture teaches as we read the Bible and as we allow what we learn there about God, about the world, about ourselves, about other people to have the final say in how we think, speak, act and live.

Paul says in Colossians 3:16 ‘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.’ The Message version says ‘Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.’ We can encourage one another as we share what God has said to us through His word; we can build each other up in faith as we focus more on His words than on our words. Let’s fit these pieces of the Bible together in our daily lives and eat from the banquet prepared for us by God so that we can grow and become conformed to the image of Jesus (Rom 8:29), growing up healthy and robust in love (Eph 4:13, The Message.) Song of Songs 2:4 says ‘Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love’; the whole book uses the imagery of the relationship between a bride and groom to give us glimpses into the relationship God wants to have with us. Let’s feast on God’s Word every day and allow Him to satisfy our every longing, desire, yearning and need.

We also had a birthday to celebrate tonight!

To celebrate Bible Sunday, we looked at how the pieces of the Bible jigsaw fit together. The first thing we need to realise is that the Bible is made up of 66 books, pieces which are divided into the Old and New Testaments. People worked at fitting these pieces together in order:

We learnt a song to help us remember the order of the books of the Bible and then also looked at the fact that the Bible can be said to be made up of different genres:

Genesis through to Esther are historical books,  with the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch (from words which mean ‘five’ and ‘vessel’ or ‘book’),  and commonly referred to as the Law (or Torah), because as they explain how God chose people and taught them how to live, they also contain the 10 Commandments and rules or laws of God. All of these books have a number of different stories in them, showing how God worked with people and what happened to them over hundreds of years.

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs are ‘Wisdom’ literature, being poetic in style and often using imagery to describe God’s reality, desire for relationships and rules. These books are not written in a narrative style like the history books; they’re more like songs or prayers or conversations between people.

Isaiah through to Malachi are prophecy, with Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel known as the ‘Major Prophets’ and the others as ‘Minor Prophets’ (major and minor referring to the length of the books, not importance!) The Prophets are speaking forth the words of God, giving God’s people the chance to hear how He wants to restore their relationship and usually contain quite a lot of rebuke and correction and challenge in them as well as comfort and reassurance.

In the New Testament, the first five books (Matthew through to Acts) are historical narratives which talk about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His work through the church. Most of the rest of the New Testament are letters, written to churches or individuals, acting as God’s guide book for the church, usually written to specific churches or people to give advice and guidance on how to live for Christ.

The last book of the Bible (Revelation) is prophetic, using vivid imagery and symbolism to describe the end times and God’s ultimate sovereignty and victory over evil.

Someone has used these genres in the form of the periodic table of elements to give us further information:

Though the Bible can be hard at times to understand, it helps to see how the different pieces of this jigsaw fit together and to understand that Scripture interprets Scripture, giving us all the information we need to know (not necessarily all we’d like to know!)

At tonight’s service, we heard about people’s favourite Bible verses and why they meant so much to them. The favourite passage overall was Psalm 23, with people finding comfort and strength from these verses.

Other favourite Scriptures included:

• Phil 4:8, as a reminder of how to think rightly
• Ps 73, a testimony of how God answers our questions about unfairness and injustice in the world and reassures us of His eternal purposes
• Gal 4:4, a reminder that God’s timing is perfect, even if we don’t understand it,
• Ps 56:8, which teaches that God knows our every tear and stores them, no sorrow being wasted
• Eph 1:11-14, which reminds us that we are included in God’s purposes and plans
• 1 John 5:5, which reminds us that our faith overcomes the world
• Num 6:23-24, which is a blessing and prayer that God will make His face shine on us
• John 3:16-17, a reminder of God’s great love for the whole world which includes us!
• Heb 13:5, which reminds us we are never alone
• John 1:5, because this shows us that evil will never prevail over good
• John 2:5, 10, verses from the first miracle Jesus performed at the wedding of Cana which stress the need for personal obedience and show us the blessings that result from such obedience,
• Job 19:25, a reminder that our Redeemer lives
• Eph 1:3, showing us that every spiritual blessing is our birthright in God
• 2 Tim 2:15, the verse God used to call Garry to preaching His word and reminding him that this word must be handled correctly (‘cut straight’)
• Ps 103:11-12, telling us of the scope of God’s forgiveness

Other favourite Scriptures include the life of Joseph (because  it shows how God interacts in everyday living). God’s Word comes to us at different times in different ways, but we are grateful for the encouragement and strength it provides for us all.

On Friday 30th October from 12 noon until 3 p.m., the hOurbank Launch will take place in the community room at church. This local charity seeks to match volunteers to tasks needing to be done in the local community; you can offer time and talents to help local people (gardening, walking a dog, craft skills, ironing…. whatever you’re good at and however much time you have available) and can also ask for tasks in return. Come along to find out more and learn new skills!

There will be free refreshments at the event and a chance to learn crafts and get to know local people.