There are a number of different meetings coming soon. On Friday 28th November at 6:30 p.m., the Salvation Army is hosting a ‘Pamper Evening’ for ladies, so if you would like to have a massage or some other beauty treatment, that’s the place to be!

The parish church is holding a Christmas Fair on Saturday 29th November from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

Furlong Road Methodist Church are holding a Christmas Fair on Saturday 6th December from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. All are welcome to attend. Later that evening, at 6 p.m., we are holding the ‘Churches Together’ community carol service at the parish church in Goldthorpe (on Lockwood Road), with refreshments served after the service. Do come along to that if you are able!

Meetings in December will focus on the coming of the Lord at Christmas. Morning meetings start at 10.30 a.m., with a carol service at Cherry Tree Court being held on 14th December.

Evening meetings will start at 6 p.m.:

• 7th December is the family service, looking at the theme ‘Whiter Than Snow.’ There will be a range of activities, quizzes and games for all to be involved with during that service.
• 14th December is the carol service, featuring a ‘Christingle activity’ and the Sunday School choir!
• 21st December is our Christmas drama called ‘Cosmic Christmas’
• 28th December will look at ‘What’s next after Christmas?’, reminding us that Christ is for life, not just for Christmas!

The Parent & Toddler Christmas Party will be on Friday 12th December from 9.30 until 11.00 a.m. (this is the last meeting for that group until after Christmas) and the church will also hold its usual New Year’s Day party on 1st January 2015, starting at 4 p.m.

Midweek meetings will continue in December, on Thursdays at 7.30 p.m. However, on Christmas Day itself, we will be holding a short service in the morning (starting at 10.30 a.m. and guaranteed – as far as it depends on us! – to finish by 11.30 a.m. to allow you all to go on home for your Christmas lunch!)

There are invitations with all these details available at church, so please take one and pass some on to friends, family and neighbours if you can.

One of the most important lessons I have learned in life is that what God says goes. Mary’s response to the angelic announcement that she was to be the mother of the Messiah has become my daily prayer: ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ (Luke 1:38) What God says is the final word. What He says will come to pass, however impossible that may seem to our natural eyes. He is the One who has the power to do what He has promised (Rom 4:21), who ‘gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.’ (Rom 4:17)

The song ‘Awesome Is He’ takes the theme of God’s words and reminds us of some of the many promises God has made to us. Our part is then to believe, to ‘rise up’, to live by the truth of God’s words rather than by the lies of the enemy, the misguided beliefs of the world or our own contorted thinking. When we do this, we see the impossible become possible and the miracles happen.

‘You say, mountains can move by faith.
You say, even the dead can be raised.
You say, You’re mighty and strong to save.
You say, You are the only way.
We believe, we believe.

Our God, awesome is He
And He reigns with power and authority
In heaven, on earth His praise will be heard
Lift Him up, lift Him up, lift Him up!

You are able to do all things.
You are alive and at work in me.
We believe, we believe.

Rise up, people of God
Rise up, sing of His love
There’s no other
There’s no greater than our God.’ (‘Awesome Is He’, Worship Central)

Last week I attended the funeral of a friend and Pastor Joy Gascoigne spoke from Rom 8:31 on that occasion. Most of us remember that verse as containing the precious truth ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ and that was indeed an important point stressed in Joy’s tribute. But she actually focussed more on the first part of the verse ‘What, then, shall we say?’, commenting that at difficult times – times of suffering and bereavement in particular – this is often how we feel. We’re not sure how to approach those in need; we’re not sure what to say. We feel our own inadequacy and helplessness very much as we watch our loved ones go through struggles and feel powerless to help.

What do we say when people are hurting and grieving and angry and bitter and resentful? What do we say when we feel abandoned by God, let down, disappointed, rejected? What do we say to our own souls, but even more, what do we say to others?

Luke Hellebronth’s song ‘Stand Up’ has the line in it ‘When we don’t know what to do, our eyes will be fixed on You.’ It’s pointless trying to find answers in the world. Our only hope is to fix our eyes on God and listen for His still, small voice. The book of Job wrestles with questions about suffering and how to find God’s love in the midst of agony. At the end of that book, when God reminds Job of His majesty and power (but still does not answer all the questions!), Job says ‘Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.‘ (Job 42:3) Unless we spend time with God, nurturing that relationship with Him, we will never have anything worth saying and we still need to understand that there are times when words are not the right response anyway! Our first responsibility has to be to walk with God and everything then flows from that.

Secondly, often we don’t have to say anything, anyway. Our presence and tears can comfort just as well as words. We often think we have to have all the answers to ‘fix’ everything, but mostly people want love, acceptance and understanding just as much as ‘solutions’. Quite often, there are no solutions people can provide anyway; some situations are beyond our capability to solve! Just being there can communicate a great deal. Lily Allen said, talking about how she had coped with the stillbirth of her child (which must rank as one of the most awful thing that can happen to anyone), ‘Even though it was the most unfortunate thing that can ever happen to a person, I was very fortunate in the sense that I have a loving partner to go home to and share that experience with.’  Friendship and loving support often don’t need words. We share by being there.

Thirdly, truth is truth, even if it is not what we want to hear. When we go through suffering and feelings of rejection and pain, we need to be reminded of God’s truth. Often, when we’re railing against God, people and the universe, what we want is for people to share our point of view. We want people’s sympathy. We want their understanding. We want their compassion. All of those things are important. However, at some point, we have to bring truth and perspective to the situation. And truth can be piercing and not what we want to hear; it can be cutting. (Heb 4:12) Nonetheless, truth is the only thing that can set people free. (John 8:32) Sometimes we are strong enough to remind ourselves of God’s truths even when we are feeling low, but on other occasions, we need people to speak His word of truth to us to help to anchor us in His love and mercy. God’s word is powerful enough to work within us, even if we don’t always receive it graciously in the first place!

Fourthly, love never fails. We will fail often. We will say the wrong thing. We will not understand. Quite often, we will feel that God asks too much of us in commanding us to love as He loves!  However, this ‘love’ business was never meant to be done in our own strength. God’s love in us is the only thing that will last… which is why we have to remain in God and allow His life to shine through us, why we have to fix our eyes on Him. (Col 3:1) We’re back to where we started…!

Following the Bible study last week, we have been considering the security of our salvation. This is often a ‘hot potato’ in Christian circles, with some branches of Christanity believing that salvation can never be lost and others believing that apostasy (the abandonment or renunciation of our faith) is possible. So often, it seems to me that there are many issues which I cannot resolve fully and I have to rest by faith in the fact that God knows everything, even if I don’t! Nonetheless, I do believe that the Bible reminds us frequently that we are saved by God’s grace, not by our own works, and that His love for us is far greater and deeper than most of us can even imagine.

That God takes the initiative in our salvation is obvious. Francis Thompson wrote about this in his famous poem ‘The Hound of Heaven’, which describes us as running away from God, only to be pursued by Him and ultimately found by Him. The story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) shows us a father who watches, waits and eagerly anticipates the return of his son. God loves us passionately and longs for us to return to Him. There is a huge difference between our wandering (in the hymn ‘Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing’ we sing ‘prone to wander, Lord, I feel it’) and apostasy, and we can be sure that God’s Spirit within us prompts us, urges us, nudges us constantly to remain close to Him. Nothing can separate us from God’s love (Rom 8:37-39) and we can rest secure in His pursuit of us:
‘Unrelenting grace
Never-failing mercy
Found me in my shame
And gave me life again

Father, You love me
I hear You singing
You are calling me home
You run towards me
With love and mercy
Though I’m unworthy
You pursue me

The moment I cried out
There You were, my rescue
In Your arms restored
Forever I am Yours

You’re ev’rything to me
Forgiven, I believe
Forever I am Yours
Forever I am Yours.’ (‘Pursue Me’, Worship Central)

Garry used the analogy of Google maps last night to remind us that God is both capable of looking after the ‘bigger picture’ and also looking after the fine detail of our lives.

On Google maps, we can look at the world in many different ways. We can zoom out and see whole countries. We can zoom in and see a town in connection to another town in order to look at the roads on which we must travel, so that we can plan the most effective route from A to B. We can zoom in even further and see the actual streets in a town and can ‘walk’ along those streets to see the landmarks, shops and signs we will actually encounter if we visit that street. Such detail can be incredibly useful when visiting unfamiliar places as a means of orientation before we arrive.

God is in total control of our world. Our God reigns (Rev 19:6, Ps 47:8, 1 Chron 16:31, Ps 93:1). We usually only really realise this with hindsight, when we look back on history and see how God has orchestrated events. So often, our view of the world is shaped by the media. We watch the news and see stories of desperation, war, famine and murder. We wonder at times why God allows despots to rise up and totalitarian regimes to flourish; we weep with those who weep and can feel extremely frustrated with and bewildered by God. Nonetheless, the Bible states clearly and firmly that God is in control. We may well never understand what God is doing in history, but we can trust that He is indeed working all things out according to His plans and purposes, which are ultimately for good.

‘Over our hopes; over our fears
God, you are over all
Over our joy; over our tears
God, you are over all

Great in power,
Exalted and lifted high
God, you will reign forever,
Forever we will glorify
God over all,
God over all

Over the earth; over the sky
God, you are over all
Over the dark; over the light
God, you are over all.

Whatever may come in this life
God, you are over all.’ (‘Over All’, Phil Wickham)

God is also in total control of our lives, knowing everything about us and working in every situation for our good. (Ps 139:1-6, Rom 8:28-29) Again, we are often bewildered by the things He allows into our lives: grief, sorrow, pain, illness, disappointment, rejection, abandonment by friends and family. We may well never understand why we have to go through some of the things we go through, but the Bible is adamant that God is for us (Rom 8:31) and that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Rom 8:37) Because of this, we can have confidence in our daily lives, for God cares about the hairs on our head and knows our every need. (Matt 6:25-34) We have a loving Father whose forgiveness, mercy and goodness extend to the ‘little things’ as well as the ‘big picture.’ Whether we zoom in or out of the detail of our lives, we will find God present in every detail.

Having set the scene by explaining the historical background of Nehemiah, it’s important, however, for us to understand that the Bible is not simply a history book. It is living and active and has relevance for us in our everyday lives. As we study how God’s people have reacted and responded to Him, we can learn many lessons which help us to live well for God in the 21st century.

Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah all show us the value of faithfulness and obedience, demonstrating that personal faithfulness and obedience can have significant impact on society. Esther became the wife of the Persian king and was instrumental in saving the Jewish nation from extinction. It’s possible that she was influential in Nehemiah’s appointment as cup-bearer to the king Artaxerxes, a key role since it brought him into daily contact with the king.

God can arrange for His people to be in important and influential positions (think of Joseph and Daniel as other examples.) Whatever role we are called to, however, faithfulness and obedience are the key ingredients to success. God has chosen us (see 1 Cor 1:26-31) and has His plans, but we have the choice as to whether we cooperate with Him or not. God calls us and we respond. Nehemiah’s key role in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was the direct consequence of his response to God’s call, but it’s clear that God had been working in his life well before this time, preparing him for the role and using the time of apparent ‘ordinary’ service to the king as part of that preparation. In Mark’s series on Joseph, we have seen how Joseph served faithfully in every role he had (including when in prison!) as preparation for his service to Pharaoh which saved the lives of many during the years of famine. Even Jesus served faithfully in obscurity for thirty years before God’s time for ministry began. None of us should despise the ordinary service God requires of us.

So often, when we think of heroes, we think of people doing extraordinary things. The key difference in being one of God’s heroes is that it is God who does the extraordinary; we are simply required to obey, which often seems decidedly ordinary and unspectacular! In 2 Kings 5, we read the story of how Naaman (commander of the army of the king of Aram) was healed of leprosy. This remarkable story shows us how Naaman, inspired by the faith of a Jewish servant girl, comes to the prophet Elisha for healing and is offended by Elisha’s solution: to bathe seven times in the River Jordan. Such an act seems to him demeaning, ordinary, ridiculous. There were plenty of rivers in his own country far superior to Jordan, he reasons! Some ‘great act’ on his part would have been acceptable, but this seems too mundane to be considered. Nonetheless, it was the ordinary obedience of responding to God’s word through Elisha which resulted in his healing. Our part in God’s work may be small, but it is still a part that is required. If He asks us to pray for someone, we often feel that words are too inadequate to achieve anything, but it is the act of obeying God which is required: He is the One who does the miracles!

Nehemiah proved throughout his life the value of faithfulness, stability and a correct use of authority. He was faithful in the ordinary: much of the book recounts his very practical dealings with the king, with officials, with bureaucracy, with the need for both prayer and action. Eugene Peterson says “The most practical thing we can do is hear what God says and act in appropriate response to it.” (‘Run With The Horses’, P 176) Nehemiah’s story is that in a nutshell: hearing what God was saying to him and acting in appropriate response to it. Our lives are just the same.