Garry spoke this evening from Matt 16:13-18, talking about the clash between God’s kingdom and the kingdom of the world. He highlighted two specific pieces of legislation which have come into force in the UK this year (the legalisation of gay marriage in March and the fact that state-funded schools must teach evolution as an established scientific fact in June – see here for more information) which have divided opinion and which represent the ongoing clash that comes throughout history over certain issues.

Rom 1:26-27 and 1 Tim 1:8-11 are clear references to God’s opposition to homosexuality, with Jesus reinforcing the Genesis basis of marriage between male and female in Matt 19:3-6. The church has traditionally differentiated between homosexual practices and acceptance of people. No sin is ‘greater’ than another; God is opposed to all sin, but loves all people, and the church needs to be a place of welcome and acceptance, whilst not condoning sin in any shape or form. Increasingly, however, in our culture, this traditional Christian view is under attack.

Similarly, evolution has been taught as the only rational scientific explanation of our world and those who believe in evolution ridicule the Biblical account of creation as being based on faith alone without tending to acknowledge that faith is also required to believe in evolution. Some of the facts propounded by scientists (eg Michael Whiting’s research on stick insects) directly contradict the theories that were previously taught, leaving us with the conclusion that these scientists still need to believe evidence will be found to support their theories: it matters, ultimately, what we believe in!

Faced with such culture clashes, how do we react? Do we fight for our point of view or retreat in fear? We need to be secure in the fact that God is building His church and that nothing will be able to prevent that. We either belong to the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness and must be aware that God is calling us to live the truth and declare the truth. Our discipleship can be costly (see Heb 10:32-35), but we need to be confident that God is the victor. As Rend Collective sing, ‘Build Your kingdom here/ Let the darkness fear.’ The devil will not triumph, for God’s victory is secure.

Dave spoke this morning at Cherry Tree Court from Matt 6:25-34, urging us not to worry. Worry is so often the human condition; we find it so easy to worry about different things (including ‘historical’ worries such as the Cuban missile crisis, global warming etc.) The Peanuts cartoon features Charlie Brown speaking about his tendency to worry, saying ‘even my worries have worries’, which is typical of so many of us.

Worrying comes about because we are putting everything in our hands, believing (falsely) that we have to cope with everything and that everything relies on us. That is blatantly not true, since so much is out of our control, and it shows a lack of faith to worry, since Jesus reminds us here that our heavenly Father not only knows about our everyday needs, but cares about us enough to meet those needs. The major solution to worry, therefore, is trust in a loving God who is able to meet all our needs. Are we prepared to trust? It’s the only solution to worry!

Igor wasn’t the only one to have adventures in Ireland! Stephen and Stacey got engaged during the week and since Stacey is a photographer, she wanted to capture the moment! (which required quite a lot of energy and planning on Stephen’s part, since she did not actually know when this moment would be!)

Many people at church today asked if Stephen went down on one knee, and of course we have the evidence:

Relief as she said yes!

A close-up of the ring:

A celebration meal afterwards (with pastoral engagement present!)

Last Sunday (6th July) Dave spoke from 1 Kings 19:1-18, asking the question ‘Are we under the tree?’ The tree, of course, was where Elijah was found after his mighty battle with the prophets of Baal, when, threatened by Jezebel, he fled to the desert in fear of his life. We  see here Elijah in fear, exhausted, losing focus, discouraged. We often feel like this and end up depressed, whining, feeling that God is unkind and it’s not worth continuing in faith. It’s always dangerous when we confuse God’s blessing and our achievements and focus on ourselves rather than on God.

This is not simply the story of Elijah’s battle of dejection, but how God dealt with the situation. Instead of answering Elijah’s prayer to end his life (Elijah never actually died, after all!), God fed him and roused him from sleep, moving him on to still higher ground, getting him ready for the ‘more’. There was a 40 day journey to be made (a significant number spiritually) and Elijah needed to be prepared for it (even though the journey itself should not have taken that length of time.)

God is always in control of our lives, even when we feel quite the opposite is true. Elijah’s understanding of the situation was far from being the same as God’s perspective on the matter. Elijah felt that he was God’s last hope and that if he failed, God would fail. God reminded him that there were people still true to Him in that place and came to his servant not in power and majesty, but in a gentle whisper. He reminded Elijah of the true situation, correcting his perspective, calming his spirit. God’s response to Elijah was that he would use Elijah in His way, which included using other people as well. He had to follow God’s instructions and trust Him to do what he could not do himself; trust will always be required, lest we attempt to take control of situations which are not ours to control. We need to understand that though God wants us to give all of ourselves to Him, there are others who are also eager to serve God; He never intended us to ‘go it alone’ but to work together as a group, always recognising God as the One who is in control and the only one who can keep our enthusiasm ablaze. We need to rise from the tree and go forth with God, secure in both His power and His sovereignty.

Last week we had the privilege of visiting the Bridge Christian Community in Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland. This non-denominational church had very much the same ‘feel’ and vision as our church, even down to the fact they moved into a new building four years ago and spent time renovating the building! Their aims were summarised as:

• To have a significant impact on the spiritual, moral, social & economic healing of the area.
• To play our part in the national and world-wide mission of the church.
• To provide a community centre facility for Arklow.

and they too see their name as significant in living out those aims: ‘Our name reflects much of this vision. We aim to be a Bridge between people and God, as well as between people of different backgrounds and between our locality and the rest of the world.  We are devoted to the Christian faith as revealed in the Word of God, the Bible, and we believe this is best lived out together in a Community of faith.  We are linked together with other churches that share a similar vision across Ireland and abroad.’

Last week’s sermon was on Titus 2:11-14 and was given by Robert Holden. Everything in the Christian life starts with God’s grace which has appeared to us and brings salvation to us. We don’t deserve it; we cannot earn it, but through it we find wholeness, freedom and healing and this grace is available to all people (not just those we like!) God’s grace urges us to turn away from ungodliness and sinful pleasures, recognising that whilst some things are clearly forbidden by God, we need to walk closely with Him to hear what He is asking of us individually. We are to turn to self-control and right conduct and devotion to God, for the Christian faith is not all about ‘thou shalt not’ but is an invitation to right living – with that ‘right living’ defined by God. We need godly wisdom to make good decisions and to live as He wants us to.

This is only possible when we realise that we also have a future hope. Christ’s first appearance heralded grace but His second coming will reveal perfection (as we have been studying in 1 John 3:1-3.) Jesus gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us and make us His very own people who are totally committed to doing what is right. That cleansing is given us through His Word, through His blood and through the Holy Spirit, for we are a chosen people, as Peter reminds us.

We even got to sing ‘Build Your Kingdom Here’ (Rend Collective) during the service – fitting to do an Irish song in Ireland, we thought!

Igor (the church mascot, if anyone is new to the blog) has been exploring new territory recently. First of all, he tested his chocolate-making skills, resulting in a skilfully made chocolate lighthouse:

Then he found an excellent camouflage zone called Glendalough in Ireland:

He also discovered a lake reputed to house a monster, but saw no evidence for this:

All in all, an exciting time!