One of the unusual features of our church is the birthday box and the birthday hat, our means of celebrating people’s  birthdays each Sunday. Sometimes, however, circumstances prevent members from actually being able to come into our building and thus stand on the birthday box. That is no guarantee of escape, though! Here is another birthday photo from this week:

Last week as we explored the Peak District in drizzle and murky clouds, we went on a walk in Tansley which took us past the Lumsdale waterfall:

I love waterfalls, especially listening to the noise of cascading water which always reminds me of the fact that God’s voice is described as ‘like the sound of rushing waters’ (Rev 1:15) or ‘The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.’ (Ps 29:3) Chris Tomlin has released a new song called ‘Waterfall’ which says ‘Your love is like a waterfall, waterfall/ Running wild and free…/ Raining down on me.’  It’s good to know that in the dry and desert land, God leads us to streams of mercy and refreshes our souls.

Clouds feature in several places in the Bible. The Israelites were led by the pillar of cloud by day during their wilderness wanderings (Ex 13:21) and God’s glory was seen in a cloud. (Ex 16:10) God’s glory filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:34) and covered Mount Sinai (Ex 24:15):

Clouds are perhaps seen as a symbol of God’s presence because our eyes could not cope with His pure glory.

Another cloud story is told in 1 Kings 18:41-45. Here, Elijah has prophesied that there will be no rain in Israel until he declares it as God’s judgment on the evil king, Ahab. Three years later, in 1 Kings 18:1, we find God saying now is the time that He will send rain again. As Elijah prays and sends his servant to see if the rain is coming, the servant finally sees ‘a cloud the size of a man’s hand’, which is the precursor to a deluge which will drench the land:

This story does not simply demonstrate God’s sovereignty over rain. It reminds us that if God has promised something which has not yet happened, we need to hold on until we see the fulfilment of the promise. Elijah bowed facedown in prayer before God, humbling himself as he prayed rather than demanding from God. This attitude of humility is one we should all emulate.

Elijah knew how to persevere in prayer, for it was only on the seventh occasion that the servant actually saw the small cloud which probably did not look big enough to threaten rain. He kept a watch and kept praying. We too need to learn to persist in prayer.

Elijah gave Ahab the opportunity to flee while he could, speaking out in faith that the deluge was coming. We need to speak God’s word in faith and proclaim by faith what we do not yet see. The tiniest cloud can be the start of something big; faith in God leads to the floods of promise which will come in God’s time.

Tonight’s family service took the theme of ‘Clouds’, but these days that clearly evokes images of ‘the Cloud‘, a computing term. So our quiz started with a would-be iPhone:

Teams had to choose one of the icons for a variety of different questions, matching Bible characters to Bible quotes:

… or acting out Bible charades which had references to clouds:

The ‘Music’ game involved recognising hymns which have references to clouds (‘It Is Well’, ‘These Are the Days of Elijah’) and the ‘Calculator’ game was like a version of Countdown, whilst teams also had to recognise different types of clouds and answer questions about clouds!

As usual, there were prizes to be won:

We also celebrated Dave’s birthday in advance (being on holiday does not count as a valid excuse…)

Dave spoke this morning from Luke 24:49 as we celebrated (in advance, since he is away next weekend!) Pentecost, the birthday of the church!

Jesus had spoken extensively to His disciples about the Holy Spirit (John 14-16) and after the Resurrection told them to wait in Jerusalem until they had been clothed in power from the Holy Spirit. The disciples obeyed Him, spending time in prayer and waiting on God in the Upper Room before the Day of Pentecost (10 days after the ascension) when the Holy Spirit came on them like a rushing wind and with what seemed like tongues of fire settling on them. (Acts 1-2) God’s glorious presence in this form was the fulfilment of many prophecies.

The Holy Spirit has frequently been likened to wind (see Ezekiel 37 when the breath/wind of God entered the dry bones and caused them to come alive and Job 38, when God speaks to Job from a whirlwind, or John 3, when Jesus likes the Spirit to the wind which blows wherever it wants) and to fire (God speaking to Moses from the burning bush or leading the Israelites from the pillar of fire by night, for example.) The people saw with their own eyes God’s signs of His presence and knew God was with them, all 120 of them being filled with the Spirit. Pentecost, that ancient festival which had come to represent the anniversary of the giving of the Law, was the day God chose to pour out His Spirit and write His new law on hearts of flesh.

Churches which welcome the Holy Spirit will know the ability to speak in other tongues (as prophesied by Jesus in Mark 16:17), enabling us to communicate directly with God and will have the ability to witness, for the Holy Spirit is given not for our personal enjoyment but to give us the power to witness to God. They will also see the miraculous at work, as the early church did (Peter and being involved in miracles of healing and deliverance, for example.)

We see from this that the Spirit-filled life is essential (not optional) and the Holy Spirit is available to us all, for all time. The church cannot function without the Holy Spirit, but with the Holy Spirit, nothing can stop the church!