I don’t know the origins of this Advent prayer, but I thought it was worth sharing:

May God bless us with a restless discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that we may seek truth boldly
and love deep within our heart.

May God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we really can make a difference in this world,
so that we are able, with God’s grace
to do what others claim cannot be done.

Mark spoke on the subject of time last night, looking first of all at the vastly popular subject of time travel. We considered various films and programmes looking at this theme, from Dr Who:

to H.G. Wells’ ‘The Time Machine’ (which scared him enormously as a child!):

We considered some questions:

We even considered Mark’s own travel through time (when recently travelling to the USA, he travelled ‘back in time’ five hours and then forward in time on his return to the UK!)

God invented time for mankind, because He exists outside of time. In Genesis 1:3-5 TNIV, we see how God created light and named it day, with the darkness named night. In Ecclesiastes 3:1 TNIV, we read that there is a time for everything. There is purpose for all creation under heaven. Psalm 31:14-15 TNIV reminds us that our times are in God’s hands. Our lives were mapped out by God before the creation of the world. We cannot take control of time from God, for He is involved in every aspect of our lives.

Our response to this should be to use our time wisely, as advised in Ephesians 5:15-16 TNIV. We need to make the most of every opportunity, to ‘redeem the time’, working for God and serving Him. Life is ‘the time God gives you to determine how you spend eternity.‘ We should use our time in God’s honour and service.

Tonight’s family service looked at the theme of time and the quiz was all about time travel films!

Some of these were from long ago:

(It’s A Wonderful Life)

(Dr Who)

(Planet of the Apes)

(Groundhog Day)

(Back to the Future trilogy)

(Time and Relative Dimension in Space)

Thanks to Alan and Janet for the quiz:

There were some excellent prizes on offer:

Michael Card has taken the theme of the stumbling-block mentioned in Psalm 118:22 and 1 Peter 2:7-8 TNIV and written a song about it called ‘Scandalon’, the Greek word for stumbling block or rock which is a cause of stumbling. Peter applies the verse in Psalm 118:22 to Jesus Christ, whose person and career were so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah that they rejected him and therefore did not experience the salvation on offer. We, on the other hand, have experienced salvation through Christ and it is marvellous in our eyes, but, as the last verse reminds us, there is a cost involved in following Christ and we must all consider that cost and understand ‘the scandal of believing.’

‘The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago
That the long awaited one would make men stumble,
But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill:
Who’d have ever thought He’d be so meek and humble?

It seems today the Scandalon offends no one at all
The image we present can be stepped over.
Could it be that we are like the others long ago?
Will we ever learn that all who come must stumble?’ (‘Scandalon’, Michael Card)
‘Scandalon’, Michael Card

This morning we looked verse by verse at Psalm 118:1-29 TNIV, a psalm of rejoicing and victory.

The psalm (Martin Luther’s favourite, apparently!) deals with important themes of thanksgiving, telling us several times (at the beginning and the end for emphasis) to ‘give thanks to the Lord, for He is good: His love endures forever.’ (Ps 118:1, 2, 3, 4, 29 TNIV) Apart from thanksgiving, the psalm looks at God’s deliverance, presence and help, all of which become additional reasons to give thanks. When we feel hard pressed and in despair, God is able to step in and turn the tide. He is our helper (Ps 118:6, 7 TNIV) and our refuge and because of this we are able to cut down our enemies. This theme of deliverance is often sung by Paul. To the Romans he said ‘Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (Rom 7:25 TNIV). To the Corinthians, he said ‘But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor 15:57 TNIV) Later on he says ‘But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.’ (2 Cor 2:14 TNIV) Often, we feel pushed back and about to fall (Ps 118:13 TNIV), rather like Asaph did when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Ps 73), but God helps us and will not let us be tempted beyond ourselves (1 Cor 10:13 TNIV) and will keep us from falling (Jude 1:24 TNIV).

God’s help, love and grace are with us throughout every situation: as Matt Redman writes,
‘It’s there in the newborn cry, there in the light of every sunrise, there in the shadows of this life…
There on the mountain top, there in the everyday and the mundane, there in the sorrow and the dancing…
It’s there on the wedding day, there in the weeping by the graveside, there in the very breath we breathe… There in the darkest night of the soul, there in the sweetest songs of victory..Your grace finds me.’ (‘Your Grace Finds Me’, Matt Redman)

It is precisely because of God’s help and strength that we do not despair and can testify to all God has done: ‘I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.’ (Ps 118:17 TNIV) We now have access to God’s presence and can enter through the gates of righteousness.

The psalm moves then into Messianic prophecy, with verses 22-24 being quoted in 1 Peter 2:4-8 TNIV, referring to how Jesus has become the cornerstone on which all men must stumble, for He does not do the things the way that people expect. Ps 118:26-27 TNIV looks ahead to Palm Sunday (Matt 21:1-7 TNIV) and the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is no coincidence that celebration and stumbling are linked together, for whilst these are two completely separate experiences in our eyes, so often in God’s kingdom we find these things linked. Our Saviour came into the world in obscurity, and the means of His victory looked like defeat as He hung on the cross. Nonetheless, the darkest hour became the setting for the greatest triumph, and we can now celebrate with banners, balloons and any other creative means we can find, for He has become our God! Praise is the overflow of a thankful heart, and how can we help but be thankful when we realise that we, who were once far off, have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ? There is so much to give thanks for!

Yesterday was ‘Thanksgiving’ in the US, a reminder that during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens” and now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It’s a reminder to me that being thankful is a sure sign of God at work in our lives and God’s will for each one of us (1 Thess 5:17 TNIV). We have so much to give thanks for: God’s love endures forever; He has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing; He protects us and guides us each day!

More intriguingly, the day after Thanksgiving (today) is known as ‘Black Friday’ in the US. Apparently, historically this day happened on September 24, 1869 and was caused by two speculators’ efforts, Jay Gould and James Fisk, to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. It was one of several scandals that rocked the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Nowadays, Black Friday is often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. In recent years, most major retailers have opened extremely early and offered promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in the UK. As one who doesn’t particularly like sales shopping, I can see why this might be called a ‘black’ day (!), but it does seem odd to me that this is so named immediately after a day given over to thanksgiving!

Let’s give thanks every day and rejoice in God’s goodness!