When I was a child, I was just as short-sighted as I am now, but for a little while, I didn’t know it. I had no framework or reference to judge visual ability, and so I saw the world through rather blurry vision. I didn’t know it was blurry, because that was the only world I’d ever known. My short-sightedness only really came to light when I went to school and was supposed to copy things down from the blackboard, but couldn’t see properly to do so. The teacher noticed this, referred me to an optician and the problem was identified. The day I got my first pair of glasses, it was almost like seeing the world in colour for the first time. Everything was sharp, crisp, defined, clear. I could see details that had previously been obscure. I could read from the blackboard, see what was on television, read number plates at a distance and so on – all things which everyone with normal vision takes for granted. It’s only when you don’t have normal vision that, in some ways, you realise that what you see is more subjective than you might otherwise assume.

Now that I wear glasses, I am still at risk of not seeing properly, usually when I allow the lenses to become dirty. A thumbprint can obscure my vision; grease, dirt, tears and other things can easily obscure what I see. I need now to ensure I have clean lenses to allow me to see clearly.

We often need God’s help to see clearly. We can focus exclusively on evil, becoming fearful and paranoid. David reminds us that we do not need to fear, fret or worry, since God is in control. He does not shirk hard questions about evil (how evil seems to flourish and the righteous suffer), but affirms God’s provision and protection (see Ps 37:18, 20). He gives personal testimony of all he has seen God do (and all he has seen God not do – see Ps 37:25). He also reminds us that a long-term perspective is needed if we are to make sense of the baffling aspects of life and hold on to God in times of trial and trouble. Paul echoes this in 2 Cor 4:8-9, 14, 16-18. Our hope is not simply for this life (1 Cor 15:19). As Phil Wickham sings,

‘When my heart is torn asunder

And my world just falls apart,

Lord, You put me back together,

And lift me up to where You are.

There is hope beyond the suffering,

Joy beyond the tears,

Peace in every tragedy,

Love that conquers fear.

I have found redemption in the blood of Christ,

My body might be dying, but I’ll always be alive.

You have turned mourning to dancing,

You have covered me with grace.

The struggle here may last a moment,

But life with You will last always.’ (‘When My Heart Is Torn Asunder’, Phil Wickham)

Psalm 37 is a psalm of perspective, with David giving us many warnings and many encouragements which help us to keep our eyes fixed on God and live life with a sense of God being at the centre. Perspective has two main meanings. In art terms, it means the art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other. Some artists (eg Turner and Constable) are skilled in painting scenes which look incredibly realistic:

Others (eg Picasso and Mondrian) deliberately seem to distort perspective to create a reality that seems to us perhaps bizarre or not representative of what we see with our eyes.

Whether we love a particular artist or find them disturbing and reject their perspective depends on our own personal preferences and on our own perspectives.

Perspective (from the Latin word meaning the ‘science of optics’) has also come to mean our outlook or viewpoint. Just as our physical vision may be lacking, our spiritual vision needs constantly to be honed so that we are seeing life from God’s perspective. In Psalm 37, David writes to people who can easily look at life through the wrong set of lenses. He readily acknowledges that evil exists, but reminds us that we need a long-term view which rests in a  security in both God’s ability to do something about evil and in His intrinsic goodness. David is not only at pains to show us how wrong we can be when we take the short-term perspective, he is careful to show us the many benefits – both immediate and long-term – of our discipleship. He reminds us that if we are to live with clear-sighted, God-centred vision, we have to be prepared to live with a ‘long obedience in the same direction’, living with congruence, living a holistic life whereby everything we think, say and do all mesh together. Any stance which focuses exclusively on the now, never learning from the past (or ‘remembering’) and never looking ahead in anticipation to the future, will always lack something. Now-oriented religion, a security-obsessed present which lives entirely in the ‘now’, will never satisfy. We need to be able to keep hold of what God has already done and what He promises to do in the future if we are to live with confidence and hope, secure that ‘a future awaits those who seek peace.’ (Ps 37:37)

The next ‘Churches Together’ meeting will be on Saturday 20th September at 7 p.m. at our building on Market Street. Do put this date in your diaries and aim to be there; these meetings are great for helping us to work with other churches and get to know other Christians in the area. We are also looking at holding a joint community carol service as we did in 2012, so watch this space for further news about that!

The Macmillan Coffee morning will be on Saturday 27th September. All proceeds from the coffee morning (from 10 a.m. until 12 noon) will go to the cancer charity.

Anyone who owns a house knows the adage that there’s always something to be done to keep the house in good repair.  Similarly, owning a church building is a great privilege, since the building facilitates the activities the people want to run, but it also brings with it responsibilities to keep the building in good repair. We had to replace the boilers heating the community rooms and have been waiting until summer to be able to remove the old boiler. That happened yesterday.

The boiler as it looked at the start:

Being dismantled:

The new boilers and the space where the old boiler used to be:

Dismantled outside, waiting to be removed:

Our thanks to Ray and his grandson who helped to remove the heavy parts. The next step now is to redecorate the children’s room in which the old boiler was housed and develop this room further. Then, of course, there are the community room radiators to replace and that room to redecorate. There’s always something to be done!

The holiday season is in full swing!

This has implications for the meetings at GPCC. Sunday meetings will continue as usual: morning meetings at 10.30 a.m. and evening meetings at 6 p.m. Don’t forget that on Sunday 10th August, the morning meeting will be at Cherry Tree Court, not at Market Street.

The coffee mornings on Saturdays will also continue as usual, starting at 10 a.m. and running till 12 noon.

There are, however, no midweek meetings on Thursdays throughout August and no youth club on Mondays or Parent & Toddler group on Fridays.

The prayer topic for August is to continue to pray for these church outreaches, whether meetings are being held or not. So please pray for the youth club and the Parent & Toddler group, particularly as a new academic year in September inevitably means changes to those who attend these groups. Pray that God will bring people to these and will give those who help the right words to speak His love and truth.

Pray for the coffee mornings and for the food bank ministry. Poverty continues, no matter what the time of year, and we (along with other local churches) need to continue to give consistently and regularly so that those in need can receive the help they need. Paul talked about practical ways of organising help in 1 Cor 16:2 and 2 Cor 9:7. Adding some extra tinned food or cereal to our own weekly shopping is a very practical way we can give to others and does not impoverish us. Let’s be quick to demonstrate love in practical ways, as our Bible studies have been reminding us.

Pray also for the outreach at Cherry Tree Court, that God will bless the services we hold there and speak to the residents there, encouraging those who already know Him and bringing others into a relationship with Him for the first time.

The Message version of 1 John 3:19-20 talks about ‘debilitating self-criticism,’ that nagging feeling many of us have that we are not fulfilling God’s commandments properly. Over-sensitive hearts can carry heavy loads of condemnation around with them which God never intended them to bear. Other people’s opinions (like Martha’s decisive view that Mary ought to be helping her in the kitchen!) influence us; the Accuser nags us incessantly (rather like the Roman delator, a paid informer who would gladly bring public accusations against people in return for payment!) False guilt can cripple us and stop us from living in the freedom Christ has purchased for us.

John’s advice in this letter gives us reassurance and a strategy for dealing with false guilt. Here’s my paraphrase of this passage (with reference back to other parts of this letter.) As one who regularly carries an unnecessary load of false guilt and pain, I find John’s advice utterly invaluable.

“You know, little ones, it’s not enough to just say we love people. We have to show people our love through our actions. We have to be truthful in love. That’s the way we practically show we belong to the truth, that we live in God’s reality and not our own. And it’s the way we shut our hearts up when they nag us, never satisfied with anything we do for God. Ever feel like that? Never satisfied? Never confident? Never at rest? Always condemned? There’s always something more you could have done, isn’t there?

But you know that kind of debilitating self-criticism isn’t from God. God’s open and straightforward with us. To be sure, He’ll tell us when we get it wrong: no sugar-coating it, no pussyfooting round issues. But this endless worrying, this introspection, this self-flagellation which never brings any relief… that’s not from God! If your heart condemns you, remember it’s not the most reliable of guides! Real sin is easy to deal with. I’ve already told you how to do that: confess it to God and the blood of Jesus will wash you white as snow, wash every sin stain away. Then you’re clean and free! This pseudo-sin is just another tactic of the Accuser. He’s like an informer, going round slandering you to all and sundry, but that’s only because he’s condemned. You’re no longer condemned. God’s already seen to that, wiping all condemnation from us through His Son!

God knows everything, remember, and has made provision for every sin you could possibly commit (past, present or future!) So instead of wallowing in sin or in feelings of guilt that are just millstones from the enemy, tied around your neck with the sole purpose of dragging you down with him, cheer up! God is greater than the Accuser, greater than your accusing heart, and He’s not accusing you.

Instead, you can come before God confidently, boldly, freely, with assurance, as a child does to its father, running up with eager anticipation, asking for what it needs, never doubting his goodness, arms open wide to receive his lavish gifts. When we’re living to please Him, that pleases His heart. And pleasing God is nowhere near as complicated as we make out at times. He just wants us to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ – for that way, we’re confessing Jesus is God’s chosen One, the Saviour of the world – and to love each other, just like He told us. That’s it. Not exactly onerous, is it? As we do that, living obediently, He lives in us and we live in Him, snuggled together through inseparable love. How? By His Spirit, another of His lavish gifts. We really can’t lose!”