For those of a certain age, the TV programme ‘World In Action’ (a current affairs programme which ran on ITV from 1963 until 1998 and involved campaigning, investigative journalism which dealt with unveiling corruption and highlighting underhand dealings) represented our first experience of righting wrongs. Last night’s Bible study on 1 John 3:11-18 looked at John’s exhortation for us to demonstrate ‘love in action.’ In the previous section (1 John 3:4-10) he has looked at righteousness and right actions and in this section, he contrasts love and hatred, life and death.

The clearest example of how we are not to be is given in reference to Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. (Gen 4:2-16) He and Abel were from the same parents and the same family, but their lives had radically different outcomes. The difference between Cain’s offering and Abel’s offering was faith. (Heb 11:4). Cain rejected God’s Word and decided to worship in his own way. He was angry that his offering was not accepted. God warned him that sin was crouching at this door, but Cain refused to take heed of the warning. He listened to Satan’s voice and plotted to kill his brother. His envy had turned to anger and hatred. He did not repent, but decided to destroy Abel. Cain serves here as the negative example not to follow, for instead of loving his brother, he did the opposite – he brutally murdered his brother. In so doing, he reflected the devil’s nature, for the devil is a liar and murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44)

The command to love (referring back to John 13:34-35 and John 15:12) is age-old, but John links all love to God. Our love needs to reflect the sacrificial nature of Christ’s love (see John 10:11-18); we can only love in this way because He laid down His life for us. John Stott reminds us that ‘the essence of love is self-sacrifice which has been perfectly manifested in Christ.’  (Commentary on John’s Epistles, P 142) This may well need to include the giving of our own lives, but is also manifested in countless other acts of kindness, demonstrating practical love in a whole range of ways that go beyond words, loving ‘with actions and in truth.’ We need to show compassion and help people out of an awareness of God’s kindness and mercy to us, thus demonstrating that we have passed from death to life (see John 5:24). The proverb ‘actions speak louder than words’ might well have been written by John, for it summarises his challenging teaching in this passage – teaching that is not difficult to understand but which must be practically outworked in everyday situations for us to fulfil Christ’s command to love one another.

Cavity wall insulation has been fitted at church today:

Hopefully this will lead to reduced energy bills in the future! Many thanks to Dave for his efficiency and perseverance in getting this job done.

My treat for the summer was a new Eugene Peterson book based on the life of Jeremiah entitled ‘Run with the Horses’ (the title based on Jer 12:5 which says ‘If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,how can you compete with horses?‘) On many of the online ‘Which Bible character are you?’ quizzes, the answer I come up with frequently is Jeremiah; I have a soft spot for this prophet who lived through such dark, difficult times.

Today’s chapter is looking at how Jeremiah responded to God’s initial call to be a prophet and how he felt so inadequate to the task (see Jer 1:4-6). Such a response is our inevitable reaction to God’s challenges to us, because we are well aware that He calls us to things that are far greater than we can accomplish in our own strength. God’s response is that those He calls, He also equips: ‘“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.‘ (Jer 1:17-19) In the Message version, these verses are translated ‘I’m making you as impregnable as a castle, immovable as a steel post,solid as a concrete block wall.You’re a one-man defence system against this culture…’

Garry’s sermon on Sunday about ‘culture clash’ was challenging, especially to those of a temperament like mine which tends to flee the moment conflict raises its head. I am definitely in the ‘retreat’ camp. I don’t like conflict; I hate arguments; I withdraw into myself and am afraid when people disagree and are vociferous and heated in debate. The thought of anyone being a ‘one-man defence system against this culture’ is pretty mind-blowing to me! When I consider Jeremiah’s temperament and the inner anguish which is clearly revealed through that book and Lamentations, I imagine Jeremiah’s eyes were opened rather wide by God’s answer! But a prophet is  moved by two basic convictions: ‘the first conviction is that God is personal and alive and active. The second conviction is that what is going on right now in this world, at this time in history, is critical.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Run With the Horses’ P 48) Who we are is shaped by God and what we do is fuelled by Him. I suspect this verse is God’s clarion call to us now, to stand as a defence system against the culture and to listen to His still, small voice so that we do not conform to the pattern of this world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Rom 12:1-2) After all, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.” (William Ralph Inge Dean of St Paul’s 1911-34)

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!)