Stephen continued preaching on the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-15), looking at verse 11: ‘Give us today our daily bread.’ This verse talks about provision and reminds us how God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness (see Ex 16:14-15), but Jesus’s words previously (Matt 4:3-4) remind us that God not only provides for our physical needs; He also provides for our spiritual needs. All God’s riches are available to us; we are like living capacitors, having the potential to receive great things from God.

Matt 5:6 reminds us that we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Our longing and craving should be to receive the bread of life from God – not just provision for our physical needs, but spiritual satisfaction from the One who freely gives to all. This bread is without cost (Is 55:1), for we are able to partake in the Bread of Life (John 6:35) and will never go hungry. Jesus is the answer to all that we require in life; we need Him more than anything else and are asking for great things when we pray this prayer.

A metaphor is ‘a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.’ Last week, we looked at the way Ezekiel saw the river of God and how this is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Metaphors abound when we are trying to understand the Godhead, because God is so far above us that they are a helpful way for us to truly begin to grasp who God is. The Holy Spirit is described in various places as a dove (Matt 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, John 1:32), as a pledge or seal (Eph 1:14, 2 Cor 1:21-22), as wind (John 3:8) and as fire (Acts 2:3). These metaphors help us to see different characteristics of the Holy Spirit: the dove symbolises the beginning of a new creation through the work of the promised, Spirit-empowered Messiah, reminding us also of the new beginning after the flood when the dove brought back the olive branch to Noah (Genesis 8); the pledge or seal reminds us of the law and God’s legal claim on us; wind ‘seems to underline the inscrutable nature of his moving in the hearts of people to give them life and bring them to faith’ (www.bible.org) and fire represents the holy, all-consuming presence of God. (see Ex 3:2-5, Ex 13:21-22, Ex 40:36-38).

We often sing the song ‘Consuming Fire’ by Tim Hughes which touches on the metaphors of wind (breath) and fire, and there are numerous other songs which take the metaphor of fire as their subject. Rend Collective’s ‘Burn Like A Star’ takes this theme too and is a prayer for God to ‘burn like a star, light a fire in our hearts…awaken holy fire…light a flame in us.’ We need God’s fire to burn in our hearts if we are to know God’s resurrection power in our lives and witness.

‘We were born for greater things
We were born to chase Your dreams
Come, my Lord, awaken holy fire.

We are turning from our sin
We are praying once again
Come, my Lord, awaken holy fire

We are aching for the real thing,
Hearts are open wide.

Burn like a star,
Light a fire in our hearts.
[x4]

Send revival; start in us;
Set Your holy spark in us,
Send us out in resurrection power

History’s about to change
We are rising once again
Send us out in resurrection power.

We are aching for the real thing
Hearts are open wide

Burn like a star
Light a fire in our hearts
[x4]

For Your glory
For Your fame
In this darkness
Light a flame in us.’ (‘Burn Like A Star’, Rend Collective)

This comment by Rend Collective, commenting on the theme of their new album ‘The Art of Celebration’, made me smile. This month, we are praying especially that we will all be filled with the Holy Spirit and will know His fruit and His gifts more and more in our lives. Joy is indeed a fruit of the Spirit. So many things we deem important (seriousness, professionalism, competence and so on) are not. These things are not necessarily wrong, but we do need to keep coming back to what God values and considers important and what the character of God looks like. Only by dwelling in Him will we reflect His character.

‘We’re choosing celebration,
Breaking into freedom.
You’re the song,
You’re the song
Of our hearts.

We cast aside our shadows,
Trust You with our sorrows.
You’re the song,
You’re the song
Of our hearts.

We’re dancing to the rhythm of Your heart
We’re rising from the ashes to the stars

You’re the joy, joy, joy lighting my soul;
The joy, joy, joy making me whole;
Though I’m broken, I am running
Into Your arms of love.

The pain will not define us
Joy will reignite us.
You’re the song,
You’re the song
Of our hearts.

The dark is just a canvas
For Your grace and brightness.
You’re the song
You’re the song
Of our hearts

We’re dancing to the rhythm of Your heart
We’re rising from the ashes to the stars

You’re the joy, joy, joy lighting my soul;
The joy, joy, joy making me whole;
Though I’m broken, I am running
Into Your arms of love.

You’re the joy,
The song in my heart,
The hope of my soul.

In the shadows,
In the sorrows,
In the desert,
When the pain hits,
You are constant,
Ever-present
You’re the song of my heart.’ (‘Joy’, Rend Collective)

One of the joys of birthdays in my household is receiving new books and CDs, prized far above all other presents (though these are gratefully received as well, I hasten to add!) I am contentedly exploring a new Eugene Peterson book (‘Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work‘, looking at the Wisdom books in the Bible), enjoying a new mediaeval mystery (‘Treachery’, by S. J. Parris) and finally listening in uninterrupted peace to Kutless’s new album ‘Glory’. In addition, I have also received the new CD from Rend Collective Experiment entitled ‘The Art of Celebration’, the first album I have ever had from this Irish group.

One of the reasons I love listening to different expressions of worship in song is that my mind is focussed on truth in a form which lodges deep within. In our Bible studies, we have been looking at 1 John 2 and verse 14 really struck me: ‘the word of God lives in you.’ For us to flourish and grow in Christ, we have to know His word and allow that word to shape our thinking. These songs do that for me – listen to ‘More Than Conquerors’ whose lyrics remind us of 1 John 4:4:

‘We are more than conquerors, through Christ
You have overcome this world, this life
We will not bow to sin or to shame
We are defiant in Your name
You are the fire that cannot be tamed
You are the power in our veins.’ (‘More Than Conquerors’, Rend Collective Experiment)

or ‘In Jesus’ Name’, where the gospel truths of Acts 4:12 are powerfully captured:

‘In Jesus’ name our sins are washed away,
In Jesus’ name we are rescued, we are saved,
For love has come to make a way for us,
In Jesus’ name there is freedom for the broken,
In Jesus’ name there is healing for the hopeless,
For all our days, we rest in Jesus’ name.’ (‘In Jesus’ Name’, Kutless)

These Biblical truths transform our wrong thinking and enable us to see God afresh.

There are a couple of special events coming up in this next week. The first is on Thursday 27th March, when there is a ‘Come and Meet Your Community’ event from 12 noon until 3 p.m. at the Salvation Army on Straight Lane.  There has been a good response from local service providers and various community groups within the Dearne Neighbourhood Network for this event, so this should be a good opportunity to pick up information about what support there is available to community groups from the local council and also to find out more about local groups working within our area. Come along if you have any time spare on that day; we will be representing the church at the event and looking to tell others about the community work we do in Goldthorpe.

Then on Saturday 29th March at 6 p.m. we are hosting the ‘Churches Together’ meeting. This is a time for fellowship, fun, worship and prayer, so do come along to that event if you are able.

I have spent the past couple of days in Beverley, largely admiring the beautiful church buildings there and in Howden. Both Beverley and Howden have minsters as their parish churches, a minster being a church that was built originally in connection with a monastery.

Beverley Minster

Howden Minster

We also visited St Mary’s Church in Beverley:

This church is famous, among other things, for inspiring Lewis Carroll through this rabbit statue (which became the ‘White Rabbit’ in his ‘Alice in Wonderland’ novel):

What I found so interesting about these inspiring buildings, however, is not just the history or the amazing stories that are attached to them (St John of Beverley, for example, clearly had a healing ministry which is told through some marvellous embroidery by modern art students), but how worship has been going on in these places for hundreds of years. The continuity of the gospel is steadfast and reassuring to me. These buildings remind me not only of God’s splendour and magnificence but how Christians throughout the ages have chosen to worship God, no matter what is going on all around them, and how He remains constant and unchanging. We too can choose to worship like that.

‘When days are gold and life is good,
When the plans we make go as they should,
Or when the sky turns dark and heartache falls,
And a lonely painful season calls.

We will worship with all of our hearts,
We will worship all that You are,
Through the best, through the worst,
Jesus we choose, we will worship You.

The only constant here is change,
But You forever stay the same,
No matter what this life holds in store,
The truth remains, You are Lord.

You are high and lifted up, good in all Your ways,
Glorious and worthy of all praise,
You are high and lifted up, to You our voices raise,
You’re worthy of our praise.’ (‘We Will Worship’, Kutless)