Tonight we started a series looking at Christian maturity, or how to ‘grow up’ so that we can all attain ‘to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:13 TNIV), growing to ‘become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.’ (Eph 4:14 TNIV) Maturity requires taking a long view, for growth is both complex and endless, but we need to be constantly growing and maturing if we are to be conformed into the image of Christ, which is God’s will and purpose for us all. (Rom 8:29 TNIV)

Ephesians 5:1-20 TNIV offers us some practical advice on what spiritual growth and maturity look like.

1. Walk in the way of love
Paul urges us to follow God’s examples or be imitators of God and this means walking in love as Christ did. The first step to maturity is knowing God as He reveals Himself to us – not as we imagine Him to be, not as we want Him to be, but as He is. We have to have ‘eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is.’ (Casting Crowns, ‘Somewhere In the Middle’) Love is at the very heart of who God is and is therefore absolutely fundamental to our growing up. We can’t be mature if we don’t love. 1 Cor 13:1-8 TNIV shows us what love is like: not the mushy, sentimentalised, erotic version of love which is often presented to us from the world, but love in action, and love which is a response to the love we ourselves receive from God (see 1 John 4:19 TNIV). As we observe the sacrificial way Jesus lived on earth and see how He came not to be served but to serve, as we consider how He was not self-seeking but only lived to do the Father’s will, as we reflect on His willingness to lay aside majesty in order to embrace human likeness, we begin to see how to love and as we spend time with Him, coming alongside Him, taking on His yoke and learning from Him (Matt 11:29 TNIV), we find our lives are shaped into a life of love. We ‘walk’ in the way of love, just as we looked at ‘walking in the light’ when we were studying 1 John 1, meaning that this becomes our everyday standard of living.

2. As we grow, our behaviour changes
Eph 5:3-7 TNIV outlines some of the behaviour which needs to go if we are to grow in maturity. The work God does by His Spirit in our lives is internal or spiritual, but this is manifested in visible, practical ways: mainly in what we say and what we do. Our thoughts, speech and actions have to reflect God’s work in our lives. Often, this is not a comfortable process, for God disciplines those He loves (Heb 12:5-11 TNIV) and probes us to highlight areas that need to change. If we feel like we’re in the furnace of discipline right now, remember that God does this because He cares about our maturity and we need to change!

3. Find out what pleases the Lord
As we grow and mature, we want to find out what pleases God (Eph 5:10 TNIV) and this shapes how we live. There are many things we are clearly told please God. Four things we looked at were:
a) love
b) obedience
c) faith
d) thanksgiving

As we develop these characteristics and seek to develop our relationship with God (for this is all about relationship more than rules!), we will grow. Maturity will always predominantly feature love, for God is love and therefore if we are His children, we will be growing in love and walking in love. Our speech and actions will be changed to reflect His speech and actions. We become imitators of God, reflecting a family likeness. Love, servanthood, obedience, faith and thankfulness will be the signs that point us to how well we are growing, for these are the things we see in our great example, Jesus. (see Phil 2:1-11 TNIV)

Today is the second Sunday in Advent. Each Sunday traditionally looks at a key theme: the first Sunday looks at hope, the second peace, the third joy and the fourth love. So today Dave looked at the topic of peace, focussing on John 14:25-29 TNIV.

Here, the disciples were gathered in the upper room at the Last Supper. Jesus tells them that He will be leaving them, but they should not grieve as He will send the Holy Spirit to be their counsellor or advocate and He will give them His peace – not as the world gives to them. This peace is more than just the absence of war; it is a deep well-being, conveyed in the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’.

A story in the Old Testament which illustrates this kind of peace is found in 2 Kings 4:17-27 TNIV. The Shunammite woman has been hospitable towards the prophet Elisha and he has prayed for her to have a son. In this scene, however, the son dies. The woman, rather than arranging his funeral, does not even tell her husband that he has died, but instead goes to find Elisha. She tells her husband and Elisha’s servant that everything is all right, even though her natural feelings must have been deep grief and distress. She is able to display peace even in turmoil because she has confidence in Elisha and in the God he serves. Similarly, we have an anchor that will not move; we have wholeness and are at one with God, even when external circumstances may shake us. This is the kind of peace Jesus has promised us and He does not just deal with symptoms; He heals the disease!

Elisha restored the woman’s son to life. A great miracle occurred in her household, partly as a result of her confidence in God. We too can have confidence in God because so many prophecies concerning Jesus have already been fulfilled and because we are witnesses to how He transforms people’s lives. We have the presence of God with us at all times and therefore have access to peace with God and peace from God. We can have peace because we are assured that God is in control and that He loves us. Instead of complaining or moaning, we should give thanks and delight in the many opportunities God gives us to share His love.

Peace is found as we trust God and walk in faith. God has already done great things and will continue to work in our lives, in our church and in our community. His word will not return to Him void and so we can be sure that peace will triumph, heal and keep us as we walk with God.

We are officially in Advent, so I thought you might appreciate this music video featuring the song ‘Tell the World.’ It captures all the fun of Christmas with all the truth this season really has to bring. As we are praying this month about letting people know what Christmas means to us, I think this is an excellent vehicle for doing that! (Cliff Richard fans need to have a sense of humour: be warned!)
‘Tell the World’, the ultimate Christmas video by Push Company

I am always fascinated by answers to this question, because they are usually as diverse and wide-ranging as the people who make up a church! This is a definition of church written by Eugene Peterson in his commentary on Ephesians (‘Practise Resurrection’):

“Church is an appointed gathering of named people in particular places who practise a life of resurrection in a world in which death gets the biggest headlines… The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe and participate in resurrection life, life out of death, life that trumps death, life that is the last word, Jesus life.” (Eugene Peterson, ‘Practise Resurrection’, P 12)

He goes on to say this is worked out in:
1) the worship of God in all the operations of the Trinity
2) the acceptance of a resurrection, born-from-above identity (identified in baptism)
3) the embrace of resurrection formation by eating and drinking Christ’s resurrection body and blood (at the Lord’s Table)
4) attentive reading of and obedience to the revelation of God in the Scriptures
5) prayer that cultivates an intimacy with realities that are inaccessible to our senses
6) confession and forgiveness of sins
7) working and speaking for peace and justice, healing and truth, sanctity and beauty
8) care for all the stuff of creation.

What’s your definition of ‘church’?

Last Sunday we had some photos taken which hopefully will form the basis of a new display in church showing off the different ministries our church is involved in. As you can imagine, however, there were a lot of silly photos taken as well! I’m sure the fun photos will actually reflect who we are far better than the ‘formal’ ones, so here is a snapshot of us all in various poses…

Not sure where Gary and Mark are flying to!

… or what weapons these are employing…

Demonstrating the play equipment:

Generations feeling the cold?

Definitely frightening expressions!

Avoiding the camera?

Mark as superman?

Bible bashing?

In the children’s room:

Watch this space for the official photos! Our thanks go to Stacey, our resident photographer, for all her help with such projects.

My late father-in-law had a saying that has become an oft-quoted phrase in our house concerning mobile transport: ‘It’s not all driving, you know!’ This word of wisdom was passed on to my husband when he started to learn to drive and he kept repeating this to our son when he first purchased a motor bike just over a year ago. Maintenance and regular checks are essential to keeping a vehicle on the road. The driving part may be pleasurable, but the unseen maintenance must be carried out if the driving is to continue.

In a similar vein, owning a building is not all about the comfort and security the building brings! I am grateful for the roof over my head, but there is always something to be done in a home. I have spent this week reluctantly decorating my living-room: it’s not a job I enjoy, especially moving all the ‘stuff’ in order to have access to the walls and skirting-boards and then moving it all back again into place. But it needs to be done. The fabric of a house constantly needs attention or ‘wear and tear’ can erode our comfort and security.

The church building also needs ongoing maintenance and development. We are in the process of having new boilers fitted in the children’s room which will serve one half of the building. The old boiler was fitted over twenty years ago and has reached the end of its life, so there has been messy work going on in the children’s room over the past week or so (with the prospect of more work in summer as new radiators will be fitted to the community room.) Then, this week, we have had sound reduction panels fitted to the ceiling in the community room to reduce the noise levels in that room.

Before

After

We are grateful that this work needed doing, for it is a testimony to the success of our outreach groups: the Mums ‘n’ Toddlers on a Friday morning and the youth group on a Monday evening are both well attended groups, with noisy children (whose piercing shouts were often painful to hear because of the high frequencies!) We are also grateful for God’s provision through the generosity of His people and the success of hiring out the community room. When we first moved into St Mark’s in February 2010, one of our major concerns was how we would afford the upkeep of the building and the ongoing maintenance and running costs. We were all aware that ‘it’s not all buying, you know!’ But just as we were convinced that God wanted us to buy the building, we were convinced that He would enable us to meet all the maintenance and running costs and this has proved to be the case.

The record of maintenance done in the building since opening in 2010 is staggering:
1) new windows in both main rooms
2) new blinds fitted
3) new boilers
4) new flooring in the toilets and kitchen
5) new kitchen units and cooker
6) re-plastering of many parts of the building
7) new radiators in the worship room
… and probably a host of other things I’ve forgotten!

God has provided for all of the above and continues to help us in every practical way imaginable. We are a very thankful people!