In the book of Revelation, we read the same phrase in several places (eg Rev 2:7, 11, 17 TNIV): ‘Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ I found it very interesting during this weekend in London to hear essentially the same messages we have been hearing from a range of preachers at home! God is clearly speaking similar messages through a variety of His servants so that many will hear what He has to say to individual churches and to the Church as a whole.

The first sermon we heard (from the newly ordained Tim Hughes!) was from 2 Chronicles 20:1-29 TNIV, a passage Mark preached from in April (‘Dream Cross Code’). Here, the message was that so often, situations come in life where we do not know what to do but need to turn our eyes to God. When we worship, we lift our eyes. We remind ourselves and others that our God reigns and so we find rest for our souls. The deliverance God brings will not depend on our actions and strategies but will come as we focus on God and worship Him. Our part is to ‘stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.’ (2 Chron 20:17 TNIV)

Alan Scott’s sermon on Psalm 8 reminded us that God’s glory is set high above the heavens and He has established a stronghold against His enemies to silence the foe and the avenger. When we praise God, we actually can change the atmosphere and culture all around us, for we are proclaiming by faith the ultimate reality of God and His kingdom – this may seem invisible to all around us, but as we speak out the truth of God’s word, we can see the invisible become visible (a theme touched on in September’s sermon ‘Agreeing with God.’) He went on to talk about the vision of Jesus given to John in Revelation 1 and reminded us that it is the revelation of God which creates the revolution in us; John knew Jesus as the Suffering Servant, but here was given fresh revelation to see Him also as the Risen King. He also reminded us that the temptation is often to ‘fix’ problems and try to solve mankind’s problems in our own strength, but we must understand that God has called His children to be worshippers and it is in this realm that the reality of the invisible world is made visible.

This theme of encountering God being the major requirement for the church and for each believer was taken up by Pete Greig, who spoke from Isaiah 6. It has been the theme of many a sermon in Goldthorpe too, for it is only when we encounter God that the transformation in us can take place which is necessary if we are to become more like Christ. Sermons on the kind of hero God is looking for (on the Beatitudes) and on the qualities we need to add to our faith (2 Peter 1:3-9 TNIV) have reminded us that there is no substitute for our personal walk with God. Pete Greig made a comment which I think bears repeating: “God appoints for the honour of public service those who honour their private appointments with Him.” There really is no hidden secret to spiritual success; rather, the basics of prayer, commitment to God’s word, fellowship and witnessing are all important. (‘The Basics Never Stop Being Important’)

To summarise, then, what is the Spirit saying to the church in these days?
1) Keep your eyes on God
2) Understand the authority and power He has given to us as believers and use this to speak out God’s decrees and see the invisible become visible as you agree with God rather than with your own feelings or the things you see around you
3) Recognise that personal holiness is a prerequisite for spiritual success. We are to be ‘set apart’ for God.
4) Worship God and allow Him to bring the deliverance that is needed in our own lives and for our communities to be changed.

Back in April, Mark preached on the ‘Dream Cross Code’, a sermon which has come to mean a lot to me as it encouraged me to hold on to the dreams I had of leaving my job and starting new ministries. Today, he gave us the next instalment of this sermon, entitled ‘Holding on to the dream’, using Genesis 37 as his text.

This is the beginning of the story of Joseph, son of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachael and much loved by the patriarch, to the extent that he was shown great favouritism (the coat of many colours) and was greatly resented by his other brothers. In Gen 37:5 TNIV we are told that Joseph had a dream – which he shared with his brothers and later with Jacob.

Other people’s reactions to our God-given dreams are not always positive. Here, Joseph met 4 reactions:
1) he was hated even more by his brothers because of his dream (a strong reaction which does not sit well with Jesus’s commands to love our brothers!)
2) he was rebuked by his father
3) he was envied by his brothers (people may well feel jealous of the dreams God gives us, asking ‘Why is God moving in your life?’ with the implicit hurt ‘and not in mine?‘)
4) his father kept the matter in mind. (People may well tell us to ‘wait and see’ and not give us much feedback at all, preferring to see if God will bring the dream to pass in time.)

Our response to the dreams God gives us must be to hold on to the dream and wait for God’s fulfilment, which will come in God’s time.

1) Don’t let the reactions of other people put you off.
It was not really just a case of Joseph having a dream; more a case of the dream having Joseph! It was firmly bound to his heart. He could not forget it, even if he wanted to. When God gives us a dream, we have to hold on to it through times of testing and trial, but equally we will find that we cannot forget it or lay it down, even if at times we would like to! The dream consumes us and holds on to us as much as we hold onto it!

2) Know that the dreams given by God will endure the times of trial and testing.
The day’s events narrated in Gen 37:1-36 TNIV probably represented the worst day of Joseph’s life! He was beaten up, thrown in a cistern, and sold into slavery, narrowly escaping death at the hands of his own brothers. Violent and brutal acts were done to him. Even so, the selling into slavery was part of the fulfilment of the dream, for God was working to put Joseph into the place he needed to be for the dream to be fulfilled. In all the hurt and pain he experienced, the fulfilment of the dream actually began on this terrible day.

3) The fulfilment of the dream starts in the darkest day.
The end of the chapter shows us Joseph being sold to Potiphar, the chief member of Pharaoh’s personal guard. This must have seemed a dark day to Joseph, but actually this was the unfurling of the dream’s fulfilment. God often has to bring us to the end of ourselves for us to realise that the dreams He gives will only be fulfilled in His way and in His time as a result of His supernatural actions. Hebrews 11:1 TNIV reminds us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Alan Scott says ‘breakthrough comes when our hearts are breaking.’ In this dark time, God was still very much at work in Joseph’s life, though he may well have felt abandoned and deserted. As Kutless remind us, ‘life is so much more than what our eyes are seeing.’ (‘What Faith Can Do’) We have to be confident that nothing will thwart God’s plans for our lives and sure that even when we cannot trace His hand, He is still working all things together for good (Rom 8:28 TNIV).

4) God revitalises our dreams
This chapter shows us how God spoke more than once to Joseph. The form of the dream may have been different, but essentially, it was the same dream. God adds to the dream and encourages and envisions us. Our part is to keep on believing and to hold on to the dream!

Garry and I spent the last two days in London attending the Worship Central Conference, led by Tim Hughes and others from the Worship Central team. It was held in the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster (location for the first meeting of the United Nations, an interesting little fact that might come into some pub quiz trivia!), a beautiful location in the heart of Westminster:
Westminster Central Hall:

Houses of Parliament:

Westminster Abbey, by day and by night:

Over four sessions and four workshops, we learned more about the importance and centrality of worship in our lives and in our communities and enjoyed the experience of learning amongst so many Christians from a whole range of denominations (the conference was attended by 2000 people from over 30 different countries). Key note sessions were led by Tim Hughes (who spoke from 2 Chronicles 20 on the centrality of worship in the battles we face in life), Alan Scott from Northern Ireland (who spoke from Psalm 8 and Revelation 1) and Pete Greig (from the 24/7 Prayer Movement) who spoke from Isaiah 6. I’ll give more details on these later on!

We have been involved in supporting the Salvation Army in Goldthorpe with their food bank for some time now. As winter approaches and the needs increase, we have been given a list of useful items to provide. This is now available within church for all members to consult when buying items to pass on. These include:

Tinned food (ravioli, beans, tomatoes, curry, hot dogs, stews, soups etc.)
Dried food (rice, spaghetti, porridge, cereals, soups etc).
Jars (jams, marmalade, lemon curd, sauces etc.)
Toiletries (toilet rolls, deodorants, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc.)
Products for the winter (from October to March), including fleece blankets, hats, scarves, gloves etc.

Please continue to support this project and help those who are struggling to make ends meet this winter time. Love, as John reminds us 1 John 3:17-18 TNIV, has to be practical: if we can help, then we need to do so.

Throughout November, we will be praying for boldness in our everyday living. Pray God will:

• make us bold and courageous as we live out our lives in the world, so that we honour Him in every aspect of our lives
• cause us to speak to people we come into contact with and meet every day about our faith in God.
• help us to speak with people at our outreaches about God and how He can help them.
• give us His heart of love for people and for each other.
• lead us into ‘God-instances’ so that we have the opportunity to share our faith.
• give us wisdom and gifts of knowledge to say and pray the right things.
• cause people to be saved and come to church as a result of encountering God through us.

When we think of the early church in the Book of Acts, the one thing that stands out for me is the boldness with which all people spoke out. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and had a compelling desire to tell everyone they met about all that Jesus had done. Someone has said they ‘gossipped the Gospel’, meaning that their everyday conversation was about God. Sometimes we feel we can only talk about God in certain contexts or circumstances or that we must wait to be asked about God before we mention Him. There is no doubt that we need sensitivity and wisdom in talking about God, but we need also to pray for boldness so that we are not afraid and held back in any way. Our witness is not only through words (remember Francis of Assisi who said ‘Love God and if necessary, use words’), but we need to pray that God will help us to speak as well as to serve.

Another quote I have recently discovered from Francis of Assisi is this: ‘It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.’ As we live out our lives before the world, let’s remember that “God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20, The Message) To be a representative or an ambassador is a responsible job which carries enormous privileges. That’s the job you are really called to do! You may be called to do that in a school kitchen, a busy office, a variety of different outdoor locations or just in your own home or on the street where you live, but that is your actual job description, above and beyond any description issued by your earthly employer! No wonder, then, that with such a responsible job, we pray, as Paul did: “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” (Ephesians 6:19)

Do you always have to have the last word in an argument? Are you the kind of person who can’t leave a topic alone and have to keep coming back to it? Do you feel that there’s a point to be scored in speaking last? Are you like a dog with a bone when it comes to a row?

When I told my husband I was going to be blogging thirty ‘gold nuggets of truth’ throughout October to celebrate my thirtieth birthday, he very practically pointed out that there were thirty-one days in October. Well, I’m now in my thirty-first year of being a Christian, so I reckoned I could get away with one last thought for the month. That thought has to be that God has the final word.

I love words. All my life I’ve loved the sound of them; I’ve loved discovering new words; I’ve loved communicating through this miraculous medium. Apparently I didn’t even bother with the usual baby words but when I finally started to talk, came out with the full sentence ‘It’s there’, in response to a question from my parents. I simply cannot imagine a world without words.

Imagine my joy when I first read John’s Gospel and discovered that Jesus is described as ‘the Word’ (John 1:1 TNIV) Imagine what it was like to realise that God Himself wanted to communicate with me, through words. For years I’ve taught languages because I can’t think of a better way of unveiling God. God is the Word and He wants to talk to us!

In 1987 (a very significant year for me as it was the year I graduated and got married), Michael Card released the third album in his ‘The Life’ trilogy called ‘The Final Word’. He had, ironically, perhaps, started by looking at the death and resurrection of Christ (‘Known by The Scars’) and then looked at the life of Jesus (‘Scandalon’). The final album looked at the birth of Christ, but being the Bible scholar he is, that also meant at looking not just at the actual birth but at all that lay behind the birth, looking at the whole topic of the Incarnation. This album remains my all-time favourite album on the topic and is played in our house every single Christmas without fail. One person has reviewed the album with the words ‘pensive, acoustic and spiritually correct.’ Whilst this may be an accurate review, I don’t think it goes anywhere near to conveying the passion and truths contained in the songs!

The title track on the album, rooted in John 1 and Hebrews 1, looks at the subject of Jesus being ‘God’s final word’. I have meditated on this theme repeatedly since I first heard the song and have come to understand that Jesus is indeed God’s final word and that God will always have the last word:

“You and me, we use so very many clumsy words.
The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard.
When the Father’s wisdom wanted to communicate His love,
He spoke it in one final perfect word.

And so the light became alive
And manna became man
Eternity stepped into time
So we could understand.” (‘The Final Word’, Michael Card)
’The Final Word’, Michael Card

Towards the end of the book of Job, Job and all his ‘comforters’ are finally silent as God speaks. The awesomeness of God is revealed in Job 38-41. In the middle of that mighty revelation, Job says “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” (Job 40: 4 TNIV)

God will always have the final word. He will always have the last word. He is Sovereign over all. He is ruling and reigning. Job says eventually “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:2-3)

Sometimes God roars like a lion (Hosea 11:10 TNIV) and sometimes He whispers (1 Kings 19:12 TNIV), but always He will have the last word. We do well when we shut up and listen.

‘God Almighty’, Chris Tomlin