Divine Encounters

Oct 15, 2023

This morning in our series ‘The Miraculous & The Mundane’, we looked at Philip’s remarkable encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Here, we see how an angel of the Lord directs Philip to a specific road and a specific chariot and how after this divine encounter, which leads to the salvation and baptism of this important official in the Ethiopian Treasury, God takes him away to continue ministry elsewhere.
It seems that the God who made the world by speaking the word wants to be in partnership with people, involving us in His work and speaking directly to us in various ways. It takes time and practice to discern the voice of the Shepherd, but Philip shows us what happens we are prepared to let God interrupt us. Miracles happen when we allow God access to our everyday lives!
But for all that God worked in clearly supernatural ways, Philip’s role was simply to explain the Scriptures and introduce the man to Jesus. There is nothing particularly spectacular about this; we should all be reading the Bible on a daily basis and letting its truths inform us and direct us, so that when an opportunity comes our way, we are ready. Peter says, ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ (1 Pet 3:15) We need to be ready and willing to give our testimony, praying for opportunities to explain the hope we have and living in such a way that others are attracted to God through our lives.
This incident with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch shows us how the miraculous works alongside the mundane and how God uses ordinary people to do His work. Once again, we see how privileged we are to be called co-workers in God’s service! (1 Cor 3:9) All that is required to be involved in the miraculous is a willing heart, listening ears and obedience. So often, we look at stories like this one and feel that nothing this specific or spectacular will ever happen to us. But as we wait before the Lord, He will speak to us, guide us, lead us, direct us and bring about God-encounters which have eternal significance.

Letting Go of Anxiety

Oct 8, 2023

Dave spoke tonight from Philippians 4:6-8, where Paul urges us not to be anxious or overtaken by worries. When we surrender to God and to His plans, our worries can also be released to Him.
THis is done firstly by prayer, by talking to God about the things which worry us. The Message version of these versions says, ‘Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.’ God is not interested in formulaic prayers but wants to hear our heart’s cry. He knows our needs anyway, but in articulating these needs, we often can then let go of our worries. We are to cast our cares or anxiety on the Lord (1 Pet 5:7) and to ask God for what we need (see James 4:1-2), Prayer is a great way of banishing worry!
Secondly, Paul urges the Philippians to pray with thanksgiving. As we learn contentment (1 Tim 6:6), we can be thankfull for all things (see Eph 5:20, 1 Thess 5:18). He urges the Philippians to get control of their thought life, focusing on what is good, true, noble, right, pure and praiseworthy. Our thoughts will either lead us towards God or they will lead us away from Him, towards a deeper relationship with Him or to a shallower relationship. If we learn to focus on God, then we will draw closer to Him and will find anxiety’s grip lessened in our lives.

The Wonders of Anagrams

Oct 8, 2023

All of you will know that Isaiah 61:3 is a very special verse to me, particularly the part where God promises to bestow on His people the crown of beauty instead of ashes. This morning I discovered that the Hebrew word for ‘beauty’ (pe’er) is an anagram of the Hebrew word for ‘ashes’ (‘eper). One author comments that if we rearrange these letters once more, we find the Hebrew word for healing. ‘God will not only rearrange the letters to give us beauty for ashes, but He will also continue to rearrange the letters to heal us of all the wounds that are associated with these ashes.’ (‘Hebrew Word Study: Beyond The Lexicon’, Chaim Bentorah)
I find it fascinating that beauty and ashes – things which seem diametrically opposite in our experience – share a common etymological root in Hebrew. It’s a reminder yet again of the divine exchange which God promises us. Transformation comes not so much because God imposes something on us, but because He transforms our brokenness into beauty, our blackness into colour. He is a God who transforms situations in ways we find hard to fathom, but the effects of what He does are visible to all.

Healings in the book of Acts

Oct 8, 2023

This morning we looked at the subject of miraculous healings in the book of Acts. As well as the lame man healed at the temple gates (Acts 3), there are many other examples of healing recorded by Luke, including the fact that people brought the sick into the streets and even Peter’s shadow seems to have been capable of bringing healing! (Acts 5:12-15) Other examples of healing include Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35), the raising of Dorcas and Eutychus from the dead (Acts 9;36-42, Acts 20:9-12), the father of Publius and others on the island of Malta (Acts 28:9) and the healing of many by Stephen and Philip. (Acts 8:6-7) Healing may be a controversial topic with many unanswered questions, but there is no doubt that God is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals us (Ex 15:26) and that He heals all our diseases. (Ps 103:1-5)
We see from these examples that healings brought relief from distress and suffering to individuals (both believers and those who simply came to be touched by God), great joy to all who witnessed God’s miraculous power and were valuable proofs of the gospel message preached. The result of these healings was often salvation: ‘more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.’ (Acts 5:14) When Peter’s words of authority led to Aeneas being healed, ‘All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.’ (Acts 9:35) When Tabitha (or Dorcas) was raised from the dead, ‘This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.’ (Acts 9:42) When a lame man was healed in Lystra, the people thought Paul and Barnabas must have been gods come to earth to be able to do such things and as a result of this, the gospel could be preached. (Acts 14:8-18) Miracles are God’s way of demonstrating to people who He is and what He can do and healings are one of the ways He underlines the truth of the message preached.
Jesus told us that ‘whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’ (John 14:12) Miracles are not simply reserved for the super-spiritual; James reminds us, ‘pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.’ (James 5:16) As we believe God’s word and rely on the Holy Spirit living within us, God is still able to use us as He did those first followers to bring miracles of healing to others so that His name may be glorified and His kingdom increased.

The Power of Testimony

Oct 8, 2023

A testimony is a public account of something, whether a statement in court of something witnessed or the more casual conversation recounting one’s experience of God. It is our way of telling others what God has done for us and as such, will always be personal and fresh.

Jeremiah was a prophet living in difficult times, immediately before and during Israel’s exile from their home land because of their rebellion against God. He had difficult words to speak but was faithful in passing on God’s word to the people. In Jeremiah 16:14-15, we read, :'”However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.”

The first event referred to was the Exodus, God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt. It was a defining moment for the nation of Israel and a point of reference for them always, a reminder of how God had stepped in to history and saved them. But Jeremiah says this will not be the only time the people know God’s rescue and help, and points to a day still in the future, when God’s people will once again see God intervene to bring them back from exile. This event will be another reference point, another turning point, in the history of Israel.They will have another testimony of God’s help and deliverance.

It can be hard when we are going through difficult times to believe God will step in and change the situation around, but Jeremiah promises the people of God a testimony of deliverance. We need to know God’s help and deliverance in the present day; we need a real-time testimony, so to speak. It’s good to look back at what God has done for us in the past; we are called to remember what God has done and to recount these things, not forgetting His help and rescue. But we are also people in whom God is currently working. Let’s be prepared to testify to God’s help and deliverance right now. What has God done for us this week? What is God saying to us? Jeremiah’s words took time to be fulfilled, but He spoke with the confidence of one listening to God. Can we do the same? Can we speak of God’s works even when we have yet to see them? Can we look at God’s help and hold on to it?

It’s good to speak out what God has done for us and to declare by faith what He will do.

 

Dearne Community Arts’ Festival (2)

Oct 7, 2023

This year’s Dearne Community Arts’ Festival’s community art project has been to create 16 selfie boards which celebrate local community groups and key locations. Some of these were on show at the arts’ festival last week and others are now in situ (some outdoors and some indoors.) We hope to have a selfie board trail launch soon when the last board is installed in the new ‘Heart of Goldthorpe’ Town Square.

This project has been a collaboration with artist Lydia Caprani (who worked with us on the Railway Embankment mural and elephant sculptures) and storyteller Rebecca Dye, who recorded the stories of people from each group or location. Thanks to the wonders of QR codes, each selfie board links to these audio files where you can hear about the groups, what they do and what these locations mean to local people. Check out the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival website for further details of this project.

Here are some photos of the selfie boards on display last week and the selfie boards children made to take home with them: