Mark’s sermon looked at the topic of seeds. Without seeds, there can be no harvest; we have to plant the seeds in order to have germinated crops to harvest. As the quiz demonstrated, seeds don’t always look like the thing they grow into.

The tiny acorn…

… grows into the mighty oak tree (the ‘quercus robur’, as our resident horticulturalist informed us!)

Mark spoke from Jeremiah 17:7-8 TNIV:

God’s word is like a seed in our lives which we need to pass on to others. The Parable of the sower (Luke 8:4-15 TNIV) reminds us that seed is sown in different circumstances. The pessimist looks at this and sees only a 25% success rate, since the seed that falls by the wayside, on rocky ground or amongst thorns does not bear fruit. Looking at it from another perspective, however, the seed that does bear fruit goes on to produce a hundred-fold crop and therefore one person saved through our testimony can have a snowball effect in God’s kingdom.

1 Cor 3:6 TNIV reminds us that there are different roles (planting and watering, for example), but it is God who gives the increase.

God’s seed is planted in us in different ways:
1) His Word
2) His Spirit
3) A vision (‘vision villa’)
4) A dream (‘dream factory’)

The seed that is sown in our lives will bear fruit. Phil 1:6 TNIV reminds us that God will complete (bring to perfection, lacking nothing) the work He has begun in us. God is good at nurturing fruit in our lives. The cycle can then be repeated, as the seed is sown, grows into a tree that bears fruit which produces seeds which grow into trees that bear fruit and so on.

Tonight’s family service was on the theme of ‘Seeds’. As with a traditional harvest festival, we brought a variety of foods to give to the community:

Then we had a quiz from the ‘Book of Seeds’ where we had to identify what the seeds grew into:

Some were obvious, like these sunflower seeds:

… or these coconuts:

Others were far less obvious, however! These were the seeds of the water caltrop:

… which grow to look like this:

… or the castilleja:

… which grows to look like this:

You can’t say we don’t learn new things! There were prizes to be received – fittingly, plaques and plants!

There are essentially two branches of mathematics: pure maths and applied maths. Pure maths deals with the development of the principles of mathematics for the sake of the principles of mathematics. It’s quite close to philosophy in that sense. The interest is in the subject itself. It’s a bit like ‘art for art’s sake’ in a way. It’s just there. It exists, therefore we have a duty to explore it and discover more about it. For most of us, though, to be honest, a lot of pure maths is just way beyond us. We can’t see the point. We glaze over when it comes to the beauty of the Fibonacci sequence or Pascal’s triangle, for example!

Applied maths is maths that’s studied for the sake of application, however. It’s the application of mathematics’ techniques to everyday problems. For example, you could apply matrix theory to linear programming problems to solve problems of scarce resources. You need the actual maths bit to do this, but you apply it to something specific – computing, engineering, economics, whatever. It has a point. We can see its relevance. We may even use it ourselves in our everyday lives!

Theology is a little bit like that. I believe that it has a relevance all of its own, for it teaches us about God and surely there’s nothing more fascinating than learning about God! But faith is more than just knowing about God. It’s more than knowing the facts. It’s applying those theological facts to our situations and our everyday lives. Mary’s response to what she heard from the angel is a shining example of applied faith, because she responded to God’s word with confidence and faith.

When God speaks to us, He demands a response. What He says to us may not be as staggering as the angelic announcement to Mary that she was to become the mother of the Son of God, but to us, nonetheless, His words can be astounding, challenging us and leading us in new directions and new paths. Our response needs to be the same as Mary’s: ‘May it be to me as You have said; may Your word to me be fulfilled.’ (Luke 1:38 TNIV) As we submit to God’s word and allow His plans to shape our lives, we learn to apply faith in the same way that all the saints of old have done and we engage in His miraculous story.

This morning’s sermon looked at Mary’s response to the angelic announcement in Luke 1:38 TNIV: “May it be to me as you have said.”, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38 TNIV), “Be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38 KJV).

Faith and trust involve agreeing with what God says. That means accepting His assessment of situations rather than our own. It means accepting His assessment of people – including ourselves – rather than our own. It means accepting His assessment of the future rather than our own. Agreeing with God as Mary did involves a radical shift away from our own independence and mindsets so that we can surrender and submit to God.

By nature, we do not agree with God. We follow the desires and thoughts of the world (see Eph 2:1-3 TNIV, Rom 8:5-9 TNIV). We have to learn to think new thoughts (Rom 12:1-2 TNIV) and agree with God’s view of life if we are to know true life and peace. God is always right, so it’s pointless to fight Him, but we need to be convinced of who God is if we are to trust Him as Mary did (see Ps 51:4 TNIV). We have to be prepared to let God set the pace and to respond to Him (see Rom 3:27-28, The Message), knowing that He is the initiator in this faith life (John 15:16 TNIV).

God is not limited to natural processes; He created the universe from nothing (Hebrews 11:2 TNIV)and is able to call things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17 TNIV). He is able to make the impossible happen, for nothing is impossible with God (Matt 19:26 TNIV). When we agree with Him, we get to see the invisble become visible and see the impossible become possible?

In order to agree with God, we have to understand that He will fulfil every promise He has made and speak faith into those situations, even when it doesn’t look like God is working. ‘For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ (2 Cor 1:19-20 TNIV)

Every promise God has made is ‘Yes’ in Christ, but we have to speak the ‘Amen’ of agreeing faith to see that happen. As Aaron Shust sings:
‘Oh, and I will trust in only You.
For You will bring the victory.
You will bring the victory.
All Your promises are true;
It doesn’t matter what I see.
It doesn’t matter what I see. ‘ (‘Deliver Me’, Aaron Shust)
‘Deliver Me’, Aaron Shust

This is not mindless fantasy, but spiritual reality based on Scripture: ‘when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Cor 12:10 TNIV). As we wait patiently for what we do not yet have (Rom 8:25 TNIV), we speak faith into situations and see those situations change as God works.

Secondly, there is power in unity and in prayer (see Matt 18:18-20 TNIV). God has promised always to be with us (see Matt 18:20 TNIV, Phil 4:5 TNIV, Heb 13:5 TNIV) and there is power in the agreement of two or three people in prayer:‘whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’ (Mark 11:24 TNIV) The church has been given spiritual authority by Jesus and victories come not because of our strength, wisdom or power, but because of God, whose power is unleashed when His people learn to agree with Him and use the authority He has given them. Remember ‘five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.’ (Lev 26:8 TNIV) and ‘One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.’ (Joshua 23:10 TNIV)

As we learn to agree with God, accepting His will for our lives as Mary did, we allow His promises to shape our lives, fuel our futures and determine our destinies.

As I looked at the tiling in the kitchen, I was reminded once again of how much I love tessellated shapes (where one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, are fitted together with no overlaps and no gap.)

I love hexagons because they fit together so well:

Lots of tiles actually use tessellated patterns on them to make them look prettier:

I suppose I like tessellation because I like order and symmetry; I like things to fit together neatly and without mess. And I’d very much like this process to extend to life as well: neat, tidy, ordered, no mess, no leftover bits!

Sadly, I haven’t found life to be always like that. Nor is the church like that, for the church is made up of people of differing ages, temperaments and giftings. The church is made up of people who ‘like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Pet 2:5 TNIV). If you look at old church buildings, the stones are individual and are not all the same shape or size, yet they are fitted together to make an amazing edifice that has often stood the test of time.

Some tessellated shapes are much more complicated than squares, diamonds or hexagons. I always think of the church a little like this image, more like a jigsaw puzzle of shapes that don’t apparently fit together at all!

Proverbs 27:17 TNIV says ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’ We refine each other, knocking off corners and edges so that we fit together. This process is not painless. Sometimes we don’t like the people God has placed us with, but just as we cannot choose the members of our natural families, so we cannot choose our brothers and sisters in Christ! God chooses us (John 15:16 TNIV) and builds us together like living stones. One day we will all fit together perfectly, as perfectly as any tessellated shape. Bear that in mind during the day’s sharpenings!

After the fitting of the units came the tiling:

Throughout September, we are praying for economic regeneration in our area and we are grateful that God has supplied the funds for us to be able to employ local businesses in the refurbishment work that is being done in the building. Our thanks go to those who have helped in any way with the kitchen work!