There is a lot of precision work involved in fitting a kitchen!

Can you see the join?

All of this work goes to make the finished product:

In the same way that we marvel at the precision and skill of a craftsman who is skilled in his work, we need to understand that each one of us is God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10 TNIV). God is the master craftsman who is working with great precision on our lives. Nothing that happens to us is by accident; nothing is wasted. In His omniscience, love and compassion, He works all things together for good (Rom 8:28 TNIV) so that the ‘finished product’ – which we do not yet see (1 John 3:1-2 TNIV) – may be complete and perfect, not lacking anything (James 1:3-5 TNIV).

The kitchen was re-plastered and the work has continued for the past two weeks.

The work doesn’t always look to be progressing!

Then new things appear:

Working on the sinks:

It’s starting to look more finished:

The Big Church Day Out in Sussex took place in May, a time of worship and teaching. The sessions can now be viewed on GodTV, so if you are just back from the One Event in Lincoln and need a reminder of what it’s like to worship with thousands or you just want to be able to join in with worship, click on the links below and sing along!

General link to interviews and performances:
Big Church Day Out 2013

Matt Redman live at the Big Church Day Out
Matt Redman
You might be interested to know that Matt’s new live album ‘Your Grace Finds Me‘ is released on September 24th. He talks about the new album here. I personally can’t wait!
Interview about ‘Your Grace Finds Me’

Phil Wickham live at the Big Church Day Out
Phil Wickham
You might also like to know that Phil Wickham’s new album ‘The Ascension’ is also due for release on September 24th. Two great albums, one date to remember! Some of the new songs feature in the video; I particularly liked the song ‘When My Heart Is Torn’, which speaks of the transitory nature of our suffering in comparison to the glory to come.

Brenton Brown live at the Big Church Day Out
Brenton Brown

Rend Collective Experiment at the Big Church Day Out
Rend Collective Experiment
“In the kingdom of God, it’s not about uniformity but unity… We don’t follow a God who makes churches and people like Starbucks make coffees…There are so many different backgrounds, so many different ideas…”

Hillsong at the Big Church Day Out
Hillsong

The topic for prayer for September is regeneration.

Regeneration:
* a process of re-birth
* spiritual, moral and economic reform
* to be given new life or energy
* revitalisation

Let’s pray for urban, economic and spiritual regeneration. Pray that God will:
• cause businesses to grow and thrive in Goldthorpe
• help jobs to be created in the area
• cause plans for the new primary school to go ahead
• cause the people in Barnsley M.B.C. to spend the monies available on projects to help and encourage young people
• cause new houses to be built in this area
• bring Christian people into the area so that they can be involved in spiritual revival
• empower us for His service
• bring new life to people in this area

“We believe, that the work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith, is not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the mighty, efficacious and irresistible grace of God.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” (Isaiah 58:12 TNIV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 TNIV)

Garry continued his series ‘Looking For Heroes’ last night by preaching on Matt 5:8 TNIV (‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’)

‘Pure’ meana to be clean, to be purified, washed out, cleared of stains. It can be used literally (think of all those washing powder advertisements!) and figuratively. When Jesus healed lepers, they were clean and pure; in John 15:3 TNIV, Jesus told His disciples that they were already clean because of the word He had spoken to them.

In our natural state, however, we are not pure. Prov 20:9 TNIV and Rom 3:23 TNIV makes this very plain: we cannot keep our hearts pure. The only way we can ascend the hill of the Lord is to have clean hands and a pure heart (Ps 24:3-4 TNIV), but purity is not something we can attain on our own. The most we can ever hope to achieve is to be ‘pure in our own eyes’ (see Prov 30:11-12 TNIV), which might seem good enough if we’re comparing ourselves to other people, but won’t stand comparison with God! The natural state of mankind is to be unclean (see Rom 1:18-25 TNIV).

Thankfully, we do not have to employ caustic washing powders to cleanse our hearts; rather, God has promised us cleansing and a new heart (see Ezek 36:25-26 TNIV). We are given a new heart, a new start and a new outlook. God Himself gives us the pure heart we need to stand before Him (Heb 10:22 TNIV), but we have to maintain that through our own lifestyles and choices.

2 Cor 7:1 TNIV says ‘Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting ourselves out of reverence for God.’ God is working in us and with us to change us and to bring His work of grace in our lives to completion. Heb 12:1 TNIV reminds us that we have a part to play, however. In the Message version, it talks of ‘parasitic sins’ and it is true that sin can cling to us like leeches or mosquitoes, sucking on our very blood and weakening us over time, even though we may feel the ‘sins’ are inconsequential or insignificant in themselves. We have to be relentless with ourselves (2 Tim 2:22 TNIV) since God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life (1 Thess 4:7 TNIV).

The process of becoming pure is likened to the refining of gold and silver (and God’s word is compared to these precious metals in Ps 12:6 TNIV). Precious metals were refined through a repeated process of heating and skimming the scum off the top of the molten metal. This is what times of testing and trial do to us (see Ps 66:10 TNIV). Every time we resist temptation and refuse to give in to the parasitic sins which so easily entangle us, we are made stronger and refined further. It’s easy to stop and think we can afford to ‘take it easy’ (Prov 6:10-11 TNIV), but the consequences if we do are deadly. We never ‘arrive’ on earth in the sense that this struggle with sin will always continue while we are in this mortal body, but as we persevere, we have the promise of seeing God as our reward.

‘My One Thing’, Rich Mullins

One of the things I tend to do when I am thinking about a sermon is to look at different ways of expressing the truths I have heard. Synonyms are similar ways of saying the same thing. So as I was thinking about ‘pivotal point incidents’, moments in our lives when things are ‘tipped’ in one direction and the direction of our lives changes, I considered other ways of putting this.

‘Coming to a crossroads’ reminded me of Mark’s sermon ‘The Dream Cross Code’ back in April. You have to decide which way to take when you’re at a crossroads; you can’t just stay there forever!

A ‘defining moment’ or ‘do or die’ time are other ways of putting this. You’re at a ‘critical juncture’ or a ‘crisis point’. You’re at the ‘point of no return’ or we could say it’s a ‘sink or swim’ time. You’re at the ‘turning point’, or ‘zero hour’. You’re at ‘high noon’; it’s the ‘moment of truth’ for you. You’re about to ‘cross the Rubicon’ (which refers to Julius Caesar’s army’s crossing of the river in 49 BC, which was considered an act of insurrection, and therefore signalled ‘no turning back’ for him in that situation.)

All of these synonyms show us how crucial a P.P.I. is in our lives. There is usually a build-up to these moments; they can’t always be predicted ahead of time. But an encounter with God will always transform us and change us. Paul says, ‘we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ (2 Cor 3:18 TNIV). Let’s contemplate Him and be aware that in so doing, our lives will be transformed into His image.