Brenda’s family organised a barbecue to celebrate her special birthday and, with characteristic selflessness, she turned that into a fund-raising event for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Here is the church contingency enjoying the food!

‘Morning Rises’ is the name of the new Aaron Shust album, due out on 16th July and eagerly anticipated in our household! Today, I read an interview in ‘CCM Magazine’ about the album, in which Aaron Shust said, ‘My primary litmus test for choosing a song is theological accuracy accompanied by the power to mature the listener or singer. The songs need to elevate our view of God.’

You can read the interview here.

No wonder I’m looking forward to the new album!

What makes someone buy a book? (or a DVD or a CD or anything else, for that matter…) What is the ‘key factor’ in motivating someone to move from looking to purchasing? The marketing and advertising industries work hard at identifying that elusive ‘je ne sais quoi’ and luring consumers to buy the wares of clients who pay them a fortune to translate curiosity into hard cash. With regards to a book, is it the cover which catches the eye? The name of an established author? The genre? The format? The price? All these things probably matter. But I can think of two books I bought for the same reason alone: the title.

The first book I bought for this reason is called ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, a novel by Mark Haddon written from the viewpoint of fifteen-year-old Christian, a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome. I don’t normally even look at books in that genre and had never heard of Mark Haddon as an author. It was the title alone, with its literary allusion to Sherlock Holmes, which made me pick up the book in a shop. I actually don’t like the cover much and was not even that impressed by the announcement ‘Winnner Whitbread Book of the Year’, since many ‘classics’ leave me cold. But the title drew me in and I was curious enough to buy the book. I loved it. I won’t spoil it for you if you’ve not read it, but suffice to say, if you have ever worked with a young person with Asperger’s or needed insight into how differently other people can think, this is the book for you.

The second book I bought because of its title was from Ampleforth Abbey a few weeks ago, entitled ‘Epiphanies of the Ordinary’ by Charlie Cleverly.

Apparently that phrase was first used by James Joyce, a hundred years ago, but I was not drawn in by any literary allusion this time, not even by the ‘fireworks’ style of the cover, though I did quite like the idea of revelation being like luminescent fireworks. It was the juxtaposition of the two nouns which drew me. ‘Epiphanies’ – ‘a manifestation of a divine being, or any sudden and important manifestation or realisation’, from the Greek epiphanainein, ‘commonly used in the singular to mean the Christian festival observed on 6 January commemorating (in the Western church) the manifestration of Jesus to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi.’ (adapted from the Shorter English Dictionary, 2002) The whole idea of such revelation, such ‘unveiling’, being found in the ordinary made me pick up the book and want to read it.

I don’t know if I am a ‘typical reader’ or if any advertising guru is interested in those reasons for choosing books. But I am certainly enjoying this new book as it explores ‘powerful encounters with God’ and had to smile at the opening chapter, which began (exactly as I had done before opening it!) with a dictionary definition and then went on to talk about the need to ‘stop, look and listen’. Now where have I heard that before?!

A number of people have birthdays this coming week, so we had fun celebrating these last night.

Two people share the same birthday. Eileen brought her own tiara to wear instead of the ‘birthday hat’, as she is lovingly referred to as ‘The Queen’ by our pastor! The first photo shows a regal wave:

The second is a more normal pose!

Next on the box was Brenda:

(Don’t forget the barbecue at her house on Wednesday from 6.30 p.m. onwards as a fund-raiser for Marie Curie Cancer Care & birthday celebration.)

There was birthday cake to celebrate, with exquisite icing:

We also celebrated the return of our youngest member, back from major surgery in Oxford. We are very grateful for the skill of surgeons and for God’s grace and help at these difficult times; it was great to see him looking so well and alert!

It’s good to celebrate as a family, rejoicing with members of all ages and looking to God at all times, whatever the circumstances.

Although Isaiah 7:14 is a Scripture traditionally the focus of Christmas services, it’s always good to reflect on the fact that Jesus is ‘Immanuel, God with us’. Mark spoke on this topic last night, starting by commenting that we perhaps would not really want any person to be with us every second of every day! In the Old Testament, God’s presence was with people at certain times (eg with the ark of the covenant or God’s Spirit resting on prophets at times), but His presence was not always visible or permanent. In the New Testament, Jesus came to dwell with manking and remains with us through His Spirit.

Isaiah 7:14 is Isaiah’s prophecy predicting the arrival of Jesus, ‘a human baby bearing undiminished deity’ (in the words of Michael Card, in his song ‘Immanuel’). Matthew 1:21-23 records the fulfilment of that prophecy. The meaning of the word ‘Immanuel’ is rich:

* ‘God’ = the awesome creator, the Alpha and the Omega, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God, dwelling ‘with’; – accompanying, by the side of; ‘us’, available to all people everywhere. God is with us in every situation: in times of trouble and of need, in times of happiness and joy; even when we perhaps do not want Him to be with us, such as in times of our disobedience and sin. He knows our thoughts as well as our words and is with us at all times (see Psalm 139:1-14).

Isaiah 8:5-10 again refers to God as ‘Immanuel’. Even when the people of Israel felt shattered by captivity and sin, God was still working on their behalf. They had to bear the consequences of their sin, but they were not forsaken by God. We are never abandoned by Him.

God’s presence with us brings responsibility to us. We need to live our lives with an awareness of His presence.

‘Immanuel’, Michael Card

John spoke this morning on the subuject of the cross, looking at Romans 5:1-11 as his main text.

1. The Planning of the Cross
The cross was no afterthought in God’s polans, but was planned before the foundation of the world (see 1 Peter 1:19-20, Revelation 13:8, Ephesians 1:4). It was no contingency plan, but was God’s only plan for salvation.

2. The Promise of the Cross
Just as Abraham realised that God would provide an offering when asked to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac, so too Jesus is the Lamb of God, the fulfilment of God’s promises to His people down the ages (see Genesis 18:18, Matthew 1).

3. The Pattern of the Cross
Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins and the Passover in the Old Testament foreshadowed the manner in which Jesus would obtain our salvation for us. Israel was liberated from the bondage of Egypt through the shedding of the blood of the lamb and we are liberated from the bondage of sin through the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus bore our punishment and became the sacrifice for sin; we only have to ‘look and live’.

4. The Passion of the Cross
Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame. God’s love was the motivating passion for sending Jesus to the cross (see John 3:16). We are assured of God’s abundant pardon (see Is 55:7) because of His great love for us, manifested on the cross.

5. The Purpose of the Cross
The cross was the means by which man was reconciled to God. Romans 5:8 reminds us that even while we were God’s enemies, His love was so great for us that Jesus died for us. Romans 8:15-16 tells us we are no longer slaves to a spirit of fear but have been adopted into God’s family and can call God our Father (‘Abba’). We are restored to the place of God’s children (1 John 3:2, John 1: 11-12).

6. The Power of the Cross
The cross gives us the ability to live in victory over sin. Romans 6:14 reminds us that we are no longer slaves to sin, but are slaves to righteousness. We are changed and set free by the power of the cross. Newness of life is available to us (Rom 6:19-23, 2 Cor 5:17).

7. The Priority of the Cross
Our priority now is to bear witness to what Christ has done on the cross (see Acts 5:32, Acts 13:32, 1 Tim 6:11-14). The most powerful way to bear witness to the cross is to live in the shadow of the cross. Just as Jonah’s mission was to preach to the Ninevites and see God work a transformation in these people, so we can see God transform our society as we bear witness to the importance of the cross.

8. The Position of the Cross
Historically, the cross is behind us, but it should always be the focus of our attention and it reminds us where we have come from and where we are going. Gal 6:14 says that we should glory only in the cross, which needs no embellishment. We have to press on, acknowledging the importance of the cross in our lives and in history.

9. The Preaching of the Cross
The cross is the only life-changing message in the world. Paul resolved to know nothing except Christ Jesus and Him crucified. The cross is the divine programme by which the Holy Spirit reveals sin, righteousness and judgment to the world.

Let’s focus on the cross!