Mark spoke from Hebrews 12:1-2 this morning, the second in a trilogy of sermons from Hebrews (the first looked at Hebrews 2, ‘But we see Jesus’). In these verses we read about the joy set before Jesus and the need for endurance.

Things we have to endure are often not the enjoyable things in life: we don’t talk about ‘enduring’ a lovely meal or ‘enduring’ a great night out. The most painful part of Jesus’s life produced the most fruit and joy, however. He endured the cross, shame and humiliation because He saw the ultimate joy which would come from it.

Just as joy was set before Jesus, we have to run the race marked out for us with perseverance. The word ‘perseverance’ in verse 1 is from the same root as ‘endure’ in verse 2; the plan marked out for us by God has the same elements as the plan marked out for Jesus. Endurance produces joy.

James 1:2 reminds us that we should count it as pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. Psalm 30:4-5 reminds us that weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. There are cycles in life (see Ecclesiastes 3) – times of weeping and times of rejoicing, seasons for joy and for suffering. Psalm 16:11 reminds us that “You have made known to me the path of life; You wil fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”

As God shows us the path of life, there wil be joy – even in suffering, for we know that God works all things together for good. Isaiah 61:1-3 reminds us of the divine exchanges that are offered to us: beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness for mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, righteousness for unrighteousness. God conducts the whole universe to bring us joy.

Romans 15:13 gives us one of Paul’s prayers: “May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The Amplified version says “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.” The ultimate end to this great plan God has for us is joy. We may be in a season of suffering right now or we may be going through great joy, but whatever our season, we can know that there is joy ahead, for God has promised us long-term joy!

My boss -a faith-filled optimist who is the Tigger to my Eeyore as far as personality is concerned – is fond of saying “Change is here to stay.” He views change as inevitable and with the same enthusiasm and anticipation that a child awaits Christmas, whereas I tend to view change with wide-eyed terror, since it means moving out of my comfort zone and leaving behind all that is comfortable and familiar.

Change is indeed inevitable, however, so I have to learn to adapt. I am currently re-reading Eugene Peterson’s commentary on the life of David, ‘Leap Over A Wall’. I’ve reached the part where finally (after 132 pages and 37 years for David) David is king over all Israel. Change, therefore, was inevitable for him: he was no longer on the run, hiding from Saul, in fear for his life; he was no longer just king over Judah, a fragmented kingdom. The prophecies are about to be fulfilled!

Eugene Peterson comments that ‘change can also be a catalyst for growth. It can stimulate developing, deepening, lengthening, enlarging – our lives becoming more, not less.’ (‘Leap Over A Wall’, P 135) He talks about how David took Jerusalem and made it a strategic centre (effectively, the capital) when beforehand it had been a Jebusite town of no importance.

2 Samuel 5:10 says “And David became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.” Eugene Peterson, in the Message translation of this, says, “David proceeded with a longer stride, a larger embrace since the GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies was with him.”

He goes on to say, “He lengthened his stride. He did the unexpected when he took Jersualem… He enlarged his embrace. He included more and more people under his rule and in his love. He gathered all God’s children, not just those who had been on his side, helping him out through the difficult years… Maturity translated into generosity, into reaching out to make peace with the northern tribes. David didn’t use his newly acquired strength and authority to destroy or denigrate others. He gathered and integrated and led.”

The thing that struck me most about this chapter, however, was when Eugene Peterson contrasted change with growth. Our culture greedily wants change for the sake of something new, throwing away the old and hankering after novelty. He says, “God’s way is growth, not change. Organic is a key image. Nothing from our past is thrown out with the garbage. It’s all composted and assimilated into a growing life.”

Change is inevitable; growth is not. Growth is what we do with change – or perhaps, more importantly, what we allow God to do with the changes in our lives.

Fear. What do you think when you hear that word?

The noun ‘fear’ is defined as ‘an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.’ The verb ‘to fear’ is defined as ‘to be afraid of (someone or something)perceived as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.’ Few of us like feeling fear, even if at times we can see that fear can be beneficial (not to be afraid of a hot fire, for example, could lead us to injure ourselves.)

Over and over again in the Bible, God tells us not to be afraid (Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 27:1, Matt 10:28-31, Matt 17:7, Mark 5:36, Luke 12:7, John 6:20, 1 John 4:18). Yet so often, particularly when faced with difficult circumstances or fresh challenges, we do feel afraid.

I read a blog recently which talked about ‘The Fear’. The capital letters made me smile, for indeed, fear often seems bigger than the mere word or dictionary definition. It does feel like a capital-letter-kind-of-thing! The writer (Tom Bennett) talked about how many jobs ‘will magnify your fears of inadequacy like an echo in a Swiss valley. You never stop doubting yourself. The fear is only contained, never conquered.’ That seemed a refreshingly honest and very true comment to me.

Although writing in the context of teaching, I think his words are so relevant to life that they are worth repeating:

“Set free, the Fear conquers us; every failure at school looms as tall as Jack’s beanstalk; it haunts us in the dark; it nags us awake when we should be resting, and nips us when we should be thinking of anything else. The Fear is jealous, and needy.

Some might even call that the definition of success.” (Tom Bennett)
Dealing with ‘The Fear’, Tom Bennett

Jesus knew the devastating power of fear. He knew how it can cripple us, paralyse us, leave us curled up in a ball in the corner of a room sobbing or how it can act like invisible chains, binding us to false gods, false masters. He knew how it robs us of self-worth and self-belief; how it makes us self-centred, selfish, narrow-minded, squinty-eyed people with no room to love anyone else because we are so self-absorbed. He also knew that His love has the power to break through all our fear, how perfect love can drive out fear.

I am not sure that we ever truly do tame this beast called fear. I do believe, however, that the beast cowers before Almighty God and that there is no place for two gods! I think the choice is given to us by God: will we allow Him to be God or will we believe the lies of this false god? As the song ‘Ready for You’ says: “We decide to leave our fears behind for liberty.” Or as Jeremy Camp sings, “With fearless faith I won’t be moved/ Unshakeable inside Your truth.” (‘Reckless’)

Truth sets us free. Fears have to be faced and often, we can’t conquer them on our own, no matter how many self-help books we read or positive thinking seminars we attend. But we have the ‘God of Angel Armies’ as our friend. We have Almighty God on our side. We have a Guardian, Protector, Guide, Best Friend and Fortress to protect us. We are not alone in this struggle with fear. It doesn’t have to have the capital letter or last word in our lives. Only God has that right.

Once again, I’ve found a song that captures where I am – ‘standing on the edge of something new‘, with hearts open wide, longing for God to move us ‘further than we’ve ever been before’ – and I hope it reflects the heart of what God is doing in our church at this season:

“Here we are, standing on the edge of something new
Lead us on, further than we’ve ever been before
With hands held high, be glorified,
Our hearts now cry

Where You are, freedom reigns
For Christ has set us free.
We decide to leave our fears behind for liberty.
With hands held high, be glorified,
Our hearts now cry.” (‘Ready for You’, Luke Hellebronth & Nick Herbert & Ben Cantelon)

‘Ready for You’, Luke Hellebronth & Nick Herbert & Ben Cantelon
explanation of and teaching video of the song

Last night at the Worship Central UK Tour in Sheffield, we had the privilege in joining with other Christians from local churches to worship God and to learn about gratitude.

Worship Central released a live album ‘Let It Be Known’ last week and many of the songs sung were from that. The set list is given below:

* 10,000 Reasons
* Hallelujah
* Guardian
* God Most High
* Happy Day
* Let It Be Known
* Ready for You
* Breathe on me
* You are holy
* The Same Power

Tim Hughes & Al Gordon introducing the evening:

Al Gordon spoke from Luke 7:35-50 on the woman who anointed Jesus with the costly perfume. He spoke about the importance of gratitude, quoting G. K. Chesterton: “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” The benefits of gratitude are physical, emotional and spiritual.

1) Gratitude shapes the heart.
Al spoke about how he had proposed to his wife in Paris and been so utterly grateful when she actually accepted the proposal of marriage! When we realise all God has done for us, our hearts are filled with gratitude, as happened in Luke 7. ‘Gratitude is the memory of the heart’, a French proverb says and Jesus has delivered us from all the rubbish in our lives. Simon the Pharisee was outwardly religious but was missing what God was doing, whereas the woman, though outwardly sinful, grasped all that Jesus could do for her. God wants to shape our hearts and this process starts with two simple words: ‘thank you’.

2) Gratitude shapes the house
The Pharisee did not welcome Jesus into his house, but the woman did all that a host was supposed to do. We need church to be more than a ‘house of politeness’, where things are done properly. It needs to be a house of praise: praise which will always be extravagant, embarrassing and costly. God is drawn to gratitude like a magnet! Jesus turned to the woman and faced her: if we want God’s face to shine us, we need to have gratitude and express this.

3) Gratitude shapes history
Thankfulness leads to fruitfulness; Jesus told the woman ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ The woman was changed by Jesus. History belongs to those who hunger for God and who are changed by Him. We carry with us the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor 2:15) and enter His presence with the password ‘Thank You’. Others then see and are drawn to the presence of God within us.

The evening concluded with prayer and praise, singing:
* Dry Bones
* Spirit, Break Out
* The Cross Stands
* For Your Glory (We Will Dance)
* Dance
* Let It Be Known
fun video of ‘Let It Be Known’

Just to let people know that there will be a prayer meeting this Thursday (21st March) as well as next Thursday (28th March). This is largely due to a number of people being away this Thursday – and as we approach the end of the book of James, no one wants to miss the final instalments!

Some of us will be away this Thursday because we are at a worship/music training event in Sheffield, led by Worship Central, an organisation headed by Tim Hughes among others which seeks to ‘encounter God, equip the worshipper and empower the church.’ We have a lot of respect for the people involved in this and are keen to learn more so that we are, indeed, better equipped to serve God in leading worship here in Goldthorpe, so please do pray for us. More details can be found here.