Dave preached from Acts 19:8-20 last night, looking at how the church in Ephesus engaged in prayer, one of the chief weapons in our armoury. Ephesus was a city in the grip of superstition, sexual immorality and witchcraft. People lived in fear and darkness, but Paul lived out spiritual warfare long before he wrote about it in 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians 6! He knew that the stronghold of darkness could be overcome by truth, love and righteousness and that the power of God was stronger than any other power he would ever encounter.

He began his ministry in the synagogue, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God, but there was opposition from some Jews. They became obstinate, hardened their hearts, refused to obey and publicly maligned the Way. Paul moved on to rented accommodation, lecturing each day (probably from about 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.) for two years and building the people up in truth. Teaching is an essential part of church life.

Extraordinary miracles followed the preaching and teaching of the Word, with many healings and deliverances being seen. Paul continued with his ministry even when others tried to jump on the ‘Jesus bandwagon’, exercising the same kind of deliverance ministry without the authority of Christ – only to find themselves overcome by the demonic powers who knew Jesus and knew about Paul but who failed to respond to those dabbling in things too powerful for them. Paul’s preaching and teaching resulted in many people confessing their sins and getting rid of their old ways of living. Evil deeds and the practice of astrology and the occult were renounced.

The church in our day needs to live as the church in Ephesus did, in the power of the Spirit and in the authority of God’s Word. We need to learn from Paul’s example and be available for God to use; we need to teach truth (believing God’s Word will not return to us empty) and we need, above all, to love people. Love is the key to earning the right to be heard.

It is easy for us to look down on ourselves, believing ourselves ‘just’ to be a small church. We may be a small church, but we have a big God. Great things can be accomplished wherever people look to the power and greatness of God rather than focussing on their own weaknesses and size!

The last time Stephen preached, he spoke from Luke 9 about the commission Jesus gave to His disciples – and how that commission took priority over all other things and involved trusting Jesus totally. Today, he looked at the practical outworkings of that through the healing of a man, told in Acts 3.

Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer – the implication is that this is something they did regularly, so presumably that had seen the crippled men begging at the gates before. On this occasion, however, when they were asked for money, they did far more than offer material aid.

Peter declared that they did not have any silver or gold that would help the man, but revealed that they had something far more helpful! They introduced the man to Christ and Christ’s healing. Not only did the man receive physical healing, however; he was introduced to spiritual life through this miracle (he began walking and jumping and praising God!)

We need to offer whatever we have to those in need. Sometimes it is relatively easy (and safe) to offer material help. We need to ensure, however, that we also introduce Christ into people’s situations, for more than anything else, people need Christ and the life He offers.

Every week members of the church faithfully serve the local community through the coffee mornings. It’s a great way to meet people and to enjoy a drink and a snack!

1 Samuel 7 tells the story of an Israelite victory against the Philistines and what they did to mark that victory: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.” (1 Sam 7:12-13)

The hymn ‘Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing’ takes up this theme in one of the verses:
“Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.”

Today on our final prayer walk of January, we walked round one of the new estates on the west side of Goldthorpe, actually in Highgate, and saw this:

I’m not quite sure what these stones represent or if it was just the fact it had snowed overnight that made them stand out so much, but they reminded me of this passage in 1 Samuel. As God gives victories, we need to remember them and mark them in some way so that we remember ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us’. And if the Lord has helped us this far, He won’t let us down in the future!

Some other streets we saw:

It is 7:15 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I am up early, marking tests from school. This can be both encouraging (when students have worked hard, heeded advice, revised well and succeeded) and discouraging (especially when students have clearly not worked hard, have disregarded advice, not revised and consequently have not fulfilled their potential.)

As a teacher, what I find the most frustrating is when I have laboured a point, underlining its importance, explaining its relevance and generally highlighting something in as many different ways and formats as I can possibly find only to find this completely ignored by students. I find myself writing comments such as “you need to pay more attention in lessons” or “it would help if you heeded instructions more” over and over again.

The phrase that comes most clearly to mind is from Hebrews 2:1. I learnt this in the 1984 NIV translation which says “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” However, more recent translations of the NIV say “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” The language teacher in me pricks up her ears at that: there is a difference between the comparative (more careful) and the superlative (most careful). Thayer’s definition of that word (perissoterōs) says ‘especially, above others’. I can see why the translation has been amended. I also like the Message’s version: “It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off.”

Giving our full attention to what we have heard is not just something for school children. It is a vital principle for life. We need to pay attention to what God is saying. We need to hear and to heed what He says and apply it to our everyday lives if we are not to drift away. Drifting is not intentional. But it requires perseverance and effort not to drift. If we do not pay attention to our spiritual life, it will deteriorate. As James has reminded us, we need to do more than just hear the word, we need to obey it!

Tonight we finished studying James 4, by looking at verses 13-17. Here, the theme of humility we studied in the preceding verses is contrasted with arrogance, for those who are arrogant think they can make plans with no regard to or thought of God. Such boasting about tomorrow and making elaborate plans is futile (see Luke 12 and the Parable of the Rich Fool). All our plans should be made with an eye to God’s will and an openness to have Him direct us and guide us, for He ultimately is the giver and sustainer of all life.

A right view of ourselves (especially when considering eternity) will keep us humble and help us to acknowledge that all we have and are comes directly from God. We need to seek first God’s kingdom and lay aside treasure in heaven (see Matt 6:19-21), rather than allowing the world’s love of money to rub off on us. Godliness with contentment is great gain (see 1 Tim 6:6-10), but it is all too easy to allow all kinds of greed to take over our lives.

James concludes by reminding us that we can sin by omission as well as by commission: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” (James 4:17) Once our eyes have been opened to the good we ought to do, then it is sinful not to do good. Just as all boasting and bragging is evil because it raises ourselves to the status which belongs rightfully only to God, “if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.” (The Message) James concludes this chapter with his usual forthright commands which pierce our complacency and show us what true religion really looks like.