Stephen spoke about courage this morning. The lion in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ lacked courage; he wasn’t at all brave or fearsome like we would expect a lion to be, but was little more than a pussycat! For him, courage was ‘over the rainbow’, something in the distant future.

In the Bible, some characters seem very courageous (think of David, the little lad, taking on the big giant, Goliath). Others don’t seem very brave at all (think of Jonah, who preferred to turn tail and run in the opposite direction when facing something daunting.) Nonetheless, courage can be found and is available to us because God is always with us.

Genesis 26:24 says ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant, Abraham.’ Ultimately, it is God’s presence with us that is the source of our courage. Joshua was told ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Josh 1:9) God is with us ‘wherever we go’. Because of this we can do amazing things (Ps 18:29), such as scaling a wall or advancing against the enemy! Life situations may vary, but God’s help is versatile, able to reach into whatever situations we may face.

Psalm 46:1 tells us that ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble’. Whatever befalls us and comes against us will not prevail (see Is 54:7), because we can call on God – a God who is near, not distant, one who is willing to help us in all circumstances.

A special night of worship is being held on Saturday 1st December at 7.30 p.m. at the Chantry Chapel (off St Mary in the Bridge) in Wakefield. This is called ‘There Is A Light’ and is intended to be a prophetic statement about Jesus being the Light of the world. Many of you will remember Ant and Sarah Lee who were with us in Goldthorpe while Ant was a student at Mattersey Bible College. They will be leading this worship night and we are all invited to join in!

We are also involved in a joint churches’ carol service on Friday 21st December at 7 p.m. Local churches in Goldthorpe will be joining together to celebrate Christ outdoors (the service will be held, weather permitting, in the grounds of Goldthorpe Parish Church on Lockwood Road). Do come along and join in this service – children from local schools will also be joining us for this occasion.

Our own carol service will be held at church on Sunday 23rd December, starting at 6 p.m. That will be a mix of the traditional and the not-so-traditional and will definitely be an interactive service!

This is a tremendous time to speak to our friends, colleagues and neighbours of the ‘reason for the season’ and we would encourage you to invite people to these services and to make every effort to attend local services where we can join together in lifting up Jesus Christ.

Last Sunday we had a belated birthday to celebrate!

What does making ropes have to do with waiting?

Well, when researching the sermon on waiting, I came across an interesting fact. The Hebrew word often translated ‘wait upon’ is ‘qavah’. It is also often translated as ‘hope.’ In Isaiah 40:31, for example, in the KJV it is translated ‘those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength’ and in the NIV as ‘those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.’

‘Qavah’ is from a root meaning to bind together strands as in making a rope. One of my favourite places is the ropemakers’ shop, Outhwaites, in Hawes.

They have been ropemakers in this lovely village since 1725 and you can learn about the history of ropemaking there, as well as see how ropes are made nowadays. In the past, though, making ropes was a long and painstaking process that took time, with all the individual strands having to be bound together to make a strong rope – such as is used in bell-ringing. Individual threads were twisted together on a hand-powered machine which resembled a large spinning wheel. It’s not difficult to see how this job took time and couldn’t be rushed and how the Hebrew word, therefore, came to have secondary meanings such as “look patiently”, “tarry or wait,” and “hope, expect, look eagerly” – hence the different translations in our Bibles.

As a student, I had to read a lot of plays by existentialist authors, people who believed that there was no meaning to life and definitely no God. One of these plays is called ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Becket which follows a pair of men who divert themselves while waiting expectantly, vainly, for someone named Godot to arrive. They claim he’s an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognise him when they do see him. To occupy the time they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide – anything “to hold the terrible silence at bay.” The fact remains that Godot never arrives and he has become a symbol for pointless waiting and for the meaningless of life. Some have even said that the play is a metaphor for the existentialist belief that there is no God.

Waiting for God is not at all like that. Psalm 130 tells us to watch and wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, but this waiting is not at all pointless or meaningless.

The psalm starts with a prayer ‘out of the depths.’ We often find ourselves in despair, but even when we are faced with desperate situatins, we can cry out to God, holding on to what we know of Him (that with Him there is forgiveness, redemption and unfailing love.) We are not promised a trouble-free existence (see John 16:33, John 15:58), but Psalm 130 gives us a strategy for what to do in troubled times. We wait for the Lord. We hope in the Lord.

A night watchman’s job is not at all glamorous or exciting, but that does not make it unimportant. We are so used to measuring our worth by our actions, by our productivity, that sometimes we get frustrated by waiting. We would rather be like Abraham, organising a son for ourselves, than wait for God to perform a miracle. We would rather be like Moses who killed an Egyptian because he thought that was the easiest way to get rid of oppression than wait forty years in Midian for the miracle of a burning bush. We don’t understand how Joseph can wait so patiently in prison when he’s been wrongfully accused and ill-treated; we’d have been organising great escapes worthy of Steve McQueen, if that had been us! We can sympathise with Saul’s impatience at having to wait seven whole days for Samuel to arrive just so that there was an anointed priest to offer a sacrifice: no wonder he thought it didn’t matter who did the offering!

Why do we have to wait? What does God teach us in the waiting? Why doesn’t He just work on our timescales?

(1) Waiting teaches us to trust.
It requires faith to wait (see 2 Cor 5:7). As the song goes,
“You are working in our waiting,
Sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding,
You’re teaching us to trust.”(‘Sovereign Over Us’, Aaron Keyes)

We have to trust that God knows what He is doing and is in control and waiting forces us to trust God rather than our own understanding.

(2) Waiting shapes our characters
God is even more interested in who we are than in what we do. He is working to develop the character of Christ in us through the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22-23, 2 Pet 1:5-8).

(3) Waiting teaches us God’s perspective
God’s timing is not ours (2 Pet 3:8-9). We can learn so much if we have to wait – think of the story of Joseph! (see Gen 50:20). Even the worst that can happen (think of the horrors of Calvary) can be worked into God’s redemptive plans (see Acts 2:23-24). Nothing can hinder God’s plans. He is working all things together for good.

While we are waiting, what do we do? We continue to serve God faithfully, wherever we are, doing whatever He has called us to do. Waiting is not just a waste of time. As Eugene Peterson says when looking at the life of David in those wilderness years when he was running from Saul and wondering how on earth he was ever going to see the promise of becoming king of Israel fulfilled when it seemed doubtful he’d even survive much beyond his early twenties, “Biblical not-doing is neither sloth nor stoicism: it’s a strategy. When David sat down before God, it was prayer. It was entering into the presence of God, becoming aware of God’s word, trading in his plans for God’s plans, letting his enthusiasm for being a King with the authority and strength to do something for God be replaced with the willingness to become a King who could represent truly the sovereignty of God, the high King.” (Eugene Peterson, ‘Leap Over a Wall’)

‘Waiting Here For You’, Christy Nockels

Mark spoke from Isaiah 43:1-4 this morning, particularly looking at verse 2 which says “When you pass through the waters,I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

When the Bible talks about ‘waters’ in this way, it is talking about chaotic, stormy seas. The Hebrew word ‘mayhim’ (somewhat reminiscent of our ‘mayhem’) is also used in Gen 1:10 and indicates uncontrollable water forces. Water can be dangerous as well as beautiful, and the circumstances described in Isaiah 43 are anything but pleasant.

In Isaiah 42, God’s judgment has been poured out on Israel because of their disobedience and sin (‘burning anger…. violence of war‘), but in Isaiah 43 we see God renewing His covenantal promises and speaking of His unfailing love. God’s ‘but’ is big! When He speaks, He changes the situation around from punishment to protection and acts as our Redeemer. He is the God of the second chance. We are owned by Him, but that does not simply imply slavery and duty; we are cherished and protected by Him.

When we pass through the waters, it is not a pleasant experience. Mark talked of the film ‘The Perfect Storm’ which recounted the story of the crew of the Andrea Gail which got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. That film gives a graphic account of fierce storms at sea:

Nonetheless, whatever the circumstances, God has promised to bring us through the waters and help us to stand in the fast-flowing waters of rivers. He gives us His presence to guide us and lead us through. Similarly, fire is a terrifying experience to have to go through (think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), but God has promised to bring us through these circumstances. He will never leave us or forsake us.