Mark continued looking at 1 Peter 2:9-10 on Sunday morning, this time asking the question ‘What am I to God and to others?’ His main conclusion was that we are beautiful.

We are the apple of God’s eye (Ps 17:8), so valuable to Him that we were worth the sacrifice of Christ (Rom 5:8).Even while we were still offensive to God, Christ died for us. He has clothed us in a robe of righteousness, purified us by HIs precious blood and has made us beautiful in our time (Eccl 3:11)

The inner beauty Christ nurtures in us is then revealed to others. God looks for a humble heart (Ps 149:4); those who are humble recognise their position in relation to God and are not always striving after the world’s estimation of value. Micah 6:8 shows us the things that please God: to love mercy, to act justly and to walk humbly with God. When we live in right relationship to God, we will live in a right manner and will be kind and forgiving, abasing ourselves before God and living at peace with other people. As we do what is right, it pleases God and the love of God is shown in us. Because God has beautified us, we have an obligation to show that beauty in how we live in our own generation.

The refurbishment to the ladies’ toilets and kitchen floor has been done gradually over a period of about six to seven weeks. For much of that time, nothing much seemed to be happening, yet all the preparation work took a lot of time and effort. Dave and Joan have spent a lot of time in the building overseeing workmen and helping with various jobs, unseen to most people who turned up on Sundays, peeped behind the curtain and didn’t think much was going on! (It was interesting at the anniversary party last week to notice all those who had been involved in the plumbing go straight to the toilets before even greeting people to find out what the finished work was looking like!)

A number of thoughts have occurred to me as I have watched the work progress and seen the photos of the intermediate stages, many of which were unseen to the majority of church members, myself included.

1) Before there can be real progress and new things, there often has to be a period when things look even worse than they did before. When God talks about making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Is 43:19), we get very excited, but sometimes there has to be a stripping away of the old before the new can come. Ephesians 4 talks about what we have to put off before ever we can put on the new things of the Spirit (see Eph 4:22-32).

2) Real progress often takes time. We tend to be very impatient people and want the new stuff NOW, but God’s timescales are often very different to ours. Galatians 4:4 talks about Christ coming at the ‘set time’, the ‘right time’. Paul says ‘at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ dies for the ungodly.’ (Rom 5:6) When it comes to timing, we need to leave it to the professionals and not try to rush things along. Plaster needs time to dry before it can be painted. Things take longer than we would like. What is true in the natural is often also true in the spiritual realm. We are works in progress. God hasn’t finished with us yet and what we will be is not yet fully seen. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor 13:12)

3) We all have different talents and giftings. I would be absolutely useless at plumbing or plastering, but it’s always a pleasure to watch professionals do the job they have been trained to do. Sometimes, though, when we watch others do jobs for which we are not skilled, what they are doing doesn’t always make a lot of sense to us. That doesn’t really matter in the long run. When I mark books in a lesson, pupils ask me how I can do it so quickly, scanning work and noticing mistakes so efficiently. Years of practice and a keen eye for the written word make that job easy for me. Years of practice and skill at plumbing and plastering make that job easy for plumbers and plasterers. We may not understand someone else’s talents, and how they work may seem chaotic in the intermediate stages, but the end result is worth admiring. We too may not understand what God is doing in the intermediate stages of our lives (‘Why have You let this happen to me? What’s going on now, God?!’), but we can trust Him to work all things together for good and know that He is the ultimate professional!

The refurbishment in the ladies’ toilets was much more extensive and involved closing off the area for several weeks while the work was being done:

This is how it looked before all the work started:

Then all the old stuff had to be taken out:

We had to strip everything back to the brickwork (sounds familiar?!) before re-plastering could be done:

Then the re-plastering was done:

Plumbing and painting had to be sorted:

Piping was boxed in:

Preparation was made for the new flooring to go down:

It’s starting to look like a real floor again!

Then the new toilets and sink were installed:

Cubicle doors were fitted:

We also fitted a new hand-dryer and radiator:

Doors were added to the cubicles:

And there we are…!

A lot of refurbishment work has gone on in church over the school holidays. In the kitchen, new plinth heaters and new flooring have been put in and the ladies’ toilets have also been completely refurbished.

New plinth heaters in the kitchen:

Fitting the flooring in the kitchen:

New flooring:

Our thanks go to those who have helped in any way and we are happy to provide free advertising for a job well done!

The ladies’ toilets involved much more work… more photos to follow!

How do you wake up in the morning? Are you like me, awake before the alarm most days by some mysterious process of timing that you can’t explain to others? Or are you someone who has to be roused from slumber by an alarm clock (or several alarm clocks)? Do you feel like you never sleep anyway, so waking up is something you can’t really say you ever do?

Do you wake up grumpy and like to keep hitting the ‘snooze’ button, coming round gradually? Or do you leap out of bed straightaway and click straight into ‘day mode’? Can you be ‘up and at ’em’ within seconds of rousing or do you need time to have a cup of coffee and come round gradually before you face others?

We are all different and waking up can be different for all of us. But there is no doubt that God wants us to wake up. The psalmist said “Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.” (Ps 57:8) Isaiah urged Israel “Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength!” (Is 52:24). Paul urged the Thessalonians “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” (1 Thess 5:6) Revelation tells us “Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Rev 16:15)

Whatever personality type you are in waking up, let’s wake up, shake the sleep from our souls and serve God with all our might:

“In our hearts, Lord, in this nation
Awakening
Holy Spirit, we desire
Awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done, let Your will be done in me” (‘Awakening’, Chris Tomlin)
‘Awakening’, Chris Tomlin

‘Wake up! Rise up!
All the earth is singing
Louder, stronger
Shout it out and worship!’ (‘Wake Up’, Tim Hughes)
‘Wake Up’, Tim Hughes

Mr & Mrs was a TV show hosted by Derek Baley, where couples had to answer multiple choice questions about each other. Six out of six correct answers earned the couple a jackpot prize. Questions were fairly bland (asking whether you always, sometimes or never had serviettes with a meal, for example) and the theme tune incredibly cheesy.

To celebrate Dave and Joan’s Golden Wedding, we subjected them to a Mr & Mrs style quiz last night (though there were, sadly, no jackpot prizes to be won!) Questions ranged from their favourite colours (a bit of a trick question, since Dave is colour blind..!) to where they first met (the Embassy Dance Hall in Wakefield), to Dave’s favourite drink (ginger beer according to Joan, coffee according to Dave) to more serious topics such as the key to a successful marriage (good communication, according to Joan; Joan, according to Dave!)

Many thanks to Dave and Joan for being willing to answer the questions, but most of all, for showing us on a regular basis that marriage can be successful and fun and for modelling to us as a congregation what Christian marriage can look like. In an age where marriage is under increasing pressure in our Western society, it is good to celebrate God’s gift of marriage and to understand some of the Biblical principles and guidelines to a successful marriage. After all, marriage is also a symbol of the union between Christ and the church and last night we sang of this in the song ‘Beautiful’:
“When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more,
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring,
Your bride will come together and sing,
‘You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.’ ” (Phil Wickham, ‘Beautiful’)