Dave preached from Acts 4:8-14 this morning, looking at how Peter was changed from being with Jesus and how his boldness in speaking before the Sanhedrin was noticed by the leaders.

Peter, the local fisherman who was not well educated but whose impetuosity and hot-headedness had been his chief characteristics, was changed after Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, enabled to testify to the gospel. The leaders’ only explanation for this was that ‘these men have been with Christ’. What should people see if we have been with Christ?

We are urged to be ‘imitators of God’. A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus. Jesus displayed the following characteristics, which must be seen in our lives too:
(1) Courage
Jesus was not afraid to speak God’s truth to the religious leaders, to be bold and to face unpopularity. He was not afraid of men.
(2) Love
Jesus accepted children, wept over the widow’s son, had compassion on all around Him, prompting healings and miracles. Christ is love personified. Our lives should be characterised by the same mercy and kindness that Jesus displayed.
(3) Humility
Jesus lived with the poor, washed His disciples’ feet, showed no favouritism to the rich, was the friend of tax-collectors and sinners. We need to show humility and the same kind of service in all our living.
(4) Holiness
We need to deny ourselves and be devout, showing patience and forgiveness in all that we do.

Dave also spoke about where and when we should be imitators of God. We should be imitators of God in the world, in the church, at home and in secret and we need to be like Him at all times, not separating ‘secular’ from ‘sacred’, but striving to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Tonight we almost made it to the end of James chapter 1, looking at verses 19-25. In the context of the trials and temptations discussed so far, James’s injunction to ‘be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry’ is a timely reminder of how to respond to such things. As a preacher once said, we have two ears and one mouth, so we should be twice as ready to listen as to speak… but so often, it’s the other way round! Listening (to God, to other Christians, to people) is a skill that requires concentration and constant practice. It’s only when we really listen to God that we get the ‘bigger picture’ of what He is trying to do through the trials of life and can gain an eternal perspective on our ‘light and momentary troubles’ (2 Cor 4:17) which often weigh us down. As Michael Card reminds us in the song ‘Stillness and Simplicity’, ‘You’re the Word who must be heard/ by those who listen quietly.’ Jeremy Camp tells us ‘I need to stop so I can hear You speak’ (‘Slow Down Time’). So often if we would listen first before speaking, we would save ourselves (and others) a lot of trouble!

Proverbs 10:19-21 reminds us that hasty words, often blurted out in anger, will inevitably lead to sin, whereas the considered words of the righteous are like ‘choice silver’ which can ‘nourish’ people. Anger itself is our usual reaction to trials: selfish creatures that we are, we blame God, other people and anything we can think of for our problems but rarely want to acknowledge the role our own pride and sin has. Eph 4:26 reminds us ‘in your anger do not sin’ and shows us the way forward when we are angry: chiefly, not to let that anger fester but to resolve matters speedily. God’s word incisively reminds us that God’s righteous life doesn’t grow from human anger. In our ongoing struggles against temptation, we have to put aside all that would trip us up and on the other hand, humbly receive God’s word which is planted within us.

Receiving or accepting God’s word is no passive thing, however. It requires active obedience, as James points out: ‘Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.’ (Js 1:22) There is no escaping the scalpel or sword of the Spirit, which pierces us and shows us the way we should act. James reminds us, though, that every time that implanted word pierces us, we have a choice. We can disregard it, like someone who looks in a mirror and forgets straightaway what he looks like, or we can study it intently and then do what it says. We can never really win in our battles with God, so need to learn to obey what He says quickly and promptly – the way of living which leads to freedom and peace and blessings.

I’m listening to music this morning as I mark tests and it’s interesting to me to note the bass line in these songs.

Before my son started playing bass guitar, I’m sure I never even heard the bass line in songs. I was strictly a melody girl. The tune was all I was interested in and all I was capable of singing!

But a couple of weeks ago I went to Reading to a concert by the King’s Singers (The King’s Singers). These are six singers whose harmonies and ability to sing unaccompanied are amazing. It was enchanting to me to listen to them, understanding that the whole was made up of individual lines of music which in themselves were relatively straightforward (and even a little boring at times!) but the effect of putting those lines together was a rich tone that was capable of filling a concert hall with no artificial amplification whatsoever.

It occurs to me that life is a little bit like that. We all want the melodies, the tunes, the exciting moments which are eminently singable! But as I listen to music, the bass guitar when it enters enhances the song, giving it structure and safety, underlining the melody and giving shape to the music. Then the harmonies come in, adding richness and variety to the melody. It’s so much more satisfying to have these than ‘just’ the melody. Polyphony in music (having two or more independent melodic voices) is so much richer than monophony (just the one voice).

In life, we may be the equivalent of the bass guitar: not there all the time, adding only the occasional note, apparently quite insignificant, but actually very noticeable when absent. Or we may be the equivalent of the alto voice, not having all the exciting melodies but adding richness to the overall song. We may be the BGVs as they are known in the music industry (background vocals), often hardly heard, but fundamentally vital. The key thing for us to remember is that we are not solo artists in this journey of life, but part of the body of Christ: all necessary, all vital, all placed exactly where God wants us.

“You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptised.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.” (1 Cor 12:12-18, The Message)

We had two more birthdays to celebrate on Sunday: one belated and one in anticipation of this coming Friday!

Happy Birthday!

Mark spoke from Psalm 16:11 last night (“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”)

Being in God’s presence (literally, ‘face’) brings many advantages and blessings. There is nowhere we can go to flee from God’s presence (Ps 139:7-10). God is omnipresent and His presence is everywhere. His presence gives us direction (showing us the path of life), brings us not only joy, but overflowing joy and introduces us to pleasures that will last forever.

The pleasures and joy that we can know come from Jesus (who sits at God’s right hand.) God’s presence brings us into a right relationship with Him (Ps 17:2-7). He is our defender, able to protect us from the attacks of the enemy.

Ps 21:1-7 lists several other benefits of being in God’s presence:
* strength and salvation
* fulfilment of dreams
* eternal blessings
* life
* unfailing love
* mercy

Being in God’s presence brings us protection and shelter (Ps 31:20). We can hide in His presence and rest, leaving Him to work out the situations which are beyond us. Ps 51:10-12 shows us that when we are close to God, there is joy and the Holy Spirit works within us to grant us a willing spirit and to renew and restore and uphold.

We were designed to live in God’s presence (Ps 139:1-16) and yet so often we fail to perceive God’s presence. We may be with Him, but don’t give Him our full attention or allow circumstances to cloud our vision. May we learn to dwell in His presence and enjoy all the benefits this brings!

Stephen spoke this morning on vision, looking at Genesis 15:1 (“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward.'”)

Years ago, Stephen had a TV with no pre-set stations where you had to turn the dial to get a picture, or everything was all fuzzy:

Our earthly vision can be taken for granted, but we need spiritual vision too. God communicated personally to Abram (visions can be general or individual); we all need to hear directly from Him.

In this vision, God tells Abram not to be afraid, reassuring him that however overwhelming the revelation of God may be, He is looking after us and is with us to direct and guide us. He spoke to Abram personally by name, assuring him that he was known by God. He talked of being his shield, a picture which speaks to us of safety and protection, and said He was his very great reward. God is both the one who rewards and is Himself our reward. Having refused rewards in Genesis 14, God assures Abram that he will not be unrewarded.

We have an opportunity to move the dial on our vision and tune in to God’s plans and purposes. We needn’t be afraid of a God-experience and can share the visions He gives us (as Abram ultimately did.) God wants us to see with spiritual eyes, not just natural ones.