Walking With God
This morning Garry spoke from Genesis 47:11-12, 27 about walking with God. Walking with God does not mean a life without suffering; Jesus told us that there is a path of suffering which is inevitable because following Him involves living according to God’s standards, not the world’s.
Paul’s experiences (listed in 2 Cor 11:23-27) shows us that to stand against the culture of the day produces opposition. Persecution was the experience of the early church (Acts 8:1) and is still prevalent in many societies today (e.g. in China, where the social credit system monitors where peopole go and what they do). Ideas such as adopting a digital ID need to be treated with extreme caution because it is easy then for privileges to be withdrawn simply because of ‘differing’ views. But we must also note that walking with God involves great blessing too, as Psalm 91 makes clear. His provision, protection and care for His people are evident here with Joseph’s family being given the best of the land, according to God’s promises to Jacob. (Gen 46:2-3).
Walking with God means we must do what God says and go where He tells us, whether this leads to blessing or suffering. Faithful obedience is what is required of us at all times.
End-of-term party
What a wonderful time we had at our first Parent & Toddler party on Wednesday, saying goodbye to Rebekah, Nova and Roza who will be moving up to full-time nursery or school in September (we’ll be saying more goodbyes on Friday and unfortunately couldn’t say goodbye to Escala as she’s already on holiday!)
It was good to have Lynn Utting and her colleague from Coalfields Regeneration Trust with us yesterday. We are very grateful for their grant this year which has helped to pay for refreshments and heating for the Parent & Toddler group as well as enabling us to buy lovely role play costumes and storage equipment (enabling us to set up and tidy away more easily.) We are also very grateful they are continuing to fund us in the year to come, especially as heating costs have spiralled this year. But our involvement with CRT goes back much further, when, as a church with £7,500 in the bank, we bought the building we are currently in thanks to a capital grant of £160,000 from CRT. Thirteen years later, we are so glad to be at Market Street and using the building so much. This year, we have had 75 families attend the Parent & Toddler group (thankfully not all at the same time!) and have run two sessions a week during term-time.
We’re looking forward to our last party and last session before the summer break on Friday 21 July.
We Are Church
Joy Gascoigne from Grimethorpe Pentecostal Church spoke tonight from Ephesians 1:15-2:3, reminding us of both the individual and corporate nature of the church. Jesus Christ comes in power and energises individuals, and so the church is effectively a working body, a living body and a growing body.
Local churches are in touch with people and must live not on bread alone but on the words of God (Matt 4:4). Our role is to share the word of God with others, holding on to His promises. The church must not become insular, but must seek to find those who are outside the church, often lonely peple who need the connection church can bring to others and to God.
Everybody has a part to play in this, starting with prayer. Prayer is not the last resort; God moves in response to the call of His people and works in power, with the same power that raised Christ from the dead. From our prayer life flows our actions; God works in and through us to reach others.
God’s New Covenant
Dave spoke this morning from Jeremiah 31:31-34, a wonderful prophecy of hope among the judgment and doom generally associated with that prophet’s name. He likened reading the Prophets to taking cod-liver oil as a child: beneficial but not always pleasant to the taste! Nonetheless, in these verses of promise about God’s new covenant, we see the hope that was realised at the cross.
The old covenant, made with the people of Israel and reinforced through the laws given after the Exodus, was an agreement between God and the people, but the people broke it repeatedly through their disobedience. The law brings awareness of sin, but does not give us the power to do what it requires (see Romans 7); what is required is not so much that we turn over a new leaf, but that we have a new life. The new covenant spoken of here and reinforiced by Jesus at the Last Supper, is based on God’s sovereign grace, speaking of an intimate, personal relationship and offering the total forgtveness of sins. Sin no longer has mastery over us (Romans 6); we have hope and are made perfect through Christ’as sacrifice (Heb 10:14).
Our reponse is to take God at His word, know His promises and believe them. This, then, leads to eternal life: knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. (John 17:3)
God’s Wedding Feast
Revelation 19 speaks of Christ’s ultimate victory over sin and evil (He is here portrayed as being ‘faithful and true’, a rider on a white horse in command of armies, the ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’) and points to a glorious future for believers (the bride of Christ) as we are told of the wedding supper of the Lamb that is to come. Even today, weddings are occasions of great joy, and the wedding reception (or wedding breakfast) is an occasion for friends and family to come together to eat and drink in celebration. Couples often spend much money on table decorations, lighting, wedding favours and lavish meals, wanting to mark their special occasion as best they can. I vividly remember my son’s wedding when church members worked hard to decorate the community room with fairy lights, pompoms, table decorations, flowers and beautiful tableware and to prepare a feast fit for a king! One parent who attended our Parent & Toddler group at the time stood at the door for a sneak preview as she passed the building and her jaw literally dropped at the transformation she beheld. How much greater will be this heavenly celebration!
The wedding of the Lamb is the culmination of history, and for those who have fine linen to wear thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, a reason to celebrate. But for those who have rejected Christ, this great supper will signal destruction and total judgment (see Rev 19:17-21). This reminds us that now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2) When Christ rides out of heaven in splendour, it will be too late to choose. Choose now!
God’s People – Saints
Dave spoke tonight from Hebrews 11 about saints – God’s people listed there as heroes of the faith. Most people have a very different understanding of the word, associating saints with God’s people, but generally thinking they must be particularly holy or close to God and generally must have been dead for a great many years! Eph 1:15-18 names these people as ‘God’s people’, His ‘holy people’, but the term ‘saint’ has now become a formalised religious term, instead of describing God’s chosen ones.
We sometimes associate particular attributes to saints, such as dedication. Saul was dedicated to God in pursuit of Christians originally, but it was not until his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus that he was converted and thus became a saint. All those saved by God are saints; they are made holy by God. He is the one who determines our status. We are made holy by Him, set apart for His work, and our role is now to live in such a way as to glorify Him. Saints are not perfect, pious people; they are simply those who seek God and seek to follow Him, acknowledging their sinfulness and the work of God in them. Being a ‘saint’ is not about being perfect or even necessarily doing miraculous deeds. It is the term God uses for all He has called out of darkness, and as such, God’s children are also saints!
