Tissue Paper Layers

Sep 13, 2023

I spent a couple of days away at the beginning of September. The first was spent in Barnard Castle, a beautiful place with (for me) the perfect combination of coffee shops, castle and second-hand bookshop (Book Aid, a Christian charity). After a damp morning there, we ventured further afield to Eggleston Hall Gardens, where I had the unexpected pleasure of finding an artist’s studio.
There, in this small garden nursery, I entered a world of flower art that was so delicate and intricate, I was mesmerised. Puzzled at the medium, I went further in to find the artist herself at work, making this intricate beauty from the very ordinary medium of tissue paper. In front of her sat bowls of tiny pieces of differently coloured tissue paper and I watched as she stuck the different hues onto a canvas frame to bring beautiful flowers to life. Layer upon layer was stuck and then varnished to create a canvas of floral magnificence.
Victoria Bellas Carter (https://www.victoriabellascarter.com/) works with a tissue paper collage technique, ‘tearing, cutting, layering and manipulating shapes to create vibrant and beautiful images of flowers.” I spent quite a long time simply gazing at these works in awe.
Layering was the technique that fascinated me the most, how the artist created different shades for the flowers using the different layers of tissue paper.
God uses different circumstances and seasons in our lives to create beautiful shades whcih add depth and colour to our existence. Not all of those circumstances are easy. The Bible shows us many people in the wilderness, on the run, facing opposition, grief, obstacles. Ruth and Naomi suffering the bitterness of multiple bereavement and famine. Joseph in the wilderness of prison through no fault of his own. David on the run from an insanely jealous king whose cause he had only tried to serve faithfully. Moses in the wilderness because temper got the better of him and he was forced to flee Egypt to live in Midian for forty years.
Those difficult seasons seem more than a layer of tissue paper to us. They seem to last forever. But perhaps they are simply another layer, intended to build character, to shape our flowers into what we were designed to be.
The painstaking work of the artist results in something magnificent to behold. I suspect our lives are the same if we can see beyond the individual shreds of tissue paper.

The Miracle Of Pentecost

Sep 10, 2023

Tonight in our series ‘The Miraculous & The Mundane’ we looked at the transition in the New Testament from Jesus doing miracles in the power of God in the gospels and how the lives of ordinary believers were transformed by the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-21) We often expect Jesus to do miracles because He is the Son of God, but the truth is that He modelled for us what God intended man to be like and the book of Acts shows us God’s plan for His world: to work through ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Miracles are not simply historical records, but are ongoing today because God does not change.

Acts 2 shows us how ordinary followers of Jesus were transformed by the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 1:4-5 gave them Jesus’ command to wait for the gift promised by His Father. It was only when the Holy Spirit came on them with tongues of fire and a sound like a rushing wind that they were transformed into fearless witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Despite the miraculous signs of fire and wind, however, what actually happened was that the believers began to speak in other languages – which seems quite an ‘ordinary’ event in many ways. Edison once said, ‘Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.’ Miracles sometimes don’t look especially spectacular to us, but what happened here was that as people heard these ordinary Galileans telling the wonders of God in their own languages, they were startled and ready to listen to Peter’s preaching. God used this miracle to open people’s hearts and bring them to Himself.

For us to see miracles in our own lives, we need to earnestly desire the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our lives. We need to ask God for this gift and wait patiently until He comes. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot ‘fire on all cylinders’, as the saying goes; we need His power and help to live and witness for God.

Friendship

Sep 10, 2023

This morning Dave spoke on the subject of friendship, particularly looking at David and Jonathan as an example of friendship in God (1 Sam 17:57-18:4). Nowadays, social media can tell us we have many friends, but the reality is we can be very lonely too.

Saul is an example of someone who started really well but whose life ended in tragedy as he left God’s ways and was consumed by jealousy. Jonathan, his son, could also have been jealous of David’s anointing by Samuel and rise to popularity, but instead, he seems to have recognised a kindred spirit in David and respected God’s anointing on his life. He made a covenant with David and shows us that one of the key aspects to friendship is giving. Jesus, the ultimate friend, lay down His life for us; Jonathan gave freely to David. He cared more for David than for his own reputation and protected him when his father tried to kill David. He was heartbroken at his father’s actions, but wanted the best for his friend at all times.

Jonathan proved himself a true friend in need; as the proverb goes, ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed.’ Jesus is the greatest friend we could ever hope to have. He is there for us at all times, sticking closer than a brother, no matter what. Even if we don’t have friends like Jonathan, we have a friend beyond all others in Jesus.

Don’t Worry!

Sep 3, 2023

Matt 6:25-27 reminds us of the pointlessness of worry. Even children can worry at times, but the story we heard tonight (Bob The Bird) reminds us that we all have a heavenly Father who loves us and looks after us, and therefore there is no need to worry. Bob the bird reflected on how people can worry about all kinds of situations (the farmer worrying about the weather and what would happen if his crop failed, the butcher worrying about the profitability of his business, the woman worrying about her pile of money and if thieves would steal from her.) It’s very easy to let our imaginations run away with us and leave us fearful and anxious, but this simple story reminded us that it’s not just birds who have a heavenly Father to care for them!

Life is a partnership with God and we need to learn to trust Him, no matter what our age. God is there to help, guide and protect us.

Resurrection Day

Sep 3, 2023

This morning, following on from last week’s sermon on Easter Day (a day of no visible miracles), we looked at Easter Sunday and the most miraculous of all God’s miracles, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This miracle is so great, it informs our daily lives and is the cornerstone of our faith. We cannot afford to simply remember it once a day at Easter; it needs to be at the heart of our daily living.
1 Cor 15:3-8 summarises the gospel and reminds us what is ‘of first importance.’ The resurrection is there at the heart of the Christian faith, for without it, we have no hope and have believed in vain. Whilst it is impossible for humans to overcome the power of death, this is not the case with God. With Him, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) and the miracle of the resurrection confirms that Jesus’s sacrificial death was acceptable to God and is the guarantee of our own future resurrection, which Paul teaches about in this great chapter.
We all have to come to the place where the resurrection is real to us – it is more than historical fact, though the evidence for the resurrection is firmly based in historical fact. The weight of testimony from fearful disciples to those prepared to die for their beliefs is one such evidence; it’s impossible to believe that Jesus merely ‘swooned’ on the cross or that the eyewitness testimony of so many of His death could be mistaken. Nonetheless, the resurrection is more than merely interesting. If it’s true, then it has the power to transform our lives as it has transformed millions of other people’s lives. Paul prayed for the Ephesians to grasp these spiritual truths, including the fact that the same incomparably great power which is at the heart of the resurrection dwells in us (Eph 1:18-19). May we be transformed daily by the truth that God is all-powerful, as demonstrated by the empty tomb.

Our Rock of Help

Sep 3, 2023

Ebenezer is an old-fashioned name which probably doesn’t rank on the top 100 popular boys’ names in the UK nowadays (Noah, surprisingly, headed the list in 2022 apparently). Insofar as it’s known at all as a name, this is probably down to Charles Dickens, whose famous character Scrooge bore that first name. (‘A Christmas Carol’)

The name ‘Ebenezer’ means ‘rock of help’, and the main reference to it in the Bible is found in 1 Samuel 7. There, the Israelites are again facing trouble, threatened by their powerful neighbours, the Philistines. They ask Samuel, the prophet, to pray for them, and he does. Prayer is a powerful weapon, one that is often overlooked, but which this story remind us is at the heart of every victory.
1 Samuel 7:10 tells us that while Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. The implication is that they would ‘sitting ducks’, disarmed because they had chosen to prioritise God over war (a timely reminder that spiritual matters should never be left unattended, no matter what external circumstances tell us.) The account goes on, ‘But that day the Lord thundered wth loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.’ (1 Sam 7:10)
Victory was won that day and then ‘Samuel took a stone and set it up beteen Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer (Rock of Help), saying Thus far has the Lord helped us.’ (1 Sam 7:12)
This story reminds us that God helps us, saves us, delivers us. It reminds us that there are tangible times and memorable moments when God intervenes in our lives. It reminds us of God’s miraculous, supernatural help in our lives and the fact that we cannot separate any victory from God.
I always imagine the rock Ebenezer to be large, a worthy memorial, something which could not easily be overlooked. But I’m also mindful of the five smooth stones David chose from the stream, which probably were not large at all, one of which was used to kill the giant Philistine, Goliath. (1 Ssam 17:40) It’s not the size of the stone, ultimately, which matters. It’s the size of our God who wins the victory.

Memorial stones can easily become mere monuments. But the truth is our lives are built on such stones. Our testimony is always ‘This is where God helped us.’ This is what God has done. This is what He did. May we lay our Ebenezers in the places where we have received God’s help, and may our lives ring forth with the testimonies of what our God has done for us.