When reading the book of Acts, it’s not always easy to get a handle on timescales. Luke is keen to give us the main action points of the story of the spread of the church and his account of Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem (Acts 9:19b-31) seems much more condensed than Paul’s account in Gal 1:16-24. This passage reminds us, however, that there are definitely times and seasons, and we do well to consider the implications of this as we ponder our own lives.

It’s hard for us to be certain about time expressions such as ‘at once’, ‘after several days’ and ‘after many days’, but we know from Eccl 3:1 that ‘there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.’ I write this in the middle of winter in the UK, and the rains and winds leave me longing for spring mildness and sunshine days. Life is always made up of different seasons, however: both literally and figuratively. Already the church had faced persecution and martyrdom, times of suffering and oppression, but in Acts 9:31 we catch a glimpse of another season: ‘Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.’

Even though Paul himself suffered persecution (his escape from Damascus in a basket was hardly the most dignified of exits! – Acts 9:24-25), there was a time of calm for God’s people throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria. The church had been strengthened by God through the turbulent times of apostolic imprisonment and Stephen’s martyrdom; it is now strengthened by God in times of peace. It had grown in numbers during the difficult times (Acts 5:14) and continued to increase in numbers in times of peace. (Acts 9:31) We can’t determine which season we have to face, but we can be sure that God is with us in every season. As we live in the fear of the Lord, God will encourage us by the Holy Spirit, leading and guiding us always.

As a child, I didn’t value perseverance very highly – I don’t think most children do! I liked to be able to do things quickly and easily and if something required perseverance, I often lost interest. As I grew up, however, I learnt that there are probably more things in life which have to be worked at than things which we can do easily and instinctively.

As a grandparent, I see the same traits in my elder granddaughter. As we practise writing letters and numbers, she often gets frustrated and throws her pen down. “I can’t do it!” she says. Now that she has a younger sister, one of her favourite phrases is, “When I’m bigger…” The truth is that we never learn to progress to the next stage without perseverance, however; time is no automatic guarantee to progress, though it usually does help! Today, we read a lovely book about Augustus the tiger and there was a beautifully onomatopoeic description of rain: ‘Pitter patter, pitter patter, drip, drop, plop!’ She loved this sound, but found it a bit of a tongue-twister! “I can’t say it!” was the familiar refrain. We slowed it down and she found she could say it slowly, but not quickly. Yet another challenge requiring patience and perseverance…

The psalms are full of impatience and frustration; the question ‘How long, Lord?’ features in many of them (e.g. Ps 13:1-2, Ps 35:17, Ps 79:5) God rarely seems to answer this question with a specific time frame, but we can glean many clues as to what to do while waiting!

1. Keep praying

2. Keep trusting

3. Keep rejoicing

4. Keep worshipping

5. Keep following Jesus

6. Keep renewing your mind

7. Keep trusting

8. Keep in fellowship

I was once part of an online worship forum where I chose the user name ‘Keep Singing’. I suppose in many respects, perseverance is all about ‘keeping on…’ It’s as we keep on doing the right things that we find we can do things we formerly couldn’t and we also grow closer to God as we wait for Him.

Garry started a new series tonight, looking at Isaiah 61. This is a very famous passage, the beginning of which was quoted by Jesus at the start of His ministry (see Luke 4:14-19). It speaks of the Messiah and shows us how God desires to change situations and how He goes about changing those situations. It shows us the Sovereign Lord speaking (using both His names – ‘Adonai’ and ‘Yahweh’ – which identify Him as God Almighty, the One who will be what He will be). When God speaks, we have a duty to listen, for He speaks with authority (as did Jesus – see Matt 13:43, Mark 4:9, Luke 14:35). Jesus Himself spoke so persuasively that guards sent to arrest Him returned, saying ‘no one ever spoke the way this man does.’ (John 7:46)

Isaiah 61 shows us God commissions people. We may think this is obvious of the Messiah, that He was sent by God to secure mankind’s salvation, but in fact, God commissions all kinds of people, including prophets (Isaiah himself was commissioned in Is 6:8-9 and Jeremiah was commissioned at an early age – see Jer 1:4-7). Jesus gave His disciples authority and a commission to drive out impure spirits and heal every disease and sickness (Matt 10:1) and in 2 Cor 5:17-19, Paul makes it clear that God has given to every believer the message and ministry of reconciliation. We are all commissioned to spread the message of good news. (For those interested in learning how to do this more effectively, the Franklin Graham mission training day is on 29th February from 9.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. at Full Life Church in Maltby).

We are all at different stages of learning on this journey with God, however. Just as a baby comes into the world unable to speak and only gradually learns to understand words and eventually to speak them, so too the question of how God speaks to us and recognising what God is saying to us often comes gradually. We hear God’s word preached and read it for ourselves and gradually learn to recognise God’s voice. At first, it may not be clear what He is saying, but gradually we learn to discern His voice and to know Him better. As with any relationship, conversation is a two-way process. With strangers or casual acquaintances, it is hard to sustain conversations, but with friends, it is much easier. As we grow in intimacy with God, we learn to hear His voice more clearly.

Our response to God’s voice needs to be that of a servant, willing to work on behalf of another. Paul described himself as a servant and an apostle (Rom 1:1) – we have to learn to serve before we can be sent and set apart. The challenge before us is to listen, respond, obey and serve God when He speaks specifically to us. We are invited to be part of His plan, to be ambassadors for Christ. We too are called to speak.

Getting along together and dwelling in unity are keys to God’s blessing (see Ps 133). But as any parent of more than one child will tell you, it’s not always easy to get along in families! Our selfish natures and desire to have our own way clashes violently with the same selfish nature in others! Wisdom means putting aside our pride and learning to live in humility: ‘Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.’ (James 3:13, The Message) 

Pride is at the root of most sin – even Lucifer’s fall from heaven seems to have been because he wanted top priority (see Is 14:13-14, Ezek 28:14, 17) The book of Proverbs has much to say about living wisely, and speaks frequently about the difference between pride and humility (see Prov 13:10, Prov 19:11, Prov 29:3). It’s when we learn to live humbly and wisely that we can get along with others. God wants us to live in happy connections to people, but this will only happen as we remember that we are brothers and sisters, in the same family, bought by the precious blood of Christ. We are no longer to view other people through that selfish lens where people are simply stepping-stones to our own success or where all that matters is trying to look better than others or get the better of others.

The children’s song ‘Feels Good‘ has much to teach us about the importance of living in harmony, embracing differences gladly and realising belonging and being united are good things!

‘When we live in harmony, when we stand as one
It makes us stronger, stronger
When we see our differences as a work of art
The world is brighter, brighter
What we all really need right now
Is an upbeat song to sing
An upbeat song to sing,

It feels good when we’re together.
It feels good when we belong.
It feels right when we’re united:
No divides, livin’ life as one.

Tell me why we’re fighting, can’t we just get along?
‘Cause we are brothers and sisters;
Nothing strong as family, nothing breaks us apart
‘Cause life is better together.
What we all really need right now
Is an upbeat song to sing
An upbeat song to sing.’ (‘Feels Good (Upbeat Song)’, Rend Co. Kids)

Today in our ‘Connections’ series we looked at our horizontal connection with other members of God’s family. God made us to be a ‘healthy, robust community‘ (see James 3:17-18 in the Message version) and, in Nicky Gumbel’s words, ‘There is power in connection: connections lead to life.’ (BIOY, 19-11-19) The enemy seeks to divide and split us up, but if we want to grow up in Christ and become fully mature, we have to learn how to get along with other people.

Our EQ (emotional quotient) is just as important (if not more so) than our IQ (intelligence quotient). The Bible is full of advice on how to love others; Jesus said that the two most important commandments were to love God with all we are (the vertical connection) and to love our neighbours as ourselves (the horizontal connection). (Matt 22:37-38) It’s crucial that we learn to live wisely if we are to maintain good relationships and grow spiritually. James gives us good advice about living wisely: ‘Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterised by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour.’ (James 3:17-18) This means:

1. Learning that God’s wisdom is the only way to live. Any philosophy which doesn’t start with God is likely to end up deviating in some way from truth. We have to learn what God considers wise and then live that way! Loving others with selfless, sacrificial love can only be done as God’s selfless, sacrificial love dwells in us.

2. Real wisdom is characterised by getting along with other people. We have to learn to be gentle and reasonable, not running people down and thinking the worst of them. We have to be merciful and forgiving people (see Eph 4:29-32).

3. Learning to be consistent, living with integrity and authenticity. Often, moody, volatile people can be hard to get along with and this can lead to resentment and wariness in relationships. We have to be honest with each other and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to trust. We need to learn to live as Paul commanded: ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.’ (Phil 2:3-4) The Jesus way will always be counter-intuitive and will call us to deny ourselves. (Mark 8:34-35) Only then can we truly love others as He wants us to.

Before we can have significant impact on our local community, we have to become a community of believers, the family of God. We truly are ‘better together’!

We had an activity where teams had to cross a crocodile-infested swamp using only 3 stepping stones. Most of one team fell in the swamp and were presumably eaten… The activity showed us many things about effective communication, including:

1. the value of preparation

2. the importance of listening to each other

3. the value of clarification and explanation

4. the need to compromise and be agreeable, rather than being dogmatic and domineering

5. the importance of trusting each other

Communication is important not only within churches but when we attempt to communicate the Gospel to those who do not yet know God. Avoiding jargon and adapting to culture is important, because we need to be effective in our communication. There were some great 30 second Gospel presentations using everyday objects: a newspaper, a torch, a bottle of vitamin tablets, a pen and so on. It can be hard to think of what to say in these situations, but everyday evangelism means being ready to respond to situations with good news, not simply waiting for the ‘perfect opportunity.’

As a church, we have to be ready, willing and able to take the Gospel to the specific culture and community of Goldthorpe. What this looks like in our particular context will be determined by the people God has sent here (His Lego bricks, as it were) and by the gifts and talents He has given us. We may need to think outside the box and try new methods to reach our community, but one thing is sure. We need to be a church which looks to those who are without hope and without Christ in the world and which seeks to bring the good news of the Gospel to these people, whether that is through personal evangelism or through the outreaches we as a church can offer or which we can support (e.g. the charity B:friend, which meets every Monday afternoon in our building, needs people to literally be friends to those who are isolated and lonely.) Every one of us is important. What can YOU do?