The following is a post from Anthony Billington of LICC (London Institute of Contemporary Christianity) which I found interesting.

“How, we might ask, does God exercise his kingly power in the world? And Jesus responds with stories of a farmer sowing seed, of yeast in a lump of dough, of treasure hidden in a field, of a net full of fish, of a man hiring workers for his vineyard, of a wedding banquet, of ten bridesmaids… Puzzled? Jesus’ parables are bound up with his announcement that God has begun to exercise his longed-for reign on earth – but it’s not always easy to see the links. Even the disciples found it difficult to connect the dots between the one and the other.

Jesus’ parables are often thought to be down-to-earth stories illustrating points which people would readily understand. But in many cases, instead of making the message clearer, they appear to make it harder to get! And there lies the challenge: implicit in every parable is a question – are your ears and eyes open to what God is doing?

Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question gives us a clue – maybe even the key – to what’s happening when he teaches in parables. The disciples are distinguished from the crowds not by their instant and intuitive understanding of the parables, but by their seeking of explanations, and by having the ‘secrets of the kingdom’ revealed to them. So it is that they are ‘blessed’, says Jesus, not because they are cleverer than others, or more deserving than others, but because God has given to them what he has not given to others – just as God granted Daniel access to the divine ‘mystery’ that the Babylonian sages were unable to understand. (Matt 13:10-11, 16)

In this case, the disciples witness God fulfilling his promises of salvation, even though it’s not happening like most people thought it would or should. One day God’s rule will embrace the whole earth, but he is already at work in unexpected ways – and each of the parables in Matthew 13 illustrates something of this tension between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’ of God’s reign.

For us too comes the challenge and incredible privilege of discerning God at work in the everyday, perhaps in quiet and unanticipated ways. Now as then – for those blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear – it’s possible to detect the extraordinary in the ordinary. Where will you see evidence of his reign today?” (Anthony Billington)

There’s lots happening in the weeks ahead, so get your diaries out now!

Cleaning & Maintenance Day (Saturday 29th June from 10 a.m.)

Join us to clean and tidy the church building this coming Saturday from 10 a.m.

We will be holding the funeral service for Maurice Woodward in our building on Wednesday 3rd July at 9.15 a.m.

Other Dates in July:

1. Annual General Meeting on Saturday 13th July at 4 p.m. Join us as we review the past year and look ahead to the future.

2. ‘Churches Together’ Prayer Meeting on Wednesday 17th July at 10.30 a.m. at Sacred Heart RC Church on Lockwood Road, Goldthorpe

3. Dedication service for Rebekah Turner on Sunday 21st July at 6 p.m. (followed by cake and drinks).

4. ‘Love Your Park’ event at Thurnscoe Flower Park on Saturday 27th July (12-4 p.m.) Come along to decorate a sun bear sculpture in preparation for the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival plus lots of other stalls to visit.

5. Family Fun Day organised by the Dearne Area Team on Monday 29th July (10 a.m. – 12 p.m.) at the community centre in St Andrew’s Square in Bolton-on-Dearne

June is clearly a popular month for birthdays, as we had another birthday to celebrate tonight!

When Paul speaks about the use of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor 14, he was trying to advise a church whose use of these gifts was somewhat chaotic: everyone bringing songs, prophecies, words of knowledge and so on in a manner which did not allow for people to hear, listen and digest what was being said and done. He reminded the Corinthians that God is a God of order and peace (1 Cor 14:33) and tried to bring some sense of order into services.

Nowadays, it may be more rare to see these gifts used in our church services, but we need to eagerly desire spiritual gifts and seek God for these. The phrase ‘eagerly desire’ (used in 1 Cor 12:31 and 1 Cor 14:1) means to strive after something, to pursue it with fervour. So often, we are like people who are ovewhelmed by gifts and therefore leave some untouched. God wants to give us good gifts to build up and encourage the church. God may give us a gift as a ‘one-off’ or lead us into a ministry which uses one gift in particular, but in all things, we need to seek the Giver more than the gift.

The gifts of the Spirit include:

1. a message of wisdom (not natural wisdom, but given by God specifically for a situation, as Jesus demonstrated when the Pharisees tried to trick Him with a question about paying taxes – Matt 22:15-22)

2. a word of knowledge (again, not natural knowledge achieved through studying or long experience, but supernatural knowledge as demonstrated by Jesus with the woman from Samaria in John 4:16-18)

3. faith (for a specific situation, as when Paul had the faith to raise Eutychus from the dead in Acts 20).

4. healings (e.g. when Peter and John healed the lame man in Acts 3)

5. prophecy (which means God speaking messages to His people, not just foretelling the future, There are many examples of prophecy in the book of Acts – see Acts 21:10-11)

6. messages in tongues (i.e. other languages. These can be declarations of praise or messages from God.)

7. interpretation of these messages (so that the church can be built up, since we do not generally understand the languages used.)

8. distinguishing between spirits (demonstrated by Paul in Acts 16:16-18 towards the female slave whose words may have seemed flattering but whom Paul recognised as being demonically inspired.)

9. miraculous powers (e.g. ‘God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.‘ Acts 19:11-12)

If we were given the opportunity to have whatever gifts we desired, it would be interesting to see what we would choose. God wants to give us these amazing gifts so that the church can be built up and made stronger. Let’s eagerly desire these gifts and seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. (Eph 5:18)

The gifts of the Spirit (listed in 1 Cor 12:1-11 and further discussed in 1 Cor 14:1-40) are given by God for the building up of the church. We need God’s Holy Spirit to give us these gifts as we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and move ever further and deeper into the spiritual life God has for us all.

These gifts are not ‘new’; many of them feature also in the Old Testament (where we see many healings, for example, Naaman who was healed after visiting the prophet Elishin 2 Kings 5) and words of knowledge (when Elisha, in this same passage, knows by divine revelation that his servant Gehazi has taken money from Naaman despite being told not to.) The Old Testament gives us examples of miraculous powers (an axe head floating in 2 Kings 6) and faith (a woman’s son being raised from the dead in 2 Kings 4). Solomon demonstrated divine wisdom in 1 Kings 3:16-28 and Saul was included among the prophets as God’s Spirit rested on him (1 Sam 10). In the Old Testament, however, these things happened on occasions only and not to everyone. Joel 2:28-32 makes it clear that the outpouring of God’s Spirit on all people would come, and this passage is referred to by Peter as having been fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. We are living in times when God wants us all to eagerly desire spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:31, 1 Cor 14:1).

May we seek God for these gifts and be used by Him to build up and encourage the church and see His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

In magnetic theory, opposite poles attract, but as we looked at Psalm 73 this morning, we discovered that this is a psalm which deals with opposites and it matters very much which side we are attracted to!

1. Confusion and Clarity

The psalm begins with Asaph in confusion, feeling that he is stumbling and falling. Other psalms take the idea of walking and falling as a metaphor for our journey with God (Ps 37:23, Ps 119:105) and the feeling that we are stumbling because the wicked seem to flourish and have no problems is found in other parts of the Bible (see Job 21:7-16, Mal 3:13-15). When we see the unrighteous doing well, we can feel it’s futile to serve God, but clarity comes as we enter God’s sanctuary and come into His presence.

2. Permanent and Temporary

Asaph’s problem was he was focussed on the temporary success of the wicked, failing to see life in the light of eternity. Only when he realised the true destiny of the wicked did he find peace and hope. God’s promises are not temporary; we need to understand the permanent nature of our unchanging God and not be distracted by the temporary troubles we face (see also 2 Cor 4:16-18).

3. Time and Eternity

Asaph found that he needed to adjust his perspective. We dwell in time and therefore tend to view time as the only perspective, but God dwells in eternity and promises us so much when we can take that long view. God has promised to receive us in glory and to be our portion now and evermore. We have to take eternity into account and not view our ‘light and momentary troubles’ as permanent.

4. Judgment and Jewels

The purpose of God for the wicked is judgment, though He takes no delight in this, longing for people to repent and turn to Him. (2 Pet 3:9)  Those who trust in Christ are promised a future with hope and without condemnation. In Mal 3:16-18, we read that God says His people will be His treasured possession, His jewels. We are promised a relationship with God and a reward. God views us as special; we can be spared from judgment and made to be something precious and valuable.

So often, what is required in life is the correct perspective. We need to see the ‘big picture’, not just the ‘little picture.’ When buying a house, we often focus on the house itself and what it looks like, but sometimes we need to draw back and consider the location (e.g. the street as well as the house and perhaps the whole area itself.) The only things which really matter in life are the things which are permanent, things which have eternal value. Asaph’s whole perspective was changed as He spent time in God’s presence. Ours can be too.