Before our barbecue today, we spent some time discussing prayer, looking especially at the Lord’s prayer (Luke 11:1-4). Prayer is not something we are used to before we become Christians and is something that has to be learned. We need to learn to pray on our own and with others; prayer can be audible or inaudible (many people find praying out loud quite intimidating.) There are different aspects of prayer (confession, praise, thanksgiving, listening, asking and making requests) and no ‘right’ way to pray. All of us will learn to pray in our own way.

There are, though, things that hinder prayer and can distract us from prayer (including mobile phones which often also re-wire our brains to expect constant stimulation.) It’s always good to start with God as our focus in prayer since this focuses our minds on Him. Prayer involves trust and faith, asking God to supply all our needs, and will always involve our need for forgiveness.

The good news is that God prays with us and through us (see Rom 8:26-27) and helps us to pray. We can pray for ourselves, our family and friends, our church, our locality, our nation and the world. Instead of just complaining about situations, we should pray!

What’s happening in July?

Our monthly fellowship meal after the service on the 1st Sunday of the month (5 July) will be a barbecue. We’ll be praying for the USA this month.

Our Parent & Toddler group meets as usual on Wednesdays and Fridays (9-11 a.m.) until 17 July. Then we have a break for the summer, but will be taking members of the group to York Maze on Friday 31 July, leaving GPCC at 9 a.m. and returning about 7 p.m.

There is no Sunday service at church on 12 July as we will be taking part in the public baptism and family fun day at Manvers Lake between 1 and 5 p.m. Join us for a free outreach event with children’s crafts and a barbecue as well as enjoying worship, the word and the joy of seeing people declare their faith in Jesus through water baptism.

In the summer holidays we’ll be holding 3 Summer Fun Days with Dearne Churches Together. The first is on Wednesday 22 July between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Goldthorpe Railway  Embankment and the Salvation Army. Book in for this free event including lunch by contacting Julie on 07729 421405 or emailing julie@gpcchurch.co.uk

We’ll also be singing at Parkside Care Home in Wombwell on Wednesday 29 July at 2 p.m.

On Waiting

A recent visit to the theatre to see ‘Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ (a title so long and cumbersome I feel a great deal of affinity with it!) has set me re-reading the life of Joseph, one of my favourite Bible characters.

Joseph’s life is a study in God’s sovereignty, and how even misfortune, jealousy, injustice and villainy are woven into His plans. His life is also a study in patient waiting, and in trusting God when nothing positive is on the report cards, and since waiting is the lot allocated to us all at some point in life, it has a timeless resonance to it we do well to ponder.

Waiting for God’s plans to be fulfilled is one of the hardest things we ever have to do. When God speaks to us with dreams and visions, burning His purposes into our hearts, passion, zeal and faith are high. We imagine a linear upward trajectory leading to glory. Instead, Joseph plummeted downwards, the harsh reality of his family’s disfavour leaving him sold into slavery, abandoned in a distant country.

Joseph adapts, trying to serve faithfully in his new role, his talents shining through, but then life deals another cruel blow in the form of Potiphar’s wife, trying to seduce him. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and so the next thing that happens is Joseph is unjustly thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit.

Years pass. There’s a ray of hope as Joseph interprets the dreams of important Egyptian officials and hopes the ‘it’s-who-you-know’ philosophy of life will secure his release from prison…. only to find his life-saving generosity is forgotten (yes, just forgotten) for another two whole years.

Waiting is not easy.

I’m struck by Joseph’s patience in contrast to how most of us respond to misfortune. We believe it’s God who has forgotten us, not the cupbearer. Like the king in a time of famine, we cry out, ‘This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?’ (2 Kings 6:33)

Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?

Like Saul waiting for Samuel to arrive, obedience slips away, and we resort to the expedient, to the pragmatic, to manipulation. We conclude that God has either forgotten about us or doesn’t care, so it’s all down to us to sort out the future we want (and thought He had promised.)

The problem with our faithless impatience is that God has promised us the impossible, and no amount of human scheming, plotting, manipulation, effort and sheer hard work can bring about the impossible.

And so we find ourselves exhausted and broken, even if to the outside world we look successful and to be envied.

Joseph did not spend his entire life in prison. There came a moment in God’s timing and sovereignty when Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, had a baffling God-dream himself. The cupbearer belatedly (to us!) remembered Joseph, and he was hauled out of prison, spruced up and presented as the solution. God gave him the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, and before he knew it, Joseph was second-in-command to Pharaoh and responsible for running a feeding programme that saved the world (including his own family, who did indeed bow down to him, just as he had said they would.)

How long did Joseph have to wait?

Over 20 years.

How long did Abraham have to wait for his miracle son?

About 25 years.

How long before the end of the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus?

About 400 years.

How long between the ascension of Jesus into heaven and His return to earth as King of Kings?

Two thousand years and still counting.

Peter reminds us nonetheless that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promises. (2 Peter 3:9) If you’re at the point of saying, ‘Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?’, if you’re close to giving up on God and His promises, study these stories slowly, with an eye to the timings, and ponder these reasons to keep on waiting for the Lord:

1. The God who promises things is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
2. Nothing can thwart God’s plans. The story of Joseph is a story of expert planning, miraculous intervention and a sovereignty that is breathtaking in scope. Life cannot foil God’s plans. Even evil is made to serve God’s purposes. (Just look at the cross.) (Rom 8:28)
3. God is good and His love endures forever. (Ps 136:1)
4. Waiting will shape you if you keep trusting God. The Joseph who could forgive his brothers was a very different person to the teenager whose boasting had not actually helped his situation. Sometimes we are just not ready until we are shaped by God through life.
5. For the impossible to happen, God has to show up. If you’ve given up on the impossible, waiting seems a waste of time. If you still want to see the impossible happen, your only hope is God. (Matt 19:26)

So wait for God. And keep on waiting. (Ps 27:14)

Today we looked at the subject of our identity as God’s family, reminding ourselves of the Sister Sledge song that proclaims, ‘We are family!’ (See 1 Pet 2:17)

Family is God’s idea. It was not good for the man to be alone (Gen 2:18) and so God gave Adam a companion, and from this relationship came children. A man and a woman make a covenant commitment to each other, and from the security of this commitment explore sexual intimacy which results in children. This is often called ‘the nuclear family’, with the extended family exploring other relationships formed by blood ties: grandparents, great-grandparents, aunties, uncles, nephews, nieces, brothers, sisters, cousins and so on. Nowadays, families can look a lot more complicated than this, with divorce and remarriage and different sexual relationships altering the appearance of family, but in its basic God-given form, a family is a group of people joined together by commitment and blood ties.

When we become Christians, we are born again into God’s family. Family teaches us how to live alongside other people, often people who are very different to us. It teaches us to love without ceasing and to forgive endlessly. It teaches us commitment and perseverance. The more we can learn from God’s view of families and see ourselves as part of God’s family, the better equipped we are to live life as He wants it to be lived.

Family life, however, is often difficult! – and the Bible makes this very clear. Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. (Gen 4:1-14) Abraham, our father in faith, ended up in a very tangled relationship, having sons by two different women and facing intense jealousy and division, leading to the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. (Gen 16). Rebekah’s favouritism of Jacob over Esau led to problems between these siblings (Gen 27-28); Jacob’s relationship with Leah and her sister Rachel led to jealousy and constant strife among their children (Gen 30-31). Judah’s family life was marred by scandal, including the death of his children and an illicit relationship with his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen 38). David’s reign was marked by infidelity with Bathsheba and a broken family dynamic which resulted in the murder of some sons and his son, Absalom, turning against him entirely. (2 Sam 11 onwards.) The problems we face today in our family relationships – jealousy, favouritism, parental expectations, poor parenting, selfishness and different personalities – arise because of sin and we need God’s help in both our natural families and our church family.

Spiritual growth comes as we allow God’s Holy Spirit to grow His fruit in us (Gal 5:22-23) and to develop our family resemblance to Jesus. God uses the church to help us grow in love (see 1 John 3), in acceptance (Rom 15:7) and forgiveness (Eph 4:32). Discipline and correction will be needed at times, but God wants us to live together in unity and blessing. (Ps 133) May we be committed to this family of God and allow God’s Holy Spirit to shape us and mould us into the image of Christ, growing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives so that we can live together in harmony and unity for God’s glory and praise.