Garry concluded his mini-series on spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:1-11), looking at the diversity of the gifts and the fact that these are used in proportion to our faith (see Rom 12:6-8). There is, perhaps, a difference between speaking in tongues at the baptism of the Spirit and exercising this ministry in a church context (the end of 1 Cor 12 implies that not everyone has the same gifts); the public use of spiritual gifts will vary. At times it seems that people can give a prophecy or a message in tongues or pray for healing without having that ministry on a regular basis, but Paul reminds the Corinthians that spiritual gifts are given by the Spirit as He determines and that the way we experience these gifts will be as varied as the personalities being used! What counts is God’s grace and our faith, and we need to encourage each other to seek God for these gifts (1 Cor 12:30) whilst acknowledging that we cannot actually ‘manufacture’ the gifts ourselves. Just as a dam can control the flow of water but cannot produce the water held in a reservoir, so we can choose whether we use the gifts God gives us or not, but cannot actually ‘produce’ the gifts in our strength.

2 Pet 1:20-21 reminds us that all prophecy comes about through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; it is not something people make up. Jer 20:7-18 speaks of how Jeremiah tried to hold in the words God gave him but could not (‘But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.’ Jer 20:9) There is often that sense of being ‘about to burst’, a sense of feeling totally constrained, when exercising these gifts which can be frightening at first, but, armed with the confidence that God gives good gifts to those who ask, seek and knock (Matt 7:7-11), we can approach God with hungry hearts that reach out for all He has for us. These gifts, along with the other ministries listed in 1 Cor 12:28-31, Rom 12:6-8 and Eph 4:11-13, are given to build up the church and show unbelievers the power of God, as Paul goes on to explain in 1 Cor 14.

Mark spoke tonight on the subject of the nails which held Jesus to the cross, sporting a T-short which proclaims ‘My Saviour is tougher than nails.’

Nails come in all shapes and sizes and are very useful, but in each of the Gospel narratives of the crucifixion, there is actually no mention of nails (see Matt 27:35, Mk 15:24, Luke 23:33, Jn 19:18). It is not until after the resurrection, when Jesus appears to the disciples, that we hear about the nails which held Him to the cross, for Thomas needs to see the evidence of those nail marks before he will believe (see John 20:19-29). Jesus showed them the marks of the nails, proving that He really had been crucified and was alive for evermore.

It was not the physical nails themselves, however, which held Jesus to the cross. As Son of God, He could have come down from the cross and demonstrated His deity in that way; despite the pain, agony and suffering of death by crucifixion, He knew that God’s salvation could only be won if He suffered in that way and His love kept Him on the cross. He chose to die in that way to finish God’s great plan of salvation.

Jesus knew that sin had to be paid for and that the cross was the only way reconciliation between man and God could be made. He took our sins and nailed them to the cross (Col 2:14), paying the ultimate price so that our sins can be removed forever. Jesus destroyed the law of sin and death on the cross and became our atoning sacrifice (propitiation). He refused the pain relief offered (wine vinegar mixed with myrrh) because He needed to be fully aware of all that was happening and bear the weight of our sins with full consciousness. God’s grace poured out from the cross.

All sins are paid for at the cross: sins of our past and any sins we may commit in the future. We have a responsibility to pin our sins, as it were, to the cross as we repent, confess them and ask for God’s forgiveness. We need to let go of our former lifestyles (including wrong behaviour and wrong patterns of thinking) and embrace the reality of the forgiveness purchased for us through Christ’s death on the cross.

Garry continued his series on Christ as revelator of God’s glory (see John 1:18) by looking at Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 14:1-14. Here, Jesus reveals the Father’s heart to His disci0ples (see John 3:16) and yet it’s clear that His disciples are confused, not understanding where Jesus is going or how He reveals the Father to them. God wants people to know Him and what He is like and the clearest revelation we have of God is through Jesus: ‘anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’. He reveals Himself through His word, through Jesus, through His actions and now through His church. We are now called to be those who reveal God’s character to a world which knows little of God.

So often, people’s experience or knowledge of God are second-hand. Insurance policies talk about exemption clauses because of ‘acts of God’, and these are always negative experiences such as flooding or earthquakes! Many people view the God of the Old Testament as wrathful and mean, failing to see that God’s nature is unchanging and that He is a God of faithfulness and love (not an evil God who is ‘replaced’ by the kinder Jesus-God, as some heresies claim.) Jesus reveals God as a God of justice who cares for the poor and who values the individual (all themes found in the Old Testament too) and then makes the startling statement that we, God’s people, are the salt and light of the world. (Matt 5:13-16)

The church is called to be salt. Salt is a preservative and we are called also to transform the flavour of the world around us (just as the word ‘salad’ originally meant to enhance the taste of green lettuce leaves with salt! – ‘You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth‘, as the Message version puts it.) We are light, a city on a hill. During our recent visit to Malta, the cities of Rabat and Mdina which are set on a hill became a guiding point of reference for us; Christians are meant to show people the way to God by reflecting His light and pointing to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

Light reveals colours (‘You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world.‘) So often, Christians are perceived negatively (and by association, people’s views of God are negative). We need to find ways to support and encourage all that is good as well as build bridges through our lifestyles so that we earn the right to be heard by others. God longs to grow the fruit of the Spirit in our lives  – this fruit being a reflection of God’s character. As God’s character grows in us, we can then reflect that character to others, demonstrating love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness and self-control. In this way, we reveal God’s character to a world which otherwise has many faulty ideas about God.

Some advance notice of additional meetings and future plans:

On Saturday 7th May at 6 p.m. we will be holding our annual general meeting. This is a chance to look back on all God has done during the past year and to look forward to all that is ahead. Due to the nature of the meeting, it’s not really suitable for children, but we would encourage all adults who are interested in and committed to the work of God through our church to come along to this meeting. We’ll have drinks and cake after the meeting!

On Saturday 14th May at 6 p.m. at Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne we’ll be having the next ‘Churches Together’ meeting to celebrate Pentecost. Do come along to support this meeting and to have fellowship with Christians from other local churches.

Looking even further ahead we are hoping to organise a missions’ trip to visit Fredrick and Reeba in India in the future and are interested in finding out exactly who would be willing to commit to a short missions trip (lasting between 1-2 weeks.) Mission opportunities in India are great: Fredrick is keen for people to see firsthand the work done with street children, help with children’s and youth ministry and be involved with the tailoring programme run by Reeba. This is a great opportunity to be see for yourselves the work we support and to participate in God’s work overseas. Each person going will be expected to raise the money for the flights there and back, but as a church we’ll also be looking at fundraising events to help people do this. See Garry for more details, including possible dates.

Nicky Gumbel, in his ‘Bible In One Year‘ commentary, talks about how the Titanic, that flagship of cruise liners, sank in 1912 despite its compartmentalised infrastructure:

Its builders boasted that it had 16 watertight compartments and that up to four of these could be damaged or even flooded and still the ship would float; it was, in their words, ‘unsinkable.’ However, sink it did (on 15th April 1912), after hitting an iceberg, and when the wreck was found, it was discovered that damage to just one compartment had affected all the rest.

When we divide our lives into different compartments, we run the risk of sinking, just as the Titanic did. Psychiatrists talk of the dangers of fractured lives, how our attempts to deal with pain and trauma by boxing off our feelings or emotions, forcing them out of our consciousness, lead to problems in the long run. Repression and denial leave us looking good on the surface, but the pressure within these locked compartments of our psyche causes untold damage to our souls, like water flooding in to the Titanic’s compartments. Eventually, the force of those things comes crashing out, leading to depression, anger, breakdowns, as we cannot cope with holding all the separate pieces together. In extreme cases, schizophrenia results as our personality fragments.

In order to live lives of integrity, we have to root out sin, being aware that its pervasive influence seeps into every area of our lives. Attitudes to money, relationships, work, leisure and God are critical. Prov 23:7 reminds us that as we think, so we are.

We need to allow God’s ways of handling life to become our ways. Most of all, we need to receive God’s help, allowing His Spirit free reign, allowing Him access to every compartment, every room, in our lives. As He does this, He guides us day by day. Life is too daunting, too painful, too stressful to be lived on our own. Wholeness and healing are found in God; an undivided heart is the key to successful living. David’s success in life wasn’t because he was sin-free or his life trouble-free, but because he was a man after God’s heart who shepherded his people with integrity of heart. (Ps 78:72)

When I was at school, one of the desserts served was rice pudding, served with a dollop of strawberry jam:

Most children mixed the jam into the rice pudding and ate the subsequent pink dessert which they dubbed the ‘pink panther.’ The jam sweetened the pudding and changed its colouring completely.

Nowadays, I eat porridge for breakfast, usually with raspberries. Garry treats this breakfast like the children at school treated the rice pudding: he crushes the raspberries and eats a pink gloop for breakfast. I eat a spoonful of porridge with an individual raspberry.

I suspect that the pink panther approach works better in life, however, than my method, for (as Rick Warren says) ‘a life of integrity is one that is not divided into compartments.’

We think that the life works well when it’s divided into compartments (work, home, church, God, money, leisure, friends and so on.) It doesn’t. Life is messy; each area spills into another and can’t be divided up neatly. One area overflows into another and it actually becomes dangerous to try to keep these compartments separate, for it leads to fragmentation and disharmony.

Matt Redman’s song ‘King of My Soul’ has the line ‘so let my life be undivided, God.’ Jesus reminded us that we need to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as ourselves. (Matt 22:37-38) Only when there is integrity within, the ‘undivided heart‘ for which David prayed (Ps 86:11), can there be wholeness and strength. ‘A house divided against itself will not stand.’ (Matt 12:25) This applies to individuals, families, churches, even nations. Integration and integrity lead to health and strength.