Last week we had the privilege of visiting the Bridge Christian Community in Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland. This non-denominational church had very much the same ‘feel’ and vision as our church, even down to the fact they moved into a new building four years ago and spent time renovating the building! Their aims were summarised as:

• To have a significant impact on the spiritual, moral, social & economic healing of the area.
• To play our part in the national and world-wide mission of the church.
• To provide a community centre facility for Arklow.

and they too see their name as significant in living out those aims: ‘Our name reflects much of this vision. We aim to be a Bridge between people and God, as well as between people of different backgrounds and between our locality and the rest of the world.  We are devoted to the Christian faith as revealed in the Word of God, the Bible, and we believe this is best lived out together in a Community of faith.  We are linked together with other churches that share a similar vision across Ireland and abroad.’

Last week’s sermon was on Titus 2:11-14 and was given by Robert Holden. Everything in the Christian life starts with God’s grace which has appeared to us and brings salvation to us. We don’t deserve it; we cannot earn it, but through it we find wholeness, freedom and healing and this grace is available to all people (not just those we like!) God’s grace urges us to turn away from ungodliness and sinful pleasures, recognising that whilst some things are clearly forbidden by God, we need to walk closely with Him to hear what He is asking of us individually. We are to turn to self-control and right conduct and devotion to God, for the Christian faith is not all about ‘thou shalt not’ but is an invitation to right living – with that ‘right living’ defined by God. We need godly wisdom to make good decisions and to live as He wants us to.

This is only possible when we realise that we also have a future hope. Christ’s first appearance heralded grace but His second coming will reveal perfection (as we have been studying in 1 John 3:1-3.) Jesus gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us and make us His very own people who are totally committed to doing what is right. That cleansing is given us through His Word, through His blood and through the Holy Spirit, for we are a chosen people, as Peter reminds us.

We even got to sing ‘Build Your Kingdom Here’ (Rend Collective) during the service – fitting to do an Irish song in Ireland, we thought!

Igor (the church mascot, if anyone is new to the blog) has been exploring new territory recently. First of all, he tested his chocolate-making skills, resulting in a skilfully made chocolate lighthouse:

Then he found an excellent camouflage zone called Glendalough in Ireland:

He also discovered a lake reputed to house a monster, but saw no evidence for this:

All in all, an exciting time!

Last Sunday saw a belated birthday celebration!

Tonight was a farewell service for Chris and Adrian Lee from the Salvation Army who, after twelve years of ministry in Goldthorpe, are moving to Huddersfield. It was great to see so many people there to give thanks and to share in the memories!

A variety of presents were given, including teas and coffees, cushions, a tambourine for Chris and the original Goldthorpe Salvation Army banner.

Chris has been very involved with the choir at Sacred Heart school and with a local gospel choir, and they sang a number of songs:

The choir gave Chris a present too:

Shaun and various other people shared about Chris and Adrian’s faithfulness over the years and gave Scriptures to encourage them as they continue to plant seeds in their new community. Some messages were via cards or videos. Chris shared how she loves to sing but is even more amazed that God sings over His children (Zeph 3:17) and Adrian shared his prayer for everyone from Eph 3:14-21. At the end of the meeting, we enjoyed marching as we sang!

We pray God’s richest blessings on Chris and Adrian as they move on to Huddersfield and we continue to pray for Shaun and Alison as they take over the leadership in Goldthorpe. Don’t forget the next ‘Churches Together’ meeting coming soon – Saturday 19th July at 7 p.m. at the Salvation Army.

This battle between the old nature and the new nature is vividly portrayed by Paul in Romans 7:7-25. We do well to remember that this battle is ongoing and there is no room for complacency in our walk with Christ. Whilst we must live in the freedom and grace which are available through the righteousness of Christ (there’s no need to be pessimistic or fearful in our walk with God), we must also be vigilant against sin. As Casting Crowns sing in their hauntingly poignant song ‘Waiting on the night to fall’, there is an old man, an old nature, motivated by the devil who will do all he can to cause us to sin:

‘There’s an old man living in the back of your woods tonight.
You forgot he was even there, but you’ve never slipped his mind.
He’s living off of scraps of you you never knew you left behind
And as the sun goes down, he rises with a smile.

He’s waiting on the night to fall;
The old man’s coming to call;
You don’t see the writing on the wall.
He’ll never step out in the light
No, he’s just biding time
And while you slumber, he’s gonna come and take it all.
He’s waiting on the night to fall.
He’s waiting on the night to fall.

He knows you have the answers, but Truth lies dusty on your shelf.
And the sword that you could slay him with has become an ornament and nothing else.
You could put him back down in his hole in the ground, but he knows you never will.
He’s been around so long, you got used to the smell.

He knows he’ll never have your soul,
But he will gladly rob you blind;
While you’re feasting at his table, he’ll tie your hands and numb your mind.
He’ll take you farther than you wanna go,
He’ll keep you longer than you wanna stay
And it will cost you more than you ever thought you’d pay.’ (‘Waiting on the Night to Fall’, Casting Crowns)

John reminds us that being related to God has two manifestations: righteousness and love. Both are characteristic of God; both are characteristic of the children of God. Moreover, both are and need to be actively expressed, and expressed in a way that conforms to God’s standard and to the pattern set by Jesus. We need to put on the armour of God so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes (Eph 6:10-20) so that we develop the family likeness and can be seen by the world as belonging to Christ.

Last night’s Bible study looked at 1 John 3:4-10, where John tells us how we can know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. A family likeness has to be developed within those who are born of God (v9, a phrase echoed in 1 John 2:29, 4:7, 5:1, 18 and reminiscent of John 1:12-13), for God’s seed remains in us. That family likeness means we must have the same characteristics as Jesus in our attitude and opposition to sin, for Jesus was both righteous and opposed sin, and in our attitude to others, showing love as He did.

This passage often seems confusing in its bold statements that the one born of God will not ‘continue in sin’, or ‘keep on sinning.’ Earlier (1 John 1:8-10), he has reminded us that we will never reach a state of sinless perfection (as some Gnostics claimed), but now he goes on to say that we must not be blind to sin or indifferent to its gravity. Christ’s sacrifice was to take away sin and His purpose was to destroy the devil’s work (see also John 1:29, Heb 9:26, 1 Pet 2:24). He paid the price for our sins, taking away the consequence of those sins (the punishment and guilt we deserved) and breaking the power sin has over us (see Rom 6:1-14, Col 2:13-15), so now we have an obligation, not to the sinful nature, but to the new nature given to us (2 Pet 1:4).

How do we nurture the new nature? Ultimately, we have to train ourselves to be godly (1 Tim 4:7), which involves discipline, prayer, reading the Word and allowing this new nature to have predominance in our lives: ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.’ (Rom 13:14) We have to put off the old nature, be made new in the attitudes of our minds and put on the new nature (Eph 4:22-24, see also Col 3:9-10, Rom 6:11-14). Because of the sacrifice of Christ and the new nature given to us through this, we have been given new standing before God (justification), a new position, set apart for God (sanctification) and are born again of His Spirit (regeneration.) From beginning to end, the power of Christ’s righteousness is given to us so that we can live lives worthy of Him.

One commentary concludes this section by saying we do not continue to sin because:

• First, we are rooted in a future hope, a hope that as the children of God we shall yet become more like God.
• Second, in directing our gaze to our future hope, the statement also assumes that the same power that will remake us at that time is already at work in us.
• Third, that power is now active in the world because it was manifested by Jesus himself in his work of breaking the grip of sin on us
• Fourthly, in his own life, Jesus exemplified the self-giving love and obedience to God that is the responsibility of God’s children as well.