Phil 2:1-11 describes the great plan of salvation, how Jesus – in very nature God, fully God, wholly divine – took on human flesh – being made in human likeness, taking the nature of a servant, being wholly human – in order to be able to save mankind from their sins. This is a mystery which we will spend all our lives pondering, and as we approach Easter, we pause once again to contemplate the means by which He purchased that salvation, His obedience to death, even death on a cross.

The death and resurrection of Christ, those foundational truths on which the whole of Christianity builds, are not, however, the whole story, for there is even more! In 2 Cor 8:9, Paul says ‘you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.’ The first part of that verse corresponds to the Incarnation of Christ, but the end of that verse outlines a divine exchange which is beyond our wildest dreams. We get to exchange our poverty for Christ’s wealth, our filthiness for His righteousness (Is 1:18, 1 Cor 1:30, 2 Cor 5:21), our guilt and shame and condemnation for freedom and the rights of sons and heirs! (Rom 8:1-17)

The logical conclusion of this amazing exchange, freely offered to us (but which cost Christ everything), is surrender, an offering back of ourselves to God. As Rend Collective sing in ‘All That I Am’, ‘in view of Your matchless sacrifice, take every treasure, take this life.’ When we realise all that God has done for us and all He offers us in Christ, we let go of everything that used to mean so much to us (Phil 3:7-11) and find ‘In these empty hands I have it all, have it all: The pure joy of knowing You, my Lord.’

‘Take every treasure, take this life

Everything’s on the altar now:
No holding back, no holding out.
In view of Your matchless sacrifice
Take every treasure, take this life

All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are

Selfish ambition and my pride
I’m giving up, I’m letting die
In these empty hands I have it all, have it all
The pure joy of knowing You, my Lord

All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are

It’s only in surrender that I’m free
It’s only in surrender that I’m truly free
It’s only in surrender that I’m free
(All I have is Yours, my Lord)
It’s only in surrender that I’m truly free
I am free, I am free indeed
I am free, I am free indeed

All that I am for all that You are, my Lord
All that I have for all that You are, You’re the
Pearl beyond price, greater than life
All that I am for all that You are.’ (‘All That I Am’, Rend Collective)

The question of identity is one I often refer to. The simple question ‘Who am I?’ is one of the most profound things we ever ask. Over the years, I have come to believe that who I am is inextricably bound up in who God is and in my relationship to Him. I cannot really identify myself separately without damaging the person God created me to be.

Michael Card’s latest album ‘The Penultimate Question’ looks at the Gospel of Matthew. He says ‘Matthew wrote his Gospel to a group of Christians who do not yet know they are Christians. They are faithful followers of Jesus who are still members of the synagogue community in Galilee. But the time is rapidly approaching when they will be expelled from the synagogue and from Jewish life. They are about to lose their identities. Then they will be consumed with the penultimate question, ‘Who am I?’ “

The song ‘This Is Who You Are’ attempts to answer that question.

‘Misunderstood and undefined, a stranger to myself,

Incarnate contradiction, I am poverty and wealth.

I can believe and disbelieve,

I can bless and damn,

I’m dying in the darkness of not knowing who I am.

Then rising like a morning sun, the light begins to speak,

In a voice that’s vastly strong yet still so infinitely weak.

It’s roaring like a lion;

It whispers like a lamb;

It’s thundering that who you are

Is wrapped in who I am.

To everyone that’s lost He gives a new identity

That’s grounded in the kingdom and a new reality.

It’s found in loving kindness

And a mercy that is free

You can become the child

That you were always meant to be.’ (‘This Is Who You Are’, Michael Card)

There is a vast difference between theory and practice. These days if you want to drive in the UK, you have to pass both a theory test (demonstrating that you understand the Highway Code and the theory of driving and hazard perception) and a practical test (demonstrating that you can actually drive a car safely.) It makes sense to emphasise that both are necessary and important in driving.

Similarly, the Christian life has much to teach us which is often viewed as ‘theoretical knowledge’: theology and doctrine are often viewed in this light. But this is never intended to be merely theory; rather, it is intended to shape how we live our daily lives in very practical ways. Eugene Peterson says of church life ‘it is never an abstraction, never anonymous, never a problem to be fixed, never a romantic ideal to be fantasised.’ (‘Practise Resurrection’, P 170) All the doctrines we learn about the nature of God and man, about Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, about the defeat of the devil are not meant to be merely interesting debates; they are meant to shape our understanding of life and inform how we actually ‘do life.’  ‘There is more to the church than sermons and sacraments, theology and liturgy, Bible studies and prayer meetings, committee minutes and mission statements. There are names, meals, small talk, births, deaths. There is us.’ (ibid. P 170-1)

Jesus was clear that the wise person is the one who not only hears His words but puts them into practice. (see Matt 7:24-27). James was similarly blunt: ‘Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.’ (James 1:22) The challenge before each one of us is to marry theory to practice and to live out what we believe, in simple faith and trust.

Have you noticed that you can now listen to the sermons from church?

We have now managed to record sermons and upload them to the website, so if you are not satisfied with reading a summary of the sermon, you can listen for yourself online. Click on the ‘Resources’ tab at the top of the page to choose the sermon; both sermons from Sunday 30th March are available to listen again.

Guest speaker Yan Hadley spoke last night about the importance of faith in the life of the Christian. Jesus died so that we may have life; the Biblical principle is of a God who freely gives us all things (Rom 8:32) and who became poor for our sakes so that our lives may be enriched. (2 Cor 8:9) Our part in this participation in life is to commit to trust even though we may not comprehend.

Often, we are slow to believe God’s incredible promises. The Israelites, on the brink of the Promised land, were slow to believe; the disciples on the road to Emmaus were equally slow to grasp all that Jesus was telling them. Prov 3:5 reminds us that we need to trust in the Lord; the church is robbed if we try to ‘work it out’, for we need to accept by faith all that God offers rather than trying to reason it all out; we have to take thoughts captive if we are to experience God’s promises. Our minds must be renewed (Rom 12:1-2), for we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) and need to progress in faith to see the greater things Jesus promised.

We need an unswerving trust in God if we are to grow spiritually, and this will involve faith. Faith can be dormant, diverted or dependent, however. A dormant faith is never allowed to be stretched. A diverted faith will believe anything: feelings, fears, what others say, what circumstances indicate. A dependent faith will accept what God says as truth and will accept this whole-heartedly.

God wants us to expect the unexpected and allow Him to use us to touch those we know. He wants us to believe the unbelievable, for ‘all things are possible if you believe.’ Abraham, Joshua and Gideon all discovered the key to success lay with faith. We need to choose to bless the Lord at all times (Ps 34:1) and to be committed to the life of faith.

Garry continued his series from 2 Pet 1:5-10 today, looking at how we can be personally productive. James 2:14-18 reminds us that faith and works have to go together and Paul is encouraged by the Thessalonians because of ‘your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope.’ (1 Thess 1:3) Our faith motivates us to work, but the most important works we can be involved in as Christians are prayer and worship.

Work can refer to any kind of business, employment or work, which can involve manual work, artistic work, industry or even thinking! There are all different kinds of work, and we must not look down on any kind simply because it is different. We are all called to work in some form or other; labour, on the other hand, is usually associated with intense work which leaves us exhausted at the end of it. In all our work and labour, however, faith and love have to be the motivators.

God also requires us to persevere or endure, not swerving from the tasks God gives us to do, having an eternal perspective, not one limited by time. As we are involved in prayer, we engage with God and feel His heart, seeing what He is doing and joining in. Prayer needs to fuel all our work in order to make it effective. Rockets such as Saturn V require power to enable them to escape earth’s gravitational pull and are obviously very fast, but work is currently being done on ion engines, which would be slower initially but which could keep on accelerating.

In the same way, we need to keep persevering in prayer, for prayer lubricates all the work we are doing. Prayer can be like labour, wrestling with God (as Daniel did when the angel had to battle spiritual forces to bring the answer to prayer.)

We need to set time aside to be with God, not allowing this time to be squeezed out or just squeezing it in where we can. Prayer needs to be our natural habitat so that God is always only a breath away, not merely a nodding acquaintance. The challenge before us is to learn to work, labour and endure in prayer.