“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he ploughed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message)

As part of the French GCSE curriculum (yes, honestly) I have to teach about healthy lifestyles, including, of course, things that contribute to unhealthy lifestyles, such as drugs, alcohol and smoking. (Believe me, that’s interesting compared to the part where I have to teach about environmental issues…!) We look at reasons why people continue to do things that ultimately are harming their bodies and why those things are physically and psychologically damaging. I have absolutely no idea if this influences pupils in any way, but it ticks lots of Government boxes, I’m sure.

This version of Hebrews 12 in the Message made me think of those lessons. ‘Shooting adrenaline into the souls’ is a powerful image. Sometimes those with severe nut allergies carry epipens with them in case of anaphylactic reactions and as a teacher I’ve received training to administer adrenaline through an epipen. It’s fast, uncomplicated and very, very effective.

Hebrews 12 urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus if we want to know how to live effectively and study how He lived. Reviewing this story helps us to persevere. Ironically, adrenaline is a hormone that works in the short-term; it’s not long-lasting, but provides a boost for us in times of need. The Christian life is not a short-term race, but a marathon. Nonetheless, we all need that ‘something extra’ at times to keep on keeping on!

If perhaps you’re flagging at the moment, feeling the pressure or just feeling jaded, understanding our role in the bigger picture of God’s story and studying how Jesus lived is the best way to keep persevering. Focussing on God in worship and consciously dwelling on who He is help a lot too. The link below takes you to a series of videos from the ‘Big Church Day Out’ held in Eastbourne in May of this year, featuring a number of worship leaders such as Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Phil Wickham and Casting Crowns. Maybe they will help to ‘shoot adrenaline into the soul’ and keep our eyes fixed on God!

Big Church Day Out 2012 videos
(The link is to Matt Redman’s live concert; other concerts available by clicking on the right hand side of this page.)

Rich Mullins wrote a song called ‘Screen Door’ on James 2:14-26, the passage we studied this week. It looks at the problem of faith without works and says ‘it’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine’. You can listen to the song here or view it here (the sound quality on the video is not as good, but it’s pretty special to watch the percussion effects on this otherwise unaccompanied song!)

This part of James has often been seen as an example of the Bible contradicting itself, with James advocating justification through works whereas Paul advocates justification by faith alone. There is no inherent contradiction in these passages, however (looking in particular at James 2:14-26 and Romans 4). As we saw in our last Bible study, just because a person claims to have faith does not mean they necessarily do have faith; faith has to be expressed through works (see also Matt 7:21-23). James is adamant that there can be no dichotomy that says ‘You have faith; I have works’ (James 2:18). These are not separate things at the opposite ends of a spectrum; rather, “Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove” (James 2:18, The Message) and “faith expresses itself in works” (James 2:22).

James looks at two examples from the Old Testament to back up his belief that faith and works need to be meshed together. The first is Abraham (see Genesis 15:6, Romans 4 and Galatians 3). The incident referred to in James is that recorded in Genesis 22 when Abraham ‘proved’ his faith by his willingness to sacrifice his only son. Abraham was justified by God long before Isaac was actually born, but this passage in Genesis shows us the evidence of his faith. Abraham believed God and was willing to act in obedience to him, even though if he really had killed Isaac, he did not know how God could keep His promise to him (though Hebrews 11:17-19 provides a clue, perhaps). Faith, James argues, results in ‘acts of obedience’. It’s worth pondering what this looks like in our lives.

Rahab (see Joshua 2) was a woman, a prostitute, from the lowest social class of the time. Her faith motivated her, too, to action (hiding the spies under the stalks of flax on the roof). She saved their lives and her actions led to the successful capture of Jericho and the saving of her own life. We enjoyed discussing the ethics of lying when considering her actions!

James wants there to be a ‘seamless unity of believing and doing’. If there is not this seamless unity, then there will be barrenness, a lack of fruit, death in our spiritual lieves. Faith without works really is as useless as a screen door on a submarine. But believing and doing together are as powerful as oxen yoked to a plough. “Faith comes from God and every word that He breathes. He lets you take it to your heart so you can give it hands and feet,” Rich Mullins says. The questions we need, therefore, to ask ourselves are:
* How can we put our faith into practice?
* What can we actually do to demonstrate the validity of our faith?
* What are the ‘hands and feet’ of our faith?

People came up with their own similes to express the idea that faith without works is dead. Garry’s contribution was “Faith without works is about as much good as a chocolate fireguard” and Mark’s was “Faith without works is about as much good as a doner kebab without the pitta bread: it’s just a mess.” Should we be worried that both these similes are connected to food?!

The song ‘The Lord of the Dance’ was Mark’s inspiration for the family service last night. The song talks about Jesus being the Lord of the Dance: Lord at creation, bringing hope and joy and life to all when on earth and Lord even through death and resurrection. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that it was for the joy set before Christ that He endured the cross, scorning its shame. Jesus is our model for joy.

Dancing is mentioned in many places in the Bible. Mark spoke on 4 texts:

(1) 2 Samuel 6:14
This passage talks about David dancing before the Lord with all his might. Matt Redman has written a song called ‘Undignified’ on this passage. Clearly, David’s joy at all that God was doing spilled over into dancing. The passage speaks of exuberance, joy, and a wildness that is perhaps unsettling for many of us.
Matt Redman, ‘Undignified’

(2) Psalm 30:11
This says “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” Life is not always easy and although we associate dancing with joy, that is not to say that life is always easy. Nonetheless, this psalm talks about the transformation God can bring into our situations: weeping comes, but is replaced by joy (Ps 30:5); wailing is replaced by dancing. We may have to wait for this transformation, but we can be confident that God will hear our cries and will come to our aid.

Chris Tomlin’s song ‘You Lifted Me Out’ is based on this psalm: Chris Tomlin, ‘You Lifted Me Out’

(3) Psalm 149:1-3
Praising with dancing is encouraged in these verses. So often, we are embarrassed by the exuberance of dancing and feel that that is not very British! But God is worthy of all our praise and we should not be held back by embarrassment, fear of what others will think of us or be half-hearted in our expressions of praise.

(4) Ecclesiastes 3:4-5
There is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. Joy is available from God for us at all times, but again, there are times and seasons in our lives. We should not be afraid of the difficult times, but can be sure that God will bring us through and will fill us with joy.

Songs on the subject of dancing & joy!
Matt Redman, ‘For Your Glory’
Matt Redman, ‘Dancing Generation’
Phil Wickham, ‘Joy’

Last night’s family service looked at the theme of ‘Lord of the Dance’ and the quiz instead took on the form of a dancing competition! First of all the men, and then the women, had to dance to an assortment of videos.

Four finalists were selected (two men, two women), who then had to dance for prizes! (They were moving so quickly, the photo is blurred!)

We also had a birthday to celebrate:

The family service is on Sunday 7th October in the evening, starting at 6 p.m.

Next Sunday morning we will be at Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne, sharing in their harvest festival. Come along at 10.30 a.m. to that service and be part of the local community’s expression of gratitude to God. Please bring harvest gifts to give to the needy if you are able to.

The evening service on 14th October will be at GPCC as usual, starting at 6 p.m.

Bible studies (continuing our studies of James) will be on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month (11th & 25th October), starting at 7.30 p.m.

Please note also that the outreach to help the poor and needy in Goldthorpe continues and we are looking especially for coats, hats, scarves, gloves, socks, blankets and hot water bottles as the winter months approach. We are working with the Salvation Army and other local churches in this initiative and all donations are gratefully received.

One of my favourite films is ‘Three Amigos’. This spoof western shows three actors playing the part of heroes and then being thrust into what they assume is another film, only to find the villagers of Santo Poco expect them to rescue them from a real band of ruffians, led by El Guapo. Needless to say, the three heroes (played by Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short) turn out to be just as amazing as their alter egos on screen and save the day… thanks to some help from the feisty villagers.

This morning, Garry talked about knowing our weaknesses and strengths. If you’re like me, knowing your weaknesses is relatively easy. They stare you in the face all day long. Knowing your strengths is another thing altogether. What is perhaps even harder is wondering how God can use your strengths, since they seem so utterly ordinary and even banal to us!

I was reminded of a scene in ‘Three Amigos’ where the villagers finally have to stop running and come up with a plan of action against El Guapo. They are challenged by the Three Amigos to use the skills and the talents of the people. ‘What is it that this town does really well?’ they are asked. There is musing and bewilderment amongst the people, who clearly don’t think they have any skills or talents, until one woman tentatively says ‘We can sew.’

Clearly, this was not the answer that our heroes were looking for! But, true to form, they remember a scene from a previous film they have made and enlist the help of all the villagers in sewing costumes like their own sparkling black and silver outfits for everyone, so that when El Guapo and his band of marauders arrive, they will be utterly confused and defeated. This cunning ploy saves the day and El Guapo is defeated!

‘Three Amigos’, ‘We can sew!’ scene

Our strengths may seem equally unremarkable. How can God use my talents? How can a talent for making the tea or washing up really count in God’s kingdom? How can an administrative skill be really useful? How can physical strength be used in a day when we’re no longer knocking down the walls of cities? We tend to denigrate our talents and see them as ordinary, mundane, not special. Someone else’s skills seem so much more impressive.

But God has a habit of using whatever we give Him and can turn our ordinariness into something quite extraordinary when He is introduced into the equation. The little boy’s packed lunch fed a huge amount of people when surrendered to Jesus. God does not ask us to be anything other than who we are when we come to Him. All He wants is for us to give Him what we have. As the Christmas carol goes:

“What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him?
Give my heart.” (Christina Rossetti, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’)

Let’s not downplay (or over-inflate) our strengths. Let’s simply give them to God, however ordinary they seem, and watch Him do amazing things with ordinary talents (even those like sewing.) You will be surprised at the results!