Igor has been venturing forth again, this time accompanying me to an Oxford reunion:

Here he is, outside Keble College:

Then he went to investigate the chapel steps:

He felt at home in the gardens with the water features:

Then he decided it was time to investigate inside the college rooms:

And he likes being at windows very much:

Sadly, however, he was not allowed in at any of the official functions over the weekend, and therefore missed hearing about real iguanas in Ecuador from Steve Davies (the missionary who visited church in March and who witnessed many iguanas wandering around the compound where he worked, not to mention falling from the ceiling of a school staffroom when the plyboard gave way…)

On the subject of missionaries, Steve and Katuska would appreciate prayer for their situation as they wait for sufficient funding to be allowed to go to Mozambique. Waiting for God’s provision and timing can be difficult and it can be hard to know what to do in these waiting periods. As we experienced first-hand when purchasing St Mark’s, the journey of faith is rarely a smooth, straight road, but we hold on to God’s faithfulness at all times. Your ongoing prayer support is much appreciated.

Inspired by the thought of entertaining angels unawares (see Hebrews 13 and Thursday’s Bible study), Mark looked at the subject of angels this morning.

What perception do we have of angels? Do we think of them as ‘fluffy’ (beautiful, bright, windged, bright, gentle) or do we think of them as ‘fearsome’ (strong, raging, battlers, scary)? Angels have been depicted in art over the ages in all kinds of ways:

An angel is mentioned in Genesis 3:24 as guarding the Garden of Eden and wielding a sword of fire. Other angels (eg in Exodus 23:20-23) are described as a guide or leader into battle, one who destroyed God’s enemies. They are terrifying creatures!

Matthew 18:10 talks about children having their own angels. Angels have a job to protect, to inform (think of the angels announcing the imminent birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph), and to do God’s will. They are awe-inspiring messengers of God with His authority to do what they are sent to do. They have the authority to lead and guard and defend (see Ps 34:7 ‘The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.’)

Psalm 91 reminds us of the character and names of God (‘The Most High’, ‘Almighty’, ‘the Lord’.) God Almighty is both Elyon and Shaddai; He is powerful and our protector and He has set His love on us, which includes giving angels care over us. Whatever we do, wherever we go, however scared we may feel at times, we must never forget that God and His legions of angels protect us because of His great love for us!

On Tuesday 25th September Michael Card will be in concert at Full Life Church in Maltby, near Rotherham. The concert (part of his ‘The Beginning of the Gospel’ UK tour, with excerpts from his new album based on the Gospel of Mark) starts at 7.30 p.m. and tickets cost £10. They are available from the church (Michael Card tickets or call 01709 818213).

Michael Card’s career spans 30 years, selling over 4 million albums. In addition to receiving awards for his songs, he is also an award winning author, co-author and a Bible teacher. His songs include the well known “El Shaddai”, “Love Crucified Arose” and “Emmanuel”. More information can be found at www.michaelcard.com.

After the summer break, we resumed Bible studies tonight, with Mark choosing to go over James 2:1-13 again.

In the film ‘Batman Begins’, Rachel Dawes tells Bruce Wayne, “It’s not who you are underneath; it’s what you do that defines you.” Such a view is not Biblical. Who you are will always determine what you do and even though James is one of the most practical of the New Testament letters, there is a clear correlation between what you believe and how you act. In these opening verses, James clearly reveals how wrong attitudes will lead to discrimination, partiality or favouritism and condemns such attitudes and actions.

It is dangerous to judge by appearances and to look only on the outward; wealth is deceptive and it is all too easy to fall under its seductive spell. James reminds us that judging others is not our business (see James 4:11-12, also Matthew 7:1-7). There is only one Judge and Law-Giver, and we need to be careful to treat people equally, without partiality or favouritism. If nothing else, Hebrews reminds us that we might be entertaining angels unawares! Tramps, drunks, those who don’t fit our ‘respectable’ moulds are still people for whom Christ died and we need to offer them the same love and respect that we would show to the wealthy. If we don’t, we are hypocrites who are undermining God’s law.

It’s so much easier to see the speck in our brother’s eye than the plank in our own. We sing about this in a Doug Horley children’s song, but these truths are not just for children! We need to let the word of God penetrate our hearts and challenge our behaviour. Jesus reached out to the lepers, the ‘untouchables’ of society. He was welcomed by sinners, but the religious leaders of the day were scandalised by His willingness to keep the company of sinners. Untainted by sin, Jesus showed compassion and gave forgiveness to all. That is the standard we live by.

“Attitude can shape your life” says the chapter in the book of ‘Pocket Positives’ I bought recently. This is a thoroughly Biblical principle. Paul tells the Ephesian church “to be made new in the attitude of your minds” (Eph 4:23); Peter tells us “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” (1 Pet 4:1) We read in Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had” and are urged to have the same attitude (or mindset) as Jesus in Philippians 2:5.

Here are some people’s thoughts on the power of attitude to get you thinking today!

“It is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking on the bright side of things.” (Dr Samuel Johnson)

“The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” (John Milton)

“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitude of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” (William James)

Dave spoke from 1 Thess 4:13-18 last night about the future hope of Christians, including the hope that we will see all those who have died in Christ again one day.

Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians was brief and cut short, and he wrote letters to them to continue his teachings and to correct errors in their thinking. One question which worried them was what happened to those who had already died when Christ returned to earth. Paul uses the metaphor of sleeping to assure them that death’s separation is not permanent. He shows that there are two kinds of grief. Natural grief occurs because of the pain of the separation of death (even Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, knowing the pain that his sisters were feeling at this time.) But we do not grieve without hope, for we have a confident expectation of what we do not as yet see. We are not like those who believe that with the death of the body comes the annihilation of the soul or that that is the end of all life. Nor do we believe in reincarnation or other forms of teachings that encourage a vague, impersonal hope. Instead, we have a personal hope, embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ and resting secure on His resurrection.

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, all those who trust in Him will also be raised from the dead (see 1 Corinthians 15). Philippians 3:20 reminds us that we have a heavenly citizenship and that our lowly bodies will one day be transformed into the likeness of Christ. Mortality will put on immortality.

Those who have already died before Christ returns will not be left behind. They will be raised to life again. We will be re-united with those we have loved and the pain of separation will be no more, just as a relationship is ‘on hold’ when a person sleeps but is resumed when they awake. We have the promise of fellowship with God forever.

Being with the Lord begins now, though. We must have that relationshp with Him in this life if we are to hope that it will continue beyond the grave. Jesus is God’s lifeline and we have to take hold of that lifeline now, for the alternative is to be against the Lord (Matt 12:30) and to without hope for ever.

We also had two birthdays to celebrate: