How do you wake up in the morning? Are you like me, awake before the alarm most days by some mysterious process of timing that you can’t explain to others? Or are you someone who has to be roused from slumber by an alarm clock (or several alarm clocks)? Do you feel like you never sleep anyway, so waking up is something you can’t really say you ever do?

Do you wake up grumpy and like to keep hitting the ‘snooze’ button, coming round gradually? Or do you leap out of bed straightaway and click straight into ‘day mode’? Can you be ‘up and at ’em’ within seconds of rousing or do you need time to have a cup of coffee and come round gradually before you face others?

We are all different and waking up can be different for all of us. But there is no doubt that God wants us to wake up. The psalmist said “Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.” (Ps 57:8) Isaiah urged Israel “Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength!” (Is 52:24). Paul urged the Thessalonians “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” (1 Thess 5:6) Revelation tells us “Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Rev 16:15)

Whatever personality type you are in waking up, let’s wake up, shake the sleep from our souls and serve God with all our might:

“In our hearts, Lord, in this nation
Awakening
Holy Spirit, we desire
Awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul, awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done, let Your will be done in me” (‘Awakening’, Chris Tomlin)
‘Awakening’, Chris Tomlin

‘Wake up! Rise up!
All the earth is singing
Louder, stronger
Shout it out and worship!’ (‘Wake Up’, Tim Hughes)
‘Wake Up’, Tim Hughes

Mr & Mrs was a TV show hosted by Derek Baley, where couples had to answer multiple choice questions about each other. Six out of six correct answers earned the couple a jackpot prize. Questions were fairly bland (asking whether you always, sometimes or never had serviettes with a meal, for example) and the theme tune incredibly cheesy.

To celebrate Dave and Joan’s Golden Wedding, we subjected them to a Mr & Mrs style quiz last night (though there were, sadly, no jackpot prizes to be won!) Questions ranged from their favourite colours (a bit of a trick question, since Dave is colour blind..!) to where they first met (the Embassy Dance Hall in Wakefield), to Dave’s favourite drink (ginger beer according to Joan, coffee according to Dave) to more serious topics such as the key to a successful marriage (good communication, according to Joan; Joan, according to Dave!)

Many thanks to Dave and Joan for being willing to answer the questions, but most of all, for showing us on a regular basis that marriage can be successful and fun and for modelling to us as a congregation what Christian marriage can look like. In an age where marriage is under increasing pressure in our Western society, it is good to celebrate God’s gift of marriage and to understand some of the Biblical principles and guidelines to a successful marriage. After all, marriage is also a symbol of the union between Christ and the church and last night we sang of this in the song ‘Beautiful’:
“When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more,
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring,
Your bride will come together and sing,
‘You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.’ ” (Phil Wickham, ‘Beautiful’)

This weekend we held a party to celebrate Dave and Joan’s Golden Wedding Anniversary (which will actually take place this coming weekend.) 50 years of marriage is something to celebrate and it was great to see so many of their friends and family in church to share the joy of God’s faithfulness and their own committed love over so many years.

As always, there was plenty of food to share:

It is wonderful to be able to share such moments and we pray God’s richest blessings on Dave and Joan in the future as we thank God for all He has done in their lives.

We had two birthdays to celebrate last night:

Kevin preached from Matthew 14:13-33 last night, the account of the feeding of the five thousand and when Jesus (and Peter) walked on water.

The example of Peter shows us a warm-hearted, impulsive fisherman who could at times be presumptuous, and even, perhaps, a little cowardly.

The example of the boy who shared his food with the disciples and ultimately helped with one of Jesus’s miracles shows us a well-loved lad (he had a packed lunch, lovingly prepared for him) who was big-hearted and generous. He was willing to share and because of that he played a vital part in the feeding of so many. What can Jesus do if we are willing to share our time, our talents, our money, our life with Him?

The example of Jesus, of course, teaches us so much. These incidents follow on from the death of John the Baptist, and Jesus has gone to be alone. Followed by a great crowd, he has compassion on the crowd. He does not put His own needs before theirs, but constantly seeks to be with His Father in prayer. As has been said, “if we spent as much time in prayer as we do watching the news, maybe we could change the news.” Jesus sought His Father’s face and from those times of prayer, reached out to others in ministry.

The disciples, caught up in a storm, needed help. The help Jesus offered to them was immediate. He did not leave them in fear, but reassured them. Peter walked on the water, keeping his eyes on Jesus and was confident, but once he looked away, he began to sink and needed help: ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out to help him. The ultimate example we have from Jesus is that He is always, immediately, there with us, truly Immanuel.

Mark spoke from 1 Pet 2:9-10 this morning, looking especially at the phrase ‘we are a chosen people’.

Knowing our identity in Christ and our purpose in God is vitally important. People often spend a great deal of time answering the question ‘Who Am I?’ Finding one’s ancestors can often reveal unexpected facts (sometimes with skeletons in the closet!) – apparently one of Diane’s relatives was recorded in the electoral roll as being an ‘imbecile’ or ‘village idiot’!

We don’t have to be conditioned by our ancestral history, however. What the Bible teaches us is that God has chosen us. ‘Chosen’ comes from two Greek words, meaning ‘out of’ and ‘to fit together’. We have been chosen individually by God from all the people in our generation, chosen before even the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight (Eph 1:4), to serve Him and make His light known. Paul told the Galatians he had been set apart from birth and was called by God’s grace (Gal 1:15). We are chosen, special, hand picked by God and however much we may wonder why, the fact remains that God is the Creator who can make us all useful! We may not be the most intelligent or the most amazing people (see 1 Cor 1:26-27), but God nonetheless has chosen us and as a result of this, we have an obligation to live well for God, making the most of every opportunity (Eph 5:16)

Matt Redman echoes this verse in his song ‘The Glory of Our King’:
‘We are, we are a chosen people,
We are, we are called to follow,
We are, we are Your generation.’ (Matt Redman, ‘The Glory of Our King’)
‘The Glory of Our King’, Matt Redman