Holidays are good opportunities to pause and reflect on the magnificence of God, often because we have the chance to see different parts of the world and can marvel anew at the wonder and splendour of God’s creation.

The Isle of Man certainly had some very beautiful scenery that helped us to reflect on God as Creator.

The sun glistening on the sea with craggy rocks at the south of the island:

Sulby reservoir, viewed from the hills on a train journey to the summit of Snaefell, tallest mountain on the island

View from the top of Snaefell

View over the Irish Sea from Peel Castle

We really could join with Matt Redman and sing ‘Magnificent’:
You show Your majesty
In every star that shines
And every time we breathe
Your glory, God, revealed
From distant galaxies
To here beneath our skin (Matt Redman, ‘Magnificent’)
Matt Redman, ‘Magnificent’

God is a creator God and we are made in His image. Creativity (the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work) is very much part of what it means to be human, even if we don’t always feel particularly creative.

I have been involved in fund-raising for different charities and organisations for a very long time and one of the challenges of fund-raising is finding different ways of doing the same thing (i.e. raising funds!) People tend to get bored with one thing and enjoy diversity, so the imagination is often closely allied to the practical when it comes to raising money.

On holiday recently we stumbled across an exhibition in a community centre which was aimed at raising funds for a small church in Jurby. Jean Tucker is obviously a very creative lady, for she has made a whole range of stuffed mice in tableaux depicting life throughout the whole year and has even written a song called ‘The Jurby Polka’. You can find out more about this here: ‘The Jurby Polka’. I suspect this has to be one of the most creative ways of fund-raising I’ve ever come across and it certainly gives new meaning to the phrase ‘poor as church mice’!

At the end of the tableaux, ‘Jacob’s Junction’ can be found:

Each scene has a short poem attached to it:

The tableau shows us heaven and hell:

I’m not sure if senior citizens get to the Pearly Gates free simply by virtue of their age, as is implied here (theologically, I’m glad none of us have to pay to get into heaven!), but nonetheless, the exhibition was a marvellous example of creativity and good fun. From mice playing in the snow to dancing around the maypole to celebrating the Diamond Jubilee by dancing the Jurby polka, it was amazing to see the hard work and talent of a lady who clearly has found a novel and entertaining way of raising funds.

Ralph preached last night on 1 Cor 1:18, looking at the word of the cross. The cross, now a symbol of Christianity and used in ornate jewellery, was not originally something beautiful but the place of execution. Nonetheless, the cross reveals to us the heart of God, for there we see:

(1) God’s word concerning holiness and sin
The cross reveals the vileness of sin (see John 8:34) and the holiness of God. It reveals the cosmic battle between good and evil, where Satan thought to triumph over Christ (see Acts 2:23), but where in fact God’s purposes for salvation were worked out.

(2) God’s word concerning love and sacrifice
There is a difference between contribution and sacrifice (the hen contributes an egg, the pig gives his life to provide bacon!) God knew that the death of Christ was the only way to save mankind (see Acts 4:12) and the cross shows us God’s love for man (John 3:16, Eph 5:2)

(3) God’s word concerning righteousness and peace
The sacrifice Christ made was to God, a sacrifice which destroyed the dividing wall between man and God and brought reconciliation (see Eph 2). Righteousness and peace kiss each other at the cross (see Ps 85:10).

(4) God’s word concerning salvation and peace
The cross is the power of God for salvation. Just as the blood of lambs was necessary for the Israelites to know escape from the bondage of Egypt, so we too need the blood of Christ to cleanse us from sin and to bring us salvation.

Last week we had a birthday to celebrate:

We also caught up with a birthday girl who was on holiday on the actual date of her birthday (there’s no escape!)

Then we had two birthdays to anticipate in the week to come:

We wish everybody a very happy birthday!

Having told you about the gold postbox in Onchan (painted to celebrate Peter Kennaugh’s gold medal in the cycling pursuit BBC News of Peter Kennaugh), it’s time to update you on Igor’s adventures in the Isle of Man.

Igor, you remember, is the (plastic) iguana bought by Mark for Garry’s birthday. (‘Joy?’) He was very surprised to see a red postbox change colour and wondered how this could possibly be camouflage…so he went to investigate:

He also had fun investigating the greenery right at the south of the island:

There was plenty of greenery in Laxey too:

Mind you, there was also an intriguing piece of Victorian engineering in Laxey to explore as well:

All in all, an interesting holiday…!

As the Olympics draw to a close, Garry looked at the lessons we can learn from these Games! Preaching from 2 Timothy 2:1-7, he looked at three lessons we can learn:

(1) Suffering is inevitable in this life, but can teach us many things. Many Olympians testified to the pain and trials they had had to go through to get to that place of winning a gold medal. Rowers who trained in the rain on dark, wet mornings in Britain were perhaps, not surprisingly, not put off to be rowing in the rain during the finals! We may at times feel that God is giving us more than we can bear, but He never gives us more than we can take. If we are to overcome the suffering and trials of life, we have to keep the end view in sight. That requires visualisation, a triumph of the battle for the mind (Bradley Wiggins and other medallists have been using the help of psychiatrists to harness their minds’ power as much as training their bodies.) The vision God has given us is achievable. We have to confront the problems we face (rather like long jumper Greg Rutherford had to change his run-up in order to avoid a recurrence of the hamstring injuries which were threatening his career) in order to achieve what God has for us. Luke 22:41-42 and Hebrews 12:3-4 remind us that this is done by the choices we make. We have to count everything else a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ (Phil 3:7-8).

(2) Support is necessary in this life. All the Olympians needed support and encouragement – from friends, from family, from fellow sportsmen and from the crowd. We are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses and Hebrews 3 reminds us to encourage each other daily. The Holy Spirit comes alongside us to encourage, counsel, comfort and support us and we too are required to be like Him in coming alongside our fellow believers and urging them to continue with their walk of faith.

(3) God promises rewards for all who finish. Rowers Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase narrowly missed gold in the double sculls and were completely exhausted and devastated not to have won. They felt that they had let the whole nation down and were tearfully apologetic after the race. But even those who did win and who have such marvellous memories to sustain them will find that the memories will fade…

On the Isle of Man, the winning cyclist Peter Kennaugh was honoured by having a postbox in Onchan painted gold. That will remain gold for a limited period of time, however.

Jessica Ennis, the Sheffield athlete who won the heptathlon, was interviewed last Sunday and was desperate to ‘soak in the atmosphere… to remember the culmination of a dream’. At some point, though, the memories will fade.

God has promised for all of us who finish the race a crown that will never perish, fade or spoil. We have an eternal reward ahead that is far greater than any Olympic medal. He promises to give great rewards to all who overcome. We may never win a race in this life, but if we finish well in life, faithfully serving God with all we have, then we will hear His ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ and receive rewards that are eternal and will never perish.