On Pentecost Sunday, Garry spoke about ‘receiving the present’, looking at Matthew 6:25-34. The ‘present’ he was talking about was not the gift of the Holy Spirit per se, however, but the gift of today, the gift of living in the now, with an appreciation of who God is and all that He has done that comes from remembering the past and is fuelled by the hope and anticipation of the future.

The past should not be ignored. When we are downcast, it’s good to remember all God is and all He has done (Ps 42:6). We have to remember, recall and repent (Rev 2:4-5). First and foremost, we should remember God’s character (Deut 8:1-3, 1 Cor 10:6-7). Who God is determines what He does. He will never change; He will never leave us or forsake us. He is utterly faithful and His view of what is right and wrong does not change. In the present, God may seem far away or we may not understand what He is doing, but recalling who He is helps us in the everyday. We are not to lose the proven past in the heat of the moment. Sometimes all we have to hold on to is who God is!

We also need to remember the sovereignty of God. God rules over all the nations. He is in control. He is working for the good of His people. Sometimes, in the busyness of the present and the difficulties of everyday life, we worry, scheme, plot and plan, being like Abraham, wanting to ‘help God out’ at times. We need to remind ourselves of God’s acts in the past, so that we can get the bigger picture of all He is doing. 1 Chron 16:7-13 shows us that David appointed Levites to ‘make known among the nations what God has done.’ We have to remember this and proclaim it to others. God steps into history and acts; He steps into our history and acts! It’s not just a question of being spectators of what God has done. He has done marvellous things on our behalf (see Deut 5:14-15). Moreoever, it is God’s promise which sustains our life (Ps 119:50). We were once alienated from God and cast off, but now He has broken down the dividing wall of hostility and brought us near to God (see Ephesians 2). The photo gallery in our church building is a vivid testimony to all God has done for us. The Open Day in July will be another occasion to remember what God has done for us!

The call to remember the past should not cause us to live in the past, however. We can (to paraphrase Sara Groves’s words) ‘paint pictures of Egypt’, remembering the past with rose-coloured glasses, leaving out certain parts and looking back with nostalgia. We have to live in the present.

At the same time, future hope fuels the fires of the present. Hope aids us in our daily struggles. It gives us a focus for faith. It keeps us going and gives us perspective. Rom 5:1-5 talks about the certainty of hope and Rom 8:23-28 tells us that hope is patient. We also have boldness in hope (2 Cor 3:12). Hope anchors us and fuels us, but we cannot live in the future either. Life will be better then. We yearn for perfection. But hope is like a Sat-Nav, plotting the course for us in the journey to our final destination.

Jesus had joy to fuel Him through the agonies of the cross (Heb 12:1-3). Sometimes, in the present, we have to endure. Things don’t necessarily get better or improve here on earth. Sometimes our own foolishness leads to consequences that are difficult to endure (see Jacob.) Sometimes, the actions of other people cause us heartache and hold us back (see Joseph.) But God is able to redeem everything for His good. Moreover, in the everyday now, God gives us joy (see John 16:20). There is joy even in suffering.

What does God want us to do today, then? First of all, we are called to work and whatever we do, we have to do it wholeheartedly, as unto the Lord. Secondly, we can encourage (Heb 3:15), understanding the significance of encouragement. Finally, we are called to live in the present (James 4:13-15), for today is all we have. We have to receive God’s gift of the present and serve Him now, seeking first the kingdom of God and understanding both the role of the past in shaping us and the future in inspiring us.

Stephen preached from 1 Cor 1:25-31 this morning, focussing especially on vs 25, which seems to have been a recurring theme lately: “for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

He has been working on the suspension of a Mini recently, using the trusted Haynes’ manual to guide him through repairs. The ‘difficulty’ rating of this job was 4, higher than ones he had previously done.

The first side took time, but was completed successfully; when working on the second side, however, it took longer and one of the new parts just would not fit in the right place. No matter what force or strength Stephen used, it would not go into place and it appeared that the job would not be completed.

After much prayer, Stephen reached the conclusion he had come to the end of both his wisdom and strength, but ‘it’s got to be simple’! One part was rotated and hey!presto! the other part clicked into place. Sometimes we don’t have all the answers or all the strength to complete a job. God’s never in that position, however!

God is neither foolish nor weak, but from our human perspective, He can certainly seem so. The things He does and the way in which He works often look foolish to us. Salvation appears foolish to our natural wisdom, but we have to receive His free gift by faith. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross appeared foolish to many, for He chose not to save Himself, but to sacrifice Himself for our sins. We have to learn to see things with spiritual, not natural, eyes.

Verse 25 teaches us:
(1) God often carries out His mightiest plans in ways that seem weak or foolish to us.
(2) God is great. If His ‘lowest’ powers are so much greater than our ‘highest’ ones, He must be great! Our most amazing creations and achievements are nothing compared to God’s. He is the Almighty!

Mark preached from Psalm 126 last night, looking at ‘living the dream’. God can speak to us through dreams and puts dreams in our hearts. Our heartfelt desires often determine our dreams and yet those dreams often seem impossible or die, fading away in the stresses of life.

God gave Jacob a vision of heaven in a dream (Genesis 28:10-21) and spoke a promise for many generations into his life through this dream. Joseph was probably the character best associated with dreams (Genesis 37:5-11), but it took years for those dreams to be fulfilled. Dreams can be ways in which the Lord encoruages or warns us (see Joseph’s dreams in Matthew 1:20-24 and Matthew 2:13-14 or Paul’s visions in Acts 16:9-10 and Acts 18:9-10). Many, many characters in the Bible experienced God’s input into their lives through dreams (Abimelech, Eliphaz and Solomon, to name just a few), with dreams providing both physical and spiritual direction.

How many of us have a dream in our hearts which we know is from God? Has it come to pass yet? Do we still believe it is from God? Maybe the dream seems too big for us and it has died. God is able to give us dreams in the first place and is able to keep those dreams alive. The difference between ordinary dreams and dreams given by God is that God is able to fufil the things He promises. We need to understand that our lives are made up of more than the mundane. May God help us to live the dreams inspired by Him!

Last Thursday was Ascension Day and Dave preached this morning on the Ascension, which is mentioned in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:1-11. Luke essentially takes us on a journey through the life and ministry of Jesus. The ‘first leg’ of the journey leads to the Transfiguration, where Jesus’s appearance is changed and heavenly glory is glimpsed on earth. The ‘second leg’ of the journey ends with the Ascension, completing Jesus’s ministry on earth. (the ‘third leg’ is told in the rest of the book of Acts, namely ‘the acts of the apostles through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.’)

The Ascension narrative clearly shows us that Jesus’s ministry on earth will not continue in the manner to which the disciples had become accustomed. The death and resurrection of Jesus signified a perfect sacrifice that was accepted by God. The Resurrection was God’s ‘vindication’ or ‘confirmation’ that the sacrifice Jesus offered on behalf of mankind was acceptable. If Jesus had not ascended, however, what would have happened? Would He have become the ‘wandering Jew’ of fables? The Ascension shows us that Jesus is now enthroned on high (see Eph 1:21-22) and has assumed the place of ultimate authority, being seated at the right hand of God. The fact that He ascended in bodily form shows us that He not only came to bring God to us but to bring us to God; our humanity now has a place in the heavenly realms. ‘A cloud him him from their sight’ – not just a meteorological cloud, but a cloud symbolising the presence of God Himself (remember the cloud that led the Israelites in the wilderness, or the cloud which fell in the temple as the priests led worship.) God’s presence is nearer, perhaps, than we think at times!

In being left behind, recognising Jesus’s temporary absence on earth, His followers face two dangers. One is to put our hope in political power (see Acts 1:6). We need always to remember Jesus’s words to Pilate: ‘my kingdom is not of this world'(John 18:36) and to understand that we cannot mix God’s power with the world’s power. Our job is to be witnesses (martyrs) to Jesus, serving Him with self-giving love, not arrogant power. The second danger is to be caught looking upwards all the time, and thereby failing to fulfil the tasks to which He has called us. We cannot escape this world and go to be with Jesus yet – our times are in His hands and in the intervening time between His departure from earth and His coming again in glorious power, there is work to be done. We have to recgonise that this work can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit, and must therefore wait and pray (see Acts 1:8), but we also need to be fuelled by the hope of Christ’s return.

Jesus will come back to earth. The book of Revelation testifies to that. We don’t know when or how He will return, but the assurance given to the disciples by the angel at the Ascension is that He will indeed return. He rules over all powers and principalities and His absence is indeed only temporary. Our cry, therefore, is the cry of the church through the ages, ‘Maranatha! – O Lord, come quickly!’

Many of you will have attended some of the special meetings at Furlong Road Methodist Church this weekend, as they celebrate moving into a different building. Our thoughts and prayers are with this church as they leave the old behind and look ahead to the new. God is faithful and walks with us in every chapter of our lives!

We have some dates coming up that need to be in the diary too! Sunday 3rd June is the Family Service, starting at 6 p.m., so if you can get along to that, please come along and celebrate not only the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee but a different kind of jubilee altogether…

We are holding an anniversary weekend on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th July, to celebrate two years since our official opening on Market Street. On the Saturday, we will be holding a community/ craft day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and there will be a film night in the evening (further details to follow shortly.) Our meetings on the Sunday will be at the usual times of 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m., but we will be continuing the celebrations and hope as many people from the local community and local churches as possible will be able to attend. We are so grateful for all that God has done for us in providing us with such a wonderful building and in meeting all our practical and spiritual needs while here!

If you’d like to walk down memory lane or wonder why we are holding an anniversary weekend, check out the St Mark’s blog and read all about the Open Day in 2010 here: St Mark’s Blog

Last night we looked at James 1:6-8, following on from our study on wisdom:“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

Doubt is not the same thing as unbelief. We will often have doubts in life: doubts about whether we’ve heard God correctly, doubts about our own abilities, doubts about God’s abilities! Jesus was gracious to Thomas when he doubted (John 20:24-29) and Gideon’s doubts were again graciously dealt with (Judges 6:36-40). We needn’t be afraid to bring our honest questions and doubts to God. We have to be careful, however, because doubt can easily act as the gateway to unbelief, and this prevents us from receiving from God. Instead, we need to bring our doubts to God, accept His evaluation of the situation (basically, acknowledging that what He says about things is true, whereas what we think about them very often is not!) and accept that we do not always have to pass through the state of undertanding in order to obey.

The imagery James uses to talk about the one who doubts is that of being tossed about on waves in a storm, reminiscent of the disciples in the boat with Jesus.

Jesus slept peacefully because He trusted in God. When we doubt, we often hesitate and waver, paralysed by indecision and fear.We are like children, “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:14). The key to knowing stability in our lives and to receiving the wisdom we are asking for is to live an integrated, congruent life, not a dissonant one. Dissonance occurs when two or more disharmonious elements clash. Faith and doubt are two dissonant elements. They don’t belong together.

James talks about a ‘double-minded’ person who is ‘unstable’ (that word means ‘near anarchy’, without recognition of authority in one’s life.) Jesus warned against the impossibility of trying to serve two masters in Matthew 6:23-24. The key to successful living is to live with singleness of purpose, loving God with all that we are (Deut 6:5) and serving Him wholeheartedly (see Numbers 32:12, 2 Chronicles 19:9, Eph 6:6-8). When we live with our minds (our frames, our ‘skeletons’) fixed on God, being steadfast, then we will find God’s perfect peace sustaining us (Is 26:3) and then we will live in faith and not in doubt.