Yan Handley, a visiting speaker, looked at Matthew 6:25-34 last night, talking about the Bible’s answers to anxiety.

Romans 8:37 reminds us that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus and that anxiety does not have to be part of our daily lifestyles. Anxiety can steal our joy as we carry unnecessary burdens, but Jesus repeatedly tells us not to be afraid, giving us also the power to make this possible. Anxiety (uneasiness, tension, worry, fear, dread) can affect us physically, emotionally and spiritually, but Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled (John 14:1) and Paul talks about letting the peace of God rule in our hearts (Col 3:15). There are clearly principles we can employ to banish anxiety.



(1) Renew our thinking

Is 26:3 tells us that peace is available to those whose minds are fixed on God. The thought life is where the battle is won or lost, and we need to ensure that our thoughts are fixed on God. We have to take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5) and have our minds fixed on the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:6). Jesus talks to His disciples about the unspiritual things that bother them (worrying about the material, what they will eat or what clothes they will wear) and lifts their perspective to spiritual realms, understanding that God will provide. The answer to anxiety is to come to God with prayer and praise (Phil 4:6-7), allowing our thinking to focus on the higher perspective.



(2) Re-evaluate our priorities

Jesus reminds His disciples that the first priority has to be seeking God and His kingdom above all else. Ps 37:4 reminds us that if we delight ourselves in God, He will give us the desires of our heart. Jesus is our great example in this, for He only did what He saw His Father doing (John 6:38). Often, we have to be still in God’s presence and allow our priorities to be re-arranged.



(3) Recognise our worth in God

A poor self-image can lead to us becoming insecure and feeling inadequate. We are unique individuals of immense value to God. We are precious, honoured and loved by God and John tells us that perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). Jesus reminds His disciples that freedom from anxiety is possible because God is our Father and will take care of us.



(4) Realise worry changes nothing

Worry is pointless. It doesn’t alter the situations, but we need to learn to cast our burdens on the Lord (Ps 55:22). Worry is like a rocking-chair that gives us something to do, but doesn’t actually get us anywhere. So often, we are beset by fears, but fear is really nothing but ‘False Expectations Appearing Real’. God’s grace is sufficient for us in every situation; hypothetical anxiety about the possibilities of what could happen tomorrow are fruitless.



(5) Renounce and repent of all negativity in our lives

We damage ourselves and other people when we allow negativity and anxiety to dwell in our lives. Just as the spies gave a report that aroused fear in the people’s hearts, so too we can discourage and cause other people to become fearful if we constantly dwell on the negative. Worry is really ‘unholy meditation’. We need instead to see this tendency as sin and repent of it, being determined to think as God wants us to think and therefore to trust Him in every situation to take care of us, since He is a loving heavenly Father.

Having caught up with last week’s sermons, it’s time to look at this Sunday’s!

The story of Mephibosheth and David told in 2 Samuel 9:1-11 is not only a wonderful demonstration of David’s generosity, grace and mercy in remembrance of his vow to do the right thing by Jonathan and his family, but is also a pointer to who we are in Christ. Mephibosheth, the crippled grandson of King Saul, has been forgotten, living in Lo Debar in Gilead, banished. But he is brought into the new king’s presence and far from being punished or killed, his lands are restored to him and he is welcomed to eat at the king’s table. What a picture of what God has done for us!

The inheritance and the identity we have as children of God are amazing, but so often, we are influenced by other people’s evaluation of who we are. We need to learn, as the song below indicates, to learn to ‘stand in Your love, in Your power,

In all You say we are; (‘We Could Change the World’, Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin & Jason Ingram.)

God says that we were dead in our transgressions and sins, but now we have been made alive with Christ (Eph 2). More than that, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6-7) We need to be able to see the invisible, to have the hope of eternity planted in our hearts so that we understand who we really are.

We are children of God (1 John 3:1, John 1:12-13), born again (1 Pet 1:23), brought into God’s family and as a result of this “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of His household” (Eph 2:19). We are God’s workmanship (Eph 2:10), a dwelling in which His Spirit lives (Eph 2:22, 1 Cor 6:19-20). We have been chosen by God before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4). We are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2: 9-10). Our identity is truly amazing!

More than this, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt 5:14). We need, as John reminds us repeatedly in 1 John, to live in the light, therefore, and to understand “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Eph 1:17-19)

When we truly understand who God is and who we are, we could, indeed, change the world.

Listen to the song here (click on the video when you get to the link, fourth one down):

http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&p=Could%20we%20change%20the%20world%20Matt%20Redman

Since we were away last week, we obviously heard different sermons to the ones heard in Goldthorpe. It’s always interesting to hear different preachers and to reflect on God’s word in an unfamiliar context. Maybe something of what we heard last week can also speak to us here at home.

At the Anglican church in Minchinhampton, the sermon (given by the Bishop of Gloucester) was from Matt 14:22-33, looking at the story where Jesus, and then Peter, walks on the water. This story reveals something of who Jesus is (“truly You are the Son of God” vs 33). It also shows us about faith – Peter is often criticised for not having much faith, and yet he did actually have the faith to walk to Jesus initially. Even a little faith is better than none! This miracle caused the disciples to worship Jesus, to pay Him homage, just as the Magi had earlier done in Matthew 2. The more we see of who Jesus is, the more our faith will be increased and the more we will worship Him.

At the Baptist church that evening, the sermon was continuing looking at the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, this time looking at ‘I am the good shepherd’ (John 10:11-15). ‘I am’ refers back to the very name of God (first revealed to Moses in Exodus 3), showing us again something of Christ’s identity. He is a good shepherd – far more than just someone ‘nice’ or ‘obliging’, but one showing us true holiness, completeness or perfection. Shepherds in the East knew their sheep intimately and led them. Jesus, the Lamb of God Himself, was not a hired hand (see Ezekiel 34) but was one who would combine the roles of prophet, priest and king. He truly is the good shepherd: the question now is ‘are we following Him or going our own way?’

Apologies for the delay in posting this, due to my absence on holiday. Stephen preached last Sunday evening from Genesis 6:5-8, the beginning of the story of Noah.

Day be day, we walk the walk and talk the talk, doing what we do… but what is God doing? If we listen to the storm sounds below, you can hear something of God’s pain and grief. As you listen, think about how man’s sin caused God’s heart to be deeply troubled.

Free Sound Effect Songs | Free ringtones at EZ-Tracks.com

The perfect creation had reached such a low point that God contemplates wiping mankind from the face of the earth. But Noah found favour with God. God picked out one family and from that one family, mankind was saved.

We need to be focussed on God. Are we like the multitudes, waiting to be destroyed, or are we like Noah, waiting to be saved by God’s power and intervention? Is God in your life? Is He in your walk and your talk? That is what makes the real difference.

We are just back from a wonderful week in the Cotswolds, having visited so many beautiful villages, towns and cities. We even got to see Barnsley in Gloucestershire, which is very different to our own beloved Barnsley!

Church in Barnsley, Gloucestershire:



One of the highlights of the holiday was worshipping with God’s people in different churches. We stayed in a lovely small market town called Minchinhampton, which has been known to me for many, many years thanks to being until recently the UK headquarters of France Mission, a charity I support. We attended both the Anglican church there (where the Bishop of Gloucester was present to baptise one child and confirm an adult) and the Baptist Church. We also attended Evensong at Gloucester Cathedral in the week and listened to choirs rehearsing at Worcester Cathedral on our way home.

Every experience of corporate worship reminded us of both the diversity of the church and the essential unity of believers. The soaring choral singing, majestic organ music and formality of the Anglican service and the violin and the keyboard of the Baptist church and the informality of their service were reminders that it takes all kinds of people, worshipping God in all kinds of ways, to make up the church as a whole. In both these churches we had the joy and privilege of sharing in Communion, both celebrating the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. At Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral we joined in prayers, listened to Bible readings and heard the word of God sung to us. Everywhere, the Word and the Sacraments remain the same.

Anglican church in Minchinhampton:



Gloucester Cathedral:



Inside Worcester Cathedral:



“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Cor 12:12-14)

Thanks to the wonders of Wi-fi and the inability of your blogger to resist an innocent (!) challenge (“What? You won’t be blogging while you’re on holiday?”), here is the summary of Dave’s sermon on Sunday morning. I had to laugh when I read his notes: not only do I have to blog, I have to link to a video, Michael Card’s song ‘Known by the Scars’ summarising Dave’s sermon far better than I can do!

Dave preached from John 20:19-31, looking at the famous passage where Thomas wants to see the wounds on Jesus before he will believe that Jesus has really risen from the dead. We can be unduly critical of Thomas at times, calling him ‘doubting’ and often accusing him of being faithless, but God is well able to deal with our questions and there is no need to be afraid of wanting real answers to tough questions. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? This is a hugely important question.

An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drain pipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.

Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad’s eyes remained focused on the floor.

Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hand from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe.

With a leap, the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those scarred hands had settled the issue.

Not only is Jesus known by His scars, so are we. Sometimes we bear the scars from past wounds and these affect our current lives. The Christian faith does not deny the pain, the reality of the wounds, the existence of the scars, but our faith enables us to go on, in the name of Christ, even with our wounds, even with our scars.

If you don’t know Jesus, and like Thomas, you aren’t sure that you believe, He’ll graciously show you His scars “that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:31). The promise of eternal life is real and is available precisely because of Jesus’s scars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hnCT4yx0TM