Conferences, workshops and courses

It’s been a couple of weeks since the last blog. I’ve been on a short family break. I thought I’d share a couple incidents from Town Pastors last night. These reinforced that we never know when the seeds of faith we sow may bear fruit.  I was stopped outside a nightclub with the truly humbling question “Do you remember me,  I used to pray with you?”. A young lady who used to come to Bright Sparks, the kids club at Owton Manor Baptist Church had recognised me and wanted to share her memories of how much that time meant to her. The second encounter was with a young man who had spent an  hour or so talking to me in the local McD’s after a Town Pastor shift, asking all sorts of questions about my faith and then confessing that he felt envious of those with a faith. He wanted to know if I remembered him, which I did and then sought some advice about his forthcoming marriage to a girl  he clearly loves very much. He is struggling with the idea of a Catholic ceremony when he himself professes no belief in God. I could only share my own experiences with him, and encourage him to be open and honest with his wife to be about his struggle to understand a world that makes sense to a believer but baffles a seeker looking for answers.

Today’s worship was led by Jonny with music provided by The Apple Tree.  I was lucky enough to join them for a worship night earlier in the month and found the music and worship very uplifting. Today they brought us  a mix of  more established and newer worship songs, providing a louder worship experience which fitted very well with what Judith was preaching on.

Judith brought us the word from John 7.

She opened by stating that it is good to praise the Lord isn’t it. John 7 talks about rivers of living waters . It’s important to note the plural because God and water are both multifaceted, Think about water, it ranges from the brook to the tsunami. Water brings healing. We run a burn under water to cool it or a flush a wound to clean it. Or revives our bodies. Continuation of talk other week on light. Judith read from John 7 37 to 39 and prayed that were changed from inside out.

She gave a little background to the chapter. The events being referred to here occur a few months before crucifixion. Jesus is making a name for himself in his society both good and bad depending on the onlooker’s perspective. Many were dismissive, claiming he couldn’t be special or fulfil and prophecy as he was from the wrong linage,  born in Nazereth, They did not realise he was born in Bethelehem. Judith emphasised that Jesus words cause division, but stressed the importance of us not diluting his message. He was speaking about people being able to receive the Holy Spirit.

The feast of tabernacles was at the end of the harvest and was to celebrate the in gathering of the harvest, Jesus was supposed to go with his brothers but he held back. This festival is also called the festival of booths as those attending lived in tents made of palms, Judith outlined 3 meanings in the festival. First it looks to the past in the travelling tents of the people of Israel. It reminds them of the time following the glory cloud of God. This them being delivered out of the hands of the Egyptians. It looks to the present and the literal sense of where they were gathering the harvest and looked to the future the coming of the messiah.

We thank god for the past the present and the future with our eyes on eternity. All of these things put a person in remembrance of God. This was a noisy festival. They drew water on the first and eighth day in golden pitchers. Gold and silver represents God in the Scriptures. We’re meant to celebrate God with a loud noise. Judith thanked The Apple Tree for doing exactly that for us today. Throughout the festival water and wine were poured out in portions. . On the last ,the eighth, the greatest day the priest would pour everything that was left on the altar walking around it seven times. Remember that in that area of the world water was scarce and valuable. Reflect on the fact that God’s spirit is poured out for you in unlimited quantity. This eight day was the start of a new beginning. Jesus stood up and shouted with a loud voice who ever believes in me rivers of living water will pour from them.

Imagine how capitivating or loud His words must have been to carry over the noise of all these young men celebrating. In the New Testament the spirit comes from within us. Jesus here was declaring himselfMessiah. Imagine that , imagine the chaos, the reaction, the priests sending the temple guards were sent to arrest him. They didn’t arrest him.., their jobs and more were on the line and yet they said his words no one spoke like Jesus, his words arrested them. The Holy Spirit makes the words of Jesus come alive in us.Get into the living waters of his Word.  Get in this river, get swimming in it. If we could step into the spiritual word we would see the power of the words. Judith reminded us that we have the words of life. The words of Jesus have the power to change our world.

How hungry are you how thirsty are you for the word of god. Following Jesus will cost you. How desperate are you to get on the water. We need the right foods, bit if we don’t drink water, we dry up, the water helps us digest. We need both together. Our spirit man needs the food of the word of god and the spirit of God. Judith asked us to think about the different Greek phrasing for the word of God. Logos is the written word and rhema the spoken word. We need to mull the word over, think about it and give it careful consideration. We may not believe it at first but it becomes the water that refreshes us on the inside. We need to act on it , do it, be grounded in the word of God and water of his Spirit. You don’t bring a shopping list, you just sit with the one you love , our job is to make the invisible world of the spirit visible. Would your marriage work if you simply came with a shopping list rather that spending time with the one you love.

Jesus just wants to just sit with us sometimes and hold our hand and say it will be alright, it builds us up when we connect to God. If you swim in a river for a day can you say you’ve experienced the whole river? Think about all the explorers who map a river from its source to it’s estuary. Sometimes we need to go to the source, Ezekiel says our job is to get in and swim. If you take water away from the flow it becomes stagnant. You can react in a good way in the workplace, thank god that we can do our best to shine for him where we are. We know when we don’t make time for him. Come back to him he’ll give you rivers in a dry desert. Judith shared that she’s never content, never assumes she knows.  Are you divinely dissatisfied? The Holy Spirit gives power to disciples to be witnesses. You might believe you know the letter of law but without water of the spirit becomes difficult to swallow. How to stay in river? Pray, ask for more of God. Need to honestly ask “Have you got all of me, God?” We need to obey prompting, and keep our sin account short. Ask God “Let me know” and then obey. We either progress or we regress. We don’t stand still. Keep your roots in the streams of living water. Psalm 1 reminds us of the need to be a tree planted by a stream of water.
Judith gave example of her learning new work, finding it daunting and a challenge but praying and reminding herself she has the mind of Christ.

Judith moved on to the faith of the woman with issue of blood who’d been a pariah all her adult life. She wanted to reach out and be healed. She should have been at home, a pariah… yet she ignored society , she knew she just wanted to touch the tassels of Jesus’s tallit or prayer shawl. She pushed through the crowd with desperation to touch in faith, to risk stoning, so hungry and thirsty for a touch of god. Jesus always responds to the touch of the hungry heart. Isaiah 41:17 states that the poor and needy search for water . Judith urged us all to get into the river, get into the presence of God, don’t get stagnant, don’t block the river with boulders. Time to step up and step out.

Judith shared we need to seek Him more. God is in the restoration business. He will create a clean heart and a refired spirit. Don’t be afraid and don’t hang back. Step into the waters of his world and his presence.

Amanda and Yvette joined Judith to pray for her as she leaves West View to follow where God has called her to go. It’s entirely apt that we entered church today in bright sunshine and left in a downpour of water.

God doesn’t do  subtle hints.

As promised I said I would try to add  the message that Judith was sharing last week. I’ve done this from other people’s notes so let me know if this is not a fair summary, Judith reflected on the message we heard last week from Tim on God’s amazing love, on the fact that despite man’s failings, and his continuing inability to do good, God still loves us and has made a way for us to be connected to Him.

Judith drew on the following scriptures for her message on Sunday.

2 Cor. 5:17 1 Peter 2 : 9 & 10 Ephesians 2:1-10 Ephesians 4:18 2 Cor. 4:3-4 Romans 7 : 14 – 25 Psalm 145:8 Ephesians 1:7 Colossians 2:12 Jeremiah 29 : 11 – 13

She highlighted three key elements to this. Consider your Past. Celebrate your Present. Rejoice in your Future.

In considering our past we need to reflect on the fact we were dead, separated from God, unrighteous and objects of wrath. We were born under the curse of sin and death, as part of the fallen Adamic Nature; Adam had been God-conscious but after he had disobeyed God he became Self-conscious. He’d lost his connection to the supernatural presence of God. This meant we all were alienated from God. The good news is that through accepting Jesus Christ as our saviour we step from one kingdom into the other, from an old management to a new management.

Under the old nature, courtesy of Adam we did not have hope, Now through Jesus we have hope, a future and a reconnection to the supernatural. Judith urged us not to be afraid of the spiritual life, reminding us that after all that is exactly where God lives

Many people are good kind and helpful – but is that enough? Can we earn our salvation; can we do enough good deeds to get us back into God’s good books? We were born into a sinful nature, because of Adam, because of this “Adamic Nature”. We could have been stuck there but God had a better plan. And the name of the plan is Jesus. God knew we couldn’t do it on our own. Without the Iife of Christ and the love of God we are just doing empty works – they don’t earn us a relationship with God!

Our good works, our love of the Word and putting it into practise, stem from a loving relationship with our Father God. Judith also reminded us that although children are born with the Adamic nature they are innocent in the eyes of God, the Bible talks about the age of accountability. Children go to Heaven. At a certain point we choose to go on our own path or choose God’ s path, and God knows what our level of understanding is. Inside everyone is a hunger to know our creator, and we can answer that call or not.

Judith reflected on Helen Keller’s statement. She was a blind and deaf lady, who was taught sign language and was eventually taught about God and Jesus. Her amazing reply was that “I always knew He was there, I just didn’t know His Name”. His name is Jesus.

We have to learn to become God-conscious again. Live your life from the inside out. Put Jesus the Living Word in first place and we’ll become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, as we renew our minds and put these things into practise, He helps us & prompts us to communicate the love of God to others through different ways.
Judith urged us to celebrate our Present remembering that by Grace we are Saved, Raised and Recreated into a Masterpiece

God had a Plan! Thankfully God is rich in both mercy and grace, The humbling and amazing thing is that you’ve never gone too far or done too much for His love not to wash you clean. God is the initiator, the designer, the creator, the Lover of the plan of Salvation. When we step into God’s Kingdom we receive a new management.

We cannot earn our salvation. Paul makes it clear that it is from God, and from God alone. We have been given an everlasting gift. For that reason, we are to celebrate the present. We do not need to live under the power of sin! Yes of course we still miss the mark but we can choose to put things right again and carry on. We don’t need to keep making excuses like “well it’s just my nature, part of my character..”

Is it part of the Old Man, or Nature – or part of the New Man, or Nature?
We all have Christ’s Nature on the inside of us. It’s down to us we always have a choice!!

Paul tells us to put off the old Man – (Thankfully Judith wasn’t saying divorce your husbands….) – and put on the New Man. Remember that in order for us to put something on we have to take something off.
So that’s where we are now, on this journey of ups and downs, choosing to renew our minds and our nature with the Word and character of God, through Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit
God not only saved us, He has raised us up from death in sin to Life, and seated us with Christ. It’s worth noting that some translations refer to being enthroned with Christ.
So we are seated With Christ in Heavenly Places – we are enthroned with Him

Physically we are still here and face the challenges of life on Earth, through good times, hard times, and challenges. Always remember He didn’t leave us by ourselves, we have a Comforter. One who comes alongside and Helps us in our weakness.

A bit like a good Mother, God’s character is one of comfort, nurture, and love.

It is through God’s Grace that we are saved and raised – not our works –We are therefore not called to please ourselves anymore but just like a relationship with someone you love, we live to please Him by our obedience to His Word (cleaning our mind) and acts of service – out of a Love relationship
Paul writes that “we are his workmanship,” literally we are his making. We have been created. We have been formed. This is not in the general sense, but in the sense of a new creation.
Paul says we have been re-created “for good works.” The emphasis here is on holy living, the exact opposite of how we lived in the past. We are God’s special treasure – valuable, and His Masterpiece. Our salvation is something only God can do, when we say yes to Him.
He loves us regardless – He loved us before He even made the earth – and He longs for a relationship with His children! He loves everyone the same, so don’t dismiss yourselves as not worthy – or else you will be saying God is a terrible artist & His masterpiece is rubbish!

Rejoice in your Future : God has given you a hope and a future, now and in eternity
Vs 10: For we are God’s handiwork (Masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Yet again the message from Jeremiah 29 : 11 – 13 is heard. I’ve reflected elsewhere on this message and Judith yet again draws it out: For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call on Me and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear [your voice] and I will listen to you. 13 Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

There is nothing in all creation that has the power to change us on the inside – our best efforts or good works cannot pay for our salvation. It’s only God’s grace which is a gift that we need to accept. Jesus gives us that way to become re connected to God through the born again experience of our spirit

We were dead but now we are alive on the inside because of God’s great love – there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us more or make Him love us less – we are recreated on the inside into a masterpiece, and are seated with Him as part of His Bride

We now exist for God’s glory. He doesn’t exist for our glory. We don’t glorify him when we hold back! Just like the Heavens – we declare his glory by showing God in a physical way when we obey him.

Let’s learn to be still before Him, to draw near to Him and ask for more of His Supernatural Presence; Let’s be willing to let go of things that we value higher than Him – whether that’s a person, a thing, or something hidden – like an unforgiveness or grudge.

And finally Judith reminds us all to rejoice in the Love of God that gives us a Hope and a future

Tim, Roy and Jonny provided the music on Sunday 4 March, Jonny led worship and Tim brought us the message.

Our new song for this week,  Weep with Me, courtesy of the Rend Collective is a lament. We’ve been looking at the highlights of the Old Testament,  and it is surprising how many are actually in the very first book, Genesis. Focussing in on Genesis 6 we hear the story of Noah and his family. It is a long story so Tim only selected some snippets to illustrate but he encouraged us all to go home and read it in full. It’s clear that Noah did everything he was commanded to do. 150  days of flood occurred before the waters started to recede. Noah used birds to try to find dry land and signs of life. The raven explored but found nothing, the first dove explored but found nothing, the second returned with an olive sprig.  Not a bad present for Noah’s 601st birthday.

God’s new covenant serves to remind him and us of his promise. Never again would water be used to wipe out all life. The rainbow is the sign of that promise.

We teach the story of the Ark to our children,  at home and in our Sunday Schools or Young Churches. But as we get older there is a dawning realisation, “Seriously, we’re teaching this to our children,  a tale of the destruction of humankind!”

It doesn’t sit very well with the carved wooden animals, the cuddly ark playset, the jovial bearded Noah character or the cartoon picture that seems to appear on every children’s Bible.

Too often we focus upon the behaviour of humankind,  and the judgement of a wrathful, vengeful  God. What we miss and what we really need to hear, realise and reflect upon is the pain at the heart of God in this situation. This is a God who weeps here.

The story of Noah “borrows” from other earlier stories. The Great Flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh has a flood hero Utnapishtim who is rewarded with immortality.  Many scholars believe that it is clear that the first 11 chapters of Genesis draw upon many older stories drawn from elsewhere. The story is told because the Jewish  writers wanted to tell us more about the relationship between humans and God. The focus here is and should be on the change in the character of God.

It is about covenant and promise. It is about God’s creation not living up  to God’s intent.  We’re invited to penetrate to the heart of God. God is grieved, not angered, as he sees the state of humankind. Can God abandon the world he made so joyously? The turnaround begins and is done through God’s pain and anguish. He feels the pain of his broken world .

In the midst of the story is this one man, Noah, and his family who offer the world hope. They show that faithfulness is possible even in a violent unbelieving world. Resolution of this whole story comes by the change in God’s heart, God speaks from his heart, in the full realisation that even after the flood humankind will not be changed forever. They will repeat the same mistakes. They will be just the same. Rain and flood will not change them forever.  Hope depends upon God’s heart. God promises to stay with man. This marks an irreversible change in God. Such a commitment is costly for God.  A grieved God is set against a resistant and resisting world.  The self abandoning god of Philippians 2. We finish with Chapter 9 of Genesis with God restating the purpose of humankind and his role.

God restates the original Genesis promises.  The rainbow is established as a covenant, a promise, but who is it a reminder for? It is the equivalent of a Post It note for God. “God remembered…” 

This is what gives hope through the Old Testament. The flood story tells us we cannot be forgotten by God. God remembers. Tim urged us to read it again if you have difficulty believing. God’s purpose and plan for creation will not be thwarted by humankind’s inability to live up to the hype.  The reality of chaos is all around us and we are invited to live a life of hope.

God is committed to the world he made. He sent his Son into the world as part of that commitment.

Tim also read the story of Noah by Frederick Buechner. Be thankful God is not forgetful or easily distracted!!

“In one way, then, it gave Noah a nice warm feeling to see the rainbow up there, but in another way it gave him an uneasy twinge. If God needed the rainbow as a reminder, he thought, that could mean that, if someday God didn’t happen to look in the right direction or had something else on his mind, he might forget his promise and the heavy drops would start pattering down on the roof a second time.”