News

13 October 2019

Tim preached on Luke 17: 11-19

He asked to think about borders . Jesus was walking between the border of Samaria and Galilee. But it could be anywhere today Mexico USA, Scotland England, uk Europe. Only one of the lepers, the foreigner the stranger the outsider came back to thank Jesus. The act of healing was bigger than just healing the leprosy. Tim’s guess is the others went running to the priests to get clearance to go home to their families.

Welcoming the stranger is an important message. Would we welcome those from the other side of the wall. Jesus uses the woman at the well and the Good Samaritan to show a similar message.

No doubt the other nine headed to their family to share their good news. Luke implies that we need a whole new relationship with God.

What are we thankful for? We touched in this on our Alpha course this week. We’re quick to criticise but slow to give thanks . You can see this in Google reviews or TripAdviser. It’s easier to focus on the bad. We’re slow to recognise that the people involved are human like us. We’re slow to thank. Ephesians chapter 5 shows this. God is the source of everything, everything breathe we take (Tim resisted the urge to sing that song!)

WE need to find the things you can be thankful for our in the created world.

To get a good view requires a lot of effort sometimes. But even at sea level here in Hartlepool we can count our blessings. Use spiritual discipline to list what you are thankful for and list them before God. This seems to be a healthy thing to do.

Eucharist means thanksgiving. Let us cultivate a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving. People who are thankful tend to be lovely people.

Cultivate this as we go back into our communities.

But there’s something else here, Jesus would not have met these men if he hadn’t ventured into our borderlands. Do we do this ? Or are we reluctant to embrace people who are different from us. How might we equip people for that task.

Perhaps going to the borderlands means joining a club, a group. We may often find that Jesus is already out there.

Living without judgement. The man who came back would have been a reject in the eyes of the community even without the leprosy. God really loves the stranger, the other , the people over different faith. Today’s media love to highlight difference. Tim showed the video One Day where Israelis of different backgrounds came together to sing together to share a positive message . People from all walks of life celebrating in three languages praying for a day where peace will arrive. It’s a brave thing to do. Jesus had an annoying habit of reaching out into communities that no one loved. Tim shared the experience of a fellow minister from Burnley who on the day of the riots there was challenged to get to meet people he did not know from other faiths in the aftermath of the riots. Living on these edges is where Jesus wants us. Refugees drug users people of other faiths. Where would Jesus be nowadays? Would he be sitting here with us.

Let us live with gratitude and thankfulness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqvKDCP5-xE

Amanda and Esther met up  with Judith and travelled to the Cherish Women’s conference in Leeds. I’m going to ask them to write something for this blog so  they can share what it was like. It’s always fun and they come back to the church refreshed, empowered by the Spirit and full of enthusiasm. I knew it was going well when I got the message at work,  “Congratulations, it’s a boy!” I’ve been married to Amanda long enough to have learned to expect anything. I guessed before she even confirmed it that this would be related to the work of Compassion.  Sure enough Amanda had decided along with 999 others to sponsor a child from Kenya. A thousand children finding sponsors in just one Christian event is pretty amazing.

Amanda and Ian led today’s service and Ray Richardson  brought us the Word. Ray was described by some in the congregation as an old friend… a really old friend. He’s having trouble getting over this, but we hope he’ll come to terms with it eventually (Ray, there’s a reason why the Church calls them Elders!!).

We set aside part of our service to pray for a lady  called Melissa who will be undergoing surgery tomorrow (4 June). She’s in need of a miracle and we also sang a song called Miracles as part of the service. The song was chosen before the request for prayer was received. God’s timing is always perfect. I’ve included a link to the song at the end of this blog if you’ve not heard it before.

Ray brought today’s message in his own unique style. It is fair to say that both the children and those who are slightly older learnt a lot from today’s Children’s talk about remembering the first five of the Ten Commandments. Ray is a shrewd operator. If we want to hear the last five,  we have to ask him back again. Ray started his talk with his new Bible, a bible that really let the light of God shine. You have to see it to realise how fun it is for the kids. “How did he do that?” was the most common question. Ray taught the kids to remember the first five commandments by holding up  fingers to represent each of the commandments.  I’ll now never forget that the fourth commandment is about keeping the Sabbath day holy, simply by the fact that when holding up 4 fingers,  the thumb is resting!.

Yvette read Luke 10 verses 25 to 37 for us.

Ray highlighted the fact that only the first four of the ten commandments were about God. The remaining six were about our relationships with each other.  Ray highlighted the fact it is a good job he didn’t make the rules. If Ray were God he’d have made nine about himself and only one about relationships. The expert in the law in the Scripture Yvette read should have known the answers but he didn’t.

Ray shared the story of the two people who were going to recite Psalm 23. One was a trained speaker the other a young man simply reciting the words that meant something to his heart. The young man went first, and he stumbled and hesitated as he shared in a low voice the words that meant so,  so much to him. He finished to an awestruck silence. The professional speaker declined to recite the Psalm. He said simply “I know the words, but he knows the Saviour!”

The expert in the law in the passage from Luke was in a similar position. He knew the words of the law and indeed we all can know this if we study the first five books of the Bible. But, importantly,  he did not know the author of the law.

If we really love God we must give him our attention and keep his name holy. Ray suggested that we should all look at the differences in the emphasis of the Ten Commandments between Exodus and Deuteronomy.

One of the key points is not to do your neighbours any harm. This is equally true in business. Do  not be fraudulent, in fact be generous. Ray highlighted his own experience at Matty’s garage,  where Matty on learning that Ray needed two  new tyres paid for them himself.

Ray also shared his recent experience outside his own home. His wife alerted him to the fact that there was a man leaning oddly against the wall outside their house. Ray looked out and recognised that lean. He’d seen it amongst his own colleagues in the Merchant Navy once they had a bit too much to drink. Ray recalled once pulling a double shift to cover for someone he’d found leaning against the wall in exactly that way. Rather than get him into bother he’d packed him off to bed and done his shift for him.

The man outside Ray’s house seemed to have left,  but when they went out to check they found him unconscious in the road. Despite not knowing the man, a blanket was brought, assistance given and the emergency services were called.  Ray, Kathleen and their neighbours did not choose to walk by on the other side of the road. Imagine if you can what would happen if we live the commandments. Society would look so different.

Ray highlighted that we need to love God passionately,  We need to be sharing lives with Him and God wants to be personal with us. Ray asked us all to think on the passage about Adam and Eve and in particular how they walked with God in friendship, without shame or fear.

Ray referred to how long he’d been married.  He still remembered the first time him and Kathleen met. He recalled the silly grin everyone would see that showed he was in love. He also highlighted how his mother had taught him that she loved all her children equally and that Ray in turn found this himself in raising his own family.

Ray used the questioning between Tevye and Golde in the musical”Fiddler on the roof.” as an example. Getting confirmation that they love each other after 25 years “is nice to know”.

We need to laugh out loud with God, and sometimes we need to cry with God, it speaks of who we are and what we are.

Ray asked us “Do you bare your soul with a stranger?” The answer of course is probably not. However Ray said that there is  nothing he wouldn’t share with God.

John 3:16 demonstrates the strength of character of God. Ray stated I know god loves me because of what
He did on Calvary. He used as a way to illustrate  this the words of one of Matty’s favourite singers, Paul Wheater from North Yorkshire. Paul when asked the question “How much does God love us says “God stretched out his arm this wide and then he died!” (Imagine Jesus on the cross and you’ll get the picture.)

Do things for other people without asking permission, don’t wait just do the right thing.

Ray illustrated the story of the Samaritan as a man who’s returning with his shopping. Mrs Samaritan has sent him for a bottle of wine for their guests and some oil to finish the cooking. He’s returning feeling smug, he’s got the bottle of wine, oil and even some change in his pocket. He hasn’t spent all the money so he’s going to be in her good books. He does not realise he’s going to come across a victim of crime. Imagine our own pastor walking on the other side of the road, imagine the educated man walking on the other side. It wouldn’t happen.

Half a bottle of wine, half a bottle of oil, change given. Fast forward to after he’s used the wine and oil to treat the wounds and the change to pay the innkeeper.

Imagine the scene,  the angry wife asking “Where have you been! What have you done with the oil and the wine? Where’s the change?”  But she doesn’t .., she waits for the story because she knows her husband.

The expert in the Laws realised he didn’t love God as much as he should. Did he recognise himself as one that  would walk past?

It’s not easy to help someone in distress. It’s not easy to choose not to walk past on the other side of the road. Ray recalled a lady who  collapsed at a bus stop. A nurse was giving CPR assistance and asked Ray to do mouth to mouth. Not nice but still did it. The old lady survived and was taken to hospital. She lasted long enough to say goodbye to her family. That has to  be worth a little discomfort.

Miracles by Jesus Culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vUvi-A75BU 

It’s been another busy week for the folks at West View Baptist Church. On Friday we held our regular Filling Station community meal and on Saturday morning we held our Big Brekkie in support of the work of Christian Aid. I left the church on Saturday after sorting out the tables and chairs and putting things ready for our Sunday Service. Imagine if you will my surprise when I turned on the radio in my car to be greeted with the words “When love is the way no child will go to bed hungry in the world again”

Shivers ran through me. I’d just spent two days with my church friends feeding people. It does not get any more real and timely than that. I was of course listening to Bishop Michael Curry sharing the Word with probably one of the biggest audiences in the world. I listened absolutely riveted to the reminder of his talk for the Royal Wedding. I couldn’t wait to get home and hear his talk from the very beginning. What saddened me over the course of the weekend was the amount of “Christian” commentators lining up to find fault and take potshots. My stance on this is simple, rejoice and celebrate the fact that God’s Word  about love and indirectly, through his fire references, about Pentecost just got broadcast to billions. Bishop Curry may not be your style of preacher but he hit the spot with many people. Pray that his words prompt something in those that heard him.  Oh and spare a thought for any preacher who gets asked for a “Michael Curry sermon” the next time someone wants to organise their wedding.

Tim led our Pentecost service supported by Jonny and Amanda. We had a last minute change of songs as we found Song of Kingdom Come that we had used in our Chrisitian Aid event really powerful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDQrhpYY2Q)

Tim was very brave and used some balloons for our children to help illustrate the idea of the Holy Spirit rushing in and filling the disciples. Imagine if you can our pastor throwing around limp balloons with no air in them and then being instructed by the children in our church how to blow up a balloon and tie a knot in it and  you get the picture.

Tim shared Acts 2 1:21 with us. He then asked if we had ever had a dream as a child? He reflected on the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Tim’s sister wanted to be a bird. Tim was similar in his dream. He  wanted to be a pilot. Then he found he needed glasses. Jam jar strength glasses. That put paid to that dream. So he decided to study engineering and build aircraft. He had success in engineering but not in building aircraft ,  he ended up in Hartlepool working on power station stuff.

It’s a struggle to live up to our own dreams. Tim asked us to think instead about fulfilling our potential. For Jews Pentecost was a harvest festival. Jerusalem was a busy place.

Jesus gave his followers a task to go to the ends of the earth and make disciples. Visualise the whoosh the tongues of fire as a visual symbol of God’s presence and power. However we need to all remember that Pentecost was not the first time the gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed on people. This was repeated throughout the Old Testament. Think of Ezekiel or Moses with the dry bones , the burning bush and the Pillar of fire. The Holy Spirit was not just invented at Pentecost. Bezalel is the first person in the bible being equipped by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Gifts of craftsmanship and artistry to build the tabernacle. King Saul is given gifts of the spirit, yet he clearly wasn’t spiritually mature. He was a bit rubbish at times.

The Holy Spirit is given by Jesus to his disciples in John 20: 22. Maybe Pentecost is the reboot, the jump start the turning up of the volume. Now and then we need the jump start. Business like their power lunches, we like our power tools. The same powerful God fills his believers with the power of his Spirit so we can witness. The disciples huddled timid and afraid and then they receive the power and the languages, one of many gifts given to the church.

Tim also highlights that the the list in the Bible is not definitive , God gives the gift that the church needs at the time it is needed. The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower, to allow us to witness.

Word-challenged Peter is now eloquent. They are given when we need them. The Holy Spirit should constantly fill us as set out in Romans 8 and Ephesians 5. The emphasis of Paul is to make our lives more godly.

How do you know it is working. Often we see a dramatic change we see fruit. List the fruit in our lives. These are the things that mark us as living His way. Maybe we struggle, feel a lack of joy, a lack of self control, maybe we rush in. Paul says ask God to fill you and to keep on filling you. Acts 2 declares the wonders of God. When our experience is and should be that God has poured his love into us and we are filled with joy. It even helps when we are struggling to pray. The Holy Spirit comes to give us power to live, to witness to worship. Pentecost gives us this. We can’t bottle it or contain it. Jesus says the Holy Spirit blows where it pleases. But how do we get the jump start for our flat battery. The answer is simple. We don’t need a special experience or a super hero praying for us. Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-11 NIV
[7]“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [9] “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
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It is given in the simple response to us asking, nothing more complicated than that, ask and it will be given, seek and you will find.