Another great service with Ian and Amanda providing the music and worship lead. Our pastor Tim Hyde brought today’s word, continuing on the Advent j
ourney. He started by thinking about the songs and tunes we hear whilst out shopping at this time of year. Have you found what you’re looking for by U2 was playing in one store and seemed sadly apt as people become increasingly desperate to find a particular gift for someone.
Zachariah’s song, sometimes referred to as the Benedictus, shows God’s plan interweaves with routine ordinary life. Zechariah was old, a priest and he and Elizabeth were childless. Imagine the pain they carried through life. In a society where children were a sign of blessing and success this must have been a trial for them.
They were from the same kinship group as Mary. Given the role of Zechariah they must be Levites. Zechariah has it even tougher when he is muted by Gabriel when he doubts the message he is given. Ready to burst with excitement and yet he’s muted! Imagine at that moment he can’t speak and he has to wait 9 months for the fulfilment of the promise. Living with the hope God would fulfil the promise. Zechariah is unmuted and lets rip exuberant praise.
The words he wrote setting out John’s name are displayed at the Church of St John in the Mountains in Israel. 
The Promise fulfilled in the birth of John. It was both a promise and a threat as he came as the refiners fire to purge people and make them pure and clean. Zechariah’s song looks for redemption and salvation through the forgiveness of sins. John and Jesus will bring light to those in darkness. We don’t normally think of judgement and usalvation together. Here the ultimate goal is to create peace and freedom for all the families of the earth. The words are outside the church of St. John in the mountains.. the birthplace in Israel. Maybe these words help us feel the long years of silent prayer and hope. Zechariah is a reflection of a new sign from God, acting out his own prophecy.
Tim asked us all to reflect on how long people have prayed for changed, hoped for something to be different, for God to intervene in issues like apartheid, Mugabe, the toppling of the Berlin Wall. We’ve all known of people praying for relationships to be restored. Countless stories of people on their knees in prayer. We cannot say everyone’s prayers have been answered. Life deals some tough things at times but folks like Zechariah never give up hope or stop trusting . We all know older people who stay faithful to the end, people like Bob and Elizabeth Patten. Giving us all knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. God is coming says Zechariah. Better watch out, better not cry may be familiar call at Christmas but it is not the Jesus message, not fire and brimstone but the incredible peace, the peace that runs all through Luke’s gospel. By the time these words are written by Luke the Roman Empire is not a peaceful place, Jerusalem is destroyed, both John and Jesus are put to death but preach peace to the end. We have a God that came down for us. A light shone in the darkness, it is about being transformed. All of these are a fulfilment of the prophecy in Joel. Luke’s tells the story of real people hesitating at times between faith and doubt. Both big and the little stories matter to God and he delivers on his promises.
s leaders definitely show what happened as the American business and finance sectors went into decline. Within a few short years some of these men were poverty stricken, some had committed suicide, some were in prison for criminal acts committed trying to hold on to their “success”. They did not experience the peace that Jesus brings. They were measuring success in terms of financial riches. We’re all rich in Jesus. We need to unleash the lion of our faith and belief. We need to fight the uncommon fight that often flies in the face of how others measure success. God sends us brothers that become warriors along side you. They may not look like it at the time but they will be the ones who will stand shoulder to shoulder through the tough times. Understand what it is you are prepared to fight for. Make a list, family, friends, beliefs, principles, be clear in your own mind. Success depends on faithfulness to God but you also need to be wary. Success can breed complacency and lead you to try to rely on your owns strengths and talents. We see Saul deep in fear contrasted against David’s courage. So many strive for wrong success. Success is being a man after God’s own heart. In 1 Chronicles we see David on the threshold of a huge decision. This is the point at which Saul’s influence is over. Saul wanted all the trappings of richness. David on the other hand remembers his humble beginnings. Remember the simple things in life, serving at tables, washing dishes. Fill your life with great purposes and great things. Get things under control get rid of addictions. Remember that whatever Jesus is not Lord over is what the devil will try to break you with. Remember Jesus was raised as the son of a working man as well as being the son of God.
These were all questions posed to the Filling Station team by a relatively new visitor. Our friend had been to Filling Station before and he professed to be a believer who’d had a faith encounter earlier in his life but now “wasn’t living right” to use his own words. It’s easy to lose sight of how difficult it can be to pluck up the courage to enter a church. The even tougher part is that even if you get through the first set of doors there’s often another set or two to negotiate before you enter the church hall or worship space. One of the reasons we like our new inside doors in West View is that you can at least see through them and have a peek at what you’re getting into before you push the door open. Our doors are there simply to keep the heat in, nothing more. They’re not there to put people off from joining us, and I hope they’re not there to keep the public safe from us. Our services are at 10:30 on a Sunday, children are very welcome and do let us know if you need help getting to church.
Excellent service at West View Baptist Church this morning. We began with the Thanksgiving video from Pastor Dwayne Burks. Jonny Hyde did a great job leading worship, aided by Amanda, Roy and Pastor Tim Hyde. Jonny introduced some new ways to think about worship and prayer including placing a candle on a map of the world to pray for issues and people in different countries. He also got folks to use a stone to symbolise an issue to pray for and then place the stone in a bowl of water as a way to demonstrate asking God to take away troubles. Tim provided the word today which rang true with people from Luke 1, with Mary’s belief in the message she was given and the relevance to the issues and struggles people face today. We learnt that this Song of Mary was known as the Magnificant, one of the oldest Christian hymn traditions.
