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Abraham, the father of the faith, received a call to go to an unknown place, and he said yes. He followed the call of God even though he didn’t know where it would lead or what it would lead to. Abraham started a trend among the people of God that extended right through to the disciples and to us - we are a people who go, we are a people who follow. We don’t just go anywhere, and we don’t just follow anyone, so what does it mean to follow the call of God, to go to the people and places he is leading us to even when we don’t have the whole story.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -- It all comes down to Love!
As we come to chapter 2, our second act, we find ourselves back in Bethlehem where a whole set of unique vulnerabilities become apparent for these women. The famine may be over, but the struggle isn’t and so Ruth takes the brave step to go to the field the glean. The stage widens in this chapter and a third key character enters the scene - here we meet Boaz. We learn throughout this chapter that he will play a very key role in this story, being named as a relative, being in Elimilech’s clan and most importantly, being a kinsman redeemer. This chapter teaches us about the refuge of God, both the refuge that we can receive but also the refuge we can give. Ruth was able to glean here because of the ‘Law of the Field’ which was meant to ensure protection and provision for the poor and for outsiders. But a law must be upheld if it’s to be any good! Boaz we learn is a man who upholds God’s law, he knows his God is a God who gives refuge and he knows his part to play in that. How do those in the family of God, seeking the Kingdom of God, provide places of refuge for outsiders?
In this moving account of Naomi returning home and Ruth leaving her homeland we read some of the most poignant and affecting words in Scripture. The text includes the Hebrew word "Hesed", meaning loving kindness, as God's character which combines the ideas of unconditional love, generosity and enduring commitment. Through Ruth’s commitment and loyalty we see the idea of family being challenged as Ruth disconnects from her family of origin and all that is familiar to her and becomes an immigrant in a land not her own where her own vulnerabilities are magnified. The Hesed of God redraws the boundary lines around family. And in the last verse we see pointers to the redemptive work of God, Jesus showing unconditional love for us, giving his life for us, being committed to us.
The opening verses in this book set the scene for this story we’re embarking on. We learn of the macro-context - the dark days when Israel was ruled by the Judges, the harshness and desperation of a land caught up in a famine, the reality of opposing territories (Moab and Israel). The beauty in the book of Ruth is that it doesn’t stay in the macro - it’s not making a wider social commentary, we’re not dealing with entire nations, tribes or people groups here. We zoom right in. We learn of the micro-context - a small family’s complex situation, the reality of their lives and their history and their decisions. This is where our story begins - in the place of messiness and complexity, grief and suffering and hardship. The scene opens just as a complicated journey is beginning and so we too can ask the question, where is God in our complicated journeys? What would it look like to embrace the God who cares about the big and the little parts of our stories?
Two questions posed by this passage are "what does commitment mean to us?" and the second is "what is my part to play?". The counter to disillusionment with the church is to see the church as a body with many parts. It's only together with others, as we learn who we really are, that we learn what it looks like to follow Jesus. Church community is not an optional add-on to our faith - committing to the church family is the natural expression of following Jesus. The way we embrace that commitment is being part of a community of people working through life together and finding a way to serve within the church - we each have a part to play. Jesus gave us the model for this, in identifying the one who serves as the greatest. Our strengths, the gifts given to us, are primarily for the benefit of others, for the common good.
As Jesus follows the path to his crucifixion in Jerusalem, we see in him the King who is in charge, the King who serves, and the King who transforms lives then and now.
Humility is not something that the world encourages us towards, yet as Christians it is something we should seek to cultivate in our lives. We are not called to humility because we are scared of God, neither are we called to ignore the things in our own lives that are important or require attention. We are called to humility because Christ was humble (Phil 2:8) and our desire should be to be more like him! How can we seek and cultivate more Christ-like humility in our lives this year, what does that actually look like for us as followers of Jesus?
The invitation to follow Jesus is the greatest invitation we can ever respond to, nothing will bring us more joy, nothing will see greater fruit. However, the choice to follow Jesus in our daily lives is a daily decision, not a one-time decision. As followers of Jesus, we are called to perseverance but James tells us in these verses that perseverance is something which is produced in us not just something that we muster up ourselves in our own strength. What would it look like at the beginning of this year to respond to the many trials and struggles we face with our hearts set towards the deep joy of knowing Jesus and to allow perseverance to be formed within us?
God with us - a statement, not a prayer, not a plea, but a promise fulfilled. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us and the whole expected order of everything is turned on its head with the birth of this child because gods did not come amongst their people least of all in human form, least of all in a vulnerable state. Yet, our God did. When we think about the welcome of the Father, the God who comes and makes his dwelling amongst us (John 1), the God who humbled himself (Phil 2) how can we receive that welcome afresh this Christmas and how can we extend that welcome to others?
In the present, the way that God's Kingdom works is often unexpected. It can be messy, often doesn't work to the timescales we would like, and while we would like to see evil fully rooted out our experience is that God works in amongst the brokenness of this world, and good and evil often grow together. The promise of the kingdom of God is that this will not always be the case, it is messy now but, in the end, evil will be rooted out, God’s justice will be enacted, but for now we are called to wait, to worship and to work in the midst of the messiness.
The Kingdom of God is mysterious, we are trusting in a work that is unseen and not within our control. This parable speaks of small and unseen beginnings that result in a wonderful harvest. Jesus’ ministry didn’t look like the sort of kingdom-of-God-movement people were expecting, it was small and unknown in the beginning and yet the miraculous harvest of it was incredible and we still live in the light of it today. Similarly, God’s work in us is often small and unseen, there is a mystery to the Kingdom of God being realised in our lives and much of it is out of our control. How can we learn to lean into the mystery of all that is beyond our control and lean on the One who is in control?
God is holy and just, and invites us to be people of justice who fight for freedom from injustice. Jesus consistently draws near to the marginalised and oppressed. He ushers in this ministry to the most vulnerable. The victims of injustice need our consistent loving mercy as we respond to Jesus' call to love people as He loves them. In what situations are we being called to persevere, to act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with Jesus?
In 2 Corinthians 11 & 12 we see a long list of what Paul had to endure for the gospel. There was a phenomenal amount of hurt, pain, struggle and opposition. Alongside this, his authority and ability was being questioned and undermined. However, Paul soon begins to boast in his suffering and hardship as he say that is where God’s grace and power is most evidenced. We may not feel qualified to lead but God’s grace is always sufficient. Whilst our society can easily teach that it is about our human purpose, strengths and gifting, it is actually in a place of increasing dependence on Christ that God uses us. It is so often in our places of hurt, vulnerability and brokenness that God powerfully ministers in and through us. Our greatest ministry is so often rooted in God working through our various experiences, challenges and learning.
King Jehoshaphat was a man who feared God and trusted in Him unreservedly as he lead the Israelite people. He sought God’s voice in times of difficulty, and prioritised the right and good worship of God in the temple. In 2 Chronicles 20 the Israelite people are outnumbered by a large army advancing against them, but Jehoshaphat trusts that God will be with them and will fight for them. As they readied themselves for battle, Jehoshaphat chose to position the worship leaders at the front of the army, rather than his strongest fighters. As God’s people begin to worship and declare his praises, God himself sets ambushes against the army and the army is defeated. Worship is the weapon that defeats the enemy, as worship is the place where we recognise that the battle belongs to God and not to us. Often we see throughout the OT that what is represented physically is reflected spiritually in the NT (Eph 6:12 - our battle is with principalities and powers). As we worship, we go into battle against the enemy and declare the truth of who God is over a world in darkness. Even in our own story we have witnessed freedom and healing amongst our church family in a place of worship. What might it look like to carry that expectation when we come together? To expect that worship is a space which might bring about breakthrough and freedom in our families, our workplaces, in our lives and in this city?
Worship is at the heart of what it means to be a gathered people, worship is a space of encounter, and worship is a space of unreserved adoration. We see that nowhere more powerfully than in the worship of King David. David is so overjoyed at the presence of God returning to his people that he sings and dances (even to the point that it embarrasses his family!). But he proclaims he will become even more undignified still, so that God might be given the honour He deserves. When we come together in worship, we are called to come with a desire to see Jesus' name increased and our name decreased. And yet often we can content ourselves with singing while half-asleep. Have we become complacent after these last years? What might it look like to worship God when we come together with a passionate vision to see Jesus name raised up in the life of our church and in this city. Not motivated by a sense of obligation, but like David, as we find ways to remind ourselves that the living God is present with us.
One of our core values as a church is encounter. We believe in a God who is relational, who desires to meet with us and who comes close to us, and that when we meet him it changes us. We see time and time again through scripture that God interacts this way with His people. God reveals himself, and it calls out a response from us. In 2 Corinthians 3, we read about the freedom and identity we have because of the work of Jesus. This new life in Jesus means that we can come before God with expectation that we will meet with Him and be changed in his presence. Every, single, time.
Corporate worship has been part of the identity of the gathered people of God since the Exodus from Egypt. There is something distinctive and of eternal significance about the people of God singing the praises of God in the presence of God (Redman). Ephesians 5 offers us just one example of where we are given clear instruction around the importance of corporate worship and the role it plays in the life of the church. Worship is the call on the people of God whenever we gather together. It draws us together, it connects us at heart level to the presence of God and it shifts our perspective as we reflect on and thank God for the work He has done.
The Spirit doesn’t just equip, the Spirit unites us! Unity is tough, it’s hard to do, it’s messy and sometimes we get it wrong but it’s an important call to the Church at large and it’s a beautiful thing to participate in. How can we be unified both within our own church and also with other churches surrounding us? How can we celebrate and honour fellow believers? How does the Spirit help us to do that?
Through the Spirit, we are equipped! The Holy Spirit pours himself into the church in abundant ways, ‘for the common good’ and we get to work together as Spirit-filled believers. How has Holy Spirit equipped you, do you know or do you believe he has? How has Holy Spirit equipped Central? How can we continue to be open to the equipping and gifting of the Spirit among us?
What do we do with our doubt? How do we navigate the fearful waters of faith, belief and understanding changing? Is there room in our faith for our doubt? Thomas is often landed with the title ‘Doubting Thomas’ and is sometimes given a bad rap for that, yet his experience is one we will probably all have. What we see in this passage is how Jesus interacts with Thomas in the midst of his doubt; he doesn’t dismiss him or condemn him, he comes to him. How can we allow Jesus to come to us in our places of doubt?
The first apostle is not who is expected at all – Mary, a woman, a so-called ‘unreliable’ witness is charged by Jesus to go and tell the news that he is risen! Their first encounter with each other is a beautiful moment, in coming to the tomb she did not in any way expect to go away joyful and yet an encounter with Jesus changes all of that. The risen Jesus transforms everything and from this encounter and from the responsibility given to Mary we see how much things are turned on their head when Jesus is involved – the least likely, the least expected, suddenly not so ‘least’ anymore. Are there places in our lives that we do not expect joy from? How can we resurrect expectation and hope in Jesus again in those places? Do we feel like we’re the least likely ones, the unexpected, the unwanted, the halted one, how can Jesus resurrect hope and permission for us? Or perhaps we need to be the ones who believe and listen to the unexpected messengers and who make space for those who are the ‘least likely’ to flourish.
The day of resurrection dawns with the women making their way to tomb to care for the body of their beloved Jesus. We have accounts of this moment in the story in all four gospels and we get different details from each. Here in Mark’s gospel we see the women discovering the empty tomb, they hear from an angel that he has risen, they are charged with telling the others what has happened and they leave feeling amazed and terrified. This is unequivocally a day of celebration, the day that we rejoice together that Jesus has risen from the dead and he is alive today! As we contemplate Jesus resurrection once more we remember the things that we are called to as his followers – to believe for the things that Jesus has told us he’d do and to tell others of the things we know about him. As we journey on out of Lent, what new things have we learned about our Saviour and how are we going to live with the light of his resurrection guiding and illuminating our way?
As Christians, many of us are almost too familiar with the story of Jesus’ death, Tom Wright says we need to find a way to make it strange to us again so that we can hear it once more as if it were new. The journey has reached its peak, we’ve made it to Jerusalem, just outside the walls, to the hill on which Jesus was mocked, beaten and crucified. There is so much for us to see here. From the darkness covering the land, to the anguished cry of Jesus, from the mocking voices of the crowd, to the final breath, from the tearing of the curtain, to the centurions testimony, to the women who stayed. Sunday is coming, but for now it is Friday and we sit in the shadow of the cross, beholding our Saviour who bore the weight of our sin, who gave himself freely for us. Our journey is not over, in many ways it’s just beginning, but this moment at Good Friday is a sobering and sombre moment of pause and reflection.
The climb from Jericho up to Jerusalem is long and hard – Jericho is the lowest city on earth (800 feet below sea level) while Jerusalem is 3000 feet above sea level! Needless to say, this journey through a hot and dry desert is the hardest part. So much is revealed to us about Jesus on the approach to Jerusalem, as they reach Bethany and the Mount of Olives, Jesus is declared and celebrated as King by those around him, messianic prophecies are fulfilled and the cry of ‘Hosanna’ echoes. But we know that this is not a royalty that we are used to or that anyone then was expecting either – Jesus radically redefines Kingship and we are challenged as his followers to put what we have at his disposal, to obey him even when we don’t understand and to go out of our way to honour him.
Jesus and his disciples have made it through the Jordon Valley and down to the city of Jericho and while they are there we encounter another big ask! When Jesus asked James and John ‘what do you want me to do for you’ all he got was a request for power and prestige. However, when the same question is posed to the blind man, begging on the side of the road and crying out loudly for Jesus’ help, the answer he gets is, ‘Rabbi, I want to see’. In the story of Bartimaeus we see the markers present in many of our journeys of discipleship with Jesus. Bartimaeus declares who Jesus is (Son of David), leaves behind his old ways (throws aside his cloak) and follows Jesus wholeheartedly. As we come closer to the cross the invitation is the same to us, either again or for the first time. To remember and acknowledge who Jesus is, to leave behind our old ways and to wholeheartedly follow him once more.
As Jesus and the disciples make their way to Jerusalem, following along the Jordon River, we see a big ask and a big argument. The bold brothers James and John want to turn Jesus’ messianic journey into a march of glory where they will take pride of place with him – despite the incredible revelation they’ve experienced at his transfiguration, they are still not getting it. He reminds them of the cost of following him and as we journey with him we are invited to remember that cost as well. We began with an ‘ask’ and we finish with an argument between the disciples, this journey to the cross is filled with very human moments of doubt and anger, misunderstandings and getting it wrong and our journey is often the same. As we journey towards the cross, where do we need to remember the cost and where are our wrestlings with one another getting in the way?
On the mount of Transfiguration, the disciples see the immense glory of Jesus displayed before them. It is a powerful moment of revelation and of declaration of who Jesus is as the son of God. This is where we’re beginning our journey to the cross; looking once more to the transformative revelation of who Jesus is and discovering what that revelation means for us as we seek to follow him.
In this time of Lent we are reprioritising our faith by focusing on Jesus' journey to the cross. God allows suffering as a way of spiritual growth and is with us in our wilderness experience. The devil tries to undermine our trust in God, our appointment by God. The temptations of Jesus were vital to his ministry and we face those temptations too, and in our wilderness we are stripped back to fully depend on Jesus. Let's embrace our wilderness as a season of preparation.
Romans 8 is an incredible passage which speaks of the groans of creation longing for the people of God to step into who they are called to be. Creation longs for this because when God’s people live in reality, knowing their identity as God’s children, all of creation likewise begins to find its right place again and we begin see the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. When we truly step into our calling in God, it has an impact on the environment and world around us. That’s not just climate activism, but it does lead to a deep love and care for the environment. Pete Greig writes “we laugh more and we weep more because we love more”. Our vision is wider! We live to see the freedom and the glory of God displayed through creation, we live to see greater glimpses of what creation will be as we live in the now and not yet of the kingdom of God, and we live to stand in the gap in faith, full of hope as we live as the first-fruits of this new Kingdom.
Something so key to our approach to the theme of environmentalism as Christians is to do so through the lens of redemption. Colossians 1 tells us that the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection was not just for humanity, but for all of creation, and all of creation will be brought together in Him. Jesus ultimately is the one who will make all things right, including healing our world and undoing the destruction we have caused throughout history and in our lifetimes. Why does this matter? It means we can approach this with real, lasting hope. We join in as Jesus hands and feet, living differently not driven by guilt or shame, but because we want to be part of bringing God’s Kingdom to earth and Jesus’ resurrection life to all of the created world.
Peter writes to churches on the fringe of society and suffering for their faith, to strengthen their faith with hope for the future and to prepare them for action.
We know that our rebellion against God has had a major effect on the world around us, we live in the effects of the brokenness that sin created and, sadly, humanity has continued to contribute to that brokenness. Recognising our part in that is important. However, we don’t live without hope. The Fall was a major moment in human history but we have not been left there! As we consider the role that human fallen-ness has had in our world, let’s also remember the restoration and the new creation that God has invited us into through his Son, Jesus! How can we join God in the renewal of all things?
At the beginning of Genesis, in the beautiful creation poem, we see the mandate given to humankind. We who are part of God’s creation are given responsibility within it, to care and to steward. We are told that we have responsibility over this earth and the things that inhabit it. Over centuries this idea of our ‘dominion’ over creation has been misused to allow humankind to do whatever they want and use creation for their own gain and we are all too aware of this. What fresh vision might God give us as we consider our role in his creation? How can we allow a bigger and more eternal perspective to influence this as we live towards the day when God will bring full restoration to his creation?
The opening lines of Psalm 24 paint a picture for us of something that we see across all of Scripture and which is particularly present in the Old Testament – the earth is not for human dominion but rather it is God’s creative power that holds back the forces of chaos and sustains the whole world in being and everything that exists belongs to him. It was his voice that brought the earth and everything in it into being (Gen 1) and Scripture shows us again and again that God is the Lord of all creation, not just of humanity! This is where we want to begin as we open this series, reminding ourselves of our place in God’s creation and remembering that it is first and foremost God’s creation.
This is the amazing truth that we celebrate at Christmas, that Light has come and it has not left us. We are those who live in the light of Jesus and that light is an overcoming light against which the darkness of the world around us cannot and will not prevail. As we desire to be those who seek to have a more ‘Just Christmas’, let us remember this great and wonderful truth – Jesus is the light we need, he is shining into the darkest of places and darkness, pain, suffering and injustice will not win. Light has come!
Justice at Christmas can feel overwhelming, especially if we find our own lives overwhelming as well. The good news that Jesus brings is that the fullness of our lived experience does not need to be diminished. In his incarnation, Jesus came to bring freedom but he also came to bring comfort, because he knew we would mourn. What does the justice of God look like in the middle of our brokenness and our sadness? What does the justice of God look like when Christmas is not shiny and happy? Perhaps justice in this context is allowing the things that are hard and unfair to be hard and unfair, the truth that Jesus brings to us in this season is that he mourned as we mourn, he carried our burdens and our sorrows (Is. 53), every one of them is fully known to him and he is our Saviour who provides for those who grieve in Zion.
When we consider the incarnation of Jesus, his coming to earth as a baby we rejoice in the miracle of that and the wonder of it. However we know that this God incarnate grew up and when Jesus began his ministry he began by declaring the words of Isaiah 61. This babe in the manger became the man in the Temple courts who showed us how he was the fulfilment of these words. As his followers we get to join in with this declaration, we get to follow Jesus in the way of justice for the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives and prisoners. As we consider the work of IJM and Bethany, how can we be people who embrace God’s heart for a ‘Just Christmas’ this year?
We reach the end of Ephesians with a call to be fully equipped in Christ for the times of struggle ahead of us. Paul reminds us that we have everything we need to stand firm in the face of opposition: God’s truth; righteousness; the gospel of peace; faith; salvation and Holy Spirit. What does it look like to daily clothe ourselves in these gifts God has given us? Paul lands his letter with the repeated encouragement to pray. Not only are we equipped in Christ, but we also get to continue to come to God for all our needs and participate in his plans. Prayer is what sustains us, and Paul makes it clear that this is not just one-on-one prayers between us and God, but that essential to life in Christ is praying for all members of the church.
We know that in this life there are hierarchies and unjust power balances. But we also learn here that God shows no favouritism. In the case of seemingly inescapable powerlessness, such as with a child and their parents, or a slave and their enslaver, we are reminded that God knows what is in our hearts and sees whatever good we do. We know that ultimately there is freedom in Christ and that God is a God who enacts equality and justice. The message for the church is that for it to be a place of ‘on earth, as it is in heaven’ we too need to be without favouritism or injustice.
Mutually submitting to one another is the mark of those who follow Jesus, as Jesus demonstrated Himself at Passover by adorning the clothes of a servant and washing his disciples feet. In chapter 5 Paul is continuing his argument for the church family to live life in the Spirit. The primary context is to view all relationships in light of being those who follow Christ and who are filled by the Holy Spirit. The marriage relationship is used as an example to help demonstrate the mutual self-giving and submission of all believers to one another as an expression of being the bride of Christ.
Again Paul comes to us with what could seem like a list of instructions, of things to do and things to steer clear of and as we read it, we probably find ourselves having failed at every turn! The opening of this chapter is perhaps of the greatest importance as we try and understand it, we are to follow God’s example, living into our identity as his dearly loved children, walking in the way of love just as Jesus did. As imitators of Christ it isn’t about getting a good score on the behaviour measure but rather it is about choosing the Jesus way every day, choosing to walk in his light, choosing to be motivated by his love instead of finding out motivations elsewhere. We are not walking in darkness, we have the light of Christ to guide our every step.
What does it mean to ‘put on the new self’? It’s often supposed to be a matter of behaviour first; do this, say that, don’t do this, don’t say that. But Paul makes it clear here that it starts not with our actions first, but with our minds (v.23). Tom Wright says that, ‘genuine Christianity opens the mind so that it can grasp truth at deeper and deeper levels’; new life springs from a renewed and transformed mind and heart. And so then these instructions that Paul follows on with become not just a list of do’s and don’ts that we may succeed or fail at, but rather they are the result of a renewed mind motivated and transformed by the kindness of Jesus.
Everyone has a part to play in this beautiful thing called the Church. Paul opens up for us here the many facets of leadership and contribution that make up the body of Christ, these gifts of grace that have been apportioned to us. Our flourishing however doesn’t just come from using and embracing and welcoming these gifts (which is important), our flourishing comes when we understand that the purpose of all of these gifts is one of unity. How can we be people who ‘make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’?
We reach the halfway point of Paul’s letter. He’s expounded on all these big doctrinal points in the first half, calling us into deeper knowledge and understanding of the work of Christ but at this point he draws us back to what really matters, as Tom Wright says, ‘perhaps the best Christian doctrine is that which emerges from the life of prayer’. It seems that Paul’s deepest desire for this young church, and perhaps the most important thing for them, is that they would know the love held for them in Christ more fully. That is what our faith hinges on, that is what our faith is built on, the wide, high, long and deeply abundant love of Christ.
The mystery of Christ here is that through the gospel, those on the outside, those previously excluded are welcomed in, able to fully share in the promise of Jesus. Paul describes this as a mystery that was kept hidden and is now revealed, a mystery that we can know. There is mystery in our faith, we know everything about God that he wants us to know, but we don’t know everything about God! What does it mean to live in the light of what we know and also to embrace the mystery held in Christ?
The reconciliation between Jew and Gentile in Christ that Paul is expounding on here is a reconciliation more radical than we can really understand. It is not that one group is merged into the other with no trace of where they came from, or that they are simply an amalgamation of the two strands, rather it is that one new family with a brand new identity has been created in Christ and through Christ. Why does this matter to us? We’re no longer dealing with this dichotomy between Jew and Gentile. It’s important for us to know that our faith was born out of a place of reconciliation, of healing a divide and that in Christ, new creation in place of division is truly possible. As Paul continues we see that the result of this ‘one-ness’ is that a new household is being built, and that we are included. God has made a way for us to live in deep connection with him, no longer foreigners and strangers but as those built up in him.
Being alive in Christ is a whole new way of being, through no effort of our own we are lifted up by the incomparable grace and kindness of God displayed through Jesus. This is the life we can have now, one in sync, in tune, in rhythm, infused with the grace of God. Paul begins by reminding the young church, and us, that at one point we were not alive in this way, at one point we followed a different road, a road that led not to life, but to death. To know our full alive-ness in Christ we must remember how far we’ve come, how far the grace of God has brought us.
Paul’s thanksgiving and praise spills over into a prayer, a prayer of deep thanks for all that he sees growing in this young church. His prayer is that they would continue to grow in their knowledge of God; that they would know him better. He prays that they would know the hope they have, the inheritance they have and the power that lives in them because of Christ. What difference would such a prayer make to our own lives? How can we strive to grow in our knowledge of God, how can we be those who pray to know him better?
The opening of this letter repeats again and again the phrase ‘in him’, Paul is beginning as he means to go on. Everything we are and have and will be is found in Christ. What does it mean to be chosen in Christ? Does it mean that only some are and other aren’t? Or is it bigger than that? Paul begins this letter with a birds-eye-view, unfettered declaration of praise of who Jesus is, as we come to understand our chosen-ness we should begin from this perspective, from the spectacular view of who Jesus is and what he has done. It is from that place that our identity as chosen, as being ‘in Christ’, as being those caught up in this glorious inheritance, is found.
Your soul is the essence of who you are, the part that is hardwired to know the presence of God. So how is it with your soul? This past year has been an exposing time, so much has been stripped away, places of identity have shifted. In our restoration, we need to use solitude to be present to ourselves and to God. The way of Jesus is to lay down ourselves, a daily decision to choose the path of sacrifice, which counter-intuitively is the way to restoration. And restoration of the soul comes from surrender to Jesus, believing that He has the best plan for our life.
Relationship is how God chooses to posture himself towards us, Jesus made it possible for us to have a personal relationship with God. Relationships really matter to God. The relationships in our lives will have changed in so many ways over the pandemic – kids at home, more time with a spouse, living alone, limitations on seeing friends, dating, not dating, video calls, emails. How can we take the words of Jesus seriously here, that how we think and speak of one another is so important to God, our thoughts and words over others are not only shaping our relationships, they’re shaping us too! How might God be restoring a vision for Godly relationships amongst us?
Our mental health is important to God. God cares about our thought patterns, the things we tell ourselves about ourselves. He cares about how we view others, he cares about the things that keep us up at night and moments where anxiety takes over any clarity of thinking. What might it look like to live trusting that that is true? How might it shape our thinking to really believe that everything matters to God? He invites us to present all our thoughts before him with thankful hearts, as we acknowledge that God cares about each one. But more than that, He offers us something in return. Holy Spirit offers us peace that transcends our understanding - peace which can get past our thinking brains, which covers us and guards us in Jesus. What might it look like to take time to allow God to give us that peace?
Our bodies really matter to God; he made them perfectly. What we put into our body matters to God, how we care for our body matters to God, what we do with our body matters to God. What does it mean today to glorify God in our bodies? How can we love and care for our bodies well as an expression of worship to God?
What does it mean for us to work with all our hearts, as if we are working for the Lord? Work has changed for many this past year, from furlough, to redundancy, to working from home, to retirement as well as the large portions of work that encompass family life. How might God be restoring a new purpose to us in our work, whatever it is that we do? How can we be rewired in our vision for serving and sharing Jesus in our ‘places’ of work?
We need a restored rhythm of rest – not just time off, not just a holiday; we need a restored vision for a rested life held in the rhythm that Jesus provides for us. As we move from inactivity to activity (or perhaps from activity to even more activity!) let’s allow God to speak into our lives first about what the rest that he invites us into could look like and why we have been given it.
What does it mean to live a full life? For some people, life is always full – too full! Full of schedules and deadlines and people and responsibilities. For others, this year has stripped more from us than we’d ever imagined. So, what does a full life in Jesus mean, how is God restoring fullness to us and how does that fullness differ from the ‘fullness’ that the world parades?
The plans God has for us don’t finish when we take our last breath here on earth, we have always been those with an eternal perspective. God’s Kingdom is now, but it is also not yet. We are living in the now and hoping and praying and rejoicing in the now but we must not forget what is to come as well. The not yet, the new creation is still coming. In these passages we read the incredible promises that await us when we are united finally with God, and we also see echoed here the very same promises that were given to Abraham generations ago. God has remained faithful to his people, as we’ve journeyed across this one big story we been confronted at every turn by the incredible grace of God. But, there is a warning too, it’s for those who choose to place their trust in Jesus. That is the clincher – we need to choose to place our trust in him, to rest our souls in him alone. For those who follow Jesus, our call is to live like those who will enter eternal life, to live with an eternal perspective and for those who have yet to make that decision, the welcome is to come home to Jesus today. ‘…that whoever believes in him, will not die but will have eternal life’.
The Church is one of the most beautiful things ever created. The Church is God’s plan A for seeing His Kingdom established on earth. The Church is the body of Christ. And yet, the Church is hard, and broken and messy. However, it has not stopped being the Hope of the World. So how do we as God’s bride, as the body of Christ live more truly and fully into being that hope? It begins with living into the promise of relationship with Jesus and it continues with us living out the responsibility we are called to and it hinges on our commitment to one another, our commitment to unity across borders, disagreements and divisions.
The death and resurrection of Jesus means that the distance that once lay between God and humanity is finally bridged. We read in Matthew’s account how the curtain was torn in two, symbolising that the access that had once been reserved for only the high priest was now open to all – because of Jesus we can do what we never could do before, we can boldly approach God. This restoration of intimate relationship was what Jesus came to redeem for us. At the end of Matthew’s gospel we read the charge that Jesus gave his disciples and consequently to us as well. We are not just able to live in beautiful communion with God; we are called to participate in the establishment of his Kingdom here on earth! We have a responsibility as followers of Jesus and our lives are now caught up with his. All of the stories we’ve read throughout this series have been leading to this moment, the new covenant of God’s grace is here.
Every story of God’s faithfulness and commitment to his people had been leading up to this moment – when God stepped into his humanity. This was the only way; the people had tried and failed to remain faithful to God, the law had tried and failed to make people right before God, the relationship was fractured. In both the prophecy from Isaiah and the opening of John’s gospel, we see the hope that finally arrives through the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Throughout the generations, God had kept his promises to his people even when they had broken them and here in Jesus we see the greatest promise, given and kept once and for all. In the big story of God’s rescue plan for humanity, this is the seminal moment. The incarnation of Jesus was about to change everything; the relationship we were made for would be made possible forever through him, the responsibility we are called into is opened up again through him.
As we move from Kings to Prophets in scripture, we find this same dynamic at play between God, through his chosen prophet, and His people. God speaks through the prophets to call His people back to himself, back to the covenant relationship he made when He said back in Genesis “I will be your God and you will be my people”. Over and over again the Israelites fail to respond to this commitment and call from God and chase after idols and other gods. Hosea presents this image powerfully as he, with God’s leading, marries someone who he knows will betray him over and over again. The book of Hosea finishes with a promise that we find consistently through the prophets. God himself will commit himself in a new way, by a new covenant, that will no longer depend on the faithfulness (or unfaithfulness) of His people, but will offer a new eternal calling as God’s people.
We want a King! The Israelite people, in another act of faithlessness, ask God to give them a human King, like the rulers they see in the tribes and culture around them. Despite this rejection and lack of trust in God’s commitment to be with them, God chooses to accommodate the people and their wishes, and allows himself to be represented through these Kings, but warns that a King will not give them what they seek. As we discover, the extent to which the King chooses to worship God determines the extent to which the Israelites live faithful to God and to his calling to be set apart. Time and time again God offers himself to them and forgives them. In fact He even promises that through one King (David), God will bring a Messiah who will usher in a new way.
When Ruth gives her quiet and determined commitment to Naomi that she will go where she goes, worship the God she worships and die where she dies, she has no idea the inheritance that will stem from these words. We see mirrored in Ruth’s commitment to Naomi a similarity with God’s constant commitment to his people; to be their God, to be with them in the highs and lows, to commit to them. Ruth’s quiet commitment leads her to the fields outside Bethlehem where she meets and marries Boaz, her son Obed will be the father of Jesse who will be the father of King David and Jesus Christ the Messiah is born in that line too. Her quiet and unsure ‘yes’ to commit to her family and commit to a new God lands her in the lineage of the Saviour of the world. We never know where our quiet commitments could lead us and we never know how the faithfulness of God will work its way out in our lives, but we do know the beginning. It starts with Yes.
God fulfils his promise to release his people from slavery by miraculously rescuing them from the Egyptian army. This account will become the narrative which the Jewish people not only look back on as their covenant history and celebrate yearly, but look forward to in expectation that God will again, as promised, rescue his people through His chosen Messiah.
The account of Moses and the burning bush is a significant moment both in Moses’ journey with God and in God’s rescue plan for humanity. Not only is it in this moment that Moses receives his calling from God but it is here that God reveals himself. This account tells us some important things about who God is and who we are in relation to him. Firstly, God hears – he heard his people’s cry. Secondly, God acts – he came to their rescue. Thirdly, God uses us in the process – Moses was his chosen instrument to enact his liberation, despite his own doubts and uncertainties, he was called by God. This is something we see reflected all over Scripture and especially through the life of Jesus – God hears and God acts and we have a part to play.
Moses is a central figure in the continuation of God’s restoration plan, but his beginnings were aided by the bravery and courage of five different women. These five women (the two midwives, his mother and sister and even Pharaoh’s own daughter) showed faithfulness and courage in the face of opposition. The Hebrew women showed total commitment to God, they feared God more than the oppressive and violent rule they were under and Pharaoh’s daughter chose compassion, going against the very law that her father had instigated. Moses’ beginnings were birthed out of courage and faithfulness and in turn he (and these women) experienced the faithfulness of God in their lives. For us, we don’t operate on the basis of exchange – if I am faithful then God is faithful. No, the faithfulness of God will always outstrip any faithfulness of ours! However, the conviction and commitment that these women demonstrated in the face of opposition is a key lesson for us, leaning into our God-given calling and exercising our God-given responsibility will require great courage.
The promise that God gives to Abraham begins the restoration of the relationship that had been lost in the garden, the process of divine rescue has begun. It’s a personal promise for Abraham and Sarah – they received a commitment from God, he is committing himself to them, speaking a promise over their lives. There is also a calling on their lives too – they have to go, they have to choose trust in God and leave their country for one they do not yet know. We are invited into that narrative too; the promise was for them but the ripple effect of that promise is much larger, it filters down through the generations, God’s faithfulness is the marker and it ultimately finds its fulfilment in Jesus (Matt 28). The ask of us is, do we trust God in his promises to us? Do we trust him more than circumstances and situations? Do we trust that he is faithful generation to generation?
When we read the account of creation we see that it was always God’s intention to establish an intimate relationship with humanity; humankind was the crowning glory of all that he had created, it wasn’t just good, it was very good. We also see here that right from the beginning not only did God provide for humanity, he also gave responsibility and authority over his creation! It was meant to be a perfect symbiosis of relationship and responsibility. However, we know what happens next; the ‘fall’ created a gaping chasm between God and humanity; our relationship with God was broken and subsequently all of creation was impacted. We begin our story here, with a realisation of all that was lost but more importantly we know that God’s saving plan for humanity also began here. Over these next few months we will discover the deep and lasting faithfulness of God displayed through many different stories and we will see the lengths he went to just to bring us back to him; to restore that relationship, to reinstate that responsibility through his son, Jesus Christ.
When we recognise that we have hope in Jesus how do we respond? This woman lavished more than a year’s wages on Jesus, anointing him though she didn’t know what was to come; hadn’t even witnessed Jesus defeating sin on the cross. Yet she knew where her hope was, unlike some of those who had followed him. Hope in Jesus is worth wasteful sacrifice, and Jesus recognised this as so important and significant that he foresaw that her actions would be told alongside the preaching of the gospel throughout the world.
Jesus is the hope for those who are overlooked or feel unimportant. In Mark 9:33-37 Jesus already teaches the disciples to welcome the little children but in the space of one trip across the Jordan, the disciples have already forgotten this lesson and begin to rebuke families who were bringing their children to Jesus. Jesus raises the stakes, revealing that the kingdom of God itself ‘belongs to such as these’ – to all who are overlooked, feel unimportant, and those who have childlike faith.
When Peter, James and John went up the mountainside with Jesus, they encountered him in a completely new way - they glimpsed his heavenly glory; his holy 'otherness'. They also saw him speaking with Elijah and Moses, great prophets and leaders from hundreds of years previous right to that day. In that moment, they saw the Jesus who has been present throughout history. He is our past, present and future hope. Their experience of hearing the voice of God affirming Jesus was clearly incredibly powerful and they fell facedown to the ground. The hope of God is a powerful thing. But Jesus says to them and to us 'Don't be afraid.'
Jesus heals a paralysed man whose friends were so desperate to get him to Jesus that they broke through a roof! Despite the fact he would have been seen as less than equal in society, Jesus not only forgives him and heals him, but first he calls him ‘friend’. The desperate faith of the friends is rewarded and the man’s own desperate situation is transformed. In times of desperation Jesus wants to bring hope in our internal life (forgiving our sins) and our external life (e.g. physical healing). Our response, like the paralysed man, is to praise God!
Jesus talks with a Samaritan woman, who was an outcast in society because of her past. Being a Samaritan, looked down upon by Jews, and a woman, she was not someone the disciples expected to see Jesus talking to. But Jesus goes far beyond our expectations or judgements and longs to meet with everyone. Not only that, but he knew everything about her; everything she ever did. He reveals this without condemning her, and he also sees beyond her history to her intellect and her potential: engaging in a theological conversation, revealing that he is the Messiah, and sending her out to bring a whole town to know Jesus. Like the Samaritan woman, we are fully known and seen by God – we have hope beyond the mistakes that we think might stop us from being used for his kingdom.
Jesus always goes to the edges, where others are afraid to go - it’s there you’re most likely to find him. Suffering severe mental turmoil is not something Jesus ignores or brushes under the carpet, he’s not afraid, nor does he make any sweeping judgements on the one in pain. He sees the man underneath the suffering and willingly disrupts the livelihood of a pig farmer in order to save this one man who has been left on the outside with no help for so long. Hope in Jesus is hope that goes to the edges, that sees right to the God-created heart of each of us, and that brings freedom.
Hope in Jesus is hope that restores. In his encounter with this woman who touched his cloak, so strong was her faith that she believed she would be healed if she did, Jesus brings restoration to her. He restores her health where her body had been ravaged by suffering, he restores her dignity where illness had taken it from her but more than that, he stops with her. Not content just to heal anonymously, he needs to know who she is, restoring her dignity in her identity and calling her daughter. This is his desire for us too, not content to just deal with us anonymously, he wants to know us, to restore to us our dignity where it has been taken away.
Caught in the swell of a storm, the disciples are terrified and cannot believe that Jesus is sleeping through it, apparently unconcerned. However, their fears are challenged and reversed by Jesus in a powerful and miraculous moment. What they learn about Jesus in this encounter and what we learn is that he is our hope in our storms, he is with us; our safe harbour, unafraid but more than that, he’s in charge; the one in whom we place our hope is able to still any storm raging about us.
When we look to this rousing prophecy in Isaiah 61 we see that its truth is not diminished by time and its revelation still stirs in our hearts. It speaks to our desire to rebuild the walls, our desire to love Edinburgh, to be family, but mostly it pulls us back to Jesus again because it is all about him. This prophecy from Isaiah is also found in Luke 4 and it’s how Jesus begins his ministry. He is the fulfillment, he is the finisher, he equips and enables us to join him in this mission. So let these words be our fuel, let our eyes be fixed on Jesus and let us commit together to another year of membership, believing that the hope for our city is Jesus.
God loves a cheerful giver! What a radical rethink of giving for us. The word better translates as ‘hilarious’, imagine if that was our vision for generosity as individuals, as families, to give joyfully and with freedom whether we have a little or a lot. Let’s take this opportunity to reassess our giving and to commit to being cheerful, hilarious, joyful givers.
Our vision for community is clear – to be places of radical welcome, of openness, of generosity. However, we know we only get there through a transformation of our own hearts. This vision that we have is one that stems right from the birth of the church and it’s a corporate journey we take together but it’s also something that each of us is invited to play a part in. Let’s reset and revive our vision for communities as we begin the year.
Our vision for rebuilding the walls requires us to see the reality of the pain in our city just like Nehemiah did, scaling the ruined walls by night. Also like Nehemiah we hold in our heart the dream we feel God has given us (v12) and after, we gather the people, the church and say, let’s do this together. Let’s begin this year with a commitment to God, a commitment to one another and a commitment to our city to see God’s Kingdom come.
The final instructions as we close this book remind us to seek the good, to be open handed with what we have and to let our leaders lead us joyfully, demonstrating to us again that it does matter how we live and act. But, these instructions, this whole journey of Hebrews is sealed by something incredibly powerful – a benediction. The benediction is not just a perfunctory end to a letter. Benediction means, ‘good word’ – it is the writer's way of bestowing the blessing of God on us, God’s ‘good word’ coming to fruit in our lives. The benediction, the blessing here is to know that our God is one of peace, who has resurrected us in his Son and that in him we have everything we need to live as we should regardless of changing times and shifting circumstances. We end as we began three months ago: it was, is and always will be – Jesus.
Once more, our instructions continue – show hospitality, you never know who you’re entertaining, remember those in prison as if you were there with them, that’s how much you should be moved by oppression, honour marriage, be careful of money, remember your leaders, don’t be led astray. It could seem like a list of do’s and don’ts, but again the encouragement is to remember Jesus in it all, to look to him and to remember the lasting joy we can know and will know through him – that’s why we strive to live like this, out of the overflow of what Jesus has done for us.
As we make our descent, we get a list of instructions, the writer is packing as many things in as possible here – live at peace with each other, don’t let bitterness grow amongst you, keep yourself pure, don’t sell out. The writer reminds us again of the glory of God through Jesus, that his blood has spoken a better word to us. As we’ve become accustomed to, there’s another caution to us; given all that you know, what makes you think refusal is a good option? In the midst of great shaking, we are those receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, so we look to the one who is a Rock.
Endurance for the Christian is not produced through what we do, endurance for the believer can only be sustained by looking to Jesus. The writer urges us again here to keep going, to throw off all that hinders and to ‘consider Jesus’. We’re reminded that God wants to be involved in our lives, salvation is not a tick-box exercise, it’s ongoing. Sometimes it comes through discipline and that can be hard but we’re reminded that God’s discipline is good and is for our good. We don’t fear the discipline of God because we know that we receive it through the love of the Father revealed through Jesus, upon whom our eyes are fixed.
When reading a book like Hebrews, we could easily heave a sigh of relief when we get to Chapter 11 – finally a bit we understand! And sure, it’s a passage of deep encouragement. But it can only be fully understood when we read it in the light of all that has gone before. This roll call of heroes of the faith is not isolated. These ‘by faith’ heralds only came from a deep assurance of hope in God. We stand on their shoulders, always in the light of the hope won by Jesus and looking towards the hope to come. What does it mean for us to be people who live ‘by faith’?
The call to endurance is the word of the moment in the book of Hebrews. An appeal is laid out to the Hebrews and should be heard by us too; don’t throw away your confidence! Everyone reacts differently in hardship, in this passage we read that many who endured awful things did so joyfully! For the believer (for us!) the call is to keep pressing into Jesus – don’t shrink back, don’t go to self-preservation, have faith and hold on.
We read a lot in Hebrews about the High Priest ‘Melchizedek’ and that can seem confusing for us and maybe not all that relevant at times too. Again, we see another comparison here, and once more we are reminded Jesus is better. In the midst of all our uncertainty, we need to press into the fullness of this promise for us. Jesus has enacted, for all time, a better promise for us than even that of Melchizedek (who was a pretty big deal). We’re not coming to God by any other means other than Jesus, the Son, made perfect forever, who paid for our sins with his sacrifice, once and for all.
We search for assurance in so many places, in jobs, in relationships, in the property ladder. We tick as many boxes as we can, often thinking that, in that gain, assurance will be found. But what about for our souls, what does assurance for our souls look like? It’s found in only one place, one person – Jesus. There is a sureness and a certainty which we as believers can live with. The writer calls it an anchor for the soul and it has been guaranteed for us by the work of Jesus. In the tumult of our world, in the ever-changing face of everything around us, holding fast to this anchor is needed more than ever. So, what are we holding on to?
How easy it is to reach a plateau of complacency in our relationship with God. We, as was with the readers, can easily become listless in how we pursue Jesus. Have you ever just gone through the motions? The call and challenge here, to those reading and to us, is to keep going, to not turn back, to press on and hold on to the assurance we have, to keep moving in our faith and to grow to maturity towards our inheritance.
Why is it important to us that Jesus is the Great High Priest? We don’t really work in those kind of priestly systems, so why does it matter to us? The significance here for us is once again that Jesus is better. The old system was one that was stop and start and it was never fully enough – we all have examples of that in our lives, of where our own attempts have not been enough. Jesus put an end to that once, and for all – salvation is total and complete, lasting and forever through him. Jesus is better.
Throughout this book, the writer takes us often to the Old Testament. It might not seem that significant for us to know that Jesus is greater than Moses – sure it meant something to the Jewish Christians reading it, but to us? What we’re reminded of here again is how easy it is to be preoccupied by old systems, by old ways, by old structures and in the midst of it, forgetting Jesus who is better than all our systems and structures. Our part in it is to keep our hearts soft towards him and be the greatest encouragers of one another to ‘hold fast to our confidence.’
Part of what we see across this book is that as the writer points us towards Jesus and challenges us to hold fast to our faith, he also brings warnings to us. These warnings aren’t meant to induce fear (there is no fear in love) but they also aren’t meant to be comfortable. Are we willing to become uncomfortable as we grow in our faith? In this passage, the writer tells us to pay attention to the message we’ve been given, to not neglect this great gift that has been won for us by Jesus through his death on our behalf.
The writer to the Hebrews starts as he means to go on; it’s all about Jesus. Who Jesus is and what he has done is so central to our faith. He goes on to make a comparison between Jesus and angels, which for us could seem like something that isn’t super relevant – but it is! Part of the point here for the first readers was that they were getting distracted by the old trappings and not remembering the new gift of life in Jesus. The same could be true of us, let’s start as we mean to go on, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.
‘…the best thing we can do is put our fists together and pray’ – Martin Luther. The Bible is clear that we are in a battle. Spiritual Warfare has often been reserved for a certain type of person but, as C.S. Lewis says, there is no neutral ground in the universe and so therefore there can be no neutral people. As Christians, we are all called to stand up to the darkness with the name of Jesus. What is Spiritual Warfare then? What do we need to know about our enemy, about our authority and about how to ‘fight’ as we live in the now and not yet of the Kingdom?
‘It doesn’t matter what you’ve said or done; what you’ve thought about saying or doing; where you’ve been or who you’ve been there with – there is more grace in God than sin in you’ – Pete Greig . Besides asking, one of the things we often associate with prayer is saying sorry. Sometimes we get lost amidst the magnitude of our own sin that we fail to engage with the greater magnitude of God’s grace. He always forgives. What is necessary for us is to confess – to actually say the thing, both ‘vertically’ to God and ‘horizontally’ to one another through mutual accountability. But also to seek reconciliation and see how the choice to forgive can bring radical healing to a broken world.
‘A man prayed and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until he realised that prayer is listening’ – Søren Kierkegaard. Everyone can learn to recognise the voice of the Lord because prayer is a ‘living conversation with a loving God’ - it’s all about relationship! God loves to listen to us and he also loves to speak to us. As we pray, how can we learn to recognise and listen to the voice of God? What helps us and what hinders us? Through faith let’s discover how Father God would have us develop in our ability to hear from Him.
‘The Bible is way more honest about unanswered prayer than the Church’ – Pete Greig. One of the great pains of many of our lives is when we have prayed and it has seemed that God has remained silent. When we learn about prayer we don’t just want to deal with its wonders and its invitations, we want to travel to the painful places of prayer that have remained unanswered. Jesus himself dealt with unanswered prayer, no more so than in Gethsemane out of which there was no simple or easy way. We want to learn how to both lament those places of unanswered prayer while also moving towards a place of relinquishing all that we cannot understand or control into God’s hands.
‘To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world’ – Karl Barth. The greatest revivals in the world all stem back to a small number of faithful, prayerful people. Sometimes it can seem like our words are small in the face of the world’s vast problems, but the Bible teaches us that our prayers are powerful! To intercede is to ‘stand before God in the gap on behalf of the land’. How can we grow, and what does it mean to be people who stand in the gap and intercede for those in our lives, for our city and for our world?
‘Our primary privilege as God’s children is to ask audaciously and repeatedly for everything we need, expecting him to answer, naturally or supernaturally’ – Pete Greig. Asking is probably the thing we associate most with prayer, it’s often how we first come to prayer, it’s the thing we do in the moments of panic, it’s basically prayer 101. Prayer is many things and it is incredible to explore all the depths of it through contemplation, through worship, through many other facets. But prayer, even in the very formation of the word, is simply to ask. What would it look like to live more audaciously into this privilege we have of asking?
‘Prayer is more than you can ever imagine, because God is so much beyond what you can conceive’ – David G. Benner. Why is worship a necessary part of prayer? What does adoration of God begin to form in us? How are we changed, and how is our view of God changed by it? Praising God can help us more than we know, not because it stops us from thinking about our problems but because as we ‘hallow’ God’s name, all our stuff is bathed in the light of his presence. Praise, worship, adoration is a necessary part of the joyful formation of our prayer lives.
‘The best way to start praying is actually to stop praying. To pause. To be still’ – Pete Greig. Too often and too easily we see prayer as an activity of busy-ness and action, in many way, a means to an end. Perhaps that is because we too are people of busyness and activity! Stillness does not come naturally to us, we find the change of pace jarring, we stumble into prayer and wonder why we find it so hard. Our desire over this series is to learn that prayer is not something we say, or something we do, rather it is something we become and it starts by being still.
As David comes to the end of his life, the legacy he leaves is one of great humility - it influenced his perspective, it drew him to solitude with God and it was a foreshadowing of the perfect humility we see displayed for us in Christ.
David was secure in his identity as one loved by God. In 2 Sam 22 David sings a song he wrote much earlier in his life - Psalm 18. This song was written in his early youth, before his later public failings. In it he speaks of his innocence but we know and he knew how he had sinned against God and yet he still sings this song, these words don’t stop being true for David and more importantly true about God. It wasn’t because of his innocence that David was secure, it was because of his identity as one loved by God. Identity is not just about us feeling good about ourselves, but about us being secure in ourselves as children of God. Where are the places of insecurity in our lives, what are we standing on, what or who has become our refuge, our rock, the place we run to – is it a person, a relationship, a calling, a place, our possessions, our savings, or is it truly God. How can we live in this security as children of God? (1 John 3:1)
Under the law of the Torah, David deserved to die, yet God spared him. God forgave him and restored him. There were still terrible consequences for him because sin scars and it doesn’t just affect us, but David did not get what he knew he deserved. He was forgiven. So are we! We have died to our sins and we are made alive in Christ which totally changes things for us. Restoration in Christ is not just the precarious rebuilding of the things we’ve broken in our lives, restoration in Christ is an overhaul, a new and much better building in us than we could ever have imagined.
David’s life is a roller-coaster, we see the whole arc of it throughout this story. He messed up and so do we. David saw what he wanted in Bathsheba and he did whatever he could to get what he wanted and then we see the spiral. Sin has a way of working its way into our lives so we end up doing things we never thought we’d be capable of. The fact is, sin is real and we have to take it seriously. We often underestimate the hold of sin in our lives but even more than that we underestimate the sheer magnitude of God’s grace and his ability and desire to forgive. Because of Jesus our sins are forgotten, completely atoned for once and for all. David lived under a system of sacrifice and so he had to go through a lot more than we do to be forgiven, Jesus atoned for our sins, he has won for us what we could never win for ourselves. There is a call for us to be real about our sin, a call to be real about saying sorry but over it all, a call to stand in awe of God’s grace and complete forgiveness of us.
David is a worshipper pre and post kingship, his status does not change his approach to God. In his early life, David plays his harp for King Saul when he is deeply troubled and because the Lord was with David, Saul’s soul was calmed by his worship (1 Sam 16:14-23). David as King restores the ark to Jerusalem – it doesn’t go to plan at the beginning but in the end the place where God’s presence dwelt was brought in with never before seen celebration. David blessed the people and danced undignified before the Lord to bring him glory, his worship is totally free and delightful. Part of our identity is that we are worshippers. We are free, undignified worshippers. Do we worship in all seasons and situations?
David was in the wilderness. Saul was bent upon destroying him and David was on the run, forced to live in seclusion for the sake of his life. We can spend a good portion of our lives running out of fear, rejection, opposition. Too often, we gloss over our pain, but that's not what scripture does. In the psalms which David wrote, he does not run away from feelings of rejection and being downcast. He stares the wilderness in the face and sees what God is doing there, declaring God as his refuge in the wilderness. This is an encouragement to be real about where we are and see what God is doing. But we learn something more from David here. He does not wallow. There is a difference between being real about your wilderness and believing it and only it defines you. David still knew who he was and he still knew who his God was. Knowing that our identity is secure in Jesus does not mean we won’t experience suffering or periods of wilderness and when we do we don’t need to be blinkered about our experiences. We are not defined by those times, they are not our identity - our identity is in Jesus.
Saul was hiding, the Israelites were quaking, Goliath was prowling. So often we can feel powerless before the frightening things we face, we feel intimidated and paralysed. That’s what this army was like, God’s people here were afraid. But David lived by a different score, he knew who his God was, he believed in the victory of his God and he stepped up to the plate, he was courageous and defeated Goliath in the strength of his God not in the strength of man. Sometimes we're afraid and battle with insecurities about our identity, sometimes we hide, often we feel small in the face of our enemies; but in David here we see a reflection of the victory won for us by Jesus, he fought and defeated our many Goliaths. We can at times be like the Israelites when they were scared and fearful. The Israelites stayed in a place of fear whereas we, through Jesus, can learn to look different and not stay in a place of fear but instead be strong and courageous in Jesus.
David was chosen and we are chosen too, but not on our own merit; we are chosen because of Jesus. We learn here that God does not see as man does, he does not measure character by charisma, but his desire is for us to be after his own heart. David was not the expected choice, but he was God’s choice. The fields from which he had been called were the same fields from which over a 1000 years later the skies would burst with angelic songs of praise and declaration ‘today in the city of David a saviour has been born, Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2). David’s life points to Jesus and so do ours. Where we have been overlooked, we are seen by God. Where we have become preoccupied with the external, God wants to refocus us on the internal. Our identity is founded on Jesus and through the life of David we see how that was planned from long ago.
We suffer and grieve (previous week) but there is always hope of healing and new life through Jesus. The point of this story is not Lazarus but Jesus. We can see that in how many people came to faith through this miracle. Yet sometimes we let false identities get in the way. v39 'Martha, the sister of the dead man' highlights when our suffering defines us and our expectations: 'there will be an odour'. We must allow God's promises to define us. Jesus raised Lazarus, foretelling his own resurrection, our ultimate hope is not in his acts but who he is and what he did.
How do we relate to God in our grief? Does God care? Is he still powerful? Jesus wept with Mary even though he knew what was going to happen, so he grieves with us too. Some of us might be asking, like the Jews in verse 37, why God acts miraculously sometimes but not others. This whole story points to Jesus’ resurrection as our ultimate hope for healing.
How do we understand God’s timing? How do we have faith in the uncertainty? But how do we hold onto this truth when times are hard? Jesus hears about his friend’s sickness but waits to arrive only after his death. Martha still has faith in him, even though she a) is grieving and disappointed and b) doesn't know what is to come. How can we wrestle with and learn from this? We don't understand God's timing and will, yet we can have faith - we know the end of this story.
Jesus did exactly what he always said he would do. His resurrection shouldn’t have been a surprise to the disciples, he’d told them about it after all! In the first flush of their grief they were scared and unbelieving but their doubting couldn’t stop him, they fear couldn’t stop him, Jesus rose from the dead, fully victorious, fully alive! Today we celebrate that Jesus is alive, we celebrate everything that his resurrection has won for us and continues to win for us. When we accept that Jesus is who he says he is we get to live fully in the light of his resurrection, fully in hope (even when we feel hopeless), fully in joy (even in sorrow), fully in victory (even when we fail). Today we celebrate Jesus, everything he is, everything he’s done.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus comes to us not as a military figure on a warhorse but as a compassionate King, riding on a donkey. He is always subverting and exceeding expectations. In this triumphal entry, we see Jesus hailed as King; he is celebrated, welcomed and worshipped as King. We know that betrayal and abandonment is coming but what we see here from the disciples and from those in the crowd is obedience even when puzzled, radical and sacrificial worship and a declaration of who the true King is. The call to us is the same, will we obey even when we don’t understand, will we go out of way to honour Jesus and ultimately, is he the true King of our lives?
Jesus didn't tell Christians our lives would be without hardship and suffering, but he said "Peace I leave with you" and "Do not be afraid". And Jesus left the Holy Spirit to comfort and be alongside us, until he returns. He is in control and our peace comes from his victory over death.
Living our lives outwards involves in opening up our hearts and offering ourselves first towards God, then towards each other, and finally to our city.
When Peter and John encounter this man they are incredibly bold with how they interact with him! They know what they have through the power of the Spirit and they are unafraid to step out in faith. God still heals today, sometimes our understanding of that has been influenced by hard situations, by stepping out and not seeing the results we desire, but the fact remains that we still believe God heals today. How can we live like Peter and John, with a greater assurance of what we have because of Jesus and through the Holy Spirit?
What is the purpose of the gift of prophecy in the church and who can prophesy? In this passage, Paul is imploring us to eagerly desire this gift, he makes clear its purpose (strengthen, encourage and comfort) and that it builds up the church. When we speak out God’s words of life to each other and over our city we are participating in God’s building plan for his church – which is the hope of the world! The result of this kind of culture is that God is revealed, that’s what we want our church to be an expression of.
The coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church means total transformation for this world that we live in. It also means total transformation for us. What does it mean to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, how does that change the way we live? How does that change how we do church? How does that transform our communities?
Jesus gave his disciples and gives us power and authority to do so much more than we can imagine. He reminds us pack light, be ready and don’t force. For us to be able to do what God wants us to do, we have to know who we really are in Him. He wants us to dream big, step up and step out so we can see people's lives changed and transformed.
This is last sermon in the Follow Me series. Leadership in the Kingdom of God is leadership that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that it was better that he went so that we could receive the Holy Spirit – and we have! What difference will it make to Edinburgh, to our communities, to our workplaces, to our families and friend groups when we live and lead as those empowered by the Spirit.
Jesus has given us a beautiful and intimate expression of what servant-hearted leadership actually looks like. It looks like stopping and stooping; it looks like humility. In full awareness of his authority and his identity as God’s son (v.3), his response was not to wield that power for his own good or to flaunt it, his response was to wash his friends’ dirty, dusty feet. If Jesus’ call to his disciples is to follow his example, then the call is the same to us as well. How are we living into that call in our own contexts, in this church, in our communities? What is the ‘feet-washing’ equivalent that we find ourselves faced with?
‘A leader's public passion should never exceed their private devotion’ - Francis Chan. Jesus’ leadership stemmed from a life of devotion. As we grow in leadership (at whatever stage!) this never stops being important. How are we cultivating rhythms of devotion to Jesus in our lives? How are we embracing Spiritual Practices that draw us close to God? A life worth imitating begins and always come back to a life of devotion.
The call of Jesus is a call into a life of adventure and unrivalled joy, there is no better life than can be found apart from him. It is also a call that requires sacrifice and that sacrifice will look different for all of us. As we embrace this Jesus way of life and leadership we will all need to lay down some nets in order to follow him. His call to us is still, ‘come follow me’, our response is still to lay down our ‘nets’.
As Christ laid his life down as a living sacrifice, he calls us to do the same. Servant leadership is costly but beautiful. The question we must ask ourselves is, are we really following Him or are we expecting Him to follow us on our terms and at our convenience?
Introduction to the series. In a world where structures of leadership present us with systems and cycles of control and dominance and where power and authority are wielded with selfish regard, we need a new vision for leadership. So we look to Jesus. These cycles were present in his day too and he speaks clearly to them and presents to us that to lead in the Kingdom of God is to serve.
In Jesus we have the promise of home fulfilled and as we live into that promise we also get to discover its purpose. As followers of Jesus, we get to extend ‘home’ to everyone we meet in beautifully simple and radical ways and when we do that, we are doing it for Jesus himself.
Knowing the truth and joy of Christmas, that Jesus came to rescue us and restore a relationship with us.
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her.” We live our lives in the tension of a promise. There are things fulfilled, there are things longed for. There is a promise held out to us at Christmas, it is a promise that was spoken of by many prophets over generations – the one we’ve been waiting on, is coming.
Talks by Edwin Backler on Following Jesus, Odele Harding on Being Family and James Cant on Loving Edinburgh, introduced by Neil Costley.
Throughout this whole section of Scripture we are given options and alternatives again and again. Jesus finishes this manifesto in the same manner – two ways, two teachers, two pleas and two foundations. As we follow Jesus, as family together and with a deep love of this city, how do we live steady and wise lives, what are the choices before us, how do we make the right ones? We live in an information age where we assimilate a lot of info and rarely do anything with it, this is not what Jesus has called us to. He has called us to be practitioners of his teaching.
Do we believe that God is good and will actually respond to our requests? Jesus seems to want to turn our narrow view of who God is and how he deals with us on its head. God’s love for us is real and it is active, our attitude to God is transformed when we remember that God is ‘Father’ and that he is infinitely good and unfailingly kind. How can we, as followers of Jesus, live expectantly in God’s goodness and his kindness?
The smallest step can start a journey. The smallest act can have the greatest impact. The smallest change can bring us together as a family. Being a disciple involves action that demonstrates the new life we are living!
Jesus cares about our relationships with each other. The life of a follower of Jesus is a life free of judgement. As we learn to be family together we need to follow this example given to us by Jesus to look to our own lives first before judging those around us. This doesn’t mean that we only mind our own business and never speak with correction into the lives of others but rather that Jesus calls us to attend to our own ‘stuff’ first. What are the most prevalent ‘planks’ in our church family? How does Jesus call us to live in relationship with each other, what does it mean for us to be true and truthful with each other.
Our confidence is found in God’s character and Jesus gives us an incredible picture here of what our Heavenly Father is like. He is our provider completely, he has an intimate knowledge of our needs. Jesus tells us again and again here ‘do not worry’, which in an anxiety-ridden society can seem like the best and worst thing to hear. How can we live by these words of Jesus not to worry today – it starts not with our circumstances which may induce worry but with our relationship with God and our knowledge and assurance of who he is.
Our society and culture glorifies possessions and money and a lot of us have a lot of it. Even if you don’t, the claim that treasure and money has over us is huge. Jesus does not forbid us having stuff and having money, but he is concerned with how we use it and how we view it. As we live a life of generosity, how does Jesus’ call to us here redirect our focus towards our stuff? How do we as followers of Jesus in Edinburgh live differently with our possessions and our money?
Jesus leads us in the way of devotion to God through the practices of prayer and fasting. Basically, he tells us how to pray and how not to pray, how to fast and how not to fast. He undermines all the ‘religiousness’ that existed in his culture around prayer and fasting and that often exists in our own. Devotion to God is not back-bending to rules and regulations, nor is it putting on a front of piety. Devotion to God starts and ends with knowing God as Father.
A generous life fuelled by the words of Jesus is one that does not live for the approval of others. Jesus confronts head-on our attempts to ‘look’ good rather than ‘be’ good. As those who seek to love Edinburgh and beyond we are called to live lives of self-forgetful service of the needy, living for the reward of the Father’s pleasure.
A generous life fuelled by the words of Jesus is one of radical, active love. Being family together as followers of Jesus means that we should seek to possess a generosity of spirit that gives and gives just as God has given to us. It means we are to live lives of love – not limited love, but unlimited love, love to the just and the unjust, love as we have been loved. Generosity starts in our hearts. We will never know what to do with our stuff (money, possessions, time) if we don’t know our ‘why’ and the ‘why’ of a generous life is love.
As followers of Jesus we are called to live lives of truth and integrity. Anger is an issue in our culture, lust is an issue in our culture, fidelity and honesty are not modelled for us – we are called to be people who live differently. Jesus reveals in us the vicious cycles we get caught in but more importantly he shows us how to break the cycle and gives us a vision for life in his Kingdom.
Jesus brings fulfilment to all that we read in Scripture, he is its culmination, he is its accomplishment. Life in the Kingdom of God is one where we both live out (practice)and pass on (teach)the things of God. Jesus is speaking here to who he is, not just a revolutionary leader, not just a man of subversive and attractive views but one who is the complete fulfilment of all we have heard, Jesus in both his words and his ways can trusted, then and now.
We are called to live as people of influence in the world, by nature of our relationship with Jesus we are salt and we are light but we must live as so. As we love Edinburgh, how can we be people who live out of the influence that Jesus speaks of here?
Introduction to the series. Jesus is laying out a whole new Kingdom, a whole new rule. In the Kingdom of God, all those who would’ve been counted out are counted in (the poor, the sad, the powerless etc) and as we follow Jesus we are called to live radically different lives (mercifully, in purity, as peacemakers etc). The Beatitudes are subversive and revolutionary as much today as they were then. God is doing a number on our character, this opener from Jesus should excite and motivate us as much as it challenges and provokes.
Sol Skaff continues our DETOX series exploring how and why our words matter as the visible expression of what is going on in the whole of our person. How can we tame our tongues so that what we speak into the world builds and encourages? (James 3.1-12, Matthew 15.18-19, Luke 6.45, James 2.17-18, 22, Romans 12.2)
Karl Martin continues this series exploring the need to take a godly responsibility for your body. Jesus lived in a body for everybody, and God wants to give you a fresh perspective on your body - to love, celebrate and care for it. (Romans 12.1, 2 Corinthians 4, Matthew 6.22-23)