Brixham Community Church Podcast: Recent Episodes
Brixham Community Church
https://youtu.be/zjSKazER_NMNotes:Hebrews 13:1-21 Things we should never forgetIntroductionWhy Hebrews was writtenMain theme: BETTER. For example read 12:18-24. More laterNow, in the final chapter, the writer wants to emphasise things that Christians should neverforget. Vv. 2, 3, 7, 16.A DON’T FORGET WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOUV12 Jesus has died for us (as a sin offering v 11), to make us holy, fit for heavenV9 This is by his grace, not by religious ceremony. What we have is BETTER. Wehave:A better sacrifice (9:23), a better covenant (8:6), better promises (8:6), abetter hope (7:19), a better country (11:16), and better and lastingpossessions (10:34).B WHAT GOD EXPECTS OF YOUVV 15-16 To offer sacrifices of praise, confessing his name, doing good (to strangers[2], to sufferers [3], to spouses [4])Vv 7+17-19 To remember your leaders – imitate them (7), obey them (17), pray forthem (18-19)V5 To be content with what you haveC WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED YOUV 5 He will never leave youV6 He will help youV 14 Your heavenly home is waiting for youD WHO JESUS ISV 8 The same – his love, his compassion etc.V 20 He is the risen ChristHe is the great shepherdOur equipperWorthy of glory for ever and ever
https://youtu.be/XRItDu1WQP425-Jun-2023Ephesians 2:20-2219 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.I have been spending some time looking at the re-built temple in the Old Testament; how the returning exiles from Babylon had to rebuild a derelict temple. I have reminded us of the New Testament imagery of the temple as depicting both Christian individuals (1 Corinthians 6:19 – your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit) and the church:1 Corinthians 3:16-1716 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.Back in the Old Testament, the temple was a sacred and holy place. People came from miles around to worship, to bring their sacrifices, to celebrate amazing festivals, and to seek God’s presence. Here in the New Testament we see that we as God’s temple are still just as sacred! 1 Cor 3:17 says that this temple is so sacred that if anyone destroys it, God will destroy that person.My daily readings have this week taken me to 1 Kings 6 which tells us all about the building of the original temple, built by Solomon.As I read the details of the building of this spectacular building, constructed to give glory to God and symbolise the place of his presence, one verse stood out to me. Let’s read a portion of that chapter and I bet you can’t guess which verse it is!1 Kings 614 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. 15 He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, panelling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. 16 He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 17 The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.19 He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. 22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.The verse that stood out to me was this:18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.I said you wouldn’t guess it!The reason? First we see that the temple was made of ‘dressed stone’, meaning each stone was shaped and finished, rather than rough and raw from the quarry. This means it didn’t need to be covered up, plastered over or concealed with render as such. It was presentable as it was. If you go into some of our most ornate and beautiful ancient buildings today you will often see exposed stone. It’s a beautiful thing!And then I remembered that although the Bible refers to Jesus as the cornerstone of our spiritual temple, we as Christians are also like ‘living stones.’We have been dressed like stone when Christ pulled us out of the quarry, washed our sins away and made us holy in his sight. Now as far as he is concerned, we are saints!
https://youtu.be/RWiQsPMHEOoSERMON NOTESRECAP FROM 21ST MAY 2023 SERMON - WE ALL NEED OUR OWN PERSONAL CALL AND ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS.Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.I highlighted some of the hindrances to that happening – Our Fears; Not listening to God; and the way we can come with ‘Confirmation Bias’, only wanting to hear what we have decided we want to hear. Last time I briefly spoke about NEAGATIVE THINKING - Most of us have used the phrase ‘what is the worst that can happen’ in relation to something we might be trying for the first time. Verity mentioned a few weeks ago at one of our Leadership Meetings, ‘what’s the best that can happen’.I mentioned the game of bowls? Where the Bowling Ball – is not a perfect sphere – and has an inbuilt bias, which always turns away – like our thoughts seem to turn to worry and negativity. THE BIBLE’S ANSWER IS TO HAVE A POSITIVITYPhilippians 4:8 shows us the antidote to Negative Thinking – which FOCUSSES ON THE POSITIVE. - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.WE HAVE TO REALISE THAT OUR THINKING - POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE - AFFECTS OUR ACTIONS AND THE WAY WE BEHAVE.We looked at the account of Peter Walking on the Water because Jesus told him to come. - Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus Walks on Water – After the feeding of the 5,000 –PETER WALKED ON WATER – THE CALL OF JESUS ‘PERSUADED HIM TO HAVE THE FAITH (BE PERSUADED TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT) – WHEN HE WAS NEAR TO JESUS BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT CAUSED HIM TO DOUBT.(Matt 14:31) – SG1365 - distazo: (dis-tad'-zo) to waver, doubt; to hesitate (Verb) - -1365 distázō (from 1364 /dís, "two, double" and 4714 /stásis, "stance, standing") – properly, going two ways, shifting between positions; choosing "a double-stance" and so vacillate (waver) – fluctuate in opinion or resolution; (fig) uncertainty at a crossroads because refusing to choose one way over the other – to halt between two opinions (views, beliefs). (There are times when we just over think it)SO HERE, PETER’S THINKING COMING BACK INTO PLAY – Is he going to continue in the faith imparted to him to get out of the boat in the first place, which has brought him this far, OR is he going to take into account the storm and wind blowing against him.WHAT DID PETER DO – THE ONLY SENSIBLE THING HE COULD DO – HE CRIES OUT, “Lord, save me!” 31Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter.WHY DID YOU DOUBT JESUS ASKED – IT WAS THE DOUBT WHICH CAUSED HIM TO BEGIN TO SINK (even “beginning to sink was a miracle” OF Jesus Grace)SO PETER WALKED ON THE WATER BECAUSE JESUS CALLED HIM TO DO IT - FAITH WAS IMPARTED TO HIM SO HE BELIEVED HE COULD – NOTICE NO OTHER DISCIPLE GOT OUT OF THE BOAT.Watching a documentary on King Charles last Saturday - Coronation Day - 7th May 2023 – Charles, was I believe in Westminster Abbey, listening to the Choristers Singing. Music has very important place in his life and he said this:-WE DO NOT THINK MUSIC; WE RESONATE WITH IT AND FEEL IT - IT SOMEHOW HARMONISES WITH OUR OWN HUMAN NATURE, SO WE FEEL SOMETHING IS MEANT BY IT.I WAS MOVED BY THESE WORDS. THE THOUGHT CAME TO ME THAT THEY COULD BE DESCRIBING “FAITH”. – “WE DO NOT THINK FAITH; WE RESONATE WITH IT AND FEEL IT - IT SOMEHOW HARMONISES WITH OUR OWN SPIRIT”.Do you know how a micro-wave oven works? Something called a magnetron inside it emits a very high frequency signal, which cause the water molecules in food to vibrate, resonate, which produces heat - that cooks the food. Isaiah 64:2 (NIV) - As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemi...
https://youtu.be/xJ15pEqaaA8Weak is the new strongI’ve heard a few phrases with ‘is the new’ inserted into them. It’s used to say something is the new fashion or has replaced something else.Fish is the new meat, hair is the new hat, brown is the new black, in this office, jeans and a t-shirt are the new business suit. Age 50 is the new 40. Paul McCartney said that meat-free is the new rock n roll! I prefer the old!When I started working four days a week at school instead of five, I loved Thursdays. Thursday was the new Friday.Today we will learn that for the Christian, weak is the new strong. But first, let’s lead into this from the context of some previous talks.Returning and rebuildingWe have been looking at the first 6 chapters of Ezra which depict a returning remnant from Babylon rebuilding the altar and the temple under the governance of a man called Zerubbabel. We have seen that there has been opposition to the build.I have drawn parallels between the Old Testament temple and our New Testament understanding that our bodies, and the body of Christ are temples that are to be built up.Equally, there is an enemy at work to infiltrate, discourage and destroy the building of God’s kingdom.Thankfully Jesus keeps his promises, and one of those promises states clearly that I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18. We are simply his co-labourers.Today I want us to focus in on one well-known line in the book of Zechariah which was delivered while the temple was still under construction:So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6As the temple was being rebuilt, God had to remind his people that it was not by their own might, power or strength that the temple would be built, but by his Spirit. This might seem odd, as it was only a building project. Just bricks and mortar. But it was a spiritual building because it was God-ordained. And that meant that there would be an enemy.Opposition to the buildThe devil does not hinder the work of those who wish to build temples to their own gods, things in their own name, business built just to serve the money-god Mammon.But when we begin to build something that he has ordained, Satan is up in arms.Thus, when we build our own temple – our personal spiritual edification and growth, or the growth of the wider body – Satan will surely come against it. We know that there is a spiritual realm and that there are invisible forces at work.For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesian 6:12Precious DustIn the light of this we may feel pretty weak. And despite our victory in Christ and the fact that we are seated in heavenly places where God has put all things under his feet (Ephesians 1:22-23), in the natural we are pretty weak.After all, look where we came from:Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7The Hebrew for man is Adam but that word itself sounds like the word for ‘ground’. Man is but dust!Listen to these words from the Psalms:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14These are interesting ideas because I have not so long ago preached on poor self-esteem and the importance of seeing ourselves as God sees us. But the truth is, without him we are nothing.We are weak, he is strong. But we don’t have poor self-esteem. We may be weak but we are treasured, pursued, loved and cherished by a heroic heavenly father.
https://youtu.be/tL5s0KXXLiISermon notes:Should have gone to Specsavers!Reading: 2 Kings 6 v 8-17Text: Eph 6 v 12Intro: We are at war! We have transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light Col1v13How-ever are we bystanders or in the front line? Link to Jon’s sermons on Ezra.Power of God: Demonstrations- words of knowledgeHe knows everything spoken. We need to see gifts in operation in our lives and in the life of the church.Engaging: They are surrounded but different reactionsElisha is cool as a cucumber the servant is not. You can’t live off someone else’s experiences. You need your own!Perspective: Open his eyes. The need for God’s perspective on situations- My Chicago air flight experience. Soar above – see through the mist and fog as he sees them!Invisible kingdom: Col1v16 There is a kingdom or realm that we cannot see. Here is where the war takes placeThe evil forces operate in the heavenly realms Eph6v12Mention Frank Peretti books and ideas.The armour of God consists of the following:1 The belt of truth – Holds everything together, the importance of integrity. Absolute truth!2 Breastplate of righteousness- protects the vital organs particularly the heart. Out of the heart a man speaks. Core of your life.3 Feet with readiness to promote the gospel of peace-You should exude a calmness in difficult situations, being at peace speaks volumes.4 Shield of faith- repels the enemies attacks. Without faith its impossible to please God. Just a little goes a long way (Mustard seed).5 The helmet of salvation- Head protection. The battle in the mind reminding us on daily renewing. Our salvation is the basis. Children of the king!6 The sword of the spirit- The word of God. Learn it, memorise it and meditate on it. Jesus used it and so must you!Conculsion: Do you need to put on your spiritual glasses? Like it or not you are in a battle – what’s your role? Active or passive? Turn your back and you have no defence!! Use his word and make a difference.
https://youtu.be/Mbo4t5qo5pwEZRA 6 – A DECREE AND A DEDICATION – Part 2In Ezra 5 we found the Jews attempting to build the temple again after the building had stopped by the powers of Babylon. The resumption of the build of course gained attention from the enemy. But we then saw what happens when a king or government recognises something of the power and greatness of God – there was a new freedom to build! – and we drew parallels with the temple the Jews built back then and the temple God is building today – his church. We prayed for our government to recognise the power of the Church to heal and help in society today.Now we will complete this chapter and discover what it looks like when God is on the move.6 HALLMARKS OF A MOVE OF GOD in EZRA 6You may be familiar with the quotation in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,“They say Aslan is on the move.”It was a cold and depressing time in Narnia. But Mr Beaver, who had never even seen Aslan in his life, was full of hope and expectation. The very mention of Aslan’s name seemed to have a marked effect on those present.Today I want to talk about what it would looks like when God is on the move.Ezra 6:13-22The Temple’s Dedication13 Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues complied at once with the command of King Darius. 14 So the Jewish elders continued their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by the God of Israel and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia. 15 The Temple was completed on March 12, during the sixth year of King Darius’s reign.16 The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the people who had returned from exile. 17 During the dedication ceremony for the Temple of God, 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 male lambs were sacrificed. And 12 male goats were presented as a sin offering for the twelve tribes of Israel. 18 Then the priests and Levites were divided into their various divisions to serve at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses.Celebration of Passover19 On April 21 the returned exiles celebrated Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their corrupt practices to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel.HALLMARKS OF A MOVE OF GODEverything falls into placeIn verse 13 The king’s governors ‘complied at once’ with everything to do with the rebuild of the temple. There was suddenly great provision and compliance to enable the temple to be built. Those who had opposed the build were now helping out!Sometimes things just fall into place. I was speaking to a friend recently who was sensing that after some time in another role, God was calling him back to school teaching. He then got a message from a past pupil who was now at Oxford as a postgraduate and had credited him in her dissertation because of the help and influence he had had on her life. Days later he was offered a teaching job in a local school with no need to apply. “We know who you are and the job is yours if you want it.”Sometimes things just fall into place and the enemy does not stand a chance. That’s how Andrea and I met, it’s how we were directed to move to Brixham,
https://youtu.be/I_kB66ehvEISermon notes:WE ALL NEED OUR OWN PERSONAL CALL AND ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS.21ST MAY 2023The last few times I have spoken about the need for each one of us to be,“Transformed by the renewing of our minds”. Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.I highlighted some of the hindrances to that happening – Our Fears; Not listening to God; and the way we can come with ‘Confirmation Bias’, only wanting to hear what we have decided we want to hear. I would like to look briefly, at what I think can be another problem area, and that is:- NEAGATIVE THINKINGMost of us have used the phrase ‘what is the worst that can happen’ in relation to something we might be trying for the first time. Verity mentioned a few weeks ago at one of our Leadership Meetings, ‘what’s the best that can happen’.I remember growing up after the war in Manchester - Going to church on a Sunday morning - seeing groups of men gathered on bombed sites where houses had stood.They were stood in a circle all flipping coins in the air – gambling – heads or tails.Imagine a coin; on one side it reads, ‘what is the worst that can happen’ and on the other side, ‘what is the best that can happen’ Why does it always seem to come down on the, ‘what is the worst that can happen’ side. (The coin seems biased that way. Maybe that is reflective of our ‘natural thinking’.WHAT IS THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN – WHAT IS THE BEST THAT CAN HAPPENHas anyone ever played bowls? Bowling Ball – not a perfect sphere - has an inbuilt bias, which always turns away – our thoughts seem to turn to worry and negativity.A well known Christian leader who had seen an amazing move of the Holy Spirit in his life and in the church did one of these ‘negative thinking tests’ and found that 80% of his thinking was negative.I believe Negative Thinking is as much a part of renewing our minds as dealing with fear is. WHAT WE FEED GROWS – that is why Philippians 4:8 shows us the antidote to Negative Thinking. – POSITIVE THINKING – OR FOCUSSING ON THE POSITIVE. - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.HOW OFTEN OUR THINKING - POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE AFFECT OUR ACTIONS AND BEHAVIOUR.Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus Walks on Water – After the feeding of the 5,000 –(Mark 6:45–52; John 6:16–21) 22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. 23After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, 24but the boat was already fara from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25During the fourth watch of the night, (3am to 6am) Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea. 26When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 28“Lord, if it is You,” Peter replied, “command me to come to You on the water.” 29“Come,” said Jesus. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?” 32And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”PETER WALKED ON WATER – THE CALL OF JESUS ‘PERSUADED HIM TO HAVE THE FAITH (BE PERSUADED TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT) – WHY DID YOU DOUBT – WHICH CAU...
https://www.youtube.com/embed/sokayVrTJtMSermon notes:Ezra 1-5 RecapEzra 1 God is sovereign, so let God be God! If God promised it, it will happen – “in order to fulfil prophecy” God is the king of kings – “the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus”The riches of the world are at God’s disposal – “the peoples are to provide them with silver and gold”Ezra 3 Start at the altar Sacrifice and celebration Orderly and messy Not always the place of presence but it was the gateway to glory (holy of holies)Ezra 4 Building up the temple The NT temple – Jesus, the Church, the Christian – the place of his presence Opposition 1 – Infiltration – disrupt from within Opposition 2 – Discouragement and fear Opposition 3 – Bring in the big dogs We are rebels The enemy is threatened by our presenceEzra 5 (& Haggai 1) Building up the temple, again Why did the building stop? Opposition Lack of opposition The consequences of not building1: God is not happy2: We are not happyOur response (Does this even apply to me?)1: Partner with the Holy Spirit and keep building2: Resist the devil and he will flee from youEzra 6 – a decree and a dedicationIn Ezra 5 we find the Jews attempting to build the temple again, which of course gains attention from the enemy. The local officials ask what they are doing and the Jewish builders claim that the previous king of Babylon authorised the build. So a letter is sent from these enemy onlookers reporting this and asking the king to find out if such a decree ever existed. I suspect they imagined no such building authorisation would be found, in which case they would have had every right to stop the building once again.But here we will circle back to the theme of chapter 1 where we see God’s absolute sovereignty. These opponents to the build are in for a surprise!Darius Approves the Rebuilding6 So King Darius issued orders that a search be made in the Babylonian archives, which were stored in the treasury. 2 But it was at the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found. This is what it said:“Memorandum:3 “In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem.“Let the Temple be rebuilt on the site where Jews used to offer their sacrifices, using the original foundations. Its height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet.[a]4 Every three layers of specially prepared stones will be topped by a layer of timber. All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Furthermore, the gold and silver cups, which were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, must be returned to Jerusalem and put back where they belong. Let them be taken back to the Temple of God.”6 So King Darius sent this message:“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River,[b] and Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues and other officials west of the Euphrates River—stay away from there! 7 Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its original site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the elders of the Jews in their work.8 “Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from my taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted.9 “Give the priests in Jerusalem whatever is needed in the way of young bulls, rams, and male lambs for the burnt offerings presented to the God of heaven. And without fail, provide them with as much wheat, salt, wine,
https://youtu.be/RWbvsEPv8noAs I was thinking and praying about the message I should bring on the weekend of the coronation of King Charles III, a phrase from Revelation 1:5 came to my mind:JESUS CHRIST, THE RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH.Of course, the word king is used in a variety of ways, but its general meaning is someone who rules and it’s in that sense that we’ll be looking at it today. But first, let’s read Revelation 1:4-8.4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."Notice that this passage has something to say about:King Charles, who is one of the kings of the earth.The Lord Jesus Christ, the king of kings, who is the ruler of the kings of the earth.Us Christians who as Christ’s church are a kingdom of priests.The kings of the earth (5)Of course, King Charles is just one example. But let’s not to concentrate on King Charles. Rather, let’s take a brief look at what the Bible says about kings and rulers in general. Much of what we say will apply to King Charles – I’ll leave it to you to decide how much – but in many mays it’s more applicable to those who hold high office in government. Please notice 4 things:Their authority to rule is God-givenRomans 13:1Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.Of course, we know that historically this has been used to insist that kings derived their authority from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority. King James I of England (1603-25), for example. Fortunately, we know that her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II understood her role as one of servanthood, and there are indications that King Charles will be adopting the same approach. Indeed, in our constitutional system, the power of the monarch is extremely limited anyway.However, the NT clearly teaches that God himself is the source of all authority, and that all human authority is delegated from him. That’s why as Christians we should obey the laws, pay our taxes etc., unless, of course, the law of the state is contrary to God’s law. But those to whom God has given authority are ultimately accountable to God for the way in which they handle that authority and are responsible for the wellbeing of their people.Their accountability to their rulerAs we have seen, verse 5 describes the Lord Jesus as the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is the king to whom all other kings are accountable. He is the King of kings. The late queen was very conscious of this, and it is said of Queen Victoria that she hoped that the Lord would return in her lifetime so that she could be the first to cast down her crown at his feet. If only world leaders were equally aware of their accountability to him.Their responsibility for the wellbeing of their peopleSome of the parables Jesus told teach clearly that we are all accountable to God for our use of the things he has entrusted to us. This is particularly true of those who are in authority. The more we have been entrusted with, the more is required of us. Read Ezekiel 34 to see what God says about the shepherds (i.e.
https://youtu.be/lqF4lLZ-DbEStory so far…God is sovereignIn the book of Ezra we read of how God miraculously and sovereignly delivers the Jewish nation out of exile in Babylon back to Jerusalem. We learn that the first Jews back find Jerusalem in ruins and once they’ve settled in at home they prioritise rebuilding their place of worship.Building up the… altar!The first thing they rebuilt was not the walls of Jerusalem although that would have protected the city, nor did they start with the temple, but the first thing to be rebuilt was the altar. Worship came first. The altar was the place of both sacrifice and celebration, and this came before any other activity. By the end of chapter 3 we have a fully functioning altar and the foundations of the temple.In our context, we must prioritise worship of Jesus above anything else we wish to build. We offer our lives as living sacrifices and celebrate the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.Our bodies and our churches are temples to God (1 Cor 3 and 6). And as we build ourselves up in the most holy faith (Jude 20) we find that there is an enemy who will not sit back and let us get on with it.Opposition from the foundationBy the end of chapter 4 the work has halted. Jerusalem’s enemy Babylon saw that holy city as dissident and rebellious.Likewise, we are seen by Satan and his kingdom as a rebellious and dissident, and definitely a threat. He may try to use fear tactics to keep us from building ourselves up in Christ, but it is he who really fears us.Nevertheless, for the returning exiles, the empire of Babylon used physical force to stop the building of the temple. Biblical historians tell us that the pause in building was around 18 years.So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem had stopped, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.Ezra 4:24Whatever the reason for the delay, God’s purposes still stand. He will do whatever is required to see that his kingdom is established.Back on trackEzra 5At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. 2 Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jehozadak responded by starting again to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them and helped them.3 But Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues soon arrived in Jerusalem and asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?” 4 They also asked for the names of all the men working on the Temple. 5 But because their God was watching over them, the leaders of the Jews were not prevented from building until a report was sent to Darius and he returned his decision.Ezra 5:1-5At the start of Ezra chapter 5 they are encouraged by the prophets to resume building. All Ezra tells us is that it was because of the prophets that the building resumed. He does not give us the details of the prophecy.But Haggai does.Haggai, a prophet mentioned at the start of our reading gives us some interesting detail that we don’t read in Ezra. Here’s Haggai chapter 1:Haggai 1On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins 5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! 6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied.
https://youtu.be/JLXzCaupbsESermon notes:Praying for the Persecuted ChurchIntroduction:On average, every 2 hours, a follower of Christ, one of our brothers or sisters in Christ, is martyred for their faith, somewhere in the world, not to mention others around them who may be injured, bereaved or traumatised in the same incident. At our monthly prayer meeting for the Persecuted Church on Thursday evening, using the OpenDoors excellent videos, the six of us heard a story of a young Nigerian boy who survived a shooting by the Boko Harem Islamic extremist group. However 7 members of his family including his father lay dead. He was so full of anger against his family's killers and God that he became very angry, bitter and violent, desperate for revenge. Thankfully an OpenDoors trauma counsellor and her team were able to talk to him in time, and he broke down and wept, and was able to recover his faith in God and forgive the killers. We also heard the testimony of a teenage girl in East Africa, who was a member of a family from an Islamic tribe who had all become Christians and were ostrasized by their community. One evening, when her parents were out, a man from the village came into the home and raped her. She was so traumatised physically and mentally that she lost the will to live. Thankfully she received help from OpenDoors trauma counsellors, recovered, and now uses her difficult experience to help others who have suffered in similar ways. These are precious members of our family in Christ! As we prayed, the horror of these two incidents dawned on us and we felt the urgent need to encourage more Christians to join us in united prayer and to support organisations like OpenDoors. I knew I should take the opportunity to speak about it today! How should we pray for the persecuted church?In the course of my preparations the Lord gave me numerous confirmations that He wanted me to share this message today. For instance on Friday evening, during work on the sermon, I stopped for a break specifically to take communion with Christine. When I sat down with her at 9.30pm, she was watching TBN on TV. The programme that was just starting was 'Pray for the Persecuted Church with OpenDoors!' It gave me further testimonies for this sermon. As I was doing my final preparations this morning, an old friend phoned me in great distress with a very serious health issue. He asked me to pray for him over the phone and I used words from the Bible passage I am about to read to you. Afterwards he read the very same scripture to me which came to his mind as he had been studying it quite recently!In 2 Corinthians 1:2-11 Paul shares a testimony he and his companions experienced:- Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in an...
https://youtu.be/Jvdn1T2EtRIJen Baker (https://www.jenbaker.co.uk) stopped by for a flying visit so we gave her the mic. Here's what happened...
https://youtu.be/bX9hdJOyOGgFAITH - THE ATHEIST AND GOD - Dr. Charles S PriceSometime ago an atheist sat in a meeting I was conducting. He was extremely hard and cynical. He lived alone in the room of a hotel, and his solitude had only added to his hard, critical, unbelieving nature. I preached that night on the subject “comprehending the incomprehensible”. I declared that it was possible to believe the unbelievable: to know the love of God that passes knowledge. The following morning he came to my room and asked for an interview. He was rather argumentative and I told him, when I did not have time for argument, I would be glad to answer any sincere, honest, question which he might put before me.He said, “I have no faith whatever. I do not believe the Bible, and I do not know if there be a God. I do see a law of order in nature and the universe, but what causes it, or where it came from, I do not know. Now, Dr. Price, your sermon last night was a challenge to my thinking. What I want to know is this: how can a man spend a dollar when he does not have one? How can you believe when you have no belief? How can God expect a man to exercise faith when he does not have any (assuming there is a God)? Where is there any justice in a set up like that?””Are you an honest man, and do you want to know the truth?” “What is truth?” was the reply. “What brand of it do you mean? I have never been able to find it, although I have spent a lifetime in search of it”.On the wall of my apartment was hanging a picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. His hands were clasped and His eyes were raised toward heaven in prayer. I walked over to the picture and looked at it for a moment or two without speaking. I intuitively knew he would be looking at the picture too. When at last I turned to face him, I said, “He is truth. He is the way. He is your life and faith. He has in abundance what you say you do not have. You have been trying to get it out of mind, thought, and intellect. He can put it there, as the river of His grace flows through your heart. That is why He came. He came to make men free…. free from doubt like yours…. free from fears and misgivings…. free from unbelief and free from sin.”“Sounds like a fairy story to me,” he interrupted. “Fine if you can believe it, but how can man or God expect a man to believe what he cannot believe? “He went away. A week later he came to me and offered his hand. When I looked at his face, I knew the miracle had happened. Into his heart there had come not only the conscious knowledge of sins forgiven, but a manifestation of the sweetness and love of God which had made him a new creation in Christ Jesus……“Do you know what happened? “He said. “I told the Lord to manifest Himself, if He was there. I asked Him to do something, which would reveal his presence, if He was there at all. I became conscience that He was near me. I realized there was a God - that there was a soul to save. I did not understand it with my mind, but I knew it in my heart. Then I told Him I had no faith to believe, so he gave me His faith, and I believed. The work was done.”Why not? That is God’s way of salvation. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” When I give an altar call, I invite every man, and every woman, to surrender their heart and life to Christ. If we are saved by faith, how do I know that all can have the faith to receive? How do I know that everyone whom I invite can find eternal life? Some might have faith, and others be entirely devoid of it. The fact that people believe what you say does not mean that they have the faith to translate that belief, or even heart hunger, into an experiential knowledge of sins forgiven.Nevertheless, I cry “Whosoever will, may come,” because I know that He will impart the faith which is needful to every sincere heart. I have quoted the 12th verse of the first chapter of John: “but as many as r...
https://youtu.be/4HD1wREPeRAPaul Black is our leaders at Brixham Community Church. He has a passion for the word and is greatly loved by those he has served in leadership for many decades.
https://youtu.be/Pe4X8_kOUngBuilding up the templeRemember that song? It was a Sunday school favourite of mine. Building up the Temple of the Lord… The girls had to shout “Boys come and help us!” after which the boys shouted, “Girls come and help us!” and we all sang together, “Building up the temple of the Lord.” It was a bit of fun, and the leader would make it a competition to see which group shouted the loudest.But what did it really mean to us? We had no idea. We just liked the excuse to shout in church as loud as we could.Messing up the templeOn Palm Sunday, after Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, after all the people had cried ‘Hosanna,’ Jesus went into the temple and had a look around at everything that was going on. But because it was late, he went to Bethany where he was staying.When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and stopped everyone from using the temple as a marketplace. He said that the temple was meant to be a house of prayer for all nations, but instead it had been turned into a den of thieves. Strong words! (Mark 11)So this temple was important to Jesus. It was a place where people’s focus was meant to be entirely on God. They came to God for forgiveness, via the altar, and sought his presence. To turn it into a den of thieves was an outrage to Jesus.Perhaps Jesus saw that the temple symbolism was important for more than just Jewish culture and traditional worship.He clearly wanted to do more than just mess up the temple. He wanted to mess with the Jewish attitude towards the temple. On another occasion his disciples were marvelling at its beauty. Jesus told them, ‘Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days.’ But he was referring to his body, which the disciples later understood (Mark 13, John 2).So Jesus was the first in the New Testament to think of the body as a temple, starting with himself. This is taken further by other New Testament writers.The New Testament TempleIn the book of Acts, Steven refers to the first Old Testament temple, built by Solomon46 “David found favour with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,49‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the LORD. ‘Could you build me such a resting place?50 Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth?’(Acts 7:46-50)It’s clear to us that God doesn’t dwell in temples made by human hands because he still existed and ruled and reigned as God of the universe after the temple was ransacked! It was God who brought the Jews back from captivity to a destroyed Jerusalem.So the first thing we read about the temple in the New Testament is that God does not need it!This is repeated 10 chapters later in Acts 17 when Paul tells his listeners…He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples.(Acts 17:24)God doesn’t live in temples. So where does he live? (is that a trick question? Isn’t he omnipresent?!)Answer: He still lives in temples!! Just not man-made ones.We are that temple and we are those temples.The whole body of Christ is God’s templeDon’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?(1 Corinthians 3:16)This is a reference collectively to the church body as God’s temple. You yourselves (plural) are God’s temple (singular).We are individual templesAnd later in the same book Paul uses the same analogy to show that each of us is individually a temple of God:18 Flee from sexual immorality.
Mark Goodyear is one of the Trustees at Brixham Community Church and brought this message based on the healing at the pool in John chapter 5.https://youtu.be/5RRQreMyd-w
Dr David Petts preaching to Brixham Community Church on Sunday 19th March 2023.May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.Romans 15:13For more great teaching from Dr David Petts, there are literally hundreds of podcast episodes available at www.davidpetts.org/podcast
An interpretation of a message in tongues brought at Brixham Community Church on Sunday 12th March 2023.
As we encounter and experience Jesus through worship and go deeper into relationship with him through his living and active Word, we find that he wants to work in us and show us our purpose.
https://youtu.be/Uag1VX2bRXo
But this is most powerful when we are a part of a loving Christian family, working in community.
Today we’ll see what God is saying to us through the life of Jesus in the gospels and the early church in the book of Acts.
Jesus and the twelve disciples
Luke chapter 6 shows us something of a pattern we might learn from Jesus:
12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles…
17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. (Luke 6:12-19)
As we think though our 4 values in order, starting with worship we might remember that we call worship, ‘living life with Jesus at the centre.’ For Jesus himself this could be described as living life with God the Father at the centre. Spending the night in prayer was what he did just before he appointed the 12. Before he was to expand his ministry he needed to know he was walking perfectly in the will of the Father.
For us to follow in this example means we will seek his face, sit at his feet, spend time with God before anything else.
Today we are thinking about the value we have called oneness. I just wanted to demonstrate from this passage that perhaps Jesus knew that to bring a group of men together with different personalities in unity, his own connection to the Father was crucial. Indeed, before gathering people together in oneness, our worship and connection to God must come first. When we are connected to God and aligned to his will, we will gather around the right people.
In this case it was only Jesus who spent the night in prayer, and not the disciples. From their perspective they had not necessarily been seeking God’s face. But now they are with Jesus - God incarnate. They will learn to align to Jesus’ lifestyle and teachings, and this will in turn enable them to be aligned to one another.
So whether you look at it from Jesus’ perspective in this story or from that of the disciples, in order to be effective together, and stay together, we need to be close to God.
This brings me to think about another of our values - work.
Once united with Jesus, and then with one another, they find the work they have to do together. God has work for us to do. But he rarely has us operate in isolation from other believers. In fact it’s clear in scripture that we are meant to be together, in unity, and that is how we are most effective.
Let’s clarify the pattern that can be found in this story before moving on. It starts with our connection to God - our worship, or ‘communion’ with the Father. Then we are able to fellowship with one another. We move from communion to community. As we do this, God leads us to the works he has prepared in advance for us to do, our ministry.
The danger is we do this the other way around. We have a heart to do something, to be his hands and his feet, and we set out to do it with all our might, and we get on with it wholeheartedly. But we soon find we are short of resources. So our work calls for others.
Then we move from ministry to look to the church community. We look for help from those who might not really have a passion for what we are trying to do. Some may help out of guilt, some because they agree it’s a good idea, those with money donate finance so they don’t have to get ...
https://youtu.be/MV3ov7Exp1U
As we encounter and experience Jesus through worship and go deeper into relationship with him through his living and active Word, we find that he wants to work in us and show us our purpose.
1: We were designed to fulfil a purpose
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
God created mankind in his own image (Genesis 1:27)
We see from these two verses that God is creative and that we are made in his image - we were built to create something too!
And it’s also true that he made us all unique, which means we have a unique role in our families, workplaces, church and society.
We have work to do that it bespoke to us, exciting, satisfying and fruit-bearing!
2: Work is not a punishment / result of the Fall:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)
As part of a perfect world with no sin, no weeds, no earthquakes or disease, God gave Adam a responsibility. I imagine he could prune, discover, learn about herbs (but not for healing!), tree types, begin to use wood, build, expand, create musical instruments, machinery, bridges, and as humanity grew in a perfect world, things would have looked very different.
In this unfallen world that God had made, work could not have been a punishment or a burden. If we are to reflect the Kingdom that is in God’s nature and not our own we will find work that is satisfying and enjoyable, just made for us to do.
3: God hasn’t stopped working
He made you and saved you (if you’ve accepted Jesus as your saviour)!
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God did the initial work of creating us but he also came to earth to save us so he could do the work of salvation. We played no part in our redemption except to receive it. We are his handiwork.
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)
So the first thing to do is stop trying too hard, go back to values 1 and 2 and worship Jesus, get into his word and receive the finished work that He has already done for us. You cannot save yourself and you cannot self-improve to the heights that God has destined for you.
4: There is work for us to do that has been prepared in advance
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
There are good works for us to do and they were prepared in advance for us.
Whenever you take a new job on, you were appointed because there was something that needed doing. The work needed doing before you were called upon.
When I took my first job as a teacher, my boss met up with me before the first term and handed over lesson plans, worksheets, programmes of study and soon afterwards I received my timetable. The work was prepared in advance for me to do it, I was brought into the school and only I was appointed to teach those classes.
I was not brought into the school because I was bored or needed the money and the school took pity on me or saw it as their role to keep me occupied until retirement. They wanted me and they needed me! I was selected where other candidates were not, because the governors thought I was the man for the job.
In the same way, God does not create jobs to keep people busy while they are waiting for heaven.
He also does not put anyone on earth to do nothing. He creates people because there is work to be done. He crafted you purposefully and carefully so that you might do the works prepared in advance for you to do. He placed you on earth on the day you were born so you could be alive today. He has a plan, and we don’t know the half of it! His plan is bigger than us - we just have to play our part.
https://youtu.be/Nb-jKhi_LBY
(Dr David Petts)
Philip’s four daughters (Acts 21:9)
Have you ever been in a situation…?
where you desperately needed God to speak to you
facing a problem and there seems to be no solution
then, someone who knows nothing about your problem says something which speaks into your situation and you know in your heart that this has to be a word from God himself.
This could happen through preaching or through prophecy.
In our meetings people often share what they believe God is saying
So it’s important that we understand what the Bible has to say about it.
In Acts 21… some interesting examples of how this gift was used.
Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem towards the conclusion of his third missionary journey. In verses 9-14 we’re told what happened at Caesarea.
Paul and his companions stayed with Philip the evangelist for several days and we’re told that Philip
…had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
However, the major event is the arrival of the prophet Agabus who prophesies over Paul. We’ll look at this in a moment, but first:
What the Bible teaches about prophecy in generalProphecy in Acts 21Philip’s four daughters who prophesied (v9).
What the Bible teaches about prophecy in general
To prophesy means to speak on behalf of God (Cf. Exodus 7).
The Bible reveals at least four different levels of prophecy:
The prophecy of Scripture which is infallible (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20). All other prophecies must be judged in the light of this.All Christians should prophesy (speak for God) (Acts 2:17ff.)The gift of prophecy, the purpose of which is to strengthen, encourage and build up the church (1 Cor.14:3). It’s not infallible (1 Cor.14:29), but it must not be despised (1 Thessalonians 5:20)The ministry of a prophet (Ephesians 4:11)
Acts 21:4. An example of the gift of prophecy
We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
Acts 21:10-14. An example of the ministry of a prophet
What can we learn about prophecy from Acts 21?
Acts 21:10-14
-
After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
-
Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, ‘The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” ’
-
When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
-
Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ 14. When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’
From this we learn 4 things:
- Prophecy can be predictive v.11
In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles
-
It can be misapplied vv. 12-13
-
When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
Cf. 21:4.
We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
But Cf. 20:22-23
And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.
- Only the individual can decide the Lord will for himself v13
Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’
Note: unlike OT prophets, after Pentecost NT prophets don’t tell people what to do.
- Even with the gift of prophecy, we do not always know God’s will for sure and have to say ‘the Lord’s will be done’ v.14.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has suffered losses. For some it’s the loss of loved ones, for others the loss of routines and the familiar, the missed family gatherings or coffee with friends, the cancelled holidays and postponed weddings, even the loss of going into the office every day.
Any loss, big or small can cause us to experience grief. And the bigger the loss, the greater the grief. A war widow will know greater loss than the person who loses a favourite jumper.
Christian psychiatrist Curt Thompson defines grief as
“Our emotional inflammatory response to loss… when we are deprived of anything to which we have a significant emotional attachment…”
So grief is our emotional response to loss, whatever the loss is. If it was something significant to us and we lose it, we will experience grief.
I’m told that we can compare grief with physical injury. When our bodies suffer harm we feel physical pain and there is a wound that needs to heal. In a similar way, grief pierces the soul and causes some kind of inner wound.
The injury of grief is worse when the thing or person you have lost is more important to you. So when we scratch ourselves pulling out brambles, the injury is minor and will heal quickly, but when we incur a more serious injury, it may take specialist help and time to heal. Grief too can be serious and deep or just a moment to work through.
In John 11 we see a beautiful picture of Jesus in all his humanity as well as the ultimate power he held as Son of God. We also can learn something about the grieving process.
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Look beyond the mountains to the One who made the mountainsLook beyond the raging sea to the glorious horizon that awaits youLook beyond the problem to the One who is the solution to the problemLook beyond this squalid evil world to the heavenly country which awaits youLook beyond every difficulty, every hardship, every form of suffering, to the day when you will be free from all these thingsLook beyond the arguments of men to the wisdom of the Almighty GodLook beyond whatever is facing you.Look beyondLook beyond the wonders of creation to the One whose genius created itLook beyond the starlit sky to the One who designed the galaxiesLook beyond the brevity of life on earth to the One who inhabits eternityLook beyond the grave to the One who is the resurrection and the lifeLook beyond your weaknesses, failures and sins to the One who paid the price for them all at Calvary.Look beyond.” www.davidpetts.org/look-beyond
Looking to Jesus
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Therefore - Because of all the people in the previous chapter who lived by faith who were looking forward to a greater reward than anything here on earth.
Hebrews 11:10
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:13-16
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:24-26
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
This is the context of the ‘therefore’ at the beginning of chapter 12. Because of these people who lived by faith, because of their faith in something more, because of their looking beyond the current battle, problem, scenario.
And since we are surrounded by these witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
Everything that hinders. What might that be for us today? What hinders you from looking beyond? What makes you look down rather than up? Or around rather than beyond? What is there around you that contradicts the gospel, the good news that Jesus is on the throne, and he has a plan for the salvation of his children, a plan that was written before even the world was founded? What hinders you?
And what sin so easily entangles you? There is no judgement here. The word ‘easily’ means you didn’t go out of your way to sin. It just slipped in. The next line talks about running the race. You can’t run life’s marathon with sin around your ankles. Throw it off!
GRACE FIRST
24th January 2021
Paul Black
Three weeks ago I spoke about the ministry of Jesus and how He lived, I believe, with an attitude of GRACE FIRST. I shared accounts of Jesus ministry to Zacchaeus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well. The Bible tells us Jesus came full of “grace and truth”. Jesus never compromised on the truth and His ministry should be an example to each one of us of how we can reach out to our neighbours; our neighbourhoods’, our towns, even our nation and see lives changed. I want to continue this theme by looking at another aspect of the ministry of Jesus and how He taught and touched people’s lives. We must learn from Him.
(Matthew 11:28-30 - The Message) - Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep Company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I would like to share with you this morning a few thoughts from a parable, which Jesus told to a crowd of people, who had gathered around him. The crowd included tax collectors; sinners and even Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law weren’t happy with the others in the crowd. They were upset with Jesus and they muttered amongst themselves; ‘This man welcomes sinners and He eats with them’. Jesus heard the mutterings and so He told them a series of parables. The first one was about a man who lost a sheep and how he went to seek the one that was lost, leaving the other ninety-nine safe and protected. He told the next parable about a woman who had ten silver coins who had lost one. How she searched for it and swept the house clean and didn’t rest until she found her lost coin. I read the other day that a woman on her marriage would sew ten silver coins into her headdress - so this lost coin would be very special to her.
Jesus, in these two parables, was showing the heart of the person who had lost something of valuable, and the efforts they went to find them - a shepherd - a sheep - a woman - a coin. BUT then Jesus really raises the bar and tells the story of a father who has lost his son.
This is the parable I would like to share some thoughts on. This has become known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son but the word prodigal doesn’t appear in it. It appears as if an editor or somebody wrote this title above these verses in the Bible and it stuck. The word “Prodigal” actually means ‘Recklessly Extravagant’ or ‘Having Spent Everything’. We have come to think that this parable was mainly about the son - ‘His Reckless Extravagance’ – ‘His Having Spent Everything’. BUT many think that this parable’s main focus is the Father?
Jesus tells about the man who had two sons. One day the younger son comes and asks for his inheritance NOW. What he was effectively telling his father was that, he didn’t want to wait until he died, he wanted the money now. He didn’t want to live under his father’s rules and restrictions – he wanted to live – he wanted his freedom now, to be free from his responsibilities in his father’s house, he wanted to go and enjoy himself. He wanted to go and live life – not to be restricted here. I think that as Jesus continued the parable, the crowds would have been shocked at such a request by the son, but even more so, that the father did what his son asked. So the son leaves – his pockets full of cash – the open road before him – freedom; life; enjoyment; all the things he wanted; free now to do what ever he wanted without have to refer to anybody else. He would now decide what was good or bad for him – fullness of life here I come.
But it didn’t work out that way! With a lot of money in his pocket he gathered a lot of friends. We are told he squandered his money on getting drunk; on prostitutes and on ...
17/01/2021 - Zoom meeting highlights.
Ft. Verity Hyde and Jonathan Petts
Bible References: Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 61:1, Psalm 69
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JthWgUl7t1g
Remember from last time There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12
Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become wise.
1 Corinthians 3:18
The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
James 3:17
One area of God’s wisdom that contradicts much human wisdom is the idea that slow is not always a bad thing. In fact sometimes slow is essential to living the live God intended.
Dallas Willard referred to hurry as the “great enemy of spiritual life in our day.” His message was to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Hurry is the enemy of love Love has many enemies. Most of them are centred in the self. If I were to ask you what you thought would be the opposite of love, many of you might answer, “Hate. Hate is the opposite of love.”
But I’d say it’s selfishness, or just the self.
If love is others-centred then possibly the greatest enemy of love is self-centredness.
And being self-centred manifests itself in many ways. One of them is hurry.
Thus, in my thinking about hurry, and in my attempts to ‘ruthlessly eliminate’ it, I have to consider how my hurried efforts become the antithesis of love.
If you don’t believe that love and hurry are incompatible, think of when you’ve been in a hurry and someone has interrupted you. How loving were you then to that person? Did you show them unconditional positive attention? Thought so.
Love is slow. It takes time. It is patient. It’s not in a hurry.
Of course, we have to set boundaries as to how much interruption we allow. People need to know that we have things to do and people to see. But when interrupted, is it possible to take a pause, take a breath, and think, is this person’s interruption of equal value to the thing I am heading for? How urgent is my schedule? Can I adjust and see this as an opportunity to listen to or be with someone else? It might only be a few moments but you’ll miss out on them if you let hurry rule.
Think about how Jesus was on the way to Jairus’s daughter. She was sick and dying. Surely that was urgent! And he was interrupted by someone who was unclean and broken. An ageing and suffering woman touched him, and he felt the power go out of him. The human side of Jesus could easily have continued on to heal the sick girl. But he stopped and spent time to engage with the woman first. The human side of Jesus could also have worried that in doing so the girl was losing vital minutes. She could die if he delayed! But Jesus was not in a hurry.
Why?
Because he trusted God with all outcomes. There may be times when we are in a genuine hurry. We may be on the way to some urgent meeting or situation. But even in those moments, God wants to know that he is Lord of all in your life. He is sometimes in the delay.
Do you trust him to take care of the future?
Yes of course I do!
Do you really trust him? Enough to risk the future and leave it in his hands? Enough to jeopardise the security of your future?
Jesus finally got to the little girl’s house and the mourners were there already. But he put them out. God knew what he was doing. He had time for the sick woman, and he had power for the dying girl to be raised to life.
We could go on to talk about the death of Lazarus. Again, we see a Jesus who is not in a hurry. But everything he does is rooted and grounded in love. God is love.
Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary is the one who had poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. He knew this family well. In fact, John 11 tells us twice that he loved Lazarus. The sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
https://www.brixham.church/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Wisdom-from-Heaven-Jon-Petts.mp3
This is the audio from our latest YouTube teaching video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrokZqjv0GY
https://youtu.be/oxLEvt-qrzQ Mind Body and More 4 – The renewed mind in action A sneak peek into the internal workings of a renewed mind
In my last three videos I’ve tried to show that the mind governed by the body or flesh is death and that the mind governed by the S/spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6). I’ve highlighted that we must offer our bodies and renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2).
Today I want to look at some verses that offer an insight into the world view of such a renewed mind. Paul had been attacked by false teachers who had come into the Corinthian church, persuading some of the Christians there that Paul was incorrect in his teaching and perhaps suggesting that he was preaching for his own personal gain.
Imagine how it might feel to sense the call of God on your life to preach the gospel with nothing but the Kingdom of God at the centre of your motivation. You have suffered, been beaten and still you have remained humble and faithful. Now you hear that other people are teaching misleading ideas that are undoing the work that God led you to do. And what’s more they are deliberately attacking you on a personal level, questioning your authority.
What might your reaction be? I’m not sure mine would be as spiritual as Paul’s!
Instantly he sees the whole situation from a heavenly, eternal perspective. He recognises – in his mind – that this is more than an earthly human affair. And because of that he deals with the situation radically differently from the way you or I might do in the natural. These key verses sum up his attitude to opposition from within the church, and are a fine example of how we should also respond to opposition, wherever it comes from: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIVUK) Here’s what I want us to notice from this passage: 1: We live in the world We may not be of the world: I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. (John 17:14)
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John 17:16)
But we are still in it.
And as an aside, we are allowed to enjoy it. God made a good world for our enjoyment. He put people in it with only one rule. Imagine that for a moment – only one law to live by! The rest of the time was working for him and living with him in complete freedom in a perfect place. In every day of creation, God saw that it was good. And that’s the world we live in today. It may be fallen but it is still a good world with many good things in it to enjoy.
Let’s not self-isolate from the world completely. Not only are we to enjoy it, but we also have a mission within it. However, let’s always keep firmly fixed in our minds that we are not part of the world. We are different. We do things differently, we think differently, and we have a totally different perspective. As such, we are not normal! People should see that at some point if they get close enough to you if you let them in to your life a little bit. We are citizens of heaven. We do not operate on the same system as the world. But we do live in the world.
And while we are here, there are some things that will happen that are a result of spiritual forces at work in the heavenly realms. Those in the world won’t see it that way but we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds. 2: We fight a different battle in a different way The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. (v4)
Don’t join in with the world’s methods and weapons. That’s not how we do things. What are the weapons of the world? Remember the context of these verses. How might Paul have responded to those who were criticizing him and pulling him down,
https://youtu.be/TMLFZG89CoQ What to do in an impossible situation The Situation Paul was in prison He was lacking fellowship verse 11 - only Luke was with him verse 10 - Demas had deserted him (cf v16) verse 14 - Alexander had harmed him verse 20 - Trophimus was sick
He was in danger of death verse 17 (lion = lion or Nero or devil) verse 6 - indeed he was about to die (cf. 3:11)
Paul’s attitude and reaction in the situation
He realised God’s presence with him despite the circumstances
verse 1 - in the presence of God......... I give you this charge
He faced the situation realistically
He did not seek to deny the reality of his impending death
He took practical steps to alleviate the immediate situation as best he could
He urged Timothy to come as quickly as possible (with Mark) and bring his cloak, scrolls and parchments (9, 11-12)
He made what long-term provision for the future he could
He sought to ensure that his work would continue through Timothy after his death by giving him instructions (1-5)
He recognised the overall importance of the proclamation of the Gospel
In his instruction to Timothy - preach the Word - do the work of an evangelist
From his own mouth even when on trial for his life (17)
He concentrated on the certainty of his ultimate destiny
Jesus is coming to reign! 1 - his appearing and his kingdom
Jesus is coming to judge! - all (1) righteously (8) so I can leave Alexander to him! (14)
Jesus is coming for me personally! - verse 18
Jesus is coming with a crown of righteousness for all who love his appearing! - verse 8
and finally
perhaps Paul was able to do all this in the face of death because he was able to look back and view the past with satisfaction:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith - verse 7
I want to be able to say that too - but that will be determined by how I’m living now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgjzt9sU_II
Today we are looking at Jeremiah 32 where Jeremiah is imprisoned in a city that is already being besieged. You could say that he is doubly in isolation. It’s 586BC The Babylonian army is surrounding Jerusalem
Jeremiah is in prison for prophesying that because of their sins
the Lord will hand Jerusalem over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
One day, God tells Jeremiah that his cousin will come and ask him to buy his field at Anathoth.
And, sure enough, his cousin comes and Jeremiah buys the field. He pays 17 shekels of silver, signs and seals the deed,
has it witnessed and weighs out the silver on the scales
He tells Baruch, his scribe: Take both the sealed and and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase and put them in a clay jar so that they will last a long time because the Lord almighty says that houses fields and vineyards will again be bought in the land
Then he prays: 17 "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. What can we learn from all this?
What should we do when events are beyond our control?
1. Remember that God is in complete control 28 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
2. Listen for what God is saying to you personally The word of the Lord came to me (6-7) ...
Hanamel … is going to come to you and say, Buy my field… The word of the Lord was fulfilled (8) Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel …came…and said, Buy my field… 3. Act in faith Faith involves obedience He bought the field although to do so seemed pointless (v9) so I bought the field… What’s he doing buying a field?
What sense does it make?
Wasn’t it already under the control of the enemy?
Faith does not act irresponsibly vv.9-10 I weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver..
I signed and sealed the deed and had it witnessed Faith should be verbally declared - saying what God says vv 14-15 Take these documents... put them in a clay jar so that they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord Almighty the God of Israel says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
4. Be honest with God about your misgivings v.17 Ah, sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you! But his faith was mingled with doubt – see vv.24-25
esp. 25: And though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, You, O Sovereign Lord, say to me, Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed! NB he told the Lord about his fears, not his cousin!
5. Take the long term view 15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' 42 "This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.
43 Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, 'It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.' But of course there was even more in the distant future: “‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” (Jeremiah 31:31) This is quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 and10:16-17 as being fulfilled with the coming of Christ.
We too must take a long term view. Whatever we’re experiencing right now, remember, CHRIST IS COMING!
https://youtu.be/FTYX7yHfXzQ
Hello!
I’m David Petts and this is the first of a few talks I’ve been asked to give to encourage you at this difficult time.
As many of us are in isolation at the moment, I’m going to be looking at some Bible passages where God’s people were in isolation.
Today we’ll be looking at Isaiah 36 and 37 which is one of the most exciting passages in the Bible.
The Challenge
Sennacherib king of Assyria has invaded Judah and captured all the fortified cities with the exception of Jerusalem.
Most recent to fall is LACHISH 36:2 just a few miles from Jerusalem.
From a bas-relief in British Museum we know they were being decapitated, impaled on stakes, and even skinned alive!
Now Jerusalem itself is surrounded by a great army of the Assyrian forces and threatened with a similar fate.
The entire city is cut off from the outside world.
Its inhabitants are in fact in isolation. Defeat seems inevitable.
Sennacherib’s field commander tells the people to surrender.
It’s your only option.
It’s the only way to escape the horrors of Lachish.
There’s no one who can help you.
What are you basing your confidence on? 4
Your own strength? 8
You haven’t even got 2,000 men left, even if we gave you the horses for them!
Other countries? 6
Egypt
Your leaders? 14
Hezekiah
All the enemy has said so far is true! And the broad principles remain the same for us today.
But what does he say about God?
This is the crux of the matter and brings us to the first aspect of the answer to the challenge.
The Answer to the Challenge
Discerning the truth from the lies of the enemy
Notice how the enemy combines truth:
Hezekiah has annoyed God by taking down the high places (7) T&F God is on MY side - he has told me to come and destroy you (10) F The gods of the nations haven’t saved them (18-19) T So your God can’t save you F
Doing what our leaders tell us
Look at 36:20-21
“Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"
But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer him."”
Hezekiah wanted to hear what God had to say rather than letting the people give an answer to the enemy.
Hearing what God is saying
When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Say to your master, 'Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'"”
He was in tune with God. His answer was ready
Knowing how to pray 37:16-20
16 "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire.
19 For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.
20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord."”
worship (16). Recognition of God’s sovereignty
request (17)
statement of fact (18)
statement of faith (19) understanding truth from fiction
motive (20)
Trusting the supernatural power of the true and living God
Isaiah 37:21-36
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying,
Gardener’s Question Time We are so blessed to have a garden in our home. When we first moved here much of our garden was overgrown. It’s only when you start pulling weeds and cutting back bushes that have got ‘leggy’ that you realise how much work there is to do. So much of it needs redesigning and rethinking.
I began to think of my mind as a bit like that too. If I allow a thought to take root and pay no attention to where it is going, it will become like one of those plants that shades out others and takes over. I also thought of how beautiful a garden can be. I want to be able to walk through my garden with Jesus, admiring the good thoughts he has put there, seeded by my time in the word. But alas, there are still some unkempt areas that, if I were walking through this garden, I’d be ashamed of.
Then I realised it wasn’t an original thought.
Lots of people have said that the mind is like a garden. Here’s one: “A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.”
(James Allen) In our last verse we were talking about our bodies and how important it is for us to offer them as a living sacrifice. This is our proper and fitting worship towards God. But the key to doing this consistently is found in the mind. Have a look at these two verses together: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(Romans 12:1-2) This Means War! We have looked at some of the ways we are at war with our flesh – the natural, ungodly desires that take place in our bodies. We have seen that the best way to defeat the flesh, is to offer our bodies to God. In fact, to do this is only to offer what is reasonable and logical after all he has done for us in his body.
When we put our bodies in the right place, getting into habits, rhythms and routines that are healthy, we give our flesh less of a chance to be led into sinful behaviour patterns.
But the key to doing all of this is to start with the mind. You will see that from last week’s verse about offering our bodies, Paul moves straight into the idea that we must renew our minds.
Today I’m going to give you some very practical and powerful tips on how you can make that work, and the rewards are fantastic – we get to test and approve what God’s will is! Patterns of Behaviour Look at the two words here, ‘conform’ and ‘transform’.
The verse suggests that the world follows a pattern.
It’s an either-or option. You will either conform to the pattern of the world, or you will be transformed.
I have listed below 7 areas in which the world might follow a pattern that we as followers of Jesus must prayerfully and intentionally examine in our own lives:
Values – principles I live by Beliefs – what I consider to be true with little or no doubt Lifestyle – behaviour patterns Accepted Norms – I know what is normal because everybody else does / thinks it. Priorities – what I give most time, energy and money to Coping Strategies – what I turn to when times are tough Measures of Success – How I decide if I have done well or not
Think about how people in the world, without Jesus as their saviour, without the Holy Spirit living inside them, might be different from someone who is living a Spirit-led life.
What is the ‘pattern of this world’ with respect to the list I have created?
What are some of the values in the world that are no longer acceptable to the born-again bel...
I’m a cheesy guy Deep down I know that eating too much cheese is bad for my body.
I love cheese. Blue cheese, soft cheese, mature cheddar, even cheap processed cheese squares used in burgers.
I also know that overeating is bad for my body, and if I really overdo it as a lifestyle, I’d be looking at disease and a shortened lifespan.
But hey, I’m a Christian, so what does it matter? It’s all about being spiritual, right?
Wrong. My body belongs to God. It is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I should respect it and look after it, partly because I can serve him better with a healthy body, but also because it’s an opportunity to honour him, showing discipline and sacrifice in order to
But I am often tempted, especially last thing at night when I’d like some supper. Just a bit of sneaky cheese knocked back with a glass of milk before I go upstairs.
I know what’s right, but I also know what I really want! The battle with the body This isn’t just me though. Everybody, even non-believers, struggle with the general idea:
“Deep down inside I’m actually excited by the idea of…
Giving up smoking, and I keep telling myself that this cigarette will be the last one. Doing more for charity, but I just seem to find other things to do that feel urgent but are on reflection less important Not swearing so much when swearing has become a part of my vocabulary. The words come out before I’ve even thought about it! Being more generous. But money is tight right now. Perhaps after the current situation has cleared. Going to church, but my kids have a club on, and it’s hard when my partner doesn’t want to go. Controlling my anger, but if you knew that person, you’d understand how they press my buttons! Reaching out to that person. They may be lonely but I’m so busy!
I know inside what’s right. But there seems to be a war inside of me!”
Well, according to the bible, there is a war going on inside you! Look at how Paul put it: 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. (Romans 7:22-23) In fact, God’s word has a lot to say about these things. Staying in Romans, let’s remind ourselves of last time’s key verse. It’s all about the mind and the ‘flesh’ (our bodily urges and desires):
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
We talked about two practical action points:
Put in place some guardrails, or a battle plan for the areas where we can so easily become led by the flesh rather than the spirit. Surrender to the Holy Spirit, daily. Ask him in prayer to lead your mind, to guard your thinking.
Let me know how you got on with those in the comment box below the video on YouTube.
We need to acknowledge that we have bodies; bodies with needs and urges that interact closely with the mind. Our bodies need to be surrendered. ‘Body’ and ‘Flesh’ Last time we talked about the word, ‘flesh’, or ‘sarx’ in Greek, because this is the word found in Romans 8:6 which shows us that the mind can be governed by the flesh. This word, ‘sarx’ means literal flesh, but in the New Testament is most often used to refer to human lusts and desires going in the wrong direction, i.e. away from the service of God and towards selfish satisfaction.
But today we have a new word to learn! It’s the Greek, ‘soma’ which means ‘body’. This word is far less emotive, less to do with desires and lusts, and is more practical and physical. It’s your body as a scientist would see it, rather than how a psychologist might help you relate to it.
And it’s this word that Paul uses in Romans 12:1 when talking about what we need to surrender to God.
This is today’s key verse: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
https://youtu.be/Q7dW7j46Ifw
Here's our midweek message. Watch it today so that you have time to think about the activities at the end.
Join us in our Zoom meeting on Sunday at 10:30am when we will discuss how we 've been getting on with the content of the message: Download the zoom app and enter Meeting ID: 493-739-2679 at the correct time or Follow this link: https://zoom.us/j/4937392679. Where's Your Head At? 2 Action Points for being led by the Spirit not the flesh Extended notes, not all used in the video... Over the years I've heard different versions of how the bible describes the makeup of the human person. And there have also been plenty of non-Christian versions of what we are as people too.
Outside the faith community, there is a prevailing view that is described by philosophers as 'materialism', i.e. that we are just matter. There is no spiritual element to us, and anything resembling the soul can all be scientifically explained. Emotions, for example, can be traced in the brain. Everything is physical. There is nothing else.
Madonna told us that she was a material girl living in a material world.
But the bible paints a very different picture. In fact, it's so different, it's confusing.
Within the Christian community I've come across the 'dualistic' idea that materialism is wrong - we are body and soul. Dualism states that the soul is separate from the body. That's easy to understand. We can then say that the non-material part of us, the real me and you, is the bit that lives forever. But Christianity has gone on to confuse me further, as I have heard much preaching on the idea that I am a 'tripartite being', i.e. there are three parts to me - body, soul and spirit. Let's unpack that for a moment. The Tripartite Being I have heard it preached, "I am a spirit, I live in a body and I have a soul." I quite like this idea. It seems to work for me. Paul describes our earthly bodies as tents, i.e. temporary dwellings that we live in. So the real me is my spirit, in which the Holy Spirit now dwells. In fact in this regard I'm no longer a tent but a temple, according to Paul. The usual teaching I've heard from there is that my soul is the part of me that is my mind, my will, my emotions. To put it another way, my soul does the job of thinking, choosing and feeling.
This idea helps us to understand three terms:
Spirit Soul Body
But unfortunately, there are other words in the bible that talk about what we humans are. We're a complicated lot!
This week I've been looking at not three, but SIX words in my bible that refer to elements that make up who we are.
Here they are in no particular order:
Body Soul Mind Flesh Spirit Heart
A temptation to compartmentalize So, if I want my understanding to line up with the bible, I have to decide if the above words fit in with the idea that I am made up of body, mind and soul. But why should I do that? I'm starting with a preconceived teaching and trying to make the bible fit it! That's the wrong way round.
So, instead, I'm going to take a few key scriptures and try to make sense of them one at a time. I may not cover all the words in the above list, but I'll certainly look at how we can apply what we do learn to our everyday lives.
Today, let's take a look at a snippet from Romans 8: Mind, Flesh and Spirit Romans 8: 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you… Specifically,
When we’re in isolation it’s hard to work out how everyone’s handling the changes going on. What’s happened in just the last week has been huge and so first of all, however you are, that’s absolutely fine. The people I’ve spoken to have described feelings of being anxious and sad, sometimes saying that it comes in waves, sometimes saying it’s just always there. Other people are managing to see the blessings, which is amazing. Stay close to people like that; their positivity will lift you up too. Seeing as the whole world is facing this at the moment, you can guarantee that however you’re doing, someone else is the same. You really aren’t alone.
So what can we do in these unusual times - Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things Colossians 3:2
There’s so much pulling at our focus; there’s always another news report, another opinion, another post on Facebook. But we need to try to remember that our confidence and our strength doesn’t come from our job, our home, our health, our comforts or anything else that’s pulling at your fears. Our confidence comes from the rock beneath our feet. This rock is strong – it has never moved and it never will. Imagine setting your feet in concrete; it doesn’t matter how bad the storm is that blows around you, how many waves that hit you, your feet will not move. This is a storm that we are going to have to weather but we will do it.
We need to see this time for what it is – it’s a test, a battle. It is the ultimate way to divide us. We can’t sit close to reach other, hug each other, or even just meet together. But we will not be divided. We must stand firm. We are a family, but we are also an army, and we will not be moved or divided. And the reason we will not be moved is because the rock beneath our feet is our God.
So let’s remind ourselves of the things we can be certain of – we know God is good, God is faithful, God says you are precious, He says you’re worth dying for - and have confidence in them. The firmer our feet, the taller we can stand.
So the first thing I would say is this – just stand. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still Exodus 14:14
Keep trying to spend some time with God every day; shut the door, leave your phone on the other side of it with its notifications and BBC news updates. Even if you don’t feel you have anything to say, or you’re just feeling lost at the moment, stand with Him for a bit. When I found out the church wasn’t going to meeting at the college for the moment, that was all I could do. I didn’t actively pray. I think the only words I might have said were ‘I’m not ok with this’. But God waits for those moments when you stand with Him. In that moment, He gave me an image of a huge hand resting over my entire body, like the wing of a mother hen over its chick, protecting, loving and calming all at the same time.
I’ve put a few verses at the end of this and I’d encourage you to read them and I’d also encourage you to listen to the song Way Maker – remind yourself who He is. Turn the volume up and sing it out to Him. Let loose; we’re not in the college so no one’s watching!
I’d like to share this Celtic Blessing with you: - May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
1 Samuel 2:2 There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one beside you; there is no Rock like our God.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Psalm 18:32-33 It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my ways secure.
Psalm 62:2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE_M9noEhNE
A good number of us turned out on our Zoom meeting place this morning to chat, see each other's faces, and listen to the Word of God. We had a short time of prayer afterwards too. This is the audio of what Paul and Verity had to say :-)
Reading: 1 Samuel 17 17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.
19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.
22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were.
23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.
24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?”
30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.
43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?
Being intentionally alone with God... Recap: But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6) Jesus shuts the door Before walking on water, after feeding the 5000:
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, (Matthew 14:22-23)
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles. (Luke 6:12-13) Jacob shuts the door 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
Putting people and possessions aside Left with a new name – wrestling with God rather than man.
2 Kings 4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.’
2 Elisha replied to her, ‘How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?’
‘Your servant has nothing there at all,’ she said, ‘except a small jar of olive oil.’
3 Elisha said, ‘Go round and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.’
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.’
But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’ Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, ‘Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.’ What does oil symbolise in the bible? 1: The Holy Spirit Oil was used for anointing kings, priests and other people of office. In that anointing there are some references to the Holy Spirit coming upon the person. So oil has become a symbol of anointing and the Holy Spirit.
For example, when the prophet-judge Samuel anointed David with oil to be the new king of Israel: So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. (1 Samuel 16:13). A few other references to anointing (which in the physical sense always involved oil) and the Holy Spirit: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. (Isaiah 61:1)
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power (Acts 10:38)
2: Blessing Well, that’s the usual answer dealt with for now. But the Encyclopaedia of the Bible states that,
“Oil was a symbol of plenty (Deut 32:13), of luxury (Prov 21:17; Ezek 16:13 [although these references are disapproving of the use of such luxury, they serve to illustrate the connection between oil and luxury]), of joy (Ps 45:7; Eccl 9:8; Isa 61:3; Heb 1:9), and of hospitality (Ps 23:5). Its lack was evidence of God’s displeasure (Joel 1:10); its abundance was proof of God’s blessing (2:24). It was used figuratively as a sign of abundance: Asher will “dip his foot in oil” (Deut 33:24). In his affliction Job remembered better days when “the rock poured out for me streams of oil” (Job 29:6)..." Here are a few of those references: You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God,
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6) Jesus shuts the door Before walking on water, after feeding the 5000:
20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. (Matthew 14:20-24)
Why was he intentionally alone?
Why didn’t he stay with the disciples?
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)
12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles. (Luke 6:12-13)
Jacob shuts the door Genesis 27 – Esau: I will kill my brother Jacob – Jacob flees
Genesis 28 – Dream – Bethel
Genesis 29 & 30 – Laban, Leah and Rachel
Genesis 31 – Leaving Laban, heading home.
Genesis 32 – Preparing to meet Esau
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
He had to face his brother. He was probably nervous. He had betrayed him and fled years earlier. They had not made things right together. However long time had passed, reconciliation was still necessary. But first he had to meet with God. If you have fallen out with your brother or sister, God’s heart is always for reconciliation. And sometimes you have to make the first move. Go to them. But please go to God first. Ask him for his wisdom. There may be things that need to be said but God says not to say those things. His wisdom is higher than that of humans. There may be things God wants to tell you before you meet with your brother. Jacob ‘shut the door’ by sending everyone across the river and remaining alone. He put them out of the room so to speak. He also sent all his possessions away. He was on the move and had everything with him. Every conceivable bit of baggage was coming with him. But for this moment, he has put them all aside to be alone. Are there ways we can do the same each day? The results were unexpected and life changing.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. There are several references to the Angel of the Lord in the bible. There are differing views as to who this Angel is, partly because he seems to have particular authority. I believe the man was the Son of God, Jesus. If you prefer, he could be a powerful angel, or even God the Father in temporary human form. Go with my view that Jacob is wrestling with none other than Jesus. Ever been there? There now? Keep wrestling and imitate Jacob’s prayer,
William Deane speaks on the global mission of the local church and the role of prayer within it.
Paul & Timothy’s Prayer for the Colossians Background Writing from prison in Rome, Paul had probably never visited Colossae but felt the need to write to them in order to combat false teachings which had infiltrated the Colossian church. Ideas were coming into the church from paganism, Judaism, and Greek philosophy. The heresy that was to follow this influence was later called ‘Gnosticism’, the idea that you can receive special personal spiritual knowledge that is more valuable than biblical teaching. The Gnostics also denied Christ as God and Saviour.
Even in today’s short extract, we can see Paul combating some of these ideas from the outset of his letter. But let’s look at some of the lessons we can learn for ourselves from this prayer of Paul and Timothy for the Colossian church. Colossians 1: 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…
… 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Characteristics of the prayer 1. Thanksgiving 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, There was a lot to pray for, much to deal with in the church, but Paul and Timothy always gave thanks. Remember Paul’s instruction to the Philippian church,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Here Paul models this discipline as he prays for the Colossian church. 2. Persistency Just as Jesus taught his disciples that they should always pray and never give up, Paul writes that he and Timothy continually pray for the church (verse 9). So they always thank God and they pray continually.
Again, we see Paul modelling what he teaches elsewhere: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) 3. Unity I like the fact that Paul says ‘we’ when talking about praying for the Colossian church. We get a glimpse of what it was like to travel and be around Paul in ministry. Prayer together must have been an integral part. May this also be true for us as we seek to serve God in our own personal lives. Let us pray continually, with thanksgiving, and also let us pray together with others.
Content of the prayer What did Paul and Timothy pray for the Colossian church? And can this help us in our prayers for other Christians today? 1. Spiritual Insight Verse 9: We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives Remember that the Colossian church was being bombarded with ideas from outside. Is it any different today? Do we not need to pray for the same spiritual understanding from God as we read the scriptures and pray? I want the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, not that of the world! Please pray that for me! 2. To live lives that please God Verse 10: So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way
Have you noticed how words can mean different things in different cultures, and how the meaning of words can change over time? Paul Black examines the true biblical meaning of the word, "Hope" and how it is inseparable from "Faith".
http://www.brixham.church/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Prayers-of-the-Righteous-part-6-The-Early-Church.mp3 The Prayers of the Righteous The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) Sessions so far…
Abraham prays for Sodom A wife for Isaac Jabez David – praying for God’s will Isaiah – rend the heavens!
Session 6 – Prayers of the Early Church “The Christian must know how to pray privately; the Church must know how to pray together.”
(F. W. Dixon)
Acts 1:14: They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Many of these notes are taken from a bible study by Francis W. Dixon, a Baptist minister who went to be with the Lord in 1985 but whose ministry is remembered by many. Much of his work can be found on the website wordsoflife.co.uk
A Model for corporate prayer 1: All All were present. Men and women, new converts and leaders alike. The next verse continues…
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)
2: Joined together The early church often prayed together with ‘one accord’. What might it look like?
Matthew 5:
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
Ephesians 4:3:
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
3: Constantly Steadfast and consistent. Not giving up.
Hebrews 10:24-25:
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
We have a great illustration of this in Acts 12:5-17 –
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.
How could Peter sleep between 2 soldiers? James has just been put to death by the sword! (12:2)
12 …he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
Charles Finney often speaks of a ‘spirit of prayer’ in his autobiography when describing an attitude in the towns where great revivals took place. People were praying together in the streets and in their homes and it didn’t seem to be a chore!
4: In prayer It’s good to meet together regularly socially. Fellowship is very important. But the deep connection of Christian fellowship, marked out from other great friendships found in and out of the body of Christ, is found when brothers and sisters pray together, sharing in each other’s needs, and excited together when answers are found.
Remember the different elements of prayer we’ve been using recently as a church:
Praise Repent Ask Yield
And remember my challenge this month to include the prayer, “prepare my heart Lord for what is to come.”
Psalm 139:23-24:
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
The results of following this model 1: Fellowship Acts 1:14:
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. When we pray together, we stay together.
Acts 2:42:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
2: Guidance Acts 1:
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.
With one accord: This is a phrase frequently used by Luke in Acts
I have felt the Lord drawing me to it as a result of the recent emphasis on prayer and unity. Just a few examples:
Acts 1:14
These all continued with one accord in prayer
Acts 2:1
...they were all with one accord in one place.
Acts 2:45
...continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
Acts 4:24
...they lifted up their voice to God with one accord The Greek word is homothumadon NIV translates it as ‘together’ but this does not do justice to the Greek
It literally means with the same mind or with one purpose
So ‘with one accord’ (KJV) is better on this than NIV.
So I’m using KJV Why is this important? Because it seriously affects what we can learn from these passages
Together is related to PLACE.
If homothumadon just meant together Luke would not have needed to say ‘in one place’
With one accord is related to PURPOSE
Let’s look at some of the passages where it’s used and see what we can learn about:
The ways in which the early Christians were ‘with one accord’ The reasons why the early Christians were ‘with one accord’ What happened as a result
The ways in which the early Christians were ‘with one accord’ They were with one accord in prayer Acts 1:14
“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
Acts 4:24
“And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:”
These all continued with one accord (1:14)
Continue
Greek: proskartereō
KJV Translates this verb as:
continue, continue steadfastly, attend continually, give oneself continually, wait on, wait on continually
They stuck at it. They didn’t give up.
…they lifted up their voice to God with one accord (4:24)
They cared They were with one accord in one place Acts 2:1
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”
Acts 2:45
...continuing daily with one accord in the temple
Acts 4:23-24
And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord...
Acts 5:12
And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch
Note the importance of being together Hebrews 10:25 They were with one accord with one purpose Homothumadon means with one purpose
They were not just together in one place
They were together with one purpose.
Acts 2:42-47 (note again the emphasis on continuing)
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship (koinonia) and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
Doctrine (learning and putting into practice)
Fellowship (koinonia - sharing)
(By contrast: Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5))
Breaking bread
Prayer The reasons why the early Christians were ‘with one accord’ Jesus’ command Acts 1:4-5
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be
[scroll down for the audio] 21 days of prayer: 12th January 2020 – 2nd Feb 2020
My challenge to you is to increase your prayer time over the next 21 days (until we meet on 2nd Feb).
I have taken the 4 headings from a preacher called Bayless Conley.
1. Praise
Psalm 100 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
2. Repent Take some time to search your heart and ask the Lord to show you anything that you need to put right with him. He will freely pardon you and wants to forgive. But we have to acknowledge our sin and bring it to him. He is a loving heavenly father. Perhaps use these psalms to help:
Psalm 19 12 But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
Psalm 139 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
3. Ask 1 John 3 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
Matthew 7 7 ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Why aren’t I getting what I ask for?
Look again at 1 John 3 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
Notice anything? There’s a condition that we keep his commands and live lives that please him. That’s why the repentance stage mustn’t be skipped!
Let’s dig a bit deeper. John 14-16 reports much of what Jesus said to his disciples in his last hours and has some helpful verses about asking in prayer. John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Do our prayers have the same aim as mentioned here – that God might be glorified? Let’s ask for things that would glorify God. John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Our requests must be consistent with the word of God. We know the bible is God’s word and expresses God’s will. Why pray anything inconsistent with that!? So let’s spend some time in his word, letting his words remain in us. As the words of Jesus still linger in our hearts, we will pray in line with God’s will.
I believe that this is what Jesus means by asking for things ‘in his name’. It means in line with his character and personality. We are abiding in him, remaining in his words and we thereby bring our requests to him that will ultimately bring joy:
John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
4. Yield Not a common word in modern English and in the bible has been replaced with ‘offer’ in Romans 6:13 for example, where we are to ‘yield’ or ‘offer’ ourselves to God.
In the UK where our roads have ‘give way’ signs, the US equivalent says, ‘yield’. It means to give way to something.
Sermon Notes [Scroll to the end of this webpage to listen to the audio] Acts 4 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.
20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. A. URGENCY 24 they raised their voices together in prayer to God
Not noise for its own sake – they cared.
Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
How much do we care about holiness, healing, evangelism?
B. UNITY 24 they raised their voices together in prayer to God
homothumadon = with one mind, with one accord, unanimously.
Homou = together Thumos = A strong passion or emotion of the mind
Cf Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer
Acts 2:46 Every day they met together in the temple…
C. UNDERSTANDING
They understood the importance of the WORD.
The written Word and how it applied to their situation (Read vv24-28)
"Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
The spoken Word (v. 29) Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
More of this in a moment.
D. UNCTION (Anointing) 31 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Because of ABC) E. UTTERANCE
Listen to part 2 of Mark Goodyear's timely sermon on Christian Unity, with one of his inimitable 'funny' stories at the start ;-)
God Bless you :-)
Isaiah 64: 1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins for ever. Oh, look upon us we pray, for we are all your people. 10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. 12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? Revival An increasing number of us at BCC are praying for revival in our town and in our nation. We pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, for God to come in power.
Let’s see what we can learn from the prayer we have just read in the book of Isaiah.
1: Revival in the Bible For this study I’m going to avoid looking at past examples from outside the bible as models, e.g. Welsh revival, Hebrides, etc. that we might of heard or read about. We can learn something from these, and definitely be inspired by the stories. But our doctrine is based on the word of God. Let’s start at verse 1:
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! (Isaiah 64:1)
So, if we want to be biblical about what revival might look like, it would mean that when it happens, we’d all agree that it was as if God had torn the sky wide open and manifest his presence and power so clearly that it was undeniable to all who witnessed it!
This reminds me of the day of Pentecost:
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
And that was just the beginning! Look a few chapters later and you read:
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)
So if we are to pray for revival as the Bible portrays it, let’s pray that God would rend the heavens over our town.
But let’s get back to our passage.
2: Why did Isaiah pray this prayer? Mountains 1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
When Isaiah prayed that mountains would tremble, I wonder if he had in mind physical mountains only. Perhaps there are other mountains that cannot be moved without God’s help. Obstacles in our way. Certainly in 700 BC Isaiah saw many obstacles to the perfect will of God. When we pray for revival, let’s think of some of those obstacles and pray that God would cause mountains to tremble! Remember,
Psalm 143:10: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
The Prayers of David David prayed for a lot of things, as the Psalms clearly show. He prayed for vindication, for forgiveness, for mercy, for blessing, for God to search his heart, for God to raise him up and to rescue him.
We could easily spend a whole series unpacking the prayers of David. Here I just want to focus on one area – praying for God’s will.
So, we want to know his will, and we want to know how to do it.
Let’s take a moment right now to pray this prayer. Think of a situation that it can apply to. Then I’ll reinforce the prayer with some teaching, and we’ll pray it again.
What can we learn from this prayer of David?
1: It shows we’re born again We would not be praying this prayer if we did not believe.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Without God, we have no reason to seek his will and we generally do not care.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3)
The true believer is a new creation and there is a change of heart. Repentance has taken place and a complete change of direction in thought, word and deed must follow.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
If someone claims to have committed their life to Christ, but shows no desire to live to please their saviour, have they really understood the gospel? Do they recognise who God is and what he has done for them? Every genuine convert to Christianity will find themselves asking God to “Teach me to do your will”.
Praying this prayer in all sincerity of heart is a sign that you are a born-again believer.
If you’ve asked Jesus into your heart and are praying this prayer and mean it, congratulations! You’re a child of the king and he is pleased with you. He will surely answer.
2: It involves faith You wouldn’t pray this prayer if you didn’t believe he had a plan for your life.
Paul said to the Colossians,
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. (Colossians 1:9)
Imagine being filled with the knowledge of his will! This comes through the Holy Spirit as the verse goes on to show. But the point here is, Paul believed that God had a perfect plan for each of the readers of his letter. He prayed that they would see it by the Holy Spirit.
Do you really believe God has a plan for your life? Does the current evidence suggest otherwise? Have faith. Remember, they are his plans, not yours. And what you are going through might be exactly what he has either permitted for a purpose or sent your way for reasons you may not understand until much later on.
Lord, teach me to do your will while things don’t make sense, in both the highs and lows of life.
This is a prayer of faith.
3: It requires surrender David prays, “Teach me to do your will”. If we pray this, we are acknowledging that we need to be taught. We must have a teachable spirit.
What if God was more willing guide us than we were to be guided?
Is it possible that we ask God to lead us in his way but then close our minds to some of the more awkward challenges he may have for us? A prayer like this requires total surrender. It is therefore a dangerous prayer.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good,
A few notes from part 1 and part 2: Luke 11 1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
He sets the example. They’ve seen him, they see it’s important because it’s such a big part of his life. So they ask...
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
We don’t know what John taught his disciples but we now know he taught them to pray. Perhaps the next prayer is some of what John would have taught his disciples, asking God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. That would be right up John’s street. The messiah is coming! Pray that it may be as God wills.
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
Know who God is
hallowed be your name,
Put God in his rightful place
your kingdom come.
Reset your priorities
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
Then bring your needs to him
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
Deal with sin daily, both incoming and outgoing
And lead us not into temptation.’”
Ask for protection – the word is also testing or a time of testing, for OT readers it has been suggested that it would evoke the idea of a day of judgement. Keep me safe when the tests come. Or just be nice to me when the testing times come our way. Bless me indeed. Much of what Jesus includes here can be found in various verses from the Old Testament. This is not a new teaching but a collection of OT ideas. Step 1 then is to rely on scripture for our prayers. Bring in relevant scriptures. Know the bible by reading it regularly. Use it in prayer. Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching and correction. It’s also Holy Spirit inspired. So praying relevant scriptures is praying to God using his own words. Now we’ve dealt with the basics and provided a structure to work with, let’s bring some understanding to the table...
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. Suppose you have a friend in Jesus and you find yourself on your knees to him at the midnight hour. You’re asking for provision for an unexpected need. Any human friend would not take kindly to your banging their door at this hour. But Jesus is different, not because you have been a good and faithful friend - you would never be good enough. But God, in his great grace, will provide all that you need.
Jesus is still teaching on prayer. What is new here, after the traditional prayer?
It’s shameless It’s audacious It’s personal It involves others It gets results – as much as you need!
This is deep calling to deep – it’s heartfelt cries of the heart for God to provide what we need in order to have enough for those around us.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Can we really pray like this and get results? We can if we ask in his name and pray in the Spirit. Ask – Speak it out! This is a continuation of the teaching in the previous verses. We have to ask. The man in the previous story did not sit at home moaning to his wife that he had no bread for his unexpected visitor. He went and asked! Seek – be on the lookout! when you’ve asked, start looking. Expect to find signposts and answers throughout your day. The danger is we pray,
1 Chronicles 4: 1 The descendants of Judah:
Perez, Hezron, Karmi, Hur and Shobal…
7 The sons of Helah:
Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, 8 and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Hazzobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum.
9 Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ 10 Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.
11 Kelub, Shuhah’s brother, was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These were the men of Rekah… Buried in the list Our main text here is verses 9 and 10, but I’ve shown a few others above to give you a feel of what the rest of the chapter is like. You know what it’s like when you’re diligently disciplining yourself to read the whole bible through and you get to one of these chapters that are just a list of names. Yet, in this case the writer chose to break from the monotony and comment on Jabez. Jabez stood out from all the other people in the list. I’m sure there were some good people in that list, some who did great things, some who were remembered for a long time. But why did the Holy Spirit inspire the author to elaborate on Jabez? What was it about him that deserved this out-of-the-ordinary added information? There must be something important we can learn from him.
Here are some suggestions:
1: Labelling Jabez was labelled from the start. He was called by a name that sounds like the Hebrew for ‘pain’ because giving birth had caused his mother so much pain. I don’t know what you’d say to his mum if you had the chance, but if I were there, I’d be questioning her wisdom. Yes, the birth was painful, and I cannot imagine what that was like. But for that moment, for your pain, to be put on your child for the rest of his life? Is that really fair? He’ll probably outlive you and any pain in your life will be forgotten. But he will still be called Jabez.
Jabez was a pain from the start, but he did not let that stop him asking for God to bless him. And it did not stop God from blessing him. Whatever start you’ve had in life, whatever people have said over you, however small you’ve been made to feel, even if you feel like your existence is more harmful than useful, God has other ideas. Don’t live the rest of your life by the labels someone else gave you. Even if they were an authority figure.
Craig Groeschel leads possibly the largest church in America. It started in 1996 and now has over 30 locations with around 100,000 people in attendance on weekends. At bible college he was in a class of 40 students. 39 were ordained at the end of the course, but Craig was not. His denomination believed his methods and style were too unorthodox. He was labelled as different. To many he was a ‘pain’. But perhaps the very thing others saw as a problem was something God had put in him for a purpose. Don’t let an external label deter you from being all that God has called you by name to be.
This series of talks is about prayer. When you pray, do not let the labels of the past stop you praying audacious, heart-felt prayers. Jesus encouraged it, and you should just go for it! God certainly won’t let someone else’s label for you deafen his ear to your prayers.
2: Honour Jabez was more honourable than his brothers (v9)
I guess this is how Jabez stood out to God amongst this list of his family members. Amongst them he was more honourable. The word used here also means ‘respected’. This means that his life was honourable in a way that was recognizable to others.
I believe this is one of the key components of effective prayer. The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Yes, God hears our prayers however messed up we are. And yes,
In part 2 of our series on first steps in the Christian life, Dr David Petts explains the importance of believer's baptism by full immersion.
In the first of a 3 part series on First Steps in the Christian Life, Dr David Petts begins with the hard-hitting message that God wants everybody everywhere to repent!
Shine Jesus Shine In my teens I was involved in what was called a “Make Way!” march. I hid behind a drumkit on a flatbed lorry one Saturday afternoon, while we banged out Christian songs as people marched behind singing. It was a great event that brought all the churches of the town together.
I don’t know how many people got saved though.
What I do know is that the next morning one of my friends asked me about it in school.
“Yeah, that would have been me you saw.”
“Oh it wasn’t me, it was my dad. He came home saying, ‘I was trying to get into the bookies to place a bet and I couldn’t get in. I was blocked by your mate Jon Petts on the drums and everybody singing Jesus wants me for a **** sunbeam.’”
I have been involved in many forms of street evangelism. They have ranged from super-cringe to not so cringy. Sometimes I cringe unnecessarily because I just feel awkward. Don’t judge, I’m human. What is evangelism? Evangelism is, “The spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness,” and can take many forms. Today I want to set you free from any awkward or uncomfortable stereotypes and release you to let others know about Jesus in a way you are called to. Engel scale The Engel scale was developed by James F. Engel, as a way of representing the journey from no knowledge of God, through to spiritual maturity as a Christian believer. Some have criticised it as too linear and simplistic but it does help us understand that although there is a decisive moment when someone chooses Christ, there is a journey leading up to that decision. And a journey afterwards too. Here’s one version taken from greatcommission.co.uk:
Mark 4 Jesus told this story which has been made famous by Church children’s workers around the world. I’ll warn you, it’s not gripping, there’s no suspense and the ending is pretty predictable. But at least there is a happy ending. For some. Ready? Here’s my short version:
A farmer sowed some seed. Some fell on a path, some in rocky places, some among thorns and some on good soil. The seed in good soil grew and reproduced. The End.
Not much of a story in a literary sense. No twist at the end. No suspense.
Really Jesus? You’re telling me that if a seed hits good soil it grows better than other seeds in rocky, thorny places or on a path? This is not earth-shattering news. We all know this! You’re telling people who live in a farming community. What are you really telling us?
Let’s break it down. The Farmer Jesus said,
14 The farmer sows the word.
You are the farmer. Yes, God sent Jesus, the Word, but in this context, we’re talking about anyone who proclaims the gospel. And all disciples are called to do that. We’re told to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. So first up, this story is about you.
May I say this kindly, if you’re not sharing your faith with anyone around you, you’re not a Christian.
Now let me qualify that in two ways. Stay with me.
A Christian is a Christ-follower. And if you are following Christ, you’ll be doing what he tells you to do. And he told his disciples clearly to go and make disciples. By definition, Christians share Christ. But before you get too uncomfortable, it’s not always all about preaching to your neighbour over the garden fence or handing out leaflets in the street. You could do both of those things and be a lousy Christian. You could do those things and not be a Christian at all. A Christian is a changed person. You share Jesus automatically when people see that change. Or if you meet them for the first time and they don’t know what you used to be like, they will see a difference. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come in. you’re a new creation. If this is genuinely true of you, if you have fully surrendered you whole life to the Lordship of Jesus, something changed on the inside of you that will show on the outside.
Fight or flight Walking home from school as a child I saw up ahead some older youths blocking my path. As I got nearer, I saw that they were deliberately causing an obstruction and looking directly at me. I was little. They were big. I didn’t know them, and I don’t think they knew me. But for some reason – they were probably just bored and wanted to have some fun scaring a little kid – they chose to be very intimidating. If I ran away, I’d be further from home. If I chose to fight, I’d not survive.
We are told that when under pressure there are generally two alternatives - fight or flight.
We all have moments of pressure in our lives, the washing machine breaks down and you can’t afford to get it fixed, a loved one is rushed into hospital, someone keeps intimidating you. Are you the sort of person to get aggressive and confrontational, or do you hide behind the sofa?
Is your instinct to run from trouble or attack?
While I was confronted with this group of youths, I didn’t know about the fight of flight options. No one had told me. So, I discovered a third option:
Freeze!
I got a bit closer and just stopped. I wasn’t being brave. This is more ‘rabbit in the headlights’ than ‘stand firm and hold your ground’. I didn’t make eye contact, probably looked down. They had formed a line in front of me. But the person to my far left just withdrew. Maybe they felt bad or bored, but they just hung back a bit. And then the person next to them. So now there was a gap to my left. I ran through that gap like some frontline soldier and never looked back. I think I heard chuckling behind me, but my face was too red, my head pounding with every heartbeat to really notice.
My point is, there is a third option, other than ‘fight or flight’: Do nothing! That sometimes really winds people up. If someone is deliberately intimidating you, they usually want a reaction! I have a friend who’s really good at not engaging with arguments. The person arguing with him can get really riled but he just stands and smiles and listens. He’s not being particularly clever or wise. He just chooses not to engage.
As I’ve unpacked the devil’s playbook idea most of the basis has been how to stand against the enemy.
And that’s biblical.
God will fight. You stand.
Look at the following passage again and see how many times the word, ‘stand’ appears. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17) We are to take our stand against the devil.
Is it ever appropriate to run? Jesus didn’t run in the garden. He knew it was his destiny to be captured and crucified. And he chose not to fight too, telling Peter to put his sword away! Peter later ran from responsibility and denied knowing Jesus. Neither of these actions (fight or flight) are painted in a good light.
In the light of all of scripture, the general rule seems to be that God wants us to stand firm and see him deliver us from our problems. Wait for him. Trust him.
I want to suggest that there are some situations where standing is wrong.
Don’t just stand there!
The Prayers of the Righteous The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) Session 2 – A wife for Isaac – Praying for Guidance Genesis 24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, ‘Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.’
5 The servant asked him, ‘What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?’
6 ‘Make sure that you do not take my son back there,’ Abraham said. 7 ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, “To your offspring I will give this land”– he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.’ 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was towards evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, “Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,” and she says, “Drink, and I’ll water your camels too”– let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.’
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar.’
18 ‘Drink, my lord,’ she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, ‘I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.’ 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, ‘Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?’
24 She answered him, ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.’ 25 And she added, ‘We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.’
26 Then the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord, 27 saying, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.’
What a task! Imagine you’re the servant. How could you possibly know if you’ve made the right choice? You’d need God’s help.
The Devil’s Playbook, Part 5 – Division
Sermon notes:
So far: So far we have looked at what a playbook is and that the devil has one. We are not unaware of his schemes. He comes to kill, steal and destroy, he is roaming like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We do not battle with flesh and blood but with unseen powers. Here are some of the chapters that I believe are in the devil’s playbook.
Distraction – from loving God, people to all sorts of things to do with lust and pride Doubt – doubting God and his character Despondency – wanting to give up
This time:
Division
Division Definitions
The action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated. Difference or disagreement between two or more groups, typically producing tension.
Notice from point 1 that it can be a process. Division does not happen overnight, even if a final split looks sudden. There is always a process of separating individual parts, one at a time.
Notice from point 2 that it is not amicable – it causes tension. This is not just agreeing to disagree on whether the coffee is too weak after church or when Christ will return. We are talking about the tension that is caused in any group of people when people become separated. A few examples When Andrea and I first moved to Liverpool as newlyweds, 80 people had just left the church with one of the elders who wanted to do his own thing. He did not have the blessing of the rest of the leadership team. Within 3 years he had only a handful of people in his new church. Over our 10 years in Liverpool I would learn of individuals who had been to our church, left, and gone nowhere.
Churches are not the only places that experience division though. I have sat in school staffrooms where certain staff members would have their corner, even their chair, while other teachers would not go near them. I’ve heard divisive whispering in corridors between members of staff and witnessed the corrosive backbiting and anti-management moaning over and again. None of this has ever turned out well.
I’m sure we all know of families who have members that don’t talk for years. You may be part of one such family! It’s not a pleasant atmosphere. Often the disagreement is all but forgotten as new generations are indoctrinated into the dislike of a certain side of the family. We can and must guard against this in the family of God. The family of God From the devil’s perspective, we are an army. We are mighty. He sees our potential better than we do to pull down strongholds. If he can’t get us to despair, doubt, or distract us, he will try to divide us.
And I believe he has done a good job. There are more Christians out of the church than in. At a guess.
Why? Disagreements over less important things than God’s Kingdom and the family he has called us to. We don’t like singing for half an hour. Or don’t like the songs, or the pastor!
But I don’t always agree with my biological family. Sometimes members of my family do my head in! You know who you are. But they will always be family. And I wouldn’t dream of thinking otherwise. And while you are in the same church as me, you are my family. We are one in Christ Jesus, even if we don’t see eye to eye. Plus, the church down the road are family too. So if you leave to go there, you haven’t really got rid of me!
Common ground is what matters. When I spoke on distraction, I said we are distracted both from something and to something. The ‘from’ element I kept really simple. The devil wants to distract us from the great commission and the greatest commandment. Simply put, to
Love God
Love People
Make Disciples
If we agree that this is our mission, we must be mature and put aside all other disagreements for the greater call that has eternal consequences. A good question to ask when in dispute with someone is, ‘will this matter in a week, a month, after I’m dead?
The Prayers of the Righteous The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
Session 1 – Abraham prays for Sodom Genesis 18 16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.’
20 Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’
22 The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’
26 The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’
‘If I find forty-five there,’ he said, ‘I will not destroy it.’
29 Once again he spoke to him, ‘What if only forty are found there?’
He said, ‘For the sake of forty, I will not do it.’
30 Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?’
He answered, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’
31 Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’
He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’
32 Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’
He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Sodom’s wickedness Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. (Genesis 13:13)
Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous. (Genesis 18:20)
Sodom – a benchmark for wickedness The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. (Isaiah 3:9)
The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her. (Lamentations 4:6)
God’s declaration of judgment 20 Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know. (Genesis 18:20-21)
Abraham’s Prayer 1: Abraham’s prayer was based on a relationship with God
The Lord made a covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:18)
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. (James 2:23)
Abraham remained standing before the Lord (v22)
Abraham approached him (v23)
Like Abraham, our prayers must be based on a relationship with God,
Sermon Notes: So far: What a playbook is and that the devil has one. We are not unaware of his schemes. He comes to kill, steal and destroy, he is roaming like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We do not battle with flesh and blood but with unseen powers.
Distraction – from loving God, people to all sorts of things to do with lust and pride Doubt – doubting God and his character
This time:
Despondency
Next time:
Division
When we looked at distraction, we saw that the enemy comes in the way of our preferred focus of loving God, loving people and making disciples. He comes with the lust of the flesh – things that appeal to our emotions, the lust of the eyes – things that distract with instant appeal and the pride of life – things that make us look better to other people and ourselves, but not to God.
When we studied doubt we saw that this tool of the devil has a two-pronged attack – first to see if we can doubt God’s existence and if that doesn’t work to doubt his character. For the believer these doubts all start when we neglect God’s word and our relationship with him.
In all these sections, let us remember that we are here to win.
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
But the idea of doubt last time links well into this week’s topic – despondency.
Despondency
“Low spirits from loss of hope or courage.” It’s what David felt when he cried out to God in the Psalms, it’s what Bunyan wrote about in Pilgrim’s Progress where he referred to the Slough of Despond, or swamp of despair.
There are times in life when everything seems to be against us physically or emotionally or both and we just can’t face any more. It feels like there is no way out of the darkness.
Work stress Exam stress Family crisis Empty nest syndrome Death of a loved one Financial problems Illness Mental health Delay in God’s rescue Disappointment with the way things turned out
Good things that didn’t happen Bad things that did
Everybody has times of despondency and it’s not a sin. Jesus sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. What is a sin is neglecting God and what he has to say to you in these situations. Let’s look at one bible character in particular. We will learn some vital lessons, partly from his mistakes. 1 Kings 19 1 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Back story – Mount Carmel – Repairing God’s altar – Ahab and Jezebel
2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Who cares what ‘the gods’ think? They are the false idols you’ve just disproved! This should not affect Elijah. He’s just had a mighty victory over any other gods.
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. Depression and despair are real. They come when we least expect it, although there are signs. And one of the warnings is after a great event, a hilltop moment. It’s normal to feel polarised emotions. The anti-climax. Fear is one of the threads that bind the devil’s playbook together. Doubt leads to fear, despair is based on fear. It’s a basic human emotion.
When he came to Beersheba in Judah, This is over 100 miles away! Most of God’s advice in the bible is to stand firm in battle. There are times to flee, but this was not one of them. You have seen a victory. You will get a counter-attack. Don’t run. Hold your nerve. Stand. Having done all, to stand.
he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. Here’s what not to do when you notice yourself rebounding from a high to a low,
Listen to the audio of Paul Black's message, "The woman who thought she was untouchable, the man who thought he was unsaveable and the Saviour who knew they were wrong" When we carry the presence of God with us we can see God change people's lives through us, however desperate their situation may seem.
Prayer is so important! Listen to this encouraging and excellent teaching on the Lord's Prayer to help you develop your prayer life.
Dr David Petts uses the story of Jonah in the Old Testament to illustrate important lessons for us today.
Hear more from David Petts on his podcast - "Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts" or go to his website, davidpetts.org
iTunes podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/great-bible-truths-with-dr-david-petts/id1436963975
Non-apple users: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jon-petts/great-bible-truths-with-dr-david-petts
Listen to the podcast and enjoy Jon's notes: The Breastplate of Righteousness 5 – Guarding the Heart Sessions:
Blessings of the Righteous The Righteousness of God Righteousness by Faith Practical Righteousness Guarding the Heart
My heart beat I’m not keen on blood. Sometimes I’d hear or feel the pulse of blood going around my body as I lay in bed and the thought of blood made me feel squeamish. I’ll get over it. I wouldn’t want to do without it just because I don’t like the thought!
And in a spiritual sense, thinking about the state of the heart is not always a top priority. Sometimes we might just want to get on and do something. I have worked with lots of Christians and can witness to the fact that many of us put our prayer life second because instant needs crop up and demand our attention. But those who stubbornly protect their heart, their time with the Lord, have stayed the course and seen great benefit. The things they refused to be distracted by were sometimes miraculously taken care of by the Lord.
God desires intimacy over activity. Guarding the heart Proverbs 4:23 says:
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Everything!
How you live your life is driven by the state of your heart. If your heart is pure, your deeds will be pure. Out of the heart the mouth speaks.
Satan knows if he can get to our mind and emotions, he can easily lead us away from God.
The Roman soldier’s breastplate was used to protect the vital organs such as the heart and intestines. In the Hebrew mindset, the heart represented the mind and will. The bowels, or intestines, represented emotions and feelings. Therefore, the breastplate for us can represent guarding our mind and emotions.
Our minds affect how we live. Every action is preceded by a thought.
But the enemy is also interested in our emotions. It is easy to become emotionally unstable in a non-believing world which is so full of insecurities and instability. But as a believer in the world, but not of the world, we are under extra attack. Satan stirs up people to criticize and condemn. He stirs up little romances to distract us from focusing on God. He works to make believers worry and fret about the future so that they lose their joy. The enemy is cunning and keen. Therefore, we must guard our hearts above all else.
So where does the Breastplate of Righteousness fit in to all of this? A peaceful heart Two sessions ago we read Romans 4 to see that our righteousness is by faith and not by works. The next chapter begins with these words in Romans 5:1:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of our righteousness by faith, we now have peace. Peace with God is an amazing thing. We are no longer warring with him on the inside. We have peace with God through Jesus. He has forgiven us all our sins and opened up a new way for us to live.
And this peace is more than a lack of war. We are told in Philippians 4:6-7 that God’s peace will be a garrison to the heart.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Here we see the reality of the Christian walk. We have peace with God and are saved from sin. But anxious thoughts still come in. When David asked the Lord to examine his life, he specifically named anxious thoughts as something for God to focus in on.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
Anxiety and lack of peace is real, and every Christian is susceptible to it. So there is a need, despite the peace with God that we have, to daily put on this breastplate of righteousness,
The Breastplate of Righteousness: 4. Practical Righteousness So far…
The need for a breastplate; Benefits of the Righteous The Righteousness of God
Faithfulness Compassion Judgement Salvation
Practical Righteousness
Righteous requirements of the Law Righteousness in Christ Why we need to put on a breastplate: “You must be reckoned perfect before you can make headway in becoming good.” (John Piper)
This time... Where we left off last time showed us that righteousness in Christ Jesus is not the end goal but the starting point of a whole new spiritual journey. We have gained our salvation in Christ, but we are created for good works.
Paul puts this best for our context in his letter to the Ephesians:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
The overall context of this series has been that we are in a spiritual battle against rulers and authorities. We need to put on the full armour of God, of which the breastplate of righteousness is a part. Verse 2 of the above passage shows that before we were saved, we were living under the influence of this dark force.
We were dead in transgressions, unrighteous. Even if we’d tried to become righteous in our own strength, by works of the flesh and by obedience to the Law, we would never be good enough. These verses show the reality of our true status before God in heaven. We are not righteous outside of Christ’s redemptive work.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:4-10)
Despite our unrighteousness, we are saved by the grace of God. It is often said that ‘grace’ stands for ‘God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense’. We are truly rich because of what Christ has done. But reading on, we see that our salvation from the ‘ruler of the kingdom of the air’ was not an end in itself. Look at verse 10 again. We, the new creation, are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Spirit-led works He created works for us in advance! How amazing is that! He knew we would be saved and designed bespoke works for us. Works that would flow out of his grace, not our guilt or sense of a need to earn salvation.
It is essential to get this the right way around. Without faith it is impossible to please God. If we try to do good works out of our own self-effort, we are not acting in the realm of faith. He has exciting Spirit-led works for us to do that will bear much fruit. We must follow his lead and listen.
The law will teach us not to murder or steal, etc. but the Spirit will inspire you to live like this and will also lead you into specific outworkings of the Law. It is in the Law to love your neighbour, but the Spirit will teach you how to show that love to a specific person – how to reach into their heart with a word or a gift or a practical offer of help. He will set you up to bump into someone just at the ...
BCC Podcast: Hear Dr David Petts unpack biblical truth from the life of this often glossed over Old Testament Character. You will learn about the enemy we face today as Christians and how he is defeated.
Podcast description:
Andrea and I learned early on in parenthood that distraction is a great child management tool. Scenario 1 – in the park. Child: I want an ice cream
Mum: You can’t have an ice cream.
Child: But I want an ice cream now!
Mum: But you just had your dinner
Child: Ice cream.
Mum: You just had your dinner and you had a big chocolate pudding. You must be full up.
Child: Please can I have an ice cream?
Mum: You’ll be sick
Child: I said pleeeease?
Mum: Do you want to be sick all over your buggy?
Child: No, I just want an ice cream.
Mum: Daddy, do you think an ice cream is a good idea?
Dad: Wha? Sorry? I don’t know. Er. (Tunes in, sees mum’s expression) No. Ice cream makes you fat.
Child: Has daddy had an ice cream?
Scenario 2 – in the park. Child: I want an ice cream.
Mum: Oh look! There’s a slide and some swings!
Dad: Oh yes! They look amazing!
Child: (being taken away from the ice cream van) I want an ice cream.
Dad: I wonder how high I can push you on that swing.
Mum: Careful darling.
Child: Swing!
Dad: Come on then! (pushes child high on swing)
Child: I feel sick.
Mum: You won’t want an ice cream then will you.
Child: Ice cream!
A distraction is a thing that prevents someone from focusing on something else. The example above is a good use of distraction to help stay away from unhealthy options, but to the untamed mind, distractions come in all shapes and forms and can hold us back and drag us down.
There are, then, two elements involved:
A desired focus (e.g. exercise) An undesired focus that has got in the way (e.g. café with donuts next door to the gym)
We can be distracted from work, exercise, healthy relationships, study.
And we can be distracted by anything that looks more appealing at the time, usually something that brings quicker but less helpful results.
All this is familiar to all of us and we never grow out of it. We all have desires that can get in the way of good things.
But it’s not just us who are aware of this. God has plenty for us to focus on but much of it reaps rewards that we can’t instantly see. And our spiritual enemy the devil has got plenty of distractions up his sleeve that are intended to eventually throw us off course altogether. So, what is God’s desired focus for us? Last week I mentioned God’s playbook and our role in it. It was really simplified but gave us a good overview of what God’s up to in the grand scheme of things.
Save humanity Come back to earth Punish the devil Reign forever with those who believed in him
Then I said that our role in all this was
Love God Love people Make disciples
But if I could distil it down and risk even oversimplifying it further, I’d say the desired focus is summed up by Jesus in Matthew 6:33
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,”
Seek first - there isn’t a ‘second’, unlike the greatest commandment where God gave a second too. Seek his kingdom first. For everything else you have two options – put it second or throw it out altogether.
You brought nothing into the world, and you cannot take anything with you when you die. You may have heard the joke about the man who tried to bring some gold to heaven when he died. When he got to the gates of heaven St Peter asked him what he had with him. The man replied, I pleaded with God before I died, and he let me bring this to heaven. Peter asked what was so special about a lump of pavement. In reality, you can’t take anything with you. But some things you do are of eternal value. You can store treasures in heaven by seeking his kingdom first. But you can only do that if you’ve had a forensically thorough declutter of the whole of your life and decide if everything you do has a kingdom attitude about it and if everything else you seek is secondary. Otherwise it’s a distraction. Distraction from Here’s what seeking the kingdom first looks like.
I was almost sold... When we were young and impressionable and newly married, Andrea and I went along to a meeting in a hotel that offered a free holiday to anyone who attended. But first we had to listen to a presentation about a product. We were convinced by the end of the evening that we should sign up for this product which would cost us every month for a very long time. As my pen hovered over the paper to sign, I felt quite disturbed inside and had to back out. The sale’s person’s patter had worked but when it came to the crunch I ran away. He was very disappointed, and I think he held back a few rude comments about me.
I was almost sold.
Looking back, I could see that I had been led through a process in someone else’s playbook.
The playbook and you Have you ever felt like the world is constantly trying to sell you something? Telling you what you don’t have rather than what you do have? Have you been sold on something before and not realised it was happening?
A good salesperson can easily take you on a journey and before you know it you’ve committed to a purchase.
Maybe you’ve been in sales yourself and know what it takes to get inside someone’s head.
What is a playbook? The term ‘playbook’ (apart from ‘play book’ being used in the theatre and dramatic arts to mean a book of plays) originally meant a notebook containing a sports team's strategies and plays.
It’s now used in other lines of work and means a set of tactics frequently employed by anyone engaged in a competitive activity.
What’s in a playbook? Most sales companies’ playbooks will introduce the company goals and vision. But they will also consider the following:
The persona and mindset of their target audience. “Sales reps have to get inside the buyer’s head to sell” (Zorian Rotenberg, insightsquared.com) The buyer journey – the steps your prospect will usually take before committing. Sales process – what it takes to make a sale – call methodology, pitching the product, usual buyer questions and your answers, suggested conversation flow, call and email scripts, sound bytes, objection handling.
In a sporting setting, the coach will spend a lot of time analysing the opposition, looking for weaknesses in their play, and devise a playbook accordingly. They might consider:
What are our strengths? Which of these strengths will the opposition already know about and be prepared for? What are their weaknesses? Where are they likely to be strong in the next game? What else is going on for them? (e.g. key player dropped / injured, tired or energised from recent games, current morale, predicted weather conditions, etc.) How can we utilise the above to maximise our chances of defeating them?
Imagine a spiritual enemy looking at BCC and asking similar questions.
Imagine a spiritual enemy looking at your life and doing the same.
Does the Devil have a playbook? Absolutely. Here are some verses from the bible that illustrate this.
For we are not unaware of his [Satan’s] schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
Do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:27)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
Satan has a plan. But don’t worry, he’s only a fallen angel and the all-powerful, all-loving God of the universe has a plan too.
We just have to be
Aware of the devil’s schemes
Aligned to God’s
Then all is well. Simple? Let’s see.
God’s playbook God has plans we don’t know about. He knows the plans he as for you.
In this series so far…
The need for a breastplate; Benefits of the Righteous The Righteousness of God
Faithfulness Compassion Judgement Salvation
This time... Righteousness by faith – God’s righteousness and us
Righteousness requirements of the Law without Christ
Righteousness in the bible refers to strict adherence to the law. No diversion, walking a straight line. Jewish tradition teaches that the Old Testament Law contains 613 commandments, although they have been listed and counted in different ways. Suffice to say, the 10 Commandments were only the beginning. The law is perfect.
So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)
The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)
We are not.
There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
We could never meet the righteous requirements of the Law in our own strength. We could of course try. Even as Gentiles we could convert to Judaism and attempt to follow the laws but one failure would set us back.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10)
Since Christ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
So when we put on the breastplate of righteousness we are putting on his righteousness, not our own – that would be no protection at all – chinks in the armour everywhere!
Righteousness by faith was always God’s way. Abraham is a great example because he lived before the Law.
Genesis 15:6
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Paul treats this subject carefully in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 4
3 What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 ‘Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.’
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the...
Listen to Mark Goodyear speak on the story of Abraham and Isaac and bring a challenge to us all to let go of all that is precious to us and trust the Lord without wavering. God bless you and keep you. Jon Petts.
Rise and Shine! - Isaiah 60 - PowerPoint
Isaiah 60:1-5 New International Version - UK (NIVUK) The glory of Zion
‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 ‘Lift up your eyes and look about you: all assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.
New International Version - UK (NIVUK)Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Audio to this sermon is at the bottom. Or if you prefer, there's a short video version here:
The fundamental idea of righteousness is that of strict adherence to the law. Both Hebrew and Greek words contain the idea of conformity to a standard.
God can be seen as righteous in two ways:
Absolute Righteousness - he is as part of his divine nature infinitely righteous in and of himself. He can’t sin, he can’t lie, it’s just not who he is.
Relative Righteousness - in the light of every violation of his divine and perfect righteousness he is seen to be the only true holy one.
God’s righteousness is connected with his justice. He must do things the right way, which means as judge, he can only judge fairly. The following verses give us an idea of how he sets the standard for righteousness.
Faithfulness You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are right. (Psalm 119:137)
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. (Psalm 145:17)
You have kept your promise because you are righteous. (Nehemiah 9:8)
Compassion I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy. (Psalm 140:12)
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me. (Psalm 116:5-6)
Judgement Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalm 96:13)
The concept of God’s righteousness is introduced early in the bible in Genesis 18 where Abraham appeals to God on behalf of Sodom:
‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’ (23)
If God destroyed both the wicked and the righteous without distinguishing them, then God would not be acting righteously or justly.
Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (25)
By the end of the story, God not only showed himself to be righteous and just, but he also used the situation to shape Abraham into the righteous man he would need to be as father of a nation.
With Moses, he set the standard of his own righteousness and demonstrated it to Egypt:
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. ‘This time I have sinned,’ he said to them. ‘The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. (Exodus 9:27)
We see the same idea in Daniel 9:
The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Daniel 9:14)
And Ezra 9:
LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence." (Ezra 9:15) Salvation
2 The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (Psalm 98:2-3)
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
God is righteous in saving sinners, not just judging them. He could not just forgive them without righteous justice being done. The righteous requirements of the law had to be met. That’s why the verses in Isaiah 53 that predict the suffering of the messiah refer to him as the ‘righteous servant’. He had to bear our iniquities because God is righteous. It’s the only way we could be saved from the judgement we deserve. And a righteous God has to give us the judgement we deserve. Otherwise he would no longer be righteous.
We will deal with righteousness through faith in the next session, but the idea is based on God’s righteousness:
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made...
People like it when the church engages in social action and issues of justice. And so they should. But what about righteousness? Without this vital component, justice becomes relative, based upon what an individual decides is right or wrong. Listen to this week's preaching from one of our Leadership Team, Paul Black. Be challenged and inspired!
Why should we live a generous lifestyle? William Deane uses 1 Corinthians 8 to reveal
An Example to Follow An Encouragement to Action A Truth to Believe An Error to Avoid A Principle to Observe
May God both bless and encourage you as you listen. :-)
Jon Petts talks through the last chapter of John's Gospel to show three key areas of generosity shown by Jesus. Listen to hear what they are and how they are available to every believer.
In this final talk on Seven Key Truths about Jesus, Dr David Petts outlines the key points that every bible believing Christian should agree on, all in under half an hour!
What is the Church? A few weeks ago, Jon Petts preached on The Truth about the Church. Here, Verity Hyde brings further insight into who we are and how we should operate as a functional body of believers.
Be blessed. And stay in church ;-)
Talk 6 of 7 Key Truths about Jesus - this time we learn of Jesus' work now for us in heaven. Next time, his second coming! Thanks for listening! :-)
Daniel 11:32 says that the people who know their God will display strength and take action, or do great exploits.
What does it mean to know God? And what kind of exploits will such people do? Paul unpacks the biblical idea of what it is to know God and what kind of life this might lead to.
May God bless you as you listen.
:-)
Enjoying these podcasts? Try also Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts!
The triumphant ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a sadly neglected subject. And yet it’s of great importance to us as Christians. Eight Aspects of the Ascension for us to consder in this podcast are...
Jesus demonstrated his deity He reclaimed his rights He assures us of access into heaven He has poured out his Spirit He acts as our advocate He sends out his servants He prepares a place for his people He awaits his advent
Is Hell real? What did Jesus mean when he told the thief on the cross, 'Today you will be with me in paradise'? How does this affect me anyway? Listen to Jon Petts and follow with the PowerPoint below.
Click here for the PowerPoint
We all know that the Church is not a building or just a Sunday event. Hear Jon Petts on the truth about the Church both now and in the future.
Click here to read Jon's blog on the same text.
Jon Petts walks us through four keys to making the most of the times we share communion.
See also Jon's blog on the same topic here.
The fourth in Dr David Petts' series on the importance of Jesus - an inspirational look at his bodily resurrection.
This is the third talk of seven key truths about Jesus.
Of the 89 chapters of the Gospels, no fewer than 30 (i.e. over one third) centre around the death of Christ. The gospel by which we are saved is that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
We believe in the substitutionary, atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Listen to find out what that means!
davidpetts.org
Listen to Dr David Petts outline the significance of our belief that Jesus lived a sinless life in this the second of seven key truths about Jesus.
In the first of a series on the person and work of Jesus, Dr David Petts outlines the importance of the Virgin Birth.
Paul Black talks about why Jesus came and who he is to us. Withouth Jesus there would be no Christmas, so why did he come?
What does it mean to 'remain in the vine' or to 'abide in Christ'?
Jon Petts gives simple explanation and practical application.
You need this. :-)
Jon finishes the series with a message explaining Jesus' heart to see those on the outside of the Kingdom come in.
Click here for the PowerPoint :-)
What does the Bible teach about what every Christian has on the inside of them? How can we live an inside out life so that all can see what we have on the inside? Listen to this week's message to find out!
:-)
(Click here for the PowerPoint)