One of the things we touch on in the sermon is the idea that to covenant with God means agreeing that God knows best! How can we build that notion into our daily lives? (This may well be an exercise in ‘back to basics’ but it is good to remind our selves of simple things!)

Seek God through prayer. Prayer is not about getting God to do what we want, but getting ourselves to do what God wants. Spending some time each day with God in prayer is therefore an important part of keeping covenant with God.

Seek God through Scripture. We see throughout scripture people who both disagree and agree with Gods actions in their lives.  It goes without saying that things usually turn out best for the ones who agree with God.  Scripture informs our faith journey in so many ways!

Seek God through worship. Being part of a community of faith is important. Christianity has little room for lone rangers. God does not want us to go it alone. We can do so much more together than we can ever accomplish on our own.

Prayer. Lord; help us to be people of new covenant faith, who know Your ways because of time spent in Your presence.  Help us to live lives that show they agree that Your way is the best way! Amen.

One of the verses we reflected upon was 2 Corinthians 5:17 ”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Note the following things.

Creating is in Christ. The biblical notion of creating involves the work of God. Sometimes people ‘take a break’ or try and ‘get away from it all’ in their quest for renewal.  Christian renewal is not getting away from anything, but immersing our selves deeper into the love of Christ. Without the action of the Holy Spirit the creating process is incomplete.

Creating brings change. Paul simply says that ‘the old is gone’.  So often we put up with the same old ways. The creating work Paul has in mind is of a different level altogether. It involves a break with our past.  We can struggle with that because we resist change! We must bear in mind then that this a change that we are called to make ‘In Christ’. That Christ died to set us free from sin and bring about a change in us!

Creating is in the here and now. ‘The New has come’. The work of creating is happening. We don’t have to wait to for the program to start. Rather we are called to cooperate with the action of God in the now!  In practice that means prayerfully seeking where the Holy Spirit is at work within us and around us.

Prayer: Lord God, You are the creator of all that it is good. In Christ You have created the way for us to be free from sin and live creative lives.  Renew us through the work of Your Holy Spirit and help us to discover new ways of being faithful. Amen.

Here are some helpful hints to guide our scripture reading.

Pray. If there is a God, and that God inspired the people who wrote down their experiences in the pages of scripture, then it is going to be helpful to tune into that God as we approach a time of reading and contemplating!

Be methodical. In order to get a view of the overall message of such a huge collection of writings then a little organization is required. There are things such as reading plans and ‘Through the Bible’ resources available all over the internet. There may even be one in the back of your bible.

Be random. The many books of the Bible make awesome material just to dive into and read whatever you find. And if you are involved in prayerful diving it may even be that the Holy Spirit will guide you to exactly what you need to be hearing right now!

Be serious. Seriously! Intentional application always brings awesome results.

Move on. If you are bogged down in a particular section… then don’t be. Move on. It’s O.K not to understand the relationship between Aaron’s priestly robes and some random verse from a book you find it hard to pronounce! If you make your bible reading a life long journey… you’ll get there one day.

Enjoy. Scripture is meant to give us life not a headache. Meditation should offer joy not frustration. It’s only when we admit we’re floundering that we start to float. And swimming is better than sinking.

Prayer. “Lord, Thank You for the books of the Bible. Help me to discover each day truth that will guide me and words that inspire me. Amen”

The sixth chapter of John is a meaty theological discourse. It begins with Jesus miraculously feeding the crowds with literal bread before walking on water, moves onto Him speaking of Himself as ‘Bread from heaven’ and concludes with words about who will betray Him. There are so many images and themes interwoven into the narrative that one could pursue an endless series of reflections.  Hence the need to isolate a verse.

So I am sticking with the flesh as ‘true food’ and the blood as ‘true drink’. And whilst images of communion naturally spring to mind maybe there are other ways to consider this verse.

True Food
Good food is the sort of food that truly brings us nourishment and growth. There are endless amounts of folk who tell us what we should and shouldn’t be eating. Sometimes we take notice. Other times we go our own way.

Likewise in our spiritual journeys. There are practices that help us grow. There are many advisers offering us their insights, and some of it works for us and some of it leaves us cold.

By speaking of Himself as true food the implication is that to truly grow spiritually we must feast on the teachings that Jesus came (in the flesh) to offer us. Putting it ever so simply … Jesus offers good teaching that can make us whole.

True Drink
Connoisseurs of fine wine know the difference between a mature full-bodied vintage and a bottle of cheap plonk from the supermarket. That difference will be reflected in the price tag.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation, the shedding of His blood on the Cross of Calvary that we may live free and forgiven! To truly drink in what God has done for us in Christ is a life-changing experience. As we come to appreciate the significance of what God has done, so we seek to be channels of God’s love to others.

Prayer: “Lord, help us to feast our lives upon the love You offer to us through the Holy Spirit. May we know Your teaching as the authentic pattern by which to order our lives. May we carry with us the awareness that Jesus died for us so as we can live for others. Amen.”

To take things a little further I wanted to consider what Jesus says in verse 62 “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Why is ‘looking back’ such a hindrance to discipleship?

Looking back focuses us on what we may lose rather than what we may gain.

We hear something that sounds worth pursuing. But then we get back into our usual routine and we look around and start with the ’But what if?’  and the “But I’m not so sure” questions. And there are plenty of visionless souls around us to confirm all our fears for us! The vision fades and procrastination takes over.

Looking back binds us to responsibilities we may need to let go!

The image of ‘plowing’ is an image of hard graft. Jesus asks some hard things of us. ‘Take up your cross” isn’t exactly a party invitation. “Let the dead bury the dead” doesn’t roll easily off the tongue. We reach points in our spiritual journeys that are really tough! Do we take this course (which is hard) or do we take this one (which will be even harder)? But we cannot take on the responsibility of building God’s Kingdom till we let go of our own little empires.

Looking back causes us indecision rather than prompting us to action.

“‘Let me say my good-byes first” is one of the responses made to the invitation to follow Jesus.  To put it another way… ‘Before I can follow you I need to put everything else in order so that there is no element of risk involved in my faith journey.’ If we are seeking order and clarity then we are not hearing what Jesus is asking of us.  Faith is a risky business. It can be a messy business. The positive side is that through faith we discover that God is able to do greater things for us than we ever dared imagine!

Prayer: “Lord, I confess my indecision. You called. I said “Hold On”. Teach me not to look back to the comfortable places but look forward to the great adventures. Amen.”

Thankfully most of us have not become so overwhelmed by the evil in our world that we are in the situation of the unfortunate man whom Jesus delivered. But I suspect we all wrestle our own demons… though we may not call them by such a name. We may prefer terms like habits, compulsions or addictions. We may see them as illnesses of mind or body or simply human failings. Yet like the demons that possessed the unfortunate man in the graveyard, they haunt us and could destroy us unless we are delivered from them.

The Good News in the passage is that Jesus is the One who can deliver us. It is worth noticing the process by which deliverance takes place.

Confrontation. When the light of Christ’s presence falls upon the man his need is revealed. As through worship and prayer we open our lives to God, the dark places of our own lives can be revealed.  We may not like what we see. We may feel like the man that such places are left well alone! But Christian growth involves dealing with those parts of life we’d rather forget about as well as functioning from our strong places.

Naming. Jesus is quite specific in seeking to identify the mans problem. “What is your name?” he asks the demons.  So we need to be specific when dealing with things that threaten our spiritual growth. Name them and claim Christs victory over them. We try and work with God as we seek for the Holy Spirit to recreate what is currently in chaos! If our problem is ‘lust’, then we call it what it is. If its ‘avoidance’ then we acknowledge that when faced with our problems we try and run from them rather than deal with them!  We name it so God can deal with it!

Sharing. The chances are that whatever we battle others are having the same battles. The existence and success of such groups as Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous testify that we oftentimes can best fight our demons in the company of others. The man Jesus delivers is invited to ‘tell others what God has done’.  Christian life is meant to be communal. We are encouraged to bear one and others burdens!

Prayer: “Lord, we don’t like to consider ourselves as possessed of demons, yet we see in our lives habits and practices that seem to control us. We pray for Your deliverance from all that would hinder our spiritual growth and prevent us sharing Your love with others. Amen.”

Footnote – At F.P.C. Baldwin groups for both AA and GA are in operation.  Further information can be found at the following web sites.

A.A.

Gamblers Anonymous

Here’s some further thoughts on how communion can encourage us amidst the storms of life.

Sharing communion during stormy days reminds we are not alone.
The whole thing about the word ‘communion’ is that involves more than one. It’s not just about us. At the very least it involves two parties… God and ourselves! As we break bread and drink wine we do so at the invitation of Jesus… an invitation that is offered with the words, “Do this in remembrance of me”. Whatever may come our way today let us try and remember we do not face it alone.

Breaking Bread reminds us that we are all broken.
We have this inbuilt tendency in the the midst of storms to look out only for ourselves. The person who falls overboard doesn’t cry out ‘Help us!’ but ‘Help Me!’. Scripture teaches that we are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory, or to put it another way, we are all drowning in our own false notion of self sufficiency. We all need God’s help and mercy, and that grace comes to us through Jesus Christ, who at the Cross totally identifies with our brokenness! As we face today’s problems let us recall that we are all broken!

Sharing wine reminds us that God love is poured out for us all.
God’s love pours out of an empty tomb. Death is revealed to be a loser. The last word is not defeat but victory. We are saved by grace through faith. Paul broke bread amidst the storm and all were encouraged. Let us seek this week to allow the peace of Christ to carry us through!

Prayer: “Lord, it can be a mad mad world that brings many storms our way. In the midst of the confusion help us to find Your peace and so be an encouragement to our fellow travelers! Amen.“

They had understood God as Father yet come to see how in Jesus that God stood with them. They felt the presence of Christ within them and around them through the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke of His inter-relation both with the Father and the Spirit.  There is a wonderful sense of community and understanding and relationship tied up with the whole thing that is at the same time mysterious and beautiful.

Understanding with our minds and actually living out our faith are of course two different things. My reflections for Trinity Sunday can be found in a sermon titled ‘Living the Trinity’ here.

A prayer: “Lord God, our Creator and Father, help us live in a way that reflects the wonder of Your creative genius! Jesus Christ, Saviour and Redeemer, help us to seek always to live in the light of Your teaching; Holy Spirit, inspirer, comforter and guide, create within us both the will and the strength to be a part of Your work of transformation! Amen!”

http://presbysermons.blogspot.com/2010/06/trinity-sunday.html

Some further reflections on prayer.

1. Prayer restores life. In the case of Tabitha that seems to have a literal application! But beyond that exceptional setting it remains true that active involvement in the discipline of prayer animates our spiritual life. Through prayer we tune our lives towards God’s will. The more in tune with God we become, the greater our ability to do the things to which God calls us.
2. The outcome of prayer can never be predicted. It is not my impression that Peter entered into the situation with the awareness that a life was going to be restored and the mission to the Gentiles was about to be launched. He just enters into the situation and places it into God’s hands. Prayer is never about getting God to do what we think we would do if we were gods. Rather it is allowing God to be God!
3. Prayer brings joy where there was previously only grief. The outward circumstances may often stay the same. That illness may continue. That death may still happen.  But prayer changes the focus from being upon the situation towards the One who walks with us through the differing scenes of our life journey. Prayer brings confidence where there has previously been fear and hope where hopelessness has been the dominant theme.

Prayer: Lord, we ask as Your disciples of old asked… ‘Teach us to pray’.  Encourage us to share our hearts deepest fears that they may be conquered by Your love.  Instruct us in the ways of listening and understanding.  Speak to us in our imagining, dreaming and serving that our whole selves may be energized by Your purposes. Amen.

What can we learn about the process of change from this account?

Firstly… Changing from doing things our way to doing them God’s way takes time. Whilst the flashing light and voice from the sky were things that happened in a moment, the time leading up to the decision was one that took many twists and turns. It was the influence of many of those he persecuted that helped change Saul.  Scripture mentions the martyrdom of Steven as being one of the events that Saul witnessed.

A similar story holds true for many if us. We can’t all point to dramatic moments of decision but many of us are aware that the call of God had been consistently pursuing us over the years… as much through our mistakes as through our triumphs.

Secondly… Notice how personal the call is. Jesus calls his name. “Saul, Saul!” In a similar way the call of God is one that demands our personal response. Belonging to a church, attending services of worship, going through the religious motions… all these are important aspects of belonging to a religious community. But we can do all those things without realizing that there is also an intensely personal dimension to being a disciple.  We are called to a personal relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the marks of that relationship will be the realization that God knows who we are… and calls us by name.

Thirdly… To follow God’s way means turning from doing everything our own way! This may be stating the obvious. But we cannot go on doing the things the way we’ve always done them and claim that we are following the new way of Christ.  If change is to come to our world, it has to begin with us! The spiritual journey is one of putting away the old and embracing the new.

Prayer: Lord, help me to pursue the new life of Your Spirit. Teach me this week to find Your way amidst the many ways that will seek my attention!