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Coming Soon!
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near .” (Rev 1:3, NLT)
Last week we started an eight week topical sermon series through the book of Revelation. I prefaced the first message (on the topic of ‘praise and worship') with a theme verse for the series – Rev 1:3 .
Generally speaking people who read the book of Revelation feel emotions such as fear, nervousness, a sense of being overwhelmed, etc rather than feeling blessed. It is a book that many people prefer to avoid reading. Thus Rev 1:3 is our theme verse. It's a verse that reminds us that we are blessed if we listen to the message of Revelation and obey what it says. I don't mind being blessed! So I think that Revelation is a book well worth exploring together.
I believe that people become most frightened by Revelation when they get bogged down in certain details. When the book is read aloud (or heard) in one sitting we are more likely to notice the overarching themes. These repeating themes / topics are inspiring, relevant, challenging and encouraging. Thus the topical approach to this preaching series.
Last week I told you that hopefully by the end of the series you will be less scared of Revelation and have a greater appreciation of it. But I did caution that the series wouldn't explain it all (far from it) , and that we'd have to continue reading it and struggling with it – until we get to heaven! None of us have perfect knowledge. None of us were there. But God's Spirit of truth guides us in to the truth (see John 16:13) . The Spirit is at work in our hearts and minds helping us to understand the things of God that we need to understand and encouraging us to leave the things that we don't understand to God. We can do this in faith because God tell us in his word : “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jer 29:11) . So there's no need to be afraid – just praise.The following “Thought for the Week” was part of the Revelation series I wrote for the Link last year. It was printed on 22 nd Feb 2009. I'm reproducing it here as a reminder of the series and because I'm preaching from this particular chapter today. The complete series can be found on our church web site at: http://www.gopbaptist.com/thoughts/thougts2009.html
“ Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. …and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:” (Rev 4:4, 6b)
Why 24 elders? My New Interpreters Study Bible (NISB) notes: “The symbolism… is taken from the rich biblical and apocalyptic tradition, with its evocative power. The presence of 24 elders on 24 thrones suggests the whole people of God – twelve tribes and twelve apostles (cf. 21:12 – 14) – who are somehow represented in heaven…” Once again, this is not a literal picture, but rich imagery of apocalyptic literature showing that the complete number of people, representing both the old and new covenants between God and his people, are represented in heaven.
Concerning the four living creatures, who are often considered to be frightening, they “…represent all animal life joining in constant praise to God (cf. Ps 104; Isa 6:3). Creatures that are full of eyes in front and behind cannot be imagined literally, but they evoke the numinous response that whoever approaches God's throne is observed from every direction and can keep noting concealed” (NISB) . We are reminded throughout Scripture that God knows everything – nothing can be hidden from him (see for instance 1 Cor 4:5).
Thus Revelations 4 informs us that “The response of all life, animal and human – is a song of praise to God the Creator” (NISB) . Do we praise God daily? Or is our praise of God limited to the times that we feel everything is going well? Do we believe that God is acting in our favour when our circumstances seem less than favourable? Do we believe that God is worthy of our praise irrespective of how we are feeling? Why should God be praised? Rev 4:8 reminds us that God is holy, Almighty, and eternal. We praise God in faith for who he is, as revealed to us through Scripture and the person of Jesus. “ Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! ” (Psa 150:6a)
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. ” (Psa 139:14)
Here is a challenging daily meditation for each of us. It is not something to be used as an excuse to not do things that we are capable of. Rather it is an affirmation of who we are in Christ when we are feeling useless:
Whatever I can manage is good enough
We don't have to think “I should do this” etc. Whatever we can manage is good enough. If all we can manage one day is to get out of bed periodically to go to the bathroom – that's good enough. If Jesus isn't giving us the strength we need to do any more than that… then that's all we need to do. We will know whether or not we have strength to do more than that because we will be able to do it. It won't be a question – it will be an act. So “whatever I can manage is good enough.”
I don't have to be anything more than what I am in Christ
Jesus is a miracle worker. He can do whatever he wants. If he wants to miraculously heal us, he can. If he wants to eliminate all our fears, he can. If he wants to eradicate certain behaviours / thought processes from our lives, he can. He is in the process of doing such things, but we are only so far along the journey. He only expects us to act in accordance with the state he's allowing us to be in today. Any more than that is his responsibility (with our cooperation) . Am I in Christ? See Rom 10:9; 2 Cor 5:17 – 21.
To know who I am in Christ I need to spend time with him
We get to know Jesus through his word, creation, literature, people, music, Christian meditation, etc. When do you feel closest to Jesus?
That's trusting in God
We trust in God when we accept that who we are in Christ is good enough. The world will try to convince us that we need to be more, we need to have more, we need to do more. But God tells us that we're good enough for him and that's all that matters. Praise the Lord!
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside.
I was so foolish and ignorant—
I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand .” (Psa 73:21–23, NLT)
I used to have a Ziggy cartoon which read: “I've learnt so much from my mistakes I'm thinking of making some more!” Our mistakes can become positive experiences when they help us to reflect in a healthy way, find a God glorifying solution and move on. Our mistakes are destructive when we consider them to be irredeemable and instead allow them to fuel negative thoughts about ourselves.
Psalm 73:21 – 23 reminds us that sometimes we respond to people and / or circumstances in ways that we're not proud of. We can feel bitter and torn up inside. We can speak / act in ways that are foolish and ignorant. We can feel as though we are no better than a senseless animal. We can become very negative about ourselves. “ YET… ” I reckon this is the BEST word in the above verses. “ YET “ i.e. in spite of our mistakes… we still belong to God and he's still holding our hand (as long as we've not let go of his by persistently and determinedly denying / rejecting his Son) . God continues to hold on to the people who want to remain his people. Another way of putting the sentiment of the Psalmist in the final three lines above could be “I was acting like a dumb animal (it would have been fair for you to reject me) YET you're still holding on to me.” Praise God!
WHEN we do make mistakes, we need to prayerfully reflect and do our best to make things right. But it's also important to remember that God is powerful enough to make supernatural corrections if necessary. We need to trust him to determine what he needs to do something about and what he doesn't. As long as we do our best to draw near to God (see James 4:8) and not drift from him (see Heb 2:1) , everything else will fall in to place (even if we don't feel as though it is). “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God…” (Rom 8:28) .“ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
(2 Tim 3:16 – 17, NLT)
I have one wonky eye and one respectable one. The respectable one does not need much help to focus whereas the wonky one does. Without help the two eyes fight against each other to focus and I get headaches.
For the last 5 months or so I have been getting increasing headaches of a nature that alerted me to the fact that it was time for a trip to the optometrist. You would think that I would go to the optometrist as soon as I became aware of the problem... but I did not. I kept putting it off. It takes time (precious day-light hours) and money to go to the optometrist. I had to wait until the problem was bad enough to warrant both!
I finally visited the optometrist a couple of weeks ago and discovered that I've graduated into a new category. For the first time, I need distance glasses. I ordered a pair with lenses that tint in the sun. I picked them up a few days later and thus began the rest of my life! I wore them home and for the first time in goodness knows how long, I could see clearly (and without sun glare) . I wear them in the car and can easily read road signs etc. I can even see you when I'm preaching now (I bet that's got you worried) ! Life is in a clearer focus these days and my headaches have gone away. Wow! Praise the Lord!
Reading the Bible is a bit like taking a trip to the optometrist to get new specs. God's Word teaches us the truth which puts the lies of the world in sharper focus. We need to visit God's Word before we realise we have problems. It helps us to see where we're at and how to get back on track if we've veered off it. It helps us to take care of unnecessary headaches in our lives. Today's message will explore this topic a little further and encourage us to visit the Master optometrist more regularly.“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love .” (1 Cor 13:13)
Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Bridger family as they grieve the loss of Margaret who was a woman strong in faith, hope and love.
Whenever I met with Margaret she would eagerly talk about her faith in and love for Jesus – her Lord and Saviour. She would talk about how blessed she felt by him, especially with her family. Margaret would tell me that her sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren all shared her love for Jesus and went to church. Wouldn't we all like to be able to say this? Wouldn't it be great to have the certainty of being reunited with our families in heaven one day? Margaret was truly blessed.
People pursue many things in this life, for instance: a career, financial security, notoriety, beauty, hobbies, skills and so on. All of these things have a limited life span. None of them are of eternal value. Today's verse reminds us of three key things that do have eternal worth: faith, hope and love where the object is Jesus. Do I have faith in Jesus? Do I cling to my hope in Jesus? Do I grow in my love for Jesus daily? And does my life inspire others to do the same?
Margaret's faith, hope and love had an impact on her family (and others) that will bear eternal fruit. Surely this is the greatest life pursuit any of us can have.
As we remember Margaret and her family, it is good to also remember others of our church family who are unable (or struggle) to get to church any more. I'm particularly thinking of Neata Conrau, Jean Harrigan, Tom & Merle Harries, Caleb and Teresa Paletaoga, Marj Sutcliffe and anyone else you remember. Please continue to keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. I encourage you to keep sending them cards, phoning them, and visiting them if possible.“ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
Christians know that we should love each another but we don't always do a great job of it. Christians are imperfect (like everyone else) , so at times we hurt (and are hurt by) others. If we hurt a fellow believer, ideally we feel burdened by a heavy heart until we do our best to rectify the situation. If we neither feel a burden nor seek restitution, our hearts and ability to love will harden. Sadly Christians with hardened hearts all over the world fight one another on local, national and global levels. This provides ammunition to the stinging criticism: “I wouldn't want to be a Christian – have you seen the way they treat each another?!”
It dawned upon me the other day that there's a reason Jesus commanded his followers to love one another. That is because he knew it wouldn't always be easy. Jesus didn't command his followers to breathe because that comes naturally. We don't need to be commanded to do something that is second nature. We need to be commanded to do things that are essential, but not always second nature and not always easy.
We don't naturally, always love all Christians. But we're commanded to, so it's something we should strive for, acknowledging that some times we'll do a better job of it than others. When we feel convicted that we've done a bad job, we need to do our best (with God's help) to rectify the situation. When we've done that, we can forgive ourselves for slipping up. God is love (1 John 4:16) , we are not. We are commanded to do our best but God knows we won't get it 100% right all of the time.
We are blessed by God to be a part of a VERY loving church. We are all different in many ways but we share the most important thing – a love for Jesus. We believe in him and his teaching. We do our best (with God's help) to keep learning about Jesus and growing in our likeness of him. It is our love and faith in Jesus that unites us and helps us to increasingly grow in our ability to love. We have much to thank our loving God for.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said, “Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?”
(Mark 4:37 – 38, NRSV & GNB)
Imagine for a moment that our church is a boat. And the waves beating in to our boat are waves of illness and unwelcomed change. The last 12 – 16 months have been rather ferocious.
I believe that most of the people who've called Glenroy Oak Park their spiritual home for the last year or so have been impacted by some significant stormy weather. Think about how many of you have experienced significant illness and / or an unwelcomed hospital stay. Perhaps you've not experienced it personally, but someone close to you has (e.g. a parent, spouse, child etc) . How many people have moved homes? How many deaths have significantly impacted you over the last 12 – 16 months? I believe our boat has been seriously unsettled by the storms of life and some of us are feeling a little more sea-sick than others.
The story we find in Mark 4:35 – 41 is one of my favourite gospel stories. When the waves beat in to the boat on the lake of Galilee 2000-odd years ago, the disciples freaked out! It had been Jesus' idea to go out in this rotten boat. This resulted in the disciples thinking that they were about to die a horrible death. Yet Jesus was sleeping through it all without a care in the world! I imagine the disciples experienced a myriad of emotions such as fear, anger and stress. But what could be done? Fortunately they called on Jesus who has the authority and ability to calm any storm – whether literal or metaphorical. Jesus calmed the storm and used the experience to help the disciples to grow in their understanding of him.
What storms do we need Jesus to calm in our lives as individuals and a church? We'll pastorally reflect on this a little further in our meeting this afternoon.“ Draw near to God and he will draw near to you....” (Jms 4:8)
We have cordless phones at home. I love them. Sometimes I need to go to another room while I'm talking to someone (for a quieter room and / or privacy) . Other times I like to be multi-tasking while I'm on the phone. The other day I was having a conversation with someone on the phone but I was expecting a visitor (who'd not been to the house before) . I watched for the visitor then opened the door while they were getting out of their car. I was standing out on the porch, still in conversation on the phone, when the line went dead. I was no longer close enough to the base unit for the connection to be strong enough.
It can be helpful to think of our relationship with God like that of a cordless phone with its base unit. God is the base unit. We are the cordless phone. The closer we are to the base unit, the stronger the signal we get from God. When we're plugged in to the base unit, we re-charge our batteries. But the further away from the base unit we move, the weaker our signal gets. And the longer we're away from the base unit, the more run-down our batteries get.
How do you “plug in” to God (your base unit) ? Reading the Bible? Enjoying his creation? Christian music? Reading Christian books? Talking to others about God and / or Godly topics? Through Christian social action? Prayer? Creative worship? Traditions? How do you draw near to God? What helps you to sense his presence in your life? I recommend the book “Sacred Pathways” by Gary Smalley to anyone interested in reading more about various ways we can connect with God.
How close are you to God? How strong do you feel the signal is between you and the base unit? Are you conscious of God's presence with you in the everyday things of life? Do you chat with God throughout your day? This morning we start our preaching series based on Nehemiah entitled, “Lessons from a man of integrity – A Lesson on Prayer.” Prayer is also a GREAT way of recharging our batteries with God.“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb .” (Psa 139:13)
This will be my third mother's day as a mother. How can it be my third when Josiah is only 18 months old?! I considered myself to be a mother from the moment I discovered Josiah was alive in my womb. From that point on I had to make daily decisions that impacted his development. I avoided certain foods in case they harmed Josiah. There were vitamins and minerals that I needed to introduce to (or increase in) my diet. I ensured that I got the rest and exercise that Josiah and I needed. I wasn't allowed to lift anything too heavy etc. These are examples of the daily decisions I made to be the best mother to Josiah that I could be at that time. This is one of the reasons I believe it is important to consider a woman to be a mother from the moment she discovers she is pregnant.
The main drawback of thinking in this way is if a mother decides to end the life of her baby before s/he is born. The current Victorian law allows a woman to end her baby's life at any point up until the unborn baby is 24 weeks old. The mother does not need to give a reason. This is shocking considering the recent story in the news of a baby being born prematurely (in a toilet bowl) at 23 weeks. The 23 week old boy was born perfectly formed and without brain damage. Yet the mother of an unborn baby the same age can chose to end her baby's life. Beyond 24 weeks, all you need is the agreement of two doctors if you want to end the life of your baby. MANY THANKS to those who signed the recent “Right to Life” petition that we had at church asking the government to overturn these laws.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind .” (Phil 2:2)
Near our house there is a large sporting ground. It contains a walking track, play equipment for children, gym equipment (e.g. a rower) , a mini basketball court, cricket nets, park benches, a central oval with football posts etc. It's a FANTASTIC space. The track is used for cycling, jogging, walking, exercising pets etc. Some people use the space for team sports (cricket, Aussie Rules, etc) , others use it for family fun, and others for personal recreation. Throughout the week a multitude of different people use the oval in a variety of ways. The one thing that unites us is our appreciation of the sporting ground. We love it!
It is our love for Jesus which unites Christians. Unfortunately at times throughout church history individuals have used verses such as Phil 2:2 to try and oppress others. “Do what I say because you MUST be of the same mind as me!” This is a tragic manipulation of the verse. We are in one mind in our faith in the good news of Jesus, our secure hope of eternal salvation through him, and our resulting gratitude and love for Jesus. We express our faith, hope and love in different ways – e.g. one person through art and another through religious studies. One person may express their faith charismatically and another traditionally etc. But we are united in our love for the same Lord. Just as the various users of the afore mentioned sporting ground are all different and use the space in diverse ways yet we are united in our love of it.
God has created each of us with precision and care (Psa 139:13 – 16) . God's Spirit gifts us individually (1 Cor 12:4 – 11, 27) so that we have different things to offer one another (Rom 12:4 – 5) in order that we might be interdependent and build one another up in Jesus (Eph 4:11 – 13) . Let's celebrate our God created differences which he uses for his glory, but also celebrate our faith, hope and love in Christ which unites us.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor 13:1)
The other day we were driving from Pascoe Vale Rd to the Western Ring Rd (WRR) from Broadmeadows. We were in the right hand lane, first in the queue at the red lights just before the WRR turning lights. When the lights turned green, Kieran accelerated to speed slowly before slowing again to move in to the right hand turning lane for the next set of red lights. The car behind us started honking soon after the lights turned green and continued honking until we were in the right hand turning lane and he could sped past, honking and gesticulating wildly. How rude!
Perhaps the driver had a good reason for acting in such a seemingly rude manner. Perhaps his car contained a passenger needing to be rushed to the hospital? Or perhaps there was some other form of emergency? Such explanations might make the behaviour understandable but not acceptable. The incessant honking was rude, unhelpful and unsettling.
Sometimes people can express their opinions to us in such a way that we feel as though they are rudely honking at us (like the driver above). Some times we honk back. Other times we might be the ones initiating the honking. Some times we might be unaware of the negative impact we are having on others or visa versa. Even if there is a good reason, these types of “honking” are neither loving nor helpful.
So how can we respond if we feel we are being honked at? Sometimes we need to walk away. Other times we need to lovingly but firmly hold our ground (without honking) . What about when we are doing the honking? We need to have a serious think about why we are acting the way we are. There may be a good reason, but we need to rethink how we can handle the situation in a more loving manner. Thank the Lord that we are not expected to be perfect. But we are expected to do our best to make peace if we realise that we have been honking. And we need to do our best, in God's strength, not to repeat the error.“… Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them .” (1 Sam 8:6b – 7)
Those following the 2010 Bible Challenge have recently been reading the story of Israel 's first human king, Saul.
The Israelites had been living in the Promised Land for some time. There they experienced an ongoing downward spiral (see Judges 1 – 21) . The Israelites would obey God for a time and experience the resulting blessings of the covenant (see Deut 28:1 – 14) . Then they would become complacent, forget God and experience the curses of the covenant (see Deut 28:15 – 29:1) . Then they would remember God and repentantly cry out to him. God, in his mercy, would send them a ‘judge' to help deliver them. During the judge's life time the people would obey God and experience the blessings of the covenant. Then the judge would die, the people would become complacent and forget God. God's people became increasingly depraved as the downward spiral continued.
The Israelite's experience of the curses of God's covenant forced them to look inwards (yuck!) and God-wards (making them realise how far short of his standard they had fallen…again) . Eventually they tired of God's desire to have a daily personal relationship them involving worship, introspection and action (on individual and corporate levels) . They wanted to replace God with a human king who wouldn't want a personal relationship with each of them. They asked Samuel, God's prophet of the day, to organise it. Samuel was outraged, taking the people's rejection personally. But the rejection was of God, not him.
God warned the people against replacing him with a human king (1 Sam 8:11 – 18) . They rejected the warning (1 Sam 8:19) . They adamantly demanded a king. They gave various reasons including their desire for a king to lead them in to battle (1 Sam 8:20) . To date, God had led them in to battle and fought for them (e.g. 1 Sam 7:3 – 13) . If the people lost a battle it was because they had persistently broken their covenant with God. They had to repentantly turn back to God and acknowledge that it was they (rather than God) who were at fault. But if they had human king s (plural because only God is eternal) who lost battles, the people could blame the kings rather than themselves. No introspection required if there are people to blame rather than God! It's much easier.
I wonder if we sometimes turn to people for comfort and advice rather than God? They rarely request the intensity of relationship that we need with God (involving worship, introspection and action). If things go wrong, being able to blame people rather than God or ourselves can be a bit more palatable. Do we replace God? Or is God our daily source of comfort, strength, worship, guidance, identity, peace, rebuke, etc? God made us. God loves us. We are safest with him. Are we feeling safe in his care and invigorated by him? Or are there changes we need to make to grow closer to him? Let's recommit ourselves to God today.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ …. encourage one another and build up each other… ” (1 Thes 5:11)
How do you define encouragement? I generally define it as an affirming comment to someone about themselves or something they've done. E.g. “you look good,” or “I really appreciated x ” (where x could be “what you said,” or “the work you did” etc) . Another definition is; an affirming comment to someone about how they can “improve”. E.g. “You would look even better if you lost some more weight” or “It / You would be / do even better if you thought / said / did x ” (where x is whatever the “encourager” believes their subject should think / say / do in accordance with their opinion of how they can “improve”) . I call this constructive (or in some cases, destructive ) feedback rather than “encouragement”. Constructive feedback has its place. It can be helpful to provide someone with another opinion of how they might “improve.” However, we need to remember that we are not God and our opinion might be wrong, thus we can't demand that people act upon our opinion.
When God's Word tells us to encourage and build one another up (e.g. Eph 4:29; 1 Thes 5:11) I believe we're being urged to affirm the good that we find in each other. If we can't affirm someone as they are in Christ but can only think of how to “improve” them, then it may be wise to keep our thoughts between ourselves and God (constructive feedback is best offered within the context of a loving and affirming relationship) . God alone is perfect in essence and knowledge. He is our source of true improvements. It's God's job (not ours) to correct / change individuals as he requires (e.g. Isa 30:21; 2 Cor 3:17–18) in his way and his timing.
What type of encouragers are we? Do we encourage people as they are? Or do we tell others how they can “improve”? The latter implies that we're focusing on what's wrong (in our opinion) with people and what they do, rather than what's right Let's look for and affirm the good that we find in ourselves and others just as we are in Christ and leave the task of correction / change to God.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“…I don't concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother.” (Psa 131:1 – 2a NLT)
We have many nicknames for Josiah pending what he's up to at the time. One of his nicknames is “the wriggler!” Kieran and I love wrapping our arms around Josiah and telling him that we love him. But our cuddles generally interfere with his eagerness to explore something somewhere else. He knows that we love him… but he's not sure what's in the cupboard that we usually keep locked under the sink (etc) . He might stay still with us for a second or two, but then he wriggles and squiggles until he's released so he can run off and explore.
I believe God wants us, his children, to metaphorically curl up in his lap daily, to still ourselves in his warm embrace and be reminded that he loves us. But how often do we do that? We might spend a second or two with God, but then we rush off because there's so much else to do. Time with God means less time to do stuff. And the stuff I have to do is more important than spending time with God. Really? Why? Does God agree? Does he think the stuff we do without him is important? Can we do things of true value without God?
The times Josiah is most likely to remain still for a cuddle is when he's sick, frightened or seriously hurting. Sadly we'll often delay racing into God's loving embrace until we are in a similar state. We give preference to many things other than spending time with God unless we're desperate enough to put everything else on hold in the hope that spending time with God will help us. Satan uses what / whoever he can to draw us away from God, how are we counteracting that (James 4:7 – 8) ?
Today's verse reminds us to still and quieten ourselves with God like a small child is quiet with its mother. When was the last time you curled up in God's lap and sensed his arms around you and heard him tell you that he loves you? I encourage us to increasingly draw near to God daily.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Have you ever heard or said “when I am weak, I am strong” but wondered what it really meant? I recently reflected afresh on it.
In 2 Cor 11:23 – 33, Paul highlights some of the experiences he had as an apostle including; imprisonments, floggings, being adrift at sea, being in danger from people and the harshness of the land he was travelling, not having enough food / water etc. When I look at all the different things Paul experienced I think “Wow! I'm glad I've not been called to be an itinerant evangelist!” Paul constantly needed to defend himself, pull people in back to line (rebuking them on individual and corporate levels) , escape dangerous situations and so on. So when Paul concludes in 2 Cor 12:10 that he is sometimes weak, he is referring to physical, emotional, mental etc weaknesses that he experienced as a result of his fulfilment of Christ's call upon his life to be an itinerant evangelist – notably to the Gentiles (see Gal 1:15 – 16a) . At such times Paul surely drew closer to God and was used more powerfully by him, e.g. it meant Paul wrote letters to the Corinthians that are a vital part of God's Word.
When we experience hardship in life that brings us physical, emotional, mental, spiritual pain etc. hopefully this causes us to reassess how near or far we are to / from God. Ideally this prompts us to draw nearer to him. As we draw nearer to him our relationship with him is strengthened (see James 4:8) . As our relationship with him is strengthened, he is able to use us more powerfully for his glory. So 2 Cor 12:10 persuades me; “when I am weak in health, finances, my emotions, confidence etc. I am reminded to lean more heavily on God and so my relationship with him is strengthened and he is able to achieve more through me for his glory. Thus when I am weak, then I am stronger in him and he is stronger through me.” Praise the Lord!
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ” (Lam 3:22 – 23)
On a good morning, Kieran and I will take Josiah for a few laps around the figure 8 walking track near our house. One of the delights of this experience for Josiah is seeing other people coming in the opposite direction. As they approach, he leans forward in his stroller, gives them his best smile and says with excellent intonation “Hewwo!” (he uses “w's” rather than “l's” in the word “Hello!”) .
Most city-slickers ignore Josiah's friendly greeting the first time they walk past. They're too caught up in their own world. But Josiah doesn't give up. He waits until we pass them again (as we inevitably do) and tries again with another enthusiastic “Hewwo!” On the second attempt, he generally gets a slight smile in response.
Our son deserves points for optimistic persistence. We'll pass the person again. He'll engagingly lean forward with a big grin on his face. He'll say, perhaps louder this time, “ Hewwo! ” Now he might get a bigger smile in response.
By the fourth time he does it, the person is expecting it. Josiah doesn't disappoint them. “ HEWWO! ” he joyously exclaims. With a big smile on their face they respond, “Hello!” at which point we can all go home happy.
Josiah does not succeed with everyone. There are some hardened city-clickers who will ignore him each time he tries to lovingly capture their attention. When his persistence doesn't wear an individual down, Kieran and I encourage him with the words “good boy” so he'll keep trying.
I wonder how regularly God enthusiastically calls out to us “Hello!” as we go about our busy-ness each day? I wonder how many times God has to sing out before he gets an affirmative response? I wonder how often we ignore God's promptings because we're too locked up in our own little world? I encourage you to say “Hewwo!” to God today.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ [Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. ” (Titus 2:14)
Jesus loves us so much that he gave up everything for us. This is an incredible gift. Jesus is God. He always has been. He always will be. Yet he took time out from heaven to become a human. He voluntarily put aside the full range of his powers and divinity in order to become a baby. He grew into a boy. The boy grew up to be a man who performed miraculous deeds of love. And he spoke in love to all who heard him. Yet he was not liked by everyone. So some powerful people arranged to have him killed. Jesus allowed this to happen. Although it made no sense from a human perspective, this was God's ultimate gift of love to any who would accept it. We accept it by agreeing that Jesus is Lord, believing in what we read about him in the Bible, and asking him to be our Saviour, brother and guide.
Jesus, who has given up everything for us, asks those who call him their Saviour, brother and guide to give up everything for him. He burns up the stuff that is of no use and gives us back the things which are OK for use HIS way. Yet sometimes we hold on to things that we need to hand over to him. They are habits that are familiar. They've become part of who we are. We can become tricked in to thinking that we can't let go of them. Things such as speaking in anger, turning to addictive substances or habits for relaxation, living in fear, allowing our eyes to read / see things that Jesus doesn't appreciate and so on. Sometimes we can almost act as though we believe that since we didn't ask Jesus to give up everything for us, he has no right to ask us to give up everything for him. We can act as though we think our sins are better than the perceived alternatives. Surely this makes Jesus sad.
What aspect/s of my life do I think make Jesus sad? What am I going to do about it?
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left,
your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way; walk in it. ” (Isa 30:21)
This has been one of my favourite verses in the Bible for over 20 years. When I first heard it I was young in my faith and I was grappling with the question of “how do I know if I am doing God's will?” I wanted to ensure I was doing God's will in every area of my life. I was concerned that if I made the wrong decision in one area, I might miss out on God's plan “A” for my life and find myself in a situation that was irredeemable. This was immature spiritual thinking because my view of God was too small.
At that time, someone shared Isa 30:21 with me. It lifted a burden for me. It made me realise that no matter what job I chose, or church I attended, or people I mixed with… if I got too far off the track of where God wanted me to be, he would give me a word to get me back on track. “This is the way; walk in it.” The most important thing was to do my best to step out in faith and know that God would either reward or redirect my steps to keep me in his will. Praise the Lord!
God recently made the word “behind” jump out at me in Isa 30:21. God lets us be in the driving seat of our lives but he wants us to accept his perfect direction as the expert driving instructor alongside us. We have three choices. Firstly , we can tell God to get out of the car. But the eternal consequence of this action is Hell. Secondly , we can listen to God and follow his instructions. This ensures our best chance at driving as smoothly as possible through the obstacle course that is life. Thirdly , we can put God in the back seat of the car as a passenger and call out to him every now and then for help. If we are hearing God's “voice behind us” perhaps we need to invite God back in to the front of the car to resume his rightful place as our expert driving instructor. Are you hearing God's voice alongside or behind you at present? I invite you to re-affirm or ask him to resume his place alongside you this morning.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ”
(the words of Jesus in Matt 28:19)
The final theological belief that Australian Baptists are committed to notes that we believe in “ The two ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ, namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which are of perpetual obligation: Baptism being the immersion of believers upon the profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a symbol of the fellowship of the regenerate in His death, burial and resurrection; the Lord's Supper being a memorial, until He comes, of the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. ” This is probably the most controversial of the theological statements that Baptists include in their doctrinal basis.
Jesus endorsed two religious practices that Australian Baptists believe they should follow, 1. Baptism, 2. the Lord's Supper (or Communion) .
Baptism occurs once. Baptists believe that Baptism by full immersion most accurately demonstrates a believer's faith and participation in Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. As a person enters the water, they symbolically display their death to their old life without Jesus, they are “buried” under water and then rise again to their new life with him (e.g. see Rom 6:3 – 11) . For this reason, Baptists believe that the best way for a new believer to publically demonstrate their faith in the good news of Christ is through Baptism by immersion.
Digressing slightly, most Baptist constitutions stipulate that a person can only become a member of the church if they have been baptised by full immersion. However, it is acknowledged that this is not always possible (for various reasons) . Therefore an increasing number of Baptist churches are making allowances in their constitutions for those unable to be baptised by full immersion and / or those from other faith traditions.
The Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) has a model constitution for churches to use. The constitution has a section that allows membership to those who've been baptised by full immersion only. It has an alternate section that allows exceptions to this rule.
Back to our ninth doctrinal belief: the Lord's Supper is practiced more regularly than Baptism. Jesus sacrificed his life so that whoever believes in him and accepts him as their Saviour and Lord is saved. So we eat broken bread together to remind us that Jesus' body was broken for us. And we drink juice together to remind us that Jesus' blood was shed for us. Jesus encouraged his followers to continue this practice until he returns as a reminder of his sacrifice for us in the past, a rededication of our lives to him in the present, and as a declaration of our faith in his coming again in the future (e.g. see 1 Cor 11:23 – 26) . Australian Baptists practice communion as a memorial (or reminder) of all that Jesus has done for them. It reminds us of how far short of God's perfection we fall and our desperate need for Christ our Saviour who makes peace between us and God. Christ's perfect sacrifice makes us acceptable to God and fit for eternity with him, as long as we continue to believe and trust in Christ.
Digressing slightly, back to the subject of the constitution, although a Baptist constitution stipulates:
a) the mode of Baptism (in the case of our constitution, this means Baptism by full-immersion only)
b) conditions for membership (in our case, the constitution stipulates only those who've been baptised by full immersion can become a member of the church) ,
current Baptist constitutions (including ours, and the BUV's model) say nothing about who may or may not receive Communion. Instead the constitution reminds us that Communion provides an opportunity for us to enter in to close fellowship with Jesus in order to rekindle our love for him and rededicate our lives to him. It is up to the individual believer (or in the case of a child it is up to them in conjunction with the believer who has brought them to church) to determine whether or not they will take Communion. We are to judge only ourselves in this matter.
Thus concludes our contemplation of what Baptists believe as outlined in the Australian Baptist Doctrinal Basis. Hopefully this eight week series has helped you to better understand the essence of what we believe (and where there is scope for differences of opinion!).
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Last week I wrote of Josiah's love of Colin Buchanan's music. A number of Colin's songs help children to learn bible verses. One of them has the lyrics: “Jesus said I am the way (oo-cha, oo-cha, oo-cha-cha) ; Jesus said I am the truth (oo-cha, oo-cha, oo-cha-cha) ; Jesus said I am the life (oo-cha, oo-cha, oo-cha-cha) ; Jesus is the life (cha-cha) ; Jesus is the truth (cha-cha) ; Jesus is the way (cha-cha) ; the only way to God; singing way-oh-way-oh John 14:6 (cha-cha) way-oh-way-oh John 14:6 (cha-cha) .…” It's a very catchy number that has ensured I remember the actual bible reference for these familiar words.
John 14:6 is a good one in support of number seven of the nine theological beliefs that Australian Baptists are committed to. Statement number seven notes that we believe in “ the necessity, in order to know salvation, of repentance towards God and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. ” In other words, we believe that salvation is dependent upon an individual's repentance of living life without Christ as their Lord and Saviour and upon their faith in the good news about him (e.g. see John 3:16; Rom 5:1 – 21; 10:9 – 13) .
Statement number eight of our doctrinal basis notes that Australian Baptists believe in “ t he resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment of all people by the Lord Jesus Christ. ” In other words, all people past, present and future will one day stand before Jesus and be judged by him. He will decide our eternal destiny once and for all (e.g. see Acts 10:42; 17:30 – 31; 2 Tim 4:1) .
Last week I mentioned during my sermon that Robert Frost claimed he could sum up everything he'd learned about life in three words. They were quite simply: “it goes on!” This life is not all there is. We plan for our retirement, but do we plan for eternity? Beyond this life, life continues. Faith in Christ secures our joyous eternal future with him.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life .” (Tit 3:4 – 7)
Josiah loves the music of Colin Buchanan. Colin (once a teacher and Play School presenter) is a country music singer who's developed “Aussie Praise for Kids”. Colin is gifted in putting bible verses and Christian teachings to music in a way that kids LOVE. Every morning, Josiah gets up, points to the stereo and sternly waggles his finger until we put on one of Colin's CDs. Then he smiles, claps and moves to the music.
One of Colin's songs is called “Big Words That End In SHUN.” It teaches kids the meaning of words like: “salvation,” propitiation,” “sanctification” and “justification”. Today's Australian Baptist belief includes some of these big words. We believe in “ the immediate work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of men and women, in their sanctification, and in their preservation to the heavenly Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. ” This basically means that we believe God gifts new believers in Christ with his S pirit who simultaneously rebirths them spiritually (e.g. see John 3:3 – 8) . Thus we're regenerated / made alive in the Spirit. God's Spirit cleanses us (i.e. forgives us) for our ultimate sin of living without Christ and the sins we committed up to that point. The Spirit dedicates us to God, making us at peace with him. The Spirit commences his sanctifying work – i.e. transforming us bit by bit into Christ's image (e.g. see 2 Cor 3:18). This work, which continues right up until our death (provided we remain in him) , saves us to spend eternity in the heavenly Kingdom of Jesus (e.g. see 1 Thes 5:23; 1 Pet 1:1 – 16) . The Spirit is vital to Christ's ongoing work. Praise the Lord!
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord .” (Rom 6:23)
We continue in our series through the nine beliefs outlined in the Australian Baptist's Doctrinal Basis . Just a reminder that I'm writing this series because we're all attending a Baptist church and it's nice to remind ourselves what the denomination believes. We're up to belief number 5 which is a bit of a mouthful: Australian Baptists believe in “ t he salvation of men and women from the penal consequences and power of sin through the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, His atoning death, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His unchanging priesthood .”
In a slightly expanded nut-shell: no human is perfect (e.g. Rom 3:23) , yet God is (e.g. Isa 6:1 – 5) . We continually sin against God by acting against his will and character in thought / word and deed. The power that sin has is to separate us from God (our Creator in whose image we are made) . The penal consequences of sin is eternal separation from God (e.g. Rom 6:23) . We needed to be liberated from the power of sin and its penal consequences. So God sent his Son, Jesus, to be our liberator, reconciler and ticket to spending eternity with God (e.g. Gal 1:3 – 5) . It was in obedience to the Father that Jesus – who was perfect – was legally crucified by sinful men (e.g. Matt 20:18 – 19). Jesus sacrificed his life for ours to pay the penalty of our sin. God then raised Jesus from the dead (e.g. Mark 16:6). He was seen by many witnesses (e.g. Acts 3:15) . Eventually Jesus returned to heaven to reclaim the full powers of his divinity (e.g. John 20:17; Acts 1:9 – 11; Heb 10:12). Jesus has the sole right to be our ultimate, eternal minister who is able to save us from the eternal penalty we deserve for our sin (e.g. Heb 4:14 – 16; 5:1 – 10; 7:22 – 28) . Rather than spend eternity without God, thanks to Jesus we will spend eternity with God. Hallelujah!
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God .” (Rom 3:23)
Nobody is perfect… but Christians are forgiven (hallelujah!)
We are up to the fourth doctrine in our series through the nine theological beliefs outlined in the Australian Baptist's Doctrinal Basis. That is: Baptist's believe in the fallen, sinful and lost estate of all people . Said another way, none of us are perfect.
When God's character, as revealed to us throughout His Word, is our benchmark for perfection, we realise how short of the mark we fall. Compared to God, even the most ‘perfect' people we know are still far from perfect. Yet we often compare ourselves to others rather than God. This is an exercise in futility for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it means we're aiming for the wrong target. In archery, it is important to focus on the target you want to hit. This provides the best chance of hitting the bullseye. If you use a mirror to shoot at the target, you will dramatically reduce your chances of hitting it. When we compare ourselves to others, even the godliest people we know, we are using a reflection to hit our target rather than aiming directly for Jesus. No one is perfect so we need to look to Jesus to see how we should live, not others.
The second reason comparing ourselves to others is an exercise in futility is because it encourages us to fall in to the traps of either criticising or envying others. Jesus said that “envy” is evil and it defiles us (see Mark 7:20 – 23) . He also told us to beware of judging others (e.g. see Matt 7:1 – 5) . It's important to look to God in order to live his way, rather than imperfect people. It is equally important not to expect others to be perfect – no one ever will be this side of heaven.
Acknowledging how imperfect we are compared to God helps us to recognise how desperately we need Jesus and the Spirit's help to become more like him. Thus the importance of acknowledging the fact that everyone is fallen, sinful and lost without Jesus.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“…The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matt 26:63–64, NIV)
We continue to work our way through the nine key theological beliefs higlighted in the Australian Baptist's Doctrinal Basis. The third one notes that Australian Baptists believe in “ the deity (i.e. divinity) and incarnation (i.e. humanity) of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.” Some world religions will state that Jesus was a man, but not God. Some sects or cults will maintain that Jesus is God but was not fully human.
Christian denominations share the belief that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. Jesus laid aside the full extent of his divinity while he was on earth in order to identify with us (e.g. see Phil 2:5 – 11) . An analogy is a father playing AFL with his young child. A loving father will not use all of his skills and strength to play the game with their child. Instead they will limit their abilities in order to teach the child and help them to feel as though they have a chance at winning!
It was important that God came to earth in the form of a human (Jesus) in order to reconcile humanity to its Creator. Most of the year we reflect on the divinity of Christ and appropriately worship him as God. At Christmas and Easter times we are reminded of Jesus' humanity as demonstrated through his birth and his death. There are benefits of Jesus' divinity (e.g. “We can have real knowledge of God. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9)” – Millard Erickson, Christian Theology , p. 720) And there are benefits of his humanity (e.g. we are assured that Jesus really does empathise with us and pray meaningfully for us – see Rom 8:33 – 34; Heb 7:25). What aspects of Christ's divinity and humanity are you grateful for?
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ Go therefore & make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ,” (Matt 28:19)
Jesus commanded his followers to go out and help others to seek and find him as their Lord and Saviour. Once they'd done that, they were then to baptise the new believers in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. Note that the word “name” is singular, yet three names are given. In this statement, Jesus reinforced the fact that we worship one God, yet God is three in one. Thus we worship a God who is Triune. It's all a bit incomprehensible – yet we cling to the mystery of the Trinity in faith.
Some religions will accept God but not Jesus or the Spirit. Others might accept God and Jesus but not the Spirit etc. Christians maintain that God is three persons in one. Thus the Baptist Denomination includes in its Doctrinal Basis: we believe in “ the existence of one God in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ” .
At Bible College , our theology lecturer commented on various
images used to help people reflect on the Trinity. His favourite
(and mine) is the three leaved Celtic knot. It is drawn with one (curved) line, yet it has three distinct leaves – thus it is three in one. That is why I asked Shobha if she might paint an artwork for our foyer representing the Trinity in this way. She did a WONDERFUL job.
Scripture contains three separate but interrelated types of evidence that help us to form a theological understanding of the Trinity. They include,
• Evidence that God is one (i.e. evidence for the unity of God)
• Evidence that there are three persons who are God
• Support that God is “three in one” (i.e. there are three beings who are separate and yet are also unified as one God)
If you would like more information, let me know and I will give you a brief document that I prepared on the Trinity for one last year's Bible Studies.
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work .” (2 Tim 3:16 – 17)
Last year I put a copy of the “ The Australian Baptist Doctrinal Basis” on our notice board. Any Baptist church affiliated with the Baptist Union of Australia (including ours) should agree with all of these beliefs (otherwise they risk being kicked out of the Union ). The list is expressed in theological terms understood by those who've undertaken theological study, but not necessarily understood by all people attending Baptist churches. Since you're attending a Baptist church, I thought it might be nice for you to know and understand what theological beliefs the Baptist denomination hold most dear. So I thought I'd start at the beginning and write a different weekly Link article on each of our beliefs.
The first belief is quite straight forward. That is, we believe in “ the divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments .” Said more simply: we believe that the Bible contains what God most wants humanity to know about Him, His interaction with humanity throughout the ages and His activity in our world. God inspired certain people to write the various books of the Bible (e.g. see 2 Tim 3:16) . But it is His word to us direct from Him. Hence the Bible is our ultimate written authority and its authority overrides any other.
That's why Baptists should believe that the Bible is the most important book for us to read. Other books may talk about the Bible, or about subjects addressed in the Bible. But they do not substitute for reading the Bible itself. I wonder how many Baptists have read the whole Bible? How seriously do we take the Bible? Seriously enough to sense a need to read it every day? When was the last time you read all of the Bible? It's not too late to join our 2010 Bible Challenge. Why not start today?
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“…I will hope in [ the Lord” says my soul ]
The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him .” (Lam 3:22 – 25)
A few years ago I had the opportunity to create a “Centring Prayer” for a class at Whitley College (the Baptist Bible College in Melbourne ) . I decided to combine a few different techniques and concepts to come up with the idea of playing some soft Christian instrumental music in the background, while inviting people to enter in to a Biblical narrative in a new way. My desire was to help participants to reawaken their connection with God. The difficulty was finding music that was Christian, unrecognisable (to minimise distractions) and uniformly mellow.
I explored various Christian bookstores. It's easy to buy instrumental CDs. However they're generally instrumentals of well known hymns or Christian songs. Of the instrumental CDs that have unrecognisable tunes, it's difficult to find one where the pieces are all of a similarly mellow nature. Generally speaking it will be an eclectic mix of some up-tempo instrumentals and other more easy going pieces.
I finally had success. I found a beautiful instrumental CD called “Quietime: Devotion” by Eric Nordhoff which I use whenever I do a centring prayer (at deacon's meetings, Federation Village services, and this morning's service) . I use the same CD for background music at our Maundy Thursday prayer nights each year. It's a fantastic CD.
When planning last December's “Silent Night of Guided Reflection,” I felt that rather than using my normal “Quietime: Devotion” CD, it would be good to use a CD with Christmas tunes playing in the background. However I wanted to find an instrumental CD that would have uniformly mellow Christmas pieces on it (I don't ask for much do I?!) It's easy to find Christmas instrumental CDs – but to find one uniformly mellow is more challenging. I thought that if worst came to worst I would simply use my dependable “Quietime” CD for our “Silent Night.”
Things were unusually busy in November and I forgot about my desire to purchase an instrumental Christmas CD. However, Kieran's godson (our nephew) was having a dedication service for his son. A perfect excuse to visit Word Bookstore and buy a suitable Bible for Zane (our grand-nephew who was Christened).
When we got to Word, I suddenly remembered that I wanted to find an instrumental Christmas CD. I walked to the music section of the store and there on the first shelf I reached was “Quietime Christmas ” by Eric Nordhoff! I had no idea the CD existed. You have no idea how excited I was! I went to the instrumental section of Word to see if there were more copies… but there were none. I looked for other Christmas instrumental CDs but there were none others as suitable. It was a arbitrary CD on a random shelf that was not so accidental for me.
I asked the shop assistant if I could have a listen to the CD. As I sat with my headphones on I marvelled at my luck of finding the perfect CD at the right time so easily. Then I chastised myself because I felt that my marvelling at my luck indicated a lack of faith. I was reminded to look for God's activity around me in the every day things of life.
I believe God ordered that CD for me and made it jump out at me. I believe that God wanted to remind me of his love and care for me in that simple way. I believe that God wants us to look for him in the everyday things of life. He cares for us in an infinite number of ways that we're generally unaware of and every now and then he shows off in a way that prompts us to marvel at him and express our gratitude afresh.
Are you finding God in the every day things of life? Are you looking for him? Are you acknowledging his presence with you and care for you daily? Let's resolve to seek God afresh in the everyday things of life this year. “ The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning”
(Rev. Sylvia Griffiths)