Podcast-Feed25th April 2010 - Dave Harper - Relying On God
Dave spoke in Isaiah 50:10 – 51:-3 about how we needed to rely on God, especially when we feel that we are in a dark place.
At the end of the third servant song (50:4-9), we are challenged with a question (50:10) – who listens to and obeys the servant’s voice? The instruction that follows is directed at those who are in a dark place and who do not know the way forward. They are encouraged and directed to trust and rely on their God and beware the danger of lighting their own torches and making their own light. Self reliance is not the answer , in fact it leads to torment. Darkness does at times come into our lives. It is not failure but it does test our trust in God and can deepen our trust and relationship with Him.
So how to find such a place of trust and reliance?
• Listen. This is a frequent refrain, we need to ask God to speak into our situation and look for his voice and his word. ‘Listen to Me’ occurs three times in verse 1, 4, and 7 and the ‘me’ is God. (Verse two makes clear that the ‘me’ is the One who called Abraham – God himself)
• Look. What God has already done in our lives can be a help to believe for the future. God reminds the listener of their salvation history that goes back to Abraham who is our father in the faith. Its rock solid. Look too to Abraham (and Sarah), who was called by grace so that God could bless him and multiply him. Trust comes from knowing God’s character, knowing he called each of us and that is heart is to bless.
• Comfort and compassion. Difficulty can cause us to question the goodness of God. Paul speaks of his own affliction in the first chapter of 2 Corithinians, an affliction that caused them to despair of life, but he then says ‘ this was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead’!. Out of this experience (1: 8-9) he can speak of God’s comfort and God’s compassion in the opening verses of the letter. God is compassionate and turns our waste places into a garden, the desert into Eden. Waiting through a dark time for this is hand and we are encouraged to receive comfort, to let Him comfort us in such a time and believe in His compassion. He is able and He is willing to express his compassion to us
• Rejoicing. Joy and gladness, thanksgiving and singing are to come,(3) sorrow and sighing shall flee away (11)
2 Big Questions
1] Isaiah 50:10 says that when we find ourselves in a dark place and do not know what to do we should trust in God and rely on him and to beware the dangers of lighting our own torches (making our own solution and being self reliant).
How can we trust in the God when we are in darkness and how do we rely on Him?
2] Base camps are good, they keep you safe and have all the basic requirements for survival . But if we only live at base camp , life gets just a little dull! Being right with God through faith in Jesus is base camp. Growing in our ability to receive from the hands of God and to be able to give it away is the adventure we are all on that takes us up the mountain of the Lord. He blesses and He multiplies and is full of compassion for all He has made.
Are you pressing on into receiving out of God’s fullness? What holds you back? What spurs you on?
Listen now! (0:42min / 12MB)
18th April 2010 - Ian Clague - I am an Act Of God (word)
After the worship this morning, Ian brought this word about us being acts of God. Everything that goes on in our lives and in our world is an act of God.
Listen now! (0:03min / 1MB)
18th April 2010 - Neal Garratt - Abraham, Sarah and Creator God
18th April 2010 – Neal Garratt – Abraham, Sarah and Creator God
Neal looked at the story of Abraham and Sarah and how God promised them that they would have offspring as numerous as the stars or sand on the seashore. The story is from Genesis 15, 16, 17,18 and 21. We also looked at Romans 4 vs 16-25 as Paul discusses Abraham’s story.
The Key verse is from Genesis 15 vs 6 “He believed in the Lord and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness” and Romans 4 vs 20 says” He did not waiver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform, therefore it was reckoned to him as righteousness”
We looked at the promise God made and how often we have to wait before that promise is fulfilled – something we find very hard to do – something Sarah found hard to do and so she, being practically minded let Abraham sleep with her maidservant Hagar thus starting a family that way – not relying on God – but instead relying on her own ideas. There are consequences when we do that but God is gracious and his promise remains unchanged!
We looked at the Messianic line and how Abraham is key to that and that he is directly related to Jesus and we are part of his family – remembering Ephesians 1 – adopted into his family and our position in Christ. We are part of God’s great plan throughout eternity – History Makers – and the wonder of this revelation.
We looked at how for us our faith can be reckoned unto us a righteousness – this is as true today as it was in Abraham’s day – Paul spends Romans 4 telling us that salvation is not by works, by circumcision, by the law but is grace received through faith.
What can we learn from this faith of Abraham’s that did not look at the circumstances – but rather the God behind the circumstances – Is anything too hard for the Lord God asks?
Faith enables us to believe Gods promises/ Gods word – even if they are impossible!
Faith enables you to believe God for a miracle – outside the natural, the realm of nature – because he is creator God – “God calls into being that which does not exist” Romans 4 vs 17
Faith enables you to have an assurance that what God says – he will do – assurance of salvation being like an anchor for the soul – Abraham was fully persuaded that what God promised he was able to perform – Romans 4 vs 21
Faith enables you to act on what God has told you – because you are assured. Exercising your faith and finding God to be true -enables you to grow in faith and worship
Faith enables you to grow in your understanding and knowledge of God which is key for our spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.
Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones ” The measure of the strength of a mans faith, always, is ultimately the measure of his knowledge of God. There is no more important principal than that”
Let us all grow in our knowledge and understanding of God and as we do increase our faith and trust in him in all circumstances – no matter how impossible they may look! Nothing is impossible with God!
Questions:
1. The key verse here is Genesis 15 vs 6 ” He believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Do we fully understand what this means and the ramifications for us today in 2010 – what relevance does this have today?
2. Sarah decided to help God along with the process but introducing Hagar to Abraham – Helpful or not? What were the consequences? Do you feel sympathy for her – aren’t we like this a lot of the time? Isn’t the hardest thing to wait on God? Is God’s promise affected by Sarah’s actions?
3. Do we understand the big picture and the relevance of Matthew 1 – The messianic line – We are part of God’s amazing plan – why don’t we always feel like that? How special does this truth make you feel?
4. We looked at Romans 4 and noted that Paul argues that salvation is not gained by works, by circumcision, by the law but by grace through faith – do we begin to see how important faith is for us today?
5. In life we tend to look at the circumstances surrounding us and get overwhelmed by them – what can we do to stop this and how does looking at Abraham help in that regard?
6. Faith enables us to grow in God in so many ways, we discussed some on Sunday morning – this is a real key in trusting God in the future and increasing our faith – How can we do this?
7. Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones says “The measure of the strength of a man’s faith, always, is ultimately the measure of his knowledge of God. There is no more important principal and vital principal then that” What do we think about that?
Listen now! (0:41min / 11MB)
11th April 2010 - Ian Clague - Unity
Ian looked at Ephesians 4:1-6 and Paul’s plea for a unity of Spirit among believers. Unity of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:1-6 (English Standard Version): I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
At the core of this is a plea from Paul to be Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit
Eager – (meaning to be diligent, labour, make an effort)
Maintain – (tay-reh-o)
– To guard from loss or injury – By Keeping your eyes on it – To hold fast to
Jesus’ Prayer John 17 v 20, 21 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Jesus is approaching the end he knew was coming and what did he pray – That they might be one – why – as a witness to the world – He we see the heart of Jesus – for unity in his body.
We then looked the idea of the Trinity? – The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or God is one in essence and three in person.
These definitions express three crucial truths:
• There is only one God. James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good!
• The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons in the Godhead, The fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons means, in other words, that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Jesus is God, but He is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, but He is not the Son or the Father. They are different Persons, not three different ways of looking at God. Don’t mean person in the sense they are independent individual, but in the sense that each regards himself as I and others as you. Jesus refers to himself as I but to his Father and the Holy spirit as ‘you’ ‘the other’ cf John 17 again and the reference to sending the Spirit after he has risen. While each is of same essence
• Each Person of the Godhead is fully God: The Father is fully God, Jesus is fully God, the Holy Spirit is fully God.
Wayne Grudem quote – But if each person is fully God and has all of God’s being, then we also should not think that the personal distinctions are any kind of additional attributes added on to the being of God . . . Rather, each person of the Trinity has all of the attributes of God, and no one Person has any attributes that are not possessed by the others. On the other hand, we must say that the Persons are real, that they are not just different ways of looking at the one being of God…the only way it seems possible to do this is to say that the distinction between the persons is not a difference of `being’ but a difference of `relationships.’ This is something far removed from our human experience, where every different human `person’ is a different being as well. Somehow God’s being is so much greater than ours that within his one undivided being there can be an unfolding into interpersonal relationships, so that there can be three distinct persons In God we see no problem with being three and one at the same time. We see and eternal and perfect unity. And we know from Jesus’ prayer that he longs to see something of that reflected in his church.
This brings us back to Ephesians we have been looking at for a while this year Ephesians 2:11-22
Jesus came not only to deal with our sin as something that divided us from God, but also a curse (Gen 3:15) that brought division between us. It’s the work of the cross that has accomplished this amazing thing – I am in Christ, you are in Christ – therefore we are made one in Jesus. This is the unity of the spirit given to us as a free Gift and it is to this that Paul is entreating us in Ph 4 to be Eager to maintain. It’s a gift we need to work to keep it not create it.
Luke 22:42 , John 6:38, Phil 2v7
So Jesus Co-equal with God, fully God in all regards, eternally existent, does the will of his father. Jesus has a heart of submission to his Father. – We need to have hearts able to submit to one another in order to maintain the unity of the spirit, and have servant hearts in all we do and how we relate and deal with one another. This theme is carried on in the New Testament in our attitude to one another.
Hebrews 13v17 Rom 13v1 , Col 1v25 I , 1 pet 4 v10 , 1 cor 13 v4-7
We are moving into a new time as a church God is speaking to us. One of the challenges when God moves his people on is keeping everyone together. Easy for someone to feel this is what God is saying to everyone else, ‘But not to me’ . Part of God moving us on will be God stretching out our tent pegs, He will change things, he will shake things up and he will require of us that we put our hands on the plough, requiring us to do and be what we may not have been in the past. There is grace available for us in this and support in the Unity of the spirit. However It’s easy in these times of God moving us on for grumbling to arise (see Ex 16v8 the example with Moses). WE have to actively seek to maintain the unity of the spirit. Its not something we are working towards. It’s a gift from God and we are seeking to keep it and not allow Satan to rob us of it.
Questions
1/ In what ways are you contributing to the unity of the spirit being worked out in the Body of Jesus? How could you?
2/ Do you find submission and servanthood in relationships (in and out of church) a challenge, and/or do you have experiences in the past that make this so?
3/ Given the passion of Jesus for unity in his body, how can you work to eagerly maintain the unity of the spirit? – I think in the context of God speaking to us at the moment we need to consider how we might or could serve the body as we move forward. [NB: This is not simply ‘jobs that need doing’ or ‘ministries we feel called to’, but focusing on serving the needs of other in the wider church.]
Listen now! (0:45min / 12MB)
4th April 2010 - All Age Easter Service
Happy Easter!
At this morning’s All Age meeting, KidZone showed off their skills with a demonstration of synchronised flag waving and a drama about the resurrection. There was also an Easter Egg hunt and a memory verse. Martyn Pyne preached the Easter message.
Unfortunately, no recording of today’s meeting is available.