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Readers' Bible Thoughts-Eileen Balch (December 2004 edition of the Church Magazine)
Of course the event in John was over 2000 years ago, but the phrase even now brings the reality of His work directly into this present time. This assures me that just as He was at work then , so He is at work now , to this very day. I have tried to put this thought into a few lines of poetry, in an attempt to illustrate the immediacy and relevance of faith in Christ in our own day. Even Now Even now, this very moment! Even now, this very hour! Even now, our God is active, By His Spirits love and power. Even now, the harvest is ready, Even now, the Reaper comes, Gathering sheaves into His storehouse Calling hearts to grace and love.v Even now, His Spirits speaking, In words so soft, to those I love, Convicting, calling, healing, restoring Even now, - the Lord has come! Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Galloway (February 2005 edition of the Church Magazine)
We do not live in a controlled environment as the bible tells us Eden was in the very beginning and the world to come will forever be in the end. Instead we live in a fallen world, that is still full of great beauty, wonder and joy but also a world full of risk, uncertainty and suffering. During this period of personal trials and international suffering I watched, for the first time the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ and found it to be extremely powerful and deeply moving. It prompted me to read again with fresh eyes the bible accounts of the crucifixion. The overwhelming feeling that I had as I watched the film and read the gospels was that the absolute extreme of the intensity of human suffering that Jesus experienced during the flogging and on the cross is forever part of the being of God. God understands our suffering not just in some kind of intellectual way but as a permanent and undiminished part of his very experience. The great psychologist Carl Jung said that, Man is never helped in his suffering by what he thinks for himself, but only by revelation of a wisdom greater than his own. It is this which lifts him out of his distress. How right he is and the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer made it very clear where this revelation comes from when he said that, only the suffering God, the suffering Saviour can be with us and help us. When we suffer, God suffers with us and so it is that in our times of trial and suffering we may experience the love of God in our hearts and in our lives to a depth and intensity greater than at any other time. Entering more deeply into the love of Christ means that we grow more like him. What could be more wonderful than that? Readers' Bible Thoughts-Robin Dawson (April 2005 edition of the Church Magazine)
I thought it was a good passage and I still do. At the time I was feeling a bit righteous about it I suppose. By the time you read this I will be working as a Church Mission Society volunteer doing relief work in Afghanistan. In Isaiah chapter 58 verse 10 Isaiah, speaking for God, says if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday. In verse 12 Isaiah says Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. I like verse 12. It seems to fit in with what I will be doing. But as for spending myself as it says in verse 10 ?? Thats what makes preaching dodgy. Of course you do not need to go to Afghanistan to spend yourself on behalf of the hungry. If you were to read Isaiah chapter 58 I think you might conclude that this is what God wants of all of us wherever we are. Perhaps it will be easier for me in Afghanistan, there are fewer distractions. Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Woodend (June 2005 edition of the Church Magazine)
Many of us will remember Simon Weston, the soldier who suffered terrible injuries when his ship was hit by an enemy missile in the Falklands War. How he bravely battled through medical treatment that lasted for many months. He was in no doubt that a major factor which helped his recovery was the regular presence of his mother at his bedside talking to him in a gentle, but persistent way about home, birthdays, food and other straightforward issues that spoke to him of stability and quiet, simple encouragement. Her visits were brimful with love; human love made in the image of God. Even in the darkest days, if we know that we are loved, we can struggle on and make the most of the bad times. Love supports and encourages us, brings out the best in us and helps us develop into more loving people. Through faith we experience the love of God, for God is love and in Jesus He has provided the perfect pattern of love. Love is indeed rich and beautiful. We do well to spare a thought and prayer for those who feel unloved. Readers' Bible Thoughts-John Goodacre (October 2005 edition of the Church Magazine) Faith, Hope and Love
What is Jesus doing in heaven? Here is one answer - the writer to the Hebrews tells us Jesus is seated at Gods right hand (Hebrews 10:12) and that he lives to intercede for those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). So he is always praying to his Father for us, reinforcing, supplementing and backing up our own prayers. That is one happy certainty which we have for our every-day lives. But there is a second answer to the question, What is Jesus doing in heaven? which looks to the future. Jesus told his disciples, before he went to the cross, In my Fathers house, there are many rooms. I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you also may be where I am. (John 14: 2-3) So there is a second happy certainty that we shall one day be taken to the place prepared for us, where Jesus is. The apostle Paul had a rough time in his every-day life, surviving imprisonment, floggings and at least four shipwrecks as well as attempts on his life. He sets us an example in looking to the help given him by the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that what happened to him would turn out for his deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope, he wrote to the Philippians, that I will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. What confidence, what certainty, what hope! That hymn sings of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is seated at Gods right hand, Pouring his grace on our lives day by day. Vaclav Havel, Czech poet/President and former political prisoner is quoted, I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart . . . Life without hope is an empty, boring and useless life. I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me. I am thankful to God for this gift. It is as big a gift as life itself. Christian brothers and sisters, lets encourage one another in the rough times in every-day life and as we look to the future, We have a hope that is steadfast and certain. Readers' Bible Thoughts-Eileen Balch (December 2005 edition of the Church Magazine)
As the Christian Church once again approaches the season of Advent, we shall rehearse the opening chapter of St Johns Gospel, in which he gives the title the One and Only to Jesus. St John says this in verse 14 of Chapter 1; We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And elsewhere, in his letter John writes these words, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands touched this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. It is as if you and I are standing in an auction room and we are given the opportunity to look and assess the value of the One and Only. Questions should be asked such as, What is his authenticity? Is his hallmark genuine? Does he bear the marks of the maker? Is he one of a kind or are there others? Does he have a provenance? If, like St John you come to the conclusion that Jesus is for real, then further questions follow, What value do I place on him? To what lengths will I go to have him in my Life? What will it cost? Christmas is a very poignant reminder to us of the love God has for this broken and needy world for, He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is a treasure not only to bring blessing for the Season, but also to enrich resource and give strength to last a lifetime. Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Galloway (February 2006 edition of the Church Magazine)
Today I visited an eight-year-old girl dying of cancer. Her body was disfigured by her disease and its treatment. She was in almost constant pain. As I entered her room I was immediately overcome by her suffering - so unjust, unfair, unreasonable. Even more overpowering was the presence of her grandmother lying in bed beside her with her huge body embracing this precious child and her inhuman suffering. 'I stood in awe for I knew I was on holy ground The suffering of children is horrifying beyond words. I will never forget the great gentle arms and body of this grandmother. She never spoke while I was there. She was holding and participating in suffering that she could not relieve, and yet somehow her silent presence was relieving it. No words could express the magnitude of her love.' I think that womans love was Christ-like and that is the kind of love that he commands us to give to others. Notice we are to love everyone, not just people who physically attract us or with whom we share common interests or points of view. Loving each other also includes loving those who have wronged us, those rejected by society and even our enemies. It has been said that to love is to be vulnerable because we set ourselves up for the possibility of rejection. Just as Jesus was, and is, rejected by many, so we too will from time to time be rejected when we offer our love to others. A love like this always has pain as well as joy associated with it. Mother Teresa said, A living love hurts. Jesus, to prove his love for us, died on the cross. The mother, to give birth to her child, has to suffer. If you really love one another properly there must be sacrifice. This path of love that Jesus commands us to follow is certainly not an easy one but as usual C S Lewis tells us clearly what we need to do: The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time trying to manufacture affectionate feelings or bothering whether you love your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone you will presently come to love that person. I think that is very good practical advice that we should all take to heart. Bill Galloway Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Woodend (June 2006 edition of the Church Magazine)
Traveling home from Somerset a few weeks ago we passed through large swathes of Englands green and pleasant land but, at almost every point on our journey we could see either a spire or a tower of a cathedral church or chapel. Buildings inspired by the love of God and built to His glory. Buildings that had for the most part I guess featured in the landscape for several centuries. Buildings great and small play a very important role in the life of a community whether that be a local community or on a national scale. It is of course the purpose that they serve rather than the fabric which makes them important. Buildings that serve a need in the community, whether commercial, civic, social, institutional, charitable or religious are vital. Our home town Coventry is famous for its three spires which are city centre landmarks. They still stand despite the ravages of war and two of the three are in regular use as centres of worship. St. Thomas and St. Peters are buildings inspired by the love of God and built to His glory and both are important in the communities they serve. Both churches have undergone major refurbishment in the last ten years but for a long time the worsening state of the meeting room and ancillary buildings at St. Thomas has been a cause of concern. The purpose which they serve remains important but they now offer low standard accommodation which will reduce further as times goes by. They are in bad shape and something has to be done. An imaginative scheme of redevelopment acceptable to the authorities has been designed and we are ready to begin the work once the necessary funding is in place. Where is that pension fund just when you need it? At this significant point we must remember that as part of the Christian church in this part of Derbyshire God has been building us into a spiritual house based upon the one true cornerstone, Jesus Christ. We are called to place our trust in God who will graciously strengthen and uphold us. He knows our needs. We know that Gods building project is work in progress. Through faith we can rely on God to help us grow His kingdom on the sure foundation of Jesus. Through the power, peace and joy of the risen Lord Jesus we have hope that God will value our human endeavour and encourage and support us in all that we seek to do in His name. Ours is a major development and it will take time. We have to maintain our firm belief in the work that God has given us to do and that He is with us in this project and will lead and guide us through it. We are safe in the knowledge that His reliability and trustworthiness will endure. I look forward to the day when we are invited to the topping-out ceremony. Bill Woodend Readers' Bible Thoughts-John Goodacre (August 2006 edition of the Church Magazine) God is Building a House
When we moved into our present house, the builders had left a lot of bricks lying about. Some were tidily stacked; a great many were buried in the garden. But that is not what the bricks were meant for. God wants each of us to be a part of his building, not a loose brick that has been left out. If the spiritual house is to be complete, all the stones are to be built into it. Are there some people who are missing out from the fellowship of the church? People who need to be built firmly into the Christian community, Gods building? It would be worth turning up Peters first letter in your Bible and reading on down to verse 10. Do you ever wonder whether you are crazy, following Jesus when other people ignore Him and reject Him? Peter shows us that it has always been like that, but Jesus is still central to Gods plan for this world and He is precious to us who believe. He, Jesus, is a Living Stone for two reasons. Firstly, He is alive today. And secondly, He is the one who gives life. He is the Living Stone, the cornerstone of Gods new building. He is alive and He gives life. Now the church is Gods building project. He is taking men and women as living stones, joining them with His foundation stone or corner stone, bonding them all into one new building. Then, as Jesus is precious, and as He is honoured, as we are joined with Him in this building, we also are honoured. As believers in Christ, we share in the honour that is His. We have only to look to the beginning of his letter to see who Peter was writing to. His words were addressed to refugees, many of whom were servants and slaves - ordinary working people, ordinary followers of Jesus. Peters words apply just as much to the ordinary people who read this magazine. Have another look at verse 9. God planned the church. Christ gave himself for the church. The Spirit is building Gods people together in the church, to declare His wonderful praise. Believers, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods own people. He has called people who were nobodies in the dark to be His special people in His marvellous light. God wants each of us to be part of His building project, part of His new nation, not spare bricks. Dont be left out. God has called people who were on their own, like the piccolo player, whistling in the dark. He has called people who were nobodies to come together as His special people, part of His new building, living in His marvellous light. John Goodacre Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Galloway (October 2006 edition of the Church Magazine)
As Christians our faith is rooted in the faithfulness and power of God. These two attributes of God are revealed to us throughout the whole bible. In Romans 4: 20-21, we are told that faith is not wavering at the promises of God, but being fully persuaded that God has the power to do what he has promised. Again in Hebrews 11:11 we read that faith is considering Him (God) faithful who has promised. Two awesome examples of the power of God are the creation of the universe and the resurrection of Jesus and the faithfulness of God is demonstrated supremely by the fact that he became one of us and died to save us. True faith however is not passive but active. We read in James 2 verse 14, What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? True faith is always visible to others in some way and has the power to change those who observe it. The following true story illustrates this point. John Wesley before he was converted found himself on a ship with a group of Moravian missionaries. It was January the 25, 1736, and the weather was rough. Three storms had already battered the boat, and a fourth was brewing. Wesley scribbled in his journal, Storm greater: afraid! But the Moravians were trusting God so simply and completely that they showed no signs of fear and even proceeded with their plans for a service of worship. In the middle of their singing a gigantic wave rose over the side of the vessel, splitting the main sail, covering the ship and pouring water like Niagara Falls between decks as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. The English passengers screamed as the ship lurched and pitched between towering waves. A terrified Wesley clung on for dear life but the German missionaries didnt miss a note. Wesley was awe-struck by their composure and when he asked them later if they had been afraid they answered, Thank God, no. Of course Wesley went on to be a famous evangelist and social reformer, with the world as his parish. However by his own admission his coming to faith in God, through Christ, was deeply influenced by the strength of the faith that he saw in that small group during the storm. We at St Thomas must continue to step out in faith as we seek to make the vision of a new church centre a reality. By doing, in faith, everything we can do then we open the way for the Lord to do what only he can do and success is assured. Important though it is, however, the building is only the first step, for our real objective is to use it to extend Gods kingdom here in Brampton. In this connection I can do no better than quote Dennis Lennon in his book Fuelling The Fire when he asks the question, What does the kingdom look like? His answer is, It is the life and purpose of the world in accordance with the intentions of the creator. It includes the church but is far greater than the limits of the church. The Kings agenda reads All things in heaven and earth. The church, which knows and confesses these things, is set in society to be a sample of these things, a clue to its life and love, a signpost pointing society towards the King. We will need to be creative in using the new facilities to involve the wider community around us and inspired in our witness to the kingdom, but we can take heart in these words from a Charles Wesley hymn: And looks to that alone; Laughs at lifes impossibilities, And cries, It shall be done! Readers' Bible Thoughts-Robin Dawson (December 2006 edition of the Church Magazine)
We find the verse at the start of the Gospel of John in a sort of executive summary. What is this Word? John said Jesus was there at the beginning, he was with God, he was God, through him (not it) all things were made, in him was life and he was the light of all people. Thats a bit complicated, but it sounds as if we are talking about God the maker of the universe. My Moslem workmates back in Kabul would have no trouble with this. They have a great respect for God and his power, perfection, changelessness and compassion. But my favourite verse says that this Word became flesh and dwelt among us. If you read on in Johns gospel you will see that he dwelt among us as Jesus Christ. I think it is wonderful and almost incomprehensible. How can God, who sees all, give up his powers and only see things at the level we see them? Jesus wept, suffered, slept, got hungry, went to the lavatory and took all the knocks in life that we do. How can God, who is so strong, give up his power and allow himself to be convicted by a kangaroo court and executed? My Moslem friends certainly find it incomprehensible and I think that some feel threatened by such an idea. If God has become that powerless in seeking relationship with humanity is he really God? Is he not letting himself down? Isnt it like the Queen getting some ready cash in her handbag and going down to Morrisons in her curlers? The people who knew Jesus in the flesh had a great deal of trouble with this idea too. It was only after he rose from death that they even started to understand. It took Christians the next few hundred years to sort out the details in their collective mind. But if you believe that the events described by the writers of the New Testament are historical, there doesnt seem to me, and there didnt seem to them, to be any other logical explanation. Now, if God is so anxious to restore his relationship with the human race that he goes to these lengths we have to make some sort of response, dont we? Even if we feel threatened by such persistence. Robin Dawson Readers' Bible Thoughts-Bill Woodend (April 2007 edition of the Church Magazine) Bill Woodend writes about why we should make God central in our lives.
Whichever way it was, their prophetic messages are amazing and through them their ministry of the word of God has reached many. I know a number of people who would name one of these prophets as their favourite book of the Bible. The main function of the prophets was to channel communication between God and mankind, acting in both directions at times. That is not only communicating Gods divine word to mankind but also on occasion putting mankinds case to God through what we know as intercessory prayer. It is interesting that neither age nor sex were a barrier to prophecy. There may not have been a great number of women prophets but they did exist. From the Bible we know about Miriam, Deborah and Anna for example. Child and youth prophets also existed. Samuel and Jeremiah are examples. In Chapter 5 of Matthews Gospel we read that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfil them. In fact Jesus is the complete focus of the Law and the Prophets. The arrival on earth of the Son of God gives full meaning and deep commitment to what is written in the Old Testament. In 2007 we are more than two thousand five hundred years distant from the great prophets but we can trace the truth and importance of their messages through Jesus. He knew that the word of God was brought to the world by these remarkable, receptive, faithful men and Jesus often quoted from or referred to their works during His own ministry. In Chapter 6 of Matthews Gospel Jesus tells us not to worry about life because God knows our needs and if we make God our first priority we can rest assured that He will not fail to provide. Modern life can be very busy and stressful, but if we get our priorities right it need not be so. By making God central in our lives and putting Him first we know we can be free from anxiety. Perhaps the major benefit is that our time spent with God will bring us that peace which is beyond our understanding. Bill Woodend Readers' Bible Thoughts-Eileen Balch (June 2007 edition of the Church Magazine)
If heavens not my home, then Lord what will I do? The Saviour beckons me from heavens open door, And I cant feel at home in this world any more! I realise that this song is light years away from the contemporary music performed at the evening service on April 29th which was led by the CYFA group. But the content of the message, which was conveyed, is unchanged. CYFA ably led the congregation in an interactive service based on 1 Corinthians 15, where St Paul discusses the Resurrection Body, heaven and victory over death. It was a joy to see our young people expressing deep Christian beliefs. These are fundamental truths that will underpin them for the whole of their lives. When I sang my song with such earnest conviction in my teenage years, death and heaven seemed aeons away! Now over 40 years later on the prospect seems a little more of a reality! Life has challenged and tested those fundamental beliefs, as it will for our teenagers of today. 1 Corinthians 15 v 55 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting. is a wonderful cry of defiance in the face of the last enemy, which we must all face one day. For me, v 57 crowns it all, But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So the following morning I took my tiny mustard seeds that I was given on leaving church, and planted them in a little pot of compost. I watered them and placed them on my kitchen windowsill, to wait for growth. This is a reminder to me of the power of the resurrection that in dying we live eternally. By faith, I expect that to be my experience one-day. Eileen Balch |
