Momentum

Unsettlingly faithful

December 26, 2011 in Advent, Devotionals by Geoff Youngs

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:25-35 (ESV)

He’s an unsettlingly faithful God.

His actions are riven through with faithfulness – it just seeps through them like brandy through a Christmas pudding. God affirms his faithfulness to Abraham, to Israel, to the world. He keeps faith with the prophets and seers whose lives spanned the intervening years. His promises are kept without fail, from the cosmos changing, life saving plan to redeem, restore and renew a world and a people mired in the slurry of sin, all the way to an old man who’s been promised he’ll see Jesus born before he dies.

But he’s also unsettling. Jesus was “appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel.” The status quo is broken – and he is not interested in preserving it. There’s stuff that he’s done, and stuff that he’s doing – and there’ll be stuff to look forward to that we won’t look forward to.

But even as we brace ourselves for the invigorating, divinely driven change, we should remember that it’s just what God is doing.

Faithful is who he is.

The promise fulfilled

December 19, 2011 in Advent by Ricky Moorhouse tagged birth, isaiah, jesus, joseph, matthew, promise

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
(Matthew 1:18-25, ESV)

Imagine this – you’re Joseph are betrothed to marry your fiancé Mary when you discover that she is pregnant, and it’s not your baby. How would you have reacted?

Joseph is compassionate towards her and not wanting her to be subject to shame and possibly death by stoning decides to quietly divorce her, but God intervenes sending an angel to him in a dream. The angel reassures Joseph and explains to him that this baby is from God and is the one who will save his people from their sins, and that he is to give him the name Jesus (meaning God saves) to show this.

Matthew notes that this is to fulfill that which was promised many years ago through Isaiah – that a son would be born to a virgin – a son who would be God with us. God made man, come down to live life amongst his people, just as they’d been longing for.

I wonder how much of this Joseph understood at the time, or whether this was seen retrospectively as it was passed on. The angel had given Joseph enough for immediately on waking he puts his trust in God’s plan and obeys the command given to him through the angel.

Will you, like Joseph, trust and obey God when he calls you to stand by him?

Joseph was faced with the age old choice between appearing righteous and shunning Mary or being righteous and taking her as his wife.

What do you do when faced with these choices? Are you ready to make a stand for Jesus against the prevailing culture when you don’t know what will happen?

Joseph standing at her side, baby not from him
Still he takes her as his bride, faithful to the God of dreams;
Oh I wonder could he know,
How this was gonna go
’cause a promise made is a promise kept,
redemption comes,
comes as God wrapped in flesh

(from Cradle to the Cross by Nathan Tasker – video – download)

When your only hope becomes your worst nightmare

December 12, 2011 in Advent, Devotionals by Geoff Youngs

3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgement. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 3:1-5

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Christmas. There’s a lot to enjoy, but there’s also the sense of grief; of looking around and seeing a friend’s legacy and name dishonoured. The pagan worship of materialism, but with the Jesus® brand spray-painted across the temple walls. Just enough religious tinsel to give it an illusion of depth, and everything done up so very … nicely.

But the coming of our Lord is not nice.

He does not come to lend his name or stamp “approved by Jesus” on whatever we happen to be doing. He comes with an agenda – and agenda which will either be the best news you’ve ever heard, or the worst. Exceeding the ferocious intensity of a refining fire, or the cleansing power of the abrasive chemicals used to clean the accumulated grease and dirt from wool, he comes to transform and reclaim. And if we’re sick of the merry-go-round of sin, then we will welcome this with open arms.

But for those who profit from the oppression and injustice – and there are plenty – this is bad news. For those people who have no respect for God, or his opinion, their only hope has become their worst nightmare – because he doesn’t come to validate us, he comes to fix us. He doesn’t come to consult us on the way forward – he comes with the only plan that has a chance of working – and must judge those who oppose it. Those who’d rather continue trying to manipulate “the gods”, being unfaithful, lying, being racist or ungodly will meet not with salvation, but with judgement.

As Christmas approaches, and we remind ourselves of God who came in humble flesh and will return in glory, we do well to remember the words of the hymn:

“Jesus is Lord!”—a shout of joy, a cry of anguish,
As He returns, and ev’ry knee bows low.
Then ev’ry eye and ev’ry heart will see His glory,
The Judge of all will take His children home.

God’s people longing for him to come down and meet with them

December 4, 2011 in Advent, Devotionals by Chris Mountain

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

(Isaiah 64:1-5, ESV)

It’s nearly Christmas!!!! Presents, too much food and a lot of family gatherings/meetings that only happen once a year….great!

In the passage, the people were hoping that God would come down to see them – longing as it says in the title and meet with them. In verse 4 it says ‘From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.’ This is the people praising God for what he does for them now but verse 5 talks about how God was angry with them and the people admitting they had sinned and were still sinning as they ask:

‘Shall we be saved?’

Over Christmas, it’s a great chance to invite your friends and family who are not christians (and those that are…obviously! ) to the carol service or the family service or the christmas day service as everybody in the world and our community are not saved and christmas is a great time to invite and reflect on what God has done for us.

Merry Christmas!

Call of Abraham, promise of blessing to every family

November 28, 2011 in Advent by Roy Dumphreys tagged abraham, genesis, promise

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

(Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)

As we begin our series for Advent it may seem strange to start with Abraham but here is the reason why! Somewhere around 4000 years ago God made him a promise that he would be the beginning, on earth, for the process of bringing blessing to all families.

After the episode of the Tower of Babel (Gn.11) there were many nations scattered all over the earth. It was God’s plan to have a people for Himself who would live under His law and make His glory known throughout the world.

So God chose to reveal Himself to Abraham and spoke to him the words at the top of our devotional. God is not mean with His blessings and it was, and mercifully still is, His desire that all should partake and not only the Jews.

Some two thousand years later Jesus Christ was born and in Mt. 1.2 we see that his family line starts with, you have guessed it, Abraham! That all nations should be blessed according to the promise to Abraham is emphasised by Jesus when he says in Jn.10.16: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen/flock. I must bring them also.” The “flock” refers to Israel and the “other sheep” is the Gentile church.

The promise to Abraham was all the more wonderful when we consider his situation as described in Hb. 11.11-12: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. There from one man, and him as good as dead, ere born descendents as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.* Is it not interesting that the birth of Isaac came about by a miracle of God as did the virgin birth of Jesus.

*Note: this translation differs from that of the NIV in common use and is from The English Standard Version. If you wish to compare with other versions you will find that this translation is the same as that in the KJV, RSV, and NLT. The 2011 revision of the NIV has Hb.11-12 translated virtually the same as the other versions.

The shepherd seeks the sheep

November 21, 2011 in Devotionals by Ricky Moorhouse

“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.

(Ezekiel 34:11-24, ESV)

The Compassionate Shepherd

This passage follows on from God’s word of judgement against the shepherds/leaders of Israel coming to Ezekiel. This comes from a time during the exile to Babylon, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The Israelites were well and truly scattered among the nations, and those who had been supposed to care for them had been benefiting at the cost of those in their charge. To this God declares that he himself will be a shepherd to his people, that he will seek out the sheep from among them and restore them, giving them peace and provision.

The Just Shepherd

In the midst of these verses, God turns his attention to injustice within the flock, and calls judgement on those who through selfish greed are squandering and maltreating the others. It’s easy to see this as just being sheep and that’s how animals are, but we need to remember that here the sheep are an image of God’s people. How are you treating your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you guilty of this selfishness?

The good shepherd

As we reach the end of the passage, we see another description of the shepherd God will provide – this time speaking of David as the shepherd, which following on so closely from the other would initially seem to contradict the earlier references to God himself as shepherd. For us looking back in light of Jesus coming we can see that he fulfils both sides of this shepherd: the divine – in being God himself; and the human in the line of David. In John 10:11 we see Jesus directly relate himself to these prophecies:

I am the good shepherd, The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Live Ready

November 14, 2011 in Devotionals by Geoff Youngs

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

(1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 ESV)

Few things brighten up my week like the prospect of a day, or just an afternoon, playing uncle. The prospect of spending time goo-ing at my niece or dismantling the sofa with my nephew. It’s always fun – variety is a given with a child who hasn’t yet developed an attention span – with everything from building toy railways or throwing cushions round the the floor to searching youtube for nursery rhymes.

But along with the joy of uncle hood, there is the responsibility of childcare. There is the need to be constantly vigilant and watchful – alert to potential dangers and actively seeking to avoid them.

Paul writes to Christians in Thessalonica to remind them that along with the joy of knowing Christ, and of being a child of God, comes a responsibility to live with our eyes open. To be ready; to be in our right minds. To go with God, rather than to go with the flow.

Why? He offers two reasons: firstly, Jesus isn’t going to pre-announce his return in the local paper. He will come suddenly, unexpectedly and decisively – and we should be ready. When the contractions start, the last thing a woman wants to be doing is climbing into the loft to find a bag and then working out what she should be bringing to the hospital. Wisdom packs the bag before it’s needed so it’s ready to grab and go at a moment’s notice. Now is the time to ensure we’re right with God.

But secondly, Paul reminds us that, as Christians, we belong to “the day” and not the night. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Light. The quality of our lives should be consistent with the nature of our call. As those destined for salvation through Jesus, we should live as the saved.

How? The key phrase is: “Jesus Christ … died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” In this mysterious exchange, where our old nature died with Christ, Christ’s death and resurrection becomes the power source for our transformed lives. It’s not that he “died for us so that we must” – it’s that he “died for us so that we can.”

So keep going – because, in Christ, you can.

What do you talk to children about?

November 7, 2011 in Devotionals by Roy Dumphreys

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old— what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

(Psalm 78, NIV)

For me a little of the joy of Sunday mornings has gone! Why? Well, because I loved to see the children crossing the platform as they went out to Ark. Great to see their enthusiasm, great to see such a good number of all the ages especially when many churches hardly have any children at all. As a fellowship we are truly blessed with the number of children who come each Sunday morning but also those with whom we have contact during the week.

Asaph must have felt a real burden for the children as this Psalm so clearly shows. In his heart of hearts Asaph is questioning what we are talking about with our children and when I say ours I mean not just the children of our own family. We so easily talk about what their/our favourite football/rugby team has done. Formula 1 and Moto GP are great subjects to talk to youngsters about but Asaph wants us to talk to the children about God their heavenly Father and Jesus Christ his Son and our Saviour.

Often it is thought that the teaching of children and their nurture in the faith is the responsibility of Dave and his great team of helpers but that is only part of what is necessary. We all have a part to play – praying, helping in the Ark or one of the clubs, saying “hallo” to a child as they come in, asking them what they have learnt in the Ark. Show them you care – Jesus did:-

He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

(Mark 10:14-16, NIV)

Let them know that you care about them for the everyday things of life. Include one or more of the children on your prayer list. Ask them how they ae doing at school etc. etc.
Remember, welcoming one of the youngsters will bring you closer to Jesus. Maybe that is what is needed in your life and a little child will put you on the right road. Mark 9.36-37 NIV.

Protect us, Lord.

October 30, 2011 in Devotionals by Chris Mountain

¹ God, defend me.
Argue my case against those who don’t follow you.
Save me from liars and those who do evil.
² God, you are my strength.
Why have you rejected me?
Why am I sad
and troubled by my enemies?
³ Send me your light and truth
to guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to where you live.
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God who is my joy and happiness.
I will praise you with a harp,
God, my God.
⁵ Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God
and keep praising him,
my Savior and my God.

(Psalm 43, NCV).

This Psalm is talking about asking God to protect. It uses words like ‘defend’ and ‘save’. It seems that in the early part of the chapter that God has forgotten the writer and the writer asks ‘why have you rejected me?’ and then explaining how sad this is to him. Have you ever felt like this sometimes when things don’t go your way, when you’re poked fun at for being a Christian or just having a bad day? However, at the end of the Psalm, the writer says ‘I should put my hope in God and keep praising him, my Saviour and my God.’ (Psalm 43v5). This is the most important part of the Psalm, as even though it may seem that God is ignoring our prayers or isn’t with us, he always is and always will be.

What are you thinking about?

October 23, 2011 in Devotionals by Ricky Moorhouse tagged psalms, quiet, thoughts, water

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
(Psalm 1, ESV)

What is it that fills your mind when there’s nothing particularly going on, in moments of quietness or when you’re on your own? The things you’re working on; the conversations you’ve had recently; the latest jingle you heard on the TV or radio; what you’re having for dinner or Jesus’ words?

Here we see described a man who finds his delight in the law of the Lord who meditates on it day and night. The Psalmist says it’s like the abundant water available to a tree planted by a stream, producing fruit and not being so worn and wearied by it’s environment.

If we spend our time with Jesus, meditating on his word as we go about day to day we’ll see our thirst quenched by his living water and know a life filled with fruitfulness that doesn’t get pulled down by situations and circumstances. For in Jesus we have everything we could possibly need so lets try and align our minds to him, so that it’s his voice we hear through the business and in the quiet.