Signs and wonders?

I was looking back over these past months and noting God’s hand at work in so many ways in my life and in my family.
There are so many, many instances, especially from Easter Sunday through Cindy’s dad’s precious final days and death, the joyful celebration of his life at his funeral, the birth of our grandaughter, Jessica…and the next day praying with Ian’s mum as she made her last journey, taking her funeral, my first. Numerous other joys and challenges…not least that Sunday morning a few weeks ago when I was called upon to preach unexpectedly. Many ups and downs along the way. Still learning, often the hard way.
We have had some real answers to prayer… Cindy called them ‘signs and wonders’ which in a way they are. That phrase ‘signs and wonders’ also popped up at the course JeongSook and I are currently on at Lincoln and again in my daily readings in 2 different places, and again the other day when I opened a book about Holy Spirit Ministry, so I’m going with what God is saying, I believe.

Signs and wonders. Wherever God is at work, there are signs and wonders. They may be simple, everyday answers to our prayers as we offer matters to God where we need His specific intervention. They may be really big things like people being healed of their illnesses. Hallelujah!
These are evidences of God’s favour and we must be ready not only to thank Him but to trust and obey Him for the days ahead.
At the same time as we observe these signs and wonders, there are a number of instances of the devil at work, and we must be alert, watchful and put on God’s armour.

Friends, we have a huge responsibility in these dark and difficult days.
It has often been said that we are God’s hands on Earth, that He has no plan B; it is down to us Christians to do the work of the Kingdom, or rather to permit God to do it in and through us.
This is a challenge none of us can shirk. I have previously spoken about revival… If My people(2Chron 7v14)…the healing of the land can only happen through us you see. Knife crime is going to get worse, drugs, abortion and wholesale rejection of Christian standards, unless we get before God in prayer, humility and sincere repentance it’s going to get worse.
Can you see it? Can you understand? It’s down to you and me in the time we have left on Earth to be about Kingdom business. And we can’t do it while our own lives are in a mess.
I have been saying this stuff for years…. Check out my sermon blog and you’ll see…. And I know that I too need sorting constantly, I have to say that to you, or I would be a hypocrite. Daily I need to come before the throne of grace. Paul said he was the chief of sinners. How can he be worse than me? And yet at the same time somehow God in Christ is moving me forward to become more like Jesus.

The enemy is out to get you the moment you start to disturb him. And nothing disturbs him more than the prayers of believers. Satan trembles when a Christian prays, you know, because prayer is a bridge over which the powers of the Kingdom, powers of the age to come, reach into the here and now, and bring The Light of the World into the dominion of darkness., bring healing and wholeness where there was previously sickness and depression.
You want to suffer….then pray. You want to follow Jesus, then take up the cross.
On that Sunday four weeks ago I said that we are called to be witnesses… people who ‘know’ the saviour…really know him in our hearts. People whose words and deeds witness to those around us. And as witnesses we are martyrs (the Greek word for witness and martyr is the same). No messing. No nominal Christianity. It’s all or nothing.
Wesley was diametrically opposite to most Western Christians today.
We talked about Wesley a few weeks ago at the men’s cell group. He was not self satisfied. Seeing the state of the world around him he committed himself to be different. He was determined he was going to live a holy life, following Christ. He would pray, fast and discipline himself and demand that of others. He was a tough cookie. It was an uphill struggle and he made no converts.
His determination was admirable, and puts most of us to shame. But he didn’t know the Jesus he sought to serve. Every ounce of his energy went into doing what he thought was God’s will. But he had not experienced the love of Jesus. Each day he rose early and set out to live simply so he could devote himself to God’s work. But he did not have the power of the Spirit.
Until Aldersgate Street, when someone was reading Luther’s dry and academic preface to the book of Romans. God’s timing is wonderful. Imagine the dryest and most boring sermon you have ever sat through! Might be one of mine. Imagine feeling utterly miserable and worthless. And then God intervenes. Whoomph! And takes you to a new place within. Peace, joy, love, power.

We on the other hand want the blessing without the discipline. Disciple means discipline.
When Wesley got the blessing, he already had the discipline.
And the rest is history as they say.

This, I fear, is where the Church is today for the most part. The reverse of Wesley.
Desiring the blessing, but unwilling to count the cost, in terms of true discipleship.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about ‘costly grace’ and ‘cheap grace’ in his book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’.. Keith Norton has preached on that. So ask him about it. I have yet to read the book.
A book I have read however is Arnold Bittlinger’s ‘Gifts and ministries’. In it he says this:

'Frequently the real enemies of the gospel are not heathens or atheists: rather, they are those who know about Jesus but refuse to bow to His sovereign claim.........those for whom Christianity merely constitutes one sector of life, the centre of which is their personal ego, who are not prepared to let another have dominion over them. Such people have always been ready to cry ‘Lord, Lord’ and to take an active part in worship--but they have not been ready to change their lives and do the will of Jesus. Bearing the semblance of a godly life they lack its power. Jesus imparts no power for the execution of personal desires and representations. Power is only available to the Christian in order that he may place his life into the hands of Jesus and permit the Holy Spirit to be active through him. Jesus does not grant power that is independent of Himself. He either bestows himself or he bestows nothing at all. Jesus himself is the power.’

This paragraph spoke to me a number of years ago, and I keep reading it to remind me that I need always to place my life into the hands of Jesus and let the Holy Spirit be active in me., it is a matter of the will. If the Holy Spirit is not working in me and through me, what’s the point?
Bittlinger suggests that I might even be an enemy of the gospel… God forbid!

There is always a cost. Read the gospels! As I have said, the Greek for ‘witness’ is martys which is precisely the same word used by the NT writers for martyr. So where Jesus says,’ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ read: ‘you will be my martyrs in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
Does that encourage you?
You and I can choose one way or the other.
But we may not expect the real blessings, the signs and wonders, the necessary power, the going with the Spirit’s flow, unless we are prepared to count the cost.
It will impact on our time, money and relationships, but I can tell you, it’s worth it…He is worth it. !!
Will you choose to take up the cross and follow the Master? Be a true disciple? Make a difference?

I know the plans I have for you says the Lord

Some of the content of this sermon is from 'Word for Today' http://www.ucb.co.uk/index.cfm?itemid=88&sectionid=3
For other bits I am grateful to Martyn Atkins the retiring President of the Methodist Conference. This sermon desperately needs refining, but as I am not likely to have opportunity to do that soon, and as some of you have asked to read it, here it is warts 'n all with my prayers that God will speak to you through it....

I know the plans I have for you says the Lord…..Jeremiah 29v11

This is a favourite Bible Verse of mine, simple and to the point.
How was it received by those who heard it from the lips of the dreaded prophet, I wonder?
No-one wanted to hear what Jeremiah had to say. That the plan of God was exile for 70 years and that they should not resist. There was no point in trying to fight, despite the lies of the false prophets. And Jeremiah writes a letter from God to the exiles telling them to settle down and marry and work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon, even to pray for its peace.
..and I will choose the time when you will return. I know the plans…

well, here’s some thoughts:
1. I know the plans
Isn’t it good that God knows the plans he has for us. Sometimes we would wish that we also might be allowed to know. But whether we know or not, God knows.
It is more important that God knows than that we know.

When it comes to finding out what God knows, people use different methods.
There are those who say their prayers and ‘If the door opens I’ll walk through it’. The opening is God’s answer to prayer and I need to get on and follow his call. I have used this method on several occasions. It is in theological terms known as the VIA POSITIVA. (the way of the positive) and was promulgated by St Aquinas… though people had been doing it for years before him.
On the other hand there are those who say ‘When things go wrong, when doors have to be pushed at, when everything stacks up against a particular route, that shows me it is the way God wants me to go. The evil one is blocking the way and I need to put on God’s armour and stand, and take hold of God’s word and move forward.’ That’s called the VIA NEGATIVA (the negative way), promulgated by St Augustine. Or as Martyn says, if you’re from Yorkshire 'the bloody-minded never say nay route'.
I think I’ve been into both at some times in my Christian life !

The message in all of this is that there are plenty of times in our lives when we simply do not know what God has planned for us.
It is the acid test of faithfulness that I accept that for a time I will not know and must wait for the Lord, and must simply accept that He knows the plans He has for me even though I do not. I rest in this promise until he chooses to reveal His plans.

If you are there just now, in that waiting time, you’re in good company. God will be God, and making us wait, whilst watching and praying and living by His rules, is the way He works. Complete trust, not resignation, is the way we handle it.
Here we can help our brothers and sisters by praying for them and supporting them while they wait.

I know the plans I have for you…says the Lord. Thankyou Lord that you do, even though I don’t.

2. I know the plans
I know the plan s I have for you. Plural….’s’.
This a wonderfully gracious and liberating word is it not?
I have come across people, I could name one or two that you know, who blew it spectacularly at the age of 18, 34, 41, whatever…. they believed God had a plan for them, whether it was to go here, do this or that, marry this person, go to train for Christian work, or whatever. they were certain of God’s plan for their lives and for some reason it didn’t work out and they left it behind and now they are convinced they have blown it for ever.
Listen, God has plan s.
There is no evidence in the Christian gospel that there is just one plan, and that if we miss it we’re disqualified forever from serving God. No, on the contrary.
Martyn Atkins uses the marvellous illustration of SatNav.
‘When I first came across a SatNav it was in my friend’s Lexus. It had a beautiful, sexy voice like Joanna Lumley telling you where to go. Amazing!
Well me being a sinner, I said, ‘What happens when you don’t do as it says?’ ‘Watch’ said my friend, with an evil glint in his eye. He is after all an accountant. ‘I’ll show you.’
‘turn left in 100 yards’ said Ms Lumley. So he went straight on. Now if I had had my son’s SatNav and done that it would have uttered expletives from Dr evil telling me what a stupid bleep I was. But this was a Christian SatNav…and uttered a complete word of grace, ‘I have worked out a new route for you.’ That says Martyn is pure gospel.

You see there is not one immutable plan for your life and mine. We all mess up from time to time. Do not think that what you did back then has blown out of the water any possibility of God leading you forward into His plans.
Guidance and grace work together.
Whenever we go our own way instead of God’s, whenever we disobey, there is, as the SatNav, a pause, and then a word of grace, ‘I’ve worked out a new route for you.’…because ‘I know the plan sss I have for you’, says the Lord.
Friends, we never exhaust all the permutations of the plans. God sees the big picture. There is always another route, even when we look back and can see that what we were sure of then and now we’re not so sure of may seek to drag us down into discouragement. Discouragement is the enemy’s work.
God is a God who invites us to Renewal, redirection and fresh opportunities to serve in obedience to his will. He never gives up on us…I am a work in progress and so are you.
Hear this. You will never exhaust all the possibilities of God using little clay pots, some cracked pots, like you and me, to contain the treasure which is His good news. He has plan s


3. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I’m reminded here, as I’m sure you are of Romans 8v28…… ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’

God exercises His sovereignty toward the Christian in such a way that everything that touches our lives has been allowed or brought about by Him. Those things which would prove to be detrimental to our good have been kept from us. Those things which will work together for the “good” God has planned for us, God arranges and controls in such a way as to produce that good. Everything in the life of the Christian is designed for accomplishing the positive plans God has for us.
The “prosperity” for the Israelites was the restoration of their nation, beginning with their return from exile. So that which God purposes for us is of course in the future and which we cannot presently see. For us as New Covenanters that hope and a future includes our salvation, sanctification, and our future full adoption as sons of God…to put that another way.. All can be saved to the uttermost, as we shall discover at the Men’s meeting on Tues. We will be tested as God’s purpose is not so much our happiness as our holiness.

4. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD

As we think about this business of God having a perfect plan for our lives, we need to be about using the gifts and talents He has already given us, with all our hearts.
Ask yourself this: 'What are my strengths?' Do you enjoy working with computers or cars or animals? Maybe you're an adept people-manager or you like fixing things or you're good with finances. Are there certain jobs that come easily to you and you wonder why others can't do them? If so, that says something about your particular strengths and your God-given assignment in life. What kind of working environment brings out the best in you? Do you thrive on routine? Are you motivated by other people's needs? Do you enjoy tackling challenges that discourage others? And how about your relationships? Do you enjoy being part of a team, or do you function better alone? If you only come to life around people, you'll probably be miserable sitting in front of a computer all day. What lights your fire? In the movie Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell described his zeal for running in these words: 'God made me to be fast, and when I run I feel His pleasure.' What makes you feel like that?
As we seek to serve Him and to know the plans He has for us these are things we can discover about ourselves.
Then we take what we have and offer them to God, seeking Him with all our hearts in daily living.
‘I will be found by you’ declares the Lord. ..And so His plans and purposes will come to fruition in and through us.

Conclusion
I find it really exciting that God has plans for me, don’t you? I remember when I was 50 and thinking that I was heading over the hill, getting a picture from God of the time I climbed The Cheviot. I remembered it well. Every time you thought you’d got to the top there was another hill to climb!
You see, as I have said before, Christians never retire, they only get promoted. So young people, old people, and those in the middle…God’s got plans for YOU !

Time to GET SERIOUS

OK. This isn't a recent sermon. It's a compilation of four sermons from 2006 (headed PRAYER, SMALL GROUPS, WORSHIP and EVANGELISM). You need TIME for this!

Where is the Methodist Church going?

As part of my Foundation Training for Ministry in the Methodist Church I prepared four talks on the Future of Methodism. Having concluded the assignment I developed and delivered these talks at my own church, Trinity Methodist, Winterton.

What do I see as the future of the Methodist Church in the UK?
Meteoric Church growth is being experienced in many countries, with Methodists at the forefront. That’s good news. However, here in the UK we are seeing a disastrous decline. And it’s not just traditional Methodists who are leaving our churches. Young people, and many older, are also leaving.
Josh Hale, a Minister in the UK on a year’s placement, asked his congregation ‘Who thinks the Methodist Church is in crisis?’ I said ‘It is!’, but although I was one of the first to make a statement, most people in the room (including Josh) held the view that it is not in crisis. Perhaps the cultural differences between North America and the UK influenced his comments. However, statistical returns from his native land also point to decline.
As I have said, on a world-wide scale it’s good news, but I couldn’t help feeling after that service that far too many of us in the UK are burying our heads in the sand. We have got into a deep rut where hope is thin, and power scarce. Where is the vision without which ‘the people perish’ ?
It’s time to look to the future, face realities and get serious with our discipleship. If we do, that is if we are prepared to work at this, I do believe the decline can be reversed.

1. Prayer
At Peniel (Genesis 32) Jacob had reached crisis point in his life. He had, for all of his life, got away with doing things his way at the expense of others, including his brother Esau who he was about to encounter 20 years after Jacob had stolen his birthright. All the signs showed Esau set for revenge the following day. Faced with this danger, Jacob does what he can to protect his family and then goes down to the brook alone. Here he meets with the God of his forefathers in human form (a Christophany…early manifestation of the second person of the Trinity), and there follows a unique occurrence, a wrestling match. Jacob knows who he is wrestling with and is singularly determined to keep a hold. It is his only hope. If he loses or allows the man to escape all is lost. It’s the last chance saloon. Perhaps from God’s point of view it was time to bring Jacob to his knees. This schemer needed to change his life and his name (Jacob means ‘deceiver’), and obey God as Abraham had.
Wesley, prophetically, feared for the future of the people called Methodists, that they might deteriorate into a ‘dead sect’ having the form of godliness but not the power. This is the key issue. Like many Methodists today, Jacob had a form of godliness inherited from his forbears, but no power.
There is much in Christian teaching and modern hymnody about ‘surrendering to God’ and the inherent danger of passivity and even ‘Quietism’ (a heresy of the early 18th Century). But Jacob is not surrendering here, rather he is ‘laying hold’ on God and he is permitted to do so…the GodMan he wrestles with does not destroy him, but sees in Jacob a deep desire to be changed and allows him to fight for what he most wants. Jacob demands to be blessed. ‘I won’t let you go unless you bless me’, he cries out. Many of our Methodist forbears knew what it meant to wrestle with God in prayer. Often 19th century chapels and those of the early 20th century Welsh revival are named ‘Peniel’.
Oh for the blessing! That we might have today that which they wrestled for and gained in large measure.
In his book, The Power Of Crying Out, Bill Gothard writes: 'The most significant difference between the prayers of God's people in Scripture (so powerfully effective) and our prayers today (so seemingly ineffective) is this: there was a fervency in the prayers of biblical saints - a fervency that is inherent in crying out. When we grasp this fact, the pages of Scripture come alive with sound!'
David said: 'In my distress I...cried unto my God: He heard my voice...' (Psalm 18:6 KJV). The Hebrew word that describes David's outcry is shava, a higher pitched cry for help.
Again the Psalmist says: '...I called to You for help and You healed me' (Psalm 30:2 NIV). We know from our own families that a true father's or mother’s heart hears their children's cries, and that their children naturally cry to them. In the same way, crying out to God is our child-to-father impulse, planted within us by the Holy Spirit. '[Because we are His children],' Paul says, '[We] have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father"' (Romans 8:15 KJV). The Greek verb here for crying out is a strong word usually translated as 'shouting.'
Forget dignity and decorum! Desperate situations call for desperate measures. We must allow the Holy Spirit to cry out from within us. We must wrestle in prayer for when we are really serious, we may be sure God will intervene and will undoubtedly bless us.
Someone once said ‘God has no grandchildren’, and we must understand that clearly. Each of us is responsible for our own relationship with God. Our Methodist heritage will not get us to heaven. Passivity, complacency, will not get us anywhere in the Christian life. We need to repent, return, receive. All of these are active, I suggest; even receiving, for we must reach out to receive a gift. It is not ours until we make it ours.
Therefore it is time to pray, and I mean active, Spirit-filled prayer. Of course there is a time for stillness and meditation, and surely this is part of our daily prayers. But as we come together to seek first the Kingdom, there is a deep longing, ‘as pants the deer for water, so my soul longs after you’.
William Arthur, a leading Methodist of the 1850s. Arthur argued that the primary need (of the ministry) is the power of the Holy Spirit; he believed that it’s absence is our corporate responsibility. ‘Prayer is the condition of obtaining this power. Prayer, prayer, all prayer – mighty, importunate, repeated united prayer’. He goes on to insist that a Church’s members must be ‘mighty in prayer’.
So we need to pray, to cry out to God, to wrestle in prayer, to pray all night if necessary as many have been doing this year. To refuse to ‘let go’ until the blessing is ours.
Let’s get serious about prayer. Methodism has a future if we can get this right.

2. Small Groups
In this context we may include fellowship, teaching and discipleship, support and accountability.
Let’s look at Small Groups, their value, and how they can be instrumental in growing the Church.
Most of us having been brought up through the church, have come to believe that the strength of the Church is primarily in its Sunday worship. That is the mindset we need to change. The numbers games…bums on pews. The real strength of the church is in relationships, vertical and horizontal. Again this is how the early Methodists began. They were to attend the parish church on Sundays…..but the dynamic, the spiritual powerhouse was not there but in the weeknight Class Meeting. A small group for each member, where each member would undergo a spiritual check-up, give testimony, confess his struggles and hurts and receive valuable loving support . This has been lost to Methodism. I have never attended a Class Meeting in my church. And if we trace the history of Methodism we may conclude that the decline of meaningful Class meetings was the start of the decline of Methodism.

But things are changing.
Graham Carter President of the Conference 2006-7, says:
'In order to achieve the discipleship we are called to, we need each other. And we need each other in a special way. The Church Life survey of a few years ago showed that Methodists were good at what we call "fellowship", but not good at experiencing God’s presence. It’s clear that for many ‘fellowship’ equates with friendliness, and this is not enough.
What has been lacking in the Church for some time is the element of accountability for our discipleship. How often are we accountable to each other for what we do as we try to keep following the way of Christ? Does anyone ever ask you how your discipleship is going? We’re afraid of that because it sounds too much like facing judgement – measure up or you’re out. But that isn’t how Jesus treated his disciples. He once told Peter to "Get behind me Satan" and warned him that he would deny that he knew Jesus, but the risen Christ still challenged him to "Feed my sheep." Peter had to be accountable, but accountable in love and trust.
We need to develop the practice of meeting in small discipleship groups where a high level of love and trust can grow and we can watch over each other in love. In such groups admitting our failure becomes not a fearful thing, but a way of building a firm platform for encouragement and growth. The Time to Talk of God report and study guide has been helping us to take the risk of speaking about our faith and understanding to one another. We all have to start from where we are and not where we’re told we should be. Only starting honestly from where we are, with all our doubts and uncertainties and journeying with each other, will faith grow.'

One of the really useful things we have discovered here about Alpha Course is the ‘Small Groups’ after the talk. As the weeks go by each group member begins to realise how valuable the group is….starts to let go of the masks and dares even to ask for prayer. As I have already suggested, in a small group you can relate at a much deeper level than you could ever achieve in a Sunday morning worship, not denying for a moment the value of this hour But if we are serious about loving one another then we need to get into real fellowship.

Three pastors went to the pastor's convention and were all sharing one room.The first pastor said, "Let's confess our secret vices one to another. I'll start - my secret vice is I just love to gamble. When I go out of town, it's cha-ching cha-ching, let the machines ring."The second pastor said, "My secret vice is that I just love to drink. When I go out of town, I like to take a little nip of something."The third pastor said, "My secret vice is gossiping and I can't wait to get out of this room!"
The lesson to learn from that one is obvious enough.
Across the world churches are rediscovering the immense value of small groups, for support and accountability. A group of people who can be trusted to bear one anothers burdens and humbly pray for each other in absolute confidentiality. These groups are often called cells. The idea is that a living cell will not only grow but multiply. So will the small group as other people want to become part of them. But these ‘Cells’ are just an updated version of the earliest New testament home groups we encounter in Acts, and Mr Wesley’s classes. Here we discover Methodism’s heritage.
So it’s time to get serious….with small groups for fellowship. The Greek word for fellowship is Koinonia, and the best way to describe it is in the words of Jesus Himself: ‘Love one another as I have loved you’. The Greek word is ‘agape’…utterly self sacrificial love.
‘Love one another’. ‘How?’ ‘As I have loved you’….a love which is utterly selfless and sacrifices all for the loved one. Risks all…and as Paul says ‘always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, love never fails. That’s what you call real love.
Now people of God…..’by this (agape) love all will know that you are my disciples’, says Jesus, ‘because you have this love one for another’. Young/old, black/white, native/foreigner, educated/uneducated, intelligent/with learning difficulties, rich/poor, Anglican/Methodist, employed/unemployed, student/retired, trendy/old fashioned, musical/tone deaf…(I could go on)…love one another as I have loved you.
It is within this context of deepening fellowship in small groups that we develop a shared ministry as each member discovers their gifts and uses them for the upbuilding of the whole. It is in this context that mutual support develops mutual accountability and even discipline. ‘You are my brother (sister) in Christ, therefore I love you unconditionally, therefore I can help you live as Christ commands, pray for you, share your struggles, and you can do the same for me. Let’s open our Bibles and learn together, grow together, journey together’.
Let’s get serious about small groups. You and I all need to be members of a small group for support and accountability. Let us begin to develop these groups now.

3. Worship
It’s time to get serious about Worship. I have read twenty or so books about worship. I have done a college course on worship. I have led worship for 35 years….and still a full understanding of what worship really is about eludes me. I do not get the chance often enough to simply ‘be’ in worship, I am often leading. Nevertheless, I want to share with you today my thinking on the future of the Methodist Church in the context of worship.
In many chapels up and down the land people meet on Sunday to go through the motions. It isn’t worship, that’s why it never attracts.
Revival when it comes will change everything. There will be a rediscovery of worship as God desires it.
The outcome will be that the hymns we know and love will mostly vanish…perhaps only 30 or so will carry forward. The next generation of Christians will sideline much of what we are used to now, (even so-called ‘Contemporary Worship Songs’, which almost always lead me into God’s presence, will decrease in importance). People will come and go at a time that suits them. The how and the when and the where and the what will change. The future will be completely different. There will be a rediscovery of worship with links to ancient forms and styles. The packaging will be different but it will still be Trinitarian Christian Worship. Scary? Maybe.
How can we in the Methodist Church worship effectively in the days ahead? How can we be sure we are worshipping at all when we meet, rather than just filling time with what we think is good stuff?
We need to ask the question: What is worship? Why do we do it?
Well,...praising God for who he is, thanking Him for what He’s done, allowing Him to mould our lives, cleanse, heal and make us holy.... comes into it.
Most important, we need to consider that in the life to come we will be worshipping God all the time. So how can we prepare for that? How can we make our worship on earth reflect the worship of heaven? Can we reach the dizzy heights in worship where we say we don’t want to stop?…..on earth as it is in heaven? Can we not at least make this our aim….worship permeated with the presence of God?
John Henry Howard in his book ‘Transformed Church’ 1910 writes:
"We leave our places of worship and no deep and inexpressible wonder sits upon our faces. When we get out on the streets our faces are one with those of the people coming out of the theatres and music halls. There is nothing about us to suggest that we’ve been looking at anything stupendous or overwhelming.
I remember an old saint telling me that after some services he liked to make his way home alone by quiet paths so that the ‘hush of the Almighty’ might remain on his awed and prostrate soul. This is the element we are losing."
And if this sense of awe was declining then, a hundred years ago, how much more now. How we need to rediscover this. The Bible tells us Moses face shone from being in God’s presence. Does yours or mine? I long for the time when the worshipping people go out of the church doors and passers by ask,
‘Where have you been.?’
‘What’s happened to you?’
We are driven by the clock…by time. Where does it say in the Bible we start worshipping at 10.30 and finish by 11.30 please tell me. The worship I read about in the Bible is 24/7.
Getting serious is about coming into God’s presence and waiting on Him. ‘Sorry God, can’t wait any longer, unless you want me to come back with a chicken as a burnt offering.’ People, God doesn’t work by our timetable. I’m sorry, but He doesn’t. It’s no wonder our worship isn’t worship. If this gathering makes no difference to you today then you haven’t met with God, you haven’t worshipped. You might feel a kind of warm feeling because you’re with the friendliest group of people in the community !!But you haven’t worshipped.
So how can we get worship right?
First, by saying to God, ‘You are Lord of my time. You have given me a certain time on Earth to prepare me for Heaven. Lord, you decide how much time you want me to wait for you. Forgive me for my shallow worship and self-serving. Help me to worship you and serve you alone.’
Most of our morning services are now 90 minutes. Good. We’re doing 24/7 prayer. Good. We’re moving forward. Don’t let us look back. Time in God’s presence can never be wasting time, but gaining time, always gaining time.
Let’s go to the words of Jesus: ‘in Spirit and in Truth’.
‘in Spirit’….worship must be Spirit led. In all our preparations and prayers we are invoking the Holy Spirit. The expectation of all worshippers must as we have said be an encounter with God in worship. If He is pre-eminent style, time, liturgy, music, environment, being secondary to this, will serve rather than be themselves the focus. The Spirit will bring to bear the deep awe and reverence, the ‘stupendous and overwhelming’ John Henry Howard was convinced had been lost.
I reckon that is what I have come back with from many hours alone with God on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. A sense of awe. Walking or standing many many times on the edge of immense cliffs, aware of my own mortality, where a gust of wind or a false step might end my life. You know. That’s sobering. The God who holds my fragile life in His hands showing to me, little me, His awesome creation…the immense cliffs, the roaring sea… the tiny flower, the butterfly. The whole world of wonder. Stupendous, overwhelming, deep awe.
Listen. The same awesome God is here by His Spirit…..can you sense that. You want to stay?
Worship must be ‘in Spirit and in truth’.
'In truth' ...means a number of things. Here are some: From our side; Honesty and Openness. I come ‘just as I am’. No pretence, nothing hidden, nothing held back. There is conviction of sin whenever we are this open. Repentance is needed, opportunity must be given. Broken relationships restored and healed. With open hearts and minds. With sincere faith. (David Perry ‘s HOT is all here…Honest, Open, Trusting). From God’s side, ‘in truth’ means; the Word comes to us.…we are led 'into all truth’ by the Holy Spirit. Proclamation of and hearing the Word takes place. Our understanding of Biblical Truth is deepened. His truth ‘sets us free’ to be truly and fully the People of God.
Getting serious about worship means to ‘let go and let God’ as we come before him.
Let’s discover real worship and make it relevant, and allow God to meet us.
In His presence ..may He renew, restore, refresh, equip, encourage and enable you to be the gift He intended you to be.
Response: Imagine Jesus standing before you. What is He saying to you? What do you want to do about it? I set the Communion rail for you to kneel at. Come and kneel before Him. Don’t be afraid. Today, maybe for the first time you will leave here and someone will say, ‘What’s different about you?’ ‘I’ve been to Church, Jesus was there.’

4. Evangelism
The Methodist Church needs to rediscover how to do Evangelism in the 21st Century.
How many short-term missions have come and gone with little evident impact?
The old style Cliff College Hit & Run evangelism doesn’t really work very well today, does it?
What does work, then? That’s what we need to discover. It’s the question every church leader worth their salt wants to know the answer to.
This morning can we spend a little time looking at Evangelism in 2008 and how we can all be a part of it. Yes, all of us.

i. If necessary use……
Francis of Assisi is credited with the phrase "Preach the gospel and, if necessary, use …..what?." A group of trainee evangelists was once asked to fill in the blank in the sentence. A large number of them replaced the blank with the word "force" - not quite what St. Francis had in mind. Words ! "Preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words."
This is an important issue. Not all of us are good with words. It’s not failure to admit to people that we’re not very good at explaining the faith. We might be petrified at the thought of trying to convert people. However, the implication of this phrase of Francis of Assisi is of course that we can be preachers without words. I want to say to you this morning that each of you can be a powerful influence to those around you, you may be unaware of it, but by simply following Christ in daily living, your life and mine can be a compelling witness to our Faith. In this sense you, too can be an Evangelist.
In that famous jungle encounter, Stanley said of Livingstone ‘If I had spent another day with him I would have been compelled to become a Christian, and he never spoke to me about it at all.’
What sort of a challenge do you and I present to unbelievers? Let’s turn to scripture: "When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). The world’s looking for people who look and act as though they’ve been with Him. They’ll be convinced only by the God we know; the One Who’s met all our needs. So today we need to pray, "Lord, others are watching; help them to see You in me!"
A number of years ago, I went to a posh Insurance dinner some distance away. Great meal, I love my food, and I love humour, but some of the jokes going round were not ones I would wish to add to my Cybersmile list. I guess I must have shown that in my body language, or in some other way have shown that I was a Christian, because one guy there, who I didn’t know, found out my phone number and gave me a call. He said, ‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yes’. He had a particular serious problem which was affecting his business and asked if he could come over from Sheffield to see me. I was able to listen to him and talk through some issues with him and he went away much happier. I haven’t seen him from that day to this, but I always remembered the importance of being an evangelist even without words.
The subject of ‘Influence’ could keep me going for several sermons. But let’s move on…

ii The Journey of Faith
It’s important to remember that God is already at work in people’s lives. Wesley called it ‘prevenient grace’. When we come onto the scene we need to be aware of that and not think this person or that person’s a hopeless case. God’s doing his work before we arrive on the scene.
We need to remember, too, that the process of bringing another to faith requires a series of people and events usually over quite a long time. All Christians have a part to play. It does not rest upon one person having all the right words to say at a specific time that will instantly convert the unbeliever .
At Alpha we were talking about our ‘journey of faith’ whereby each person may move step by step towards conversion and beyond to growing discipleship. This view is positive in that it shows that just as I am on a journey so are you, and so is everyone. We need to journey alongside people where they are, so they can get to know us. You and I can help people move on another step. It may be that you will be the one who will hear them say; ‘Now I know I’m a Christian’, but up to that point many believers may have done their bit too, through influence and prayer and maybe even words.

iii Invitation
We don’t read much about Andrew in the gospels, but where we do come across him he is always bringing people to Jesus. ‘Come and you will see…’ Andrew is credited with bringing Simon Peter his brother to meet Jesus. How important that encounter was!
The teenage Billy Graham was not interested in spiritual matters. When an evangelist visited his local town – he rejected invitations to attend, even his good friend Albert McMakin couldn’t persuade Billy to come along. However Albert owned a truck and offered 16-year-old Billy the powerful incentive of driving to the meeting – that swung it. Billy drove a truck full of young people to the revival meeting and was captivated by the message, triggering the 180 degree turn that his life took. Every Christian knows the name Billy Graham, while Albert McMakin is virtually unknown. We can’t all be Billy Graham, but we can all be an Albert McMakin and engineer an invitation.
Simple, isn’t it, an invitation. I am an unashamed Alphaholic. Debbie thought I said alcoholic the other day and nearly fell off her chair. A simple invitation is all it needs…you might have to come too….with the person you invited. That’s ok. Please don’t knock Alpha. If you do knock it you’ll have to answer to big blokes like Ian or Steve, and an even bigger bloke called Bob. Men are coming to faith, women too, through Alpha. We praise God!
This is an invitation which works. Why does it work? Because doing Alpha people discover Christ for themselves…no pressure. An easy, relaxed voyage of discovery.
Well, maybe even words, too…
Explaining the faith can be a difficult thing to do. Whatever words we use, we can never fully explain the mystery of salvation and God’s love. He doesn’t expect us to be brilliant at articulating the faith, just to share what we’ve experienced as a result of being a Christian and knowing God’s love and forgiveness in our own lives.

Conclusion: Not so much our ability, but our availability…
How many times have I said this ! ?
Here at the end we draw together the four aspects of the Future of Methodism we have been examining. For if we are to pray, be involved in small groups, worship effectively, and witness to those we meet we must find time to do so. We may feel totally inadequate, that God passed us by when it came to talents, gifts, skills and abilities. It’s not true, but whatever, we have time. We can make ourselves available for the Kingdom of God. If we do not, Methodism will go down the pan. God will raise up another people to do what we have failed to do.
If however we choose to make ourselves available for Him…He will do in us and through us 'far more than we can ever ask or imagine'. Let me encourage you to open the door to Jesus and let him in.
The future of the Church depends on this. Many people, especially the young, are seeking spiritual things. They need to see Christ is alive, that the Holy Spirit makes a difference …before they choose dark spirits instead. You and I can show this ‘difference’ in the home, the workplace, wherever we may be as we make ourselves available to God.

Encourage One Another

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 4 v29b to 5 v2 (New Living Translation)

How can we encourage one another?
First, words.
Hello, how are you?
Fine thankyou. And you.
Not so bad.
A bit nippy.
Feels like snow.
That is a typical winter conversation I have with certain people on my way from the office to home and back somewhere on King St or Low St. The summer conversation might not mention snow. Recognise anything there? You’re right, I do superficial conversation like most of us. Could have been me opening the conversation. Could just as easily be me replying.
And we do it in church too, don’t we?
Now I don’t want you to be embarrassed at the end, and think you must immediately either engage the first person you talk to in deep and meaningful conversation or make a beeline for the door. Most of our daily conversations will still take place at the top of the layer. By layer I mean that we all have different layers at which we relate to people. I might say ‘not so bad’ when the truth is I’m seriously depressed. I might say ‘fine thankyou’ even though my closest friend has just died or I’ve been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, or my life is in such a mess I don’t know where to turn.
Still, I don’t really want to talk about it anyway.
Thus there is a mutually acceptable surface layer interaction.
Don’t knock it. It has to be better than going around grumping and glaring at one another. Even a friendly smile works wonders, doesn’t it.
Smile at your neighbour.
’There is a measure of encouragement we can give even at surface level isn’t there. A warning from the book of proverbs however……’if a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning it will be taken as a curse’. I've done that! A measure of sensitivity is needed even at this level, especially early in the morning!
We can go that little bit further, however:
Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Eph. 4v29b
When Sigmund Freud discovered that symptoms of emotional distress could sometimes be relieved simply by talking in certain ways to his patients he was puzzled and intrigued. Years of medical training had conditioned him to think of people as merely biological and chemical entities. Had Freud looked into the book of Proverbs he would have been less surprised to discover that mere words can have such strong impact:
Death and life are in the power of the tongue 18:21
Good words can make an anxious heart glad 12:25
A soothing tongue is a tree of life 15:4
Pleasant words are…..sweet to the soul and healing to the bones 16:24
Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances 25:11
Words are important. They have real power. James warns that although the tongue is a small part of the body, it has the power to determine the whole course of human existence. A chance, thoughtless word can be terribly destructive. Equally a timely word can be tremendously helpful.
I remember going into the Headmaster’s study after my A-level results came through and he tersely summarised how badly I’d done, which left me feeling that after 7 years at the school I was a waste of space as far as he was concerned.
On the other hand I still remember Rev Laurence Morley whose words often encouraged me in my 20s. I can’t remember a thing he said but I can remember how good it felt to be on the receiving end of his timely word. He died almost 30 years ago, but I remember him with a smile because of his humour and gentleness.
A breathing space here because I know you can remember such people too. Pause for a few seconds bringing to mind the people of encouragement you remember.
Now ask yourself this question: ‘Who can I speak an encouraging word to today’?
‘Let everything you say be good and helpful…’Eph 4v29b

Taking encouragement to the next stage:
It has to go deeper than words ….we can all do ‘lip service’, but more is needed:
…. be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. ’Eph 4v32
Larry Crabb writes ‘Christians committed to serving others (and the key word here is committed), will amid the routine of life maintain a conscious commitment to promote others welfare.’ He suggests we choose our words carefully and examine what our motivations are in relation to the other person. If our motivation is so people will like us, then it needs sorting.
I continue to quote from Crabb’s book, ‘Encouragement’; ‘When I contemplate the meaning of proper motivation and God’s demands on my life, I throw up my hands in defeat and admit I simply cannot measure up……Yet I am somehow to develop the strength of character that enables me to be committed to ministry even though it appears that no-one is ministering to me. Where does this strength of character come from?'
'I once talked with a man who spent 3 years in a concentration camp for prisoners of war. During his confinement he resolved to learn the meaning of Jesus’ words " love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you". His time in prison provided him with a unique opportunity to test whether the Holy Spirit could forge character of that quality in the hot fires of persecution. And he did. My friend reported that he learned to care genuinely for the welfare of his persecutors.'
How can we develop character like that? Most of us cannot manage to love a Christian sister who talks too much, let alone an enemy captor who beats us mercilessly.’ Well, LOVE is the fruit of the SPIRIT. Filled with the Spirit and trusting in Christ anything's possible.
David Perry reminded us last year of the words of Jeremy Bentham written way back in 1830; ‘Create all the happiness you are able to create: remove all the misery you are able to remove.’
If we are to become real encouragers in the body of Christ, we must if necessary at our own expense and with the purest of motives, ‘Be kind to each other…….’Eph 4v32.

Encouragement then is ultimately an outcome of sincere love for one another. And here I need to narrow down the definition (as we often have to) for this misused word ‘love’. This is much more than we usually understand when we use the word love. This is self-sacrificial love…Greek AGAPE. ‘Greater love has no man than this; that he lay down his life for his friends….’. Love shown supremely in the life and death of Jesus. ‘Father, forgive the for they don’t know what they are doing….’ It is a super-human love, that is to say we don't possess it of ourselves, it is, as we have said, God's gift through His Spirit.
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. Eph 5v2
Only love can deal with fear. People are hurting; fear is lodged in deep places. We pretend, we hide, we wear masks, and in protecting ourselves in this way we sacrifice vitality in fellowship, blocking encouragement.
Only this AGAPE love can deal with fear.
This is the 'perfect love' that 'casts out fear' 1John4v18.
Only love can break through so we realise the unconditional acceptance we have through the blood of Christ.
And so we are to accept others as God in Christ has accepted us. That is the ministry of encouragement, a good place to begin if our church is to be instrumental in transforming lives beyond these doors.
Finally a word from scripture:, ‘Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds; not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together…but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.’ That’s Heb 10.

http://www.davecheong.com/2006/07/12/8-simple-things-you-can-do-to-encourage-others/

If My People....4

SORRY IF THIS IS CONFUSING, BUT BLOGGER DOES THINGS THIS WAY.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THIS SERIES OF SERMONS GO DOWN TO If My People....1 WHICH IS BELOW (MAYBE EVEN IN 'Older Posts'). THEN WORK YOUR WAY UP TO THIS ONE WHICH IS NUMBER 4

2Chron 7v14 ‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’

PENTECOST 2008

This is the day of Pentecost, the time Peter and the 11 had been waiting for.
Jesus had ascended to the Father, after promising the Holy Spirit to the disciples. ‘Wait’, he said.
Waiting is not something we are particularly good at is it?:
…. not something many of us do well. Our culture engenders a sort of vending machine mentality in us. We want things instantly.
Waiting in the Bible is not killing time, however.
‘I waited patiently for the Lord’, says the Psalmist (Ps 40)
‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength’ (Is 40)
Far from killing time it is an active waiting. Not trying to engineer for ourselves what God has promised he will do. But using the waiting time effectively.
I believe that God longs to visit His people again in power, indeed we are in a waiting time just now.

Those words read to us from Leviticus 26 are to me such a clear statement by God of His love for His covenant people. If we translate it into the New Testament, since Jesus we Christians are His covenant people. Look at the opening of Ephesians and 1 Peter and the language. He has shown his love for us in Christ, ‘while we were yet sinners.’(Romans).
He longs to lavish His gifts of love on us.
But we have rejected His offer and closed the door.
We are afraid of where He might take us if we let Him have free reign in our lives.
If the first third of Lev 26 is about the overflowing blessing God gives if we obey Him, the other two-thirds is about what happens if we disobey, and it makes grim reading.

Friends, we live in times when God is not getting through to us, not because of anything He has done, but because we have moved away from Him.
Our society, with a reducing Christian influence to keep it going in the right direction, is sinking into an abyss of crime, drugs, broken lives, selfishness, perversion and murder of unborn children.
It’s a mess, isn’t it?
God told Solomon what to do when things get in a mess.

There’s only one answer, God said, it’s this….
‘If my people….’ 2 Chron 7v14

In this time of waiting therefore, His people, that’s us, we need to do four things.
I have talked about these previously.
We need to
humble ourselves
and pray
and seek His face
and turn from our wicked ways.
These things I have outlined in previous sermons.

Let’s get rid of the pride which says ‘I’m alright’, or ‘I’m better than them.’ Humble ourselves. Pray and seek God’s face. We can’t do that without a significant commitment of time, personally and corporately. ‘What do you want to say to us, Lord?’ ‘What do you want us to do, Lord.?’
…and then to get rid of everything that stands in the way of our relationship with God…our wicked ways. ‘Wicked’ you say … ‘Not me!’
So every part of your life, your money and time is surrendered to God??
He is first in your life??
I wish I could stand up and say ‘Yes’ to that, but I know there is still some unfinished business. But I want more than all else to be His true servant.

Let us take hold of this Berlin Wall that we have erected against God, and through these four steps demolish it once and for all.

For then the promise will come to fulfilment.
I WILL hear. Hallelujah !
I WILL forgive their sin. Amen.
I WILL heal their land. Amen and hallelujah!
What a promise!

The Spirit will come again as on the first day of Pentecost. Are we ready for this?

Selwyn Hughes writes:
In a conference some years ago I met a missionary who told me his story. ‘I came back from the Mission a broken and dispirited man and was given up to die. My doctor said he could do nothing for me. A friend visited me one night and said, "I know what’s wrong with you… you have hatred and bitterness buried so deeply in your heart that you can’t see it. I’m going to lay hands on you and pray for God’s help." Before he could do so I broke down and wept. "Yes". I cried, "I know, I’m a bitter and angry man. O God forgive me".’
‘Suddenly, the Holy Spirit fell on me. I felt Him burn up the anger that was deep within me; I got up and have never had a day’s sickness since.’

One of my heroes is Count Ludwig Von Zinzendorf.
Yes, I know, trust me to choose someone with a name like that for a hero!

Let me tell you the story of the man and the people whose lives touched John Wesley and were instrumental in his conversion:

An amazing transformation came to the Moravians gathered in Herrnhut in Germany on August 13, 1727. The Christian History Institute has the following recorded: "On August 5, Zinzendorf and fourteen of the brethren spent the entire night in conversation and prayer. On August 10th, a pastor by the name of Rothe was so overcome by God’s nearness during an afternoon service that he threw himself down on the ground during prayer and called to God with words of repentance as he had never done before. The congregation was moved to tears and continued until midnight, praising God and singing." The next morning a communion service was planned for Wednesday, August 13th. The institute continues: "Count Zinzendorf visited every house in Herrnhut in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. Everyone had come to a conviction of their sinfulness, need, and helplessness. During the service, they made many painful prayers for themselves, for fellow Christians still under persecution, and for their continued unity. At that time Count Zinzendorf made a penitential confession in the name of the entire congregation."

"Then prayers of great unction arose from the brethren as they interceded for each other and those who were still living under persecution in Moravia." Suddenly with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, the power of the Holy Spirit swept across the congregation in waves. The noise was loud enough that many in the church looked toward the windows expecting to see a gale raging outside. The manifestation of the Spirit was not relegated within the four walls of the church, but fell throughout the whole community. Men, women, and children were touched as a passion for God and His purpose swept through their hearts.

Zinzendorf gives us an account of this wonderful occurrence: "August 13th was a day of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation; it was it’s Pentecost!"...It was such a sense of the nearness of Christ bestowed in a single moment upon all members of the community at once; it was so unanimous that two members, at work twenty miles away, unaware that the meeting was being held, became at the same moment smitten with the same blessing and anointing."

One Moravian remembers: "We had stopped judging each other because we had become convinced, each one, of his lack of worth in the sight of God. On that day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we saw the hand of God and His wonders. We were all under the cloud of the Father baptised with His Spirit. As the Holy Ghost came upon us, great signs and wonders took place in our midst. From that time, scarcely a day passed but what we beheld His almighty workings amongst us. A great hunger after the word of God took possession of us, so that we had to have three services every day. Everyone desired above everything else that the Holy Spirit might have full control. Self-love and self-will as well as all disobedience disappeared and an overwhelming flood of grace swept us all out into the great ocean of Divine Love." What happened that August day at Herrnhut left the participants with a wonderful faith for Jesus Christ. They left the house of God that noon "hardly knowing whether they belonged to earth or had already gone to Heaven".

Again Zinzendorf explains: "The Saviour permitted to come upon us a Spirit of whom we had hitherto not had any experience or knowledge. Hitherto WE had been the leaders and helpers. Now the Holy Spirit Himself took full control of everything and everybody."

I’ll tell you what…
I want that.
Do you?

If my people....3

2Chron 7v14 ‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’

What are our wicked ways?
My wicked ways. Your wicked ways.
If this condition for God to come and forgive and heal, even to hear from heaven in the first place, includes repentance, what do we need to repent of?

Let’s just examine the basics of the gospel and consider where we as believers have come to in our journey of faith..
God is a holy, loving God and will have no truck with sin.
The Bible says ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. This we know. We may not have murdered anybody, but we know if we’re honest that we’re sinners and we’ll never measure up.
That’s our position….and like the monkey in the Jungle Doctor story, we can pull and pull upwards by our bootstraps but the quicksand will still take us down. We have no hope…unless someone throws us a lifeline. God came in Jesus to do just that.
Jesus bore in his own body on the cross the full weight of the world’s sin…including mine and yours. The price was paid in blood. His blood avails for me…is available, works for me here, 2000 years later.

The Bible says that if we repent, that is turn from our sin, and believe in Jesus, we will be saved. Turn, take, trust is one of the simplest ways of describing what we must do to avail ourselves of the finished work of Christ for us:
Turn from sin
Take the free gift of forgiveness, and eternal life
Trust in God and follow Jesus for the rest of your life.
If we do this in sincerity of heart, we are saved, and Jesus by his Holy Spirit comes to live in us. We know for ourselves that we are on a journey to heaven, and set out with joy and determination.

But the devil, having lost someone from his dominion to the Kingdom of God, is equally determined to try and get us back. So he appeals to our human nature, what the King James Version of the Bible calls ‘the flesh’, and subtly over time leads us to displace Christ from the number one place in our lives. In the old days it was called backsliding. The early joy we experience slowly disperses and we look around and observe that other Christians are also like this, become highly suspicious of people who never lose their joy, stop talking with each other about what God is doing, and in due course He doesn’t appear to be active in our lives any more.
When our consciences were sharp we used to know right from wrong, and avoid evil, and confess and receive forgiveness whenever we sinned. Now, we may feel guilty from time to time, but we gloss over our sins, declare that we are after all better than ‘him’ or ‘her’, and wonder what went wrong.

Every Sunday morning, backsliders gather as they have always done….and they go home unchanged and unchallenged. They are gospel hardened. They have become convinced that this is all there is….but there must be more than this!

There is!

But let us look at the consequences of all of this nominal Christianity. The salt has lost its savour. The light has grown dim. No longer to people look at Christians and want what they’ve got, because they don’t look any different.

Here’s a quote from John Henry Howard writing in 1910:
"We leave our places of worship and no deep and inexpressible wonder sits upon our faces. When we get out on the streets our faces are as one with those of the people coming out of the theatres and music halls. There is nothing about us to suggest that we have been looking at anything stupendous or overwhelming. I remember an old saint telling me that after some services he liked to make his way home alone by quiet paths so that the hush of the Almighty might remain on his awed and prostrate soul. This is the element we are losing."

A hundred years ago... What has changed?
Well. we have become even more 'worldy'.
Slowly but surely society has changed for the worse. Abortion, drugs, broken families, increased crime, overcrowded prisons, laws passed which are anti-Christian, selfishness is rife, bitterness, cynicism and hatred, while the church declines and fails to make any impact.
Two of our churches have recently closed. A number of the others are going nowhere and will soon no longer be viable.
Are we going to sit on our hands and let this happen?
How can we recover our Christian heritage?
How can we make this land a Christian country once again?

Well, God’s got plans. And they involve you and me. Revival will come. Instead of a handful of people as we are, there will not be enough room here for everyone to get in, there will be such a hunger for God’s word.

It’s Pentecost next Sunday. The first Pentecost 3000 people were converted through one sermon. Nowadays (as someone said)it takes 3000 sermons to convert one person.
I have done a few less than that:
In the last couple of years, however, I preached five sermons on Cell values...
Jesus at the Centre,
Every Member Ministry,
Every Member Witnessing,
Every Member Growing,
a Community of Love.
And then I began to preach four sermons on the Future of Methodism, and how we are going down the tube unless we rediscover Prayer, Worship, Evangelism and Small Groups. I called them 'Getting Serious'.
Then I preached on encouragement, remember? Part of the verse from Eph 4 reads: "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."
Then I began a series on the key verse we visit today.
I have been honestly telling you what I believe God is saying.

All of this is preparation for what God is about to do. But He is waiting for us to really get serious, to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways…repent. That’s the theme tonight. Then the answer will come. When there is the deep and sincere desire to get rid of our 'idols', get self off the throne and serve God alone. Then He will hear from heaven, forgive, heal the land…Hallelujah!

So I’m calling you, and calling me too, to prepare for this Pentecost by prayer and repentance. Saturday is a special prayer day. But let’s do something now. We’re going to make it personal.
Write down your sins. No-one is going to see what you’ve written, only God. Go to be alone in different parts of this sanctuary. Be alone with God. Will you get serious with God? Say to God ….I turn from my sin. I want to be free again. I repent of all my wicked ways.

Then we’ll proclaim together that our sins are forgiven and put the bits of paper through this shredder.

Prayer:
Thankyou Lord that you died and bore all my sins and you are here to forgive and give me a fresh start. Cleanse me deep within and fill me with your Spirit. Go with me every moment of every day. …Make me a bright light in the darkness, help me to be unselfish, loving, and determined to stand up for truth and against injustice. To give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to labour and not to seek for any reward save that we know we are doing your will.
Holy Spirit we wait for you.

If my people.....2

2Chron 7v14 ‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’

If my people…will pray, and seek my face
We return to this most important verse of Scripture.
There must be more than this
Is there more to life than this?
We have got so used to doing church in the way we do it, and have become so resigned to the church’s decline in size and influence in our society that we think nothing is ever going to change.

Well, I want to say something and I want to nail this down.
Nothing will change unless we do something. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
But if we get serious about our Christian Faith, and start to prioritise God’s Kingdom in our lives, then we will be opening the door to the love and power of God. And.. I am going to say to you with all boldness this morning… ‘Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine’. Eph 3v20
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Corinthians 2:9).
You ain’t seen nothing yet!

When things are in a mess…
This is the context of our verse.
When things are in a mess… ‘ If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
Do you need convincing that things are in a mess? Let me assure you that things are going to get a lot lot worse unless we, God’s people act.
It’s not up to ‘them’ to act, whoever ‘they’ are.
It’s up to us, the people called by His name, to act.
How?
By humbling ourselves. We talked about humility last morning service I was here,

By prayer,
We looked at that last Sunday night.
We pray to the Father,
through the Son,
by the Spirit,
against the devil,
with the saints,
in faith,
nothing wavering,
with persistence,
without ceasing,
using the Lord’s prayer,…

The third phrase is for today:
And seek my face. This is closely linked with prayer.
Let’s explore together some verses in the Bible.
First of all FACE. Seek my FACE.

In the Old Testament, Israel believed that to look upon God’s face meant instant death.
However, here’s a couple of verses:
Numbers 6:25
The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
Psalms 119:135
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Do we want to seek His face?
How do you see God’s face when He looks upon you?
Oh that we would seek His wonderful, loving face. What blessing would be ours.

Let’s explore ‘SEEK’ in the Bible.
SEEK my face,….
Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Ezra 8:21
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones...
Psalms 63:1
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Psalms 70:4
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
Isaiah 55:6
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Hosea 10:12
break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Matt.6.33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Heb.11.6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Seek my face.
Believers must make time and space to fully and effectively encounter the God who is ‘more ready to hear than we to pray’.
Prayer at its highest is a two-way conversation.

Richard Foster says:
Prayer catapults us on to the frontier of the Christian life. Of all the Spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father.

Jean de Chantal says:
…..spend the appointed time of prayer quietly and peacefully, doing nothing in God’s presence, content simply to be there.

O. Hallesby , in his great classic ‘Prayer’, begins the book by quoting Rev. 3:20, ‘Listen, I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me’. (NRSV)
To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts…..
It is well known that it is more difficult to hold one’s breath than it is to breathe….The air which our souls need also envelops us at all times and on all sides. God is round about us in Christ on every hand, with His many-sided and all-sufficient grace. All we need to do is open our hearts.
All he needs is access. He enters in of His own accord, because He desires to come in. And He enters in wherever He is not denied admittance. As air enters in quietly when we breathe….so Jesus enters quietly into our hearts and does His blessed work there.

A modern contemplative uses the same metaphor:
….. words from a Lenten Hymn ‘while I breathe I pray’…….made this clear. I saw my life, looking back, as having a single common thread – the prayer that God has been praying in me even when I have not been praying. I cannot exist without prayer as the breath of my life.

The art of praying resides in slowing up sufficiently to be able to bathe in God’s warmth and light. Sunbathing…….And the central problem with that in our restless culture is the difficulty of turning up and staying there, in the sun.

So we see the need to discover this important area of prayer and in quiet contemplation experience the living Christ at work in our lives, making us more like Him. This is the filling, joy-imparting, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within.

Joyce Huggett describes her own experience of the work of the Holy Spirit, and her prayer life is transformed from incessant petition to a discovery of God’s inner presence:
…'.
I could no longer fight off the new surge of life with which He filled me. I have no words to describe what happened. I simply remember that I tingled with joy. The next day I was buoyant with this joy……I no longer felt hungry in prayer. I could not stop myself praying……But the nature of the prayer had changed. It ceased to be a string of requests, a tirade of questionings, beseeching and plaguings. Instead, the sense of the presence of God’s life within stunned me into silence. This awed silence gave birth to wordless praise. wordless adoration and wordless consecration of my life to Him. Silence. Wordlessness. This was what the monk had been describing to me. A fresh touch from God.
I believe this is the place to begin with our prayers.'

We cannot ‘live’ spiritually without prayer and worship. If we neglect these disciplines we shrivel up and die in spirit, we become worldly in outlook and self-centred, and our relationships suffer.

Serving Christ in the world and evangelism are essential but they are no substitute for prayer and worship, and we will achieve little if we do not begin with God.
On the other hand if we take time to pray we will grow and flourish spiritually, God will indwell us by His Holy Spirit, we will know for certain our sins are forgiven and no guilt will remain, we will cease to be anxious, we will long for others to experience for themselves the ‘abundant life’ we have discovered, we will have our eyes opened to see through God’s eyes and to feel some of His pain which will lead us to into compassionate living and self-sacrifice.
We will have seen the face of God, and know His will.

If my people will pray, and seek my face, and turn.. then will I hear, will forgive, will heal

Can we do that now? Really seek His face...