Ray Yates writes:

Mark 5.1-20 Legion

First of all to state the obvious, this is a shocking story, we can fail to allow the Bible to shock us! What a terrible picture this story presents of this poor demonised man:

This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

It would seem that all this man’s humanity was lost to all but Jesus.

When Jesus asks: “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” His human name is lost! This poor man!

This passage points to an amazing truth - no one is too far gone for Jesus’ help.  Jesus can see our real potential, beyond all the mess and sin in our lives…  We shouldn’t write any one off….

What a transformation we see in Legion, Jesus breaking the grip of evil: sitting there, dressed and in his right mind, a man at peace after torment!  Jesus can do that! Jesus wants to do that, Jesus does that.  Many people are tormented by their own demons… Jesus can bring us peace…

We come now to the best part of the passage for me:

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.  Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  So the man went away and began to tell those in his home towns how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The healed man wants to go with Jesus but he is sent to his own people.  This is a tough call.  Our mission field is often in front of us:  family, friends, local area, and this is often the toughest mission field.

That’s where Jesus sent Legion…That’s where Jesus often sends us…

It couldn’t have been easy to go back, with all that had gone on.

It seems his enthusiasm knew no limits, rather than stay at home he went to the ten towns (Decapolis).

Jesus sends this man to those who asked Him to leave, not only that, these towns were known to be a bit rough!

What qualification did this man have to be one of the first Christian missionaries?  In one sense he didn’t know much about Jesus, but in another sense he knew so much about Jesus.  The healed man had this in abundance. He had a life changing Jesus Encounter.

The man could do more than talk about freedom (or quote Bible verses about it), he’d found it in Jesus.  It is not just learning we should desire but Encounter.  Encounter with Jesus should always make us want to learn more about Him..

And all the people were amazed!  I am constantly amazed at what Jesus can do!

Reverend Ray Yates

Miriam writes:

In Mark 5:25-34 we hear the story of a woman who reached for Jesus with faith and encountered His presence in a way that completely transformed her life. She had been suffering with bleeding for 12 years and had spent all the money she had trying to get well but she was only getting worse. According to the Old Testament purity laws her bleeding caused her to be considered unclean by her community. As a consequence, she had spent 12 years socially isolated because people would have been afraid to come close in case they brushed up against her and became unclean too.

So, it is even more amazing that having heard about Jesus she had the faith (and courage) to risk everything and enter the crowd just so she might touch Jesus’ cloak. And when she did reach out, she received immediate healing. However, rather than her uncleanness transferring to Jesus, His holiness transferred to her - contagious uncleanness becomes contagious holiness in Jesus. Not only that, but Jesus called her out in front of the whole crowd so that she might be fully restored and no longer live in isolation.

Last week at the New Wine Leadership Conference Bishop Ruth spoke on this passage and how she accidentally typed ‘she re-ached for Jesus’ instead of ‘she reached’. But this mistake reveals something of the woman’s heart. She had tried everything else, and now she had faith that Jesus could heal her. Her heart ached for Him.

Do our hearts ache for Jesus? And not just once in a while, but do we re-ache for Jesus daily?

The other week at Family Breakfast we were thinking about what it means to grow as disciples and we did an experiment to grow salt crystals. Salt crystals only grow when string is immersed in salty water and left for the water to evaporate and the salt to cling to the string. This process happens slowly, but bit by bit crystals start to form.

This is a bit like what living as a disciple looks like, it means choosing again and again to reach out for Jesus with faith, with a heart that is daily re-aching for Jesus. Slowly the Holy Spirit transforms us and enables us to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Are we day by day choosing to listen to His voice and obediently follow where He leads? Are we those who want to be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do the things Jesus did? Because Jesus is the one who heals, the one who rescues, the one who saves. And the one who calls out to us: come follow me - how are you going to respond? Are you reaching for Jesus? Is your heart re-aching for him?

Revd Miriam Thurlow Curate CCBN

Miriam Thurlow writes

Last week as we worshipped we were led into a beautiful extended silence and as we sat in God’s presence I felt God ask me: why are you bringing your haste with you into my presence?

My life is often full of haste but I had this strong conviction I didn’t want to bring that into the presence of God with me. Because if I did I would bring my own vision of God and his kingdom, my own vision of the right timings, rather than coming to him and letting him reveal himself and his will to me.

As I reflected on this, I realised God has been speaking to me about slowing down with him in various ways - about not rushing time with him. And I found myself reflecting on Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush (Exodus 3).

This encounter happens whilst Moses is going about his daily life as a shepherd. He is tending his flock when an angel of the Lord appeared and made God’s presence visible to Moses in a tree that was on fire but not burning up. The fire catches Moses’ attention and he begins to draw near to it. As he does he hears God calling him by name. But before he can draw any closer God tells Moses to take off his sandals for he is on holy ground.

Yes as a sign of respect and reverence but for 2 other reasons too. Firstly, Moses is told to take off his sandals because they are dirty. He is a shepherd and so they would have been covered in all kinds of dirt on them. But the dirt of the world does not belong in this holy space. Moses turned away from his business as usual, including taking off his dirty sandals, leaving the signs of the world outside so that he can come into the holy place. He takes off his sandals so that God can do His transformation.

But I wonder also whether God told him to remove his shoes so would not go anywhere. So he wouldn’t rush off, but stay in this holy place, stay in this place of encounter.

It is a holy place because God’s presence is there. God is inviting Moses into this holy place but he has a choice to make in order to draw near, to take off his sandals.

We too are invited to draw close, to be in God’s presence and be transformed, but we have to make a choice - to take off our sandals and trust God’s wisdom and command rather than our own strength and own way.

Why do we seek God’s presence? In part the answer is simple: we desire to be in God’s presence because that is where God is - and we want to be with Him.

Are we hearing the Holy Spirit inviting us to draw close to God? Hear the Father calling our name? But what are we bringing with us? What is stuck on the bottom of our sandals? Distraction? Haste and hurry? Our own agenda? Resentment? Unforgiveness? Pride? We long to come into the presence of God and be transformed - but that is a purifying place - what do we need to leave behind so that we can fully enter in?

We seek God’s presence for He is there and in His presence we are transformed. In His presence we hear Him calling our name and listen as He reveals who He is. Our cry in this holy place is: teach me your ways Lord, show me the way You love, make my heart grow more and more in love with you. As we do this we discover and learn to walk in God’s way, at His pace - to not let the haste of the world lead us, but instead be led by the Holy Spirit, to dwell in God’s presence and be obedient to where He calls us.

Revd Miriam Thurlow Curate

Lenten Lunches

Playgroups

David Phillips writes:

The spiritual world is all around us because God is all around us, this is fundamental in Christianity.  We are spiritual children living in a material world.

The Bible says that we are aliens here on earth and that our home is in heaven.  So we are urged to grow in spiritual things, in gifts of the Spirit such as prophecy, visions, healings, tongues, kindness, faithfulness, love, self-control.  And lots of other things, because we cannot have a lasting effect for the Gospel if we are not aware of and do not grow in the spiritual dimension.

When we become Christians we think that we have arrived, and if we have truly given our lives to Jesus we have arrived, but there is so much more to learn, so much more to grow into, because all the things that Jesus displayed and taught and show us in His life are ours too, all the blessings and gifts of heaven are ours in Christ.  And if we are willing and brave, we will never stop learning this side of heaven.

We are growing into the image of Jesus and when we finally get to heaven and we see the Lord, the bible tells us that we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is.  Obviously, not physically but spiritually, and like all living things we have to grow, or die, you never just exist.

So how do we grow?  Of course, the Bible tells us firstly to crave that growth.

1Peter 2:2-3 says: “Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good”. 

You can’t stay as a baby, you have to grow, if you eat or drink it happens, in the material and in the spiritual.

Spiritual truths found in scripture, and Christian books will feed you, sermons feed you, prophetic words feed you.

2Peter 3:18 says: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

It’s a command to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

To grow in His grace is to accept His undying, unmerited forgiveness then give it away to others. We give ourselves for the sake of other people, just as Jesus did.  “Have you truly accepted His forgiveness of you and because of it have you been able to forgive others who have wronged you?”  Have you grown in grace and knowledge of Jesus?

It’s hard but it’s how we grow and all of us have some growing to do.

2Cor 10:15  “Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand.”

As your faith grows all sorts of spiritual ministries grow as well and the area of spiritual activity in a town or area grows as well.

You have to exercise your faith, practise it, test it, step out in faith and cause it to grow.

Reverend David Phillips CCBN

Children's Clothes and Toy Sale

Uniform 4 All Giveaway

Half Term Drop-in

Mark Carey Writes:

Have you noticed we so often reserve talk of resurrection to Easter? We don't factor it in to our lives on a daily basis.

I found myself thinking about this after we read the account of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus in morning prayers. I was struck by, even at the point of death, resurrection power was showing up as tombs were opened. I observed that the authorities went to great effort to make sure resurrection couldn’t happen by guarding the tomb and sealing it up - but that couldn’t stop Jesus being raised. It reminded me that throughout Jesus’ life He showed resurrection power….. you couldn’t miss it - like a foretaste of what was to come.

The true state of a disciple of Jesus is to be one who lives in resurrection power. Jesus modelled it, lived it, and set it before us and therefore we are called to live it as well. How do we do this? Well, watch what I said last Sunday night https://www.youtube.com/live/YsILmLppcV0?feature=shared 

Maybe the thing I would most highlight is what I learned from watching Gladiators the TV show. Those familiar with it will know that the last and most difficult part of the final challenge is the Travellator. Contestants have to run up an incline of 30 degrees, moving at 13mph against them. By this point, they are exhausted by the other challenges they have completed - many fall and end up sliding down to the bottom. One contestant found himself at the bottom of the travellator and the referee was overheard encouraging him - “keep your eyes on the top of it… don’t look down…. keep your eyes up”. This is what we must do to live in resurrection life - stay focussed on the resurrection- it’s where the joy, the encouragement and the power is. 

Reverend Canon Mark Carey Christ Church Bridlington Network

Calendar Block

This is an example. Double-click here and select a page to create a calendar of your own content. Learn more

Lighthouse Church

Worship and Prayer Afternoon

Roots - Join us for 4 weeks to deepen your discipleship walk with Jesus

Day of Prayer and Reflection

Film nights in February

Miriam Thurlow writes:

Recently I’ve been thinking about how being a disciple is living in the tension of trusting God’s grace is enough and playing our part as co-workers of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 12 7-10, Paul tells the Church in Corinth about a thorn in the flesh which he has pleaded with God three times for it to leave him. The prayer is seemingly unanswered, but in this appealing to God, Paul hears this revelation: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’.

Paul’s thorn has not left him; however it is in this place of weakness where Paul is learning the truth of God’s power and the truth of how God’s grace is enough. Sometimes we ask God to open the door right in front of us because we assume that is what needs to happen next, but in fact God shows us a different door, or even a trap door we didn’t know was an option. Paul’s thorn, his weakness, has in Jesus become a means for God’s power. Like it was at the cross. The cross should have been a place of shame, a place of pain, a place of weakness, and a place of death. But through Jesus’ death and resurrection, it instead becomes a place of victory, a place of healing, a place of power, and a place of life.

Grace is a free, unconditional gift of love and salvation offered to each of us by God. It is not earned or achieved, and through grace we are forgiven and restored; we can come to Jesus and find new life in Him. All we have to do is decide whether we will accept it, and each day choose to keep on trusting His grace is enough.

But as we trust in the truth of God’s grace is enough, we also live in the tension that we are co-workers with Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9). Being a co-worker with Christ is about doing what God is asking us to do and being faithful, it is being disciples, being apprentices of Jesus. Apprentices are people who work with a master, learning from him and helping them with their work. So, as we continue to be disciples and learn to live the Jesus way, we are learning to live in the tension of God’s grace is enough and being called to be co-workers – we are both saved and appointed.

But do we really trust that God is enough? In all parts of our lives – our relationships, our finances, our families, our futures? Or have we deceived ourselves, saying we trust God is enough, but actually having a back-up plan just in case He isn’t? It’s not easy or pleasant to admit we have deceived ourselves, but in doing so have we lowered our expectations of what God can and will do?

God’s grace is constant and unchanging, and He wants us to join Him as co-workers in His kingdom work – are we living in this tension of God’s grace is enough and being called to be His co-workers?

Miriam Curate CCBN

Andy Hall writes:

In Matthew 12:28, the demons were cast out by the Spirit of God, the motive power source of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is empowered, enlarged and enforced by the activity of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is in all that the Kingdom is in. He encompasses the Kingdom. He is inseparable from it but not the same as it. Where the Spirit is present the liberty of the rule of God is seen (2Cor 3:17). The King’s domain is made manifest by the working of the Spirit. Any one lead by Spirit will come into conflict with the other kingdom.

God has immediate & ultimate goals: salvation is not the ultimate goal of Christ’s coming! It was the intermediate target (without accomplishing redemption there was no hope of the ultimate goal). The ultimate goal was to form a people, a born again, citizenship of heaven, bringing the Kingdom upon the earth by means of the anointing of the Hoy Spirit. To prepare for Jesus ultimate return to bring a new heaven and a new earth.

What is the anointing? Anointing is the tangible expression of the Holy Spirit. Christ was not Jesus surname! Christ means the anointed one. Not sufficient that Jesus was sent to earth with a title. He had to receive and anointing coming to Him in an experience, if He was to accomplish His mission. Jesus had laid aside His powers and was only able to do what He did in power of the anointing. The anointing of the Spirit on Jesus started an intervention from heaven which still flows today. So by the Spirit the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” not just our destination but our present experience within arm’s reach!

Anointing means literally “to smear” or “to pour over”. Holy Spirit as anointing oil of God was smeared over Jesus at His baptism. Today the Holy Spirit wants to make Christians literally into little Christ – ones smeared with Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament people were anointed for priesthood, kingship and prophet-hood. We today are anointed to be prophets, priests and members of a royal kingdom.

So Jesus is committed to moving us out of our religious social comfort zones to embrace the religious radicalising of the Holy Spirit.

• Spirit wants to shape us for His service not our convenience.

• Spirit comes to take over not to take sides. Only acceptable control in Church is that of the Spirit.

• Spirit takes us into the realms of imbalance. Balanced people are stuck.

• Spirit has no commitment to not rocking our boat (storms are not always from the devil!).

• Spirit has no commitment to maintain our current status-quo. The Spirit is committed to no other peace than His own. 

Following the cloud of God’s presence today? Following Jesus means to follow the anointing, this is analogous to the Israelites having to follow the cloud in the desert. The cloud helped them to know Gods presence and direction. Moses said “don’t send us up unless you go with us”. The issue is how much value do we set upon the primacy of God’s presence? And how do we recognise it amongst us today?

Many Christians struggle to follow the leading of the Spirit because we tend to see Him in such a narrow spectrum of phenomena e.g. conviction feelings of peace or bringing a scripture to mind. We often have a small list of acceptable manifestations of the Spirit. Recognition of situations with the Holy Spirit’s fingerprints on them is essential if we don’t want to end up grieving, quenching or opposing the Spirit presence when He does something different from what we believe He should do! Wide spectrum Holy Spirit phenomena: shaking, groaning, laughing, roaring, dancing, goose bumps, up welling joy, up welling compassion, heat, fire, winds or breezes, mist, oil, aromas, gold dust, prophetic actions or movements, high praise shouts, light phenomena.

Fear of being deceived shows we have too small a God.   Let us learn to trust that when Jesus offers us something it will be good for us and good for His Kingdom.

Andy Hall Associate Minister CCBN

Mark Carey writes:

Welcome to 2024. Last Sunday evening I talked about ‘Resetting to The WAY’ – thinking about four things:

1.    Resetting is the way of life with Jesus – the Bible word is ‘repent’ – which means something like resetting our minds and actions to the continual movement of the advancing kingdom.

2.    We have a tendency to go astray from the way of life with Jesus – Psalm 95 says that those who disregard God’s ways do not enter His rest. Resetting is about finding our rest in the way of Jesus on a daily basis. Abiding in Him – which then leads to fruitfulness – see John 15.

3.    Resetting to the Way is to do with Calling. Do what God is calling you to do. If you find it hard to work out what God is calling for – just serve where it seems right, and guidance will come.

4.    Resetting to the Way is to do with watching out for the Holy Spirit. Where do you see the Spirit at work, signs of the Kingdom? Pay attention to the WORDS, WORKS and WAY of Jesus.

"Disciples listen to and obey the WORDS of Jesus, imitate the WORKS of Jesus, and do everything in the WAY of Jesus".

Do remember to set aside time to come to our two-day conference with Paul and Becky Harcourt ‘Let God Be God’ – 26-27th January. See below for more information.

Happy New Year!

The Rev Canon Mark Carey - Christ Church Bridlington Network

10 Days of Prayer & Fasting

As a Network we are entering into a 10 day Daniel Fast in the lead up to Advent.

Fasting is voluntarily choosing to GIVE UP, TAKE UP and JOIN UP, so that we might see more kingdom breakthrough in our relationships with God, our relationships across our Network and our relationships with the world around us.

GIVE UP

A Daniel Fast is about cutting out luxury foods in our lives and simply eating the basics

There are many ways to fast. We would like you to fast in the way that is appropriate for you. Perhaps you would like to join in the Daniel Fast as discussed here daniel-fast.com. An overview of the food and drinks that could be removed as well as foods to eat can be found here and recipe suggestions here.

However, it may be more useful/sensible for you to fast from one element of your diet such as caffeine, sugar or alcohol. Decide what you are going to do, tell someone else to hold you accountable and shape the fast in a way that helps you to position yourself to hear from God and grow.

TAKE UP

Stopping something is only half of what biblical fasting is about. We need to ’take up’ something so that we tune into God’s voice

Some suggestions include:

- Commit to reading the Bible every day to allow God to speak through His Word. There will be a daily Bible reading plan for the three weeks.

- Commit to the journey with others. Could you commit to pray with a small group each evening or join in morning prayers?

- Decide you are going to go for a walk with God every day. As you walk intentionally tune into God’s voice

- Spend time listening to worship music and resting in his presence

- Take times of stillness where you ask God into the space

- Attach a pause to everyday things. For example every time you walk into your home give thanks for it, or every time you have a drink pause and thank God for his provision

- Read that Christian book that you have been meaning to and allow God to speak through it

JOIN UP

It‘s also about coming together as a Network to worship and pray through our various touch points

- Morning prayers (in the Key Centre or on Zoom)

- Wednesday evening worship and prayer

- Thursday morning communion

- Whole night of prayer across the Network, 24th Nov, 7pm-7am

(7-8pm @ Ulrome, 8-9pm @ St Magnus, 9-10pm @ St Marks, and 10pm-7am @ Christ Church)

- 2nd Dec, 10am-3pm - Advent Quiet Day @ Christ Church

Emma Miles writes:

In August I got together with my Love Westhill team and started planning for the autumn season at Westhill. We had enjoyed a busy summer of activities and in typical Emma style, because I am wired to be outward looking, I started thinking ‘what is the next thing’. What do we do in Autumn. We must make plans. But in both areas of ministry where my time is mostly invested, that is love Westhill and The Re-Store Hope Hub, I started to realise something was niggling me, something was bothering me and the only way I could articulate that is that I felt our overall expectation of Jesus and what Jesus could do was lacking. Across both teams, I started to think things like ‘Do we know who we are worshipping… Jesus is our saviour, the one who delivered us and delivers us from darkness. The one who is faithful to bring us through and out of every difficult situation. The one who is above sin, circumstances and satan’s power and yet we muddle through with our eyes low as if we have forgotten where our help comes from. I sensed that we had plummeted to living out of our current experience of God. Paul Harcourt talked about this last February when he said we have our expectation of God and our current experience of God. We often don’t live from our expectation but rather we live from our current experience. I started to feel that the spiritual temperature had dropped. At Love Westhill the excitement that we had before the summer was now gone. Where we had spent time as a team looking up to God expecting him to move and speak into our lives in new ways. Team prayer time felt a bit sluggish, I felt I was almost trying to convince others that Jesus is who He says He is and then I realised I was also trying to convince myself. At Restore and The Hope Hub we have team prayer and worship every Monday and Wednesday before the session. We purposefully made a change to this about 6 months ago to put more emphasis on worship. But here again was the niggle… Our worship to God seemed to come from our current experience rather than our expectation that Jesus is at work. A monotony had settled in and a 30-minute time of praise and prayer, intended to lift our eyes to the one who rescues the lost, felt deflated and filled with distractions. Jesus is who He says He is. He is the answer to everything, but if a sacrifice of praise is just a step too far…I told the team don’t waste a 30-minute opportunity to pour out your heart to the God who, according to Psalm 18, reaches down from heaven to rescue you. Time and time again He is the one who draws you out of deep waters and leads you to a place of safety. He is the one stoops down to look on the earth and as Psalm 113 tells us ‘He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap’ This is our God! HE DOES THIS! But if we don’t live from that place of expectation that God does this for us, how can we confidently be the good news to those we encounter who are broken and hopeless and in need of the same. If we don’t expect Jesus to move miraculously in our lives, how can we expect others to believe that for theirs. Oh, how we need to live out of that expectation….. To gaze upon the Lord and see his beauty…. To know Jesus doesn’t change even if we do… To know He is our constant…. and we do this by lifting our eyes. Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. “I lift my eyes to the mountains” was the worshiper’s declaration of trust and dependence upon God for help.

It’s God that our eyes are lifted to. The hills and the mountains in Psalm 121 where the psalmist looks for strength were external to him but the Spirit of Jesus resides within us and it’s God in us that we lift our eyes to. The God who knows us, sees us, strengthens us, guides us and leads us. A few months ago, I sensed the Spirit of Jesus within me telling me I was plodding along, and Jesus doesn’t want any of us to just plod along but rather move where He moves and discern what He is saying in all seasons of life. Jesus is our example of healthy discipleship and Jesus didn’t plod along. The life of a disciple is healthy when it incorporates all 3 relational dimensions, Up, In and Out. Jesus lived simultaneously in all 3 dimensions. He lived up with the Father. Out with the crowds and in with his disciples and He knew exactly when to withdraw to spend time with His Father. We don’t seem to be as good as Jesus at this stuff, but after all, He was Jesus! But when we are deficient in one of these areas we are off kilter especially the UP because everything we do flows from our relationship with God. In our September Leadership Huddle, Mark challenged us to start looking at season entry points. How can we enter into a season well so that we can make the most of the opportunity? Mark said ‘In our lives there are seasons and times. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the times we are in and helps us to follow Jesus and disciple others well in each season. I decided our season entry was going to be one of sitting with Jesus, adoring Jesus, listening to Him, waiting on Him at Westhill, and leading others into a posture of worship at prayer times in the Hub. I realised that God moved both times in different ways. The first time I did it, God showed me what He had been doing that I had been too busy to see. He changed my perspective, and He gave me a new sense of vision for the next season. We received miraculous provision in team and resources. Something we had struggled with for 18 months. The second time we invested in the Up by sitting at the feet of Jesus and giving Him space to speak, we encountered a healing God amongst us. Someone had a word that ‘The healing is in the silence’ and as a result we saw 5 healings in that season. Both times our expectation of God increased, and we started living out of that expectation. We are now in our third season of carving out space as a team and are expecting God to move in a new way amongst us. We are not experts in this at all, but I think God just honours our willingness to read the times we are in, and humbly respond by lifting our eyes. We know we can do nothing on our own. Our help comes from Him and Him alone. Lifting our eyes changes our perspective. It takes our eyes off our failures and our circumstances. We meet a God who stoops down in the dirt and meets our gaze with love and compassion. Take for instance the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Frightened and ashamed she is dragged through the dusty streets and thrown at the feet of Jesus but as He stoops down in the dirt, she lifts her eyes to meet His and she is met with love and compassion and a fresh start. We have all been in situations where we have felt the weight of shame and fear. We have felt the stooping down of Jesus to meet us in the dust. We have looked up to Him and been met with compassion and love. I don’t know about you, but each time this seems to surprise me as if I expected to be condemned and cast aside. Yet every time, He has given me a fresh start, and sent me away with the words ‘neither do I condemn you and He has brought me back into the perfect love -union with God.

Lifting our eyes up to Jesus is an act of love and worship. Another story of another woman known as the sinful woman depicts an image of a God who sees exactly who we are, right to the core of our being and is moved by our movement towards Him. A woman who has no concern for her surroundings or the opinions of others falls at the feet of Jesus, cries and wipes His feet with her hair. She knew she needed Him and as a result she realises she is seen and loved, and she finds only forgiveness. Lifting our eyes strengthens us. It helps us to keep going, to persevere and throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. Learning to walk the Jesus way as He writes the story of our faith and then perfects us as we journey through it. The writer of Hebrews tells us how to stay the course and finish the race is by fixing our eyes on Jesus. The author and perfecter of our faith. In addition, as we lift our eyes our focus becomes about Jesus and nothing else… All effort, performance and what people think goes straight out of the window when we see Him clearly. Lifting our eyes to Jesus reminds us who He is and it is a form of trustful prayer Psalm 141 says “I lift my eyes to you oh God, you are my refuge, leave me not defenceless.” In 2 Chronicles as a vast army came towards Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. Jehoshaphat prayed; the last line of that prayer says: “we do not know what to do but our eyes are on you”. When we repent, we also need to lift our eyes. St John Climacus, a seventh century monk said…. "To repent is not to look downwards at my own shortcomings, but upwards at God's love, it is not to look backwards with self-reproach but forward with trustfulness, it is to see not what I have failed to be, but what by the grace of Christ I might yet become. ‘When we lift our eyes to God things change, we change.’ When we lift our eyes to God things happen and we realise it is all about Him and precious little about us. At Love Westhill we are believing God is going to move in new and surprising ways in the months ahead. Jesus is who He says He is. He is at work. Let’s raise our expectation by lifting our eyes to the One who is able to do exceedingly more than we could ever ask or imagine. Where are your areas of deficiency right now? Do you need to spend some time lifting your eyes to Jesus? The One who is above your circumstances. The One who strengthens you and will change your perspective just by gazing at Him. Do you feel too unworthy to fall at His feet and gaze up at Him… He is the one who meets you with love and compassion every time and see’s the core of who you are… offering forgiveness and fresh starts. Do you need him to move in your ministries? Are you tired of striving… Jesus invites us to lift our eyes to Him…. To be refreshed and amazed as He creates the movement our efforts, alone, could never accomplish.