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.
Miriam Thurlow writes:
One of the ways the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit is calling the Spirit wind. The Hebrew word is ruakh which can mean wind, breathe, or spirit and when it is used it is talking about something which animates and brings things to life. I have found it helpful to spend some time exploring what it means when the Holy Spirit is called wind, and here are a few of my reflections:
In John 3:8 Jesus says: The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, and we can learn 4 things about who God is from this verse:
· We cannot choose what God does or control God, the wind of the Holy Spirit blows where it wishes
· But we can see and hear the Holy Spirit at work, where the Holy Spirit is animating and transforming.
· We cannot generate the power of the Holy Spirit ourselves, but we can invite the Holy Spirit to come and move.
· Neither can we control the direction of the wind, but we can learn to recognise and follow where the Holy Spirit is leading.
It’s not about manipulation for our own gain, but learning to recognise and follow, and do things that would not be possible on our own.
At the end of Acts (Chapter 27) Paul is travelling to Rome to appear before Caesar, but along the way things don’t go to plan and his ship ends up being shipwrecked. However, while everyone around him is panicking, Paul remains calm because he puts his trust in God. He tells the people of the ship: take courage. For I believe God. It will be just as he said. But we will be shipwrecked on an island.
Things didn’t go to plan for Paul’s journey, and they did end up being shipwrecked, but all on the ship survived. Paul trusted the leading of the Holy Spirit and yes it led to a shipwreck, but it also led to a community being transformed by Jesus (read Acts Chapter 28!).
God wants us to join Him in His kingdom work, to recognise where the wind of the Spirit is blowing, where His power is moving, and to follow
Him. Not to seek to control or manipulate for our own gain, but to obediently and faithfully follow so others might see His goodness.
But, like Paul on the boat, we might be taken in some surprising directions along the way! Are we ready to respond, to recognise where the wind is blowing, and to follow? Are we ready to hear and obey?
Miriam Thurlow Curate CCBN
Miriam Thurlow writes:
It was great to gather volunteers together from across the CCBN Network this Tuesday for a vision morning. We gave thanks for what God has done over the last year and looked ahead to the coming year. As we look ahead and set vision together it is important to remember the WHY of what we do. As a Network of Churches, we seek to be those who are Living the Gospel: Serving the health and well-being of our communities, being those who live out Isaiah 61.
Isaiah 61:1-4 talks about a THEY which receives the Good News, freedom, restoration, and comfort found in him, but WHO is this THEY? Well, they are the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives and the prisoners.
But more than that, this THEY receive a new identity in knowing God and so instead of being called the poor, the broken-hearted, the captive and the prisoners they are called oaks of righteousness, a planting to display his splendour, his glory.
So, is the Bible just talking about people in the past? Well, let me ask you a few questions:
o Have your ever struggled with a lack of something? Perhaps money, or friendship?
o Have you ever felt broken-hearted?
o Have you ever felt captive to something, trapped in a cycle you can’t get out of?
o Have you ever felt like your freedom has been taken away?
I’m guessing like me you can probably answer yes to at least one of those questions. Who are the THEY that get transformed into Oaks of Righteousness - we are the they! And that means we are the Oaks of Righteousness, we are planted to display His splendour, God’s glory can shine through us!
And God has a role for us as Oaks of Righteousness to display his splendour: to join Him in His work of building up (v4)
· Rebuild ruins: Where is God asking us to rebuild ruins here in Bridlington?
· Repair generational destruction: What generational cycles of behaviour does God want to end?
· Revive our town: Where would you like to see new life in our town?
As we head into the Autumn, let’s do so prayerfully and remember the WHY of why we do what we do.
Philip Walker writes:
Lost and Found or The Prodigal’s Father
In Luke 15:1-2 in The Passion Translation, we read, “Many dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often gathered around to listen as Jesus taught the people. This raised concerns among the Jewish religious leaders and experts of the law. Indignant, they grumbled and complained, saying, ‘Look at how this man associates with all these notorious sinners and welcomes them all to come to him!’”
In response, Jesus told three stories of things that were lost and found: In the first, he told of the Shepherd with 100 sheep, who lost one and left the 99 to search for the missing one. When he found it he called his neighbours for a great celebration. In the second, he tells of a lady who loses a precious coin, one of 10. She diligently searches until she finds it and again calls for a celebration, because that which was lost was now found.
Jesus says that there is a similar glorious celebration in heaven when someone who is lost is found. So far, we have had two parables on the same theme talking to the Jewish hierarchy and telling them that God was searching for the lost, but note the sequence: lost, found, celebrate!
Although we don’t always link it to the first two, the third parable is on exactly the same theme. We have often concentrated on the prodigal son, but I want to focus on the father, because he welcomes the son back with open arms. If you don’t remember all the details of the story, it would be good to read it again in a modern version, as the story then comes across so well.
Jesus is great at telling stories, but they have a clear meaning behind them. The events leading to these three stories, follow on from Emma’s story last week of the call of Matthew. Jesus is speaking to the Jewish religious leaders as they moaned at his lifestyle. Wasn’t Jesus a real pain to the Jewish hierarchy. “How dare he share life with the outcasts of society,” they were saying – but he did!
I am certain that the scribes and pharisees who were grumbling and complaining that Jesus was spending his time with tax collectors and sinners understood exactly what Jesus was saying to them in these stories – he had come to seek and save the lost, not to patronise the found!
Consider the story of a father who was willing to let his son have his way even though he knew what would happen. The younger son does the unthinkable – no one in his society would have dared to ask what he asked. But the father does an amazing thing. Going along with his son’s request broke all the rules and giving his younger son a third of his wealth meant a lot of work and hardship. He couldn’t go to the bank to withdraw the money, as his wealth was in his animals and land.
But the father loved his younger son and was prepared to let him go, and over the weeks, perhaps months, he raised the amount needed. He had to start selling his flock, and these were probably the animals he had raised from birth – so, a lot of heartache and sorrow. (I wonder what the older son did during this time…).
Then the day came, and the father handed over the amount he had raised. The younger son grabs the money and runs to the bright lights. The Pharisee within us may look at this behaviour and see a lost boy, who deserves what he gets! But if we focus all our attention on the pig-hugging son, our eyes are drawn away from the pious son. He never left home, but he never truly understood the loving heart of his father. He was as lost as his brother.
We know what happened to the younger son. He wasted everything and became destitute and ended up in a situation no Jewish man would even consider – amongst PIGS, I tell you! So, he prepared to return with his apologies at the ready, to take up the lowest position in his father’s household.
But the father over months and perhaps longer, had kept watch for his son’s return, he doesn’t seem to have doubted that he would return. We have here a wonderful picture of a father who lavishes so much love and care on his returning child, who deserves nothing. Look at what he did.
To run was undignified (v 20); and to give away his own robe (v 22) and a ring (v 23) was truly prodigal. This is extravagant love, and it describes God’s love for us so well. Each of the gifts signifies position and acceptance. The long robe was a robe of distinction, the signet ring spoke of authority and the sandals of sonship (slaves went barefoot).
The son only had to begin to admit that he was wrong and seek forgiveness then… there is a massive party, and the father slaughters the fattened calf for the special occasion. ‘Why?’ the other son asks. ‘What was dead is alive again’, came the reply; ‘What was lost has been found.’ It’s party time!!
If the lost and found message was missed by the Jewish religious leaders, it was made very clear by the story of the second lost son. He was lost in a different way, for in the story he never forgave his brother or his father. Jesus doesn’t resolve it the story and the outcome seems to be that none of the Jewish leaders changed either, they even went as far as crucifixion!
God as Father
But for them, the idea of God as father, must have been strange. We have no problem thinking of God as our father – we learnt the Lord’s Prayer as children and how else would we think of God, perhaps even when we had a bad picture of fatherhood because of our own father. There are many references in the New Testament to God as Father, but the Jews of Jesus’ day were different. I am told that there are 24 references in the Old Testament to God as father, but it is very much a New Testament theme introduced by Jesus.
But the Old Testament does call God “Father” a few times (for example, Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 3:19; Malachi. 2:10). But the writers of the Old Testament lay great emphasis on our distance from God and the reserve we should feel before him. This Old Testament view of God is true and wonderfully humbling for us – we hasten to bow low before our powerful Creator and high King. But this was only part of the story, for Jesus had much more to teach us about this wonderful God.
But remember the parable is left unfinished… We wait for Jesus, to tell us what the older brother will do we read how he humiliates his father by demanding a public confrontation (v 28); he denies their kinship (‘this son of yours’, v 30) and he exaggerates his brother’s crimes (‘prostitutes’). He can’t even rejoice that his brother has come home. The father shows extraordinary grace in going out to ask him to be reconciled to them both (‘this brother of yours’, v 32). But the conclusion never comes. Are you like the older brother?
Jesus’ teaching
As we saw earlier, Jesus tells these stories in response to the criticism of the Jewish religious leaders. His point is that God cares for the broken, the lost and the excluded and cares enough to come searching for them. The Pharisees prided themselves on purity and holiness; whereas this upstart Rabbi from up north didn’t seem to care about hand washing and gnats in the wine, let alone the questionable company he kept! The real difference was that Jesus KNEW the Father personally. He didn’t know about him, but had been with him from eternity to eternity and he came to reveal this wonderful, loving and forgiving father who wanted everyone to know him intimately as Jesus did
He wants you to know him like that too. You may have tried to follow him for many years, but the prodigal’s father teaches us so much more. God has open arms to welcome you just the same. God may have been willing to let you go, and get yourself lost, deliberately, or by accident. But he didn’t just let you go and ignore you; he continually kept his eye on you. The Bible says, “All things work together for your good,” he has never stopped watching over you. He has always waited for you to return fully to him, just like the father in the story. The cloak, the ring, the fatted calf, they are all waiting for you – God really, really loves you and wants to celebrate as you return fully to him.
Remember God’s arms are still open for you whatever you have done and wherever you have been. He is such a loving God!
Emma Miles writes:
(Matthew 9 from verse 9)
I love to imagine this scene. A bunch of misfits sitting around a feast in the house of a local enemy, an enemy who has just responded to the call to follow Jesus and that just like that here they are, all dining together. A mixed bag of people of all different backgrounds with no clue what they are doing. Some there just knew that they had to follow Jesus.
The emotion around the table would be fiery at times…
Broken people hanging out with Jesus.
And when questioned by the religious sect about these sinners and why He eats with them… Jesus simply says; ‘they are sick and need a doctor’ Like, ‘They are sick, and they know they are sick’.
Jesus adds that He didn’t come to call the righteous. (self-righteous, the good people, those who think they already have God’s approval)
He came to call sinners to repentance.
We only visit a doctor when we know there is something wrong with us.
The doctor is there to diagnose and prescribe.
And Jesus, the doctor, the great physician, gives us an MRI that sees deep into our soul, scanning the past and present, the pain, the trauma, the failure and the mistakes and He knows just what we need.
His prescription for us is mercy.
The qualification for such mercy is to admit that we are sick and that we need Him.
Relying on our own righteousness is actually what disqualifies us. He works with our humble confession of failure and His mercy is the medicine that is rubbed into our wounds and poured into our weary and troubled souls.
We read similarly in Luke 18 in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. In the temple as part of his worship to God the Pharisee thanks God that he isn’t like the tax collector and starts to list all the religious duties that he does so well. This stands in stark contrast to the tax collector who is aware of his own sinfulness and with his head down, cries out ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner’. Jesus concludes the parable by saying the one who went home justified, or the one who received mercy, was the tax collector.
Jesus doesn’t divide us into categories of good and bad, righteous and unrighteousness. The truth is we are all sinners. Brian Zahnd says the question
is, are we proud sinners or humble sinners? If we are proud sinners, we concoct ways to justify ourselves, in our own eyes, by favourably comparing ourselves to those we deem worse than us but if we are humble sinners, we throw ourselves entirely on the mercy of God.
Whilst struggling to find words to pray one day these words jumped off the page of my new prayer book and into my heart …
You Oh Christ see my humanity.
You remember that I am made of dust.
You are aquatinted with all my ways.
You died to set me free from recklessness.
And clothed me in your righteousness.
I do not stand condemned but loved.
Then it said….
I do not understand why I do what I do.
And I am frightened to admit that I am not always good.
And here in lies the problem. Even though we know that God is merciful, and we have to be fully reliant on His mercy… we fall time and again in to thinking He is measuring our goodness….
Like He is saying to us ‘ok now you’ve had a fair bit of mercy now, it’s time to fix up’.
And we hide, we condemn ourselves and we forget mercy….
But our prescription of mercy is on repeat. It’s infinite.
One mystic philosopher said this: Two things in life are infinite, the stupidity of man and the mercy of God.
So, if mercy is so readily available and if mercy is the currency of our good God and the medicine for our sickness. Why do we struggle? Why do we move into self-sufficiency and pride and comparison? Why is it sometimes so hard to be honest to admit that we are not always good? If the requirement is not perfection, but humility, then we should be able to run to the throne of grace and mercy, standing bodily and confessing our sin so that the oil of healing can be applied to our wounds.
The passage I began with ends with Jesus telling the Pharisees to go and learn the meaning of Hosea 6.6 ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’.
God is perfect in mercy… and every new day reminds us of his mercy; miracles of mercy are everywhere ...but often mercy comes from secondary sources in
the ordinary places and everyday stuff. God is perfect in mercy, and we are to imitate God.
There are many ways in which Christian’s mess this up. You know the ones… who point out people's sin, shouting out judgement, blaming and shaming….
But God is not like that, God is like Jesus, sitting at a rowdy table with those who know they need him and sending away the accusers.
Jesus is merciful.
Jesus invites us to recognise that we are not always good.
God invites us to orientate our lives under the waterfall of mercy for the purpose of healing.
He doesn’t get exhausted with how many times we mess up; He doesn’t think, ‘Oh, you should have it all together by now’.
He simply invites you to come as you are, honest and humble and receive the medicinal mercy of the great physician.
Emma Miles CCBN Multiply Community Development Leader
Miriam Thurlow writes
Why is consecration an important part of our worship?
As I’ve been reflecting on New Wine and what God spoke to me there, I keep coming back to consecration, and asking 2 questions:
· What does it mean to consecrate ourselves before God?
· And why is it an important part of our worship?
We see that consecration plays an important role in worship throughout the whole of the Bible. God is holy, and so to enter into His presence we also have to be holy. When the Bible talks about impurity it means being unclean and impure, and ultimately leads to death. Whereas when it talks about purity it is talking about being clean and pure, and leading towards life.
In the Old Testament in order to be made pure (consecrated) sacrifices were made and rituals were carried out. God wants His people to draw near to Him but they need to be made clean first. In fact the Bible Project describes the book of Leviticus in this way: God graciously provides a way for people to live in His presence.
But when Jesus came to earth He embodied holiness, He was God’s temple on earth, God’s presence dwelt fully in Him. And no longer were sacrifices and sanctification rituals needed because Jesus made a way so that we might enter into God’s presence. We don’t have to achieve or earn a ‘clean’ status, God’s grace was won for us on the cross. Jesus consecrates us, we simply have to ask and offer ourselves to Him.
Amazingly, when we choose to follow Him, we also become temples of His presence because the Holy Spirit dwells in us (1 Cor 6:19). Consecration therefore is about dedicating ourselves afresh to the purposes of God, realigning ourselves with God; that we might live as His temples on earth so others might encounter His presence through the Holy Spirit at work in us.
I invite you to spend some time reflecting on the lyrics of Make Room and prayerfully ask God to realign yourself with Him and His purposes. Are there any burdens or crowns that you need to bring before Jesus to make room for Him?
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden, every crown
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
Mark Carey writes
One of the most ancient practices of God’s people is Pilgrimage. Many of the Psalms carry this sense of God’s people making their way towards Him – represented in ascending to the Temple. People used to regularly travel to the temple from their villages. In Luke’s gospel we read the account of the pilgrimage Mary and Joseph made to present Jesus at the Temple and later there is mention of their yearly practice of travelling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover.
Pilgrimage is an event and a process – there may be a big celebration at the end but the journey matters just as much. When we go to an event like New Wine we travel – we physically commit to leaving the familiarity of home behind. We travel also, like Jesus and his family did, towards the LORD acknowledging that our strength is found in Him and that the effect of travelling towards Him will mean we become a blessing to others. We leave our normal activities behind on the basis that nothing we do is as important as what God does in us. Pilgrimage means we get to focus on God’s work which is sometimes quite challenging but always fulfilling as we stay on the pilgrimage road with Him.
But what about if you haven’t the luxury of being able to give up lots of time for going off to a festival or the money to finance a whole lot of travelling? Psalm 84:5 says: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage”.
We are all called to be pilgrims – to set our hearts on pilgrimage – journeying with Jesus, and to Jesus, with travelling companions who help us to continue, to persevere so that our pilgrimage makes a difference to the lives of others.
Psalm 84 – this great Pilgrimage song – highlights that our lives, the lives of the people of God are to be mobile lives to God and with God in community with others and always focussed on finding the dwelling place of God.
“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!” Psalm 84:1.
Mark Carey writes
We were thinking about the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast from Matthew 13 on Sunday. It is simple and yet so profound – a small mustard seed is planted and grows into a tree in which birds can nest. A tiny amount of yeast mixed into flour affects the whole dough dramatically. Jesus is saying that this is what His kingdom is like – a small thing that makes a big difference. In this topsy turvy kingdom of God small is big!
Attached to this is a picture of communal artwork emerged out of the first Scripture Art Workshop at St Magnus, Bessingby led by Sue Harris. A beautiful visual interpretation of the parable of the mustard seed. At St Magnus we are seeing the outworking of this parable – a small group of people following Jesus, doing the things they sense He wants them to do – and the signs of the kingdom are becoming visible.
The same day, Sunday, that I saw this artwork, I also went to Westhill and after a wonderful time with the St Mark’s morning congregation I had the privilege, along with Emma Miles, of celebrating in the waters of Baptism with four adults who have experienced the transforming work of the kingdom in their lives. From small seeds of faith planted in relationships with others, in a growing community where the ‘yeast’ of the kingdom is seen in various ways. Through the loving service to the local community of the Love Westhill Pantry, the authentic Love Westhill ‘faith-family’ formed around shared food, prayer, bible, and honesty about the reality of life – the kingdom is coming. Four people were baptised and made a public declaration of their relationship with God, His people and His Kingdom.
One of the things I found myself saying that day to those who had been baptised was this: “Be a small thing that makes a big difference!” That is what a kingdom of heaven person is. We embody the kingdom, we are yeast in the dough.
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant”.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ray Yates writes
On Sunday evening I spoke on Romans 12 v 1-3 and I’ve been asked to share a little of what I said!
Romans 12, forms a pivot in the book (and what a book Romans is!), from what God has done to our response. This isn’t an unusual pattern, Paul’s letters regularly follow this basic format, from doctrine to discipleship eg Ephesians & Colossians).
Here are my 3 points:
Response.
Renewal of the mind.
Right thinking about ourselves.
Response
Paul writes: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice… Romans 12.1
‘Therefore’ because of all that God has done we are to give 100%! We need to reaffirm this decision every day. We can’t grind this response out of ourselves, 100% living is always a response to God free gift His amazing grace! 100% living is always a response to what God has done! We might think we don’t have much to offer, but 100% is always enough. God can use you if you put yourself at His disposal.
Renewal of the mind
Paul writes: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Rom 12.2
An important part of right Christian living is right thinking - we know that the devil uses lies to enslave us. Lies are the main weapon in the devil’s arsenal. Jesus said this about the devil:
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies…. John 8.44
God wants us to renew our mind through knowledge of the Word of God. Unless we know the truth we won’t know the lies that are fed to us daily through the media & the reactions of others. Have you ever been in a hall of mirrors that distort how you look? This can be funny but life can be like going through a hall of mirrors and what we get, through the media & other people, is a distorted image of ourselves. Unless we know the truth we can’t live the truth or find freedom.
Right thinking about ourselves!
Paul writes: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Rom 12.3
I’ve struggled with right thinking about myself so much! The situation Paul was writing to was where some Christians thought too highly about themselves! I want to turn this passage upside down and consider those of us who don’t think highly enough about their importance in the body of Christ or the life transforming power of faith. With both those who think too highly or lowly about themselves the focus is
wrong (ourselves) rather than Christ and what He can do through us. An inflated or deflated view of ourselves will only get in the way of the truly powerful things God wants to do through you! Are you inflated or deflated Christian or a Christ centred Christian?
I challenge you to meditate on Romans 12 and allow the Bible to transform your life.
Big Blessings
Ray Yates
Rosemary Gillespie writes:
Mark has asked me to share with you a little about St Magnus
and REFRESH and what God might be saying to us on a wider basis.
I sense I need to begin by first looking back to 2020, which was a significant time when the Lord birthed a vision within me.
At the time, my links with St Magnus, Bessingby were developing.
Early in that year Mark encouraged us to have ‘blue sky thinking’.
I let myself dream BIG about how God could use this rural church
in building His Kingdom.
In June 2020 Mark was working with the PCC to capture the vision for the Christ Church Bridlington Network and he asked me for craft some words to express what I believed the Lord was saying to us. This is what I penned at the time and continue to see as important for us as a network.
“We believe Jesus calls us to find refreshment in Him for the service we are called to do. As a discipleship community we will therefore make space amidst our service for necessary rest, restoration, recreation
and fostering our relationship with God and others."
As the pandemic unfolded, God was forming a link between these two strands, and unfolding a new vision, which like Habakkuk (2:2) I wrote down.
In human terms what God said seemed impossible, but He said to make a start, do not despise the day of small beginnings, and that He would bless and bring increase if I gave Him what I had, small though it seemed.
So with Mark’s blessing, that is what I did, and with the help of a small and faithful team, REFRESH was birthed two years ago. Our priority was first and foremost to welcome the Lord’s presence, then to offer His hospitality and provide a quiet place for those who needed to unwind, rest, and receive spiritual refreshment. Over time, we also saw that giving space for ‘Kingdom conversations' and creativity were also very important and fruitful.
Like a tiny mustard seed, hidden in the ground REFRESH has grown,
mostly unnoticed by the majority.
However, now the Lord has said it has reached the stage where it is ready to be transplanted to St Magnus, the place it was always destined to be to grow to maturity and fruitfulness. So following the Lord, we have packed up and moved to our new home and the next stage of the adventure.
It is exciting to be able to play our part in the unfolding vision of St Magnus.
Here are some of the things we at St Magnus dream of seeing
being increasing released here:
The building up of Kingdom Relationships, (intimacy with God, with those already in the God’s Kingdom and those we long to see join us),
Restoration, Re-visioning, Refreshment, Rest, Retreat opportunities,
Releasing Creativity, the Resourcing of others, Reflective prayer and worship. Reaching out to the village community.
Please pray for us, and come and visit this spiritual oasis in the countryside.
Finally, we are also piloting REFRESH at Home, a ‘pop up’ where we take elements of REFRESH to housebound individuals or those who cannot currently come to REFRESH, because we do not yet have access for those
who cannot climb the steps at St Magnus.
On a practical note, please pray St Magnus will soon be
a place with disabled access.
Mark Carey writes
Our downstairs cloakroom sink has been really annoying me. It has been so slow in allowing the water to flow away which means that it has often left the sink looking dirty. Finally, I picked up my biggest pair of pliers and unscrewed the plug from its fixing and the water now flows unimpeded. I don’t know why it took me so long to do such a simple thing – but it reminded me that this is so often the case in our lives – things take time, there can be a long wait and a lot of mess before something happens, is repaired, or restored. I have been reminded to be patient in the process and in the waiting – to trust God. Since the beginning of the year, I have often found myself returning to the wonderful wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
It is time to say farewell to Oli Preston and his family as they ‘uproot’ for a new adventure in Haworth, West Yorkshire. Do come and say goodbye at the farewell picnic on Sunday 2nd July from 12.30.
Oli has been with us for a much shorter time than we first thought – but it is the right time to move and he goes with blessing.
Karen Witty would like to thank people for their kind support in cards, phone calls and in attendance at the funeral last Friday. Karen is very grateful for people’s prayers and asks that we might continue to hold her in prayer.
Chaz Walker writes
On Sunday night I saw a picture of someone rushing, but they were on an unstable surface, which could cause them to fall.
Then we sang the Creed:
“I believe in God our Father,
I believe in Christ the Son,
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
Our God Three in One.
I believe in the resurrection,
That we will rise again,
For I believe in the name of Jesus”
If you are believing in the God of your friend / mentor / leader, then you are on unstable ground. But if you hear these words and believe them for yourself, then you will be on solid ground. Then, you can move easily with God in security and conviction.
On a Wednesday night we have Worship & Prayer. The focus is on seeking God’s face & heart. This is primarily by Worshiping God, listening to hear what is on His heart, sharing it to encourage & build each other up. Then we pray into what He is saying.
Private prayer is important. Corporate prayer is also good for the soul.