Thanks Giving

Today was my last Sunday Zoom service, I have been running one since just before Covid so for 3 years and 1 month. This week I thought we would finish with thanks.

1 Thessalonians 2

¹³ And now we look back on all this and thank God, a geyser of thanks!

When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers! ^14-16 Friends, do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ?

Paul was writing to the Thessalonians and says how he thanks God for them as he looks back on his time with them and how he preached Gods word to them and that word was the same as the first followers of Jesus.

As a group we reflected on the last 3 years and what God has said to us and what we have each learnt.

We thanked God for His love, grace and guidance. We prayed for each other going forward and for the churches we will be going to. We dealt with the sadness of leaving our worship family and the anxiety of joining people again. We prayed about change and blessings. In all things we are thankful to God for the blessings of the last 3 years.

It has been a real joy and blessing for me to lead worship for this time, God has been wonderful to me over this time. He has supplied me with direction as to what to talk about each week, supplied information on that topic and led me to the right music for the service. I might have had to shield these last years to avoid the worst of Covid but as I believed it was right to withdraw from church before lockdowns came so I believe that now is the time to return. I might not have antibodies from the 6 vaccines that I have had, but my consultant tells me that I should be getting some protection from my infusions which will have antibodies in them now.

As to catching Covid, I will trust in my God to keep me safe as I start to mix more over the coming months.

Thank you Father; Thank you Jesus; Thank you Holy Spirit

‘Don’t Throw It All Away’

was this Sundays theme on my Zoom church

Hebrews 10

^19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.

^22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

^26-31 If we give up and turn our backs on all we’ve learned, all we’ve been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ’s sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God’s Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit?

I talked about how easy it is to fall into following the path of the world rather than the way of Jesus

In Hebrews we are warned about not give up and turning our backs on all we have learned of Gods way.

Often it is a hard way, going against what the world has decided is the right way, although that changes all the time. Trouble is a lot of the time the world is only following the path of whoever is shouting loudest at that time. As a Christian, a disciple of Jesus a follow of God I try to follow His way not the worlds way or my way or anyone else’s way.

My Hope is in Jesus and His promises, I want eternal life with Jesus in God’s kingdom and only walking the way of Jesus will get me there.

In Deuteronomy 7 we are told

⁶ Do this because you are a people set apart as holy to God, your God. God, your God, chose you out of all the people on Earth for himself as a cherished, personal treasure.

^7-10 God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you.

He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. 

God stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon.

The people of Israel had ended up as slaves in Egypt but God had chosen them as His people and so freed them. God chose me to be in a relationship with Him as He has many over the centuries, I do not intend to throw that gift away by turning my back on Him now.

Abraham was chosen by God and he and his family followed the path laid out for him. One family which became a nation, but often that people turned their back and threw away what they had to go there own way. However God continued to call them back into relationship and in the end came as a man, Jesus, to show us how to live and then again freed us from slavery to sin by dying for us.

As we approach Easter it is good to remember what God has continually done for His people and not throw it away to go our own way.

God Bless you

Growing in Faith

Growing in Faith was this Sunday’s theme

2 Peter 1 from the Message

² May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Growing in Faith

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. ⁴ And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Peter is pointing out that Christians know that they need to grow into the likeness of Jesus but oen forget to do it.

For many reasons we think we need to do it ourselves and just don’t have the time or knowledge to do it so just sit were we started.

Think about your favourite hobby; sport or interest. I bet you spend a lot of your time learning more and more about it getting together with like minded people to talk about it or play it out.

When I was younger my whole interest in life was the military and history, I would spend so much of my spare time going to military shows, buying and reading books on tanks and aircraft. Then building armies to play out some of the wars I was reading about. I joined clubs and went to wargaming conventions.

Now I am a Christian I spend just as much effort on reading the bible, listening to other Christians, on UCB radio or at church. Singing songs of worship and being in Gods presence on my own or with others.

I do this so I can GROW in FAITH and knowledge of Jesus and start to live more and more like Him.

Gaining knowledge; self-control to use my new knowledge properly; living a moral life and all this coming together in a more Godly life of love for everyone.

So to Grow in Faith what do we need to do?

Worship together

Spend time studying Scripture

Spend time with God and the Holy Spirit

Spend time with other Christians

Work out our new life in the world around us showing Gods love in action.

Be Content

1 Peter 5 the Message

But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for— God has had it with the proud,

But takes delight in just plain people.

^6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

^8-11 Keep a cool head. Stay alert.

The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.

Keep your guard up.

You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good.

Be Content was Sundays theme for our service

Peter tells us to be Content with who we are and what we have.

Jesus said

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Matthew 6:25‭-‬26 MSG

As followers of Christ we need to have a contentment with our life. Not to worry about what we do not have or want what others have. To trust that our Father knows our needs and will supply it, all we need to do is to walk in His path and do our part by work etc.

But we are also called upon to be content with who we are as a person. That is a more difficult for most people as so many are dissatisfied with themselves physically or mentally.

Psalm 139

^13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Scripture tells us that not only that God loves us but also that He created us as we are and He loves us as we are. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others as we are all supposed to be different and individual, not clones of each other.

Being Content brings peace to our lives as we are not trying hard to be something else or someone else. Or always seeking more stuff in our lives or ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ which only brings stress and anxiety.

God has had it with the proud,

But takes delight in just plain people.

So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs.

So Peter is only picking up what Jesus and the Bible tell us, know that you are Loved by God and He will give you all you need in life, it might not be what you want or what others have but it will be what you need and striving for more will only lead to envy, greed, disappointment and unhappiness. While knowing that God loves you and has your best interests at heart should bring you contentment and peace.

This song I used in the service

Live Like Jesus

1 Peter 4

⁷ The end of the world is coming soon.

Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 

⁸ Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

⁹ Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.

Use them well to serve one another. 

¹¹ Do you have the gift of speaking?

Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.

Do you have the gift of helping others?

Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.

Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.

Live like Jesus was the theme for last Sundays service

Peter tells us that we need to continue to be eager and dedicated in our prayer life, just as Jesus needed time alone with His Father so do we. If we want to live like Jesus we need to do as He did.

Pray; Show Love; Share what we have; Use our gifts for the Kingdom not just ourselves; Live to bring honour to Jesus as we live like He did.

God will supply the strength and energy you need to do all of this by the Holy Spirit. I have found that no matter how my health is God will always give me the help I need to do what He is asking of me. So live your Life as Jesus did, walking in the Power of the Holy Spirit to bring the Fathers love to all.

Gifts to enrich the church of Jesus

Talk for 18th September 2022 for Ascension church and my Zoom church Based on 1 Cor. 1.1-17

Good News “Peter visits Cornelius”

Talk for church 17th July 2022

Based on Acts 10

If this is from God

Video Talk on YouTube for church 19th June 2022

“If this is from God”

Readings Acts 5 12-42 & John 12 44-50

My talk for 3rd April on the 10 Virgins

Talk for church used for Ascension and my own Zoom church

Truth Way Life

My talk for church on Jesus saying ‘I am the way the truth and the life’