Jacobs ladder

I want you to think of a time when you were afraid, really afraid, remember how you felt, how it hurt and then I want you to think about where God was in your life, or rather where did you feel he was? now remember coming out of that darkness into the light – where was God then?

Its sometimes good to look back and think about those times and remember and give thanks. We all have valley times as I like to call them, times when we feel we are walking alone through the darkest of valleys, with sharp steep slopes around us, no path in the distance, no light, no way out – trapped.

I think this is how Jacob must have felt at the beginning of this scripture. His brother hated him, he had a death threat hanging over him and he had had to leave his home and family and run away for fear of losing his life. He must have been confused, he must have been regretting his actions but most of all I think he must have been afraid. Perhaps he had never felt further away from God, by stealing his fathers blessing, his brother hated him, everything had gone wrong and his future was uncertain.

All alone he finds a place to sleep and uses a stone for his head and he falls into a deep sleep. In this deep sleep God comes to him and He re affirms his promise, the promise made to Abraham and to Isaac, the promise that Jacob would lead the people of Israel. Then God encourages Jacob and promises never to leave him:

15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”

Not only does he promise never to leave him, but he promises to finish what he started.

I always find that when God gives me a scripture to preach on, he also gives me a scripture to encourage me. I have recently felt very much like Jacob. Alone and afraid, not sure where my path was or where it was taking me. I felt like I was at a dead end and that doors were closing. I was also facing an operation and this terrified me even more than been lost. Although I was very anxious I was sure of one thing and that was despite my fear I trusted that whatever the outcome, God would not fail me and he would not forsake me. As I prepared for the operation through prayer God gave me this scripture from 2 Corinthians:

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."


I knew in my heart that God would handle the success of the operation for me because he had given me this scripture. As I read this scripture I decided that my prayer would be that whilst in hospital God would allow me to serve others to His glory. That was it - simple but from the heart.

God was with me that day, from the moment I woke. I could feel Him by my side and I found he had gone before me to pave the way. For example, one thing that did worry me was that the hospital had sent a letter saying Pete couldn’t stay with me in the holding lounge before the operation and I could face an eight hour wait to go down to theatre. But when we walked into the hospital at 7.30am I was first on the list and before I knew it I was walking down to the operating theatre with Pete, the next thing I knew I was lying on a trolley in recovery four hours later smiling - just smiling, basking in Gods goodness and love. I think the staff thought I was high on morphine. But I knew that He hadn't forsaken me, he hadn't left me.

But my prayer had been to serve, which at the time seemed impossible from a hospital bed with tubes and drips and an epidural which meant I couldn't move from the waist down. But our God is bigger than that, and so from that bed, unable to move, I was able to pray for the other ladies in the ward and the patients and staff in the hospital. I was able to give thanks to God for His blessing and in the night I could read scripture to the lady next to me who was in terrible pain and wanted to hear the psalms. I could listen to the pregnant nurse who had heartache with her boyfriend and I could encourage the girl in the bed opposite who was in terrible pain and far from home and loved ones. Because the heart can still love even when the legs can’t work and through this love God can speak to us and he can show us how to serve Him.

When the epidural and the tubes came out I could sit next to the lady next to me and hold her hand and pray for her. When I could shuffle round the ward with my Zimmer frame I could bring her cold compresses, I could hold hands, rub backs, make people laugh and I could love.

But the most remarkable part of this experience was the relationship I built with the girl in the opposite bed and her mother. Hanna had been in hospital for a month in terrible pain and the specialists couldn't find out what was wrong they had tried everything, she lived on morphine. We soon became great pals and she was fascinated by my prayer shawl which had been made for me by Zoe and Sophie’s Mum. She loved the idea of their prayers being wrapped around me bringing me comfort. She and her mother spent a lot of time talking to me and my family and they asked if I would pray for Hanna, of course I had been already. That night they tried a new pain relief. While she rocked in pain and cried I placed my holding cross in her hand and gently wrapped the prayer shawl around her shoulders. She slept for 12 hours, for the first time in a month she didn't wake up in pain through the night. Praise God.

When she woke I told her the prayer shawl was now hers and she was now the one wrapped in prayers. She never took it off and when the pain came again she would cuddle it....she tells me it hasn't left her side since.

When I left the ward tears were shed by us all. I told Hanna it was her job to love everyone now and as I was wheeled out of the ward I gave thanks to my Lord who had allowed me in my weakness to serve His lambs. Two days later Hanna finally went home, she is now pain free and back at work. We are in daily contact and she recently texted me after reading my testimony about my time in hospital on my blog and said:

“I am overwhelmed by your strength and encouragement to others. Having you in my life makes me feel safe, knowing that your trust and belief in God is so strong gives me encouragement and I now know we are never alone”

I wanted to share this testimony for two reasons, firstly to honour Gods faithfulness and goodness, and secondly to illustrate how Jacobs’s story was my story and my story can be your story. You all know me, I'm nothing special, I’m not one of the biblical giants like Jacob, but God didn’t forget His promise to Jacob and he didn’t forget his promise to me did he? My experience in hospital was his way of encouraging me and showing me that I can still serve him if I have the heart to do so. He showed me that with the heart of Jesus beating inside us we can do anything - even from a hospital bed filed with tubes. Two years ago he asked me to feed his lambs and follow him. This has become my hearts desire. Every time I think of my time in hospital I am over whelmed by the blessings that my Lord showered on me and the encouragement he gave me in my walk with him. He had not forgotten me, he had not forsaken me.

So back to Jacobs story, to those valleys, those times in our lives in which we feel forgotten and alone. Back to my original question, where is God at those times? Jacobs dream tells us, He is right there, beside us. He is behind us to catch us should we fall beside us as we walk with Him and in front of us to show the way. We are never alone in the valleys, we are never alone in the light – we are never alone. There are times when we feel alone, times when we cry out when we feel God has forgotten us, forgotten his promises, when we doubt Him when we have barely any faith left. We all feel like this at times, and so did all those amazing people in the bible, all of them, without exception.

I’m reading an amazing book called ‘Velvet Elvis’ by Rob Bell, the American Pastor who makes the Nooma DVD’s. He says:

‘The Bible is a collection of stories that teach us about what it looks like when God is at work through actual people. The Bible has the authority it does only because it contains stories about people interacting with the God who has all the authority.’

These men and women encourage us because of their experiences with God, and these experiences can be our experiences. Because they are people just like us, the only difference is that they lived a long, long time ago, but they had failings like us and they made mistakes like we do, but – and this is the important part, they had a relationship with God, they had an experience with God and through this experience they were transformed. God worked through them, he brought them through the valleys, he never left them and he used their pain to restored them.

Standing on the word of God, is living these scriptures, knowing them breathing them, letting them permeate our very soul, living them and knowing them, because this is living with God, this is God infusing our lives, this is God knowing us and in this relationship this is us knowing Him. When we are in the valleys He is there watching over us, we know this because it says in Psalm 121:

I look up to the mountains — does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! 3 He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.

God has made a commitment to each and every one of us, no one in this church is more important to him than another, he has committed to be with us all, always, and he will not let our feet stumble. When Jacob felt alone in the dark God gave him an amazing dream, a ladder reaching up to heaven with angels and God seated at the top. Were the angels just moving up? No they were going up and down the ladder because God was showing Jacob that he is connected with mankind. When we feel everyone has turned against us God hasn’t, the ladder shows this.

(Slide) I have fallen in love with this artist, Seiger Koder he is a German priest and I find his pictures are so moving so inspirational. This painting of Jacobs dream sums up the message I wanted to share with you today.

In his painting the angels are represented as large hands, Gods hands. Those hands are ready to hold us, guide us and comfort us. He will hold us in our time of need just as he held Jacob, Just as He held me. There are no exceptions. When I was in my darkest times two years ago God gave me some scripture from Hebrews 13 which I constantly come back to, which I stand on and live with:

“I will never fail you. I will never forsake you. That is why we can say with confidence; the lord is my helper so I will not be afraid. “

At the end of the scripture Jacob places a stone upright in memory of what happened to him. To remind him of what God did for him, so he could remember when he found himself in valley times again, that God was with him and would always be with him. God did not forsake him and God did not fail him. Jacob gained a new understanding as a result of his hardships he gained a new relationship with God and the stone he laid would remind him of that, and the vow that he makes that he will follow God. The stone becomes a place to worship God. As we come to a time of prayer I want you to take the stones which you were given at the start of the service. These stones can mark the times that you knew God was with you. Put them somewhere in your home or garden as a reminder of when God has blessed you, and when you find yourself in a valley visit your stone and remember Gods promise, remember that God is also saying to you:

“I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. “

:: in my weakness is His strength::

"The Washing Of The Feet" by Fr. Seiger Koder

I love this painting, I have two copies, one at work on my filing cabinet which is right next to my desk and one at home in my study. I love it because it reminds me that serving God brings me the greatest of joys and fills my heart to bursting point. It reminds me of my daily prayer asking to serve others through Gods great strength and goodness. To serve Him with a humble and full heart.

I have recently been in hospital for an operation. Not a very pleasant one but necessary for me to have a more comfortable life. I was very anxious about this and very much afraid as we often are. However, despite my fear I trusted that whatever the outcome, God would not fail me and he would not forsake me. As I prepared for the operation through prayer God gave me this scripture:

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 12 V 9- 10

As I read this scripture I decided that my prayer would be that whilst in hospital God would allow me to serve others to His glory, that was it - simple but from the heart, I knew God would handle the success of the operation for me - I had bigger fish to fry.

On the day of the operation we walked into the hospital at 7.30am, I was first on the list and before I knew it I was walking down to the operating theatre with my husband, the next thing I knew I was lying on a trolley in recover four hours later smiling - just smiling , basking in Gods goodness and love. I think the staff thought I was high on morphine.He hadn't forsaken me, he hadn't left me.

But My prayer had been to serve, which at the time seemed impossible from a hospital bed with tubes and drips and an epidural which meant I couldn't move from the waist down. But our God is bigger than than, and so from that bed, unable to move, I was able to pray for the other ladies in the ward and the patients in the hospital. I was able to give thanks to God for His blessing and in the night I could read scripture to the lady next to me who was in terrible pain and wanted to hear the psalms. I could listen to the nurse who had heartache with her boyfriend and I could encourage the girl opposite who was in terrible pain and far from home and loved ones. Because the heart can still love even when the legs cant work and through this love God can speak to us and he can show us how to serve Him.

When the epidural and the wires and tubes came out I could sit next to the lady next to me and hold her hand and pray for her. When I could shuffle round the ward I could bring her cold compresses, I could hold hand, rub backs and I could love.

But the most remarkable part of this experience was the relationship I built with a girl and her mother in the opposite bed. She had been in hospital for a month in terrible pain and the specialists couldn't find out what was wrong they had tried everything. We became pals and she was fascinated by my prayer shawl which had been made for me by my church. She loved the idea of their prayers being wrapped around me bringing me comfort. She and her mother spent a lot of time talking to me and my family and they asked if I would pray for her, of course I had been already. That night they tried a new pain relief. While she rocked in pain and cried I placed my holding cross in her hand and gently wrapped the prayer shawl around her shoulders. She slept for 12 hours, for the first time in a month she didn't wake up in pain through the night. Praise God.

When she woke I told her the prayer shawl was now hers and she was now the one wrapped in prayers. She never too it off and when the pain came again she would cuddle it....she tells me it hasn't left her side since.

When I left the ward tears were shed by us all. I told my friend it was her job to love everyone now and as I was wheeled out of the ward I gave thanks to my Lord who had allowed me in my weakness to serve his lambs. Two days later my friend finally went home. We are in daily contact and plan to meet up when we are well enough.

I wanted to share this testimony for two reasons, firstly to honor Gods faithfulness and secondly to encourage anyone who is preparing to go into hospital. My story can be your story, I'm nothing special at all, quite the opposite but with the heart of Jesus beating inside us we can do anything - even from a hospital bed filed with tubes . This is only a brief synopsis of my story, every time I think of my time in hospital I am over whelmed by the blessings that my Lord showered on me and the encouragement he gave me in my walk with him.

My sincere prayer is that you will allow Him to do the same for you.....when he does email me...Id love to hear from you.....

:: The God of surprises ::

The Three Trees.....

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when The first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a great treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with an intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.'

Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and Queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. People will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'

Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest Tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill, look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.'

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees.

When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I will be able to sell it to the shipyard.'

The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the men said,'I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one,' and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying Kings had come to an end.The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill.

When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us.. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best..

My friend sent me this story and I wanted to share.... my prayer is that God may inspire people on their way, perhaps this might just be the inspiration someone needs this day to carry the heavy burden they are struggling with, as we all must shoulder the crosses we have been required to carry along this journey called our lives...

:: The greatest gift of all ::

In the beginning was the word
And the word was with God
And the word was God
The word was with God at the beginning
And through him all things were created.
No created thing came into being without him.
Be still and know
In the word was life,
And that life was the light of humankind.
The light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness has never put it out.
Be still and know
He was in the world;
But the world – though it owned its being to him
Did not recognise him.
He came to his own,
And his own people would not receive him,
He gave the right to become children of God,
Not through human desire, but through God alone.
Be still and know
So, the word became flesh;
He came along and was one of us.
And we saw his glory which befits Gods only son
Full of grace and truth.
Be still and know.

I remember when my daughter was little she often didn’t know where to start because she got so many presents at Christmas. I am sure we have also experienced very small children being happier with the cardboard boxes that the toys came in rather than the toys themselves. I find as we get older we tend to get less presents, perhaps just one big gift.
Last year I bought my husband this, it’s a DVD of Bruce Springsteen live in concert at Hyde Park. Actually my daughter and I put it on as soon as he opened it and perhaps got as much if not more pleasure than him watching it. I have always said that seeing Bruce in concert was top on my bucket list. I have loved his music since I was 17 and now the whole family loves him too. So you can understand my delight when a friend at work told me that he was doing a concert in Manchester in June and tickets were going on sale on December 9th. I was determined to go and spent the week that followed in great excitement. We had prepared well, because we knew how quickly the tickets would sell out, I got up at seven and sat by the computer waiting for them to go on sale, finally at 9am the moment arrived and we were there ready! As soon as you click the button that says you want the tickets there is a clock ticking in the corner of the computer screen telling you how much time you have to do the transaction, at 2 minutes past nine we bought the tickets, we went through the countless tasks, filling in our address visa card numbers and then at 8 minutes past nine at the card verification stage the computer froze. By the time we logged onto Pete’s computer at 12 minutes past nine all the tickets had all gone. My husband wanted to try again but I thought all was lost, my dream of seeing Bruce Springsteen dashed - so I had a paddy, but he kept trying and at 18 minutes nine past he got three tickets – we were going - I was overjoyed. So this year I have got the best Christmas present ever – My husband bought me Bruce Springsteen ticket, and I bought him one and we both bought our daughter one between us, so its an amazing present which we can all share, look forward to and enjoy. As a family we were delighted, we are so happy because we know how much these tickets are worth – especially as we nearly lost them, I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to tell my best friend that we had managed to get them.
I know that long after the concert is over we will hold that joy in our hearts and share this story and share the story of the experience of the concert with everyone. So we are very lucky and we have wonderful Christmas presents which will create memories and give us an experience which we will carry in our hearts for the rest of our lives.
But what do we do with those gifts that we don’t like, that we just cant see the value in although we know that the thought is there yet we wonder why on earth someone gave this gift to us? Often we put this gift away in a drawer not knowing what to do with it, it becomes and embarrassment, or maybe we discard it thinking its useless.
Or maybe you are lucky enough to receive something which cost a fortune and is so delicate and so precious that we put it away in a safe place and save it for special occasions? Like the best china or jewellery. There was an email which was doing the rounds some time ago from a man who had lost his wife and as he went through her things he reminisced about them, when he gave them to her and how much she loved them, but the sad thing was that she never got enjoyment from them because she kept them safely tucked away for special occasions. She was too afraid of losing them or damaging them that no occasion seemed special enough and so she missed the opportunity of enjoying them day after day as has her husband had intended when he gave her them.
Or we are like me with my Bruce Springsteen tickets, so delighted so overjoyed that we want to use the gift every day, to show everyone how beautiful it is and how wonderful it is how happy it makes us. Every time we look at it, it gives us joy, a joy that we cant help but share because we are so excited and the joy is so precious.
We have all been given an amazing gift today, even better than the Bruce Springsteen ticket we have been given a gift from God - the light of the world, Jesus. I wonder what you are going to do with that present this Christmas and in the years to come? Gods gift to us is so precious, it is the most wonderful gift that we will ever get in our lives, but lets not hide our Jesus away, lets not just get him out on Sunday or in places where we feel He will be safe and where we wont get broken or hurt. When we accepted this gift we accepted the commission to take this gift out into the world, to share this gift with those people that come into our lives, we mustn’t be afraid of what people may say or how they may react, because Jesus wont break, He wont spoil, He is constant and will be constant all the days of our lives. God didn’t give us this gift to keep safely tucked away, he gave us it to use, and this present will work in our lives so that we find ourselves having more gifts and being able to do things that we never dreamed we would do. This gift should abide with us all the days of our lives and by accepting and carrying this gift in our hearts God can work in us and through us in order to share this gift and bring more and more people to the kingdom.
So although I will look forward to my Bruce Springsteen concert in June, and it’s a wonderful Christmas present the gift from God is the best present I have ever received, I will never tire talking about it, this gift may have taken a long time to accept, but it will never go in the dustbin or be kept safely in the drawer.

:: A look of grief :::

Mark 10 17: 31 - The Rich Man
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." 28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 29 Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."
Holy Bible NRSV



This passage from Mark has always challenged me and like the rich young man I too have walked away from my reading of it feeling despondent. I think that this is because my underlining reaction has always been one of shame, assuming that Jesus was being highly critical of the rich young man and that unless we give everything away and follow him we can never have eternal life. The words have made me search myself and I find that I am ashamed to admit, I have great attachments to my material possessions and the security of a regular income. However after spending a lot of time with this scripture I don’t feel that this is the case at all. Jesus isn’t attacking the rich he is merely exposing the barrier which is preventing this rich young man from entering the kingdom – namely the love of money.
At the start of this scripture the rich man, runs up to Jesus, falls to his knees and asks: ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ This man of great wealth, who is described as a ruler in Luke runs to Jesus and makes an extravagant address hungry to know how he might inherit eternal life. To understand the young mans question more we need to put it into context, by looking at what has just gone before, what has driven this young man to run to Jesus and fall to his feet burning with a question about eternal life. Jesus had just explained that in order to be saved we must first become like children, humble and pure of heart. Jesus suggests that when we become humble like a child we then rely on our Father in heaven, as a child relies on its parents. It is in this relationship, with God at the centre, that we can have eternal salvation, here on earth - now.
When the young man asks his question Jesus intrinsically sees his fatal flaw. He knew what was stopping him from having heaven on earth from being saved and having eternal life. In order to point out this mans sin Jesus repeats the last 6 commandments. The young man proudly tells Jesus that he has obeyed the commandments since he was a child. However, Jesus reveals that his love of money and power has prevented him from obeying the first commandment - to let nothing be more important than God,
This is because although he knew the law and had followed the law, his priorities were all wrong, he treasured possessions and money not God, the centre of his life was the love of money and we know from other scripture that the love of money is the root of all evil. Note its not having money that is evil, it’s the love of it which is the root of all evil and ultimately leads to our unhappiness. Because when money is more important than God and when the love of it is our priority above all things it can only lead to our downfall and destruction. Because if money and material possessions are our priority, what happens if we lose them all, or if it is taken away from us or destroyed? The love of God and the relationship with him can never be destroyed, can never be lost and He will always love us. We are told in the scripture that nothing can separate us from Gods Love, but we can so easily be separated from money. Jesus tells us that our treasures are stored in heaven not here on earth in bank accounts. We can have all the treasure that we need, the treasures that count if we follow him because these treasures are purchased with love by living a life like Jesus and following his example. But is seems just too hard for this rich man to put his trust in God, its hard because he believes, like many people do, that money and possessions are security, he puts his trust in having money. He doesn’t realise that his relationship with money is binding him and that to be free of these ties he must put his trust in God, just as a child trusts their parents.
The disciples are amazed at these words because if we put the situation into context a wealthy man was a symbol of success, wealth was a symbol of Gods approval and of Gods blessing. This is why they cannot understand why a rich man cannot enter the kingdom. But Jesus is turning this belief on its head when he suggests that it is only when you come before God as a child in dependence of him that you will receive eternal life.
When the young man tells Jesus that he has followed his commandments he is saying that he has never done any harm, but what good has he done? Jesus looks at him with love because he wants to save this rich young man and he wants him to turn his attention to God, he wants him to have a happy and fulfilled life, but he knows that this is too hard for the young man to do.
Sometimes the truth hurts but it’s always better to know the truth from the start. Christ had the compassion to do this. To the young man and the disciples to give all you have to the poor seems a little drastic and that is perhaps what we struggle with when we first reads this scripture. But I think that what Jesus really wants for the young man is for him to give up the love of his money and his attachment to it, his fear of losing it and the security it brings. I can well understand the fear of giving up a comfortable income and lifestyle to serve God. But Jesus knows that by replacing the love of money with the love of God the man will be transformed leading him to a life of fulfilment and joy which is worth its weight in Gold. But Jesus sees the young man worships money and that his god is money, He feels compassion because he already knows what the man is going to do. The young man is disappointed because he knows he hasn’t the strength to make this great sacrifice. Sadly he cannot accept the gift of grace which is freely given because he is tethered to money.
So what is this scripture saying to us, today? Is Jesus asking us to give everything away to the poor? Or is he asking us to examine ourselves and identify those things in our lives which stop us from being close to him? I think for all of us there is often one thing which we feel is impossible to sacrifice, but to do so sets us free. In October I talked to you about how we can bear fruit, the answer then was the answer now, to put all our attachments at the cross and allow God to abide with us, to let God take the driving seat. Sometimes the sacrifice is forgiveness, or a hard heart, anger or jealousy, for each of us it is different, for this man it’s the love of money was stopping him from abiding with God.
Two weeks ago I talked about gifts, what we could give to God this Advent, as we prepare for the coming of our Lord, today I am suggesting the gift could be letting go of something, facing our fears and trusting in God. During our prayer time lets ask God what might be our master, what might be the thing, large or small which is holding us back from having a fulfilled and fruitful relationship with God. Let us take that thing and put it at the foot of the cross where is belongs so we can be set free, free so God can abide with us, free to bear the fruits he has intended us to.
I want to leave you with what comforts me and inspires me in this passage, the personal message that it has for me in my walk. In my minds eye I see Christ looking at this young man and loving him. He loved him knowing what his response will be, He loved him enough to give him tough advice and speak the truth to him, some may say this was tough love. Perhaps there was also a look of sadness and regret as Christ gazed on this young man and saw what could have been. I don’t know about you but I feel this is the saddest part of this scripture, you can almost see Jesus hold his gaze on the young man as he walks away into the distance head held low, slowly becoming a speck until he disappears. William Barclay sums this look for me perfectly :
It was a look of grief. And that grief was the grief that is the sorest grief of all – the grief of seeing a man deliberately choose to fail to be what he might have been and had it in him to be. Jesus looks at us with the appeal of love, with the challenge to the knightliness of the Christian way. God grant that He may never have to look at us with the sorrow of one who looks at a loved one who refuses to be what he might have been and could have been.
I often tell people I have a good twenty years left in me and I want to give those twenty years to God because I don’t want to end my days with feelings of regret and wondering what could have been if I had had the courage to say yes.
What will you say yes to today?

:: Advent 1 - Gifts ::

Have you ever been in the awful situation when someone gives you a Christmas present and you didn’t buy them one? It’s so embarrassing - I don’t know about you but I never know quite what to say or what to do in that situation. Do we rush out and get something the next day and pretend we had it at home all the time or do we say thank you and own up that we haven’t bought anything in return? But why should we feel like this? Doesn’t the bible teach us that we don’t give to receive? Shouldn’t the giving be the joy? Shouldn’t our giving be from the heart to show people that we love them, that they are special and that we care about them? To be honest I enjoying giving presents far more than receiving them. I love picking something out that I hope my loved one will like, or spending ages making something special, the nights I have spent into the early hours trying to finish knitting something for my daughter. Then I love to wrap the parcel up so that it looks lovely - I can’t wait to see the face of my friend or family member when they open it. It brings me so much joy – to me this is enough in return for the gift that I have given. Receiving something back isn’t the point for me.
As I prepared for this sermon, I thought about Gods great gift to us all – the gift that we never tire of talking about, the precious gift of the light of the world. I thought about His excitement when He sees us receive this gift when we accept His son as our lord and saviour. The delight that He must feel as He see’s us use His gifts, the over flowing love that He has for us – the joy that He must feel from those who love him and thank him for the most wonderful gift that we could ever receive. I remember somone saying that the angels dance and rejoice in heaven when someone is saved. What a wonderful image.
But I feel that the society we live in is trying to steal that joy from us. Society is actually robbing us of the heart felt joy of giving because from August onwards it seems to me that we are bombarded from every direction with what to buy, what to give, how to show our love, how to show our gratitude how to show we care. And how do we show it? We show it by spending more money than we can afford on more than we need. They want us to try to replace the joy and love of the Christmas message with greed and want.
As Christians we know the true spirit of Christmas, we know that Advent isn’t all about endless shopping lists, frenzied shopping trips wearing out our credit cards and spending money we don’t have. We know that Advent is a time of preparing ourselves spiritually to receive the greatest gift we could ever receive - Gods gift - the light of the world. This gift is freely given and God doesn’t expect a present back, His joy is seeing us receive the gift, to celebrate the receiving and to use the gifts we are given. Gods gift did cost the earth, but was given to save the earth.
But for so many people Advent, and the lead up to Christmas has become a very stressful time. A time of great pressure, rather than joy, a time of endless lists of Christmas cards and presents, of festive food and drink, of menus and celebrations and of course making sure we have the money to pay for it all. Somehow the spirit of Christmas seems to be completely lost in this world we live in. A world which is completely obsessed with commercialism, making everything bigger and better so that every Christmas the latest gadget is new and improved and a must have on every letter to Santa. Nothing ever seems good enough and the wanting seems to go on and on.
It makes me very sad that amongst all this greed and envy, want and desire my Jesus gets lost, the good news of his birth is hidden under television adverts for the latest iphone or Nintendo D.S., emails from comet telling us what everyone wants for Christmas or billboards encouraging us to buy that new sofa now, so we have it in time for Christmas. The greatest gift ever given to mankind is forgotten in the mad dash to fill our supermarket trolleys at Morrisons because they are closed for one day at Christmas and we don’t want to run out of food do we! To me, and for many other people the Christ is often left out of Christmas.
I actually avoid city centres at Christmas if I can because I find this atmosphere of greed quite repulsive, especially when you see, only a few hundred yards away some poor soul living on the streets without a penny to their name. Last year I visited St Georges Crypt with a delivery of toys from our school. I was overwhelmed as I went into this huge hall filled with donations of gifts which those on a low income can take for their children at Christmas. Isn’t that what Jesus would ask us to do? Didn’t he tell us to give our brother the shirt off our backs? But instead the crowds walk on by with credit cards at the ready laden with bags of things they don’t need, or want or that they can’t afford. The commercial world would be quite happy to leave Christ out of Christmas!
But we aren’t going to let them are we? Because our Christian values are not about greed and having, our beliefs are the opposite – we see worth and value in very different things. So we cant sit back in amazement and watch as people go into mad frenzies, spending too much money panicking about Christmas dinner what to wear what to buy for people what to watch on TV. If we are appalled by their behaviour and attitude then we should do what Paul commissioned the believers in Corinth to do. To share Gods blessings because if we aren’t telling them about the true spirit of Christmas, and if we aren’t sharing the good news with them who will?
This society that we live in, which is consumed by consumerism may not be very much different to the society in Corinth which Paul speaks of in the scripture we heard today. Corinth was a very prosperous port which was a cultural melting pot, with a great diversity of wealth and of religious and moral standards. The busy port entertained many visitors, including wealthy merchants with time and money on their hands which led to it becoming a hot bed of corruption and sin. Idolatry flourished and there were dozens of pagan temples which employed thousands of prostitutes, in fact Corinth was famous for its prostitutes who were known as the Corinthian girls.
In this passage Paul is encouraging the believers in Corinth to have spiritual unity and to behave with a Christ-like character in this town rich with money, overflowing in greed, being dominated by lust and paganism. He reminds the followers that they have been given the gift of Grace and he encourages them that in a world of noise confusion and relentless pressures that people are actually deeply longing for peace. Like the believers in Corinthian we too have all been blessed by God and given the spiritual gifts that we need to witness to Christ, to walk a Christian line through the streets of glitter and gold, bright lights and tempting Christmas offers. We too are commissioned to show the world around us an alternative way of living that is not obsessed with wanting and having the latest and greatest new fad.
Paul is commissioning his fellow Christians in Corinth to firmly establish the message of Jesus. He sees that the people of Corinth are receiving their blessing, they were not receiving the wonderful gift that God had given them, they were consumed with other things, worldly things, they had become consumed with sin. Paul tells them that the world isn’t receiving Gods blessing because Christ isn’t established as their Lord and saviour. So he encourages his friends to establish those blessings in their lives, to share their God given gifts and share them with those around them so that the message of Jesus is in their hearts and so that they too can receive Gods gifts, Gods blessings.
As Christians I think it is vital that we demonstrate that the gift of Christ’s birth is not only central to our Christmas celebrations, but our whole lives because as Christians we not only keep Jesus in our Christmas celebrations but for all the days of our lives, day after day. How do we do this? we do this by keeping him present in our lives day after day, daily revealing the gifts he gave us, the character, the love and the spirit of Christ that dwells in us, we do this by allowing these traits to shine through our actions. By giving the poor soul in the door way a cup of tea and by giving them the time of day or bringing in gifts for the shoe boxes or the toy appeal.
In 2 Corinthians 8 : 7 Paul says: “See that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
In my last sermon I spoke to you about the fruit and the vine. I asked if we were bearing fruit? Surely our response to this is more pressing as we prepare for advent. Surely our response to this gift given to us from the heart of our God, surely this should be to bear fruit, to share our gifts to set the people free by lifting the yoke which consumerism has set about their necks. If we as Christians don’t show them the spirit of Christmas then who will?
This Christmas I am sure we will all been blessed with gifts and celebrations with our families. But this year, as we prepare for the coming of the light of the world, I would like us to give God a present. As we come to a time of prayer I would like you to think about giving God one very special gift. Just one from you to him. It wont cost any money but it will cost sacrifice. I have made some little gift tags, which you were given when you came in. One is for you to take home and put in your bibles, this one is to remind you every day of the gift you want to give to God. Let this gift be something personal that no one else needs to know about, and let it be a sacrifice. David said in 2 Samuel v24 that he would not offer a sacrifice to God that cost him nothing.
For example, maybe your gift to God will be to forgive someone you've needed to forgive for a long time. You may discover that you've given a gift back to yourself. Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian who survived extreme brutality in a German concentration camp after rescuing many Jews from certain death during the Nazi Holocaust was an incredible woman and witness to her faith in God, after the war she was able to forgive her persecutors and say, "Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you."
Or you could give time. I recently heard of a church in a big city. The older members of the church, who found they didn’t sleep at night decided to open the doors of their church at closing time. They offered hot tea and comfort to young people at closing time. They moped the tears of the girls who had been dumped, calmed down the lads who had been in a fight and sobered up those who had had one too many. Because the gift they had was the gift of time, they had the time and the wisdom to know how to listen, they knew the right words to say and they knew how to use their gifts to heal broken hearts and angry hearts and lonely hearts. They befriended theses young people, who regularly went started to go to the church every weekend and eventually – you guessed it the young people gave their lives to Jesus and started going to church on a Sunday morning instead. I believe that our gifts to God will change over the years but everyone, from the oldest to the youngest member of our church family, everyone has something to give. The one thing that some people here today have is time, something I spend my life chasing after. What a wonderful gift. You have no idea what a blessing it is. I regularly spend time with my friend Marion and she always has time for me, and she will always listen to all my worries and woes and she gives always gives me good advice sharing her years of experiences and wisdom. To me the gifts that she has and shares with me are priceless.
Or perhaps your gift will be to commit to spending more time with God every day. It doesn’t matter what it is, because it’s between you and God – but I encourage you to make this your most important gift of the season.
The other tag has a tie, it is for you to tie onto the tree of promises which I have made for our church. All you have to write on the tag is the message that you usually write on gift tags and your name. After the intercessions the children will come back in with their tags and we can all tie our gift tags to the tree together as a family. Each week the tree of promises will remind us of our gift, our promise to God as we prepare for Advent and they will remind us of the coming of the light of the world and the amazing gift that our gracious God gave to us.

:: Fruits ::

This is the first of my placement sermons which I will be using as part of my assignments in the module on preaching - enjoy and may you be blessed as I was:

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father
::

Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.



But if we are really honest with ourselves, we as individuals bearing fruit to Gods glory?
If we don’t feel that we are bearing fruit, then have we forgotten something, or are we doing something wrong?

We have a fruit tree in our garden, every year it bears fruit, more fruit than we will ever eat or need. We never do anything to it, we just let it be a fruit tree and it does what a fruit tree should do. We didn’t buy it, it was in our garden when we bought our house, it didn’t cost us a penny. So we give the fruit away, we share it, we bless others with this gift that came to us free of charge. We want other people to enjoy our apples and nothing gives us greater joy and more pleasure than when people tell us what they did with their apples and how much they and their loved ones enjoyed eating them. The apples are our gift and people’s pleasure in them is our blessing.
On the first day of my course in September we spent a whole day meditating and discussing and praying over this scripture. What I learnt that day was too good to keep to myself. In fact the lecturer commissioned us to go home and preach to our churches on this gospel. She said it was our responsibility to share it, and I think she is right. It was given freely to the class so that we might use it to bear fruit in our lives. It was given freely and I want to share it, I want you to enjoy and I want you to be blessed by what I learnt. Because it opened a door for me it was a light bulb moment when everything clicked into place and my prayer is that something in what I share today may be a light bulb moment for one of you too.
We often try to live like Old Testament Christians. By that I mean that we try to do things in our own strength, and then when things don’t work out the way we want them to we wander around the wilderness lost, never really learning never really moving forward just going round and round In circles ending up at the same place again and again, facing similar situations behaving in similar ways. That’s because we sometimes forget about the great truth, the Golden rule - which is letting God rule, under grace and not the law. When we follow the golden rule, when we rest in the grace of God we allow Him to rule and we allow Him to work in us from the inside out.
I know one of the ways which I walk as an Old Testament Christian is wanting Justice when people hurt me or others. But Jesus asked us to deal with hurt through forgiveness and through love. I know that this can be incredibly hard at times and I have spoken of it before, but it is only through this that the truth can set us free.
But my main problem with forgiveness is that although I can forgive others for hurting me I just can’t forgive myself. I know that I can forgive by will, but this doesn’t make me free and if I am not free then I can’t be free to love unconditionally. When this happens I can’t be a source of grace to those I forgive. I understand Gods forgiveness in my head but I have really struggled with understanding it in my heart. Like a stain in my favourite shirt, it faded with a squirt of vanish but it didn’t come out and every time I wear it I don’t enjoy wearing it as much as I did, because I feel angry with myself for getting a mark on it, I feel angry because I didn’t realise I had done it and I feel angry because I didn’t deal with it immediately because the stain remains and I cant get it out, because others may see the stain and judge me, because the stain has made the blouse less than perfect in my eyes. But we are perfect in Gods eyes, and I can’t ever get the stains in my life out by myself, only He can, and I have to let go and stop trying myself and let Him do it in his own way and his own timing. Because He wants to cleanse us so we can join with him. Sometimes we take part of Gods forgiveness but we can’t accept it all. We get used to living with the stains. But these stains effect the way that we abide with God and so we can’t bear the fruit that he intended us to. Because when people see Gods forgiveness in us they would see grace in action. When they see grace in action, they will want some for themselves and this is where we bear fruit and where we can share that fruit just as God intended.
God wants to forgive us so that we can be joined with him so that there is nothing between us and him, so that he can speak to us, be intimate with us and so that he can work through us and we can bear fruit. If we are bound up with guilt and self loathing then he can’t get near to us, our guilt is in the way, its taking up the space that God wants so that he can get close to us, so that he can develop his relationship with us. The fruit we bear is an outcome of our relationship with God. A plant can’t grow if its root bound in a tiny pot. It needs space to grow and God needs space so that we can grow with him and through Him.
I have an example. My year 13 ‘A’ level group are some of the most talented students that I have ever worked with. They have the potential to come out with grade A*’s and B’s for the unit which I am teaching them at the moment. But there has been a big argument between the girls. Apparently one of the girls has been heard saying something unkind about the other girls. This has caused a terrible atmosphere in the group. Now I believe the only way to sort out something like this is to bring it into the light. You have to lance the boil, it may hurt but if you don’t it will grow and it will fester and when it bursts there will be a lot of damage. So I brought the girls together and we had a big discussion, we brought the accusations out into the light, chairs were thrown and angry words said people stormed out doors were slammed. The negative atmosphere lasted for another lesson, the guilt the anger the hatred the regret all permeated the group. Result – no one created any work and what they did create was poor – why? Because their bad feelings towards each other and towards the situation was preventing them form being creative, from using their gifts. The good news is that we had another discussion, which went a lot better and I sprinkled the teachings of Jesus over them and talked things through again and they listened. I am happy to say that the wounds are now healing and they are being creative again. However, one girl in particular, who I am very fond of, wouldn’t let go of her pain, she couldn’t put it down. She was physically bound, you could see it, she couldn’t speak to anyone or share with the group, she withdrew completely and she was having an awful time in her drama lessons, the pain was really hurting her. What was worse was that she wouldn’t talk to me she wouldn’t make eye contact with me – I could see that she felt guilty and she thought I was judging her. So I took her to one side and we went somewhere quiet to talk and she told me although she was fighting this part of her nature she couldn’t win, she couldn’t let go of the pain even though it was hurting her. She wouldn’t accept that she had been forgiven and I had put the situation down, she couldn’t accept that I was really fond of her and I wanted her to do really well in her drama exam, I wanted her to love her drama lessons, I wanted her to be happy to be creative. Result - She didn’t create anything, she couldn’t create anything and yet she was my most talented student. She couldn’t bear fruit because she wouldn’t allow herself to be close to us any more. After a long talk and a hug I got close to her again, she asked me to pray for her, and I do. The following lesson was back to normal and she was being creative – she was bearing fruit.
The effect of not forgiving and holding onto those stains stops us from bearing the fruits God intended us to and we become bound. This is an example of a relationship between one of my students and myself. When she let me get close to her again she made space for me to teach her and help her to bear fruits in her work. Imagine what fruits we can bear if we allow ourselves to accept Gods forgiveness. Imagine what fruits we will bear if we allow God to work in us? It blows me away when I think of what he could do in me if I could shift out all the rubbish that I still hang onto.
Sin causes a barrier between us and God, Satan loves nothing more than this and he sets us up to fall- his greatest joy is to cause us to sin because he knows that this keeps us from God. Because he knows what we do with that stain, that sin. What do we do with a stain? Do we deal with it immediately and we get it out, or we leave it in the dark wash basket where it has time to work itself into every fibre and washing it out becomes more and more difficult – even impossible.
I just want us to take time to read the passage below and pray over it:
‘But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities: upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.’
Isaiah 58
When I read that passage I wept, I suddenly truly understood, I had my light bulb moment. If we don’t accept Christ dying on the cross for us then it was a waste. We must understand that forgiveness is a free gift. Why do we feel that we have to earn it? This is old testament thinking, old testament living - we don’t have to earn Gods acceptance, because we have it already - its free and it was paid for on the cross. If it’s finished its finished and if it’s freely given we should be accepting it in our lives and in turn we should be giving it away – we should be bearing fruit. This gift is not for us to keep, it’s come from God and it’s a wonderful gift that he wants us to share with others. Jesus never said to anyone ‘try harder’. I have spent year trying to be a good person, praying every day to be a good Christian, trying every day in my own strength, then failing and feeling useless and defeated. But I was living by the old testament I hasn’t realised that by the flesh I would never be able to do things it is only through the spirit can we do them. We have to end out old lives and start our new one. How do we do this? We do this by accepting Gods grace, by leaving behind our old life and our old ways.
I know that God had to bring me to my knees, to the very end of my strength so that He could say to me that dark night at three in the morning in a hotel room in Germany – ‘I want space in your head for me’. Only when I was broken, only then when I was literally lying on the floor in desperation and despair , only when I stopped trying to do things in my own strength only then did I hear Him, did I listen to Him did I give him that space,. Only then did he start working miracles in my life. We couldn’t both live in the same space, because the space was filled with my junk, He couldn’t abide in me and I couldn’t bear fruit. But when I stopped trying, God started to do it for me. We can tame our old nature, our anger or jealousy but when provoked it comes out again. But if we let God deal with our nature, no matter how much we are provoked it wont and it can’t come out. What hinders us from bearing fruit – hanging on to our old nature. So what is the answer?
The cross. Because at the cross our old nature died and the new nature was born. Christ in us, Christ working through us. This was my light bulb moment, I had understood here (head) but suddenly the penny dropped and I under stood here (Heart). I understood I had already left my old life and my old nature behind at the cross when I was baptised. I realised that my sins had been forgiven and I had been washed clean. But I couldn’t give up some things from my old life, one of the things that I couldn’t give up was what I thought I was doing well, that I thought I was good at. I wanted to keep some of my old life but it must all go to make the space for God to abide with us. The good and the bad and the quicker we do it the quicker He can start working on us. You see I always thought that I was a great teacher, I am ashamed to say I was really arrogant about it and filled with pride. But the arrogance and pride stopped God from making me an amazing teacher and using my gifts properly, for His glory and not mine. I had to be broken because it was only when I was broken and when I allowed God to take up the space in my life that my pride and arrogance had filled it was only then that my cracked pot could really bear fruit. I now know and can physically feel that I am teaching through Gods strength and I can see the difference, my ego and arrogance had to go and I had to submit to God so that He could make me the teacher He wanted me to be, so I could bear His fruit, so He could shine through my cracked pot. I couldn’t have blessed my 6th form group a couple of years ago because I wouldn’t have prayed and I wouldn’t have asked God to deal with it His way, I would have done it my way and it wouldn’t have worked, those girls wouldn’t have seen God working through me. The result of letting God deal with it was that one of the girls said to me later ‘I really love the way you explain things miss – they make sense and they are full of love. Not my love – His love, shining through my cracked pot. God hasn’t taken the gift of teaching away from me, He has made it better because now He is in the driving seat He is working through me and in me. It was so hard for me to give this up, I wanted to hold on to it, because I thought that teaching was the only thing in my life that I thought I could do. I didn’t really understand. But once I understood – I had it all, but I had to give it up, I had to leave everything at the cross, the good and the bad, the things I couldn’t wait to get rid of and the things I desperately wanted to keep. Letting go set me free. If you are struggling with this then I ask you to pray over it or ask me or one of the church family to pray with you about it – use the prayer corner, use your family to stand with you.
When you can’t do anything, God can do Everything. It’s the ‘I’ that holds us back. Stop trying to get to there by yourself – because you are already there. Stop trying to do everything in your own strength. God knows what you need to change and He will do it in his own time, He will deal with these things in his timing, at different times and at different seasons He will take them from us and He will do the impossible.
Your old nature may come back from time to time but Jesus can deal with it instantly, these weeds have no roots now we don’t have to wrestle and fight – Jesus will pull them out instantly. He will set us free, the truth will set you free. Don’t try and change things in your own strength - get on your knees and ask God to change them. You can’t do it because you were never supposed to . All we have is Jesus and that is all we need.
Clay pots will show Gods glory He will transform us from the inside out, inside in that space that we give Him, He will transform us – but from within. I really want to encourage you to carry the presence of Jesus within, abide in Jesus, let him gently work in you. Because when we carry him He will work in us and He will change our anger or greed into compassion and love. He needs the body of Christ to carry him, he needs the cracked pots, he wants the clay pots because He will use us the clay pots to His glory. We will never graduate from being a clay pot, we are supposed to be clay pots. But when we remember this, when we let God have space within our clay pots we will see beyond our wildest dreams. We are not working for God – we couldn’t do it anyway – God wants to work in us – but he needs space and when we give Him this space we will bear fruit. This truth will set you free.
So lets take some time to read the words on the screen quietly and lets take some time to pray and reflect on them. Lets start, together this morning, lets make space for God to come to us now to speak to us now, to start changing us now. I pray that each and every one of you will start to know and enjoy where God has put you through His grace and I pray that you will start making that space for him to abide in you now, this minute so that you and I can bear fruit. Amen