The Parable of the Net

11 08 2013

Over the summer we’re doing a series on parables at church, and this morning’s was The Parable of the Net. I’d never even heard of it before! Neither had the girl next to me, neither has my housemate! Have you?!

Matthew 13:47-52
47 ‘Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 ‘Have you understood all these things?’ Jesus asked.
‘Yes,’ they replied.
52 He said to them, ‘Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.’

So as mentioned last week, I thought I’d share some of my notes from the sermon incase they’re helpful to anyone out there on the internet!

In this parable, the net represents the gospel. The gospel is to be put out to all mankind, there is no discrimination.
God so loved the world. – The gospel is for all!
In Matthew 4vv18-20, Simon Peter and Andrew are called to be fishers of men.
All we have counts for nothing really, the one thing we really need is eternal life.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Our responsibility is to share the gospel with all we come into contact with. It’s never too late. For example the criminal on the cross in Luke 23, Jesus didn’t discriminate there!
We mustn’t write people off because they’re drunkards, criminals, or even because we think that they wouldn’t want to know.
On the last day, the net will be sifted with all mankind, but it won’t be us who decide. The criteria has been set by the fisherman, that is, God. The criteria is not who is good or who is bad. It is not who is in or out of church. All have fallen short of God’s glory. The criteria is who has accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Who is saved, who is not.
We have a responsibility, let’s take it seriously.


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Friday five favourite: Traditional hymns

9 08 2013

There’s a reason these hymns have lasted a long time, we live in a time when there’s new worship music out all the time, but move on even 5 years, let alone decades, and which ones are you still singing? There’s a whole tonne of modern hymns coming out which are also great, but these below truly have stood the test of time.

I’ve tried wherever possible to find congregational versions rather than performances, because worship is not about a performance, it’s every person individually, coming together to make the most beautiful and powerful sound! (And that doesn’t even have to be tuneful!)

How great Thou art

Favourite bit:

And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die – I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

Thine be the glory

Favourite bit:

For our Lord now liveth
Death has lost it’s sting!

Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.

And can it be

Favourite bit:

My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Amazing Grace

I couldn’t find a traditional version of this on YouTube that I liked, and I know my Dad really hates it when people take old hymns and “think they can do better by adding a bit in”, but I do like this, so excuse the modernisation for this post!
Favourite bit:

When we’ve been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

To God be the glory

Same with this one, although actually I’ve always prefered the modernised version here. The words are still there, the same meaning and depth to them, but a slightly less “twee” tune!
Favourite bit:

The vilest offender who truly believes,
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

A couple of others that just missed the cut:

What are your favourite traditional hymns?


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James: Faith in Action

4 08 2013

In church I’m one of those people that sits there scribbling all through the sermon. No I’m not doodling, and I’m not trying to look uber holy, I’m just trying to listen properly and stop myself from daydreaming, and I find note taking is the best way to do this for me. Thing is, once the notes are written, I never seem to look at them again. I wondered about blogging them week by week, so that as I type them up on a Sunday afternoon it gives me a chance to digest what I heard a little further, and also means I get to share the great stuff I hear with whoever’s listening out there!

Over the summer we’re doing parables and in the autumn are starting a new series on the “one another commands” which sounds really cool. But recently we’ve finished a great series in James, which you can listen to online here. Each week has been full of great stuff, so as I couldn’t get to church today due to the big cycle rides going on in London & Surrey, I thought maybe I’d go through the notes I can find (I missed a week or two when visiting my parents church, and not every bit of paper made it as far as the notebook!) and share what I learnt with you…

James 1 vv 1-12 — Walking wisely through trials
Joy = “Unnatural reaction of deep and steady thankful trust in God”
Joy is not about how we should feel, but how we should think.
Trials build spiritual muscle
Perseverance = “Successfully carrying a heavy load for a long time”
Maturity = “Perfection and wholeness of Christian character”
Trials provoke us to pray, we long for God’s wisdom
Our faith must be centred on God alone
The rich can be too independent of God, the poor can think they’re deserted.
We need to keep our eyes on eternity.
None of this is possible in our own strength
A “little while’s” suffering for an eternity in heaven
God knocks off our rough edges so we can glorify Jesus and become more like Him, ready for heaven.

James 1 vv 13-18 — Walking wisely when facing temptation
We’re not above temptation, how we handle it is key.
We’re all born not loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength
Sin = “Having ourselves at the centre”
We all have doubts, but it’s about how we handle them
We have to come back to who God is
When the wheels come off and in the good times, who is God? Try listing things!
Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil He responded with quotes from Scripture
We need to know the book, there is not shortcut.
Prayer partners can help with accountability for habitual sin.
Are we fighting sin and temptation?
Fight the good fight!

James 1 vv 19-27 — Walking wisely by listening to God’s Word and obeying God’s Word
James is an application of Jesus’ wisdom teaching
Don’t just listen, live it! Slow to anger, quick to listen, slow to speak.
We are for change and transformation, not to stay as we are
We should engage with people who anger us in case of misunderstanding
We can have righteous anger at injustice, but not self-righteous anger.
We read the word and then forget it, why take the time to look if we’re not going to do anything about it?
It’s not about knowledge. Without application it’s just empty
Maturity is hearing and doing the word, chew, meditate, pray.
What comes out of our mouths reflects the state of our hearts
Ephesians 4v29 means we’ve got some work to do!
True religion works for social justice
Why are we angry when Jesus took it on Himself on the cross?

—

James 2 vv 14-26 — Faith in action
Actions speak louder than words. Our God of action can move mountains!
We have a responsibility as people of compassion
Non believers judge Christians on their actions, and therefore judge God
Put your money where your mouth is, or more specifically, put your action where your faith is.
We need to feed our faith on the makers handbook
We can’t earn God’s favour, it’s Grace
“Saved to serve” is good, but it needs to go beyond the four walls
“Go and make disciples”, not “go and make church members”
Deeds aren’t to get attention for ourselves, but to give God glory
We want to be an Acts 2 church

James 3 vv 1-12 — Speaking wisely
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” – Abraham Lincoln
Speech is powerful, for example Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches” quote
In the times of no printing press, verbal was the main form of communication.
1: vv 1-2 Importance of words
If your life didn’t match your words you wouldn’t be a respected synagogue teacher
Words have no impact or authority if they don’t match your actions
Our speech will only honour God if we’re rooted in God
Perfect = “Mature or complete in Christ”
Our lips and words reflect the inside of our hearts
Words are so important, see Matthew 12 vv 36-37
2: vv 3-8 Power of words
Aggressive words are becoming popular entertainment these days, eg Jeremy Kyle or the Apprentice
vv 3-4 There are a lot of little things that control massive things, eg small rudder on a massive ship
vv 5-6 One careless remark can completely destroy a reputation or injure someone
vv 7-8 explained by Matthew 15 vv 18-19
3: vv 9-12 Need for consistency in our words
v 9 cursing another human being curses God as they are in His image
Our behaviour on a Monday must match our praises on a Sunday
vv 11-12 It’s absurd to expect fresh water from a salt spring, why do we put up with it? It’s hypocritical, there must be consistency and integrity
We’re called to this but can’t do it in our own strength
We need spiritual heart surgery, new hearts!
Jeremiah 31 v 33, The law had been on stone tablets, now it’s on our hearts. I.e. We’ll be given new hearts that want to obey God
Hebrews 9 v 15, all the pride, gossip, slander, bitterness and anger that comes out of our mouths was nailed to the cross with Jesus, He paid the price for it all
He died and rose again so that we could have spiritual heart surgery. Hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone
Matthew 12 vv 33-35 and Ephesians 4 vv 29-32 both say we need to speak good words, to encourage one another, to show good hearts with good words. To be people of integrity.

—

James 5 vv 13-18 — Powerful and effective prayer
v 13 in trouble, the first responsibility is on us to pray, for strength, comfort, patience
Facing trials in joy doesn’t mean as in “whoopee!” but as in a deep security in Christ
v 14 commentators believe this refers to a bedbound person, someone who can’t get to church – the elders should wait to be called
Consecrating =”setting apart for God’s use”
The power is not in the oil, but in the prayer of faith, and in the Holy Spirit
v 15 This can sound like a promise that sufficient faith always brings healing, but nevertheless, faith is important to the healing process
Paul experienced someone not being healed, 2 Timothy 4 v 10
Someone can be given a gift of faith for healing, a feeling of such certainty that it’ll happen.
v 15b says “if he has sinned”, there may be a sin cause, but not necessarily… John 9 vv 1-3
There was a guitarist at a church who had hand pain and couldn’t play but was healed after confession. Often this is not the case, but it can be worth exploring.
A word of knowledge may be given to the person praying, but this needs dealing with with great sensitivity. But don’t go hunting for sin in sickness, that is not pastoral.
v 16 there are different levels of confessing sin, private (between you and God), and sin that needs confessing to one another when we hurt one another
Prayer is the means through which God’s power works
Not just the elders should pray, the whole community should prayer for one another – prayer chain, prayer in services, prayer meetings, communion, etc
We’re not perfect, we’re righteous through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we’re clothed in this righteousness
We probably only shower once in the day, but we need to wash our hands throughout the day. Similarly we need to confess our sins every day to God and to keep short accounts with people.
Forgive as Christ has forgiven you.

James 5 vv 19-20 — Jesus seeks the wanderers
The church is not just a common interest group, we’re united in the Holy Spirit. We’re bonded together in the family of God. We have responsibility to each other, mutual accountability.
In our society, saying that no one goes to the Father except through Christ is not a PC thing to do.
For us to go after someone who has drifted is to love them
We are all to exercise this ministry
Galatians 6 v 1 also talks about this
When you barbeque, you need to keep all the coals in the heat. As Christians we need to be with other Christians. Those who’ve left the church are coals getting cold, we need to bring them back.
It’s scary how many leave the church and aren’t even contacted
Sin is a tricky word. All it means is “loving created things before the creator”.
Not one of us loves God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength
It’s good to pray for prodigals, but it’s not sufficient, we must do something practical.
The message says “don’t write them off, go after them!”
The good shepherd left his 99 and went after the 1 stray.
We won’t succeed every time, but it’s not just the pastoral teams job, it’s all of our responsibility!
“Look out for one another” isn’t quite one of the one another commands in the bible, but it’s worth doing.
The Father’s heart is not “well we’ve got 99 others, hey ho!”, He wants them back
We need to put this into practice.

Hmm, that was longer than I intended, even with weeks missing! But some great content I didn’t want ot miss bits out! Maybe this would suit a week by week basis.
Anyway, if you made it as far as the end I hope you found this useful, encouraging and challenging!

Is this the sort of blog content you’d like on here in future?


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How I discovered Compassion

1 08 2013

A year or so ago, Compassion UK launched a campaign where they encouraged their sponsors to share their Compassion story, how they heard about them, how they came to be a sponsor. I started writing mine but never finished it, then this evening as I was scrolling through unfinished blog posts I found it again and finished it off, so here goes!

I graduated four years ago in 2009, a year or so into the recession, and was told I had something like a 1 in 48 chance of getting a job. I decided I’d really like to work for a Christian charity, but struck a deal with myself as I knew that was a pretty narrow net, that if I didn’t get anywhere after a while I’d widen to charities in general, and then start to look at all companies if there was no success there. All I knew was that after years of homework and coursework, I quite wanted to get evenings and weekends back, and with my degree most likely being a lower second, graduate schemes and further education just weren’t the way forward for me.

I started off applying for an unpaid web internship with BMS which looked great, but I didn’t get an interview for it. Then I applied for a job I saw on a general charity job website with one I’d never heard of called Compassion as someone in Supporter Relations, which I also applied for and also failed to get an interview for. But as I was discovering new charities all the time in my job search, they got added to the list of vacancy websites to check regularly. After my exams I applied for another job with them, this time for a 6 month maternity cover post in the IT team. This time I got an interview, but in the middle of it couldn’t even remember half of the question I’d just been asked and had to bite back the tears, I didn’t think it was my best attempt! As I left it I rang my parents to say how it went, my sentence was: “Well it went ok, but I’ll judge them if they employ me!”. It was the first job application I’d managed to get an interview for, and slightly surprisingly I was offered the role!

I started in the autumn, and it became clear so quickly why God had this role in mind for me rather than the one I didn’t get an interview for. Now every day I’m immersed in data and queries, and I love it! I don’t think I’d ever have been that useful on the phones!

Within a couple of days of starting on the job I’d found out more about this unknown-to-me charity, who they were, what they were about, and I was totally won over! I sponsored my first child – a little boy called Hamad in Tanzania. I now have the privilege of watching him and the others that I write to growing up, writing to me and telling me all the things they’re learning in the project, and one of them even told me she got baptised last year! We get to hear such amazing stories and testimonies in the office, of things that happen in the field for the children of course, but even at events we attend in this country!

This really is life saving work!! I’m totally in love with these kids, and with the work of Compassion. Through the programme they receive physical, spiritual, social and economic help, this isn’t just child sponsorship, this is child development, and according to recent independent research, it works!!

If you’d like to join me and sponsor a child and save a life, please do check out the website!!


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Wisdom from the Jones ladies on Worship

16 07 2013

Just before I went to uni I had drinks with my friend Kim and her mum Shona. All of the ladies in this family have the most beautiful voices, and we had the immense privilege of having Shona leading worship in church on Sunday’s with that beautiful Scottish lilt we miss so much.

The beauty of their voices came up in conversation, and I joked how obviously I’d never match up to them, and they shared this wonderful concept with me, which I now share with you if you’ve never had much confidence in your own ‘worship’ voice.

They told me how God has this worship filter. Where we hear the quality of the voice, that’s all sifted out. What He hears is the pureness of heart, the meaning and sincerity behind what is being sung. That which is sung in all honesty and passion is what sounds most beautiful to Him. You could have the most beautiful voice in the world, but if you didn’t mean a word you sang, it’d sound tone deaf to Him.

What a lovely thought!


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Wisdom from Angie on Worship

13 07 2013

I was chatting with a wonderful friend of mine this week when I realised what wise things I’ve been told over the years. Time to share them wider! There’ll be at least one more of these anecdotes coming soon…

I grew up in a lovely Baptist church which while not a traditional or formal church, is not overly charismatic. On a Sunday you’d see a handful of hands up in the air, always the same few. It wasn’t un-normal, but not something I ever did.

When I was 17 I went to Spring Harvest, and in the youth venue, arms were up everywhere, I wasn’t quite used to it! I found myself wanting to too, but I was worried. As a 17 year old I was still really quite concerned about what the people around me, my friends, people I’d known my whole life, thought of me.

I freaked out a bit.

The wonderful thing about going to Spring Harvest with a big church group though, is there’s all sorts of people you can sit down and talk with, and fortunately, Angie, my Sunday School teacher from when I was 10, who was also my Saturday job boss at Oasis Christian Centre was hanging around the Skyline watching a stall during the session, and I went to find her.

She was fantastic. Here’s what she shared with me: Worship isn’t about other people, it’s about you and God. Who care’s what’s going on around you. When she sings, she shuts her eyes, because then she doesn’t see what others are doing, doesn’t worry about what others are seeing her doing, and it’s just about her and God, whether her arms are up, down, other, or whatever she does!

And so that’s what I do so often now. I’m so easily distracted, not just by other people’s worship styles (we all worship differently, that’s a great thing!), but by toddlers running around, all sorts! If I shut my eyes, then it’s just me worshipping my Creator, Saviour and Sustainer, it’s personal 🙂


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Grace and Mercy

15 06 2013

I’ve always attended Baptist churches regularly which use pretty much no liturgy, definitely nothing regular. But growing up in a town with a fantastic ecumenical organisation, I’ve spent plenty of time in other churches, including many at Romsey Abbey, the local CofE church.

The other day I was pondering this line used so often in CofE and Ecumenical services that I’ve attended:

“Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer”

Now there’s a song we learnt at church once that has this line in it.

“Grace is when God gives us the things we don’t deserve
Mercy is when God does not give us what we deserve”

And it made me think. When we ask God to hear our prayer, surely we’re asking for something we don’t deserve to happen, rather than for something we do deserve to not happen, so why is this common phrase not “Lord, in Your grace, hear our prayer”?

Another definition of Grace is:

God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

And it’s through that that we have this relationship with the Father, this ability to talk to Him, to pray to Him, and so surely it is through Grace that we also would ask Him to hear our prayer?

I guess a lot of folk would say “In Jesus’ Name” at the end of their prayer, and that relates more to the Grace side of things…

I don’t know, this is just a collection of thoughts around the idea really!

What do you think?


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“in the image of”

26 05 2013

Have you ever pondered on this phrase?

In the Bible we’re told “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1v27

I get what the image of something is, but what about in the image? You might say “oh she’s the image of her mother!” but you wouldn’t say she’s in the image of her mother (would you? maybe I’m wrong!).

The only place where bible gateways search pointed me to a reference of the image of God was Colossians 1v15: “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” which is a direct reference to Jesus, saying He is the image of His father.

So what does in His image mean? Does it mean we’re like a part of Him? That we have some similarities?

Any thoughts?!


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Categories : Christian, Things that make you go hmm

Friday five favourite: Rend Collective Experiment songs

29 03 2013

Last year I brought you my five favourite Easter songs, so I was wondering what to do this Good Friday. I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands at the moment. Last year I was particularly struck by “Eastery” elements to a lot of their songs, and I guess you might pick that up below.

It seems I first heard Rend Collective Experiment when they did a video called Worship on an iPhone and until today I never realised that was the same band as that I’ve come to love in the last couple of years!

Their style is so different to anything else in the Christian music circles at the moment. They have the most interesting instruments (check out the stick thing in Build Your Kingdom Here). And the lyrics are superb. Sometimes we can get so struck by a melody, when really the words are the depth and real meaning of the piece.
As Sophie Fisher says in the wonderfully tacky film, Music and Lyrics: “A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath.”

So here we go, in no particular order, some lively, some very chilled out. Most are from their second album, but there’s one from the first!
Listen to all 5 and tell me you’re not a Rend convert!

Second Chance

Build Your Kingdom Here

You Bled

Desert Soul

The Cost


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Friday Five Favourite: Sunday School Songs

1 03 2013

I’m definitely one for sentimentality, so here, unashamedly, is my five favourite Sunday school songs from when I was little!

Jesus loves me this I know

slightly trippy video!

My God is so big

do the Brucey pose!

Jesus’ love is very wonderful

slightly modified words – “oh wonderful love!”

Only a boy named David

123 Jesus Loves Me

starts at 2min

One of the oldest ones I remember I really don’t remember hearing anywhere else ever, it doesn’t seem to be on the internet anywhere either!
My Sunday school teacher, Janet, held up picture cards for us to sing it of the main words because it was when we were too young to read!
Fortunately, my mum having the amazing memory she does, has remembered all the words!:

Lots of faces in a class
Lots of faces in a class,
Lots of classes in a school,
Aren’t we far too many for,
Jesus to look after?
No, for…

Nobody else is just like me,
Nobody else is just like me,
Nobody else is just like me,
I’m important to Jesus.

Different faces, hands and feet,
Clothes untidy, clean or neat,
Aren’t we much too muddling for
Jesus to look after.
No, for…

Chorus

Sleeping, waking eating meals,
Jesus knows just how it feels,
Running, jumping, sitting still,
Jesus knows us always.
Yes, for…

Chorus

This one I only learnt last year so it doesn’t count as one of my Sunday school songs, but it’s amazing!
Jesus is my superhero


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