Change, Faith and the Power of the Spirit

Readings

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Acts 1:4-8

Introduction

What would happen if you never changed your socks?  They would get pretty smelly and, over time, probably rot away! 

Our theme, this morning, is "Change, Faith and the Power of the Spirit."  I want to talk a bit about change and how to embrace it – or, depending on your point of view, how to survive it!

It's been over five years since my last visit here and, just as Paul heard a good report of the Thessalonians from Timothy, I've heard good reports about you from [anonymised].  She told me something of the changes that are going on here, and I must say it was great to hear about what God is doing among you.

Some of us find change stimulating; its a land of new opportunities, flowing with milk and honey.  Some of us perhaps find change a difficult thing to cope with; it takes us away from our place of comfort or threatens long-cherised traditions.  And that can lead to tensions among us, with some striving to advance (as they see it) and others desperately digging trenches. 

Almost the first thing Paul writes in his second letter to the Thessalonians is, "Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ."  As we think about change this morning, I want us to keep in mind that God comes among us with grace and peace.  And that's how we should relate to one another as we move from where we are to where God may be leading us.

Change

Our first reading tells us there was a lot of change going on in the life of the Thessalonian church.  Paul gives thanks to God for their burgeoning faith (which he says "is growing more and more") and for the love they have for one another in increasing measure. 

Anything that's growing is changing and developing, and, in the Thessalonians case, the growth that was happening was helping them to persevere.

Paul's prayer for them is that they may undergo even more change!  He prays that God will make them worthy of his calling.  Now, he's not saying they are unworthy at the time of writing.  Really, he's praying that they'll be able to endure the opposition they're encountering.  In a sense, they are being refined through their struggles, and their faith is being proven.  His prayer is that they will stand the test!

Being made worthy suggests they're on a journey;  it implies there will be challenge, and change.  And all of us who are born of God are on a journey that involves change.  Paul writes elsewhere about our being "conformed to the image of [God's] Son," (Ro. 8:29) that we are being "transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory" (2 Cor. 3:18), and he exhorts us to be "transformed by the renewing of [our] mind" (Ro. 12:2).  All this change is for the here-and-now, not just for the moment we step into heaven!  And this change is essential!

Even in ordinary life, we undergo constant change.  We're thrust into the world at birth, leaving behind the warmth and comfort of our mother's womb.  Huge change!  We develop and grow and learn. 

One change in my life that I still remember clearly is my first day at school.  I was allowed to go in my cowboy suit but the first thing the teacher did was take my guns off me!  Then my mum abandoned me to total strangers!  Huge change!

The next day, mum woke me with, "Come on, time for school!"  Surprised at this news, I said, "Do I have to go again?"  Bigger change than I'd been prepared for!

We continue to grow and develop, become adults, and have to make our own way in the world.  Huge change!  Get married – huge change!  Raise children, who in turn grow up and leave home – huge changes!  We retire – best change ever!

All of life is in change.  Change is inevitable.

If we're not changing, we're dead!

Paul prays that God will make the Thessalonians fruitful in goodness and action.  Even this idea expresses change.  Think about fruit trees: to bear fruit they have to undergo change.  New life surges in the spring and they put out buds, which become new growth, then leaves develop to capture the sun's energy, then blossom grows to be pollinated, and then the blossom blows away and the fruit grows.

In writing this, a thought occurred to me.  We love the time of blossom, don't we?  But we can't forever hold onto the blossom.  For the fruit to come, the blossom must pass. 

Then another thought occurred: after the fruit, the leaves fall off and the whole cycle goes round again.  In the same way, the change we undergo doesn't necessarily bring us to an end point.  Where we get to is just for a season.  We need the constant renewal of change.  Otherwise, like our socks, we get a bit stale!  We have to be prepared to let go of the good that's gone before to obtain the good that's yet to come.

Obstacles to Change

For some people, of course, change is not a welcome thing.  Some are reluctant to change, and others may fear what change could mean.

Reluctant people may say things like, "We've always done it this way."  Actually, looking back over history, even Methodists haven't always done it this way, and the church of today would probably be unrecognisable to the early church. 

We have to ask, is "the way we've always done it" working?  In the light of dwindling churches of all denominations throughout our land, we'd have to conclude that it isn't.  Albert Einstein once defined madness as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.  I'm a firm believer in the saying, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it!"  But if it is broken, it needs fixing!

Our society is different, and we have to find different ways to reach out to people.  Otherwise, they may never grasp the unchanging message of God's love and salvation.

Things that are different will mean things we are less familiar with, and that will mean our comfort will be disturbed.  We can't sit in church recognising the need for change but hope it happens after we die!  People outside the kingdom of God need to see it in action now, before they die!

Paul gives a good reason for his prayer for the Thessalonians to have worthy and fruitful lives.  He writes, "We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."

One remedy for reluctance is to realise that we're not here for just ourselves: we're here for the glory of Jesus.  We're here to make known the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  We need to search out the best ways of doing that in our age.  And glorifying him turns out to be good for us too!

I mentioned fear as another reason for avoiding change, and I'd like to illustrate this with some personal testimony.

Back in 1985, I was not in a good place. 

I'd finished university and returned to the small church back home which hadn't really changed much while I was away, nor did the change in me really fit in there any more.

My parents had divorced and I continued living at home to support my dad for much longer than he needed or was good for me. 

The job I had at the time was on the other side of Birmingham and was a mixed bag with parts I loved and parts that really dragged me down.

I actually wanted change.  I wanted to get a home of my own but should it be near the job I no longer wanted to do or near the church I wasn't thriving in?

The obvious answer was to look for another job and move to wherever that took me but the problem was that I really believed that God wanted me in that church.  I got an interview for a job in Leeds but so strong was my fear of stepping out of God's will that I deliberately sabotaged it so I wouldn't be offered the job.

Then a job in Newcastle came up.  I got the application forms and filled them in.  On the night before the last chance of posting them off in time, I spent ages pacing the floor of my bedroom, agonising about what to do.  And then, a little question that was totally foreign to everything else going on inside me just popped into my head: "Why can't you just apply in faith?" 

I know without a shadow of doubt that it was God who asked that question, and it really pulled me up short.  I said, "What? You mean if I get the job it's your will, and if it isn't your will I won't get it?  OK, I can live with that."  All the fear was gone and I went straight to bed and straight to sleep.

The next day, I posted my application, which resulted in an interview.  I travelled up to Newcastle the day before and stayed overnight at the parent's of a friend of a friend.  When I woke up on the day of the interview, my reading just happened to be 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, in which I read, "With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith."

I went to the interview knowing I would get the job!

God was very gracious to me because my faith wasn't really that impressive.  But the lesson is that faith overcomes our fear.  The writer to the Hebrews tells us that, "... faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Heb 11:1).

Now, not every change will turn out to be positive; we're human beings and sometimes we get things wrong and head off in directions that are less than helpful.  But as someone once said, "You can't steer a ship unless it's moving."  If we're moving and our desire is to do good things, and we act in faith, we can rely on God to correct our course and to supply the power we need to be fruitful.

God wants to glorify Christ in us, and us in Christ.  We're in all this with God!

The Spirit's Power

So, where do we get the power we need?  Paul, in his prayer, implies that it's God's power that leads to fruitfulness.  This is not something we're expected to do in our own strength.

The Greek word translated as 'power' in verse 11 is dunamis, and it's about ability or enabling.   In our reading from Acts, Jesus says, "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…"

Here's the same word, dunamis, again.  Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will enable them to be witnesses.  We only have to read on into chapter two to find out what a difference the Holy Spirit made: disciples who met in fear behind locked doors are now out in the open preaching Christ to the crowd!

The same Holy Spirit is the source of our enabling.  If you are born of God, you already have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.  You can't be born of God without the Spirit!  But we can grieve him; we can resist him; we can suppress his working; to the extent that he is effectively dormant in our lives.

The Bible exhorts us to go on being filled with the Spirit!  Let's welcome the Holy Spirit in and among us.  Let's cooperate with the guidance he brings us.  Let's allow his enabling dunamis power to lead us through change and to bring glory to Jesus.

Winding up

Change is inevitable.  Change is essential.  God's love motivates us, faith takes hold of the possibilities, and the enabling power of the Spirit makes it happen.

Here's some good news: God doesn't change! "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever." (Heb 13:8)  He will be with us before, during and after the changes.  And the message doesn't change!  God is still seeking reconciliation with people, looking to bring them to repentance and faith, to rescue them from judgement and to lavish his love on them.

And let's remember, as we wrestle with the implications of change, that God comes among us with grace and peace.  Let's be like him as we work things out together.

Guard Your Heart

Readings 

Proverbs 4:20-27
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24

Introduction

These days, we often hear the mantras "Follow your heart!" or "Do what's in your heart!"  I wonder what people understand by the term "Heart" and whether this advice is wise.  Especially as it seems to mean, "If it feels good, do it!"

Obviously, those handing out this advice are not referring to the pump in our chest.  We sometimes think of the heart as the seat of the emotions – understandably, because when we see something that stirs our emotions we can be aware of our pulse racing, and feel our heart thumping in our chest.  We talk about someone "wearing his heart on his sleeve", meaning he lets his emotions show easily.

Interestingly, in Biblical times, the bowels were considered the seat of the emotions – and we can understand that because we've probably all experienced "butterflies in our stomach."

Do any of you remember being told, "I love you with all my heart"?  Perhaps you're glad you didn't live in Biblical times because you might have heard, "I love you with all my bowels!"

But, actually, when we say "I love you with all my heart" we're not just talking about emotions.  We're really saying, "I love your from the very core of my being," and that's much more like what the Bible means when it talks about the heart; our heart is our inmost being.

The verse that was the starting point for this sermon is Proverbs 4:23:

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

The implication is that our outward behaviour has its origins in our inmost being.  Also, our inmost being is mutable; it can change, it can be damaged – or why else would there be a need to guard it?  And if our heart, our inmost being, is damaged, what will "following our heart" lead to?

What we are in our inmost being is what matters to God.  1 Samuel 16:7c tells us that,

"People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

We all project an image of ourselves that we want others to see.  That image is never quite the same as the person we really are inside.  For instance, there are three people standing in this pulpit.  There's the person you perceive, the person I'd like you to perceive, and the person that I really am.  To some extent, we all wear masks to hide aspects of our real selves from others.  Sometimes, and for some people, the external image can be very different from the internal reality.

God always sees the internal reality.  Always.

Our personal integrity matters to God: "Above all else, guard your heart..."

Diagnosis

So, what does God have to say about our hearts?  What's his diagnosis?  Jeremiah writes in chapter 17:9ff

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind …"

Dare we be guided by our own hearts?  If our hearts are deceitful, how can we understand what's right to do and what is not?

I was on a shopping trip in Newcastle one Saturday and stopped off for a coffee.  I couldn't help but overhear what the young men on the next table were saying.  I can't repeat what one of them said about his behaviour with a woman he met in a night club the day before.  His mates, of course, approved.  What he, and I presume the woman, had in mind felt good, so they did it … 

If the only point of reference we have is what's in our own hearts, then it's no surprise the world is in a mess.  As Jesus says in Mark 7:20ff,

"… 'What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from the inside and defile a person.'"

God always sees the internal reality.  Always.

Now, not everything in our hearts is bad.  After all, human beings are made in the image of God. There are lots of good things done in this world, and these all flow from our hearts too.  But we live in a fallen world and the image is broken and cracked, and, in some cases, completely shattered.  Our hearts are mixed.

Our heart problem isn't just about bad behaviour.  Following our heart is no guarantee of personal fulfilment.  Philip Yancey, in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, writes about how his career as a journalist gave him many opportunities to interview sports stars, movie actors, music performers, best-selling authors, politicians and TV personalities.  He says that these people whom we idolise are,

"as miserable a group of people [he has] ever met.  Most have troubled or broken marriages.  Nearly all are incurably dependent on psychotherapy.  In a heavy irony, these larger-than-life heroes seem tormented by self-doubt."

Our hearts are unreliable guides.

Looking back at my own life, I see things that I wish hadn't been in my life, things I've done or failed to do.  I grew up with no guidance other than my own heart and the influence of other fallen, broken people.  My behaviour was the consequence of what was inside me—of what I was; but it wasn't God who made me that way.

The good news is that God loved me regardless of what I was – but he had no interest in leaving like that!  He didn't make me what I was, and, since he found me, he's worked unceasingly to make me more and more what he wants me to be.

My destiny, according to Romans 8:29, is to be like Jesus.  God is working in me to that end.  I only wish I'd been more cooperative, more compliant down the years.

God always sees our internal reality.  Always.  But he also sees our potential.  He knows our hearts are faulty, and that the only remedy is to change them!

Remedy

God is the one who has the remedy.  We need to go to the doctor and take the medicine.

God knows our hearts, and that may make us want to run away from him.  But he wants us to run towards him and begin doing something about our problem.  That's called repentance.

In James 4:8, we read,

"Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

But we come to him, with repentance, knowing that we cannot sort ourselves out.  We need a radical change of heart.  We need to ask for his help.

As we read in Psalm 86:11b

"… give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."

And in Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

These are prayers that God is ready and willing to answer.  He says through the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 36:2ff

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; … And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

Maintaining Good Health

So, how can we guard our hearts?  How can we maintain the good health of the clean, new heart that God gives us?

    • Well, first of all, we need a heavenly focus.

In Colossians 3:1, Paul tells us,

"Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

We know that this world will come to an end.  We know that our lives here will come to an end.  If we focus on earthly comforts, whatever we achieve or acquire we leave behind the second we die.

I had an uncle who was a self-made man.  He came from a poor, working-class family and became a millionaire.  When he drew in his last breath he was very wealthy.  When his last breath left him, he had nothing!

But in Christ we have all eternity to look forward to.  We need to focus on things with eternal value.  This doesn't mean we are to become so heavenly-minded as to be of no earthly use.  It means living in the light of our destiny; living by the values of the kingdom we now belong to.  Jesus said, "… where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

And in Psalm 37:4 we read, 

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

This verse isn't a guarantee that we'll get everything we ever wanted.  I understand it as part of the renewal process going on in my life.  The more I delight in God, the more I understand what's really important; the desires of my heart change.  God gives me new desires for things that please him, and it's those desires that he's willing to fulfil.

    • Next, in guarding our hearts, we need to avail ourselves of reliable guidance. 

In Psalm 119:11 the psalmist writes,

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

If we know our Bible, we have something to judge the thoughts and intents of our hearts against.  Last time I was here, I spoke about making the most of your Bible, so I won't labour the point today.  But I have to say that I've discovered that, in general, Methodist people are not well grounded in scripture.  I have to say that discovery saddens and bewilders me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says,

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

In our walk with God, we will sometimes find ourselves moving in directions which don't sit comfortably with our hearts.  We've probably all heard stories of people battling against God's calling on their lives, and after they've finally given in to him, discovering it was exactly the right thing for them.  If they'd followed their hearts, they'd have gone in the wrong direction.

    • Then, in guarding our hearts, we should depend on God's provision.

Philippians 4:6,7 says,

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Anxious circumstances can tempt us to act rashly, undermining our integrity.  Taking things to God in prayer gives us pause, reminds us whose we are and that he has things in hand.  And the peace he gives us enables us to trust and act with integrity.  I could give you a personal testimony of that if there were enough time.  Ask me afterwards, if you like.

In John 7:38, Jesus says,

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."

The Revised Standard Version expresses this as, "out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water."

John goes on to explain that "rivers of living water" refers to the Holy Spirit.  God puts his own Holy Spirit right in the hearts of believers; the Holy Spirit who comes to strengthen, to guide, to comfort, to bring assurance of salvation, to empower, to produce fruit and gifts, and to bring spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Rely on the Holy Spirit.

    • Lastly, in guarding our hearts, we need to keep in view our great reward.

In Matthew 5:8, Jesus tells us,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

Here's a simple definition of the word pure.  Pure means unmixed.  At home, we have a bag of "Pure natural sugar."  The bag contains nothing else, no impurities.

If our hearts are mixed, they are impure, and impurity creates a barrier between us and God.  Keeping our hearts pure means the barrier can't exist and we will see God.  This isn't just when we reach heaven; it's here and now too.  Here and now we can see the evidence of God at work in our lives, we can experience what it is to live in relationship with our creator, our loving Father.

Summary

So, winding this all up,

    • God always sees our internal reality.  Always.
    • He has the only remedy for our hearts.
    • He provides the means to keep our hearts safe.
    • What's the state of your heart?

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Don't follow your heart – follow Jesus!

A Personal Growth Plan

Introduction

On the Friday before Christmas, my wife and I were out walking the dog.  Out of the blue, she said to me (my wife, not the dog), “Do you have any aspirations for 2019?”  Well, the only thing that went through my mind was a huge ball of tumble weed.  So I did the only thing I could and said, “Do you have any?”

Her response was multifaceted: to overhaul the dining room, to plan our big anniversary holiday, to have more of God in her life and more of God in our church.   Of course, those last two items are things that should be in the minds of all of us.

Her question set us talking, and it set me thinking about growth plans, something that all our chapels have been talking about.  Our circuit leadership team has given three things to think about:

• vibrant worship
• small groups, and
• making new disciples.

These are things we've been working on at my church for quite some time, actually.  While this is a positive thing, to be honest, I've found myself of late to be somewhat discouraged.  Because we're never quite there, and it seems to have been such hard work to make little progress. 

Our growth plans are not merely fine ideals.  They'll not be effective just because we've written them down.  If our churches are to grow, then we must be committed to growing, personally and corporately.

As it's still early in this new year, it seems a good time to think about aspirations, to consider how to discover more of God in our lives and, as a result, to have more vibrant worship, more effective discipleship, and stronger fellowships that people actually want to be part of.

Vibrant Worship

John 4:19-24

As far as vibrant worship in my church goes, we're blessed with musicians with a range of musical talent – some of it to an impressively high standard, some of it (like my guitar playing) of adequate mediocrity.  We've been able to adapt our sung worship to incorporate different instruments and a more contemporary style, while keeping a good balance between traditional hymns and contemporary songs.

But I've concluded that the thing we need most for vibrant worship, the thing we need most to be, is vibrant worshippers. 

Worship is something we give to God.  It's not about whether the style of worship suits us, or whether we enjoy the hymns or other aspects of our services.  Obviously, there's joy in meeting with our God, and as we worship we often find blessing.  But our being blessed is not the primary purpose of worship. 

In our first reading, Jesus tells us two things about God. 

• Firstly, that he is spirit, and,
• secondly, that he seeks out those who will worship in spirit and in truth. 

This is not about some almighty, transcendent being demanding that we bow and scrape before him.  It's much more awe-inspiring than that.  It's about intimacy; the essential nature of God seeking relationship with our essential nature; his spirit touching ours, and our spirit touching his.

The Samaritan woman pointed out a big division between Jews and Samaritans: they worshipped in different holy places.  Worshipping in spirit means 'place' no longer matters.  The NIV translates the relevant verses here as worshipping in the Spirit, not just in spirit.  Although the definite article doesn't seem to be in the Greek, this reminds us that God indwells his people by the Holy Spirit, so wherever a true worshipper is becomes a holy place.  God's kingdom is no longer confined to a temple or church building.

We have a saying, “I'm with you in spirit,” meaning (let's be honest) “You have my sympathy but not enough for me to actually go with you.”  That's not what Jesus means when he says, “in spirit and in truth.”  Genuine worshippers are truly engaged in worship, not merely appearing to be so by following outward ceremony.

The last time I went to the New Wine conference, one of the guest speakers was the principal of a Bible College serving black pentecostal churches.  She was a fantastic speaker, and when she had finished speaking she led the congregation of around 3000 people into a time of worship.  The people responded to her sensitive leading and they worshipped.  God was there.  The people responded to the presence of God and worshipped.  God lavished his blessing on us.  I've never known anything like it before or since. 
The following night, the conference leaders tried unsuccessfully to make it happen again.  The difference?  Well, it may be about the difference between offering something to God and trying to get something for ourselves.

And worship doesn't have to be in large gatherings to be special.  I worship a lot when I'm out with the dog on my own, and I've known the thrilling touch of his Spirit even in that context.

Now, I'm not saying that vibrant worship means that we should always be on some elevated plane of ecstasy.

In a church this size there may well be someone here facing deep problems, and just making the effort to be here to acknowledge that God is God is all the worship they can muster.  Their act of worship is no less valid because they seem to go out as heavy as when they came in.  If that's you, know this: God sees you—and loves you—and is holding on to you, even though you feel your grip on him is failing.  Perhaps in hearing these words you might feel God's spirit touching yours.

Fundamentally, worship is our genuine response to who God is and what he's done for us in Christ; it's our essence reaching out to touch his essence, and his touching ours.  How vibrant is that?!

Making Disciples

Matthew 28:18-20

Making new disciples is the most difficult aspect of the growth plan.  In my church, we have some initiatives like Messy Church in place, and other things that bring us into contact with our community, but we haven't seen a great response yet, in terms of a clear commitment.

Here are a couple of things I believe about mission.

1. Mission involves all believers, not just the 'gifted' or the 'professionals'.  We all represent Christ.  We're all on display.  We all need, as Peter puts it in his first letter, to '… be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.'  We may not all have the confidence to do that yet but sharing what we believe in the safe environment of a small group may help us build confidence.
2. To make disciples we must be disciples.  I sat in church on many occasions before I met someone who lived what he believed.  Guess what made the difference to me …

When Rev PD spoke about the 'Great Commission' at my church, he said that we're not to make merely church-goers, or believers, or even converts.  We're to make disciples.  He said lots of other things too but this is my sermon, not his!

So what is a disciple? The word that we translate as “disciple” means “learner” or “apprentice.” In Jewish tradition, a rabbi would call apprentices. His disciples aimed to become like their rabbi. Eventually, they would become competent enough to call and train their own disciples.

Jesus followed the same pattern. He called and made disciples. They were sent out to call and make disciples, and the church has propagated around the world and down the ages on this same model.

John Wesley's work was successful because of his emphasis on discipleship.

I said earlier that worship is our genuine response to who God is and what he's done for us in Christ.  In a way, discipleship is exactly the same.  We could even say it's the highest form of worship we can offer. 

But who is God, and what has he done for us in Christ?

Discovering the Nature of God

1 John 4:16; Deuteronomy 5:8; Psalm 103:7-12

We've just heard read three passages about the nature of God.  We're all familiar with the first one: 'God is love.'  The second is a difficult one to understand, in some ways troubling—but it's God telling us something about himself.  The third was just to remind us after hearing the second, that God is full of compassion. 

I've said that worship is our response to who God is.  But if all we know of the nature of God is 'God is love' then we don't have the full picture.  In fact, it can be quite dangerous! 

There is the danger of thinking, “'God is love' therefore love is God” but that's not true.  If a man falls for someone else's wife and takes her from him we might be tempted to think God is in it because they love each other.  We'd be wrong.  It's called adultery, something God tells us not to do.

Another danger is to think that “'God is love' so he'll let everyone off in the end.”  John 3:16 says, “… God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  God, because he is love, holds out the offer of life and longs for us to accept it, but those who reject it have no remedy.

We have a distorted view of love, these days.  The New Testament word translated as 'love' is agape, and it has a very particular meaning.  We've no time to go into it today, but if you read 1 Corinthians 13 you'll find a very good explanation of it.

So, how do we discover the full picture of what God is like?  John Wesley spoke of the Bible as a means of grace.  Reading the Bible puts us in the place where God can speak to us and reveal himself to us.  Methodists, of all people, should be Bible readers!

Small Groups

John 13:34-35

We live in a very individualistic age.  It's all about 'Me', or, in your case, 'You.'  But that's not how things work in the kingdom of God.  Jesus commands us to 'love one another' (and there's that word agape again) but we can't really love one another from arm's length.  We can't really do discipleship by ourselves.  Being loving disciples together is important to Christ's growth plan:  'by this everyone will know that you are my disciples.'

Small groups give us the perfect opportunity to grow together in love.  On our own, we can be neglectful of our spiritual well-being.  Belonging to a group can keep us sharp.  On our own, we can form weird ideas about what it means to be a Christian.  Being in a group means we can test our ideas with more mature believers and stay on the right track.

Of course, being in a small group has risks.  You might find it challenging!  Especially if you struggle to be vulnerable.  Living in close relationship can be difficult but if we keep in mind Christ's command to love one another, we can help each other gently through our difficulties, and bear with those who are not yet ready to receive help.

As for my church, we've had several small groups for a while now, meeting for worship, bible study, prayer and fellowship.  In the group I attend, I've been encouraged to see people growing closer and engaging in lively discussion.  I'm sure you'll have experienced the same in your groups here.

Small groups are also important for the growth of new disciples.  When someone makes a commitment to Christ, we can't leave them to flounder.  Zealous new converts often lose social links.  They may find that as their tastes change they feel uncomfortable with their old friends, or their friends think they've gone nuts and start avoiding them. 

New disciples need support; they too need to discover what God is like and what it means to follow Jesus.  Established groups will have to adapt to the needs of new believers because the kingdom of God can seem like an alien world to begin with.

In the early days of Methodism, small study groups played a key role in establishing robust discipleship.  They're just as valuable today.  If you're not already in one, join one!

A Personal Growth Plan

So how does the plan work?  We make new disciples, nurture them along with ourselves in our small groups where they can learn what God is like and what he's done for them in Christ, and so grow to become vibrant worshippers.

Where do we start?  I believe it begins with our personal commitment to being disciples together, and so demonstrating God's love to the world; discovering together more of God and responding with vibrant worship; showing the world that the 'more to life' that they're looking for is found in Christ.

So, what of our aspirations for this new year?  I want more of God in my life.  I want more of God in my church.  Do you?

It requires commitment but it's a good investment!  Get into your Bible.  Join a small group.  Open your heart and mind to God so that he can inspire you with who he is and what he's done for you.  And your living and your worship will be transformed!