Can you write the picture of what you see in text and name the emotion?

SAD

 
HAPPY

 
WINK

 CRYING

 
ANGRY

:-p

TONGUE OUT

;-o

SURPRISED

:-*

KISS

:-I

DISAPPOINTED

Bible reading

⁵“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
⁶“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.
The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.
⁷“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. ⁸Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. 
⁹With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you ar
¹⁰Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
 as above, so below.
¹¹Keep us alive with three square meals.
¹²Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
¹³Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
 You’re ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
¹⁴“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. ¹⁵If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.
¹⁶“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it 
 It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. ¹⁷If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. ¹⁸God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.

Matthew 6: 5-18 (The Message Bible)

We showed a whole load of emoticons earlier on.  Many people use them every day of their lives for txting to people or on facebook or even in e-mails.

They are a method of communication, they can help us to say what we want to someone else, but because they are pictures they can also convey very effectively some of the emotions we might be feeling.

Now there are dangers with that, because what we say, or what we send in a txt message is only a very small part of the message that we send to someone. Perhaps you have misunderstood the meaning of a txt msg and the emoticon that has gone with it. Often that is because we don’t get the whole picture, sometimes texting or e-mailing is a poor method of communication. It does not work very well.

Prayer is about communication, it is about listening and speaking, it is a 2 way process.  You might feel that it does not work very well. You might believe that it is a waste of time because God does not exist, or that if there is a God he certainly does not listen or is interested in what we have to say,..

I often think that praying is about keeping it real – it says as much in Jesus’ instructions to his Disciples, we need to do it simply and honestly.  Role playing is not allowed.  It is no good going to God with our prayers and not being honest. 

But something else goes on when we pray. There is a shift of focus when this communication process takes place.  And it is there right in v7
The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

There is a shift on who and what it is about.  As we communicate with our Father in Heaven a change takes place. It becomes less about us, and in our flabby consumer world, that can only be a good thing, and it becomes more about God as we begin to sense his grace at work.  Wow!

That sounds like a powerful incentive to give it a try, whether you believe or not. In fact over 70% of people will admit to praying at one stage or another in their lives.

As we start the next 7 weeks looking at the Lord’s prayer what about learning it? What about finding a special place, with no distractions, turning off your mobile phone, and in all honesty and simplicity sitting down and telling God exactly how things are?

Some of you might come back to me and say you cannot find the time and space.  Well, I am not sure you are right and I think you have your priorities wrong somewhere along the way.  Relationships die without effective communication – speaking and listening honestly.  Relationships die without a willingness to change on behalf of the party who is speaking – that’s what prayer is all about.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

1 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him,
Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it his own or his parents’ sin?  3 Jesus answered,  His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in5 While I am in the world, I am the light for the world.
6 After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes  7 and told him, Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam. (This name means  Sent.) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.
8 His neighbors, then, and the people         who had seen him begging before this, asked, Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?
9 Some said, He is the one, but others said,  No he isn’t; he just looks like him.  So the man himself said,  I am the man.

John 9: 1-9 (Good News Bible)

DARKNESS TO LIGHT

I guess that most of us at some time in our lives have been afraid of the dark – a darkened room, a dark walk home, But there are other dark places not just physically but mentally and spiritually too. The dark places of doubt and temptation, of rejection, of separation, of bereavement, of guilt and so many more. And these darknesses can be just as scary, just as devastating. Perhaps tonight in this place there may be someone who is in a dark place for one reason or another.

The bible provides dozens and dozens of references to light and dark. It uses them to give us a picture of good and evil, the bible itself is described as a lamp and a light to guide us, Jesus is described as a light coming into the world and indeed He describes Himself as “The Light of the World”

To be in the dark can be scary lets not underestimate the effect of it.

Our gospel story tonight is a story of two journeys that takes the traveller from darkness to light. First of all it was a Physical Journey because it begins with a man born blind. His world was a world of permanent darkness and what made it all the more tragic was because the religious experts of the day had poured even more distress on the mans family by leading them to believe that this terrible affliction had been brought upon them because of some wrongdoing committed within the family. (what have I done to deserve this?) it was a world of superstition and we know the result Jesus brought physical sight and the man went literally from a world of darkness to a world of light in one earth shattering day. And what a flutter in the dovecote it caused. The man’s family were blown away by it, a mixture of bewilderment, shock, nervousness, uncertainty. The Pharisees were angry –it didn’t tick the right boxes. This Jesus was trouble pure and simple a troublemaker, a sinner and to cap it all the healing was on the Sabbath Day. And the man himself as we might imagine wasn’t interested in all the religious jargon all he could find to say was well Jesus might not tick the right box for you but as far as I’m concerned all I know is that once I was blind and now I can see. WOW!

What a Journey of joy!

The second journey was a journey of faith or we might term it a Spiritual Journey it was a journey that he had to make and one that we must all make. It’s a journey too from darkness to light. It’s a journey that can be short or a journey that can take many years. It’s all about our understanding  and knowledge of Jesus.

The blind man begins his journey from darkness to light by talking of this man Jesus. No doubt someone he had heard of. Jesus was a good man others had told him, kind, gentle, a preacher, a teacher, a healer. He walked the fields and hills of Galilee. His father was Joseph the carpenter and Mary was His mother. He was gaining quite a following among humble people, fishermen, tax collectors, and those who generally felt left out and marginalised.

10 “How is it that you can now see? They asked Him?”
11 He answered, “The man called Jesus  made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.”
John 9:10-11 (Good News Bible)

The man’s next step was to describe Jesus as a prophet, someone who was a second Moses, someone who would uphold all the law’s and traditions of old, the scriptures, prayer and fasting ,all the observances living a life of piety above compassion. That was the prophet everyone who had religion in a big way were looking for.

17 So the Pharisees asked the man once more, “You say he cured you of your blindness—well, what do you say about him?”

“He is a prophet”, the man answered.
John 9: 17 (Good News Bible)

And the man’s last step was to utter the words Lord I believe!

38 “I believe, Lord!” the man said, and knelt down before Jesus.
John 9: 38 (Good News Bible)

From a Man- to a Prophet- to Lord.
Where are you and I on that journey?
What is Jesus to us.?  Maybe He is still the dark haired mystic in the pictures who walked Galilee 2000 years ago. An attractive figure of a man  who WAS. But now lost in history.

Perhaps He is a bit more than that for no ordinary man could surely do the things he did. He must have been sent by God for a particular purpose at a particular time in history.

Or perhaps you have taken the greatest step of all and acknowledged him to be Lord of your life.. Perhaps you have and it was after working through a long journey of darkness that you experienced God’s light shining in your life. And you are able to say I once was blind to it but now I see and feel it. Perhaps at the moment it’s a step too far and you are still searching for that light from within a darkness that seems right at this moment all encompassing. Many of the people who wrote the Psalms knew that overcoming darkness was often a daily battle yet they could write words like “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? And John begins his gospel writing telling of Jesus Christ as the true light of the world, a light of which no darkness can overcome.

If you have’nt managed that last step of the journey you can do it tonight, in the company of friends, with a short prayer on your own, don’t worry about what to say just ask Jesus to be your light on your journey, ask Him as a friend, and just call Him Lord.

That’s the good news! The bad news is there’s work to be done, for just as Jesus said “I am the light of the world so also He says to each one of us “You are the light of the world” How can that be is it a contradiction?

Well here I use my trusty visual aid “Cats Eyes” –  A man named Percy Shaw invented the “cats eyes” after allegedly seeing the eyes of a cat at the side of the road reflected in his own headlights. They have been a blessing to many motorists over the years on dark lonely roads. They have no light within themselves they are reflectors . And so it is with those who accept Jesus as the light of the world so we are called then to be reflectors of that light. How can we do it? Are we doing it? That’s the challenge.

The lovely picture by Millais called “The blind Girl” shows us a world of beauty (rainbow) and light, it shows the darkness of an impending storm. There’s the poor blind girl though in a world of darkness still drinking in the warmth of the sunshine and there’s the other girl clearly unmoved by it all.

Whether we are in a darkened place, or living under the beauty of a rainbow, whether our faces are turned towards the light and enjoying the warmth it brings or turned away in indifference. Wherever we are in that picture Jesus still speaks and says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”

And that’s a promise!!!!  AMEN

Bible reading: Romans 3: 9-20

 So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn; they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
their tongues slick as mud slides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
They never give God the time of day. This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else?  Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.

We’re all sat round in a circle tonight as a visual reminder that we are all caught up in this thing that the Bible calls sin.  Our first bible reading says quite clearly that we all start out as sinners.  And it helps to explain what that means, sin is not living right, not looking for God, not giving God the time of day.  And the Bible is clear that even those would call themselves a Christian are not exempt – they are still sinners.  The passage we just read says that our knowing about God doesn’t put us right with him, it just forces us to face our sin.

Paul who wrote Romans, was a very holy man, he was a well trained Jew, knew all of the laws, had encountered Jesus in a miraculous way and decided to follow him.  And yet Paul says further on in Romans (7:18) that he can decide to do good, but then doesn’t really do it; he decides not to do bad, but then does it anyway. His decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within him and gets the better of him every time.

Testimony – Leah and Marion – what does not being right with God mean for you?

Psalm 51: 1-7

Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
⁵I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
⁶What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
⁷Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life

David finds himself calling out to God to be made clean, for truth to start on the inside, to be able to live in step with God.

Paul does the same thing in Romans –  He says “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?”

The bottom line is that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us.  Thankfully God knows this and remains as ever faithful, unchanging, and loving.

Testimony – Leah and Marion – What kind of things did you do to try and get right with God?

What we find so hard to accept is that we can’t do anything ourselves to put things right,  trying harder, making promises, removing temptation all lead back to same place of not being good enough.

Now I know some of us this evening will be thinking she’s absolutely right I’m worthless, I’m a failure, I know that I never get anything right.  There will be others who sit here thinking well I’m not so bad, I do good, I’m kind and caring, I look after others, I don’t harm anybody

There are two challenges here this evening.  If you are in the first group then are you willing to accept God’s forgiveness and to live a life of freedom from those thoughts?

For the second group are you willing to surrender that picture of being alright on the outside, of doing all the right things and walk with God in building truth from the inside out.

We have to call out to God to put things right.  God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does

And what is it that God does?

Bible reading John 13 5-12

Then Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. ⁶When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.
So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” ¹¹(He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) ¹²After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you?

The Bible helps us to see that sin is not about being clean on the outside, or looking clean to others, the image is one where sins stains our lives from the inside. Every wrong action, thought, and word leaves it residue.  The Bible uses the images of washing to help us understand that we need God’s forgiveness to wash us clean.  We are not supposed to stay trapped in our sins, we are not supposed to stay forever locked in by inability to make it any better.  We can be made clean, our sins can be forgiven only through the work of Jesus on the cross.

Being washed clean is a great visual image of God at work forgiving our sin so that we can live in step with him, truth from the inside out.  The use of water is used throughout the Bible to help us understand what it means to be put right. Both Leah and Marion have experienced baptism as part of their walk with God.

Testimony – Leah and Marion – How did baptism help?  In what ways were you aware of God leading you to baptism?  What doubts or concerns did you have?  How has being baptised made a difference to your relationship with God?

During our next song and before the children come in I would like to offer you the opportunity to be washed clean.  Myself, Stewart and Marion would be happy to wash your hands this evening as an outward sign of the forgiveness you have received from God.  There may be particular things you would like to name to God before doing that, please take the time to do that beforehand.

The series we will look at during Lent is  Experiencing God’s love.

We will be looking at five different pictures of what it means to live the Christian life. The five pictures are about beginning the Christian journey, and continuing it through the whole of your life, from that first meeting with Jesus until you last breath. “The beginning of the journey is about contrasts. As we move on in the journey, experiencing God’s love is about our ongoing habits and experiences growing deeper with the years.”

Have a look at this video clip

That is the seeds of a bean beginning to grow. What is interesting is that if they don’t get themselves into some sort of soil, then they will not bear fresh veg to eat.  They are growing on a piece of damp cloth, it is trick gardeners will often use to get seeds to germinate.  Leave them on the kitchen roll and they will die, they will die for lack of water and nutrients.

As a gardener or grower of fruit and veg I know when something is rooted well and secure.  I can see the positive effects it has on a plant.

What about you?
What makes you feel safe and secure?
Today’s bible reading from Psalm 1 gives us a fascinating insight into what it is to be rooted.
Lets have a look at what it has to say

 Bible reading

How well God must like you—
you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.
Instead you thrill to God’s Word,
you chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom.
4You’re not at all like the wicked,
who are mere windblown dust—
5Without defense in court,
unfit company for innocent people
6God charts the road you take.
The road they take is Skid Row.

Psalm 1: 1-6 (The Message)

Discussion and questions

What does the Psalm say to you about being rooted?

What kind of soil do you have your roots in?

Will the soil help you develop rootedness?

Tips for being rooted

I would just like to share a few thoughts htat might help you to be rooted and secure in your relationship with God, so that you might experience his love.  They are about growing deeper roots

Connectedness
Bible study and prayer
Quiet days and retreats
A critical friend

Connectedness

It can be very easy sometimes to become isolated from other Christians.  It can be too easy to let other things crowd into the habit of meeting and sharing worship together. It can slip down the priority list with the busy lives we lead, and the next thing you know are no longer connected but disconnected.  Nicky Gumbel says that a coal that falls out of the fire will not keep warm for long, it will grow cold. If you cannot get here very week on  Sunday is it time for you to join a small group?

Bible study and prayer

When was the last time you read the bible on your own?
Most Christians find this difficult, but the risks of not doing it are serious and can sometimes be terminal. It can be too easy to live off the relationship that we used to have, the experiences that we had with God some time ago.  You will not go deeper or maintain your relation ship with Jesus and let the HS be at work transforming you if you do not put yourself in the place of being transformed.
Regular prayer and reading the bible work. Give something a try, if it doesn’t work for you then try something else, but what ever you do don’t not do it.

Quiet days and retreats

Sometimes it is good to get away and get a different perspective, sometimes it is good to get a change of scenery and look at things from a different perspective.  We all need to get away at times, it might just be 2 hrs, it might be for a whole day, Heather Vernon who was here last week organises excellent retreat days., go have a look at the website. People go to New Wine days,

A critical friend

I’m a governor at this school. I am asked to be a critical friend.  Someone who will ask hard or deeper questions – but who can encourage and give praise where it is due.
We all need critical friend who we can trsut so we can be deeper people.  It is no goof have a friend who is just critical, it is not just having someone who is a friend.  Who is that for you?
I have a critical friend called Neil and one called Ian. They ask me hard Questions, but I thank God for them.
Do you have someone? If not go out and find one.  Some people have spiritual directors who help them on their walk with God to grow deeper and be rooted.

Connectedness
Bible study and prayer
Quiet days and retreats
A critical friend

Kitchen paper or compost?

You choose

As we continue to look at the letters to the 7 churches in revelation, today we turn to Pergamum and Thyatira both of which are in modern day Turkey. In bible times they were both very impressive and lucrative cities. Pergamum had efficient road systems, a reputable library that was said to house over 2000 books  (which obviously had all been hand written) a school of medicine and a flourishing textile industry, and it also mined silver. It seemed to have almost everything, although it was free governing it was dependent on Rome for protection, basically it was the epi-center of the time. It was also a very cultural city, and there were many temples to the various gods they worshipped. The beautiful temples rose high on the skyline, rather like the twin towers before being destroyed or as the Empire state building does today. Apparently here in England Lincoln Cathedral can be seen for about 20 miles because of its situation

The people of the city of Pergamum were probably very proud of it, but to the Christians there, it caused a threat and many concerns and they weren’t coping too well. The threat came because of the temple worship and the idolatry. Because there were so many industries, guilds had been formed and then came the quandary, if they became a guild member, how much of the civil functions could they be involved with because a lot of what went on was linked to temple worship and the sacrificing to idols. They felt there maybe reprisals if they didn’t join the guilds. At the beginning of the reading it says   “I know where you live – right there where satan has his throne” One of the gods that the people worshipped was Asclepius the god of healing, whose symbol was a serpent. To the Christians however a serpent represented satan or the deceiver as referred to in Revelation 20 v 2, and in Genesis chapter 3. where the serpent tempts Eve to eat from the tree of life.

Although Pergamum was a free govourning city, the Romans had some influence as well. Was there a way they might do enough to get by, without being fully involved and so compromising their faith?

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church he made it clear, there should be no compromise with pagan temples and cult, but they could be more flexible with eating food that had been offered to idols. Some people had obviously had taken the flexibility option, whilst others just didn’t want to stand out and so it was said that they were like Balamm although he was a prophet he used ungodly tactics to sway the people, however there was one man whose name was Antipas who was martyred for his faith  Finally, Jesus response is, that although Rome might wield the physical sword, the words that come out of Jesus’ mouth would cut through the half hearted spirituality  that was evident in the city.

Thyatira was in a similar position in some ways, but Jesus says He knows their works and they were impressive, much better than they had been. Thyatira wasn’t as well known as the other churches that received the letters, but it was well known for it smelting work in copper and bronze, which may be why the Son of God had eyes like flaming fire and feet like exquisite brass, as they would have understood those terms because the patron deity for the bronze trade was Apollo Tyrimnaeus was described in a similar way.

However, as the people of Thyatira tolerated a women called Jezebel who called herself a prophet to teach and deceive the Christians and encourage them into immoral acts, and to eat idol food. She was likened to the Jezebel in the Old Testament in 2 Kings 9.  She’d been given the chance to repent , but didn’t and so the Angel said she would be punished, and those who went with her, either openly or secretly would also be punished: but those who didn’t follow her or didn’t hold to her teachings wouldn’t suffer. It makes it even more shocking as Jezebel, whether that was her real name or a nickname was thought to have been a credited church leader and so had tremendous influence on the people. With her prophetic gifts, some of the people may well have gone exploring the satanic depths that are spoken of in verse 24 going boldly into the enemy camp without realising it. The flaming eyes that have been mentioned in verses 18 and 23would be able to search out the wickedness and deceit that was in people’s hearts and minds.

We hear though how as Christians we are a ‘Royal Priesthood@ and so are encouraged to hold firm to our beliefs. One last word is given about  the ‘morning star’ and later in Revelations we read Jesus is the ‘morning star’ and so it seems to be intimating  that there is a deeper level of intimacy we  can share with him and God’s people. For Christians holding onto their faith, whilst others around then are compromising theirs under the pressure of pagan practices, The Morning Star is a special vocation. Christian witness is meant to be a sign of the dawning of the day when faith, love, service and patience have their fulfilment and idolatry and immorality are seen as the snares that they really are. Jesus will then finally rule over the earth.

Write this to Pergamum,

to the Angel of the church. The One with the sharp-biting sword draws from the sheath of his mouth – out come the sword words: “I see where you live, right under the shadow of Satan’s throne. But you continue boldly in my Name; you never once denied my Name, even when the pressure was worst, when they martyred Antipas, my witness who stayed faithful to me on Satan’s turf. “But why do you indulge that Balaam crowd? Don’t you remember that Balaam was an enemy agent, seducing Balak and sabotaging Israel’s holy pilgrimage by throwing unholy parties? And why do you put up with the Nicolaitans, who do the same thing? “Enough! Don’t give in to them; I’ll be with you soon. I’m fed up and about to cut them to pieces with my sword-sharp words. “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I’ll give the sacred manna to every conqueror; I’ll also give a clear, smooth stone inscribed with your new name, your secret new name.”

Write this to Thyatira,

to the Angel of the church. God’s Son, eyes pouring fire-blaze, standing on feet of furnace-fired bronze, says this: “I see everything you’re doing for me. Impressive! The love and the faith, the service and persistence. Yes, very impressive! You get better at it every day. “But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead my dear servants into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? I gave her a chance to change her ways, but she has no intention of giving up a career in the god-business. I’m about to lay her low, along with her partners, as they play their sex-and-religion games. The bastard offspring of their idol-whoring I’ll kill. Then every church will know that appearances don’t impress me. I x-ray every motive and make sure you get what’s coming to you. “The rest of you Thyatirans, who have nothing to do with this outrage, who scorn this playing around with the Devil that gets paraded as profundity, be assured I’ll not make life any harder for you than it already is. 25 Hold on to the truth you have until I get there. 26 “Here’s the reward I have for every conqueror, everyone who keeps at it, refusing to give up: You’ll rule the nations, 27 your Shepherd-King rule as firm as an iron staff, their resistance fragile as clay pots. This was the gift my Father gave me; I pass it along to you – 28 and with it, the Morning Star! 29 “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.”

Revelation 2: 12-29 (The Message)

QUESTIONS FOR US TO THIN ABOUT AND DISCUSS

At the beginning of the reading, the Angel speaks of a double edge Sword, and we also read in Ephesians 6 about the armour of God, where it refers to the sword being The Word of God.

 Question 1

Do we spend enough time looking at and reading the Bible ( the word of God) and trying to understand what it says so we can apply it in our everyday life? How can we understand it more?
In Pergamum and Thyatira the people struggled with issues like whether they should join the craftsman’s guilds, and if they did, how much of the normal civic life that went along side it should they join in ie:- the pagan festivals and eating food that had previously been offered to idols.

 Question 2

What situations do we perhaps find ourselves in today that  might also compromise our faith and beliefs? ie: trade unions at work,  the masons or perhaps social groups we might belong to?
The angel said to the people of Thyatira that the one thing that was held against them was that they tolerated a the prophet Jezabel who was in fact deceiving them and encouraging them to do wrong.

 Question 3

Do we get persuaded or seduced into thinking or believing theories or ways that are contrary to our Christian beliefs, if so how do  we recognise that is happening?

We are focussing on the seven letters that were written to each of 7 different churches in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. Written by a man called John whilst imprisoned on the Greek island of Patmos over 1900 years ago the letters contain challenges and encouragements.
What might it have to say to us today?

To Smyrna

Write this to Smyrna, to the Angel of the church. The Beginning and Ending, the First and Final One, the Once Dead and Then Come Alive, speaks:
“I can see your pain and poverty—constant pain, dire poverty—but I also see your wealth. And I hear the lie in the claims of those who pretend to be good Jews, who in fact belong to Satan’s crowd
“Fear nothing in the things you’re about to suffer—but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing—ten days. It won’t last forever.
“Don’t quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there believing. I have a Life-Crown sized and ready for you.
“Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death.”
Revelation 1:8-11 (The Message)

The Christians  in the church in Smyrna were being picked on.  The people in the city who belonged to the synagogue and who were called Jews didn’t like the fact that some of their friends were becoming Christians.  To start with they started with name calling and then they moved on to not doing business with them so they couldn’t make a living and then they started telling the roman authorities that these people weren’t following all of the roman rules.  As a result a good number of the Christians were put in jail or executed.
That’s very different to the country we live in.  We are free to come to the bridge, to talk with our friends about we believe.  It’s very unlikely that we will be thrown into prison for coming to the Bridge.
But in the rest of world there are countries where Christians of all ages are attacked, thrown into prison or killed because of what they believe.  Often the persecution would stop if the person was just willing to say that they didn’t believe in Jesus or that Jesus wasn’t the Son of God.
It can be very difficult to try and imagine what it must be like for these people.  It’s also hard to know whether we would be able to be as brave if we were faced with the same kind of treatment.

Let me tell you about 10-year-old Hyun Joo who lives in North Korea.  She believed in God and trusted Him. (The picture of Hyun Joo was taken at her Bible class. Her face is covered to protect her identity.)
Hyun Joo’s parents were also Christians. Many North Korean Christians do not talk about God with their children. If the children mention God outside the home, government officials might punish the whole family. The government wants the citizens to honour the country’s leaders, not God. But Hyun Joo’s parents wanted her to know Jesus. They prayed that God would use her to change North Korea.
Hyun Joo’s family secretly left North Korea to attend a hidden Bible class in another country. It was a risky trip. But the police did not catch them.  After two weeks of Bible training, the family quietly returned home.
Hyun Joo continued to believe in God, and she worked hard at school. She was happy when she came home from school one day. She told her mother, Hee Sook, that she had prayed ―inside her heart at school. She said that her teacher had asked her, ― How did you get such a good grade on your test? ―By God’s grace, Hyun Joo had answered.  The teacher had become very angry and dragged Hyun Joo out of the classroom. Then her family disappeared. The government no doubt took them away. No one has heard from them since.

North Korea is still the most hostile country in which to live and practise the Christian faith, there are reports of many Christians arrested, with at least 25 per cent of Christians believed to be languishing in labour camps for their refusal to worship the country’s leader Kim Il-Sung’s and his cult. Half the population lives in the north, close to China, where family-based networks of house churches exist in significant numbers. Roughly ten million inhabitants are malnourished, with thousands eating only grass and bark.

Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011 and North Korean Christians are asking Christians around the world to pray for real change in their country.

http://www.kidsofcourage.com/?p=971

Father, we pray for real change in North Korea that includes freedom for all its people, so that they are free to live how they want and allowed to believe what they want. WWee want those prison camps to open up so that our fellow Christians who have suffered there in terrible circumstances will be able to worship you freely.  We pray that Hyun Joo and her family will enjoy that freedom too.
We pray for those who persecute your people; may their hearts be turned towards you through the faithful witness of those they persecute. Protect members of the families and church communities of those who are persecuted and bless the work and ministry of those organizations that support the suffering and seek to be a voice for persecuted Christians.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The background to the persecution in Smyrna was the conflict between the Jews in the local synagogue and the Christians (many of whom would have been Jews too) who were claiming that Jesus was the fulfilment of all of the ancient promises to the Jewish people.  It was made more so by the fact that the members of the local synagogue not content without their own rejection of Jesus, were actively blaspheming Jesus.  The text calls the synagogue a satan-synagogue because the people there were literally accusing the Christians of wickedness and in a city where the Roman imperial presence and influence was everything then the Christians would have been alienated from the rest of society in the city.  Hence the comment about poverty, the Christians were unable to earn their living.

Interesting, God does not criticise the church in Smyrna for anything in this letter, his main purpose is to warn them that fierce persecution is on its way.  But the warning is surrounded by promises that God will not forsake them.  In fact God goes further and tells them that the first death i.e. physical death may be what they are facing, but that they will not face the second death, i.e. what happens to entire personality or soul after physical death.  Just as Jesus died the first death but overcame the second death so too will they – if they remain as followers of Jesus, worshipping the one true God.

Those same promises are there for God’s people today.  We have probably found some of the stories and pictures tonight abhorrent.  Stunned that the persecution we heard about earlier takes place in 2012 because people aren’t free to believe what they want to.  Over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.
And yet there must be more to it just being a principle of freedom.

This promise of not facing the second death, of being with Jesus in eternity along with the knowledge that Jesus died because he loved them was enough for the 176,000 Christians who were martyred from mid-2008 to mid-2009.  That’s one every three minutes.  And those numbers don’t include those who are imprisoned or tortured or beaten up.

But that message of Jesus’s love for them is enough.  They choose not to deny their faith, they choose to keep meeting together in small groups to study the bible, they continue to pray and expect God to be at work in their lives.  They do not give up on their faith.

In our country we worry about what people might think of us if they know we think about our faith, or go to church or explore what the Christian faith is about.  It’s seen as a private affair and that people should be free to believe what they like so long as it doesn’t impinge on others. 

Maybe we only pay lip service to the promise of eternal life and knowing the depth of Jesus love for us?

One every three minutes, in our hours meeting that means 20 people have been executed for their faith.

Lord God, heavenly Father, give us the courage of the martyrs to bear witness, without flinching, to Your great love for us. Give us their confidence in the resurrection of Your Son, Jesus, and give us that same power and reassurance of the Holy Spirit as You give them, so that we too may fearlessly bring Your good news to a needy world.
This we ask in the name of Jesus who was crucified for us and who called us to take up our crosses and to follow Him.
Amen