Do we deserve a good Christmas?

I’ve been thinking recently about we deserve. Or more probably I’ve been thinking about what I deserve. A rest? A nice big Christmas dinner – with lovely pigs in blankets and all the rest? Or a load of presents to open on Christmas morning?

But what about us generally – all of us, society?
A quick internet search reveals the spirit of the age – I literally got this within seconds of being online. Here’s the quote ‘You deserve to be happy. You deserve to live a life you are excited about. Don’t let others make you forget that.’

But my question is do we? Well, if we believe the marketing, and advertisers then the makeup people at L’Oréal famously tell us ‘You’re worth it’ - you do deserve it.

There is a problem though with feeling we deserve something.

Have you noticed that by the way? We don’t really ever THINK we deserve something – it is a much stronger, emotional response – no; instead, we FEEL we deserve something – the problem with it is that it steals away our gratitude.

If I am expecting it – feeling that it is my human right to a turkey dinner, and that I deserve a Christmas tree and all that comes with it then there are only 2 outcomes.

Firstly – I get it. I get what I deserve, and I am…relieved. A bit happy but mostly relieved.
Secondly – I don’t get it. Or it is not quite right. Then – even though some of it can be enjoyed – there is a bitterness. I SHOULD have had a nicer dinner, I SHOULD have had better presents, I SHOULD have had a better time with my family. I deserve it!

But… of course - the reserve is true. If we don’t FEEL as though we deserve something, or even anything – then everything more than nothing is a gift, and we ARE thankful.

There then is the problem with Christmas – we feel we deserve it – so it never properly satisfies.

But what I’d like to do now is to tell you, remind you, of 2 truths from the bible – that flip this perspective on its head – and correct our thinking.

WE DON’T DESERVE IT
The first verses I want to share are these from Romans 3.

‘As it is written: There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands; no-one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one.’

You see L’Oréal have lied to us. You don’t deserve it and you aren’t worth it. I don’t deserve it and I’m not worth it. No one is. The world has got this utterly wrong – all this talk of deserving a good Christmas and deserving wonderful presents…is flawed. The God of the universe has considered our state and found us not to be deserving of much of anything at all apart from punishment.

BUT GOD GIVES ANYWAY
The second set of verses that we’ll think about are these from Luke 2, when the angels appeared to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. They said ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger’

Remember how God has weighed people from our first set of verses? Not worth it. Not deserving of anything…and yet, despite that, God chose to send Jesus – the Messiah, the Lord, the Saviour into the world. This is the biggest miracle of Christmas. More so than angels appearing, or a bright star above the stable, more than the virgin birth itself. The miracle is that God would gift his own Son to be the Saviour of people who do NOT deserve it.

So, Christmas cheer, and mulled wine, and carols and nativity plays and sherry?! Well, it’s not because we deserve it. All these things instead have their root in a celebration of thankfulness in a, astonishing, gift that is just that; a gift that we did not deserve; a Saviour who can rescue us from our sin and restore our relationship with the God who made us.

And knowing, not just thinking, but feeling that we don’t deserve Christmas? Well that only increases our thankfulness all the more, of a Saviour born to us

Happy Christmas everyone.

Permalink

The Mystery of the Star

The star is the most difficult item on the Nativity ‘agenda’, so to speak; the most difficult to understand, to digest. On those dark winter evenings, round the fire, when the storyteller begins this most rapturous story of all, he knows that the star will be the hurdle at which he runs most risk of falling. Yet it rarely happens. Folk just accept the stark, brief account of the star which finds and makes known the birthplace. So why is your narrator so apprehensive?

Imagine stepping outdoors on the brightest, moonless night, no clouds to obscure the countless assembly of stars. Now look directly up and try to determine which star is directly over your home, your sacred roof tree. About one minute into the epic film, “Ben – Hur”, there is a lovely sequence showing a beautiful picture of the star arriving over the stable, stopping, then just to be sure we go to the right place, the star shines a gentle beam of light on the stable, a mere 100 metres below, while the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing their hearts out. The picture is wonderful. It would make a perfect Christmas card, and no-one ever suggests that the star should be a shade – bigger, mayhap?

Now the bible simply tells that the star was seen to appear to wise men who followed it to Bethlehem, although we have confirmation the star (or stars- there are plenty of possibilities) did exist and at the right time, because others, mainly the Chinese and the Persians, did record it and documented it in detail. They tell us it may briefly have been two stars in transit (one obscuring the other) so making it extra bright, that it did appear to stop for a while then continued, then having appeared from nowhere, it disappeared back to nowhere.

The puzzle is this- How did the Magi connect millions of tons of burning rock, hurtling through the galaxy, with a stable? It was more likely a hovel, because all poor dwellings housed both humans and livestock. Everyone had a manger; the cattle in the home compensated for the lack of heating. The Magi didn’t have the use of a sextant; it wouldn’t be invented for hundreds of years, yet, but they did have an instrument called an astrolabe. This was an item consisting of wheels within wheels. Think of a clock without the spring. It could determine longitude. By recording the direction of the star, and the direction of another known body, fixed, say the pole star, and relating the two. Now picture the world- like an orange with the segments running from pole to pole. The astrolabe could tell you how far up the segment line the star was. You must bear in mind, first, at that time, it was common belief that everything orbited the earth, and second, that this humble storyteller is very much in the dark, here, but bear with me, my Masters. With the astrolabe, we now have the vertical hair on the eyepiece, so to speak. Now for the horizontal.

We need to refer to the beginning of the journey of the star. It was first commissioned, along with all the other stars, on the third day of Genesis. But the stars weren’t just flung across the sky at random. They were set in intricate patterns of interdependence – Constellations. Many were in thrall to others in that they orbited them. Some were wandering stars in that they passed out of one influence, or gravitational pull, into another. Our star was such a one. It had a long way to go; it had a purpose, a mission.

Imagine the star making a broad sweep as a partial orbit, horizontal to our gaze. In the vicinity of Bethlehem, we see the star moving, say left to right, and as it begins to round the curve, it appears to slow down, slower, slower still until at the right-hand limit of the curve, where it is approaching us, head on, it appears to stop for a brief time. Then as it starts on the near quadrant, it starts to move left, apparently- back the way it came.

Now our Magi, learned and familiar as they are in their arts and skills, would be more than capable of anticipating this development, and having ensconced themselves on the hills above the town, would be in readiness to mark that second hairline, so providing what would later be called ‘co-ordinates’. You must appreciate that even such a precise placing can only give us, at best, a quarter of the town, a district. It can’t give us ‘last dwelling down the pump yard of the inn at the sign of the Star, in the Artificers’ quarter.

Now I beg you, my Masters, do not rail at me that you have come all this way at the cajoling of your unworthy servant, led astray by the whims of this scoundrel. Of your mercy, hear me a little longer. I have brought the story as far as I may.

By the arts and devices of mere mortal man we have travelled thus far, from the moment when God swung his mighty arm to fling the stars across the heavens, to the moment when a babe’s cry is barely heard- somewhere in Bethlehem. We have still some way to go. But what light have we to guide us? Why faith of course. What other guide have we need of? Hold out your hands, in faith. Seek the hands of the Magi. Let them guide you to where God sends them, and there you will find the babe wrapped in swathing bands and lying in a manger.

God is good.

THANKS BE TO GOD.

Permalink

The camel is an enigmatic soul

Seen at a distance, the camel has grace, serenity, timelessness. Watch one of those snips of travelogue film of a caravan at sunset, moving along the crest of a sand dune. It is so suggestive, so evocative, so other worldly, so romantic. One can almost hear the beautiful young Scheherazade beginning one of her thousand and one tales of the Arabian nights.

At close quarters, you will find the camel to be obstreperous and ill mannered. He will spit in your eye as soon as stand on your foot. He has bad breath, is flatulent, wayward, and no respecter of his fellow creatures or of property. He takes firm handling. On a picket, he will slobber all over his halter, causing the knot to jam, unless you can tie the camel hitch. He can’t be bridled like a horse, can’t be controlled by a bit in his mouth. The first foot or so of his halter must be metal chain or he will eat it. His teeth and chops are like the crusher in a scrap yard. He can enjoy munching on acacia thorns like you slurping strawberries and cream.

And yet he is so damnably useful and capable. He can walk for weeks without food or drink. He can just sit stock still while a sandstorm rages about him for days, then when it abates, he just shakes his head, rouses himself, and plods on his way.

In fact, we have camels to thank for the visit of the Magi. We only know they came ‘from the East’. Well if you look across the Jordan from the west bank, there’s thousands of miles of ‘East’ to go at, before you get interrupted by China, or Mongolia. If the Magi only came from Persepolis, a great Persian seat of learning at the time, that’s still over a thousand miles. They couldn’t have done it without camels.

It is interesting to note that the Magi form the first Gentile (that includes us) first Gentile connection to the Nativity story. Until their arrival, this birth of a Messiah had been a wholly Jewish affair. It might well have remained so. Do we know at what point God decided not to be so selective? The message to the shepherds included the phrase ‘peace towards men’- not to my chosen people, not to the Jews- just ‘men’. I wonder what stories the Magi told on returning, and who listened. I’m not suggesting that they were the first evangelists, but don’t forget – God decided on their involvement with the creation of that star, and as the Magi might have said at the time- ‘That wasn’t yesterday’.

Did you know that one of the earliest known titles of the Abyssinian Emperor was ‘Lion of Judah’?

I wonder, what does the camel know that he’s not telling us?

Permalink

What does Ascension Day actually mean?
 

By Andreas Jungklaus, 21st May 2022 

 

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Phil. 2:6-11

Approaching the Ascension Day in our liturgical calendar a question might pop up about what this moment means and what spiritual impact it can have in our lives. Moreover there are only a few verses that regard this episode that sometimes the Bible itself doesn’t seem to care that much. The Gospel of John doesn’t even mention it whilst the other three Gospels cover briefly the subject in their final chapter. But the ascension isn’t in the text just for a merely narrative way of describing a happy ending in Jesus’ life, is it? On the contrary, the ascension has been one of the central pillars of Christian faith and one of the greatest aspects of Jesus’ life about which more details are found in Acts 1 as a sort of prerequisite for the Pentecost Day. No wonder we profess the ascension event in the Apostle’s Creed with these words: “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father” – inserted in a sequence of sentences. In fact the ascension gives us a logical sequence about God’s plan of redemption on humanity. Jesus died and was buried and rose on the third day (our Easter celebration) and now ascended into heaven. Each of these events has an explanation to us.

The ascension along with the resurrection marked the victory of Jesus over death. This death could not hold him since he has fulfilled all criteria demanded from the Law in perfect obedience – something completely impossible for a sinful fallen human being like you and me. The Law is the moral pattern of God himself. Our physical death, in other words, is a visible representation of an invisible reality, that is, our broken relationship with the Creator. Jesus being 100% man and 100% God was the last sacrifice needed, the immaculate male Lamb without defect that we learned at Easter that has replaced us and paid for the sins of those who believe. Jesus sprinkled his own blood on the cross just like the Israelites did with the lamb’s blood onto the doorframe in order that everyone who puts oneself under this divine provision might be freed from the angel of death (the spiritual death in our case). The ascension, therefore, seals the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice.

In Philippians 2, however, we have a still deeper meaning concerning what is behind ascension: that God exalted Jesus and ascended him to the highest ever known position, to the highest possible rank, to the most glorious name in the universe with the purpose of establishing His Kingdom and so that every dominiom might be cast to his feet (read also Col 1). This left indent we see in verses 6-11 (NIV) brings to us a declaration of faith that we could use in our daily life if we wanted. According to the Judaic concept, the Messiah would be exalted too, the people were even shouting “Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt 21:9) but with a restricted political perspective. In fact the King of Israel was elevated in a tree and elevated bodily into heaven, in a very different manner from what they expected. Two conclusions for our reflection:

It’s not because the Bible speaks briefly on a subject that this very subject isn’t of great relevance. So the fact of the Bible not speaking of a specific theme or speaking little doesn’t mean, for example, that the Bible doesn’t have an answer to that.

Today we can elevate Christ and exalt him with our lives as living offerings in gratitude and love for Him. This doesn’t happen in a Sunday morning service only but every day with our crafts and abilities and studies and arts we also excellently exalt him. The pouring of the Spirit and the messianic kingdom were intimately associated within the Judaic eschatological understanding. Jesus, then, inaugurates this Kingdom in Acts 2 with the Pentecost and for this to happen, he must ascend into heaven just after commissioning his disciples. The Kingdom was already conquered but is still being implemented little by little in this hybrid period of History we live in between the first and the second coming where we are already saved but not fully freed from the presence of sin. 

Permalink

Consider the donkey

 

Neil Smalley, 11th April 2022

The donkey is surely among the most ill served of creatures. He hangs his head in a diffident, self-depreciating manner, as though his mind is on something, somewhere else, or perhaps just alone. Being small, meek, mild mannered, he is designated a beast of burden throughout the world, throughout history. He is derided for his sad clown face, with its white ringed eyes. His ears would appear to be designed for a creature three times his size. Think of the proportions of a horse’s ears. And the donkey’s mane seems to be made of old boot brushes. No flowing plume for a tail – just a knotted rope’s end. And as if all this wasn’t enough ill favour for him to bare, there is the voice- the harsh, painful and anguished sounding cry - the bray.

The horse has a melodious voice, and that throaty,’ harrumph’ he does by way of ‘hello’ is quite engaging. What does the donkey get? A voice that seems to come through sandpaper and rusty iron, a voice which is uttered through pain.

The amazing thing is, though, that after the unfortunate donkey had all this opprobrium heaped upon him, on the two occasions when God wanted someone to bear his precious son, where did he turn?

When Joseph was spending his days lifting the heavily pregnant Mary in and out of the saddle, on the journey to Bethlehem, it was understandable to use a donkey. For a horse, Joseph would have needed a mounting block with standing space for two on top. So no horse, then. A camel would have served. The camel sits and stands on command, and the longer legs and longer stride would have made for a much more comfortable ride, in fact the camel is a much more regal, imposing creature.

Then, for the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, wouldn’t a big white stallion, with flowing mane and tail, and full ‘feathered’ fetlocks have presented an altogether more impressive image? Something like Napoleon on his rearing Marengo, in the famous painting, all majesty and heroism.

No. Pomp and circumstance were not the order of the day. The message was one of self-effacing humility. No fanfares, no rallying of rebellion, nor call to arms or show of force. Just a donkey, with coat and palm trim. And even while the children were waving their palms and throwing their coats under the donkey’s pretty little hooves, the Pharisees were already muttering ‘crucify’ under their breath, because this was the plan, remember, and not man’s but God’s.

I wonder, if the donkey could have spoken to us, say, ten days later, what would the donkey have said?

Theologians tell us that dumb creatures have no soul, so cannot enter heaven. Well that is their opinion; they can keep it and I’ll keep mine. I’m sure when it comes time for me to approach the fabled Pearly Gates, I could do it in much less revered company than that of a donkey. If the donkey were not admitted, I think I would need to sit on the grass verge for quite some time before I could steel myself to send him off back down the track, but it won’t happen that way, I’m sure. I know, in my heart, that if I did happen to arrive in company with a donkey, I would be glad of the distraction. I wouldn’t be riding him, rather his coat-tails, so to speak.


 

Permalink

Diary of an Apprentice - Week 11

 

Hannah O'Donnell, 18^th February 2022

Hello again!

This week's blog is a week of GREAT NEWS and encouragement! :)

I'm going to bring an update on all of the youth work going on, that I'm involved in, in our church. There have been so many blessings in the last term that I'm desperate to share with you...

MONDAYS

• GGANG - we have 4 girls consistently coming along every week. They are bringing both me and Caitlin huge encouragement as they engage in questions, discussions and enjoy having fellowship each session. Such a small group, means we are able to truly build relationships that can flourish through a mutual love of God. We are currently reading through Mark Greene's book, 'Fruitfulness on the Frontline'. We are all learning about the ways in which we can apply the fruits of the Spirit in our own lives to show God's love to our friends and family. Each girl that attends GGANG probably has no idea the effect they are having on my life, but I'm extremely grateful for that small group.

TUESDAYS

• Tiny Tots - tiny tots is definitely out of my comfort zone but it's been a really great way to serve in the church. Every week we get between 18-25 families coming along, it's an awesome number of people that we are able to reach with God's word and love in a simple yet worthy way.

 

Permalink

Diary of an Apprentice - Week 12 

 

Hannah O'Donnell, 4th February 2022

 

Permalink

Diary of an Apprentice - Week 10

 

Hannah O'Donnell, 4^th February 2022

Hi all, I usually give you a fun fact at the end of my blog, but today I'm revealing it early... lucky you!
Music is class! I love listening to music, especially Christian music that glorifies and worships our great God. But The Beatles is my guilty pleasure too.. :)

Listening to music that brings true glory to God is what I'm going to talk about today... I'm going to throw out some of my song and artist recommendations and explain why I don't listen to certain artists.

Being on Guard
Listening to worship music is awesome, it's a great way to worship and praise God and be encouraged to keep 'fighting the good fight of faith' - 1 Timothy 6v12. We are actually called by Paul to sing out praises to God:

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."  - Ephesians 5 v 18 - 20

But if we carry on reading Paul's letter to the Ephesians, we see that we are told to be on guard, to protect our hearts from the sinful lies of the devil:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  - Ephesians 6 v 10 - 13

So, in light of that, we can see that we need to be guarding our hearts against unhelpful music just as much as we are guarding our hearts against false teachings. To do this, I try to make sure that I only listen to the music of artists that I have researched first. Mostly, I try to find out what they believe and which church they belong to. I try to learn more about these churches and what their doctrines are before I choose to listen to their music because I want to protect myself from the risks of having false teachings and heresy preached to me, even in the lyrics of music.

I want to encourage everyone to be more aware of what they are listening to and subjecting their ears and hearts to; please protect yourself from the schemes of Satan.

To those who claim that they are wise enough to discern between true and false teaching in music so believe this does not apply to them, I still would recommend that you research before you listen. If we choose to listen to music that speaks of things scripture does not say, then it could be said that we are being complicit with the idea of people preaching false truths. Rather, I believe, we should be actively standing against anything that is against the gospel of Christ Jesus.

An example of this in action for me would be my choice to no longer listen to a very big, very well-known band in Christian culture, called Bethel Music. They are a huge church in America that produced music for their own services and have since released them to the public ear. I loved their seemingly gospel-centred songs but was completely oblivious and ignorant to the blatant heresy they preached until a wise, godly friend pointed it out to me. I decided to do some research for myself and found that the leader of the Bethel church made this statement:

"Jesus performed miracles, wonders, and signs as a man in right relationship to God, not as God. If he performed miracles because he was God, then they would be unattainable for us. But if he did them as a man, I am responsible to pursue his lifestyle."

This statement then explains why his church, Bethel, believes in the Prosperity Gospel (that it is God's will for you to always be well and healthy and that large enough faith and monetary donations to religious causes will bring this health). From scripture, I knew this was all entirely untrue. They say Jesus was not God, but he was. Jesus was, and is, fully God - only he can miraculously heal. They say the [prosperity!] gospel implies we can achieve merit through our own works, but we can't. We can only receive good gifts through the grace of our loving God.

Since learning this I've chosen to boycott their music for 2 reasons: 

• I don't want to risk subjecting myself to false teaching. It's much safer for me to listen to the music of artists who love Jesus and preach directly from the beautiful truth and goodness of scripture.
• I don't want to be, in any way, encouraging the heresy they believe or encouraging others to believe the heresy they preach. Heresy is serious. 

This is what I believe from my own research, but I urge you to do your own, don't take my word for it.

On a brighter note, taking into consideration what I've just said, here are some of my recommendations with a Spotify playlist link should you be interested!!

Song recommendations:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZMgQtEiOstOFEIRRE8xxG?si=10799c11db9f49d5

• Yet not I but through Christ in me - CityAlight
• It is well - The Worship Initiative
• His Mercy is More - Matt Boswell
• Nailed to the Cross - Rend Collective
• You're Beautiful - Phil Wickham

Artist Recommendations:

• Rend Collective
• Phil Wickham
• Sovereign Grace Music
• Keith and Kristyn Getty
• The Worship Initiative / Shane&Shane - These are generally covers of other artists' songs. They are an awesome band for those who no longer want to listen to a certain artist but have songs they really love and know do not speak false truths.

Permalink

Diary of an Apprentice - Book Review 2

 

Hannah O'Donnell, 21^st January 2022

Our most recent book on the apprenticeship reading list was suggested by Nathan, it focused on Christian hospitality.

'The Gospel Comes with a House Key' by Rosaria Butterfield.

"Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God's good gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out the underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key."

Rosaria spoke zealously of the vital importance of 'radically ordinary hospitality'. 'Radical', in that, it is no longer the social norm in today's age to have our homes open for all, at any time. So, she explains that we need to act radically. And 'ordinary', in that, it needs to become normal - or, ordinary! - to have all people welcome to our homes at any cost.

The book spoke of how important hospitality is as a Christian, both in giving and receiving. Before reading this book I was under the very narrow impression that hospitality is something that you either give through the openness of your home; or something that you receive by being welcomed into someone else's home. But in actual fact, there are appropriate moments in which both are true for just one person at one time. I'll explain...

You can give hospitality by welcoming people lovingly into your home and providing a space where Christ's love is central. BUT. Whilst you give hospitality through your home and love, you too can be on the receiving end of hospitality from those very people who you have welcomed. It gives the opportunity for the guest to also be hospitable to the host, taking on some of your burdens (as the host) and showing support to you, just as you are showing support to them (as the guest).

This was a huge revelation to me, it was an idea that I had never even considered. An idea that really convicted and challenged me. Butterfield expressed such passion for hospitality throughout this whole book that I began to really desire and long to show earnest and full hospitality in my own everyday life.

This was a book filled to the brim with practical ways in which we can show hospitality to our neighbours; both believing and unbelieving neighbours. It described the whole spectrum of practical ways to show hospitality: FROM, huge ways like literally getting more house keys cut and giving them out to huge proportions of your church family. Or, making your home a safe place for the vulnerable to find peace and rest through adoption. TO, doing acts as little as folding the washing when being invited to someone's home who is noticeably very busy. Or, simply listening to someone talk about their struggles and burdens.

This book makes it abundantly clear that regardless of the end of the spectrum that you are practicing hospitality on, you are able to show the immense love of Christ towards your neighbour.

I was both encouraged and challenged, on repeat, by this book; and if you want to be encouraged and challenged too I really really urge you to give it a read.

I (obviously!) have a copy on my bookshelf that is begging to be opened again. So if you are interested, please let me know, you can read this one - AND, it gives me a chance to put its words into action! Win-win!
Permalink