Pentecost Acts 2 1 -21 and John 20 19 to 23

So today is Pentecost when we remember and celebrate the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first disciples to empower them to carry on Jesus’ work.

And I say person, because the Holy Spirit is a person. He is the third person of the Trinity. He is referred to in scripture as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of 

Jesus and he has an absolutely vital role to play in the world and in the church.

The Holy Spirit is the one who initially brings us to faith in Jesus. He is the one who convicts us of our sin and makes us realise our need for forgiveness and to be put right with God.

And when we make the decision that we want to live life with God and in obedience to Him, rather than living independently of Him, the Holy Spirit is the one who comes to live in our hearts and lives.

And when He makes his home with us – He is the one who imparts eternal life to us and opens our spiritual eyes to recognise Jesus as Lord and God.

He is the one who enables us to understand the bible and who empowers us to follow and serve God.

Of course Jesus himself also relied on the Holy Spirit to empower him during his earthly ministry.

Paul tells us that Jesus emptied himself of his own power and took on the nature of a servant.

This is why the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove when he was baptised. 

It was to empower him for his earthly ministry.

And Jesus then modelled for us a life lived in obedience to his Heavenly Father and reliant on the Holy Spirit’s power - to enable him to do the miracles he did and to heal the sick and raise the dead.

And I mention this because many Christians read of Jesus’s miracles and healings and think - I could never do that.

And of course humanly speaking they’re right. We of ourselves have absolutely no power to heal anyone or to do anything remotely miraculous

But we need to realise that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus to do miracles is living in us – and if we walk in obedience to God – then the Holy Spirit can also work through us as he did through Jesus.

This is why Jesus said – “very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.”

When Campbell and Ayline and I pray for people to be healed at the communion rail – we are acutely conscious that we have absolutely no power ourselves to heal anyone.

We are totally reliant on the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus living in us – to work through us – and to touch the lives of those we are praying for.

So we can see for instance in today’s gospel reading why Jesus says to the disciples “As the father has sent me so I send you.”

He is giving them a direct instruction to carry on exactly the same work that he has been doing – in the same way that he did – by living in obedience to God the father and relying on the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them.

And then we read that he breathes on them and says “receive the Holy Spirit.”

And at this point the disciples are born again and become Christians. The Holy Spirit comes to reside in them and to be with them forever- and their spiritual eyes are opened.

If any of them were still unclear about the identity of Jesus – they are not anymore, and they understand that the one who has been living in their midst is Lord and God.

But God has more to give them. Luke tells us that Jesus says to the disciples – “I am going to send you what my Father has promised ... (so) stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

The Holy Spirit is already living in them - but God wants to clothe them with His power. He wants pour out His Spirit upon them abundantly and to pour spiritual gifts into their lives to equip them to serve Him.

Picture yourself as a Christian – as a glass with some water in it. You’re the glass and the Holy Spirit is the water.

Well God wants to take a big jug of water and fill you up completely with his Holy Spirit – so you’re overflowing.

And this is what we see happening to the disciples at Pentecost. God fills them with His Holy Spirit and pours new spiritual gifts into their lives.

Immediately they start speaking in tongues – one of the new spiritual gifts God has imparted to them – and Jews from every nation who have come to celebrate 

Pentecost – hear the disciples speaking in their own languages.

And God wants to do the same today. Every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion but God has more to give us.

He wants to fill every Christian with His Holy Spirit – to empower us and to pour new spiritual gifts into our lives.

Some people call this being baptised by the Holy Spirit – some people call it being filled with the Holy Spirit.

What we call it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether we have come to Jesus and asked him to fill us with His spirit and to impart to us any spiritual gifts to us that he wants us to have.

And it matters because if we’re Christians we should want to be as effective in reaching out to others with God’s love as we possibly can – and so we should be open to God empowering us in any way that He sees fit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit and receiving spiritual gifts isn’t a badge of honour – it’s for service, and our motivation for seeking to be empowered should be because we want to be as fruitful and effective Christians as we possibly can.

What we experience when we are filled and the gifts we receive is entirely up to God. He will give us exactly what is right for the work He wants us to do. Our part is simply to be open to receive whatever it is He wants to give us.

What sort of spiritual gifts might we receive from God when we are empowered? Well Paul deals with some of these in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and judging by the book of Acts - two of the most common gifts seem to be the ability to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

A lot of people have weird ideas about tongues but it’s simply the God given ability to speak an unlearned human or angelic language.

Just as you can choose to speak a foreign language – so you can choose to speak in tongues. The difference is that when you speak in tongues – you don’t understand the meaning of the words you’re saying.

But God does – and personally I find that tongues is useful when you’re unsure how to pray about something. If you pray in tongues I find that God will often give you an insight into how to pray for a particular person or situation.

Prophesy is simply the ability to deliver a message from God. This can be a message of encouragement for an individual or sometimes it may be a message for a church.

Other gifts include healing, messages of wisdom and knowledge, the ability to interpret a message given in tongues, and the ability to discern when evil spirits are at work – which is a gift my wife has.

This isn’t an exhaustive list. There are all sorts of gifts which God can impart to an individual – and the purpose of these gifts is to strengthen and encourage others and to build up the church.

I didn’t know anything about being filled with the Holy Spirit until a few years after I’d become a Christian.

But then at the Anglican church I was going to in Tunbridge Wells I came across some Christians who seemed to have a certain power – which was evident when they prayed or spoke about God.

I asked about this and they told me that God had filled them with his Holy Spirit and that he’d do the same for me if I asked Him.

So I went along to a meeting and asked someone to pray for me and God filled me with His Spirit. I didn’t feel a huge amount when I was prayed for but over the coming days and weeks I noticed that there was a new power in my Christian life.

I found particularly that God started to communicate with me with little pictures in my mind’s eye – especially when I was praying for people or sometimes to clarify the meaning of scripture.

These weren’t amazing 3D visions but just little pictures in my mind’s eye. If I asked you now to picture a bowl of strawberries and cream – this is the type of picture I’m talking about.

I remember for instance praying with a guy who was a lorry driver who was convinced God was calling him to full time ministry - but he didn’t know where or when and he was becoming increasingly frustrated.

As I prayed with him a picture came into my mind’s eye of a huge wheel which was slowly turning. And then I saw that this guy had his shoulder to the wheel and he was pushing it with all his might to try and make it go faster. But the wheel was going at its own steady pace – and his efforts were in vain.

I shared the picture with him – and explained to him that the wheel symbolised God’s will for his life – which was slowly unfolding.

He needed to stop wearing himself out and to trust God. All would be revealed in good time. Sometime later he joined the Church Army and he is now a vicar in Scotland.

And just a few weeks ago I prayed with someone here who was uncertain about the future and the way to go and I saw a lovely pathway with roses blossoming either side. I felt that God was saying the his future was going to be good.

Many people are afraid of spiritual gifts and being filled with the Holy Spirit but actually it’s exciting and immensely encouraging when God helps or encourages others through you.

I have no idea what gifts God might choose to impart to you – but God knows you perfectly and He knows exactly which gifts will be right for you – as you seek to serve Him.

God calls every Christian to be as fruitful as possible and in order to do this we need as much help as we can get. We each therefore need to be open to offering ourselves to God to fill and empower as He sees fit.

When I was training, a fellow Reader trainee became interested in being empowered by God and spiritual gifts and read some books on the subject but then he told me he’d decided it wasn’t for him after all.

He couldn’t have been more wrong. It was precisely for him – particularly if he was going to be a Lay Reader.

Our prayer should be - Lord I want to be as effective as I can I reaching others with your love. Please fill me with your Spirit and pour into my life those gifts that you want me to have.

So how can we be filled with the Holy Spirit? Well occasionally the Holy Spirit will come upon groups of Christians and empower them as He did at Pentecost - but more commonly the simplest way is to ask a mature Christian to lay hands on us and pray for us.

We can ask God directly to fill us with His Spirit – as we can for healing – but if we want to receive spiritual gifts - more often than not God works through His body – the church – to impart these things.

Paul for instance writes to the Roman Christians - I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.

Sometimes in order to receive from God we may need to humble ourselves and ask a fellow believer to lay hands on us and pray for us.

So to conclude if you’re a Christian here today – have you come to God and asked Him to empower you – and to pour new spiritual gifts into your life?

If you haven’t - I’d encourage you to do so. There are people all around you who desperately need to hear the gospel and to know God’s love – and you need to be open to everything God wants to give you in order to reach out to them.

Don’t be proud – ask a mature Christian that you know and trust to pray for you - and invite God to pour His love and His power and His gifts into your life.

Perhaps you’ve been filled in the past but spiritually you feel dry - like a lawn that needs rain. If that’s the case come from prayer and invite God to fill you again – to refresh and revive you.

Perhaps you haven’t yet received God into your life and you’d like to.

Whatever your need, know that God loves you and knows exactly what’s best for you. Come to Him and open your life to receive from Him whatever He wants to give you.

In the name of the Living God. Amen.

Easter Pastoral Letter

                                                  Easter Pastoral Letter

A very happy Easter to you all as we celebrate once again God’s raising Jesus from death and His gift of new life for all through and in His Son Jesus Christ!    I hope this great fact of history and His risen presence today will continue to inspire you as joyfully you take up your cross to follow Him wherever He calls.

I trust that you have signed up – as the weekly Notice Sheet invites you! – to receive All Saints’ emails, so you can receive a copy of the Annual Report. There will be paper copies in the church in time for the AGM after the 10am service on 26^th April. That report is a formal document which this letter complements: please read both - especially if you can’t make the AGM!

I would like, first, to thank all of you who contribute to the life of the church with your time, talent and your money: we can only survive – sadly not the case in many rural areas - if our members commit to both responsibly and sacrificially from their personal wealth since we receive no external funding. Whether or not we shall be able to continue as an active Anglican church in Brenchley will depend very largely on the same kind of commitment from new members. I was asked by someone ‘if it was worth renewing the heating in the church as so few people go?’ My reply was that over 100 adults attend on average each week but that that figure increases to 150 for an average month. So I think that we are still very much ‘in business’; long may it continue!

 I would like to thank too all who have pledged towards that new much needed heating system. Under the leadership of Mike Carson and Andrew Capel we have found a very effective solution that is currently being considered by the diocese. We still need some £20,000 for the project; but if this can be raised it would make the church building a warmer and more welcoming one. Yet some still question the need for this. Well, one simple answer is that the great majority of people under the age of 40 have little or no knowledge of Christianity and would never go near a church – ‘too old, cold, and out-of-touch’! (In New Testament times, and for a long time after, church members did not have such buildings but instead met to worship and to encourage one another in each others’ houses, the richer ones with bigger houses taking the lead. These days our Home Study Groups continue this excellent, encouraging practice so vital to the local church’s life and wellbeing. And they are fun!)

Making the church a warmer and more welcoming place is of course an important part of making entry and participation by non-members an easier thing. We always need to be asking ourselves how we can do so in order to fulfil our joint responsibility to introduce our ‘neighbour’ to Jesus and to the building where His people meet to encourage one another in their faith.    While Home Groups are a great source of learning and encouragement for church members, we do need to think about the diet of services we offer and the ‘packaging’ of the Gospel: it is a precious possession but one to be shared.

One of the findings from the Questionnaire we produced was a healthy desire both to have more ‘up front’ participation in our services and to do so in ways that might more readily engage those with no church background. I think it is right to maintain our Book of Common Prayer services and their times but the PCC and I have agreed to trial a new 10a.m. non-communion service on the third Sunday of the month from this coming June for a period of six months.

I hope that members of the congregation will seek me out to offer themselves and their gifts for this experiment. Those who enjoy drama, play musical instruments, or who are happy to be interviewed about their life and faith will be a great encouragement to us all. This is not to be another Cafe Church style service but is one to encourage participation and engagement in new ways.       All traditions and styles - no matter how old, how new, or how personally comforting – can all too easily become ends in themselves and therefore obstacles to sharing the Gospel rather than vehicles for it. I do ask that you would all give this your prayers and support as we seek to grow here.

As another part of our outreach to non-Christians I shall be running ‘Agnostics Anonymous’ evenings - hopefully in The Bull’s conservatory - in the autumn. These evenings are intended as discussions for those interested in discovering more about the Christian answer to some of life’s most profound and pressing questions. More about these evenings in a few months time.                          


Finally, may I encourage you all to make use of the weekly Bible Study Notes accompanying the sermons and, if you possibly can, to join a Home Group or the Pilgrim Course. Also, the first Monday of the month Prayer Meeting at 8.30pm in the New Room welcomes all who can spare 45 minutes to pray together for the various needs of our church, village, and beyond. Thank you for all your support and prayers for our ministry together here 

Study Notes and Questions for Luke Chapter 24 vs 36 – 48 19th May 2015

Study Notes and Questions for Luke Chapter 24 vs 36 – 48   19^th May 2015

Jesus appears once more to his followers after his resurrection, suddenly as if from nowhere. He comes to prove, to reassure, to explain, and to empower – just as he does today for those willing and humble enough to listen and to receive him. It is almost impossible to imagine the Church without the resurrection and Jesus’ appearances. There is much to teach us in these verses about the Church and why Jesus founded it. Sadly, there have always been and still are those, even within the Church, who would change the express purpose of the Church with their own ideas and agendas. We see this happening already through some of the early letters from the apostles to the young churches warning them not to be duped. The passage shows how we are to understand and interpret the Old Testament as revealing Jesus himself. We learn too of the purpose of Jesus coming, of the only means to reconciliation with God, and of the part we as Christians are called to play in God’s redeeming purposes for his world. It’s a wonderful and inspiring passage!

Questions

1. What do you understand by the phrase (v36) ‘Peace be with you’?

2. Fear and doubt are two of the most effective things for undermining our faith. How do they do this and what do you think is the antidote or cure?

3. In this passage what are the stages through which Jesus leads them from fear and doubt to confidence and joy?

4. (v45) Why are the scriptures so vital for correct belief?

5. Why is the Holy Spirit so vital for effective discipleship and ministry?

6. The Church is sometimes to preach only forgiveness and either play down the need for repentance or reinterpret what ‘sin’ is. Why is this?

7. What do you find in this passage to inspire you or spur you on to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’?

Luke Chapter 24 verses 36 – 49 Third Sunday of Easter 2015

Last week was the second Sunday of Easter and so Joe very appropriately spoke to us about the post resurrection appearance of Jesus to the doubting Thomas. If you missed his talk you can catch it on our website, and also the excellent study notes and questions that accompanied it. We also issue those study notes, as you can see, with your notice sheets and I should warn you that the sidesmen are under strict instructions from the churchwardens not only to check that you have remembered to hand in your hymn books but also to take away with you the study notes – just the thing for coffee breaks, train journeys, etc! (Schwarzeneger)

This week we meet Jesus again as he appears to a group of his followers - not just the apostles; indeed some of the apostles were absent at the time. It must have been for all of them a time of conflicting and perplexing emotions: his sudden arrival in the midst of them found them believing and unbelieving, startled and joyful and afraid all at once. (verses 34, 36, 42) A good deal of emotional confusion then! And it seems clear that until this point the nature and purpose of the Church - which is what this little group was - were to them a closed book.  So Jesus does a number of things here to reassure them, and to give them hope and confidence for the future.

First, he provides proof that he is not a ghost but alive, albeit in a new way. (Verses 39 – 43) And straightway here you and I have sufficient answers to two questions I - and I am sure you too - am often asked. ‘How can you believe in the resurrection?’ and ‘What will our resurrected bodies be like?’

We may reasonably and rationally believe in the resurrection of Jesus because of the testimony of reliable witnesses. Yes, it was prophesied and promised in the Old Testament and by Jesus himself (v 44); but the main ground of our belief is the testimony of reliable witnesses – men and women who had, in worldly terms, nothing to gain by believing but everything to lose: and of course many did, including their lives – as still is the case today.(30cases) (doc)

As for our resurrection bodies, we can at least say that we shall be recognisable, we will not be subject to some of the physical constraints that we now have, and we shall be our perfect or perfected selves with no more room for pride and sin. I don’t think we can reasonably say much more than that but that all sounds pretty reassuring and exciting to me!

Secondly, Jesus v45 ‘opened their minds to understand the scriptures’, just as he still does today for all those who seek him with a humble and grateful heart. And thirdly, he promises them ‘power from on high’ – a reiteration of the promise he made before his resurrection – that power without which we cannot hope to be effective followers of Jesus.

And so, revitalised with this new confidence and power, he is able to commission them (v 49) to go out into the world with the ‘good news’ of God’s offer of forgiveness and reconciliation with him for all people who are willing to repent and believe this good news.(v47).

What we find here then in this passage are what I would want to call the essential building blocks for a healthy and effective church which, of necessity and by Jesus’ definition, needs to be a growing one.

What are these building blocks, these essential elements?

Well, first, as I have already mentioned, is the fact of the resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christianity is little more than wishful-thinking and, as Paul reminds us, ‘we of all men are to be the most pitied’.

Secondly, (v49) we will get nowhere in the Christian life either personally or as a church unless we are ‘clothed with power from on high’. But we have to put on clothes when they are laid out for us; we have to receive gifts that we are offered to us.

Thirdly, we are to proclaim only what we have been authorised and commissioned to do. There have probably been better, bigger, sharper minds in the Church than Peter and Paul and John; but have they used their minds faithfully? That is the question we need to ask. We need to question, where appropriate and in ways that are appropriate, scientific, academic, political, social, and sexual agendas both outside and inside the Church and ask if their theories and assertions conform or conflict with the teaching of Christ.

Fourthly, we need to realise that we exist as a Church primarily for the benefit of outsiders. The purpose of the Church is primarily evangelistic, to share the good news of Jesus with others, to introduce them to him and, I would want to add, not on our terms or their terms but on his terms. Why? Because that is the only way in which we can be sure that we are being faithful, that we are not putting unnecessary obstacles in the path of their hearing the good news, and that we are not allowing any unchristian ideas or programmes to alter or waterdown the gospel.

And finally, just as we need to proclaim the fact of the resurrection of Jesus, so we need to proclaim its spiritual or theological meaning and significance. And as soon as we mention the resurrection we must of necessity mention Good Friday and the cross because they are the two sides of the same coin of God’s perfect love for mankind, a perfect and perfectly just love which is mankind’s only hope, a hope that you and I are called to proclaim to them. Or to put it another way – ‘to love my neighbour as myself.’

Now what we do have to understand is that churches that are not built of these building blocks or which think that they can do without one or more of the blocks will be very much less than healthy and effective in some measure. It works like this: a church that is not growing is not an effective church; and a church that is not an effective church cannot be healthy. Why? Because it is going against its very nature and reason for living! 

Jesus here and elsewhere has given us his plan and purpose for his church. That this plan and purpose has been hijacked by many in the past – and still is today – by personal or political or social or other agendas within the Church and its hierarchy ought to warn us of the need constantly to remain faithful to the teaching of Jesus and his original witnesses, the Apostles, and to judge such agendas or innovations by their teaching alone. We can only be a healthy and effective Church if we remain faithful to that teaching and put it into practice in our lives and in the life of our church.

So you see to make the excuse that ‘I do not know enough to share the Gospel with others’ or that ‘I do not have enough time’, or that ‘ God hasn’t asked me to do that’ or that ‘other people are not my responsibility’ not only contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus and undermines his Church, it also prevents us from experiencing the peace of knowing that we are forgiven and reconciled, the joy in knowing and serving him, and the assurance that all will indeed be well. What is worse is that such attitudes actually serve to rob others of these precious gifts God longs for them to experience for themselves because they can only know them if we are prepared to share them. Jesus calls this ‘producing fruit that will last’.  Jesus actually told a parable to illustrate these home truths. Luke has it earlier in his gospel in Chapter 13. It is the ‘Parable of the Fig Tree’. The point Jesus wants to make to his listeners is that the fig tree was not producing what it was created to produce; this is why the threat lies over it from the vineyard owner because it is simply taking up valuable space, space where new, fruitful fig trees could be planted. And in Matthew’s gospel the threat is symbolically carried out when Jesus causes the fig tree to wither and die because he ‘found nothing at all on it but leaves’. Now I agree that fig trees in leaf are very pleasant on the eye: but we are called not be eye candy either for ourselves or for others but to be ‘fruitful’, to be effective. And the only way that we can do so personally and as the local church family is by building with the building blocks Jesus has given us in order to be his people, his Church.   

So we may well and constructively ask ourselves, v38 ‘Why are we frightened, and why do doubts arise in our hearts?’ It is as we spend time in prayer, in the study of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, in loving our neighbour as ourself, and in being willing to stand up for and be known as his that we shall discover the same peace, confidence, assurance, power, and hope that transformed this small, motley group into one that turned the world upside down. That much that passes for Christianity in England, as Charles Moore said in the Sunday Telegraph a little while back, is a tame, respectable, and pale imitation of the real thing I found a sobering  reminder and a wake up call that the world needs you and me just as much today as it needed that small, motley group then. So, just leaves or fruit? That’s the question we need to ask ourselves today.