SEEING GOD IN THE EVERYDAY 30 Aug 09

SEEING GOD IN THE EVERYDAY

Drama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7_pCZp9UHI

There once were two little brothers who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble. If any mischief occurred in their town, the two boys were probably involved.

The boys' mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. So the mother sent the younger boy first, planning to send the older boy to see the preacher in the afternoon.

The preacher, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Do you know where God is, son?" The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open.

So the preacher repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God?!" Again, the boy made no attempt to answer.

The preacher raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "Where is God?!" The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him.

When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?"

The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time. GOD is missing, and they think we did it!"

But seriously, how often do you feel that you’ve lost God? Many of you will have been taught it is important to set aside some time to spend with God everyday – such as a quiet time. Obviously this is important, but if you are anything like me it often seems as if this time is connived and artificial, and that sometimes God seems to be missing.

We come to church on Sunday and then off we go and carry on the rest of the week with little 5 minute God times fitted around our busy schedules. We try all sorts of things to try and make this God time suit us – devotional readings, music, prayer focus, psalms and often nothing we do seems to actually bring us closer to God.

· Where is God anyway when we are trying to connect with him?

· Why does it have to be so hard?

· Why does it seem as if other people get Words of Wisdom all the time and we are still struggling to make any sort of connection or even just to focus for more than 30 seconds on praying?

I am sure many of you will find these complaints familiar. Yet we often feel as if we are the only ones who feel this way. It always seems so much better for other Christians.

Over the past few months I have been spending a lot of time focussing on directing my spiritual life. I have looked at various different ways of meeting with God and to be honest not many of them seem to work well, BUT some do, often in surprising ways and I have learnt to focus on the ones that do.

In order to meet with God we firstly have to recognise what we are looking for. What is our image of God like?

As the activity earlier showed, there is a large range of variations on this theme. As we look at others perceptions we might think ‘how does that work?’ Yet we are all made individual and we all have unique ways of thinking. God knows you better than you do yourself and he deliberately and consciously made you that way. If you need reminding of that read Psalm 139.

God knows who you are deep inside. He knows what makes you tick and how to get that ticking going.

As we looked at that drama, how many of you felt a connection? We seem to spend a lot of time trying very hard to make a connection with God.

We try to be ‘holy’, listen up for a ‘word’ or tune in to what God is saying to us and come up blank.

· So how do we connect with God?

· Can we all meet with him everyday? in real and practical ways?

I believe the key is in understanding ourselves and recognising who God is for us. If you are an extrovert like me then being quiet and reflective is hard work. That doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it just takes more effort. It is certainly not something I feel comfortable with doing every day. But I need to connect with God every day so I have to develop ways I can relate to him that are meaningful according to who I am. Recognising that God wants to be part of my life in every possible way is helpful in establishing that relationship. God really is interested in everything I enjoy. He is eager to be with me when I walk to work, when I drive the kids round to their various activities, when I sit down to dinner and when I am sewing. If this makes me feel uncomfortable then it is probably more my problem – is it because of what I am doing, thinking, watching on TV or ...?

It is important to recognise that God is there even if we don’t recognise him, or want him round. He is definitely there when life is tough and more often than not he is carrying us through these times – like it says in the Footprints poem which many of you will be familiar with.

I have found it helpful to acknowledge that no one else’s spiritual life will be quite like mine. My relationship to God is unique in every way. He has taken time to craft a special friendship with me that would suit no one else – he loves me that much! He has also done that for you. You are the only one preventing that relationship from blossoming. God is able to reveal himself to you in a way ideally suited to you and all you need to do is recognise his presence.

· Consider what you like best.

· What makes an impression on you?

· How do you best connect with others?

· Are you quiet and reflective or do you prefer action?

· If quiet is hard then consider background music as you try to tune into his presence.

· Take a walk with your iPod if sitting still is difficult.

· Write your thoughts down in a journal.

How you meet with God is between you and God. By all means try a variety of ways – it may well be through trial and error that you establish the most meaningful connection, but don’t be afraid to explore.

Your task is to meet with God in every moment in a way that is meaningful for you (not for your friends).

Take time to offer yourself up to God and seek his guidance as you develop a 2 way relationship with him. Think on Psalm 119:73 – ‘You made me; you created me.
Now give me the sense to follow your commands.’

It won’t necessarily come easily but God’s word is full of advice on relying on his wisdom and guidance. Come before him in humility and with a desire to meet him and I am sure you will not be disappointed. Our own attitude is a key to being perceptive to God’s presence. Ask God to train your attitudes, thoughts and desires towards his laws and be receptive to where he leads you.

If you desire a closer relationship with God and want to be more aware of his presence in your life, I have a list of foundational truths which you may find helpful.

God wants to share everything with you. And he created you so he knows you best and is willing to steer you on a path that will experience his presence in unique and special way.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS (‘Closer Than You Think’ by John Ortberg)

· God is always present and active in your life, whether or not you see Him.

· Coming to recognize and experience God's presence is learned behaviour which you can cultivate.

· Your task is to meet God in this moment.

· We are always tempted to live "outside" this moment. When we do that, we lose our sense of God's presence.

· Sometimes God seems far away for reasons we do not understand. Those moments, too, are opportunities to learn.

· Whenever we fail, we can always start again right away.

· No one knows the full extent to which a human being can experience God's presence.

· Our desire for God ebbs and flows, but His desire for each of us is constant.

· Every thought carries a "spiritual charge" that moves us a little closer to, or a little farther from God.

· Every aspect of your life--work, relationships, hobbies, errands--is of immense and genuine interest to God.

· Your path to experiencing God's presence will not look quite like anyone else's.

· Straining and trying too hard do not help.

Tania Roberts-Thomson

Learning for Life - Ephesians 4:1-16

Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16

It has been very special today for us as a church family, to share with Ange and Pete and their families in giving thanks to God for their beautiful little boy, Noah. He will bring them great joy I know. I know Ange & Pete will delight in teaching him new things and giving him new exciting experiences, and just seeing him develop and grow. And for the next few years Noah will just soak up all this learning and look to you with absolute admiration and adoration, really proud that you are his parents.

And then he will become a teenager! Like many teenagers Noah may seem to realize overnight just how much more he knows than his parents. He will find his friends and even their parents do too. He may seem to be on another planet when you try to tell him something, so whatever you say may still not seem to make any impression on him. And for most parents there comes a point when we feel we just have to let our children try things themselves, and learn that way. They will make mistakes so we have to always be there for them. However I encourage parents that there is a way. You have an awesome opportunity and privilege to influence your children's life for good - throughout their life, whatever the circumstances.

It came as a great surprise for Bronwyn & me to discover later on just how much our children had still learned from us through that period, and they had learned - perhaps unwittingly - or even unconsciously, from how we lived our lives. Now we only remember the good things they learned of course - no doubt there were things we could have done better. But it just emphasizes how important it is for our lives to be consistent in living out the values we believe in, so our lives convey the right values to others. A verse in Proverbs (20:7) says this is living with integrity.

Integrity - Rollo May, a psychologist, said "integrity is being the same on the outside as we are on the inside." That is quite a challenge isn't it? It is a challenge that can only have a positive outcome if it is love that is inside us - God's love - because love will then determine our values, and how they impact on others.

Of course there are various ways we learn - by being told, by reading, and so on. But for me how much knowledge I retain increases by being shown - in discussion with others - and ultimately by putting into practice what we have been taught - by doing it.

This is exactly the method Jesus used to teach his disciples.

He explained things;

He showed them how he did the things he was teaching them;

He had many discussions with them;

And he sent them out to do what he had taught and showed them.

Now I am sure I didn't listen to all of my father's advice either, but it is really interesting how much I do remember of my parent's values even many years later, and what I do remember is mainly HOW they lived their lives.

Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus was to remind individuals of how they should live their lives and to explain the purpose of the church in helping them do that. In the passage that Phil read, Paul urges us to a life worthy - being humble, gentle, patient, loving, and peaceful.

That isn't always natural or easy is it? Some people really do push us to the limit at times.

Well the church should be able to help us (just like a parent) - by teaching, showing, and encouraging us to try things. In that same passage Paul also explained how the church can help us. He said that God prepares certain people in the church for this purpose - to prepare us for works of service so that together we may be built up, become mature in our faith, and grow to be more like Christ.

At CPAC we have those people. We have a pastor; we have evangelists, apostles, prophets, and teachers to encourage us in our growth too. That's great. But they can't do it all.

At some point we have to take individual responsibility for our own growth and development - to stop needing to be spoon fed - to feed ourselves so we grow up to maturity.

As parents we enjoy seeing our children develop and mature.

In the same way God longs for us to grow up to maturity - to be more like Christ.

I heard this comment recently - "Impression without expression is repression"

To me that means being taught something but not doing anything with it can actually make knowledge a burden rather than being useful. We often say that if we don't move forward, we won't just stand still, we will move backwards. Use it, or lose it! As Paul wrote to Timothy - "………I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you……" We need to use the good that has been placed in us, however it has been placed, and use it for the good of others.

And James reminds us (ch.2:14-17) - Just having the knowledge, even a genuine faith in God, is not much use ……………….unless we act on it, and put our beliefs into practice.

Last Sunday Bronwyn & I went to Arohata Prison to take a Bible study with the women. The study was about the time Jesus taught his disciples about serving …….when he washed their feet. One of the women there made the comment that when you do make the effort to help someone else you are often also helped yourself. A verse in Proverbs (11:24) agrees. This is pretty much what Dr Karl Menninger, a psychiatrist, said about people continually seeking help. He said something like "Those people need to lock up their house, go across the road, find someone in need, and do something to help that person."

And the results of a survey conducted by the Willow Creek Church in the USA recently give a similar perspective. They have for years produced many programs and courses and they undertook a thorough professional survey of many churches over a period of 4 years. The results surprised them. They discovered that their programs were not nearly as effective as they thought. They found that…………………..

1. The key to an individual's growth was their personal relationship with Jesus - and how close that relationship was.

2. That rather than people wanting to be spoon fed to grow in this relationship, they wanted to know how to take personal responsibility for it.

3. That serving others is an important aspect of a close relationship with Jesus. This follows the example of Jesus who said "I came not to be served, but to serve."

4. The church's most influential role is often in the formative years of a Christian.

5. The church's role then is to provide support and opportunities for people to serve.

6. As Christians mature they need to be serving more and more (and particularly outside the church) in order for them to have life and vitality in their faith, rather than to plateau or even slip back.

I know there are people here today who can testify to the reality of that aspect of serving. Those who have been on short term missions to Fiji to help the people there in various ways, have come home feeling quite the reverse has happened ……that they are the ones who have been richly blessed.

Bronwyn & I experience it time and again when we go to the Prison to minister to the women, and come away absolutely uplifted and feeling that it is we who have been ministered to.

Many others have similar experiences, and I think of others here involved in community service.

But it doesn't need to be special events. I have seen a person from CPAC in her work situation displaying those qualities listed in our Bible reading. And I have seen her grow in her faith since being in that role. I know of someone else who quietly serves in behind the scenes roles at CPAC, and I have witnessed the growth in his faith.

It is their willing serving attitude that is the difference.

Many of us serve, for sure. But it is how we serve that is important.

The key to a willing serving attitude is love. Christ's love for us - our love for him shown in our love for others. Paul reminds us of this in our reading (Ephesians 4:15).

Another version puts it this way - "If we live with integrity and love we will grow to be like Christ." Remember that verse from Proverbs about parents living with integrity, and the on flow effect that has on their children? It is worth it. It has a positive affect on others, and on us.

And if love is the motivation, it takes away any feeling of compulsion.

Whatever we do then, let us do it with the right motivation.

Paul again writes in Col.3:17 - when we do anything, whether it is setting up for church services here ……………in our home ….going about our daily work ….on a mission ….in our community …………..whatever it is …………..let us do it with the attitude of doing it for Christ, in a way that will bring honor and glory to him.

In closing there is only one point I am trying to make. That is - putting into practice what we have been taught and modeled, especially by lovingly serving others, is an essential element of our growth to maturity.

No matter how you may try to remember this, whether it is:

Integrity;

Using it or losing it;

Fanning into flames;

Faith without works is dead;

However it is …………for us to learn for real life requires action …………our action!

When we do act we will find that not only will we grow to be more like Christ, but:

We will empower and bless others;

And we will bring worship and delight to God.

I encourage you to pray the Prayer for the Week as a personal prayer of commitment - to love and serve the Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ,

I acknowledge you as my Saviour and Lord who, when you came to earth, showed us you were our servant leader too. Please help me to follow your example - to love as you loved, and to serve as you served. In doing this may I be a blessing to others, and bring worship and glory to you. Amen

Holy 12 July 09

July 12^th 2009

Holy

This is not a SERMON. It is going to be more of a sharing about a journey over the last six months and some ideas about the way ahead. It originates from a conversation I had with Danny way back in February, when I suggested perhaps some of those who attended New Wine could have the opportunity to share a bit of their experience with the rest of the congregation. Then about a month ago Danny asked me if I was still ok to do a sermon on holiness, which was a bit of a shock and taught me a lesson! Don’t suggest anything unless you are prepared to be the one who puts it into place. Anyway, I feel very ill-equipped to give a sermon on holiness: first I am probably one of the least ‘holy’ people I know, and secondly, I would never profess to try to tell anyone else how to live in ‘holiness’!! However, I am blessed to take a little bit of a different approach to the concept of ‘holiness’ and talk a little about my experience at New Wine and where it has taken me since then. By the way, parts of this talk may seem like a promotional for New Wine: I would like to assure you that I am not getting a commission for every person that registers from CPAC, although that might be nice!, however you may hear me say more than once that it might be worth considering for 2010.

I was a reluctant participant in New Wine this year, I have to admit. We have attended approx every second year for the last 8 years, but I wasn’t really into it this time. I was feeling pretty stale in my relationship with God for a start, and as many of you will understand, that can be a real disincentive to getting involved and doing something about it. Secondly I had been involved as part of the music team the last two times we had attended, but when I offered my services was told, no thanks, so was a bit miffed having to attend as just an ordinary person (isn’t it amazing how much our egos can get in the way sometimes?). And finally, when it came down to it, we had just spent 2 weeks in a tent, which is about my limit of airbeds/sand/gas cookers etc, and the thought of 4-5 more days on top of that just didn’t appeal.

So I started a bit unwillingly, a bit ‘not into it’. And for the first couple of days that was how I felt: half-hearted in the worship, enjoying the teaching but not really getting a lot out of it, and kind of wondering why I was there. I was encouraged by a couple of people’s experiences, who clearly were feeling the presence of God, but for me it was, if you like, the usual: other people seemed to be the really spiritual ones, and I felt kind of like it was only for them! I’m sure none of you have ever experienced that!

I think it was on the second evening that I went up for prayer, thinking I may as well, at least no harm can come from this: some real deliverance occurred at that point: I guess some blockages were cleared and suddenly I found I was starting to get something out of being there: following this on the next evening service, the open day which many of you attended, I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Kenny Borthwick, who is a wonderful Scotsman and was one of the main speakers, was up front, and many times over those few days he and the other speakers were taking the attitude of, let’s see where God wants to take this, let’s see if we can find out what God wants to do, rather than following a set plan. As he led this particular session, and it was obvious he knew God wanted to do something special, a few people started laughing, and some crying (but mostly laughing!) which he encouraged, and it was very infectious, many more joined in. Normally in these situations I am the absolute cynic, and I’m sure many of you will identify with that: thoughts like, ‘yeah right, who was planted in the audience to start this?’ And ‘how embarrassing, what would everyone think’, and even, ‘come on, if its really You God, make me laugh!!’ This time I thought I would approach it differently, and to do this I had to put lots of thoughts out of my mind and just get down to me and, who knows, maybe God. I knelt down in the aisle (by the way I have never done anything like that before…..) and allowed myself to be open to whatever God was doing, if indeed it was God. And guess what: within a few minutes I also was laughing: deeply, from the depths of my being. I knew, at that moment, that I was in the presence of the Holy Spirit. And yes there have been other times when I have seen God at work and heard His voice (less often than I would like!!) but this was the first time I have really physically felt the presence of God. And it was special. And it was Holy. I felt like I was on Holy ground

Now we are getting to the point. If there was one major thrust or point of the teaching at New Wine, with the theme of ‘Holy’, was, being in God’s presence is Holy. There are of course many approaches one can take to the word holy or holiness: however the approach I would like to take today is, learning to seek out the presence of God, as where God is, that is Holy Ground

The first usage of a word in the Bible is significant: it sets the standard if you like for the rest of the usages. The first usage of the word holy refers, interestingly enough not to God, but to the ground. In Exodus 3: 3-5(which you heard in the reading today,). God says to Moses, take of your shoes, the ground you are standing on is holy ground. How many times had Moses passed or even stood in that spot in his 40 years as a shepherd? Was the ground always holy? What made it holy? Quite simply, the presence of God. When the Israelites built the temple, what was the innermost sanctum called? the holy of holies. Why? Quite simply, it was there that the High priest met with God once a year, Gods presence made it ‘holy of holies’.

Being in the presence of God is significant, lifechanging: You will all know what happened to Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father, when he went into the holy of holies and met with the angel of God; and how Moses looked after meeting God face to face. Holy is being in the presence of God. It can be terrifying. Zachariah was paralyzed with fear. As Rob Bell shares in his book, Velvet Elvis, which I will refer to later, he became aware of the presence of God in a terrifying way. But in a good way. As Rob says, the word that springs to mind is holy.

So, how do we seek out the presence of God, seek out this holiness: to paraphrase Kenny: “find out what God is doing and go and be part of it”. Now I am sure that many of us have experienced, or possibly even done, the opposite: deciding what to do and asking God to bless it, or starting a service/event etc then inviting the Holy Spirit to join us? Do you see the difference? How can we approach this, seeking out the presence of God, seeking out Holy ground.

This is a very individual walk. You are each journeying your own individual journey with God and I can not stand up here and say you need to do such and such and you will find holy ground. But I am happy to share with you some of the ways I have been approaching this and give you some food for thought. In fact, preparing for today has been a good exercise in that it has forced me to sit down and think, and ask, has this affected my walk with God? Since New Wine, has my journey developed/changed? It’s very easy to go to an event like New Wine and be all Rah Rah, Hallelujah, etc then the busyness of everyday life takes over and we go back and settle into our old daily routines: and there certainly has been some of that for me. Again to quote Rob Bell: “ Do you and I walk in holy ground all the time, but we are moving so fast and returning so many calls and writing so many emails and having such long lists to get done that we miss it?” How often are we too busy to miss it?? I would say for me its pretty often!

Anyway, back to the journey: First, and in fact this is something I’ve been working on for a while: I remind myself that I am a human being, not a human doing. That means that its ok to take time when I can just be, I don’t always have to do. Or put another way, take some Sabbath time. This may be daily, weekly, (sometimes for me it is termly….) But at the end of a day it is ok sometimes to look back and say, I did nothing. The first reference to the Sabbath day in Genesis in fact uses a Hebrew word which is closely related to the word for holy: Sabbath time is holy, time to be, time in God’s presence.

As well there are a couple of books that I have started to work through, that really have helped in the seeking the presence of God: one I shared about a few weeks ago: The Shack, by William Paul Young. The other which I have already referred to today is Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell: there is much in both of these books that is worth delving into, but one of the points that has really stuck for me is the difference between ‘expectation’ and ‘expectancy’. We often go to God with expectation: I know I have many times gone to Him with an expectation that He will answer a prayer, or do something, in a certain way. When I have done that I have often been disappointed: I have not had an answer, not seen God at work. Yet if we go to Him with an expectancy that we will meet with Him or experience Him in some way, we are allowing the Spirit of God to work rather than setting our own boundaries. A simple analogy is a pregnant woman: we say she is expectant: she does not have expectations that her baby will be beautiful, intelligent, a great netball or rugby player: but she does have an expectancy and excitement about the life to come. Rob Bell puts it similarly when he talks about ‘obligation’ or ‘anticipation.’ Do we come to church for example out of obligation, or with an anticipation that something amazing could happen?

This has also helped me in my approach to worship, and music in general. If I approach music with the expectation that it will be all perfect and amazing sounding, or with a feeling of obligation or duty, I am likely to be disappointed. But, if I go into music with an expectancy and anticipation that somehow through the music we might see/hear/feel/know the presence of God, then maybe that will be holy ground.

One of the things Rob Bell teaches in Velvet Elvis is that with the new covenant and the breaking down of the barriers to the Holy of holies, it opens the door for us to see and meet God everywhere: in creation, in nature, indeed in life itself, for without God there wouldn’t be life!! I would like to share a simply lovely passage in here about how the presence of God can be seen and felt even by those whom God loves, but do not yet believe:

(Velvet Elvis p76 and 92) “Last year some friends asked me to be their pastor for their wedding ceremony. They had been together for a while and decided to make it official and throw a huge weekend party……They said they didn’t want any Jesus or God or Bible or religion to be talked about. But they did want me to make it really ‘spiritual’. The bride said it in her own great way: “Rob, do that thing you do. Make it really profound and deep and spiritual”. So we decided to meet the morning of the wedding to actually plan the ceremony. It was a stunningly beautifully day……The wind was blowing the tops of the trees……the sun was coming through in yellow and white beams……an eagle flew overhead. I asked my friends why they wanted to be married in such a natural organic setting………They talked about the beauty of nature, its peacefulness, and the way they fell in love in this part of the state. The the groom said something I will never forget: “Something holds this all together”. So then I asked them if they thought it was a mistake that they had found each other. And they said no, they believed they were meant to be together and it was no accident they met and fell in love. I then asked them: “Do you think that whatever it is that holds all this together is the same thing that has brought you two together?” They said yes, same thing. So I said that maybe what makes their relationship so meaningful to them is that it’s a picture of something much bigger. The same force that brought them together holds the whole world together. I then asked “So today your wedding is about something far more significant then just the two of you becoming husband and wife isn’t it?” They then said they would call this glue, this force, “God”. ……. Jesus was up on that cliff with us that day. It is not that God is over here and real life is over there. If it is real, then it is showing us God. It is not that passion and love and exhilaration are in one place and Jesus is somewhere else. Wherever you find those you are finding God. In affirming and celebrating all that they did that day on the cliff, my friends are closer to Jesus than they could ever imagine.” (end of quote)

So one of the greatest ways to seek and to be in the presence of God is to live life knowing that He has made it all possible, that He is there, that He binds it all together. Whether it is in good music, good food, good company, beauty, love, simply life itself, God is present. Dare we ask, is all ground holy ground?

Of course this does not mean that we can live any way we choose and still expect to meet with the Spirit of God: when I was a young Christian I was taught that as the Spirit came to dwell in us, as it says in Ephesians 2:22, so we were always in the presence of God, and that is at one level absolutely true. However, because of that I was always a little wary of the idea of looking for or seeking the presence of God because, hey, He’s there already. But one of the teachings of New Wine put this in perspective for me: Kenny related a little story as told by RT Kendall, (some of you may be familiar with the name): A missionary and his wife were living in a small house on the mission field and a dove had made its home in the attic. They noticed however that at times the dove was not there. After observing this for a while, they realised that whenever they argued/raised their voices the dove would leave for a while. Then when peace had descended the dove came back to the attic. The couple rather liked having a dove living in their attic, being a symbol of the holy spirit, and realised that they had two choices: either they could train the dove to put up with their arguments and shouting, or they could modify their behaviour so that the dove was comfortable to stay. I will leave you to work out which was the only possible option.

For me this is a lesson: yes God is with us always and dwells in us, but there are times and places where He chooses to let his spirit descend like a dove in a certain situation or on a certain person or group of people. Some of those at Summer Wine experienced the dove, as I did in laughter, some by weeping, some by a wonderful perfume, some by prophetic words. But it is easy to grieve the Spirit of God, the dove, like the bird itself, is sensitive, we can scare it away (see Ephesians 4.30 and context: some great guidance in how to walk in holiness). How we approach God and life can determine whether we see/are aware of the spirit: do we approach God with cynicism or openness, with obligation or anticipation? Do we look for God in the creation around us or do we simply get blinkered and stuck in our everyday routine? Do we seek out what God is doing and long to be part of that or do we decide what to do and expect God to turn up and bless it? Do we desire to walk on Holy ground in the presence of God Almighty, or do we simply scare away the dove? I would like to leave you with these questions and hopefully something to think about. And yes, I would suggest that getting involved with something like New Wine is a good thing: I can honestly say that I met with my Heavenly Father there and that it has changed my approach to how I try to relate to Him. No the change is not dramatic but it is happening and I believe is making a difference to my life. Perhaps it would make a difference to yours.

I will leave you with a Parting thought: I Peter 1:18 says in the Message translation: Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. Let’s try to be conscious/be aware/be longing for the presence of God as we live in the world this week. After all, if it wasn’t for God there wouldn’t be life/awareness/ consciousness /even a world in any case! Thank you.

Tim Jenkin

12/7/09