Monday Minister's Mail, 1st July 2013
Greetings!
It's been a really encouraging weekend! The Day of Prayer on Saturday seemed to go very well, and yesterday morning we enjoyed looking at Joshua 5. Joyce and Dennis both preached on the passage, and I had a Sunday off preaching for once!
Both sermons focused on the importance of making sure that you're in the right place with God. Israel had just crossed the Jordan river, and we'd have expected a quick attack on Jericho. Instead, the nation stops, and celebrates their "sacraments" - they circumcise the men and then share the Passover meal. They see that getting right with God is more important than sorting out their food supply, or their safety with enemy armies around. There's a thing in psychology called Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It says that we try to get the basics of life – food, drink and so on sorted first, then security, and only move on to other stuff once we've got the basics sorted. Joshua and the Israelites don't see it like that – they see their relationship with God as far more important than food or safety!
But it's not the outward signs that make a relationship with God. The previous generation of Israelites had all the outward signs. They had circumcision to remind them of God's promise to Abraham and their dependence on God in having children. They actually had the original Passover – they were rescued from Egypt by God as a lamb died in place of the firstborn, but they rebelled against God. They had the signs, but not the relationship.
It's best to have both. We have the living relationship with God, but also the signs of it. We trust God to wash us clean from our sins and to give us new life, and we show this in baptism. We trust in Jesus' death to take the punishment that we deserve, and we show this in eating and drinking at communion. We remember that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and we show this by taking time to listen to his word and to read it for ourselves and speak to God about it.
Baptism, communion and reading the Bible are really important, but we need the reality which they point to as well. And that's why this coming Sunday is so exciting with the adult baptisms and reaffirmations of baptism vows. Let's celebrate what God is doing among us together next Sunday, at 10:30am!
God bless,It's been a really encouraging weekend! The Day of Prayer on Saturday seemed to go very well, and yesterday morning we enjoyed looking at Joshua 5. Joyce and Dennis both preached on the passage, and I had a Sunday off preaching for once!
Both sermons focused on the importance of making sure that you're in the right place with God. Israel had just crossed the Jordan river, and we'd have expected a quick attack on Jericho. Instead, the nation stops, and celebrates their "sacraments" - they circumcise the men and then share the Passover meal. They see that getting right with God is more important than sorting out their food supply, or their safety with enemy armies around. There's a thing in psychology called Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It says that we try to get the basics of life – food, drink and so on sorted first, then security, and only move on to other stuff once we've got the basics sorted. Joshua and the Israelites don't see it like that – they see their relationship with God as far more important than food or safety!
But it's not the outward signs that make a relationship with God. The previous generation of Israelites had all the outward signs. They had circumcision to remind them of God's promise to Abraham and their dependence on God in having children. They actually had the original Passover – they were rescued from Egypt by God as a lamb died in place of the firstborn, but they rebelled against God. They had the signs, but not the relationship.
It's best to have both. We have the living relationship with God, but also the signs of it. We trust God to wash us clean from our sins and to give us new life, and we show this in baptism. We trust in Jesus' death to take the punishment that we deserve, and we show this in eating and drinking at communion. We remember that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and we show this by taking time to listen to his word and to read it for ourselves and speak to God about it.
Baptism, communion and reading the Bible are really important, but we need the reality which they point to as well. And that's why this coming Sunday is so exciting with the adult baptisms and reaffirmations of baptism vows. Let's celebrate what God is doing among us together next Sunday, at 10:30am!
John
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