Share your faith

Seminar at Dearnley on Saturday 9 June

The greatest handicap when sharing our Christian faith is being ton­gue tied when an opportunity presents itself for Christian witness. This seminar will help to alleviate this handicap. As the saying goes, ‘Opportunity has the uncanny habit of favouring those who have paid the price of years of preparation.’

This practical workshop is biblically based, great fun and of eternal value. It will help renew your vision to lead family, friends and others to Christ, and will give you the tools to do just that:

     Learn how to:

·        Create a desire to hear the Good News

·        Clearly share the Gospel message

·        Lead someone to Christ; and

·        Disciple a new believer

The circuit has underwritten the expenses of hosting the seminar, and invite all those who are able and willing to make a contribution toward its cost. It was decided to do it this way in order to make it possible for everyone who wishes to take part.

The workshop starts at 10 am prompt, and will run through to 4:30 pm, with a one hour break for lunch. Dearnley will provide tea, coffee and cold drinks, but please bring your own lunch.

This Share Your Faith seminar will be led by Mr Peter Crook, the National Director of Evangelism Explosion (GB), who will be accompanied by his wife Gita.

Gita will share her inspiring testimony dur­ing the Circuit United Service at Smithy Bridge on Sunday 10 June. To whet your appe­tite, Gita is from Lithuania. She went from atheism to a rock-solid faith in Christ following the collapse of the Communist regime there; be challenged as you hear how she has gone on to lead others to the Lord.

I look forward to seeing you at this seminar.

With love in Jesus:

Daniel

A lady was very nervous about her appoint­ment with her dentist. Before leaving home, she sought courage by reading the text for the day from her ‘Bible Quotes’ calendar. It was Psalm 81:10:

Open your mouth and I shall fill it!

Gateway to the Kingdom

Often, when Jesus spoke about life as a Christian, he used the phrase ‘The Kingdom.’ The phrase occurs no less than 52 times in Matthew’s Gospel alone. The Gospel writer Matthew was a converted Jew who wrote for other Jews so, to understand him, we must start by remembering how, at the time of Jesus, the whole Jewish people were waiting for a figure known as the Messiah – God’s anointed one – who would free the people from the Romans, and usher in the rule of God, the King of Heaven. This helps explain why, all the way through Matthew’s Gospel, we read of Jesus teach­ing and preaching about ‘The Kingdom.’

But when Jesus did come, it was clear that this Kingdom was a different sort of kingdom - a kingdom of the spirit, rather than a kingdom of any worldly type or dim­en­sion. Because Jesus’ kingdom is spiritual in focus, we often miss the point of what it’s all about. It is clear from Scripture that, for Jesus, the Kingdom does not start when you die but when you first accept him as Lord and Saviour.

We see that Heaven is both the goal and yet also the way, the vehicle in which we live. This Heaven is more than just a ‘rest home for the dead.’ In fact, Jesus’ illustrations of Heaven (e.g. see the parables in Matt 12:39–13:53) show how Jesus thought we should live while still here on earth, and why, in the Lord’s prayer (Matt 6:9–13), the first request is ‘Your Kingdom come.’ In other words, we ask to live in the same heavenly realm as God the King, but while we still alive in a physical sense down here on earth.

Perhaps the most important question to ask is therefore ‘How do we get into this Spiritual Kingdom, Heaven?’ Simple: Jesus himself says that he is the way (John 14:6); that he is the door (John 10:7); and, significantly, that he is also ‘the life’ (John 11:25). And if Jesus is the door to Heaven, it explains why no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6).

We first enter Heaven at the moment of con­ver­sion. If our Christian life is genuine, then the life we lead from the moment of conversion onward will be different from anything else the world can offer: it’s Kingdom life, and is so radically different from life before living in Jesus that it’s like being born all over again. This helps explain why Jesus said, ‘No one can see the Kingdom of Heaven unless he is born again’ (John 3:3). 

So when we pray that this Kingdom will come, what should we expect to happen, Spiritually, inside us? For an answer, we need to look at the beatitudes, in Matthew 5:3–11. They are called ‘beatitudes’ because each starts with the word ‘blessed.’ It’s a common misconception that this word means ‘happy,’ or even ‘fortunate’ (although some Bible translations do translate the original Greek word that way).

If we ask for God’s blessing, in effect we are asking for His intervention, so we are asking for the Holy Spirit to come. When we read the beatitudes, we see that each has a common form, ’blessed are you when . . .’ which indicates that the Holy Spirit has access to us when the specified circumstances are fulfilled. So, starting at the beginning of the list of beat­itudes, when we read ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,’ in effect we should read, ‘We are specially available to the Holy Spirit if we are poor in Spirit . . . and the end result is that we will truly reside in the Kingdom.’

So entry to Heaven starts with the first beatitude: we need to be ‘poor in spirit.’ But what does it mean? We recall that we are blessed when we let the Spirit of God inside of us, so we are poor in spirit (note the small ‘s’) if we acknowledge that we are in need of God’s Holy Spirit (big ‘S’).

So simplest way to explain being’ poor in spirit’ is to say that there are two types of spirit: there is the Holy Spirit of God, and what St Paul calls the spirit of self. To enter Heaven, we are wanting one to in­crease at the expense of the other. Entry to Heaven depends on the human spirit being sub­servient to the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist put it this way, ‘He [Jesus] must increase and I must decrease’ (John 3:30). We must want the material side of our lives to recede in order to allow this holy life to grow in its place.

So we see that when the Lord’s prayer says, ‘Thy Kingdom come’, in effect is means, ‘I want for it to come – and I am willing for this Kingdom life to start in my life, here and now.’

What is Heaven like?
None of us have ever been to Heaven in an objective way – even visions are given in terms of human experience (for example, read Paul’s account of how he was caught up into the Third Heaven, 2 Cor 2:12); and analo­gies are similarly limited.

Jesus became human, having left Heaven, and has now returned there. There are two created ‘heavens’: the ‘Third Heaven’ is the eternal exist­ence of God, but far more complex that simply stated.

The most ‘heavenly’ experiences of our lives are very personalised, and would not be easily adapted to general use as pictures of Heaven. Answers to the question, ‘What were the most wonderful experiences of your life?’ would result in a huge variety of answers.

My fours years at art college, and a year at University for teacher train­ing, were idyllic for me but would not impress many. Teaching a wonderful subject to a receptive class, being locked in an out-of-use gallery of work done by a favourite painter: these would hardly be universal images of Heaven. A child might see a mountain of ice cream; an old person, a day as a young person again.

In giving a picture of the unknowable glories of Heaven, the Holy Spirit has given us the following:

What Heaven will not be is the alternative of eternal suffering in punishment, along with bad company (the devil and associates). There will be no suffering, sickness, sin, death, tears, loss of value, theft or deterioration.

Although the earth is under the curse of human sin, we can still see something of the Creator’s character, in the glories of creation: butterflies’ wings, blue skies, cloud formations and sunsets, human nature at its best, galaxies and stellar formations in the Universe, and many more examples.If we had a wonderful and very rich friend, who lives in a huge well-equipped house and grounds, we might enjoy staying there – even being allowed to make it home; a year’s holiday with all the expenses paid. Even these would fall short as valid pictures of Heaven.

The images used are those which would come nearer to general helpfulness: a city of huge dimensions with gold, glass, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, the Tree of Life, fruit, a river, open gates, angelic beings, a throne, a rainbow, a vast sky, God singing over us, huge crowds of angels and redeemed humans in total worship, recognisable godly heroes, rewards for service and sufferings on earth, a secure eternal state with no possibility of loss and a place of holiness, joy, love and peace

We will be so changed as to want only those things which are truly worthwhile. We will all be changed to be in God’s likeness – people we found so difficult to get on with will be different – just as we will be different. Human failings will have gone. We will all be able to sing in tune, hear sounds previously inaudible and see colours beyond our present range, understand wonderful information, communicate perfectly, enter totally new dimen­sions of experience, with massively enhanced powers.

Heaven has satisfied God in eternity past; it will certainly be fulfilling for us. Seeing and knowing God will be all that we need.             Anon

The Nigeria petition
Do you remember the Nigeria petition? About six months ago, many of us signed a petition asking the Nigerian Gov­ernment to protect Christians living in the Northern States of the country, whose Muslim governors wanted to impose Islamic (Sharia) law. Several of these states do now have Islamic law, and there has been some conflict between Muslims and Christians. But the Nigerian Government is concerned about Christians living in these states.

33,000 people from several countries signed the Nigeria petition before it was given to the Nigerian Ambassador in the UK. He was impressed by the size of the petition, and promised to bring it to the attention of his Gov­ernment.Watch this space . . . and please persevere in prayer!

Another Smithy Bridge building project
Saturday 9 December 2000 saw the end of the building project at Smithy Bridge Methodist Church – or did it . . . ? On that day, the new porch and access ramp were opened, the people breathed a sigh of relief and gratitude that the task was completed.

But two chance questions caused the Church to think, and pray and then plan all over again:

Question 1: Are you considering selling the old Church site, opposite the Church?

Question 2: Did you know that Mills, who own the DIY ship next to the Church, are to retire with­in the next few months?

Much prayer, many ‘coincidences’, and a little faith in a mighty God, changed an otherwise impossible dream into reality. The site of J A Mills & Sons, Smithy Bridge, was bought by the Church on 2 April 2001.

As well as providing much-needed space for parking cars, the new site also offer great potential for building bridges to the community of which the Church is part. It can become a shop window for the Gospel. How? The church is still praying on that one; but shop, café, youth work are envisaged: the possibilities are vast, and are only limited by funds and workers. Funds were given a great boost by the gift day, held on 31 March, when donations of over £20,000 plus loans of nearly £30,000 were received, and we received pledges of more money to come in the next few months. Please give thanks to God for the faith and generosity of His people.

So how can you help to support the bridge that the Church in Smithy Bridge is trying to build?

·        Pray

·        Share fund-raising ideas and practical skills

·        Encourage neighbours and friends to come to fundraising events

·        Expect great things of our great God!                                                   

Gill Berry

Update
A Charity shop now operates in the former Mills building, so we need volunteers to run it. The shop is staffed in two-hour slots i.e. 9–11 and 2–4 on Monday to Fridays, and 10–12 on Saturday.

To help as we redecorate the shop, we would also appreciate any spare tins of paint (or fractions thereof) – any colour is OK.

Please contact Lynne Priestley on 373477 if you help with either request.

Scribes and Pharisess?
We often hear of the ‘Scribes and Pharisees’ in the Gospels, but they are usually lumped together as if they were two names for the same people. But were they? Who were the Scribes and Pharisees, and what were the differences between them?

The Scribes were a body of hugely influential and learned men, whose role was to write, number, transcribe and interpret the books of religious law (i.e. the books of Moses in the Pentateuch). In effect, the Scribes were the school­masters of the nation, and taught the law enshrined within Scripture, that is, our Old Testament. They were also skilled in the traditions of Scripture which, at that time, were held in great reverence (see Matt 15:1–6). It was this skill which induced Herod to consult them on matters of religion (see Matt 2:4). In fact, the Hebrew word for Scribe derives from the word ‘to number.’ The Scribes were the same as the ‘Teachers of the Law’ mentioned so often in the New Testament.

The Scribes appear to have been viciously antagonistic toward Jesus, and seem to have lost no opportunity to misrepresent his words and actions. The Gospels show how many of the acutest intellects in Palestine sought to entrap Jesus with artful questions (e.g. see Matthew 22:20–22). In fact, St Paul seems to have thought that they misled the nation (Acts 7:51–53 and 1 Cor 1:20).

The Pharisees were a Jewish sect, and were a dominant influence on Jewish life in first century Palestine. The word ‘Pharisee’ comes from a Hebrew word meaning, ‘to separate,’ perhaps because they sought to be different and above the ordinary people. As an example, one of their favourite texts was Leviticus 19:2, ‘Be holy as I the Lord your God am holy’; and here, the word ‘holy’ can be taken to mean different, set aside i.e. sanctified.

In the years after their return from Babylonian exile, the Pharisees believed themselves to be the custodians of Jewish piety. For this reason, they valued themselves for their skill and exactness in keeping religious laws. Unfortunately, it seems that they often degenerated into superstitious and legalistic formality, which is why Jesus (together with other contemporary authors) so often denounced them as hypocrites.

Their beliefs were more orthodox than another sect mentioned in the New Testament, the Sadducees, who did not believe in an afterlife. But however orthodox the Pharisees were, they misinterpreted the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah to the extent that they could not recognise him when he finally came.

The Pharisees often went beyond the prescribed religious duties, tithing even their spice and herbs e.g. mint, dill and cumin (Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42), and most of them fasted twice a week, rather than the once prescribed by The Law.

As a bit of an oversimplification, the Scribes and Pharisees may be distinguished using the advice of John Wesley, ‘The Scribes were the wisest men of the time, and the Pharisees were the holiest.’In total, there are about 50 references to the Pharisees and Scribes in the Gospels, and they are utterly condemned in each. Nevertheless, our righteousness must exceed that of these ‘super religious’ people (Matthew 5:20) if we are to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Overheard in the vestry: “The congregation seems a bit thin this morning”, said the Preacher. “Did you tell them I was preaching?”

“No” said the Steward, “but you know how these things get out.”

Did You Know?
In the Holy Land, any dead animal or person was considered to be ritually unclean, so it was important to avoid corpses of any kind. To this end, even graves and tombs were white-washed to enable everyone to see exactly where they were. So when Jesus described the Scribes and Pharisees as ‘white-washed sepulchres’ (Matthew 23:27), he was actually saying that they were to be considered as (spiritually) dead meaning that everyone should avoid them at all costs.

The idea that being English was the same as being a Christian was first officially used in the 1580s, as a means of strengthening Henry VIII’s new Church of England. The argument went something like this: ‘As it is a matter of pride to be English – and all Englishmen are Christians – all Englishmen have to attend Church, where the vicar (who is appointed by the Crown) will tell people how to serve the Country best.’ Nowadays we would call it ‘spin’ or ‘crowd manipulation.’ Unfortunately the spin was so successful that, today, 75% of English people say they are Christians, yet only about 7% ever enter a Church for a service!

Evangelism: Mission this Summer
David Young is an evangelist from Australia, and heads a mission called Children for Christ. He spends about four months of every year in Britain, leading two three-day missions per week. At the end of Summer, he will lead a pair of missions in Green­hill and Wardle, reaching out to local children of primary-age.

David has been an evangelist for a decade, and upward of 20,000 child­ren have now given their lives to Jesus through his work, in 10 years.

David’s first mission for our Circuit will be at Wardle on Thursday 13 through to Saturday 15 September. He will then lead the mission at Greenhill on Monday 17 through to Wednesday 19 September. He will visit the local schools beforehand, to publicise the missions. During mission-week, the events will take the form of an after-school club, with crafts, fun, food and an attractive portrayal of the Gospel message: David has encoun­tered enormous success using Pilgrim’s Progress in this context!

When the mission ends, we plan to establish a youth club at both Churches, for example running an After-School Club, or operating in the evening or perhaps over the weekend.

Further details will be distributed nearer the time.

Please pray:

·        For David Young, as he leads and shares the Gospel

·        For those in Greenhill and Wardle who will help during the mission

·        For those who will be leading the Youth Clubs after the mission

·        For the Children who will be attending

·        For the local schools from which they will be drawn

·        For the efficient distribution of publicity

When asked how many people worked  in the Vatican, Pope John XXIII replied,‘Oh, about half!’

Holy Blackmail
How is your prayer life? Do you find it difficult to pray and do you approach God in the right way?

There was a young boy in the living room, with his parents. He got up and said, ‘I’m going to bed now and I’m going to pray. Is there anything anyone wants?’

Are our prayers like a shopping list? Another boy, at Christmas time, asked God to send him a new BMX bike. His mother corrected him and said he should not ask God for things just to satisfy his own desires. Next day, she was dusting in the lounge, and noticed that a figure was missing from the nativity scene. A note lay beside it which said, ‘Jesus: if you want to see your mother again, you had better give me a BMX bike!’

Do you try to blackmail God? ‘If you do this for me, ‘I’ll do good things which will please you.’

If our prayer life is to be meaningful and fruitful, we need to be Spirit filled and led in prayer by the Holy Spirit of God. And remember: it’s good to talk, but it’s also good to listen.
Derek Ackroyd

We never gain anything by driving hard bargain with God

Indonesia – an update
On 30 January, 648 Christian refugees reached safety after fleeing from horrific experiences of mass ‘forced conversion’ on their own Island. In practice, forced conversion means ‘become a Muslim, or we kill you.’

The refugees were reported to be in good health, but in need of clothing and medicine. Praise God that many Christians who were forcibly converted to Islam have since been re-baptised.

Please pray for these people¾and the thousands who have yet to escape. And pray for the perpetrators of these atrocities, as they witness the cour­age of the Christians they persecute.

Source: The Barnabas Fund

Book Review

Darwin’s Leap of Faith: exploring the false religion of evolution, John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Harvest House, 1998

Perhaps an odd choice of book this month! This fascinating study deals in some depth with the science behind the theories of evolution. It was written by two Christians – one a theologian and the other a philosopher. For this reason, the quantity of scientific lan­guage has been kept to a bare minimal: it’s not been written for a scientific readership, but for Christians who feel uneasy about evolution, and want to explore and express their faith in creation. It will also be useful to those who wish to share their faith, and are lost for words when con­fronted by those who say, ‘But surely evolution has disproved the Bible?!’

We teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in schools and colleges, but in fact evolution is still only a theory and, as such, has neither been proved nor can it be. This book seeks to show the principal flaws in the evolution debate. It’s divided into three parts: ‘evo­lution and the modern world’; ‘evolution and the politics of science’, and ‘evolution and the evidence.’ It carefully traces the history of the evolution debate, showing how and when the theory started to be taken as fact, for example showing how the desire to gain funds for research has generated hype and intolerance. But it also shows how it requires more faith to hold on to evolution than to follow the traditional creation accounts in the Bible. To this end, there is much objective evidence.

An interesting read, and contains excellent ‘ammunition’ for the evan­gelist! Arthur Schawlow, winner of the Nobel prize for Physics said, when confronted by the marvels of life and the universe, ‘The only possible answers are religious.’

Two Archbishops died. When they reached the pearly gates, St Peter ushered them into a waiting room. After kicking their heels for about an hour, a pretty young girl arrived and was ushered straight in. At this, their graces protested loudly, asking why such a youngster should get such preferential treatment over men of their standing.

St Peter looked at them sternly, and said, ‘That young girl has just crashed her sports car, which she learnt to drive a year ago. Gentlemen: in that short length of time, she has put the fear of God into more people than your graces have in the whole of your lives.’

Fun Pages:

Light’ in the Bible

1. What is the first mention of light in the Bible ?

2. When did Jesus appear to be as bright as the sun?

3. What sort of light did Jesus claim to be?

4. When and why did the sun stand still in the sky?

5. Who glowed after being in the presence of God?

6. When and why did the Temple in Jerusalem contain light?

7. Why, after the second coming, will the New Jerusalem have no sun or moon?

Answers to fun pages

1. What is the first mention of light in the Bible?
At the beginning of the Bible, God said, ‘Let there be light’ (Genesis 1:3)

2 When did Jesus appear to as bright as the sun?
On Mount Tabor, Jesus was ‘transfigured,’ and became as dazzlingly bright as the sun (see Mark 9:2–13 or Luke 9:28–36)

3. What sort of light did Jesus claim to be?
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

4. W hen and why did the sun stand still in the sky?
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky over Gibeon, and did not go down till Joshua had defeated the army of the Amorites (Joshua 10:13)

5. Who glowed after being in the presence of God?
Moses ascended Mount Sinai to obtain the Ten commandments from God, ‘face to face.’ Later, when he descended, the Israelites saw how his face shone brilliantly (see Exodus 34:29–35)

6. When and why did the Temple in Jerusalem contain light?
When the Ark of the Covenant was brought into Solomon’s newly constructed Temple, the building was filled with ‘The Glory of God.’ It was so bright that no one could remain in the Temple (see 1 Kings 8:11)

7. Why will the New Jerusalem have no sun or moon?
Revelation 22:23 says, “The city had no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the lamb.”