Always!

I set out on my Christian journey in 1978 when I chose to put my trust and confidence in God, accepting what Jesus Christ had done on the cross as being relevant and important for me. That day there was no fanfare of trumpets or heavenly choir but that choice on my part, marked the beginning of a brand new life – forgiven for my past failures and mistakes – challenged to look forward to a fulfilled future with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Since then there have been many challenges, changes and encouragements as well as some failures and slips on my part – I am certainly a long way from perfection! However what I have discovered is that God is ALWAYS with me, ALWAYS working for my good, ALWAYS reliable and ALWAYS in a good mood!

There is a great Bible verse that I often think about – ‘that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’

• Although I chose him it was really He who first chose me!
• That first awareness of being drawn to God was Him working in my life.
• His work didn’t stop there at the point when I first trusted, He has continued to be at work in me!
• He has purpose and direction for me that I am pleased to rely on.
• Completion of this will only be reached when I join Him for eternity.

It’s the best choice I ever made – you can choose to!

tony@fcc

For the year ahead!

As I write, most people have packed away their Christmas decorations for another year. Whilst the decorations are put away, the essential message of Christmas will continue to be as relevant for us as ever. I am thinking about the angels’ anouncement at the birth of Jesus ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests’.

God’s favour and peace come to us through Jesus – and we haven’t earned it! His peace is like no other ..

• Peace with God through faith in his son Jesus Christ – forgiveness of sin, new life, hope, love and security.
• Peace within ourselves – nothing to prove to anyone because we are accepted by God and our significance comes out of our relationship with him.
• Peace with others – when we realise how much we have been forgiven by God that motivates us to chose to forgive others, with God’s help.
• Peace in all circumstances – we all face challenges in life but with God we can face them all with his strength and help.
• Peace with life – He will never leave us or forsake us (He says that not me!) and that includes all of this life and beyond!

As Jesus said ‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me’. Enjoy his peace in 2012! tony@fcc

Here’s a suggestion for Christmas!

It seems quite clear to me that Jesus hoped that his followers would make a positive difference in their circle of contacts and communities eg someone he healed was told to go back home and tell everyone what had happened; a Samaritan woman who had an amazing conversation with Jesus ran back to her village to tell others and many came to find out for themselves.

 Even during the present challenging economic times across the world, the weeks before Christmas will have focus on buying and receiving gifts if we can possibly afford it. We will be thinking about this in respect of our families and friends and perhaps neighbours and colleagues.

This is my suggestion for Christmas – how about thinking of one person who is not in your natural circle of contacts and get them a small gift which you will give to them just before Christmas. Leave it until they can’t buy you one in return because this is not giving to receive. Just tell them you were thinking about them and wanted to give them a small gift. If you are a follower of Jesus yourself you might also want to tell them that God loves them.

I did something like this last year for one person that I had never spoken to before and she was so grateful and touched. A friend of mine gave such a gift to someone who burst into tears so grateful to receive appreciation. In both cases it was only a small gift and we didn’t do it looking for a particular response – but both gifts carried a message of worth and value to the recipient.

So how about it this Christmas – how about we make a positive difference for someone we don’t really know? We could call it a ‘Christmas Difference’!  Let’s plan for it now – imagine if lots of us did it! tony@fcc

What about prayer?

Many people pray when they are under pressure – sometimes even trying to do a deal with God – eg ’if you help me out, I will go to church next week’!! The bible however suggests that prayer is a good thing to have at the centre of our lives because to pray includes both speaking to God and listening to him.

I have learnt over the years that there are various aspects to prayer. We can firstly pray ANYTIME and ANYWHERE – we don’t have to be in a ‘religious’ place or in a ‘religious’ position or at a ‘religious’ time, it is simply chatting/speaking/sharing with God and listening out for his reply to our heart and mind – what a great privilege to be able to pray about absolutely anything!

Secondly there is praying at SPECIAL TIMES  perhaps daily when we set aside a time to read from the bible, pray about what you read, and spend time in God’s presence enjoying him.

Thirdly there is praying WITH OTHERS TIMES when with other people we pray about issues we face, needs we are aware of, pray for one another and follow Holy Spirit’s leading.

Hey lets raise our game with prayer and enjoy! tony@fcc

 

What is our value?

What sets our worth as people? Is it our bank balance ? Is it the value of our home or how big or smart it is? Is it our career? Is it our qualifications, our appearance or intelligence? Is it the opinion others have about us? Does it depend on how successful we have been or how good a life we have lived so far? I suggest it is none of these things because I believe our true worth is based on God’s value of us.

Three things speak strongly of our worth (1) We are all made in the image and likeness of God (2) God gave his son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for each one of us to give us a new start in life (3) God desires for each of us to become carriers of his Holy Spirit once we enter a relationship with him – God living in us.

To me it is amazing that regardless of my life experience God values me and you hugely – TODAY! It doesn’t depend on us working harder, becoming a better person, passing more exams or anything else – He loves us and offers us his life through faith in Jesus Christ and as we believe in him and receive his new life, his Holy Spirit comes to live in us. What a great offer TODAY – let’s receive and celebrate! tony@fcc

Take a few minutes ….

How about you take a few minutes to read these words from the Bible – you may be familiar with them or perhaps not – but read them on the basis that this is God’s encouragement for You PERSONALLY today?

‘O Lord you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I go from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast’

If your life is too busy, if you are uncertain about the future, unsure about how you can keep going, feeling lonely or rejected, lacking peace, overcome with worry – these words are for you. Can I suggest you read them over a few times and put your life in God’s hands yet again – and expect to receive new confidence that you do not face life alone and through trusting in Him, you never will!!! tony@fcc

These words are taken from Psalm 139. The NIV Study Bible from Zondervan

Anyone can!!

Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting many people who thought that they were far beyond any chance of living a life that had some meaning, significance and purpose. They thought they had …

* slipped too far

* been too bad

* left it too late

* hurt too much

* and a hundred other reasons!

But when it comes to having a fresh start, the truth is that ANYONE CAN! The whole purpose of God sending Jesus to live, die and live again was to provide us with the opportunity to put the past behind once and for all, receive forgiveness, find a new purpose for living and the means to live it.

This could be your new start day. If so click on the contact page of this Church website, send a message to me telling me that you are wanting a new start through faith in Jesus Christ and I will respond to you with encouragement and point you in the right direction. God bless tony@fcc

Facing difficulties …

One thing is for sure – we all face difficulties and challenges in life and they are often totally unexpected!

The Bible offers us help to deal with these times and situations eg ‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’ (Philippians 4 verses 12-13).  This was the experience of a man named Paul who says that his trust in God had made a massive difference when times had been tough.

For me it makes a huge difference that Paul himself had experienced some really tough times – if you want to read about them look up 2 Corinthians 11 vereses 16 -29 – so this man knew what he was talking about! When he tells us that we can trust in God in hard situations then we can know without doubt that God has indeed helped him and will help us. What a great encouragement for when life catches us off guard!  Like Paul through faith in Christ Jesus we can give God our lives and pray trusting in his strengthening which will surely help us. Be encouraged; tony@fcc

Recently in Sri Lanka

Three of us from church have recently spent 13 days in Sri Lanka. We were visiting the country as two of us hadn’t been before, and we were also working with a church supporting extremely poor people, some of whom work as pickers on the many tea plantations.

We found the country to be a mixture of great beauty and considerable poverty; very often we were deeply moved in meeting poor families many of whom who live in appalling conditions. Raising families in almost derelict ‘homes’ with very little furniture and in many cases with hardly any income.

What a privilege then to be working alongside a church that was working hard to make a positive difference in the lives of these people, both through practical help and support as well as prayer and friendship.

It reminds us that our Christian faith should move us to help and serve those less well off than us! Jesus himself had a heart for the poor and needy. We have returned home with a firm commitment to continue to help this church in their work in Sri Lanka and also to be more alert to helping those in need who are nearer to us. What do you think? tony@fcc

Life

Looking around in bookshops recently I was struck by how many books there are in the section on self development/life coaching etc. It’s a good thing that people are getting more intentional about their lives I believe. I note however that Jesus had something to say on this as well because he said he had come so that people could have ‘life to the full’. I suppose in general terms we can either develop our potential with God in our picture or without God involved. This is a choice we all make for ourselves.

Personally I think it’s a good deal to have him involved – he has our best interests at heart, he can be trusted to guide us correctly, there are no limits with him, he knows us inside out yet is still for us, he is not put off by our failures/mistakes, he will never leave us and many of our dreams have their origin in him anyway.

Sounds a good deal to me – how about you?

tony@fcc