Talks

What STILL Matters? Matt speaks about 4 more things in the last of this short mini-series. These were:
1) Integrity
Psalm 119:5 says: “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord”
Integrity can be described with the words: “Trust”, “Honesty” and “Consistency”. Whatever you do, ask yourself the question Matt’s grandma used to ask: “If you knew Jesus was watching you, would you still do it?”
2) Humility
The famous writer C S Lewis said: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”. Jesus who “... humbled himself to death on a cross…” shows us the ultimate example what it means to put others before ourselves.

3) Unity
We read in Psalm 133 ...“how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” and Paul commands us in Ephesians 4:3: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Unity is not conformity where we expect everybody to have the same opinion as us, but to live in harmony even when we do disagree and remain united – especially as church.
4) Remembering the Battle
Jesus said: “In this world you will have troubles”, so we shouldn’t be surprised when troubles and hard time come. We have an enemy - the devil who “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. He is the one who seeks to “steal, kill and destroy”.
However we don’t need to be afraid In 1 Peter 5:8-9 we are told to “stand firm against him and to be strong in our faith”. We can do that by putting on God’s armour as described in Ephesians 6:10-18.

The second part of our mini series is brought to us by Bob. He highlights three things that still matter today:

1) People
When God created the world, people were His last creation, His masterpiece. We read in Genesis that He created mankind in His own image. In Psalm 139, we can read in detail, how fearfully and wonderfully we are made.
God wanted fellowship with us humans, He wanted to walk and talk with us in the garden, but Adam and Eve (we!) messed it all up. And still, people matter enough to God that He sent His only son and we matter enough to Jesus to give His own life!
If you think that’s just true for others, read 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 and 27: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it.
People matter because God believes in you!

2) Justice
God was always a God of Justice! In the Old Testament, we read: What is it that the Lord requires of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
In the New Testament, Paul tells the Romans: Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Romans 12:9-13
And Jesus reminds us in the sermon of the mount: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

3) The Great Commission
We tend to think that to spread the Good News is the job of evangelists, but when Jesus said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20) He meant ALL of us! Whilst on our own we have limitations, if we choose to invest in others, nations can be changed!
Who could you invite to become part of God’s family?

Matt starts the New Year reminding us that whilst some things are not relevant in our lives anymore, others still matter:

1) God’s Presence
“The…supernatural call of God on our lives depends on the presence of God, if you get the presence of God, you won’t have any problem filling the place, because He is so attractive it saves all the marketing! Jesus is so unbelievably attractive, that when his presence comes, so does healing, so does joy, so does peace, so does his blessing in all sorts of ways, and you would have to be a mug not to be in the same room with Jesus! Everywhere He went, crowds of people followed him, he is so attractive, so what we want is the presence of God.”  Graham Cooke 1993

2) God’s Word
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”  Jesus in Matthew 24:35-36
Matt encouraged us to use one of the many available apps that help us read or listen to God’s word daily.

3) God’s Kingdom
So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Jesus in Matthew 6 verses 31-34

The Kingdom of God is something we long to see in full in the future, but we are already carrying it within us in and into this world:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

Christmas Day Service

Gill leads our Carol Service

What a great Sunday! Abby is doing an amazing job directing not only our wonderful children but also all the adults in participating in this year’s “Instant Nativity”. There is a lot of fun and laughter, and we are also reminded of how Jesus came to live among us.
We also welcome three special guests from Malawi who explain to us how our giving into our Special Christmas offering will make a difference to people in some of the villages in Malawi.

Bob continues our Christmas series “HOME at Christmas”. Jesus came to this world to make his HOME among us.

Can you relate to the feeling of wanting to stay in bed on a cold winter morning and not leave the warmth? We can love God’s presence when we are together, but we can’t stay in that place all the time.
Jesus wants us to go out into the community and share His story and our story with the people around us.

Bob suggests three things we can share with people:

What has God done in the past?
See Psalm 40. 1-4.  As followers of Jesus, we all have a story of what God has done in us and around us.
What would life look like if you didn’t yet know Jesus? Let’s allow that thought to inspire us and motivate us to share the Good News of God with those around us.

What is God doing in us in the present?
If you don’t know what God is doing in the present, ask Him and He will show you. Some of the things He’ll tell you might not be what you want to hear. He’s tackling the things we need to sort out in our lives. He has a plan for each of us to be active in the presence.

What are you hoping God will do in the future?
We want to see communities transformed! And people set free!
We know there is a home to come (Heaven), but there’s also a home here and now that we are called to invite people to come into the fullness of.

May we be encouraged to share with people what God has done, what he’s doing now and what he will do in the future.

On the first Sunday of Advent Matt launches our Christmas Season with a message entitled HOME… at Christmas!
The Gospel writer John explains the incredible news that God came to dwell among His people – what an incredible thought!
The NLT translation puts it like this:  “The Word became human and made his HOME among us.”

Matt talks about “incarnation” – the theological word that simply means “with flesh on” – and explains that this is one of the foundational mysterious miracles that underlines the Christmas story.  He mentioned Jack Groblewski’s Christmas book and shared this quote from it:
“There is a doctrine underlying Christmas, and it is foundational to everything that Christianity stands upon.  The name of that doctrine is “Incarnation”, the mystery through which God became man and yet remains both God and man!”

Matt then encourages us to take time during the season to stop to WONDER – both in the sense of “being curious” and also in “amazement” of what happened during the first Christmas.  “Jesus left the splendour of His Heavenly HOME so that He could make His HOME with us on earth.”  WOW!

God made His home among us, in Jesus over 2000 years ago – but He still wants to make His HOME in us today too!  (THEME of the YEAR!)

We pray for God’s Hope to fill us and also that we carry His Hope to those around us.

Gill continues our descent down the mountain to the very bottom - MISSION.
So much gold in this message.  If you missed it, grab a cuppa and click the link below and catch hold of the MISSION we are called to, which Paul encourages us through the words in Romans 15 and 16.  Gill reads from The Message paraphrase which starts like this…..

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

Gill refers to the culture of “one anothering” - serving each other, preferring one another. Being more like Jesus.  Mark 12:30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.

Gill challenges us on being a Church for those OUTSIDE of the Church.  How do we make our differences smaller?  Gill has an image of a “Glitter Ball” you see on a dance floor - how we represent all of the tiny mirrors which together reflect LIGHT which spreads out - WE SHINE OUTWARDS! Bringing God’s Kingdom near to those OUTSIDE!

Gill continues our descent down the mountain as she unpicked the clues that Romans chapters 13 and 14 give us about how to live in COMMUNITY.
The descent can be the most dangerous part of a mountain excursion as it is very easy to trip up. Climbing up is optional, but coming down is mandatory.

Paul who lived in a very different world to ours, (a cruel world under Nero) addressed the Roman church with incredibly wise and challenging words: “The authorities have been established by God. Just love and keep loving, Jesus is coming.”

There’s always a cost to radical Kingdom living. Here in the UK we are allowed to speak out against suffering, the cost to do that is relatively small compared to when Jesus went to the cross and hung on it willingly despite His power to change this at every given moment: That was the most powerful outliving of love ever!

Here, Paul is addressing Messianic Jews and converted gentiles who each had their ways. The same is true today in our Ashwood Church: We are a very diverse, glorious church and we all have our ways. We need to accept diversity to enhance our unity. Be who you are and let other people be who they are so we can all shine our individual colours together.

As described in the last chapter of Andrew Ollerton’s book: Some things like the good news of Jesus being the way and to accept Him as our saviour as the way to our salvation we should hold tightly: these are the things that hold us together.

Other things like whether we should wear hats or not, have loud or quiet worship etc. we should hold lightly: these are things that don’t really matter.

Gill’s message earlier in the year about “one-anothering” fits perfectly with today’s message. If we learn to “one-another” well, we can shine our light.