Talks

In this first part of our new mini series “Our Eternal Home”, Matt speaks to us about what the Bible authors tell us about death and what comes after.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honour at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Colossians 3 verses 1-2

Matt’s 4 Points to consider:
1) Mindset change: This Life is temporary: Billy Graham summarised it beautifully: “My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.”
2) Death is real and shouldn’t be taboo: It will happen to all of us sooner or later (unless Jesus comes back first). What if death is the beginning, not the end? It’s good to be aware of it: “Where you are, we once were. And where we are you soon will be.”
3) Death no longer has a sting: Being saved by Jesus, we have a certain hope that death is just a doorway “into the better” that Jesus prepares for us: “Death though it appears to be man’s greatest enemy, in the end proves to be his greatest friend!  I know it’s a shocking thought but it’s the ultimate liberation!” (David Oliver in “All About Heaven”)
4) Longing for Heaven: What would you answer to this question: Are you willing to stay but longing to go? OR: Are you longing to stay but willing to go? (David Pawson) Randy Alcorn puts it like this in his amazing book “Heaven”: “I’ve never been to heaven, yet I miss it.  Eden is in my blood.  The best things in life are souvenirs from Eden, appetisers of the new earth.  There are just enough of them to keep us going, but never enough to make us satisfied with the world as it is, or ourselves as we are.”

Matt encouraged us to read: 1 Corinthians Chapter 15.

Good morning Ashwood Family!
In the final of our “Summer Sundays” series Gareth and Rachael shared with us what it looks like for them to serve the Lord in their situation.

Rachael described how 20 years ago at the Grapevine Celebration (now called Awaken) she felt inspired by God to respond to his “calling” on her life, as she read the words of the prophet Isaiah.  Her response “Here I am send me!”
Serving God for Rachael finds her in the classroom bringing God’s kingdom to the lives of the children.

What does it mean to serve God in Education?
Striving for excellence for all children.  Helping to meet their holistic needs.
Hospitality in the classroom - All children to feel welcomed, valued, safe and appreciated – and have fun!
Being a role model for the children – Demonstrating truth and positivity, resolving issues with patience and kindness (And other fruit of the Spirit) Modelling compassion and love!
Prayer – So important!
We prayed together for everyone involved in education.  So many challenges faced these days!  Lord Jesus would you give all those people involved in our education system, extra grace, kindness, resilience and courage. May they bear your image and bring your love to every child in their care. Amen!

Gareth explained that he serves the Lord firstly in the HOME as a husband, a father and a son.  He then described his several roles all connected to football and what it means to serve God in such a competitive environment.

Gareth told a great story of when he was younger and he and his brother met someone in the street who asked them a question: “Who do thou belong to?” (in other words “Who are you parents?”) When Gareth gave the answer the person said “you must be good at football then!” because the family had a reputation in the town!  Gareth explained that it’s so important that we know “who we belong to”.  We are “Children of God” which impacts every area as we seek to serve him!

He outlined his philosophy – serving God in the coaching / sporting environments:
Serve – In the same way that Jesus did. “Foot washing” with kindness and compassion.
Inspire – inspire his players and colleagues to build their lives on a solid foundation.
Drive – Sometimes “tough love” discipline and even correction is required!  “I want the best for you! Not just average!
Unite – Remember there’s something bigger than just us!

In the third of our Summer Sundays, Linda and Denny told us how they serve the Lord in their daily living.

Linda who is a nurse highlighted 3 areas by giving us examples in her everyday working life::
Rely on God
Be kind and empathetic. Gal 5:22-23
Be dedicated to your work
Ending her talk, Linda left us with three quotes:
Brighten the corner where you are. Matthew Chapter 5 verse 16
Leave a legacy behind. How would you want to be remembered?
“Aspire to inspire before you expire.” Eugene Bell Jr
Denny started with an opening verse “Serve the Lord with Gladness”. Psalm 100 verse 2 and gave us a few pointers as to how we can represent Jesus at Work (actually good advice whether our “work” is out or at home):
Don’t complain
Watch your language
Encourage others
Pray for your co-workers
Shut down conversations that are centred around gossip or just walk away
In everything you do, do it as a form of worship unto God
And above all: “Give thanks in all ;circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

How do you serve the Lord?

To hear the full inspirational talks and personal stories, please click on the button below:

In the fourth of our wonderful Summer Sundays, Alice and Janet told us how they serve the Lord in their daily lives.

Alice works in a charity, supporting survivors of domestic abuse and is not allowed to talk about Jesus at her work place.
Does that stop her from spreading Jesus’ love around her? Not at all!
Alice highlighted three areas in which she brings her passion for justice and people in through her work.
Justice: More than 2000 scriptures in the bible talk about justice and calling us to address injustice, one of them is in Isaiah 1:17: ‘Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed’.
Kindness: John 15:12 says: ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’ and Mark 12:31: ‘…Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ Don’t just be kind with your actions and words, It starts with our attitude.
Prayer: And last but not least, pray for your workplace and for the people in it.

Janet gave her talk the title “I didn’t see that coming!”.
When Janet realised as a teenager that being a Christian had more to do with a relationship with Jesus than following traditions, her life changed. She took the verse in Matthew 6:33-34 (ESV) to heart and has learned to live it out ever since:
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 
Over the years, Janet has learned to look to God, not the lack in her life. If Jesus said “do it”, then it must be possible. Having an open attitude to what God’s doing and little nudges has led her into many experiences and situations that she hasn’t seen coming. She encouraged us to have a listening ear, a loving heart and a readiness to pray. Then just be you and see what God can do!

What an amazing Sunday! Led by “Elevate” - our amazing Young People!
Katie Hay and Maisy Bell inspire us with how they “serve the Lord” in their lives following our Summer theme from Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my home, we will serve the Lord.”

Katie highlights 2 areas how she shares her faith:
1) Don’t overlook the small things!  A comment to someone, or a post on social media can make a difference in people’s lives.  David was only small but he killed Goliath! Sometimes small things can make a massive difference!
2) Share your faith with friends and in youth ministry. People cannot believe in Jesus unless they hear about Him. (see Romans 10:14&17)
In both areas she said: “Stay excited about your faith as you serve the Lord!” Romans 12:11

Maisy tells us how serving God in everything leads to breakthrough. She shares a great example of how things have changed in her School in the last couple of years.
First, Maisy and Esther (her sister) were allowed to start a Christian Union in School, then they were allowed to bring a Message Trust team into the school to speak to 400 children and only this week they just received the go ahead to bring them back for a large event in the autumn! Praise God! 
In Romans 12:1-2 (Message paraphrase) we read: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Maisy explained how she puts this into practice in some really practical ways: Bible verses stuck on the walls in her room remind her of God and His love daily and a scrap book where she lists bible verses that speak into specific situations.

How do you serve the Lord?

Sam Hay and Phil Lakin kick off our Summer Sundays Talks!  They are linked to the bible verse in Joshua 24:15:
“.. as for me and my house, (or HOME) we will serve the Lord.”  How do I serve the Lord in my situation?

Sam Hay works in Retail and he has 3 things that “serving the Lord” in his context looks like.
Pray! -  For those around us: Pray for fruitful conversations and Pray over specific people (Sam said he prays for his colleagues, superiors and even customers!)
Whatever we do – do it well! Colossians 3 verse 23 says: ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters’
Don’t limit the space to where you work! God puts us in a certain place, at work, at home, in school etc.. Even with our feet set, we can still reach!. Be God’s light wherever He has placed you.

Phil Lakin shares how he has learned to trust the Lord over the years and that God could use him whatever the circumstances were.
He learned that we don’t have to be somewhere specific to serve the Lord best, we can do it right where we are. It doesn’t need to be hard either: God has given us gifts He wants us to use and enjoy doing so. Phil had to learn to trust the Lord and be patient through anxiety and potential redundancy. Because Phil was forced into a new role, God could open his eyes to areas he was blind to before, which allowed him to serve in many new ways. If we let God work in us and through us, we can grow and change the world around us too!

It is “ECO Sunday” in Ashwood Church.  As a church we believe that we face a climate emergency, and we want to play our part to encourage individuals to respond and we consider the impact our decisions make too.

In the meeting, Jono talks to us about climate change and how we can be good stewards of the world God has given us to look after: The Lord God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Gen2:15

When we look around and listen to the local and global news, it is clear that we have broken a lot. For example, there is water scarcity in some areas and at the same time floods in others. Jono gives us a list of ideas what we could do to help improve things:

Litter picking (even without the guarantee that it won’t look the same again the next day)
Tree planting (choose the right one for the right spot because if you don’t, it can be more harmful than helpful)
Pension Fund change to a more ethical option
Replace your broken phone with a refurb phone
Buy clothes from Vinted, eBay or charity shops and avoid fast fashion
Turn the heating down in your home
Grow your own and waste less food
Smart holidays
Reuse, recycle, reduce, repair
Some of these options don’t just support the planet, but also your wallet. Jono encouraged everyone to consider taking action.  (We understand many people already do a great deal.)  Will you take action?

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it and all who live in it. Psalm 24

BIG thanks to Jono for being our “Climate Champion” and helping us to be informed about what we can do to make a difference on this vitally important topic.

What a joy to have Joe Gisbey with us!  It is so good to hear all the feedback on how our financial giving has made a difference in Malawi and also to have Joe bring a challenging message from God for us too!

Joe speaks about the “11th Commandment”

In John 13:31-35 Jesus says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”  In our world we’re always looking for the next “new” thing! When Jesus said He was going to give the disciples something “new” they might have been excited to learn of this “new” thing only to find that it didn’t seem “new” at all!!  “Love one another” was something Jesus had said often.
The thing that WAS new and also radical too, was that Jesus explained that they (and now “we”) should love one another “like He has loved us.” Jesus loved his disciples through all the tensions, and challenges of everyday life. And they had experienced that, however, they were about to see Jesus’ final and ultimate expression of love (AGAPE love!) as Jesus would be tortured, and hung on the cross.  His commandment was to “love” each other with THAT kind of love!  Wow!  “That’s impossible Jesus!”

In Matt 5:43-48 in the sermon on the mount, Jesus had already spoken about loving not just the people we like, but even loving our enemies!! And being “perfect – like our Father in Heaven!”  That also sounds impossible Jesus!!

We could say that Jesus gives an 11th commandment (“Love one another”) to 11 disciples. (We know that Judas had already left the room.) Numbers are important in the Jewish tradition, they have significance.
For example: 10 is the number of the divine order.  12 is the number of governance
11 represents CHAOS. It’s in the midst of chaos, the lack of order, when all goes wrong that Jesus wants us to love. Love isn’t dependent on simply agreeing with each other, and loving those people we get on with, it goes much deeper. The activity of loving begins right here with us and the person next to us.
When the temple curtain tore down the middle, it symbolised that God was changing His address! He wouldn’t live in the temple anymore, He wanted to make His HOME in the hearts of His people.  So, today, we are now the dwelling place of God!
Miracles and healing are just a side act of the flowing AGAPE love, flowing from us, the people and the home of God.
How are you challenged to “love one another” more?  Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to give us the compassion, kindness, patience and love we need to do it.

In the fifth part of our Romans Series, Claire talks to us about the ridge of Freedom.
In the context of praying for the General Election, Claire starts by surmising what the apostle Paul might be campaigning for! She says Jesus’ campaign would have “FREEDOM” at the heart of his manifesto!!
The Gospel (Good news) means that in Christ, we live a new life of freedom. In God’s amazing Grace we are justified (declared righteous in the sight of God). This freedom is not based on our performance but on God’s righteousness.
The question Paul is asking in these chapters (Romans 6 & 7) If salvation is dealt with by Christ, then does it matter if I continue to sin? Maybe it doesn’t matter! Certainly not! Paul says in one translation: What a ghastly thought! We’ve been saved by God, so that we don’t have to live any longer bound by our sin and our sinful desires.  Paul is saying that we can (and should) now live a life of Freedom.

What does it look like to live a life of freedom?  In Romans 6-7, Paul compares the story of salvation to the story of the Israelites’ journey from Slavery into the promised land. The blood of the Passover lamb brought the Israelites deliverance. In the same way. the blood of Christ can give us freedom today. The Israelites walked through the waters of the river Jordan to come out on the other side. In a similar picture, we can be baptised in water as a sign that we have been freed of the bondage and shackles of sin by the grace of God. Just like the Israelites who had to learn to live in freedom after they crossed the river Jordan, we need to know the truth so that we can also live in freedom. (Many people understand they are free but don’t live out their freedom.) What is it that we need to know?
My identity has fundamentally changed through my union with Christ in baptism.
I am no longer a slave! I BELONG TO GOD!
Sin is no longer my master! My old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ.
We can say with conviction: I am dead to sin and live in Christ!

The peace that the Apostle Paul talks about in the book of Romans is not a warm fuzzy feeling or just a quiet moment without emails and children!
Real biblical peace is knowing we are justified, meaning that things are realigned and we are right with God and in relationship with him.
In Rome they had ‘Pax Romana’… peace gained by bloodshed and war, but our peace is gained by Jesus’ bloodshed. He stepped in and took the guilty verdict for us. This judge doesn’t send us away once the verdict is spoken but stays with us, stays involved and allows us into his presence, access to His grace and peace.

In Romans 5: 1-5 we read that peace is not dependent on our circumstances, that we can also have peace in the middle of suffering and trouble. It produces perseverance and hope and it transforms our experience of hardship and difficulty because we know that God is in it with us.  Our salvation is signed sealed and delivered but is also ongoing.

Standing on the truth that we are justified gives us peace. Following Jesus is what helps us to hold on to peace.

Have we understood that we are justified in Christ and made right with God through Jesus?
Are there ways you can share your story with someone this week?
Keep praying, and give things to God, this is the key to peace.

Let’s pray daily:

Holy Spirit Come….
I want To know Christ more than I do
and I want to be more like Christ than I am