Purpose and rewards

My latest ebay disaster arrived through the post yesterday. I ordered a pair of size 8 school shoes for my six-foot teenage son for £23, a bargain, I thought. In my defence, they looked quite big in the picture. It was a complete surprise when they arrived and I discovered that they were actually infant size 8 and a reasonable fit for Connor’s big toe. Not my best bargain-hunting.

I had thought I would save not only money but also time, that most precious commodity, but failed dismally on both. There was definite potential for grumpiness but Trev came in and roared with laughter at my expense and I had no choice but to join in.

It wasn’t really ever a serious problem but it reminded me that the end of our Christian story is not tears, but laughter. The tears all get wiped away and joy is at the end of the journey. As CS Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” All will be made well.

Brian Hedges has a wonderful chapter on joy in his book, “Christ Formed in You”, which we highly recommend. In it, he describes the common error of setting our so-called Christian duty against the attraction of sin, as if following God was a lesser joy. Jesus unashamedly proclaims himself to be the greatest treasure, the greatest reward and the greatest joy. If we make him less, we will immediately make sin greater. CS Lewis writes, “The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself ... We are told to deny ourselves and take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised to us in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak … We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

How much more willingly and enthusiastically we will seek God when we grasp that there are wonderful rewards in finding him. The second great fruit of the Spirit is joy. We can expect joy to be a marker of our lives when we know Jesus, the great joy-giver. We can expect rewards from seeking God. Indeed, we must expect rewards, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)

There is always more. My problem is that I too quickly lose sight of the treasure I have in Christ. It’s often easier to lapse into passivity or busyness and to stop living life in expectation of all God has for us. Trevor spoke last week about living life on purpose so that we don’t miss God’s adventure for us. He quoted Rick Warren from “The Purpose Driven Life” - “If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in your life as you begin to live it on purpose.”

Trev also told the story of Mary Hobson who I recently heard interviewed on Radio 4. At the age of 56, Mary had a couple of weeks in hospital and took the opportunity to read “War and Peace”. She was so taken by Tolstoy’s world that she determined to learn Russian. At the age of 62, she decided to study in earnest and go to university. She was terrified of starting as a mature student, but nonetheless she went for it. As part of her degree, she had to abandon the comforts of home to take up residence in a hostel in Russia along with all the other twenty-somethings who were studying with her. Undaunted, she obtained her degree and went on to write an outstanding translation of “War and Peace”, winning the Pushkin Prize for translation. She was awarded her PhD when she was 74 and now, in her mid-eighties, she is learning ancient Greek. What an encouragement that it is never too late and what an example of the benefits of choosing fulfilment over comfort.

There is always more for those who press on and live life on purpose. I know it changes how I live when I set my eyes on the prize. David set his heart towards God as his very great reward because he could speak of “God, my exceeding joy” (Ps 43:4 ESV). That’s a verse worth meditating on. May you know today that God is your exceeding joy.

Kate Patterson

What is marriage?

The debate on the nature of marriage has been everywhere in the press recently with the Government announcing its consultation process on the subject. What does the Bible says on the subject and how as Christians should we respond?

 
In Genesis 2:24 we read how God ordained marriage … "For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh". Jesus and Paul both echo this verse in their teaching on marriage. The clear and consistent message of the Bible is that from the beginning of time God ordained marriage to be a lifelong union publicly celebrated between a man and a woman; it is a union of deep love, commitment and intimacy. Within marriage the gift of sex is the most intimate physical expression of the couple’s love and the means of procreation.

I have felt challenged to consider how Holy Trinity can be a church that affirms both marriage and singleness. Kate has been reading Lauren Winner’s book Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity, which describes brilliantly how both marriage and singleness are designed to reveal God. She writes ‘Marriage and singleness remind us of and resonate with different moments in God’s relationship with his people. As St John Chrysostom wrote, marriage “is the image of heaven” and celibacy is the image of the kingdom “where there is no marriage”.’

The Bible affirms both marriage and singleness, making no provision for gay marriage. Jesus was counter cultural in many areas; He made great efforts to include and welcome those regarded as outsiders in Jewish society, eg. women and Gentiles. But there is no evidence of Jesus affirming a marriage-like union between a man and a man or a woman and a woman.

Some will try to argue that the Government only wants to change the law for civil marriage and thus religious groups could continue to define marriage as they wish. The truth is, though, that throughout history in virtually every society marriage has always been the union of a man and a woman. Should we change this definition now simply to satisfy a Western liberal agenda? Marriage is marriage and is ordained by God, whether the term Christian is attached to it or not.

The Coalition for Marriage, an umbrella group of individuals and organisations in the UK that supports traditional marriage and opposes any plans to redefine it, has established an informative website and online petition on the subject. I strongly recommend you look at it. On its front page among other things it explains the consequences of redefining marriage and why there is no need to do so.

What are some of the consequences of redefining marriage? To quote the Coalition for Marriage …

'…those who believe in traditional marriage will be sidelined. People's careers could be harmed, couples seeking to adopt or foster could be excluded, and schools would inevitably have to teach the new definition to children. If marriage is redefined once, what is to stop it being redefined to allow polygamy?’

And why is there no need to redefine marriage?

‘Civil partnerships already provide all the legal benefits of marriage so there's no need to redefine marriage. It's not discriminatory to support traditional marriage. Same-sex couples may choose to have a civil partnership but no one has the right to redefine marriage for the rest of us.’

So what should we do? It is very easy to feel pushed by the press and ‘public opinion’ to accept change because of the strength of a particular agenda and for fear of being ridiculed. But, it is vital if we feel strongly about particular issues to speak up because there will be consequences for society if we simply stay quiet. On this issue, a public consultation on the proposals to redefine marriage has been launched. Although the Government says it is determined to press ahead regardless, the consultation provides an opportunity for members of the public to say they do not agree with redefining marriage. So please pray and if you agree, act, speak up and sign the petition on the website I mentioned.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount … “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men" (Matthew 5:13). One of the functions of salt in the ancient world was to preserve meat. Christians are called to bring the light and love of Christ to the world, to honour those in authority, but also to hold them accountable to govern in a Godly manner, preserving Christian principles. When those in Government throw off Christian values all of society will suffer.

Trevor Patterson

A New Beginning

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from Gerry Stride, one of our Churchwardens ... 

As I write this on Easter Monday, I’m reminded of something that popped onto my computer screen a little while ago. I can’t recall the exact words but it was advising me to clear my trash box. It reminded me of my family’s traditional Easter Monday clear up.

My father would disappear into his study and systematically work through piles of papers. For a time the room seemed to get progressively messier as papers became rubbish, strewn all over the floor prior to being bagged up and put into the dustbin - we didn’t have recycling in those days. Mission complete and he’d relax into an armchair with, at one time, his newly acquired pipe, a gift from Dutch friends. There was just one difficulty with the pipe and that was that he could never light it; the pile of spent matches increased and the cloud of smoke built up around him until eventually, and to my mother’s relief, he’d give it up as a bad job.

Why did clearing up become such an annual occurrence? Possibly because it’s a good idea to have the occasional sort out, but also Easter does seem to mark a new beginning. Easter is a time to celebrate and yesterday at our evening service we celebrated in style with helium filled balloons, party poppers and wonderful worship. Jesus is alive and we have transforming resurrection power. What better time than this to clear out the old and make way for the new!

It occurred to me just how dejected those first disciples were when their friend and champion was crucified. The one who believed in these simple fishermen, who gave them hope and a purpose, was no longer around. Had they been under some delusion to have trusted him so? What was it about him that drew them? And then he was taken away from them in death.

No wonder it took some time for the truth to sink in, on that first day of the week, that he was no longer dead. He was alive! The disciples were soon to discover that the power that transformed their friend from death, bringing him to life, would also transform them. They’d no longer be fishermen but fishers of men. They would preach, teach, heal and bless, just as their leader had done. How? ‘With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all’. (Acts 4:33)

My prayer is that this Easter season we too may know the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10)

Gerry Stride

What's more exciting than a DVD box set?

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from Ellie Hughes, who leads the work of Riverbank Trust ... 

I’ve been particularly challenged this Lent as I’ve endeavoured to forego my slight addiction to DVD box sets. It would probably be worrying to count up the number of hours I’ve spent over the last few years investing in a fictional American government and worrying about whether they will survive the latest scandal, but this Lent I gave it a shot and lasted well into 3 and a half weeks before succumbing to its political charms. The revelation that has interested and humbled me during my not so strict fast is this - my heart’s own capacity to hide and numb itself in absolutely anything despite the opportunity to draw near to God, experience His love and be everlastingly changed by it. Seriously, I even took up Sudoku.

It’s becoming increasingly easy and attractive to shut our eyes and ears to the cries of our community and nation, and satisfy ourselves with the daily things of life. It always makes me think of the atheist advertising campaign that asserts: “there’s probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life”, and makes me wonder, if a stranger looked at my life, at the things I choose to care about - would it reflect that phrase?

Because the problem with that pithy phrase is this: Stop worrying? Enjoy life? We currently live in a nation that has approximately 3.8 million children living in poverty, where 70% of all crime is drug and alcohol related, where an estimated 2 million young people have been or are suffering sexual abuse, where 10% of children deliberately self-harm and where at least one in every 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. We live in a world where 1.2 million children are trafficked every year, which averages out to 2 a minute, and their average age is just 14, a world where EVERY DAY 4000 children die of diarrhoea because they don’t have access to clean water.

Now keep reading, because otherwise this just makes for depressing reading. What makes it not so?

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

It strikes me that we live in a land, in a world and in a time that so desperately needs healing, where the need for the truth of God’s word, of His love and hope and conviction, has never been more relevant. We live in a community that experiences a significant amount of the issues outlined above, and this Easter I want to be an individual and part of a community that humbles ourselves, prays and seeks the face of God so that He may come and heal our land. So come and join us for Holy Trinity’s Week of Prayer beginning this Monday (2 April) and continuing every day at 9.30am and 7.30pm, culminating in our amazing Night of Prayer on Maundy Thursday. I guarantee it’ll be more exciting than a box set …

Ellie Hughes

The best is yet to come!

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from our Operations Manager, Keith Nurse ... 

I was looking back recently at several photos I took last year, including some from a couple of days I spent in Dorset at the start of October. I don’t know if you can remember back to then, but we had a few days of wonderfully warm and sunny weather, a genuine Indian summer. In the space of my short trip I managed to watch a sunset over Poole Harbour and a sunrise from the same place accompanied by the stillness of autumn morning mistiness, as well as enjoying a couple of walks along the spectacular Jurassic coast. It was remarkable to be able to sit 600 feet above sea level, soaking up stunning panoramic views over land and sea, and still be out in shirtsleeves so late in the year. 

Times like this are a clear and tangible reminder to me that God is a God of love who takes delight in giving us so much to enjoy. Although life often brings challenges, there are also times when we are blessed in a whole variety of ways by things that happen to us, the actions of other people and the hand of God. And when this happens it’s tempting to wonder whether life can really get any better. Yet they are just a shadow, a brief and imperfect glimpse of what life will be like in the future, because one of God’s promises to those who know and love Him is the gift of eternal life.

This Lent lots of us at church are reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, a book of 40 short chapters designed to help us answer life’s most important question - What on earth am I here for? Early on in the book, Rick reminds us that life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the main production:

When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and you realise that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently … Suddenly many activities, goals, and even problems that seemed so important will appear trivial, petty and unworthy of your attention … When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or achievements or even fun. Your priorities are reordered.

So while we rightly soak up God’s goodness to us in so many ways and celebrate what’s great about life here on earth, the remarkable thing is that it’s just the opening credits for the main production. And when life seems full of disappointment, sadness and pain, we can have an unshakeable hope that there will be a time when all these things will end and we will enjoy eternity with God. But let’s make sure along the way that we’re storing up treasure in heaven, investing our time and energy in things that really count, in what will last for ever. 

Keith Nurse

Passing on the Passion

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from our Youth and Childen's Minister, Erin Gilmour ...

I have recently been trying to read through the Old Testament and following the story of Joshua. I am now reading the book of Judges. At first I thought to myself, "I am never going to understand this, I am no theology student", but as I was reading I came across something really interesting and challenging!

After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel.

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths" (Judges 2:6-13)

Look around you today. Do you think our young people know the Lord?

No?

Well we need to tell them!

On Sunday I shared this with our church. I said that whether we have children or not we have a responsibility to pass on our passion.

 
If we don’t open our hearts and share the wonderful things God is doing in us we will leave a generation behind who "knew neither the LORD nor what he had done". I am sure this is NOT what we want!

When I was sitting thinking about it I realised that the reason I love rugby is because of my Dad and Grandfather. The passion that they have when they watch Ireland play has passed onto me!

This is the same with God; when children see the passion we have for God it catches!!

We are the ones who need to make the change NOW,so that the generations after us will know and love God! 
 

Erin Gilmour

Cross Talk

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from our Pastoral Coordinator, Sheena Marx ...

I must admit that I do a great deal of talking - a fact supported by many I am sure!

One of my desires this year is that I would ‘talk’ the Cross ... I am constantly being reminded that my talk has no power, my words change nothing and no one. But Cross Talk is potent, power-filled, and inhabited by the Spirit of God. I want to talk the Cross, the redeeming, healing Cross, where lives are made new.

Speaking of the Cross is speaking directly into peoples’ lives - scripture meeting messy, broken, pain-filled lives. Cross Talk is where life and scripture meet. Cross-less Christianity is where many are entrenched because they have not experienced the true love and transformation there is at the Cross and how it impacts our lives on a daily basis.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no recovery at the Cross. Recovery is where surgeons put you after an operation; the Cross is where we put ourselves and take others. What we receive there is so much more than recovery, which implies self-improvement. At many recovery and self-help meetings Cross Talk is not allowed; the onus is on self and the strength of our will to bring about change.

One of the central themes of Christianity is that God wants us to be transformed into a new creation in Christ Jesus. Our transformed self looks nothing like our old self; we are completely different to what we were and open to all we are becoming. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to recover my old self!

The Cross changes everything! In our own strength we may or may not recover; surrendering to Christ at the Cross we are transformed. Cross Talk is transforming talk using The Word that has power to heal, restore, forgive, free ... But more than that, we take people to the Cross as we speak words of life to them, sharing the Gospel - the Good News - because at the Cross people are transformed by power and grace. This is no Happy Place to go to in your head! The Cross is a real place, a place of salvation, transformation, grace, peace, healing, freedom and so much more! Talk the Cross! 
 

Sheena Marx

Musical refreshment

Trevor and Kate continue on their sabbatical, so this time we hear from our Worship Pastor, Will Jackson ...

Greetings all! I have been given the privilege of writing the blog entry this time around and have decided, for your benefit, to stick to what I know: music. So here are a few music recommendations, both Christian and secular.

To kick us off I’ve been thoroughly enjoying last summer’s Soul Survivor album: We Are The Free. There are always some great songs to bring back to the worshipping life of Holy Trinity whenever we go to the festival in Shepton Mallet and last summer’s was no exception. This is a great album to use for your own personal worship as it’s live and so you get a real sense of the Spirit’s leading as the album journeys through. You’ll instantly recognise some of the tunes as ones that we are already using in church and this album’s energy is sure to get you bouncing.

Next up is Rend Collective Experiment’s Homemade Worship For Hand Made People. I really love this album for its organic feel and the approach they took to recording where they decided against going into the studio, instead using each other’s homes for all of it. Click here for the story of the album in their own words. Their version of Be Thou My Vision will have you jigging around in joyful abandon whenever you hear it.

Trevor and Kate have been over to Bethel Church in Redding recently during their sabbatical and Bethel’s latest worship offering is an acoustically inspired, live worship set called The Loft Sessions. Similarly to Rend Collective’s album it has a real sense of a community coming together to worship and there is something really inviting and powerful about that. If you’re looking for an album with a little less ‘noise’ but with a really good heart then look no further. The stripped back version of One Thing Remains is an inspired take on a song that has been everywhere over the last couple of years and has challenged me to look for interesting arrangements and new and fresh sounds for our worship here at HTR.

And to finish off, not worship related but here are some artists I’ve been enjoying recently. James Vincent McMorrow’s album Early in the Morning was a huge hit last year and launched him from nowhere to now being fairly well known and his cover of Steve Winwood’s Higher Love has been used recently on a LoveFilm advert and is hauntingly beautiful. There’s a throwback to the seventies with Rotary Connection’s album Dinner Music (1970). For those of you unfamiliar to Rotary Connection, they formed in Chicago in 1966 and proceeded to produce some fantastic psychedelic soul music. Minnie Riperton, who had some short-lived success later in life as a solo artist, before her tragic death in 1979, was in the band and their 1970 offering broadened the band’s horizons with some folk and country influences being married together with their more electronic sound. You might enjoy this if you liked Bon Iver’s latest self-titled album. 
 

Will Jackson

Rise up and build

Trevor and Kate are on a sabbatical at the moment, so in the coming weeks different people will be blogging instead. David Cooke, who is a prolific blogger in his own right, kicks us off here ...

I gave a copy of Donald Miller's 'A thousand miles in a million years' to a friend. They texted me this having read it. 'Fantastic - laughter, tears - you could have warned me ...' I tried to.

Good stories are important.

Now, are you old enough to remember the classic jean ads that Levi produced in the 1980's that made 501 the jean of choice? Sadly I am. I have ever since followed this brand's fortunes from a distance and how fashion seems to periodically look with favour on them. Jeremy Clarkson did at one point cause them an unfortunate sartorial dip. Why am I telling you about Levi's? Well, this post really moved me and I do recommend that you watch both films. We are preaching through Nehemiah which is all about rebuilding a city and this is a story of it intentionally starting to happen.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.”

(Nehemiah 2: 17-18)

These Levi films reminded me of the difference between a good story and a bad story. Donald Miller talks about this so profoundly and the joy it is to see a good one birthed from the bad. I hope I am in the birthing good stories business and I believe we can all be. Something resonated deep within me when I watched the story of Braddock and read Miller's book about the things that may lie ahead for us in 2012.

Maybe they will with you too.

David Cooke

Ebenezers

Our Worship Pastor occasionally sings a great hymn that contains the line, “Here I raise my Ebenezer”. It initially caused some consternation among my boys who had no idea what on earth we were singing. Just in case any of you are similarly perplexed, it refers to Samuel chapter 7 when Samuel set up a great big stone which he named Ebenezer - "the stone of help" - for he said "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!"

I often linger on my mistakes but God wants us to look not to our failures but His faithfulness. Just before Samuel raised up the Ebenezer, God’s people had really messed up, but the focus now is not on their mistakes but on God’s mercy. I am told that each member of AA deliberately reminds themselves of the last time they took a drink, not to remind themselves of failure but to be encouraged that they have stuck this long on the way of sobriety. Our past failures can loom up and overshadow a new year but God calls us to leave them behind - our memorial is not to our flaws but to the one who helps us.

The Ebenezer stone was a reminder of a God who wonderfully helps his people; they had disobeyed Him and hurled themselves into the hands of their enemies but when they cried out to God, He forgave them and rescued them, just as He always does. We are told that “the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.” If you were there, I would think it would be one of your most memorable moments - why would you need a stone?

The fact is that it’s easy to forget how God has helped us. I regularly do. There are moments that God’s presence is so tangible and His acts of kindness are so wonderful that I think I could never forget them, but the next day I have a nasty cold or too many odd socks to sort or hear some bad news that punctures my heart and I forget.

Samuel’s approach to the problem is solid and substantial, a boulder, probably not unlike one of the Stonehenge stones, a massive memorial to jog the memory of all the people. So what can we do to help us remember?

Years ago, I heard a New Year's Eve talk on this verse and ever since then I have ended my year by looking back to see how God has helped me and making a list that I keep. I’ve just put a picture of an Ebenezer stone on my phone to help me remember. Any other suggestions to prompt the faulty memory are welcome!

It is so good to look back and remember what God has done. It’s what we do every time we share the bread and wine. But it’s not only good to remember His great salvation acts on our behalf; it’s also good to remember the particular ways He has helped us. We are deeply thankful for the many ways God has helped us as a church. It’s great to look round HT and see new faces in the kingdom of God. There has been new impetus to reach out and we are excited that God has opened the door for us to plant a church in Barnes. Trevor and I have been encouraged by the generosity of our church family enabling growth and mission all year, right up to our big lunch on Christmas Day when bottles of bubbly wonderfully appeared for us to celebrate. Again on Christmas Day, we shared greetings from our partner church, St.Peter’s Wandegeye in Kampala and were reminded of how Karis Kids is making a difference there to the poorest of the poor. Here in Richmond, we are thrilled that this last year saw the foundation of Riverbank Trust, caring for vulnerable women. Writing this, I am so grateful to God because I could go on with example after example of the ways He has helped us …

Next week, Trevor and I go on sabbatical for three months. I’ve said to some of you that it feels a bit like handing over the kids to a babysitter; you know you need a night out but you love the kids and it’s not easy to leave them! We will be praying for you and would value your prayers for us that we would meet with God and be empowered for the next stage of ministry. Please pray for my wonderful mum and dad who will hold the fort at home with our boys when we are away, for good family time when we have some holiday and for Cookie as he takes the reins at HT.

I don’t know what each of us will face in the coming year but I pray that you will know God as your helper. 
 

Kate Patterson