Little Paxton - become empty, be filled

We were challenged to think about how Jesus always had compassion on people. We tend to discriminate between 'good' and 'bad' people; but he doesn't distinguish like that, for him nobody is a lost cause. We all start off bad, yet if we trust him and follow him he rescues us without distinction.

Jim spoke about the pain we all face in life, illness, loss, rejection - it's different for each of us but we all suffer pain and difficulty of some kind in our lives. He wondered if the Lord puts us through certain experiences so that we can be healed in some way.

Mary mentioned the words Jesus spoke about forgiving others so that we can be forgiven. (It's worth reading the whole chapter.) If our hearts are not open to forgive others they will be too tightly closed to receive or even recognise his forgiveness towards us. We certainly need to care about others. This reminded Jim of the Roman centurion who cared enough about his servant to find Jesus and ask for help, believing that it would be done. He had remarkable faith, and it was done.

Jim told us about Bethany's forthcoming visit to Auschwitz and how they'd watched the film 'Schindler's List' as a form of preparation. In Schindler we can clearly see how even a 'bad' person can have a deeply caring compassion for others.

Another thought that came to us was that we need to spend time with Jesus and as we do so, little by little we will become more like him. The reason the Holy Spirit was given to us was to reveal him to us and to teach us all about him.

Mary talked about a Pentecostal church she had been to some years ago and how they'd really gone for vigorous praise and worship with an emphasis on spiritual gifts. And although it had seemed quite extreme to her, she was sure in her heart that it was OK. They became quite carried away yet it was clear to her that it was inherently good, and therefore not frightening or alarming.

Jim played us a You Tube video 'Empty Me' by Chris Sligh. We watched it but without sound as the speakers weren't available, so we just read the words. It's even better with the music!



Jim also read Philippians 3:12-16 and reminded us that we have confidence in attaining the goal. But where does our confidence come from? For the Pharisees in Jesus' day education and following the Law gave them confidence. Paul was trained as a Pharisee but the past didn't hold him back. Like him, our confidence is in Christ by the power of his Spirit in us.

It's not about the past or about the things we have done (good or bad), in the end it's only about the direction we are facing now and the goal we are aiming for - which is to come ever closer to Jesus himself.

Colworth (CU) - a passion for life

Dudley brought some thoughts about evangelism based on 'A Passion for Life' a mission planned for next March.

He challenged us to consider whether evangelism seems a fearful thing to attempt or a natural thing to do. He asked why we thought we should evangelise, and he suggested it should be a major part of our lives as believers. What are our motives for evangelising?

We responded that for the individual, evangelism seems to be hard work, we may be afraid of losing our friends, embarrassment can be an issue for us, and we don't always know what to say. And corporately there may be disagreement over the way to do it, and perhaps we are disadvantaged by the fact that we don't really love one another.

Dudley showed a DVD about the Chamaeleon Principle. This is based on the idea that we tend to hide ourselves in the world. We looked at 2 Corinthians 5:9-19 and 6:1-2 in which we see four reasons for sharing the good news. Our fear of Christ should persuade us (5:11), his love for us should compel us (5:14), he has commissioned us (5:19), and there is an opportunity right now (6:1-2).

Kevin mentioned that we reach out from a place of community. David pointed out that we all have different gifts and we need to work together. I mentioned that we shouldn't hawk the gospel around, but we should always be ready to explain the hope that is within us (2 Corinthians 2:17, 1 Peter 3:15). People need to see that there is something unusual about us.

There are also some useful tools that we can use, Alpha courses for example. But these are good tools, not substitutes for personal outreach.

Eaton Ford (day)

Roger got us off to a good start today by reading Hebrews 11:32-39, where the writer lists a series of Old Testament characters of faith. He told us that we should add one another to this list! Then he read Hebrews 12:1-2 and reminded us that it's easy to lose heart and grow weary.

Paul remarked how interesting it was that the faith theme had continued from last night's meeting. He told us about a Jamaican woman he'd seen on TV. The Lord had called her to help troublesome kids in her neighbourhood by encouraging them to produce garden crops and share the harvest with the elderly in the neighbourhood.

I urged us to consider whether we should listen more to the Lord and do less of what seems to us to be good. The Jamaican woman had it right, she listened, heard what the Lord was telling her, and did his bidding. We simply need to still our hearts, focus on Jesus, listen and have an inner conversation with him, and write down whatever he shows us.

We prayed together for guidance for Roger and Ruth in the village where they live. They want to reach out to their neighbours but have not been seeing much success so far. Perhaps it's time to change the emphasis.

Eaton Ford - Guard your heart

We met at Paul's this evening, the first time for the Thursday evening group. As usual we began by chatting over tea or coffee, and then Jim changed our focus by asking us to read Proverbs 4:20-27.

Jim explained that this passage had been shared at The River Church and he had been much struck by it. Verse 23 urges us to 'guard your heart' because it is the wellspring of life. The things we have (or lack) in our lives are not so important, but it's essential our hearts are true.

Sean pointed out that this theme carries on from last week when we thought about not worrying. We can just trust the Father to provide what we need when we need it. Sean thought that we desperately need more faith, and told us that sometimes he feels angry and frustrated at his own lack of faith. Chris read Acts 3:1-8 where Peter and John healed the crippled beggar. They prayed for him, but then Peter reached out, took his hand, and helped him up - and then he was healed. Peter's faith was demonstrated by helping the cripple up, and only then was the man healed. Faith is active, it does something practical. It's rather like learning to ride a bike, swim, or speak in tongues - you will never do it unless you try.

When we were chatting together later we decided we'd meet at Jim's next week, and we'll invite a new friend from Sandy to join us.

Great Doddington - A deep well

It was good to meet again, I hadn't seen these friends since before the trip to the USA.

We began by chatting over a coffee. One of the subjects that came up was how people are often dissatisfied with church life. Sometimes they stay, sometimes they move to another church. We thought that it's not a matter of the size of the group, but more to do with the way people treat one another. Large groups (more than about 15 or 20) are inevitably less intimate and personal so problems may go unnoticed. At the end of the evening this discussion continued, Glenn wondered how the structures and traditions of big church originated. I must lend him a copy of 'Pagan Christianity' as it covers this in detail.

We realise that we all have a part to play when we meet together. As Paul wrote, everyone can contribute something, we are even called to admonish one another when necessary - though with grace, wisdom, and love (Colossians 3:16).

Jody mentioned the Darwin film, 'Creation', which she had seen. Darwin was portrayed as wrestling with the disconnect between his twenty years of careful observation and the religion he had been taught. She read Hebrews 2:11. We have been made holy and are all of the one family, Jesus himself is our brother.

Chris mentioned how yesterday's meeting at work had been a reminder that we grow and encourage one another and this informs and empowers us in taking Jesus out to everyone we meet in our daily lives.

Jody read Isaiah 9:1-7 and then Rachael shared a picture of a deep well with a rope and bucket. She understood that the well in the picture is not external but represents a well within our hearts. We need to allow what's already in us to come out. This is the living water from Christ, who is the source.

Sue mentioned that it would be truly hard work winding up the heavy bucket and she saw that Jesus comes and pulls it up and splashes the water all over us! I added that we need to make a start and then he takes the strain, doing what we can't. Reaching out a hand and starting to wind is just having faith that he will do the work. We begin the task already knowing that he'll do it - and he does! He also gave Chris the words, 'I will never leave you'. Wherever you go, whatever you do in life, he is always going to be there for us. In him we live and move and exist.

Rachael had a second picture, this time a tree which had blood instead of sap. She could see the blood coursing through all the veins in the leaves.

Glenn explained that there is a link between the well and the tree. Water is for refreshing, it's fun, but it's also cleansing, it prepares us for service, and it irrigates. Water from the well can be poured from the bucket into the furrows in a field, and he saw plants spring up and burst into flower. They were like potatoes, the tops would die back but there was a harvest hidden underground. We have to wait for the hidden fruit to become ready. The tree has Jesus' blood in it, there is a time of increase, of harvest.

Jody challenged us with the idea that our culture has no understanding of blood, but she believes we are coming to a place where we will need to understand it clearly. Some time ago her son had needed surgery and she imagined seeing this being done (though of course in reality she has only seen the scars of the healed incision). She has no real idea of the intricate things the surgeons must have undertaken. And somehow she knows that we need to trust the Lord for what we don't see and don't understand, not just for the things we do see.

Colworth (CU) - Sense of direction

This is the first time I've included notes on the Christian Union (CU) meetings at work. For the changes that made this possible see 'Changing times'.

Steph read Micah 5:7-8 and then an extract from Charles Spurgeon's 'The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith'.

This was such an encouragement to us as we understood that we too, like the dewdrops, can be a refreshing balm to those around us. And as we talked we discovered that the four of us who met all felt that Spurgeon's words expressed what we already knew.

We need, not so much to plan and build something here at work in our own strength, but simply to be the Lord's people, guided by him moment by moment. We can reach out to those around us and be a blessing to them just by being there with Jesus expressing his life through us. Meanwhile when we meet on Mondays we can encourage one another as he expresses his life through us jointly.

This thought about our role in the workplace meshes nicely with a Christians at Work bulletin we received just a few days ago. The article was very much about our workplace presence whether we are received well or badly. Sometimes we feel alone, but we are not alone!

We thought about some of those who couldn't be with us today, and prayed for them. And we wondered if we are at a point of changing our focus in some way. Time will tell. Perhaps Father's best for us is not that we should run an Alpha Course or plan some kind of outreach, but that we should just be there for one another so that CU remains a place of equipping and encouraging.

Our Father is wonderful and he arranges things far better than we could ever hope to do. Sometimes I think he loves to surprise us with the dew descending - and then we realise that we are the dew!