THE WORD OF GOD

Recently, the Rector, Canon Brown announced that a third Bible Reading would be introduced into our Sunday Services as suggested in the Book of Common Prayer 2004. It is important that we as the Church of Ireland and the congregation here in St. Pauls become more familiar with the Scriptures. Is an additional reading that important? Let’s see what some of those who wrote the Bible have to say. The Bible was written by many men over a period of almost 1,500 years who lived hundreds of years apart, and in different geographical locations. Some suffered violently for delivering God’s message. The collection of books recognised and used by the Christian Church as the inspired ‘Word of God,’ stands so well from Genesis to Revelation, because behind them, there lies a wonderful unity.

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself and His will and purpose to mankind. Peter writes that, “Holy men of old wrote the scriptures, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Jesus said, “Search the scriptures, for they testify of me.” Jesus referred to Himself as, “The way, the truth and the Life.” The night before His crucifixion He prayed to His Father, “Thy word is truth.” Jesus is referred to in the book of Revelation as “The Word of God,” because, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and while here on earth, He spoke “nothing, but what He heard the Father speak.”

David says in the Psalms, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” and again, “thy words are sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Peter in his confession said, “Lord, to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life.” Paul writing to Timothy says, “That from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” Peter urges us to, “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” And where do we gain that knowledge? – through reading the Scriptures! John in His gospel wrote, “But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name.”

The Bible is God’s instruction manual in how we conduct ourselves with Him and with our neighbour. What happens if we lose or ignore the instruction manual? How else would we know sin? How would we know God? The fool has said in his heart, “No God!” I’ll do it my way, I’ll decide right from wrong. If it’s not God’s way, it’s the world’s way, independence from God, and Satan’s way. Paul talks about the “God of this world (Satan) who has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, should shine unto them.” It is not in Satan’s interests for you to search the scriptures, for they define Him as a liar, deceiver, thief and murderer, who knows His own end. Satan is our enemy/opponent/adversary and that’s what His name means. his aim is to destroy our relationship with God and Jesus bye subtlety, as He deceived Eve. If you want to look closer at the character of Satan as reflected in mankind, read Gal. 5v19-21: Rom. 1v28-32: 2 Tim. 3v1-5, Satan attempts to feed us with a mixture of truth and error in His propaganda against God. “Has God said?”

Peter in His epistle writes, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.” Matthew says, “Take heed that no man deceives you (in the last days) for many shall come in my name and shall deceive many”. Paul tells Timothy that, “evil men and (religious) seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” What’s the answer then? In these last times, how can we distinguish truth from error, for Paul says that even Satan can appear “as an angel of light.” and can quote or misquote the scriptures. His followers are “False apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.”

The answer is to learn the scriptures so that in the day of testing, you may be able to stand. Read the scriptures, hear the scriptures firsthand. John in speaking of Jesus said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard (for ourselves) and have seen.” The scriptures are the foundation of Christianity and many have been burned at the stake and suffered persecution in preserving them for our day. Paul tells us to “put on the mind of Christ,” which will give us wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discernment and will deepen our relationship with our Father and Jesus and deepen our desire for all things Godly. An intimacy with God will show the world that we are His disciples as our love for one another grows and we demonstrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.

In reading or listening to the Scriptures let us have ears to hear, and eyes to see. Let the Word of God fall on fertile ground in our hearts, let it become our conversation, our conduct, and way of life. As David was, let us be a people, “after God’s own heart.” That’s why all scripture reading is important! ANON

HOW DO WE WORSHIP?

What does a praise service mean to you? Is it something you look forward to? Does the thought of it excite you? Do you feel moved by the praise and worship, or it is just another service? Would you prefer a traditional service, one you’ve grown up with and know well? The variety of praise and worship is bewildering. Almost anything you can imagine, someone has used, to offer to God, in worship.

In Psalm 149 we are reminded how to worship and praise God. First Worship must be fresh, not just a matter of form. Second Worship must be in community, not simply individually. Third Worship must be joyful, not mere instruction. Finally Worship must spill out into the streets and not be confined only to our church building.

Worship must be spontaneous, immediate, something new and fresh. The Psalmist puts it very clearly – “Sing to the Lord a new song …..let them praise His name in the dance, let them sing praise to Him with tambourine and harp.” We are to sing a new song, a fresh song. I don’t think for one minute the Psalmist is telling us we can’t sing the old favourites, learned by heart from childhood. I don’t believe he is telling us to pick our music out of the “Top 20” either, no, he is telling us we need to be fresh, to be personal, spontaneous and immediate, not just routine but fresh, for our needs and in our everyday language.

In the 17th century, the Baptists wanted to throw out all ritual associated with the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England. They didn’t want robes, so they threw them out. They didn’t want written prayers, so they threw out the prayer book. But it didn’t take long for them to come up with their own form of ritual. It was decided their ministers would wear a black suit and the flambuoyant ones would be able to wear a white suit in the summer. They got rid of the prayer book, but fell into the habit of repeating certain phrases in their “spontaneous” prayers. I’m sure you will agree there has to be some form in our worship and our “Book of Common Prayer” sets out an order of service which is scriptural and an aid to our worship, as we follow it each Sunday.

It is how we approach God in our worship, it is what is in our hearts that matters. We are to “Sing to the Lord a new song” something that reaches down and expresses our hearts today. It is not whether the songs are a hundred years old or hot off the press. It’s not whether they are stately and classical or whether they are brand new and up to the minute. It is whether they bring a new dimension and expectation to our worship. The musical instruments may be a majestic pipe organ or a guitar and drums, it is whether the whole experience is heartfelt, personal and real. It doesn’t matter if the prayers are off the top of the head or off the tope of the page, it is whether the one praying, makes them their own and leads others to pray with feeling. Our worship to Almighty God must be fresh when we come to church it should not be with the expectation of getting something out of the service, but with the expectation of giving, giving our worship to God, who is worthy of our worship, giving our attention to Jesus and keeping our eyes fixed on Him and giving His Holy Spirit freedom to change our wrong thinking, our selfish natures and to draw us closer to Jesus and into a personal relationship with Him. When we allow that to happen, when Jesus is the centre of our worship, when we put Him first, then we will receive the blessings he wants to give us and we will leave church having got something out of the service, whish was the expectation we came with in the first place.

Secondly worship must be in fellowship with others and not just as an individual. Worship should take place in a congregation, it is not just a private experience. Worship is corporate, social, joining with other. The Psalmist goes on to say “Sing His praise on the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their maker, let the people of Zion be glad in their King.” We are to worship in a gathered community. You see we, is more than a bunch of “I’s”, did you get that? We is more than a bunch of little “I’s”, when we come to worship and the congregation gathers around us, we will find that God’s Spirit does something in the whole of us personally. God has a way of working through a gathered people. Worship is not just for private enjoyment. It is good that at the end of our worship we have time to talk to one another, to reach out and touch with a handshake or an arm around a shoulder. It’s just a little thing, but it builds us up as Christ’s body as we worship together. Thirdly worship must have joy as its bottom line, not mere instruction. Worship is more than passing out information, it is celebrating, finding hope and strength. Worship is joy. The praise and worship is building up in this Psalm as the Psalmist declares “For the Lord takes delight in his people, he crowns the humble with salvation, let the saints rejoice in His honour and sing for joy on their beds.” That little chorus springs to mind “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.” When we experience joy like that, the joy of knowing that god loves us and cares for us, then we can face tough times when they come and still have peace and joy knowing that “The Lord takes pleasure in His people.” God is in the business of lifting us up out of the miry clay and setting our feet upon a rock.

Joy fills our hearts at the birth of a new baby, it overwhelms us when a prodigal child returns home, or when a loved one is now well and happy after a serious illness. Joy wells up and bursts from our lips in praise and worship to our creator God. We have looked at how we worship – we worship with a fresh approach – we worship in the congregation, with our church family around us – the bottom line of our worship is joy – and finally, when church is over, our worship should spill out into the streets and not be confined to the sanctuary. The Psalmist concludes, “May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double edged sword in their hands.” I am sure that what happens in church sometimes seems very far removed from what happens in the streets around us. In here there is harmony and safety. Out there on the streets there is conflict and danger. In here there is the language of love, praise and worship, out there is the language of hatred, prejudice and filth. It seems there is no connection. But here is the most important how of all, in how do we worship. We worship with mission in mind, with a song on our lips, a prayer in our hearts, but without there on our minds. The folk out there are searching for lasting peace, for security, for hope, but they are looking in the wrong places, they are looking to alcohol, drugs and immoral living for answers. God created us for a purpose, to have a relationship with Him and to bring the good news of the gospel to those who are searching. He gave us this command. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” The world begins as we step out of the doors of St. Paul’s. What will we do with the new song on our lips and with the joy of the Lord Jesus filling our hearts? Will we lock it up securely in this building till next Sunday or will we share it with our neighbours out there?

SMARTIE BOXES Hi, once again the Fund Raising Team would like to thank everyone who took smartie boxes and gave donations for this fund raising event. This is still ongoing and if anyone would care to take a smartie box, please fell free to do so. These are at the back of the church. All we ask is for you to eat up the smarties and bring back the tube, full of 20p’s. The total raised so far is 2275.00. Matthew 6v21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

LEPROSY MISSION I would like to thank everyone who give by box or donations to the Leprosy Mission. I would ask you to pray for the people who have Leprosy. Please pray that they would know God’s love and peace. Pray for the doctors and staff who work very hard in the hospitals, to give them the care they need. Thank you. EILEEN DUNCAN (SEC)