Stephen Walker's blog

Facing our fears

Stephen Walker — 2012-02-03T12:00:04+00:00

Dear friends

Welcome to our special service today for ‘Education Sunday’. It strikes me that part of the process of education is to help us develop confidence in our abilities so that we can reach our full potential. ‘Fear’ in one form or another can often be the obstacle. But by offering support and gentle encouragement we can be helped to grow through our fears so that they no longer inhibit us.

Texan Pastor and radio personality, Ed Young writes in his book, ‘Know Fear’, ‘Fear is an unavoidable part of the human experience. Anxiety, fear and phobia threaten to encompass us…Because we are taught that it is weak to show fear, that cowards are despised, and that being a hero knows no fear, we try to hide our fears and anxieties. Condemning ourselves, our self-image takes a nose dive with our self esteem.’ He describes the six most common phobias we all face; fear of helplessness, fear of the future, fear of commitment, fear of failure, fear of loneliness and fear of death. I’m sure we could all add our own fears to that list. If we settle in that place of fear we can find ourselves limited from the fullness of life that God intends for us. However irrational these fears might be for us they are real enough and like David confronting his Goliath, we too need to find a way of disarming the power of these fears so that they will not rule over us and limit our potential.

Remembering my own school days, like most teenagers, I just wanted to blend in with my peer group. My greatest fear was to be ‘labelled’ or picked on or exposed in any way and made to feel vulnerable to unwelcome attention.

One evening at the New Wine summer conference last summer which many of us attended, hundreds of people squeezed into the after hours entertainment show at which John Archer, a well known stand up comic was performing. His routine was as hilarious as ever. But I was so glad that we were sitting nowhere near the front within sight of becoming the target of the comic’s sharp wit and endless jokes!

It has been said that the expression ‘Do not be afraid’ occurs in the Bible 366 times, one for every day of the year (including leap years!)

We all experience fear from time to time, whether it is fear of public speaking, fear of starting again, fear of stepping out into a new adventure, fear of dying. If we don’t confront our fears we can be paralysed into a limitation of life that is not God’s best for us.

Growing Confidence

As we look at the book of Proverbs in our sermon series this month, we find wisdom to help us steer a passage through life learning to trust ourselves to God and find confidence in who we are in relationship with Him. Wisdom has been defined as the ‘art of steering’. I know of a driveway with a very narrow entrance, which in order to pass through without scraping your car requires precision steering. Sadly the various coloured marks on the brick work either side betray how difficult some people find it. As we go through life we come across many tight situations which require wisdom in order to avoid damaging ourselves or others.

Wisdom will ‘keep you from making wrong turns, or following bad directions’ says the writer of Proverbs (Chapter 2:12). Wisdom will stop us steering off course. It will stop us travelling paths that go nowhere, wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends (v15). Wisdom will keep you walking with those who walk straight (v21).

Many of our fears arise from bad past experiences or inherited anxieties. As we pursue the path of God’s wisdom, we can learn to make good decisions for the future that help us to live well, without fear, and ready to risk again.

Travelling Together

It is in our walking with Jesus and with others, that we can share our fears and find encouragement and strength to contend with them and in so doing enjoy the experience of life that God desires for us. It’s in our life together and more specifically in our small groups, that as we pray and stand with one another we can find that release to become the person we were created to be in Christ.

The Right Kind of Fear

The writer of Proverbs says that if we are wise, we will ‘choose to fear the Lord’ (1:33), that is having a healthy respect for God, and as a result ‘we will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm’ (1:33).

Now that’s a promise worth holding onto!

Stephen

Vicar’s Letter January 2012

Stephen Walker — 2012-01-06T12:01:17+00:00

Dear friends

May I begin by wishing you and those you love much joy and peace in this New Year. There has been much to celebrate and rejoice in during the Christmas season. A big thank you to all who contributed in so many ways to the ministry of this church as together we declared the Good News of a Saviour’s birth. There were so many wonderful worship opportunities, so many guests, so many parents and children from the local schools. Thank you too to all those who gave up their Christmas Day to join the Churches Together team in providing a Christmas lunch to those on their own and those who participated in the Christmas lunch for the elderly last Thursday.

The sacrificial contributions of so many people and in so many ways, demonstrates the glory of a church fully alive, reaching out in love and service. It also reflects the core values that are now so ingrained into our community life and which enable us with the power of the Holy Spirit to function effectively.

1. All Involved

We value everyone finding their place in the life and ministry of Holy Trinity and serving as part of a team. By being involved and contributing we demonstrate that we belong and want to play our part in the purposes of God through the local church.

We reflect this commitment in 4 ways:

Sunday worship (Commit to attend regularly)

Financial giving (Commit to give regularly to the work and ministry of the church)

Cell group (Commit to share in the life of a small group)

Serve (Commit to serve one Sunday a month on one of the church rotas)

Christianity is about being involved, working together to establish the Kingdom of God into our community. It is truly a joy to see almost everyone in our fellowship playing their part in serving at some level.

2. Becoming Disciples

We are all of us ‘works in progress’. None of us has ‘made it’. We are all on a journey of working out what it means to follow Jesus in our lives day by day. As we take seriously the call and cost of discipleship so we find ourselves desiring to bring every area of our lives into line with his will for us. We do this best in relationship with one another in our small groups (which we call ‘cells’). It is here that we are encouraged to consider our attitudes, our use of money, our use of time and how we prioritise and bring it all under the banner of surrender to God’s sovereign will and purposes.

3. Creating community

As God knits us together in relationship with one another so we find the joy of belonging to a group of people who will always be there to provide encouragement and support and share with us through the ups and downs of life. This is what the church is: a community of people committed to living life God’s way and welcoming others to join us on our journey. Let us not neglect the arena of growing friendships, expanding the circle of our community and extending God’s grace and invitation to all.

4. Doing evangelism

The most effective witness is that of our lives and what others see of Jesus in us. As the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more like Jesus so we will naturally overflow with His love to others. That means we need to be ready for those occasions when we are asked about our faith, so that we can give a good response that glorifies God and honours what he has done for us.

5. Encountering God

Walking with the Lord means we need to set aside time everyday to talk to him, to listen to him and to read and meditate on scripture, so that we can encounter him not only in our worship on Sunday, but everyday whether at work or home or wherever we are: always desiring a closer walk with him.

These are the ABCDE of the core values of our church that enable us to grow a healthy community that honours God and seeks to live out his purposes for us in the life he has given to us.

At the beginning of this New Year may we reflect together on these values and resolve to journey ever more closely with the Lord and one another in the purposes to which he has called us.

Week Of Prayer

As usual we will begin our year with a week of seeking the Lord in prayer. There will be three slots during the day in which we will gather in the church foyer.

9.00 – 9.30am, 12.00- 12.30pm, 7.00 – 7.45pm

For those for whom this will be difficult please do take the prayer diary with you to work or school and set aside time (during your lunch break for example) and join with us in praying through the focus for each day. The possibilities of what God will do are without limit when we take time to seek him together. Please decide today to make this a priority for this next week.

Every blessing in Christ, Stephen

Vicar’s Christmas Letter

Stephen Walker — 2011-12-23T11:19:13+00:00

Dear friends

Welcome to our family celebration on this Christmas Day as we rejoice at the wonderful news of a Saviour’s birth, and worship together with joy and thanksgiving for all that this means to us and to all people.

It’s a message that will ring out from the heart of our capital city and in particular, St Paul’s Cathedral, which has become in recent months the location of a campsite and a focal point for media attention. Whatever you make of the camp or the protests of the organisers, there’s something wonderfully symbolic about it as people gather at the doors of the church to express their concerns, their fears and their anger.

We’re living in days of extraordinary shaking. Who would have thought this time last year, that we would have seen dictators toppling in the middle east, the Euro, the great symbol of European union close to collapse under a mountain of sovereign debt or a national institution like the News of the World closed due to scandal amongst its journalists. During the summer we saw a week of madness on British streets – looting and rioting, unprecedented in recent history. Right across the globe there is a growing sense of dissatisfaction – a sense that things just can’t stay the same. At times like this, where do we turn for hope?

The Christmas event has at the very heart of it the greatest bit of news the world will ever hear – God hasn’t abandoned us. He hasn’t abandoned humanity – a baby born in a stable is God himself. An angel appears to shepherds on a hillside overlooking Bethlehem and makes this wonderful announcement; ‘Today in the city of David, a Saviour is born to you; he is Christ the Lord’.

So it is that this baby, born in a manger, becomes a symbol of hope for us. God is with us. God hasn’t abandoned us.

God is with us even in our fears and insecurities.

God is with us though our pensions, benefits and jobs are under threat.

God is with us though our financial institutions teeter on the brink of ruin.

God is with us despite the impact of global warming.

God hasn’t abandoned us, a Saviour has been born. This is the good news of Christmas that we celebrate. The posters outside our church this year convey this message: ‘Jesus, the Gift of Hope’.

As we look to 2012, let us make it our prayer, whatever our personal circumstances, that we might be carriers of hope to our families, our friends, our neighbourhoods and wider communities.

May each one of us know the joy of the One who is the gift of Hope to us, this Christmas time and throughout the new year.

Stephen

Vicar’s Letter December 2011

Stephen Walker — 2011-12-02T12:38:08+00:00

Dear friends

Today we celebrate the re-opening of the balcony following the project to re-order it which began last year with the Gift Day. After endless consultations with various ‘interested parties’ permission was finally granted by the Diocese and the work commenced in October with the removal of the original pews. We give glory to God who alone has enabled us with His provision to undertake these two substantial projects this year: the new boiler and improved heating system and more usable space in the balcony. I would like to extend my thanks to all of you who have given sacrificially to enable this work to proceed, to the Church Wardens for their oversight and to the small army of volunteers who have contributed in a practical way.

At its heart, these two projects have always been about adapting our space so that we can welcome others to come and learn about the Gospel of God’s grace, without distraction. The church is the people and what a joy there is to be found in sharing in one another’s growth in faith. Similarly, to witness to others taking that first step of faith in Jesus reminds us that; ‘There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine righteous persons who do not need to repent’ Luke 15:7. We give thanks to God and pray for an increase of the ‘harvest’ as we approach the Season of Joy and the good news that it brings.

A journey of ups and downs

Just as the journey for Mary and Joseph must have been fraught with difficulties and challenges, particularly on their arrival at Bethlehem, no less is the journey of our lives as we travel with Jesus into the future that he has for us. We are all aware of the ups and downs, joys and challenges that life brings. We demonstrated our commitment to standing together as brothers and sisters in Christ at our recent Prayer Gathering when we gathered around those in particular need and cried out to God for one another. Rick Warren the Pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of the ‘Purpose Driven Life’ which we studied together as a church some years ago made some interesting comments on the ‘purpose of life’. Life is a preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever and God wants us to be with him in heaven. One day my heart is going to stop and that will be the end of my body – but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: either you are in one right now, you’re just coming out of one or you’re ready to get into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. You can focus on your purposes or focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centredness, which is myproblem, myissues, my pain, myneeds. But one of the easiest ways you can get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Self-centredness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes for my life? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, ‘God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know you more and love you better’. God didn’t put me on earth to fulfil a ‘to do’ list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings. Happy moments, PRAISE GOD, Difficult moments, SEEK GOD, Quiet moments WORSHIP GOD, Painful moments, TRUST GOD Every moment, THANK GOD”

Some words of wisdom from Rick Warren which I commend to you, for whatever situation you find yourself in life. Perhaps you might like to discuss these thoughts in your cell group next week and see how they apply to your own life? Every blessing in Christ Stephen

Vicar’s Letter November 2011

Stephen Walker — 2011-10-28T11:33:23+00:00

Dear friends

Victor Hugo wrote: ‘The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved’. Love has the power to change us. Love motivates, compels, energises and empowers. It inspires others to sacrifice self interest in the pursuit of a greater good.

On our recent visit to Uganda, we were inspired by all that Jenny has achieved with her vision to see the lives of babies saved through the ministry of the Potter’s village. We also met others serving the people of Uganda, including one lady in her 70s. We were struck by some of the stories they shared of the lives they live. It was clear to us that their service involved a considerable cost to them in comfort, security, friendships and good eating! To give up so much in the service of others can only be sustained by a heart full of love.

‘Building Bridges for Jesus to Cross’

This, our strap line or mission statement, underlines all that we as an outward looking church seek to do to fulfil our call to be God’s people and extend his Kingdom. It is out of love for others that we have invested so much in recent years on making our facilities an attractive and welcoming space for others to come into. For it is in this space that we worship God, hear the good News of His love for us and respond to his amazing grace in songs of praise and thanksgiving.

Love in action

The generosity of the church family of Holy Trinity to fund the re-ordering work of the church, hall rooms, new hall entrance, purchase of Trinity House and more recently the improved heating and shortly to be completed balcony, all reflect this heart of love. Through these projects we have improved our facilities and made space for more people to join us on the journey of faith. This is an expression of love in action.

The change that has been taking place in the balcony, which you will see in a few weeks time, is symbolic of the change that God brings into our lives when we individually choose to follow Jesus. As we turn away from our sin and repent at the foot of the cross, resolving to walk in a new direction in our lives with Jesus, so the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of us. His job is to change us from the inside out – to make us more like Jesus: more loving, more patient, kind, faithful, generous etc.

Self Examination

In itself the work on our buildings is pointless unless there is a work simultaneously going on in our hearts and showing forth in our lives. It is up to each one of us to examine ourselves to ask some hard questions and ensure we are not stuck in a rut of personal transformation, but moving on into the likeness of Christ.

Teaching of the New Testament

St Paul in his letters to the churches constantly encourages the people to be careful about their attitude to one another and how they:

· love one another (John 13:34-35)

· speak with one another: ‘Let your gentleness be evident to all’ (Phil 4:5)

· encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

· build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

· spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)

· serve one another (Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 4:10)

· bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13)

· forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13)

· be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32)

· be compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 3:8)

· be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)

· be patient with one another (Ephesians 4:2, 1Peter3:8)

· submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21)

· offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9)

· carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)

..and much more beside. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit who works in us, as we cooperate with him, to change our hearts and effect this work of transformation, so that God’s love may be in us and our love for others may be evident as he flows through us.

D L Moody, the great evangelist wrote: ‘The one great need in ourChristian life is love, more love to God and to each other.’

With love in Christ, Stephen

‘Keep taking the Medicine’

Stephen Walker — 2011-09-30T10:09:25+00:00

Dear friends

‘This pain started twelve years ago. After joining the Royal Marines it became extremely bad. I had seen the top physiotherapist in the Armed Forces but with no successful result. The cartilage below the knee cap was completely gone. Hence, there was bone on bone and that was very painful. This injury has caused a massive set back in my life. Last year was the worst when the ligaments and the tendons were torn and the knee cap went in a 45 degree angle. It has been a long and painful journey. I could not sit or stand for long.

Cut a long story short, I decided to try God and try Alpha. I got back from the Alpha weekend and I heard people testifying and I was thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah. When someone said about a cartilage issue, I took the sharpest breath I ever took. I agreed to be prayed for. I felt God moving in my knee. I dropped on my knees to test it and remarkably no pain. It’s just miraculous. I went for a run last night …it was the first time after a very long time I haven’t had any pain. God is real. If he can do this after such a long time there is nothing I am restricted to’. So wrote Quincy Bellot six months after an Alpha weekend at HTB.

There are times in our lives when we are desperate for healing – either for ourselves or for others. Sometimes when we pray for healing we see immediate answers and a complete healing can take place before our eyes. At other times it may be progressive healing, in stages, just as the gradual healing comes following a course of treatment from the Doctor. This requires on-going persistent prayer. At other times we might see no change to the condition for which we are praying. That doesn’t mean we give up praying any more than you might give up on going to the Doctor, but it does mean we need to persevere and contend for our healing in prayer. The passage of scripture that we looked at a few Sundays ago (Exodus 17:8-16) which recalls the battle fought on the plain between the Israelites and the Amalekites, whilst Moses prayed on the hill with his arms held up by Aaron and Hur reminds us of the link between the unseen spiritual world and the physical world in which we live. As Moses fought the battle in prayer (and it was a battle which was exhausting hence the support of Hur and Aaron) so the outcome in the valley for good or ill was directly affected.

We fight for the well being and health of those around us through prayer. If we have yet to see the healing we are praying for, we don’t give up, but persevere in prayer.

Jesus demonstrated the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom (his kingly rule and reign) through signs and wonders. 37% of the narratives of the Gospels deal with the healing ministry of Jesus. He modelled a pattern of ministry for his disciples to then copy as he sent them out, first the 12 (Luke 9) and then the 72 (Luke 10) and encourages the disciples to ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field’ (Matthew 9:38).

Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given (Matthew 28:18) has now given authority to those who are his children (John 1:12) to exercise this ministry of bringing healing into the lives of those around us. That’s not just physical healing, it includes emotional, spiritual and mental healing as well – God’s Shalom (wholeness).

If you were on a course of treatment from your Doctor and nothing seems to be happening, you wouldn’t give up. The Doctor would advise you to ‘keep taking the medicine’. If you have not yet received the healing which you are seeking, don’t give up – continue to wrestle and fight and contend for your healing and use the opportunities after our Sunday morning service and the monthly evening Celebration Service (2^ndSunday each month at 6pm) to receive prayer from the Prayer ministry team.

St Paul writes: ‘My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on man’s wisdom, but on God’s power’ (1 Corinthians 2:4,).

May I encourage you to engage in the prayer battle so that more of us will be miraculously healed and God be glorified as we bear witness to the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom in our midst.

Coming Up

Mop Fair - Monday/ Tuesday 10/11 October – 7-10pm

Please pray for all those who might visit us over these two evenings, for a good welcome, conversation and opportunities to pray for individuals. Please do come and be part of the team for either of those two evenings – it is a wonderful opportunity to bless our community.

Stephen

Vicar’s Letter September 2011

Stephen Walker — 2011-09-01T14:21:08+00:00

Dear friends

‘God is more interested in our character than our comfort’ is a phrase I picked up recently and which I believe helps us understand who God is and why we sometimes wrestle with unresolved issues.

A story is told of a farmer who placed a weather vane inscribed with the words ‘God is Love’ on top of his barn. One day a traveller stopped by the farm and watched the weather vane moving with the breeze. Then with a smirk on his face, he asked, ‘Do you mean to say that your God is as changeable as the wind?’ The farmer shook his head and replied; ‘No. What I mean to say is that no matter which way the wind blows, God is Love’.

We know that the experience of living brings with it a series of challenges. These challenges can be as variable as the wind – some great some small. They can be challenges to do with, for example, our health, our relationships – marriage, singleness, parenting, or our work, or our finance or our responsibilities, or disappointments. Whatever circumstance we find ourselves in presents a challenge of one sort or another. None of us is exempt.

The question is not how strongly the wind blows or from what direction it comes, but how we respond to the challenges we face? How do we find life and contentment in the midst of the challenge? How do we make the most of our situation and glorify God in spite of it?

Nicky Gumbel has written that his perspective on life and the challenges it presented changed when a friend said that, in a sense, life is a series of problem solving exercises. We will never be without problems in this life. It is the perspective we have towards these problems and the way in which we find life and contentment in spite of them that sets us apart as a people of faith, a people who know their God and walk with Jesus. So that, no matter which way the wind blows, or however fiercely or the direction from which it comes, God is still love. He is still on the throne. He is still sovereign and in the midst of the fiercest storm I can have confidence to trust myself and my future to his unfailing love.

An attitude of gratitude

One way in which we can keep the faith in spite of the storm, is to daily give thanks to God for his blessings to us. This stops us becoming so self absorbed and distracted by the wind that we lose sight of Jesus and his purpose for us of bringing his Love to others. It helps us to rise above the storms of life and witnesses to others of the presence of God within us.

Bearing witness to a God who loves and cares

In August a wind of violence swept through several of our cities causing riots, death and destruction – a reminder, if ever we needed one of how broken we are as a society on so many levels. This is the time for the church to witness to a better way of living, to point to the truth inscribed on that weather vane and call the nation back to living life God’s way. It is a task that God has set before His church and in which we all have a part to play. We at Holy Trinity also have to witness to this better way.

The Alpha Course – September 14^th8pm

We all need to play our part in this great enterprise. We do this one person at a time. As we come to God in prayer, he will place the name of someone on your mind whom (unbeknown to you) He has already been preparing and getting ready to respond to the invite you will give to join you for the launch party of our next Alpha course on Wednesday September 14^th. All you and I have to do is pray and give the invitation. This will be a quality social event with live music, drinks and nibbles at which previous members of the course will share their experiences. To attend the launch party doesn’t require anyone to commit to doing the course. It is a fun taster evening, but one which we hope and pray will inspire a response.

Living life God’s way means keeping our eyes fixed on Him, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness and knowing that whichever way the wind blows in our experiences of life, regardless of our circumstances, God is Love and he requires that we witness to this truth.

Vicar’s Letter August 2011

Stephen Walker — 2011-08-05T08:32:24+00:00

As I write this today, the newspaper headlines report the tragic death of 27 year old Amy Winehouse, after a suspected drink and drugs binge. The popular singer who has spent years battling heroin and alcohol addiction was found collapsed in her flat in north London. On the next page of the newspaper in a two page spread is the story of former Eastenders star, Daniella Westbrook. The headlines read: ‘I used to worship Gucci and Prada....now I’ve given my life to God’. Daniella recounts how the drug, cocaine, nearly destroyed her life, costing her approximately £250,000 and leaving a gaping hole in her nose requiring reconstructive surgery.

‘Ten years ago, her idea of a good night was being bent over a toilet in a West End night club, snorting line after line of cocaine. Her weight plummeted to six stone and she made repeated attempts at suicide.’ But now the Dancing on Ice star has found new life in Jesus having come to faith in a church in the US. She said, ‘Gucci and Prada used to be my God. Now I have given my life to the Lord. If you had told me two years ago that I was going to be a Christian, I would have laughed. I used to tell people ‘I’m way past saving’. But the first time I came to this church, I felt something so spiritual, so amazing I wanted to cry. After a few visits I found myself walking up to the altar to ask the Lord for forgiveness for my sins. It was an incredible experience. I have realised that there have been things I struggled with, like guilt, that I would never have found a solution for. Because there are things that a therapist cannot give me – that I can only get from Jesus Christ.’

Two young ladies, both famous in their own right, both tormented by struggles that led them into addictive and destructive lifestyle choices, and yet one found hope, freedom and salvation in Jesus and made the choice to walk down the aisle and give her life to the Lord. The two stories stand in stark contrast to one another and are a reminder to us of how desperately the world needs the Good News of a Saviour. As the family and friends mourn the loss of Amy Winehouse, there will be those who will wish they had done more to help her, support her, encourage her so that this tragedy could have been avoided, but alas it is all too late. What if someone had told her about how much Jesus loves her, might she too have found in Him new life and hope as did Daniella Westbrook and so be saved from the consequence of her choices?

Whilst we enter the holiday season in which many of us will be taking a break from the regular routine of work and school to enjoy a season of refreshment and rest, may we yet never rest from the imperative of witnessing to our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who knows but that there may yet be another troubled soul just across the road who desperately needs to know that God loves them, that He is on their side and is longing to come into relationship with them. These two stories back to back in one Sunday newspaper remind us that it could all have been so different for Amy Winehouse, if only….

The Alpha Course

Whatever we are doing throughout this season whether at home or away may we be alert to the prompting of the Spirit should he direct us to share something of our story and journey of faith that will encourage and inspire others. And let’s not forget that with Alpha starting again on September 14^thconsider who God may put on our hearts to invite along. It may be that they are just waiting for such an invite.

Leadership News

Many thanks to the team of Sarah, Louise, Jo and Alison who worked so hard to put the celebration lunch together for James and Catherine the other Sunday. We bid them a fond farewell as they prepare for their move to Bristol. Obviously their departure will leave a gaping hole in the leadership team. However, after nearly five years this presents me with an opportunity to step back and reflect on our leadership structures and review how we do things. So the leadership team will continue in its reduced capacity with no changes whilst we wait on the Lord and seek his leading for our future.

It remains for me to wish everyone in our fellowship a desire to walk ever more closely with the Lord whether away on holiday or serving back here during August and to know an abundance of his grace and favour.

Stephen

Prayer changes things

Stephen Walker — 2011-07-01T10:47:18+00:00

John Humphries, the television newsreader describes himself as a ‘failed atheist’. Long after he left the church he grew up in, he writes, ‘I continued to pray. I prayed every single night without fail for half a century…The problem was that I had absolutely no notion of the God to whom I was supposed to be praying, nor for that matter, why I was praying.’ Surveys have shown that three quarters of the population of sceptical, secular Britain admit to praying at least once a week. In fact prayer is regaining popularity in our very modern post-Christian society in the West.

At the recent Armed Forces Day service I spoke on Prayer beginning with the often quoted statement: ‘there are no atheists in the trenches’, meaning ‘When the chips are down and your fate is outside your control, people will pray, irrespective of what they say they believe’.

I told the now familiar story of the 33 trapped Chilean miners from last year and their miraculous deliverance from the bowels of the earth. It was as those men joined together in prayer that they witnessed their deliverance. Jose Henriquez, one of the trapped miners said he believed prayer and faith in God is what can make the impossible, possible. The Parachute Regiment was ordered to take back the small settlement of Darwin and Goose Green from the Argentine forces who were well established in strength and well supplied. After 40 hours of fighting and with many soldiers killed or wounded, including the commanding officer of 2 Para, it fell to Major Chris Keeble to take over command. The situation looked bleak.

‘We were in a perilous position and the responsibility for getting us out of it lay with me. I had no idea what to do. I walked up a gully to be alone for a moment to try and think. I put my hands into my pockets and my fingernails caught on a piece of plastic. It was a prayer which I had typed out and had laminated as a kind of deal with God – you know, ‘I’ll carry this prayer if you’ll look after me’ stuff’. Keeble knelt in the gorse and said the prayer, written by a desert mystic, Charles de Foucault:

‘My Father, I abandon myself to you. Do with me as you will. Whatever you may do with me I thank you, provided your will is fulfilled in me. I ask for nothing more’.

Keeble found it, in the midst of battle, ‘a terrifying, almost impossible prayer to say. But to my amazement, I went through a real transformation. Instead of feeling frightened, uncertain, cold, miserable, confused, I suddenly felt joyful, happy, warm’.

Above all he had ‘immense clarity’ about what he needed to do. He returned to his men and told them that at first light he would walk down across the battlefield ‘and invite the Argentine commanders to surrender’. His men were ‘pretty astounded by this very unmilitary kind of solution. We were a unit that was designed to bring violence to produce a solution and I was offering one that was completely the reverse’. And so, extraordinary as it sounds (because Keeble was in the far weaker position with only 400 men against a force of 1200) that is exactly what happened. A surrender was agreed, resulting in many lives being saved, many sons, brothers and fathers on both sides who would have died had the conflict continued – and all because a man prayed and asked God for His wisdom and guidance in a difficult situation.

There will always be times when we need to just get on our knees ‘in the gorse’ and pray that prayer abandoning ourselves to God and saying ‘your will be done in me’ and then watch what God does because above all else, PRAYER CHANGES THINGS. Stephen

The NASA scientists, there to advise on the operation all said: ‘This was a miracle. There is no other word for what happened here’.

The other story I told at that service, much less well known and yet equally powerful was from the 1982 Falklands conflict and the Battle for Goose Green. For those who can remember nearly 30 years ago (I was very young at the time!), the 2^ndBattalion,

Contentment and Peace in Tmes of Trouble

Stephen Walker — 2011-06-03T10:49:26+00:00

Dear friends

When World War II erupted, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, Betsie, middle aged Christian women in Holland, resolved to conceal fleeing Jewish people from the Nazi’s. They saved many. But they were ultimately arrested and taken to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Betsie died, but Corrie miraculously survived to witness to the way God can save, heal and forgive. Their experience in the concentration camp contending with fleas, hunger and hardship served to test their faith and confidence in God. Trying to learn the secret of being content, as St Paul describes it (Philippians 4:12), even in those dreadful circumstances was not easy. Yet despite everything they knew God’s presence and strength in the midst of it all.

The promise and the secret

American statesman, Benjamin Franklin said: ‘Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor’. There are not many people, it seems, who are genuinely content. As Martin Luther once said, ‘Contentment is a rare bird, but it sings sweetly in the breast’.

The apostle Paul is not without his troubles. He is in prison and has plenty to worry about and yet he is an example of a person who found the secret of a life of peace and contentment despite his troubles. He tells the Philippians how to find peace and urges them to discover the secret of being content.

‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’. (Phil 4:6-7)

Prayer and worry are not easy bedfellows. They are like fire and water. Paul urges us to pray in every situation when things are going well and when things are difficult. We need to be specific: ‘By prayer and petition…present your requests to God’ (v6). Many people find it helpful to keep a prayer diary where they write down specific requests. This not only helps with concentration but also enables us to look back and see the ways that God has answered our prayers.

We can then remember our answered prayers and give thanks (v6) and continue to seek God as our confidence in prayer increases.

So as we bring our worries and anxieties to God in prayer and leave them with him, he gives us his peace in exchange. The word for ‘peace’ means: wholeness, soundness, well-being, oneness with God, every kind of blessing and good. It is a peace that transcends all understanding and surpasses both our ability to hope and our anxiety of what is to come. It is this peace that ‘guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’ (v7). This is a wonderful and remarkable promise and one we need to hold fast to when going through difficult and testing times.

‘Holdfast Cottage’

There was an occasion when I was going through a particularly challenging time in ministry. It was a beautiful sunny day and so Sharon and I took off to the Malvern Hills for a walk and time of prayer. As we drove towards the British Camp car park, feeling a weight of struggle, we passed a cottage on the road that we had passed dozens of times before without ever noticing its name. On this occasion as we drove past, the name of the cottage, as I threw a cursory glance towards it, blazed at me as if it was in neon lights and written large on a huge billboard. It is called ‘Holdfast Cottage’. It came to me as a encouragement from the Lord to HOLD FAST to him, lean on him and trust in him and sure enough He brought us through that season of struggle.

Whatever each of us is contending with in our lives, may we discover, like Paul, like Corrie and her sister, Betsie, the secret of being content and knowing the peace of God in all circumstances.

New Sermon Series

Over the next couple of months our Sunday morning teaching series will be looking at various issues that may cause us to struggle. Under the title, ‘Dealing with..’ we will be thinking about such areas as: aloneness, forgiveness in family relationships, fatherhood, responsibilities and obligations, farewells, celebrations and feastings. We will also be welcoming to our worship for Pentecost Sunday (12^thJune), the Rev Waseem Ullah from the Lahore Evangelical Ministries in Pakistan to bring an international flavour to our celebration of Pentecost. Later in the month we will welcome Rev John Coyne of the Church Pastoral Aid Society (One of our UK based Mission Partners) to share with us the vision of CPAS for the church in the UK.

And finally, thank you for participating in our day of Prayer and Fasting the other week. I was thrilled to see that so many of you wanted to be part of that day giving over time and making a sacrifice to earnestly seek after God and draw near to him. Of course we also enjoyed the feasting afterwards!!

Every blessing in ChristStephen