26th March 2017 - Mothers Day – Run Your Race 17 – Catrina Benham

26^th March 2017

Mothers Day – Run Your Race 17 – Catrina Benham

Bible Verse: Hebrew 12 v 1 – 3

Introduction

When we say we are making a decision or struggling people often say ‘just take the next step’, ‘put one step in front of the other’…etc. We need these tips along the journey of life, however we need to look to the bible for our life tips.

The bible has loads of practical tips for life. Our faith is in a real God, who has real answers.

Life is a journey that we go on. We start somewhere and go somewhere. But it can also be explained as a race.

The bible talks about us all being on our own track and Jesus supporting us. Our life race is not about speed or being first. It is about endurance and focusing on God.

Life is not a tarmacked road that is smooth. There are changing seasons in our life. There are twists and turns. In real life there are obstacles and we need to get over that. Hence real life is more like a heptathlon: running, shotput, 800m etc… a  multi event competition.

Hebrews 12 v 1 – 3

Hebrews explains that we will feel weary in life and we will lose heart, at times.  In this long race called life,  however, God also says that we need to take encouragement from others that have done it before, and we need to look to Jesus about how we run the race.

The phrase ‘Therefore’, shows that people have gone before us. In Hebrews 11 heaps of people were commended for their faith. This continues into Hebrews 12 where it discusses about being ‘surrounded by cloud of witnesses’ like a cloud, high, deep, wide.  There is a packed stadium, people in the stacked terraces: believers everywhere cheering us all on. They are saying I’ve done it and you can do it too.

The witnesses mentioned in Hebrews 11 include Ruth and the Woman of Proverbs 31. They went through trials and we need to look at how they ran their race, not what they did.

How they Run not what they Did.

Ruth: She went from Bethlehem to another country, due to famine. Once there, the men of the family died leaving three widows. She stayed with Naomi. From her first marriage she had no children, was a Moabite, poor and that was not attractive in society. However her reputation was that she was a women of noble character. People knew about her. She was a women of valour, brave and strong. She ran her race with determination. God had a plan and she endured: Ruth is part of Josephs line of genealogy, and after the death of her first husband she married again and has children.

Chayil – nobel character, strong, excellent, valiant, brave.

Proverbs 31: The woman discussed in this proverb provides food, works in the night, plants for the future, her trading is profitable. This is not a task list it is a song celebrating all women. It is not a job description. It describes all women.

 

 

Choose to Run

Don’t give up, don’t stop, don’t wish for someone else’s life, move through life with God. Our lives should be about moving through life in ways that can glorify God rather than what we look like or achieve. When we trust Him, we will accomplish. There is not just one winner. We can all win and cheer each other on.

You can do it – they have. We are running in community.

What is hindering your running?

Throw it off. The baggage we carry hinders our faith. We pick up things such as fear, anxiety, ambitions, distractions, care of what others think: these are distractions. Know what hinders you and throw them off. Comparison hinders us. Don’t keep looking to the left, right or behind. We can’t look at others and run our own race – we will crash. Such comparisons rob us of joy.

Sin also entangles. Throw it off.

Don’t run through life with your head down. Don’t march life out – enjoy the scenery, enjoy the time. Keep your head up, eyes up, look to Jesus.

The ultimate on how to do ‘life’ is to fix your eyes on Jesus. The pioneer and perfector of our faith. Put your attention onto Jesus, look and listen to him. He gives us our faith. He completes and finishes our faith. He is around us as we run and is ahead of us as we run.

What is getting you through life? Is it Jesus.

Pray, listen to worship and read the bible, along with some calm breathing. This will get you through the day. We need to remind ourselves on who we should fix our eyes on.

God is our ultimate coach.

Questions:

• How is your unique race going?
• Discuss what you each need to throw off, what baggage are you carrying?
• Does everyone else around you look as they are doing better? How does it make you feel?
• Are you in a place you haven’t been before? Share with your group what new things are crossing your path? Pray for each other..
• Is your head down one foot in front of the other? Or are you distracted by hindrances? How will you refocus on Jesus?
• Do you need to change your race? Are you running in the wrong direction?
• Where do you go for help? Friends, family or God?
• Why don’t you all share an example of overcoming something in your own race - celebrate with those in your group

19th March 2017 - Liam Parker - Generous During the Tough Times

19^th March 2017 – Liam Parker

Generous During the Tough Times

Bible Verse: Psalms 136

God wants us to know how generous he has been to us in the past, so that in the tough times we can remind ourselves of His generous love, to have hope.

‘His love endures forever’… through the generations.

Enduring Love

The phrase ‘enduring love’ is exactly that… it endures. It is important that we know that we are bound to go through trails in life, and that we will have to endure. Its then that we can claim that we endure. We don’t endure in the good times in life – these are blessings. We endure through the difficult times.

Psalms 136 was a worship song sung in the temple and sung by the army as it headed into battle. They reminded themselves of the good things that God had done and that He will continue to endure. It is a battle song…a battle cry.

Let’s use this Psalm and the enduing love as our battle cry through our current situations.

God at the Start and the Centre

The Psalm puts God at the start. We often talk about putting Jesus at the centre but He also needs to be the start of our decisions and problems. He must be the first thought, the emergency contact on our life. In the UK, life has become comfortable. When compared to rest of world. This becomes a problem as we rely on our circumstances and objects too much. Then we start to relate to Gods love as to how well our circumstances are, and when things go wrong we start to question Him. However, God is with us in the good times but doesn’t leave us when life gets difficult. Don’t measure God by your circumstances.

God’s love endures before, during and after I am here on earth. Hence, we should maintain the same expectations regardless of what we see before us or the circumstances we are in.

All the characters in the bible went through circumstances and carried on walking knowing that Gods love endures forever.

We need to go to God first in all our circumstances: for finances, help and support. We often try and solve it ourselves first, then we go to our parents or friends and then God (last). But we should go to God first. He gives us the correct attitude and is the first voice we should listen to…..’Seek First the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you’.

Personal Growth

Psalm 136 Refers to the time in Egypt when the Israelites were oppressed as slaves. It was a tough time, for a long time. Some people were born a slave and died a slave. BUT His love endured forever. God was doing a lot in Egypt before He lifted them out of the situation. In our lives, before He lifts us out of the situation, He will provide for you in the mist. God used the Egyptians to provide for the Israelites. The Israelites also grew in number during this time. We need to remember that we grow as we go through our challenging season.

Gods unique love is amazing: the more opposition to Gods love – the more it grows.

Allowing God to Do His Work

We need to stop controlling the circumstances we are in and start focusing on growing our relationship with God in the situation. He will then flip the situation around.

Patience and love then grows in us to allow us to handle the situation. As per Romans 5.

When we go through tough times we need to celebrate and give glory to God as it builds character.  However, we must go through the suffering WITH Him. We shouldn’t walk it alone. When we walk alone we are trying to control the situation and not letting God do his work. Read John 15 – the vine and the branches.

The situation that’s causing you to feel less peace IS the situation that God can use to give you more, when you focus on God.

Psalms 136: It refers to the Kings that Israel overcame: Cross Reference Numbers 21 and the many battles. The Israelites had to march through the Kings land. They asked permission to do so and were told no. The army came out against them. They then came across the second Kings army that was twice as big. We have moments in life when tough circumstances occur, we get through it and then even tougher circumstances follow. However, God spoke to Moses and they beat both armies.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t matter how big your situation is if you walk it with God. Let’s not place our hope in people, finances etc. Only and firstly trust in God’s love as it endures forever. Let’s go to him first.

Questions:

1. Read Psalms 136 together as a group – each taking one verse at a time
2. Can you share with your group a trial that you have gone through in the past – where you experienced Gods Enduring Love.
3. Is there a trial in your life that you are going through RIGHT NOW - that you need to remind yourself of His love that endures?
4. Pray for each other – for the challenges and situations that each of you know Gods Enduring Love on you

Take your requests to God – go first to Him and seek Him. Ask God to intervene. Stop relying on others.

 

Remind yourself of what God has done in your life. Keep your hope alive. Remind yourself regularly. Carry those things daily as they remind you of the hope during your circumstances.

 

Take things to God first. Glorify God in the situation. Walk through the situation with Him.

12/03/2017 Debt and Saving - Simon Benham

Simon made the following comments at the beginning of his sermon.

Vision Fund Update

Last year we had an offering to start the Kerith Vision Fund, which raised the biggest single gift day amount we have ever had as a church.  This fund is to facilitate growth, by enlarging our K2 building in Bracknell, providing a mid-week venue for Sandhurst, and launching Kerith in Windsor.  We are in the process of giving away 10% of the money received to Novo in Bolivia (run by our friends Andy & Mickey Partington) and to churches in Albania, Estonia and Lithuania.

The remaining money has been used to pay off a significant amount of the mortgage on the house behind K2, and to pay for architects’ fees to plan the development of K2.  In Sandhurst there is a possibility that God is opening a door for a partnership in which to build a purpose built building for Sundays.  In Windsor, Leon has been looking at possible buildings to meet in.  A decision will soon be made with a view to initially meeting one Sunday per month.

There will be two more gift days this year aiming to raise £200,000 each to progress the work in our three sites.

Authentic Community

Simon shared that he was feeling low this week due to a few different situations that are going on in his life.  For example, last Thursday he was made redundant from his part-time electronics consultancy job, and feels a deep sense of loss concerning some 30 year-long friendships with people that he will now no longer see.

Simon encouraged us to be real about what is going in in our lives.  Emotional healing often begins when we are real with God and others about how we feel.  Many of the Psalms are songs of sadness and struggle.  We mature and grow as we learn to deal with the tough stuff in life.

Generosity Series

So far in this series we have seen that there is a huge tie up between our spirituality and our finances.  Everything we have is God’s; we are just stewards tasked with using His stuff, His way, to glorify Him.  We have looked at thankfulness, the importance of having a budget, and how to grow in giving.

Financial Debt

Proverbs 22 v 7 says “The borrower is slave to the lender”.  The minute we borrow we become a slave to the person we have borrowed from.  The further we move into debt, the further we move into slavery.

The bible does not say that it is sin to borrow.  Most of us need to borrow to be able to buy a house – that is a “secured loan” as it is against an asset that can be sold if needed to repay the debt. 

When Simon & Catrina were married they took on a mortgage to buy a flat, but they also used unsecured loans (a credit card, and a credit agreement) to pay for a honeymoon to the Lake District and a TV.  Then interest rates went up, house prices crashed, and Simon was threatened with redundancy.  They were very close to being overwhelmed by debt.

There is huge grace to anyone in this position in our community.  Get in contact with our CAP debt advice centre and ask for help.

The Debt of Sin

As Christians, we all know what it is to be overwhelmed by the debt of sin, with no ability to even begin to pay it off by our own efforts.  This is a debt that would not only ruin our lives here on earth, but for all eternity.

It cost God everything to pay off that debt for us – the death of His Son on cross, bearing the punishment we deserve.

Saved into abundance

We are not just saved to have our sins forgiven, but we are saved to a provision of abundance – becoming a child of God, an heir of the kingdom, and blessed with all of heaven’s riches.

The Lord’s Prayer uses the language of debt to refer to our sin, and also calls us to forgive others, freeing them.  God even says that if we don’t forgive others, we ourselves will not be forgiven.   When we sin, we need to quickly repent, and move back into close relationship with Jesus.

Living Debt Free

To be in debt is not sin, but our goal should be to live debt free.  We are then able to make our own financial decisions and be good stewards.

We should avoid unsecured debt, and pay it off as quickly as possible.  We should also try and reduce secured debt – not taking on more than we need, and for example repaying extra every month on a mortgage so that over the long term we can be debt free many years earlier than otherwise.  Simon and Catrina have been able to pay off their mortgage and become completely debt free.

Financial Saving

With unsecured debt, if you can’t afford it, then don’t buy it.  Rather, save up for things that you want, and you may find that when you have saved up you don’t want the thing anyway!

Proverbs 6 v 6-8 says to look at how an ant stores up food in summer for use in winter.  The reality of life is that winter comes – for example clothes, washing machines and cars wear out or breakdown.  Certain times of the year and seasons of life require more money than others e.g. holidays, Christmas, children of all ages (!), redundancy, retirement.

We should save enough so that we don’t presume on God – i.e. that we don’t ask God to do what we should be able to do ourselves if we planned wisely.

A rule of thumb guideline would be to give 10%, save 10%, and live on the remaining 80%.

Channels not Storehouses

We need to save enough for a rainy day, but not for a rainy decade!  The bible is very clear that it is wrong to hoard resources and trust in our savings rather than in God.

Jesus said “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12 v 15).  He also told the parable of the rich man who decided to build bigger barns to hoard his grain for the future.  Jesus tells us instead to be “rich towards God”.

Proverbs 11 v 28 says “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf”.

The Bible calls us to be channels of blessing, not storehouses!

Questions

1.  Simon talked about not going in to debt for things we want, or presuming on God when things we have wear out, but rather getting into a position where we are able to save. 

Describe a time that you saved up for something (that could be recently, or even as a child).

2.  Simon talked about avoiding getting in to debt.  Not a question, but do encourage anyone in serious debt to contact CAP, or those who do not have a budget to go on the CAP Money course.

3.  Simon mentioned that as Christians, we are not just forgiven our debt of sin, but inherit the abundance of all that Christ has won for us.  How does it impact our lives to know that we are:

a) a child of God [see 1 John 3 v 1-3]

b) an heir of the kingdom [see Romans 8 v 14-17]

c) blessed with heaven’s riches [see Ephesians 1 v 3-7]

4. Simon gave us an update on the Vision Fund (see above).  How do you imagine the Vision Fund might grow the church at your site?  Are you able to start saving now towards the next gift day?

5. Simon mentioned that he was struggling with some things in life at the moment (see above). Are there areas in your life where you are struggling at the moment?  [Spend some time praying for each other]

5th March 2017 - Andy Jackson - Generosity: giving to the church

Andy Jackson

5th March 2017

Generosity – Giving to the Church

Introduction

“Generosity – to give and share unsparingly”. Where have we got to so far in our series on generosity?  In previous weeks we’ve heard:

·         Simon Benham speaking on “Everything I have belongs to God”, and

·         Ben Pocock – “Living joyfully within your means."

Talking about money, as we have been doing, may seem as dull as a spreadsheet – but we’re looking forward to a far more exciting goal – an outrageously generous life.   That’s anything but dull!

We love to come across examples of generosity, from small things – like the people who offered to help me fix my bike chain earlier this week – to large things, such as the tributes to George Michael which have been emerging after his death; paying for IVF treatment here, for nurses to look after a cancer sufferer there, and in the round donating millions of pounds to charity.

We’d like to be generous, too – but the giving bit is always a challenge!

In giving to the church, our starting point should be “I honour God by giving the first part of what I earn to his purposes”.  (That can feel expensive – there’s the story of one church member and football fan who, when the pastor asked him “How much is does a season ticket cost?”, responded – “its much cheaper than coming here!”)

Where in the Bible does this starting point come from?

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel laws on tithing (giving a tenth to God):

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.  Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it.  Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.  No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. (Leviticus 27^30-33)

The first part of something earned (the first fruits) should also be given:

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Proverbs 3^9-10)

These tithes were used to support the priests, to stage festivals, and through a special tithe held once every three years, to help the poor.

The rules on tithing stand in contrast to the prevailing attitude today of “It’s my money, I can do what I like with it” because they reflect an underlying understanding that “everything belongs to God”:

 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8^17-18)

As recipients of God’s generosity, we do need to remind ourselves of our responsibility to be good stewards; the Bible goes so far as to equate ‘not tithing’ with robbery:

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3^8-10)

One Israelite king lead the nation through a period of national repentance and returning to God, and reinstated tithing and first-fruits as an integral part of that:

As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the first fruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. (2 Chronicles 31⁵)

Teachings of Jesus

Turning to the New Testament, we know that Jesus was a practicing Jew, who met the requirements of the law; He never taught that it was wrong or irrelevant – instead, he goes further.  Jesus calls his followers to a life expressing deep love for God and for people, and what we give says a lot about that love in our relationships

·         How sincere our love is for others

·         How much we trust God to provide

In the times in which Jesus lived, wealth was seen as a sign of God’s favour, and so people were impressed by large gifts – but there is one story which shows that Jesus was impressed more by the sacrifice than the size:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  (Luke 21^1-5)

In absolute terms, the widow’s gift was far smaller than others – but it was all she had, and Jesus valued the sacrificial spirit with which she gave.

What should my level of giving to Church be?

Kerith already has a reputation for generosity – as someone who helped distribute funds from the recent gift days to charity, Andy can testify first hand that people were amazed at how much had been given!  Again, the money need for the vision fund was collected quickly and, it felt, easily.

But God is calling us to shift into another gear, testing God and his promises.  This will mean very different things for different people.  For some, tithing is a real sacrifice; for others, its straightforward - and there is ‘headroom’ for sacrificial giving on top of the tithe.

Andy’s own experience is that he was bought up to tithe through the teaching of his church and the example of his parents, and he has done so.  Looking back, and asking “what could I have done with the money?”, there were times when he and his family missed out on things – but God has quite genuinely given then all that they need.

A recent quote from Archbishop Sentamu sums this up: “We give so that God’s will and work might happen.”

In closing, one last issue what happens about giving while you are in debt?  On a practical level, a part of the answer is to make use of the resources around you, especially CAP!  But there is also a challenge to be prayed through – how much faith do we have in God to provide both for debt payments and for giving?