Getting ready for Romans

Last Sunday at CBC we started a new series looking at Paul's Prayers. Paul's prayers are recorded for us in the letters that he wrote to different church communities spread across the region from Israel to Italy - and they reveal something of Paul's priorities and perspective on life.

If you missed this introduction to the series you can watch it here.



Because these prayers are recorded in a number of different letters, each to a different church, there is a lot of background that would be helpful to know. Last week, for example, we looked at Philippians 4:4-9, and it is helpful to know that when Paul says, 'Rejoice in the Lord always' he was actually writing from prison, potentially facing execution. If he'd been writing from some Mediterranean beach resort, sipping cocktails, we'd be excused for thinking, 'well it's ok for you to say that - but if you knew what I was going through...' But that option isn't open to us when we know the context.

To help us get some of that background - each week I'm going to post relevant Bible Project videos. If you get a chance to watch them before Sunday hopefully you'll find it useful.

Last week we started with a video on How to read New Testament letters. This week, The Bible Project has released another video in this series - How to read the NT letters in their literary context.



This week we're going to be looking at Romans 10:1-21. Romans is quite a long book and so there are two Bible Project videos to cover the whole thing. Although we're going to be looking at chapter 10 I suggest you watch both videos. 

Walking on water

Some times I think that Peter gets quite a hard time. In this week's assembly - which I have posted below - Peter has already got out of the boat and is already walking on the water towards Jesus (from Matthew 14:22-33). He then notices the size of the waves and the strength of the wind, takes his eyes off Jesus and starts to sink.

Jesus rescues him and when they're safely back in the boat asks, 'you of little faith, why did you doubt?'

I think my reply might be something along the lines of, 'little faith - didn't you just see me get out of the boat and start to walk on the water? What about these guys (pointing to the rest of the disciples in the boat) - how about their faith? Didn't see any of them waltzing along the waves or Samba-ing amongst the swell. How about asking them?

But I don't think Jesus' comment was a criticism of Peter. Peter was now cold and wet. He had had quite a scare. No doubt his pulse rate was fairly high. But he could have avoided all of that - by continuing to trust Jesus.

When Jesus asks us 'why are you anxious?' or 'why are you worried?' I don't think it is an accusation or a criticism. But rather a recognition that there is a better way to live. You don't need to be worried - with all the negatives that come with that. So Jesus' question comes with a heart longing, that we learn to live this better way - not because Jesus wants to tick a box that says 'xyz finally got it - well taught', but because that way of living will be better for us.

Each Wednesday, during lockdown, I will post my Wednesday assembly videos here. If you know any primary school-aged children who are missing their assemblies why not send them a link.

When I do these assemblies in real life, I get a score out of ten from my youngest daughter who still attends the school. Normally, just before she leaves, she will hold up her fingers with a score out of 10. One of the criteria for a 10/10 is that she is picked as a volunteer (so that rarely happens, if ever). Anyway, if you're interested, this week I got an A score of 9 - which is unusually high!

Peter - Called by Jesus

One of the things that I used to do, every three or four weeks, was to take the Wednesday church assembly at a local primary school. These were whole school assemblies (so 4-11 year-olds), held in the local Parish Church, on a Wednesday morning. The school is a Church of England school and it is directly opposite the church. And these assemblies were taken by a team of local church leaders.

Obviously, with the national lockdown due to coronavirus, the school building is now closed to most children, and most learning has moved online. And so have the assemblies. This term we are going ahead with our plan for the summer term which was a series on the life of Peter, taken from the gospels and the book of Acts.

This series started last week looking at the Calling of Peter from Luke 5:1-11. One of the things about this story is the way in which the disciples left everything to follow Jesus. Is that the kind of disciple I am?

Paul's Prayer for the Philippians

Yesterday I introduced our new teaching series, Paul's Prayers, which we're going to start on Sunday here at CBC. If you haven't read that post I'd encourage you to do so now.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we're going to cover a number of Paul's prayers, coming from his different letters in the New Testament. (Paul wrote a big chunk of the New Testament - from Romans to Philemon.) We're not going to have a lot of time to explore the background to each of those letters, so each week I'm going to point you to the relevant Bible Project videos for the coming Sunday. 

This week our main reading will be from Philippians.

Paul's prayers - an introduction

This Sunday, 26th April, we're going to be starting a new teaching series here at CBC - looking at Paul's Prayers. We're going to see what Paul's priorities were when he prayed and what his perspective on life was like. 

When I first started to explore this theme back in the summer of 2018 - in those days when we were still able to go on summer holidays (we were camping in Cornwall at the time) - I remember being struck by how different Paul's prayers, perspective and priorities were to mine.

This new series isn't the culmination of two years of study in which I am going to share what I have learnt - rather it is an opportunity for us to explore some of these prayers together and to open our ears and our eyes to what God might want to show us.

Paul's prayers are recorded in his letters and we find these letters in the New Testament. Romans to 2 Thessalonians were letters written by Paul to churches, and 1 Timothy to Philemon were letters written to individuals (Timothy, Titus and Philemon!) 

Obviously, when you read someone else's mail, there's going to be a whole load of stuff that you don't understand, or potentially misunderstand because you have no idea about the background to the letter. Paul was writing to specific people in specific contexts - people and contexts which he knew. So there are going to many things that he simply assumes that they know - because they were there when they happened or were said etc.

We're not going to have time this series to go into any depth regarding the context of each letter that we look at. So instead, I would encourage you to look at the Bible Project videos for the upcoming passages before each Sunday morning. To help with this, each week I will post the relevant videos here on my blog.

So let's start with one of their newer videos, on how to read New Testament letters.

Not all in the same boat

How are you bearing up?

Yesterday, (at least, I think it was yesterday), I heard or read someone wishing that people would stop using the phrase 'we're all in the same boat' about the current crisis. Their point was that whilst we may all be in the same storm - we're certainly not all in the same boat.

Picture credit: www.LumoProject.com

Some people are being impacted a lot more by the coronavirus lockdown than others. For some, it is a time of temporary inconvenience, whilst for others, their lives have been changed forever. 

Some people are shut in on their own and haven't got within 2m of another human being for weeks, with many more weeks of the same to look forward to.

For families with children - all of these children are different, and all have their own needs. Some families have plenty of space indoors and out - others don't. Some are literally just weeks into their parenting journey, but without the support offered by mums and friends. Others have children home from university - a houseful of adults.

Some people are key workers and therefore many will be even busier and stressed at work than normal - especially those working on the front line within the NHS or other care settings. Others are trying to work from home - some, whilst juggling child care. Some have been furloughed. Some are self-employed and really worried about the future of their businesses. 

Some are caring for loved ones at home and anxious about how their treatment and day-to-day care is being impacted. Many are worried about older or vulnerable relatives.

And then there are those who have sadly lost a family member or close friend. Those who never got the chance to say 'goodbye'. Those who have lost a partner, a parent, a son or a daughter...

Picture credit: www.LumoProject.com

So whilst we may be in the same storm, we're certainly not all in the same boat.

But whichever boat we are in, we have God's promise that Jesus is in the boat with us.

Whilst Jesus calmed the storm for the disciples (Matthew 8:23-27) he doesn't promise to calm our storm - but he does promise to be in the boat with us.

He does promise that in the storm we can know peace.

He does promise that he loves us. 

On Sunday, here at CBC, we're starting a new teaching series looking at Paul's Prayers. The whole world is going through a crisis - which can turn people to God in prayer. But it can also raise some really tough questions - questions such as, 'why doesn't God calm my storm?'

Without wanting to give too much away, one of the things that we learn from Paul's prayers is that we may still get shipwrecked in the storms that life throws at us. Being a Christian is no guarantee that trouble will pass us by. But Paul's concern is that as we go through those storms, with Jesus in the boat, even if the boat sinks, our trust in Jesus will not waver. 

So, however you're faring in your boat, I pray that you're aware that Jesus is in the boat with you, and however much water you're taking on board, and however near to capsizing you are, you know the peace that only he can give.

Promise Keeper

Happy Easter!

One of the things that we're going to explore in our online service on Easter Day will be how the resurrection is proof that we can take Jesus at his word. Jesus had told the disciples exactly what was going to happen to him - that he was going to be killed and come back to life three days later (e.g. Luke 9:22). It's just that they didn't get it, or believe it.

Even after it happened they had trouble believing it - until they saw Jesus with their own eyes (e.g. Luke 24:12 and John 20:24-29).

Often we can find it hard to believe God's words - especially when things are tough, or our prayers don't get answered as we'd expected, or things take a turn for the worse. But the resurrection is proof that we can trust God - he is the God who keeps his promises.

Originally Easter Sunday was planned as an all-age service. So this week we have sent the children in Energise some materials for a craft activity to be completed during today's service.

The activity was to make a Promise Keeper box, in which you place lollypop sticks which have different promises from the Bible written on them. We did two in the service - Joshua 1:9 and Philippians 4:6-7. This leaves four more lolly sticks/verses/promises for each family to find and write down. Then in the coming days, maybe when you're finding it hard, you can pick out a promise from God.

If you want to make your own Promise Keeper box you can download the template by clicking here.

It's the end of the world - or is it?

Over the course of the last three weeks, more than one person has asked my opinion regarding the coronavirus crisis and end time prophesies in the Bible. Certainly, we are living through a situation that most of us could have never imagined just a few weeks ago. 

For a population that is largely shielded from many of the daily struggles that occupy the majority in our world - questions about where the next meal is coming from, or choices between food, medication or schooling - the current situation has opened our eyes to what are daily realities for many, including:

• the sense of life being out of our control - not knowing when things will get back to normal, and not just being able to plan and do what you want,
• the fear of not having enough - whether it's toilet rolls, bread flour, fresh fruit or milk,
• the reality of our own mortality, and
• an awareness that we don't have all the answers.

Whether or not it is an exaggeration, I can imagine few situations which would have shaken 'our world' to the extent that it is currently being shaken. Getting through the current crisis is going to be one thing - recovering from the fallout is going to be something else altogether.

Throughout history, when their world has been shaken, people have often speculated about it being the end of the world. Obviously, it wasn't and we're still here! 

But where does that leave us, now? The story of the Bible, whilst not designed to give us specific details, does point to the reality that history is moving towards the day when Jesus will return - it may be sooner, it may be later. It also points to the truth that God is in control - even when it doesn't look like it. So whether or not we are living in 'the last days' should be irrelevant to how we live today.

Today's video from the Bible Society helps us to explore this theme some more.

Feeling alone on Good Friday

Today is Good Friday, the day when we remember Jesus' death on the cross. 

Picture credit: www.LumoProject.com

Normally, churches throughout the country would be holding special services, as Christians come together to reflect, often in moments of quiet, on the horrors of the cross, and to thank God for his great love for us.

The cross wasn't an unexpected consequence or accident that prematurely cut short Jesus' life. The cross was always at the heart of God's rescue plan for the world. Right from the very first pages of the Bible story, God's plan to repair the damage done by human sin involved Jesus' death on the cross.

But this Good Friday we won't be coming together physically to reflect and remember. Instead, we're experiencing this Good Friday through social distancing and self-isolation. And many of us will be finding that hard.

On Good Friday, as Jesus died on the cross, he spoke some words from Psalm 22, 'my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

Jesus had been betrayed, denied and abandoned by his friends. And now, somehow, as he took our sin, he is experiencing something he has not known before - separation from God the Father.

So Jesus knows what it is like to be alone. But Jesus experienced this separation in order that we might draw near to God. So that the separation between us and God, caused by sin, might be put right.

So as we live through this Good Friday - many of us on our own - let's thank God that because of the cross we can know God with us, even in our isolation.

Here is a reflection put together by the Bible Society for this Good Friday.

The Third Commandment (or is it the second?)

I know that not everyone has extra time on their hands as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Many key workers, of course, are working harder than ever. Parents, with school-aged children home all day, rarely get a moment's peace, and by the time the children are in bed, they're ready to crash too.

But some of you will have extra time on your hands for one reason or another.

If you've followed this blog you will know that I'm a fan of The Bible Project. As well as videos, The Bible Project also produce weekly podcasts. Normally, these follow a theme, and the podcast conversation over a number of weeks links into a single Bible Project video. The current series is on Parables.

But every now and again there is a random interview with a scholar/author. This week there was a really interesting conversation with Dr. Carmen Imes, about her research around the command, “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” 

Often we think of this as being a command that focuses on the way that we speak/use the name of God. But if that's what we think have we missed the point?

It's a great podcast - you can listen to it by clicking here 

Palm Sunday

One of the things that we have traditionally done on Palm Sunday is hand out Palm Crosses. Obviously, we won't be able to do that this year. But making a palm cross from a strip of paper is fairly easy to do. Here's one video, off the internet, showing you one way of doing it.

If you're going to be watching our Palm Sunday Service 'live' later and then joining us for our virtual coffee time afterwards, why not make a 'palm' cross now and show us later.

Re-learning something 'new'

Last week I wrote a post about the new things that many of us were having to learn as we get used to the new way of doing things as we attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Whether it's learning to communicate on Zoom or how to film and edit a short film many of us are learning new skills that help us to keep in touch with each other - even in this time of lockdown.

Just one of the games we've been playing together

But I wonder whether we're also learning, or re-learning, some of the things that we've forgotten. I wonder whether during this time of enforced isolation and the removal of most of the things that kept us running from here to there all day long we'll remember some of the important things that we have forgotten.

We find ourselves with time on our hands - time to eat together, to pray together, to read, to phone a friend, to go for a walk, to check on that neighbour, to play games...

When this time of isolation ends, whether that be in weeks or months, we will have just as much time as we have now. There will still be 86,400 seconds in a day. The difference will be that we have the freedom to choose how we spend that time. 

When all of this is over do you want life to go back to 'normal'? Or are there things from the 'new normal' that you are appreciating and enjoying that you'd like to continue?