I don't know if you've ever been caught in a current or a tide but I am sure that it can be a very frightening and dangerous experience.
One moment you're lying back on your inflatable enjoying the sun on your face and the sound of lapping waves, and the next moment when you look up you discover that you're no where near where you thought you were and you're moving further and further away from safety. You weren't aware it was happening but you've slowly been drifting away. Or else you're rowing or swimming towards a point on the shore, and yet it seems as though you're never going to make it no matter how hard you try - you're either making no headway or you're constantly been blown off course and having to keep on adjusting where you're headed. On Sunday at CBC we resumed our new series in the New Testament book of Hebrews where there is a warning to pay most careful attention to what we have heard (about Jesus) so that we do not drift away - Hebrews 2:1. The thing with drifting, certainly at the beginning, is that often we're not even aware that it is happening. And by the time that we do realise it can be too late. Certainly when you're drifting at sea you only know it is happening if you've got some fixed reference point. If you're floating around with a group of friends on your inflatables you will have no idea whether you're drifting or not - because you'll all be drifting together. The only indication will be your position in relation to a fixed position over the course of time. When we stop paying careful attention to what we have heard about Jesus it may not seem as though anything has changed, but there is a risk that we are slowly drifting away.
Some of you have been reading through the Bible this year using the schedule from The Bible Project - and have been helped along the way with their book and theme videos. Last week Jon and Tim did a live Q and A session on their Genesis 1-11 video and this week they're doing another session based on the Genesis 12-50 video. Some of you are a bit nervous around technology, and may be wondering how this works. Well, the live session is going to be tonight at 8pm (in the UK - they're based in the US so it's noon their time (PST)). You can watch live by clicking here at 8pm tonight. If you click on the link before or after the live session you will get a screen that tells you that the stream is offline - BUT you will also get the links to previous live sessions which you can click on and watch (a bit like watching something on iPlayer). Before 8pm tonight there will only be one previous video, by tomorrow there will be two... You can watch the Genesis 12-50 video below.
Today is the last in our series of Friday posts looking in more detail at each element of our Vision and Values. If you missed any of the series then click on the links above or to see the whole series at once use the Labels at the bottom of the page. Today we're looking at what it means to be a prayerful community. As I have said before these values are not listed in any order of importance which may suggest that prayer is the least, or the most, important of our seven core values - but prayer is vital - in that without it we can't do anything. Now, clearly that last statement is not true. There are plenty of people who do a lot of things without giving any time to prayer. And many of them will be successful at what they do. But there will be at least two reasons for this. First, God is a gracious God who sometimes will work through us in spite of our efforts to do things in our strength. But we should not presume on this. Being humble and prayerful acknowledges that we can't do things in our strength without God; it acknowledges that we don't know best and that we need to listen to God for his guidance and wisdom; it acknowledges that all that we are and all that we have has come from God. We live with a constant battle against self and pride and a lack of prayer often reflects an attitude of self-reliance. The second reason is to do with the way that we measure success. Being biblical requires us to see things within the overarching, big picture that spans from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22; to see things in terms of the Kingdom of God. Often we can fall into the trap of seeing things as successful because we're measuring them with the wrong measure. So if we want to ensure that what we do has eternal and kingdom value and consequences then prayer is vital. Why do many of us find prayer so hard? I guess we've already touched on one answer to this question - we're proud and self-reliant. Another answer to this question is that prayer doesn't work. Prayer doesn't make a difference. I'm sure we've all been in situations where we've prayed for something to happen - someone to recover from a serious illness, to find work after a prolonged period of unemployment etc - and either nothing has happened or the situation has actually got worse. So what's the point in praying? I guess if our understanding of prayer is - we ask God for something, God does it - then I'd have to agree: prayer doesn't work, so what's the point. But is that what prayer really is? Certainly asking God for things is a part of prayer and is biblical. And there are those within CBC who can witness to the fact that sometimes God does answer our prayers in a supernatural and miraculous way. But prayer is much more than that. It is also about deliberately putting yourself in a place where you invite God to show you his perspective, to remind you of that big picture, to remind you of truths that sometimes we forget. I'm sure there will be a quote somewhere, by someone, along the lines of prayer not always changing the situation we're praying about, but changing us within the situation. Giving us peace or hope or strength or forgiveness or love in a situation where without God we would be anxious, despairing, tired, bitter or full of anger and hate and revenge... So part of what it means to be prayerful as a church involves acknowledging that we can't do anything of true value without God. Acknowledging that we rely on God's wisdom and guidance and not on our own good ideas and abilities. It is also a commitment to seek God's perspective and to see the big picture. And this all means time - spending time, either as individuals, or pairs, or small groups, or as a whole church in prayer - talking to God and creating the space to listen to God too.
This morning at CBC we're starting a new series looking at the New Testament book of Hebrews. Although we're not told who wrote Hebrews and we're not told who it was written to, we do know enough to know that: it was probably written to Jewish Christians, maybe a house church in Rome, possibly around 64-68 AD, and these Christians were experiencing hardship and persecution because of their faith - and they were therefore tempted to turn back to their old religion or water down some of the truths about their new faith. The letter, which is really a long sermon, was written to remind them that Jesus was superior to all that had come before and that the rewards of remaining faithful, as well as the cost of turning away far outweighed the current hardships they were experiencing. Hebrews is not an easy book to get our heads round - because we don't come from an Old Testament, Jewish background - the basis for so many of the author's arguments. Here's a great introductory video from the great people over at the Bible Project.
