Growing in Christ to glorify God and enjoy him forever!
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)
This Sunday we return to our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, this week focussing on the characteristic of faithfulness.
We need to know that God is faithful, because it shows that he can be trusted. If we cannot be confident in that, then we won’t put our faith in him, and ultimately it is only through faith in God’s promises that we are saved.
The above verse is often seen as Jesus’ mission statement. What are we meant to be trying to achieve as the church? Jesus says, make disciples!
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)
This Sunday is Pentecost. It is the day we remember God sending his Holy Spirit onto the church. The events of the day itself were spectacular and memorable with the sound of a rushing wind, flames of fire settling on the disciple’s heads, the apostles praising God in different languages that visitors to Jerusalem could understand and, perhaps most amazingly, 3,000 people becoming Christians and being baptised!
The work of the Spirit is not ordinarily that spectacular, but it is aways important. It is not limited to those who speak up front in church services or to super-spiritual Christians.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
This Thursday was Ascension Day. It is the day when we remember that Jesus, after proving that he had bodily resurrected from the dead, went to the Father in heaven to take his place at God’s right hand to rule in power. So, we remember the power and authority of Jesus not just over the Kingdom of Israel, but the whole world.
Jesus’ return to one place, his throne in heaven, meant that his power could operate in every place.
Our good works grow out of our relationship with God, but they also point others to the God to whom we belong.
Princess Diana, who herself was known for showing kindness, was reported as saying, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” There is truth in this. Kindness often begets kindness, whereas unkindness spawns more unkindness. As Christians, however, we are not motivated to show kindness in the hope that it will rebound on us, but because God, our Father has already shown kindness to us.
We live in a world where we can order almost anything more or less instantly on our phone or even through our smart speaker. In the past you would find things out by going to the library and trawling through books. Now you just ask google. We live in an instant world, where we don’t expect to wait for long and so we are not trained in patience.
St. Luke's Church Ramsgate