Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Hope Values 2 – Pray Continually!

Matthew 28v20 “I am with you always.”

Today we continue to look at our 5 “values” at Hope. Our values define our priorities in life and cause us to decide one course of action over another. Most organisations have good stated values, but some also actual live by another set of values: sometimes with disastrous consequences.

The second of our values is to “Pray Continually”. Prayer is firstly engaging with the presence of God, and secondly asking in faith that God will respond.

Prayer rests on the words, “I am with you always” in the great commission. It is generally considered rude to have a friend with you and never engage with them. And when we do engage, we are not engaging with someone remote, but as a friend alongside us (the Holy Spirit), as a loving Father, and  as the one who gave his life for me. This is an intense privilege, and as we engage with this wonderful God, our perspective changes.

It is on the basis of this friendship and acceptance that we then make requests. These requests are to express what is on our hearts and to seek his mercy and provision. By my requests, I acknowledge that God is all-able and I am not. Some feel that they should not bother God with small details of their life, but if God can be bothered to send his Son to the cross for me, then it seems reasonable that he loves to hear what is on our hearts and to respond accordingly.

So we make prayer an intense priority in our daily schedule, and we make prayer a high priority in our calendar as a church family. Afterall, we have been brought into the presence of God and we have been given a calling that only he can do.

Where is prayer on your priority list? Who else can you join with in prayer?

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Values at Hope – Living by God’s Word!

Matthew 28v20 “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Over the next 5 weeks, we will be reflecting our five core values as a family at Hope. When we make any decision, we prioritise one thing over another, and so exercise our “values” – what is most important to us. For example, when we purchase something, we may choose either better quality or better price, or we may choose better looks or better function. The values we live by develop during our upbringing and by our lessons of life.

Hope’s first value is to live according to God’s Word in our daily lives. This is very difficult in a society which prefers to take our own way over submission to another. Jesus stood out from the crowd because he submitted to his Heavenly Father: culminating in Gethsemane as he simply said “Not my will but yours be done.” He now calls us to submit in a similar way to what God says.

God is not looking for reluctant submission, but a willing one. How is this possible? Only by a change in our heart, by our desires being realigned. Our heart’s desires are changed by being “Born again”, allowing God’s Spirit to work in us, and allowing our heart to be changed by God’s Word as we meditate on it. We also need to actually take the practical steps of obedience. Repeated practical steps change our way of thinking.

If we value what God says over what the world says, we will allow God more space to speak than the world. As our familiarity with what He says grows, so his words become second-nature to us. This all leads, not to a reluctant submission, but a willing submission. And at the end of the day, His ways are always best.

Do you dare to ask God for a heart that willingly submits to the ways of God even if it means going to the cross like Jesus?

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journey – to Emmaus!

Luke 24v32 “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road.”

On the evening of the resurrection, two disciples (additional to “the 12”) were walking the 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were behind on the latest news; all they knew was that Jesus had been killed. Naturally, they were extremely upset. But on that journey of mourning, Jesus came incognito, alongside them and chatted with them. As they ate with him in their home in Emmaus, Luke reports, “Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him.” (24v31) At the moment of recognition, suddenly all that Jesus had told them fitted together and they excitedly returned to Jerusalem to tell the others.

Last Sunday it was a joy to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. It was also a joy to welcome in many who do not normally come. Each one of us is on a journey and Jesus is walking beside us whether we recognise Him or not. He is sharing little truths with us. And then suddenly God switches on the light in our hearts, and his teachings fit together. I had a moment like that this last week: I was reading in Romans and I suddenly realised something that I don’t think I had ever realised before. Jesus has much to teach us and he wants us to be enlightened. It is so exciting when he does!

I encourage us to pray for all we know who are on a journey with God, including those with us on Sunday morning. They have heard some of the good news, some have taken booklets to understand further. Let’s pray God to switch the light on in their hearts and minds and they recognise Jesus for who he is – the risen Lord.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journey – to the cross!

Mark 15v22 “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).”

Let’s invest time meditating on what Jesus did for us on this night about 2000 years ago,

• Jesus ate with his disciples and instigated us remembering him with bread and wine
• Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for “his cup to be taken from him”, but submitted to God’s will.
• Jesus was betrayed and arrested, while also healing a servant’s ear.
• Jesus was deserted by his disciples and then disowned by Peter.
• Jesus was tried and found innocent, yet condemned to death.

Then tomorrow he is taken to the place of crucifixion, gruesomely called “The Place of the Skull”. There:

• Jesus was nailed to a cross amongst thieves.
• Jesus was mocked and insulted
• Jesus showed love and care to his mother and forgiveness towards those who were hurting him.
• Jesus proclaimed salvation for one of the thieves.
• Jesus declared his life’s work done in the words, “It is Finished”.

I simply encourage you take the time to meditate this weekend on the accounts given to us in (say) Mark 14, 15 and 16. As we reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us, may the love of Christ fill our hearts. May you know his full forgiveness for all your sin and the welcoming arms of our Father.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journeys – on a foal of a donkey!

Matthew 21v9 “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’.”

This Sunday is Palm Sunday! The King of Kings entered Jerusalem on a donkey. A simple affair with no security guards or cavalcade. A man, a donkey and a few disciples.

But something was happening. An enthusiastic crowd gathered and sang their best songs of joy and praise. They waved branches and put their coats on the ground to be walked over. Why?

Because Jesus was coming in fulfilment of the prophecy of 500 years before: “See your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9v9) Could it be that this Jesus is going to bring salvation? The crowd excitedly thought “yes”. Their expectations for what that salvation would look like may have been mis-aligned, but let’s join them in their enthusiasm as we gather to worship the King of Kings!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journeys – The King goes to be crowned!

Luke 19v12 “He went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.”

Jesus left the transformed Zacchaeus in Jericho and continued towards Jerusalem. What huge success! He was aware of a significant problem though. It was a problem of people’s expectation: “the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” Many were going to be bitterly disappointed as they saw Jesus crucified. Their hopes and dreams would be dashed: Why? Because they had not appreciated God’s ways, they had not appreciated that God’s victory is often won through suffering. It is always best if our own expectations are aligned with God’s plans or we will be disappointed.

Jesus counters their false expectation with a parable. In the story, a prince goes away to be made king. Before he goes, he gives each of his servants 3 months wages and tells them to “put it to work until I come back.” When he returned as king, he asked each of his servants to account for what they had done with the money. The first two had done well: they had put it to work in faith and it had multiplied and the king rewarded them accordingly. Unfortunately, though, one of them had simply laid it away in a cloth to preserve it: there was no multiplication, no risk taken, and so even what he had was taken from him. (Luke 19v5-27)

I take two key things from this. Firstly, as Jesus headed to Jerusalem he knew he was going to the cross, but he also knew that cross would mean resurrection and his ascension into heaven. There he would be made king of the universe and be ready to return to hold people to account. Jesus looked through the suffering in reliance on His Father, and he calls me to do likewise.

The second is that while Christ is already king, his kingdom is not yet fully implemented. Theologians sometimes refer to this as a “now and not yet kingdom”. We would love Jesus to just speak the word and have everything sorted in this world, but the reality is he is sorting out our hearts as we allow him to have his way. The whole world will only be sorted at his return. In this story, Jesus is managing the expectations of his disciples: Jesus is King, but it is not completely implemented yet.

May God enable us to do as Paul writes in Colossians 3v1-4: “set your hearts on things above … and set your minds on things above … for when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journeys – Zacchaeus!

Luke 19v5 “Jesus looked up and spoke….”

Luke 19 begins, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.” (19v1) He was on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem. He was deliberately on his way to be “mocked, insulted, spat on, flogged and killed” (18v32), and Jericho was just a town on the way.

But Jesus was easily diverted by the Holy Spirit to crucial encounters. There are crowds of people lining the streets to see him, and so Zacchaeus has climbed a tree to get a good view. But when Jesus reached that tree, “he looked up and said, ‘Zacchaeus … I must stay at your house today.’” (19v5). Jesus was sensitive to the Spirit.

Jesus proceeds to take time out from his journey to meet with this man who was renowned for greed. Despite the inevitable emotional needs Jesus must have had, he chose to chat over a meal with this man who was despised by others. Jesus cared for the “lost”.

The result is Zacchaeus is transformed from greed to generosity. And so Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” (19v9). Jesus bore spiritual fruit.

It seems that if we are to walk the way of Jesus, we also need to be alert to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to be ready to stop like Jesus and to take time out to care. Who knows what God might do!

Lord, may my priorities be aligned with yours, may my ears be open to your voice, and may my heart be ready to follow.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Parable: A mighty harvest!

Matthew 13v8 “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop.”

What crop is God’s Word in your life?

Today we consider the final part of the parable of the farmer sowing his seed. The whole text relating to this part is:

“ ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown..… ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Why do farmers and gardeners sow? They are motivated by the expectation of a harvest. Similarly, the reason we share God’s Word is we anticipate a crop. I think there two ways we can apply this passage:

• The first is a challenge in my own life. What impact is God’s Word having in my life? The impact can only come when I both hear it and understand it (v23). There is a huge value in not just reading a passage, but really thinking about it, meditating on it, discussing it in a group, hearing what others are hearing and, in all this, listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to me. It is not so much a theological understanding that is required, but a practical understanding: what am I to think, do and say? We are nearly three months into this year. What has God said to you so far this year? What have you done with that?
• The second is the encouragement to spread the word of God widely. Jesus tells us through the parable that not everyone is going to respond positively. Even those that do, may well slip backwards in time. But when fruit comes, there is an abundance – many times what was sown. The positive response outweighs all the negative responses. If we apply some maths based on Jesus’ parable then ¾ of the people we share with about Jesus are not going to respond, but the ¼ that do are going to produce typically 60 times over. Keep sharing the gospel until you find someone who is responding and you will reap an abundant harvest.

Praise God that in Zambia this year (see picture) a harvest is just starting to be reaped. Each seed produced nothing the last two years, but this year is producing many times what was sown. May God’s Word produce an abundant harvest in your life.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Parable: Seed among thorns!

Matthew 13v7 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”

What is competing with God’s Word in your life?

Today we consider the third part of the parable of the farmer sowing his seed. The whole text relating to this part is:

“ ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.… ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Jesus is saying it is possible for me to make a positive response to the gospel, but for it then to be crowded out by other things. That means that there is never much fruit. What is the point of an apple tree with no apples, or a tomato plant with no tomatoes?  Jesus has called us to bear fruit.

Thorns can be quite pretty – I think of the flower on a Scottish thistle. They can also grow their own kind of fruit – I think of blackberries growing on thorn bushes. So, the things of this life and the idea of wealth can look attractive and productive. But these are not going to help us in spiritual growth, and it is only by spiritual growth that we are going to produce the fruit that God has appointed us for.

What needs cutting back in my life to allow God’s fruit to grow? Maybe there are even things that need uprooting, to allow the Word of God to grow in us without competition.

Lord, help us to identify the things which are actually causing us spiritual harm. Give us the wisdom, courage and power to get rid of them, and may our lives be productive for you.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Parable: Seed in rocky soil!

Matthew 13v5 “Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.”

How deep has the Word of God gone in your life? Has it established firm roots in you?

Today we consider the second part of the parable of the farmer sowing his seed. The whole text relating to this part is:

“ ⁵ Some [seed] fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  …   ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”

Jesus is saying it is possible for people to make an issue positive response to the gospel, but to then fall away. It applies generally to believers too. We can hear God’s Word, respond initially to it, but then later lose faith.

For a plant to withstand the weather – whether sun or storm – it needs good roots. Here’s the question as we reflect on this verse: are there rocks in my life which are stopping the Word from really going deep? Maybe there are some elements of God’s Word that I resist because I am concerned about the implications. Do you find that your relationship with God is impacted by circumstances? Maybe there are rocks that need to be removed or crushed into soil to allow God’s Word to go deeper in you.

Holy Spirit, help us to identify the rocks in our lives that are preventing your Word penetrating fully. May God enable us to remove them and may your Word go deep.

With love and blessing,

Roland