During the Christmas holiday I watched the Disney movie UP. It tells the story of a young Carl Fredrickson who meets a young adventure spirited girl named Ellie. They both dream of going to a Lost Land in South America. Eventually Carl grows up and marries Ellie. They promise each other that they would travel together to Paradise Falls and build a house there. 70 years later, Ellie has died. Carl remembers the promise he made to her. By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredrickson sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.

Sadly for Ellie and Carl they never fulfilled their dreams together because the difficulties and realities of life contributed to them being lost. I pondered on this question; how many Christians have had their dreams in God stolen from them because of the circumstances of life. We have an enemy who sets himself up to steal your dreams, hopes and faith. He wants us to forget about the purposes of God and the dreams He has given us and simply to become ordinary Christians. If he can get us to let go of our dreams then he knows that we will die just like Ellie did not fulfilling all we were called to do.

The start of a new year is always a good time to reflect and as we enter 2012 let’s look for the promises yet fulfilled, remember the dreams of our heart and determine to keep running towards them. The bible talks about a widow who pestered a judge for justice against her adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’ Let us be inspired by this widow and cry out to God day and night until we see justice.

“Everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Luke 11v10

We all fall into that great company of people known as everyone so this promise includes you. 2012 is not a year to back off but to keep on asking, keep on seeking and to keep on knocking until we receive, find and see doors open for us. Jesus has come to give us abundant life so let’s not settle for anything else in the year ahead.

Every Blessing

Alex

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sin

Matthew 1 v 21

When people start thinking about Christmas we all think of vastly different things. We have traditional images of Christmas along side modern images and they all merge together into a mosaic that can blur the real message behind the images. You only need to look at the various designs of Christmas cards you receive over the next few weeks to recognize that there is no longer a clear picture of what Christmas actually means.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the greatest gift ever given to man. It is a time to remember that God gave his only begotten son in to the world to save us from our sins. The gift was given when He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem however to receive the gift we are pointed towards His death and His resurrection. The gift of God is received when we believe in his Son. To believe does not mean to agree with a particular set of facts but to put your trust and faith in Jesus. We receive God’s gift of eternal life when we believe in Jesus and demonstrate this by asking Him to forgive us of our sins and to become our Lord. When we do this, something supernatural happens and we are born again by the Spirit of God.

The Christmas message is a message of Joy and Peace and as Christians we have more opportunities to spread this message at this time than at any other time of year. Let’s look to share the love of God this Christmas not only in word but also in deed. It is a time of giving so let’s go out of the way this year to share the Good News with those around us.

I trust you have a wonderful holiday,

Alex

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

What does it mean to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God? I have been meditating on these words of Jesus for some weeks now and they have challenged me to consider the way I am living.

The Devil came at a time when Jesus was tired, hungry and vulnerable to temptation and tried to attacks His identity. If you are the Son of God was how the Devil taunted Him.

The Greek word used for “word” in Matthew 4v14 is Rhema which means that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, something spoken, a word or any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning speech, discourse what one has said. So when the Devil came and made the statement “If you are the Son of God “ Jesus didn’t rely on how he was feeling or how things were going instead he went back to the Rhema word of God. The Rhema Jesus was living by is found in Matthew 3 verses 16-17;

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Devil was attacking the very word that the Father had spoken from heaven to Jesus – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Ina similar way we understand that the Devil will seek to attack and steal the very word that the Father is speaking to us and thus making us ineffective in the Kingdom of God. Mark 4v15 teaches us that Satan seeks to immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. Let us contend for the things God is speaking to us and not let the Devil steal them away from us.

 I have decided to live by the word of God and not just by bread alone. As I continue to follow Jesus I have decided to come to Him, hear what He says and then make the commitment to do what he tells me to do. I believe God is always speaking and my responsibility is simple to tune into His voice and then put my faith in what He is saying.

It is not more knowledge I need nor is the Lord looking for me to just agree with Him. He wants Me to hear and trust Him by doing what He says.

We have an incredible future ahead of us that will only be unlocked by living on the Rhema word of God. I encourage you to tune in and join the adventure

Every Blessing

Alex

This month sees the last publication of our monthly magazine. It will be the 216^th edition of what has served as a wonderful tool for the church for approximately 18 years. A special thanks goes to Jeff and Stuart for their hard work and involvement in its publication over many years. Whilst the “old is passing away the new is coming” and we will be directing people more and more to the church website. For those who are not on the web we will be supplementing the website with a weekly bulletin.

I watched “Back to the future” recently, a film where a person is taken back from 1985 to 1955. It suddenly dawned on me that there has been just as much change between 1985 and today as there was in the film. It is not only the haircuts and the fashion that has changed but the way we live our lives has completely changed in just 26 years. I do not like change and all around me the world is changing. If you are like me the only thing we can do is “get over it”. Change is here to stay and we need to adapt accordingly.

There are a few things however that never change. The first is God and His word never change and the bible describes Him as love. The second is our need to be loved and to love. With this in mind let us continue to commit to love people. As we see new people come through our doors let us ensure that we open our hearts to them and that through us they receive the love of God.

Jesus said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13v34-35

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is an unchangeable message and has proven to be as relevant now as it was when the disciples first preached it. We have this message and it is to the degree that we love people that hearts will be opened to it. In much the same way as a hallmark identifies the purity of gold, our love for one another gives a mark of authenticity to what we have to say. If we truly love one another people will be saying they are the real thing.

Above all keep loving one another (1 Peter 4v8)

Alex

Making Blind Eyes See

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” 2 Corinthians 4 v 3-5

“How much of my life is directed towards furthering the purposes of God and how much of it is wasted in the pursuit of other things?”

This is a challenge that we all live with. Are you living to fulfill the purposes of God for your lives or are you just drifting through life. Adventure begins when you put your faith in Him and allow Him to lead you into all that He has for you. There will be a great cost; in fact it will cost you everything. However the reward will be so much greater.

When we stand before Him in Glory will you hear the words good and faithful servant or will you be searching for excuses. I urge you to line up all that you are and all that you have with the purposes of God so that together we will see the kingdom extended and many blind eyes opened. – Here’s to a wonderful future together

Alex

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43v18-19

The first four months of this year have flown by and we are now only two months away from Mission with Faith Camp coming soon after. It’s easy to drift through the year without considering what God is saying and doing. In essence we can be so busy with life we don’t stop to consider the things that the Lord is saying to us.

I believe this scripture is important to us as a church for a number of reasons. The past has gone. We had some good times when we were Living Vine Fellowship and we give thanks for them BUT God works in the present not the past. Have you noticed you can’t go back? We try but as nostalgic as we get you can’t go back. We give thanks for our past and draw encouragement from it; however we live in the present.

In the present I believe that The Lord is doing a new thing and He is looking for me to perceive what it is and to walk with Him in it. What do you perceive HE is doing? The word new here means “fresh, new, a new thing”. Look at the list of new things we read about in the bible;

New Covenant
New Birth
New Self
New Wine
New Day
New Name
New Heart
New Heaven and New Earth
New Song
New Manna / Bread
New Growth
New Life
New Grain
New Clothing
Mercy is new every morning

To move into the New we have to let go of the Old. Let us give Him our old life and embrace the new life He has for us.

Looking forward to walking together with you into the new.

Alex

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

“One of the best kept secrets of our faith is the blessedness and joy of cultivating a secret life with God.”
Bob Sorge

The secret place is where we cultivate our personal relationship with God. This autumn we are challenging the church to go deeper with the Father in order that the church can go higher. The maximum height of any building is predetermined by the depth of its foundations and in a similar way the heights we can soar with God are determined by the depth of the relationship we have with him. A shallow relationship with the Father will produce a shallow church.

“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”
James 2v8

I want Jesus to be able to say about this church that we are doing well and the one way I know we can produce that report is by fulfilling the royal law to love the people God puts into our lives. This can only occur in all its fullness out of our own love relationship with our heavenly Father. When God puts His love into our hearts loving people becomes the norm. For us to build a house of love here in Bridgend will occur if we build upon a deep foundation of the Father’s love.

Throughout the autumn the house groups will be focusing on Bob Sorge’s book “Secrets of the Secret Place”. I encourage you to buy your own copy and start to go through it at your own pace. There are 52 short chapters and it’s ideal to use as a daily devotional. We are selling them at the reduced price of £4.50 but if you aren’t able to afford it but will promise to read it I will give you a copy free.

Let us take time to dwell in the secret place with God. The book is simply a tool that will help us focus toward this goal.

Every Blessing
Alex

In Damascus there lived a man by the name of Ananias, and the Lord called him and told him to find the man called Saul of Tarsus and lay hands on him so that his sight could be restored. On hearing this Ananias protested to the Lord, “Lord, you must be joking! We all know how this man has persecuted your people in Jerusalem. You want me to go and lay hands on him so that he can see again, no doubt so that he may carry on where he left off? No! Sorry Lord, not this time!” Then the Lord said to Ananias, “Don’t prevaricate, do as I ask of you, for I have chosen Saul as my vessel to work among the Gentiles, and Kings and Jews.” So Ananias relented and did as the Lord asked, and Saul’s sight was restored, and after a few days he began preaching about Jesus.

But suppose Ananias had flatly refused to do what the Lord had asked of him- would that have changed the course of history? And what of you- could you be the one the Lord is calling to a greater work than you can possibly conceive? Are you letting your hands cover your ears, endeavouring to block out that which you know the Lord is asking of you?

History is full of individuals who answered the call, and consequently changed the course of events throughout the world. Now, more than ever, our Lord needs those whom He has chosen to answer His call, to fulfil their destiny and shine His glorious light on an ever-darkening world. Don’t be afraid Mighty man/Mighty Woman/Mighty Youth, for you know that our Lord will never leave you nor desert you. He is with you in all you do and say, and though right now you may feel inadequate and unsure, when you finally say “Yes Lord, here I am!” He will guide you every step of the way.

Pray earnestly that you will be able to answer the call when it comes. The Lord is waiting with that grace and infinite patience for which He is so renowned. Do not hesitate one more day. The world needs to be lifted from its sunken state, and our Lord has chosen you as part of His wonderful plan for Mankind. It does not fall to all of us to be placed in such a wonderful and responsible position. Take hold of this opportunity laid before you. Do not live a life of regret and in years to come say “If only!”

To paraphrase slightly, Romans 8-30 says, “Whom He calls, He also justifies, and whom He justifies, He also glorifies.” Did our Lord not say many are called but few are chosen? Take hold of your destiny in both hands and answer the call of our Lord today!

J.J.Hickson
October 2009.

Serving – our example

Jesus was the servant King. In the gospel of John we are given this wonderful picture of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. He is our example and the symbolic act of washing feet is a powerful example to us all. Jesus demonstrated the extent of his love by washing the feet of the disciples. In those days, when people walked great distances wearing only sandals, the proper etiquette for a host was to arrange for the washing of his guests’ feet – and this disagreeable task was the duty of the lowliest servant in the household.

Jesus himself told us “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many“. As our example it is important that we follow his example and become servants.

Serving – our instruction

The Bible takes the example further by instructing us to “through love serve one another” Gal 5v13. In building a house of love we will building a house of servants because one of the fruits of a people who love is they become servants of others.

I write this in a time sandwiched between two great efforts in the church calendar namely the “American mission” and “Faith Camp”. These projects are only possible because of the people who serve to make them happen. I want to thank and appreciate everyone who through love served others to make these things happen.

I want to give particular thanks and appreciation to those who enable us to take our young people away for the faith camp week. It is amazing when you think about it. Individuals take a week of their own holidays to live in a tent, in Peterborough, to organize a youth camp. They lay down a week of their holiday and sacrifice the comfort of their home to serve the church. If you are a parent I encourage you to show your appreciation because their sacrifice benefits the spiritual health of your children. Consider how you can serve those who serve you.

Serving – our responsibility

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” Peter 4:10.

Every one of us has been blessed with gifting and varied abilities however they are not for our own benefit they are for the benefit of others. We are stewards of what God has given us and we will be judged for how we use our gifting. I want the Lord to say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” Matt 25 v21.

Serving – the key to greatness

If we want to be great in the kingdom of God according to Jesus there is only one way to become a servant (Mark 10v43). Let us become a great church we have the key but we still need to turn it to enable to come into greatness. Let us through love serve one another and see what the Lord will do with us.

Every Blessing
Alex

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.” Colossians 4v2-4

Anyone my age would remember the song from the Film “Grease” entitled “Hopelessly devoted to you.” Let me remind you of the Lyrics;

Hello, I’m just a fool who’s willing to sit around and wait for you
But baby can’t you see, there’s nothin’ else for me to doI’m hopelessly devoted to you
But now there’s nowhere to hide, since you pushed my love aside
I’m not in my head, hopelessly devoted to you
Hopelessly devoted to you, hopelessly devoted to you
My head is saying “fool, forget him”, my heart is saying “don’t let go”
Hold on to the end, that’s what I intend to do I’m hopelessly devoted to you

In the film Sandy was hopelessly devoted to Danny but what does it mean to be devoted to someone or something? The dictionary definition of devoted gives us

• Feeling or displaying strong affection or attachment; ardent: a devoted friend.
• Having been consecrated; dedicated.
• Zealous in devotion or affection; “a devoted husband and father”; “devoted friends”
• Ardent in attachment, loyalty, or affection.

What are you devoted to?

If you look at what you think about and what you give your time, energy and money to you will have a good indication of the things you are devoted to.

I find it easy to become distracted and devote myself to so many things that don’t real count or make a difference in this world. I find it easy to devote my time to things like sport, films, board games, computer games, music, and books but struggle devoting myself to prayer and the work of God. I am fairly sure that many of you have the same struggles however I believe the Lord is looking for us to change the way we live and start devoting ourselves more and more to Him.

I have started this process by making a quality decision to devote myself to prayer and then I have asked the Lord to give me His grace to empower me to change. Let us decide to devote ourselves to prayer and make the sacrifices we need to ensure that we see God to open doors for the Gospel to be shared to many. At the beginning of the year I told you Jesus was visiting His temple looking at everything and we were in a season of grace to make the appropriate response. Don’t settle back, allow him to change us, make the adjustment, repent and pursue Him. He wants our all and he is asking us to give it to Him.

Keep pursuing Him
Alex