Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 10/Mar/2024]

Recently on Connect in Faith we have been looking at how Jesus sets us free from various forms of slavery, one of which is fear of people. This fear takes two forms: fear of what people can do to us and fear of what they think of us.

As a teenager both these fears paralysed me, probably as a result of being persistently bullied throughout my childhood. Hebrews 13 v 6 says: “The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Unfortunately there are many things people can do to us. They can rob us of all our possessions, wound us emotionally and hurt us physically, even torturing us to death. Fear of being tortured for my faith made me hold back from full commitment to Christ and even now I doubt if I could withstand a moment of torture. All I can do is trust that God is in control, that he loves me and will not test me beyond what I can bear, as promised in 1 Corinthians 10 v 13.

The fear of what people think of me dominated my younger years. When you can’t read faces or body language, it is hard to know what people are thinking and all too easy to assume the worst. Adopting two boys with Down’s syndrome, who think I am wonderful, helped me to worry less about what other people think, but for many years I remained frightened of teenagers, as it is an age when people tend to be most critical and least accepting of those who are different. Doing maths tutoring with teenagers helped me to see that they weren’t so terrifying, but it was when God called me to host homeless teenagers in my home that I finally faced and overcame that fear.

When waiting for the first young person to arrive, it suddenly hit me that it didn’t matter a bit what they thought of me, all that mattered was that they knew I cared about them. That thought was so liberating and I was able to care for them without fear, either for my physical safety or of what they thought of me. As with so many fears, facing up to them brings freedom.

The best cure for worrying about what people think of us is to know how God sees us, as his chosen people, holy and dearly loved. (Colossians 3 v 12).

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Resources:

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

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Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
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Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: A Seismic-Shift in History by Dazz Jones
 

[This reflection by Dazz Jones was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 03/Mar/2024]

The Revolutionary way of Jesus: A Seismic-Shift in History

In the course of all human history, few people have left a mark as profoundly or with such an enduring nature as that of Jesus of Nazareth. His teachings, life events, and legacy sparked revolution in thought, culture, and spirituality and they continue to shape the world today. From His humble beginnings in a manger to the profound events of His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus instigated a paradigm shift that transcended His time (and in fact all time!) and continues to resonate with our species millennia later. This is a fact we gloss over in our minds every day.

Jesus was a master storyteller, He knew people so well and deeply that he could bottle the most complex of ‘kingdom truths’ into the most accessible of narrative tales. Fathers and sons, sheep and shepherds, farmers and farm hands. He took what people understood and used it to show them how God his Father loved them; He did it so profoundly that we can tell these stories today with the same (or very similar) effect. Wow!

The message of Jesus was to look up to heaven for hope, to invest in God’s kingdom and not get too distracted by the politics and materialism of daily life on earth. To experience the life God has in store for us, we must give ours away he said. Pick up our cross and follow in His example by serving all those around us tirelessly and with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts. This will only happen if we truly understand what he achieved on the cross and in rising again.

Martin asked a poignant question of us last week,^[1] he asked if it is: “Better to be right, or better to be merciful?” and I think it was implied that to be merciful is the goal, above being right about something. This again is a really difficult balance to strike, but in the life of Christ we see Him show mercy to the woman caught in adultery, opening up a conversation with a sinful woman at a well and promising a dying, convicted and ‘confessed to be guilty’ criminal that he would be with him in paradise. Jesus Christ lived a life marked by Mercy and that was a game changer, let us be game changers too!

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Resources:
[1] The Ninety #8: Mercy Amnesia, HBC, 25/Feb/2024

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

~~~~~~~~~
Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: Modern Slavery by Michael Goble
 

[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 25/Feb/2024]

When we first joined Horley Baptist Church 15 years ago, we noticed that a number of people, including the Minister, were wearing T-shirts displaying, “STOP THE TRAFFICKING”. We had previously belonged to a church which was mostly out of touch with the needs of those in our society and the world.

I was glad to go to the first Lent Course session yesterday looking at MODERN SLAVERY and to be reminded of the way that slavery and trafficking make a misery of the lives of so many people in the world today. During the past years we have become accustomed to demonstrators who have campaigned against slavery by attacking individuals in history who were involved in the slave trade. These attacks have also included organisations and colleges that were founded using funds from slavery, and even denouncing historical figures who have had such a positive impact on our country and society. Statues of those they disapprove of have been defaced or demolished to show their anger against slavery.

The surprising thing is that their indignation relates to events that happened hundreds of years ago and cannot change the injustice of those times. They have completely overlooked the fact that slavery exists today and that millions of ordinary people in the world are living oppressed, abused and miserable lives because of modern slavery. We have seen on television how Uyghurs in China are imprisoned and tortured in work camps, and also how thousands of people are enticed to Thailand for a better life and smuggled over the border into Myanmar. There they are made to live in a massive camp and forced to scam people in other countries. That is the slavery that should be demonstrated against if we are really against such injustices happening. But how can we as ordinary individuals, and as Christians, help in even a small way to fight this problem? After all we don’t expect to see such things happening in our daily lives or even in our church. Or do we?

A few years ago at Thursday Group a lady from Mauritius used to attend. It was difficult to communicate with her as she could only speak broken English. One of our group, George, was able to converse with her in French. He realised that she had come here to live apparently with family in Horley. They took away her passport and she had to do all the domestic work including looking after a young child so that they could both go to work, she always wore the same inappropriate clothes for our climate, and she was not allowed to go home. George was encouraging her to go to the police but she was reluctant to do this. As it happened she collapsed in the town, the police became involved, recovered her passport and she was able to go home. How many people even in this town and area are living in slavery?

At the course we were given a leaflet, Modern Slavery – Spotting the Signs. This poor lady showed a number of the signs and fortunately was rescued. We all need to know what to look out for and do ask Martin for a copy of the signs. If you are able to do so come along on a Thursday morning, or at least watch the first one led by Martin on line.

Slavery is not just a part of history, it is happening here and now, and when we spot the signs we should do all we can to get help for the victim.

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Resources:
[1]

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

~~~~~~~~~
Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
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Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: Looking Beyond Traditions by Martin Shorey
 

[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 18/Feb/2024]

Did you manage to have pancakes this Shrove Tuesday? As a family we enjoyed savoury pancakes followed by American style blueberry pancakes. Now, growing up we of course had pancakes, always with lemon juice and sugar, but there was never really any mention of Lent; the period of 40 days of abstinence leading up to Easter.

This was probably due to me being raised in a traditional Baptist church, where anything that whiffed of Catholicism was strictly avoided (during the 80s ecumenicalism was still a dirty word for many), therefore Lent got thrown out along with Mary worship and the papacy.

Now, my Baptist upbringing gave me a strong biblical foundation that I am very grateful for, but just maybe it wasn’t the well-rounded Christianity we thought it was. In some ways it lacked the heart and the heat of the Charismatic expressions of our faith that I was to experience in my late teens, nor did it have the Christ-centred mysticism found in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

Perhaps the smorgasbord of churches we can experience in the UK gives us a much richer experience of Jesus, and yet too many of us view other denominations with suspense and disdain. I have known Christians who see Catholicism as the work of the devil, and do not believe there were any proper Christians before the advent of evangelicalism. I still remember whilst on a church trip to a Romanian Orthodox Church in Luton, the shocked and appalled members of the Baptist church who refused to join the queue of worshippers lining up to revere the beautiful life-sized icons of Christ and his saints.

Now, there are many faults in each expression of Christianity, and we shouldn’t shy away from pointing out errors where we see them, but too often we hide in our own churches and reject those who are different to us, even questioning whether or not their faith is real.

In last Sunday’s sermon we looked at the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well.^[1] Samaritans claimed to be the true descendants of Abraham, but the Jews believed that only they were truly God’s people, and had the monopoly on God worship. Interestingly Jesus tells the woman that a time was coming when worship was much more about the ‘Who’ than the ‘How’ and ‘Where’.

If this truly is the case, is it possible for us to look beyond our traditions and listen openly to other Jesus worshippers, recognising that just maybe they might have something to offer that our particular tradition does not. By listening perhaps we can produce a fuller, rounder, and more attractive faith that will point more towards Jesus, than the necessity of any particular tradition?

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Resources:
[1] Martin Shorey, Sermon, 11/Feb/2024

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

~~~~~~~~~
Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: Sometimes ‘No’ To What We Want,
But Always ‘Yes’ To What We Need by David Makanjuola
 

[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 11/Feb/2024]

A close relative of mine is going through a very difficult time. It has involved a lot of prayer and fasting on their part and growing despondency as the situation did not appear to be getting any better. There were times when doubts and confusion set in and she asked “does God not care? Surely He sees what I am going through…”.

She recently sent me a message saying that she had a prompting to pray and after an hour of doing this, she said she ended up telling God that she felt He wasn’t answering her prayers. She then got a phone call. It was from her daughter. She had been on public transport in Nigeria, heading home, when it became clear that the mini-bus driver and a couple of other passengers were up to no good. Kidnapping is rife in parts of the country, and she feared the worst. They then got caught up in a traffic jam and she managed to persuade them to drop her, saying she needed to deliver medication to an ailing relative. It turned out that she was within minutes of her house, and she ran the remaining distance and got home safely. When my sister heard this, she said “God, I was accusing you of not answering my prayers. I had no idea that you were answering the most important ones”.

You may be going through a testing period at the moment, and it might seem that your prayers are hitting a brick wall and can’t get through. I would like to reassure you that God may not grant our wants, but He will meet all our needs.

Christ’s death on the cross was for people like me, people who did not realise that what they needed the most was a way to be reconciled with God, people who did not realise what it would cost Him to make this happen.

Paul the apostle, tries to bring things home to us when in his letter to the Romans, he says about God, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things”.^[1] In essence, if God would do that for you, what can there be that you need that He won’t provide for you?

So, however difficult things may seem, don’t stop praying. God’s got your back.

I often quote from songs in my articles in ‘Yours’, and the one that comes to mind are lines from ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’,^[2] which say:

Oh what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pains we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer.

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Resources:
[1] Romans 8 v32 [NIVUK]
[2] Joseph Scriven (1855)

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

~~~~~~~~~
Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: The God Who Sees by Dennis Ginter
 

[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 04/Feb/2024]

Our home group has discovered an amazing worship song, The God Who Sees by Kathy Lee Gifford. She videoed it – appropriately- in the desert of Israel.

When we listened to it this morning, I found myself deeply moved, realising that all my life I’ve been living as though I’m not being seen. My very early childhood helps explain my avoidance of face-to-face relationships, but only now – as I approach 84 – am I becoming aware of how much I’ve missed!

Expecting to be passed over, I’ve preferred to look the other way whenever God or other people have wanted to know me intimately. Almost all the big mistakes I’ve made in life – and there have been many – have been those of a lonely little boy needing to be seen. Sometimes sabotaging relationships, retreating into himself so as to avoid pain.

If this rings a bell with you, just acknowledge it and let the Holy Spirit do what only he can do! I will do what I can to let myself be seen.

Are you joining us for the Essential Jesus reading plan? If you‘d like to you can do so here.

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Resources:

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

~~~~~~~~~
Horley Baptist Church online
HBC main site
Confidential prayer link

Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
 
Last week’s reflection: Stop Flapping and Soar with Jesus by Chris Ginter