The House of God

Posted on by korgrocker

“The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.”
Psalm 27:4-6 NLT

What would we pilgrims most desire in our lives? Not an easy question to answer, because our desires would be focused on the issue or challenge that we are currently having to deal with. If we’re hungry, we would want to be fed. If we were homeless, it would be a home. If we’re unemployed, it would be a job. Or perhaps the car has just broken down for the nth time, and we would really like to replace it. But David had a different focus – he wanted “to live in the house of the Lord all the days of [his] life“. Where was David when he wrote this? The commentaries assume that he was still in his pre-king days, being chased around the wilderness by King Saul. In his weariness though, his utmost desire was to be in the Lord’s presence. There he fantasised he would find a place of safety, a place of communion with his precious Lord, the place where he wouldn’t have to continually look over his shoulder in case a spear was coming his way. More, he would find a place where he was untouchable by his enemies. And once there David imagined he would be free to offer the sacrifices required “with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music”. His imagination also ran forward to the time when there would be a Temple fit for God, and in which the Lord would live.

But back to our question. Would we pilgrims, faced with all the issues in our lives, primarily express the same desire that David did, to spend time in God’s house? Would we push aside the immediate, answering the emails and texts, painting the kitchen, doing the shopping, washing the car and so on, just so that we could spend time meditating on the things of God? John Wesley is credited with getting up at 4am every day to pray because he wouldn’t consider starting his day without prayer. A sobering thought for us sleepy heads who struggle to cast off the duvet and end up dashing out of the door, briefcase in one hand and a slice of toast in the other, hoping we wouldn’t be late for work.

We read in the Book of Acts about the early disciples, who ” … worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—” (Acts 2:46). We may not have that opportunity today, but the sentiment behind this verse provides a picture of the early believers sharing the same excitement about the Lord and His house that David did. Isaiah too, in a time of a national crisis (a potential time of political instability), decided to go to the Temple – Isaiah 6:1, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple“. Here’s the thing. If Isaiah hadn’t gone to the Lord’s house that day he would never have had a vision of the Lord, and would never have been ordained into the prophetic ministry that underpinned the rest of his life. After the vision Isaiah wrote, “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me”” (Isaiah 6:8). As we imagine being there with Isaiah in the Temple, did we too feel that lift in our spirits, a personal “send me”, as the Lord asked us the same question?

We pilgrims may be one of the Isaiah’s of our generation, but we will never know until we spend time with God. It is only in His presence that we will find our purpose and calling. The problem for many believers today is that they are looking for an instant solution. I once knew somebody who had an inkling to be a worship leader. So they found a guitar and learned a few chords and a couple of songs and then went to the pastor with the request that they be allowed to lead worship on the next Sunday. No prayer. No submission to the Lord. No Isaiah-in-the-Temple moment, that would have endorsed their ministry. And a huffy response when their request was refused. David, first and foremost, spent time in the Lord’s presence, learning how to play music and worship Him during those long hours looking after the sheep. With the necessary skills he was one day going to be engaged to play in King Saul’s presence . We read in 1 Samuel 16:18, “One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him””. 

But we pilgrims are people who love the Lord, and of course we spend time in His presence every day. We too join with God’s people whenever we can, spending time with them and with the Lord. We worship and pray together, and the Lord blesses us with words of prophecy, with answers to our prayers, and with the resources we need to face the day. And we pray for others too so that they may discover what we have found. I heard recently of a young man who met an old friend with whom he had lost touch, a friend who was previously a self-declared atheist, but who subsequently in his own journey had discovered the Lord. This friend invited the young man to church, the friendship renewed and another soul was saved for the Kingdom. Things happen when we go to church. 

Where is our “Temple”? Where do we meet with God, in a place where He can speak to us and commission us? And where we will receive a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”. There is no better place than with our brothers and sisters in Christ, so at the next opportunity let’s expect something to happen. Perhaps God will show up in a vision. Perhaps we will receive a prophetic word from someone. All we have to do is go to church with an expectant heart. We won’t be disappointed.

Dear loving Heavenly Father, please help us to have expectant and willing hearts, looking out for Your presence today, and every day. We repent of the way of life we adopt which has no room for You. Please help us, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fellowship Meals

Posted on by korgrocker

“These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals.”
2 Peter 2:12-13 NLT

Peter continues to write about the false teachers who abounded in his day. The early Christians were particularly vulnerable to the plethora of dodgy teaching that had emerged in the First Century, and the Apostles worked hard to ensure the teachings of Jesus continued to propagate the message of God’s grace. Many heresies emerged under the heading of “false teaching” but God’s message through Jesus prevailed and left a legacy that endured. Peter’s strong and direct language perhaps communicated the extent of the problem in his day, and his impending death injected into him an urgency to warn his protégés, the early Christians in churches scattered throughout what is now modern Turkey. We find much the same message being communicated from the other Apostles – just read the early chapters of Revelation.

One place where people relax and perhaps let their guard down a bit is in a social event. The early Christians were always looking out for each other and engaged in events such as “fellowship meals”. We read the immediate response to the Gospel message in Acts 2:42, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer“. Having a meal together was a natural part of being a Christian, and the Apostle Paul encouraged us in Romans 12:13, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality“. 1 Peter 4:9, “Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay“. Another reminder comes in Hebrews 13:16, “And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God“. And there are other verses, all painting a picture of normal Christian life in a community of “one anothers”. If a stranger drops by, even better. Hebrews 13:2, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realising it!”

There are of course those Christians who prefer to be on their own. They go to church and hurry away afterwards, not wanting to be involved in the “fellowship” bit. The writer to the Hebrews has a message for them – “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). It’s sad when that happens because in the fellowship often comes encouragement and help. There is an old proverb, “a problem shared is a problem halved”. Galatians 6:2, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ“. We humans have been designed to socialise. Right back in Genesis 2:18, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”” God set out a principle that has lasted.

So the New Testament message for Christians includes the encouragement to meet with one another, and often over a meal. I can remember a lunch shared in a church room with a number of older people. We had a good time sharing stories of our younger days, and eating the sandwiches and cakes provided for us. Then there was that point when I felt a Holy Spirit nudge to share Communion, the Lord’s Supper, with those present. We had some bread left over and a jug of juice, and we had a precious time remembering what Jesus had done for us by sharing his spiritual body and blood.

We don’t have to wait for a formal Communion service because Jesus said “do this oft in remembrance of me”. There doesn’t have to be an ordained minister leading the occasion. There is nothing more precious and meaningful than sharing a meal with one another and with the Lord.

Dear Father God. When we share a meal with Your people, we are fulfilling Your desires for us. Please help us overcome our natural reticence. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Priscilla and Aquila

Posted on by korgrocker

“Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home. Greet my dear friend Epenetus. He was the first person from the province of Asia to become a follower of Christ.”
Romans 16:3-5 NLT

‭The next people on Paul’s list of friends to be mentioned were Priscilla and Aquila. This lovely couple first emerge in Acts 18. Aquila was a Jewish Christian and he ended up in Corinth with his wife, Priscilla, after Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. For a trade they were tentmakers, so it was natural for Paul, also a tentmaker, to meet up with them when he came to Corinth. Some time later we read that Paul set sail for Ephesus taking Aquila and Priscilla with him. The Jewish couple stayed in Ephesus and met up with another Jew called Apollos, who they helped with their knowledge of Jesus, when Paul moved on. The details of this couple in Acts 18 are sparse, but reading between the lines, we can find a Godly husband and wife who were pivotal in the foundations of the early church. In 1 Corinthians 16:19, we read, “The churches here in the province of Asia send greetings in the Lord, as do Aquila and Priscilla and all the others who gather in their home for church meetings“. The church in their home was also mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Roman believers – “Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home”. Priscilla and Aquila also crop up in 2 Timothy 4:19, “Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and those living in the household of Onesiphorus.” At this time, Timothy was the pastor of the Ephesus church.

So what conclusion can we draw from the brief Biblical mentions of Aquila and Priscilla? They were Godly, with a solid faith, and a gift of hospitality, three traits that it would be good for us pilgrims to emulate. For them to get a mention about the “church that meets in their home” meant that something significant happened there. The concept of home groups, or how churches, is nothing new today, and . we can read about the early believers in Acts 2:46, “They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity“. Home churches were a feature of the early church and they are a model which supplements the more formal services held in a church building. The intimacy of meeting with other Christians in someone’s home is an essential part of the life of a fellowship of believers. 

If we pilgrims only meet other Christians every Sunday, then perhaps it is an opportunity to copy the model set for us by Aquila and Priscilla. Why don’t we open up our homes for other Christians to meet with us? We will soon find that the Holy Spirit in our midst will lead us into a new dimension of fellowship.

Father God, we thank You that You assured us that when two or three meet together, You are there with us. So in our meeting together, we pray for Your love and grace to multiply and overspill into our families and communities. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Body Parts

Posted on by korgrocker

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:4-5 NLT

Paul describes what “Christ’s body”, the Church, is like, with a comparison with the human body. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 he writes, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptised into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit”. The common bond that binds together the body of Christ is the baptism in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit who is shared amongst all of us pilgrims. Paul goes on to give more examples. 1 Corinthians 12:18-21, “But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you””. He builds a picture of a group of people, each constructed in an autonomous way with all the body parts they need, who then come together to build a different kind of body, with each part being made up of individual people. A lovely analogy and obviously one much favoured by Paul.

Paul emphasises the “special function” of each part of the human bodies. Our kidneys don’t function in the same way as our livers. Our toes aren’t as dexterous as our fingers, but important none the less. We see with our eyes and hear with our ears. None of this should be a surprise to anyone. But what might be more of a challenge is when we take all the individual people and put them together in our churches. The body of Christ, His Church, also has different body parts. So we have our pastors and evangelists, people engaged in very different functions. And there will be those who perform different parts of the administration, or handling the finance. We have the prophets in our midst, who encourage and build up the people with their messages of love and hope. There are the musicians and singers. The list grows and grows. But imagine the chaos if everyone wanted to be a preacher, or worship leader or …

Do we pilgrims recognise this picture? Are we very much involved and connected to our fellowship of believers? Or are we occasional visitors, who only decide to pay our church a visit when there is nothing else to do? Perhaps it’s raining that day, so the car can’t be washed, or the golf course visited. Paul quite firmly said that we are all parts of the church and, here’s the thing, “we all belong to each other”. We have a responsibility to be committed to a church fellowship. Holding on even when things appear to be difficult. We may not feel we have much of a contribution to make, but, while we are there, God can use us to further and build up His body, the Church. Imagine the impact on a human body if, suddenly, the eyes disappeared. Well, it’s the same with Jesus’ body – imagine what would happen if, one Sunday, the worship leader or preacher fails to turn up. However, the less high profile people in a church are also missed when they fail to appear. Perhaps God wanted to use them that week to provide a simple piece of encouragement, such as a smile or a compliment. 

To be blunt, without us faithfully supporting our local church, it will shrivel and die, something we are danger of seeing in these days. As an example, the Church of Scotland has declined by 34% over the past decade to 60,000 members, with an average age of 62, and hundreds of church buildings will need to be closed because they are non-viable. In the West of Fife, where I live, 3 churches have closed in recent years, with another under threat. And unless there is a reversal of this decline, this denomination will be in danger of disappearing over the next 2 or 3 generations.

But it is not all doom and gloom. G. K. Chesterton once famously said, “On five occasions in history the Church has gone to the dogs, but on each occasion, it was the dogs that died”. We need to remember that Jesus said He will build His church. Matthew 16:18, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it”. Jesus used Peter as an example of the foundational basis for the Church, His Body. We are all “rocks” if we are rooted and grounded in Jesus, and it is upon us, in this generation, in our communities, that the responsibility for church building lies. Not the physical structures, ornately built with bricks and mortar, populated by stained glass windows and statues, but the living church made up of us believers. In 1 Peter 2:4-5 we read, “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God“. So, fellow living stones, we are all constituent parts of God spiritual temple. What an honour! What a God!

Dear Father. We pray for Your forgiveness for those times when we have sat at home rather than join our brothers and sisters in our fellowships. Please help us to find our places in the local church where You have placed us, and where we can flourish, building a Temple where You can live and find a home. In Jesus’ name. Amen.