'I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.'
2 Timothy 4:1-2

I have a question for EVERYONE reading this letter. For some it may come as a bit of a shock to be asked this, but nevertheless it is directed at ALL. And the question is: What are YOU preaching today?

In his letter to a young minister called Timothy, the apostle Paul urged him to preach God's word regardless of the situation. Timothy was - of course - quite literally a preacher of the gospel; I don't know whether he ever stood in a pulpit like modern preachers do, but he certainly expounded the saving message of Jesus Christ to his hearers. However, even though Paul's advice is about preaching, this doesn't mean it is irrelevant to non-preachers.

  
It has been said that every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon every day. Whether we like it or not, even though we may not be conscious of doing it, our lives say something to those who know us! What we truly believe is laid bare for all to see through our words and actions, in the choices we make, in the way we use our time and money, and perhaps most clearly in the way we deal with people.

If you are unsure what you are preaching, here is a very simple test: Think about those times when you have felt really excited, energetic and enthusiastic about something - It might just be that such experiences reveal those things we deem most important:

• Is it our work that enthuses us?
• Is it being around certain people?
• Is it the future for Blackpool in the Premiership?
• Is it helping someone out?
• Is it getting our head around the workings of a Coalition Government?!
• Is it watching tv or reading the paper?
• Is it a particular hobby or sport?

When we feel great about something we very naturally become an advocate for it, and others may well be attracted to it because we are so clearly revelling in it.

God has made us all to be different and so we might expect a different list of "enthusiasms" for each person. So, for example, I don't expect too many people will share my excitement for running on the treadmill down at the sports centre! But - if we are the people of Jesus Christ - then hopefully underlying all else should be an obvious energy, excitement and enthusiasm for the God who loved us enough to die for us.

During these two months many of us will be getting ourselves excited about the World Cup football. I will definitely be among those hoping and dreaming for it to be England who lift that trophy on the 11th July! I won't go so far as to pray for England to win because I feel sure God is quite impartial when it comes to football. But I will be praying that the same energy and enthusiasm and excitement that surrounds football might be more obvious among the followers of Jesus Christ.

Bill Shankly famously said that 'Football isn't a matter of life and death - it's much more important than that.' Well, Bill Shankly was wrong! But we Christians do know of the one thing that does indeed transcend both life and death - and I long for the day when the world may hear EVERY Christian preaching each and every day about the love of God that we have found in Jesus Christ.

                                                               Every blessing

“May the Lord direct your hearts
into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

[2 Thessalonians 3 .5]

“Expect great things from God;
attempt great things for God.”

[William Carey,
missionary to India, 1792]

These are truly momentous times for Thornton Methodist Church! Work on our chapel renewal scheme is planned to begin in mid-April, and for as long as the builders are with us our Sunday morning services will be held at Baines Endowed Primary School.

I want to express my sincerest thanks to all of you who have been praying for, working towards, and going-the-extra-mile to enable us to reach this point. Along the way we have faced the occasional dilemma, difficulty and disappointment, but by the grace and the guidance of God we will soon see our chapel transformed into a space fit for the work and worship of a 21st Century church.

I am however reminded of a speech made by Winston Churchill in November 1942. Our allied forces had just defeated the German Afrika Corp at El Alamein. Everyone knew that this was a major turning point in the Second World War. But, knowing there was still a great deal of fighting to be done, Churchill said: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

That about sums up where we are with our renewal project! The goal is in our sights, and now every one of us must redouble our efforts if we are to achieve it!

Before we do, however: A word of caution. Whilst I agree entirely with the sentiments of William Carey when he urged Christians to: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God”, my own experience tells me that it is pretty difficult to hold these two things together.

We can easily get so carried away with our own efforts for God that we no-longer expect anything much from God. This is a real problem because in reality we are far too weak and puny to be doing these great things in our own strength. Whilst God is quite capable of doing anything He wants without our help, we really can do comparatively little without Him.

As I often say, we disciples of Jesus Christ are commanded to do three basic things: to pray; to serve; and to give. This is not a multiple-choice; we are each called to do all three, but prayer always comes first. Prayer must be our first port-of-call and not our last resort. It must be our steering wheel and not our spare wheel.

As the people of God we must habitually speak with God so that - as the Apostle Paul put it - our hearts may continually be directed “into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

It is therefore very timely that these coming two months include the entire fifty days from Easter Day (4th April) to Pentecost (23rd May) during which we Methodists of Lancashire are being urged once more to pray-without-ceasing. I know that in our mainly secular culture a lot of people – including many of us church goers – find prayer difficult, but I really do want to encourage you at the very least to make it your habit to start and end each day in prayer (however briefly at first).

And remember, God isn’t concerned about the eloquence, intelligence or cleverness of your prayers. He is simply looking at your heart. So, as John Bunyan put it, “When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words without heart.” And as Oswald Chambers said, it helps a great deal if we “pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”

And so, as we continue to attempt great things for God, may we also expect, desire, and continually look for great things from God. �

Every blessing